The Weight of Forever: (Grand Harbor: Book Two)

by Randileigh Kennedy

  “You always want all the answers, don’t you?” He smiled at me from the driver’s seat. “First, dinner. Then I have a few things up my sleeve.”

  We grabbed some burgers from a local spot near downtown, and before I knew it, we were heading over to my spot on the rocks overlooking the lake.

  “Your big secret is bringing me to a place I come to all the time?” I loved teasing him. He made it easy.

  “No, of course not. That’s not very creative,” he said with a slight laugh. He shut off the engine and parked in the cul-de-sac leading down to the stairway. “This is just going to be our dinner spot tonight. The rest comes after dark, so we have to kill some time.”

  He carried our bag of food as we headed down to the beach area, making our way through the giant boulders until we were seated on my favorite rock. The sun was low and the wind was calm. It was a perfect night for this spot.

  “The last time we came here, I know you were really upset with me,” he began, setting out our food. “You were right. It was wrong of me to come here that night, expecting something big from you when I was keeping so much in.”

  “I didn’t understand what was happening. I was frustrated.”

  “Rightfully so. I see that now, and I hate that I did that here. You were right, I shouldn’t have ruined your spot. I know this place means a great deal to you – that feeling of solitude and comfort and familiarity and peace – and I didn’t want to ruin that for you at all. I never understood that feeling before from a place – so I didn’t understand its significance. But I do now. I want you to forget what happened here and keep associating it with everything good.”

  “Which is why you’re bribing me with hamburgers…”

  “And me,” he said quietly. “I thought we could be your three favorite things. This spot. Hamburgers. My company.”

  “It’s a good start.”

  He leaned in toward me, touching my face. “I so badly want to be part of this spot, V. I want to be part of everything you love about this place.” He kissed me tenderly, and no doubt I felt everything he was saying.

  “This can be your spot too, Miles. Everything I love about this place – it’s better with you in it. So stay. Not just for now. Or for awhile. I want you to stay here with me indefinitely. Forever. I don’t want any of this to change.”

  “Let’s finish eating and watching the sun go down. Then I want to show you something.”

  I was a little confused by his change of subject. Wasn’t that what he wanted too? After everything we’d been through, he was still here. He could’ve been long gone by now, but instead, he was here with me. That had to mean something, even if he wasn’t directly saying it.

  We finished up our food, reminiscing about our road trip, marveling at the fact that we never got busted for climbing the water tower. The sun sank in the distance, and we watched the orange and purple streaks fade into dark, wrapped up in each other on the rocks.

  “Are you ready to head out?” He stood up, reaching for my hand.

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

  “Of course not.” He winked at me. “How was that wink, foreboding? Creepy? Suggestive? Kind of sexy?”

  “You’re impossible,” I said poking his arm.

  “I had a conversation with Ryder today. You were right, he definitely had some interesting things to discuss with me today.”

  “Bad things?”

  “No, not at all. I think that unsettling feeling he gives people is just his natural face. I met him over by the ball field this afternoon, and I also thought he was possibly going to murder me. It turns out, he actually wanted a job.”

  “A job? What?”

  “I think the generous tip he left was his way of trying to show he’s an okay guy,” he shrugged. “I didn’t have the heart to tell him it actually made you fear for my life. Some guys just aren’t good at that kind of thing.” He laughed.

  “What kind of a job does he want?”

  “Well, he’s been working for Ford for the last year or so. Running money, collecting debts, that kind of thing. He’s the “muscle” if you will, to encourage people to pay up. And yeah, he initially wanted to kill me when he believed I had an outstanding debt. But in the end, he was burned by Ford too. The guy owes him almost seven grand. Now that Ford is put away, that’s cut into his finances. He wants to work for me.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him I wasn’t sure we had the same interests,” he explained. “I don’t work like Ford. My profits turn slower, but they’re at least legit. I’m not sure that’s exactly his line of work.”

  “My dad mentioned something to me this afternoon. He wondered if you’d be interested in working for him, actually. I’m not sure if that’s your thing, but…”

  “Would you even want that? Me working for your father?”

