From Smoke To Flames— Amazon: A West Brothers Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  “It’s not what you want to hear, I know, but it’s for your livelihood. You know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think you needed it. Your brain has been dealt two major blows. It needs time to heal.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  She stood and patted my shoulder. “I have great faith in you. If you need me, and I don’t care what time of day, you call. Understood?”

  “Sure, Gabby, and thanks.”

  After my thirty days were up, I moved to The Summit. While it was every bit as nice as Flower Power, but not as hippie-ish, I missed seeing Rose and Sylvie. They offered meditation and had a nice workout center. I’d begun doing that, but I was in bad shape, so I had a ways to go on that account.

  My counselor’s name was Thomas. He was in his early fifties and a good fit because he had relapsed five times before he finally remained sober. He’d been clean now for ten years. It was nice to be able to bounce my problems off someone who could relate. In many ways, he was much better than Rose (no, I did not tell her that) because he could understand how complex it was dealing with the urges. He still had them after all this time.

  When I first got there, my story was made up. In other words, I didn’t want anyone to know the real truth about how I’d been abducted and made an addict again. It made me feel super weak and I couldn’t bring those memories to the surface. But after the first month, I owned up to it and the real truth came out. Compassion flowed from my fellow inpatients. Telling my story was pure catharsis.

  “I was barely conscious when they found me and honestly, I don’t really remember it. I do remember waking up in the hospital, my girlfriend and family there. If it hadn’t been for my girlfriend and a persistent PI, most likely I would’ve died.” I broke down into sobs, something I hadn’t really done. Everyone surrounded me and that’s when I was able to cut Greg out of my life. The shame left and the healing began.

  Three Months Later

  * * *

  Rose pulled up in the half circle drive as I waited for her, my bags packed. I’d been at The Summit for ninety days. After the initial sixty, I wasn’t quite there yet, so we decided another month would be best. I’d been allowed to have visitors on weekends, but I’d asked not to see Montana until I was as good as I could be. I wanted to be a better man for her.

  My family decided to let Rose pick me up and then we’d go to my parents for dinner the next day, Sunday. I watched her put the car in park and leap out. She didn’t walk to the door, she ran. The smile on her face was brighter than the sun. I didn’t wait for her to get inside. I’d already signed all the release papers, so I was through the door and picked her up as soon as we met. Our lips were on each other’s before we even said hello. It had been a week since I’d seen her, but I hadn’t kissed her like this in months. God, she tasted like heaven.

  She pulled back with a giggle and asked, “Where are your bags?”

  “Right inside the door. I couldn’t wait to see you.”

  “Same here. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you.” I kissed her again, dying for another taste of her sweet lips.

  “Let’s get your things and get out of here. Someone at home is bouncing off the walls to see you.”

  “Can we stop somewhere on the way to … you know?” I asked.

  “Hmm, I don’t know.”

  “Pleeeease,” I begged.

  “Where did you have in mind?”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just come on.”

  I grabbed my bags and loaded them. And we got on the road. It wasn’t a long drive, but when we got off the highway, I pulled off the main road onto a dirt side road. It was one we used to drive down when we were home from college and wanted to hang out and drink some beers with the guys.

  “Where are we?” Rose asked.

  “Nowhere. Just somewhere private. When we were out of sight, I parked the car and said, “Get over here, babe.”

  She crawled over and straddled my hips. We started making out like teenagers. I thought about how I did this in high school and how the windows would get steamed up. It was late August and the air conditioner was running so no chance of that.

  My hands drifted under her shirt to her bra where I found her hardened nipples. She sucked in her breath when I tugged and twisted them. I pulled her bra down and lifted her shirt so they were available to my mouth. When I sucked them, she moaned. Her hand moved to my zipper and she tugged it down until my stiff cock sprang free. We were both panting so I unzipped her jeans and when she lifted her ass, I pulled them down in order to slide a finger between her folds. She was slick and wet. I plunged a finger inside her and she tried to ride it. Fuck that, it was time for the real thing. She cried out when I took my finger away.

  “Don’t worry, babe. You’ll like this even better.” I positioned us so she could ride my cock. With her hands on my shoulders, we discovered a rhythm until we both chased and found our own climaxes.

  “Thank God that was quick. We have to get home before Montana starts calling and wondering where we are.”

  “Rose, we’ve been without each other for four months. Did you think we’d last very long?”

  “Uh, not really. I’ve never had car sex before.”

  We pulled our clothes back on and I asked, “Well? How’d you like it?”

  “It was sort of fun, but I banged my head on the ceiling a time or two.” She laughed.

  “When you have a comfortable bed to do it in, the car loses its appeal.”

  “True, but the shower doesn’t,” she said.

  “Shut up. You’ll make me want you again.”

  When we pulled into the driveway, Montana ran out of the house yelling, “Mister, Mister, you’re home!”

  I jumped out of the car and she was in my arms in the blink of an eye. “I missed you, monkey. So much.”

  “I missed you too. Don’t go away no more. I didn’t like it. Not at all.” She hugged me but didn’t let me go as usual.

  “Never again, monkey.”

  “My daddy isn’t gonna get you no more, is he?” She was crying.

