“She’s locked away,” Diane muttered unhappily. “I mean, she can’t do a thing. She’s full of empty threats.”
“Maybe so, but I don’t want to have to worry about what mail I will be collecting every morning. That isn’t fair on me, that isn’t fair on Tyler and, at the end of the day, that isn’t fair on Grace. She may be young, but she picks up on the moods of Tyler and me. When we’re stressed, so is she. I don’t want that for my family. She might be locked up, Diane, but she can still get at us.”
“Just don’t open the letters,” Diane stated bluntly.
“Really?” Austin barked at Diane. “You caused this, and that is your way of fixing it? I don’t want to find anything in my mail box with Natasha’s handwriting on it. Period.”
“I’m with my wife on this one,” Tyler stepped in. “Diane, what you’ve done is given Natasha some semblance of hope that she deserves to be a part our lives, or that she can fight to have a part of it. I don’t want that. I don’t want her anywhere near my child or my wife. So much has happened. She caused so much uproar, and she played us all. Everything she did is unforgiveable, and Austin and I rebuilt our lives after it all happened. Neither of us want Natasha to be a part of the life we made together.”
“I’m sorry,” Diane apologized solemnly, her eyes watering. “I know you have a perfect life now. I wanted Natasha to just see that. I wanted her to see that her actions didn’t stop you two from finding your way back to one another.”
“I know how much you want your daughter back, Diane. I understand how much you wish she was better, but you can’t change everyone,” Austin sympathized, seeing why Diane did what she had.
“I know. She’s completely gone,” Diane admitted sadly, trying her hardest not to cry. “She’s not the same. She’s not my daughter and I hate it. I hate her.” She shook her head as absolute dismay rained down upon her and she looked to Austin with saddened expression. “I just wanted her to see how life went on. The reaction I got from her was not what I expected. It wasn’t something I want to go and see again.” She watched the pair and tried to swallow her pride, “I’ll make this right. I can only try, but I will try. I promise.”
“That’s all we can ask for,” Tyler said, knowing they couldn’t do much more. “I will be speaking to the prison as well to make sure they block her rights to send letters to our address, our families and the police department.”
Austin took her husband’s hand, gripped it tightly, “Can we go?” she whispered at him, feeling the need for air.
“Of course,” Tyler replied to her and looked back to Diane. “We’re sorry for barging in, Diane, we just wanted to sort the matter out.”
“It’s fine, really,” Diane told him honestly. “I’ll see you out, and I will contact the prison about setting up another meeting with Natasha.”
“Thank you,” Austin said to Diane, reminding herself that this wouldn’t last for long and they would have Natasha out of their lives again. She was the first to move towards the front door, and the moment she heard the door shut behind Tyler, she faltered, unable to cope with the fact that Natasha had been given the insight to her life behind her back.
“Come here,” Tyler said, pulling his wife to his body and clinching his arms around her to hold her tightly against his chest. “I think we need to go home and unwind before Gracie comes home.” He then released her, allowing her to approach their SUV.
“I don’t want to go home just yet,” Austin said climbing into her side of the car.
Tyler nodded. “Then let’s go somewhere else.”
There was only one place for him to take her now, and that was Point Arena Cove.
Chapter Seven
TYLER watched as his wife made her way down to the sandy shore. Even though she acted fine, he knew otherwise. Everyone else would fall for her charade, but he wouldn’t and he wouldn’t let her pretend that everything was fine. He wouldn’t let her pass these feelings off and act normal. Harboring the negatives never did any good for Austin. He would make her confront her emotions, channel them, and then let them go.
Shaking his head at the situation, he went to the back of the car. Grabbing a blanket, Tyler knew Austin just needed a little piece of free therapy. A moment at her favorite place, time with him, and then a distraction only Grace could offer and she would be back to her normal self.
