Vivian (18 page)

She looked at big stones, little stone, and colored stones. She tried on high-end rings and small ones that her mother would have called
canhardlies,
as in you could hardly see a stone.

The very last set she looked at was a his –and- hers set. Matching gold bands with the woman’s being thinner.

“
That’s it. That’s what I want.”

“
Gold bands?”

She looked up at him and he was smiling. “Yes. Is that okay?”

He pulled her into his arms. “I mean this as an absolute compliment. One of the things I like best about you, Mrs. North, is you’re a no frills kind of girl.”

“
You’re right, I’m not.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips and bought her the simple set of gold bands.

Clayton figured if they had set out to have an unexpected day they had certainly succeeded. He hadn’t woken up that morning thinking that by the end of the day he’d be married. But he was—and he couldn’t have been happier.

He was finding immense joy in watching her look down at the gold band he’d put on her finger. She gazed at it as other women would gaze at a gaudy diamond. But not his wife. She liked simple and he loved that.

His wife.

He loved the very sound of it in his head. Never did he think he’d remarry, but for the first time in two years he felt absolutely whole.

A part of him wanted to call their date night short and go home to tell the girls that they were in fact sisters. The very thought made him chuckle.

Vivian turned her head to him. “Why are you laughing?”

He took her hand and interlaced their fingers. “I can’t wait to tell the girls that they are sisters.”

She rested her head against the back of the seat. “They are going to be so happy.”

He contemplated the question to her. “Do we go to them or continue on with our evening?”

Clayton caught her smile. “Don’t think I’m some kind of slut, but I don’t think I can hold out much longer.”

“
I would never think that of you.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m feeling the exact same way.”

He wasn’t one to speed, but he was sure he’d have gotten a ticket as he pulled up in front of the old house.

He turned off the car. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to know a house was empty.”

Vivian tucked her lips between her teeth. “I’ll bet sometime from sixteen through nineteen you were glad.”

He laughed easily as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “You’re right. But as a grown adult—I’m pretty happy.”

“
Me too.” She flung open her door. “Let’s go.”

Clayton pushed open his door and stepped out into the street. “Grab your bag. I don’t want to have to come out here for anything.”

She laughed as she grabbed her bag and then ran to the front door to open it.

With the key in her hand she pushed open the door, dropped her bag on the ground, and waited for Clayton to follow. She quickly pushed it shut and locked it before she found herself pushed up against it.

Clayton’s mouth was hot on hers as he pushed his body hard to hers. Her breath came out in a moan against his mouth.

Her heart beat an erratic rhythm against his as his hands slid over the curve of her bottom, pulling her even closer—if possible.

Vivian tangled her fingers into his hair. How could she have forgotten how amazing it felt to have a man pressed to her with his desire evident in his touch and constricted by his clothing?

He moved his hands to the buttons on her shirt, making quick work to expose her beneath.

Clayton lifted his head to look at her and a deep growl came from his throat as he moved his lips down her neck toward her breasts that heaved beneath his lips.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to breathe in the moment. As he cupped her in his hands and exposed her delicate skin beneath the pads of his fingers, she let out a hum of delight.

“
You’re beautiful, Vivian.”

“
You’re going to kill me with all of this attention.”

He raised back to her lips and took her mouth. “I plan to pay a lot of attention to each part of you—forever.”

She swallowed hard. “Take me upstairs before I lose my mind.”

~*~

The air had swirled between them for nearly the past two hours as Clayton and his new wife explored this very personal part of their marriage.

Passion like nothing Clayton had ever felt burned inside of him as he rolled from atop of his new wife who still gasped for air.

He looked over at her sweat slickened body, appreciating every curve of her. The marks that marred her skin from the birth of her daughters only made her more precious to him.

“
I’m glad we waited for that,” Vivian said on a sated breath.

“
I can’t believe we did.” He rolled to his side and brushed a strand of her hair aside. “We’re going to have to learn to be more quiet.”

She laughed and her white teeth shined in the dim room. “I promise.” She turned to look at him. “What time is it?”

“
Dark.”

She laughed again and he realized he could just get drunk on the sound of it.

“
Is it bad that I want to tell my girls goodnight?”

“
No. C’mon, let’s go down and find something to eat. I could use some water.”

He walked into the bathroom and pulled down a towel, wrapping it around his waist as she pulled the sheet off the bed.

The house was eerily dark he thought. They would need some motion lights when they moved in—and a gate at the top of the stairs.

“
I’ll go get our bags and our phones,” he said giving her rear a pat.

