Finding Abigail (44 page)

“I just said
that to soften the blow. I don’t love you at all.” My heart hurt just saying
those words.

He smiled. An
odd reaction to what I just said. “That’s not what I heard.”

“What did you
hear?”

“I heard you
left to protect me from Nick. Apparently he threatened me, and you didn’t tell
anyone except your mother.” He popped the top of his soda with his good hand
and slurped the brown liquid that gathered on the top of the can.

“My mother
called you?”

“Yep, nice lady
too, she says your miserable without me.”

My mother
was interfering again, that was surprising
. “She’s
old, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“So, it
wouldn’t matter to you then if I told you Nick would be going away longer than
you thought?”

I leaned my
hands on the tops of my mother’s wooden chair. “How do you know?”

“Sam and I went
to the police station to talk to Brian. His captain joined us. Captain
Hennessey felt awful for not taking you seriously. They said with our
testimonies, along with what Brian’s noticed lately since you left, they’re
going to do whatever it takes to keep him in jail. They already have a
restraining order out on you and me. And he’s been kicked off the force.”

“See, all of
those things are going to piss him off. He’ll want to hurt you and me even
more.”

“Who cares? We
do what we can to protect ourselves and then the rest will happen, but we can’t
stop living our lives because of it. You can’t let him manipulate you, which is
exactly what he did. You’re letting him control you. You need to decide what
you want and do it. Whatever makes you happy.”

I was torn. On
the one hand, I’d always fear Nick, even behind bars. He threatened to kill
Noah and every inch of my being was screaming to protect him. But on the other
hand, as Noah pointed out, living in fear, without him, was miserable. It had
only been a week, and I wasn’t handling it well. How would I be in a month, or
a year? Would I be able to move on from him? In my heart I knew the answer—it
was Noah and I couldn’t imagine life without him. I had lost who I was with
Nick, and in Shimmer Lake and with Noah, I found myself again. Could I go back
to who I was after all I’d been through? “I don’t know.”

“What don’t you
know? Do you love me or not, honestly? Don’t lie to me, I want the truth.”

I couldn’t
fight him anymore; just being near him made me feel better. “The truth is I was
happy living here before Nick, and before you.” I moved over to the patio doors
and leaned against them. His smile faded with my words. “But when I moved to Shimmer Lake, I came alive. I love it there, I love the scenery. I love horseback riding on
Sundays, I love going to the diner with Kathy. I love skinny-dipping in the
lake right outside my door. I love everything about it.” His smile was
breathtaking as he stood up, closing the gap between us. “Except Cindy of
course.”

He laughed. “Of
course.”

“But do you
want to know what I love the most?”

He nodded, his
eyes filled with hope.

“I love waking
up in your arms. I love how you make me feel. I love that you make me try new
things. I never did that before, I’ve never been spontaneous. And I love how I
felt when I watched you and your niece Christmas morning. I glimpsed my future
and I was excited. And most of all, I love you. You’re arrogant, cocky, pushy,
sweet, loving, and the best man I’ve ever met. How’s that for honesty?”

“Pretty good.
Now it’s my turn.” He brushed his thumb against my cheek, my skinned buzzed
with excitement. “When you didn’t show up to the hospital, I was worried. I had
my dad go check on you. When he came back, he gave me the note. I was
devastated, I wanted out that day to follow you here. They basically had to
hold me down so I didn’t rip my stitches.”

Guilt stabbed
my heart, making my eyes water. “I’m sorry.”

“But while I
was in the hospital I had a chance to think. And the more I thought about it,
the more pissed I was at you. I was so mad at everyone and everything—until
your mother called—then everything made sense. Because I knew you loved me,
there was no way I was wrong about that.”

“Because who
wouldn’t love you?”

“Exactly.” His
dimples peeked out of his cheeks as he grinned. “But after I got off of the
phone with your mother, I made a decision. I want you in my life. And I’ll do
whatever you want to make that happen.”

I could only
blink. His words had left me speechless.

“I love
everything about you too. I love that you’re a planner and not at all
impulsive. That you wear tennis shoes instead of those spiky things that look
like they hurt. That you punched me the first time we met. That you’re friends
with Kathy. I love that you have no idea how beautiful you are, and I love how
passionate you are with your writing. But there is one thing about you that I
don’t love.”

I raised an
eyebrow, wondering where this was going. “Oh really? What would that be?”

He knelt down
on the floor in front of me, taking a box out of the pocket of his coat. He
opened it, revealing a gorgeous white gold band with a large diamond in the
center and two small light-colored pink ones on either side. “Your last name.
Will you marry me?”

I gasped, it
was so beautiful. He was everything I wanted. When I thought of the perfect
man, his was the face that appeared. The life we had in Shimmer Lake was a dream come true, and all I had to do to make the dream a reality, was say, “Yes.”

He jumped up and
wrapped me in his good arm.

The sun glistened off of the water as a
rock plopped in creating ripples. Justin threw another rock, this time managing
to skip it. Jamie, Jeremy, and Libby tried but most of the rocks were too large
and just plopped into the water making larger ripples.

White chairs
were lined in front of the water’s edge. Our loved ones milled around talking
to each other. Jeff and Collin seemed to be deep in a conversation that most
surely involved sports. Jen and her mother were trying to get the kids seated,
but once they managed that, one child would get up, finding another rock to
throw into the water.

I watched the
scene outside from my perch on the window seat, happy and content. It had been
a month since Noah proposed and all was right in my world. I hadn’t been in a
hurry to marry, but Noah insisted we do it as soon as possible. He said he
couldn’t wait to have me as his wife. Truth was, I couldn’t wait to have him
either.

