by Lyz Kelley
The events of the past weeks came flooding back, sweeping away a response. The joy of the previous moment crashed into the wall of responsibilities, and her heart wrenched. “Oh, Joey. I’m not sure I can accept your offer.”
“Why not?” he asked, not able to keep the confused hurt from filling the empty room.
“It’s not you. Really. It’s just…I don’t want to be a burden to anyone. With all the changes that have happened in the last several weeks, Anna got me thinking.”
“Anna? What does my sister have to do with us?”
She rested her hand on his chest again and felt his tension. “When we were talking about the flower shop, she asked if I’d ever considered doing something else. At the time I dismissed the question, most likely out of fear. After the accident, I took over the flower shop because arranging flowers was the only job I felt I could do at the time. Anna reminded me that we only live once.”
“I don’t get what your flower shop has to do with us.”
“It doesn’t. It has to do with me. A couple of days ago, we had a family meeting, and I officially turned the flower shop management over to my brother. With all of Anna’s great ideas, I’m sure Tony and Gina will do fine.”
Joey took a step back and began pacing around the room. “Does that mean you’re leaving Elkridge?”
Leave? Laughter bubbled in her throat. “No. I can’t leave. I know where I belong, and it’s here, in Elkridge.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to do something different. Jack’s offered to let me sing at the pub, and I’m going to start a dog training business. With Karly’s help, I’m going to expand the class schedule at Helper Shelter. There’s a demand for more classes, and it’s something I love doing. Besides, there’s a shortage of trained guide dogs to help people like me.”
All of a sudden, arms circled her waist, and her feet left the ground. “Really? That’s wonderful news.”
Joey spun her in circles to the point she couldn’t contain her laughter. Even Buddy joined in the frenzy and let out a rare but exuberant bark. When Joey finally set her back on her feet, she hung onto his arms for balance.
“From your reaction, I take it you don’t think it’s odd that I’ll be singing in a pub.”
“No, why would I?”
’Cause my parents would be appalled. “It might hurt your chances of getting elected. You know how this town is.”
“I do, and I don’t care. I’ll handle the election. I want to marry you, Mara Dijocomo. It’s that simple.”
“Joey, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. You make me laugh. You say what you mean. I don’t have anything to prove when I’m with you, yet, you inspire me to be a better person.”
She turned her head and placed an ear against his chest, needing to feel his heat, hear his heartbeat. Tears welled and trickled down her face, soaking into his flannel shirt.
“Shhh, it’s okay. If you don’t want to get married now, I’ll wait. But I’m warning you—I won’t give up. You and I are meant to be together. I’ve waited a long time to be with you. I’ll wait until you’re ready. Please don’t cry.”
Her hands skimmed up his body to find his face. “You don’t understand. These are tears of joy, not of pain.” The melancholy of the previous moments evaporated. “Do you really want to have kids? What will your family think?”
He grabbed her by the wrist and kissed the sensitive skin. “My mother might have concerns—for you, that is. After all, if I get elected sheriff, you might have some doubt about marrying a town official. I’ll probably be working long hours and gone sometimes, plus there will be things I can’t share. Would you have a problem with that?”
“Serving and protecting people is part of who you are. You’re really good at it. This town needs you.” She clutched his shirt. “Did you really buy this house?”
“We needed a bigger bed and a kitchen that fits two grownups, but yes, I bought this house for us. My salary will be considerably lower, but we can budget. I don’t have much to offer, but I wanted to find a place that made you feel safe, and makes you happy, especially since I’ll be gone a lot. The house is within walking distance of pretty much everything in this town. There’s a yard out back. You could grow flowers or herbs or anything else you want. That reminds me.”
He pulled her with him and placed her hand on the back door knob. “Open the door, slowly.”
She twisted the cold metal and cracked the door, but the door was shoved open and bumped against her forehead. Chaos erupted, with dogs barking and Joey rubbing her head. She became disoriented.
He pulled her against his chest. “That didn’t work so well. Let’s try this again. Lean forward and reach out your hand.”
She reached out her fingers and felt a coarse, sandpapery texture and snatched her hand back. She thought for a moment before reaching out again and squatting in front of the exuberant obstacle. “Gus?”
A wiry, fuzzy mass pushed against her and flopped at her feet. She tilted her head up. “You adopted Gus?”
“I figure he’s so ugly, no one else will adopt him. He’s a good dog, one of the best scent hounds around, and he adores you and will protect you when I’m not here. Maybe he can be your first student.”
Her chest tightened and a burst of laughter escaped as she stood and turned into his arms.
“Mara…there’s one more thing. You might not be happy with me, but…um…”
His muscles tightened and contracted, giving her an uneasiness signal. “What is it? Talk to me.”
“Well you know that girl Brianne you talked about? The one who blames herself for the accident?”
“Yes,” the word elongated with concern. “What about her?”
“I did some checking with the State. Brianne’s a little older than Sophia, but quiet and seems into the same things as my niece. Changing foster homes every few months isn’t a healthy way to grow up. You said you were the only one she connected to.”
