Southern Storms

by Cherry, Brittainy

  * * *

  A week later, Derek headed back to Chicago. We left on decent terms, that I figured would only get better. You could only go up from rock bottom. Yet, I also knew it would take more than a week of drywalling to fix our problems.

  After he left, I headed to Kennedy’s house one Sunday afternoon. She was off having a spa day with Yoana, which was at my request. When I stepped into her back yard, Connor was putting the finishing touches on our landscaping design. We’d hung fairy lights the night before, and now that the night sky was approaching, everything was beginning to light up perfectly. Kennedy hadn’t seen anything yet, because I wanted the yard to be the biggest surprise. I wanted to be there when she witnessed the completed picture.

  In the trees hung paper butterflies, her daughter’s favorite. In the bushes bubble machines were going nonstop, and on the left side of the fence was a field of daisies beneath a sign that read Daisy’s Flowers with a backward D.

  Connor walked over and patted me on the back. “Are you happy with how it turned out, boss?”

  I smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “It’s everything and more, partner.”

  Connor looked up at me and grinned ear to ear. The truth of the story was, that kid had been the best partner I could’ve ever asked for. His humor and kindness had probably saved me on the hardest days of my life. I was thankful to be able to know someone like him.

  “Promise me you won’t forget me when you become a millionaire, Con?” I asked.

  “Don’t be silly, Jax.” He shook his head. “I’m going to be a billionaire. I’ll probably end up buying your business out from under you, but I’ll cut you a nice check.”

  I snickered. Sounded about right.

  “You guys, get ready, get ready,” Joy said, hurrying to the back yard. “Yoana and Kennedy are on their way back.”

  My stomach was in knots, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw Yoana round the corner, guiding a blindfolded Kennedy.

  “Why am I having a strong case of déjà vu?” Kennedy laughed. “Yoana, I already know what the house looks like. Is the blindfold really necessary?”

  “It is,” I told her.

  Kennedy stood straighter. “Jax?” she questioned. “What are you doing here?”

  “We wanted to surprise you with the finished back yard.” I walked over to her and kissed her lips. “Are you ready?”

  “I am!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

  “Okay, and just remember, if you hate it, Connor did it,” I joked. I took the blindfold off Kennedy’s eyes, and she gasped upon seeing everything around her.

  “Oh my gosh.” She teared up, looking around. When she looked at the trees and saw the butterflies, the tears began to fall. Then they began rushing down her cheeks as she saw the sign, and they never finished falling. Yoana cried from her sister’s emotions, and hell, I almost teared up too, because seeing Kennedy happy made my heart soar.

  “Do you like it?” I asked.

  “Like it? Jax, it’s everything and more. I never imagined something so beautiful. This is more than I could’ve ever imagined.”

  I took her hand into mine and led her around. “Come on, let me show you.” I pointed out all the little details she probably didn’t even care to know about, but I was excited, and nervous, and fuck, it was hard to breathe.

  I led her over to the bed of daisies and pointed down at the flowers. “These are special daisies. Rumor has it some are great at growing objects within them.”

  She laughed. “What does that even mean?”

  “Just look closely and see if you can figure it out.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me then lowered herself down. She began looking through the flowers for whatever it was she was meant to find. “There’s nothing here,” she said, confused.

  “That’s because I already picked it out of the bunch,” I said.

  She turned around to find me down on one knee with a daisy in my hand. On top of said flower was a diamond ring, waiting for her finger to wear it.

  Kennedy’s hand flew to her lips, and she let out a small gasp. “Jax…”

  “Kennedy, the first time I saw you, I knew you were special. Sure, a little weird, but that was what made me fall in love with you.” She giggled through her shaky hands. “You are the definition of powerful. You are the brightest part of my day. Your love heals the cracks in my heart that I thought were doomed to be broken forever. You are my best friend, my soul mate, and my favorite flower, and if you allow me to do so, I’d love to be the one to make you smile for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” she cried, pulling me up from the ground. She began planting kisses all over my face, making me laugh.

  “You have to let me put the ring on, I think,” I joked.

  “Oh, right! Of course.” She held her hand out, and everyone cheered around us. I couldn’t believe how my life had changed. It felt as if all the pieces were placed back together and the storm had finally passed to bring about better days.

  I knew life would have its troubles, but I also knew I’d be okay because I was surrounded by love, by friendship, by Kennedy. She was my sun, I was her moon, and for the rest of our lives, we’d remember to dance in the rain.

  Epilogue

  Jax

  Three years later

  “Oh my gosh, Kennedy, I always knew you were something special! Didn’t I say that the first time we’d met her, Kate? Didn’t I go on and on about how special Kennedy was?” Louise swooned as she stood in front of a table across from my wife.

  My wife.

  I loved the sound of that.