“Abby, come on,
you have to get your shoes on, the music is about to start.” My mother’s voice
was filled with nerves and impatience. I turned away from the window to watch
the activity inside. Brenda was fighting with Haley who wouldn’t keep her crown
of flowers on her head. Kathy and Debbie stood looking beautiful wearing pale
lilac strapless dresses, flipping through a cookbook. “Brenda, where is Justin?
We need our ring bearer if we’re going to get started.” Mom was searching
around the room.

“I don’t know,
he was just here.”

“He’s outside
throwing rocks in the water,” I answered with a hint of laughter in my voice.

“I told him to
stay inside.” Brenda ran out the door with lightning speed. Only a mother could
manage to run after her child in spiked heels and not wobble once. I looked out
the window to watch Brenda run after Justin as she grabbed him by the collar of
his little suit jacket, dragging him away from the water.

“Abby, are you
all right?” Sylvia asked, sitting on the armchair in front of me.

“I’m perfect.”

“You seem
quiet.”

“I’m just
happy. Thank you, by the way for the ring.” I glanced down at the ring Sylvia
made Noah use to ask me to marry him.

“It was meant
for you. He wanted to buy a new ring. But I knew this was the one. Just like I
knew you two were meant for each other.”

“Yes, but it’s
yours.”

“Honey, I’m
done with it. Henry died, my marriage is over, and I wore it for a long time.
When Noah told me he was going to propose, I knew it was time to pass it on.”

“Grandma, the
minister wants everyone to take their seats,” Jen called from the door.

Sylvia kissed
me gently on the cheek and followed her granddaughter out, leaving the scent of
spearmint behind her.

My mother
kissed me on the forehead. “Your father would love him,” she whispered before
disappearing.

I smiled to
myself knowing what she said was true as I watched her from the window. She
walked down the aisle lined with lilacs, nodding and smiling at people she
knew.

Kathy, who was
my maid of honor, came over with my shoes. “Do I have to?” I whined.

“Yes,” Kathy
and Debbie yelled at the same time. I placed my white pointy heels on my feet,
sure I was going to trip down the aisle, and stood in front of the mirror. My
hair was in curls piled at the back of my head, with a small crown of white
roses above. A veil hung below the curls and fell to the floor. I was wearing
my mother’s dress, just like I had always wanted. It was a perfect fit, like I
was meant to wear it. The dress was a simple strapless, covered in white lace,
with beading along the bodice.

“Come on,
Abby,” Brenda hissed. They were all lined up outside the door waiting for me. I
stood just inside the doorway watching Wade and Debbie start the march to the
guitar gently playing in the back ground. After Brenda and Jeff, Kathy and Sam
followed.

When I heard
the guitar tune change to “Here Comes the Bride,” I started slowly down the
path that led to the dock where Noah was waiting, wearing his charcoal-grey
suit, thankfully without the sling. When he saw me his blue eyes widened with
admiration and a lopsided grin appeared. Then he winked, making me laugh.

It was only
right to start the rest of our lives together in the spot where we first met.
Only this time instead of punching him, I would kiss him in front of everyone
we loved, sealing our promise to love each other forever.

I walked to
him, sure of what I wanted, no longer afraid of my past, only hopeful for the
future. I was in love with the most wonderful man and he was in love with me,
that was all I could ask for.

This was my
first adult contemporary romance. Take a look at my first book, a young adult
fantasy romance,
Fated Dreams
, Book One in the Affinity series:

Prologue

Brownridge
, Vermont

Three years ago

“How did I get here?” I asked myself for
the fourth time, although I already knew the answer. My voice was muffled inside
the closed, confined space.

It was Saturday
night, and instead of hanging out at a party with Derrick and Emma like I was
supposed to be, where was I? In a closet, and not the proverbial kind either. I
was literally in a closet, fluffy towels and all. Why? That’s a good question,
and the only answer I could think of was my own stupidity.

Stephanie
Brown, honey-blonde hair, vivid blue eyes, and a body every boy drooled over,
had it out for me. And again the question was, why? Well, the obvious answer
could only be Ryan Crenshaw, her ex-boyfriend.

Not that he wasn’t worthy of her
attention—his wheat-colored hair and soul-deep blue eyes would make male
underwear models envious—but he just wasn’t interested in her anymore.

He told me once
that the only reason he liked her in the first place was because he was new to
the school and didn’t know any better. But once he did, he dumped her right on
her cashmere-covered ass. And when Ryan started eating lunch with me, she
decided that I was her enemy. She even convinced the entire school to hate me,
and the social-climbing drones of the student body listened to her. Ever since
I started at Hadley Academy six months ago, the only friend I’d had was Ryan,
and he was only a friend. As much as Stephanie, the self-proclaimed queen of
the school, thought differently.

Not that I was
desperately in need of extra friends. I had two of the best ones anyone could
ask for, but since they attended a public school on the other side of town, my
days were filled with cold stares and the occasional prank.

I thought my
luck had changed a few days ago when the queen witch herself asked me over for
a slumber party with her two best friends. At first I was skeptical,
considering her obvious dislike for me. But since she had made the effort, I
hoped it was the start of a normal life for me at school, so I agreed against
my better judgment.

The evening
started out okay. She showed me around her enormous mansion, making sure I
noticed all the expensive-looking furniture, rich silks, and classic artwork
that were displayed throughout the rooms.

After a gourmet
dinner, I followed Stephanie up to her room. It was painted red and white, with
photos placed perfectly along the walls. Above her bed was a portrait of the
queen herself, which I thought was tacky.