Parker's Island

by Kimberly Schwartzmiller

  “You what?”

  “I need it.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “It’s all I have.”

  “Let me call him for you, honey, please?”

  “No,” I said, determined not to give in, even though it was killing me. The tears were running silently down my cheeks, betraying me once again.

  “Delaney, you are insufferable. Tell me why you won’t let me call him?”

  “You know why.”

  “Explain it, again,” my aunt ordered.

  “I just want to sleep,” I said, and turned away from her, hugging his shirt to me.

  “You can’t hide forever. Delaney, he deserves to know the truth.”

  “I just want to sleep now, okay?” I pleaded, hugging his shirt tighter.

  “NO DAMMIT, it’s not okay! I want the truth. Tell me the truth. Why is that stupid shirt so important to you?”

  I sat up in bed then and yelled, “Because I love him and it’s all I have left! Are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?” I yelled with tears pouring down my face.

  She smiled softly at me and then moved away from the door.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Logan said from the doorway.

  I closed my eyes and prayed this wasn’t a dream. “I can’t do this…”

  “Please, Delaney, don’t shut me out again,” Logan said, moving toward me.

  I looked up at him, standing next to the bed and said, “I can’t do this…without you.”

  “You don’t have to,” he was holding me then and all the pain and fear was instantly gone. I fell against him and knew I was home the second I was safely wrapped in his arms.

  I clung to him, neither of us saying anything. I refused to let him go for even a second, for fear that I would once again wake up alone. My nurse came in and handed me a sleeping pill per my doctor’s orders, but I refused to take it. I refused to miss one precious moment of my time with Logan.

  “Delaney, you need to take the pill. You’re exhausted. Please take it, for me?”

  “I don’t want to sleep. I’m happy. For the first time in months, I’m happy. I need to see you. Please don’t make me close my eyes.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’ll hold you while you sleep. In fact, I’m never letting you go, ever again. Please take the pill. You need a clear head tomorrow. We have a lot to talk about.”

  I took the pill because Logan asked me too. It didn’t take long for it to take effect. I was looking into his beautiful eyes and I heard him say, “I love you,” as I drifted off to sleep.

  I stirred to the sound of an IV pump dinging. I opened my eyes and he was there. “You stayed,” I smiled and snuggled into him, feeling whole for the first time in months.

  “Of course I did. Where else would I go?”

  As happy as I was that Logan was holding me, the nagging fears that had been haunting me for months started to slowly creep back in. I sat up and said, “I need to get up. I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Delaney, whatever you’re thinking, STOP!” he said, sensing my tension.

  My nurse walked in just then with a new bag of fluid. “Hi there, I’m Jessica. I’ll be your nurse today. How are you feeling?” she asked, while hanging the new IV bag.

  “I’m okay. When can I go home?”

  “I’m pretty sure that Dr. Grey isn’t going to let you leave too soon. You lost a lot of blood.”

  “I feel fine, now.”

  “That’s because we’ve been pumping fluid into you all night. You need to rest and regain some strength. You can order whatever you would like to eat.”

  “Can I get up? I have to clean up, brush my teeth…and stuff.”

  “Yes, you can get up to clean up, but that’s it. Then it’s back to bed. I’ll help you,” she said, reaching to unplug the monitors.

  “I’ll help her, if that’s okay?” Logan said.

  “Sure. Just make sure you hold on to her. I don’t want her to pass out again.”

  “Can you take me?” I asked the nurse, not wanting to lean on Logan. I needed some time to think and his presence made it too hard to think clearly.

  “Sure,” she said, taking my arm and shrugging her shoulders at Logan.

  “I’ll be right here, Delaney. You can’t run from me this time,” Logan said, leaving no doubt as to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to fool him again, not that I had fooled him in the first place.

  The nurse helped me get cleaned up. I brushed my teeth and hair and put on a clean gown. I was still holding the shirt and refused to put it down. She didn’t say anything about it. She helped me untangle all the wires and got me settled back into bed. She hooked the baby back up to the monitor for me and tucked me back into bed. “Thank you,” I said.

  “You’re welcome. Is there anything you need?” she asked.

  “No. I’m fine, thanks.”

  She left then and I finally had to face Logan. I was still holding his shirt. He walked over to me and sat down on the side of the bed. “I wondered where that shirt went.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just…I needed…”

  “It’s okay. I still keep the note you wrote in class. I’ve read it a thousand times since you left.”

  I nodded my head, but refused to look at him.

  “You don’t need the shirt anymore, Delaney. I’m here and no matter what you say, I’m not leaving.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I sat there, staring at his shirt. I was afraid that if I looked away, he’d be gone, but at the same time, knowing that would be best for him.

  “Why did you leave?” he asked, stroking my cheek.

  “I had to.”

  “Why?” he asked, not giving me an inch.

  “If I stayed, you would have lost everything.”

  “I did lose everything,” he said, and touched my cheek with his hand.

  “She took it all, anyway?” I asked, horrified.

  “Delaney, what are you talking about? Martina? I told you, she can’t hurt me. She can have it all, everything. I don’t care. All I want is you, and our baby!”

