Derek

by Dawn Martens

I look over to the dance floor and see Nikki and Kade dirty dancing. I chuckle at the sight. Kade is the only one that Derek has kept in contact with since he moved. I talked to Nikki a little bit earlier, and she was telling me Layla now has three kids, all boys. I chuckled, man, three boys, she’s probably going to have a trio like Chase, Kade and James. Nikki, having read my thoughts, looked at me grimly. “Uh, I had two girls.” I burst out laughing. “They are going to probably be just like Layla and I. Oh my God.” She says as she put her hands over her face. Kade and Nikki left their girls with her parents so they could be here for the wedding. At the rate those two are going on the dance floor, I have a feeling they could be making another girl.

  Coming back to reality, I look over to my husband, and see him chatting with his father. God, he’s so fucking hot.

  “Yo bitch.” I hear Mel say from behind me.

  I turn around and smile at her. “Hey.”

  “Love the new look babe, but the dreads were fucking killer.” I bring my hand up to touch my hair. I got rid of the dreads three months ago. Felt it was time for another change. The dreads and the piercings are now gone. I would never want the tattoos gone. Each one means something to me, and they hide the hideous shit Caleb did.

  “I know, maybe I’ll get them again when I turn sixty. Be one of those cool gramma’s.” I say chuckling.

  “Hells yea. I’ll do it to. We’ll be fuckin’ hot gramma’s. Hell, we’ll even dye our hair blue!” she says on a shout.

  I burst out laughing. I feel arms go around me. “What’s so funny?” I hear Derek say into my hair.

  “Blue hair’d dreaded gramma’s!” I blurt out, laughing my ass off!

  This was the best day ever!

  ~***~

  Derek

  Years later

  I’m home late from work. This time of year is always busy for us at the office.

  I take a look at our home. We ended up building onto the house, it was perfect for just the two of us, but we knew we wanted a family. We needed to make sure we had the extra room. Rylie still takes care of our yard, but usually it’s my mother working on it. She doesn’t get to work in the garden at home, since the yard workers take care of all that. So, she comes over once a week to work in our garden.

  I smell garlic as I open the door. Rylie must have made spaghetti. I hear voices down the hall and make my way down. I open Cayden’s door and see he is fast asleep in his crib. We adopted him a few months ago. He was only three days old when we got him. Adopting him reminded me of my own adoption. His parents were young, wanted a better life for him. We weren’t looking into adopting again, but when my Mum called me and said she knew someone that was looking for parents for their soon to be born son, we drove down to the hospital in Perth. Once we saw him in the nursery, we couldn’t say no. Rylie and I were both more than happy to bring him into our lives. I walk into the room and peer down at him. The little puff of dark brown hair, and the cutest dimples. I lean over and give him a small kiss on his cheek. I close the door quietly behind me.

  I walk down to the next room and notice the door is opened slightly. I take a peek in, and see Rylie curled up beside Ally; Ally reading to Rylie. We adopted Ally two years ago. Most beautiful five year old we’ve ever seen. Long blonde hair, green eyes, and the cutest freckles covering her nose. She came from a home like Rylie had. It had taken almost a year to get her to feel safe with us. It was Rylie she took to first, Ry knew how to handle a situation like hers, since she came from the same one. We knew that we wanted to adopt one child, and Rylie really wanted to adopt children from bad homes. She said she had wished someone had saved her from hers. When we applied with the adoption agency it only took two months to get the call about Ally.

  I look over at Rylie, she’s smiling proudly at our daughter as she reads to her. I look at my wife in awe. Her tattoos are still very much a part of her. Even with her additions of Ally and Cayden’s names. As well as the new one she got on our honeymoon. My name over her heart. The difference with her now, she lost the dreads and the piercings. She said they were her armor. But she no longer needed them, since she had me to be her armor. She’s beautiful either way, I would have taken her with a Mohawk.

  I push the door open fully and walk in. “Dad!” Ally yells and jumps into my arms when I make it close to the bed.

  “Hey baby girl. Reading to Mum?” I ask her.

