Hate (39 page)
Authors: Laurel Curtis
“One of my coworkers found it, pointed it out to me. Of course, that was only after he had a significant laugh and spread it around at my expense.”
I pursed my lips and shrugged. “What is done can’t be undone.”
“No,” he said, a wicked gleam in his eye. “But payback’s a bitch.”
Thinking fast I offered, “What if I let you spank me tonight?”
He narrowed one eye comically, leaned forward, and then lifted his index finger and pointed it towards me. “Deal.”
1 year later…
“I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU MAN and wife!”
His lips crushed mine, the claps of our guests mixing in with the sounds of birds and the creek in the background.
He felt right and real, and for the first time in nearly seventeen years, he was officially all mine.
Stepping apart momentarily, we ran down the aisle hand in hand, the faces of those around us and the smiles on them standing out almost as much as the ones that weren’t there.
After we cleared the aisle and found a private spot of our own, he leaned his forehead to mine.
I breathed him in.
“Do you think they’re happy?” I asked softly, wondering about the fate of all our departed loved ones.
He shrugged, bringing his thumb to my lips, and answered honestly. “I don’t know. But I am.”
AS I LIFTED THE CROWN of Franny’s head to my nose, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I’d found the one thing filled with one hundred percent pure love.
Our baby.
“This kid is going to,” lowering my voice to a whisper and covering my newborns ears, I finished, “fucking hate us. Franny Eleanor Hunt. What the hell were we thinking?”
“She’ll be alright,” Blane whispered. “She’s got a few angels looking out for her.”
The End
I’m extremely fortunate to have tons of supportive people in my life. But, as always, the first person I have to thank is my mom. She’s the first person to have eyes on my book, even when it’s in pieces, and is an invaluable source of encouragement and wisdom. Thanks, Mamalicious!
I also have to thank Joanne Christenson for allowing me to torture her by sending incomplete and out of order sections of my book and expecting her to be able to make sense of it enough to give me feedback. Muah!
My author friends. There are a ton of you, and you’re all AWESOME. Thank you for sprinting with me, pushing me to keep writing, lifting me up, and assuring me that I really COULD do this. Take it to Pound Town!
M. Mabie, my twin sister from another mister, I don’t know what I did before I met you. Love. And lots of it.
My street team! I love you! I value your help, but I also just truly enjoy all of our interactions, book related or not.
Blogs. Um, hello, none of us could do this without you. I
definitely
couldn’t do this without you. You all work so hard, and so many of you have supported me in ways that I can never thank you enough for. But I’ll try. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’d list you, but then I’ll forget someone and be devastated. Bad mojo.
You. The readers. Sweet baby Jesus, you guys are awesome. Every message, every comment—they mean
everything
to me. I spend hundreds of hours working on these books, and just one message from one of you—someone who saw something in my book, was touched in some special way—makes it worth it.
And, of course, I have to thank my family. My husband and son sacrifice the most, going without food and attention in order to let me push through to my deadline. Thank you for your support and for believing that this book is going to be something big.
Author’s Note
The subject matter in this book is heavy at times. Depression is a serious disease that I do not, in any way, claim to be an authority on. If you’re suffering, please, get help. If you know someone who is, find a way to help them. Resources on suicide prevention and immediate help can be found here:
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
The characters of this book will stay with me forever. I hope you love them like I do, and I hope they stay with you.
Thank you so much for reading.
My love,
Laurel
Laurel’s Social Media:
http://www.facebook.com/laurelulencurtis
http://Laurelulencurtis.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6912103.Laurel_Ulen_Curtis
Other Books by
Laurel
:
The One Series:
The A is for Alpha Male Series