Unwoven Ties
Bethany Lopez
Unwoven Ties
Copyright 2021 Bethany Lopez
Published January 2021
Print ISBN - 978-1-954655-01-0
Cover Design by Allison Martin
Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli
Ebook Formatting by Bethany Lopez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Created with Vellum
For my children
Contents
Prologue - Kelly
Five Years Later
1. Jacob
2. Sean
3. Kelly
4. Jacob
5. Sean
6. Kelly
7. Jacob
8. Sean
9. Kelly
10. Jacob
11. Sean
12. Kelly
13. Jacob
14. Sean
15. Kelly
16. Jacob
17. Sean
18. Kelly
19. Jacob
20. Sean
21. Kelly
22. Jacob
23. Sean
24. Kelly
25. Jacob
26. Sean
27. Kelly
28. Jacob
29. Sean
30. Kelly
31. Jacob
32. Sean
33. Kelly
34. Jacob
35. Sean
36. Kelly
Epilogue - Kelly
Keep reading for a look at More than Exist…
Prologue
Chapter 1
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Bethany Lopez
Prologue - Kelly
“You did a great job pitching at practice, buddy,” I said as we drove down the rain-soaked highway. It was coming down hard, in sheets slashing against our windshield. “I’m sorry the rain cut it short.”
I saw Jake shrug out of my peripheral vision, but knew he was disappointed. The coach was teaching him how to throw a curve ball, and he was desperate to perfect the new pitch.
“Hey, what do ya say we go to the movies after Dad gets home? Something with lots of action.”
When my suggestion was met with silence, I pulled my hand off of the steering wheel and patted him on the leg.
“C’mon, it’ll be fun...”
Finally, he gave me a small smile and said, “Okay, that sounds good.”
I was about to say something sarcastic, like “I don’t want to force you to have fun,” but was distracted when a shiny black sports car came quickly up behind me, then swerved over to get in the other lane.
As it sped past us I muttered, “What an idiot … He’s going to get in a wreck driving like that in this weather.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth when I saw a flash of black swerve then flip over, landing in the median ahead of us.
“Oh my God!” I shouted, then began to slow my car down and pull over to the left shoulder. I squinted, trying to see signs of life through the downpour as I pushed in my hazards light.
I turned to Jake and handed him my cell phone.
“Here, call 911 and don’t leave the car, no matter what happens.”
“No, Mom,” Jake argued, and I saw a flash of fear cross his face, something I hadn’t seen since he’d turned twelve and worked hard at maintaining his cool.
“I have to, bud, what if someone’s hurt?” I explained, holding his shoulder as I said again, “Stay in the car … Promise?”
“Okay,” he responded shakily. “I promise.”
He was already dialing the phone as I unlocked my door and jumped out into the rain. As I raced to the overturned car, I was vaguely aware that I was already soaked through.
I could smell the putrid stench of gasoline as I slid toward the car. I fell to my knees in the muddy grass and tried to peer through the passenger window. Unable to see more than shapes, I pulled the door handle, but found it was stuck.
“Shit!” I sat quickly on the ground and braced myself against the side of the car with my feet, then pulled with all my might, screaming, “C’mon!”
It opened suddenly, causing me to fall onto my back, but I sprung back up and crawled to the open door. Once my head was in, out of the rain, I wiped the wet from my eyes and looked around the interior of the car as they adjusted to the change in light.
I saw a child in the back seat, startled but awake, and a man unmoving, with his head resting on the steering wheel.
I reached around the seat, fumbling for the lever to bring it up, and I wondered how I’d get the child out of her seat without dropping her on her head. Finding the lever, I pulled and brought the seat forward, then twisted my body around the side, lifting one hand to unbuckle her seatbelt, and thrusting the other out in hopes of catching her once she was free.
What was only a matter of seconds felt like a lifetime, and it seemed as though I watched it all happen from somewhere outside of the car, rather than actually being the person pulling the child out to safety.
She started crying once she was in my arms and the cold rain began to hit her tiny face.
“Daddy!” she yelled over and over again, as I ran what I hoped was a safe distance from the car and set her on the ground.
“Shhhh, baby, you stay here, I’m gonna go get your daddy.”
I didn’t have time to offer more comfort than that; the smell coming from the car made me nervous, and when I saw a fire begin to flicker in the front of the car, I ran as hard as I could toward the driver’s side.