  “I don’t know, honestly. If it’s stable…if it’s something that made you happy, then of course. But I guess I still don’t really know what you want.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?” He turned toward me as we reached the Jeep. “I thought we were both a work in progress. Isn’t that what you told me when we met? Honestly, I don’t know what I want. Do I have to know that at twenty-five? Everyone makes you feel like you have to decide that right away, but why can’t I be okay with not knowing? Do you know exactly what you want?” He stared back at me with intense eyes.

  “I’m starting to,” I said quietly. For some reason I was hesitant to say much more. I wanted to shout yes! Yes, I know exactly what I want – YOU. But I couldn’t do it. He was making me nervous. He was also right – my life was still a work in progress. I didn’t have all the answers.

  “I want to show you something.” He kissed me, and then opened up the Jeep door.

  “Will you at least give me a hint?”

  “I’m not saying a word. That’s half the fun.”

  “Maybe for you! It kills me when I don’t know what you’re up to. The anticipation is too much.” We climbed into the vehicle.

  “That’s the best part, V. That’s why I don’t want to have it all figured out. I want the rest of my days with you to be a surprise. You can’t always know what’s coming next. If we did, that would make the world an awfully boring place. And what did you tell me the night we met? You don’t do boring. I love that about you. That’s what makes life interesting. There’s always a beginning and an end, those things are certain. That’s the boring stuff. But the middle? It should all be a surprise, V, every step of the way. Day after day. All the magic is in the middle. It’s the best part. And right now – we’re trapped in the middle. Embrace it, because that’s where all the good stuff happens.”

  He reached over, resting his hand on mine - and I knew I never wanted to let go of him. He pulled out of the neighborhood we were in and within twenty minutes, we were pulled across the street from a condominium complex on Lakeshore Boulevard. Although it was dark, I could hear the waves crashing against the shoreline.

  “Have you seen the pool here?” He looked back at me with such an excited expression on his face. “I swear it’s even better than the Motel 6 pool from the first night we hung out.”

  “Are we swimming? I didn’t bring my suit.”

  “You didn’t that first night we jumped in the pool,” he said with a boyish grin. “It didn’t stop you. I can’t imagine that excuse has ever held you back.”

  “Of course not,” I laughed. “But it’s after nine, I’m sure the pool is closed already.”

  “Only one way to find out.” He reached into the back of the Jeep, pulling out a bottle of Blanton’s.

  “Are you recreating our first date? We almost got arrested, you know.”

  “Was that a date? It felt more like a rescue to me.”

  “A rescue?”

  “Yeah, I saved you that night. It’s pretty evident.”

  “Saved me from…Garrett Burg?”

  “From a dull life without me in it,” he
cut me off. “Or maybe you saved me that night, I can’t be sure. All I know V, is that night changed everything. And I don’t want it to end. I want to jump into freezing pools with you on a random weeknight, and I want to watch the sun come up from the hood of any car cooler than a Dodge Dart, and I want to fall asleep with you under the stars any chance we get. Look, I know I don’t have a lot to offer you. But I can promise you a life that will never be dull. I don’t know what the future looks like. You talk about forever like you can see it, and honestly I can’t. I barely know what my life will look like in a week, or a month. But you’re in it. I’m sure of that. So if it’s true – if forever really is just a succession of days in which you choose to love someone – that’s all I can see. Me, choosing you, every day.”

  “Miles,” I whispered back as he pulled me in and kissed me.

  “Come on. We’re going for a swim.” He led me around the east side of the condo building, holding my hand tight. We were both disappointed to see a lock on the pool gate.

  “Well that changes our plans,” I commented, noting the gate was also a solid seven or eight feet tall with vertical metal rails. “Not exactly something easy to just slide right over. Do you think you can throw me over it?”

  “Then who’s going to throw me over once you’re on the other side?”

  “You can watch me swim,” I replied with a joyful shrug. “It’s a full moon, and the pool overlooks the lake. We have to get in there.”

  “I have a better idea. Come with me.” He led me to the front of the condo building, then through a small courtyard area. Finally we were standing in front of one of the condos that overlooked both the pool and the lake.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Can you hold this?” He handed me the bottle of bourbon, reaching into his pockets for a set of keys.

