FOREVER SERIES: COMPLETE BOX SET

by Lynn, Sandi

  “Sometimes people just fall off the right path.”

  Brayden started to cry. “I think this little dude has had enough of the water. Come on, buddy, let’s go back to the house and dry off those feet.”

  Julia hooked her arm around me, and we walked back to the party. Amelia was off talking to her college friends and I saw Peyton at the bar, getting a drink.

  “Hi, Peyton. Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure, sweetie. What’s up?”

  “How’s Hailey doing?”

  She took a sip of her drink and sighed. “May I ask why you’re asking?”

  “The few times I saw her, she doesn’t seem herself and I’m concerned.”

  We slowly started to walk out of the tent. “Henry and I have said the same thing. We think she’s doing drugs and we don’t know what to do. We don’t like that Marcus guy she’s with at all. I’m really worried about my little girl, Collin. We’ve tried to talk to her, but she shuts down and tells us that she’s fine and she’s really happy.”

  “I was thinking about talking to her. Maybe asking her to go to lunch one day.”

  “I think she would like that. I know it’s not easy for you, considering the history you two have, but I think she would listen to you.”

  “Okay. Then as soon as I get back from California, I’ll have a talk with her.”

  Peyton wrapped her arm around me and gave me a hug. “Thank you, Collin. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  My dad and I stood at the bar and did a few shots. Okay, we did more than a few and were pretty drunk. So drunk that after the party ended and everyone left, Amelia had to hold me up while we walked home, and my mom had to help my dad into the house. We had a great time, though, and the best was yet to come for our wedding reception.

  “I’ll bring you the cocktail in the morning,” I heard my mom say to Amelia.

  “Thanks, Mom. He’s going to need it.”

  “So is his father.”

  “I’m not drinking that shit,” my father and I both said at the same time as we attempted to high five each other and missed.

  * * *

  “Drink up, sleepy head,” I heard a voice say. I opened one eye and saw Amelia standing over me with a glass in her hand.

  I moaned and rolled over.

  “Oh no you don’t. Jake is waiting for you to go surfing, so you better drink this and not disappoint him. Between this cocktail and the ocean water, you’ll feel better.”

  I turned on my back, forced myself to sit up, and took the glass from her, chugging it down as fast as I could. God, I hated this shit. I always had and every time I was hungover, my mom shoved it down my throat. Now I had my wife doing the same thing.

  “Good boy. Now get up and put your wetsuit on.” She smiled as she kissed my forehead.

  I unsteadily climbed out of bed, brushed my teeth, and pulled on my wetsuit. My head was thumping and the last thing I wanted to do was to go surfing. I grabbed my surfboard and we walked down the beach to my parents’ house. My dad and Jake were sitting on the patio with sour looks on their faces and a cup of coffee in their hands.

  “Morning.” I set my surfboard down and took a seat next to Jake. “Sorry I’m late.”

  He put up his hand. “No, please. Don’t apologize. I just got up a few minutes ago myself.”

  He looked just as hungover as I did and so did my dad.

  “Rough night for us,” I spoke.

  Both of them slowly nodded their heads. “Yep. It sure was.”

  “Did you drink it?” I asked them both.

  “Had no choice,” they replied in unison.

  After about an hour of sitting there, quietly talking and trying to feel better, Jake and I grabbed our boards and hit the water.

  * * *

  Connor

  Standing at the edge of the path between the beach house and the beach, I stared at my family as they were enjoying the water, sun, and sand. It seemed like yesterday I was showing Ellery this house after our wedding.

  “What are you doing?” Ellery asked as she wrapped her arm around my waist.

  “Just watching our children down there having fun. I was just thinking about how it seemed like yesterday when I brought you here for the first time.”

  She laid her head on my shoulder. “It sure does. This house holds a lot of wonderful memories. Before you know it, Brayden will be running up and down that beach all by himself and Jake will be teaching him how to surf.”

