by K. Renee
“Yeah. I’ve ridden all my life.” he grins at her. It doesn’t take much longer for Lyndley to finish her drink and motion for Amie to go with her to get another one. They practically skip towards the bar in their heels, giggling the whole way there.
“What are you doing with that girl?” I ask when I know they can’t hear me.
“What the fuck do you mean?” he grits out. I know that he hates when I question his intentions, but this isn’t just some play thing that he is going to fuck and then kick to the curb like the rest of his conquests.
“I mean, you don’t play house and you sure as shit don’t fuck women more than a few times. So what are you doing with her?” I can see him start to get pissy, but I don’t let that change my stance on this. “Amie is Lynnie’s friend and I won’t let you get her hopes up just so you can drop her as soon as the next girl comes around.”
He slams his beer on the table just as the girls start to make their way back towards us. The music changes and Sweet Home Alabama starts to blare through the speakers. Amie all but drags Lynnie with her towards the dance floor and I watch as she goes willing.
“You don’t know fucking shit.” he mutters.
“I know you just fuck women and kick them to the curb in a week. You and Lyndley don’t get along already and if you hurt her friend, it’s only going to get worse.” I take a swig of my beer and watch her out on the dance floor. Her body moves flawlessly and I can’t wait to get her home and strip her naked.
“It’s none of her damn business what goes on between Amie and I. She can kiss my ass.” he spits. Moving closer to him, I lean and I tell him exactly how I feel about his attitude towards my girl.
“Tate, you’ve been my best friend since we were kids but I will choose her over you. Don’t fucking disrespect her ever again.” He pushes at my chest, but I don’t let him move me. “If you are just treating her like a piece of ass, cut her loose now.”
He ignores me and stares at the girls dancing for the rest of song and the next.
I watch Lyndley stiffen up and when I look behind her, I notice some guy making his way towards the girls. I elbow Tate and he nods his head. We make our way towards them and he tries to grab Lynnie. She tries to move away from him, but he doesn’t let her. Amie looks frightened like she knows something I don't. I barely hear what he says to her over the sound of the music.
“Lyndley, let’s go. We have things to do. Since you couldn’t take care of business while I was in prison, you’ll be making up for lost time.” Walking up behind her, I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her behind me.
“Can I help you?” I growl.
The douche bag looks me up and down before he wrinkles his nose at me. “Yeah, redneck. I’d appreciate it if you kept your dirty hands off my girlfriend.” I feel her hand gripping at my shirt almost like she’s trying to keep me from going after the son of a bitch. “Lyndley, let’s go. I don’t have all fucking day to waste in this hellhole.”
Listening to his accent, I have a feeling that this is the bastard that she was dating before she came home. Taylor or Tyler or something. I reach behind me and rest my hand on hers, more to calm her down than me. I would do anything to make sure that she’s protected.
“She’s not going anywhere with you. So why don’t you take your Yankee ass back to where you fucking came from.” He takes a step towards Lynnie and I release her to push him back. Every inch of my body is humming with the need to deck the fucking bastard for even thinking about touching her again. She told me what he did to her before she left and how he left her with nothing. There is no way in hell that I’ll let him take her away from me now.
“Stay the fuck away from her. I won’t warn you again.” I demand. I watch as he tries to throw a punch at me that misses. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tate spring into action and I wait for the fucker to come at me again. “You must be Tyler. My girl told me about you. You finally come to claim what’s mine?” He’s a fucking pussy, there is no way I’ll let her leave with anyone but me.
I give him a cocky grin because I know that there is no way in hell that she’ll go back to him after the weeks of us being together. We are stronger than ever now. Tyler won’t be able to come between us, no one will.
When it looks like he might swing again, I beat him to it and hit his cheekbone as hard as I can with my fist. He stumbles backwards a bit and holds his face. I notice the blood to start to pool under the cut that I left and I hear Lynnie’s gasp as she witnesses everything.
“She isn’t worth it. She’s just a whore anyway. Have fun with my sloppy seconds,” Tyler spits.
I don’t know what comes over me, but just hearing him talk about her in any negative way pushes me over the edge. I charge at him and punch him a few times before I’m hauled off of him by Tate.
“You’ll fucking regret this.” He mutters so low that I can barely hear him. He straightens himself before he makes his way towards the door, taking one last look at Lynnie before he walks through it. The noisy bar starts to get loud again now that the scene is over and Lynnie comes running towards me. She wraps her arms around me and starts to check my hands.
“Baby, I’m fine,” I tell her honestly. My heart is still pumping with adrenaline, but other than that I’m fine. Wrapping my arms around her, I kiss the top of her head and ask, “You okay, Lynnie?”
She doesn’t say anything, but she does nod and bury her face into my chest. When I look over her head at Tate, I see him holding a shaken Amie to him as well. I need a damn drink. Walking Lynnie towards the bar, I order us both another drink and just hold her until the bartender comes back with them.
Instead of making our way towards the table again, we just sit at the bar and slowly drink our new ones. “Baby, I won’t let him take you away from me. I already told you I’m never letting you go and I meant that.” I wink at her and give her a kiss on the forehead before I turn my attention on scanning the room.
