by Stacy Eaton
~ Brock ~
There were many things to do in the Realm, and time moved differently here. It could be a minute or several days. Like a finger on the fast forward, we could control the speed. The only thing we could not do was reverse.
If we could have gone back in time to change things, I might have gone back to the night of the foot pursuit and changed the outcome of their meeting. So many lives were going to be affected soon.
We were not supposed to control free will, but there were times when we used it to change a destiny slightly, to protect someone from an outcome that would cause so much pain. I should have used persuasion to change the events of their first meeting.
I stood back against a tree, watching them kiss on the hard rock near the running water. I considered the area and had to admit the setting was the perfect backdrop to a seduction, but I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I invaded her thoughts with one simple word, but a word strong enough to cause her to pull back. She was not the only one feeling guilty about her actions, but I reminded myself that she had a different destiny and I was only trying to protect her for that.
I didn’t have to hear their thoughts to feel the pain in the car ride back. I could have eased it, but I knew the timing was not right. Another simple thought, so easily put into her mind, changed her direction. I knew she would need to get used to the idea of letting him go before she actually did it, if she was even able to before her time was up.
While she sat on the kitchen floor, I finally allowed my presence to be felt and helped to ease her pain. I allowed peace to flow over her before I left her to rest for the night.
She had appeared so heavenly lying on the pillow, her hand snuggled up under her cheek as her breathing slowed. I allowed my body to come through, and I ached to brush a piece of hair off her cheek. Only fear of an unknown connection kept me from doing so.
I had stood watching her as she did roundhouse kick after roundhouse kick on the blue and white weight bag. I had not been present when her anger took hold, but as I viewed her brutal workout, I realized she had held the anger long enough and I could have helped her to calm down, but she managed to do it quite well on her own as she moved slowly and fluidly from one stance to another in her martial arts form.
Her shoulders squared, her back straight, she focused with an almost deadly stare as she moved from a back stance to a double knife hand block, turning to do a quick spinning roundhouse kick and then a reverse punch.
The left side of my mouth lifted. She was a warrior. The Maker had chosen her well.
Now standing at the mouth of the alleyway, watching them with just their hands touching, I could feel the connection between them.
When the other cop walked up, I flashed over to the other side of them and watched him approach. He was eyeballing the two of them and his line of sight kept going down to their fingers gently touching. A slight grin touched one side of his lips before he stopped it. I kept my presence from the other officer; we would meet again, soon.
~ Mitchell ~
Since the moment I stepped out of her car, I had thought of nothing but her. Neither of us needed to say the words of what was right. We both knew that this relationship could go no further—not until I made a decision.
Could I continue on in a relationship that felt more like the proverbial ball and chain example of marriage, or could I step away and be with the woman who occupied every thought and breath of my life?
I knew what I wanted.
I wanted Corey.
I wanted to feel the serenity that surrounded us when we were together. I wanted to embrace the laughs and smiles that we shared, and I wanted to partake in the touches and kisses that set my internal passion on fire—but could I destroy my family?
I paid for the ice cream that Chase had begged me for and we turned to go back to the car. It had been an impulse stop to reward Chase for his great playing on the baseball field today.
I’d had mixed emotions about stopping at this particular ice cream parlor, but Chase had begged for the blue cotton candy ice cream that they made right here. How could I say no?
With Beth and Chase in front of me, we walked out the door. I never expected to see Corey sitting at the traffic light. The moment I saw her behind the wheel of the white and blue patrol car, my head turned to Chase. I had never spoken of him. I had always meant to, but we tried to stay away from my married life, and somehow it had never come up.
When I turned back to her, she was passing directly by, staring straight ahead. I groaned inwardly at my stupidity.
“Let’s go, Dad!” Chase broke me out of my stupor, and I pushed the key fob in my hand to unlock the truck door. I was going to have to speak to her as soon as I could and try to explain. How was I going to explain that I had a son and just forgot to mention it?
I wanted to toss the mint chocolate chip ice cream that was slowly dripping down my cone out the window. No longer did I want the creamy treat. I only wanted to figure out how to explain this to Corey.
The urge to slam my hand on the steering wheel was so great, but it would only bring unwanted questions from Beth who was already examining at me out of the corner of her eye.
For over a year now, things had been so difficult for us. Ever since my brother had passed away seven years ago, my world had spun out of control. I glanced in the rearview mirror. The only reason I had stayed was because I loved that kid sitting in the back seat sucking on the top of his cotton candy treat.
If I loved him so much, why hadn’t I told Corey about him?
I ground my teeth and forced myself to finish my ice cream, my inner thoughts in a swirling turmoil as to what I could say and how she would react to my words.
Would I lose her?
The thought brought out a gasp and earned me a quick glance from Beth.
“You alright? You sound like you’re in pain.”
