Текст книги "More Than a Memory "
Автор книги: Amber Nation
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Chapter 6
Baylor
Between holding Eden’s hand and spending more time in her presence, so many memories were rushing back. I felt as if I’d never really gotten over her; in fact I knew I hadn’t. All of her defining qualities and features that I loved before had intensified as she became the woman trembling before me. Seeing the light go out in her eyes made me want to pull her even more into my embrace and tell her everything would be all right. But her reaction to my question had me wanting to know the answer even more. What happened that was so bad that she had to clam up whenever the question was asked? My anger at the entire situation grew as the thought of someone actually hurting her came to mind. I would kill anyone who laid a finger on her without her permission.
Her eyes locked onto mine, searching for her own set of answers, “Baylor, why did you seek me out and ask me to come to the reunion? It seems as if things were better left in the past.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t contact you. I honestly didn’t have the faintest idea that you would be coming back, although it seems as if that’s all I’ve been doing, hoping and praying like hell that you’d come home ever since you left.”
Her chest began heaving; I would guess it was due as much to our close proximity as to our conversation, since we were just mere inches apart. She looked even more confused than she had before. She reached into the pocket of her worn-out bathrobe and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “I’ve taken this with me literally everywhere since I received it. You wrote an email to me at my job stating that you wanted me to come to the reunion.” She handed me the printout, and my fingers brushed hers as I took it from her grasp, causing a little jolt of electricity that went straight to my heart.
I opened the email and scanned over the words.
My Sweet Eden,
Can you believe that it’s been fifteen years since I’ve last looked into your beautiful chocolate eyes? I remember them as if I had only seen them yesterday. I don’t know what happened all those years ago, but the invitation from the reunion has me reliving our final moments from the past. How are you? What are you doing? Are you well? These are questions I find myself asking on a daily basis, wishing I knew the answers. I hope you find it in your heart to come to the reunion and meet with me so we may catch up.
Sincerely Yours,
Baylor
The first thought that ran through my head was it was that rat bastard, Dean. But I quickly changed my mind; if he had found Eden I would’ve been the first person he told. It wouldn’t have been Kristina because she hated the ground that Eden walked on. There could’ve only been one other option as to who the author of the covert email could’ve been…
“Norah and Polly,” I announced.
“Who?” Eden questioned.
“Well, it seems that while your mother meddles in your life, my daughter and her pesky best friend have been meddling in mine.”
I looked over, past the paper in my hands just in time to see Eden’s face fall. “Oh, so you didn’t want me to come,” she stated rather than posed a question.
“No!” I quickly objected. “It’s definitely not that. I just don’t do the whole social media scene and since I was under the misleading impression that you were married, I didn’t want anyone to have false hope.” My cell phone began vibrating in my pocket and I yanked it out and looked on the screen, seeing that it was an emergency call. “Dammit!” I groaned, “I have to go.” I regretfully stepped back away from Eden and began shoving all of my tools back in the toolbox. With her bathtub unclogged there was no reason for me to blow off the emergency, not that I had it in me to do so anyway. Retreating towards the front door, I didn’t want to see the sadness painted on Eden’s face, but at the last moment I turned around to see her right behind me. “Can we talk later? I can pick you up here about 5:30?” She seemed to ponder my invitation before nodding with tears swimming in her eyes. I hated to leave with everything still up in the air, but hopefully with us going to a secluded place away from everything it would help break the dam of secrets.
My day ended at four. Let me rephrase that, I made it my mission for my day to end at four, forwarding all emergency calls to Bentley and hounding him to be sure to pick them up. My brother wasn’t the most dependable but he was definitely improving. We would just call him a work in progress.
After running home to shower and change I stopped by Polly’s house to check up on my darling daughter. Polly’s mother let me in without announcing my arrival which gave me leverage against them. I came up behind them both sitting at the dining room table with their homework spread out in from of them; at least I knew she was completing her studies while she wasn’t at home. Pulling the folded email out of my pocket, I opened it up and threw it on the table in between them. “Care to explain this?”
