Head Above Water
Page 17
I nodded and kissed him on his shoulder. “I know you do. But you’re not Daniel. We talked about this.”
“I know we did.”
Someone cleared their throat, and I lifted my head from Robbie’s shoulder to see them all staring at us. “Ben says you two have something to tell us?” Mom asked us.
“Uh….”
Robbie blushed really hard.
Ben just laughed. “You guys really weren’t that quiet. You should work on that.”
I took a deep breath and looked to Robbie who, even though he was shaking, gave me a nod and a smile. “We’re engaged,” I told them all.
Mom squealed and rushed up to hug me. “My little boy’s gonna get married!”
Anything Robbie might have wanted to say was cut off by my mom hugging him tightly. Hand-shaking came next, and lots of smiles and hugs. No one said we were too young to know we were in love, or that we wanted to get married, and a few hours later, Mom made us a chocolate cake.
Robbie and I lay in the living room, on his comforter, while people watched the news around us, and we shared a slice of the cake. “I don’t want a gold ring,” he told me. “I don’t like the color of gold.”
I hadn’t even thought about rings yet. “I don’t either.” I got out my phone and started looking at engagement rings for men. And I didn’t like any of them. Robbie wasn’t a diamond kind of person. He liked horses and movies. He liked being out in the woods, and he liked going swimming with me in the river where I’d shown him the waterfall. So I changed my search to horse rings.
“I like that one,” he said, pointing to a silver ring with a snaffle bit on the top of it where a diamond would have been on something that cost more than thirty bucks.
“It’s too cheap,” I said.
He shrugged and ate some of my half of the chocolate cake. “Doesn’t matter. I like it. And look, they have horseshoe ones too. I could get the bit and you could have the horseshoe. And then we could have matching engagement rings.”
I loved that idea, but I was still hesitant. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t want something more expensive?”
Robbie shook his head. “Nope. I don’t. I have you. Right? So what would I need with a really expensive engagement ring?” He bumped my shoulder and stole some more of my half of the cake. I grinned and put my phone aside. We needed to get sized for the rings, but we could do that the next time we went into Denver. Maybe even on Saturday when we met with Joe. I was looking forward to it, and I felt like my life was all coming together. All because of Robbie being there with me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Robbie
ON SATURDAY morning I felt sick, but not nearly enough that I couldn’t go to the conference. So at ten Caleb loaded Sam and me into his SUV, and we headed into Denver. I was wearing one of my better T-shirts, this one a throwback from last Halloween when Sam and I had picked up a bunch of leftover half-price T-shirts at the store as things to wear and get dirty in so we’d stop ruining our nicer clothes at the barn. He might have had some not-riding clothes, but I didn’t. And I’d seen him riding in nearly everything he wore, so I didn’t know why his mom insisted we both get some new shirts we could destroy like all the rest of our clothes after a while of riding. Today my shirt said “Gimme Candy.” And I felt a bit childish wearing it. I was engaged now. I was supposed to be more mature. At least I thought I was. But Sam’s shirt had Mario and Luigi on it, so maybe I didn’t have to be all that grown-up.
We got into Denver, and found a parking spot, by noon. I was shaking as Sam took my hand, and we started following Caleb into the big building with the giant blue bear standing against the glass and looking in at the people.
There were tickets waiting for us at the registration table right in front as we walked in, and I fiddled with mine as Caleb read over the schedule of events. I was barely able to stand I was so nervous. So I leaned on Sam and closed my eyes as I tried my best to breathe through my panic and just keep calm.
“Robbie?”
Sam turned me around so I was suddenly facing Joe, and for a while there we just stared at each other. Uncle Caleb moved first, holding out his hand, and I stepped in closer to Sam as if I was trying to hide somewhere within him. Which, really, I was. I wasn’t brave, and I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t talk to the man who was my dad, someone I hadn’t seen since the night my mom died in her car accident. She’d been talking to him after leaving Dan, and it had been my sixteenth birthday, and I was barely able to gulp down air now. Joe and Uncle Caleb were talking, but I wasn’t able to understand any of it.
Then Sam saved me, because he kissed me, and nothing else mattered after that as I hugged him and just let myself be kissed by my fiancé. I didn’t care we were in a crowded space, or that Joe was there and I hadn’t even introduced him to Sam yet. The only thing that mattered to me was that Sam was taking it all away from me so I didn’t have to think about it, or even care about it, anymore.
