Without Boundaries (the Without series)

by CJ Azevedo

  Please go over to the pond.

  So I do as I am told and on the way over I try to figure out what he’s doing all of this for. It seems too elaborate for a simple day of adventure, but this is Talon we’re talking about. He does nothing less than amazing.

  I pull up to the pond and see Tucker. Tucker is smiling as big as Garret had been.

  “I’m guessing you’re not allowed to speak to me either?” He just shakes his head one time and hands me another note.

  To My Gorgeous Bay,

  When you told me that this is the place you came to think, I knew it was special to you. I can see you sunbathing out here and relaxing or listening to Tucker play his guitar. I can also see where you learned of your love for whiskey. This place is a part of you and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate spot than this to give you your next surprise.

  Tucker holds out another box in the same way that Garret did and opens the top to show a pair of diamond stud earrings. This is getting ridiculous! I think to myself since Tucker won’t respond anyway. The diamonds are sparkling like glitter, they are incredible. I take them out and put them in my ears, feeling the weight of them tugging on my lobes.

  I kiss Tucker on the cheek and thank him before he hands me another note.

  Next stop is the horse pasture.

  Blaine is sitting on the fence when I pull up. He is the most excited to see me. He doesn’t say a word either, but he jumps off the fence and runs to me before picking me up and spinning me. He kisses me on the cheek then sets me back down. He hands me a note.

  My love,

  This pasture holds a lot of firsts for you and helped make you the person you are today. I will never look out here and just see horses. I will see a little Bailey learning to ride. I will see where you fell off your horse for the first and last time. I will see where you shoveled horse manure as a punishment when you woke up with a hangover on your seventeenth birthday. Haha! That one is still my favorite. When I look at this pasture I will see remnants of a past of the love of my life.

  Once again the tears fall freely. Blaine scoops me up into a hug and holds me for a minute while I get the rest of the tears out. He pulls back and holds out a long black box and flips it open. It’s a tennis bracelet. And like the past two gifts, these diamonds glitter in the sun. There are so many diamonds on it that it’s almost blinding.

  “This has to be the world’s most expensive daytime adventure,” I say to Blaine as I sniffle and he just laughs. He silently clasps the gorgeous and very heavy bracelet around my left wrist.

  “So where to now?” I ask Blaine and he hands me a note.

  Bailey,

  You are now heading to the last stop of the adventure and I will be seeing you soon. I know this next spot is extremely important to you so I had to make it your final stop. Please go to your spot under the oak trees. I love you more than words or even diamonds could ever express, but I’ll never stop the effort of proving it to you. I promise.

  I don’t want to put too much hope into this but I can only come up with one reason why he would have gone to all of this trouble today, and now I’m getting shaky. I’m not scared or nervous, just super excited.

  Blaine hugs and kisses me one more time before he runs and jumps on his gator and takes off. I walk back to my cart and head over to the trees. I have folded all of his notes to me and stuck them in the cubby on the front dash, now I’m happy I did that, because it’s looking like this day is going to go down in the books!

  The oak trees are all the way on the back side of the property and with me being in a golf cart instead of a gator it’s going to take several minutes before I get there.

  I take the time to think about my life with Talon. I never thought I would ever love someone so passionately. I literally feel like I wouldn’t be able to breathe if he were taken from me. The thought alone freaks me out. He has replaced Drea as my best friend, although I would never tell her that. He is my rock to cling to throughout the storms of life. Talon makes me a type of happy I didn’t realize existed before him.

  My thoughts are broken up as I see everyone standing in my spot underneath my trees. They are all here.

  My dad, Cheyenne, Daniel, and their kids. Blaine, Garret, Tucker, and their parents. Drea, Kali, Hunter, Alan, and Talon’s parents. Even Declan made it. This is really happening! I slowly walk out to where they are standing and all of the women are silently shedding tears as they smile at me. They are all dressed so nice, too nice to be out in the middle of nowhere. I still feel overdressed though now that I am drenched in large diamonds.

