by Lee, R. A.
Brooke melted.
This was his first child. He just realized he was going to be a father and the mother of his unborn child had doubts.
Brooke gritted her teeth.
Closing her eyes, she pushed the ring Matthew had placed on her hand into the dirt until it was buried.
I will always love you, she said to the universe. When she looked at the plant, nothing was left but the indentation of her finger in the dirt.
Every step to Jake took her further away from the life she desperately longed for and into the unknown of another.
Jake let go of MJ and pulled Brooke onto his lap.
“Be happy for me,” he whispered. Brooke hugged him tightly.
“I’m happy for us,” she said and he hugged her back until he was sobbing and shaking. His mother leaned on her and MJ ran out of the room flying like a plane again.
This was her new family. This was their home. Her son was going to have a sibling.
This child would be the rebirth of her love. Not the same as the old, but more than most could ever hope for.
“I love you,” he whispered and Brooke’s throat tightened again, but she made sure he knew how she felt.
“I love you too, Jake,” she said. “With everything I have left, I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Brooke was exhausted. First the baptism of Timothy Ryan Parker, her first son by her second husband, then the party at her mother-in-law’s house afterward and then a special gift from his mother.
Standing at the front of the church with her husband while their son’s godmother, Melinda, held him, Brooke was starting to feel her anger simmer into a smoldering warmth.
As part of their commitment to one another, Brooke and Jake had started taking marriage counseling at the church. As part of her commitment to the memory of Matthew, Brooke had joined group grief counseling.
Accepting that she would never completely stop mourning her love, Brooke found solace in her pain while at the meetings.
When she first attended therapy, she had thought the purpose was to eradicate Matthew from her life, but now, the pain was diminished and she had a more constructive outlet. At home, she could devote her love and happiness to her family without dragging them down with the memory of a love that would live in her forever.
Someday she would revive the memory of Matthew for MJ when he was old enough. Jake had preserved the video of his life for that reason.
Whereas Brooke would have some closure, Jake would see Jenny around the city on occasion and remember the good times. Although he never yearned to be with her over Brooke, he would never forget the love he felt for her.
Jake knew Brooke had been right. If he had not properly said his good-bye in his heart as he had done at the gallery, he would always have regretted his decision to choose Brooke and their life.
Even Timothy would not have been enough to seal the bond between them. Now he could think of no other life he preferred to be living. His life with Jenny had been wonderful and exciting, but now he was on a journey into the unknown that was more compelling than continuing his dizzying cycle with his lover.
Brooke was painting again. It was only a matter of time before she wanted to travel again. Life was not boring. Being married and raising kids was not boring. It was what they made of it.
Holding hands, they prayed not only for their son, but also for the strength and courage to commit to the end.
Hugging friends and family at the party afterward, they headed home for a private party at his mother’s house.
Taking Brooke to the side, Jake’s mother showed her the will she had drawn up when Timothy was born.
She was leaving everything to her grandchildren in a trust to be distributed once they turned 21. Although it was morose to think of her dying, Brooke thought it was a wonderful gesture.
To the children born of my son, and the ones I have come to love as my own grandchildren.
Brooke hugged her mother-in-law. Although Brooke didn’t want Jake to adopt MJ, she wanted him to keep Matthew’s name, Jake’s mother still considered MJ a grandson of her own, and that meant everything to Brooke. Her son had a family, no matter what.
They all gathered for a photo. It would go up on Jake’s mother’s wall. It would go on Brooke’s wall.
Hugging and kissing, they left and made the short journey across the backyard to the main house.
Placing the baby in his crib while Jake tucked MJ into bed, Brooke sighed. Looking down at the child, she knew that if anything ever happened to Jake, he would always live on in his son’s eyes.
Everything did happen for a reason. Maybe it wasn’t a reason she understood, but she wasn’t very angry anymore. How could she be angry when their child lay sleeping? Brooke had endured great loss, but she also had gained as much as well. She didn’t have the family she thought she would, but she had a loving family nonetheless.
It was what kept her going. Her mother had taught her a valuable lesson for which no money could ever make up. In order to make it in life, when it knocks you down, you had to get up and love again. Don’t mire in misery, it seemed comforting, but it was just a drug that eventually stole the spirit.
Turning off the light to her old room, Brooke waited for Jake. Closing MJ’s door just so, they hugged and swayed in the hallway.
“I understand now,” he whispered into her ear.
“Understand what?” she asked.
Looking into her eyes, Jake kissed his wife, the mother of his child, the woman he loved even if another would always be on his mind.
“All those times you were angry when MJ started calling me daddy,” he explained. “You don’t know until you’re holding your own child. I understand why you didn’t want me to adopt MJ or change his name. It’s not that you don’t trust me, that you don’t love me. It’s that you don’t want to take away the love his father had for him. I didn’t understand that before Timothy was born. I thought you just changed names. I love the fact that you will protect that memory. I would never want to take that away from you. I know MJ will understand someday. If anything happens to me, I know you would do the same.”