“Because of the accident, she believes we have a connection somehow. And she’s right. She lost her entire family. I can understand how that feels.”
“I was thinking she might fit nicely into the family. We meet the criteria of foster parents. All we need to do is complete coursework and an assessment. I figured if we both watched our spending, we could afford—”
Mara squealed and jumped into his arms, wrapping both legs and arms around him. “I love you, Joey Gaccione. You’re the kindest and most wonderful man.”
He sucked in a breath of air. “Is that a yes?”
“You might have regrets when I hold you to the romantic and kissing part. Even a blind girl has standards,” she said, trying to make him laugh.
“Is that so?” He lifted her higher to capture her lips for a long, slow, beguiling kiss. She poured all her dreams and wishes and heat into the kiss, hoping he understood what he’d just given her.
“Mmm. Practice.” She pressed her nose against his skin and inhaled. “We definitely need a lot of practice. Like every-day-for-the-rest-of-my-life kind of practice.”
His laughter filled the kitchen.
“Like I said, a woman after my own heart. I love you, Mara, and I don’t care what you do, as long as I can come home to you every night. I think I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.”
His fervor and sincerity took a moment to absorb. The fear of being alone forever began to dissolve. His large family and Tony and Gina would be there. Joey had come home, back to family, back to her, to stay.
Joey placed a finger under her chin and lifted. “So, Ms. Dijocomo, is that a yes?”
She hadn’t realized he needed her to say the words. He’d become her every thought. His memory had been with her every morning when she made her coffee and every afternoon when she was doing chores. And his memory had been with her every night, invading her dreams, holding her and making love to her over and over again. How could he not know?
She curled into his body. “I
’ve dreamed of finding someone who would want to be with me. I’m blind, and some days I can’t walk so well.”
“Mara—”
“Please let me finish.” She placed her forehead on his chest and then lifted her chin so he could clearly hear her response. “And then you came along. You never treated me like I was different. You never treated me like I was broken, handicapped or helpless. And for that reason, I fell in love with you, Joey. I want to build a life together. The answer is yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes!”
Joey lifted Mara and swung her around, their laughter lifting and expanding into a perfect harmony, before he set her gently back down. He cupped her face and kissed her nose, eyes, and chin until she giggled. Then the moment stilled.
“Ummm, Joey? You mentioned kids. Do you think we can start practicing soon? Because I think we need to practice—a lot.”
Dedication
For Sam, for the best brother and friend, a little sister could have.
1959 – 1983
May you rest in peace.
Author Notes
Dear Readers,
For some, there is a point in a person’s life where there is a complete and utter moment of clarity. I was a week from graduating high school when my first moment came. My mother and I got a phone call from a hospital in Maryland that my brother, Sam, a US Naval Corpsman, had died. That single moment changed me. Changed how I looked at and lived my life. When a Navy detail showed up the next morning, my emotions closed inward, and I was thrown into an all-consuming numbness.
For me, personally, I wanted to re-explore those few months of trying to hold onto the past, knowing everything in my life was going to be different from that day forward. My best friend was gone, and he wouldn’t be coming back.
I hope you enjoyed reading Joey and Mara’s story, their struggle to adjust to their new lives, and finding a satisfying comfort in each other’s arms.
~Lyz
Also by Lyz Kelley
SNEAK PEAK
SPURNED
THE NEXT BOOK IN THE ELKRIDGE SERIES
A broken heart.
A yearning soul.
A choice to make.
Kym Zhang feels stuck. Her parents abruptly moved, leaving her to balance between running a nail salon and helping her best friend heal after a near-fatal car accident. The day-to-day grind is getting tedious until a mechanic sparks her interest.
Zach Cohen’s been all over the world building cars for movie stunt scenes. When his mentor asks for help, the Hollywood film mechanic can’t refuse. Besides, he needs a quiet place to rest, and time to get over the woman who demolished his heart.
When the cute salon owner asks him to jump her—actually her car—he figures Kym to be the perfect solution to defuse the volatile situation with his ex. However, he underestimates Kym, and how much she can make him forget old hurts in favor of new love. A slow sizzle burns between Zach and Kym until Hollywood calls him back forcing them both to make choices between their obligations and what they truly want out of life.
SPURNED is sensual, contemporary romance (23K word, 100+page) novella about a wounded woman and a man who fulfills a dream. If you like heartfelt characters, deep topics with powerful emotional cores, and happy endings, then you’ll love this tale of strength, love, and survival.
Buy SPURNED to unlock the emotional tale today!
Elkridge Series
BLINDED
SPURNED
Coming Soon:
ABANDONED
ORPHANED
EXPOSED
RESCUED
Spurned: Book 2: Chapter One
Kym’s Story
“Please. Please. Please, don’t do this to me. Not today.” Kym Zhang turned the key once more, hoping the fifth attempt to start her decrepit Honda would prove that Murphy’s Law was stupid.
It didn’t. “Su’s gonna kill me if I’m not at the baggage claim before she is.”
Kym rested her forehead against the steering wheel for a couple of seconds, taking in several defeated breaths before pulling the key from the ignition and opening the car door.
