More Than You Know

by Alexandria Rhodes

Cursing at him, I slammed her front door shut as I raced back home to grab my phone charger in case she called. I was going to spend the day looking for her.

  As I made my way out of my bedroom, something unfamiliar caught my eye on my desk. My heart stopped, as I knew who must have put it there.

  Grabbing the photo that sat on my desk on top of a piece of paper, my stomach sank as I recognized it. It was a picture of Bryn and I that I’d never seen. It had been taken on her birthday, at the pier on Tybee Island during the sunset. My arms were wrapped around her and her hair was wild from the ocean breeze. Her eyes were closed, and my nose was skimming her cheek. Both of us were smiling, and every single feeling of blissful happiness encompassed me as I picked up the small piece of folded paper.

  I picked it up and unfolded it, not letting go of the photo.

  If you love me, you know where to find me.

  There was no doubt in my mind that she was at the pier on Tybee Island. We had shared many loving moments at the pier, and by the end of the summer, we considered it our special place.

  Putting the note and photo into my back pocket, I ran out the door, ignoring Miles, who asked where I was going.

  I got into my Jeep, started the engine and backed out quickly. The sun had just started to set, and I knew she wouldn’t wait all night. I needed to get to her soon.

  Racing down the streets of Savannah, I cursed at every light that delayed me from reaching Bryn. Soon I had passed over the many bridges connecting Savannah and Tybee Island.

  Finally, I reached the beach, and I knew I needed to park soon if I had any chance of getting to her in time.

  I got out of my car, not bothering to lock it, and ran onto the sand, the famous Tybee Island pier not that far ahead of me.

  Picking up speed and running through groups of people still on the beach, the sand kicked up around me. When I finally came into viewing distance of the stairs of the pier, my heart stopped as I saw her leaning against the railing, her long brown hair flowing in the wind.

  I ran up the steps, not wasting any more time.

  When I reached the top I stopped, taking in my surroundings and seeing the love of my life standing in front of me. Everyone else on the pier was invisible, and all I could see was her.

  It was as though some magnetic pull had an effect on the both of us as she seemed to sense my presence. She turned slowly, her eyes locking with mine. She cocked her head to the side, the sun’s rays shining on her skin and hair as it started to set behind her. In her hands was a piece of paper, presumably the letter I had written. She tore the page down the middle, throwing the contents into the wind.

  We walked toward each other and I felt relived. We seemed to want the same thing.

  Suddenly, the space between us was too much and I couldn’t take it anymore. I started running toward her, not minding the crowd around us. She smiled when I reached her.

  I ran my hand through her hair and then skimmed her cheek, needing to feel something familiar, something that was like home to me. I cupped the back of her neck and brought her lips to mine. I almost cried out from the amount of love and intensity I felt between us.

  Our lips moved together in familiar synchronization. I pulled her closer to me. Her hands moved to my back, feeling me and pulling me to her; never being able to get enough of each other.

  I pulled away and wiped away a tear that had fallen from her big hazel eyes. She smiled at me and stood on her tiptoes, kissing me again.

  I moved her hair away from her face as I wanted to see all of her, feel all of her and know that she was really here in front of me.

  Her right hand lifted up slowly and rested on my heart, her touch electrifying. In that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay. She had accepted the fact that I carried her father’s heart in my chest. We had come to the realization that we were meant to be together and that nothing could ever take us away from each other again.

  “It will always been you, Tyler. Always.”

  I took her hand in mine and kissed it, linking our fingers together as they fell down to our sides.

  We walked off the pier as the sunset changed the sky to brilliant shades of pink and orange, reflecting off in the water.

  That night, we lay in her bed after making love, wrapped up in the blankets, a tangled mess between us. We were both silent as I trailed my fingers against her bare skin feeling the goose bumps form underneath my touch. Her head was in the crook of my neck and I could feel her breath on my chest. Suddenly, she scooted down a few inches, and when she laid her ear on my scar, I knew what she was doing. I held my breath as her fingers drummed on my chest, matching my heartbeat.

