by Aliyah Burke
That’s when I decided to step in and help you help each other. I wrote it in the will that you would have possession of the lake house and that the only person who ever did any repairs to it was Abe.
This is my way of righting the wrong that we did, not just to you, but to Debbie and Joseph as well. As far as I’m concerned, we killed them because they fell in love. I now firmly believe that the Mitchells and the Hughes were meant to be and be they will. Both of you have such good hearts but you are so broken and need to be mended. The two of you can do that for each other. I know in my heart that you were meant to save him and he was meant to save you. And I am sure that by now that is exactly what’s happening.
Love,
Gram
P.S.
Well, don’t just stand there like an asshole. Go tell him you love him.
I closed my eyes and held the letter to my chest as my silent tears fell. My hand gripped the letter and crumbled it.
“I’m sorry, Gram, but you were wrong about this one.”
My phone chimed.
Albany Airport - 4 pm. 1st class tickets are waiting. Call me when you land.
There was my reality, an hour left to pack up my embarrassment, my vulnerability, and my broken trust. I needed out of here. Chels can deal with the house from here on out. I was done with Blue Lake, with my past, and Abe Hughes.
The sky had begun to darken as I loaded my bags into the back of the SUV. I ran back inside to grab my phone charger when I noticed the crumpled letter I had left on the counter.
I held Gram’s premonitions in my hand, praying that they would have come true. I wiped my tears away. I couldn’t formulate words or thoughts, all I wanted to do was run. It was the only thing left for me to do. I fell in love, like an idiot. I deserved this. I was not worthy of being loved, let alone capable of giving it.
Even though I wanted to burn the letter, it was still the last message from Gram, so I put it in my pocket and locked the door behind me.
The rain was picking up as I took the back way out of Blue Lake. But the exit was closed for construction. I sucked my teeth, backed up, and headed back in the other direction, taking the long way around the lake. I was now going to be at least 20 minutes late making it to the airport.
As I drove, with my broken heart in my hands, I noticed a vehicle coming up on my ass, honking the horn and flashing their lights. I pulled over to let them pass, but they just pulled up behind me instead. I squinted in the downpour to see who it was. It was Abe.
This was not happening!
I didn’t want a confrontation with him; I just wanted to get away.
I lowered my head as he came up to the window and banged on it as the rain continued to fall.
“Where are you going?” he yelled.
“Go away, Abe!” I yelled back.
“Open the door!”
“Fuck you! Just go, Abe. I’m making this easier on us both!”
“So, what? You were gonna bail without any explanation?”
“I didn’t see you in a rush to stop me at the park!” I yelled back.
“It’s not what you think!”
“Oh, really! I’m pretty sure I know what a family looks like. Let me guess, it’s complicated and none of my business, right?”
“I’m trying, Shaye! Give me a chance!”
I lowered my head as he slammed something against the window.
“You save me, I save you. Right?”
It was Gram’s letter! Where did he get it from? I felt my pocket, it was empty. I must have dropped it on the way out the door. I shook my head.
“I can’t do this, Abe.” I pushed the button and started the engine.
“Fuck you, Shaye!” he yelled, and turned to walk away.
That was when it hit me. This was him stepping outside of his comfort zone to come find me. He was right, he was trying, and I was the one being driven away by my own fear and insecurities.
Before I knew it, my hand was on the door handle and I jumped out into the pouring rain. I walked up to him briskly because we know I don’t do the romance thing.
“I came to find you earlier because I wanted to, no, I needed to tell you something.”
He stared at me with those blue eyes that always seem to leave me speechless.
“I’m a fucked-up person. I don’t let anyone in and my insecurities run my life. I live inside of my fear, because as fucked up as that is, it’s my safe place. But I don’t want to live there anymore because of you. Every moment that I’ve spent with you makes me want to change, makes me want to be a better person. I want you in my life. I want you to love me… as much as I love you.”
There it was, my soul laid bare, drowning in the rain and waiting for him to say something, anything. He reached for my face aggressively with both hands, kissed me hungrily, and smiled.
“I love you too,” he said, and kissed me again.
Epilogue
Three Months Later…
I know, I know, you’re wondering what kind of fucked up- ending was that? Well, that wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning.
Abe took me to meet Michelle and her son Daniel, his neighbors. Her husband was killed last year in a horrific accident where he worked and they had no other family to watch out for them. Daniel was Autistic, so things were difficult for Michelle. Abe being Abe just kept it to himself because that was the type of person he was. You remember that whole, things are mine deal he has going on? So, he had no reason to explain it until I came along and, well, the shit hit the fan.