  Everyone is looking at me but no one is saying a word to me. They are all in a semi-circle. When I look down to see what they are surrounding I almost lose my ability to breathe. It’s the blanket my mom would pack for our picnic and the picnic basket sitting it in the corner. Now I’m practically bawling like a baby. When I lift I my eyes I see the world’s most beautiful man walking towards me.

  Talon comes all the way up to me and holds me tight in his arms. He rubs my back and I begin to calm down a bit.

  “I see you received your gifts,” he whispers in my ear.

  I nod my head. “It’s too much baby; you didn’t need to do this.”

  “You deserve every bit and more. You may as well get used to it because I will never stop showering you with beautiful things, my love.” He kisses me so softly and gently before wiping away the tears on my cheeks. “Come with me.”

  Talon guides me over to the blanket and stands me where I’m facing our family and friends. I offer them a quick smile but my sight goes immediately back to Talon when I see him getting down on one knee.

  My hands are shaking terribly as he reaches for my left hand. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. Talon is as cool as a cucumber and laughs at my miserable attempt to calm down.

  He kisses my hand before he starts with his lovely words. “Bailey.” His smile could heal any illness all on its own. “I knew the second you crashed into me that I belonged to you. I never knew that my heart was missing a piece until you told me you loved me, but the instant those words hit my ears, that missing piece was filled and I have never been happier.” I don’t know if it’s proper etiquette to interrupt during a proposal or not but I can’t stand here without kissing him any longer. So I lean down and give him a soft sensual kiss before standing back where he put me. He laughs again along with everyone else standing around us. “You will forever be my number one priority in life. I promise to always keep our relationship new and exciting and never go a day without ensuring you know how deep my love is for you. Baby, you are my everything, my world; and I will love you for all of eternity. Bailey Hayes, will you please marry me so I can call you my wife for the rest of the days of forever?”

  Never, in all my life, have I been so overwhelmed and overjoyed. I want to jump up and down, so I sort of do. My feet never really leave the ground but I bounce up and down like a little girl and I don’t care one bit. The man who owns my heart just asked me to marry him and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. “YES!! Yes, I will marry you and be your wife forever, Talon McAllister!”

  Everyone is clapping, laughing, crying, and congratulating us as Talon slips yet another diamond onto my ring finger. The boy apparently loves diamonds and he is amazing at picking them out. This ring is unbelievable and it is mine to wear every single day for the rest of my life.

  We walk first to my dad and he hugs us both while the tears of my big strong cowboy of a father stream down his face. He passes us off to my sister, and then we just go around the circle and hug and kiss and thank all of the most important people in our lives. When we reach the end of the semi-circle everyone starts heading to my dad’s house and Talon jumps in the driver’s seat of one of the gators after loading up the quilt and picnic basket.

  “I have one more surprise for you my wife to-be.”

  I gasp in shock, because seriously, what else on God’s green earth could he surprise me with now? “You’re kidding, ri
ght? Babe, if you put one more diamond on me my legs won’t be strong enough to hold me up!”

  Talon laughs and grabs my hand to kiss the finger that is newly adorned with my engagement ring! “No more diamonds, not today anyway. This surprise is something entirely different. In fact we should probably get your blindfold on now.” My emotions must have played out perfectly across my face because Talon laughs hard then tells me I still have to play by his rules. Fair enough.

  I wrap the silk blindfold around my face and secure it against my eyes. Talon picks up my hand again as soon as I drop them back in my lap. Approximately five more minutes and I imagine we have to be at the edge of my dad’s property when Talon parks the golf-cart and tugs my hand to pull me off the seat. Once he has me standing steadily I can feel his hot breath against my lips before I feel his lips actually touch mine.

  “All of the best days of my life involve you, my love. Today by far tops that list. You have made me the happiest human being to ever live. Thank you. Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Thank you for being you.” He kisses me one more time and I just can't stop smiling. “I love you so much. Are you ready for your final surprise of the day?”

  “Yes! Please, I feel like I'm not going to be able stand it much longer.”

  “Alright then, let’s remove the blindfold.”

