FOREVER SERIES: COMPLETE BOX SET

by Lynn, Sandi

  “I don’t want to ruin your sweatshirt,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s only water.”

  “Here,” she said as she took the sweatshirt from my hand and wiped my face with it and then set it down.

  Her bare hand touched the side of my face as she looked into my eyes. I softly smiled as I placed my hand on hers and leaned in closer, our lips almost touching. My damn phone rang. I sighed as I apologized to her and pulled it from my pocket. It was Hailey. Why the fuck was she calling me? I hit ignore and looked at Amelia.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Wrong number,” I said as I started the Range Rover and pulled out of Nick and Toni’s.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about Hailey’s phone call as I drove Amelia back to her place.

  “Thank you, Collin, for a wonderful day. I appreciate it.”

  “I’m just going to run home and change out of these wet clothes and then I’m coming back to help you like I promised.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yes. Did you think I was lying?”

  “No. But you just seemed really distracted after your phone rang.”

  “Nah. Everything’s good and I’ll be back soon.” I smiled.

  “Okay. I’ll see you in a while.”

  I watched her run to the door as the rain continued to fall. I pulled out of her driveway and drove down the street to my house.

  “You’re soaked!” my mom said as I walked in.

  “I know. That’s why I’m home to change clothes.”

  “Well hurry up and go change. I don’t want you catching a cold,” my mom said. “Then come back down. I want to hear all about Amelia.”

  “Sorry, Mom. I don’t have time. I’m helping her with her things. I’ll tell you both about it later. Dad, are you and mom going back to the city tonight?”

  “Yes and you better be as well. You have to be in the office in the morning.”

  “I will be. Don’t worry,” I said as I ran up the stairs and changed out of my wet clothes.

  Once I was dry, I ran back down the stairs and told my mom and dad what Murray from the ranch had said. They both smiled and said they may head up there later. I kissed my mom on the cheek and drove back to Amelia’s house. When I opened the door, she was walking down the stairs carrying a large box.

  “Why didn’t you wait for me?” I asked as I took the box from her.

  “It was the only one left upstairs, so I figured I’d just bring it down.”

  I set the box on the floor in the hallway against all the others. “What are you doing with all these boxes?”

  “The realtor is calling Goodwill to come and take them.”

  “There’s nothing in any of them you want?” I asked.

  “No. I went through everything before I packed it all up. I really need this house to sell. I’m running out of money quickly. When my parents died, there wasn’t a will or trust or anything so all of this, and all of their accounts went into probate. By time my father’s debt was paid off, this house was all that was left. Apparently, my parents were in some financial trouble. Anyway, this house is going up for sale tomorrow morning and now I just have to wait for someone to buy it,” she said with her hands up.

  “Real Estate can be tricky. If you get an offer, have either me or my dad look it over. I don’t want you getting screwed,” I said.

  “Thanks. But I won’t get screwed. I have a very good agent.”

  I walked over and clasped her shoulders. “Just be smart.”

  She looked at me and cocked her head, narrowing her eyebrows. “Are you saying that I’m not smart?”

  Oh shit. “No, that’s not what I meant. I think you’re very smart, but there are a lot of people out in the world that like to take advantage of others. Now, tell me what needs to be done still.”

  “Umm. Nothing,” she said as she turned away from me.

  “What do you mean nothing? You said earlier that you had way too much to do and that’s why you didn’t want to go out.”

  “Yeah, well, I was just saying that because I was trying to get out of going out with you.”

  “Oh,” I said as I frowned.

  “I’m sorry, Collin. But I’m glad I chose to go because I had a really good time.”

  My frown turned into a smile when Amelia said she had a good time. I looked out the window and noticed the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.

  “Hey, would you like to go and grab some coffee? We can walk to the Starbucks that’s around the corner. The rain stopped and the sun is out.”

  “Sure,” she said as she put on her shoes and we walked out the door.

  Chapter 15

  We took our coffees from the counter and sat down at a table in the corner. The past couple of days had been the happiest I’d had in a long time. I really liked Amelia and I wished we had more time to spend.

  “You never told me what you’re studying at NYU,” I said.

  “I’m studying to be a nurse. I start my clinicals one week from tomorrow at Mount Sanai Hospital.”

  “That’s great, Amelia. Nursing is a good field to get into.”

  “My dad always said that I’d make a great nurse. I remember when I was a little girl, I’d ask him if he could pretend that he broke his arm or cut himself just so I could bandage him up. I’ve always been interested in taking care of and helping people.”

  She was starting to open up to me and I really enjoyed it. The softness in her voice was sweet and she had a gentle way about her. The feelings that I had fought for so long were starting to emerge and that only meant one thing: heartache. I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss we almost shared in the car earlier in the day. I kept replaying that moment in my head and if Hailey wouldn’t have called, it would’ve happened. Damn her.

  “So you go back to New York tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I start classes the day after tomorrow. How about you?”

  “Yep. I have to be at the office tomorrow morning.”

