by Kaylea Cross
“Hey, girlfriend,” Molly said, stepping forward to pull her into a fierce hug. “So glad to see you out and about.”
“You too.” She held Molly tight, her heart aching for her friend. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been there for you this past week. I promise I—”
“Hush your mouth,” Molly chided gently, giving her one last squeeze before releasing her with a smile that was full of inner strength. “I’m glad to be here. I know how much your home means to you, and we’re gonna fix it up until it’s perfect for you.” She glanced around, raised her voice. “Isn’t that right, y’all?”
A cheer rose up from the crowd.
“Quit hogging her,” Sierra said, gently bumping Molly aside. She set her hands on Poppy’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’re not letting Molly do much of anything. You look fantastic. Glad to see my brother’s been taking care of you.”
She flushed, she couldn’t help it. “He’s been amazing.” Without him, she wasn’t sure she could have gotten through the past week-and-a-half.
“Good. Now, what is everybody standing around for? Let’s do this.” She turned to Beckett. “Okay, honey, do your thing.”
“I love it when you let me think I’m the one in charge,” he said. Shooting Poppy a wry grin, he immediately set about ordering everyone into various positions.
Poppy stood there in awe, Noah’s arm around her as they watched the good citizens of Crimson Point rush around her yard like a swarm of worker bees. They must have rehearsed this, or at least gone over the plan beforehand, because from where she stood it looked like a finely choreographed dance. One group of people rushed past with shovels and wheelbarrows full of soil, while others carried plants and pots around.
The sound of shovels sliding deep into the earth made her heart rate jack up.
She fought off the dark memories as they tried to overwhelm her, those terrifying moments when she’d first been trapped in the coffin and forced to listen to Paul backfilling the hole.
Stop. Breathe. You’re okay.
Noah pulled her closer. “Poppy?” His deep voice was full of concern.
She shook her head, forcing her constricted lungs to open. She was fine. Paul was gone, would never hurt or terrorize anyone ever again. She was free, standing in the warm sunshine in her own yard, and Noah was beside her. With him at her side, nothing could ever hurt her again. “I’m fine. Just overcome.”
“Good overcome?”
Looking up at him to stare into those deep blue eyes, she fell in love with him all over again. He was nothing like what she’d always imagined all men to be. He was her hero, and he also held her heart in his big, capable hands. “So good,” she whispered, more tears pricking her eyes. She loved him so damn much.
He grinned and bent to kiss her lips gently. “Good. I told everyone you and Molly are both forbidden from doing any of the work, but you’re allowed final say over everything.”
“I dunno, Beckett doesn’t look like he needs any input from me.”
“That’s because he gets off on bossing other people around,” Jase said as he passed by with a huge cobalt blue-glazed pot in his hands. The muscles in his arms stood out as he struggled to carry its weight, sweat beading his brow. “Especially me. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
Poppy grinned and smothered a chuckle, then gasped when she saw the line of people coming along the fence between her and Noah’s property carrying plants.
And not just any plants.
“Sunflowers,” she cried.
“So many sunflowers,” Noah agreed. Dozens and dozens of them, their tall green stalks holding large flower heads that were just beginning to open, revealing their golden-yellow petals that would follow the path of the sun in her yard. “I wanted you to feel at home.”
The nostalgia was too much. She shook her head at him, overwhelmed with love for this incredible man. “I can’t believe you did all this.” He’d refused to let her pay for the backhoe work.
He shrugged. “I didn’t do much.”
“Did you know that sunflowers are the symbol of faith, loyalty and adoration?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “No. Are they? No wonder that nickname fits you so well.”
She was touched that everyone had come out to help and support her in such a meaningful way, but it made her insane to stand around and do nothing. “I have to do something.”
“Yeah, I figured this would drive you nuts. That’s why I thought we should go take care of the refreshments for everyone.”
Poppy beamed at him. “Yes! That’s perfect.”
“I know.” Chuckling, he snagged her hand and led her back to his place.
He drove them straight to Whale’s Tale where he helped her put together trays of sandwiches and baking, and squeezed enough lemons to make vats and vats of homemade lemonade. Only when Poppy deemed it was enough did he help her pack everything up and take it back to her place.
By the time they arrived, most of the backyard had been transformed. Beckett, Jase and Aidan had put up a cedar arbor to frame the back garden gate, and Sierra and Molly were busy planting climbing vines on either side.
Together she and Noah wandered around the property passing out the food and cups of lemonade. Seeing everyone here and working so hard filled Poppy with gratitude until she feared her heart might burst.
When things slowed down a little, she had to say something to everyone. She hopped up onto an upturned crate and signaled to Noah, who stuck two fingers into his mouth and let out a shrill whistle.
Everyone stopped and turned toward them.
