Derailed

by Gina Watson

  “I love you,” she gasped.

  “I’m sorry.” He kissed the swell of her breast, sucking lightly against the skin. “I’m sorry for everything.”

  Slowly he entered her, memorizing the feel of her gripping him. He inhaled the scent behind her ear. He kissed her jaw. He never wanted their coupling to end because he knew they were saying goodbye to one another.

  Her hands laced together around his neck. She pulled him in tightly, almost smothering him against her breast. She cried as he moved within her.

  This was crazy. If she’d just given him a chance they could have been happy. “This doesn’t have to be the last time.”

  “Shh. Please, don’t speak.”

  Desperate for more, he gathered her into his arms and pulled her to his chest. With her arms around his neck and his tight hold on her, they were a tangle of limbs. He pumped faster and harder until she was breathless and their souls came together for the last time.

  He held her close through the night, neither of them sleeping. By morning he was too distraught to appear congenial so he thought it best to leave. He didn’t want to upset Ryder. “I should speak with Ryder. What do you want me to tell him?”

  She shrugged, unshed tears in her eyes.

  “So we’re taking a break?”

  “Yes.” She swallowed.

  “I’ll tell him that.”

  Ryder sat on the couch watching the Transformers movie. Everett sat next to him.

  “I have all four of these on blue ray, but my favorite one is still the first. Have you seen them all?”

  “No. I didn’t know there were four movies.”

  “Are you leaving?”

  Ryder turned off the television and watched Everett intensely. “Your mom and I are going to take a little break from one another. But I don’t want to take a break from you so I’ll come next weekend and we’ll go to Later Gator’s.”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “No! I don’t want to go without Mom. Why can’t she go too?”

  “She and I have a problem that we are unable to solve.”

  “What problem?”

  “We are unable to compromise. Do you know what that means?”

  “Nope.”

  “It means to come up with a solution to our problems, one of us will need to give a little more than the other one.”

  “Don’t you love her?”

  “I love her and you more than anything else in the world.”

  “Then it should be easy to make a comp mise.”

  “Compromise.”

  “Comp ro mise.”

  They sat in silence for a while. Eventually Ryder crawled onto Everett’s lap and hugged his neck. “I’ll miss you.” Ryder kissed his cheek, causing a tear to roll down Everett’s face.

  Ryder walked away in sniffles, leaving Everett in desolation on the couch.

  Everett called Courtney and while he gathered his things from the little house where he’d leave his heart and soul behind, he became frustrated. Frustrated at Fiona’s outright stubbornness. She was being unfair to him. If she loved him as much as she said she did, then why couldn’t she make the decision to be with him? She was the one who had said as long as the three of them were together, they could be anywhere.

  Courtney honked from the driveway. Before leaving he went to the bedroom to find Fiona in bed with Ryder in her arms.

  “Well I guess I’m going to go.” They both looked at him grimly. “I invited Ryder to Later Gator’s next weekend. Think about it. I’ll call you after I get in on Sunday. Here’s your key.” He laid it on the bedside table, and then walked away in silence, his shoulders sagging.

  He threw his stuff into the trunk of Courtney’s Honda and then piled into the passenger’s seat. He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand as she backed out of the driveway.

  Halfway to the estate Courtney asked, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “Suit yourself.” She shrugged. “For what it’s worth, I liked who you were when you were with her.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “She made you happy is all.”

  His phone rang, and he was so desperately hopeful that it was her calling him back, he answered without checking the ID.

  “Fiona.”

  “Ashton.”

  “What the hell do you want?”

  “I need your legal expertise on a matter of eminent domain.”

  “Forget it. You ruined my life, you son of a bitch.”

  “So I’ll call your firm and sing your fucking praises. You’ll be reinstated.”

  “No. I refuse to work with you.”

  Everett hung up the phone and leaned his head on the headrest, hoping he’d soon awaken from his nightmare.

  Chapter 12

  The days turned into weeks. Everett couldn’t concentrate at work. He couldn’t concentrate when he tried to read a book or watch a movie. He was a shell of a man and the only thing that helped was Johnny Walker.

  He’d come home early from work for the third day in a row. He hoped to be let go soon. If not he’d resign. It was official now—he hated law. It had ruined his life. Fiona had sent the engagement ring to him via registered mail. On another day she’d sent a cashier’s check for thirteen hundred dollars. So on this particular day, as he held the brown mailer that she’d sent, he hesitated opening it. What was left to give back? He couldn’t think of anything.

  He slid his finger beneath the flap and tore it open. He pulled a sheet of tracing paper from the envelope. He unfolded it slowly to reveal the image. He gasped as it came into focus.

  She’d finished his sketch. Before him was a picture of the scales of justice. On one scale sat a set of law books. On the other scale sat a live heart. It wasn’t cupid’s heart, but a live human heart. The scales sat completely equal to one another. Lady Justice slithered around the center pole. With the pixie cut hair and the tattoos it was recognizable—Fiona. She was breathtaking.

