Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4)

by Shirley, Sara

  I never held anything back from her after that. We knew we were it for each other, and it turned out Adam wasn’t the right guy for her. Two weeks after I deployed, he accepted a new position with a major magazine company in Seattle. Courtney said her decision was an easy one. He loved his job; she loved her family more. They parted ways, and she knew then there was some subliminal force telling her that choosing me was the right choice. She never alluded to whether she wanted me instead, though. Court kept telling me that I’d have to wait and see. The minute I exited the plane in Boston during my mid-deployment leave, I borrowed Josh’s Jeep and rushed to the lake.

  I smile at the memory.

  “I’m sure since I’m lying here with you right now that things worked out pretty good for you.” Courtney grins up at me as I hover over her fragile body.

  “Pretty good, huh?” My lips caress their way down her collarbone and over the tops of her swollen breasts. Her chest heaves with each kiss.

  “Mmmhmm.”

  My hand inches under the fabric of her cotton boy shorts. My fingers trace along her seams. The heat radiating off her is enough to drive me wild. I pull away, snapping the elastic of her panties against her core. Her hips writhe with wanton desire against my growing erection. “You are insatiable this morning, Mrs. Daley.” My lips linger over her slightly rounded belly as I place soft kisses over her stomach. “And you in there?” I speak softly to our unborn child. “You better cover your ears because Mommy is going to be screaming very bad things to Daddy in a few minutes.”

  “Drew!” Court’s eyes grow wide as she laughs, resting her hand over her stomach. “Oh my God, now I’ve got to pee. See what you did.” She moves quickly out of bed and in the direction of the bathroom down the hall. I hear her tiptoeing all the way, mumbling something along the lines of “Shit, it’s cold. Goddamn, this house is freezing.”

  I stare down at the pitched wood in my pajama bottoms. “Doesn’t look like we’re getting a Christmas present at the moment.”

  The woman’s hormones are up and down. One minute she’s sweating and stripping off her flannels in bed, and the next she’s freezing. I don’t get pregnant women at all, but I love Courtney more with each inch that grows around her waist, because that’s my future growing inside her.

  I pad my way out of the bedroom and down the hall as the sun rises over the snow-covered lake. Light filters through the Christmas tree next to the fireplace. I quickly toss a couple of logs onto the wrought iron grates and light a small piece of paper underneath to get the fire going.

  I push myself over to the frosty windows and scan the peaceful scene outside. There are no boats passing through the bay this morning, or any time soon for that matter. The trees are free of their leaves except for the dark evergreen that scatter the winter landscape. It’s quiet, but that’s exactly how we want it. As I turn around to head into the kitchen to start the coffee, something catches my eye. A glimmer from across the lake. No less than twenty minutes ago, a house was sitting in that same spot with a woman named Cole.

  It was all just a dream.

  I shake my head in disbelief. No. My lips curl up into a smile.

  It was a dream come true, and so much of it I can recall actually happening. The moments that Courtney and I shared those couple of weeks I was home. The friends she made while I was away. The ones I met for the first time. She made a lifetime up here not only for herself, but also for me because she knew this was where we’d find the greatest happiness. Buying the lake house from my parents was the easiest decision, next to marrying Courtney.

  Moments later, I hear the toilet flush, and Courtney emerges from the bathroom, completely dressed in flannel pajamas. I cock one eyebrow at her after I notice she’s covered up now. Even her damn feet are covered in fluffy cheetah slippers.

  She smiles devilishly at me as she heads to the fridge. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. You’ll still get your Christmas sexy time before you open your gifts.” I turn back to poke the fire, smiling to myself at how well she knows me.

  One at a time, she pulls platters of breakfast pastries out of the fridge and places them onto the counter. I catch the faint sounds of her humming Christmas carols while she moves about. I narrow in on the blueberry muffins and make a beeline right for them before she can tell me no. Apparently, I’ve put on some winter fluff, or ‘sympathy weight’ as she refers to it. Either way, I’m not supposed to be eating all the delicious treats she’s made for our family and friends coming over later.