I walked around the side of the table to see her eyes downcast towards her paper. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I just want you to be happy and with you completely outlawing anything to do with the internet we…er, I decided to give you a little boost, that’s all.” She shrugged a shoulder, slowly raised her eyes to meet mine, and produced a small smile.
With a look like that, the sad puppy eyes and batting her eyelashes, I couldn’t be mad at her for trying to help. Shit, I was going to be in trouble when she started dating, I supposed I needed to stock up on ammo right away.
Glancing at my watch, I noticed that it was 5:15 and I was running out of time. There was no way that I’d be late to pick up Eden, she didn’t need any reason to back out. “This isn’t over,” I said plainly to Norah.
“Wait, where are you going?”
I began retreating from the dining room, saying, “I have a date.” I paused for a moment and pivoted back towards Norah, “Scratch that…Eden and I are going someplace to talk.” I continued on to the front door, muttering half to myself, “I’m tired of not knowing the truth, I’m getting to the bottom of all this once and for all.”
When I turned down Eden’s street, it was almost bittersweet to be heading to her house to pick her up in my Camaro; it took me back to high school. I was sure she would be surprised that my old hunk of metal was still intact. Kristina had hounded me to get rid of it for years but I couldn’t justify her reasoning. My car was a part of me that I never wanted to forget, and if it still ran why trade it in for something that wasn’t made as durable?
I wasn’t even able to greet her at the door, because Eden was bounding down the steps of her front porch heading towards my car. Her facial expression was stoic under her aviator sunglasses as she opened the passenger door and lowered herself into the seat. My heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second as I was thankful to be in her presence once more. Every time I saw Eden again, it was like regaining a little piece of our past, a glimpse of what we used to be like. Once she completely let her guard down I thought we could fully restore the comfort level we used to have around each other. I took in her appearance; she was absolutely mesmerizing. Her clothing choice was simple, not over the top. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts with a pale yellow tank top and a floral scarf, and on her feet were the sexiest pair of sandals. I was quite certain Dean would demand my man card for paying so much attention to her clothes.
I watched her buckling her seatbelt and I could tell that something caught her eye and made her quietly stare daggers at my center console. Shifting in her seat, she spent the remainder of the car ride in silence, looking out the window with her hands folded in her lap.
“What’s wrong, Eden?” I asked with as much sincerity as I could portray.
She huffed but finally spoke, “Where did you get that gearshift knob?”
I removed my hand and looked down at the black metallic eight ball that I had received as a present, wondering why that was the first question she asked. “Uh…Kristina actually gave it to me as a graduation present. And come to think of it, I still don’t know why, because she always hated this car.”
Her jaw tightened as she clenched her teeth together when I brought up my ex’s name. I couldn’t just lie to her, just because it was a name she didn’t want to hear.
I saw the need to change the mood so I decided to apologize. “Hey, I’m sorry about Norah sending you that email, she’s sorry if it upset you in any way. I think she has some preconceived notion that we have some unfinished business.”
Biting out through her still clenched teeth, “Yeah, well I’m sure that’s how most teenagers are…”
“Oh, she’s only twelve, won’t be a teenager for another two months.”
Eden’s head snapped up to mine, her glasses covering the eyes that I used to lust after so much. “She’s only twelve? And your only child?”
“Yeah,” I replied, drawing out the vowels. I wasn’t exactly sure where she was going with her questioning. Finally pulling up in front of the old abandoned covered bridge we used to frequent in high school, I placed the Camaro in park at the same time Eden flung open the door and got out, slamming it behind her.
I exited and repeated her actions but with a little more force than was necessary and rounded the front of my car. Being pissed off was a serious understatement. How could this woman make me go from lust-filled emotions and pure adoration one second to fucking seething mad the next?
I slammed my hand down on the hood, causing her to flinch. At least I was getting some kind of reaction out of the infuriating woman. “Eden, God dammit, stop holding your tongue and spit it out already! That’s what got us here in the first place!”
She flung off her sunglasses, allowing me to see the tears that were freely flowing down both cheeks. Ready or not, I was about to finally know the truth.
Chapter 7
Eden
1999 – Day after Graduation
I woke up extremely early that morning because of the anticipation building in my stomach; I was anxious to see Baylor, especially after that earthshattering kiss. If I wasn’t 100% convinced that I was in love with him before, that kiss confirmed it.