  I didn’t realize they’d told her about Greg. My eyes met Rose’s. She shook her head.

  “Hey, hey. Don’t you cry about that. And no, he’s not ever going to get any of us. You don’t have to worry about that. Do you understand?”

  She looked at me with her big innocent eyes and asked, “How do you know? Did God tell you?”

  “No, God didn’t tell me. But your daddy is going to jail and he’s going to stay there a mighty long time. What he did was bad and bad people have to go to jail to pay.”

  “My daddy is a very bad man. But you’re not. You’re a good man. I love you, Mister.”

  “I love you too, monkey. You’re my sweet little girl. Now give me another hug because I missed you a ton.”

  We hugged each other and I carried her into the house with Rose following us.

  Once inside, Montana said, “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “I got something to show you.” She ran out of the room.

  That’s when Rose said, “I didn’t plan to tell her. She heard it on TV, so I had to explain everything.”

  “I guess she would’ve found out eventually.”

  Montana ran back into the room and said, “I learnt a new clicky shoe dance. Watch.” She turned on her clicky shoe music and proceeded to dance. It was awful. Her legs still did those twisted movements while her arms stuck stiffly by her side. I’m not sure how she did it, but she managed to look like a half pretzel on the go. When she was finished, I applauded as loud as possible because she was my little monkey girl and I adored her, no matter what she did. She flew into my lap and kissed my cheek.

  “That was the best clicky dance I’ve ever seen.” Montana glowed and my heart swelled. This child was precious beyond words and I couldn’t possibly say how much she meant to me. My eyes were damp from emotion.

  “Mommy, let’s show him our surprise.�
��

  “Okay, you go get it.”

  She slid off my lap and clicked her way down the hall. Moments later she was back, carrying what appeared to be a … “Is that a painting?” My eyes pinged back and forth between the two of them. Montana’s grin was a big as I’d ever seen it and Rose’s wasn’t far behind.

  “Yeah, look, Mister.” She flipped it around and it was a painting of the three of us. It looked like it had been done from one of the snapshots of us, and it was spectacular.

  “Oh, God. That’s beautiful.” I was holding Montana and Rose was on my side. Our smiles captured our emotions. “You two, this is the best gift I’ve ever received. Thank you.”

  “Mister, why’re you crying?”

  “Because I’m so happy. I love this present. Come here,” I said to Rose. “This calls for one big cluster hug.” We all hugged, and I told the two of them that I loved them both. “You two are the most important people in the world to me. You’re my girls and I love you.”

  “Are you gonna make a kissy face with Mommy?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Yeah!” Montana clapped her hands.

  I put my lips on Rose’s and made a loud smacking noise. Montana let out a loud laugh.

  That night when we tucked the little one into bed, she said her prayers first.

  “Dear God, thank you for bringing Mister home and making him my new daddy. I love him bestest of all, besides my mommy. Amen.”

  Then she looked at me and asked, “Can I call you Daddy?” I almost fell back on the floor. I didn’t know how to respond. “You know, Wiley calls Milly his MillyMom and Kinsley called Marin her MarnieMom for a while. Maybe you can call me your MisterDad?”

  “Yeah, I like that.”

  “And then after your mommy marries me, maybe, and only if you want, you can call me Daddy.”

  “Yay!”

  Rose stared at me and put a hand over her heart. I was fairly positive when I proposed, she’d say yes. We tucked in the mighty mite and went to the living room.

  “Well? Will you be my Mrs.?”

  Her arms came around me and she answered, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to pick out a ring, so I thought we could do it together.”

  “No. I want you to do it. I want it to be a surprise.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “You’ve made me the happiest man, Rose.”

  “You’ve made me happy too, Pearson.”

  “Pass the potatoes, please,” Grey said.

  “Only if you share that gravy that you’ve been hogging,” I said.

  We switched off bowls and filled our plates. I hadn’t been to Sunday dinner here in a while and couldn’t wait to dig in. Mom made her famous chicken, which I was going to gobble down like a starving man.

  We talked about mundane things during dinner and afterward, everyone teased me about the number of chicken bones on my plate.

  “Hey, I’ve been in rehab for four months and haven’t eaten this well since then. The food at The Summit wasn’t nearly as good as at Flower Power. I deserved it.”

  “Yeah, but look at that,” Hudson said. “Are you working out?” He was pointing at my biceps.

  “You bet. Lifting weights and running every morning.”

  “You’re not running at that park, are you?” Mom asked.

  “Not yet, Mom. I just got out, but when I do, I’ll have protection in the form of Petey.”

  “Petey?”

  Montana piped up and explained who Petey was. “He’s my best friend and body man.”

  We had to explain Petey further, but it satisfied Mom. After all this went down, the bodyguard team was let go, but Petey still came around to hang out with us and then took up running. He agreed to run with me when I left rehab. If I failed to mention it, Petey carried when he ran.

  “Since we’re all together, I’d like to make an announcement. Rose has kindly agreed to become my wife. And before you ask all kinds of questions like when, we haven’t set a date and I haven’t gotten her ring yet.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful. I can help with the wedding plans,” Mom said.