Lynnie doesn’t drink her drink very fast and I know that she is still on edge. To take my head off of what happened, I talk to Tate about the basketball game that is playing on the T.V.’s above our heads. We make a few bets on the next shots and who would win. Every time I look at Lynnie, I can tell that she is still tense. Her and Amie both don’t say anything and it makes me worry.
She absently runs her hand up and down my thigh for almost an hour before she says that she’s ready to go. Getting up for the barstool, I pay our tab and leave a nice tip before helping her up and off of her stool. Making our way towards the door, I hear Tate and Amie talking not far behind us. We walk outside and when I look back, I see Tate and Amie talking to a few of the guys we went to high school with. I can hear them laughing as I lead Lyndley to the truck.
Turning towards my girl, I tell her, “I love you, babe.” She gets a small grin on her face, but before she can even say anything back to me, I feel the pain. My whole body stiffens and I feel my eyes go wide at the pain. She looks panicked and then I start to fall to my knees on the ground. Her screams are the only thing I can hear anymore, my body starts to get cold. Her hands grip my side where the knife entered me and she starts to cry more.
“Please, Jax. You’re going to be fine. You have to be. I need you.” I want to tell her that everything will be fine, but I can’t breathe. She presses harder on my wound and keeps saying over and over that she loves me.
I hear a commotion around me, but I can’t focus on anything other than my girl and her cries. It seems like forever before I hear her say anything other than I love you. “Please, help him!” Her voice breaks as she yells and hands are now checking my pulse and god knows what else. “Please,” she whispers before her voice is gone and all I hear is unknown voices before I pass out from the blood loss.
Feeling a hand on my thigh, I wake up feeling groggily. When I try to move, a sharp pain radiates through my side and I wince at the pain. A dark brown head of hair pops up and when I see her tear stained face, a smile appears on my lips. �
��Lynnie.” I whisper hoarsely.
“Oh my God Jaxson.” She whispers, covering her mouth with her hand. Fresh tears start to fall down her cheeks and she closes her eyes. Reaching towards her, I run the tips of my fingers over her jaw and just wait for her to look at me again. “I thought that you were going to die.” She breaks down and starts to cry harder. My hand catches in her hair and I give a tug so that she looks at me.
“I told you a long time ago that I wouldn’t leave you. I meant that baby.” She has no fucking idea how good it feels to see her face.
“I…” She pauses and looks up at me again. I motion for her to come and sit on the bed, but she looks hesitant. “I don’t want to hurt you.” she whispers.
“You won’t hurt me. I’ll be fine.” I pat the bed again and this time she slowly sits next to me. When she leans her body onto mine, I feel the twinge of pain from moving my arm around her body. She rests her head on my shoulder and puts her face into my neck.
“I was so scared.” she whispers. Her hand goes to my stomach and she gently fists her hand in the hospital gown that I’m wearing.
“I’ll be fine babe.” I whisper against her hair. The door opens and she doesn’t move from her spot.
“Hey hunny.” my mom whispers. She’s on the verge of tears and I hate to see her hurting. I watched her slowly start to die inside the day my father died. I can’t imagine what it was like for her knowing that she probably could have lost her son as well.
“Hey momma.” I rasp out. She comes over to the bed where Lynnie is still at and places a kiss on the back of her head and then she places a kiss on my forehead.
“I’m so glad you’re awake.” Her voice catches and she looks down at the ground. I watch her as she takes a few deep breathes before looking back up at me. “I haven’t been that scared since your daddy.” She slowly takes a seat in the chair that Lyndley was sleeping in before.
“I’m sorry momma.” I whisper. Lyndley’s head turns towards my momma and she reaches her hand out to grab my momma’s.
“I should have warned you Jax. I should have done something to prevent this from happening.” She sniffs and wipes at the tears that are pooling under her eyes.
“Darlin’ there is nothing that you could have done to prevent him from coming here. You did nothing wrong and I don’t blame you for anything that happened.” She buries her face back into my neck and her hand grips my shirt tighter.
My momma just watches us. I can see the tears pooling in her eyes and I wish that I could do something to take away the pain and hurt from them both. “Jaxson, I’m so glad you are okay. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you too.” She leans forward and grabs my free hand.
“You won’t lose me Momma. It’s gonna take a whole lot more than a stab wound to get rid of me. I finally got my girl back and there is no way I’m missing out on my life with her again.” They both giggle at my words and a comfortable silence fills the room. I hate knowing that I’m the reason for their pain, but what I said was true. There is no way I’d die on her now that I have her back. I waited ten years to have her back in my arms and nothing will keep me from that.
After a week of being monitored by the doctors in the hospital, I finally get to go home. Scrolling through my phone, I find the picture that Lyndley sent me. Looking at the photo, I can’t even imagine how hard it was for her to deliver Gracilyn alone. Before I can think about it anymore, the door opens and I see that beautiful wife of mine standing in the door way.
“Come give me a kiss.” My voice drops an octave and it causes her to grin. I watch as she walks over to me and she leans forward to give me a peck on the lips.
“Are you ready to break free of this place?” She asks with a huge grin. I nod my head and pull her in for one more kiss.