  I hear a lone bell coming down the staircase before Courtney shuffles in that direction. “Morning, Porter,” she singsongs and bends to pat the head of her black and white cat she rescued from behind her café at the end of the summer.

  Ha-ha…Cole Porter. Damn. I DO have some pretty crazy dreams sometimes.

  I hear Courtney rummaging in the bedroom down the hall. Rather than going right for the pastries, I opt for the banana before turning on the coffee brewer. I wait for Courtney to return to the kitchen, until I hear a ruffling of paper and a door shutting.

  “You all right down there?” I ask, my mouth half full of banana.

  “Yeah. Just having some issues with this present,” she replies, and I then hear her swearing and groaning.

  I take a few short steps past the dining table and glance at the framed pictures on the buffet. The picture from Sam’s wedding that held so much heartbreak now rests behind many wonderful memories. A picture of me proposing to Courtney in her café downtown just before I was set to return to duty. A simple wedding picture next to that from when I returned and we rushed up to the lake in the midst of a cold, snowy winter. We were married under a gazebo in front of Wolfe’s Tavern with snow falling as a backdrop. In the picture, Courtney is draped in my arms as I dipped her at the end of our first dance in front of our freezing family members. That didn’t make too many people happy—an outdoor ceremony held in the dead of winter. But, we are happy, and now, nearly a year later, we have a baby on the way.

  I run my eyes further down the buffet to the picture of the entire family with me at my graduation from the Police Academy. The root cause of my less than stellar six-pack abs. That gym membership is working out wonderfully with my rotating shift schedule. Courtney goes more than I do these days, but since she can make her own hours at Trouvaille, she has no reason not to. The most exercise I get these days is helping with the wrestling program at the high school. Evidently, I don’t have all the moves I used to in college. Who knew?!

  Next is a picture of the guys and me in my unit while in Afghanistan. My brothers-in-arms, Sergeant Everett Smith, Staff Sergeant Deroche, and Corporal Locke, stand with me in front of our MRAP Humvee. I don’t see them as much as I used to, but we still video chat at least once a month. Everyone is either married or having kids these days, so we’ll have to rely of Marine Corps reunions to catch up with each other.

  A final frame rests at the end. It’s an empty rustic wooden frame with nothing but a piece of paper in Courtney’s writing inside it.

  Soon, this frame will have a picture. A picture that will bring us more memories with each passing day. We will share a lifetime of love, happiness, and tears. But, at the end of each day, this picture will be the start of our family. Baby Ron or Baby Melanie will join our family soon and will make all our dreams come true.

  A slight movement from the corner of my eye interrupts me, and I look up to see my wife—the woman who can heal my soul and bring me to my knees in a split second—standing there before me dressed in a black lace form-fitting piece of lingerie and nothing else but a shy smile. I take three long strides quickly across the room, tossing the banana peel onto the kitchen counter before reaching her.

  Her eyes look shamed the moment I hover over her. “I bought it a week ago, and already it’s too tight around my belly.” She stares down and wraps her arms over her round stomach, trying to hide with embarrassment. I snatch her hands in mine and wrap them around my neck. Her head tips back as she
looks up at me.

  “You couldn’t look any sexier than you do right now.” I kiss her soft lips before pulling her hand with me back into the bedroom. “Plus, you don’t need to worry about any of that because that’s one Christmas gift that’s not going to be staying on long.”

  She giggles with each step behind me, saying, “Baby, I am going to make this one Christmas you’ll never forget.”

  As I hurry her to our bedroom, I smile as I glance over my shoulder and see the eyes of the woman I dream about almost every night. I fought for the woman I love, and she truly has made all my dreams come true.

  The End.

  When You Sleep – Mary Lambert

  Alone Together- Fall Out Boy

  Broken - Amy Lee/Seether

  Let Me Go - Avril Lavigne/Chad Kroeger

  Bad Company - Five Finger Death Punch

  Porn Star Dancing- My Darkest Days, Zakk Wylde

  Bright Lights – Gary Clark Jr.

