ONE LAST WISH

by Reynolds, Aurora Rose

  Last summer, a group of tourists went out toward the glacier to watch the bears as they caught salmon from the river. One of the bears was more interested in them and destroyed their rental, trying to get inside. No one was seriously hurt, but someone could have been, and badly.

  “Can you come with us?”

  At Lyra’s question, I feel Bre tense ever so slightly. Part of me wants to agree to go just to push Bre, but I don’t.

  “I have to work, but I’ll be here for your birthday party tonight.”

  “Oh, all right,” Lyra sighs, and I smile then kiss her forehead. I add the ham to the eggs then wait until they’re almost done before I add in the cheese.

  We eat breakfast in the kitchen, and then I leave promising I’ll be back for cake and pizza. I head to my boat and start getting things ready for next week. I have the weekend off, but there is always shit to do when you’re your own boss. Once I’m done with work, I stop to pick up Lyra’s birthday gift. One of the shops in town makes custom fleece jackets and vest; you can choose your color and add different ribbons. I bought Lyra a dark pink fleece jacket and a matching vest, with white ribbon that has small hearts on it and her name embroidered on the chest. I know she’ll love it, since she loved the one I got my mom at Christmas. Once I pick it up, I head to my parents’ house to kill some time before the party.

  I park in the driveway next to my mom’s truck and climb out. I head inside without knocking, and pause when I hear my mom cry, “No!” in distress. “No, please, tell me you’re lying.” I see her on the phone in the kitchen and head that way, wondering who she’s talking to and what’s going on. Her head flies up and she swallows when her eyes meet mine. “Shel, I gotta go.” Shel, as in Aubrey’s stepmom? Worry starts niggling the back of my mind. “I know. Sorry, but Denver just walked in.” She looks at the floor. “Yeah, I know. I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Yeah, later.” She hangs up.

  “What’s going on? Are Bre and Lyra okay?” Visions of them and a bear fill my mind and it takes everything in me not to leave and head for my truck. She doesn’t lift her head, and that worry gets stronger. “Mom, what the fuck? Are Bre and Lyra okay?”

  “Their both fine. Um…” She looks at me then looks away. “Aubrey asked Shel to watch Lyra next Friday.”

  “Okay?” I frown.

  “She has a date.”

  I know I must have heard her wrong. It sounded like she just said Bre has a date next Friday. “Pardon?”

  “A date. Bre has a date next Friday,” she repeats, turning toward the sink where she starts to wash the dishes.

  “You’re fucking with me.” My mom knows how I feel about Bre, has known for years, actually there is a good chance everyone knows.

  “Language,” she snaps, looking at me over her shoulder. “And no, I’m not.”

  Fuck. She’s not lying. What the fuck? Bre has a date… with who?

  “With who?” I ask aloud.

  “What?”

  “Who does she have a date with?” I growl.

  “Some guy named Mike. I guess he lives out of town but fishes here during the season.” I wrack my brain trying to figure out who Mike is then frown. I know a few Mikes, but most of them are married.

  “Mike who?”

  “I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “Does it really matter, she has a date.”

  I lean against the counter as my stomach turns. I must not know Mike, because I’ve made it clear to everyone that Bre is off limits anytime anyone even mentions her name. She may not be mine, but she’s still mine as far as I’m concerned. “Fuck.” I jerk my fingers through my hair.

  “Seriously, language.” Mom tosses a wash rag at me, and I catch it against my chest. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m not going to wait around for her to be taken from me again.” I watch her pull in a breath as relief fills her eyes.

  Chapter 3

  _______________

  Aubrey

  YOU’D THINK A BIRTHDAY party for a four-year-old would be an uncomplicated event. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I should say that’s not the case when you’re trying to set up for a party while attempting to rein in said four-year-old, who has eaten her weight in icing and is now bouncing off the walls. I probably shouldn’t have let her eat the icing from the container while we were making her cake, but there was no way I could say no to her.

  “Ly, baby, please stop spinning before you make yourself sick,” I say, watching her giggle as she spins in circles, turning herself into a mummy with the bright pink streamer tape she stole off the table five minutes ago.

