Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4)

by Shirley, Sara

  I raised my clear shot glass to Marty’s dark amber filled glass and clinked it. “To never keeping shit bottled up,” Marty toasted. Amen to that statement. Our heads tilted back as the glasses emptied with one swift fluid movement. I slid my empty glass back at Everett. He grabbed it and tossed it into the dishwasher before taking Marty’s glass and doing the same.

  Everett gave me a quick fist bump just as the front door flew open. Our heads snapped in that direction as Morgan stormed in with fire in her eyes. Everett muttered some profanity and dove out of view to the back room just before Morgan was standing beside me. She quickly gave Marty a gentle hug. “Good to see you again, Mr. Cook. I think Cocoa is getting lonely out there in your truck.” Her demeanor suddenly switched to very sweet and soft-spoken. Marty tossed a twenty onto the bar and stood.

  With a firm hand, he grasped my own. “Permission to speak freely, Sergeant?” Marty played up the old Army soldier in him. I simply nodded, allowing him to continue. “War is war. It’s never pretty, and it plays tricks on our minds and our heart. At the end of the day, you have to decide which one wins out. My suggestion is to listen to your heart and tell whatever your mind says to go fuck off.” I chuckled a bit, but Marty’s face was unmoved. “You laugh now, but in five years if that shit is still bottled up in that head of yours, it may be too late for your heart to catch back up. I spent over forty years with the love of my life because I didn’t let what went on up here,” he pointed his index finger at his head, “affect what went on in here.” Marty pointed the same finger at my chest right over heart.

  With one look, he made sure I understood, and I did. My only issue was that my heart had no clue at the moment what it wanted.

  “Nice to see you again, Morgan.” Marty kissed Morgan on the cheek before waving good-bye and telling me that the door to his boat was always open if I needed to talk. After that, I really believed that he might be better than any professional therapist. If he was willing to listen to me, I’d be forever grateful.

  Morgan tapped her wedge sandals against the wooden floor. Her smug look and annoyed stare had me wondering if she wanted something. Everett had left me to deal with the devil. I knew she was still upset with me over the other night at the bonfire, but honestly, that had nothing to do with me. She just assumed I was at fault because of Cole rushing off in tears.

  The longer Morgan waited, the more I noticed her blood boiling. I saw her chest rising and falling heavily. I didn’t want to ask, but I knew I was never getting out of the bar without dealing with whatever she was here to confront me about. I was trapped, and as much as I’d like to have avoided the issue after having such a great talk with Marty, she wanted something.

  With a slight roll of my neck, I looked her dead in the eyes and said with gentle annoyance, “Hi, Morgan.” I smiled brightly, adding more fuel to her fire. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  Her foot stopped tapping. Her arms unfolded from her chest as she moved her hands to rest with fury on her hips. “Drew Daley, what is this I hear about you going over to Cole’s place tomorrow night?”

  I erupted with a single gut-bursting laugh. “Seriously? That’s what’s got you all worked up right now? Me cooking dinner for Cole at her house?”

  “You don’t get it, do you? All of you horny assholes come up here for vacations and think she’s something you can just use one night and toss in the trash the next. I’ll warn you right this very minute. If you so much as hurt her, I will find you in your sleep. I will castrate you with a butter knife, and I will shove your balls down your throat until you choke to death. Do I make myself clear?”

  I raised a single eyebrow and ran my hand over the back of my neck as I tried to stifle another laugh that would most certainly aggravate her even further. To avoid any extra threatening situations that involved more than just my balls, I decided to just appease the situation. “You have nothing to worry about, Morgan. Honest!” I held my hands flat in the air as if surrendering. “I have no other intentions other than to just get to know her and have dinner and watch a movie. There’s no harm in being friends, right?”

  She pointed her blazing red manicured finger at me. “You try anything...anything…I will find out, and you will pay. But she seems to enjoy your company since she can’t stop talking about you, so I’m going against my better judgment and allowing whatever you two have planned to happen.”

