Finding Our Forever: (A Defining Moments Novel)

by Andee Michelle

  Finding Our Forever

  Copyright © 2016 by Andee Michelle

  Publisher: AM Books, LLC

  First Print Edition: September 2016

  Editor: Virginia Cantrell, Hot Tree Editing

  Cover Design: Mischievous Designs

  Interior Formatting: Pink Ink Designs

  Photography: Lindee Robinson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests or comments, please write to: ambooksllc@gmail.com

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, individuals, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Other books by Andee Michelle

  WATCHING MY PARENTS’ marriage fall apart had been horrible. I think I knew even in my early teens that they weren’t in love with each other. Everything about their relationship was mechanical. They never really showed affection toward one another in front of us, but they talked to each other like they were the best of friends. Most of the time. My mom, bless her old-fashioned soul, mothered him as she did us, and more times than not, it pissed him off. But he never said anything about it. He just went to work.

  Work. The place where he basically had a table of young, athletic hotties laid out in front of him. I’d been there a time or twelve over the years, and I can tell you from seeing it firsthand, the ladies he worked with adored him. He was different around them—attentive, funny, flirty—not the same man he was when he stepped through the front door of our home.

  When he announced they were separating, I’d had a feeling it was coming. Mom had been so sad around that time, and I knew something was off. Regardless, I wanted to rip his dick off when I found out a few weeks later that he was already seeing someone else. I’ll take it to my grave because my mom would be pissed if she knew, but I saw him leaving his office with his arm around a young woman, who I now know was his current girlfriend/baby mama. They looked pretty familiar with each other even back then.

  I kept it to myself because, seriously, how do you tell your mom that your dad is a cheating bastard? You don’t. I mean, they were separated, but he had definitely been cheating. I was almost relieved when Dad finally told us they were getting a divorce, but that relief was gone the moment he told us he was marrying his sidepiece because he knocked her up—obviously my words, not his. My younger brother, Destry, had to hold me back. I wanted to punch Dad right in the mouth… and sometimes I still do. He doesn’t make the best decisions and he’s selfish as hell. It amazes me that I didn’t realize that until I was basically an adult.

  My twin brother, Ben, had looked and acted shocked, which I found funny, and then after the shock wore off, even he was pissed. He’d always been my dad’s little sidekick, following him around like a lost puppy most of the time, and it used to make me so irritated. Watching my parents’ marriage fall apart really taught me a lot about myself and about what I want for my future. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why my parents got married. We were born six months later, full-term babies. They were young, just out of high school, and struggled big time when we were little. I think when you marry and become parents young, one of two things happen: the struggle makes your relationship stronger and you “grow up” together, or it makes you resent each other and tears you apart. For those reasons, I always wrap it up when I’m with a girl.

  Also, I’m no fool. I know the person I am today is not the person I will be in twenty years. Life changes people. Their priorities change. Their personalities change. Any thirty-five-year-old who says they are exactly the same person they were at twenty is a liar.

  Anyways, I digress.

  Our parents are divorced, which is a good thing since they both now seem somewhat happy. Dad and his baby mama put on happy faces when we are around, and their new baby, Amelia, is amazing. I don’t think I could love a little girl more. My mom is enjoying her new career as some type of chef in a local restaurant and is trying to make light of the fact that she is totally into her neighbor, who also happens to be her boss. I like Cord; he seems nice enough. When we found out that Mom was “friends” with the Saint Cordero, we were floored. I mean, he’s a UC legend. I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to seeing my mom hanging out with another guy though. It’s just weird.

  Why am I telling you all this you ask? Well, you see, all of this is what leads up to the rest of my story. Our story. The shitstorms my father always creates and leaves in his wake is what led me to her. My Sara.

  MY HEART IS BEATING so fast that I feel lightheaded. I throw my truck into gear and push the pedal to the floor, making my engine scream in response.

  “Eli, it’s your mom. She’s been hurt. Come to St. Mary’s Medical Center.”

  That was the voice mail I received from my dad. He never leaves me messages, so the moment I heard the notification ding, I listened to it. I guess that’ll teach me to decline phone calls from him.

  She has to be okay.

  As soon as I put the truck in park, I’m running. The doors slide open and the chaos of the emergency room makes my heart race even more.

  “Excuse me. My mom is here somewhere. Eleanor Harper,” I choke out.

  The woman types into the computer quickly and then looks up at me with kind eyes.

  “Yes, sir, she is currently in surgery. She has other family members in the waiting area,” she states sympathetically while pointing toward a long corridor. “They are down that hall and to the left.”

  “Thank you,” I reply as I take off in that direction.