Without trying the handle first, I braced myself like I had on the other side, yanking at the handle as I pushed against the car with all of the strength my legs could muster.
“How is that fire still going in this damn rain?” I muttered in frustration as my attempts did not open the car. I stopped for a moment to take a deep breath and give my aching arms a rest, then began to pull again. “Please, God, help me…”
I yelled out in triumph when the door knocked me on my ass once again, then scooted forward to check the pulse of the man in the driver’s seat. I thought I could feel a faint heartbeat, then moved to unbuckle his seatbelt. Knowing there was no way I could catch the man who was much larger than myself, I moved my body out of the way and pushed the button, mentally apologizing to the man for any damage I unwittingly caused.
I looked over the car quickly to check on the girl, and saw Jake pushing her into the back of our vehicle and running around to let himself in on his side.
I was torn between pride that he’d gotten out and helped the girl get to safety, and anger that he hadn’t followed my instructions to stay in the car.
Realizing I’d have to worry about that later, I grabbed the man by the arm and pulled with all of my might. When he tipped out and splashed to the ground, I turned him and shoved my hands under his armpits, then began to drag him, watching warily as the fire started to spread.
“Damn, you’re heavy,” I heaved as I hauled him away from the car.
I worried as I realized we were on the opposite side of the car from the kids, so I dropped the man and murmured that I’d be back, and took off in a run, thinking I would get in my car and drive it farther down the road to wait for the police.
Unfortunately, that meant I was running right past the wrecked sports car when it exploded.
One second my feet were on the ground, taking me closer to Jake, and the next I was flying through the air, my ears ringing. The last thing I saw was asphalt as my face careened toward the highway.
Five Years Later
One
Jacob
The touch of your skin helps me breathe. Any time the pain feels like it’s gonna take me under, all I have to do is look at you, and I’m whole again…
I looked up from my guitar strings and brought my eyes shyly to Alison’s, curious to know what she thought about the latest song I’d written. It was still a draft, but she was always the first person to hear what I wrote.
“That’s beautiful, Jake.” Her sweet smile tugged at my heart, just like it had every day since the moment she’d come up and asked me if I was okay five years ago. Although we’d gone to the same school all of our lives, that was the first time we’d had a real conversation.
I’d been in love with her ever since.
“Thanks, baby,” I said genuinely. I honestly didn’t know how I would have made it through the last few years without her by my side. Lord knows my father hadn’t been much help.
First, he’d been too torn up with his own grief to worry about mine, and then he’d been too busy trying to move on and forget the life we used to have. It seemed like the second he found out Mom was in that accident, our family had been lost.
I might as well have been in that explosion along with her, for as much attention as he paid me over the last five years.
“Did you write it for me?” Ally asked coyly, tossing her long sandy hair over her shoulder.
“You know I did,” I replied, putting my guitar down gently and moving toward her. “Everything I write is for you.”
I could tell that pleased her, and my heart began to pound in my chest as I watched her lay back on my bed, her hair fanning out around her. It was really humid this time of year in North Carolina, so she was barely clothed in short shorts and a soft pink tank top. I could see her small, pert breasts straining against her shirt, and eagerly crawled up on the bed to cover her body with my much larger one.
“I love you, Alison,” I murmured as I lowered my head.
“I love you too, Jake,” she sighed as she opened her mouth in invitation.
This was a much better way to spend a morning than sweating my ass off in English class. With my dad off doing God knows what, we’d come back to my place rather than going to school after I’d picked her up that morning. We knew we couldn’t skip a lot or we’d get caught, but sometimes the temptation to be alone with her was too great.
A few months ago, we’d taken that next step in our relationship and had sex for the first time, and ever since that day I’d been like a man starved. I couldn’t get enough of her feather-soft skin and sweet-smelling body. I hadn’t known what I was missing until the day our bodies became one, and now there was no place I’d rather be than in my bed with my girl.
I knew she felt the same way, and although we were only seventeen and her parents would flip if they knew we were having sex regularly, we didn’t care. We loved each other, and I knew she was the girl I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
No one understood me the way she did, and I treated her with all of the love and devotion a girl like her deserved.
I rolled the condom on, no longer the fumbling idiot I’d been the first time I’d put one on, and closed my eyes with pleasure as I slid inside of her.
Heaven.
That’s what we shared when we were together.