  It was amusing watching Louise, along with everyone else in town, swoon over Kennedy at the book signing in Havenbarrow for her most recent successful novel. Over fifteen months ago, Kennedy signed a deal with a major publishing company. When her book, Trespassing, hit the shelves, it became an instant success.

  Kennedy cried the day Oprah’s Magazine included it on their ‘must read’ list. She just about vomited when she hit the New York Times—where she stayed for ten months so far.

  After some convincing from the townspeople, Kennedy agreed to do a local signing, and the twins were the first in line.

  While Kennedy could’ve been nasty toward the women who had been nothing but cruel to her since the day she arrived, she wasn’t. She was kind, thankful, and showed so much gratitude. Sometimes, I wished she could’ve been an asshole like me, but alas, she was the sun. She was my sun. I fell in love with the sun, and she kept my cold heart warm.

  “Thank you for coming, ladies, but I think I’m going to have to cut this signing short,” Kennedy said, standing up. There was a huge line going out the door of Gary’s café. People began groaning at the idea of Kennedy leaving, seeing how they hadn’t gotten their books signed yet.

  I raised an eyebrow at her, confused at what she was doing.

  “I know, I’m sorry everyone, and I’ll be sure to reschedule the first chance I get. It’s just that, my water just broke, so I think we have to get to the hospital,” she explained.

  Oh. Right. That made sense.

  I stared at her blankly for a few seconds before her words clicked in my head.

  Oh!

  Right!

  That made sense!

  We were having a baby! Well, she was having the baby, I was along for the ride at this point. Ride. Truck. Keys. Baby! Oh hell, I was panicking.

  “Don’t panic,” Kennedy said, walking my way with her hands on her stomach.

  “Panic? Why would I be panicked? I’m not panicked! I just need my keys,” I said, patting my pockets. “Keys, keys, I need my key—”

  “Here,” she said, dangling them in my face. “I drove here, remember?”

  “Right, of course. Okay. Let’s go.” I shot out of the front door, leaving her behind, until I realized that I left my very pregnant, very in labor wife behind. I dashed back inside. “I forgot; I need you to come with me.”
>
  She giggled as she controlled her breathing. “Yes, I think you do.”

  We got to the hospital, and everything went smoothly. Except for the part where I blacked out, but we didn’t need to talk about that.

  After twelve hours of hard work from my beautiful wife, we were able to hold our beautiful daughter.

  Elizabeth Daisy Kilter.

  Named after my mother and her daughter, of course.

  Elizabeth was a dream come true, and when I held her for the first time, I knew I was never going to be able to let her go.

  “She’s perfect,” I said, rocking her back and forth in my arms. I looked at my exhausted wife and kissed her forehead. “You’re perfect.”

  Every dream I’d ever had, came true that day. I was with the love of my life staring into our child’s eyes, and I couldn’t ask for more. I knew each day that was to come was a blessing, and I promised myself I’d never take that for granted. I was going to live every single day as if it were my last—which meant I would show my family how much I loved them time and time again.

  Especially my wife. My sun. My very best friend.

  Friends forever.

  Lovers for life.

  * * *

  Five Years Later

  “Daddy, can I have a granola bar?” Elizabeth asked as we tracked through the woods finishing up one of our longer hikes. The sun was beginning to set, and we always loved to watch it happen from the convertible we’d placed between the trees.

  The old, yellow vehicle had many additions of artwork added to it since Kennedy and I reconnected many years ago. Joy drew a picture celebrating her ninety-fifth birthday last month. Nathan and Yoana added a drawing of their sweet newborn, Elijah last year. And just recently we had Elizabeth create a picture of her first day of school.

  Watching the car grow with memories was one of my favorite things to witness.

  As we reached the car, we all climbed inside the back seat to watch the sky fade to night.

  “Didn’t you already have a granola bar?” Kennedy asked Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes, Mama, but that’s why I asked Daddy because he always says yes to me even when you say no,” she said matter-of-factly.

  The girl wasn’t wrong. I had a very hard time saying no to my little sweetheart. It was the eyes, I swore. She had her mother’s eyes.

  “Well, how about we hold off on the granola until we get some dinner inside you,” Kennedy said.

  Elizabeth threw a fit of course, but when she realized we weren’t going to give in, she released the biggest sigh in the world. “Being a kid is hard,” she groaned.

  “I bet.” I laughed and pulled her into my lap. “Don’t worry, someday you’ll be a grownup and you can eat all the granola bars you want.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “For sure.”

  “Even the ones with chocolate chips?” she asked.

  “Even those,” Kennedy nodded, kissing Elizabeth’s forehead.

  As we watched the sky, Elizabeth always loved to point out the moon when we could see it. “There it is! There! That’s you right, Daddy? You’re the moon?”