  “Bum. Bum-bum,” she said quietly, listening to every beat.

  “I love you, Tyler. You know that, right?”

  I bent my knees so that our faces were directly across from one another.

  “Yes, I do. I love you, too.”

  She smiled, kissed me quickly and rested her head back on my chest.

  “Forever…”

  “And ever.”

  Epilogue: Tyler

  ____________________

  I could hear Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas playing in the kitchen while the smell of Christmas cookies drifted into the living room. I usually didn’t like Christmas music that much, but this year, I seemed to love everything. I looked around at our living room and smiled. We had bought this house three years ago, right after we had gotten married, it ended up being only two blocks away from my old house, which Charlotte and Miles now lived in and owned.

  It was Christmas Eve, and I was lying on our couch in the living room with our three-week-old daughter, Sadie, asleep on my chest.

  I always thought that the best day of my life was when Bryn and I got married, but as soon as the nurse handed Sadie to me for the first time, I knew life was only getting better.

  We had been trying for almost a year and were about to give up to look into adoption when Bryn announced she was pregnant. We understood the risks of us having a child with my medical history, and even though she wouldn’t admit it, I knew she was worried until after the doctor ran some tests, and let us know that the baby was perfectly healthy.

  Bryn had been an amazing mother so far. She credited her abilities to the experience she had with Charlotte and Miles, who had a son about a year ago, but I knew this is who Bryn was meant to be.

  I heard people talking in the kitchen and then Bryn's infectious laugh. I smiled as I watched her walk into the living room. Her hair was in a messy bun with hair falling all over the place. Flour covered her cheeks, and she walked over to me, sticking a small piece of cookie in my mouth. I moaned at the first taste; it was fucking amazing.

  She laughed. “Charlotte and I kind of got into a cookie fight, and you should see her…she has it worse than I do,” she said, motioning to her appearance.

  Our daughter cooed, and Bryn looked down and sighed. “God, she’s beautiful,” she said.

  “So are you,” I said, sitting up trying my best not to wake her up.

  Bryn wiped her hands on the front of her pants, sat down next to me and reached for Sadie, taking her tiny curled up body gently into her arms. I heard a knock at the door and watched as our dog, Scout, ran to the door, wagging his tail, almost knocking down the picture frame on one of our tables.

  Knowing they didn’t need to wait for us to answer it, my dad emerged from behind the door, holding a large box that was full of presents.

  “It’s freezing out there! Can you believe it’s supposed to snow tonight? First Christmas eve snow fall since 1989.”

  “Jeez, Dad, what did you do, buy the whole store?” I asked, standing up to help him carry everything in.

  My dad laughed. “You think this is bad? Three more boxes outside in our car need to be carried in. Your mom went a little crazy this year with the shopping.”

  “Just a little?” I asked, setting the box underneath our tree we had just picked out weeks ago.

  My
mom came in shortly after, with Jason and Eva trailing behind them.

  Ten minutes later, all of the boxes were brought in. Hugs and greetings were being spread around in abundance.

  I took Sadie as Bryn went upstairs to change out of her flour-covered outfit. Charlotte came out of the kitchen with Miles and their son Braden, who had just started to walk.

  “Hand over my niece!” Charlotte said, coming toward me with arms reached out.

  There was another knock at the door, and Bryn's mom walked in, carrying a similar yet smaller box than my dad's.

  “Merry Christmas!” she said, setting the box down and walking over to greet my parents. Bryn and her mom had started to mend their relationship shortly after Liz had returned home to California six years ago.

  I heard footsteps on the wooden staircase, and I turned my head to see my Bryn walking down. She had taken her hair out of the messy bun, letting it fall in waves down her back, and put on a long-sleeved navy blue sweater dress with leggings underneath. Three weeks after having a baby and you would have never known it.