“I’m fine. I just remembered something I was supposed to do at work,” I mumbled.
Her sigh could have been heard in the car behind me, even if they had their window closed. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
The next morning, I couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. All I could think about all night was trying to find a way to explain to her why I hadn’t told her. The worst part was that I hadn’t come up with a good explanation.
Once I got to work, I sent her a message. While her reply had seemed cordial enough, I felt the soft rebuke of her anger in it. I would find a way to talk to her. I had to.
Another major incident brought her down to the city to assist, and Joe didn’t have to tell me twice to go help her find the gun the suspect had thrown during the chase.
I could have easily tripped right over the firearm as I approached. My interest was only in her. When she turned, my knees threatened to collapse under me.
Her eyes opened wide and traveled down my body. Like the night we first kissed, my body gently shook at her nearness. She turned her attention to the ground where she had found the weapon.
She was about to turn and walk away when I reached for her. The little barbs of electrical impulses raced up my arm at the touch of her skin, and the look on her face made me realize what I stood to lose if she would not listen to me.
“Corey, we need to talk.”
The expression on her face was a mixture of pain and sadness tinged with a tiny bit of desire that had her draw near me. I slid my hand down her arm to grasp her hand. I wanted to pull her close. The fact that we were in the middle of a crime scene was the furthest thing from my mind, until Joe approached us.
Corey took off at a pace that would have made me seem incredibly guilty if I had attempted to follow. I watched her leave and realized Joe was watching me intently.
“What the hell are you doing?” he threw at me when I finally faced his way.
I shrugged, not sure what to say.
“Mitch, what’s up with you and Corey?”
I turned away from him to view the gun. “
Nothing. Did you bring the camera and a box for this?” I bent down and inspected the weapon more closely, like I was trying to figure out the exact make and model.
“Dude, don’t blow me off like that. We’re friends. Is something going on with you two?”
The heavy stream of air that came out of my mouth hinted at my frustration level. I stood back up and pierced him with a glare. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t want to talk about it right now, alright?”
He watched me closely for a minute, realized I was close to losing my cool, and then grinned out of nowhere. “Okay, I’m here when you are ready to talk.”
I ignored his comment and saw that his hands were empty. “I’ll go get the camera and gun box.” Without another word I walked away.
When I got to my car, I popped the trunk and pulled out the things I needed. Setting them on the trunk lid, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent her a text.
“Can we please talk? I love you, Corey. Please let me explain.”
She didn’t reply until I was back at the scene and the gun was stored in the container.
Her single worded response of “Later,” was all I needed to calm the tension coursing through me: Later. At least her reply wasn’t a no.
The Saturday day shift turned into a constant one-thing-after-another for me, and while I was busy, I noticed that Corey was getting dispatched to her own array of back-to-back calls.
As shift change got closer, I had not heard from her, so I took out my phone and sent her another message.
“Can we meet after work?”
I paced around the parking lot waiting for her reply and finally got a “Where?” response.
“How about down at the creek, the entrance near the walking bridge?”
“Fine.”
While her reply was short, I released a sigh of relief. At least she was going to give me a chance to explain.
I paced at the foot of the walking bridge, waiting for her car to pull into the parking lot. When I saw the black sports car pull in, my heart sped up to triple time. The dizzy sensation that passed through my body when it released the adrenaline made me shiver. She kept her focus off me as she approached. I took the advantage and allowed myself to suck in her image and savor it, just in case this all turned out bad and she never spoke to me again.
She finally met my gaze when she stopped three feet in front of me.
“Mitch,” her voice cracked with emotion and I was thankful I was not the only one nervous.
“Thanks for meeting me, Corey. Do you want to go sit down over on the bench or walk?”
She glanced over at the bench, then to the bridge behind me. “Why don’t we just stand up at the top of the bridge?”
I nodded and followed her up the slight incline to the crest.
With both of us resting our elbows on the wooden railing, we stood in silence with only the sound of the water running softly under us.
“Why?” She spoke so quietly that if I had not been listening to her every breath I might not have heard her.
“I’ve been thinking about almost nothing else since last night. I don’t have an answer to that, Corey, and that’s the God’s honest truth. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. All I can say is I’m sorry.”
With my voice directed down towards the water, I watched her from the corner of my eye as she rested her forehead down on her now-folded arms.
“Not good enough, that’s not good enough, Mitch.” She pushed back from the railing and turned to walk away.
I grabbed her arm, “Corey, please, please just listen, please.”
She focused on my hand wrapped around her arm, then met my pained expression. Her midnight blue irises were watery and she blinked back the wetness as we stood locked in place.
“Why should I listen? What difference does it make, Mitch? You’re married, you have a son. I’m happy for you, and I’m sorry if things aren’t great at home and you had to come find something else, but I can’t be that person for you. I care too much about you to share you with others.”
