by Anthology
A tear slid down my face and Everett brushed it aside, delivering a kiss on my lips to soothe me.
"I’d accepted my death with resignation, but until you came along, it hadn’t felt like surrendering. And then there you were, with your sour words and bitter attitude and all I wanted was you, no matter what it took to have you."
A breath shuddered from my lips, relieving some of the ache in my throat. I was overwhelmed with what he was telling me, realizing what he meant with his words.
"I love you, Parker. I want you, Parker. Whether or not the future brings children, puppies, a billion cats – it doesn’t matter to me as long as I have you. You’re the reason I’m here. You’re my sweet moment."
My vision blurred and my chest released some of the built up pressure with the sob I gasped.
Brushing the tears from my face, he said. "Don’t cry, Parks."
"Don’t call me that," I mumbled through my crying.
He laughed, that beautiful, rich sound and the rest of the pressure deflated from my chest. He wanted me – of all people in the world, this beautiful, frustrating, sexy, disarming man wanted me.
He pulled me close to him, squeezing me tightly.
"I love you," I said, finally, squeezing him back, three times.
* * *
When I woke up, it was well past noon, Christmas day. I reached an arm across the bed but felt just cold sheets. Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned, taking in the Christmas music that spilled from the speakers below, the smells of the fire and whatever Everett was cooking filling the air.
Dressed in Everett’s flannel shirt and my pajamas, I trudged down the stairs just as Everett threw a log onto the fire. He straightened upon seeing me, beaming. "It’s alive!" he cheered.
I made a sound of annoyance in my throat just as he walked up to me, sliding hands into my hair and kissing me thoroughly. "Merry Christmas."
"Mm-hm," I said against his lips. "What’s for breakfast?"
"Key-lime pancakes," he said, steering me towards the counter and gently pushing me into a seat. "You were practically comatose, so I ran off to the local store for some ingredients." He pushed a plate stacked with ten pancakes in front of me and I eyed him with a raised eyebrow.
"You’re overestimating my appetite." I took a bite nonetheless and felt my mouth already start watering for the next bite. "Oh, God," I murmured appreciatively around the bite.
"You can call me Everett, actually."
I ignored him, chewing thoroughly and swallowing. "These are amazing," I said, eyes closed.
"I love watching you eat," he said softly and I felt it like a direct hit between my legs. "Hurry up, though. I want you to open your presents."
I finished five pancakes before feeling like a total glutton and followed Everett to the tree, where he’d laid out our gifts for one another.
"Me first," I insisted. I grabbed the first package and tossed it onto his lap.
He tore open the paper and was silent for a moment as he stared at the package. "Socks?"
I nodded, pointing to the socks he was currently wearing. "Look! You’re wearing one of mine and a wool sock." He looked at his feet, taking in the hot pink sock that I knew belonged to me and the black furry one on his other foot. When he looked back up at me, I shrugged. "You said five dollars was the limit."
Laughing, he tossed me the next package. It was the size and shape of an envelope. I unwrapped it, seeing right away that it was a receipt stapled to another envelope. I looked questioningly at him before he reached over and opened it.
I read the words and looked up at him. "You got me Disneyland tickets?"
He nodded, his lips in a brilliant smile. "We’re going, next weekend." When I didn’t say anything else, he continued, "You never had a real childhood. And you’re not getting any younger."
I couldn’t help the smile that spread to my lips, nor the giggle that spilled out. "You’re such an asshole, even when you’re being charming." I reached over and kissed him. "Thank you." I looked back at the receipt. "You didn’t abide by the five dollar rule, however."
He reached behind him, revealed one more gift. "You’re right. And full disclosure, this cost me three bucks."
"Hold on." I reached under the tree, grabbed the wrapped shoe box and placed it in his lap. "Full disclosure," I said, echoing his words, "this cost a bit more than five dollars."
He unceremoniously ripped off the paper, revealing the shoe box for my boots. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Just open it," I gestured, feeling excitement bubble up in my veins.
He flipped the lid open and pulled off the top layer of tissue paper. I watched as he took it in, lifted the first piece of paper out of the box. His eyes moved rapidly across the paper before he picked up the second one. And he still remained silent.
"Do you know what it is?" I asked eagerly.
I watched as he swallowed hard and looked at me, his heart in his throat, his eyes red. "An itinerary."
I nodded, reached a hand to him and squeezed. "For next summer."
"We’re flying to New Orleans." He held up the printed itinerary, staring intently at it. "And then going east."
"I wanted to continue our road trip."
"This is more than a road trip, Parker, and you know it," He said it softly as he looked over the hotel confirmations, the receipt for the rental car I’d pre-paid for. He raised his head. "Wow."
My heart thundered, swelling in my chest. I climbed onto his lap and kissed him, pouring everything I could into the kiss. He made me crazy, he made me happy. He loved me openly, proudly, and seeing him shaken by my gift made me feel that one day I would maybe give him everything he gave me.