He didn’t rush after her, nor did he call out to her. He just left her to approach the shoreline as he made his way to a spot to sit at. He stood and watched her for a moment or two, before he reacted, unable to let her feed the darkened part of her soul with tortuous thoughts after malicious scenarios.
“Here ya go, Sunny,” Tyler called out as he settled the blanket down. He sat down on one side and patted the empty space beside. “C’mon,” he goaded her and slowly she spun around and came to sit next to him. Immediately, he felt her head fall to his shoulder and he planted a kiss to the crown of her hair. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Austin let out a gentle sigh and sat up. “She always seems to just creep up. It feels like there’s no escaping Natasha.” She brought her knees up to her chest, rested her head onto the dip they created, turned her head slightly to look at her husband. “It just seems like when everything starts to run smoothly, she causes the bumps to appear. I don’t want to have to worry every day, Tyler. I don’t want to worry about the mail, or about what she’s saying next time. I just want to live our lives. You, me, Gracie, our family. There is no room for the woman that tried to destroy everything I have in my life anymore.”
“There’s no room for her in mine either,” Tyler vowed and put his arms around her, bringing her up from her curled up position so he could pull her to his chest. “I stick by it. She tried to ruin so much of my life before; I won’t ever allow her the chance to do that again. It’s impossible for her to shake my faith any longer. I don’t respond to her like I used to. I made myself believe that she was there for me, that after you, she was the only shot I had at this life, but when you walked back into town that day I still remember how it made me feel.”
“How?” Austin probed curiously. Even though they had discussed her return, and her life before, neither Austin nor Tyler really pushed the subject and they felt no need to. They had what their hearts had longed for and that was enough to forgive and forget.
“You really want to know?” he asked her, and she nodded at him. Releasing her, he let her sit up and look at him, while he reached for her hand and entwined her fingers with his. “I felt free of some six year long burden. Hearing Cassie say you were back in town terrified the life out of me, but I felt like suddenly everything fell into place. It didn’t matter who was with me, who loved me, I was numb to it all for the entire time you were gone. Right up until that day you came back that is.” He brought her hand up to his lips to kiss the knuckles gently. “Even though it went wrong, and I so very nearly lost you, you still brought me my life back.” He watched her school her emotions, not giving anything away. “The day you came back, it was just like my life had purpose. I know I acted stupidly, even after the truth was out and I tried to make you go off with Michael, I knew I could never let that happen. I could never lose you again.”
Austin’s face slowly cracked into a smile, her lips pulling into a smile. “Even when I found myself getting closer to Michael, no one ever matched up to you. You could have put me back on a plane with him and I would have come straight back to you. It’s always going to be you, Ty.”
“Good to know,” Tyler whispered, leaning into show his possessiveness with a kiss. “The moment I laid my eyes on you at your parents’ party, I knew I was still very much in love with you, Aus.”
“And now?” she dared to ask him, her tone remaining sweet and ignorant. “How much do you love me?”
Tyler didn’t speak out. He just pushed her down onto the blanket, covering her body with his. “I don’t think words convey how much I love you, Mrs. Armstrong.” He leaned in, gently touching his lips
to hers, eliciting a soft kiss working with his wife to allow the passion. His hands trailing down the contours of her figure, readying to grip onto her to deepen the power of the kiss so he could show her just how much he really loved her.
“Are we about to do it on the beach?” she asked him, as the kiss paused for a moment and they looked at one another, Tyler’s hands still roaming her body.
“No, we’re about to do it in the cove,” he corrected her, and smirked as her eyes sparkled at him. “I know how you love doing it here, Aus.”
Giggling she pushed him back. “I do, but not when your daughter, my brothers, and your sister are on their way.” She watched the realization dawn upon her husband’s face. “She’s three; I don’t want Grace to start asking about the birds and bees quite yet.”
“You’re right,” Tyler chuckled at the thought. He would rather not have to broach that subject today.
“Just lay with me,” she requested of him.
