One Unforgettable Kiss

by A. C. Arthur

  His words seemed to echo in the huge space as she stared off toward the tractor. Garrek ran a hand down the back of his head.

  “So is it your baby?” she asked.

  “No. It’s not.”

  “If you were granted a leave chit, why are the MAs here looking for you?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m leaving tomorrow to get it all figured out.”

  “You’re leaving?” she asked and immediately looked up at him.

  “Yes,” he said, searching her face for any clue that she might want him to stay. There was none. “That’s why I needed to see you tonight. I couldn’t go without explaining to you.”

  She started to nod. “Oh, right. Yes. You’re going back to Washington.”

  “This wasn’t what I planned,” he started.

  “Stop saying that!” she yelled and pushed her fingers through her hair. “Nobody can plan every aspect of their life, Garrek. Do you think I planned to have some drunk idiot at a frat party attack me?”

  Anger simmered in him instantly. “This is not the same.”

  “It’s not that different,” she continued. “We both got into situations that quickly spiraled out of control. I ran away from mine, you ran away from yours. The difference is, I told you. When I thought we were at a point where honesty needed to override my fear, I told you what happened to me. You backed away again. That seems to be your preference.”

  He took a step toward her because not touching her was threatening his sanity. She took a step away and then pulled on the barn door before looking over to him. “Thanks for the explanation. I hope you get everything straightened out when you return to Washington.”

  “Harper,” he said, not sure what to say next.

  “You have a life to live,” she continued. “Hopefully it turns out to be the one you planned. As for me, I’ll move on. I did it before, I can do it again. Goodbye, Garrek.”

  She stepped out of the barn, and he started to follow her. But Harper turned quickly, holding up a hand to stop him this time.

  “Don’t. This is finished. You said what you needed to say. I listened. Now we both go our separate ways and do the things we need to do to survive this episode. That’s how life works, Garrek. The give-and-take while the world continues to spin around us. We keep going. That’s it.”

  When she turned away from him this time, Garrek remained still. He watched her until he saw her close the front door of the house behind her. The sound of it slamming echoed in his mind and caused a thump in his chest.

  She was gone and she was right—they needed to keep moving. He had things to do, a situation to fix. But as Garrek walked to his car he realized, now more than ever, that Harper was still mistaken about one thing: they weren’t meant to go their separate ways. He’d been at that hall, raising his hand for another drink at the exact moment he was supposed to be. That silly auction was meant to serve a purpose, and even if nobody else cared at this point, Garrek was listening. He was hearing and believing and ready to reach out for the future that he felt deep down in his soul was meant for him.

  Yes, Garrek had believed there was a plan for his life, and now there was no doubt in his mind that the plan was never his to make. He wasn’t about to miss the blessing that he knew Harper was meant to be to him by walking away and never looking back—like his parents had done, because they never took the chance on coming back to each other. He was going to Washington in the morning, but then he was coming back for Harper.

  No matter what, he was coming back to Temptation for her.

  Chapter 16

  Four weeks later, Harper ended a call with her contact at the American Program Bureau. With a smile of contentment, she sat back on the front steps of the Adberry house.

  It was nearing ten o’clock on a Friday morning. The sky was a brilliant blue, sun beaming on an eighty-nine-degree day. She wore cutoff jeans and an old T-shirt, tennis shoes on her feet and a white bandanna wrapped around her head to hold her hair back. They’d finally finished demolition on parts of the house and she had the new permits from the county and the historical society tucked safely in her briefcase. Work would begin on the restoration of the house as soon as Craig, who was serving as project manager on this job, and the rest of the crew arrived.

  Beginning the first week of October, she would be traveling to four universities across the state of Virginia, speaking to incoming freshmen about sexual assault.

  One week after Harper had returned from the impromptu trip to Richmond, she’d decided it was time to really let go of her past. The only way she could do that was by talking about it. Still a little nervous about her father and grandfather’s reactions, especially on the heels of everything that had gone down with Garrek, she’d decided to tell Morgan and Wendy first. The two ladies had been a steady support in those days right after Garrek left Temptation, even though Harper had sworn she hadn’t needed any assistance in moving on. After years of having no close friends, it had just become easier to not lean on anyone and deal all on her own. This time, Morgan and Wendy had made sure she knew that she didn’t have to go that route.

  “You are not a coward,” Morgan had insisted after Harper had gone through the entire story about Len and the frat party again.

  They’d been in Morgan’s sitting room. Her doctor had put her on bed rest the day after Garrek and Gray had left for Washington, so Ms. Ida Mae had temporarily moved into one of the newly remodeled guest rooms in Morgan and Gray’s house. The sitting room had been Morgan’s idea as an extension of the master bedroom. She had been lying on the chaise lounge—which was the only other location, other than her bed, where she had permission to be.

  Wendy had been sitting sideways in one of the high-back antique chairs across from Morgan, her legs over one arm. Harper had been pacing the rose-colored area rug as she’d talked.

