Truth in Watercolors (Truth Series Book 2)

by Rose, Kimberly

  I spun around, taking in at least a dozen pieces of art, and they were all of me. A tingling sensation pumping through my veins overcame me, and I rubbed my arms with my hands turning toward him.

  Wes stood back by the mermaid and the marlin wringing his hands nervously in front of him. I could see his chest heaving quickly under his white tee, and his hair was mussed from where he must have been just running his hands through it. I walked up to him and didn’t stop until our bodies were only inches apart. I looked up into his panicked eyes. “You love me,” I whispered, and his eyes closed tightly.

  When they opened, they glistened back at me and he nodded, “Yeah, baby.”

  “Since when?” I asked unable to take my eyes off his.

  “Since you showed me what love is.” He blinked and a single tear fell from his eye. I reached my hand up and swiped the tear with my thumb then held his face in my hand. “I’m so sorry,” he said into my hand with his eyes still closed.

  “I believe you, Wes, but you hurt me. You tore me apart bit by bit, piece by piece, until I felt like nothing more than a smear. No edges, no lines, just a smudge of heartbreak.” I pulled my hand from his face, but he reached up and grabbed it with his own holding it to his face again.

  “Can you forgive me?” He stared so intently into my eyes; I was captured by their sincerity. My mom’s words from earlier in the night rushed to the forefront of my mind. You forgive him regardless for yourself so you can move on to whatever direction your life goes whether it’s with him or not.

  “I’m not letting you go.” He continued assuming my silence was hesitancy. “I’ve loved you my whole life, since I was a kid. I’ve stood up for you, I’ve looked up to you, and I’ve teased you all out of love. That’s all changed though because over the last few months I’ve fallen. Hard. I’ve fallen for you, Capri, and I am completely hard for you.”

  My mouth fell open.

  “Wait, that didn’t come out right.” He shook his head with his eyes cinched tight.

  I laughed. Loudly.

  “Shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Shit, that’s not how it was supposed to come out,” he said disappointed in himself. It was so cute that I tried to tame my laughing. I shook my head in understanding, trying to let him know that I knew what he was trying to say and that it was okay, but I couldn’t stop laughing. Then he kissed me. Hard. And I shut up.

  “Can you stop now so I can tell you this right?” he asked, and I nodded devoid of words.

  “Capri Hunter, I have fallen completely in love with you. I love you, C. Can you forgive me?” He squeezed my hand that was still in his.

  “I forgive you, Wes,” I said knowing that this wasn’t forgiveness to move on without him, but forgiveness to move forward with him. “And I love you so much.” I stood on my toes and leaned up to his lips. He quickly caught me in his arms and lifted me the rest of the way, pulling my toes from the ground and sending his lips colliding with mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly and quite honestly, kissed the living crap out of him.

  When our kiss slowed, he lowered me to the ground where I stumbled on my footing. He took my hand again and outstretched his arm presenting the gallery. “This is yours,” he said ignoring the way my jaw fell. “If you want it. I wanted to give you a piece of the dream you gave to me and make it a dream of yours.”

  “This.” I pointed to the concrete floor below me and tried to wrap my head around what he was saying.

  “This.” He laughed at my shock. “I want this gallery to be yours. You can display your art, you can host other artists, you can even have some of the kids you are working with at the youth center put some of their stuff up here. Whatever you want. It’s yours. If you want it.”

  “I want it,” I said immediately, and then covered my mouth in a fit of giggles. “Oh, my gosh, my own gallery.” I couldn’t stop. Wes’ own throaty chuckle mixed with my laughter and I ran back into his arms. “Thank you. I love you so much,” I whispered into his neck.

  “I love you too, baby, and I’ll make sure you know it for the rest of our lives.”

  “You ready to get out of here?” he whispered, kissing down my neck.

  “Mmm, just a few more minutes,” I mumbled staring off into the dark ocean with Wes’ arms wrapped tightly around me from behind. “Did you just whimper?”

  “Yes. I’ve been waiting all night to get you out of this dress.” He pulled my earlobe with his teeth, and then covered it with his mouth.

  “I thought,” I sighed enjoying Wes’ tongue against me, “I thought it was a pretty cute dress.” After Kensie found out about me being colorblind, she completely changed her wedding colors to all white. I insisted that she stick to her original plan, but she promised this was something she’d always wanted but never had the guts to do. I told her that I’d happily be her excuse.

  “It’s so far from cute,” Wes mumbled into my neck while tugging me in close enough the feel the bulge in his pants press against me. “It’s the sexiest piece of clothing I’ve ever seen you wear and the bastard has been taunting me all night. I can’t wait to rip it off your body and show it who’s in charge here.”

