I Run to You (54 page)

They both looked round as a gang headed for
the boats and climbed in. G.W. and Alvin with them. They had
everything from silly string to whip cream.

“Oh, no. They wouldn’t…” Jason guffawed,
getting to his feet.

“Oh—yes. They would.” Mitch stood too.

They walked to the pier with a group of
family, laughing as they heard screaming and yelling from the cove,
when the boats reached it.

Later they returned, laughing their heads
off. Later still, Coy and Brook jumped off the boat, their clothing
wet and Brook carrying her bathing suit. After draping her things
over a picnic table, she and Coy ran for G.W., and wrestled him
toward the dock.

He went in, right before Alvin… and several
others.

The bonfire lit, people still laughing as
they left, and several of the females screaming with it, as the two
brawny brothers shucked down by the fire, out of their sopping
clothing.

It did not surprise Jason that G.W. wore Bugs
Bunny drawers or that Alvin mooned everyone. They had done a strip
tease, one bib latch at a time to someone’s CD playing, Cover of
the Rolling Stones.

Max came by, to coax him to come play the
guitar. Jordan was already there, as were the usual gang.

Before he joined them, he went to see Coy and
Brook, who were dry and sitting on one of the picnic tables.

He embraced Brook.

She held to him, standing there a minute.
“What a crazy family we make.”

He laughed and agreed, then pulling back,
held her hands. “Wait till you have kids. You’ll have to explain
how Max is your brother, and I’m your brother…”

She rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll just write
it all down and wait till their sixteen—and think all parents are
stupid and know nothing anyway.”

Coy had stood, and said, smiling, “I didn’t
know we were going to have kids.”

“Aren’t we?” Brook looked over at him.

He looked so happy, so deeply in love with
her, that Jason felt that twinge of envy again.

“Two?”

“I’ll try.”

He grinned slowly, sexy. “I’ll try too.”

“All right.” Jason laughed and dropped her
hands. He drew them in a hug. “I just wanted to congratulate
you.”

“Thanks.” Coy slapped his back.

“You’re a lucky sonofabitch,” Jason told Coy.
“Don’t ever forget it.”

When Jason left them, Coy drew Brook back
against him while he leaned against the picnic table. “I never
will.”

She rested her arms on his where they were
they rested around her hips. “Do you think I should tell Jason that
Briane is coming here, because she was intrigued by the letters he
wrote me? And used to watch his videos—?”

“No. You tell him it’s a set up, and he’ll
run the other way. The family thinks she just coming to visit for
Christmas. You’re going to rent her the house. Sunny has offered
her a job, and a spot singing at the tavern. If it’s going to work,
you’ve got to let Jason think she doesn’t know anything about
him.”

Brook sighed. “When I first met her, her
husband had just died. One of the band mates talked her into
joining us. She was good, but her talent lay in Celtic music. I
think she found distraction and forgetfulness—like we all did— in
the vagabond life.”

Coy kissed the top of her head. “I saw her
U-Tube thing. She has a haunting voice.”

“She’s had a tough go.’ Brook looked over the
fire lit gathering. “Even though she’s from another country, she
has a lot in common with some of the people here. Actually, we had
a lot in common, too. Her father left the family. She needs family,
life, she needs healing.

Coy hugged her. “It will work out if it’s
supposed to. You said she was interested in Jason because you had
talked about him, and the family, and that she hadn’t been
interested in anyone since her husband died. It sounds promising.
Nevertheless, if the romance doesn’t work out, I think she will
find a good life here. The family will take her right in.”

Brook turned, laughing. “Yeah, I told her
they’d make her cornbread sister. She knows they have their own
baggage, scars, healing to do, and dealing with things like
abandonment and loss. I think me, talking about how they came
together, and got on with life, helped each other, intrigued her as
much as y’all’s crazy free for all side. She’s looking forward to
meeting them.”

He nodded, kissed her, and murmured, “I’m
looking forward to getting you home, and starting the
honeymoon.”

“Ruby’s keeping Levi for the week. Besides,
we’re going on that trip this fall.”

He groaned. “You’re kiddin. Right?”

“I am.” She laughed and slid her arms around
him. “I could strangle that bunch for interrupting us. I haven’t
had any in a week.”

Coy bit her ear. “And I’ve a week to give it
to you every night, all night.” He took her hand and they headed
for the four-wheeler.

“Leaving so soon?” Jason called out to much
laughter from everyone else.

Coy waited until Brook mounted and called
back before pulling out, “Anyone shows up at the house, I’m going
to whup their ass.”

He tore out amid their laughter and calls,
Brook holding on for the fast ride up the road.

At the house, he picked her up and carried
her all the way to the bedroom.

“Oh Coy…” She looked around at the candles
and flowers everywhere.

“When I came to change clothes, I set it
up.”

He put her on her feet and lit the candles.
Looking at her, he murmured, “I’m going to change. Would you put on
that purple dress?”

She nodded, eyeing the crepe paper twisted
overhead, and recognizing the colors.

“It’s not our prom. It’s our wedding day. But
I loaded the CD’s, all our old favorites—the ones they played our
senior year.”

Her eyes were damp. She watched him take a
dress shirt and clothing into the bathroom.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting her
turn, she looked around and noticed he had pictures of them
everywhere. He must have had Max do them. She had burned her
copies, but he had kept every one— ones she had not seen. They
looked happy, good together, so very young and in love.