  “Absolutely not,” Wendy added. “You’re a boss for beating him down the way you did. I bet he thought twice about harassing any other girl after his nose was busted.”

  Harper had to smile at that. “I don’t know. I looked him up, though. He’s coaching at a North Carolina college now. He has a wife and a daughter.”

  She didn’t know why she’d tracked Len down—she’d only known that she’d wanted to know what he’d made of his life since she’d basically given him a pass to move on without any consequences for what he’d done to her. Harper had been thinking a lot about that in the days since she’d told Garrek.

  “Because he was never punished, he probably never thought he did anything wrong,” Morgan said. “What a shame.”

  “I don’t really care,” Harper said. “He can have his family and his job, it doesn’t matter to me. What matters more is that no other young lady has to endure the torture I’ve put myself through these past years. If I could just warn them.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Morgan had said. “You could speak at college campuses. Share your story and let them know it’s okay to talk about this issue.”

  From there the idea had been planted, and Harper had been diligently researching and talking to people to figure out how she could make this happen. She hadn’t pressed charges against Len all those years ago, and she realized now that she should have. But instead of trying to go against the statute of limitations and possibly press for a civil trial, Harper wanted to make it more about the other women who might fall prey to this same situation. So she planned to tell her story to any and all of the college students who would listen, in the hopes that she could get even one person to come forward after an assault happened to them, or, the better scenario, that she could prevent another young lady from having to deal with this issue at all.

  So her smile today was one of triumph. After talking to Morgan and Wendy, she’d invited Uncle Giff and Aunt Laura and the boys over to the farm for dinner. While they were enjoying the strawberry shortcake that Harper had made because i
t was Pops’s favorite, she told them her story. The men in her family were all ready to go to North Carolina and find Len Ruffin, but Aunt Laura saw the bigger picture. She saw the woman this incident had made Harper. That had made Harper feel good, and had solidified her resolve to talk to others about her story.

  Now, the first speaking engagements were set via a national representative company that had agreed to work with her, even though she wasn’t a celebrity and had no other viable platform. In this instance, being a survivor was enough.

  Harper felt accomplished this morning. She was ready to start work on the house and ready to make her mark on this world. She was winning.

  And then her phone chimed with an email.

  Harper opened the message and read it, wondering what to think of the words.

  In the weeks that Garrek had been gone, she’d heard from him at least once a day. At first the text messages were nerve-racking, as she was trying to forget what they’d shared. But when each of Garrek’s messages spoke of the Adberry house and the plans to bring it back to its former glory, Harper began to slip into her comfort zone. She was the company he’d hired to do a service. That was all.

  Opening his emails had become part of her daily routine—only today’s words instantly threw her off kilter.

  Please meet me at Adberry House, 7 p.m. tonight.

  Was Garrek back in Temptation? If so, why hadn’t anyone told her?

  She’d sat up on the steps then, her hands shaking slightly as she held the phone and continued to stare down at it. There was no need for her to be nervous or anxious. This was business, she reminded herself. Of course he was going to come back when he knew she was about to start work on the house. That made sense.

  The butterflies that seemed to be awakened by the message and the warmth that was already beginning to spread throughout her body did not make sense, because what she and Garrek had had was over. Harper was certain of that.

  * * *

  Garrek was running late.

  His flight had been delayed, and one of the back tires on the rental car had gone flat when he was just half an hour away from the airport. So he’d called the rental company and had them meet him with another car. Then there was an accident on the highway, so his hour-long drive to Temptation had taken an hour and forty-five minutes.

  Now, finally, he used the key Gray had given him to his house to let himself in at almost three o’clock Friday afternoon. Gray was also due home today after a business trip to Miami. Garrek felt bad about taking Gray away from his family a month ago when he’d had to return to Washington. He’d tried to get Gray to stay here, but his brother had insisted. As it turned out, it was good having him there. Garrek hadn’t realized how much he missed having people in his corner all these years. But Gray and Gen were adamant about staying in Washington until he was cleared of any wrongdoing. And the lawyer Gray hired for him, Justin Marcone, a former marine, had been fantastic. Within hours after they’d arrived on base, demanding to speak to Captain Ainsley directly, the commander’s ploy to bend Garrek to his will had come crumbling down.

  “MAs showed up at the home of Grayson Taylor looking for Lieutenant Commander Garrek Taylor twenty-four hours ago. I’ll be representing Lieutenant Commander Taylor and would like to see the civilian custody and court order,” Justin had told the officer sitting at the desk outside Captain Ainsley’s office.

  The young woman had looked perplexed and immediately gone into Captain Ainsley’s office. Minutes later the tall man with almond skin with snow-white hair and beard appeared. Garrek had immediately stood at attention for William Ainsley, the man who had been a mentor to him for the past five years.

  “Come into my office,” Ainsley had grumbled.

