“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Chris snapped.
“Well, you know that’s not going to fly,” I snarked.
“She went home to get ready for her date.” We could all hear the anger in his voice, but we kept silent. We just stared at him. I watched Dane shift uneasily in his chair and clench his jaw.
“She’s going to the movies with some guy from school who’s been after her since the beginning of the school year. I don’t like him. He’s two-faced and a user. I told her not to go and we got in a fight and now she’s not speaking to me.”
“Oh, Baby, I’m sorry. Why don’t you tell her how you feel about her?” Callie said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re like brother and sister. Nothing’s ever going to happen between us. We agreed on it,” Chris said.
Dane, Grant, and I all giggled and shared a knowing look. Chris just looked at us, shook his head, and stomped off to his room. I thought about heading after him but Grant took the lead and headed into the house first.
“Who the hell does she have a date with, Callie? Did you tell her she could go?” Dane was starting to fume.
“It’s just the movies. Relax. I don’t see the harm in it. Lighten up, Dane. You and I both know she’s not our little baby anymore.”
“I don’t want her going out with some guy I don’t know. Guys are all scum,” Dane ranted.
This made Callie and I bust out laughing. I put my hand on Dane’s arm and smiled at him. “Seriously? All guys are scum? What about my son? He’s not scum.”
“I have no problem with Emily being with Chris. He’s respectful. He loves her.”
And there it was. Dane knew Chris loved his daughter and apparently he was on board with them being together, too. Now my mind was racing. What could we do to help make this happen? I didn’t want to see Emily and Chris waste all their time like Grant and I had. Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t change anything for the world. But I wish we had all those times when we were younger, the first kiss, going through all the bases together and of course, the first time making love. I wanted them to have it all together. They had plenty of time for all of that, but I still wanted them to have what Grant and I didn’t. I put my plan into motion with Callie and Dane. Now all I had to do was get Grant in on it so I headed inside to find him.
“Absolutely not, Lanie. We’re not going to do it. I’m not doing it,” Grant said, semi-joking, but mostly not.
“I could convince you, you know. I have my ways.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and then pushed my body against his.
“Stop. You know I can’t resist you. Don’t do this right now. How long will Randi be sleeping?” Grant caved.
I slowly pushed him out of Randi’s room and backed him down the hall to our room. He mocked holding back, but his movements were surefooted. He liked where we were going.
“How do you intend to convince me, Love?” he smoothly said with a smirk.
“With every inch of my skin. Do you think that will work?” I feigned stupidity.
“I most certainly do not,” Grant quipped.
“Oh? Is that a dare?” I purred.
“That is most definitely a triple dog dare,” he said, his eyes burning into mine. It didn’t matter how much time passed, Grant would always have the same effect on me. I wanted to throw myself on top of him right there in the hallway. I was positive we would be the friskiest old people anyone ever met.
I began to pull my shirt over my head and heard a soft ah escape his lips, yet he still pretended to be fighting me off. I must be very strong, because I had no problem pushing him into our room. I smiled and began to shimmy out of my jeans; this time a low growl rumbled in his throat. He reached for me and I pulled myself away from him, only to receive a pout in return.
“No Sweetheart, you’re supposed to be resisting, remember? This is why we don’t ever have kinky role-playing sex,” I mused.
“No, we don’t do that because I only want to be kinky with you even when you’re not being you. Plus, I want you to only think of me.” Grant chuckled. I smiled and swiftly shoved him onto the bed and straddled him.
“Oh. No. You pinned me to the bed with your hot fucking body. No. Please no. Let me up,” he said flatly with no emotion at all, while barely moving his arms to try to escape.
“You could at least give me a bit of a challenge, Grant. You’re making this no fun. Well, it’s fun. Making love to you is always fun, but I do like the challenge of trying to convince you.” He quickly grabbed my wrists and soon I was in his place on the bed and he was straddling me.