  The moment I step into the waiting room, Ben grabs me and holds on for dear life. We stand motionless, clinging to each other for what feels like hours. I can’t let go of him. People who do not have a twin will never understand the bond that comes with that. Even as different as Ben and I are, he is my best friend, my person. Yeah, we drive each other crazy, but I seriously have no idea what I’d do without him.

  “Tell me,” I demand.

  Ben pulls back long enough for us to take seats beside our dad, who looks completely lost.

  “She’s in surgery, Eli,” Ben tells me. “She was hit by a car while walking on Harrison Boulevard.”

  My whole world seems to come crashing down in an instant. Not my mom.

  “You!” I growl at my dad, who is sitting beside me with his head hanging down braced on his hands. I can tell he is crying, bu
t he hasn’t said a word since I stormed into the room.

  “Why are you here?” I grind out. He doesn’t even attempt to respond.

  My father, a man I used to think set the sun and hung the moon, sits broken beside me. His shoulders shake with his cries, but no sound comes.

  I sit quietly, torn by what is happening. Torn because I want so much to rip into my father, to scream at him for the pain he has caused our family. I’m not sure why I have this overwhelming anger toward him all of a sudden, as if this is his fault.

  “Has anyone called Destry yet?” I ask emotionless.

  My dad doesn’t even raise his head to respond. “Not yet. I’m not ready to talk about it.”

  “Well, Dad, this isn’t about you, now is it?” Ben bites out. “I’ll call him.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and stands, cell phone in hand, stomping away from us.

  I watch my dad, still unmoving and seemingly uncaring that his children are terrified about what is happening with their mother. He is such a selfish asshole. How can he even think that his pain and worry is anywhere close to what we are feeling?

  “Do they have any idea what happened?” I ask him, hoping that if I can get him talking, he’ll snap out of it.

  He just shakes his head, his shoulders still shaking with his crying.

  When did this man become such a pussy? I feel as though I should remind him that he is no longer married to the woman he left for his twenty-six-year-old piece of ass.

  We sit for what feels like a lifetime, waiting for some word on how she’s doing. Ben comes back in and tells me Destry is going to try to get a flight out as soon as possible, but it may take him a day or two to get here. We need to keep him updated.

  Dad gets up and stomps around the room a few times, looking up at the ceiling with his hands behind his neck, squeezing tightly. I’ve never, in my twenty years of life, seen my dad act this way. He looks as though he might have a full-on breakdown.

  He paces more, not once speaking to us directly, but he is mumbling under his breath now and then. At some point, he stills, before he tells us he needs to find the hospital chapel and bolts from the room.

  The man is losing it. He better ask for forgiveness for being a deceitful asshole while he’s in there praying.

  Not more than five minutes after he flees the room, a doctor, still in surgical scrubs, strides in.

  “Eleanor Harper’s family?” he asks, a little louder than necessary.

  “Yes, that’s us. We’re her sons,” I blurt out quickly, rushing to him, Ben on my heels.

  “Your mom is out of surgery and doing fine. She is going to be sore and has some road rash that will be uncomfortable, but she is a very lucky lady. She had a severely broken wrist, which I was able to repair. She’ll need some physical therapy to regain full range of motion, but she will make a full recovery pretty quickly if she takes care of herself,” he assures us.

  My legs wobble and I fear they aren’t strong enough to hold my body up.

  She’s going to be okay.

  She’s going to make a full recovery.

  Ben’s arm comes around me, pulling me into a hug, and I can’t help the emotion that takes over me.

  “She’s going to be okay, Eli. Breathe,” he whispers to me. I let the tears come without attempting to brush them away.

  She’s going to be okay.

  My dad enters the room but freezes when he sees Ben and me crying. He lets out a cry and falls to his knees, begging for God to take him instead of her, and it dawns on me that he probably thinks she’s gone. Could he be more of a drama queen?

  Ben rushes to him, pulling him into his arms, mumbling words I don’t care to hear. I make my way over to the chairs we were sitting in just minutes ago, letting my body fall into them without restraint. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I hit Destry’s number.

  “Hello,” he almost shouts.

  “She’s okay, Dez. She’s out of surgery and expected to make a full recovery. Jacked up wrist that they had to fix and will need some therapy for, but she’s going to be fine,” I rush out, knowing he’s been sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for this call.

  I hear him crying and don’t say anything. He needs to let it out, and he doesn’t have to say anything in response. We sit silent, holding onto our phones, both letting the situation and outcome sink in.

  “I need a drink,” Destry chokes out after several minutes, and we both burst out laughing.

  “You and me both, little brother.”

  “Okay, now that I can breathe again, do you have any details on what happened?” Dez asks me seriously.

  “Not yet, but I imagine over the next few hours, we’ll get more of what’s going on.”

