“So…yes? No?”
“Patrick Greer, you will be stuck with me the rest of your life,” she said finally, opening the box. “Holy shit, babe.” Marly tucked a stray curl behind her ear and took the platinum ring out of the box, admiring the brilliant cut, three-carat diamond that took him six months to pay for and Jesse’s coercion to make him buy. “This…” She looked at him and then the ring. Then she looked at the ring closer, squinting at it in the moonlight. When she saw the fleur de lis on the inside of the band, she started bawling. “This is my momma’s,” she choked out through her tears.
“Your dad thought it was important.” Patrick wiped her tears away as she lay on top of him, their mouths inches apart. A few months prior, he’d lied to Marly and told her that he had work, but instead he’d flown to see her dad, to ask for his permission to marry his daughter. Patrick had been nervous to meet Mr. Bellefontaine, but he’d been gracious and made him feel at ease.
Another tear fell from her eye as she gave a look he’ll remember for the rest of his life. Marly leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips. “This…” her voice broke and she took a deep breath in, “…is too much…and it’s just perfect.”
“You know,” Patrick ran a thumb across her chin, “your dad was worried you’d say no.”
“What? Why?” Marly had been distracted as she looked at the ring she’d put on her finger. “This is the most beautiful piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen.”
“I had to make sure I bought something as beautiful as you.”
She giggled. “You’re full of smooth moves tonight.”
“I’m serious about everything I said, Marly, you brought me back to life. Thank you.”
“Hey, Fucker! Pay attention!” Billy shook him out of his memory of his proposal.
“Sorry.” Patrick took a sip of his beer.
“Jesse’s renting a house in the Garden District for the wedding, so you’ll stay with us.”
“I guess I can part with you for two weeks while you celebrate marrying Marly,” Jesse said with a laugh.
Patrick smiled. “I’m sure Samantha can run everything fine without me.”
He and Marly had planned their wedding to be the two weeks prior to the beginning of the summer camps, which was when Patrick was the busiest. He’d taken to the job that Jesse had offered him, and not only did he run all the camps, but he went around the country with Jesse to do promotion for it. He loved it. They were able to give kids that were unable to pay for top football camps the identical experience for less than half of the price. Many of Jesse’s friends signed up to come and help out for a week in the summer free of charge and the kids loved it.
Jesse, of course, had been a hit on NFL Network with his commentary on the football games. He loved what he was doing now and was traveling to all the games during the season as well.
“Well, I have to say I’m glad you’re getting married so I could come out here and see that shit’s bigger than me,” Billy commented. “I’m getting pulled into DC and needed a break. Ever since Kayce broke up with me, I’ve been traveling and haven’t had any time to myself.”
Patrick took in his friend; the dark circles under his eyes and the lack of that mischievous look in his eye were cause for concern.
“You vying for a new job, Billy? I could use a personal assistant.” Jesse laughed and then went inside to get them more drinks.
“Billy, seriously, everything all right?” Patrick said softly when Jesse was gone. “You know you can always talk to me.”
He shrugged.
“You need anything, you ask, got it?”
Billy leaned forward in this seat, putting his elbows on his knees. “I want out,” he whispered.
The End
The funny thing about endings is that they’re always the beginning of something…
What’s coming next from R.L. Griffin?
Take a look at the prologue for the standalone New Adult novel,
Razorblade Kisses
by R.L. Griffin
Emery sat on the cold cement bench 100 yards away from the service, her face brittle and dry in the winter chill. She’d pulled her long blonde hair up and shoved it under a Hog’s Breath hat that Tim had left at her apartment. Her hoodie was big and bulky and helped her hide her identity from those standing at the graveside. The sky was grey to match the mood of those attending the service.
Her body and mind felt full, full of the emotions she hadn’t let herself feel since she was 13, so full that any movement would release a cacophony of cries from her mouth. Scared to feel any of those emotions, she sat perfectly still, unblinking until she felt someone sit next to her.