  “When we decide what we want, we’ll let you know, Mom.”

  Montana and Kinsley got up, whispered together and then Kinsley announced, “We have a special surprised for you. Can you all please move to the living room?”

  “But we haven’t had dessert yet,” Mom said.

  “We can have it afterward,” Kinsley said, in a bossy tone.

  There was no use arguing with them, so we assembled in the living room and the girls disappeared. They came back out with their clicky shoes on and treated us to a recital. They were terrible. Grey and Marin cringed more than once. Hudson laughed with Dad, Mom, and Milly as they hid their laughter behind their hands. Wiley flatly refused to come in the room. For the record, Kinsley scared him. Rose and I gaped because we thought for sure Kinsley would’ve gotten better by now. When they finally finished, we clapped as hard as we could and went back for our dessert.

  Hudson said, “I think I may have indigestion now.”

  Grey added, “I definitely do. Will this torture ever end?”

  “I doubt it,” I said.

  The girls came back with smiles on their faces and Dad said, “Girls, that was magnificent. Now, who wants cake?”

  Thank God for cake. Lots and lots of cake.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Rose

  * * *

  We both decided a November destination wedding was what we wanted. We picked the Caribbean. At first, Pearson mentioned Italy, but I had always wanted to visit the islands and never had. We finally decided on St. Lucia.

  It was a small affair with only family and a few close friends invited. Unbeknownst to Pearson’s parents, we also invited Rick’s brother’s family. We kept it a secret so they wouldn’t be angry. I wanted Sylvie there and we couldn’t invite her without inviting the rest of the family. Besides, it was time for the family feud to end.

  Everyone flew in on Thursday, with a pre-wedding beach party on Friday night, and then the wedding on Saturday. We would stay for the following week for our honeymoon.

  When Paige and Rick saw his brother, John and his wife, they were stunned into silence. But I broke the ice by hugging Sylvie. Then Sylvie introduced me to her sisters, Piper and Reynolds, and after that, everything was great. Piper and Reynolds were younger than Sylvie and they idolized her, but it was hilarious as the three of them were always finishing each other’s sentences. The little girls hovered around them and hung on them like ivy and the older ones loved it.

  Miles and his wife were there, and of course Petey. Pearson invited Evan, and another friend of his, Davis, from law school.

  The day of the wedding dawned, and Montana and I went to get our hair done, along with Sylvie, who was to be my maid of honor.

  My hair was done in a fancy updo with a gazillion bobby pins. The stylist explained how to set the wreath of flowers on so it would stay. Sylvie left hers down and Montana wanted hers done like mine, so the stylist did a modified version. She looked precious.

  When it was time to get dressed, Montana wanted to put her own dress on. I watched her slip in on. It was fashioned after mine—very simple, but instead of hers being a halter, it was sleeveless. Neither of us were wearing shoes. That was Montana’s idea since she loved to go barefoot.

  She “helped” me put my dress on. It was a silk halter, with no embellishments. I wasn’t the fancy sort, so this dress suited me fine. Then I put the wreath on my head. It was woven with tropical flowers and it was gorgeous. Montana had one to match.

  “Mommy, do we look like twins?”

  “I think we do. Here’s your bouquet.” Again, it was a smaller version of mine, all tropical flowers that matched the ones in our head wreaths.

  There was a knock on the door, and it was Sylvie. “You ready?”

  “As ever.”

  �
�Hudson is waiting.” He was going to escort me down the aisle and Grey was the best man.

  We were getting married at sunset on the beach. The guys wore casual outfits—linen shirts and dark pants.

  Hudson was waiting in a golf cart where we would be driving down to the water.

  He stood up when he saw me. “Sister, you look beautiful.” He kissed my cheek.

  “What about me?” my mini-me asked.

  “And you, my dear, look gorgeous.”

  Montana giggled because he said it in a very exaggerated way.

  “A crowd awaits so we should be off.” We all piled in and the driver took us away. Montana loved it.

  He stopped where the gathering couldn’t see us and then the music started playing. I said to Montana as the wedding planner handed her a basket of flower petals, “Now you remember what to do?”

  “Yes, Mommy. Throw them down.”

  “Good girl.”

  She was off and she threw them all right. Everywhere she could, even at the people. Good Lord! When she saw Petey, she almost abandoned her task and ran to him. Thank God, Marin stopped her. She finally made it to the end, but it was definitely a Montana show.

  Sylvie made it down and then Hudson said, “You sure you want to marry that brother of mine. He’s a scoundrel and a troublemaker.”

  I smacked his arm. “I think you’re the troublemaker. Marin told me how you sent her dick pics.” He gaped and then hurried me down the aisle as I grinned from ear to ear.

  When he passed me off to Pearson, he said, “Good luck with this one, bro. You’re gonna need it.”

  I snickered.

  “What was that all about?” he whispered.

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  The minister said the vows and we said the “I wills” and we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Pearson West. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Montana stood up and yelled, her voice carrying through the crowd, “Mister Dad is my daddy now.”

  She stole the show.

  Pearson’s arm held me close as we danced. “How is Mrs. West doing tonight?”