Since it was well before the crack of dawn on my first day of summer vacation, I took extra time on my appearance, making sure my outfit was perfect and not a single hair on my head was out of place. I wasn’t sure exactly what the kiss meant to Baylor, but to me it was absolutely everything. To think, my dreams could very well be coming true.
When I arrived at Baylor’s, I had a feeling that something was off. I retrieved his neatly wrapped present from the passenger seat and set off walking to the front door. Fiddling with the bow that was strategically placed on top of the package, I wondered if he would love it. It took me months to find him this one special piece for his car, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he saw what was inside.
Chapter 8
Eden
Present Day
With a tremble in my voice, “I never got a chance to see your reaction to my present that I spent so long saving for. I wanted everything to be perfect¸ but she had to ruin it just like everything else.”
Baylor stepped in front of me and rested his hand on my arm, causing goose bumps to break out over my flesh; my heart was pounding relentlessly against my chest because the moment had finally come. Fifteen years in the making.
“Who, Eden?” he questioned.
“Kristina!” I screamed in his face causing his eyes to go wide. “I was so nervous that day that I ended up being early. And when I swallowed down my fear and knocked on the door, Kristina answered, which brought on a whole new set of emotions…betrayal being the most prominent.” Baylor stood there with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to remember back to that day, but that was a day that was forever engrained on my memory. I didn’t have trouble remembering, only trying to forget it.
“She spitefully informed me that you were in the shower and that the two of you had talked beforehand, deciding to give things another shot.” He raised a hand trying to interrupt me, but I quickly vetoed his advance, “Normally I wouldn’t have believed her because she’s a selfish, vindictive bitch and I see even more of that today without even knowing her anymore. But what she said next broke my heart in two and I felt as if I had no other choice but to leave town and start over. She placed a hand on her then-flat stomach,” I mimicked Kristina’s actions, “and said that you two were thrilled to be expecting your first child.” The tears had picked up the pace, making it harder for me to see. I was sure that my mascara that I stupidly wore was running down my face as well but I couldn’t see the need to actually care. “I must’ve dropped the present, your eight ball gearshift knob, when I ran off hysterically to my car and she played it off as hers.” I hugged my arms around myself and kicked a few stray rocks on the asphalt, “Once she said the words, ‘I’m pregnant,’ I knew that I couldn’t stand in the way of you being a family. Being eighteen and having my heart smashed to smithereens, I couldn’t stay here and watch her flaunt the life that I so desperately wanted. So I left.”
Several moments went by and Baylor just stood there looking right past me with rage in his eyes; it was like he was so upset with me that he couldn’t even stand to look at me. Tears continued streaming down my face and my mind began to wander in the face of his silence,. “Oh God!” I raised my hands to my mouth, “Since Norah isn’t the right age, did she?” It was hard for me to coerce the words out of my mouth, “Please tell me she didn’t lose the baby?” As much as that woman was the bane of my existence I would never ever wish for someone to lose a child.
“Enough!” He barked, snapping his eyes to mine. They softened immediately when he took in my tear-stained face. “There was never any baby…”
“What?!” I screeched.
“There was never any baby. We didn’t have sex until months after you had left.” His voice was monotone, almost no emotion to his words whatsoever, a big flip from the anger that was dripping just a moment ago.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” I was beside myself with confusion. Kristina had apparently hit an all-time low. If her mission in life was to get rid of me, she definitely succeeded in getting what she wanted without any intrusion from me.
“I was a virgin at graduation, Eden,” the emotion was back in his voice and this time it was laced with a mixture of pain and sorrow. He stepped closer to me, leaving hardly any space between us, and wiped a thumb across my cheek trying to catch some of my fallen tears, “I wanted you to be my first…I was in love with you.”
Stepping back away from his sweet embrace I dragged my fingers through my hair, yanking on the strands. I figured the shooting pain of my head would help dull the ache in my heart. “I hate Kristina,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “With everything that I am, I hate that vile malicious bitch!”