  “Of course Dad. Mum sucks at reading out loud.” She says with a giggle.

  “Hey, I’m not that bad.” Rylie says grinning.

  Both Ally and I look at her with raised eyebrows. Rylie can read any book in two hours or less, but when it comes to her reading out loud, it’s as if she’s five years old just learning to read.

  I join my girls on the bed and Ally finishes reading her story.

  Rylie and I walk out and head into the kitchen. “Where’s my hello kiss?” I ask Rylie as I pull her into me.

  She turns around and grabs my neck, bringing me in for a kiss.

  I pull back and smile down to her. “Love you, babe.”

  She smiles back and whispers, “I’ll show you how much I love you, as soon as Ally goes to sleep.”

  “Or we could just go to our room, lock the door, and you could show me now.”

  I lean down and kiss her. Life couldn’t be any better.

  THE END

  You haven’t seen the last of Melody! You’ll get her story in the final Love Songs book!!

  About the author

  Dawn Martens is 24 years old, a Canadian Author, Mother and Wife who lives in Alberta. She has two daughters, another child on the way and is married to her best friend. Life couldn’t be better.

  Relinquishing Liberty

  Maureen Mayer

  On the outside, Liberty Davis appeared to have it all...a loving family, a tight knit circle of friends, and a bright future ahead of her. Everything was perfect. That is until her brother tragically took his own life, turning her whole world upside down.

  Left to pick up the pieces of her broken family, Liberty is faced with focusing all of her attention on helping her parents cope with the loss of their son, while putting her own life on the back burner. But what no one seems to realize is that she is just as broken inside.

  Now, four years later, twenty year old Liberty is taking back the reins of her life. She leaves behind everything she’s ever known, hoping to make a fresh start...one where she isn’t faced with the constant reminder that her brother is nothing more than faded memory. What she didn’t expect to find along the way was Shayne.

  Tall, dark and tattooed, Shayne Thompson has developed quite a reputation for being a player. Despite everyone’s negative perception, Liberty still finds herself drawn to him. When she learns that Shayne knows all too well what it feels like to lose someone you love, she finds that they have a lot more in common than just a physical attraction.

  When Liberty discovers a secret from Shayne’s past that threatens to tear them apart, she begins to question everything she’s ever felt for him. Will Liberty choose to follow her heart or will she give up the one person who finally made her feel whole again?

  RL - Chapter 1

  Man, I really dug myself in deep shit this time.

  As I sat there watching the waves make their way up the soft white sand before crashing and receding again, I wondered what the hell I must have been thinking. With nowhere to live, no income and a beat-up old Buick that I put more money into than it was worth, there wasn’t much more I could do than hang my head in defeat. Karma had really proven to be a huge bitch, but I guess that was my penance for leaving behind everything I’ve ever known to make a fresh start; one where I wasn’t faced with the constant reminder that my only brother was nothing more than faded memory.

  I finally arrived in Savannah after having spent over 24 hours driving along the eastern seaboard from Buffalo. I never planned on coming here. Never thought I would grow the balls to finally leave the nest, but I was here now so I had no other choic
e but to make the most of it. This was my chance to regain control. To grab hold of the reins and take back the life I had pushed aside four years ago, when my family was thrown through the wringer and left to recover from what was quite possibly the worst day of my life. A day that will forever haunt me.

  While I dug my toes in the sand, contemplating where I go from here, I noticed there were a few shirtless college-aged guys running up the length of the beach and tossing a football back and forth. It seemed odd to me that they were here and not in class, but then I realized it must be their spring break. I would’ve known that had I still been in college.

  “Head’s up!” I heard someone shout from down the beach.

  I turned my head just in time to see a football barreling its way straight towards my face. Being athletically challenged and having no reaction time whatsoever, I sat there motionless and waited for the impact. This really wasn’t the time to wish that I had thrown the football around with AJ a little more when he was still alive. Oh man, this is really going to hurt...

  “Ughhh! Fuck!!!” My hands instinctively flew up to my face. The incessant throbbing increased as I felt the point of impact begin to double in size.

