Memory of You (A Misty Cove Love Story) Page 8

  What I had not expected was that the other residents of Misty Cove would be supportive of me. After Lori left Bryce, gossip broke out worse than ever, anger toward her erupting. Many had compared her rejection of Bryce to mine, but most had found what I did the lesser of two evils. At least I hadn't waited to marry him before leaving, they whispered.

  In fact, some people even started talking to me, asking if I planned on getting back together with Bryce now that he was single again. I was honest with them by telling them that I did not know. It was the truth. If it were only up to me, I'd marry him tomorrow. But Bryce had been bitten twice. What if he no longer believed in weddings and marriage? What if it was all over for us?

  Only Bryce would be able to answer to those questions.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Are ready for this?” Erin asked as she zipped my suitcase. She had insisted on opening it to see if I had packed my sexiest clothes. “If you and Bryce get back together, your story will be the most romantic ever.” She moved toward me and hugged me tight. “You both deserve to be happy, especially you.” She let me go and kept her hands on my shoulders. “Are you excited?”

  “Excited?” I laughed. “I'm terrified. What if he doesn't want me back?” The thought of seeing him again, of declaring my love to him—again—scared the hell out of me. I was sure the dread would keep me awake for half the night.

  Since he hadn't returned to Misty Cove last week, I had decided I would go to him. It was me who had hurt him first, so I would be the one to try and make things right. At least as right as I could get them to be. It was worth a try. If nothing came out of this, then we would both have the closure we needed and we could move on as friends. If that was even possible.

  “I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'm sure Bryce is just as scared. Call me before you leave in the morning.” Erin lifted her purse from my bed and I followed her to the door and down the stairs. As we walked past the kitchen door, I glanced at the clock. Ten p.m. In a few more hours, I’d take my fate into my own hands; start the journey that could lead me to the rest of my life.

  “I will.” I opened the front door for her and to my surprise, Luke stood there, his unshaved face looking rumpled.

  “Luke, what a surprise.” I glanced at Erin with a fleeting frown and then back at him.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said to me.

  “I'll leave you two to it.” Erin touched Luke on the arm and walked past him and down the steps. She glanced back one time before she opened the gate.

  I swallowed hard, nervous about what Luke was doing at my cottage. “Come in, Luke.”

  He didn't want to sit and have something to drink.

  “I heard you're planning to go to Serendipity tomorrow. I thought you should know that Bryce called and told me he's coming home this weekend. You might want to wait for him.”

  The weekend was only a day away. “Do you know when exactly?”

  “Sunday.” He paused. “I have to be honest with you, Jade. He loves you. He had never gotten over you. Up until his relationship with Lori, his relationships had been messed up. Lori walking out on him was a blow, but I never thought it would work out, anyway. He's incapable of being with anyone else but you.”

  “Thank you for saying that.”

  “I think it's time you two get your shit together and admit you can't live without each other.” He reached for the door handle. “I have to go... dinner with the parents.”

  “Any tips?” I asked before he left. I had no idea what kind of advice I was looking for. I needed some kind of guidance to Bryce's heart, the easiest way to reach him without hurting him too much.

  “Romance is not part of my DNA. How about you just fuck his brains out? That should screw his head back on straight.” Luke laughed and I blushed.

  “I wish I hadn't asked for your help.” I laughed as well, even though my stomach hurt.

  “Look,” he said, walking out the door and turning to look back at me, “do something for him, something he won't soon forget.”

  I drew in a deep breath and smiled. “I intend to.”

  He walked away, but I called his name before he reached the gate.

  “I don't have any other advice,” he said, turning around.

  “It's not that, silly.” I shook my head. “Do you by any chance have a set of keys to Bryce's place?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.” He reached into his pocket, took out a bunch of keys, glanced at them, and walked over to place them in my outstretched hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The food was ready, the living room filled with flickering candles that sent out a warm, romantic glow. The snowflakes hung from the ceiling and the fake snow that looked so real gave the whole place a magical feel. The one way I knew to Bryce's heart was through the help of a little magic. This was our magic, even if it wasn’t Christmas.

  I glanced into the mirror above the mantle and smoothed my hair. I had decided to look natural with minimal yet striking makeup, and straightened hair that had been brushed to a shine. I adjusted the black lace, long-sleeve dress, the same one I had worn the day Bryce had asked me to marry him. I wanted him to forget the pain and to return to the good memories, before we had fallen apart as a couple and individually. I wanted tonight to be the new beginning we both craved so much.

  My only hope was that he hadn't been scarred for life.

  When I heard the key turn in the lock, I quickly rushed to the couch and sat down. I crossed then uncrossed my legs, took a deep breath.

  Suddenly, there he was, looking so different from the man I knew and loved. His face was drawn, and he had a five o'clock shadow, hair wind-blown, and eyes hard. I could see the chill in them even from where I sat.

  For a moment he just stood in the doorway, his bag over his shoulder, the candlelight throwing shadows on his face. Then he took one step toward me. His lips parted and the ice in his eyes melted but not completely.

