“Thank you for coming here with me today,” Kori says as we walk out outside. “It means a lot.”
“Hey, I told you I’m here to support you no matter what. I love you, Kori.”
“I know,” she says softly. “And I love you too.”
EPILOGUE
~Landon~
I give him my fastball, and he swings and misses. I hear the umpire shout ‘strike three!’ and everything that happens after that is a blur. We just defeated Western Connecticut to win the conference championship, which means we’re going to the NCAA Championships in Wisconsin with a chance to win the national title.
My sophomore year, and I’ve got an opportunity to compete for a national championship. It’s all pretty surreal.
My teammates rush to the mound to congratulate me and almost tackle me to the ground. After we get control of our excitement, we form a line to shake hands with all the guys from Western. They were the favorites in this game, and some of their guys look stunned and disappointed that their season is over. I know that feeling well because I was there last year. Falling one game short.
Coach calls us all over for a little speech, but he doesn’t say much. Congratulations and you earned it, but keep working hard. He’s going to give us a day to enjoy this win before we head back to the practice field to get ready for the trip to Wisconsin.
By the time he dismisses us, most of the people in the stands have already left the stadium. There’s one person in particular who’s still here, though. She’s sitting in the fifth row, near the center, and she’s wearing a Plymouth State jersey with my number on it, along with a baseball cap. She wears her reddish-blond hair in a ponytail tucked through the back of the cap, and I think she’s the most beautiful woman in the world.
She smiles at me, and her whole face lights up. I love everything about her, but I especially love that smile. It’s so happy, so genuine. Never forced.
I climb the bleachers to meet her and she jumps up and throws her arms around me, giving me a big kiss.
“You did it. You really did it,” she says. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks to you, and your support,” I say, still holding her in my arms. I could stay like this forever, enjoying her touch and her scent and the comfort of being close to her. Everything is right when I’m close to her, and I’m so thankful she’ll be making the trip to Wisconsin too. The fact is, I play better when she’s watching, and it’s been that way from the very beginning, back when I first persuaded her to come to a game. It seems like ages ago, yet in some ways feels like yesterday.
I finally release Kori from my arms and we sit down on the bleachers. I link my hand through hers as we look out onto the baseball field. Some of my dreams have come true on that field, but I still have more dreams. Some related to baseball, some not. The one constant, though, is I know who I want beside me when I go after those dreams. “It’s been a heck of a year, hasn’t it?”
~Kori~
“It sure has.” I don’t have to think about the answer. It’s been an incredible year. While the one before it was marked by tragedy and upheaval, this has been one of triumph and stability. I feel happy again. I feel whole. I feel hopeful about the future and I look forward to every day. I especially look forward to them because I know Landon will be by my side.
He’s been my rock, my best friend, my constant supporter. He tells me I’ve been the same for him, and I’ve certainly tried, but I still think he’s the stronger one most of the time. He has his vulnerabilities, though, and his own setbacks, and that’s when I lift him up. My mother always said relationships were like that. They’re not always equal. Each person has highs and lows, strong moments and weak, and sometimes you lift the other person up and sometimes they lift you up.
Jenny’s been a great help to me too. I still see her every two months, and even though I’m not sure I have much need for counseling anymore, I’m going to stick with it a little longer. I realize now I shouldn’t have taken myself off the medication before I was ready, and I don’t want to make that mistake again. Especially with the second anniversary of my mother’s death approaching.
“We’re going out to celebrate, right?” Landon asks.
“If you want to.”
“Are you kidding? I just won the conference championship,” he says with a grin. “Of course I want to celebrate that. And maybe something else...”
“Something else? Like wh—” The word turns into a gasp as he pulls a small box out of his gym bag. “Landon!”
“It’s not what you’re probably thinking, at least not yet.” He opens the box to reveal not a diamond engagement ring, but rather a gold ring with two hearts intertwined. “We’re still young. I want to get my Psychology degree. I know you want to finish nursing school. I know I love you, though, and that’s not going to change, so I’m asking you to accept this promise ring.”
He looks at me expectantly, and I see the love in his eyes. He’s right. We’re young. We have goals and dreams we haven’t achieved yet. But we also know what we have together. It’s something worth celebrating.