“Lanie, why do you bother? You know I can’t resist you at all and you know I’ll do whatever you ask. I have never said no to you in any way at all. Now these must go.” He grabbed my panties and ripped them off of me. He was a bit gentler with my bra. I reached for his pants and unbuttoned them. Stupid button-fly jeans, such a pain in the ass, but damn did they look good on him. I thought they’d look better on the floor right now. He was a gentleman and assisted me in undressing him and soon we were skin to skin on the bed. He was too willing of a captive, but it didn’t matter. The whole point of this exercise was moot anyway. This was now about making love. He brushed his lips across my collarbone and worked his way up to my ear.
“Lanie, this moment could happen a hundred times over and my desire for you would never lessen. I’ll do whatever you want as long as you’ll always be here by my side.”
“You know I’ll never leave you. I’ll always be right here beside you.” And it was true. Grant and I were never apart again after the Brianna incident. We never traveled separately and never left the other for any extended period of time. I had not spent one night without Grant beside me in bed. We were truly connected in every way. I wasn’t even sure if I could breathe on my own without him anymore. I know my heart beat for him. We were one.
He kissed my lips gently and I felt the urge to have all of him, so my game ended and soon my tongue was deep between his lips, hungrily feeding on him. I could feel him smile and he slid his hand into my hair and pulled my face even closer to his so we were locked in our kiss.
My body couldn’t hold back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and began to grind my hips against him. I dragged my fingernails down his back to his buttocks and squeezed. The feel of him against me drove me wild.
“Are you trying to communicate something you want me to do, Lanie?” he said breathily into my ear.
“Go fuck yourself! Well actually, do me instead. I need you, Grant. Make love to me right now,” I begged with a giggle. He was immediately sliding inside me; our bodies reconnected, our souls one. The feel of him was as intense as the first time I ever made love to him. I could never get enough of this man and wished we could stay here alone together all day.
“I love you, Lanie. I will always love you.”
“And I’ll always love you, Grant.”
* * *
“Anything yet? Has Chris called?” Grant said, pacing. “No, Emily is still in labor. Callie was in with her when he called. She said it looked to be a long night. Relax. This is our third grandchild. Why so anxious? Shannon is on her way, and it’s only a matter of time before you get to hold her in your arms.”
“Is Randi coming home this weekend?” Grant sounded distracted.
“Hun, she’ll be here. She and Joe are coming to look at how the house is coming. Didn’t you speak to her this morning? Look, how about we head up to bed? It’s been a long evening and I know I’m tired. You have to be exhausted. You didn’t sleep at all last night.” I grabbed Grant’s hand in mine and pulled him towards the stairs. “Callie will call us if anything happens. Let’s grab the chocolate hazelnut spread on the way up.” I winked at him. All the wrinkles on his face seemed to lessen and he smiled and pulled me to him. We were well beyond our youth, but he was still so handsome.
Sometime during the night, I felt Grant’s lips softly kiss me, and then his side of the bed lift. I rubbed my eyes an
d opened them only to see him at the window looking out over the cliff.
“What are you doing up, Babe? Come back to bed. It’s cold and lonely without you.”
“Lanie, I’m always with you. I’ll always be with you forever. You know that, right?” he whispered softly without turning to look at me.
“Grant, you’re making me nervous. Is something wrong? Do you feel okay?” I was scared. I couldn’t live without this man, and we were old now. It was only a matter of time before our health began to fail. He slowly turned towards me and smiled; his eyes sparkled in the dark. I saw him young again in that instant and my heart began to race at the sight.
“Lanie, are you all right? You look a bit pale,” he said as he slid back beside me into bed. He curled his body around mine to spoon me, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me as close to him as he could.
“I’m fine as long as you’re right here next to me.” I closed my eyes and soon sleep fell upon me.
I dreamt that night, of being young again, with Grant and Dane on the cliff. We were running along the shoreline, laughing together, not even teenagers yet. Grant and I held hands and Dane ran behind us. He lagged back to throw stones in the ocean.
“Grant? I’ll love you for eternity. There will never be a love like you and I have. If anything ever happens to the other, let’s make a pact that we’ll wait to be together again,” I said.
“I’ll wait forever for you. I promise,” Grant said as he raised his right hand and smiled. I did the same. “Nothing can ever keep us apart, Lanie. Not time or space or even death. We’ll always be together. Forever.” I felt his lips on mine. I felt them. And it woke me out of my sleep.