His arms came around me, securing me to him. He rocked me slowly, soothing both of us. "Thank you," he whispered into my hair. "I can’t believe you did this."
"I love you," I said, feeling the words come more freely since the night before.
"Parker," he sighed. "I love you too."
I pushed the tears back and just held on as he kissed me.
"I want you to open my gift to you," he said, pulling me away just enough to put the gift in my hands. He didn’t let me leave his lap and kept his arm around my waist as I opened the flat package.
I peeled the wrapping off, unveiling the back of a frame. Flipping it over, I came face to face with us, under the arch – a series of four photos. The first was me looking at the camera and Everett looking at me, his lips at my ear. I remembered the words he’d whispered like they were tattooed on my heart.
"Everyone who sees this photo will see us under the arch. But when you see this photo, you’ll see the canyon and the water and all the beauty in front of us. Remember that, Parker. When you look at this photo, remember looking at purgatory with me. While everyone else was looking at the arch, we were looking at that."
My fingers brushed his face on the photo. The second photo was me looking at him. I remembered the surge of feelings I felt at that moment.
The third photo, Everett’s hand was in my lap as he was staring at the camera, my lips at his ear and my eyes closed. I could see the lone tear forming a trail down my cheek and knew with a rough thump of my heart that photo was taken a year later, with me reciting the same speech to him, as he sat beside me, not remembering.
The fourth and final photo, Everett and I were facing each other. His posture had changed, his hand was in my hair, his eyes were soft. He had remembered.
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, I started crying. "Damn it, Everett." I swallowed, stared at the photos that had the power to transport me back to Purgatoire.
He rubbed a hand up and down my back, soothingly, but didn’t say anything while we both stared at them.
I touched the first two photos. "I’ve been looking for these," I said quietly after my tears had subsided. "Where were they?"
"In that big box you stuffed in our closet. The box I sent you that you never opened." I thought of the box
that had arrived after I’d left Everett in New Orleans, the box I still didn’t open, even after Everett and I moved in together. "You really should start unpacking."
I laughed and kissed him, with feeling. "I don’t know if I can hang this up in our house. I’ll cry every time I see it."
He chuckled, rested his chin on my shoulder. "Tell me, Parker. What do you see when you look at these?"
I hesitated, my hands touching our faces in the series, the range of emotions over our faces. "I see the valley, the canyons, the river, the rock." I leaned my head towards him. "I see Purgatory. And I see you, when I fell in love with you."
"I see that too," he said. His hand covered mine on the third photo. "I see when you loved me so much, you shouldered the grief alone for nearly a year." With his hand on mine, he moved to the fourth photo. "And I see when I remembered why I chose to live. When I remembered you, Parker." He kissed my shoulder and the hand in mine squeezed. Three times.
The End.
About Whitney Barbetti
Whitney Barbetti is an author of romance, lover of Queen (the band), and self-confessed nerd. She lives with her family in the land of potatoes and enjoys chatting with her readers about books, movies, shows, and tacos. But mostly tacos.
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Other Books by Whitney Barbetti
Ten Below Zero
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He Found Me (He Found Me Series #1)
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He Saved Me (He Found Me Series #2)
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He Found Me Series (Books 1 & 2)
Love in Motion
by R.E. Hunter
A Disclosure Series Short Story
www.rehunterbooks.com
Morgan Maxwell & Brett Parker are getting married! But when their wedding travel plans go off the rails, can they keep the romance going or will they decide some trips aren’t worth the extra mile.
—Dedication—
This story belongs to my amazing readers, who have embraced this series and loved these characters, and who never miss the opportunity to remind me they’d like just a little bit more! You’ll never know how much it truly means to me. Love you hard!
And to all the wonderful new readers who have picked up this anthology and helped to support an amazing cause, thank you. I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy this short, sweet, and sexy addition to The Disclosure Series!
—A Short Note—
The Disclosure Series is comprised of two books—Undone and Unbroken.
Love in Motion takes place between the final chapter and the epilogue of Unbroken.
This short story is a spinoff for Morgan Maxwell and Brett Parker, two of the secondary characters in The Disclosure Series.
It can be read as a standalone.
Chapter One
I push through the hoards of people, past the ringing bells of the Salvation Army Santas, and make my way into Penn Station, Brett following closely behind.
"Babe, wait up," he calls, dragging our bags along. His cheeks are flushed from the biting cold, and he stops, rubbing his hands together to warm up. I want nothing more than to fall into his arms, to let him warm and comfort me, but I’m too pissed off at him right now.
"I wouldn't be rushing if you hadn't talked me into this crazy trip." My tone is harsher than I mean it to be, but my life is the definition of stress right now.
"Come on," he says, his tone appeasing. He saunters up beside me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I thaw slightly at his nearness. "What's more romantic than a cross-country train ride?" Warm fuzzies gone.
He drops a kiss on the side of my head and smiles that crooked smile, and I want to slap it off his face. That stupid, beautiful, manipulative fucking smile is why I'm fighting through a sea of cranky New Yorkers during prime tourist season trying to find our train five days before our wedding.
