by Diana Gardin
“I just…I just want to listen to you say my name that way all night.” He glanced at her, a small smile pulling his mouth upward.
“That can be arranged,” she said with a smirk. “So tell me about the tattoo.”
He snuggled her closer to his side, lying back on the blanket with one hand behind his head and the other pulling her against him. He stared up at the stars and contemplated.
“It says RISE,” he began. “Because that’s what I’ve always had to do. No matter what shit I had to go through on any given day—and there was plenty—I rose again the next day. I had to, if I was ever going to get to my goal of getting out of there and making a life for myself.” He finished, still staring skyward.
She rubbed tiny circles on his chest with her finger. “And now you have. Made a life for yourself, I mean. Here…with me.”
He glanced down at her and smiled. He kissed her temple. “Yeah, Princess. Here, with you.”
“We have to get registered for classes.”
He raised his head to look at her this time. “We?”
She turned on her full grin, dazzling him with her beauty. “Yep. I’m transferring. This fall, we start at Charleston together. So it’s you and me from here on out, Waters. Is that okay with you?”
He was stunned into silence. Then he rolled over her once more so that he was floating above her. He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her, a fierce meeting of their lips that went on and on until she was breathless.
“I take that as a yes?” she asked dizzily.
His grin widened and he chuckled. “Damn, I love you, Princess.”
She stilled. Gooseflesh broke out all over her body and the stars swam even brighter in the dark expanse above them.
His arms tightened around her and he gazed worriedly into her eyes. “That’s not pressure, Aston. I’m not expecting anything in return. I just…love you. I do. And I’m not afraid to say it. This summer has changed my entire life. Not just the fact that your dad has given me monumental hope for my future as a man, but because you’ve given me a reason to live freely. Free of obligation, free of oppression. You opened your heart to me when you didn’t have to. And damn…I love you for it. I can’t wait to start proving it to you.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. “You owe me nothing, Sam. You don’t have to prove anything. I already know your heart. I’ve never been so safe in my life as I am in your arms and wrapped up in your love. So I accept your love completely. And I love you back.”
He smiled enormously, lowered his lips to hers, and proceeded to lose himself in her again, and again.
Epilogue
Two Years Later in Nelson Island
This is the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to.” Tamara pushed a strand of her dark red hair off of her face. Summer hadn’t quite begun, and her skin was pale in the muted glow of the moon overhead.
Soft strains of a slow song drifted over the long, driftwood farmhouse tables sitting in the sand. The twinkling stars overhead littered an inky landscape, and everything was perfect.
“Me, too,” agreed Sam.
He glanced at the girl laughing in the seat beside him. Almost perfect.
“Baby,” he whispered. “Do you want to dance?”
Aston looked over at him, pausing in her conversation with Kelly. A gorgeous grin broke out on her face that still stopped his heart cold. She sent Kelly an apologetic smile, who waved her off with a knowing look.
Aston took his outstretched hand, standing. Her long dress cascaded down over her heels, and the picture of statuesque beauty was complete.
“Heard you guys graduated yesterday,” someone called out as they passed, on their way to the dance floor.
“We sure did,” answered Aston.
An answering whistle caused a sense of wondrous elation to course through Sam.
He still couldn’t believe he’d done it. After transferring his community college credits from Virginia and putting in overtime coursework and internship hours, he’d just completed his senior year at the University of Charleston, with the girl he loved by his side. Sam’s business degree coupled with Aston’s double degree in finance and business would hang in their brand-new offices at Hopewell Enterprises.
Two years ago, he was merely a ranch hand, a new and quite possibly temporary arrival in this town.
And look at him now. His life was perfect.
Almost perfect.
Two slender arms wrapped around his neck, commanding his immediate and complete attention. Aston swayed in front of him, and as he looked down at her, her smile was captivating.
“I think Ashley makes the most gorgeous bride in the world,” she said. Her long, dark hair was pulled into an elegant knot at the nape of her neck, and all he wanted to do was release the pins holding it up and allow its full weight to tumble down around her shoulders.
“Mmm,” he commented. Ashley was, indeed, a beautiful bride. And Finn would probably burst from happiness and pride right there on the dance floor. But Ashley couldn’t hold Sam’s attention. Not with Aston in the room.
“You’re very…contemplative tonight.” Aston stroked a finger over his lips. “Anything you want to talk about?”
He shook his head. “Just appreciating everything I have. Taking a minute to thank whoever’s responsible for it all.”
She nodded. “I know the feeling. I’m so ready for what’s next, though, aren’t you?”
He smiled. That was Aston. Ready to hurtle forward to the next challenge, the next adventure. He was always right there with her. Her partner, her equal.
A catcall erupted around them, and their eyes were drawn to the stage set up close to the rising tide.
“This next song belongs to the bride and groom,” said Reed.
He began strumming something slow and sultry on his guitar. The songs he’d written for this occasion were phenomenal, and Sam had no doubt that Reed would achieve his dreams of musical stardom one day.
