by Freda Ann
With an elated smile, he sat up to fully face her when she did the same. He reached out to hold her hands. “Tell me!”
Smiling back at him she continued. “Well - my business has really taken off since I started it and I’ve been toying with the idea about expanding it to other locations but wasn’t sure where I wanted to start. Since I’ve been here and worked on Stephen’s house, I see so much potential for a viable second location. And now that we both want to be together, I want to move forward with it. California has a completely different style and a unique demand. I can learn so much by having another office here. I really think I can make it work.”
“Are you serious? You’d actually open a location here?”
Smiling and happily nodding her head up and down, “I’d do anything to be with you.”
He smiled back at her pulling Mindy into him hugging then kissing her again and again. From the first day their eyes met, he knew they were meant to be together - forever!
Epilogue
(Three months later)
Laughing at Mindy as she stared at the photo of the two of them on the red carpet at the Oscars, Brandon reached out pulling her into him while he nibbled on her neck. “We make a pretty awesome couple don’t we?” He whispered in her ear.
“That we do.” She leaned her head against his face smiling the entire time he nuzzled her. “I can’t believe our photo made it in so many tabloids and magazines. - At least I made the best dressed list.” She laughed at her comment. “Who would’ve thought? - But I owe part of it to your mom. She helped me pick out my dress. She has exquisite taste.”
“Just like you. You’re my style guru now. You impress me more and more every day babe. - So the new L.A. location is up and running, huh?”
She walked to the refrigerator to grab some orange juice. “It is definitely up and running. Thankfully, the interior was in good shape so the renovations were minimal. And your connections with a few of the contractors helped a lot too.” She smiled at him affectionately. “I also brought a few of my Orlando personnel here to help with training and the transition as we build our clientele.” She poured two glasses of orange juice into small glasses. “You know - the word of mouth from designing Stephen’s house really helped get our name out their and brought us several new clients already.”
He sat at the island as she sat next to him handing him a glass. “This is when it pays to know people who know people.” They laughed together.
All of a sudden it sounded like a heard of animals running on the wood floor into the kitchen. Brandon and Mindy looked at each other shaking their heads happily. In unison, they heard all five of them together. “Can we please go swimming?” The kids hit it off from day one and love doing things together, especially swimming in the large pool that had a slide and diving board.
Brandon spoke up. “If you picked up your rooms like you were told to, yes you can.”
“Yaaaay! We did.” They all yelled together and headed to the pool house to change into their swimsuits and get the toys out to play with in the water.
His house had more than enough room for all of them to stay there. For now they decided that Mindy would stay in the guest room closest to Brandon. It made it easier for them to sneak in each other’s room when they wanted to be together. The kids wondered why they don’t stay in the same room since they love each other. They laughed when they tried to explain to the kids they were a little bit old fashioned in some ways. Here they were trying to do what they thought was right and the kids thought it was kind of weird. Go figure.
Faith and Stephen were coming over later to watch the kids while Brandon and Mindy went out on a date. Faith had been in L.A. almost as much as Mindy had the past few months. She’s enjoyed the lifestyle so much she decided to hold freelance yoga and meditation classes at various parks and beaches nearby when she was in town. She was really meshing well with Stephen and they loved spending their free time together. Faith decided for now to travel back and forth to Florida every few months to work.
Brandon wanted to surprise Mindy with where they were going for dinner but he told her to wear some comfortable pants, preferably jeans, and a casual shirt and closed in shoes. He’d piqued her curiosity with such specific instructions but she trusted him knowing he was full of surprises.
He drove them about forty minutes away to a private parking lot along the beach. After they got out of the car, he reached in his back pocket and pulled something out. “Soooo . . . just like you asked me one night in Maui - do you trust me?” He held up a blindfold and motioned for her to turn around.
She smiled up at him as she turned remembering when she made him close his eyes and not open them while she pleasured him for the first time. There’s no way he’d do that on the open beach especially with what they were wearing. “Yes - but you sure know how to make a woman wonder.”
He tied it around her head making sure it covered her eyes completely. Grabbing her by the hand, he slowly walked her past the parking lot, up a wooden walkway over the sand dunes and out onto the beach. She could hear the waves breaking and smelled the salty air when she heard someone or something moving closer. He let go of her hand and untied the blindfold.
She saw two horses standing in front of them fully saddled. Her eyes grew with joy. “I love it! I haven’t been on one since Hawaii.” She walked over to them petting each one. “Which one is mine?”
“I find it only fitting for you to ride the white one.” He chuckled as he went to help her up.
“They’re both beautiful.” Climbing on the english saddle she thanked him for the leg up.
He climbed on his horse and led the way down the opposite end of the beach from the parking lot. They talked for several minutes until they entered an area posted ‘No Trespassing Private Property’.
She figured he must know the owners since the sign didn’t bother him in the least. Looking ahead, she saw rocks that formed a small jetty in the water with a mound of sand on the beach leading to the rocks. There was a large tree hanging partly over the sand on the other side of the mound. They stopped about fifty feet shy of the mound and Brandon dismounted and helped her down. He grabbed her hand walking closer to the mound of sand before stopping her and making her turn around again as he put the blindfold back on.