  “Okay, Mommy.” She falls in a heap on the ground, her arms and legs spreading out wide like a starfish.

  Laughing under my breath, I grab another balloon and blow it up, looking toward the hall when someone rings the bell. I glance at Ly, who’s now making snow angels on the carpet, and smile when she starts singing one of the songs from the Disney movie Frozen. “Be right back,” I tell her, heading for the door. When I open it, I’m surprised to see Denver here so early, and even more surprised by the pissed off look in his eyes. Denver has always been even tempered, so if he’s pissed, something big must have happened. “Is everything okay?”

  “You have a date?”

  It takes a second for his question to register, and when it does, my stomach drops. I asked Shel this morning if she could watch Lyra next Friday; I never even thought about her telling anyone else about my plans. “I—”

  Before I can get another word out, he’s in my space. His hand is wrapped around the back of neck, and his mouth is on mine. I’m so stunned by his aggressive maneuver that I completely freeze from head to toe.

  “Kiss me,” he demands against my mouth while looking into my eyes, and I lick my lips in nervousness, which means I lick his. “Fuck.” His mouth closes over mine, and I gasp when his teeth nip my bottom lip hard enough to sting. “Open.”

  I shake my head, move my hands to his chest, and start to push him away. Instead, I end up clinging to him, digging my fingers into his shirt when his free hand curves around my ribcage, right under my breast, and his thumb sweeps across my nipple. Sensations I’ve never experienced before wash through me, and an “Oh, God” leaves my mouth on a whimper of need. His tongue sweeps between my parted lips and my eyes slide closed. He taste good, like the ocean and sunshine mixed with mint and cherries.

  I kiss him back, my tongue toying with his as my fingers dig into the muscles of his chest, trying to pull him as close as possible. I was right all those years ago, when I thought one kiss from him would change my world, because with his mouth and hands on me, nothing outside of us and this moment exists.

  “Mommy.” Like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head, Lyra’s distant voice pulls me back to reality, and I drag my mouth from his and shove at his chest to get away.

  “Bre.” He reaches out for me when I finally get free, and I stumble back, hitting the wall behind me. I cover my mouth with my hand as I lift my head, and when our gazes connect, I shake my head and hold out my hand to ward him off. “Bre.” He prowls toward me.

  He stops suddenly, jerking his head to the left when Ly excitedly shouts, “Denver!” My lungs burn as he picks her up with ease and holds her against his chest. His eyes bore into mine over her shoulder and I look away, my heart beating like crazy and my chest heaving as I try to pull oxygen into my lungs. “Did you come to help us decorate?” Ly questions with a happy smile as she holds on to his face with both her hands so she’s sure to have his full attention.

  “Yeah, but I need to talk to your mom. Can you give us a second and wait for us in the kitchen?”

  Panic fills me when she nods and he kisses her forehead then puts her down. I want to go with her when she runs off, but I can’t. I need to be an adult and deal with this head-on. I don’t know why he kissed me or what the hell came over me that made me kiss him back, but this can’t happen. My eyes slide closed whi
le my throat tightens with tears, but then spring back open when I feel his fingers wrap around my lower jaw.

  “Please step back,” I beg, looking into his beautiful eyes up close. How am I going to deal with being around him now that I know what he taste like, what his hands feel like on me? Never, never have I felt what I’m feeling right now. I didn’t even know it was possible to experience this amount of arousal. My body is coiled tight, like at any moment I might come right out of my skin.

  “You’re not going on a date with Mike.”

  Wait, what?

  “What?” I whisper.

  His face comes closer to mine. “You are not going on a date.”

  I watch his jaw clench up close and my stomach muscles bunch in response. “Den—”

  “No.” He shakes his head, crowding my space until I’m pressed against the wall and he’s firmly molded against me, with one hand on my hip and the other on the wall above my shoulder. “You’re mine, Bre, and I don’t care what I have to do to prove it. But I will prove it to you one way or another.”