He came out with a whiff of steam and
cologne, looking amazing although it wasn’t the suit from his prom.
It was a designer one, and fit him to perfection.

“I’ll just be a second.” She took the dress,
shoes, thigh stockings, and her make up bag, then went to get her
shower.

While she was in there, Coy got the wine and
glasses and sat them on a table he had fixed in the corner.

When Brook did emerge, he stared at her.
Looking more beautiful than she had been even back then. The
stunning dress, her stockings, and heels, her eyes, smoky. And hair
styled so that it enhanced the classic bones of her face.

Using the remote, he started the stereo, the
song crooning at the right volume, through the open door. He took
her hand. They began to dance, waltzing as they had that night.

He realized she was crying. His hand rubbed
her back, the other cupped her head against his shoulder.

He lifted his head, and they kissed, often,
between and during the next two hours, they danced.

At some point, they laughed over their hunger
for each other. Their eyes damp at times, bodies heated and
trembling. Emotions deep and raw.

When they did make love, it was like their
first time; intense, moving, Brook holding him, her stocking clad
legs flexed tightly, keeping him deep.

Looking into each other’s eyes, they felt
that knowing, the sense of refuge and belonging, of wholeness and
oneness—that drew them to each other from the beginning.

In the deepest hours of morning, Coy still
held her with their clothing scattered round, the wine empty—the
CDs all played.

Scented candles were flickering, aromas
mingling with their lovemaking and the faint scent of his cologne
and her perfume.

After the waltz and first lovemaking, Brook
had not cried again, but been ravenous and passionate, wonderfully
giving, urging him to give all of his desires in return.

“I love you,” he said, thinking her long
asleep.

Brook lifted her head from his chest. “I love
you too.”

He sighed and tightened his arms.

“We’d better put the candles out before we
set the house on fire,” she murmured with a smile.

“I’ll do it.” He got up, did so, cleaning up
a bit, and then joining her as she’d pulled on a short robe and sat
out on the back deck.

Sitting behind her on the chaise, he pulled
her back between his legs, his arms around her.

“I’m home and safe and loved. I feel almost
too blessed,” Brook, told him looking up at the stars.

“Me too.” He hugged her to him.

They heard the popping and watched the
fireworks being shot off at the clearing.

She laughed, “We did better than that a while
ago in the bedroom.”

“Yeah. We did.” He chuckled and watched the
next one.

Afterwards, he mused aloud, “I hadn’t
realized until we were up there, singing those words—that I’d ran
too. The injury forced me back home. But I ran from the pain, and
the guilt. When I saw you again, it revealed—so clear to me—why I
never outran that ache in my heart. Once we were back together, I
didn’t ever want to lose you again.”

Brook weaved his fingers with hers, holding
tightly. “We’ll be more than we are right now. We will change.
Grow. But we’ll do all those things together.”

Coy closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
“I’m so looking forward to it, Mrs. Coburn.” He released a
shuddering sigh. “I knew from the moment I met you, no one would
really know me, feel me, love me, like you do.”

“I knew it too, Coy. It scared me. It still
does, but in a good way.”

His lashes parted a bit. “I’m yours. All of
me. Forever. No matter where I am. You’re the best part of me.”

Brook nodded and soon they were kissing,
holding, and intoxicating each other, with achingly deep love, they
could finally abandon themselves to, completely...

THE END

Look for the conclusion of this series
featuring Jason Coburn, When I look at you.

Book One: Bring on the Rain by Eve Asbury is
available in print paperback at Amazon.com, Kindle at Amazon, at
Smashwords, Barnes and Noble.

Twenty years ago, Mitch Coburn had been the
center of Madeline Logan's world. Keeping dark secrets had cost her
a marriage and a son she could not claim. Madeline's daughter is
headed for the same heartbreak. Can Madeline face Mitch again and
keep her mask intact, or will admitting her own sins merely result
in a repeat of the heartbreak that each had scarcely survived the
first time around? Mitch is determined to be with Madeline, but the
results of choices they had made may have destroyed their second
chance. Despite the odds, Mitch sets out to revive Madeline's
passion and make her burn for him again. Older and wiser, will they
at last speak the words of love that time never erased.

About the Author.

Eve Asbury (ST Romance), Gayle Eden (Sensual
Romance) and Nikki Rush (Paranormal, Urban Fantasy/Fantasy/ &
Mystery/Suspense) are the pen names of one versatile author. After
establishing herself with readers while under contract with seven
e-publishers in early 2004-2007, she went on to co-op with several
other successful authors before moving into Indie Publishing in
2010. She has had numerous titles on bestseller lists with many
novels receiving accolades from various romance review sites.

She currently lives in the southeast,
surrounded by the Holston River, with her husband of 33 years. When
not absorbed by the characters who constantly intrigue her, she
enjoys getting together with her two children, son-in-law,
daughter-in-law, and six grandchildren, and also spends time
blogging and networking, always keeping in touch with her core
group of fans who have stood with her through the years. An author
who believes in storytelling, and in love and passion, she says she
always trusts the characters to tell her “their” story, and is as
fascinated by how it plays out as the reader.

evesromance.com