When I was ready to face Joe, I stepped back, but Sam kept his hands on my shoulders. And when I turned to Joe, Sam kept his hand on my back. “Hi,” I told Joe.
He took a step toward me, and I tried not to shrink back and run right back to Sam for protection. This was my dad, even if I couldn’t think of him like that. And he looked just the same as he had the night my mom died. He offered me his hand, and he was awkward about it like he wasn’t sure about shaking my hand. I wasn’t either, but I forced myself because that was the polite thing to do. I chuckled nervously when I pulled back. And he smiled at me.
“That didn’t feel right,” I quietly said. “Could I maybe hug you instead?”
“I’d really like that.”
Nodding, I took a step toward him. Uncle Caleb nodded to me, and Sam gave me a little pressure on my back like he was urging me on. Then Joe was hugging me, and I was hugging him back, and I suddenly knew everything was going to be okay. I didn’t really know him, but he’d loved my mom, and he’d always wanted me. When he let me go we were both wiping at our cheeks.
“And you must be Sam, Robbie’s boyfriend,” Joe said, offering Sam his hand, which Sam took without hesitation.
“Fiancé, actually,” Sam corrected him.
Joe looked to me and I smiled a bit sheepishly. “Yeah…. Fiancé.” I nodded, confirming Sam’s announcement.
I was afraid maybe he wouldn’t approve, but Joe just smiled. “I think that deserves a celebration dinner after my seminar. Would that be okay with you three?”
I nodded and took Sam’s hand. Joe approved of us getting married. Sam smiled down at me, and I went back into his arms. Everything really was going to be perfect now. I’d give therapy another try, I’d be friends with Joe, I’d protect my little brother, and someday soon Sam and I would be married. I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him as his husband.
More from Caitlin Ricci
Robbie & Sam: Book 1
Robbie’s dad has always been hard on Robbie and his brothers, but when their mom dies on Robbie’s sixteenth birthday, he becomes downright abusive. Robbie doesn’t understand why his dad is so mean to him or why his brothers resent him for their mom’s accident, but he desperately tries to hide the bruises. On top of that, after his dad’s horse training jobs run out, he moves them to Colorado to their uncle’s ranch in the mountains.
At Uncle Caleb’s cabin, Robbie meets Sam, a boy whose family also lives on the property. Finally he has a real friend who shares his love of horses, but Sam is black and openly gay. Both traits incur Robbie’s father’s rage. When his dad attacks Robbie in front of Uncle Caleb for standing up for Sam and himself, all of their secrets are thrown out into the open, and Robbie’s life is changed forever.
Trey Porter likes being in his first year of college. It gives him a chance to get away from his domineering parents and small town in Alabama. Even a mix-up at the school’s student housing that forces Trey to live in a motel doesn’t bother him. The craziness really starts when Trey’s friend Bryce invi
tes him to move in with him. Trey kind of likes Bryce’s exotic, flamboyant, beautiful boyfriend, Co-Co. But Trey’s totally straight. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself. Trey’s open-minded enough, but he’s not sure he’s prepared for the changes that come over him while at school—like realizing life’s questions can’t always be easily answered, especially when you’re only eighteen.
Readers love Weathering the Storm by Caitlin Ricci
“If you love stories about the coming out stage for a young teen, then this book is for you. I can honestly say that it is well told and Caitlin put her heart into it.”
—MM Good Book Reviews
“This is a book I’d recommend to anyone looking for a gift for a gay youngster—or, really, any kid who likes horses.”
—The Book Breeze
“Weathering the Storm was an excellent, well-written tale with realistic and enjoyable characters.”
—Prism Book Alliance
CAITLIN RICCI was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers who encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn’t writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family, and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies she calls home with her wonderful fiancé and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.
Website: www.CaitlinRicci.com
By Caitlin Ricci
Crush
First Time for Everything (Harmony Ink Anthology)
ROBBIE & SAM
Weathering the Storm
Head Above Water
Published by HARMONY INK PRESS
www.harmonyinkpress.com
Published by
HARMONY INK PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
publisher@harmonyinkpress.com • harmonyinkpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Head Above Water
© 2016 Caitlin Ricci.
Cover Art
© 2016 Caitlin Ricci.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Harmony Ink Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or publisher@harmonyinkpress.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63477-424-6
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-425-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016903159
Published November 2016
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America