Broken Dreams (Franklin Blues #2) (20 page)

Amy

“Well Amy, I think we are making quite a bit of progress. That’s going to be it for today, but next week we’ll talk about the other victims and your feelings about them.”

I look at Tyler and smile. It’s been a month since I’ve started seeing him every week, and every week I can feel myself heal a little bit more.

When Lance first suggested I go see him, I was reluctant. I thought since he was so close to Lance that it would be a bad idea, but after my first session with him, I could tell coming to him was the right move. Every time I’ve seen him in the past, Aaron was always at the forefront of the conversation. You could tell that it amused Tyler to see Aaron get all animated when he was telling a story. He would sit back and smile lovingly at his partner. Now that I’ve seen him several times over the last month, I’ve noticed that Tyler is actually as funny as his other half. When I’m getting too far in my head, he’d tell me embarrassing stories about Lance growing up. I’m not sure he’s supposed to do that since I’m engaged to his brother-in-law, but it helped me get out of my head and back on the right track.

I head out of his office, and as I exit the building, I see Lance waiting for me. He’s always waiting for me after every appointment.

“Hey, Babe, how was it today?”

I smile and tell him the same answer I give every time he asks, “It was hard, but good.”

He opens the door for me, and takes off down the road. He’s acting weird. Usually he goes into how his day was, but today he’s really quiet. He’s starting to make me nervous. We pull up the station, and he cuts the engine. I’m really confused about what we’re doing here.

“Amy, this is going to sound like an odd request, but I need you to do me a favor.”

I look at him wondering what type of favor he could possibly be asking me for since we are sitting in front of his work. Not knowing what else to do, I nod.

“Walk into the station. Don’t ask questions, there’s someone in there you need to see.”

Okay, now I’m totally lost. I ask him if he’s coming with me and he shakes his head.

I walk into the station, completely clueless as to what’s going on. When I get inside, I see Hailee and Shawn standing there. Shawn is holding Scarlet, and Hailee is crying.
Okay, what the hell is going on?

“Amy, it was here that Lance got to spend the first moments with you. He saw something in you that day that spoke to him. He told me after meeting you that he was going to marry you someday, and I told him he was crazy, because there was no way that he could know that, especially after only knowing your drunken ass for about two hours. He shook his head and was adamant that he was going to marry you someday.”

I feel the tears running down my face. I never knew he felt that way about me. I was definitely a handful that day, but what can I say, Hailee was pregnant, and the last time someone I loved got pregnant, I was left in the dust.

“Amy, Lance is my best friend, and I know that he has it bad for you. Now, keep following the signs to the next person who wants to see you.”

I laugh slightly at Shawn’s choice of words. He always was a man of few words, except when it comes to Hailee. I hug them both and head around the counter, following these “signs”, which are really arrows cut out of cardboard. When I make it to the interrogation room, I walk in and see Lisa sitting there. Last time I saw her was right before I was taken when she came for a visit to Franklin.

“Amy, that boy has it bad for you. You can see the love pouring off of him when he talks about you. You are his whole world, and he’d do anything for you. Now, I’m here to let you know that your parents would’ve loved him. I know that they are looking down on all of us right now and smiling so big at the woman you have become.”

Okay, if I wasn’t really crying before, I sure as hell am now, the mention of how much my parents would’ve loved Lance sends me over the edge.

“Amy, I’m so proud of you. You lost so much at such a young age, but you made it out on the other side stronger than ever. Now, before we both start crying even more, follow the next set of arrows until you get to the next person who wants to see you.”

I hug her one more time before I leave and follow these arrows to Lance’s desk. There I see Aaron and Tyler. I realize that I’ve never seen what his desk looks like before as I study it for a minute. It looks like the basic desk with a computer and phone on it. The one thing that stands out is the picture of Lance and I from Shawn and Hailee’s wedding. We weren’t even together then, but you could still see the connection we shared.