Once the doctor discharges me, we make our way home. Watching as Lyndley drives my truck, I can’t help but smile. The windows are down and the sun is shining. Her hair is blowing all around her and she has a huge smile on her face. “I have a surprise for you.” She says looking over at me.
I grin at her and thank God that I still have some time left with her. I will take all I can get. “Oh yeah? What kind of surprise?” I reach over the center console and put my hand on her knee. When she doesn’t answer me, I look out the window and see that we are coming to the cemetery.
“Did…” I start, but I can’t get the rest of the words out. How the fuck do I even get those words out? She puts my truck in park and turns to face me. “Yes. The paperwork is all finalized and we get our little girl home.” Her body is leaning over the center console now and I reach up to cup her face.
“Is she moved yet?” I ask. She shakes her head no and the smile slips from her lips.
“Yes. I know I should have let you deal with it all, but since you were in the hospital when Mike stopped by the house to see you. He had all the paperwork ready for signatures and he said I could sign it while you were in the hospital since we are still married.” She looks almost like she doesn’t know if this is a good news or not.
“Darlin’ thank you. You have no idea who fucking happy this makes me. We are that much closer to having our girl home.” She gives me a small smile in return. I kiss her lips once more before I pull away and get out of the truck. Getting down off the seat I feel a twinge of pain at the pull on my stitches.
“Jax, you’re not supposed to be really moving around too much.” She chastises me.
“You brought me here.” I say grabbing her hand. “I want to see where they laid her to rest.” She sighs and all but drags me towards where my father was buried. I’m actually surprised she knows. I never brought her here when she came back.
“You’ve been here before?” I ask, reading the headstones as we walk past them. Each name and date of a person who left this earth. Every grave is home to someone’s child. When we finally stop at my father’s headstone, I see the new one that is right next to his.
Gracilyn Marie Harper - January 25, 2006
A tear falls down my cheek as I wrap my arms around her gently. I feel her body tremble as she looks at the headstone. I had everything picked out for when the paperwork would be approved and I’m glad that she is finally coming home.
Lynnie turns in my arms and buries her face into my chest. She wraps her arms around my waist and I run my hands up and down back of her back. “Everything will be okay darlin’.” I whisper against the top of her head. She nods her head, but doesn’t say anything in return.
Pulling her face up so I can look at her, I kiss her nose. “We have our little girl back. You don’t know how happy I am.” I press my lips to her forehead and close my eyes.
Epilogue
While I was still in the hospital, Gracilyn was moved to her new resting place next to my pops. A few weeks after I got out, the whole family showed up to help us commemorate the occasion. We all went down to the cemetery and our parents got to meet the granddaughter that they recently found out about.
As emotional of a day it was, it was healing too. We all needed some closure even if we didn’t want to admit it.
Walking through the house with Max on my heels, I see Lynnie trying to reach something from the top of the closet in the hallway. Coming up behind her, I put my hands on her hips and grab the book she was trying to reach. She turns in my arms and looks up at me with a small grin. “Thank you.”
I lean down and press my lips to hers. “You’re welcome.” She doesn’t take the book from me, but she does wrap her arms around my waist.
“I want you to look at that book with me.” She releases me and grabs my hand, dragging me to the couch. I take a seat and pull her down into my lap. My stitches were taken out last week and she still treats me with kid gloves. I love that she cares about hurting me, but I want to get back to the way we were already.
I’ve even started working on the ranch again against her orders. She’s been babying me since I got stabbed but there is only so much lying around I can do before I get st
ir crazy.
“What is this?” I finally ask. Yesterday her momma brought us over a photograph that she took when we were at Gracilyn’s gravesite. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I showed all the emotions we were both feeling at that moment in time. We were both happy to have her here in Texas with us, but also heartbroken that she wasn’t here with us. We weren’t able to hold our little girl.
“Remember when I told you that I wanted to show you the adventures of Gracilyn and I?” I nod, aware that if I spoke the words wouldn’t have come out of my mouth. “Well, I made this scrapbook as part of the healing process. My therapist thought that it would be good to have something to remember my time with her.”
Grabbing the back of her neck, I pull her mouth down on mine. I kiss her deeply, full of all the emotions that are currently running through me. When I release her mouth, she wipes under her eyes. Looking at her, I see my past, my present, and my future. Every good memory, as well as every bad one I’ve experienced in my almost thirty years.
When she opens the book to the first page, I feel like we are brought back into the past. I see her beautiful face and the way she looked our senior year of high school. Her features are so young looking and every instinct in me wants to protect her from the pain I know that fills her at the end of this album.
We look at the photos one by one. She tells me exactly what she was doing and how she was feeling during each photo and part of me feels like I got to be there with them through the whole pregnancy. Every photo brings me closer to feeling like I knew my daughter. A tear falls from my cheek as Lynd comes to the last page. Right in the middle of the page is a larger photo of the day she was born.
It’s the same photo that I have tucked into my wallet. The photo I’ve looked at time and time again. For the longest time it was the only part of her that I had, but now I have so much more. I have to woman who gave me that precious gift by my side again and a few dozen photos of them sightseeing all around New York City.