Love Is Forever Blue

by Donalyn Maurer

  He absently calls over at me while sticking his wallet in his back pocket and then walking to the closet to grab our riding gear. “Yeah?”

  “Well, I wanted to stop by the store and pick up a gift for Callie. Like a ‘welcome to the family gift’ or something.” I smile warily at him.

  “Okay, yeah. We should definitely do that.” He leans down and gives me a quick peck on the lips as he hands me my jacket.

  He starts to pull his jacket on but stops when he sees me still holding mine and staring at him.

  “Problem?” he asks confused.

  “I know you love to ride on the weekend but I want to get her a gift and well, it may not all fit on the bike.” I try giving him my best full teeth smile. “I mean, like, you can ride and I’ll drive…”

  He drops his hands to his sides and cuts me off. “Jeez, love, how much you plan on buying for her? Please tell me we don’t have to go to the mall.” To my surprise, my smile widens but when he see this, he looks concerned, afraid even.

  Normally, I love shopping any given day of the week, for any reason, but this is different. Important. Special. The thought of picking out the perfect gift for this little girl, it has me emotional. I want it to be perfect. Something she’ll love.

  Max wraps me up in his arms. He holds me like this for a few minutes before speaking. “Jaycee, it won’t matter what you get her, she’ll love it and you.”

  I let out a breath and squeeze him around his waist. “I hope so.” I lay my head against his chest. “I just want her to know she’s loved. She may be too scared for us to hug her and show affection that way.” I shrug my shoulders because I really don’t know. “I want her to have something, you know, to hold, that’s from me. Even if it’s not me holding her she’ll know it was from me and that I care. I can love her through whatever it is. Does that make sense?” I ask.

  He runs his hand down my cheek while looking in my eyes. “Yes, it makes sense. I love you, Jaycee.” He kisses me again, only this time it he doesn’t hold back. The passion and the love we have for each other is conveyed through that kiss, warmth spreading through my body the longer we stay connected.

  When we break apart, he puts his hand under my chin to bring my face to his. I stare in his eyes for a few moments. “What was that for?”

  “I can’t wait to put my ring on your finger and have my babies growing inside of you,” he says, catching me off guard.

  I stand in a daze thinking that didn’t answer my question, my brain jumbled from his kiss. I'm having a hard time forming coherent thoughts, but his answer has sent little shivers of excitement running through me. I manage to take in that he’s taken my jacket from me and walked back to the closet. He comes back jacketless, obviously having hung our jackets up and then drops his motorcycle key back down on his dresser. He picks up his car keys, takes another look around the room to make sure we’re not forgetting anything and then reaches out for my hand. I take it and follow him, absently grabbing my purse from my dresser as we pass it on our way out the door. Good Lord, my man can kiss.

  We stop by North Star Mall on the way over to see Callie and I think I go in every store looking for something. Nothing is calling out to me and now I’ve hit a dead end of stores. I’ve literally walked from one end of the mall to the other, with no success. I turn to ask Max for help, but he’s vanished. I start backtracking and halfway through I find him standing in front of an electronic store watching the sports channel that’s playing on one of the biggest television screens I’ve ever seen. Dang, I lost him a long time ago and didn’t even notice. I shake my head, giggling to myself as I wrap my hands around his waist.

  His body rocks a little, startled. He looks dazed when he meets my eyes. He finally shakes it off and comes back to me and I can’t help but giggle again.

  “Hey, sorry. Did you get her something? You ready?” He looks around, I’m guessing for the closest exit. God, he sounds so hopeful that I can’t help but frown through my laughs. He’s out of his element. My answer is going to hurt me more than him.

  “No, Max,” I say and I watch as his face drops and gloom sets in. You’d swear I just kicked his dog, told him there was so Santa and stole his candy all at once. I give a sympathetic smile and pull him by his hand towards another store. He’s literally dragging his feet like a little kid pouting. “Max, help me. What should we get her?”

  “There were some HD televisions on sale over there.” His face starts to light up again.

  Okay, so maybe he can’t help me.