  He’d get this tattoo but the heart would be on the ground, the law books so worthless they wouldn’t even weigh a microgram. A plan forming in his mind, he would be hard pressed to wait until this weekend to unfold it.

  ***

  Parker and Bailey’s wedding weekend was bittersweet for Fiona. Her escort down the aisle was Everett. Bailey insisted she could change it, but Fiona refused. That meant a weekend of closeness to Everett, beginning with tonight’s rehearsal dinner.

  At the Baton Rouge Country Club she sat at the table next to Maura, who held Adrian in her arms. Everett had yet to arrive since he was flying in from Boston. Since they were waiting on him they decided to eat first.

  Ryder sat next to her at the table. Every time someone came through the door it stole his attention. He was anxiously awaiting Everett. “Do you want some fried crabs?”

  “No.” He turned again to watch the door.

  “You need to eat, baby.”

  Everett had continued to visit with Ryder on the weekends. It meant the world to him and to Fiona. More than once she thought about just giving in and going to him in Boston, telling him she’d move, but she had Ryder to consider.

  “Everett!” Ryder took off to the door to meet him. Both of them seemed equally excited to greet one another. Everett hugged him so hard his feet no longer touched the floor.

  Parker held a champagne flute in the air. “Now the party can start.”

  Everett hugged Bailey and made the rounds greeting his parents and brothers and their significant others before setting eyes on Fiona.

  “Fiona.” He smiled handsomely. “I’ve missed you so much.”

  Why was he doing that? He’d make it so much harder to quit him. “I’ve missed you too.”

  He took a seat between her and Ryder. The sound of tinkling glass rang out and Parker stood. The room quieted. “Thank you all for coming here and celebrating with us. Most of you are family so you don’t have a choice.” Laughing ensued. “But thank y
ou all the same. On a serious note I want to thank you for your support and acceptance during Bailey’s transplant surgery. I thank God every day that I was born into this family that in my opinion is the best family a guy could ever have. I love you.” He turned to find Bailey’s gaze. “Bailey, you saved me. I didn’t actually know I needed saving, but I did—from myself. I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love someone. If I lost every single monetary possession, but you were still with me, I would have a rich life because as long as I have you, I have everything. She stood and they kissed to the tune of various phrases like get a room and I don’t wanna see that.”

  There love was so big that it made everything around pale in comparison. Fiona wanted a love like that. She knew that she would give up Baton Rouge for Everett, but she wanted to know that he’d give up Boston for her. Those were just cities—they meant nothing to her. Unfortunately to Everett his location on the globe meant more to him that her or her son.

  When it was her turn to be escorted down the aisle by Everett she happily laced her arm in his. Beside her Everett smiled and joked, but she couldn’t focus on his words because emotion had seized her and she desperately swallowed back tears. She’d wanted to be married by now, have a man to prepare dinner for every night and socks to pick up from the floor. She wouldn’t even complain if he didn’t clean out the sink after he shaved. She’d gladly clean it for him. But that hadn’t been in the cards for her. She’d made one mistake and it had sealed her fate. She’d lost everything she’d known, but what she’d gained had been so much sweeter. She loved Ryder.

  Despite best-kept efforts, her tears broke through the dam and rolled down her face. She pretended to smile, hoping no one would focus on her. She wanted to swipe at them because they tickled her cheeks, but she forced herself to keep her free hand at her side.

  “Fiona?” He gazed at her with a furrow between his brows. “What is it?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing, you’re shaking.”

  “I’m just a little emotional,” she whispered. “Please, don’t call attention to it.”

  “I wouldn’t think of it.”

  When they reached the end of the aisle, the wedding coordinator indicated where they should stand and so they parted. His continued gaze at her meant that his thoughts were still focused on the tears she’d shed. He seemed worried and anxious for her. His frown was a permanent fixture that she’d not seen in him before and she felt bad for having been the one to place it there.

  Once they’d successfully run through the wedding processional twice, the group started to disband.

  “How are things with Everett?”

  Fiona shrugged. “I think I should have conceded. I think it would be worth the sacrifice.”

  Maura nodded. “Maybe you should tell him exactly that.”

  Hmm. Maybe she should. Fiona’s phone rang in her purse. It was Quinn from the studio so she answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “I need you to come by and take a look at some work I did. There seems to be a reaction. Maybe allergies. Not sure, but I wanted to rule out infection.”

  “Okay, I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Fiona said her goodbyes. Only she missed saying goodbye to Everett. Wasn’t that apropos? She never wanted to utter those words to him to begin with so it was just as well. Still, she couldn’t deny the hurt feelings that he’d leave without even a simple goodbye.

  “Let’s go, Ryder.”

  “Mr. David invited me over to watch movies in the theater room.” Ari stood next to Ryder and the duo stared at her.

  “I can bring him home after, if you’d like.” Ari said.

  “Okay, that’d be fine. Thank you.” Ryder hugged her and kissed her cheek.