  When that blindfold drops loosely around my neck, my bottom jaw drops unattractively quick and I'm pretty sure some smacking sounds came along with my unhinged jaw. But, what I'm looking at is unreal. I can't speak, I can barely breath. I'm not looking at Talon but I can feel him looking at me instead of the incredible sight that sits before my eyes.

  Before me is the most beautiful Victorian home. I recognize it, although it doesn’t look the same as it did the last time. The last time I saw it, it sat out in a deserted field just a few miles from my father’s place. Shy and the boys and I used to hang out in it as kids, and claim that it was haunted. But now, this beautiful home sits on my dad’s property and is completely refinished.

  I don’t move towards it but I can't stop looking at it either, so Talon offers an explanation after a quick squeeze of my hand. “Last year after I learned that you wanted at least a part-time place of our own here I mentioned it to Blaine. He didn’t even hesitate to tell me that I had to get this specific house for you. He said you had always loved it and would tell him what you would to do it if it were yours. So he made the necessary phone calls. Turns out the owner had wanted it gone for a long time but didn’t have the means to demolish it, so he gave it to us. I called your dad and before I could even finish telling him of my plan he told me exactly where we would move it to on his property. He sectioned off a couple acres and as soon as you sign your name you will be the proud owner of this beauty and two acres of your dad’s property.”

  “But it's so beautiful. I mean it looks like the same house from my memories but different.”

  “Your dad and the guys completely refinished it. Between Blaine and Shy I think they probably came pretty close to the vision you had for the place. I wouldn’t let them do any interior painting, thought you might have fun with that,” he says with a smile and a wink.

  “So does this mean you want to live here full time? This is way more than the small vacation home I had in mind Talon.”

  “This means whatever you want it to mean. We’re close enough to San Francisco that I can open up another office out here which would be great for business and you can definitely get work out here. You already have Declan.” He pulls my hand and leads me up the stone paved walkway to our home. “Or we can keep living our lives in New York and come here whenever we want. We can leave it up in the air and make a decision another day. We don’t have to decide anything today love.”

  “Talon McAllister, you are a dream come true. I love you, this day is unbelievable. I’ll give you as many babies as you want just as soon as we are married!”

  Talon and I laugh and cry and hug inside the foyer to our new home and there is nowhere else I will ever want to be other than in the arms of the man who loves me without boundaries.

  The End

  Heartfelt Thanks!

  My sister Deven, you have been along this journey with me from the start. You were the one who told me to just do it because I was going to love it, you were right; I loved every second of it. You are my go-to girl for everything bookish and I love that I have you for that! Our late night chat sessions are memorable to say the least, especially when you speak your Pork-N-Cheese. You are a true Rock Star and I owe you big time for the formatting, beta reading, frustration sounding board and all the other jobs you so graciously accepted! I love you Sister!!

  To my very young, extremely fabulous Fairy Godmother: Jennifer Diaz, Because of you I had the courage to follow through with the publishing of Without Boundaries. You took a chance and beta-read for me, and that’s all it took to build a great new friendship. You have opened so many doors for me in this wonderful Indie world and I am so very grateful to you! I promise, your coffee, chocolate and new car are in the mail!

  Many many thanks to those of you who read and reviewed Without Boundaries, I appreciate you taking the time and giving such thoughtful reviews! You all are amazing! Also, to the blogs that did interview’s and promotions, I thank you!

  And finally to my very patient Husband, thank you my love for giving me the time to put my thoughts down on paper and create this beautiful story without a couple kids jumping on my back and punching the keyboard. You let me hide away and do my thing, I love you for that and for so many other reasons!

  About Author

  CJ has lived all over the state of California, Central, South, North and finally landing back somewhere in the middle. She married the boy she fell for when she was only eleven years old and together they have two beautiful heathens. CJ obviously loves to read and write. She can watch the Giant’s play baseball but hates football. She bakes when she’s sad, runs when she’s mad and dances when she’s happy (even if she cant find a rhythm to save her life) If you’re looking for her and can’t seem to find her, look on the staircase, it’s her favorite spot to read.

  You can find CJ Azevedo at the following:

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