Victim Of Circumstance
Page 22
Gray
Fresh air.
I stop when I hear the door slam shut behind me and suck in a deep, liberating breath. I’ll never take this free feeling for granted, my lungs fully expanding and the hit of oxygen instantly clearing my head.
I’m not sure why it was important for me to visit the museum again. Last time I’d come here to remind me of what I had lost, maybe even to acknowledge my own part in it.
Perhaps this time I needed to let go of the guilt, of the grief, both of which I’d been guarding so carefully for years. There’s no place for either in my life now. Guilt has been replaced with gratitude, and the grief—although never completely gone—with happiness.
My life is nothing like I’d expected it to be, and that has everything to do with the woman I saw standing in a crowd last year. An unexpected source of brightness in a world that seemed perpetually overcast.
I still can’t believe fate—who’d been nothing but a bitch until then—ended up being so kind to me.
We’d each been a victim of circumstance; invisibly connected for many years by this place. We’d come here from different directions but when we left, our paths were aligned.
Fate. Not something I’ve ever subscribed to, but this past year has made a believer of me. To everything there’s a purpose, even when we can only see it looking back.
I flip up the collar on my leather jacket against the gloomy drizzle coming down, and start walking through the crowd.
I trust my feet to find her.
Robin
I’m not here for me. Not anymore.
I don’t need to celebrate my freedom by thumbing my nose at my long-dead husband. If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s I was deluding myself before.
Where’s the so-called freedom in visiting a place year after year, just to remind yourself you won? Where’s the victory in denying yourself any chance at happiness just to hang onto that autonomy?
I’ve never felt more unencumbered than I am when I’m with Gray.
So no, I’m not here for me, I’m here for him.
Gray may have been released from prison a year ago, but he wasn’t yet free of his restraints. That’s why we came, and that’s why I didn’t join him down in the museum.
Tonight we’re going to the Liberty State Park to watch the Tribute in Light. Paige and Kyle are meeting us at a nearby restaurant and will be joining us then.
I grin when I think of Gray’s reaction when he heard Kyle would be joining us in New York. He and Paige have only been together since this summer. My girl hadn’t been ready to jump into anything when she moved back home, and all credit to Kyle, he hadn’t pushed. That didn’t mean he stayed in the background. Oh no, he was up front and center at every opportunity, not about to let her forget she held his interest.
Gray had warmed up some; until he caught them kissing outside Olson’s one day in the summer, and Jimmy had to intervene before it came to blows.
Luckily Paige finds it mostly endearing, although she may well have felt differently if she’d had to put up with his overprotectiveness her whole life. He loves her—Gray does—and I think Paige understands in part, he sees his sister in her. It makes sense, when he lost her she was the same age as her. So she indulges him, because the truth is, she loves him too.
I sense him before I see him, walking toward me with determination in his gait and love in his eyes. The crowds fade away until all I see is him, all I hear is the rain on my hood. His hands cup my face as he kisses my forehead, my eyes, and then my lips, rain dripping from our hair.
“I want a dog,” he says, momentarily confusing me.
“Uh, sure.”
“And I’ll never expect anything of you that you’re not willing to give.”
I’m pretty sure my mouth falls open.
“Okay?”
“And I’ll understand if you want to keep Bishop as your last name.”
A light dawns and I grab onto his wrists.
“Gray?”
“But I need you to marry me, Sunshine.”
“All right.”
“I can’t even imagine what it was like before I met you.”
“Okay, Gray.”
“I know I’m fucking this up, but—”
I press my hand over his mouth and manage to get his attention.
“When you ask a question, you need to listen to the answer, honey.”
Since I’m still covering his mouth he has to resort to nodding.
“Good. Now listen…” I rise up on my toes until my lips are next to his ear. “Yes, Gray.”
THE END
Also By Freya Barker
Click here to see all my books!
Standalones:
WHEN HOPE ENDS
VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE
Arrow’s Edge MC Series:
EDGE OF REASON
EDGE OF DARKNESS
PASS Series:
HIT & RUN
LIFE & LIMB
On Call Series:
BURNING FOR AUTUMN
COVERING OLLIE
TRACKING TAHLULA
ABSOLVING BLUE
Rock Point Series:
KEEPING 6
CABIN 12
HWY 550
10-CODE
Northern Lights Collection:
A CHANGE OF TIDE
A CHANGE OF VIEW
A CHANGE OF PACE
SnapShot Series:
SHUTTER SPEED
FREEZE FRAME
IDEAL IMAGE
Portland, ME, Series:
FROM DUST
CRUEL WATER
THROUGH FIRE
STILL AIR
LuLLaY (a Christmas novella)
Cedar Tree Series:
SLIM TO NONE
HUNDRED TO ONE
AGAINST ME
CLEAN LINES
UPPER HAND
LIKE ARROWS
HEAD START
Acknowledgments
I’m so fortunate. Over the years I’ve assembled an amazing crew of people who are always at my back. To promote me, to guide me, to support me and encourage me, and to correct me. This amazing group of people make it possible for me to write my stories and bring them to you;
My editor, Karen Hrdlicka, and alpha reader and proofreader, Joanne Thompson; from the first word to paper they keep me on track and make me look much better than I am!
My agent, Stephanie Phillips of SBR Media, I’ll be forever grateful for her constant faith in me.
My publicists, Debra Presley and Drue Hoffman and my PA Krystal Weiss of Buoni Amici Press; these ladies are invaluable, they organize and manage me when many gave up on that long ago!
My awesome beta team—Deb Blake, Pam Buchanan, and Petra Gleason who are always up for scrutinizing my stories, making sure they are good enough for you to read.
To all the fabulous blogs and early reviewers who help get the word about my books to you.
And last, but far from least, you, my readers, you are who make me want to keep writing with your enthusiasm and appreciation. Where would I be without you?
Lots of love!
Freya
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about 'real' people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We've Read All Year Award for "Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
https://www.freyabarker.com
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