Authors: Tiffany Aleman,Ashley Poch

Serenity Falls (32 page)

BOOK: Serenity Falls

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“Anything.
You know that.”

“Is
there any way you might be able to give me Wes’ address, unless he’s at y’alls
house?”

“No,
he’s not here. He went back to Dallas that night everything happened between
you two. But why? I mean, I have no problem giving it to you, but talk to me.
What’s going on?” she asks concerned.

Regret
courses deep in my veins. I sigh, telling her exactly how I feel. “I made the
biggest mistake of my life. I should have never told him no, Mrs. Sandy. These
past two weeks, I’ve been suffocating, and I know it’s because I don’t have
Wes, his love, in my life. I never thought I could miss someone so much. He
told me that he used to be a shell of a man, but now,
I’m
a shell of a
woman. I have to go to him. I
need
to go to him. I
love
him.”

“And
he loves you, Dear.”

She
gives me Wes’ address and reassures me that everything will be just as it
should as we hang up. Before I toss my phone back onto the passenger seat, I
plug in Wes’ address, and let
Siri
take over.

Almost
five hours later, I take the last left and
Siri
tells me that I have
finally arrived at my destination. This place is exactly what I pictured when
Wes told me that he owned a small ranch on the outskirts of Dallas. There are
no rolling hills, just wide-open spaces. I look from left to right as I drive
down Wes’ driveway. My breath catches as I pull up in front of his house.
Whitewashed stone decorates the front of the house and large wooden pillars
support the archway that hangs over the front door. A Texas star made of
wrought iron is secured to the stone above the windows. My hands tightly clench
the steering wheel as I rest my head against it. My limbs shake with
nervousness and anticipation of seeing him. I am so fucking scared right now.
If he rejects me, sends me on my way, I will never be the same. A part of me
would like to think that I would survive, that eventually one day I would be
able to move on, but I know that I won’t. I’m not the strong person that I wish
I could be. The remaining pieces of my heart would mend, but… No, there are no
remaining pieces. I gave my whole heart to Wes that Fourth of July night in the
middle of a field, under a million stars when I told him I loved him. A loud
tap on my window causes me to jump, and pulls me out of my thoughts. My breath
catches deep in my throat as I look out the window.
Wes.

The
sight of him will haunt me for the rest of my life. The sandy blond hair that I
love to run my fingers through is completely gone.
I can’t believe he shaved
his head.
His normally bright, blue eyes are dull, sunken in, and almost
lifeless. They’re blood shot and rimmed red like he’s been crying. He’s lost
weight. The angles of his face are sharper and more pronounced than they used
to be. His once fitted shirt is now beginning to hang off his sculpted form.
“Are you going to roll down the window or not?” he asks in an almost growl.

With
shaky, sweaty hands, I roll down the window, but before I can speak, he asks in
a seething tone, “What are you doing here? Come to break my fucking heart some
more? How did you find out where I live?”

His
words and tone make me wince, physically and emotionally. But I deserve every
bit of it. I turned him into this person. He went from happy, carefree, and
loving to guarded, bitter, and pissed. “N-no,” I stammer out.

“Then
why the fuck are you here?”

“I
wanted to talk to you. See how you’re doing.” I whisper.

“Talk
to me? See how I’m doing? Are you fucking serious right now? Well, let me see,”
he sneers the words, with both hands on his hips, his head cocked to the side.
“I’m doing just great. I can’t sleep,” he says, his voice rising. “I can’t
fucking eat!” Higher. “I can’t get out of bed!” Higher. “I want to fucking
forget you, but I CAN’T! YOU ARE IN EVERYTHING I SEE, EVERYTHING I DO! YOU ARE
IN EVERY GODDAMN MEMORY I HAVE FROM THIS SUMMER, AND I JUST WANT TO FUCKING
FORGET YOU, BUT I CAN’T!” He shouts at me. The veins in his neck and forehead
bulge against his skin. Shocked, and my eyes are as wide as saucers I’m sure, I
can’t help but sink back in my seat, actually afraid of him for the first time
ever. His words sting—they sting badly, because no matter what, I would never
want to forget him. I love him. “I want so badly to forget you, but I can’t,
because I love you too damn much.” He drops his head, whispering in defeat.

When
I hear his breath shudder on intake, I throw the door open, climb out, and
tentatively wrap my arms around him. His body tenses from the initial contact,
but after a few minutes, he begins to loosen up. Slowly, cautiously, his arms
come up and wrap around me. I’m crushed in his strong hold as he crumbles to
his knees, forcing me down with him so that I straddle his legs. Beneath my
hold, sobs rack his body as he pulls me in closer to him. Tears flow rapidly
down my face as I whisper through hiccups, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m so, so
sorry. I love you so much.”