  “Hey, Liz!” she said, walking over and giving her a hug. They had decided that calling her “Mom” would be too weird for the both of them. “I thought you weren't going to be here until after the holidays!” she said excitedly.

  “Yeah, well, I couldn't miss my granddaughter’s first Christmas!” Liz said, hanging up her jacket in the closet.

  After everyone had settled in, we sat down at our dinner table to eat. Bryn, Charlotte and my mom had been working on the meal menu for weeks, and I was happy for my wife that everything turned out perfectly.

  When everyone's bellies were full and the cookies were being passed around, Jason stood up with his wine glass in his hand.

  “I'd like to make an announcement!” he said, clearing his throat and putting a hand on Eva's shoulder. “I just wanted to say how blessed I feel for what we have. I have a beautiful wife, a beautiful niece and nephew, and soon a baby of our own,” he added excitedly.

  It took all of us a second to process what he had said, but when we did, everyone cheered, getting up to congratulate them.

  After the excitement, we decided to open presents, as this was our Christmas Eve tradition. It was hilarious to see Braden rip into his first present so fast, not hesitating to throw the paper wherever he wanted.

  Bryn and I received gifts for Sadie—mostly toys and clothes she would soon grow into.

  Charlotte had gotten Bryn a spa package that she and Eva had also bought, so that they could go together for a girl’s day. She smiled, thanking them with hugs, and then returned to sit on the corner of the couch next to me. Marie and my dad bought Bryn and me airline tickets to anywhere we chose, offering to babysit during our trip.

  Finally, it was time for Liz and me to give Bryn the gift we had been planning.

  I was so anxious for this moment. I had wanted to give Bryn this present for months now. It had been her mom’s idea, and when she had asked for my help, I made sure I did everything I could to make it perfect.

  Her mom went over to the tree and picked up a small wrapped present. I took Sadie carefully out of Bryn’s arms as she was handed her present and watched in excitement as she started to open it.

  When all of the paper had been ripped off, her eyes got wide as she seemed to register what she was holding.

  Underneath was a photo frame that Liz and I had had made. It was a two-photo picture frame. One slot held a picture of Bryn and Sadie right after she was born. Bryn was beaming at our daughter, love shining in her eyes. The picture took my breath away every time I looked at it.

  Next to that photo was something that had taken me weeks to find. It was a picture of Tim holding Bryn after she had been born, with a similar expression on his face.

  Her hand went to her mouth as I heard her gasp. “It's my dad.”

  She stood up and walked over to her mom, giving her a hug. Bryn smiled and hugged her mom tightly, which wasn’t something you saw too often; the tension was still evident, though it had lessened over the years.

  She sat down next to me again and put her hands on either side of my face, bringing my lips to hers. I could feel the tears on her cheeks, and she pulled away saying, “I love you.”

  The rest of the night was spent laughing and reminiscing about old times as we opened the rest of the presents. Eventually everyone decided to head home, and Braden had fallen asleep, his head resting on the play bus Bryn and I got him.

  “I’m so excited to play Santa again this year,” Charlotte said as she slipped her arms through her jacket. “Braden’s old enough to get excited—I can’t wait to see his expression when he sees the tree in the morning!”

  I smiled and was excited for our moment that would come with Sadie next year.

  We said goodbye to everyone but knew we would be seeing all of them tomorrow for a small get-together at my parent’s house.

  Everyone had left and the living room was semi-clean. I offered to do the dishes so that Bryn could feed Sadie. By the time I was finished, it was close to midnight.

  I walked back into the living room and everything was dark except for the tree. I looked over to the tall window and saw Bryn standing there, with Sadie sleeping in her arms. Bryn looked as though she was glowing.

  I walked over and wrapped my arms around her. I looked out to see small snowflakes falling to the ground. It was actually snowing.”

  “It’s magical isn’t it?” she asked as she leaned into me.

  “It is.”