  “What’s happening right now?”

  He slid the keys into the lock, slowly sliding the door open. Before I knew what was happening, he scooped me up into his arms, walking me inside the entryway.

  “Welcome home.”

  He set me down in the living room, and there were candles everywhere. The entire room was glowing, and it was breathtaking.

  “Miles, what is this? This is where you’re staying?”

  “For now. For six months at least. A year, tops. But that’s it. It’s just temporary.”

  He was so confident as he said it, my heart sank.

  I loathed that word.

  “Six months? Then what?”

  “By then, I hope it’s not my place anymore.”

  “Because…you’re going somewhere?” My voice cracked, and I hated that.

  “Of course not. You asked me to stay, V. I’m not going anywhere. I was just hoping by then it could be our place.” He stared back at me with such genuine, sincere eyes. “I’m not trying to rush you. But your lease is up by the end of the year, right? So…I wanted to pick something I thought you would love. Just in case. It overlooks the water.”

  “Miles, it’s beautiful.” I was awestruck, unsure what else to say.

  “Here all alone, by myself – I want that to be temporary, V. I want everything to be us. I want all of this to be ours.”

  “So do I. I want all of that.”

  “I got you a present.”

  He pointed over to the coffee table where there was a wrapped yellow box. It was about a foot or so tall.

  “What is it?”

  “Open it. That’s how presents work,” he teased, leading me over to the table. I lifted off the lid, pulling out a clear beer growler with bright blue rocks at the bottom and a beta fish swimming around.

  “A fish? You can’t just give someone a living creature, Miles. It’s like you’re begging me to commit murder. I’m too irresponsible for pet ownership, remember?”

  “Exactly, which is why he’s living here. You get supervised visits until you’ve proven you can handle it. And in 1.5 years when we fall apart in a dramatic way, we can send him out to sea so nobody has to fight over him.”

  “I almost forgot. The 1.5 years. Time is ticking.”

  “Or, we just keep flipping the hourglass. Screw time. Forget counting down the days, V. Is this a risk? You and me? Of course it is. The best things are. Everything worth fighting for is a risk. But that doesn’t scare me. I would risk everything for you. You terrify me and amaze me all at once. How can I say no to that? I can’t. It’s impossible. So instead, every day, I’m choosing you. I’m choosing us. And I’m choosing Dart.”

  “What? Dart?”

  “Our fish. That’s his name.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “What are you saying, Miles?”

  “I’m saying I’m all in. No matter what. Every day. I’m not expecting it to be easy. But the best mess with you is one worth being in. I know that with absolutely certainty.”

  Miles pressed his lips against mine, and every worry I had lifted away. There were no guarantees. Life was complicated. Love was messy. No one had all of the answers. In fact, I was only certain about two things. I was definitely going to kill Dart sooner than later. It would be an accident for sure, but murder nonetheless. It was inevitable.

  The other certainty? Miles Morrison, without a doubt, was my forever.

  THE END

  WANT MORE?

  Grand Harbor: Book 3 (Lexi’s story) will be available soon! You can find/follow Randileigh Kennedy’s Amazon author page at: www.amazon.com/-/e/BooJHoFMQQ for up to date release information!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Randileigh Kennedy grew up in Nevada and now resides in the Midwest. When she isn’t writing, she stays busy planning random theme parties and working on crafty DIY projects, which are featured on her blog at www.randileighkennedy.com.

  You can also follow her on social media (Facebook: RandileighKennedyAuthor; Twitter: @randileighk; and an Instagram account she constantly forgets to use), but expect more pictures of her mini pig Kevin Bacon than you’ll see of her human children and insanely handsome husband.

  Thank you so much for reading this book! Please make sure you leave a review on Amazon.com. Your feedback helps tremendously.

  Be sure to check out other books from Randileigh, including Half-Truths, Ten Seconds of Crazy, The Falling Kind, and the Six Series, all available at Amazon.com. For more information, visit Randileigh’s Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/-/e/BooJHoFMQQ.