I opened my eyes and saw her staring up at me, a soft expression of love on her face. I placed my hands on the back of her knees and lifted, filling her more fully and hitting her in just the right spot. Her head tilted back and she bit her lip, and I knew she was caught up in the moment with me.
Although I was ready to come at any second, I’d figured out how to make myself hold off until she came, before letting go. After the first time, when I’d come so fast I’d barely got one stoke inside of her, I’d done some research online and learned how to distract myself with unsexy things to make our time together last longer.
The first time Alison had come with me inside had been a mind-numbing experience and I made it my mission to make sure we both got off every time.
When she called out my name, I opened my eyes and turned off my brain, letting my other senses take over. I inhaled the musky smell of sex and dragged my eyes down her body, taking in the flush of pleasure that was there, before stopping to watch myself thrust in and out of her. That did it every time, and before long, I was lost in my own pleasure.
I was barely coming down when Alison patted my butt, causing me to open my eyes. She must have been trying to get my attention for a few moments, because she had a rueful smile on her face.
“What?” I asked, still a bit hazy.
“Your phone has been ringing off the hook.”
“Oh, shit, I hope it’s not school.”
I slipped out of her and slid the condom off, careful not to make a mess as I tied it off and threw it in my bathroom trash.
Mental note to take that out later…
I found my phone in the pocket of my discarded jeans and slid it out, frowning when I saw it was my grandmother calling. That was weird … I spoke to her every Sunday, but she usually never called during the week, especially during school hours.
I turned away from the bed, the idea of looking at my naked girlfriend while I talked to my grandma too freaky to even consider and pressed the accept call button.
“Hey, Grandma, what’s up?” I asked, hoping my voice sounded normal, and not like I’d just blown my load.
“Jake,” she said, the tone of her voice setting off alarm bells in my head. “She’s awake, darling … your mother’s awake!”
My legs gave out and I fell to the floor, barely registering the fact that both my grandmother and Alison were shouting my name.
My mother had finally woken up from the coma that had kept her from me for the last five years.
Two
Sean
The smell of coffee filled the air, reminding me I’d not yet had a cup today, so I wove through the stacks of books toward the coffee bar in the back of the store. Escape in a Book had been Kelly’s dream, and over the last five years it had become a thriving reality.
Bookstores were becoming extinct in the age of eBooks and tablets, but we’d managed to stay alive in our tourist-filled coastal town.
The counter offered pastries in the morning, and soups and sandwiches at lunch, along with assorted high-end coffees and teas. And there was a small, bistro-style seating area for those who wanted to partake.
In the corner of the shop we had a wonderful, vibrant children’s section, with children’s furniture and a few stationary toys to keep the kids amused while the parents shopped.
The store itself was styled with quotes in script on the walls, stacks of every sort of book, and large oversized chairs for those who wanted to take a moment to relax.
When Kelly’d been hurt, she’d only been in the planning stages of the store, but after a few months of not knowing whether or not she’d wake up, I’d taken over the plans with a gusto, needing to occupy myself with something other than worrying.
An accountant by trade, I’d never imagined I’d enjoy running the bookstore as much as I did, and I had to admit, living inside Kelly’s dream kept her closer to me than visiting her in that hospital room.
“Can I have a tall coffee, Carl?” I asked the barista when he had a free moment.
“Sure thing, boss.”
Having a great staff was another key to our success. In the beginnin
g it seemed like I’d spent every breathing moment here. I’d bring Jake along and he’d sit in the corner playing his hand-held video games while I worked. I can’t even recall how many meals had been spent between the stacks, but in my mind, it was all worth it.
Unfortunately, I’d been getting the feeling lately that it wasn’t the case for Jake. He’d become more and more distant over the last couple years, spending all of his time with his girlfriend and strumming on his guitar.
I’m afraid I’d allowed the distance, even though I could have done something about it … But he was so much like Kelly, it sometimes hurt to look at him.
“Here you go, Sean,” Carl said, handing me a ceramic mug full of steaming black coffee.
“Thanks.”
I was walking toward the front of the store to check on my cashiers, when a petite blonde stopped in front of me with a serene smile.
“Good morning,” she said, leaning in and offering me her cheek.
I appeased her by kissing it, even though I thought the ritual to be terribly old-fashioned. That was Madeline though, prim, proper, and old-fashioned.
“Good morning,” I returned when I righted myself. I looked over her head to make sure there was no one else around, then back down at her when I was satisfied there was no pressing business to attend.
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