Tyler smirked. “Okay, Sunny.” He then lay beside her, no longer covering her body, and rolled onto his back. He turned his head to face her, kissing her when she turned to look at him. He then accepted her snuggling into his side, the sea breeze rushing across the shape their bodies made.
Allowing the silence to wrap around them, Austin found momentary solace. Here in her husband’s arms, the freedom surrounding them, she knew no harm would come to them. Their life was set in stone, and their only enemy was locked up. She had to somehow let the shadow that Natasha cast go, and enjoy what she did have - the life she yearned for.
“I’ve got something I want to ask you,” Tyler broached a new subject, both of them still looking up at the calming sky. Neither was willing to move, but both were more than eager to strike up conversation.
Looking to her husband, she gave him a curious look. “What’s that?”
“What do you say to upping our numbers?” Tyler asked suddenly, breaking into the silence they had made. He felt his wife move in his arms, twisting to look at him, “I think it’s time Gracie got a brother or sister. Three years of practicing is enough don’t you think?”
Austin broke into a massive smile at the thought and answered, “I think it’s time you got a perfect clone.”
Releasing a heartfelt chuckle, Tyler nodded. “I do too, but I would love another mini you. Gracie is perfection, but imagine three of you.”
“If that’s what you want I’ll start counting you for gray hairs now,” Austin quipped and felt Tyler draw her closer as she teased him. “In all honesty, I would like us to be settled again.”
“Like we were this morning?” Tyler asked, his tone flattening as he let the thought sink in.
“Yeah,” Austin pushed the word out. She wanted a ton of children with Tyler, enough to make their house so filled with laughter it was willing to explode, but she had reservations unlike before. “I want to extend our family. I know it’s time, and I love that you know it is too, but just after all of the stress is done. I can’t deal with Natasha and be pregnant. It scares me far too much.” She sat up, nervous all of a sudden. “I want nothing more than to make our family grow, Tyler. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, but I can’t do it when she is continuously there.”
“I get that, I do,” Tyler said, sitting up to be by his wife’s side. “I wanted us on the same page. I think we managed that don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, her eyes suddenly watering on her. “I do want another child, Tyler. I so want that.”
“Well then, I say we set in motion ways to stop Natasha,” Tyler told her, his tone holding conviction and confidence. He was going to be going to the office first thing in the morning and restricting any and all contact Natasha could possibly wrangle. He was not going to jeopardize his life for someone who would rather tear it apart than embrace it. “I will make sure you’re pregnant before Christmas.”
Austin giggled loudly at that. “Oh yeah?” she quizzed him sarcastically. “That’s still six months away. Sure that’s enough time to play bad cop and sort out our little dark patch?”
“I doubt I’d even need six hours, baby,” Tyler teased back, leaning forward to place his forehead to hers, staring into her eyes longingly.
“You sound very assertive when you want to,” Austin retorted, a sly grin on her lips as she toyed with the playfulness in the air.
Tyler smirked harder at that comment. “I know how to do my jobs right. I know how to play the good cop, play the bad cop, and play family man all together.” He didn’t allow her to respond, he kissed her again, longing to take her against the sandy dunes, but he used his will power to keep this moment light and just as intimate. He ran his hand up his wife’s jaw line, pressing into her hair to tilt her head a little to deepen the kiss. This was what he loved most - the passion they both still evidently held for one another.
“Unca Tom, daddy’s eating mommy!”
Austin and Tyler both finished their kiss with a fit of laughter at their daughter. Tyler looked up and saw Grace’s face full of disgust and he looked back to Austin who was giggling uncontrollably, the blush painting across her face. He looked to see his sister walking down with Sienna, all of Austin’s brothers now there too, and he knew this was the tonic Austin needed most.
“Gracie, I think we saved mommy,” Tom played along, knowing from Austin’s incomplete expression she was being weighed on heavily by a lot of issues revolving around the letters Dean had mentioned. “Now go and give her a hug.”