  Julia turned around and waved to us. “Why are you two just standing up there? Get down here and enjoy your last day with us!”

  I took Ellery’s hand and we walked down to where Julia and Amelia were sitting. I bent down and picked up Julia.

  “Daddy! What are you doing?”

  “Do you remember when I used to do this?”

  “Daddy, put me down. Don’t you dare take me into the water!”

  “Come on, princess. Just like old times,” I said as I walked in the water with her screaming and threw her.

  Once she surfaced, she rubbed the water from her eyes and came after me, just like she used to when she was a kid. We played around in the water, splashing and trying to pull each other under. Jake and Collin abandoned their surfboards and joined us. Amelia and Ellery stepped to the shoreline and Collin grabbed Amelia and threw her in the water. Ellery looked at me and shook her head because she knew I was coming for her.

  “I have your grandson, Connor. Don’t you dare. I swear to God, Connor,” she screamed as Jake grabbed Brayden and I picked up Ellery, carrying her into the water.

  “You’ll pay for that, Connor!” she yelled. “No more sex for you!”

  “Mom. Gross. Stop it!” Collin yelled as I laughed.

  I swam out to her and placed my hands on her face. “You couldn’t withhold sex from me no matter how hard you tried.”

  “You’re right. But I knew it would make the kids cringe.” She softly kissed my lips.

  And that was how our day was spent in the Hamptons. Playing in the water, reminiscing about old times, and just having fun as a family. A family with a bond so strong, nothing could ever break it.

  We had one last barbeque and then cleaned up and headed back to the city.

  “Julia, why don’t you let us take Brayden in our car? It’ll give you and Jake a chance to be alone and talk for a while.”

  “Thanks, Daddy. I think we’ll take you up on that offer.”

  Just as we loaded both cars, Collin and Amelia pulled up to the curb. “You guys ready to head back?”

  “We sure are.” Julia smiled as she climbed in the car.

  I pulled out first, then Julia and Jake pulled out, and Collin followed behind.

  Chapter 19

  Collin

  I took Amelia’s hand and brought it up to my lips. We had an amazing weekend and the week was only going to get better leaving for California.

  “Are you excited to go to California?”

  “I’m very excited. You didn’t tell Jacob we were coming, did you?”

  “No. I just told Diana and she said she wouldn’t tell him. We want to surprise him. It’ll be great to see them again. Also, we’re going to go out with Ashley and Ariel while we’re there.”

  “And don’t forget about Mason and Landon.” She smiled.

  “How could I? Mason’s been texting me nonstop with excitement. He and Landon are taking us out to celebrate your graduation.”

  “Maybe we need two weeks in California.” She laughed.

  So far, the drive home was smooth. It was night and darkness had settled in, but traffic was light. Julia and Jake were in front of us and my parents were nowhere to be seen. I pulled out my phone and dialed my dad.

  “Yes, Collin.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I decided to take a different route than usual. I want to see if it’s any faster.”

  “And what time does the GPS say you’ll be arriving home?” I asked with a cocky attitude.

&
nbsp; “Fifty-three minutes.”

  “I see. We should be pulling in at the same time. See you in fifty-two minutes, Dad.”

  I heard him sigh as he ended the call. We continued our drive and up ahead was an intersection about twenty minutes from home. One of our favorite songs came on the radio and I turned it up and started singing to Amelia. I looked at her for a split second and ran my thumb down her cheek. Suddenly, she screamed.

  “Collin, oh my God! STOP!”

  I looked ahead and everything went into slow motion. I slammed on the brakes as I watched a truck slam into Julia and Jake’s car as they went through the intersection, sending it into another car before rolling over. The crash was a sound I’d never forget. The squealing of the tires and the thumping sound of the car hitting the cement as it rolled over. My heart was pounding, and Amelia was crying. I swung open the door as I screamed Julia’s and Jake’s names. Cars stopped and people got out to see what had happened. I ran over to the car and got down on the ground, Julia was lying there with tears streaming down her face and blood pouring from her forehead. I looked over at Jake and he was unconscious.