“Grant? Are you awake? I swear I just felt you kiss me. Grant?” But I already knew. His absence was so apparent. I rolled over and he looked like he was only sleeping. I knew he had gone. My love was no longer with me in this world. I felt my eyes well with tears, my cheeks burning, my heart already aching for him. There was only half of me left in the room.
I heard the phone ring and knew it must be Callie with news on Shannon’s birth. I answered, tears of joy and tears of complete devastation pouring out of me. How could I ever survive without my love? When the call ended with Callie, I dialed Chelsie.
“Lanie? Did the baby come?” Chelsie said groggily.
“Chelsie.” It was all I could get out.
“Lanie, what’s wrong?” Now I could tell she was wide-awake and panicking.
“Grant. He’s … he’s gone.” And that’s when it hit me. I broke down and threw myself onto his body.
“No, Grant, no. You promised. Please don’t leave me. Please, Grant. I can’t do this without you.” I don’t know how long I begged him to come back, but soon I felt hands on me, pulling me into a big bear hug. It was Steve.
* * *
“Grandma, are you sleeping?” Shannon whispered in my ear as she crawled into bed beside me.
“No, my love, I’m resting my eyes. I’m just very tired today. Come snuggle with me.”
Shannon was my girl. She was six years old now. How time had flown since Grant had left me. I had always felt a part of Grant’s soul in her. Like somehow it had jumped from him to her the moment he passed and she was born. She and I were inseparable.
“Grandma, you can sleep. I’ll be here right beside you. I’m not going anywhere,” she said with a smile. She had her grandfather’s eyes and smile. I drifted off, seeing him through her, and before long I was asleep.
I felt his lips on mine. I felt them. And it woke me out of my sleep. I opened my eyes and knew I must be dreaming, because Grant was standing over me, smiling. He was young and so beautiful to see. It reminded me of the day of the nor’easter at the stables. My heart began to race in my chest.
“Hello, my love. Are you ready?” he said smoothly. “You’re so beautiful, Love.”
“I’m sure I’m not.” But the voice I heard was mine from many years ago. Grant held his hand out to me, and when I reached to touch him, to see if he was real, my hand was young, too. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew I needed to be in his arms again. It had been too long since I had felt him and I knew I would feel him now. I jumped out of bed, something I had not been able to do for a long time.
He laughed and threw his arms around me and pulled me close. I took a deep breath just to inhale his scent. His lips were on mine in an instant. I felt his love flood over me and everything was right again. I was whole again.
“I promised you I’d wait, and I did. Now there is no end, because we can be together forever, my love. I love you, Lanie. I’ve been here beside you every day. Every night. I have never left you. Did you feel me?”
“Yes. Every time Shannon touched me. Every smile from her. Every laugh. Grant, I love you so much. I’ve missed you so much.” I wanted to cry, but there was nothing but happiness inside of me.
“It’s time to go, Baby. We have a lot of catching up to do.” His eyes. They were burning into mine again like he had never been gone. It was just like so many years ago, even before our children and grandchildren existed.
“Do they let you catch up in heaven?” I giggled and winked. He gave me a double-eyebrow raise and smiled his sultry smile.
“You bet they do.”
He slipped his arm around me and we walked out to the cliff’s edge, to be with each other forever.
About the Author
Christie A.C. Gucker lives in NJ with her husband, two daughters and a menagerie of pets. Being a mother is one of the greatest joys of her life. She has worked in the advertising industry for over 20 years as a degreed artist, but also works in the fine arts, especially sculpting out of stone or snapping photographs. Christie is also a singer and musician, and can be found singing on a few CDs.
After the death of her father, Christie searched for something to fill her desire to make a mark in this world. Her love of the arts and creativity allowed her to search for a new medium, which she found with a pen instead of a brush. Being an avid reader her whole life, and with her family cheering her on, she decided to take her shot, and began writing.
Fascinated by the supernatural and sharks, Christie studies both avidly. You’ll be sure to find something spooky lurking somewhere in her stories. Her greatest joy is sitting on a beach with her family while surf fishing, flying kites or building sandcastles with her girls.
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