  As she drove to the studio she thought about Everett’s mysterious disappearance. He’d never done something like that before. No matter how painful, he usually hit things head on. It wasn’t like him to leave without following up with her, especially since he’d been so worried about her crying.

  She sighed as she put her SUV in park. Maybe this thing with Everett was more over than she had previously thought. This time she swiped the tears from her cheek and walked into the studio.

  Walking down the hallway scents of lavender and rose caught her nostrils. That’s odd? A flickered glow emitted from the room at the end of the hallway.

  “Quinn?”

  “In here.”

  She walked through the door only to set eyes on Everett. A Thousand Years by Christina Perri played softly. Candles were everywhere. The sketch she’d made for him was displayed on the recliner. She saw champagne chilling in a bucket. When she looked at Everett for answers he stepped toward her, and then went down on one knee.

  “Fiona, I owe you an apology. It seems I was misled about something. There’s a lyric in this song … I will not let anything take away what’s standing in front of me. I thought Boston and my partnership defined who I was. I thought if I were to live without those things I’d be lost—a mass floating untethered through space. He took her hands in his. “In actuality I’m lost because I’m living without you and Ryder.”

  He pulled the ring from his pocket and slid it on her finger. “You said yes to me once before and I failed to realize how precious that one little word was.” He kissed the ring on her finger. “I’ve resigned from Boston. I would like to pursue a career in Baton Rouge. But it doesn’t have to be law. The only thing I know for sure is it has to be you and Ryder. Nothing else remotely matters. I have no right to ask you this again after the way I treated our first engagement, but if you will say yes to me again, I think you’ll find a different reaction.”

  He squeezed her hand tightly. “Fiona Marie Miller, will you marry me?”

  She was in shock. She’d thought he’d left without saying goodbye. In reality he’d been here with Quinn setting up all this. He quit his job and Boston for me. He’d made the ultimate compromise to show her his love.

  “Fiona, penny for your thoughts. Have I lost you? Just tell me what I can do to show you that I’ll be committed to you and Ryder forever. I’m sorry, Fiona. Please, won’t you give me a second chance to do it right this time?”

  “I … I’m …” Tears fell. Not just from her face, but his also. She swiped the pad of her thumb across his cheekbone. Proof of his love existed in that teardrop. She hugged him. “I love you. Of course I’ll marry you.”

  He squeezed her back, his hands around her waist, pulling her toward him. He breathed a heavy sigh. “Thank you.”

  “For the record, I never needed you to quit your job in Boston. I just needed to know that you would.”

  He smiled and kissed her chin. “I want to be here with our family and friends.”

  They sat together for several minutes, until the song ended. “What’s with the sketch?”

  “I was hoping you’d give me a tattoo.”

  “Tonight?”

  “If you’d like. But I’d like to offer a few changes.”

  She pulled back to look into his gray eyes. “What kind of changes?”

  “I want the heart to be on the ground and the law to be weightless. And then across the banner I want it to read: Fiona Forever.”

  “Why?”

  “Two reasons: One, because I never again want to forget how important you are to me. You’re everything. More than everything—you’re life. And two, because that is how long I intend to love you.”

  “I like it.”

  “Where will you put it?”

  On their knees on the floor, she helped him remove his jacket. She loosened his tie and pulled it free, and then she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it from his body.

  Surveying her canvas she considered a location. Her fingers traced along his pectoral, and then down his bicep.

  “Tell me, Ms. Miller … does every customer get this personalized treatment?” His brow cocked.

  “Not every c
ustomer, only those I’m engaged to.”

  He chuckled. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Me too.”

  “So, what do you think?”

  “I think the bicep.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  She stood. “Hop up here.” She patted the reclining chair.

  As she prepared the ink she was deep in thought. “Eternally Everett.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Hmm?”

  “It sounded like you said Eternally Everett.”

  Her face heated. Would he think her silly? “I was thinking of a counterpart to Fiona Forever.”

  “And you thought of Eternally Everett?”

  She shrugged, “Do you not like it?”

  “I love it. I’m just wondering where you’re going to put it.”

  She mixed colors as she thought. “I was thinking of putting it along the petals of the rose.”

  “Ms. Miller, you’re an artist.”

  “I can’t wait until you call me Mrs. David.”

  “I can’t wait for that either.

  ***

  Fiona had him drink champagne—most of it actually. As she tattooed his arm he sang along to various artists from late night radio.

  “Hmm, I hate to say it, but you may not want to give up your tenure as a solicitor.”

  “Are you shaming my singing, skills love?”

  “No, I would never.”

  “You know what we should do to commemorate the night of our engagement?” He looked at her, hopeful.

  “You mean besides getting tattoos of one another’s names?”

  “In addition, we should christen this chair. What do ya say? He cocked a brow at her and traced her collarbone with the pad of his index finger.”

  “I think, unless you want this tattoo to look like a hippopotamus on fire, you should sit still and stop touching me.”

  “I would rather have the hippo than to stop touching you.” His hand squeezed her shoulder.