Falling In

by Stark, Avery

  “Holy shit,” she exclaimed and put her hands out just in time to stop it from whipping back into her face.

  Liam held the door and playfully pushed her out by her rear, then turned around and closed it carefully. When the wind wasn’t gusting, the thick air that lay over the town was actually quite still, allowing the lighter debris that was sucked in by the storm to start to fall back to earth, only to be kicked back up again by the next passing wave of air. Small pieces of paper, paint, wood and all kinds of scrap fluttered up and down like snowflakes under the cloud-cover, which already started to break apart.

  “I’ve never seen a view quite like this.”

  “Me either,” Liam answered and came up behind her as he wrapped both hands around her waist.

  The wet sand under their feet crackled as he spun Audrey around and pulled her up for a deep, passionate kiss. From not too far away, the Island Hotel’s door slammed open again and a voice from Audrey’s nightmares pierced right through their perfect moment.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Audrey snapped around and was relieved that Liam kept his hands clamped onto her hips from behind when she saw her ex. Max angrily stood and pinned the door open with a hand that was still wrapped in a bandage.

  “Oh no,” she lamented and pushed up against Liam. “You can’t be here.”

  Max repeated himself and took another step forward, “What the hell is this?”

  “This is none of your business, guy,” Liam said and moved to stand next to her. “I assume you’re Max?”

  “And who the fuck’s asking?”

  Liam put a hand on Audrey’s stomach and gave her the faintest nudge back as Max let go of the door and let it slam shut behind him.

  “Look,” he said and put a hand out, “I suggest you get out of here before there’s trouble.”

  “Not before I talk to her,” he said and pointed to Audrey.

  Liam started to say something, but Audrey squeezed his hand and cut in.

  “We don’t have anything else to talk about, Max. You and I are through.”

  “Audrey,” he said with a softer tone that made her suspicious. “You can come back home with me right now and we can work this out. We can take some vacation days from work and go somewhere nice.”

  “Work?” She realized that she never even got a chance to tell him about being laid off, which only made her angrier. “I got fired right before dinner that night, Max. You never even gave me a chance and now I’m returning the favor. I want you to leave.”

  “No,” he said and moved toward her. “Not yet. Not without you.”

  Liam stepped in front of her again and responded, “You don’t have to go anywhere, Audrey.”

  Max clenched his jaw and just stood there. She watched from behind Liam, sure that he was about to explode just like before. Even with the strong man standing in front of her, the prospect of seeing him like that again made her skin crawl.

  After a few moments, Liam pulled her out from behind him and put both hands on her shoulders. With an eye still locked on Max, who wasn’t too far away, he told her, “That night on the beach. Yankeetown, remember?”

  The sweet, sensual memory of how he pleased her so selflessly rushed back and made her tingle with excitement in spite of the tense situation surrounding her.

  “How could I forget?”

  “Do you remember what happened before...when I asked you whether or not you liked it here?”

  The visuals that she retained from that night made her increasingly flustered. She glanced over to Max, who stared her down like a hawk.

  “I do now.”

  “I was trying to ask you to stay with me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Liam held her head in his hands and kissed her lips.

  “I wanted you to stay and I still do.”

  “But, but,” Audrey stammered. “Why did you wait to bring this up again?”

  “I don’t know. The time just never seemed right, but it certainly does now.”

  She looked over to Max, who had both hands clenched into fists at the sight of his wife in the arms of another man.

  “So I’m asking you now,” Liam’s voice drew her gaze back to his pleading eyes. “Stay in Cedar Key.”

  Without so much as looking in Max’s direction, Audrey answered, “You know I will.”

  “That’s it,” Max stormed over from where he watched and shoved Audrey out of the way hard enough to almost knock her to the ground. “I’ve had about enough of this.”

  Liam took a step toward him.

  “And I’ve had about enough of you.”

  Audrey started to get back between them, but she was already too late. Max took a swing and barely missed Liam’s perfect jaw line as he dipped back just out of reach. Returning the favor, Liam’s tattooed knuckles landed squarely against Max’s bottom lip and sent him shuffling backwards.

  Without missing a beat, the two lunged at each other again. That time, however, someone else was there to break it up. Marv, one of the town’s police officers who Audrey met when she first arrived, swooped in after hearing the commotion from inside. He shoved both men so that they were a few feet apart.

  “Cut it out,” he yelled, “or you’re both going to jail.”

  Liam pointed to Max, who was busy pressing the back of his hand against his lip, and growled, “He needs to get the hell out of here.”

  Marv turned.

  “And who the hell are you?”

  “My ex-husband,” Audrey said as she finally took up a spot next to Liam. “And I don’t want him here.”

  “I’m not your ex-husband yet,” he said with a scowl.

  Audrey stared him and replied, “I can promise you that you will be very soon.”

  Marv broke in, “Look, I don’t know what is going on here, but you need to leave, sir.”

  “Not without her,” Max pointed to Audrey.

  “Sorry,” she said and slipped her hand into Liam’s. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  His fingers curled tightly around hers, acknowledging the happiness that her choice brought to him without saying a word.

  Max tried to speak again, but Marv put up a hand and stopped him.

  “Every police officer in Cedar Key but me is in that building, having a drink,” he said and pointed toward the battered hotel. He stepped up and put one hand on Audrey’s shoulder and the other on Liam’s. “The way I see it, you have two options here. You can turn around and go back to wherever you came from, or I can send you back in a whole lot more trouble than you’re already in.”

  Max started to take a step forward with both hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles were as white as a sheet of paper. But he didn’t make it far before the last rational part of his brain held him back.

  “This isn’t over,” he said through clenched teeth and pointed at Audrey. A small trickle of blood began to spill from the corner of his mouth. “It’s not.”