  “FUCK!” I yelled. “Julia, close your eyes tight.”

  Amelia and I ran over to Jake’s side and I told her to stand back as I kicked the window as hard as I could, causing it to shatter. Amelia pushed me out of the way and checked Jake’s pulse.

  “He’s alive. Thank God. He’s alive.”

  I reached in and over Jake, taking hold of Julia’s hand, trying to calm her down.

  “Julia. You’re going to be okay. The ambulance is on its way. Just hold on.”

  “I can’t move, Collin,” she said in a weak voice.

  “Don’t try to move, Julia. It’s important that you don’t move.”

  “Jake!” she screamed.

  “Jake is going to be fine. He’s alive and so are you.” Tears were streaming rapidly down my face as I held her hand.

  “My baby. Where’s my baby?”

  “Brayden is safe. He’s with Mom and Dad. Amelia, call my parents and tell them what happened.”

  Before long, the ambulance arrived and quickly attended to Julia and Jake. I got up and hugged Amelia tightly as she sobbed into my shoulder. We both were shaking uncontrollably. A police officer walked over to us and asked us what happened.

  “We were driving behind them, and the light was green. Out of nowhere, that truck just slammed into them.”

  “That driver is drunk and we’re taking him into custody. Thank you for your statement.”

  The paramedics got Jake and Julia out of the car and placed them on the stretchers.

  “This one’s in bad shape. We need to get her to the hospital stat. Call the ER and tell them to have a team ready and that we’re on our way.” They put her in the ambulance. I needed to be with her.

  As the other paramedic was taking Jake’s vitals, he started to regain consciousness and screamed Julia’s name.

  “She’s going to be okay, Jake. You both are,” I said as I held his hand. He looked at me as tears filled his eyes. I wanted to break down right then and there, but I couldn’t. I needed to be strong for him and for my sister. “Amelia, stay with Jake. I’m going to ride to the hospital with my sister. Can you drive to the hospital?”

  “Yes. Just go. I’ll be fine.”

  I gave her a kiss and climbed in the ambulance with Julia as they shut the doors and took off, sounding their lights and getting us to the hospital as fast as they could.

  * * *

  Julia

  The sound of the crash. The lights fading into the distance and the excruciating pain that radiated through my body was unbearable. I lay on the stretcher, fighting for my life as my brother cried and held my hand. He kept telling me that everything was going to be okay. But I wasn’t so sure. Sounds were fading in and out and dizziness overtook me. Before I knew it, I was being raced down the hallway of the hospital. A team of doctors waited for me inside the room that would determine my fate. I was alone in a room full of strangers who were trying to help me. As they cut off my clothes, I heard one of the doctors say I had internal bleeding and they needed to get me to surgery stat. I looked up as a nurse was cleaning the wound on my forehead.

  “You’re going to be just fine, Julia. Hang in there, sweetie.” She gently smiled.

  Once again, I was being raced down the hallway and into the surgical room where they injected me with a needle and put a mask over my face. Silence fell upon my ears as darkness overtook my eyes.

  “You’re going to be okay, kid,” I heard a familiar voice say.

  I turned around and I was standing in the hallway outside the surgical room. I looked around for the familiar voice and, when I turned my head, Denny was standing in front of me.

  “Denny.” I smiled. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in limbo right now, but soon enough, you’ll be waking up. It’s not your time, Julia. You still have your whole life ahead of you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Trust me. I know.”

  He looked so good and so happy. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “I’m fine. Better than I ever had been. Do me a favor and tell your old man to stop being stubborn. Tell him he knows the right thing to do and that forgiveness always prevails. Everything happens for a reason, Julia. The big guy upstairs makes things that way. I have to go now. You’ll be waking up soon. Take care of your family and kiss that baby boy of yours for me.”