  “Shit! Are you okay?” A tall, tan figure slowly came into view as I tried to shake off the rattling in my brain and regain focus.

  “Well, I’m pretty sure you just broke my face, douchebag.” At least that’s what it had felt like. I buried my face in my hands knowing I must‘ve looked like Quasimodo as the right side of my face continued to swell.

  I heard him let a laugh slip out as he bit down on his bottom lip. Was this asshole seriously laughing at me right now? I wasn’t kidding when I said he broke my fuckin’ face!

  “Here, let me take a look.” His warm hand gently caressed my cheek where the swelling had quickly become more prominent. I could barely register his touch; it felt like soft feathers dancing ever so lightly across the surface of my skin. I wasn’t even sure if I could trust this guy, but something about the way he touched me told me I should.

  “I am so sorry. Shit, I guess my throws are a little off today, huh?” He continued stroking my cheek with concern emanating from his focused stare. “That’s gonna leave a nasty shiner there, darlin’. We’ve got a cooler over there in the truck. Let’s get some ice on it before it gets any worse.” He extended his hand, and although I was a little apprehensive at first, I allowed him to hoist me up effortlessly. We walked over to where the other guys were huddled around a pickup truck with a cooler propped up on the tailgate. Oh, God. It must’ve looked pretty bad. At that point I could only see out of one eye, but the expressions plastered on their faces said it all.

  “Daaamn girl, Brett sure did a number on you!” The shortest of the guys shouted towards us as we approached.

  “Corey, you jackass, don’t make her feel worse. Why don’t you make your lazy ass useful and grab some ice for her?” He placed his hand on my shoulders, guiding me closer to the truck.

  I groaned, both out of pain and frustration. “God, do I really look as horrible as I feel?”

  “Nah, you look gorgeous, darlin’. Just as good, if not better than before you got hit.” He smiled back at me reassuringly. I knew that wasn’t true, but nevertheless, it was sweet of him to attempt to butter me up.

  I tried to get a better look at him with my good eye, since he was up in my face inspecting the damage. I had to admit, from what I could see he was pretty cute; probably about 5’10” with short, disheveled blonde hair, tan skin covering a toned but not overly built body, a million dollar smile and deep, chocolaty-brown eyes that seemed to swallow me whole.

  “Shit, that’s fuckin’ cold!” I was startled by the abrupt contact of ice on my face. “So you’re saying you noticed me before you almost smashed my face in?”

  His mouth expanded into a wide grin before he playfully took his bottom lip between his teeth. “How could I miss you? Not only was I distracted by this sexy, little thing lying out there in the sand, who I’m now realizing isn’t from around here, you’re also the only girl out here on the beach.” Yeah, I guess that made sense. I couldn’t really blame him for looking; he was a guy after all.

  I furrowed my brow quizzically. “What makes you think I’m not from around here?”

  “Your accent, darlin’. You sound like a Yankee.”

  Ohmigod is he for real? “Did you seriously just say that? Don’t give me that Yankee-Confederate bullshit. It’s 2013! Get the fuck over it already!” The three of them stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at me; one of them had his mouth hung open in amazement. My sudden outburst even caught me by surprise.

  “I like her, Brett! She’s feisty!” A dark-haired guy about the same height as Brett scanned me up and down with a hungry look in his eyes. Great, just what I needed. “Do you have a boyfriend? God, please tell me you don’t.”

  “You would be the one to ask her that, Travis. You always were a glutton for psycho bitches.” Wow. Note to self: Corey is an asshole.

  “All right, guys. Relax. I’m sorry if I offended you, uh...wait, I never caught your name, darlin’.” He leaned against the tailgate with his legs crossed at the ankles.

  “It’s Liberty. Look, I appreciate your help and everything...even though you’re the reason I needed help in the first place, but I should probably get going. Thanks for this,” I said as I held up the quickly melting bag of ice.