Baylor grabbed the back of his neck with his hand, “You aren’t telling me anything that I don’t already know about her. And although I would never and could never in a million years regret having Norah for one second, she’s caused both of us more heartache than what was necessary.”
Pivoting on my foot, I turned my back to him and crossed my arms in front of my chest. A loud sob was threatening to erupt and he’d already seen me cry enough to last a lifetime. It startled me when I felt his hand caress my bare shoulder as he swept my hair off to the side and pressed a single feather-light kiss against my neck. The intimate action instantly sent shivers down my spine and I felt myself melt into his touch. His warm breath tickled my skin as he spoke, “I wish you would’ve talked to me, Edie.” I shut my eyes and allowed the sob to finally escape. Continuing to allow him to call me Edie would just further break my heart, but it made me feel so special that I couldn’t bear to tell him no.
“I know, but I was heartbroken and ashamed. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that we’ve lost all this time.”
He turned me around so our eyes could meet and he pressed a finger to my closed lips. “Shh…Don’t be upset, neither one of us was more to blame than the other. We were young and believed what we wanted to believe because it was what was displayed right in front of us. Reunions are just that, we can reunite with lost loved ones and start anew…”
I was going to go out on a limb and be extremely bold because his lips were slowly descending upon mine and I wanted to take the plunge with Baylor all over again, but I needed to be realistic. “I’m only here for the week. I have a contract agreement with my radio station that I can’t break.” Don’t ask me why I brought up my job, it wasn’t like the man was asking me to move back here.
His lips were to the point where they were hovering right above mine, “Well then, we need to make this week count.” And then his lips met mine in a slow and soothing kiss. The last thing I remembered thinking before I fully melted into him was that the week would definitely count, I was just afraid of my heart being left in the dust again once it was over.
Chapter 9
Baylor
Don’t ask me exactly what I was doing when I gently laid Eden back on the hood of my Camaro while our tongues were leisurely exploring each other’s mouths. We were performing a slow and sensual dance that sent tingles to all of the right places throughout my body. We were completely out of sight to passers-by, as we were parked down off the beaten path on the side of the road in front of the old abandoned covered bridge, but I didn’t want to get in too deep right there in broad daylight. But the overwhelming urge to at least have a small taste of what was inevitably to come later on was too strong to just ignore.
My hand gently grazed her torso and cupped her covered breast, and she definitely had no qualms or objection as she enclosed my hand with hers forcing me to squeeze her even harder as she arched her back closer to me. I broke our kiss and saw the faintest of pouts form across her lips
“I don’t want you to think that this is all I want from you, but I can’t seem to hold myself back. If you want me to stop, just say the word and I’ll do it.” I was searching her eyes for any sort of hesitation, but came up with nothing except for the blazing lust that reflected my own.
“Baylor,” she said flatly before pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth which elicited a groan from me, “touch me.” It wasn’t so much a challenge to me as it was a reward, a moment in time that I’d been dreaming of for well over fifteen years.
I brought my lips back down to hers and melded into an unrelenting embrace while my hand that was covering her breast ventured downwards to the juncture between her thighs. She bent one of her legs at the knee and placed a foot on the hood of the car to make it a bit easier for my fingers to find my prize. Her shorts were short enough that I didn’t have to rearrange the jean material much and once I pulled her panties out of the way I was able to delve a finger into the wetness of her core. A moan escaped from her lips and she dug her fingers into her hair when I pressed two fingers into her opening. It didn’t take much maneuvering on my part before her walls began tightening and she opened her mouth with a silent cry as she rode out her orgasm on my fingers. Seeing her explode from my hand took my breath away. The moment was far more thrilling than I could have ever imagined. My emotions that night had gone from one side of the field clear over to the other without warning. I knew that I was still attracted to Eden as soon as I saw her again, and after the air was officially cleared about what had happened and even though I was disappointed that she hadn’t sought me out personally, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to let her go a second time.
The drive back to my house was electrically charged; finally being the recipient of one of Eden’s orgasms was something that I never could’ve foreseen happening. After experiencing something so life changing, I didn’t exactly think there was enough time during the week for me to get my fill; in fact, it probably wouldn’t even be possible if I had all the time in the world.