  Morgan was about to step away as her phone lit up in her hand, but I grabbed her attention to clarify something she had said. “Wait a minute. What do you mean, she can’t stop talking about me?” She silenced her ringing phone and dropped it back into her purse on her shoulder. I could tell she didn’t want to reveal something to me about Cole. “Morgan? Has Cole said something to you about me?” I gazed at her face, trying to see any kind of reaction that could give me a clue. Her delayed response clearly offered me an answer.

  As I was about to turn away, she cleared her throat. “Listen, Drew. She’s been through enough.”

  “I keep hearing that, but nobody wants to tell me what she’s been through…”

  “Let me finish. Cole is a special type of woman. She’s strong, successful, and extremely independent, but at twenty-eight, she’s been hurt before too many times. The most recent one that broke her took nearly a year for her to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everett, Marty, and myself included all put in a year of blood, sweat, and tears just to see her smile and laugh again. You—“ Morgan bit her lip as she choked back tears forming in her glassy eyes. “You are the first guy she’s talked about after all this time. So, if she sees something in you and whatever it is you two have going isn’t really real, then please, I’m begging you to just be honest with her before you break her heart.”

  Morgan caught sight of Everett and walked away from me without even so much as another warning. “Everett Smith!” she shouted. “You get back here, you big ape.” I chuckled as Everett tried to retreat again to safety. No use, he was stuck.

  My mind tried to process all that Morgan told me. My chest tightened with each breath. Why did Cole think anything of me? I was just an average guy trying to get his life in order. I didn’t have a job, and I had no idea what I wanted to do. But, the one thing we both shared in common was our hearts had both been broken for one reason or another.

  Looking at Cole, I could never tell she was but a shell of a person as Morgan said. She had such a presence when she was in a room with others. She was passionate about things she loved. Her smile was contagious in a good way. She was kind and appeared to be well liked in this small community. I couldn’t understand who would ever want to hurt her or use her in a way that would leave her hurt and needing support.

  I replayed the scene from the bonfire in my head—what that one thing was that triggered her emotions to change—and then Marty’s comment not long ago crossed my mind. All you Marines are the same. A fellow Marine must have hurt her. If not one of these guys, then who? Why was I so focused on solving this mystery? I’d only just met Cole. I’d never purposely hurt her. If anything, I owed her so much as it was. She’d been kind to me even before she knew me. She helped me find someone here who was a true veteran and one that understood as well as any of them just what I needed to get my head straight again.

  I needed to make tomorrow night special. I wasn’t talking about making a simple dinner at her house. Any moron could do that. No, I had to do better than simple.

  I hopped off the barstool and tossed a ten onto the bar under my empty bottle for Everett. I waved to him while he chatted with Morgan as she leaned over the bar, propping her tits up in her V-neck shirt. She twisted her shoulder-length blonde hair around her finger. She then pulled her finger from her hair, slowly tracing a path down to her rounded breasts as she flaunted them at Everett.

  I stifled a laugh, thinking one minute she played this demanding and protective mamma bear and the next she was this shy and innocent Barbie doll looking for a hook up. Good luck to Everett. H
e was dealt that card before, but from the look in his eyes, I had a feeling he was willing to give up his cards if it meant scoring with Morgan.

  As I pushed through the doors into the parking lot, the humid summer air hit me head-on. The sun broke through the clouds, and the pavement steamed as the moisture rose off the ground. I pulled my shades from my front pocket and pushed them over my eyes. My hand reached into my other pocket to pull out my phone and car keys. Searching through my contact list as I headed toward my car, I found the name I was looking for and hit Dial. My thumb hit the unlock button on my key fob, and I hopped into my car as the phone rang.

  “Whatever you are calling for better be good, Drew. You totally owe me for this ‘boobie’ thing. Dean will not stop saying it,” Sam whined through the speakerphone as I placed the phone onto the dash and fished around the car for a pen and paper. I found a pen but no paper. A fast-food napkin would have to do for the time being.