“Why Mr. Wild - if I didn’t know better I’d think you’re trying to seduce me.” She grinned then felt him give her a nice deep kiss before pulling away and leading her by the hand up and over the mound of sand to the other side. They seemed to walk several feet before he stopped her.
“Stay here baby and don’t touch the blindfold.”
Mindy heard him moving around and noticed the faint smell of food in the distance. She wondered if he was surprising her with dinner on the beach. How romantic she thought as a big smile came across her face. She heard him walk behind her but thought someone was also in front of her. Having no idea what was going on she turned her head to listen for any sounds when she heard Brandon’s voice in front of her.
“Mindy - “ He nodded to the person behind her to untie the blindfold. “From the first time I saw you on horseback on the beach in Maui you took my breath away. And every day since then I’ve wanted nothing more than to be with you. When I first looked deep in your eyes, I knew you were put on this earth for me. It gave me faith that if you’re patient, your true love will find you when you least expect it.” He got down on one knee, held up a gold ring box with diamond cuts shimmering around the outside of the box and opened it. “I promise to give you all of my love forever if you’ll please be my wife.”
The moment the blindfold came off she stared at him wondering what was going on. As he gave his speech, she started shaking inside wondering if he was about to do what she thought he was. Listening to the words, tears welled up in her eyes and when he got down on one knee, the look on her face was replaced with love and surprise. While he said those last words and opened the box, the beautiful victorian halo platinum diamond ring sparkl
ed up at her. It was perfect, she thought. With her hands still shaking, she reached out putting a hand on each side of his face kissing him twice before saying, “I’d love nothing more than to be your wife baby.” He sealed their engagement by sliding the ring on her finger and kissing her as happy tears rolled down both their faces. She’d found love again and she wasn’t afraid of it any more.
Mindy looked deep in his eyes needing the answer to one question. “You’re sure about this?”
Chuckling as he smiled and held her face in his hands. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” He leaned into her planting the sweetest kiss on her lips before helping her back on the horse and they walked on the beach with the sun setting in front of them. How fitting he thought, remembering the first time he saw her riding the horse in Hawaii. That moment he first laid eyes on her, Brandon knew deep down he would marry her one day. Another smile crossed his face as he felt like the luckiest man in the world to be able to share the rest of his life with her.
The End
An excerpt from . . .
FINDING FAITH
(Book 2 of ‘The Hawaii Series’)
Faith dropped Stephen off where they were filming at for the last day of his movie shoot. It would probably be another long day. He was ready for it to be over. The past month has been demanding now that they’re shooting on location in Hawaii. It was easier for his growing relationship with Faith when they were filming on set at the studio lot back in L.A. Thankfully she agreed to join him in Oahu for the last week. His best friend Brandon and his fiancé Mindy were joining them tomorrow for several days for a little vacation before they all have to go back to work in Los Angeles.
He leaned in the driver’s side of the car for another kiss. Since their relationship became physical a while back, they can’t seem to control their libidos. Having had hot, crazy sex that morning before breakfast, that’s all he’s thought of. “Enjoy your last day alone sightseeing. I’ll text when I’m done.” Having a hard time resisting yet another kiss, he leaned in covering her tender lips with his deepening the kiss and exploring her mouth with his tongue. He felt his pants starting to get tighter and knew he needed to end the kiss before he decided to intentionally be late on set. “Bye sweetie.” He smiled happily while walking away with his hands in his pocket to camouflage what was going on between his legs.
Pulling out of the parking lot in a remote area of the island, Faith couldn’t help but smile too. She was falling for Stephen and it felt really good. He was nothing like her past boyfriends. Even with his budding recognition he was one of the most humble, caring men she’s ever met. She couldn’t help but think how lucky she was to have met him and wondered how he’s still single.
Drawing her attention back to the road she had a feeling she missed her turn back there. She was a bit distracted when she left the parking lot and forgot to set the GPS to take her back to the downtown area. She knew she needed to get on the H1 but didn’t see any signs where she was.
She drove another block but it was getting more remote so she decided to turn around. Looking in her rearview mirror making sure no one was behind her before she made a u-turn, she saw an older white van close behind. She went on to the next cross street and decided to turn around there. She put on her right turn signal, started slowing down then turned on the side street. She’d make a u-turn once she straightened out and head back the way she came until she saw the highway sign for the H1.
She checked her rearview mirror again as she braked and the van was still behind her. Why did they have to turn on the same street she decided to do a u-turn on? She looked around for a parking lot to turn around in. It was an old industrial area that was mostly deserted with some old dilapidated buildings here and there. She noticed a parking lot a half a block up on the left so she put her blinker on and turned in just enough so she could back out once the van passed her. But the van wanted to pull in the same lot and was partially in the road after the driver tried pulling in behind her as she stopped. She decided to pull up a little bit so they could get out of the road then ask them for directions back to the H1.