She sat very quietly looking out the window once again just as she had on the way to the covered bridge, but the difference on the way back was that she had the faintest smile across her lips. Once we pulled into my driveway I noticed out of the corner of my eye two familiar sets of bicycles. “Shit,” I cursed under my breath, what were they doing here?
Eden’s eyes went wide, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh it’s nothing to worry about, I just wasn’t expecting my daughter and her friend to be here.” I really didn’t want to make her feel cornered about meeting Norah.
Eden followed closely behind me through the garage and into the door that led to my kitchen. Norah’s eyes grew wide once she spotted us, almost as if we had caught her red-handed. “What are you doing here?” I asked, seeing her shove a stack of movies into her neon pink backpack and zip it closed.
“Uh, I live here, duh.” She looked right past me and her face lit up when she noticed Eden’s appearance in our home. “Hi, nice to meet you,” she went right up to Eden, extending her hand for a greeting.
Eden’s hand grasped Norah’s, “Lovely to meet you, Norah. You’re absolutely beautiful. You look quite a bit like your father when he was younger, you have his nose.” She glanced my way and gave a quick wink letting me know to quit worrying so much. Eden was right, she was a woman and could handle this meeting but it was Norah who I was afraid for. Knowing Norah, she had planned everything down to that precise moment so she could scope Eden out, but I didn’t want her to get her hopes up about Eden and me. Eden had made it incredibly clear that she was only here for the week, nothing more.
Norah pushed her arms through the straps to her backpack and rested an elbow on the counter of the island. “Was my dad hot back in the day?”
Eden burst out laughing, filling the entire kitchen space with her melodic sound.
“What do you mean ‘was’? I happen to think I still am,” I retorted, buffing my fingernails on my polo shirt. Was I showing off a bit? Perhaps, but it was all in good fun. Norah’s response was that of any daughter to her father when she thought he was being a bit ridiculous or facetious, and I could almost pinpoint the exact second when her eye roll would occur. “Now what are you doing here? I thought you were spending all week at Polly’s?” Polly, who for once remained eerily quiet in the corner of the kitchen, was making my suspicions even more probable.
“I am, we rode our bikes over to get a movie.” She looked from me to Eden, “Can you believe neither Polly nor her parents have watched Pitch Perfect yet? It’s morally wrong, so I had to rectify it now.”
“You sure she’s only twelve?” Eden leisurely pointed her finger in the direction of Norah who had on another smile.
“Believe me, you aren’t telling me anything that I don’t already know.” I placed my hands on my hips, “Sometimes it’s like she’s the parent and I’m the child instead of the other way around. Speaking of being the parent,” I turned to Norah and gave her a stern look, “Don’t you have something to say to Eden? Perhaps an apology of sorts?”
“No, it’s really not necessary,” Eden tried to intervene but Norah spoke up.
“My dad is right, for once,” cue an eye roll right about… now! She continued to speak, looking Eden directly in the eyes, and Eden’s expression softened towards her. “I’m really sorry for reaching out to you under the impression that I was my dad. But I can’t say that I’m one hundred percent sorry for doing it.” That comment took me by surprise and I straightened my stance and went to move towards Norah or at least shoot her a warning look, but she quickly floored me with her next set of words. “I mean, look at him,” she waved her arm in my direction, “he’s had a goofy smile on his face since the two of you came in.”
I have? I smiled even brighter at the thought of the happiness Eden had brought me just that afternoon. Even though some rather heavy secrets had been revealed, I couldn’t take the time to be pissed about them, because we didn’t have time to dwell on the past.
“So I really should say thank you for putting the effortless smile back on his face,” Norah ended with a shy half smile and a subtle shrug of a shoulder. My heart expanded in my chest at hearing her words. I was one proud dad in that moment and nothing could ever change my views on being a father. Kristina seemed to be able to ignore and spend months away from her daughter, but I didn’t think I could go one day without hearing her sweet voice.
“Norah,” I warned. She had to stop there because if she continued to go on saying such nice things about me I might be inclined to shed a tear.