Brooke hugged him. He squeezed her tight.
“Coming to bed?” he asked.
“I’m going to get a drink,” she said. “I’ll meet you upstairs.”
Kissing her passionately, Jake let her know he was ready whenever she was, then quickly climbed the stairs to their room.
Bringing a glass of water from the kitchen, Brooke did her usual walk by of the family photo wall. From the first picture of MJ and Jake playing with a Christmas toy, Christmas with her mother and new family, to the latest, a photo of all of them around the newborn Timothy. The wall was getting full. Like his mother, she would have to expand to other walls.
Brooke wished her mother could have seen her new grandson. Locked away in her own memories, her mother escaped just long enough to tell Brooke not to take the same journey. As hard as it was to pull herself out of the grief, Brooke was grateful her mother loved her enough to entrust the job of getting her back to life to a friend in the event she couldn’t do it herself. Even though she could have hated him for it, Jake knew he had to fulfill Brooke’s mother’s last wishes. That was a form of love.
As she passed over the last two photos, Brooke always lingered. Happy Jake and Jenny. Happy Brooke and Matthew and MJ.
They weren’t photos of her family as they were, but the memory of the families that made Brooke and Jake the people they were in their new family. These were the people who brought their lives together even if they weren’t active participants.
It wasn’t a testament to remorse or regret; the photos were memories of love. Love in any form never died; it lingered, settled in deep crevices only to be remembered in dreamy longing retrieved from the deepest reaches of the soul on occasion and put back for safekeeping.
Matthew’s eyes caught her attention.
What would happen the day MJ grew up and looked exactly
like his father? she asked herself again. Would she be able to overcome her grief at constantly being reminded of Matthew?
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Brooke cleared that thought.
Lingering over the photo of her other life, Brooke prayed for the man whose love she could never replace.
Although she had learned to love again, he would never be replaced.
Letting go once again, Brooke climbed the stairs to her new husband. He was in the mood for love, and she was going to give him all the love she had left to give.
The End
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If you enjoyed this novel, please rate or comment on your experience (it's all that keeps this writer going). If you did not, please be kind. The writer can handle criticism and critiques as well. Contact information, R. A. Lee, [email protected] or visit TalesByRALee.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When I was younger, I would read fiction books with desperate fictional people trapped in desperate fictional lives and wonder, Why don't they just leave and find a better life? That thought has followed me into life, as each day another page is written down in permanent ink. Jobs that pay the bills but suck the soul, family drama, relationships filled with love and compromise, they are all added to the book and cannot be changed. So we pick up a book, we read, we understand. Why don't they just leave and find a better life? The only life you can lead is your own. Tomorrow has not been written yet, there is just an outline. May we realize that before the answer to that question is, "They didn't know they were trapped." (Boring facts about the author - Aspiring novelist and published news and feature writer living in the western part of the United States.)
Other eBook Titles by R. A. Lee
The “Desert Town Angels” Trilogy
“Desert Town Angels”
PART ONE “The Last Will and Testament of Howard Thornbon”
The patriarch of Golden Peaks is dead. The fate of the desert town is in jeopardy as the residents fear Howard Thornbon’s daughter will sell the dying town and displace them.
But when Howard’s Last Will and Testament is read, everyone is distressed when a stranger is announced as the person chosen to carry out his final wishes.
As drastic changes are made in the town, the full fury of Sheri, Howard’s daughter, is unleashed.
When the mysterious stranger is introduced, Golden Peaks Property Manager Ryan Camden realizes Sheri has met her match in the person Howard has chosen to inherit Golden Peaks.
As Sheri and the stranger clash over who is the rightful owner of the desolate desert town, Golden Peaks Property Manager Ryan Camden attempts to keep them from destroying Golden Peaks and each other.
“Desert Town Angels”
PART TWO “The Kin of Ms. Honey Hallowell”
“No!” Sheri shouted as the table shook with her pounding fist. “This is my place!”
“Are you so sure?” Van taunted. “Are you sure you are his daughter?”
“She is,” Nelson snapped and they both sat back. “She is. Sheri is legally Howard’s daughter.”
“Legally?” the lawyer said, sensing the meaning of the descriptive word.
The will of Howard Thornbon has been read and the kin of Ms. Honey Hallowell, a woman named Van, has taken over the town of Golden Peaks.
Moving into the old hotel, the mysterious Van invites the residents to dinner to introduce herself. Then, Ryan learns that the fate of the town is still in limbo.
Time is ticking. Howard has stipulated Van must remain in the town thirty days before taking full ownership, otherwise the property reverts to his daughter, who will do everything in her power to take back her birthright.