“God, he’s amazing.” Aston watched her brother, with pride and awe trading places on her face. “I feel like he’s been doing this forever.”
“He’s something special. Only a matter of time before the whole world knows it,” Sam agreed.
They watched him for a few moments longer, and then Aston sighed, leaning into Sam.
“I wish he had someone.”
Sam nodded. She’d shared this worry with him more than once. She hated seeing Reed partying with different girls night after night. She knew what he was missing, although he still assured her that his happily ever after would never involve a serious relationship.
“One day,” Sam soothed. He bent and kissed the spot on her neck that called to him like a siren. “Let’s go tell Finn and Ash ’bye,” he said, leaning down to speak into her ear. “I’m ready to get you home.”
She shivered, and he smiled. Their ability to affect each other with a single breath would never fade.
Back home to the tack house, which they’d taken over as their own, now that they’d graduated and moved back to the island full-time.
Her grin curled at the corners of her lips. “Let’s.”
She pulled off her heels and ran with him across the sand. He fastened her helmet on her carefully as she pulled on her light leather jacket over her flowing bridesmaid’s dress.
He climbed onto the Harley and waited until her arms were squeezing his middle before roaring off down the dark streets of N.I. He smiled under his helmet visor, knowing that he wasn’t heading for the ranch, and knowing that Aston wouldn’t be able to grill him on their destination while on the bike.
Five minutes later, they were walking along the Sunny’s pier.
“What are you up to, Waters?” asked Aston, her voice full of suspicion. “I thought you were going to take me home and have your way with me.”
Sam laughed. “Hold your horses, Princess. We’ll get to that.”
He stopped walking, pulling her to a halt with
him. He smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and gripping her tightly. “I wanted to give you your graduation present first.”
The ocean lapped gently against the wood on the pier, and he was reminded of another night, which ended right in this very spot. He was broken then, until the woman standing in front of him helped put him back together.
Eventually, Hunter and Ever had been forgiven. In time, Sam had been able to see that his childhood sweetheart and his brother belonged together in a way that he and Ever never had. He’d wished they’d arrived at that conclusion in a different way, but everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. Without Ever and Hunter’s transgression, he may not have found his way into Aston’s waiting arms.
Finding a way to put that water under the bridge had given him a relationship with his brother again.
Aston’s eyebrows rose. He knew she’d never been able to resist a present. He chuckled.
“This pier? This is where my life started. At one point, I thought my life was ending here. And then my eyes were opened up to a world I never thought I could be a part of. My eyes were opened to you.”
Her eyes softened at the corners, and she smiled up at him. “My life began that night, too. It just took you awhile to realize it.”
He nodded. “God, Aston. My life is almost perfect now. Every crooked, twisted road I took…brought me here, to you.”
She nodded, her eyes full of reflections from the stars. Then her brow furrowed. “Wait a minute. Almost perfect?”
He nodded, reaching into the interior pocket of his black leather jacket. “Here. I had this ordered for you.”
She smiled as she pulled the shiny piece of platinum out of a long envelope. “A nameplate! For my new office at HE. Thank you, baby.”
She stared down at it, the light of the moon serving to assist her in reading it. Sam could have counted backward from three. He watched her face read the name on the plate, her eyes narrowed, and then they flew back up to lock with his.
As the realization registered on her face, he clasped her hand and dropped to a knee.
“What do you think?” he asked softly. “Was I too presumptuous when I ordered an ASTON WATERS nameplate for your door?”
She shook her head fervently, biting her bottom lip. Tears pooled in her eyes as she tugged his hand. “Sam?”
“Marry me, Princess. Make my life perfect.” He slid the carefully chosen diamond solitaire out of his pocket and slipped it onto her finger with a trembling hand.
She tugged his hand more urgently, and he rose to his feet. He scooped her up into his arms, and the feel of her lips pressed firmly against his was the only answer he needed. Yes.
Perfect.
About the Author
Diana Gardin is a wife of one and a mom of two. Writing is her second full-time job after that, and she loves it! Diana writes contemporary romance in the Young Adult and New Adult categories. She’s also a former elementary school teacher. She loves steak, sugar cookies, and Coke, and hates working out.
Learn more at:
DianaGardin.com
Twitter @DianalynnGardin
Facebook.com/authorDianaGardin
Get Ever and Hunter’s side of the story in
EVER ALWAYS
A Nelson Island novella
Turn the page for a special preview
Hunter loved his brother with every breath in his body. Sam was his little brother, full of grand ideas and no clue how to make them happen in real life. This was no exception.
Not for the first time, Hunter thought his brother was a fucking idiot.
He’d left her. She’d just shot her father. The turmoil that was going to come from that for Ever was going to be life-changing. And Sam should be there to walk her through it.
But he’d left.
