Infinite Ties (All That Remains #3) (23 page)

Joseph laughs and shoves my shoulder. “I
thought for sure we were going to be kicked out. You were such a jealous
dickhead and it was clear Abby was in love with you. I didn’t think we had a
chance.”

“And I had a reason to be jealous,” I
defend myself, raising an eyebrow at my wife cuddled in his arms. “I had to
stake my claim before you could steal her.”

Abby giggles. “Joseph brought us together.
You kissed me because you wanted to beat him to it.”

“It was always going to happen, darlin’.”

Joseph plants a soft kiss on Abby’s lips.
“Don’t you see, Abby, we do see you. The real you that you try so hard to hide.
We see your pain, your fear, your self doubt and insecurities. We know what
you’ve done, been and suffered. We see your compassion, kindness, and love.
Your open mind and closely guarded heart. We know you inside and out, and we
never want to be without you. You’re our girl. Let us love you, even the parts
of yourself you hate.”

His words break through any doubt she has
left, and she begins to sob against his neck. “It’s too good…too good to be
true.”

“No, sweetheart. It’s what you deserve.
What we all deserve. No more secrets. No more hiding. Stop keeping a tally of
your mistakes. Forgive yourself. You, me, and Airen, baby. You can count on it,
believe in it. We’re solid.”

“Solid,” Abby murmurs, wiping her eyes.

ABBY

It’s evening when we head back home. My
head is spinning from the events of the day. They know everything and it doesn’t
matter. Relief is keeping me emotional, giggling one minute and on the edge of
tears the next. Airen takes my hand as we walk through the woods and tugs me
off the path to sit on a fallen log. “There’s something you need to know before
we get back.” His dark eyes capture mine. “Jon’s dead.”

My stomach flips before slowly righting
itself. “You promised you wouldn’t kill him.” I should’ve known. After what I
told him, of course he’d go after Jon.

“I didn’t. Eric did. He lost his temper.
Jon was running his mouth and made some comment about Lexi. Eric kicked him in
the throat. He didn’t intend to kill him.”

“Is Eric okay?”

“He’s fine with it. After what Jon pulled
at the hotel, Eric’s not going to lose sleep over him.”

Shit. How many people know what Jon tried
to do? “Does everyone know?” I ask in a low voice.

His face softens, and he slides his arm
around my waist as we resume our walk through the woods. “No, darlin’. Only
that he ran and left you.”

“I owe Eric a thank you, and I have to
tell Carson…something,” I stumble. What the hell do I tell him? Your father was
an evil bastard and I’m glad he’s dead?

“I want you to let me handle that.” His
dark eyes are serious. “Let me talk to him.”

“Okay.” I’ve had about all the drama I can
take for one day.

I don’t know exactly what Airen told
Carson, but he seems to be taking the news well. All the kids are happy to have
us back, and I’m thrilled to have things back to normal. We spend the week just
settling in, preparing for winter.

“Smells great,” Joseph exclaims, dropping
a kiss on my head as I set the table for dinner.

“Wish I could say the same for you.” I
laugh. “You smell like a dead fish.”

He grabs my hips and pulls me against him,
his teeth nipping my earlobe. “Bully,” he murmurs.

Airen steps through the door, soaking wet.
“Get off my girl, asshole.”

“She was all over me, said I smell too
good. Pheromones and shit, you know.”

“Air! It’s freezing out. Why are you wet?”

Joseph snorts, and Airen shoots him a
dirty look. “He got his ass kicked by a fish.”

Airen peels off his dripping shirt and
pulls it over Joseph’s face. Laughing, I ask Airen, “What happened?”

“I hooked a huge catfish. You should’ve
seen it. I had the damn thing, but when I tried to haul it into the boat, it
slipped. Joseph bumped into me and knocked me into the lake.”

“Your ass must be jealous of the shit that
comes out of your mouth. You wouldn’t let the damn thing go and lost your
balance.” Joseph tosses the soggy shirt into the laundry room.

Airen grins at me. “Who are you going to
believe, sweetheart?”

“I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in the
middle. Go take a warm shower before you get pneumonia and take stinky with
you.”

Joseph presses a hand to his chest, a
wounded expression on his smiling face. “You hear her? Hear how she talks to
her man? She needs a lesson.”

“Tonight,” Airen agrees, smacking my ass
before they head off to shower.