  “Max, we can’t get her a television. She’s only three years old,” I scold him.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  His stride slows and I turn to see what he’s looking at. It’s the mall entrance for a high performance auto store whose main entrance sits outside where they have bays to work on their high performance cars. He tries unsuccessfully to tug me that way.

  “Max, why are we going there? You want to get her some tires?”

  He looks back at me hopeful and I shake my head.

  “Sugar bear, no tires or any car accessories,” I laugh and he actually looks like he wants to cry so I give in. “How about you go in there,” I point to the auto store. “And I’ll go in a few more shops and keep looking.”

  We have to get going soon if we want to catch an early dinner at the seafood restaurant across from the mall. It’s a hole in the wall with the best food, but the crowds get huge at dinner time. If you don’t get there early you can sometimes wait an hour for a table. If I don’t get done quick, we’re going to be late. I give him a kiss and push him towards the auto store. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes. Do you think you’ll still be in there?”

  He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Yes, I will still be in there. Come get me when you’re ready.” He practically runs off.

  I start back down the wide main hallway of the mall, glancing down at the stores tucked off to the sides but nothing. I’m about to give up when I see it. That’s the place I’ll find the perfect gift for her. The one I hope she’ll remember and cherish the way I did.

  My Grandpa had a sister who would often come for visits. My great aunt Ava and I called her ‘my auntie Ava’. I remember my grandpa calling her, ‘his Ava girl,’ and that’s where I got calling her ‘my auntie Ava’. My grandma adored her too. They were always laughing when they were together like Abigail and I.

  She looked like a movie star. The old-fashioned kind. Back during the Gone With The Wind days. She was stunning with black hair and blue eyes like my grandpa had. She always seemed to glow like she had her own personal sun rays. On one of her visits, she came into my room holding a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. I was sitting on my bed coloring when she sat down next to me and set the package in front of me. I couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across my face. Open it, Jaycee,” and she sat back smiling, waiting and watching.

  I tugged on the string that was in a bow and when I did, it released the string and the brown paper fell open. I looked down and there, in a stack, were the prettiest books I’d even seen. They seemed to be alive. I picked up the first one, Sleeping Beauty, then the next, Jack and Beanstalk, Cinderella, Snow White, The Princess and the Pea and Rapunzel. They were the most beautiful things I’d even seen. I remember flipping through the pages and being transfixed by the beauty of the princesses in those books.

  Sleeping Beauty became my most favorite fairy tale over the years. I remember ‘my auntie Ava’ she said to me that day, “Jaycee, one day, when you need him, your prince, your knight in shining armor will come for you, too.

  I walk into Barnes and Noble and head straight to the children’s section. I find myself being drawn back to my favorite, Sleeping Beauty. I find the most beautiful hardback by Mahlon F. & K.Y. Craft. I flip through the pages and it has the most startling illustrations. The princess has long golden hair much like I imagine Callie’s might be. The pages seem alive and are glowing almost like the one I had growing up. As I co
ntinue to glance through the book, I feel my throat closing and eyes start to burn with tears. I hope that one day she meets a prince, her knight in shining armor. I know in my heart he’ll come for her when she needs him the most.

  I turn and walk to the section with gift wrap paper and pick a simple brown and some string. After I pay for everything, I walk back through the mall to the auto store. All my sappy emotion comes forward when I see Max standing near some rims near the entrance of the store looking like he’s in love with them. I continue to watch him, taking him in and emotion overwhelms me.

  He’s so beautiful and so brave. And he came for me, rescuing me right when I needed him. My thoughts consume me as I make my way over to him with my heart beating out of my chest. He notices me, turns and steps close. Seeing the look on my face he becomes concerned.

  “Jaycee, what is it?” He asks.

  I’m too embarrassed to share my thoughts. He’ll think I’m being ridiculous so I don’t answer him and look away.

  He grabs my chin with his fingers and brings my face back to his.

  “Tell me.”

  Meeting his gaze and seeing the sincerity there, I tell him. “You’re my knight in shining armor. You are my prince.”

