“Can I help you?” she said into it.
The man on the other side hesitated. “Hi. I’m Jamal Irvine, Eric’s brother.”
“Oh yes,” she let out with a sigh of relief. “He told me about you.”
“Can I come in?”
“Of course. I am so sorry.”
She turned the video camera off and opened the door. “Please do come in. Eric isn’t here yet. But he must be on his way home. Were you supposed to meet him here? I thought he would be home sooner. It seems though he’s got late. Traffic, perhaps.” She realized she was babbling and she blushed. “I’m sorry I don’t trail off like this on my own. I am just so excited to meet you. I’ve never met any of Eric’s family before. Can I get you something to drink?”
He was quiet… too exceptionally quiet.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
He coughed. “Yes… I’m sorry.”
“Oh, okay,” she mumbled nervously. “Did anyone else come with you? Your sisters? Your mom?”
“No. It’s just me.”
“I would love to meet them some day. Eric talks so much about you all.”
“And he talked about you all the time too,” he mumbled softly. “When he first told me about meeting you again, I couldn’t believe it. What were the possibilities that he would ever see you again? I guess you both… it was just meant to be.”
She tilted her head to the side with curiosity. “What do you mean ‘meeting me again’? You must have me confused with someone else. Eric and I met only a few months ago for the first time.”
He swallowed. “I guess Ricky never told you.”
Ricky. Why did the name sound so familiar? Her fingers twitched nervously. Her gut twisted. There was something wrong and she couldn’t tell what that was.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know if you remember, but about fifteen years ago, a group of boys were bothering you. That’s when Ricky raced off from the basketball courts to help you.”
Her eyes watered as she recalled that incident which plagued much of her youth. “That was Eric?”
“Yeah… And I was the other guy.”
“Why did he never tell me?” she mumbled almost to herself.
“I guess he had his reasons.”
She sniveled into a tissue. She was elated and angry, all at the same time. How could Eric not tell me something like this? But he was her Eric and he was always so modest. That’s just how Eric was.
Jamal put a hand over hers and she tensed. What is he doing?
“Anne,” he started slowly. “There’s another reason why I’m here. I… I don’t know how to break it any… easier.” His lips were trembling and she almost knew he was crying. “I’ve… I’ve never done this before. I’m sorry. I wish I knew a better way of saying this…”
“What is it?” she asked, preparing herself for the worst. “Jamal, what is it?”
“Eric… my brother… my… brother… he’s dead.”
She froze, her face growing ashen in color. “No, he isn’t. He can’t be. You’re lying. Are you joking? Because it isn’t funny.”
“Anne…”
“You can’t come here and say something like that! Get out of my house!” She pushed him away. “Get out! I will tell Eric when he comes home. You call yourself family? Get out! Get out!”
She shivered, bumping into things in her living room as she scrambled towards the door. He went after her, holding her steady.
“No!” she cried. “No! He’s coming home… he promised. He’s coming home.”
He held her to him despite her protests. She wept against his chest, the meaning of his words finally sinking into her.
“He promised me he would come home,” she sobbed, her cries muffled against his shirt. “He said he would never leave me. How could he? No… Eric… no…”
CHAPTER 23
“It’s been two months, Anne,” Lucy said softly into the phone. “You need to move on with life. Eric would want it too.”
“I’m trying, Lucy,” she replied. She was sitting in an armchair in her bedroom with her knees curled up to her face. But everything reminds me of him. The bathroom, the bedroom… the kitchen. He has left traces of him everywhere and I can’t help but ache for him.
“Oh honey,” Lucy crooned. “I know you are. But every time I see you in that armchair, it tears me apart. You are so young Anne. And you have so much of your dreams left that you need to fulfill. Shouldn’t you start focusing on that now?”
Anne closed her eyes. Her tears were silently pouring out of them, but there was no way she could tell Lucy that.
“Do you want me to come home?” Lucy asked. “I am only a couple of hours away. And honestly speaking, this party is such a bore. Why don’t I come home and we could just tuck away in bed together and eat all the ice-cream we can?”
Anne smiled through her tears. “It’s okay, Lucy. I will be fine.” She wiped her tears away with a tissue. “I think you are right. It’s time I revisited my jar of dreams.”
“That’s my girl,” Lucy encouraged. “Now before I go, read me one dream from your jar. But after you do, you have to promise me you will do everything you can to make it come true.”
“Now?” Anne groaned.
“Yes, now. I’m going to get you off that chair somehow or the other,” Lucy said determinedly.
Anne begrudgingly lifted herself off her chair. She might as well do or Lucy would never stop calling her. She wanted to simply mellow in sorrow and self-pity and that wasn’t a possibility with Lucy continually interrupting her.
She put her hand into the jar and felt for a card. One stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the others. It wasn’t a size she would put into it. It was different. It felt different.
She picked it up, wondering what it could be. Her fingers read over the Braille letterings and she paled.
Her breath caught in her throat as she began to sob.
“Anne?” Lucy said into the phone, her voice growing panicky.