Pulling up just enough so the van could get out of the road, she put her rental car in park, got out of the car and waved her hand to the driver to get their attention. They waved at her so she walked a little closer while the driver got out as well. The driver was a decent looking young man in his late 20’s with a black and grey baseball hat and a jumpsuit on. She figured he must work somewhere close by based on the way he was dressed. He walked closer to her and spoke. “Are you lost?”
“Yes - I guess I wasn’t paying attention and missed the turn to get on the H1. Can you tell me how I can get to it?”
He grabbed something out of his pocket. “Here, let me show you on the map.” He walked closer with a slight grin as she noticed something in his hand.
She walked a little further to met him halfway and look at what she assumed was a map. Looking up just before stopping she noticed part of a tattoo on his neck peeking out of the top of his jumpsuit. It looked familiar, like she’d seen it before. She looked at his face trying to place it. When they stopped in front of each other, she remembered where she’d seen him. He was the guy Stephen stopped from hitting his girlfriend after he called her every horrible name in the book in a bar they were at.
This guy and his friend were drinking heavily the other night when his girlfriend tried to get him to stop drinking and quit acting like an asshole. He didn’t like her talking down to him and threatened to beat the shit out of her and that’s when this guy pushed her into the wall a few times banging her head against it each time. When the girl said stop, he pulled his arm back to punch her but Stephen grabbed it and kicked his legs out from under him as he fell on his ass. Things started to get ugly and right when she thought they were going to fight, thankfully the bouncer walked over to break them up. The guy swore he’d find him and get even but Stephen assured her it was just the alcohol talking and he’d probably forget about it in the morning.
As her heart started to beat faster, she stepped back a few steps wondering what he was doing here. Looking at the white paper in his hand she spoke up. “I just remembered where I made the wrong turn but thanks anyway. I’ll be on my - “ Before she could finish her sentence he was right in front of her and what she thought was a white paper was over her face and had a horrible smell. She reached up to push herself away when he grabbed the back of her neck. Before she could push him back, her legs turned to jelly and she went down while everything turned dark.
* * * * *
Faith fought to wake up. She was feeling groggy and nauseas - and could barely open her eyes. Her nose burned and there was a bad taste in her mouth. She was having a hard time getting her eyes to open so she pulled her hands up to wipe them but her hands wouldn’t move and her wrists - her wrists were hurting. Why? Why was she feeling like this and how come she couldn’t remember where she was?
It took all her effort to try moving her fingers. But it felt like a chain was around her hands - and it was attached to something behind her. She kept trying to force her eyelids open. The more she struggled to lift them, the better they stayed open. She felt like she had the worst hangover imaginable. Her head throbbed but her brain was finally starting to remember some of what happened.
She dropped Stephen off but got lost trying to find her way back. - Then what? - Why can’t she think clearly? Frustrated, she shook her head trying hard to remember more. Blinking her eyes a few more times, she saw a parking lot - and a man getting out of a van. She walked up to him for directions and - and - . Her mind went blank again. Why is she having such a hard time remembering things? She blinked her eyes several more times and rolled her head around to get the blood flowing.
She was starting to remember more. The guy had a map in his hands and walked up to give her directions - but he had a mark on his neck that caught her attention. It was just above his collar and it looked familiar. - No, not a mark. It was part
of a tattoo. Has she seen it before? She blinked a few more times taking in some deep breaths in the process.
She tried to think of what happened next. She took in some more deep breaths to help clear her head. Oh crap - it was the guy from the bar. The one that was trying to beat up his girlfriend. When Stephen stopped him, the guy said he’d make him pay. As Faith realized it was him, she tried to walk back to her car but he was suddenly in front of her with something over her mouth and his hand on the back of her neck. That’s all she remembered. - Shit! That son of a bitch used something to knock her out! - He kidnapped her and chained her up?
Faith was slowly working all the fog out of her brain. The more she moved her head around and forced her eyes to open, the less cloudy it seemed. There was tape over her mouth so she couldn’t yell for help or scream. A wave of panic rushed through her but she refused to let it take over. The more she tried to free her hands, the more her wrists hurt. Realizing it wasn’t doing any good, she stopped pulling them and looked around trying to figure out where she was.
The room was mostly dark with a faint light seeping in and out from somewhere. Her eyes were open most of the way now so she was able to focus better. When the light would flicker in and out, she saw large rocks on the walls. She was starting to notice a certain smell as her nose was clearing. Taking in several more slow deep breaths trying to figure out the scents, she smelled the beach - salt water, sand and maybe seaweed? She was somewhere by the beach.
Faith slowly looked around when the light flickered in and out, taking in the big picture of the room she was in. After a while, she knew she wasn’t inside any room. She was in a cave and sitting on cold sand - at the beach. There must be some trees near the top blowing in the wind and that’s why the light came and went. The more she listened she could faintly hear seagulls and birds. They were flying up above.