"Remind me again why you wanted to take a cross-country train to our wedding." And remind me why I said yes.
"It’s my one thing."
"Right." His one thing. I pull away and start walking again, searching for the information board.
When Brett and I got engaged, my older brother, Preston, gave him some genius advice. The wedding is for your girl. Let her have it. Pick one thing that means something to you, something that you really want, and fight for it. But the rest—to keep her happy and to keep you sane—just give her what she wants.
I’m a big fan of this advice. Huge. Who doesn’t like getting what they want? Brett and I planned a beautiful winter wedding at my family’s cabin on Lake Tahoe in California with little to no disagreement since he was pretty much on board for whatever I decided. So when my amazing, sweet, sexy-as-all-hell fiancé told me his one thing—and it wasn’t an extra hour of open bar at the wedding, or a hall pass for his bachelor party—but it was to travel from sea-to-fucking-shining-sea by train, what was I supposed to do? When he sat me down and trained those deep, soulful brown eyes on me, smiled his gorgeous gets-me-every-time smile, and told me that ever since he was a little boy, he’d wanted to make this trip because his grandparents had done it for their wedding and it was somewhat of a family tradition, and he couldn’t think of a more perfect time to do that than with me on the way to our wedding, how could I say no?
Well, I did. I tried like hell to talk him out of it. I went through all five stages of grief—I might still be struggling with acceptance—and lingered a bit too long on bargaining. I’m not entirely proud of myself. I might have frightened him with a few of my offers, but who wants to be crammed on a train with a bunch of crazy strangers for three days and two nights right before their wedding?
So much mystery and intrigue, he said. You never know who you're gonna meet.
Yeah. You never know. And you don’t want to know. Which is why my ass would rather be parked in first class, enjoying a nice relaxing flight to California, where I can order small bottles of forgetfulness if I don't want to deal with the stranger seated next to me. But on a train you're ... stuck.
I find the waiting area and crane my neck at the digital board hanging from the ceiling.
"See? No platform yet. We’ve got plenty of time," Brett observes, rolling the luggage up next to me.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. I fight the urge to roll my eyes, and blow out a breath instead. God, why am I so bitchy right now? I love him, I really do. There is not a single person in the world that could be more perfect for me than Brett Parker. Honestly. I agreed to this trip because I love him, and because it’ll make him happy. And more than anything, he deserves that—and I want to give it to him—always. But that was before reality set in. Before I realized that we’re getting married in less than a week, and we’ll be spending three of the next five days before our wedding stuck on a train with no Wi-Fi and bad cell service.
He tugs on my sweater, turning me to face him, and pulls me into his chest. "Stop worrying, babe." His sturdy arms surround me and I relax against him. "It’s gonna be great, I promise."
I glance up at him, biting my cheek and holding back the snark. "You think I haven’t read Murder on the Orient Express? I know all about what happens on trains."
He chuckles and the deep sound vibrates through me, kicking my heart rate up a notch.
"Come on, those are mysteries. We're writing our own story." He drops his head, and his lips brush the cuff of my ear as he whispers, "We can join the Mile High Club."
I bury my face in his chest and start to giggle. At least he's pretty. "Brett, we'll be on the ground the entire time."
He shrugs. "Mile Long Club, then," he says, smiling down at me conspiratorially. I seriously love this man. There are much worse things I can think of than being stuck with him for three days in a private room with no interruptions. Maybe it won’t be so bad.
Famous last words…
Chapter Two
I kick my feet up in the private waiting lounge, happy not to be stuck in a crowd full of orne
ry people jockeying for a better boarding position. Since Brett got us a room in the sleeper car, we get a snazzy waiting area complete with coffee, snacks, and Wi-Fi. Priority boarding, too.
He went to check our bags and left me to guard my dress and go over my to do list. On top of everything left to do, Aunt Maureen decided she wanted nothing to do with Uncle Bob, and now the seating chart needs to be revised. I fish my phone from my purse and call my best friend, in need of a last minute pep talk.
"Hello?" a raspy Southern voice comes through the phone.
"Hey, Peaches," I greet her fiancé, Luke. Embry and I got engaged within a few months of each other. Her to her law professor—my bestie sure knows how to ignite a scandal—and me to my college boyfriend. After spending nearly every day together in law school, her move to Georgia has been hard on us both. But planning our weddings together keeps us close and has given us plenty of reasons to see each other. And it gives me the opportunity to torment Luke on a regular basis. "How’s your fine Southern ass doing today?"
"Hi, Morgan." I can practically hear his smirk through the phone. I couldn’t have picked a better match for my best friend. "My fine ass is great. How are you, sweetheart?"
"Good." I look across the room and stick my tongue out at Brett as he heads back toward me. "You know, just getting ready to pioneer the rails with the future husband."
Luke’s throaty chuckle echoes through the phone. "I still can’t believe he talked you into it. Bree and I took bets."
"Traitors." I can’t help but laugh. "Who won?"