  I smiled. “Yup. I’m the moon.”

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “And Mama’s the sun?”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Does that mean Daisy and me can be the stars?” she asked, looking up to the sky once more.

  That made my heart almost burst out of my chest.

  Kennedy’s eyes watered over as a smile fell against her lips. “Yes, sweetheart. You and your sister can be the stars.”

  Every single day we told Elizabeth the stories of her loved ones. We told their stories to keep them alive forever, and it warmed my heart knowing that Elizabeth understood that even though people passed away, they were never truly gone—not as long as we held them close to our hearts. That night, our loved ones were close to us. I could feel them in the wind. I could feel their love and protection every time I looked up toward the sky.

  That night we sat beneath the sky, and the stars all shined so bright.

  First Dance

  Kennedy

  Twelve years old

  Year two of summer camp

  “What do you want to be when you grow up, Jax?” I asked as we sat on the dock looking out at the water. We’d been skipping rocks until we ran out of rocks to skip, so now we were sitting on the dock being bored as ever. It was one of the slower days at camp, where there wasn’t much to do. At least I had Jax to do nothing with, that always made it better.

  Plus, I did run off to steal some popsicles from the dining hall, so we had those to enjoy.

  The sky was full of clouds, and I knew a storm was coming soon. I was so excited for it, too. I loved when it rained. Jax wasn’t a big fan of storms, but I always told him they’d grow on him.

  “I don’t know. I don’t really think about the future like that,” he replied, licking his popsicle. “What do you want to be?”

  “I think I want to write books and I want to use all the big words that you taught me. I want my books to be so big and so good that they make people happy when they finish them. I want people to be so excited with the idea of waiting for another book from me. And, and, and each book will have a word you taught me, so it’s like you’re always a part of the books, too.”

  For a second, I thought he was going to laugh at me and call my dream stupid, but he just did his Jax thing. He stayed calm as he licked his popsicle fast enough, so it never made his hands messy. Then, he said, “I’ll read every book five million times.”

  I smiled.

  “Hey, Jax?”

  “Yes, Kennedy?”

  “Will we still be friends in the future?”

  “Friends forever,” he replied.

  “And ever.”

  He rested his free hand on the dock, and I rested mine right there beside him. His pinky brushed against mine, and I felt it in my heart.

  I loved Jax Kilter, and someday, I hoped, he’d love me, too.

  But that didn’t matter to me too much that night. We were still kids. We had all of forever to fall in love with each other. It didn’t have to happen that night. That night, all we had to do was sit on the dock and wait for the rain to come.

  When the rain began to fall, I stood on the dock and began my wild dance moves. I jumped and wiggled and twisted and turned. I couldn’t believe what happened next.

  For the first time since I’d met him, Jax danced with me, too.

  The Elements Series by Brittainy C. Cherry

  ALL STANDALONE NOVELS WITH NO INTERCONNECTED CHARACTERS! ENJOY TODAY!

  Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Eleanor & Grey, then you will fall in love with the men of the Element Series! You can download the complete Elements Series Collection for free in Kindle Unlimited here: The Complete Elements Series

  Or, each of the titles are available separately (All standalones and free in Kindle Unlimited):

  The Air He Breathes

  The Fire Between High & Lo

  The Silent Waters

  The Gravity of Us

  Also by Brittainy C. Cherry

  Art & Soul:

  Young Adult Romance

  Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship:

  A Holiday Romance

  The Space in Between:

  A Contemporary Romance

  Loving Mr. Daniels :

  A Student Teacher Romance

  Behind the Bars :

  A Second Chance Romance

  Disgrace:

  Small Town Romance

  Eleanor & Grey:

  A Second Chance Romance

  Landon & Shay Part One:

  A Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Landon & Shay Part Two:

  An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Acknowledgments

  This book is for my family—my tribe. They have held me up throughout all of the ups and downs on this career and I wouldn’t still be here if it wasn�
�t for their love and support.

  Thank you to my amazing editing team. Caitlin, Ellie, Jenny, and Jenn - you save me day in and day out.

  Thank you to my amazing ARC team that goes above and beyond to help me! You ladies are the best in this whole world.

  Thank you to Hang Le for this amazing cover that I am beyond smitten with. Your talent blows me away.

  This book is for my agents Flavia and Meire. I am wise enough to know that I wouldn’t be where I am without your love and support.

  To every reader and blogger who continues to show up for me, thank you. Thank you for reading my words. Thank you for speaking words of love and support. Thank you for being my sun on the days when I feel like the moon. This world is beautiful because of you all.

  Until next time.

  -BCherry

  About the Author

  Brittainy C. Cherry is an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author who has always been in love with words. She graduated from Carroll University with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Creative Writing. Brittainy lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets or traveling to new places.

  * * *

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