Thirty days to decide the fate of Golden Peaks. Thirty days to learn why Howard left Golden Peaks to the kin of Ms. Honey Hallowell.
Thirty days before a secret is revealed changing all of their lives forever.
“Desert Town Angels”
PART THREE “The Final Showdown in Golden Peaks”
“They want to discuss some DNA results with us,” Ryan said as he hung up the phone later that night.
“They already gave them to us,” Van whispered horrified.
“The lawyer says he’ll meet us in Hamptonville,” Ryan said as he hugged her tight.
The only thought holding her together was, “Please, don’t let this all be a lie.”
The secrets have been revealed. With the fate of Golden Peaks no longer in limbo, Van and Ryan are free to engage in their own pursuits beyond the desert town.
Van attempts to come to terms with her role in Golden Peaks, and Ryan is ready to reconcile with his past and his parents.
As more strangers reveal the ongoing saga involving the residents of Golden Peaks, Van has learned to adapt to everything about her new life except her feelings for Ryan.
A visitor looking for Nelson unleashes the memory of how the octogenarian ended up in Golden Peaks. Grace’s condition worsens and Van turns to an unlikely adversary to find the dying woman’s grandson.
Before her first year in Golden Peaks has passed, Van makes a decision with Ryan that goes against her core beliefs.
The struggle for control of Golden Peaks continues.
Van prepares for one last showdown with Sheri.
But in the second year, it may be something under the soil that will decide Van’s future in Golden Peaks.
Saving the town she inherited becomes a mission that may cost Van more than the desolate town is worth.
Other eBook Titles by R. A. Lee
"The Fountain of Truth: A Novel" By R. A. Lee
“Build us a town in which we can live, build us a church in which we can marry, build us a house in which we can raise a family and I will come back to marry you.”
Tim Jaskin has no time for sentimental notions even when it comes to his own family. The old town his family reputedly established generations earlier is on the brink of being demolished by eminent domain. Although he doesn’t side with the city, his grandmother implores him to help the family preserve the fountain in Fountain Way for future generations.
The only evidence Tim has is a tale his family has told for generations about how his great-great-great-great-grandparents met at a fountain, the origin of Trader Fountain. A historian only interested in facts, Tim needs more than just sentimentality to obtain historical status for Fountain Way.
Cherish Tiswell is heading cross-country to be with her fiancé. Unable to maintain the family business through a dire economic cycle, Cherish has given up her family home when her late parents’ medical bills make it impossible for her to keep up with the mortgage. Her only ties to family now rest in her future marriage to her fiancé. Lost on a country road looking for the Interstate onramp, Cherish stumbles on the fountain and finds herself in the middle of a family feud to protect a heritage threatened by a complacent heir.
Cherish teaches Tim a valuable lesson in the value of family, and it’s up to Tim to decide if his legacy is compelling enough to preserve even without the proof he needs to believe the family tale is true. (Adult contemporary romance)
"The Beauty at the Bus Stop: A Novel” By R. A. Lee
Slinking toward them in the heavy, congested traffic was a city bus, and Evan was filled with a sense of urgency.
What could he say to make her not get on that bus?
Laid off from his bank job, Mountain Wood, Colorado, native Evan Hillaway takes a risk and accepts an offer from his cousin to work for a friend in Los Angeles. Within days of arriving, Evan sees a woman at a bus stop and instantly falls in love.
Ashley Cooper is also a small-town girl who has been laid off and looking for a way to meet her financial needs. The only difference is that her “small town” is the Westside of Los Angeles. Through a series of fortunate events, Evan meets the woman but soon learns she’s looking for someone with more financial security than Evan can provide.
With lov
e on the line, Evan risks everything just to prove to her that they belong together. Now it’s up to Ashley to decide if love is enough to take their relationship to the end of the line. (Adult contemporary romance)
“My Vegas Valentine” A Novella By R. A. Lee
There is a code between sisters: Thou shall not be intimate with a guy your sister dumps, not without her permission. Faith lives in the shadow of her more glamorous twin, but on a trip to Vegas she bumps into a man she takes for her sister's ex-lover and debates breaking that code when she inadvertently spends Valentine's Day with him after dumping her cheating boyfriend.
Arriving on a commercial flight, Faith's adventure takes her on a local's tour of Vegas and a stay in a private Villa before she boards a private jet home to get away from her Vegas experience and back to her normal small town life.
When co-workers learn of her exploits from her ex-boyfriend, a co-worker who trashes her reputation, they refer to the stranger as Faith's "Vegas Valentine."
Realizing that she's been settling, Faith begins an adventure that takes her from the comfort of her carefully planned life and into the arms of a stranger who may break her small town heart, but for whom her heart beats. "My Vegas Valentine"
For details, www.TalesByRALee.com