  At his command Garrek had walked behind Justin into the captain’s office. Per Justin’s instructions, Gray and Gen had stayed at the hotel where they’d checked in prior to Justin and Garrek making their way to the base.

  The office door had closed, and Garrek and Justin were both invited to take a seat. Garrek hadn’t spoken to Rochelle since earlier the day before, so he had no idea what, if anything, she’d told her father. Rochelle had lied to her father before, telling him that she and Garrek had been in a relationship until she announced she was pregnant. That had been the beginning of this nightmare, so Garrek didn’t put it past her to lie again. Only this time, he was ready. He’d insisted Rochelle give him the name and address for the facility that conducted the prenatal testing. She’d countered that he could simply use the kit they provided to submit his DNA, but Garrek had told her he wanted to go in person, and he had.

  So when he called for a copy of the report to be faxed to him before he’d even boarded the plane to Washington, there had been no resistance. By the time they’d arrived at the hotel, the test results were waiting for him. And now they were safely tucked in the front breast pocket of his suit.

  “Do you have the required paperwork for my review?” Justin had asked once they had been seated for a few silent moments.

  “He knows what this is about,” the captain said. “There was no need for outside involvement.”

  “The outside involvement, as I understand, Captain Ainsley, were the MAs who were sent to look for my client. My client whom you gave authorized leave, as evidenced by this signed and documented form,” Justin said as he opened his briefcase and pulled out a copy.

  The captain didn’t even look at the paperwork that Justin slid onto his desk. Instead he continued to stare at Garrek.

  “She’s my only child. My daughter, my soul, since her mother’s death ten years ago,” he told Garrek.

  Garrek was about to speak, but a glance in Justin’s direction had him remaining silent.

  “I told you to get your head together, to come back here and do the right thing. But that’s not what you did.”

  “Captain Ainsley, I’m going to have to insist you provide the necessary documentation—”

  “You don’t get to insist anything here, young man,” the captain had replied quickly and harshly to Justin. “You weren’t holding up your end of the deal, Taylor.” He’d turned his attention back to Garrek and now stood up slowly, flattening his palms on the desk. “I helped train you. I recommended you for that detail, and in three more years you would have been captain, with your own squadron. You would have made me proud.”

  “I never would have married your daughter,” Garrek told him, because he knew that’s what the man really wanted.

  In all fairness, Garrek could think of it now as William Ainsley wanting his daughter to be happy. To have stability and a family in the military similar to the one her father had supplied for Rochelle and her mother. He could look Ainsley in the eye and admit that he understood that thought process more now than he had when he’d left here a month ago. He owed that to Arnold and Linus Presley and to the woman who had opened his eyes to what his life could be like.

  “I was never in love with her,” Garrek continued. “I’ve apologized for the misunderstanding between Rochelle and me before. I won’t do it again.”

  “You will do as I say, Lieutenant! You will be a man and take responsibility!” Ainsley continued.

  Justin stood at that moment.

  “I’m going to assume that the lack of proper paperwork means this matter is void,” he said.

  Ainsley’s head looked as if it were about to snap as he turned to glare at Justin. “There is no paperwork!” he yelled. “I ordered those plebs to go to that rustic old town and find my pilot. They were to bring him back and we would have handled this in house, the way it’s supposed to be.”

  Justin nodded as if he’d known all along that something shady like this was going on. Since Garrek had the leave slip with the required signatures on it giving him permission to be on extended leave, they both knew the AWOL claim was bogus. Still, they’d had to approach everything from a legal standpoint
to keep Garrek’s job.

  “In that case, Captain,” Justin said with just the barest hint of a grin, “your commanding officer will receive a letter from my office within five days demanding your resignation for abuse of power and whatever other charges I can come up with. Good day to you, sir.”

  Justin had looked at Garrek as he’d headed to the door. Garrek stood to follow him. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the piece of paper with the test results. Dropping it on the desk, he looked at Captain Ainsley again.

  “These are the results from the prenatal DNA test. I’m not the father of Rochelle’s baby. I have four more years on my commission, and I’ll be asking to be reassigned so I can serve them out. Up until the night I made a terrible misjudgment, it had been an honor to serve with you,” Garrek told him before leaving.

  The next weeks had been filled with more interviews and meetings, and finally Garrek received a new commission after the official announcement that Captain William Ainsley would be retiring from the US Navy.

  Now, Garrek was back in Temptation to take care of one last bit of business before preparing to ship out at the end of next week.

  “Who is that coming in here?”

  Garrek heard the question just as he dropped his bag near the door. Gray and Morgan knew he was coming in today, and they both had insisted that he stay with them this time. Garrek hadn’t argued, because in the month that he’d been away, he’d missed his niece and nephew more than he thought was possible. He’d only missed one other person more than them, which was another reason he was so irritated about being late.

  “Hey, Ms. Ida Mae. It’s me, Garrek,” he said as he stepped into the parlor to see Morgan’s grandmother standing in the middle of the floor, two wet towels in hand and a dry one tossed over her shoulder.