Anne’s knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor as she held the note to her chest, sobbing frantically.
Nicholas turned sharply into her street. He had raced out of his office the moment Lucy had told her about Anne.
“She’s sobbing so bad, Nicholas. I would be there right now, but I’m stuck in this goddamned party. Oh please, Nicholas, I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Anything stupid. The words reverberated through his mind. No, she won’t. She can’t. She’s strong.
He swerved into her driveway and came to a sudden stop. He threw the car door open and raced over to her front door, punching in her code which was etched deeply into his memory by now. He had visited her several times and in all those times, she rarely would notice his presence, sitting in her armchair in the bedroom, her life seeping slowly out of her body.
He sped up the stair case and towards her bedroom. He braked by the doorway, trying to catch his breath as he saw her crouched on the floor, leaning against the bed.
“Anne?” he said softly as he approached her slowly.
She began trembling again, her sobs on the tips of her lips. “Nicholas.”
“Anne, honey, what is it?”
“Nicholas,” she repeated.
It was then he noticed the note in her hand. What was it?
She clutched it to her heart and rocked slowly as she sobbed.
He sat by her tiredly and put an arm around her. She leaned into him, continuing to sob against his chest. He caressed her hair, soothing her. It was all he could do for her now.
An hour later when she had calmed down, he picked her up in his arms and laid her on her bed, tucking the covers around her. He watched her for a while, assuring himself that she was resting peacefully before stepping out of her bedroom.
“Come on, Boots,” he called out softly to her cat. “It’s just us now.”
She sat on the bench in the middle of her garden, listening to the songs of the birds in the distance. She fel
t the warmth of the setting sun on her skin. The fragrance of Eric’s roses drifted through the wind, delighting her senses.
Her fingers trailed the little punches in the note. I dare to dream about you. I love you. I will always love you.
She sniveled, wiping her tears from her eyes. Boots pounced onto the bench and curled up beside her. She nuzzled his furry head and he purred.
She smiled. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I will always love you.”
ALSO BY CLARISSA CARTHARN
Winter’s End
Red Collar
Scent of Roses
Claimed
Affairs & Atonement
Captive (Short Story Series)
AFFAIRS & ATONEMENT
CLARISSA CARTHARN
SHE WAS HIS FIRST LOVE, AND HE WASN'T OVER HER... HE JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT UNTIL HE MET HER AGAIN... 11 YEARS LATER
He married her at eighteen and then she disappeared hours into their marriage.
That was eleven years ago and Ashton Pryor was certain he was over Christy Huntley. He had moved on. He got engaged.
But old ties have to be severed first before new ones can be made. Now he needed to find Christy more than ever. He needed to divorce her to marry Naomi Landon.
But when you hunt someone for as long as he had done, can you really say you’re over her?
AFFAIRS & ATONEMENT
CLARISSA CARTHARN
CHAPTER 1
The amber sun was setting in the horizon and she squinted at it as she lay on her back on the grassland. She raised her hands and made a small heart with her fingers, capturing the golden ball of flame within its frame.
“So, what about you, Christy?” her friend Hilda asked as she lay on her side, watching her. “Is there anyone special in your life?”
Christy put her hands under her head, mesmerized by the moving clouds above her. The breeze fluttered through the meadow and she heard it whistle through the tall grass flowers.
“Anyone special…” she repeated Hilda dazedly.
There was someone special but she would be crazy to say his name aloud, after all he was her sister-in-law, Linda’s brother. What would Linda think of her if she discovered she was immensely infatuated with the eighteen year old darkly gorgeous Ashton Pryor? She knew Linda wasn’t quite happy with her family and the thought of her beloved younger brother dating another Huntley would simply put Christy into a more distressing position with Linda than it already was.
“None,” she said at last with a sigh.
It wasn’t a lie. Ashton didn’t know how she felt about him. And as to whether he would even consider dating her was completely another matter. As far as she knew, Ashton was just as averse to the Huntleys as was Linda.
“You sure?” Hilda asked, arching an eyebrow. “How about Marshall’s brother-in-law?”
Christy winced inside. “Ashton? No, course not!” She let out a pretentious huff.
Hilda perked her lips in deep thought. “I always thought you had a thing for him. Every time he was near you, you’d have this look on you.”
“What look?” Christy grumbled. Was she that obvious?
“The one that shows you’re absolutely smitten by the guy,” Hilda remarked and gave an imitation of what she believed was Christy’s lovelorn look.
“I don’t do that!” Christy argued, sitting up, annoyed that she was ever caught looking at Ashton like that.
“Oh come on.” Hilda rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen how you look at him.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Christy dismissed. She stood up and brushed the weeds out of her hair. “I need to go back before Marshall and Linda get worried.”
“Very well,” Hilda said, rising along with her. “But I’m going on a date with Paul next Saturday. He was wondering if you would like to double-date with his friend, Brendan.”
Christy twisted her lips in thought as she dusted her skirt. “Yeah, okay. Why not? But I need to run it by Marshall first. He gets unnecessarily picky about boys and me.”