Poppy took a deep breath. “I want to thank each and every one of you for coming here today. I’m beyond touched, and it means more to me than you will ever know. I came here to Crimson Point hoping for a fresh start, hoping to find a place where I could fit in and put down roots. And I hoped I might make a friend or two someday as well.” She looked at Sierra and Molly, then settled her gaze on Noah.
He was smiling up at her, his arm around his sister’s shoulders, and the pride in his eyes as he watched her filled her heart to bursting. Oh, shit, she was going to cry.
She swallowed hard, once, twice, and found her voice again. “I never expected to find love, or this sense of community.” She tore her gaze from Noah and swept it across the small crowd, placing a hand on her chest. “Moving here was the best decision I’ve ever made. So thank you. Thank you for everything, from the bottom of my heart.” She bowed slightly.
Whistles and cheers erupted, Noah’s the loudest.
She hopped down from the crate, wiping the heels of her hands over her damp cheeks. Noah came toward her, and everything else seemed to fade away. There was nothing but him, and the love shining in his eyes. Her heart began to pound.
She went into his arms, groaning when they wound around her and locked tight.
“So proud of you, sunflower,” he murmured into her hair.
“Thank you. And I love you.”
“Love you too, but I don’t want you to move back into your place.”
She eased back a little to see his face, drinking him in. “I’m really attached to my house.”
His lips twitched. “I know.”
“But I’m way more attached to you.”
His face lit up. “Yeah?” He set his big hands on her hips. “Then what if I were to move to the other side of the fence too?”
His offer surprised her. The cautious part of her told her it was too soon, especially on the heels of the trauma she’d suffered.
Poppy rejected that voice outright. She’d almost died. She wanted a life with Noah and she was going for it. “You would do that?”
His hands tightened possessively, sending a little thrill through her. “I would love to do that. Because you’re my sunflower, and no one else’s.”
That was so incredibly romantic. “So you’ll move in with me? Really?”
“I’ll go home and start packing right now.” She laughed and he turned her, draping a prote
ctive arm around her shoulders.
Poppy smiled as she gazed around her yard, a sense of excitement and peace filling her. In a matter of hours they had transformed her entire yard, front, back and side, wiping any and all traces that Paul had ever set foot in it.
And the best part?
She was the only poppy on the property.
Noah kissed her temple. “Look around, sweetheart. You belong here with me, with all of us. This is your family now.”
Yes. This community was her home, and where she was meant to be. With Noah, the man who had filled her life with joy and sunflowers…and captured her heart.
—The End—
Dear reader,
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Kaylea
Excerpt from
Shattered Vows
Crimson Point Series
By Kaylea Cross
Copyright © 2018 Kaylea Cross
Prologue
Molly Boyd clamped her teeth together to keep them from chattering and hunched into a tighter ball in an effort to keep warm, but it didn’t help. She was cold all the way to her bones, her sodden clothes sticking to her skin. A summer rainstorm pounded down outside the shelter of the culvert she huddled in—hiding from her ex-husband.
Shock kept advancing and retreating, trapping her in an emotional fog. She’d never imagined she would end up like this. Not even after everything she and Carter had been through.
The left side of her face throbbed. Her cheek was bruised, her eye swelling slightly, and her lip burned where Carter had backhanded her. Her bare feet stung from the scratches she’d sustained in her flight to this lonely culvert at the side of the road.
All of it was eclipsed by the pain in her heart.
She closed her eyes, fought to hold off the memory of him breaking into the house and coming at her with that terrifying, predatory expression on his face. The memory of slamming that branch over his back and running for her life through the darkened woods.
Tears threatened. She shook them off, refusing to give in. If she started crying now, she might never stop, and she had to stay alert because she was still in danger with Carter looking for her.
What am I going to do?
She shivered harder, tucked her knees up tight to her chest and leaned her forehead on them as she fought to keep from spiraling into the black pit of despair yawning at the edge of her consciousness. Jase was coming. She’d called him and he was coming. He would find her, help her, and he’d alerted the cops. He would make sure she was safe—even from his former best friend.
At the faint sound of an approaching vehicle, her insides tightened in fear. She lifted her head, her gaze darting toward the road, dreading the moment the familiar black pickup came into view again. Carter had driven up and down this road earlier, shouting her name through his open window for endless minutes. He would never stop looking for her.
Headlights cut through the gloom. She turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut, willing Carter away. The divorce papers had set him off, even though he must have known they were coming.
She sat perfectly still, heart hammering against her ribs as she waited, hardly daring to breathe lest the slightest motion give her hiding spot away.
“Moll?”
She flinched at the male voice all but drowned out by the thundering rain, her heart rocketing into her throat. Shit, she was trapped here. Carter was former Special Forces and the waterlogged ditch was too steep. She’d never be able to climb out and escape him if he found her this time.