“Oka!” she yelled and ran off in her parents’ direction. “Mommy!” Grace’s voice resonated out into the air, bringing Austin to twist in her perch to catch her daughter.
“Hey baby,” Austin said, clinching her arms around her daughter’s small body. Austin clung onto her little girl for dear life. This was one of her life lines. Grace was one of the reasons she loved every day. Between her and Tyler nothing else needed a worry because she had three of the things she had always wanted - the man she loved, the family she dreamt of, and a life worth more riches than anyone could earn.
“Mommy!” Grace shouted into her mother’s embrace. “You’re squishing me!”
“Oh, sorry, baby,” Austin let go of her daughter, and then looked as her daughter stood back a little. She framed her face and then dotted a kiss to Grace’s nose. “I love you, baby girl. You know that right?”
Grace’s face illuminated in one of her million dollar smiles and she nodded her head in agreement. “To the stars and back!”
“That’s right. To the stars and back.” Austin gave her daughter a watery smile, trying to keep her emotions in check. “Now, go and scare your Uncle Tom while he’s not looking.”
“Oka!” she chirped with a small giggle and spun around in her uncle’s direction.
Austin watched from her seat as Grace screamed out for Tom and then proceeded to launch herself at him. She leaned against her husband, her head falling to his shoulder and she smiled at how good it felt to watch her daughter running free and happy. Her blonde hair bounced around in the sun, her giggles resonating over the crash of waves, and it showed more than ever how loved she was by her family.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of this,” Austin mused as she kept her eyes on the scene before them. She turned her head, smiling as he looked to her at the same time. “Ever,” she concluded, before sinking back into the tranquil position. Already she could feel the weight of Natasha’s latest presence dying out.
Tyler remained silent beside Austin, watching the same sight and loving every moment of it. He and Austin didn’t need to fill in the silence; they didn’t feel the need to drive conversation. The silence that settled between them was never dead. It was always alive and electrifying, and every single moment of it was theirs to hold. They didn’t need words to fortify their relationship and he prayed they never would.
Suddenly Austin sat up a little, and bumped her shoulder to his before she spoke, “Go and show them how it’s done.”
Tyler didn’t need te
lling twice. He gave her a kiss, launched up from his spot and sprinted to the gang before her. She watched him tickle Gracie before picking her up and threatening to throw her into the water. She squealed out in terrified delight. She screamed to her father to stop, but laughed away as he continued to threaten to throw her into the shallow waters.
“Hey Aussie Mozzie,” Sienna said, as she ran towards her sister and literally dropped to sit beside her. “So,” she began and just looked to Austin. “What happened?”
“Diane told Natasha about Grace,” Austin admitted and sighed. “Even took a photo.”
Immediately, Sienna’s expression darkened. “She did what now? I swear I have the right mind to go and give her a little visit.”
Austin let out a mini laugh of irony at her sister’s response - only Sienna. “What’s that going to change? She knows how I feel about it, how Tyler does too. She said she was going to go and see Natasha again and tell her to leave us alone, and Tyler is going to look at restricting her rights for sending things.”
“It’s under control then?” Sienna asked, knowing that she couldn’t just fly off the handle.
Austin nodded at her sister. “Nothing is going to threaten this life.”
“You’ve come a long way, Aus,” Sienna spoke with light enthusiasm. “I’m proud of you. For everything you’ve overcome.”
“I have my moments,” Austin teased back, knowing that at times she could still be the weakest of beings if the moment fell too heavily.
“Right,” Sienna suddenly struck up, slapping her hands onto her thighs. “We brought food so I’m going to run to the car and grab it.”
“Sure you don’t want to see how this is going to end?” Austin asked, extending an arm out to watch Tyler and Tom wrestling in the water, Cassie holding onto Grace as they watched as a giggling mess with Dean and Danny. Suddenly Tyler managed to push Tom a little harder, sending him flying into the water, landing back first with a massive splash.
Watch What Burns Page 6