  “So, I left and she took it all from you, anyway?! How could she do that?” I said, the tears starting.

  “Delaney, how many times do I have to tell you? You’re the only thing that matters to me! When you left, I lost the only thing I can’t live without,” he hugged me and then started to kiss me, but I pulled away, knowing if I let him kiss me, I would give in.

  “What is it? I need to know what happened. I told you to trust me; that I’d be back. Did you really think I’d believe that stupid letter?”

  I refused to answer him. His father’s image kept flashing through my mind, telling me that I was the one that was hurting Logan.

  “Delaney, talk to me, please! What happened?” he begged me to tell him, but I refused.

  I closed my eyes and hugged his shirt to me.

  “Please tell me,” he said, and sighed.

  I stared at the wall, refusing to speak.

  “Delaney, tell him, or I will!” my aunt said from the doorway.

  I snapped my head toward the door and glared at my aunt.

  “I won’t watch you do this to yourself, or him, any longer. You tell him what his father said to you, or so help me, Delaney Marie Miller, I will.”

  “My father?” he sighed and said, “Well that explains a lot.” He stood up then and walked to the window. “So he was the one that convinced you to leave. I should have known when I saw the glass of juice on the counter. You never leave anything…” He didn’t say anything for a few minutes; he just stood there, staring out the window. “Did he ask for vodka?” he finally asked, trying anything to get me to talk.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “What did he tell you, Delaney?”

  I knew I had to tell him or my aunt would make good on her promise. “He said that if you were caught…cheating on Martina, then she could take everything from you. You’d lose it all, the company, the i
sland and your trust fund. That she’d burn the island before she’d ever let you set foot on it again.”

  He turned to face me, “And you believed him?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because, he’d say anything to save his own skin. He wants the company, Delaney. He needs it. I don’t! He ruined that company. He’s selfish and arrogant and I’m sorry he came anywhere near you.”

  “That wasn’t all he said,” I said, looking away.

  “What else? What other lies did he tell you?”

  “He said that your paternity test would come back…positive.”

  “Delaney, you know I never touched Martina! I swear it.”

  “I know,” I said, closing my eyes.

  “Then I’m confused. How could it possibly come back positive?”

  “Because your DNA is very similar…to his.”

  He laughed then. “Well, then I guess the jokes on him this time.”

  “Why?”

  “Delaney, she had the baby and the DNA couldn’t possibly match either of us.”

  “But he was so sure. I believed him.”

  “He probably thought it was true. He probably did sleep with her.”

  “But the baby’s not his?”

  “No, definitely not,” he grinned, again.

  “Why are you smiling?” I asked, not finding any of it the least bit humorous.

  “She was wrong on the dates, Delaney. The baby is very obviously

  Hispanic and Asian.”

  “Asian? But he was so sure of himself. He made me doubt us…doubt you. I’m so sorry.”

  “He won’t ever come between us again, I promise you that.”

  “But she still won. She took it all from you and I can’t live with that.”

  “Delaney, she signed the papers. She didn’t take anything. I told you that I would take care of it. I don’t give a damn about the money, the company or the island. It wouldn’t have mattered. I love you; you and the baby. You’re all I need. But she didn’t take anything…her father had some say in it when he found out that she had lied about the baby, but in the end, she just did what was right. Delaney, I swear to you, it wouldn’t have mattered if she took everything, but she didn’t and now I can spend the rest of my life spoiling you both!”

  “But you said you lost everything?”

  “I did,” he said, while sitting down next to me, “I lost you,” he said, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand.

  I looked into his eyes and knew it was true. He didn’t care about any of it. He loved me unconditionally. I called my aunt into the room, certain she was standing right outside the door, listening to every word.

  “Yes, honey?” she said, looking very sheepish and wondering if she was in huge trouble.

  “Aunt Vickie, would you take this, please? I don’t need it anymore.” I handed her the shirt that I’d held onto for months and I kissed him, elated to finally be home, in Logan’s arms.

  Later that day I thanked my aunt for calling Logan.

  “I can’t take the credit for calling him,” my aunt said, grinning.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Delaney, he never left. He followed the ambulance here. He’s been staying in town, keeping an eye on you. He was staying two houses down from mine.”

  “You knew that and you didn’t tell me?” I asked my aunt.

  “I didn’t know at first, but I ran into him…a few weeks back,” she grinned, knowing she was probably in trouble with me again.

  I turned to Logan, “You never left? Even after all of the horrible things I said to you?”

  “I can’t honestly say I wasn’t hurt by what you said, but I knew deep down it wasn’t true. I knew eventually you’d come to your senses. But it was killing me staying away from you.”

  “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was hurting you by staying. Your father is very convincing.”

  “Yes, he can be very persuasive. Delaney, I promise you that he will never come between us again. Now, you need to promise me that you’ll talk to me before you listen to anything he says.”

  “I know better now…he can’t scare me off again. I can’t possibly live without you…and I’m never going to leave you again.”

  “I’ll never let you go.”