Emery didn’t take her eyes off the casket as they lowered it in the ground. The second it lowered past the opening, she heard the loudest, most heart-wrenching sob come from her mother. As the first mound of dirt was shoveled onto Ashley, her mother screamed “WHY?”
She felt a hand grab hers and hold it tight. Words fought to get out of her mouth, tears threatened to escape her eyes. No. She wouldn’t let it out, not yet.
Emery sat with her eyes closed, the only thing she allowed herself to feel the weight on her hand. She didn’t know how long she sat there with her eyes closed, not thinking or feeling, but when she opened them, everyone was gone. The crowd of people dissipated rapidly from the graveside service; all that remained were the men who shoveled dirt onto her sister.
She looked around for a few minutes before she jumped from the bench and sprinted the distance between the cold, hard bench and her sister. Sobs, cries, and screams flew out of her mouth. She was unable to hold them in and she collapsed at the side of the grave. The knees of her jeans soaked through with the rain that saturated the ground. Her actions were involuntary; she’d held everything inside for so long that this was her breaking point. She’d reached her pinnacle of pain, her highest level of misery. She was done.
The men paused in the process of burying her sister, hoisting their shovels to their shoulders and dropping their heads to their chests, leaving the graveside to give Emery perceived privacy to mourn.
“I”M SORRY!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ashley!” Her voice broke and she couldn’t breathe. “Oh my God...” Her sobs took over and all of her words were unintelligible. “PLEASE!” she pleaded and her chest racked with her cries. “I didn’t know...I didn’t know...I didn’t know.”
Rachel was there, holding her hand again, pulling her into a tight hug, trying to hold her together. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered into her ear. “It’s not.” She held Emery tighter.
“It is!” Emery yelled into the grave. “It’s my fault, this is all my fault,” she said to Rachel, not taking her eyes off the six by six hole in the ground. “I’m so sorry. Oh my God, how could this happen?” She looked over at Rachel’s tear-soaked face.
“Emery, you weren’t here. You didn’t know.” Rachel had picked up the hat that had fallen off Emery’s head in the run to see her sister and tried to put it back on her head. “You don’t want anyone to recognize you.”
Tears were streaming down her face, the cuffs of her hoodie soaked with her attempts to wipe her face dry. Her chest felt like it was cracked open and pain was seeping out. Pain for Ashley, sorrow at the knowledge of what her sister must’ve been feeling, guilt that she should’ve done something, agony at her own circumstances and most of all utter disgust for the man who done this to both of them. Her sister was dead and she was living dead.
Emery coughed and spit, trying to shake away the emotions; she couldn’t afford to be emotional. She needed to have all her wits about her.
Rachel grabbed her hand again, one tear sliding down Rachel’s freckled cheek. “Come on.” Rachel stood up and pulled Emery with her.
Emery looked into the grave that held her 13-year-old sister, who would never have a first date, never go to prom, and never know that Emery was going make it up to her. This loss would be her undoing, she
knew it. The utter devastation Ashley must’ve felt was fuel to a fire that was started when Emery was 13 and she’d been tossing buckets on it for ten years.
She pulled out a friendship bracelet Ashley made for her the night before she left Atlanta. It was pink and green, Ashley’s favorite colors. I wonder if those are still her favorite colors. Were, she corrected herself. Emery dropped the bracelet in the hole and began taking one step at a time away from the grave. She walked backwards, staring at it until the men resumed their jobs of filling the grave. She flinched every time she heard the dirt hit the casket.
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www.rlgriffinauthor.com
www.facebook.com/rlgriffinabyathread@rlgriffinauthor
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1254833.R_L_Griffin
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have to say that this was probably my easiest book to write, which caused me much consternation because easy is not my process. Patrick has a special place in my heart and he just poured out of me. Again, like with every book I write I couldn’t get this thing done without an awesome come togetherness of my team. My kid and husband are so supportive and it would be impossible to get these books out without that support. My son asked if Heart in Wire could be released on his birthday. Isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever read? I’m seriously living the dream.
