No Second Chances
Page 23
He pulled my hands away from my face so he could look into my eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, Gabi. None of it was. You were seventeen years old, and your dad was a police officer. I was getting myself into trouble, and you were worried about me. You did the right thing. I was the one who was stupid enough to go along with Ryan’s plans, rather than ask for help myself.”
“I know, but I could have done things differently. When I heard you’d be going down for so long, I felt horrible. It was part of why I ran off and joined the Army. I couldn’t stand to be around my dad, because I blamed him in part, too, but also because I couldn’t live the next ten years in the same town, knowing you were locked up not far away.”
“I knew you’d told your dad, Gabi. Perhaps a part of me wanted you to. At least it brought the sorry mess to a close. Of course, I didn’t know it was coke I was carrying, I did truly think it was only weed.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said again.
“Hey, stop saying that. Maybe this whole thing was fate. Maybe if you hadn’t told your dad, I would have ended up heading down the same route in life and gotten myself killed by some drug dealer, or ended up hooked on drugs myself. Who the hell knows? The point is we’re here, now, together and safe. Ryan won’t ever touch us again, and Taylor knows not to come anywhere in our vicinity, but even if she does, she can’t hurt us. I’m yours, Gabi, for as long as you’ll have me. I always have been.”
I nodded through my tears. “I’m yours, too.”
Cole pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
Three Months Later
Gabi
We stood outside of the single story house, looking up at the green wooden cladding and white painted window shutters, a set of keys in Cole’s hand. The moving truck containing all of our worldly belongings sat in the street behind us, a couple of guys waiting in the cab for the word to start unpacking our gear. We didn’t have a whole heap of stuff, but we’d been accumulating bits and pieces over the past few months.
This house was to be our home, mine and Cole’s. Our first real place together. We hoped this would be the start of our new future, one that would hold many years of happiness, with hopefully marriage and children at some point. We hadn’t started trying yet, but we talked about it when we lay together in bed at night—how many we would have and what we’d call them. That I would be raising children when I had a disability didn’t worry me at all. They wouldn’t miss out on a single thing.
I’d finally gotten my blade, and was running again, even spending time on the track, which was something I’d never even bothered to do when I’d been at high school. My body was strong and athletic, and I was no longer embarrassed or ashamed by my stump. I’d survived an incident in Iraq where a good man had died, but that wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t my fault I had lived. Guilt had played a big part in my decisions over the whole of my adult life, but I wouldn’t allow it to control me anymore. I’d started to let that guilt go, and be proud of who I was and how far I had come.
My dad was doing much better. He’d spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, but was now fully recovered from his gunshot wound. He’d even stopped drinking, though alcohol would always be a tempting demon for him. He’d had a couple of relapses, but had gotten back into the program right away. This was a long road for him, and I didn’t expect miracles, but he was trying and that was the important thing.
Cole was still working at the restaurant, but he was also doing a lot of volunteer work with children from difficult backgrounds. He hoped that it would give him an inroad into what he really wanted to be doing—social work. He’d once told me that the only thing he knew was how to be a kid stuck in the system. I guessed he wanted to put that knowledge to good use.
His fingers wrapping around mine caused me to look up at him. My heart clenched with love. He still had a scar above his eyebrow where Ryan’s bullet had grazed him, but it was fading as every week went by. Ryan had been sentenced on multiple charges—including drug dealing after a large quantity of heroin and amphetamines had been discovered in his apartment in a town fifty miles away—and he wouldn’t be bothering us for a very long time. Soon enough, our memory of Ryan would be as faded as the scar he’d given Cole.
Taylor had also stayed out of our way, though Jasmine had been in touch. It was good to know I still had a friend.
“So what do you think of your new home?” Cole asked.
“Our new home,” I corrected him, “and I love it already. But then I’d love anywhere if it meant we got to live together.”
The house had been modified perfectly for me, a wet room, widened doorways and all on one level, just in case I ever needed to be in my wheelchair again for a period of time. My payout from the loss of my leg had come just at the right time, and allowed me to buy this place for us.
Taking me by surprise, Cole bent down and scooped me up. I loved being held against his chest, in his strong arms, but I smacked him on the shoulder. “Hey, put me down.”