  I grabbed my shoes and started to walk back towards my car. I didn’t make it very far before I felt Brett’s hand lightly grasp around my elbow, halting me. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at it nervously. I actually found it kind of adorable whenever guys showed they were nervous. It was nice to see that vulnerable side of them every once in a while.

  “Look, I’m really sorry if I offended you back there. We don’t all have the ‘stars and bars’ attitude. It’s just sort of become a habit for us to call northerners ‘Yankees’.”

  I looked at him apologetically. “It’s all right. I guess I overreacted a bit. I shouldn’t have chewed you out like that.”

  “Do you...do you think maybe I could get your number? Just so I can check up on you and make sure you’re all right. I’d really like to make it up to you, too. I still feel horrible about giving you a black eye. It’s not the friendliest way to welcome you to town.”

  Although it was nice of him to offer, I still wasn’t 100% convinced I was staying in Savannah, and I definitely wasn’t ready to be building any lasting relationships when it was hard enough to say goodbye. I wasn’t sure what Brett’s intentions were, but I thought they might have been a little bit more than friendly; he just wasn’t quite as blunt as Travis had been.

  “Sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to be sticking around for very long.”

  “Oh, well...I hope you have a safe trip then. It was really nice to meet you Liberty, even considering the circumstances. And again, I’m really, really sorry about what happened. Just try to keep ice on it the rest of the day and most of the swelling should be gone tomorrow.” His smile was weak, and I could see the disappointment in his eyes when I said I might not be staying.

  “Thanks, Brett. Nice meeting you guys too.” I waved back at them before turning and making my way up the beach to get back to my car.

  I felt bad to a point about turning down Brett’s offer to “make it up to me”, whatever that entailed, but I literally just met the guy. For all I know he could be a crazy serial killer who knocks young women unconscious with footballs and hides them in his basement until he’s ready to gut them. Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch, but you never know! Gah! I really need to stop watching so many movies about serial killers!

  I sat in my car, watching Brett and the other guys while they packed everything up in their truck. I must’ve looked somewhat like a stalker, but there was something about him that grasped my attention and made me want to know...more. He gave off such a familiar vibe, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the fa
ct that he had poured so much concern over my bruised face, and his gentle touch simply warmed my heart. Then again, it could have been his overt honesty when he openly admitted he was checking me out and told me I was gorgeous and sexy. I mean, what girl doesn’t love to hear that? Well, I could tell flattery was definitely going to get him far with the ladies if he kept that up!

  ***

  I grabbed a motel room for the night, and after attempting to shield my face as I checked in, I took the ice bucket and loaded it to the brim. I wanted this nasty-ass bruise gone! Tomorrow I’d worry about whether or not I’d be staying in good ‘ole Savannah for the long haul. If that was the case, I’d have to look for a job pronto because I was in desperate need of some steady income to pay for some real food and an apartment. I could only survive on fast food and crappy motels for so long.

  Somehow I always ended up renting a room next to the couple that decided to spend the entire night screaming their lungs out at each other until the sun came up. I couldn’t tell if they were screams of passion or if they were trying to kill one another, but I swore at one point I thought I heard gunshots and that was the icing on the cake. I set all of the locks on the door, even barricaded it with one of the dressers provided in the room just to be safe, and attempted to get some sleep before heading out the next morning...that is if I made it out of there alive.

  Luckily I was beyond exhausted so sleep came easily. It was the dream that accompanied it that I could have gone without. It was the same recurring dream that had plagued me for the last four years, but for the first time in months, it made an unwanted reappearance.

  Mackenzie gave me a ride home from school, since it had only been a week since I got my driver’s permit. The entire ride over I played with the braided, white-gold chain necklace delicately splayed across my throat that AJ had given me for my 16th birthday, and I couldn’t wait to tell him the amazing news I just received from my biology teacher, Mrs. Young. I got accepted into a summer camp for advanced biology students and would be going to Florida for two weeks to study species diversity in tide pools. It was a dream come true for me, and AJ knew how badly I wanted to go to school for Marine Biology. I forced him to watch Flipper and Free Willy with me so many times that I think I pretty much had him convinced that I was a fish in one of my past lives.