  Swallowing hard, I shake my head in denial. “Denver, we can’t do this.”

  “Oh yes we can, and yes we are. I’ve been waiting, Bre, waiting for-fucking-ever for you to be ready. I’m done waiting.” His softly spoken words slam into me, scaring me to death.

  “Please step back.” My voice and body shake in tandem.

  “For now.” His warm breath brushes against my lips. “For right now, I’ll give you space, but only until Lyra goes to bed tonight. When that happens, you and I are going to have a long-overdue conversation about what we are to each other.”

  “Okay,” I agree instantly, knowing I’m literally stuck between a wall and a hard place and there is no other way for me to get away from him but to agree. I shimmy out of his grasp and duck under his arm. I don’t look at him again. I leave him standing near the door and rush to the kitchen. When I see Ly at the island with her fingers in the icing on the cake, I give her a shaky smile.

  “Ly, no one is going to want to eat the cake if it doesn’t have any icing left on it.” I get close, kissing the side of her head as I grab her hand. I pick her up, take her to the sink, and then set her on the counter.

  “But it’s so yummy.” She licks her fingers as I turn on the water.

  “It is yummy.” Denver’s deep voice makes me jump, and I look to find him licking icing off his own fingers.

  Oh, God. My stomach and core clench at the same time while my nipples harden. “No more icing,” I squeak, and he smirks like he knows just what kind of effect he’s having on me. What the hell is happening?

  “So where are we with the decorating?”

  “You don’t have to help.” I shut off the water and dry Ly’s hands before setting her on her feet. “I’m sure you have more important stuff to do right now.”

  “Nothing’s more important to me then you and Lyra.”

  “Did you suffer a concussion today?” I ask seriously, wondering what the hell has come over him. First, the kiss, and now that comment. I know Lyra means the world to him, that’s never been a secret. But he’s never, ever made a pass at me, definitely never kissed me, and he sure as heck has never talked to me the way he did moments ago.

  “What’s a concussion?” Ly asks.

  I look down at my beautiful baby girl. “It’s when someone bumps their head, baby.”

  “Oh.” She looks worriedly at Denver. “Are you okay?”

  “I didn’t bump my head, gorgeous, but I did get a reality check this afternoon.”

  Her worried look becomes a frown. “What’s a reality check?”

  “It’s just a saying, honey,” I chime in, ready for this to be done and over with. “Why don’t we get back to decorating? We still have a lot to do before people start showing up.”

  “Okay.” She shrugs and skips away from me, heading for the doorway that leads to the dining room. I follow behind her, ignoring the fact that I can feel Denver coming with us.

  “So did you see any bears when you went out today?” I hear him ask, as I pick up the streamer tape Ly was playing with earlier. I listen to Ly tell him about the black bear we saw in a tree on the way to the river and the grizzly we saw catching salmon. When she tells him about our plans to go sledding tomorrow, I cringe when she invites him along and he agrees to come. I want to chime in and say he’s not invited, but I keep my mouth shut. Ly loves Denver, and he loves her too, so as much as it’s going to suck being around him after what just happened, I can’t just kick him out of her life. Which means I can’t kick him out of mine either.

  For the next hour and a half, I try to ignore Denver’s presence, which isn’t easy. He’s constantly standing too close, offering to help me hang the streamers and balloons. At one point, he even followed me into the kitchen and pressed into my back, one hand on my hip, before he reached up over my head to grab the bowls I was trying to grab out of one of the high cupboards. Ly thankfully hasn’t seemed to notice him acting differently, but I notice, and my body, which has not cooled one degree, notices for sure.

  When the doorbell rings at four thirty, I almost jump for joy, because I know it’s my dad, Shel, and my baby sister Penelope here with the pizzas. Having them around will be the distraction I so desperately need.

  “Hey, guys.” I smile at them when I open the door, and my dad eyes me with a look that has me squirming. Can he tell I’ve been kissed? I press my fingers to my lips, wondering if they are swollen or if it’s obvious to him what happened earlier.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” Shel greets me with a smile and a kiss to my cheek. “What do you need me to help with?”