The jog back to town would take time—time she didn’t have to spare—and the June sun would cause a good sweat, even at 7000 feet.
The Honda had developed an attitude several months ago, and Kym should have known not to pull over to take a nail appointment before heading to the airport. She lifted the hood, and saw the usual assortment of belts, hoses, and dirt.
Unless a pair of horny teenagers happened by to park at their favorite parking spot, or some backcountry hikers decided to enjoy the logging trails up behind Elkridge, it could be hours before anybody came along who could offer a jump, assuming that was—
Hank’s tow truck rumbled up the hill, and then—sweet halleluiah—slowed and pulled into the overlook.
“Yo, Hank!” She waved an arm as he rolled down the window. “You’re not Hank.”
“Nope. You got car trouble?” This guy wasn’t charming either, though he had tousled brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes. Kym put his age at early thirties, his height above six foot, and his delight at coming upon a woman in need at about negative everything.
“Can you jump me?” His eye opened a bit wider and his mouth twitched at the ends before she realized her mistake. “I meant, can you jump my car?”
Without a word, he climbed out of the truck and strolled over to the Honda like he’d been born with a wrench in his hand, all confidence and all business. He wore faded jean, the real kind with a wallet imprint in the back pocket, a scuffed pair of steel toed boots, and a navy blue T-shirt that one more washing might put holes in.
Kym refrained from inspecting his behind as he leaned under the hood. He took an oil splatted handkerchief to the rusty knobs sticking up from the battery.
“Why in hell Hank lets a customer of his run around with battery terminals crudded up like this… You might not even take a jump.”
Now there was a metaphor, considering Kym had made a resolution to avoid all sleaze-balls going forward, but Mr. Honda-Whisperer had spoken without a hint of sexual innuendo.
“I’ll get my cables.” Kym reached into the driver side and popped the trunk.
Mechanic man continued scraping at the terminals, all the while muttering about bad timing and loose connections—more metaphors—as Kym retrieved her jumper cables from the Honda’s hatchback.
“I’m Zach,” he said, stuffing his handkerchief in a back pocket and sticking out his hand. “Who shall I tell Hank I found stranded at the overlook?”
His handshake was firm, warm, and brief.
“Kym Zhang. My nail salon is just around the block from Hank’s garage. How do you know Hank?”
“We met in Denver before he moved here.”
“So, are you working at his shop now?”
“Something like that.”
Why was a crowbar, and possibly a hammer, necessary to drag any miniscule piece of information out of a guy? Thank heavens her days were surrounded women who couldn’t help but gossip while getting their nails polished.
Zach attached the cables in the prescribed order to the prescribed terminals, using the fourth one as a ground. “Let’s see if we connect.”
“I beg your pardon?”
One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Start your car, Kym—or try to.”
“Right. The car.”
She slid behind the wheel still thinking about that mouth. If Zach ever smiled in earnest, the snow just might melt off the Elkridge peak.
The Honda turned over on the first try, and sat idling as if the stupid thing had never heard of dead batteries or corroded terminals. Kym kept it in park and got out of the car as Zach unhooked her cables.
“You should drive it the better part of an hour, at least, before you shut the engine off,” Zach said, coiling the cables into a neat loop. “Bring it in for Hank to replace that battery, the sooner the better.”
“I’ve been meaning to do
that.” Just as soon as my nail salon becomes the rage of the Front Range. “Can I pay you? I’m on my way to pick up my sister at the airport, and if I stranded her there, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
He squinted at Kym as if he’d caught maybe a word or two of her babbling. “Pay me? Don’t people around here ever help each other out?”
“People around here help each other out all the time, but you’re not from around here. We also pay our debts, and you just did me one honkin’ favor.”
This was part of the new Kym Zhang. No more pretending payback hook ups were fun. No more letting a guy buy her a drink when she could pay her own way. No more games. No more confusing emotional currency with legal tender.
“I won’t take your money, ma’am.”
“I don’t mean to be argumentative,” Kym retorted, “and I’m not trying to piss you off, but even Hank would have charged me for this. Knowing Hank, he’d have charged me for a tow and a new a battery, and the whole time, he’d have been giving me a solid lecture.”
“A bad battery here in the mountains is never a good idea.”
“Neither is accepting favors from tall, dark, and handsome strangers.”
He wrinkled his nose, which feature, Kym’s mom would have said had character, meaning he’d broken it somewhere along the way. Had he ever used that nose to nuzzle a woman’s neck?
“Are you still insisting on paying me?”
“Yes, preferably in the next two minutes, because Su doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
A hawk glided lazily across the sky, riding the thermals up on the ridge.
“Then, why don’t you tell your sister you’re going to be busy for a few hours on Saturday night.”
“I haven’t been busy on a Saturday night since, well since…I can’t remember.”
There went the half-grin again. “I won’t take your money, Kym, but I will accept a favor for a favor. I’m meeting some friends over at the Bandimeer Speedway, and I’ll have a more pleasant evening if I had the company of a lady.”