“Tell me about it,” Hilda muttered. “Someone would think he’s your dad and not your brother. He’s incredibly protective.”
Christy bit her lips. And she was of him too. Marshall was the only person in her life who ever showed that she was deserving of some love and care too.
“I’ll see you later, Hilda,” she said, giving her a small half-hearted wave, wishing she could while the night away with her friend rather than return home.
She cast her eyes down upon the trodden grass trek as she strolled out of the abandoned wild field.
Twilight had begun to set in and she needed to make it home before it got dark. She wound around an old empty warehouse, her mind burdened with the thoughts of her brother.
Marshall was fifteen years older than her and the son of her father by his first wife. After her mother’s marriage collapsed with her father, her mom moved onto a much younger partner. Of course, Christy then thirteen years old would have been a hindrance to their new and establishing relationship. After a load of bickering between her parents as to who should take charge of her, her father lost, as he usually did in an argument with her mother. She spent the next year and a half with her dad until he also found himself a new partner who was not too happy being cradled with a teen.
It was Marshall then who had come to her rescue, willing to take her in despite his recent two year tumultuous marriage to Linda Pryor. She hardly knew Linda until she moved in with Marshall, having met her only a couple of times before. She had seemed polite. But moving from Philadelphia to Bennett, Adam’s County was going to be an entirely different story.
Bennett belonged to Marshall and Linda. It was their town. Their families resided in it for generations, and tagging along with them always made her feel like an outsider. And like all families in small towns, the Huntleys and the Pryors had opinions of each other that weren’t quite so flattering. It was a wonder how Marshall and Linda continued to stay married despite the constant rows they had each night. She was now beginning to dread returning to the house, not wishing to witness any more of their fights.
She recognized the truck in the driveway and her heart beat fast. Ashton was here. She clenched her fingers, trying to keep her nervousness at bay and then walked awkwardly over to the front door.
She didn’t understand why she was ever bothered about him. Ashton detested her as much as Linda and every other Pryor. As far as he was concerned, she was just another ill-bred Huntley. He never even glanced at her. He had barely spoken more than two words to her all this while. So why in the heck was she even infatuated with him?
Perhaps, because he was never rude to her. Sure he treated her as if she didn’t exist, but he never outright was ever impolite. And then there was the fact that he was incredibly handsome. She supposed every teen girl in town swooned over Ashton. And she was no different.
She heaved a sigh and turned the front door-knob. She caught a glimpse of Linda weeping in the living room as Ashton placed an arm around her to calm her down. She slipped quietly up the staircase, not wanting to learn what had upset Linda. As usual, it could probably have been something to do with Marshall and like most times, Ashton had turned up at the house immediately to attend to his beloved older sister.
She heard the baby’s muffled cry in her cot, breaking her thoughts away from Ashton and Marshall.
“Elise?” she called out to the five month old baby and gasped when she saw that her beanie was tugged down her face and to her chin. “Oh, Elise.” She rushed up to her to free her face from the cute, pink woolen cap. “Hello,” she said in her sweet voice as the baby looked up at her with surprise. “Yes, it’s Aunt Christy. Aren’t you the sweetest baby ever?”
She lifted the now gurgling baby into her arms to cuddle her.
“Have you had your bottle? Is that why you’re suddenly awake and excited?”
The baby grabbed a fistful of her loose hair to put into her mouth.
Christy laughed. “No, silly. It�
��s dirty. Do you even know where I’ve been?”
“Why don’t you tell us? For one, I would like to know why you were so late,” said a deep voice, startling her.
She spun around to find Ashton watching her from the doorway.
“I…I…,” she stammered, confused by his sudden presence. Since when was Ashton ever interested in her whereabouts? Hell, when was he ever interested in having a conversation with her at all?
He ambled up to her, his musk clearly invading every power of her senses, titillating them to the brink of dizziness. He tilted his head to the side as he neared her, waiting for her to give him an answer.
“I don’t see why you should be concerned about where I had been,” she replied staunchly, hoping to dear God she wasn’t making a gruesome error. But she was darned if she would allow him to speak to her in that tone, regardless of how stunning he looked, and making her legs all too damned wobbly.
He frowned and then leaned down to brush Elise’s face delicately with his knuckles. His fingers grazed her skin just above her bosom and she froze. He must have felt it too because he immediately glanced up at her before withdrawing his hand.
He straightened up, his entire demeanor changing, his eyes growing colder than usual.
“You know well enough Linda needs you home to help out with the baby. It’s bad enough that your brother treats her with very little appreciation. You could at least make an effort and compensate for what he can’t do,” he let out slowly and crudely.
Her eyes welled with the callousness of his words. She always did help Linda with the house and the baby as much as she could. She rarely did go out to visit her friends, and this was just one of those times when she was able to spend it with Hilda. In her opinion, Ashton couldn’t have been more unfair with his accusation.
She turned around to lay baby Elise back into her cot. She was only seventeen years old and here she was nursing a five month old child while her mother spent all her hours weeping over marrying the wrong man.
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