He laughed. “Isn’t it supposed to be romantic for me to carry you across the threshold?”
“Cole, I love you, and as romantic a gesture as this is, I think I’d rather walk.”
“Sure,” he said, understanding, and gently set me down.
It was important for me to be able to walk, strong and tall, into our home. This was a new beginning for me, and I intended on starting as I meant to continue.
I smiled up at him and he grinned back down, before ducking his head and kissing me, firm and gentle on the mouth. “I love you too, Gabi.”
I’d been wrong when I’d said there were no second chances. Perhaps we were different now, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t try again. It would take some adjustment, plenty of understanding, and patience, and love—love most of all—but we were doing it. We were getting a fresh start—a second chance at a first love—and I couldn’t be happier.
With a smile on my face, and Cole’s hand in mine, I took my first step into our new life.
Together.
THE END
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Acknowledgments
I often feel extremely lucky to have such an amazing network of generous, supportive people around me, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt this more so than during the writing of this book.
The old adage is ‘write what you know,’ but you can’t always do this as an author. I knew I wanted to write Gabi’s story, but of course I had no experience of being an amputee myself. One of my friends was kind enough to put me in touch with one of her friends, who had recently had the same amputation as Gabi, and he was extremely generous with sharing his experiences.
So thank you a million times over, Geoff Ennals. This book wouldn’t be what it is without you. Thank you for sharing your experiences of being heckled in the disabled spots in car parks and for your terrible joke about losing eight pounds in one go! And even more thanks for allowing me to be your ‘sister-in-law’, which helped me to write about Gabi’s prosthesis in much better detail. Perhaps I may have got a few things wrong, so please forgive me if I did! I hope you enjoyed the book.
The second person I need to thank is fellow author Thomas S Flowers, for allowing me to see into his head, via his own novel, about what life is really like in Iraq. I would never have been able to get such an accurate feel for the yellow dust and smells if it wasn’t for that book. Fellow readers, if you would like to read another story about a veteran who also loses a limb, please check out Thomas’s book, Dwelling. Be warned – it’s a scary one!
As always, I have to thank my long-time editor, Lori Whitwam. You made some excellent suggestions about certain things in this book, and I really think it helped the story overall. Apologies for getting more ‘British’ for this one!
Thanks to my proofreaders, Glynis Elliott, Karey McComis
h, and Linda Helme, for spotting all those annoying little typos that like to sneak through. I hope you all enjoyed the book, and that it didn’t feel too much like work.
And a final huge thank you to you, the reader. I wouldn’t be able to keep writing without you.
Marissa.
About the Author
Marissa Farrar is a multi-published romance, fantasy, and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, three young children, a crazy Spanish dog, and two rescue cats. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain.
Even though she’s been writing stories since she was small and held dreams of being a writer, her initial life plan went a different way.
In her youth, inspired by James Herriot, she decided to become a vet, and would regularly bring home new pets to her weary parents. Upon discovering her exams were never going to get her into a veterinary degree, she ended up studying Zoology. Once she completed her degree and realised she’d spent the majority trying to find time to write, she decided to follow her dream of being an author. Seven years later, she was published and two years after that she was able to say goodbye to the day job.
However, she’s continued to collect animals!
Marissa is the author of over twenty novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.
Also by Marissa Farrar
Contemporary Fiction Novels
CUT TOO DEEP
SURVIVOR
THE SOUND OF CRICKETS
The Monster Trilogy
DEFACED
DENIED
DELIVERED
The Serenity Series:
The Vengeful Vampire (free short story)
Alone (free first novel of the series!)
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
The Dhampyre Chronicles:
Twisted Dreams
Twisted Magic
The Spirit Shifters Series:
Autumn’s Blood (free first novel)
Saving Autumn
Autumn Rising
Autumn’s War
Avenging Autumn
Autumn’s End
UNDERLIFE
(Please note, the prequel to Underlife, Go Back, is now free to download from Amazon)
THE DARK ROAD
NO SECOND CHANCES
Copyright © 2016 Marissa Farrar
Warwick House Press
Edited by Lori Whitwam
Cover art by Art by Karri
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.