  Audrey felt Marv’s assuring palm grip her shoulder a little tighter, as if to make sure she knew that Max couldn’t hurt her anymore. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, kicking aside one of the many pieces of Cedar Key that lay scattered about. When she did, Marv’s hand fell from her shoulder. It was a silent--if not tenuous--permission to proceed.

  Liam, however, kept the very tips of their fingers hooked together as she went.

  “Yes, it is.” She jerked her arm away from Liam and held it up to Max. It was only inches from his nose and made her healing cuts easily visible. “Do you have any fucking clue what you’ve done to me? Do you?”

  She started to yell, but nobody--not even the few residents who began to wander outside to see what was going on--was going to stop her.

  “I can forgive your childish attitude and I can even forgive the way that you sprung this divorce on me.” She shook her wrist and drew his eyes back down to the damage that he inflicted. “But I will never forgive you for this. Not now and not ever.”

  He
started to beg, “We have to make things work. You can’t run from this forever.”

  “I’m not going to run away, Max, but I can promise you that you won’t see me run back, either.” She lowered her tone and, for the first time in weeks, said to him with confidence, “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

  Over the last remaining chunks of skin that were still raised from his attack, Max stared into Audrey’s eyes. She could almost see the debate that raged in his head. But as he tore his eyes away and saw the gathering cluster of people ready to defend their own, it seemed that the choice had been made for him.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but clearly thought better of it and snapped his lips back together before he stomped away with fists still clenched. When he disappeared from view, Marv let go of Liam’s shoulder and whispered to him, “I’ll take everyone back in so you two can talk, then I’ll head out and make sure that punk leaves.”

  “Thanks,” Liam said with a grateful smile.

  Marv nodded, turned around to the small crowd and yelled, “Alright, folks. Nothin’ to see here. Get back inside.”

  After he left the only sober cop in town to do his job, Liam started toward Audrey to do his.

  “Hey,” he said and wrapped his hand around her shaking, damaged wrist. “It’s over now.”

  The instant that his touch landed, Audrey jumped into his arms and started to cry.

  “I’m so sorry for all of this. I’m-”

  “Stop,” he said and held her cheeks with both hands. “The only apology that I want from you is for not coming into my life sooner.”

  In the peace of the moment, Audrey looked to the scattered spikes of light that pierced through the clouds to the east. They littered the weather-beaten landscape with bright slashes of white that illuminated the ravaged coastline in brief, passing flashes. On the back of the undulating sea, they danced and shimmered. It was a reassuring hint of the coming brightness that everyone--especially Audrey--needed.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air. For those few seconds in time, the overwhelming relief of letting her heart take the lead overshadowed all of the pain and loss. There was no hurt, fear or anger left for her to wallow in.

  All that’s left, she thought and turned to Liam, is happiness.

  She pushed up to the tips of her toes and kissed him. From the crashing ocean beyond, the rough breeze rushed by and swirled around them like the brand new beginning that they had been given. As Audrey sank into Liam’s strong arms, he leaned down so close that his lips tickled the outer part of her ear and whispered, “I love you.”

  A response flowed naturally from her quivering lips.

  “I love you, too.”

  As they stood among the swaying sea grass and shifting pockets of sand, the storm quickly became an eloquent reminder to Audrey--and Cedar Key its self--that the wreckage of the past can sometimes become the foundation for greater things that have only just begun.

  ###

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  Broken to Pieces

  Just before the hottest Virginia summer since 1936, college freshman Emily comes home to her parents’ bed and breakfast to a varied cast of characters, including a troubled, handsome young artist named Adam Marshall. In the days that follow, they find themselves helplessly drawn to each other by the dark secrets that both of them keep. But when a personal tragedy forces Emily to take over her parents’ business by herself and face the demons of her past, she finds herself lost and unsure of everything that she thought she knew.

  Amidst the backdrop of the picturesque Chickweed Inn, nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, Emily and Adam’s turbulent story plays its self out as the lives of several strangers collide in a tangled web of love, loss, pain and romance over the course of a single summer. Will the dramatic series of events turn the star-crossed lovers away from each other, or will Emily and Adam find the strength in each other to rise from the ashes of their shattered lives?

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Second only to St. Augustine, Cedar Key is one of the oldest towns in Florida. While this book is a work of fiction, the city and its turbulent history are, in fact, real. Having never been there personally, I took many liberties when it came to the town’s layout and inhabitants. If you’re interested in reading about Cedar Key’s real history, from its settlement to its obliteration by the storm of 1896 and beyond, I highly recommend ‘Cedar Key: A History’ by Kevin McCarthy. I picked up a copy during my research and ended up learning a lot about this amazing little town that I now can’t wait to visit.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A life-long Southern California native, Avery Stark spends most of her time mulling over different story ideas. She is often inspired by the brilliant sunsets behind rows of palm trees, the gritty smell of the sea air in the early morning hours and the beautiful diversity that her home state embraces.

  Avery lives just outside of Los Angeles with her two cats and a daughter who, at the end of the day, pushes along her relentless pursuit of happiness, love and being able to live the dream of doing something that she loves. Among her other interests, she lives to cook for a crowd and has an unusual amount of interest in the field of geology, though her college degree was in, of all things, accounting.

  Ms. Stark would like to thank you again for your support of independent authors. It is, after all, what makes her world--and the worlds in her stories--possible.

  Thank you for your continuing support of independent authors! For the latest news from Avery Stark, including her blog, please visit her website at www.averystarkromance.blogspot.com. Once there, don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list, which will keep you up to date on all of Ms. Stark’s upcoming novels, including release dates and special discounts.

  This book is copyrighted by Avery Stark with all rights reserved. No part of this may be copied, or changed in any format, sold, or used in any way. All characters depicted are 18 years or older and are works of fiction. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.