Hunter glanced over at Ever as they trudged through the woods, walking quickly toward the house where her father lay dead. Her gaze was aimed straight ahead, her chin held high. Her graceful, petite hands were balled into tightly clenched fists at her sides, as if she were preparing for war. And in a way, she was.
Hunter clenched his jaw. There was no way in hell he was going to let her fight this battle alone.
Two sheriff’s cruisers were parked in front of the house when they arrived, blue lights flashing. Hunter was suddenly grateful for all things small town.
“That you, Ever?” asked Sheriff Lincoln.
“It’s me,” she called out.
“And me,” said Hunter.
“Where the hell have the two of you been? Got the call about a gunshot fifteen minutes ago. Been bangin’ on the door, nobody answered.”
Hunter snorted. “So you got a gunshot report but just waited patiently outside?”
That was Duck Creek’s finest, all right.
Sheriff Lincoln glared at Hunter. There was no love lost between the Waters family and the town’s law enforcement. Hunter and Sam weren’t bad growing up, but they did what they had to in order to survive. Their mother could barely place food on the table. When they were old enough to work, Hunter got a job at the lumberyard where he now made a good living, and Sam had worked at a garage in town in order to pay their mother’s bills. But before that, they had to do what they could to bring money home.
“I wasn’t talkin’ to you, Waters. Where’s that no-good brother of yours? He’s never far behind.”
“That’s enough,” Ever cut in, sick of the bullshit. Hunter could tell by her tone that she wasn’t in the mood for any of it. She wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.
Hunter caught her gaze, silently asking her if she really wanted to do what she was about to do. If she did, he’d back her up. There wasn’t a time in his life he could recall that he hadn’t backed her. She was his brother’s girl; he knew that just as well as he knew the sky was blue. But at one point, she’d just been Ever Allen from across the field. The field that separated the good from the bad. And aside from Sam, she was his very best friend.
She nodded so slightly he was the only one who noticed, and he reached for her hand. She tightened her fingers around his palm and squeezed.
“You better come on inside,” she said to the sheriff. Hunter heard a door shut, and turned. Brandon Charles, who graduated in the same class as Ever and Sam a few years back, climbed out of his deputy vehicle.
“Why?” asked Sheriff Lincoln. “What the hell happened? Where’s your daddy?”
“Lying on the living room floor. Sam shot Daddy dead tonight when he tried to beat me with a baseball bat.”
The five hours that followed were like every cop show Hunter had ever seen, only made into parody by small town methods and thinking.
Ever was stoic in her repeated version of the night’s events. The biggest problem was Ever had never reported one of the beatings she had received from her father. Hunter could see Sam’s line of thinking. No one would have just accepted her self-defense story as truth. And they definitely weren’t buying it that Sam killed Graham Allen in order to protect his girlfriend. But they processed the scene, gathered the gun and the baseball bat into evidence, and carted Ever’s father off in an ambulance to be examined by the coroner.
When Ever slammed the door on the last person to leave, who just happened to be Brandon Charles, the deputy, she leaned back against it. She shut her eyes tight, and Hunter could see her body beginning to tremble all over.
“Aw, Ev,” he said quietly, closing the gap between them. He scooped her up into his arms before she could fall to pieces in the living room and carried her past the bloodstain on the floor to her own bedroom. He hesitated in the doorway, realizing she’d never felt safe there.
“It’s fine, Hunter,” she said, her voice soft. “He can’t hurt me here anymore.”
He placed her gently on her bed, where she threw an arm over her eyes and curled her legs into her chest.
Sinking down beside her, Hunter reached out to smooth her dark red hair out of the way. He stared down at her.<
br />
From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Back then, he hadn’t registered it as beauty. She was spunky and fun, and she liked to run just as much as he and Sam did. What more could a seven-year-old boy ask for? She was perfect. Then when he was a little older, maybe around eleven, he’d noticed the way her jewel green eyes sparkled when she laughed, and the way the light dusting of freckles on her skin made her face so much more interesting than any other girl he knew. The sunlight would catch in her thick hair, and he’d lose whatever stupid-ass words he’d been about to utter. The summer he turned fifteen and Ever and Sam were thirteen and a half, he noticed the way her head tilted to the side when she was thinking hard about something, and that she was beginning to develop migraine headaches when she felt upset. He tried to comfort her when she felt that way, tried to figure out what was bothering her. Sam was the fixer; he would rather make her headaches go away than find out what caused them in the first place.
“Your head hurting?” he asked her.
She nodded, lying still and quiet on the bed.
“What can I get you?”
She removed the arm covering her eyes, and stared up at him. His chest clenched with something achy and sharp, and his hand involuntarily went to the spot to clutch it and make the strange pain go away.
“Can you get me your brother back here where he belongs?” she asked, her eyes just as hard as the feeling in his chest.
His head dropped. He never wanted to disappoint her, never wanted to let her down. He and Sam had always been alike that way.
But fuck, she asked for the one thing he couldn’t give her.