  One - Metallica

  Never Let Me Go - Florence + The Machine

  Same Love – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

  I See the Devil in You – Sandi Thom

  Your Guardian Angel – The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

  The Hanging Tree- Jennifer Lawrence, James Newton Howard

  Dream On – Aerosmith

  Howlin’ For You – The Black Keys

  Feeling Love – Paula Cole

  Hear Your Heart – James Bay

  Victim of Love - Eagles

  Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival

  I Put A Spell On You – Annie Lennox

  Breathe Again- Sara Bareilles

  I think my love for books started when I was a teenager on summer vacations reading suspense novels. As I grew older that turned into reading romance novels. Now, that's turned into me writing four romance novels and another on the way in 2016.

  In college I actually majored in Geography and concentrated in Travel & Tourism. I still love to travel constantly, but now find myself working in the world of Finance during the day and writing novels at night.

  I was born and raised just north of Boston and currently live with my husband and one cat. When I'm not running a mile a minute with work and books you can find me at a local wine tasting or out with friends at the pub laughing and being a goofball. I have a weak spot for candy, Ghirardelli chocolate to be exact. I am addicted to the three “C”s. Coffee, Cheese and Carbs. I grew up with an Italian family and giving those up would be the death of me.

  I typically have a dirty mind and zero filter between my head and my mouth. If you are around me...good luck. I'm obsessed with hockey, Oregon football, beaches, Supernatural, Friends and stupid comedy movies. I've been called a "tall drink of water" due to my extreme height and love for platform heels. Chances are you will not miss me if we are ever in the same room. Just look for the chick laughing hysterically, wearing crazy heels and holding a glass of wine in her hand. That will be me.

  Where to begin? It’s been a hell of a year with a lot of moving parts. But the following people have made me laugh, helped guide me through good times and bad, been mentors and in the end…friends.

  Paige Smith, Amy Garland, Leanne Hauser-Mertz, Al Daltrey, Rae Bradford, Nicholas Ryan, Frances Rosa, Joelle Mendes, Alan Walker, Gina Whitney, and Jack Gallow.

  Thank you to Jovana at Unforeseen Editing for the beautiful formatting and Renee at RE Creatives for the incredible cover design.

  Hugs and kisses to my always incredible boss lady and editor Paige Smith. From day one you pushed me to be a better writer and in return loved my characters with all your heart. This last one certainly did a number on both of us. We both knew the end was coming in this series. But without your dedication to Drew he wouldn’t have come out as perfect as he did. We’ve certainly had our fun this last year with edits. Big yellow blobs, sex scenes, tornado warnings, and lots of “check your tenses.” I’ve learned so much from you and cannot wait for the next time we will work together. Love you to bits lady!

  Another big thank you goes out to Noelle Bodhaine, Jack Gallow, and Al Daltrey for allowing me to pimp their asses out in this book. **Cough Cough** Be sure to check out their books. You’ll be glad you did. I wouldn’t lie…they are just that good.

  Thank you to Alan Walker for providing me with yet another amazing poem to start this book off with.

  To the girls at All is Read, Talkbooks, and all the other blogs that have supported not only the series but also an unknown author like myself. Your support has truly meant the world to me.

  Thank you to the fans and readers. This series was born because all of you wanted more after reading Frozen Barriers. More Josh. More Lucy. More Drew. Without all of you there wouldn’t have been Hidden, Burning or even Broken Barriers. Thank you. Hearing your comments about characters that I created still blows my mind. Love you all and thank you for all the tremendous support!

  And last but not least…my husband. The person who provided me with the crazy idea to write books. What the hell were you thinking?! He’s the person who gave me so much inspiration for characters in these stories. He’s my Jeremy, Josh, Jake and Drew all in one. He’s stood by and waited for the moment when the earbuds would come out and the laptop to shut down so many nights. He’s supported the crazy world I’ve lived in for well over a year and never complained. Love you Asshole.

  This is not goodbye for good. I will be back. You can expect a new story sometime in 2016 and I have to admit I’m already itching to get it started.

  I’ll be seeing your smiling faces soon. Until then…keep living your dreams, laugh and remember to always make it fun….no matter what you do.