“No, Daddy, it’s true. You often smile around me because you are an amazing dad but now your smile is almost brighter somehow.” She took a deep breath, “Like you found that missing light in your life. You were a dull sky on a gloomy day and she’s your beaming sun.” She pivoted on her foot away from me, “Let’s go, Polly. It was really great to finally meet you, Eden.” She started to walk out the door that led to the garage but quickly turned around and jogged back to me. She stood up on her tiptoes, kissed my cheek and whispered into my ear, “Bye, Daddy.” And was quickly out of sight.
Eden leaned up against the counter, “Baylor, you have done an amazing job raising her. She’s so profound and wise.”
I shrugged a shoulder, acting a little bashful, “Thanks, I’m not perfect at this whole parenting bit, that’s for sure. But Norah and I go with the flow and learn along the way. She’s a great kid.”
Eden seemed to start getting a bit nervous, looking all around the kitchen and never at me, then she began fiddling with the leather cuff bracelet that was on her left wrist. She wasn’t going to go all shy on me all of a sudden; I wasn’t going to have it.
“How about a snack?” I offered. She thought about it for a moment then nodded her head. “Just hop up there on the island and I’ll whip us up something.”
At first she gave me a sideways glare but then complied and began swinging her dangling legs after kicking her sandals off onto the floor. The action caused me to chuckle a bit because it reminded me so much of something Norah would do.
She began looking around the kitchen once more, “Your house is beautiful.”
Digging around in the fridge, I said, “We like it,” without looking back at her.
“So Kristina really doesn’t see Norah that much?”
I found a Tupperware container full of strawberries and shut the fridge, taking them over to the counter. “Hardly ever, actually. Norah says it doesn’t bother her but little things she says and does lead me to believe otherwise.” Opening the container I pulled out a strawberry and brought it to my lips, taking a bite out of it to determine the sweetness. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Eden watching my mouth the entire time. Taking my hand and wiping it on my jeans to get rid of any traces of strawberry juice, I then pulled myself up onto the counter right next to Eden. “She’s really close to my mom. It gives them both something to look forward to.”
I held out the container, allowing Eden to choose a berry, and she took a generous bite, causing the pale red juice began to run down the side of her mouth. I completely checked out once she darted out her tongue to lap up the wayward juice.
“Baylor?”
“Huh?” I finally said while coming to. Just the act of her eating a strawberry then licking up the stray juice of said strawberry was enough to do me in.
“I asked how your mom was doing.”
“She’s doing well.” I bobbed my head up and down trying to emphasize how good she was doing. “She does the billing and payroll for the business to keep her busy.” My mom adored Eden when we were growing up. I started to offer to take Eden by for a visit while she was there, but had to pull myself up short and remind myself that she was just visiting. It would do me good to remember that, she was only here for the week. For the reunion.
The more she darted her tongue out on her lips and the small smiles she gave, the more sensible logic went out the window. Screw doing the right thing, which was leaving her be. I was going to enjoy my time with her while she was there and handle the repercussions regarding my heart after she left.
I hopped down off the counter to go retrieve something to make things a little more interesting…Something that used to be her absolute favorite. I disappeared into the pantry and came out holding a delectable chocolate hazelnut treat. Her eyes lit up like Christmas Day when she saw what I was wielding in my hand. She reached out for the container while repeating, “Gimme!”
I slowed my pace and unscrewed the jar myself. “Nutella, I knew it used to be your favorite.”
Her beautiful face lit up even more. “You remembered?” As if anyone could forget anything about a woman like her. It was amazing to me how she had remained single for so many years; people must not have known her like I did.
“Edie, I remember everything about you. Every. Single. Thing. Like how you used to wear those ponytails and sneakers because you didn’t have a care in the world. You weren’t like any other girl that I knew, you didn’t need to take hours to work on your appearance. And even with those pesky ponytails and sneakers you were always the most beautiful girl in school. And also when you used to steal little glances my way, thinking that I wasn’t any the wiser. I mean, we were best friends for like ten years.”
She stayed silent for a while and I was worried that I had gone too far and she would retreat within herself. But finally in a small voice, she said, “I like that…”
I raised a brow, “Like what?”
