Clear Water has since been shut down, that horrible woman, Lucille, one of seventeen staff members who were put on trial in British Columbia, eight of them, including her, convicted of all sorts of things, from physically abusing patients, overmedicating them and forging documentation. One of the provincial investigators had also been convicted for turning a blind eye for so long, and a woman here in Washington State, the woman who had apparently been in my room the night I was taken, was charged as well for a slough of things, one of which had been basically smuggling me and other woman into Canada and up to Clear Water.
My parents had received slaps on the wrists with claims they had no idea what the psychiatric facility was actually like. Their inability to own up to their wrongdoing makes me unable to forgive them—maybe I never will.
And maybe that’s okay.
“You’re awake,” Luke says, rustling in our bed, late summer morning light flooding our room that is small and snug and warm and so full of love.
“I’ve been awake for a while,” I tell him, touching my finger to the tip of his nose, then dragging it down to his lips, lips that I have loved kissing freely and quite often for the last four years. If there is ever a dark thought in my mind, just seeing Luke pulls me right out of it.
“You stressed about your new job?” For a moment, there is a concern in his hazel eyes, the flecks of gold in them brighter in the morning light.
“No… of course not. You know how excited I am. You don’t have to worry about that.”
I’ll begin teaching my own second-grade classroom at Echo Ridge Elementary tomorrow, a job I’ve been preparing for half the summer it seems. It’s a career made possible because of my bachelor’s degree, just as I’d always planned, with Luke supporting me every step of the way and Bryant being a bonus to my time at college and not the distraction my parents surely thought he’d be.
My teaching career is one I’m glad to start in Echo Ridge, a town I’ve grown to love even if my start here had been a complicated one. I have good friends and pass friendly faces whenever I’m in town. Rhonda and I are in a good place, but I can’t help but be thankful that David now lives in Arizona and rarely returns home for visits—he’ll always be an asshole to me.
I didn’t luck out with Emily who did return to town but thankfully married that guy from Ellensburg and only comes up to Echo Ridge for business. Our interactions with her are few and far between, which is just fine with me. You don’t have to like everyone.
“I just want you to be happy,” he tells me, kissing me first on my forehead and then on my lips.
“I’m more than happy,” I tell him, moving my hands under the sheets and resting them on his naked skin. “And this house.” I smile and look around our room, so much smaller than the one he and I first had sex in, but so much cozier.
He lets out a small laugh. “Having this house built, especially when you’d been taken from me, was one way I could still hold on to hope that I’d get you back.”
“And you did.”
This house had been Luke’s great surprise for me. He’d bought the land he’d shown me the day he proposed to me and had a smaller, craftsman style house built on it, one just big enough for a family with a guest cottage in the back for Danielle whenever she wants it and views that make me glad to be alive. He sold his old house, the one that had been built for Isabelle, after he and I were married. It was a farewell to a past and an embracing of a future, one for he and I and Bryant and of course for Danielle who lives in Seattle now but comes to visit us most weekends. She and Carlos are currently on phase three of their relationship, and I think it will all work out someday, or maybe it won’t. There’s just no telling.
There is room enough for Cory and Kyle, and even Bernard, to visit too. My brothers have both come on breaks from college, Cory bringing his girlfriend, the same one he’d started talking to in high school. He’s really in love.
“And I’m so grateful.” He slips his warm hands over my curves, sliding one down my thigh and the other up my back.
“I can tell.” I giggle as he presses me closer to him, his hardness pressing into my soft skin.
“Are we still trying for another?” He lifts his brows, wanting to know how safe we need to be.
I’d had my IUD taken out a month ago, but I hadn’t fully committed to another baby quite yet. Luke was always game, and since he’d done more than his fair share of taking care of Bryant over the years, I figured he had as much a say in this as I did.
“Bryant asked me for a little sister just yesterday,” I tell him with a smile.
“He did?” Luke pulls me closer.
“I told him you can’t pick whether it will be a boy or a girl, but he’s under the impression you can and that’s the order he’d like to put in.”
“We can at least try to fill it, can’t we?”
It would mean me being pregnant during my first year of teaching, but if we timed it right, I might not even have to take maternity leave if he or she would come at the beginning of summer vacation.
“Yes, let’s try,” I say, bringing my lips to his and pulling his body to mine.
When we connect, I fall into bliss, the bliss that never seems to end with Luke, the bliss of our life together.
And it is truly and absolutely amazing.
Other Books by Stephanie Vercier
THE BASIN LAKE SERIES
This series may be read in series form or as standalone novels.
Between the Boys - Book 1 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6W5EHR
Broken by Love - Book 2 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9D9OLN
Between the Girls - Book 3 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N18N3L8
Unbroken by Love - Book 4 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071ZBH26R
Acknowledgments
Thank you readers! If you enjoyed The Years Between Us, please leave a brief review on Amazon or Goodreads.
Thanks to Jessica for helping me proof this book and to my family and friends who continue to support my writing endeavors!
About the Author
Hey, I’m Stephanie Vercier! I’m lucky to live in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest with my husband and a house full of kitties. I love writing, but I also adore reading and am addicted to audio books. Two of my current favorite genres are historical wartime romances and romantic thrillers, which I can’t seem to get enough of!
Website: http://www.stephanievercier.com/
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The Years Between Us Page 31