“Moll. It’s Jase.”
Jase. The fear receded instantly, the cold inside her thawing under a tide of relief as she turned her head toward him. She trusted him. Trusted that he would protect her and keep her safe, no matter what.
He was wading toward her through the flooded ditch, a tall, strong silhouette, his jeans soaked to the knees. She couldn’t move, couldn’t call out. Her muscles were too weak and shaky to obey her.
Gathering her courage as he came nearer, she forced her gaze up to meet Jase’s. The instant their eyes connected, she almost lost the battle to keep the tears at bay.
Frowning in concern, he quickly climbed into the culvert and knelt down beside her. Before she could find her voice he reached out and gently grasp her chin in his warm fingers. His jaw was tight, his aqua eyes burning with outrage. “Did he do this? Did he hit you?” he demanded, voice vibrating with horror and anger.
Molly’s fading composure crumbled. All the emotions she’d been holding back crashed over her like a dark wave, taking her under. She leaned toward him just as the damn broke.
Jase made a low sound and reached for her, wrapping his strong, warm arms around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. He ran a hand up and down her back gently. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Just her heart, now shattered into a jagged thousand pieces.
She shook her head, her entire body trembling while she choked back the sobs trying to claw their way free of her throat, the humiliation all but strangling her. This was a nightmare. Only she wasn’t dreaming.
“All right, let’s get you out of here.” Jase slid one arm beneath her knees and lifted her, keeping her close to him as he carried her out of the culvert and through the water-filled ditch.
Molly ducked her head against the pelting rain and curled into him. She didn’t know what to say. Was ashamed to tell him what had happened.
“I’m gonna boost you up, then come right behind you.” He lifted her toward the steeply sloping side and helped her scramble over the edge before climbing up the side. Before she could even get to her feet he scooped her up again, ignoring her mumbled protest as he strode for his truck, parked close by at the edge of the road.
Molly curled against him, still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened. As well as something…something that was still happening inside her right now.
Jase opened the front passenger door and carefully placed her on the leather seat. The interior was warm. Almost hot compared to outside.
“Hang tight.” He disappeared for a moment, opened the rear door to grab something and came back with a jacket. He tucked it around her, did up her seatbelt because her hands were still shaking and shut the door. Once he had climbed into the driver’s seat, he cranked the heat to high and reached over to aim the vents at her.
Molly sighed in relief as the warm air flowed over her. The numbness was retreating, leaving exhaustion in its wake.
Still leaning toward her, Jase reached up to stroke her wet hair away from her face, his eyes worried. “Moll, do you need to go to the hospital?”
“N-no. I’m okay.” You’re not. And you’ll never be okay again.
“What happened?” he asked, turning the truck in a tight circle and starting back up the road.
She huddled beneath his jacket and told him about Carter breaking into the house and attacking her in as few words as possible, her voice hitching due to the little gasps still jarring her lungs.
Jase was silent as she finished, his stubbled jaw clenched tight. He shook his golden-brown head, and a deep, terrible shame engulfed her, almost worse than the pain of Carter hitting her.
But there was more to her story. So much more. She didn’t want to hide the rest from him and had intended to tell everyone anyway. Just not like this.
“And it gets worse,” she added, her voice barely above a whisper.
She didn’t speak for a long moment, staring out the windshield into the gloom. “I’m pregnant,” she finally said, her voice breaking.
The irony of it might have been funny if it wasn’t so freaking sad. She’d always dreamed of having kids one day. But not like this. And now it was even worse that it was with Carter, because it meant that she and the child would always be tied to him.
Jase’s sharply indrawn breath made her cringe inside. He snapped his head back straight to watch the road.
“I know.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Unreal, isn’t it?”
“I thought you said you guys…”
Hadn’t been intimate in months? Yeah. They hadn’t. Except for one time. One meaningless time that had turned out to be one too many.
A few beats of silence passed. Then Jase glanced over at her again, and his expression was so hard it might have been carved out of granite. “Did he force you?” His voice was savage.
“No,” she answered immediately, though given the shit show of the past few months, she understood why he might wonder that. “No.”
Sighing, she explained. “It was a stupid, one-time nothing. We hadn’t slept together in months. But he was so damn sad and vulnerable this one night and I didn’t know how to help him. I’ve been on the pill, but for whatever reason it failed.”
She should never have slept with him. She’d known it, had simply endured it and made sure he finished as soon as possible. Her deep-seated need to heal and comfort had overtaken her normal common sense, and now she was paying for it.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered, feeling utterly lost and alone.
Jase stopped at an intersection and turned left rather than going straight, to his place. “I’m taking you to Beckett and Sierra’s.”
Horrified, she jerked her head around to stare at him. “No, don’t.”
