by A. M. Wilson
“More than ready,” I answer.
Aislin nods.
Reece lights both of our match sticks while Niko lights his and Aislin’s. As a group, the four of us throw our matches. The flames don’t immediately engulf the house. It’s just four small embers at first, but they each build in strength.
When we know they aren’t going to snuff out, we move back across the street to a line of trees between two houses. Standing as a unit, we turn and face the structure that’s caused us so much pain. Reece has a hold of my hand, and I blindly reach out to grasp Aislin’s, who’s standing beside me, knowing that Niko has her other.
“Good fucking riddance,” Reece mutters into the glowing darkness.
I couldn’t agree with him more. Yes, there is still evilness out in the world. Unfortunately, there always will be, but they sure as shit won’t use this house as their holding place anymore.
“It’s ironic for us to do this tonight.” I look over at Aislin at her quiet words and find her with her head tilted to the side as she watches the flames lick up the walls. Her eyes glow, and a peacefulness I’ve never seen on her face fills her expression. She keeps her rapt gaze forward as she continues. “Yesterday, I saw the little boy I gave birth to in that basement.”
My hand jerks in hers, and the movement has her turning her head toward me.
“I’m so sorry,” I say in a strained voice. I don’t know why I’m apologizing, but I just feel like I need to.
She smiles. “I’m not. He was beautiful and looked happy and healthy. That’s the best I could have ever asked for him.”
I squeeze her hand. “Will you see him again? Have you spoken to his parents?”
Her smile turns sad. On her other side, Niko watches his wife with both love and heartache in his expression.
“No, and I don’t plan to speak to them. Niko says we’ll keep tabs on him and his family, but so long as he’s happy, we don’t want to disrupt his life. The last thing I want is for him to know where he came from.”
I nod, understanding why she wouldn’t want such a thing. But it has to be so hard on her, knowing she has a child out there and choosing not to be a part of his life. I’m not sure I would have the strength to do the same.
We both turn back to the burning house. As we stand there and watch it go up in flames, some of the pain and sadness and fear I’ve been feeling since I woke up in the hospital slowly begins to fade. I’m not under the impression that just because this place will cease to exist that I’ll suddenly recover from everything that happened to me. Only time and the love of the man beside me will do that.
But this is a good start.
Letting go of Aislin’s hand, I step closer to Reece. As if knowing what I need, he wraps his arm around my shoulder, bringing me tight against his body.
“You okay?” he whispers.
I look up at him and give him a tender smile. “Yes.” Getting to my toes, I press a kiss against his waiting lips. “This was a good idea.”
He returns my smile with one of his own.
Epilogue
Reece
Six Weeks Later
“I wish we could do something for him,” Dani says as we watch Tavers help his three-year-old daughter into his car. “I only got to meet Mindy a few times, but from what you and Niko have said, she was a really good woman, and the love they shared was strong.”
“She was a beautiful woman, inside and out.”
“I can’t imagine what Shelly must be going through. To lose her mom at such a young age is hard.”
I lead Dani to my truck, then help her inside. Before I close her door, I step up and rest my hands on her thigh. “She’ll have her father, and he’ll help her cope.”
“They’re both going to need each other.”
I nod. “They will.”
Dani looks forward, her eyes going back to Tavers’. “I just hope he learns to lean on other people too.”
“He will. He just needs some time.”
Closing Dani’s door, I walk around the front of my truck, then climb behind the wheel. Tavers opted not to have family and friends over after the funeral of his wife, saying that he and his daughter needed to spend that time alone.
Not long later, I pull up to my house and shut off my truck. Before Dani has a chance to open her door, I’m doing it for her. I’ve just helped her down when Niko’s rental car pulls in behind mine in the driveway. They left Westbridge two weeks after we burned down the house but flew back in late last night for Mindy’s funeral.
“Uncle Weece!” my niece, Mags, screeches the moment she’s set on her feet. She comes barreling toward me as fast as her short legs will allow. I bend down and scoop her up.
“Hey! How is my favorite niece doing?” I ask, planting a smacking kiss on her cheek.
She giggles and kicks her legs around my hips. “I’m okay.”
Mom and Dad also came up to show their respects to Mindy. Instead of them going to the funeral, they took the kids out for lunch and a movie. Niko and Aislin felt it best they didn’t attend, wanting to keep them away from that part of life for as long as possible.
Although it’s only been a few weeks since we’ve all seen each other, Mags clings to me like it’s been years. The rest of the family unloads, and Spencer and Rita hover off to the side with watchful eyes.
Seeing Chris approach with Aislin and Niko following, I set Mags down on her feet, ready to steal some love from my nephew. He’s a lot more subdued and quiet than his sister.
Instead of coming straight for me like he normally does when one of us visits the other, he goes to Dani instead. He stops a foot in front of her.
“Hi,” he says shyly.
My lips twitch as he stares up at her adoringly. Dani squats, her smile in place. “Hey there, Chris. Did you have a good day with your grandparents?”
He nods and flashes his front teeth when he grins. “Uh-huh.”