  I stood up, my smile wavering. First I closed the door behind him, and then I gathered him into my arms. I heard a thump as his bag fell to the floor.

  “I'm so sorry,” I said. “I'm so sorry for everything.” Tears drowned my words.

  He tightened his arms around me, but didn't speak.

  God knew how long we'd been standing there with our arms around each other. I had not realized just how much I had craved to feel his arms around me again. The longer he held me, the closer I came to feeling whole. The feel of his heartbeat against my chest made me feel alive again.

  He was the one. He had always been the one man I had loved completely.

  “This is the best surprise,” he said. “You’re home.”

  I buried my head into his neck and wept. “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Bryce. I—”

  “Shhh.” He pulled back and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Let's not talk tonight, okay?” He lowered his lips onto mine and kissed me. The touch of his lips sent fireworks going off somewhere in my body, and I didn't even know which part. Nor did I care.

  I raised my hands and placed them on both sides of his head as he slipped my lower lip between his teeth and sucked on it gently while I sucked on his upper lip, moaning as sexual tension built up in the pit of my stomach. Then he pushed his tongue into my mouth and twirled it around once before plunging in, reminding me what a great kisser he was, how he used to render me speechless with every kiss.

  Our tongues danced to a song only we knew, a song with no words. Then I gasped as he swept me off the floor and held me to him, both his hands cupping my butt. He didn't stop kissing me as he strode out of the living room and climbed the stairs. His tongue was hard and more determined, exiting my mouth only to dive in again with full force, exploring the sweet, sensitive spots I had forgotten existed.

  Inside his bedroom, our arms and hands crashed and tangled as we ripped each other’s clothes off. He unzipped my dress and swept it off my shoulder, allowing it to slide down my body and pool to the floor. I unzipped his
jeans over the noticeable bulge on his crotch. While I trembled with desire, he unclipped my bra and I helped him remove his t-shirt. The palms of my hands smoothed their way down the slabs of muscle until they reached the elastic of his boxer shorts.

  He drew back, holding my gaze, his eyes pools of unquenched desire. Biting his lower lip, he kicked off his jeans and removed his boxers.

  I couldn't take my eyes off him, hard and ready for me. I slipped my fingers into the elastic of my new lace panties and pushed them down before they melted on my body.

  A few heartbeats passed as we stood there watching each other, unable to believe we were about to make love again after so many years. But I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait to be inside his arms again. I took a step forward but he took one back and turned to walk away. A sob caught inside my throat. Was he changing his mind?

  A sigh of relief passed my lips when he walked around the bed and opened a drawer. He removed a string of condoms and gave me a small smile as he tore one off. A few seconds later, I was warm again, warm from his touch and his love, and boiling with desire.

  We stood next to the bed, our bodies pressed against each other, our breath hot and ragged as we kissed again hungrily. Then I lowered myself on the bed and he followed me, his arms like boulders on both sides of me, his knees pushing my legs apart. My breathing picked up pace, and I felt as if I couldn't get enough air. He leaned down lower until his chest touched my breasts and his lower body met mine.

  He groaned as his tip touched the wet, throbbing place between my legs and stayed there for a while, waiting at the entrance. Then before I could take the next breath he drove into me. He pulled out, then slid in again slowly, his hands under my butt, pulling me closer, filling me with all of him. My body welcomed him with an explosion of pain and desire that rippled from the top of my head to my toes. He moved inside me, touching places I thought would never feel again. When I came, I gripped on to him and called out his name.

  “That’s right, baby,” he said, also forgetting our pact not to talk. “This dick is all yours, and your wet pussy belongs to me.”

  “Always.” I wrapped my legs around his hard body, drawing him even deeper.

  He unwrapped my legs again, and grunting from deep inside his throat, he gripped my hips with his strong hands. He withdrew again completely, and then thrust into me again, first downward, and then upward. Before he came, he pressed his lips to mine, kissing me deeply, his tongue thrusting in and out of my mouth, following the rhythm of his cock. Then he wrapped a hand around the nape of my neck and his whole body tensed. He moved faster and faster until I couldn’t take it anymore. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into him, my fingers digging into his skin. With two last slams into me, he exploded.

  “Damn,” he said, heaving. “Sex has never been this good with anyone else.” He rolled off me and onto his back, pulling me onto him.

  ***

  After being in each other’s arms for at least an hour, we went downstairs, where we ate the chicken curry meal I had ordered in earlier. He wore shorts and a t-shirt. I wore only a sheet around me.

  We ate it on the couch, feeding each other and kissing. He tasted so much better than the food.

  As I grinned at him, he leaned forward and licked my bottom lip.

  “You can't get enough, can you?” I laughed.

  He ran the tip of his finger from my throat and pushed down the sheet that was wrapped around my chest, forming a path down my breast until he reached my swollen nipple, squeezing it through the thin material, making me want him inside me all over again. “I never thought I'd have you back. We have so much to catch up on. I have an idea. Shall we take this to the beach?”

  My eyes widened and he winked. “Remember?”

  “I do.”

  “Want to do that again?” he asked.

  “I do.”