  “All right, well, keep me updated on what’s happening and call me the minute you guys get to see her and she’s awake… or if you find anything out about what happened… or if you need anything,” he trails off.

  “Dez, she’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

  “Call me with any and all information, Eli. I mean it,” he demands.

  “I promise. Now, I’m going to go peel our pathetic father off the ground and make him talk to us. Remind me to tell you that story.” I’m still absolutely floored that my dad is playing the heartbroken husband.

  I make my way over to where Ben and Dad are now sitting on the bench seats.

  “I called Dez. He’s still going to fly out as soon as he can, but he knows she’s going to be okay,” I interrupt.

  For the first time since I arrived, Dad might actually be hearing me. “Thank you for calling him, Eli, and I’m sorry I fell apart. I just can’t believe that we almost lost her.” He starts crying again and pulls me and Ben into his big shoulders. Oh, now he wants to comfort us? When we know she’s going to be okay.

  I pull from his grip just as a nurse comes into the waiting room.

  “Hello there,” she announces cheerfully. “You must be Mrs. Harper’s family.” My heart feels like it’s lodged in my throat. She’s beautiful. Not in a “sex kitten” way, but in a “perfect girl next door” way. Her red hair is swept up in a loose bun with little pieces sticking out everywhere. I see no noticeable makeup on her seemingly perfect skin and her lips have a light glossy sheen to them, but not from some sticky gloss, maybe from her licking her lips. Her freckles are seriously the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

  What the hell is wrong with me? I’m checking out a nurse while my mom is in the hospital fighting for her life. Okay, maybe that’s dramatic, but seriously. Reign it in, Eli, damn.

  “Yes,” Ben replies, because my mouth feels full of cotton balls. She turns her attention to him before speaking again, a stunning smile on her face.

  “Mrs. Harper has been moved into the recovery room and will be there for a bit. I can show you all to the room they will bring her to when she’s ready.” She whisks her hand toward the door to the waiting room.

  Just as we start to head out, my phone rings loudly and the beautiful nurse glares at me.

  “Sorry,” I grumble before silencing it and looking to see who it is. I don’t want to miss Dez. I can’t imagine going through this from two states away.

  I’m surprised when I see Cord’s name light up.

  “Hello,” I grunt into the receiver.

  “Eli, hey it’s Cord. Have you seen or talked to your mom? We’re supposed to get together this evening, and I haven’t been able to get a hold of her and she’s not home. I’m starting to worry,” he spews out, and I can hear the concern in his voice.

  “We’re at the hospital. She’s going to be okay, but she was hit by a car and had to have surgery on her wrist,” I tell him, trying to be strong even though it’s hard to even say it without breaking down.

  “Oh God,” he whispers, but then says nothing more.

  “Cord?” I ask.

  “Sorry. What hospital is she in?” he snaps out.

  “St. Mary’s Medical Center,” I tell him quickly. “I have to go, Cord. They
’re taking us into her room to wait for her to come back from recovery. I’ll text you her room number as soon as we’re in there.”

  “Okay, thanks. It’s going to take me a little while to get there, but I’ll be there as soon as I can. Do you guys need me to bring anything?”

  “No, I think we’re good for now,” I respond numbly. “Just a heads up, my dad’s here. I don’t know if he knows about you and Mom being friends. I just didn’t want you to walk into it blindly and he’s a wreck.”

  “See you soon, Eli.” It’s not lost on me that he doesn’t even respond to my dad being here. I have no doubt my mom has already told him the bullshit my dad has pulled over the past nine months.

  Just as we get to an empty room, the nurse turns to me.

  “You’re going to need to silence that or turn it off,” she tells me gently. Her voice even does something to my chest. Flutters. I feel flutters in my chest.

  What the hell is that about?

  I nod and silence my phone. Her smile is amazing. Her eyes are amazing.

  We take seats and there’s an uncomfortable silence before Dad speaks.

  “Look, boys, I know I’ve done some not-so-admirable things over the past year,” he mutters, “but I need you guys to understand that I love you and your mother more than anything in the world. The thought of losing her forever about killed me. I’m so sorry I shut down.”

  I laugh out, and I’m not talking a chuckle. I full-on belly laugh at the audacity of this man.

  “Eli, I know that this has been a crazy day, but I don’t find anything funny about any of it,” he scolds me, which makes me laugh even harder.

  “You’ve gotta to be freaking kidding me.”

  “Listen, young man,” he starts, but I seriously can’t even catch my breath I’m laughing so hard.

  I feel a hand touch my arm, but I know it’s not Ben because he’s standing beside Dad with his hands clenched into fists, face blood red.

  I turn my head to the side and look into those gorgeous chocolate eyes. I could get lost in those eyes.

  “Are you okay? Do you need me to give you something to help you relax?” she asks with genuine concern on her face.