She was an artist. Not a wife. Not a mother.
Laura’s expression changed to one of confusion as she asked, “Why do you need nice things?”
Aulora jumped when her cell rang in her jeans pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was her friend, Brittany. “I’ll call her back later.” She swiped the screen, sending the call to voicemail. “And about the nice things, can you keep a secret?”
Laura nodded and stopped looking through the closet and went to her, taking her hand and pulling her to sit on the bed with her. “I can. Tell me what’s up, Aulora.”
“Promise not to judge me?” she asked her cook.
Laura nodded. “I promise. I’m not here to judge anyone.”
“Well, I need to leave for a while. You see, I’m not going to be able to marry Weston. He deserves better than me. I don’t want to have kids. I’ve seen the heartache and fear and want no part of it.” She bit her lower lip as she ran her hand through her hair in a nervous fashion. “Does that make me a bad person, Laura?”
Laura shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. You’re truthful. Have you told Weston?” When Aulora shook her head, Laura sighed. “You’re engaged, Aulora. You need to talk to him. It’s not fair to him for you to run off without telling him why you’re doing it.”
“He’ll try to stop me,” she said. “Let’s face it, he will stop me. And I don’t want to be stopped. I want to get the hell away from it all. The worry, the fear, the not knowing what’ll happen.”
“That’s life, though. You can’t get through life without those things occurring. Sorry, that’s a fact,” Laura said.
“Not everyone has kids, Laura. Not everyone gets married. I don’t have to do those things. Not when I know that one day I’ll lose the people I love. It’ll hurt too much.” Aulora stood up and began to pace around her large room. “I just want to paint. I want to have those feelings. No sorrow, unless it lends itself to my work. I don’t expect you or anyone else to understand. I just can’t do it. I’m a loner. I always have been.”
Right on cue, Bruce ran out from under her bed and began to trip her up as he moved his fat body between her moving legs. Laura laughed as Aulora nearly fell. “He’s missed you. I’ve been wondering where he’d hidden. He’s managed to come out and eat his food and get some water when no one was around, but I haven’t seen him since you left to go to your father’s.”
Aulora stopped and sat on the floor. Bruce had slipped her mind. How could she go off and leave him?
“Kitty, what am I going to do about you?” she asked him.
Laura used the cat to try to get into Aulora’s head. “How long do you plan on being gone? Bruce does miss you, you know?”
“I’m not sure. Do you think the hotels in Italy are cat-friendly?” Aulora asked.
“It’s doubtful,” Laura said as she went to sit on the floor with her and petted to the cat. “And that plane ride is long. It would be brutal on him. Locked away in a pet carrier in the cargo area of the plane. He’d hate it. Don’t you think?”
Aulora looked at her cat and then her cell rang again. This time it was her mother. “I should answer this one,” she said as she swiped the screen. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hey, baby girl. Where are you?” her mother asked with a lilt to her voice.
“Home,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason. So, home in your penthouse?”
“Yes, that’s my home, Mom,” Aulora said then laughed. “You sound weird.”
“I don’t feel well. I’ve had a cold for a few days. How’s the new baby?”
Aulora looked off at nothing. She was tired of feeling pain over the baby. She was tired of feeling things, period. “She’ll be all right, I guess. She’s in the hospital. Call Dad if you want to know more. I really don’t want to know anything else.”
“Why in the world not?” her mother asked her as her voice went high and more than a bit agitated. “That sounds very selfish, Aulora!”
“I guess that’s what I am. All these people being in my life has me forgetting who I am and what I’m about. I’m an artist who prefers to be alone. When did it become everyone’s primary agenda to include me in something I was never looking to be a part of?”
“Aulora, I don’t like hearing you talk like this,” her mother reprimanded her. “Why so glum and anti-social?”
With a choked sob, Aulora found the sadness had overtaken her. She threw the phone down, then got up and ran to lock herself away in the bathroom. Laura picked the cell up.
“Hi, Miss Greene. You should stop by. Your daughter’s having a little bit of a breakdown.”
“For Heaven’s sake! I’ll be right over,” Evelyn said then ended the call.
Laura sat where she was, still stroking the cat’s soft fur. “What has your mommy got in her head?”
She got up and left the bedroom, Aulora needed some time, she guessed. But could she be talked out of running off? Laura wasn’t sure about that.
Artists could be closed off, she knew that from the one man she dated back in college. He could have been a true love, but he kept himself so guarded and aloof that she never got the chance to really love him. And she saw that in Aulora too. The only thing was, Laura wasn’t about to let Aulora do to herself what she watched the man she loved do to himself.
Chapter 5
Tears flowed as Aulora looked at herself in the mirror. What the hell was wrong with her? And why the hell couldn’t people just leave her alone?
She was going to get trapped, she knew it. No one was going to let her go. No one was going to let her put them all behind her. When a light tap came to the bathroom door, she shook her head. “Go away!”
“I can’t do that, peach,” came Weston’s voice. “Let me in.”
“Go away! I want to be alone!” she screeched through the door at him.