  He just stares down at me, not saying a word. Embarrassed, I wiggled out of his hold, but he grabs me from behind and pulls me flush against his body, bringing his mouth to my ear. “Jesus Christ, Jaycee. I love you. You’re done, right?”

  “Yes, I’m done,” I snap out of my sappy emotional haze when he starts pulling me behind him towards the exit. “Max!” I tug on his hand, laughing.

  “What?” he asks not looking back, still pulling me along.

  “We didn’t come in that way. The car is on the other side of the mall.” I keep laughing as he changes directions.

  “I hate fucking malls,” he complains as he finally spots the right exit and heads towards it with me in tow.

  When we finally get to the car, Max pulls his keys from his front pocket and hits the button on the remote to unlock the doors. He opens the car door and takes the bag with Callie’s gift from my hand and places it in the back seat. When he turns back around, he slams his mouth down on mine. I freeze, knowing anyone can see us but when his tongue licks my bottom lip, I open and let him in. His hands grasp my hips and pull me to him as mine go into his hair. I forget the time, place, my name until I hear a familiar voice right behind me.

  “Good God Almighty, get a room, you tramp!”

  Max and I lift our heads apart and we both turn toward the voices. I smile when I see who it is.

  Abigail and Nick. Well, well, well. Looks like baby sister and I need to have a talk.

  When I turn and see Abigail standing there with Nick, I know through my smile a look of surprise and question still hits my face when she smirks.

  What the heck is this about? I use our sister telepathy to ask her, looking between the two.

  Her eyes go to Nick and she grins, tilting her head. Seriously? Look at him.

  I only caught a glimpse of Nick at the hospital and the day he was hiding in the trees at Rocky’s cabin. The day Abigail was kidnapped and stabbed by Rocky. The day Rocky shot me and went over the cliff into the lake. The day Nick saved her life and Max saved mine. But now that I’m getting a good look at him, oh, My God, he’s hot!

  He’s the same height as Max only buffer. He’s wearing old faded jeans and a button down cowboy shirt with the sleeves rolled all the way up past his elbow. The snaps on the front of his shirt are undone just one too many. I lie. No, they’re not. I should just walk over and rip the panels apart. Jesus, Lord, he has on cowboy boots and there's a big silver belt buckle showing through the tails of his shirt. He has shaggy dark blonde hair with light beard, whiskey colored eyes and an honest tan from the sun.

  After looking Nick up and down, I glance at Abigail. Oh yeah. He’s hot. I grin and lift my chin up towards Max. Holy moly, sis. I got some stuff to tell you. You will not believe it. I giggle and blush.

  She looks over at Max and winks at him. I can only imagine. The quiet ones, oh, yeah. I hear her say to my mind and we both giggle. The guys are now standing glaring at us with their arm crossed over their chests.

  They looked entertained, yet a little angry too.

  “Love, how about you not check any other guys out while I’m standing right here next to you, or ever for that matter,” Max says, raising one eyebrow. “Also feeling kind of violated and dirty from the looks y'all are giving.” He reaches out for my hand, pulling me to him with a little yank in his pull.

  Uh, oh!

  I put my hands out to offer an explanation but before words can leave my mouth, Nick speaks up.

  “Gotta say, doesn’t feel good, being objectified. You girls looking at us like we’re nothing more than a piece of meat, its offensive,” he says with a completely straight face.

  Abigail and I look at each other in disbelief. You can’t look like they do and not be objectified.

  Damn, our men are freaking hot, Abigail! They seem a bit sensitive, but hot. We gotta play this their way because, well, they’re hot. Alpha males, their moods and hotness. I convey to her through my look and a tiny eye roll.

  She shakes her head in defeat, in agreement with me.

  I begin to apologize to Max and see he's trying not to laugh. I narrow my eyes and look at Nick and see he’s doing the same.

  Nick speaks up. “No, seriously. I have no problem being objectified. None at all.” He raises his left arm and flexes his muscle. “I’ll even let you touch,” he winks at me.