  Chapter Fifteen: A New Life

  Dr. Grey released me from the hospital two days later with strict orders of bed rest. I had just a little over three weeks before the baby was due and I wanted to go home…to the island.

  “Why don’t you both just stay with us until the baby comes?” my mom pleaded.

  “I love you Mom, I do, but I want to go home. And my home is with Logan.”

  “But when am I going to see you again?” my mom asked.

  “You have an open invitation at our home, Sarah. You’re welcome anytime!” Logan told my mom.

  “Thank you. So I can come when you have the baby?”

  “You can come now if you’d like,” he said, sincerely.

  “I think you two need some time alone. But I’d love to come and help with the baby.”

  “You’re being very understanding of everything, Mom. Thank you,” I said, not sure what prompted this new and improved version of the mother I once had.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? He makes you happy and he loves you,” she said, hugging Logan. He smiled and I knew he was so happy to be accepted by my family.

  “But, you don’t mind that we’ll be…living together?” Making certain she knew that we were sharing more than a platonic relationship.

  “Why should I? You’re really in no condition for…anything, right now, anyway,” she blushed at her own statement.

  I leaned over and whispered in Logan’s ear, “Wanna bet?” he almost choked on his drink.

  “You are getting married soon, right?” she asked, raising her eyebrows with a knowing grin. Now this was the mother I remembered.

  “If she’ll have me,” he said, and turned to me.

  “You know I will; the second your divorce is final.”

  “The second it’s final?” he asked.

  “Yes!” I said, and kissed him.

  “Good, then how’s today?” he smiled.

  “What?”

  “I’m officially divorced as of today.”

  “You’re all mine, now?”

  “I’ve always been yours, but now we can make it official.”

  “As soon as we have the baby…”

  “No. I don’t want to wait. I want it to be official before we have the

  baby. I want you both to have my name. I love you. Please marry me, today,” he asked, actually bending down on one knee. I could hear my mother sniffling behind us.

  “I’d marry you this second, but we have to have blood tests, and a license.”

  “Done.”

  “I didn’t have a blood…”

  “Um, I thought since they were taking your blood, anyway,” he grinned.

  “You’re crazy.”

  “For you. Well, what do you say?”

  “I’m assuming that there’s a minister waiting for us, somewhere?”

  “Down the hall.”

  “I don’t have anything to…” I didn’t finish my sentence before my aunt walked in carrying a dress draped over her arm, “White? Really?” I said, patting my over-grown belly.

  “Just go with it,” she smiled.

  “Delaney, I know this isn’t your dream wedding, but I just want to make it official, for now. We can have a huge wedding with all the trimmings. Anything you want…after we have the baby. This means a lot to me.”

  “What are we waiting for?” I said excitedly, grabbing the dress from my aunt.

  He kissed me and said, “I’ll see you down the hall.”

  “I’ll be the one waddling down the aisle,” I grinned.

  I walked into the bathroom, slipped into the dress and stepped back into my room.

  “You look beautiful, honey,” my mother and aunt said in unison.<
br />
  “Aunt Vickie, would you be my maid of honor?”

  “Oh, thank you, I’m touched. But, I think there’s someone else here that already holds that title.”

  Molly walked in then, hugged me and handed me a bouquet of roses. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said when she saw that I was speechless.

  “Thank you, Molly! I can’t believe this is happening,” I said, praying it wasn’t all a dream.

  “Here honey, you can wear your diamond earrings. They’ll be perfect with the dress. They’re pretty new, so…now all you need is something old, something borrowed and something blue,” my aunt said. “We really should have thought about this a little earlier, but Logan didn’t give us much notice,” my aunt said, grinning.

  “I have everything I need. This is hardly a traditional wedding, anyway.”

  “But, it’s good luck. It’s supposed to ensure a happy life together,” my mom said.

  “Logan is all I need to be happy,” realizing I wasn’t the least bit nervous about marrying him.

  “Well, your dream man is in the other room waiting for his bride. What are you waiting for?” Molly asked, grinning. “Follow my lead,” she said and headed down the hall.

  I walked out of the room and the nurses and doctors all applauded. “You can walk down the aisle and say, I do, and then it’s off your feet,” Dr. Grey said, and then added, “I’m so happy for you.”

  My dad met me at the door of the chapel, wearing a tux. “Thank you, Dad,” I said, hugging him.

  “You’re sure about this?” he asked, giving me a chance to back out.

  “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life,” I said, smiling up at him.

  “Okay, I believe they’re playing your song.”

  I took his arm and he led me into the little chapel. It was full of friends and family. There were flowers everywhere, and as I looked up at the altar to find Logan, I saw his best man. Brian was smiling at me, urging me on with his eyes. I was crying by the time I made it to the front of the chapel. Although it was also not a traditional act, I hugged the best man, “Thank you, Brian. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  “You deserve to be happy,” Brian said and gave my hand to Logan. My dad kissed my cheek and I stood proudly by Logan’s side as the minister began to speak. He was told to make it brief; doctors’ orders. But as he got to the part about rings, I realized I didn’t have a ring for Logan. He sensed my anxiety and whispered, “You can pick one out later and give it to me at our next wedding.”