Next, my mom actually loved this book, which scared me. She usually peppers me with tons of questions and wants to change many things, but she loves Patrick so I think she just wanted his story to get out there and allow him to be happy. My mom and dad both love to read and I have said it over and over, but I wouldn’t been able to follow my dreams without them raising me thinking I could do whatever I wanted in this life.
Emma and Michelle are also in my first round of “is this shit or not?” read through. They are so key to getting these books out and doing promo, I can’t even begin to thank them. Michelle makes the most beautiful teasers and videos; I think it’s her goal to make me cry to get me back for my books making her cry. I have added a new author to this group of first-rounders, K. Larsen is my go to for all things that I have no idea about. I love her books and I we read each other’s “no one look at this” drafts when we’re feeling a little bad about our writing. It’s good to have an honest sounding board and she knows the biz much better than me.
Stephanie gets her own paragraph of awesomeness. She and I are so similar sometimes we just vox to chat about life instead of books. She helps me manage my shit, all my shit. She does a good spreadsheet and made my website current. She also reads and goes through all my POVs and creates the newsletter. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her, I hope I don’t have to find out.
Second round of reads go to my sister, Kelei, who is my best friend and the most amazing sister. I’m glad we’ve gotten closer in the last few years; she makes me better (most of the time). I’m surly and grumpy and she’s always there pushing me through things. I appreciate her very much. We’re opposites in personality and she evens me out. I like her to read my books because she says things like “can you put some normal in this book?” and “you have issues.”
Lindsay, thank you for play dates and brain storming, I really appreciate it. Dympna, you are the best pimp a girl could have and I can’t wait to see you in July. I listen to your vox of the entire song of “A Grain of Sand” by Ron Pope all the time. Donna, thank you getting on the crazy train with me and loving all these characters; your crying voxes still have me laughing on bad days. Jill, you are exactly what an author needs in a beta reader and I really appreciate your eye for detail. Also, you know me so well, I trust you with my book babies.
The cover…oh, the cover. First of all, Georgina Brooks is amazing and did the covers for By a Thread, Tension, Seamless, and now this masterpiece. I love this cover. However, Georgina and I didn’t do it alone this time. The awesome Ellie…you know…from Lovenbooks, hooked me up with the gorgeous Assad Shalhoub. Also, the picture was taken by Lorie from Lorie Rebecca Photography. I have to say it was the most amazing Facetiming I’ve done. This cover turned out exactly the way I wanted. Assad was able to show the emotion I wanted for this cover and Lorie captured it perfectly.
I have met so many great people in this journey over the past year or so, but not one of them is more important than my rock star editor, Erin Roth. She puts up with loads of shit from me. She makes me laugh with her snarky comments and she tolerates me sending her documents that I haven’t even spellchecked. I love her, utterly and completely. Love. Also, without Lisa Despain formatting and uploading everything I’d still be trying to figure it out. Thank you so much for all that you do, Lisa.
I want to make sure I mention all those ladies that have taken hours out their time to read and review my books for their blogs. Much props to Jenn from the Geekery Book Review, Tiffany from Tiffany Talks Books, Grace, Yahaira, and Mags from SMIbookclub, Jennelyn from Naughty and Nice Book Blog, Amber from Up All Night Book Addict, Desiree and all the lovelies at A Love Affair with Books, Amanda from Globug and Hootie Need a Book, Ria from a Bookish Escape, Sandie and Dee from Book Boyfriend Reviews, and Shamika from Sticky Reads. These blogs have made me smile with their reviews, rants, and comments about all my characters.
Thank you to each and every person reading this and for giving my books a chance and letting others know what you thought about them and my writing. I’m eternally grateful, really. Y’all are so amazing.
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