  “Oh, brother! Really, Nick, think much of yourself?” Abigail says with a laugh.

  I look at his arm, the big muscles, and like I’m in a trance, I start to reach out to touch him. Max’s arms circle my waist and he pulls me back to him.

  “No. Don’t even think about it,” he growls and I drop my hand.

  Shoot! What just happened? Nick has some voodoo power or something.

  “Sorry, sugar. Not sure what just happened. That wasn’t me,” I say, then cough and clear my throat, looking down and concentrating on picking an invisible piece of lint from my shirt.

  “Looked like you. As a matter of fact, it looked exactly like you,” he growls.

  “Well, looks can be deceiving because I assure you, that,” I huff and blindly gesture towards Nick’s direction. "That,” I add with more emphasis. “Was not me,” I reply, while still not making eye contact and looking down at my jeans, smoothing out an invisible wrinkle. “He must have voodoo,” I whisper faintly.

  “Voodoo? Did you really just blame voodoo?” Max scoffs in disbelief.

  “So, going to Uncle Brock and Aunt Paige’s, Abigail?” I ask her and then start to whistle for no reason as I glance up at the sky, wincing from the brightness of the sun.

  Max steps in closer behind me, wraps his arms around my waist and then turn us towards the car. I still can’t see anything except black dots, but I can hear just fine.

  Max leans down and whispers in my ear. “Whistle all you want, love, because later you’ll be using that mouth for something else and rest assured, you just earned a spanking.” He leans closer in and kisses my cheek before he turns us back around but keeps his arms around me.

  I can’t help it. I let out a whimper but finally my vision begins to return. Nick and Abigail are both standing still, looking back and forth between us.

  “God, you’re are the biggest dork, Jaycee,” Abigail says.

  “I know,” I reply in defeat.

  “So, y'all heading over to see Callie?” Max asks.

  “Yes, we just stopped by here to get her a little something,” Abigail replies, lifting the bag in her hand to show me.

  When I see it’s something from James Avery, we share a smile. All southern girls love James Avery and if I guess right, she’s got her a tiny charm bracelet with a few charms.

  “And you?” she asks, finally shaking off the haze that is Max.

  Max finally rel
eases his grip so I can open the door and reach in and grab the bag. I lift it and show her the same way she showed me.

  “I’m not even going to ask which one. I know which one because you read it to me a million times. I love it,” she says with a smile.

  “I can’t wait and longer.” I look at Max and smile. “Can we go?”

  His eyes soften and he stands back and gestures for me to get in the car.

  “Hey, have y'all had dinner? We going to Sea Island for an early dinner. Wanna come?” I ask Abigail and Nick.

  “Okay, yeah, we’ll meet you over there,” Abigail replies.

  We climb in the car as Nick wraps his arm around Abigail's waist and starts helping her as she walks. She’s off the crutches but still wearing bandages that go around her mid-thigh. He helps her over to a huge Jeep Wrangler parked just a couple spots over from us and opens the door. He bends down and picks her up like a baby and then lifts her up and sets her the seat. My sister leans down and gives Nick a gentle kiss on the lips. I continue watching as she pulls her head slightly back and whispers something to him. He smiles and then leans back in for another kiss and then closes her door and walks around to the driver’s side and jumps in.

  I face forward in my seat and catch Max watching the scene as well. We share a smile as he starts the car. I know my sister, her bringing Nick around, for something like this, it’s a big deal. Tonight we need to sit and talk. I can’t wait to hear everything and share everything.

  Max takes my hand and pulls it over to rest on his thigh and I lean my head back on the head rest, just watching him as he drives. I'm so in love with him. I hope that my sister is as happy as I am.

  After a nice dinner at Sea Island we make our way to see Callie.

  When we pull up in front of my Uncle Brock and Aunt Paige’s house, I see most of family’s cars parked along the curb and in the driveway. I jump out of the car as Nick’s jeep pulls in right behind us. I grab the gift from the backseat of Max’s car and then it hits me. I haven’t wrapped the book for Callie.