  Suddenly, something hit me. “I didn’t see your car. How did you get here?”

  “I took the bus,” she said.

  “You can drive with me back to the city tomorrow morning.” I smiled.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. There’s no need for you to waste your money on bus fare.”

  “Thank you, Collin. I owe you one.”

  We finished our coffee and took a walk back to her house. I didn’t want to go but I also didn’t want to over welcome my stay. “Well, I guess I better get back to my house. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning around seven.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be ready.” She smiled.

  I turned around and walked out the door. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  “Thanks. You too,” she said.

  I climbed in the Range Rover and drove back to my house. My mom and dad weren’t home, so I assumed they probably headed to the ranch to visit Murray. I pulled out my phone and noticed there was a text message from Hailey.

  “Hey. I tried to call you but you didn’t answer. I was just wondering how you’re doing.”

  Why all of a sudden did she care? Every time I had called her, she blew me off or told me to move on. I set my phone down on the counter without responding to her. The last thing I needed was her stirring things up inside me. I was moving on with my life. A life without her in it and that’s exactly how I wanted it. I lay down on my bed and scrolled through my pictures. When Amelia and I went horseback riding, I took a picture of us on Majestic. I smiled when I saw her smile. It was pretty. It sort of reminded me of my mom’s. I decided to call Julia.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hey, sis. How are you?”

  “I’m good, Collin. The question is how are you?”

  “I think I’m in trouble,” I said.

  “What now? What did you do?”

  “I went and met a girl and I think I’m seriously falling for her.”
/>   I heard her laugh. “How is that being in trouble? I think it’s great.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I don’t want to go through that again, Julia.”

  “Listen to me, Collin. It’s time for you to move on and apparently you have. This girl obviously has something special if you like her. Just go with it. If it was meant to be, it will be. Love will find its way to you. It can’t be helped, and it can’t be stopped. Now stop being a baby and let things happen naturally.”

  I rolled my eyes at her last comment. “I have to go. I think I hear mom and dad.”

  “I’ll see you at the office tomorrow,” little brother.

  “Bye, Julia.”

  The truth was I didn’t want to think about Amelia anymore. I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap.

  * * *

  I awoke to the sound of my phone beeping. I looked at the clock and I’d been asleep for over two hours. I picked up my phone and there was a text message from Amelia.

  “Hi, it’s Amelia. I’m going to take a walk on the beach and thought maybe if you weren’t doing anything, you liked to join me. I’ll walk past your house. If you want to join me, be on the beach. Just not where I can trip over you. Don’t reply back.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her message. I wondered why she didn’t want me to reply back. I thought that was strange. I got up, fixed my hair and went down to the beach. I couldn’t believe she actually asked me to join her on her walk. It didn’t matter. I was happy that she did. I sat in the sand and watched the waves lap against the shore as I waited for Amelia. I turned my head and smiled when I saw her in the distance. My heart picked up its pace, and for some reason, nerves started to set in. As she walked closer to me, I got up and met her. She had a beautiful smile on her face.

  “I wasn’t sure if you got my text,” she said.

  “You told me not to reply.”

  She laughed and we both walked along the shoreline.

  “Thanks for joining me.”

  “Thanks for asking.” I smiled.

  As we were walking, she looked down at the sand. I so badly wanted to hold her hand, but I didn’t want to cross any lines. The sun had already set, and darkness was starting to settle upon the water. She talked to me a little bit about NYU and I told her about my experiences at Columbia.

  “I have an idea. Why don’t we go back to my house and build a bonfire? We can roast marshmallows.”

  “Can we make s’mores?” she asked with a grin.

  “You bet. I’ll have to see if we have the stuff, but I’m pretty sure we do.”

  “If not, we can run to the store and buy them.”

  We walked back to the house and into the kitchen to look for the chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows. We didn’t have any graham crackers. Shit.

  “Hold on,” I said as I pulled out my phone.

  “Are you on your way home?” I texted my mom.

  “Yes, we’ll be home in about five minutes. Why?”

  “Could you and Dad stop at the store and pick up a box of graham crackers? Amelia and I want to make s’mores, but we don’t have any crackers.”

  “Of course we will sweetheart. How fun!”

  Oh God. I sure hoped she didn’t think she was joining us.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Problem solved. My parents are on their way home and they’re stopping at the store to pick up the graham crackers.”

  “Your parents seem really amazing.” Amelia smiled.

  “They are. You’ll really like them. While we’re waiting, let’s go get that bonfire started.”

  We walked back down to the beach where my dad had put in a fire pit years ago. Memories of Hailey and I sitting by the bonfire began to flood my mind. The only difference was, this time, I didn’t care and it didn’t bother me. Once I got the fire going, I ran into the house and got the skewers and the marshmallows. I handed Amelia one and we both put them over the fire.

  “I haven’t done this in years.” She smiled as she looked at me.

  “It’s fun and it’s nice to share it someone.”

  I decided that I was going to ask about the picture I saw of her and her boyfriend. I needed to know her story and I’d hoped that I wasn’t crossing the line.