“It’s perfect. And I’d honored to wear it, and make a promise to you,” I say, and I can feel my eyes misting up as he slips it on my finger. The fit is perfect, just like everything about this moment. I’m realistic enough to know things won’t always be perfect. There will be ups and downs and moments of darkness, but when I am with Landon, I feel only love. Love and light.
###
Books by Michele Shriver
Women’s Fiction:
After Ten
Tears and Laughter
Aggravated Circumstances
Contemporary Romance:
Finding Forever
Leap of Faith
The Art of Love
Starting Over
Love & Light
The Men of the Ice Novellas:
Playing for Keeps
Crossing the Line (Fall 2015)
Winning it All (2016)
Boxed Sets:
Heroes to Swoon For
Spring into Love
Score One For Love (August 2015)
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story and will consider posting an honest review of this book on the site you purchased it from.
If you enjoyed meeting Taylor and Colin in Love & Light, you can read about how their journey began in Aggravated Circumstances, available now.
A family can be torn apart in an instant. Putting it back together is a harder task.
A relapsed addict opens the door to find a cop with a search warrant, setting off a chain of events that will cause four lives to intersect.
Devin Lenox has already lost one child to the system and this time she vows it will be different. If she’s going to make it, though, she’ll need something she’s never had before- someone on her side.
Her battle with depression behind her, Elisa Cahill looks forward to resuming her legal career. Devin’s case seems like the perfect opportunity to do that, and bury her own past demons in the process, at least if old grudges don’t prove to be her undoing.
Child protection worker Taylor Ross struggles to balance a social life with her demanding job and has little sympathy for people like Devin, at least at first. When Taylor starts to see Devin in a new light, she finds herself at odds with her superiors. Will she be willing to go to bat for Devin, and what price will she pay if she does?
Sarah Canfield is a compassionate judge who is not afraid to make difficult decisions, but will her past link to Devin undermine her objectivity and cause her to put her own family at risk?
A look inside the child welfare system, the people who work in it and the lives it impacts, Aggravated Circumstances is a story of despair, hope and recovery.
And don’t miss Chase’s story, Dissonance, coming in 2016.
Chase Radcliffe went from playing college bars to platinum success as the front man for A New Horizon, but now one of his band mates wants to take a break, and the soulful r
ocker needs a new project to occupy his time.
Kenzie Bolton was once the hottest voice in country music, but lately the hits have stopped coming, leaving her manager searching for a way to get Nashville’s sweetheart back on the charts.
When a producer suggests they team up for duet, these two musicians from different genres are skeptical. Can dissonance result in beautiful harmony both in and out of the recording studio?
AUTHORS NOTES AND ACKNOWLDGEMENTS
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed Landon and Kori’s story. As often happens, the idea for this book was sparked by a previous book. Readers first met Landon in Starting Over, as the sometimes moody teenager who wasn’t thrilled about his dad’s new relationship. As Landon grew and changed through the course of that book, ultimately coming to accept Ben’s relationship with Liz and welcoming her into their family, I realized the potential was ripe for Landon and he deserved his own book. Although the subject matter of this book was sometimes heavy and difficult to write about it, it was a story that demanded to be told.
Along the way, characters from other books whom I never expected to see again popped up (hello, Taylor and Colin) and new characters emerged that also demanded a story. Gee, that sounds familiar. I’ve accepted that that’s how my muse works, and it’s always interesting to see where the next idea will come from.
As always, I am grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way in my publishing journey. Your support and encouragement means the world.
I must also thank my beta readers for all of their helpful feedback in making this story shine. I may not have taken all of your advice, but please know I appreciate all of your efforts and that you helped improve the story in immeasurable ways.
Cover design by Sprinkles on Top Studios
Michele Shriver writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance. Her books feature flawed-but-likeable characters in real-life settings. She’s not afraid to break the rules, but never stops believing in happily ever after. Michele counts among her favorite things a good glass of wine, a hockey game, and a sweet and sexy book boyfriend, not necessarily in that order.
Contact:
www.micheleshriver.com
twitter.com/micheleshriver
Facebook page: Author Michele Shriver
[email protected]
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