“I love it, Jos!”
“Sit I’ll do your makeup and see what the guys lack.”
I sit on the toilet and think back to all the days I used to let her do the same at my house while we were growing up. My mom gave us all of her old makeup in light colors and would let us play dress up. Of course Joslynn was always the one who did all the makeup and hair. We used to have so much fun and always thought we knew what we were doing.
When Jos and I were kids, my mom would always give us things to do and take us places to push away the bad things Joslynn’s dad would do to her. I think it was Mom’s way of helping. There was nothing we could do to get her away from there other than to make her time with us what it should be at home.
“I can’t believe we are marrying brothers,” I say after a moment of silence.
“It’s only fitting.”
“True best friends,” I say.
She stands back again and looks at me and motions towards the mirror.
“Take a look. I’ll be back soon. I am going to see how much longer. Just don’t leave the room.” She sticks her tongue out at me.
I stand and look in the mirror and can’t believe my eyes. Joslynn has taken very little makeup and made me feel like a princess. My nerves are all over the place. I want to sing and dance and run down the aisle and beg the preacher to pass all stops and call us husband and wife now. I feel like the queen who will ride up in the pumpkin drawn carriage and be the prettiest of all.
After a few minutes in the bathroom, I walk into the bedroom and sit on the bed. I think back to a lifetime of drinks and hate and now I have more love in me than I know what to do with. Joslynn comes back in and smiles rubbing her hands together. She has her hair up in a curly ponytail. Her makeup looks beautiful. She has on a short pale yellow dress that reaches to the top of her knees.
“Ready?” she asks.
I knew our wedding wouldn’t be normal the moment he asked me to marry him. I asked him to keep it small, so I knew my dad wouldn’t be here to walk me down the aisle. Marshall has been like a best friend and brother since the day I met him. He has made Joslynn very happy and given her a beautiful little boy. Having him walk me down the aisle feels like the perfect start to a wonderful wedding. I take a deep breath and nod my head.
I have been in the bedroom with the door shut for hours so when I walk down the stairs the view takes my breath. There are candles lit and leading down each step. Marshall is standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me with a huge smile on his face. He is wearing khaki shorts and yellow shirt which only causes his tattoos to stand out more.
When I make it to the bottom of the stairs, I loop my arm in Marshall’s and we walk towards the front door. Flowers lead the way. I don’t know how they had time to do all of this in the short time that they had but it is perfect.
I see Trevor standing at the end of a short aisle in the front yard of what has been our oasis for the last few days. He is wearing khaki shorts and yellow shirt too. Joslynn is standing on the other side of him holding lil man and wiping the tears from her eyes. Marshall leads me down the aisle towards his brother and gives him my hand when we make it to the end.
One thing I wanted to be original was our vows. I had things I wanted to say that I had never heard at any other wedding but they had been always going through my head. After a few words from the preacher, I take a deep breath and look into the eyes of the man I love.
“Trevor, the day I met you I thought my life was worth nothing. I had no one in my eyes even though I was surrounded by so many. When I looked at you I saw love and a life that I have always wanted but was so out of reach. You pulled me out of a hole and gave me something to live for, something to love and to spend the rest of my life with you is a dream come true. I love you.”
Trevor wipes his tear-stained cheeks with one hand and squeezes my hand with the other.
“Taylor, you are the one thing in my life that has always been missing, the one thing that I had always been looking for and when I first saw you I knew I found it. You are the woman I want to wake up to each morning and know that you are mine always. I will always be there for you and stand against the world with you. I love you.”
The tears fall from my eyes and make their way down my cheeks too. I hear Joslynn sniffle behind me. I can’t take my eyes off Trevor and as the preacher continues I realize this moment couldn’t be more perfect.
Finally he says the words I had been dying to hear because what came next meant it was final – I was his.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Joslynn and Marshall clap on each side of us as our lips meet and I wrap my arms around him and squeeze him as tight as I can. His arms wrap around me. I can barely breathe and still I want him to squeeze tighter. When we pull back from one another he lifts his hand and wipes the fresh tears from my face.
“We did it. You are now mine, Mrs. Taylor Andrews,” he says and leans in kissing me again.
“Say it again.”
“Mrs. Taylor Andrews, you are mine.”
Chapter Five
We thank the preacher and watch as he drives away. At a time when we should be walking into our reception and then leaving for the honeymoon, we just hug. Just my husband and me in the middle of nowhere.
When we walk in the house, Joslynn and Marshall both hug us.
“We didn’t get a cake or a big meal. But what we do have is your favorite stir fry.” Joslynn giggles.
“It’s perfect. I am starving, let’s eat.”
We make our plates and sit around the table. It finally feels complete.
“We got us another cabin to give you two some alone time. It seems like this is the perfect place for a honeymoon,” Marshall tells us.
“Are y’all leaving?” I ask.