* * * *

The winter months are blissfully
uneventful. We settle back into our routines. Airen, Joseph, Carson, and Eric
are working on two nearby houses, cleaning and installing solar panels.
Planning for the future. I’m spending a lot of time thinking about the future.
For so long, I’ve been focused on getting through another day, surviving the
next catastrophe, I haven’t given much thought to what I want in the long run.
The truth is, I already have everything I want. My guys, my kids, my friends.
The family I thought I’d never have.

The cold fear that used to weigh me down
has disappeared, leaving something I barely recognize; hope. They know
everything there is to know about me and they want me anyway. Airen’s
nightmares have stopped and he and Joseph have mended their relationship. Our
relationship. Things between the three of us have never been better, which is
why I’m terrified of the subject I’m about to broach with Airen.

“Okay, out with it. Something’s on your
mind,” Airen says, squeezing my hand as we walk through the woods.

“That obvious, huh?”

“It’s not often you ask Joseph to watch
the kids so we can take a walk in the cold.”

“Things are good with you and Joseph,
right?”

“Yes,” he replies, a little hesitant. “Are
you two fighting?”

“No, we’re good. Great, actually. So,
you’re happy with both of us? You don’t regret bringing the three of us
together?”

“Of course not.” His shoes scuff the
frozen ground as he comes to a stop, spinning me to face him. “Are you unhappy?
Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“No!”

“Then tell me what you’re getting at.”

Shit. This is harder than I thought it
would be. “I just…I love Joseph and I know you do too, but it doesn’t
feel…equal. He doesn’t complain, but we’re husband and wife, forever, and
calling him our boyfriend doesn’t seem like enough.”

His lip cocks in a half smile. “You want
to make him our husband?”

“Do you?” I ask, my voice low. I’m asking
to marry another man.

“Come with me. I want to show you
something.” He doesn’t seem hurt or upset as he leads me to the tool shed.

“Air, you’re my husband. I love you, so if
this is too much, or not what you want, just say so. I don’t want to hurt you.
I just thought…”

The sight of the silver infinity rings
lying in his palm puts an end to my babbling. “It matches ours. I hid them in
here until we were ready. Until you were ready. I needed to know you really
wanted it, that you weren’t just doing it for me and Joseph.”

His breath is hot on my neck when I dive
into his arms, hugging him hard. “Are you sure, Air?”

“Yes, sweetheart. You becoming his wife
doesn’t make you any less mine and I want Joseph to be mine permanently, like
you.”

“You should be the one to propose,” I suggest.

“We both will. I know where I’d like to
have the wedding, but I want you to choose where to propose. Somewhere special
to you both.”

“I know the place,” I reply as we start
back home. “We’d better do it soon. He reads me like a book.”

Airen’s laughter makes me smile. “It’s my night
to be with him. We can ask him tomorrow. Can you keep him out of your head for
one night?”

“We’re going to find out.”

I manage to avoid giving away our secret,
and the next morning we lead Joseph into the woods. “You look like a turtle.” I
laugh as Joseph ducks his beanie covered head inside the collar of his
oversized puffy coat.

“You want to tell me why I’m being dragged
out in the cold?”

“When we get there.”

“Get where?”

“Where we’re going,” Airen replies,
smacking him on the ass.

Joseph wraps an arm around my neck. “Come
on, ladybug. The suspense is killing me. How about a hint?”

Burrowing into his warm body, I lean to
whisper in his ear. “Not a chance.”

A small hesitant smile crosses his lips
when the barn comes into view. It holds good memories for us. Joseph’s arms
wrapped around me, keeping me safe and warm while a violent thunderstorm shook
the walls. Making love to him in the same pile of hay after he confessed that
was the night he fell in love with me. It’s as much our place as the summer
home is mine and Airen’s.

It’s dim inside and still smells of hay
and burnt wood. Airen follows Joseph and me inside, dropping to his knee when
Joseph turns to face him. Joseph’s expression reflects pure shock followed by
elation. “Airen, what are you…?”

“Joseph Crane, shut up and listen. I knew
you were trouble from the second we met. I knew you’d win my girl’s heart, but
I didn’t expect you to steal mine as well. I didn’t realize a piece of me was
missing until I found it in you.”

Tears drip down Joseph’s face as I kneel
beside Airen on the dirt floor. His soft green eyes meet mine when I begin.
“You taught us to trust, to reveal our deepest secrets and face our worst
fears. You’ve been there for me every second I needed you, even when I tried to
push you away. You’re the best thing that could’ve happened to us. We give each
other different things, but our love is equal. We’re equal. Be our husband.”