  And we did. We walked to the same spot on the beach where we had made love the first weekend we came home from college.

  We clung on to each other as the waves crashed against us and washed away the tears and the pain, leaving us with a clean slate on which to continue our love story.

  Our separate worlds collided, our pain merging into one, the missing pieces of our hearts slipping back into place.

  “I was so stupid.” I leaned into Bryce later, after we had made love again. “I shouldn't have run off like that. I should have talked to you.” I shook my head. “I should have trusted you.”

  “You should have.” He kissed the top of my head, and then placed a finger under my chin so my face was tilted upward. I caught a sparkle in his eyes. “Hurting you would have hurt me much more.” He lowered his lips to mine again.

  “I'm sorry that it didn't work out with Lori,” I whispered.

  “Don't be. It was only a matter of time before it ended. We weren't meant to be, not like you and me.” He paused. “She was a nice woman, just not my woman.” My head was pressed against his chest so I couldn't see his face, but I heard the smile tucked into the folds of his words.

  “Are you saying I'm your woman?” I grinned, my heart thumping with joy.

  “That's exactly what I mean, Autumn Jade Lane. Just promise to never forget that. Promise me that you'll never doubt that again. Ever.”

  “I'll never again doubt your love, Bryce Colman. I promise to never leave you.” I pulled away and got to my feet. “Come on, let's go home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “So, when’s the wedding?” Jerome asked. He was sitting two tables from us in Gayle's Diner. I was surprised to see him looking sober today but I couldn't help remembering the day he had accused me of taking his money. Like most others in Misty Cove, he seemed to have forgotten the past.

  Gossip still washed over Misty Cove like a wave, now more than ever, but the good kind. All everyone talked about was the fact that Bryce and I were back together, how we're living proof that true love conquered all. I agreed with them.

  I drank my apple cider and watched Bryce over the rim of my glass. All heads were turned our way as people waited for an answer. I wanted Bryce to take the lead. We had been dating for seven months now, but we hadn't discussed marriage yet. The most important thing was that we were back together. I had even rented out Gran's cottage and moved in with Bryce. In our hearts, we were married. Everything else would be a formality.

  Bryce looked at me for a long time with narrowed eyes and cleared his throat. “You know, Jerome. Something has been burning a hole in my pocket for months.” He pushed a hand into his pocket and everyone, including me, gasped. “I think it's time I give it to its owner.” He opened a small velvet box.

  “Oh my God.” I covered my mouth with my hands. “You still have it.”

  He grinned. “I love seeing it on your finger, where it belongs.” He pushed back his chair and got down on one knee as tears streamed down my cheeks. “Marry me again, please, Autumn Jade. My life doesn't make sense without you.”

  Nothing was more precious than wearing the ring he had given me the first time he proposed. I had mailed it to him from New York. It wasn't expensive, as he didn't have much money back then, but to me it was priceless. “I want my ring back. I want to be your wife.”

  “Promise?” Someone called out and people laughed before growing quiet again.

  I laughed and cried at the same time, my gaze never leaving Bryce's. “I promise.”

  He reached out his hands and cradled my head. He sealed my promise with a kiss.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  We held on to each other and swayed under a white lattice wooden arch, which was decorated with organza fabric and purple and blue hydrangeas.

  “I love you, my wife,” Bryce said.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my forehead to his. “I love you, my husband.”

  When we’d exchanged vows earlier, I realized that the happiest I had ever been was when Bryce was in my life, and that my life didn't make sense without him in it, either.

 
; It was after midnight and the beach was deserted. The only sign that there had been a wedding earlier were the wedding arch, the twinkling lights, and me wearing my wedding dress, the same one I had wanted to get married to him in five years ago.

  We’d exchanged our personal vows under this arch on the beach and held the reception at Gayle's Diner. Linda Gayle had closed off the diner for the day just for us. Twenty minutes ago, after cutting the wedding cake, we had left the party. We couldn’t wait to be alone. We continued our dance on the beach.

  I didn’t remember much that happened after we’d said “I do”. The whole day I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off Bryce, unable to believe we were finally married. After all the heartache and confusion, we were finally together. Nothing and no one would ever pull us apart again.

  “This was worth the wait,” Bryce said into my ear. “It feels as if we were engaged for five years, and now we’re finally married. I can’t wait to start our life together, to start our family.”

  I looked up into his eyes. A thread of fear wrapped itself around my heart. “Bryce, there’s something you should know. I should have told you before we got married but—”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What is it? Are you okay?”

  I swallowed hard. “I’m fine. At least, I’m healthy.”

  “But? Tell me, Jade. What’s going on?”

  “I can’t have children. I saw a lot of doctors in New York. They all confirmed it. I’m so sorry I’m only telling you now.” Hot tears sprang to my eyes.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” Bryce cupped the back of my head with the palm of his large hand and pulled my face into his chest. He didn’t say anything more for a while, just held me.

  “Please say something,” I whispered.

  “You’re all I want, all I ever wanted, kids or no kids.”

  I pulled back and looked up at him with damp eyes. “Are you sure you don’t mind not having kids?”