I don’t want them to leave just yet. I want alone time with my husband but I also don’t want this bubble to move. Here we are alone. We are complete. We are away from crazy ass dads and moms who are just now trying to make a life with their child. Here we are also away from some men who think force is the way to get the things they want.
“As much as I would love to stay forever,” Joslynn says with a knowing look in her face. “Things at home await. I need to get back and see how things are going.”
“We will have to head home in a few days too.” Trevor lays his hand on my leg and kisses my cheek.
“Well before we split ways I want us to promise that once a year we do this again.”
They all look at me confused and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“A joint vacation. Even if it’s the same place every year. I want us to do it once a year. For at least a week we unplug from all things called normal life and take the time with each other.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Joslynn agrees and looks to Marshall.
“I like that idea,” he agrees too.
I look to Trevor.
“I like that idea.”
Joslynn, lil man and Marshall say their byes and it’s just Trevor and me. When I look at him, it’s like I am looking at him out of new eyes. Before he was my fiancé but now with him being my husband it’s more.
He stands from the table and walks towards me holding out his hand. I take his hand and follow him up the stairs and into our bedroom. He kicks the door shut behind us and turns towards me with a hunger in his eyes like I have never seen before.
I slide my dress over my head and lay it on the floor. I watch his eyes scan me from head to toe. I make a show of taking my bra and thong off and throw them on the floor at his feet. He smiles and takes his shirt off throwing it to the floor with his shorts and boxers following.
I am putty in his hands by the time he makes it to me, pushing me back towards the bed until I feel it hit the back of my legs. Once we make it to the bed, he lays down and looks at me waiting.
“I want to see you moving on top of me.” He winks.
I climb on the bed and straddle him. Needing no foreplay, I slide him i
nside me and moan. He fits perfectly, and the feeling is the best feeling I have ever felt. I lean in putting my hands on each side of his face and kiss him. It’s like kissing him for the first time as his hands wrap around me pressing our naked bodies against one another.
I move on top of him sliding our bodies against one another. We are connected at each spot possible from our lips to our toes. I ball the sheets into my fists as I move him in and out of me.
“Mine,” he whispers pulling back from the kiss.
“Always.”
His arms loosen enough around me allowing me to lean back and look into his eyes. The muscles in my thighs tighten as the overwhelming feeling of him moving inside me, our minds, bodies and souls linked come over me. I will my orgasm away. I watch his eyes close and listen to his moans fill the room. I lean in and bury my face in his neck. His arms once again tighten around me and he lifts his hips.
I pick up the pace and yell my orgasm in to his neck. His yells matching my own. I lay on top of him and catch my breath.
“Amazing,” I whisper once I catch my breath enough to talk.
Trevor nods his head and slides out of me. I slide down the side of his body and lay my head on his chest neither of us bothering to clean up. I fall asleep to the sound of his breathing and know that today is the first day of the rest of my amazing life and no matter what comes at me I can face it all and come out on top with his hand in mine.
***
“You packed, baby?” Trevor asks.
The time has come that we have to leave our paradise and walk back into the real world of jobs and bills. I look around our room one more time and sigh.
“Can’t we stay one more week?” I pout.
“As much as I want to say yes to that face I can’t.”
“I know it’s just so perfect here.”
“It is.”
Trevor grabs our bags and heads towards the door with me on his heels. I have to admit that a small part of me is ready to get home to Sunshine’s and my surprise for Trevor. I walk out onto the porch and take one more look around before I follow Trevor to the car. I watch as our oasis and the beginning of our new life passes by out the window.
On the drive back home I am torn between wanting to beg him to go back and being excited to get home and be able to get back to work. When we pull up at our house Trevor puts the car in park and doesn’t move. He turns in his seat towards me and takes my hand in his, with a nervous smile on his face.
“This will be our first time walking inside our house as a married couple,” he tells me.
“It is.” I don’t know what to say.
The way he is looking at me has me excited and nervous all at the same time. I am not sure what he is thinking but whatever it is he is nervous to say it.
“Stay here.” He jumps out of the car and runs around to my side and opens the door.
Once I step out of the car he lifts me up in his arms and I squeal.
“What are you doing?”
“Well the wedding wasn’t a standard one. But this part will be. I am going to carry you over the threshold,” he says with a smile.
He walks up the stairs and struggles to unlock the door with me in his arms. Once he gets the door open he steps through and stops. Trevor leans in and his lips gently press against mine. I can’t help but moan from the feeling of his lips on mine. His kiss is tender. I open my mouth and allow him to slide his tongue in and press it against mine – even then he is gentle.
He pulls back and smiles once again.
“Welcome home, wife.”
“Thank you, husband,” I reply breathlessly.
He kicks the door shut behind us and carries me to the living room. He sits on the couch with me in his lap, my legs straddling each side of him. His eyes search my face.
“It all feels complete now. When I look in your eyes and I am able to call you my wife, it feels like all that I have been searching for – the missing puzzle piece – was you.”