“Amy, thanks to you, I have my brother back. Now, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that it had to happen while you lost my niece or nephew, but I’m still so thankful to you. You, in a way, brought me back to life when you brought Lance back into my life again. I can never thank you enough for that. I’ve come to see you as a sister, and I can’t think of anyone better for Lance to share the rest of his life with.”

I hug Aaron and turn to Tyler.

“Well, I’m not sure how I can follow that, but I’ll sure try. When I first met you, I could tell you were broken. Maybe that’s my degree talking, but I could see something in you that needed to be fixed. Lance has fixed the part of you that was broken, and vice versa. You have both healed each other without even realizing either one of you needed to be fixed. Now, Lance came to me and asked me if I thought you were ready for this, and I was honestly able to tell him that you were. You’ve come so far in our sessions, and it’s in my professional opinion that you are officially ready to keep moving forward with your life. Now, if you follow the last set of arrows, they will lead you to the next person who wants to see you.”

I follow the last set of arrows to the holding cell I was in when I got arrested. At first I’m confused since it’s empty, but as I get closer, I notice something sitting on the cot. I walk into the cell, and as soon as I make it to the little black box sitting there, I hear the cell door close. I jump and turn around, only to see Lance standing there with the biggest smile on his face.

“Lance, is this what I think this is?”

He doesn’t say anything, but gets down on one knee. He looks back up to me with so much love in his eyes that it causes a fresh set of tears to fall down my face.

“Amy, we have been through so much together. We’ve experienced loss, life, and love. You are the light of my life. You are everything I didn’t know I needed until you came literally stumbling into my life. You had this fire about you, and even though you were completely trashed, there was something about you that I had to get more of. You have tempted and teased me, you have yelled at me, you have cried with me, but most of all, you have loved and laughed with me. I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it, and I don’t want to. What I’m trying to say is, Amy Lynn Masters, will you marry me?”

Lance

I’m sitting here on one knee waiting for Amy to answer my question. She’s staring at me, and it’s starting to make me nervous. I know that I had already proposed while she was in the hospital and she said that I wasn’t allowed to redo it, but I had to. She deserved so much more than a hospital proposal.

She finally seems to break from the trance she is in and flashes me her biggest smile. There are tears running down her face, but all she’s doing is smiling at me.

“Uh, Amy, now would be the time to say something. You’re kinda making me nervous here.”

She starts laughing and nods her head. I get up and place the ring on her finger. I lean down and kiss her, all while picking her up and spinning her around. All of our friends and family come over to the cell and are clapping and yelling.

“She said yes! It’s time to celebrate, barbeque at my house. Give us a couple hours to have our own little private celebration,” I announce with a wink at them all so that they know what is going to go on once I get my woman home. They are all laughing and say they’ll meet us at the house around five.

I drag Amy back out to my truck, turn her around, pin her against the passenger door, and kiss the shit out of her. I’m not sure I can wait until we get home to do what I want to do to her. I reach down, grab her ass, and pull her up so that she has to wrap her legs around me. I’m lost in my own world kissing her when I hear someone clear their throat behind me. I look behind me and it’s my captain.

“Lance, son, don’t you think you should wait until you get her home. I’d hate to have to arrest you both for indecent exposure,” he says with a wink at us and I let Amy slowly back to the ground. She’s blushing that we were caught in such a passionate moment. I’m guessing she forgot we were still in public, just like I did.

I nod to my captain and open the door for Amy to climb in. I run around the front of my truck and hop in. I’m pretty sure I break a few traffic laws on the way home, but I can’t wait to get this girl home and under me. I need to show her how much I want her.

We pull up to the house, and as soon as we get in the door it’s a race to get each other’s clothes off, we can’t seem to get undressed fast enough. I pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her into our bedroom. This is the first time we’re going to be having sex since she was released from the hospital. She laughs as I carry her, and it’s the best sound in the world.

We get to the room and I toss her on the bed. She’s still laughing but I plan to change that soon. She’s lying on the bed in her bra and panties, and all I can do is look at her, all traces of her laughter gone, and is replaced with nothing but pure desire.

I show her how much I love her and want her…twice.