  Continue reading for an excerpt of Noelle Bodhaine’s Whisper which was spotlighted in Broken Barriers. Find the rest of her Voice Series on Amazon.com

  Prologue

  Two weeks ago, my heart was broken, broken by the man who helped to piece it back together. I served it up on a silver platter, free for the taking. But that is the end and this is the beginning. I should have known better. I did know better. He had his secrets and I had mine. It was just a fling, a momentary affair that went on too long.

  My life was in desperate need of reworking. Something had to change. I needed to reinvent myself, to do something spontaneous and prove to myself that I still had ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ was. Four years of struggle and heartache had left me feeling older than my 24 years. I was in desperate need of an escape when Olivia called and offered me just that, a wedding, in Miami, her wedding, new people, new town, celebrating new beginnings; a perfect elixir for this unreachable itch. Between caring for my aging and forgetful grandmother and working full time, I had little time for myself or friends, if I had any left. Most of them went away to college and never came back, rightfully. I landed on a different path and have been afraid to change course ever since.

  Nineteen years old and returning home for Christmas from my first semester away at college. I had never been that far away for that long and I was so homesick. My parents were so proud of me, as was I. I had made it to the University of Washington, my first school pick. First semester went off without a hitch and I found myself falling into a good rhythm. I crushed my finals, packed up my suitcase and headed to the airport. The weather in Washington was less than ideal. Snow really sends that State into a tizzy. But being from Colorado it was no big thing to me, I was used to the snow and cold temperatures, after all it was December. I just really wanted to get home. The winter storm covered the entire western half of the US. The snow wasn’t very heavy in Washington, but the temperatures were frigid, so everything was covered with a blanket of invisible ice. We sat on the tarmac for two hours, just waiting to hear if we would even take off. When they finally de-iced the plane and gave the green light I was ecstatic if not a little nervous. I’m pretty sure ours was among the last planes to go in or out of Denver International Airport, as the airport closed soon after dusk, stranding hundreds of travelers that had not yet made it out. The wind wa
s too fierce and temperatures were too low, but I was so happy and relieved to be home. Even though I had gone to Washington with my best friend, Olivia, I still felt a little lonely and longed for my family. She was enthusiastically swept up in the camaraderie and excitement of rushing a sorority, which was something I had no interest in. It was only natural that we drift a bit, but all in all we were having a great time, college was everything we had hoped.

  We were so close to home, painfully close, crawling along at a snail’s pace on the ice slicked highway. I could see the Christmas lights on our house from where we were, a bright white star that my father had always perched atop of our garage. Lost in thoughts of all the delicious treats my mother had waiting for me, I turned my head to ask a question and everything slowed to a crawl. It was as if the world was turned on its side. The strained screaming of rubber fighting ice and the stillness of the snow collided in a torrent. I watched the truck slide across the ice and fishtail, tires slipping and struggling against the slide. The truck narrowly avoided two other cars in his lane before losing control. He came crashing across the wide median, blowing loose snow and ice in his wake. Skidding tires echoed in the stillness of the storm and echo still in my dreams. The ice screamed under the abuse of rubber and a ton of steel. New snow crunched under cold tires, offering no resistance.

  My life did not pass before my eyes in that moment. There was nothing but my mother’s horrified face. My father reached over to her, to cover her with his arm, but nothing was going to save us from what was coming. She reached out for my father, a silent scream passing her lips. No sound, just terror. Her cry would have stopped my heart if it wasn’t trying to escape from my chest. The truck slammed into the driver’s side, crushing the car. The sound of twisting metal filled the heavy winter air. We were pushed violently from the road, skidding off the shoulder. Heaven became hell, up was down. The sheer inertia of the truck pushed us for one hundred yards, gliding easily over the freshly fallen snow. Smoke poured from the wheels of the truck as it rolled over us and then everything stopped, my heart, my breath, my life. Everything was crushed under the weight of that truck. I briefly remember the world being upside down, my hair a curtain in front of my face, my body hanging by my seatbelt, and the noxious smell of burning rubber and crushed steel. There was no sound. My mother was silent. My father was silent. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital, two days after Christmas, alone. Empty, broken, battered and lost.