“I heard you went to the movies and had lunch afterward. Do you think you have any room left in your stomach for some chocolate chip cookies? I made some last night, and your uncle and I couldn’t eat them all. I’ve got a lot left over.”
“I always got room in my tummy for cookies.”
Dani laughs, then stands. “Make sure it’s alright with your mom and dad, and I’ll get you some.”
“Me too!” Mags shouts. “I got room too!”
“We can’t leave you out, can we?”
Both kids turn to Aislin, but before they can ask, she says, “Not too many, okay?”
“Yah!”
Dani holds both hands up for the kids to take, and they do so immediately. “Let’s go then.”
Aislin, Niko, and I laugh as Dani leads them into the house.
“Looks like someone has a crush,” I remark as we follow them up the steps.
“You got yourself a good woman, so it doesn’t surprise me,” Niko says. He waits for Aislin to leave us to enter the kitchen with the others before he turns to me and asks, “How are things between you two?”
I shove my hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels. “Really good.” I look toward the kitchen where we can hear the kids and women laughing.
He claps me on my shoulder. “I’m happy for you. Have you put any more thought into moving to Florida? You know we’d all love to have you two down there.”
“I’ve brought it up to Dani, half expecting her to jump at the chance to leave this town, given what happened to us, but she doesn’t want to leave her family. We also don’t want to leave the place that was our beginning.”
He nods. “I understand that. We’ll just have to take visits when we can get them.”
“We’ll plan a vacation after the baby comes.”
Niko’s eyes sparkle. “It’s still hard to believe my big tough brother is going to be a dad.”
I laugh. “It’s hard for me to believe too, but I can’t wait.”
The kids come out of the kitchen, their hands wrapped tightly around a napkin, no
doubt holding their precious cookies. Dani and Aislin come out next, each holding a glass of milk. After they get the kids settled at the table, Dani walks over to me.
“I’m going to go get changed into something else.”
With a kiss on my cheek, she leaves me to walk down the hallway to our room. I follow her with my eyes, wondering not for the first time how I got so lucky to have her in my life again.
“I’ll be back,” I tell Niko.
Our bedroom door is closed, so I open it gently and slip inside. I find Dani in the bathroom wearing nothing but her stockings and her bra standing in front of the mirror. She’s looking down at her stomach, her hands gently running over her slightly rounded belly. I walk up behind her, and her head jerks up when my hands slide around her waist, and I lace my fingers with hers. Our eyes meet in the mirror.
“I can’t wait for our baby to start kicking,” I murmur against her ear.
Her eyes soften. “You sure you’re going to love me the same once I’m big and round with your child?”
“I can guarantee that I won’t.” Her body jerks at my comment. “I’ll love you even more.”
She smiles. “How is it that you’re so wonderful?”
“Because you make me this way.” I kiss the side of her neck. “I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around before you came back into my life.”
“Neither was I. I thought I had a good life before I came back to Westbridge, and by most standards, maybe I did, but now I see I was only half living.”
I turn her around to face me. “I guess we bring out the best in each other.”
“I guess we do.”
Grabbing her hips, I step back a foot and drop my chin. My eyes rake down her beautiful body, and by the time they travel back up, the appendage below my waist is at full attention. I bend down and settle my lips over hers. After a brief but scorching kiss, I pull back.
“I’m going to let you go and walk out of the bathroom to put on some jeans and a T-shirt. You’ve got about half a minute before I come back in here. If you’re still in this sexy as fuck getup, Niko, Aislin, and the kids will have the run of the house for the next hour.”
Smoldering heat fills her eyes at the same time as she licks her lips. I groan at the look, tempted to flip her around and bend her over the sink. Seeing the intent on my face, she smacks her hands against my chest and shoves me backward.
“Get out, you horndog,” she says with a laugh.
I’m still chuckling when the door is closed in my face.
I raise my voice and holler through the wood, “Twenty-five seconds and counting, baby!”
Dani
7 months later
“Are you sure this will take all day?” I ask.
Reece tugs me down a cobbled sidewalk on Main Street. The overcast sky lets through a warm ray of sun every so often, the perfect weather for a patio lunch.
“Relax, baby. She’s going to be fine.”
“She might be, but my boobs don’t agree.” I press a forearm against the left one, eliciting a sore sensation. Thoughts of my little dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty do nothing to stem the ache in my chest. If anything, it’s increasing.
“There’s a private area for you to pump.” He holds up the black bag that contains my pumping equipment. I never thought a two-month-old could eat very much until I had one of my own. This is the first time I’m leaving her to go out, and I’m having all sorts of feelings about the experience. One of which is how many times I’m going to need to pump before we can get back for me to feed her.
“Maybe we should just grab food for takeout and chalk it up to a learning experience.”
Reece stops us suddenly, not giving that first crap about the grumbles from tourists passing around us.
“Your sister has two kids of her own, and your parents are there.”
“They can’t really help!” I argue through the nerves sparking to life. Having a baby has knocked my toughness down a few notches. Now all I can think about is the multitude of ways my baby might accidentally get hurt if I’m not the one keeping an eye on her.