  I giggled and turned around in Wes’ arms wrapping my arms around his neck. “It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” I asked tickling my fingers through his hair and over the back of his neck.

  “So pretty,” he groaned and licked my lips. I allowed him in, briefly sucking on his tongue before pulling away.

  “The lantern was something,” I whispered looking up at him, and his eyes softened in the moonlight. He reached up and tucked a piece of my wavy hair behind my ear.

  “It was,” he said and kissed me on the tip of my nose. Kensie and August got married on one of the cliffs at Sunset Cliffs. The ceremony was simple with only thirty people in attendance. We all stood together on the cliff as Kensie and August read each other their vows. With the ocean roaring behind them, it was impossible to hear what they’d said to one another, but the way they stood forehead to forehead eyes closed, and hands held tightly together, I was sure whatever words were spoken came from the deepest parts of their hearts.

  After the ceremony, the party moved to one of the houses just above the cliffs where Kensie had a relaxed atmosphere set up with an open bar and small dance floor that all looked out over the water. She had changed out of her lace mermaid wedding gown and into a white cocktail dress so she could dance comfortably. Although, it looked difficult for her to get much dancing in with August glued to her side and attached to her lips.

  As the night came to an end, she invited our family and closest friends out to the beach for a surprise. She had a special Chinese lantern made with recreations of Ella’s pictures, and we all stood together on the beach as we watched August send it up into the night sky. As the rest of the family made their way up to the house and to their cars, I’d asked Wes to take a walk with me down the beach. Not for any other reason than that I just wanted to enjoy the quiet with him for a little while before we left.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” I said standing on my tiptoes to give him a hug, but he was quicker in his movement and squatted down to scoop me up. “Let me go.” I giggled as he carried me up the beach peppering my skin with kisses.

  “Never.” He grunted and trudged up the sandy stairs with me then set me down on the top. “Never, C.” He held my face in his hands and looked at me.

  “Good.” I smiled and kissed his lips but pulled away quickly when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. “What is that?” I asked pointing the monstrosity attached to the back of Wes’ car.

  “A U-Haul.”

  “I know that. Why do you have a U-Haul on your car?” I folded my arms across my chest.

  “To carry all my stuff.” He patted me on the butt making me squeal and walked to his car.

  “Why is all of your stuff in a U-Haul, Wes?” I trailed behind him stopping to slip on the sandals I‘d left at the top of the steps.

  “’Cause I
’m movin’ in with you,” he shouted over his shoulder at me and winked.

  I stopped in my tracks and watched his perfectly shaped figure walking in a pair of khaki linen pants and white button-down shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to expose his tattoos, matching his swagger to a T. Weston Monroe. Live-in boyfriend, and my hot ass soul mate.

  Thank you to my wonderful husband. You have supported and encouraged me every step of the way. You never shy away from helping me achieve my dreams. I love you.

  Thank you to my daughter for patiently watching Disney Junior while I took care of book business every morning. Thank you for closing the computer on me, and reminding me that my time is best spent with you and dad. I love you.

  Thank you to my best friend Victoria Sala. You have helped me on another book that literally wouldn’t exist without you. I appreciate all of our late night plotting sessions, and daily chats about what to do next. You are so funny, smart, and pretty. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you.

  To my wonderful beta readers; Tiffany Pettijohn, Shannon Daniel, Rebecca Jackson, and Courtney Coulter. I appreciate all of your time, support , and help in getting this story right. Love you girls!

  To the wonderful group of indie chicks at #indiechicksrock, your constant support and friendship is a true testament to how wonderful the indie community is. You are each such wonderful human beings, and I am so thankful to have met you.

  To my fantastic editor, Jenny Sims, you are brilliant. Your attention to detail is amazing, and I am so thankful for your dedication to your work. You truly helped to make this story something I am proud to have people read.

  To the fabulous Autumn Hull at Wordsmith Publicity. I am thankful for all of your hard work or coordinating in order to get the word out about this story. You are a true professional, and deserving of so much trust and gratitude.

  To all of the bloggers who I have had the pleasure of meeting and forming friendships with, my stories would go unread without all of your hard work and support.

  To all of my readers, I am beyond thankful for your friendships. You took a chance on Truth in Wildflowers, and have been so encouraging in getting this next story out. When I wrote the first book, I said I would be thankful if just one stranger read it and liked it. Now I have met all of your amazing people, and I am endlessly humbled and touched by your kind words and support. I love you all.

  Kimberly Rose is a wife, mom, and writer. She found her love of writing in her teens pouring out an angst-ridden heart into journals. Kimberly self-published her first book, Truth in Wildflowers, in 2014. She currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband and daughter.

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  Email: authorkrose@yahoo.com