  Standing there with them, I knew that my life was more than I could ever ask for. I had an amazing wife who had given me a beautiful, healthy baby girl. She rested her head against my shoulder and sighed with content. “I love you, Tyler,” she said, her eyes never leaving the scene in front of us.

  It was perfect, hearing those words combined with the sight before my eyes. I smiled, kissing the top of her head. “I love you too, Bryn, merry Christmas.”

  I was saved because Bryn’s father had to leave this earth many years ago. While that thought still pained us both, I couldn’t help but be grateful that I was alive to witness all that I had because of him.

  I knew I was lucky. I had a beautiful family, a beautiful baby girl, and an amazing wife whose love had proven to save me more times than I knew. Our love was unbreakable and that was all I would ever need to know.

  Turn the page for a sneak peak at Alexandria Rhodes’ upcoming book

  Behind the Scenes

  Coming in 2014

  Copyright © 2013 Alexandria Rhodes

  One

  __________________

  So, tell me, Emma,” the interviewer, Sarah, started to say. I knew what her next words were going to be. After hearing the same questions from various interviewers on this press tour, I have come to recognize the change of tone. They want you to feel comfortable, almost as if they are your best friend from your childhood asking a normal everyday question. “Your fans are dying to know. Are you dating your ‘Sway’ co-star? Your chemistry is undeniable and yesterday when he was on our show, he wouldn’t give a yes or no answer.”

  As I was sitting on the very uncomfortable stool, surrounded by cameras and the crew of The Morning Show, I couldn’t help but struggle to not roll my eyes.

  This particular question is inevitable but a part of me always hopes that the interviewer would take my publicist seriously and not ask any personal relationship questions.

  However, as much as I wanted to rip the small clipped microphone off of the designer dress my stylist handed me this morning and throw it on the ground, I know I couldn’t.

  I ran a hand through my hair, ignoring the instructions my stylist had given me this morning about not touching her masterpiece, and smiled at Sarah remembering I was on live TV.

  “Kyle and I do have amazing chemistry. He’s actually the reason I signed on to this project in the first place. His talent is amazing as I think many will agree with after seeing ‘Sway’. People will beli
eve what they want to believe, but I assure you, we’re only just friends.”

  Sarah’s face fell and I realized she was hoping I would break the news exclusively with her so she could be deemed the famous interviewer who finally got Emma Matthews to fess up about her love life.

  “Well, Emma, it has been a pleasure talking to you this morning,” she said, shaking my hand. She turned to look into the camera. “’Sway’ opens in theaters this Friday and will definitely be at the top of the weekend box office charts. Go see it while you can!”

  “And we are off air,” a crewmember shouted.

  I scooted off the stool, gracefully of course, as a crewmember detached the portable microphone off the collar of my dress.

  My publicist, friend and lifeline, Kate, walked over and led me to the gold swinging doors which opened to a large crowd of screaming fans.

  I’ll never get used to that sound, I think to myself.

  “Emma will sign for a few fans but we have to get going to her next interview,” Kate said to the show’s designated security guard so he would know when to cut people off.

  I smiled as I spotted a fan holding the familiar movie poster of Kyle and me in a romantic embrace from a scene in the movie. For a second, it almost looked real and I had to remind even myself that it wasn’t.

  “Good job during the interview. I know how much you hate that question,” Kate said as she led me to the first fan.

  I finished signing the poster and turned to Kate. “They won’t believe a word I said in there. No matter how many times I deny it, they’ll think I’m just doing it for the sake of publicity.”

  “Oh, my God! Please sign my poster. You’re, like, my role model!” a fan screamed with a smile so wide I thought maybe her cheeks would end up swallowing her eyeballs.

  “Thank you, hope you enjoy the movie! Your support means so much.”

  I looked down at the girl’s wrist as I signed my name and recognized the bracelet. It’s the same one I have on my own wrist and have been wearing to all of my events for the past few months. My mom gave it to me for my twenty-fourth birthday last year but, as always, the magazine tabloids swear Kyle got it for me as a profession of his never-ending love.