Airen slides the silver S-shaped ring onto
Joseph’s finger. “Say yes, and with the second ring you’ll wear the infinity
symbol. You’ll be ours forever.”

“Yes,” Joseph chokes out, slamming his
lips into Airen’s before taking mine with less force, but plenty of intensity.
“Yes.”

* * * *

Everyone seems to be happy about our
engagement. Since the weather has warmed up a bit, we decide to have a bonfire
party. “So, when’s the wedding?” Jayla asks Joseph.

“Troy and Nic are supposed to visit the
first week of May so we thought we’d wait until then.”

“I don’t know about that,” Airen teases.
“Once Abby gets all gooey over Nic, she might dump us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I walk up behind
Joseph as he sits in front of the fire, and drape my arms around his neck.
“I’ll just have three husbands.”

Joseph growls and tugs me around the chair
to sit in his lap. His fingers grip the ticklish spot on my thigh. “Repeat
after me, my girl. I will keep my hands and lips away from Nic.”

Lexi laughs. “It was one little goodbye
kiss,” she says in my defense.

“Uh-huh.” Joseph digs his fingers in,
making me laugh and squirm. “Didn’t mean a thing. That’s why Lexi knows all
about it right? Who else did you brag to, Abby?”

“Nobody! I wasn’t bragging. Stop!” I
almost manage to escape, but he hauls me back into his lap.

“Say it! I will not kiss Nic!”

“He kissed me!” The tickling torture
begins again. “I will not kiss Nic!” I cry.

“Or make goo goo eyes at him.” Everyone
laughs and I feel my face heat.

“I don’t.” His hand tightens around my
thigh. “My eyes will be on you.”

His mouth is cool on mine. “That’s right,
baby.”

“You know I love these lips,” I whisper,
licking his full lower lip.

“I love all your lips. Going to kiss every
inch of them later.”

“You’re drunk.”

“Never stopped me before.”

“Mmm,” I hum, kissing him again. “It’s all
three of us tonight. Got to share them with Airen.”

“Can’t wait, baby.” After a few requests
from the others to get a room, I climb off Joseph’s lap and find my own seat.

We have a great night. Everyone is
together for the first time since we returned from Missouri. Even Emma is
laughing and smiling as we down a liquor store worth of booze. I reach my limit
a few hours later and stumble off to bed. When Airen joins me, I wake for a
moment and mumble, “Where’s Joseph?”

“Having
one more drink
with Eric
and Lexi,” he replies with a chuckle.

“He’s going to be sorry in the morning.”

Ugh. My head aches when I wake and it
feels like my tongue is wearing a sweater. I guess I had a little too much to
drink. Airen is sprawled out across the bed, wearing an old pair of ratty
sweatpants. Bastard is sexy in anything. I can’t think about anything right now
but brushing my teeth. After that’s accomplished, I take a quick shower and
almost feel human again. I expect to find Joseph in the kitchen nursing a worse
hangover, but the house is empty. He must’ve crashed at Eric’s or maybe
Julie’s. I need to check on the kids anyway.

Julie responds quickly when I signal her
radio. “Hello, dear. How’s your head this morning?” she asks, amused.

“Not as bad as I expected. Are the kids
driving you crazy yet?”

“Of course not. We made donuts and are
just starting a Harry Potter marathon. I hope you didn’t want them home anytime
soon.”

“Keep them. They’re yours,” I reply with a
laugh. “Is Joseph there?”

After a short pause, she replies, “Why,
no. I haven’t seen him.”

“He must’ve slept at Eric’s. I’ll go track
down the lush. Send the rug rats home when you’ve had enough.”

“Will do, dear.”

Airen peeks up at me from the tangle of
blankets when I poke my head through the bedroom door. “Get up, lazy ass. I’m
running to Lexi’s. Looks like Joseph passed out there last night.”

“Coffee,” he grumbles, holding his head.

“Waiting for you in the kitchen.”

I’m rewarded with a charming grin. “Love
you, darlin’.”

“You better.”

The air is cool, but refreshing, and I
shake off the last of my hangover on my walk to Lexi and Eric’s. Lexi answers
the door and the smell of fresh baked bread fills my nostrils. “Now I know why
Joseph’s hanging out here. That smells fantastic.”