“No,” he said with a stern voice. “Now, you can let me in, or I can break the door to get to you. You decide.”
She leaned up against the door and whined, “Weston, you have no idea how I feel. I’m so torn apart. Just let me go. I’m no good for you.” She slipped the engagement ring off her finger and slide it under the door. “Take that. Give it to a woman who can give you what you want.”
“You’re the only woman for me, peach,” he said. “You come out and let’s talk. I have to put this ring back on your finger. Everything’s going to be alright. The baby’s doing fine. Everything will be all right.”
Aulora opened the door and fell into his arms as she cried, “Weston, how can you take this? It’s all too hard! I’m so damn afraid for her. It’s not even making any sense to me how much I care about her. How can I handle this all?”
He shushed her and cradled her in his strong arms. His breath moved her hair as he said, “I do believe this is the first time you’ve ever had someone in the world that you feel a kinship to. And that’s a strong thing to have. Hope is the first fragile life you’ve been a part of. It does make you hurt and worry.”
She pulled her head off his chest to look at him.
“How did you live through it, Weston? How could you have lived through the death of your son? I don’t think I could live through it. I can’t handle Hope being in the hospital. What if you and I have a child and something happens to it?”
Searching her eyes, praying to help her to understand things, he answered her, “Aulora, life’s hard. All the money in the world can’t make bad things not happen. It did nearly kill me when the accident took my son’s life. That’s the God’s honest truth. I was a shell of a human for over a year. But then, little by little, things got better. I could think about my son and not burst into tears. I could remember his sweet little face and the way his cries sounded.”
“I don’t see how you could ever want to possibly put yourself through that again,” she said then wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I can’t even contemplate the pain you felt when that happened. All I know is, I don’t ever want to feel that.”
“Then that all was taken away, West. How can you ever want to take that chance again? I didn’t even live through that, and I don’t want to take the risk.” She looked at him for his answer as she had no idea why he’d do such a thing to himself.
“We’re not here to go through life with no pain, no worry, no fear, no regret. Life is all about feeling things. Love isn’t the only thing there is to feel. You’ll be a miserable person if you try to keep those things out of your life. I can’t stand by and watch you be an unhappy person, peach.”
“Why can’t you?” she asked him as she had no idea why he put so much time and energy into her.
“Because I love you. You’re my life. Can’t you see that?” He ran his hand through her dark hair then kissed her with a tender kiss.
She cradled his face in her hands as they kissed. Then he ended the kiss, and she asked, “How can you love me? I’m such a mess. I can’t handle the simplest emotions without trying to get away from what’s causing them.”
“Love isn’t always easy,” he said then picked her up and carried her to the bed, sitting on it and holding her on his lap. “Now, you’re going to pull yourself together. Want to know why?”
She nodded. “I think you’re going to say that I need to be there for my sister.”
“Yes, you do. It’s time to put on the big sister pants and leave that only child in the past. You’re a big sister. As a big brother, I can tell you, the job never ends. You’ll be there for Hope through this trial, and more will follow. Her first heartbreak, she’ll come to you and want to know why her heart hurts so badly.”
“And I’ll tell her because boys are mean and should be avoided at all costs,” Aulora said then sniffled.
“No, you will not tell her any such thing,” Weston told her then kissed the tip of her nose. “You’ll tell her that heartbreak comes to us all and it should never stop her from trying love again and again until she finds the right one for her. Just like you gave me a chance that you were afraid to give me. I love you so completely that I’ll never let you hurt yourself again.”
“So, I’m not going to be going off to Italy to turn into a hermit?” she asked him. “Because that was my plan.”
“No, you will not be turning into a hermit anywhere. I’d find you. I love you far too much to allow you to hurt yourself that way. You’re wonderful. It would be a crime to hide from all of those who love you.”
She had no idea why he loved her. Aulora only knew she was one of the luckiest people on the planet. “I suppose you’re my backbone, West.”
“I can be whatever you need me to be. Now, promise me that you’ll never run off again and make me chase you down.” He kissed her damp and warm cheek then pushed her hair away from her face.
“Seriously?” she asked him as she wasn’t sure she could make that promise. “I can tell you now that my mind takes me over sometimes and it sends my feet moving.”
He slipped the engagement ring back on her finger. “Your mind needs to stop doing that to you.” He laid her back on the bed and ran his fingertip along the side of her long, slender throat. “You have a place in my life that no one can ever fill. You have places in the lives of many people, Aulora. Try very hard not to forget that. You would be more than missed, you would be mourned.” His lips found hers, taking her away from her worries and selfish ideas.
Aulora was needed by people. For the first time in her life, she was an important piece of a family puzzle. She wasn’t sure she was up for it, but it seemed she had no real choice in the matter.
Weston was dead set on her. She had a baby sister who would need her around. Running was no longer an option. How in the world would she learn to control that part of her brain that had the fleeing instinct so deeply embedded in it?
Chapter 6
A month down the road, Aulora and Weston went to Sunday dinner at her father’s house. When the butler answered the door, they saw Clara walking into the entrance room, holding Hope.