  “When I was at your house earlier, I saw a picture on the table of you and a guy. Was that your boyfriend?”

  “I don’t talk about him,” she said as she looked away.

  “Our situations are different with the ones we lost, but my girlfriend of six years left me to study fashion in Italy.”

  “Totally different situations, Collin. You can’t even compare the two,” she said as she went to get up.

  I took a hold of her wrist. “Don’t leave. I just asked a question. A simple yes or no would have been fine.”

  She sat back down and stared at me before speaking. “Yes, he was my boyfriend.”

  “I’m sorry about the accident, Amelia.”

  “Me too,” she said.

  We sat there in silence for a few minutes until I heard my mom and dad walking towards us.

  “Here you go, son. One box of graham crackers. Hello, Amelia. It’s good to see you again.” My dad smiled.

  “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Black. It’s good to see you too.”

  “Please, call us Connor and Ellery,” my mom spoke.

  “Would you like to join us?” Amelia asked.

  Oh my God, I couldn’t believe she just invited my parents to sit down. I looked at them and gave them the look.

  “As much as we’d love to Amelia, Ellery and I are heading back to the city now.”

  “You’re leaving?” I asked.

  “Yes. We thought it was best to head back tonight. Don’t forget to lock up when you leave in the morning. I can expect you in the office around eight?” he asked.

  “No. I’ll be late. I’ve offered to drive Amelia back to NYU, so she doesn’t have to take the bus. We’re leaving at seven.”

  “Ah, okay then. I’ll see you when you get there. Come straight to my office because we have to go over the proposal for the new building for Tricho Enterprises.”

  “I know, Dad, and I’ll be there.”

  “So you attend NYU?” my mom asked with a smile as she sat down.

  My dad lightly grabbed her arm and helped her up. “Come on, baby, leave them alone. You can talk to Amelia another time. I really want to get on the road.”

  “Oh, fine, Connor,” she said with irritation. “It was nice to see you again, Amelia. You’ll have to have dinner with us at the penthouse sometime.”

  “Thank you, Ellery, and it was good to see you too.”

  My dad winked at me as he and mom turned around and headed back to the house. I could tell I upset Amelia by asking about her boyfriend. That wasn’t my intention. I just wish she’d open up to me. I decided to tell her about Hailey. I didn’t know if it was such a good idea, but I was willing to take the chance. I put two marshmallows on my skewer and held it over the fire.

  “My ex-girlfriend, Hailey and I had known each other since we were babies. My mom and her mom are best friends. We started dating each other when we were around sixteen and things became pretty serious. We both graduated from Columbia and she was offered an internship in Italy to study fashion. I was cool with that because I believed that our love was strong enough to withstand the long-distance relationship. She didn’t. She came to me one day before she left and told me that we weren’t meant to be and that long-distance relationships don’t work. She said she was sorry, but it was time for her to move on and focus on her studies. She left two days earlier than planned and without as much as a goodbye.”

  “That was really shitty of her to do that to you,” she said.

  “Yeah, it was really shitty. Wasn’t it?” I asked.

  “You must’ve been devastated.”

  “I was. I resorted to partying almost every night. I drank way too much alcohol and I—”

  I stopped what I was about to say be
cause I didn’t want Amelia thinking poorly of me.

  “You slept with a lot of women, right?” she asked.

  I looked down in shame and I lightly nodded my head. She put her hand on mine. I was shocked, but I welcomed it.

  “Everybody handles their broken heart in their own way. It sounds like you tried to forget it, and I just shut everyone out of my life because I didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “Sometimes you have to talk about the things that hurt us most in order to find some sense of peace.”

  She tilted her head and smiled at me. “I don’t like that you said that, but I know you’re right.”

  I smiled as I handed her two graham crackers and some chocolate. “Your marshmallows are done.”

  She made her s’more and when she bit down into it, some chocolate got on her cheek. I leaned over and took my thumb and wiped it away. She instantly brought her hand up to mine.

  “Sorry. You had some chocolate there.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  I removed my hand and told her that I’d be right back. I went into the house, grabbed a few napkins, a couple of glasses and a bottle of wine. When I went back down to the beach. Amelia had gotten up and was leaving.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry, Collin. I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Amelia, wait!” I exclaimed as I set down the glasses and wine.

  She kept walking and I caught up with her. I stood in front of her and lightly took a hold of her arms.

  “What did I do? What did I say? Please don’t go yet.”

  “You didn’t say or do anything, Collin. I just can’t do this with you. I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed me aside and continued walking.

  “Damn it, Amelia! I deserve an explanation!”

  She stopped walking and stood there for a second. Suddenly, she turned around. “You want an explanation? Fine, I’ll give you an explanation. I’ve known you now for two days. Only two days and I already feel guilty for spending time with you and having fun. I feel guilty because I should have been the one who died in that accident. Not my parents, not my sister, and certainly not Billy,” she yelled. “I don’t deserve to have fun or be happy!”