  “Sam, I will not apologize for teaching him that word. Leonardo DiCaprio taught him that word on TV, so blame him. I need your help on something else, and it’s really important.”

  “Jesus, Drew. Everything okay? What did you do now? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that. I met someone, and I have no idea how to cook a really nice dinner for her. You know all about wine and flowers and desserts. Help me, please?”

  I heard the faint sound of keys rattling and shuffling in the background. “Josh! I’m taking Dean to your parents’ house and heading to the lake. I’ll be back later.”

  My eyes widened with her immediate response. “Sam, you don’t need to rush up here. You can just tell me over the phone what I need to do.”

  “Are you friggin’ kidding me?! You finally met someone special. I am not letting you screw this up. I’m bringing you the wine, but you will need to listen to me carefully as I tell you exactly what you need to get while I drive up there.”

  While listening to the sounds of her car door shutting, the engine starting, and Dean in the background saying, “Boobies, boobies, boobies,” I tried to muffle my amused laugh.

  “See…you see what I’m dealing with right now? You sooooo totally owe me for this one, Little Brother.”

  “I love you, Sis.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah…remember this when you marry the girl.”

  I sat ready to pull all my hair out while watching Sam float about the kitchen showing me exactly what I needed to do tomorrow night. There was a bit of an argument because I agreed to cook for someone before I found out what she liked to eat. Apparently, when I said I knew she liked wine, cheese, coffee, and pastries, I managed to patch things rather quickly with Sam.

  That was my sister, the sugar addict and wine bar owner. Put those two items together in front of her and her eyes lit up instantly.

  As Sam made her way around the kitchen demonstrating the cooking basics and labeling exactly what I needed to do, I told her more about Cole and how she mysteriously left the sweets on the doorstep and basically made me find Marty to talk to him about my time overseas.

  I specifically left out any reference of Katie and her new career choice at Naughty Nick’s. However, I received the scolding eye as I mentioned the morning after the strip club when Josh and Dean showed up to Everett and me hungover.

  Sam stirred homemade sauce on the stove and waved the wooden spoon at me while threatening words about sending ‘the girls’ up to kick my ass if I tried to teach Dean any more inappropriate words. And by ‘girls’ she meant her old roller derby roommates.

  For the next hour, we reminisced about the fun times we had with the derby girls, summers here at the lake with Mom and Dad, and Sam and Josh’s surprise wedding. My mind flooded with the thoughts of Courtney as I pushed off the barstool at the island. With heavy feet, I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer from inside.

  Sam took note of my melancholy appearance as I stared at the unopened bottle in my hands. Her enthusiastic chatter silenced when she turned to see my head hanging low over my outstretched arms on the island. She pulled the cold beer bottle out of my grasp and rested her hand over mine.

  “You still love her?” she asked. I glanced up to see Sam’s pained eyes staring back at me as she bent forward on the island beside me.

  “I never wanted to burden anyone with my feelings for Courtney.” I pushed back away from her and made my way to the windows overlooking the water. Suddenly, I felt like the water was sucking me under with a heaviness I couldn’t shake.

  “Your feelings.” Sam laughed. “Don’t talk to me about burdening someone with feelings, Drew.” She walked closer behind me, and I felt her hand on my shoulder. “I should know what it’s like to burden someone with my harbored feelings.” Sam’s hand dropped before she stood next to me, glancing out over the water.

  I focused on the house across the bay and the smell of tomato sauce wafting its way across the house. I remembered Sunday dinners with Sam and the rest of Josh’s family—Courtney included—when that aroma triggered thoughts of nothing but Courtney. But right now, only one person’s face came to mind. Cole. I’d been lost for far too long. My dreams had been shattered more times than I could count. I just needed to finally put one foot in front of the other and gain some momentum. I needed that fresh start, and something told me Cole was the person to help guide me that way.