“There you are, big sis. She’s missed you,” Clara said then placed Hope in Aulora’s arms.
“Hey, pretty baby,” Aulora cooed at her sister. “How are you doing today?”
The three moved off toward the dining room. “She’s doing so much better,” Clara said. “You were so right about giving breastfeeding a shot, Aulora. Hope’s made great strides since I started doing that. You seem to have a natural knack with babies.”
Weston ran his arm around Aulora and kissed the side of her head. “I have to agree with Mum about that. You do have a certain knack.”
Aulora kissed Hope on the forehead. “Well, she and I have this great connection. I know what she’s thinking is all.”
Weston was more than pleased with how well Aulora was dealing with things after her breakdown. He’d been a bit afraid of having to fight her to come back around. When he didn’t, he was pleasantly pleased. But he’d have done it if necessary. There was no backup plan. She was his future, no matter what.
Taking their places at a lovely table filled with gorgeous white flowers as the centerpiece, they found Charles waiting on them all. “There they are. I got a phone call from the Four Seasons, they can get you in for the reception party on the date you wanted. The wedding is on!”
“Really?” Aulora asked as she held her baby sister up. “You should be walking by then, Hope. Do you want to be my flower girl?”
“That’s a year from now,” Clara said. “I’m sure she’ll be over the moon to walk down the aisle, tossing flowers around.”
“Do you think they could make her a replica of my wedding gown?” Aulora asked. “Wouldn’t that be so cute?”
“I bet we can make that happen,” Weston told her then kissed her cheek. “So, one year and three weeks from now, you will finally be my wife. It’s about time we have a date set for that.”
“Pity, you couldn’t get a date sooner than that,” Clara said. “Wedding venues in New York are nearly impossible to get on short notice.”
“Nice ones, anyway,” Weston said. “But that’s okay. It’s better anyway. Hope will get to be a bigger part in it. I know Aulora wants that more than anything else.”
Aulora smiled at him and caressed his cheek. “You know me better than I know myself, West.”
“I do, peach.” He kissed her lips with a light kiss, making Clara sigh.
“You two are so cute!” She clapped her hands and laughed. “I cannot wait for you two to make me a grandmother!”
Aulora laughed. “How silly you are. If you didn’t look so young, people would swear you were fifty. The way you talk and think is off the charts.”
“Sorry for loving my family,” Clara said with a smile. “So, the bachelorette party, the wedding shower, the honeymoon, we’ve got a lot to do, don’t we, Aulora?”
“I guess we do. All of those plans and reservations need to be made too,” she agreed.
“And the invitations have to be sent out. My family in England will need plenty of time to get their affairs in order, to make the trip. We’ll have to get the reservations for the hotel rooms,” Weston added.
Aulora went tense with the realization about how much work needed to be done for the big wedding. “Perhaps we should scrap the whole thing and run off to Vegas.”
Clara’s jaw dropped. “No way! You can’t do that to yourself. You should have a huge wedding. You deserve one, honey!”
“You do,” Weston agreed. “You’ve never had anything big. You wouldn’t let me give you a big graduation party. Your last birthday you also wouldn’t let me give you a big party. I want to give you a wedding to remember. The sky’s the limit.”
Aulora was
n’t used to being the center of attention. The fact was, she was nervous about the whole thing. But she did have a little secret, she did want the grand gesture of a gorgeous wedding. She did want pictures of her and her family all made up sweet and beautiful.
“Okay, I’ll shut up and go along with this thing,” she said as if she was conceding to them. But she was actually conceding to herself. She’d always fought herself about stuff like that. It was time to turn over a new leaf and let her light shine.
She had money, and so did Weston. She had a family who wanted to be a part of her life now. The poor and lonely days were fading into the past, rapidly. The future was anything but poor or lonely.
Aulora was on a path she’d never even dreamt of, all because of Weston’s persistence. She beamed at him as she thought herself lucky. “I’m glad you found me, baby.”
“Me too,” he agreed then kissed her again. “Now to eat and then we can get to making some plans, peach!”
Chapter 7
Toddling down the long aisle with Clara following close behind her, Hope tossed out white rose petals as she smiled at everyone. Decked out in a small white wedding dress that matched Aulora’s, the little girl was on cloud nine as she shared her big sister’s special day.
Clara picked her up as they got to the end of the aisle and took her to sit down on the front row. “Look, Hope, Daddy’s about to bring out, sissy,” she whispered to her little girl.
Hope smiled and pointed as her father and sister stepped up to the back of the large church, and the music changed to that of the bridal march. She clapped as they came down the wide path, she’d sprinkled the flowers on.
Aulora couldn’t help but smile at her baby sister. She’d woken up to a gorgeous day. Everything about the day was glorious. Birds were chirping, and the sun was shining in warm rays that streaked the morning sky. At the end of the path was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
When Aulora’s father handed her off to the man she’d spend the rest of her life with, she felt a chill run through her. Weston took her hand in his, and they turned to look at the preacher who was about to make them man and wife.
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