My heart starts to race at the sound of his words.
“I love you,” I say and lean in and kiss his nose, each cheek and his chin before I kiss his lips.
“I love you too.”
I wrap my arms around him and pull him towards me. I lock eyes with him and try to put all the emotions I am feeling in my eyes to let him know all the things I have said and also the things I can’t put in to words. Trevor is the first man I have felt so much love for that I could tell him over and over and it still wouldn’t cover the strength of my love.
Chapter Six
As soon as I walk in to Sunshine’s I am met with the mad eyes of a feisty lady.
“Hey, Miss Janet.”
“I hear vacation was eventful, my child.”
As soon as she started working here she started calling me “my child” which only made me fall in love with her more. She was like the grandmother I always wanted.
“I didn’t want anything huge. We didn’t even invite his parents.”
Her eyes grow big and she shakes her head.
“Well I guess now I don’t feel as mad.” She laughs and wraps her arms around me.
I take in the smell of Janet and close my eyes. She smells like coffee and peppermint just what I would have always thought a grandmother should smell like.
“Welcome back to work, Mrs. Andrews.” She kisses my cheek and goes back to wiping down tables.
I look around for Joslynn and find her watching me from behind the counter. I walk towards her and she looks towards Janet and back to me.
“And how did you calm her down so fast? I thought I was going to see you get a spanking.”
“A spanking, Jos?” I can’t help but giggle.
“Her words not mine.”
“Ouch.”
We both start laughing and turn our heads at the sound of the bell dinging above the door. A man walks in looking all around the restaurant like he is looking for something or someone. He is tall and wearing a tux. His hair is parted in the middle and brushed to one side. He has a briefcase in one hand and a cell phone in the other.
When he spots Joslynn and me at the counter, he heads our way and my heart starts to race.
“I am looking for the owner,” he says and looks back and forth between the two of us.
“We both are,” I answer and put on my best smile trying to hide the worry in my eyes.
I don’t know what he is doing here, but I have a feeling that whatever it is I am not going to like it.
“Then these are for you.”
He lays his briefcase on the counter and hands me a yellow envelope. I take it slowly and watch as he says nothing else while he closes his briefcase and walks out the door. I stand in shock for a while before Joslynn grabs my arm and leads me towards the kitchen.
“Janet, we will be right back.”
“Go on and do boss things.”
Once we are in the kitchen I hand Joslynn the envelope. Whatever is in there I have a feeling I don’t want to know. Joslynn slowly opens the envelope and slides out papers, her eyes scan them.
“Well?”
“Fucking Kipper.”
My heart starts to race at the sound of his name, and I can’t help but look around the room like he is going to step out from the shadows.
“What, Jos?”
Kipper is in jail and will be for a while. Marshall and Trevor made sure of that. What could he have done from jail that would have Joslynn so pissed and me so on edge? I feel like I am about to have a panic attack.
“He had to have had this done.”
“Had what done, Joslynn? You’re killing me here!”
“They want to investigate the restaurant! His crew is suing us saying we didn’t pay them!”
“WHAT?! Why would he do that? What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. I am going to call Marshall.”
She slams the papers down on the bar in front of me and walks away pulling her phone from her pocket. Having Sunshine’s has been one of
the pluses in my life. The fact that he can come in and try to take it from me while he is in jail is shocking. When he came and offered his work, it was under the understanding that he would get free meals for life. That was before he tried to put his hands on me and then later tried to kill me.
But the fact that even from jail he can try to take this all from me scares me and makes me angry all at one time.
“He is on his way.”
I jump at the sound of her voice and wipe my eyes.
“Jos, this is all we have. Why would he want to take this away from us? What is he going to do with it from jail?”
“It’s spite, Tay, all for spite.”
“Joslynn, spite for what? We went to school together but we didn’t date. We didn’t hang out. I don’t understand. You can’t force yourself on someone and try to kill them and expect them to fall in love! He killed my child, Jos!”
“I know, Tay. I know. We will figure it out okay, just calm down.”
I shake my head and walk out of the kitchen. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want them to see me break down. I walk out the door and jump in my car. In times like this in my old life I would have gone to the bar and drank it all away. But not now in my new life – a life where I have something more. Someone more. I wipe my eyes once more and head home to my husband. He is the only thing I need.
As soon as I walk in the door, I walk around the house and look for Trevor. I want to hear him tell me that he is going to fix this, that everything is going to be okay and I have nothing to worry about. I walk into the living room and find Trevor asleep on the couch. I stop and watch his chest move up and down as he breathes. He looks so peaceful.
I walk towards him and lay down in front of him pulling his arm around me. All of my plans for the day have gone down the drain. Marshall told me he was going to tell Trevor they were closing early so I could come and get my very first tattoo and surprise him when I got home.
Trevor moans and tightens his arms around me.
“What are you doing home so early?”
Redeem Me (Say Something Book 4) Page 2