“Baby…” he tries and fails to hide a rough chuckle. “It’s not a hardship for either of them to sit in a recliner with an infant in their arms.”
I blow out a breath as some logic finds its way through the cracks. A warm ray of sun breaking through the clouds chases away some of the panic.
“I guess you’re right. My hormones are just crazy. I never thought leaving my baby for a couple of hours would be so hard.”
“You aren’t the first or last mom to feel this way. I have something to take your mind off Oriana.”
We named our daughter Oriana, which means “dawn,” since she was conceived during our time in darkness. I gave birth two months ago after my water broke at the wedding of Reece’s coworker, Emmett. Apparently, I went a little too hard on the Electric Slide. Reece was in an absolute panic as he loaded me up to go to the hospital. I thought for sure I’d end up giving birth in the truck, but in the end, he got us there just in time.
“Food always takes my mind off my emotions.” I aim a grin his way, and we continue walking.
“Then you’re lucky I packed snacks because it’ll be a few hours before we can sit down to eat.”
“What do you mean?”
He squeezes my hand encased in his.
“I have a slight change of plans.”
“What sort of change?”
Reece diverts us from the walkway in lieu of an answer and into the entry to the nearest building. He pulls me so fast I don’t catch the signage above the awning. The door shuts behind me, blocking out the sounds of tourists, and the loud buzzing gives away our location.
“We’re getting tattoos?”
“I’m getting a tattoo,” he says and kisses my forehead. “You’re here for support.”
The muscles in my back relax. I’ve never considered myself an impulsive person, and a spur-of-the-moment tattoo set my heart racing. Though someday, I might want to get something to commemorate my little family.
“That I can do.”
It becomes clear this was the plan all along when Reece gives his name to the receptionist, and we’re whisked rather quickly into a room. Reece yanks off his shirt and lies on his stomach on a black padded table. My eyes are locked on the scars etching my full name into his flesh.
“You can sit here.” The artist pushes a stool in my direction. At the sound of his voice, I move my gaze away from Reece’s destroyed back. No matter how much I fight not to blame myself, guilt still surfaces at the evidence before me. I carefully lower myself onto the stool and scoot to the head of the bed.
“What’s the plan here?”
Reece reaches out and covers my hand with his.
“You’ll see.”
Over the next couple of hours, I’m engrossed in watching this gruff, quiet artist carefully ink in the pink, healed skin spelling my name with thick script. The scars aren’t entirely erased, but the damage they represent is covered in black ink. As he moves from one letter to the next, it’s as if a part of my broken heart is repaired.
“How are you doing, baby?” I ask when the artist is nearly done.
Reece’s long lashes flutter against his cheeks before he opens his eyes. The serene expression is at odds with a person having a needle repeatedly jammed into their flesh.
“I’m perfect.” He tugs my hand to his lips and kisses the back, setting tingles to my skin.
“It looks beautiful,” I choke. “I can’t thank you enough.”
His gorgeous eyes meet my tearful ones, and he props his chin on our hands. “Don’t thank me. I saw the way you looked at Bennett. I’m getting in the competition for most ink.” His wink brings levity to the tension.
“You’re lying.” I comb my fingers through the long strands on top of his head. “But I appreciate it all the same.”
The sound of the buzzing machine cuts off, and the artist swipes something on Reece’s back.
“You know I’d do anything for you.”
Overcome with my love for this man, I cup the back of his head and pull his mouth to mine. He props himself up on an elbow and crawls forward nearly off the edge as we go at one another like two teenagers. The warmth of his naked torso connects with my free hand, and I walk fully into his space. Only at the throat clearing behind us do we break apart. Reece swipes his thumb across my damp lower lip.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Reece James. For the rest of my life.”
Curious about Reece’s brother, Niko? Turn the page to read the prologue for Pitch Dark!
Prologue
LEAVES CRUNCH AS I storm through the overgrown wooded area. Branches and briars brush against my pants legs, trying to burrow into the denim as if trying to hold me back from what’s ahead. As if they know even before I do that what I’m about to walk into is going to destroy me. My heart pounds heavily in my chest as if I know what I’m about to find will change my life forever. Beads of sweat crawl down my temples to my cheeks. Not from the heat but from the overwhelming amount of dread filling my stomach with each step I take.
When Tavers, an old friend of mine and detective from back home, called an hour and a half ago with the demand I come home because he had something important to show me, I knew deep in my gut what it was about. It was in the hesitant tone he used. Tavers isn’t the type to be soft spoken unless he’s in detective mode. I didn’t ask for details because I wasn’t ready to deal with them. I wanted to deny it. Hell, I am denying it. I won’t, can’t believe it until I see for myself.
It can’t be her.
It fucking can’t be her.
Flashing red and blue lights blind me along with the many flashlight beams flowing around the wooded crime scene. Eyes watch me as I pass by evidence markers on the ground and yellow crime scene tape. Sympathetic eyes. Mournful eyes. Eyes that I ignore because I’m so focused on the spot I see fifty feet in front of me. I zero in on Tavers with his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking down at the white sheet I refuse to acknowledge.