She lowered her head again, and I watched tears drip to the ground. The sadness she felt reached through the space between us and pulled me in. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her as tight to my chest as I could. When her arms wrapped around my back and her body shook, I wanted to cry myself.
I was going to lose her completely if I didn’t explain the rest of it, but I had never told anyone and I wasn’t sure how to begin. I might still lose her after I explained, but as I stood there and thought of a life without her, I realized there was no way I could walk away from her.
Right here in her arms was where I wanted to be, now and forever.
I kissed the top of her head, the side of it, and then leaned in and placed my lips on the soft skin of her neck. I felt her body shiver at my touch, sending sparks through my nerve endings. I kissed the spot again, feeling her head fall further to the side to grant me access to the tender area.
“Corey, I love you.” Taking her face in my hands, I kissed her lips. The salty tang of her tears touched my tongue, and our mouths meshed together. Her arms curled up and over my shoulders holding me, while our kiss turned intensely passionate.
If kisses could be considered indecent exposure, we should have both been locked up right then and there.
When we pulled apart, we were panting and holding on to each other as if we were a drowning couple who knew that the only hope we had lay in each other. Maybe that was true in my case.
“Corey, I love you, more than anything. This is the first time in my life that I feel totally complete, and the thought of losing you is killing me. Please, just listen to me and hear what I have to say.”
She leaned back and we stood almost eye to eye. “I love you too, Mitchell, and I can’t imagine not having you in my life. It’s like I’m not whole unless I’m beside you, and I barely know you. We barely know anything about each other, and there are so many obstacles in our way, especially on your side.”
“Shh, Corey, we will figure it out together. I don’t want to be without you. Promise me that we’ll talk about this and figure it out together.”
“I promise, but you can’t keep secrets from me.”
“I won’t, I swear to God I won’t.” I hugged her tightly again. “Why don’t we go sit down? This next part is kind of intense, and I think it would go over better if we are sitting.”
The quizzical regard that she gave me said she was interested in what I was going to say even if it scared her. I took her hand and led her to a wooden bench on the other side of the creek.
When we sat down, I pulled my hand away, needing to distance myself from her slightly before I spoke. She sat back with the patience of an angel. I smiled when I thought about that. She was an angel, she was my angel.
With my eyes closed, I tried to figure out the best way to say it and soon discovered it would just be better to blurt it out.
“Chase isn’t my son.”
“What?” She leaned forward.
“No one knows this, but Chase is actually my nephew.”
~ Corey ~
His nephew?
“Did you adopt him?” If he had adopted him that wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it? It would just show how wonderful and caring of a man he was.
“No. Up until last year, I thought he was my son.” He turned to me, stark pain on his face. “Beth and I have been together for nine years. Right before we got married, Beth had an affair with my brother. The last time they slept together was the week before we were married.”
“Oh, my God. Oh, Mitch, I’m so sorry—and you just found out last year?” My hand went to rest on the tight muscles bunched on his back. There was no way I could avoid reaching out to him. The pain was so evident on his face.
“Yeah.” He leaned back on the bench and put his hand on my knee. I squeezed it tight.
“How did you find out? Did she tell you? Does your brother know?”
“No, she didn’t tell me.
I found out myself. He was killed in a car accident about seven years ago.” My right hand flew to my mouth, but he continued before I could speak. “I went down to his place in South Carolina to clean out his house. There was a box of mementos and letters that I found, but at the time I couldn’t bring myself to read them.” I watched as he shuttered his emotions, reliving some pain that was deep inside.
“About a year ago, I decided to clean out my attic, the box was up there, and I sat down and started going through it. Inside were two letters to him from Beth.”
“So he knew?” I turned on the bench so I could put my arm around his back and hold his right hand with mine.
“Yeah, he knew.”
I didn’t know what to say. There were no words.
“When I found out, a lot of things started to make sense. Before we got married, he hung out with us all the time, then shortly after Chase was born, he moved away and rarely came back. When he did, Beth was always tense, and the relationship that I had had with him while we were growing up was strained. I didn’t understand it until I found the letters.”
“Do you think he loved her?” My hand was rubbing the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension there.
“From what I read, I think he might have.” He shook his head to clear it.
“For the last year, I have been trying to figure out if there was some way to get past the lies that Beth told me. For over eight years, I thought that Chase was mine, then I find out he’s not. That lie was hard to deal with. It’s still hard to deal with.”
“But you love him, right?” He had to love the child.
“Of course I love him.” He shook his head. “He didn’t have anything to do with this, and he will never know that I’m not his father. It’s Beth that I can’t seem to forgive. The lie she had me believe all these years, it tore down any bit of trust I had for her.”
We sat quietly for a little while. “For the last year, I have wanted to walk away, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to walk to.”
He turned to me, a hopeful gleam in his eye.