  As he started to walk down the hallway, he slowly began to disappear in the distance. “Denny, wait!” I screamed. A force so strong held me back and everything went black.

  Chapter 20

  Connor

  We met Collin and Amelia in the waiting room. Ellery was hysterical as she hugged him.

  “She’s in surgery, Mom. We haven’t heard anything yet.”

  I hugged Amelia tightly as she broke down and cried. After both women started to settle down, I hugged Collin like he was the last person on earth.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  “A drunk driver ran a red light at the intersection and hit Julia and Jake. Julia’s side was hit. Dad, I’ll never forget what I saw.” He started to sob in my arms.

  We waited for what seemed like eternity before the doctor came into the waiting room. “Mr. and Mrs. Black?” the surgeon asked.

  “Yes,” I answered as Ellery held on to me.

  “I’m Dr. Perry, the surgeon who worked on your daughter, Julia. She has sustained some injuries and we had to stop some internal bleeding in her abdomen. Unfortunately, her kidneys took the impact of the accident and we had to remove one that was completely severed.”

  Ellery was about to collapse as Collin grabbed her from behind. “Sit down, Mom.”

  “If you’re not aware, you can lead a completely normal life with one kidney, however, the second kidney was also damaged, and I repaired as much as I could. I have a nephrologist coming in to talk to Julia in the morning about the next step.”

  “When can we see her?”

  “She’ll be waking up from the surgery soon. I will warn you that she will be in a lot of pain, but the nurses will have her on pain medication through her IV. We put her in a room with her husband. He’s fine. Just some bruises, but we want to keep him here overnight for observation.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Perry.”

  I sat down next to Ellery and held her. “She’s going to be just fine, baby. Our little girl is going to be okay.”

  “She has one kidney, Connor, and the other is damaged. I don’t call that fine!” she yelled.

  “She’s alive and that’s all that matters. We’ll deal with the rest later.”

  A nurse walked in and led us to Julia and Jake’s room. Standing in the doorway, an overwhelming fear took over me and I found it difficult to step inside the room. Ellery ran over to Julia’s bedside and began to cry. Jake stared at me from his bed and I could see the tears spring to his eyes. I walked over to him and grabbed his
hand.

  “I’m so sorry.” He began to cry.

  “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re both alive.”

  “She’s going to be okay, right?”

  “Yes, son. She’s going to be okay.” I gave his hand a gentle squeeze and Collin and Amelia walked over.

  I looked at my princess and my heart started to race. Thinking of how we could have lost her terrified me. I placed my hands on Ellery’s shoulders. She let go of Julia’s hand and walked over to Jake. I sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand, holding back the tears that so desperately wanted to escape. I needed to stay strong for Ellery and for Jake. I buried my face in my daughter’s arm and said a silent prayer.

  “Daddy,” I heard a soft whisper.

  I lifted my head and Julia was staring at me. “What happened?”

  “You were in an accident, princess, but you’re going to be just fine.”

  Ellery ran over to the other side of the bed and gave her a light hug. “My baby,” she cried.

  “Where’s Jake?”

  “I’m right here, sweetheart.” He smiled.

  Collin and Amelia gave us some time with Julia before they walked over to see her.

  “Thank you,” Julia whispered to Collin. “You were there holding my hand and telling me that I was going to be okay.”

  “You would have done the same for me.” He smiled at her.

  “Where’s my baby?”

  “Brayden is with Peyton and Henry. Don’t worry about him. He’s fine.”

  Julia started to cry. “What if he was in the car with us?”

  I leaned over and lightly gripped her shoulders. “Princess, he wasn’t and that’s all that matters.”

  “Why am I in so much pain? My back and my stomach hurt so bad.”

  “Collin, go get the nurse,” I spoke.

  Ellery leaned down and pressed her lips against Julia’s hand. Telling her what had happened to her was going to be one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I swallowed hard and took in a deep breath.