I never sold the lake house, and the welcome sign that my grandfather and I had made was re-done. It now reads Mitchell-Hughes Residence.
As far as my screenplay, it is still happening but via the Internet because I have been very busy meeting the deadline for my latest release. Little did I realize that I had gotten over my writer’s block the moment I heard “Brown Eyed Girl.” Who would have thought all those emails I had written Chels about what I was going through and all of my innermost thoughts about my life and Abe would be the best love story of all?
It may not be a traditional type of love with the rings, kids, and a white picket fence but that was not who we were. Just give us a great house on the lake, a fridge full of cold beer, and each other. For us, that sounds perfect. It’s the best kind of love there is.
STAY INTOUCH!
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FALL FROM GRACE
Dahlia Rose
Grace Kyle fell in love and fell in love hard for an older sexy soldier. Even though she knew it was a bad idea. She was part of the group sending humanitarian aid out Ecuador after a brutal storm and mudslide. Grace met him on base in Lawton Oklahoma and it was a hot and heavy month-long affair with Major Oliver Mason. “It’s been fun Grace, but we knew this didn’t have a future…” she didn’t hear the rest of his words because his words broke her heart. Pride made her turn on her heels and leave before he saw her tears and she went back to Eugene Oregon with a broken heart and a vow to forget him.
One year later as the holidays approached, a knock on her door brought all those memories to life. Oliver stood at her doorstep, handsome as sin in his uniform with his hat in his hands. He begged her to forgive him, she was the only thing the thought about in the last year and he tried like hell to find her. But it fell on deaf ears because Grace vowed never to be hurt again by anyone. The sweet woman he fell for was gone, she buried that naivety and while he vowed he’d put in the work to win her back. She promised him and herself she would thwart his effort. But his kisses still made her sizzle and the passion they shared never dulled. Now she was the one saying
it was for fun and games, except now there may be something that connects them forever. It would be a labor of love to win her back and Oliver was not one to step away from a challenge.
Chapter One
Lawton Oklahoma in the middle of summer was a fiery pit of hell, Grace concluded. She lifted a box of clothes from the back of the truck and tried to blow her messy curls from her face. She wished they’d stayed up in the bun she’d put it in before she left the hotel. Still she moved towards the airplane hangar on the base to where they were in the midst of a massive relief coordination. She was part of the HRO or Humanitarian Relief Organization. They were called up after a huge hurricane hit Ecuador and there were huge mudslides.
Entire villages were lost and the death toll was rising, also the need for food, fresh water, and basic necessities was at an all-time high. The only place they could get transport was out of Fort Sill. That meant she was part of a convoy that left the base of operation in Portland, Oregon for the twenty-eight hour drive to the base. That was two days ago, and since then they’d been on the move organizing the heavy crates that would be going to the devastated country.
Her friend Erika was with her and, while they both worked hard, her friend found time for some play. Erika was fun-loving and vivacious at twenty-five, and while Grace was twenty-eight, she was more reserved. They were on a military base in a military town and it was teeming with single attractive men—a buffet, as Erika put it. They’d received some attention since their arrival and Erika reveled in it. She and Grace shared a room, but that didn’t mean that Erika saw it until very late at night.
Grace walked back to the large truck they were trying to empty and her friend fell into step beside her. “Okay, so there’s this bar, and we are going tonight. Can you say slam packed with hot eligible military men?” Erika said gleefully.
“Ummm, that’s a no. You know that’s not my thing,” Grace replied. “After this heat and lugging this stuff around like I’m a linebacker, I want a cool shower, some food, the bed, and the air conditioning on high. I never knew it could get so hot.”
“Come on,” Erika practically whined. “We’ve been here two days and we only have a month. Come out with me this one time and I promise never to ask again.”
“You know its day three out of thirty-one days, you can pace yourself,” Grace teased.
Erick laughed. “I could, but do I want to? That’s a no. So will you put on a pretty dress or some shorts and show off those legs and come out with me, pretty please?”
“Fine.”
Grace sighed and looked at her friend, who bounced and giggled with glee. Erika was a petite woman who was mixed raced—her mother was Puerto Rican and her father was Jamaican so she had the exotic beauty that made men look twice. Her skin was satin smooth soft cocoa and a few shades darker than Grace’s. Her hair was deep black waves. Her wide eyes always looked so innocent, but then you could see the wicked flirty fun in their depths. Erika didn’t want to be tied down. She wanted fun and a thrilling life. She was the kindest person in the world, but Grace’s mother would’ve called her wild. She always seemed to be having fun and Grace envied her that sometimes. Maybe tonight she would mirror her friend and let loose just a little bit.