  “We just need to get the food out. We got everything else set up,” I tell her as I let her go.

  “Really?” Her eyes go over my shoulder, and I see them fill with something I don’t quite understand. “Hey, Denver.”

  “Hey, Shel.” I catch his smile as Ly squirms to be put down.

  As soon as her feet touch the floor, she rushes to Shel and giggles “Grandma” when Shel picks her up and spins her around and around in circles.

  When I feel my sister wrap her arms around my waist, I tip my head down to look at her, but she’s gone before I can even give her a greeting, chasing after her niece who she adores.

  “Baby girl,” Dad calls, and I look at him. “What’s going on? Why do you look freaked?”

  “Nothing’s going on.” His eyes narrow. “It’s just been a busy day,” I add, hoping my answer will soothe him enough that he won’t ask more questions.

  “You sure?”

  “Yep,” I chirp, and his eyes narrow further. “Do you want to set those down in the dining room?” I nod at the pizza boxes.

  He doesn’t answer or stop studying me. My dad knows me too well. We’ve always been close, and we only became closer when he and my mom split and after I lost Gabe.

  “Did your mom call?”

  At his question, my insides tighten painfully. My mother isn’t a part of my life unless it’s convenient for her or unless she needs a place to stay when she’s in town. Our relationship was rocky when I was in school. I didn’t like the man she’d been dating, and that only made things more turbulent. Our relationship improved a little after she broke up with the guy, but it wasn’t great. Things got a little better around the time I married Gabe. She was around a little more, but never a steady fixture, never dependable. When I lost Gabe, things between us went downhill quickly. I really needed her then, really needed her to step up and be my mom, especially after I found out I was pregnant, but she never did. In fact I haven’t seen her in years.

  I won’t say I hate her, because I don’t. I just don’t like the person she is. I don’t understand her at all, especially now that I’m a mother myself. If it weren’t for Shel, I don’t know that I would fully understand what a mother’s love is. She’s been a constant in my life; she’s always here for me when I need her, and even when I don’t.

  “No, she hasn’t called,”
I say when I feel his eyes on me, waiting for my response.

  “Fuck.” His jaw gets tight and I rest my hand on his arm.

  “It’s okay.”

  “It’s not, it’s her goddamn granddaughter’s birthday.”

  “You’re right it’s not okay, but it is what it is.”

  “Let me take those,” Denver says, appearing at my side, and I watch him take the pizza boxes from Dad and walk away without another word.

  “Hear you got a date next Friday,” Dad remarks, watching Denver disappear. Seriously, Shel has a big mouth, and I know it was her who spilled the beans since she’s the only one I told about Mike asking me out. I shrug, not wanting to confirm or deny. “Also see Denver’s here.” My eyes widen. “Good to see that boy’s finally pulling his head outta his ass.”

  “Dad!”

  “You two have been dancing around each other for years. I don’t know what’s going to happen between you, but if in the end you find happiness, I’ll be good with that.”

  “Nothing is going to happen,” I sputter. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

  “Everything okay?” Shel asks, sliding under Dad’s arm.

  “Fine. Everything is fine.” I shove my fingers through my hair. Did I somehow wake up in an alternate universe this morning without knowing it? “I need to go make sure Ly hasn’t eaten all the icing off the cake.” I start to leave but turn to look at Shel when her words bring me to a halt.

  “Lyra asked to stay with us tonight. I told her it was fine. I hope that’s okay.”

  Great, now I won’t have an excuse to avoid Denver by keeping Ly up all night with the temptation of movies and popcorn.

  “It’s fine,” I sigh.

  “If they’re watching Lyra, me and you can go into town to have a drink,” Denver says, making me jump, and my head flies around to face him so fast I get dizzy.

  “Oh, that’s a great idea,” Shel agrees happily, and I fight the urge to stomp my foot like Ly does when she’s not getting her way. “You never go out. It would be good for you.”

  I can’t believe I thought my family would be a distraction, a buffer between Denver and me. It seems they are now only adding to my current problem.