By the time we are done, I can hear Scar’s gibber jabber coming from the front of the house and we get up and attempt to make ourselves look presentable. I look at the clock and see that it’s only 4:15. The assholes couldn’t wait to come over. I was planning on going for round three, but looks like they had other plans.

We walk out of the bedroom and see all of our closest friends standing in our living room, looking at us with odd expressions on their faces. I look down at my clothes thinking something is wrong, but there’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing so I immediately look over at Amy. Her shirt is on backwards and her hair has that ‘just fucked’ look. She looks up at me and has the cutest confused face on.

I walk over to her and whisper in her ear that she needs to go to the bathroom and freshen up. At first she shakes her head at me, but once I tell her it’s not up for discussion, she rolls her eyes and walks into the master bath. I hear her let out a little shriek and I know she’ll be thanking me later.

I go outside and fire up the grill. Aaron, Tyler, and Shawn all come up to me and we have bro talk. As much as I love Amy and Hailee, I need bro talk too. Poor Shawn is now overrun by women in his house, and I’m hoping this next one is a boy for him. He adores his girls, but I know he secretly wants a boy too, to even things out.

The girls come out, and I am loving the smile on Amy’s face. I haven’t seen her this happy since before the miscarriage. She’s simply glowing, and it makes my heart swell that I’m the one who puts that smile on her face. She looks over at me, and all I can see in her eyes is pure love shining through.

I have to touch her, it’s like this magnetic pull, and I walk over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“Are you happy my love?”

She nods her head, so I kiss her temple and walk back over to the guys. We are all talking and having a good time when I see Mason join the party, and surprisingly enough, he’s not alone. He’s with a girl, and I’m more than shocked. Seems as if I’m not the only one because as soon as they are spotted, all conversation stops.

“Hey guys, I’d like to introduce you all to Melanie.”

Melanie? As in the same one that left him all those years ago? I’m sure everyone is as shocked as I am, but then the shock value goes up as a little boy around nine I’d say comes out from behind this Melanie chick. He looks like Mason, so I can now only assume that he’s his kid.

“And this is Will, my son.” His voice is full of pride as he introduces his son to everyone. Everyone is still staring at this girl and kid, so I decide it’s time to make things less awkward and go talk to them.

“Hey, I’m Lance and over there is my fiancée Amy. I’m glad you guys could make it today. It’s a celebration day so anyone and everyone are welcome. Come on and meet everyone.”

I throw my arm around Mason, and drag him over to everyone. Melanie and Will haven’t said a word since showing up, and I’m hoping between Amy and Hailee can make her feel welcome.

I yell for Amy to come here and she does with Hailee right behind her. I formally introduce her to Melanie and Amy pulls her away for girl time. Melanie looks unsure at first, but after Mason assures her it’s okay, she reluctantly goes with my woman.

As I look around at everyone, I can’t help but feel that this is how life should be. I’m in love with the most amazing woman in the world, I have my brother back, I have the best friends a guy could ask for, and I’m getting married. All I can think is yeah, life is good.

Amy

Lance and I decided we didn’t want a big wedding. I wanted to elope, but Lance being the stubborn man that he is said that we would not be eloping because he wanted to have the whole shebang, so we decided on a very small wedding at Shawn and Hailee’s house. I have Hailee and Lisa standing up with me with Hailee as my maid of honor, and Aaron is Lance’s best man with Shawn as his other groomsman.

I didn’t want anything fancy, so I asked the boys to dress nice. Of course to Lance that meant jeans that didn’t have holes in them with a button up shirt. There was only one request I had, and that was that he wears his suit from Shawn and Hailee’s wedding; the pinstripe suit with the royal blue shirt that does funny things to my ovaries.

He didn’t want to dress that nice, but in the end I won, like I always do. I knew I would, but he did put up a good fight I have to say. He told me that he has a surprise for me that I will get to see as I walk down the aisle, and that alone has me nervous. He’s been working non-stop lately, and I know for a fact that he hasn’t had any other big cases lately, so I’m not sure what he’s been working on.