He could hear the refrigerator open as he moved toward the front door. Noticing the front porch light was turned off, he flicked the switch to turn it on. He knew Sam had put it on a sensor. Maybe it had stopped working. He’d have to look at it tomorrow.

As he picked up his bag he noticed the door wasn’t locked. He was sure they’d done that too. They must have been in one hell of a hurry to leave the door unlocked.

With a flick of his fingers he secured the deadbolt and headed back to the kitchen with their bags.

Outside the wind began to blow and he could see the now bare trees sway in the moonlight outside the kitchen window.

“
I found chicken nuggets,” Vivian said with a smile.

“
I don’t even care at this point. I haven’t eaten since breakfast and we certainly wore that off.”

He watched her load up a plate of the frozen clumps and put them in the microwave. Picking up his phone he called his house.

“
Hey Dorothy.”

“
How is your evening?” she asked and he could only smile, looking at his wife in a bed sheet cooking chicken nuggets.

“
It’s amazing. How are the girls?”

“
Asleep on the floor. I told them we’d have a slumber party in the front room.”

He laughed. “I’ll bet they’re loving having you there.”

“
Well, I’ve decided they’ll get to do this any time. I’m going to stay, Clayton. If you were serious about me living here.”

“
I am.” He wanted to tell her about what they’d done today, but the girls needed to be the first ones to hear it. “I just called to say goodnight, but I’ll let them sleep. Thank you for taking them.”

“
My pleasure. Enjoy yourself,” she said and his heart raced just a bit faster. He hadn’t thought about Linda much all day, until that moment. But it didn’t hurt for the first time.

“
We will.” He disconnected the phone and looked at Vivian. “Mine are asleep.

“
Let me call mine.” She reached for her phone.

“
We forgot to lock the door when we raced upstairs,” he said, giving the sheet around her a yank.

Her eyes fixed on his. “No. I locked it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe we jostled it.”

She looked at her phone. There was a text from Sam.
Stay there. I’m coming over.

“
Why did he send me this?” She showed Clayton the text.

“
If he’s coming over we’d better get dressed,” Clayton joked just as they heard something crash upstairs. “What the hell?”

He looked back outside and the wind had kicked up.

“
Maybe something blew over in the attic. We have those walls torn out.”

Vivian watched him readjust his towel.

“
I’ll go up with you.”

He gave her a smile and touched her face. “Are you afraid of something?”

“
No, just…” She didn’t know. She just couldn’t stand to be away from him for even a moment. “I’m coming with you.”

They took the first few steps before her phone chimed again from the kitchen.

“
It’s probably Sam. Go check.”

She gave him a nod and headed back to the kitchen to retrieve her phone.

Her hands began to shake as she picked up her phone and the display read MESSAGE FROM STELLA MONROE.

“
Clayton! Clayton!” Her voice shook and wasn’t as loud as she thought it should be.

The text came up on the screen.
Stella. Frank. Now it’s his turn.

As she took a breath to yell his name again, she heard the horrid sound of something being hit and then falling down the steps of the attic.

“
Clayton!”

Dropping her phone, she went for her bag. Fumbling with the zipper, she finally managed it open and grabbed for the gun Sam had given her.

She pulled it back to cock it and it shook in her hands. Wrapping the other hand around the handle she called out again, “Clayton!”

There wasn’t an answer. There should have been some damn answer.

With the sheet wrapped loosely around her and the gun trembling in her hands, she started up the steps.

“
Clayton, c’mon. I don’t like this. Where are you?”

As she crested the top of the steps, she could see the steps to the attic were down. Another two steps, she could see Clayton on the ground face down at the bottom of the steps.

Her first reaction was to run right to him. The back of his head was covered in blood and a baseball bat was lying next to him covered in blood.

“
Clayton! Oh, God!” She set the gun on the ground in front of her. “Clayton, please wake up. Please!”

She pressed her fingers to his neck, but she wasn’t sure if she felt anything. Her fingers were covered in his blood. The only thing she could hear was her heart beating in her ears.

Her head spun and her eyes filled with tears blinding her from the shadow that moved across the attic. A moment later, someone flew at her, knocking her back on her back, her head slamming into the floor.

She struggled beneath the gangly limbs of a man who held her hands to the ground.

“
You’re going to work harder than that,” the man said as he dipped his head to her collarbone and bit down.

Vivian screamed. “Get off me! Get off!”

“
My turn.”

And as the man pushed up the sheet she’d had wrapped around her she managed her knee between his thighs just enough to have him roll off of her.

“
Bitch!” He yelled as she rolled toward the gun she’d laid next to Clayton.