Beautiful Dark
Page 29
This only makes me cry harder. If he thought a few weeks without me was torture. “But if I die—”
“Then you will be leaving behind a man who is so grateful for every moment he’s had with you. Even the hard ones.”
He kisses my lips so tenderly. Again and again. Until I soften in his grasp, believing him.
Epilogue
Corrine
To celebrate my tenth clean MRI since that last treatment, and five years cancer free, we take a motorcycle trip to Vancouver and back. Last summer we only got as far as Seattle, and said next time we’d make sure we got all the way into Canada.
We stop at a little taco stand next to a park for lunch, then Mason stretches out on the grass and rests while I pull out my little leather journal and take some notes. I’m jotting things down for the articles I’ll write when we get home. One will be a basic top ten list that the travel magazines like, and I think this stop just made my list of the best roadside stands. The other is a feature article on Highway 1 that the editor of a top photo journal already contracted me to write.
When I’m done, I quietly wander over to Mason and watch him for a second to see if he’s asleep.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Mmmm,” he answers, which means, I’m way too relaxed to move.
I smile and lie down next to him, looking up at the clear blue sky.
I don’t have a bucket list anymore. I figure I knocked enough things off that list to count for five lifetimes. I have a future list. As in, all the things I want to do in the future. I’ve already crossed something kind of big off that list.
I got my degree in communications last spring.
Mason takes a deep, contented breath, and I curl on my side closer to him. He wraps his arm around me, and I close my eyes, smiling. I love it when he tucks me in my safe place.
I would be lying if I said I learned my lesson and never got afraid. I don’t think fear is something you learn away. I think it’s something that lurks after you all your life, like a little shadow.
And I think for some people, that shadow is bigger than it is for others.
For many years now, there’s been this little dark place, deep inside me, where my deepest fears live in a cave full of shadows. I don’t know if I will ever be able to fully let go of it, but that cave has gotten a lot smaller the last couple of years.
I’ve come to learn there is something beautiful about the dark that lives inside of me, though. It taught me to live in the now, something not everyone gets to learn how to do. And it taught me the irreplaceable value of the sort of love so strong, that the thought of losing it causes the deepest pain we know.
Maybe that makes the dark worth it.
Either way, whether I see the good in it or not, that dark is part of who I am. The One Big Thing. And while I can’t say with any honesty that I’m grateful for the experiences that created that dark place inside me, I can say I’m grateful for the beautiful things that darkness brought to life.
More from the Rivers Family...
Did you miss Connor and Whitney’s whirlwind romance? Find out how she captured the heart of this wandering Rivers brother in BEAUTIFUL MINE.
Let’s not forget the beautiful Rivers sister. When Lizzy crosses paths with “Brett Freaking Carmichael”, the son of her nemesis, she learns there’s more to this heart-stopping single dad than she first believed. Get swept away in their sexy, heartfelt love story, BEAUTIFUL FALL.
Be sure to find out who tames the eldest Rivers brother. Fall in love with Rayce and Emma in BEAUTIFUL DEEP, a powerful tale of passion, love, and redemption.
Don’t miss discovering a whole new side to Swan Pointe’s intrepid gossip columnist, Rita Becker, when her path collides with Dallas Huntington in BEAUTIFUL LIES.
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BOOKS BY JORDYN WHITE
THE FIREWORK GIRLS
“Like an addictive TV show where you feel like you’re friends with the characters and are glued to every development.” - SPR
FORBIDDEN HEAT
Isabella and Shane (Firework Girls #1)
MIDNIGHT HEAT
Chloe and Grayson (Firework Girls #2)
ETERNAL HEAT
Ashley and Erik (Firework Girls #3)
NUCLEAR HEAT
Sam and Jack (Firework Girls #4)
HANDLE THE HEAT
A Firework Girls Short Story
Sam and Jack (Firework Girls #4.5)
HOLIDAY HEAT
Bobby and Sophie (Firework Girls #5)
THE BEAUTIFUL RIVERS SERIES
“I loved the Firework Girls series but I think I'm loving Beautiful Rivers more!” – Mary M, Five-star Amazon review
BEAUTIFUL MINE
Connor and Whitney (Beautiful Rivers #1)
BEAUTIFUL FALL
Lizzy and Brett (Beautiful Rivers #2)
BEAUTIFUL DARK
Corrine and Mason (Beautiful Rivers #3)
BEAUTIFUL DEEP
Rayce and Emma (Beautiful Rivers #4)
BEAUTIFUL LIES (a novella)
Rita and Dallas (Beautiful Rivers #5)
HEARTS ON FIRE SERIES
HEART OF GLASS
Mia and Luke (Hearts on Fire #1)
LOVE ON THE ROCKS
Raven and Spencer (Hearts on Fire #2)
Coming summer of 2019
For a complete, up-to-date list of all Jordyn’s books and shorts:
Jordyn White’s Reading Order Page
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