  I angled my head to Sam. “I’ll always love her, but you know just as well as I do that she made her choice. It’s time I finally made mine.”

  Turning, I forcefully pushed my way out the screen door and quickly headed down the pathway to the water. I felt my sister’s eyes staring at me from behind. For so long Sam was at the forefront of my life, and I always had the urge to protect her after college. Then Josh entered her life, and everything changed. She never wanted to let herself truly experience what loving someone could do to her. That was why she believed I was just like her, as if my feelings were so bottled up that the minute I released them, everything would come crashing down. I’d be even more of a pile of puzzle pieces than I was now.

  As I reached the edge of the dock, I turned back to see Sam walking slowly down the path, the snap of her flip-flops against her heels. When she stopped, I noticed her close her eyes and breathe in the air. The sun shone brightly across her face, and her arms wrapped around her waist before she slowly opened her eyes again.

  “You know what Josh said to me right here one day?” I shook my head, silently telling her no. “He said stop hiding. He told me to just feel and the hell with what was going on in my head. Just feel what my heart told me was right.”

  My chest tightened as Sam’s words sank deep within my soul. Nothing had made sense in my head until now. I knew what my sister said was right. I needed to put the past behind me. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The sun blinded me from the vivid rays beaming across the rippling water, yet somehow I caught sight of movement across the bay, and I raised my hand over my eyes to better my vision. My eyes narrowed, and I saw Cole heading down to her private beach area next to her dock.

  I watched as she set up a lounge chair and then sat down with her tablet. She relaxed back while pushing her earbuds into each ear and pulled her sunglasses down off her head. Her fingers slid across the screen and her feet beat along to probably some song she was listening to.

  Sam told me she was heading back inside to pack up everything in the kitchen so I’d be ready for tomorrow night. For whatever reason, I didn’t tell her that the girl across the bay was the one who had me trying to change my ways. Something in my mind forced me to keep Cole a secret for a little while longer.

  Cole was still a mystery. I needed to know more about her before I revealed anything to anyone in my family, even Sam. Watching her, I wondered what made her tick. Thinking back on the night at the bonfire and the connection I felt with her, my heart began to swell. How could someone hurt such a beautiful, kindhearted woman who offered so much to strangers? I’d only known her a
short amount of time, but she had already embedded herself into my life, and I could not stop wondering what her story was.

  How did one person make such a difference in my life after just meeting her?

  My sweaty palms stuck to the leather of my steering wheel. Why was I so nervous? My heart felt as though it was going to burst out of my chest. The thump, thump, thump pounded within my ears. It was not as if I hadn’t been out with girls before. I had to keep reminding myself that this was just dinner at her house. Friends hanging out. That was all. You would have thought I was back in high school heading to prom, unsure if I was going to actually get laid or just get to third base before the end of the night. It was really fucking annoying the shit out of me was what it was doing, and I’d like nothing better than for it to stop.

  The sun was setting over the lake as I drove along the edge of the bay. Bayside Drive hovered along the banks of the water. One side was lined with evergreen; the other was scattered with large fences that blocked the views of some old money homes. As I drove slowly down the winding road, the mailbox with Cole’s house number came into view quickly. My foot hit the brakes, and I turned into her U-shaped driveway. I slowly crept up the drive and parked my car behind the open top Jeep Wrangler with a stand-up paddleboard strapped to the roof. From the other side of the bay, I had never really gotten a good look at her house, but I finally saw it for what it truly was. Tall, white, and yellow rosebushes surrounded the front covered deck, while shorter red lilies added a darker contrast along the edges of the walkway to her front porch. The light from her front porch illuminated the driveway and reminded me that I needed to get my shit together, and fast. She was just a friend; I kept repeating. Although I wasn’t quite sure how convincing that line was at the moment. I didn’t think I could feel this way for someone so fast. Until now, only one person had ever taken hold of me like this. I shook those thoughts from my head and turned the car off before taking a deep breath.