His
grip is tight like a vice as he clutches me tighter to his chest. With his face
buried in the crook of my neck, he mumbles, “You said that before. I just don’t
understand how you could leave me like that.”

I
pull back, cup his destroyed face in my hand, and force him to look at me. “I
love you. I meant every word I said. I came here to apologize to you. Throwing
all pride away, I came here to beg you to take me back. I let my wants get in
the way of my heart. You, Wes, you are my heart… my home,” I whisper as I look
into his eyes and search his face for any indication that he believes what I’m
telling him. “These past two weeks have been hell for me. I know I have no one
to blame but myself, and I take full responsibility for it. For what I’ve done
to you. For what I’ve done to us. I only said no to your proposal because I’m
in school, just turned twenty, and didn’t want you to think that a proposal was
what I needed to keep me by your side.” I close my eyes for a moment and take a
deep breath. “My mom once told me ‘
home is wherever you want it to be. It is
a place where you feel safe, loved, and cherished. It’s a place that makes you
happy’.
You are all of those things for me, Wes. You make me feel safe,
loved, and cherished. Above all else, you make me so incredibly and unbelievably
happy. I can find another school to finish my degree. I don’t care how young we
are, and now, I’m the one who’s asking you. Will
you
marry me? I can’t
live this life without you. I don’t
want
to live this life without
you
.”
I hold my breath and wait. I’ve just poured out my heart and soul to him. For a
long while, I sit here, straddling his thighs. Eventually, the expression
behind his eyes turns from rage and hurt to longing, and maybe even
understanding at my words.

“Kenleigh,”
he says, clearing his throat. “I love you, too. More than you will ever know.
And you will never know how sorry I am that I screamed at you the way I just
did.” He sighs and rubs a hand over his hairless head. His hand lifts and
brushes the hair out of my face. With that little bit of contact, my eyes
close. “You are the sun to me. Every morning, you rise in the East and set in
the West, but you are always there shining brightly. You have brought a sense
of peace to me that I have never felt before. I want to be the foundation that
holds you together when you feel as if your world is crumbling down around you.
When life gets in the way, and things seem impossible, I want to be the one you
lean on for support. I want my arms to be the ones that catch you when you
think you might fail. I want my ears to know all your secrets, my lips to
capture all your kisses, and my heart to hold all of your love.” With his lips
against mine, he adds, “But with that said, I can’t let you ask me to marry
you.”

“Why?”
I try to pull back out of his grasp. Wes’ grip tightens as a slow grin graces
his face. “Because, Baby, I’m still a man, and that’s my job.” Immediately, I
relax against him as he chuckles.

I
chuckle, too. “Shut up.” I wind my arms around his neck and crush my lips
against his. I kiss him for all the unnecessary heartache that I’ve caused us
both. I kiss him for our future that we will build together. “Ask me again?” I
whisper against his lips.

Wes
leans back and looks me directly in the eyes. “Marry me? Love me for the rest
of my life, and let me do the same for you?”

“All
right. Let’s do it,” I say around the lump in my throat, my voice thick with
emotion.

“Yeah?”

I
nod frantically, as my tears start to well up again, and a wide smile graces my
face. “Absolutely. I love you, Wesley Adams.”

“And
I love you, Kenleigh Briggs.” Effortlessly, he stands with me still straddled
across his legs. I wrap mine around his waist as he carries me across the
driveway, down the path leading to his front door, and into his house.

I
was once told that to experience what something so great feels like, and to
fully appreciate it and to feel deserving of it, you have to experience what
it’s like to live without it, whatever
it
is. Without knowing first-hand
what sadness feels like, how can one know what happiness truly is? Traumatic
situations happen to all people, no matter what we believe. I had parents who
loved me with all their hearts. Then, just like that, they were gone. For a
long time, I was bitter. I look back now, and thank God every day for the
amount of time that I had with them. They raised me for what little time we had
together, and because of them, they taught me how to love with all my being.
I’ve experienced the depths of sorrow and despair. And because of that, I’m
able to experience, be grateful for, and feel deserving of the man I will one
day marry. Until I met Wes, I walked this Earth happy, but not whole. He told
me once that he was going to take me on the ride of my life. Truth-be-told, I’m
ready for it. I can finally say that I can look into the future and not be
scared that I will fall. Because I know that there’s a man who’s always ready
to catch me.