“Okay, I’ll go, but when I’m ready to leave, I’m heading back to the hotel with or without you,” Grace warned, even though she told herself to lighten up a bit.
Ericka linked arms with her and laughed. “It will probably be without me.”
Grace shook her head and their conversation was halted for a moment as they went back to work pulling boxes from the freighter truck. Two hours later, they finally took a break for some lunch and something refreshing to drink. Grace grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler and tried to find the coolest area of the large hangar to sit. The heavy-duty fans did nothing but stir up the already hot, stifling air so she stepped outside and found the shade the hangar cast to the ground.
There was a crate out there and she sat gratefully before uncapping the water and chugging it. She contemplated throwing it over her hot sticky skin, but ended up drinking it, knowing her body needed the hydration more. She was looking forward to her cool shower and promised she would stay under the water until she started to shiver. She leaned her elbows on her thighs and laced her fingers behind her head. One breeze, just one cool breeze, she mentally pleaded.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
The deep-timbre of a voice made her squeak in surprise and look up. The man stepped out of the sun and she caught her breath. He was tall, at least six-four, and his eyes were green. He wore a beret with his green MultiCam Army combat uniform and she could see the hint of salt and pepper at his temples.
“Ma’am,” his voice held concern. “Do we need to get you over to medical?”
Grace shook her head and tried to find her voice. “No, um, no thank you. I’m just trying to get cool and drink water.”
“Wouldn’t it be much cooler in the hangar under the fans?” he asked as he moved closer.
“You’d think.” She smiled. “It feels worse in there.”
“I guess we’ve gotten accustomed to the heat,” he said.
“We’re out of Oregon, and right now it feels like I was sentenced to hell,” she admitted. “I don’t think I could get accustomed to this. I thought about throwing the water on my head, but it seems my body needs it more.”
‘That would be wise.” A smile curved his lips and she saw a peek of white even teeth.
His lips are definitely kissable, that’s for sure. Grace immediately blamed her wayward thoughts on the heat.
She got up with a sigh. “I may as well get back and get to work. The quicker we get done, the quicker I can shower in ice cold water. My friend is forcing me out tonight. I want to just live under the AC, and why am I telling you this?”
“I’d go with lukewarm so as not to shock your system. Enjoy a night on the town. It gets cooler at night so you won’t melt, hopefully.” He laughed and held out his hand. “I’m Major Oliver Clarke, by the way. If you need anything, you can find me in the main building, office three.”
“Grace Kyle, and thank you.” Grace took his hand and held back a gasp when his warm large hand enveloped hers. “Nice to meet you.”
“Stay hydrated,” he said before moving away.
Erika was just coming around the corner as he left with a wave and she looked at Grace curiously. “Eddie aka Attila the Hun sent me to find you, and who was that?”
“Major Clarke. He was passing by and thought I needed help,” Grace answered. She looked back. Just as she did, the major did as well and their eyes connected. She looked away quickly and her heart raced.
“Well that look could melt sand into glass,” Erika mused.
“There was no look and this heat is what’s melting everything,” Grace said firmly.
“You can have some fun, Grace,” Erika said as they walked back into the hangar.
“I don’t know how to have fun without my feelings getting involved, so it best I don’t,” Grace said. “It’s a very bad idea.”
“Uh huh, well then you can be my wingman for the night,” her friend said.
“Shouldn’t it be wingwoman?” Graced teased.
Erika poked her in the ribs and made her yelp, causing their head coordinator to look at them with a frown. Eddie was short and a bit round who was balding but kept his hair back in a long ponytail. He was a sweet guy, just sometimes when they were in crisis mode he got jacked up on the leader pheromones or something.
“How about we stop playing and get back to work?” Eddie asked.
“That’s what we’re doing,” Grace called back.
“One of these days—me, him, and garden shears to that ponytail,” Erika muttered.
Grace laughed and soon they were back to their tasks. Luckily they had changed around and she was inside under the fans. It wasn’t much, but at least it was better than walking across the hot asphalt to the truck. While she worked, she thought a
bout the man she met and his appealing smile. Heck, if he was going to be at the bar tonight, she wouldn’t mind, but he wasn’t that type of guy. Cocky men would surround her with too much swagger trying to impress them with stories of grandeur. Being a wingwoman wasn’t bad just as long as she got back to her room at a reasonable hour.
* * * *
“Jesus H. Christ, Private, get that radar section up and running. We can’t fire on the enemy target until we have their position!” Oliver roared. “Move, move, move! Time is lives, soldier!”
