by T. K. Chapin
“Oh, sorry. I’ve been out on the water all day and then at a barbeque next door.”
“With Dylan?” she questioned.
“Yes. How do you know him?”
“He’s an Atkin, Charlotte!” Edith scolded.
I walked over to the doorway and looked at Dylan as he turned around at the fireplace. Staring into his gorgeous brown eyes, I said, “I know that, Edith . . . and I’m just done caring about the feud. Dylan is good, I promise.”
“Hm.” I could tell by her tone that she wasn’t thrilled to hear that bit of information, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to lose him again. I almost lost him forever because of the silly feud.
“I think it’s time to put it all behind us. It happened so long ago.”
Edith let out a sigh. I thought for a second she was coming to her senses, but I was wrong. “Easy for you to say, Charlotte. It’s not your family!” She paused and waited for a response, but continued when I didn’t give her one. “You’d better be careful with that Atkin boy! You don’t know what they’re capable of doing.”
“Um. Yes, I do know what they’re capable of doing. Dylan’s not like that. He’s different. And shouldn’t we, as Christians, be rising above this silly feud anyway?”
A deep sigh came from the other end of the phone. “Be careful, Charlotte.”
Click.
She hung up. Glancing at my phone for a moment, I shook my head and set it down on the counter nearby. Edith didn’t know what she was talking about. I knew Dylan now. He was a good man and a man of God. The water finished heating for my tea, and I went over to pour myself a cup along with a cup of coffee for Dylan.
Coming out to the patio, I handed Dylan his cup and sat down next to him, setting my cup down on the patio table between our chairs. Relaxing with a cup of tea in front of the fire with him was the perfect end to a perfect day. Feeling his eyes on me, I turned to him. “What is it?” I asked.
He took a drink and set it down. “Today was awesome. I haven’t been able to have fun like that in so long.”
“I agree. It was a blast, and the girls loved it too.”
He leaned over the table separating us and used his index finger to gently guide my chin and head over to him. He leaned in and slowly kissed me as the fire let out a loud pop. As our lips touched and the warmth of his love came over me, I felt every part of my body begin to melt into him. I hesitated for a moment to relax, and then all my walls came tumbling down. Losing control over all my senses, I reached up with my hands gently touching his face. The light stubble of his facial hair grazed my skin. His hand came up and laid claim to my hair. His touch, his lips, his everything was intoxicating and I wanted more.
Climbing out of my chair and across the patio table, I kicked over our cups as I landed into his arms and lap. Pulling back gently from our kiss, he asked, “Our cups?”
“I don’t care.” Quickly, I dipped back into kissing him as the yearning for more came over me. Each kiss felt as if it were pulling me further into him and made me want more. His hands ran up and down my back, into my hair, and then caressing my arms. I didn’t want him to ever stop. Those hands—they were the rough and rugged hands of a man who worked hard, yet he was able to touch me with such tenderness and gentleness. His fingers soon ran back along my neckline and down my arm, sending waves of chills and desire through my body.
Another pop came from the fire and we both glanced over. It was roaring fiercely, but it paled in comparison to the heat we had between us in the moment. Our eyes met, and I saw through him and into his soul. He didn’t speak a word, but I saw it—love. Dipping my lips to his, I began to kiss him more.
Suddenly, Dylan stopped and gently pushed me back and off his lap. He smiled and leaned to the front of his chair. Brushing a piece of hair behind my ear, he let his palm press against my cheek. I let my cheek lay against his palm.
“What are you doing?” I asked with a bit of agitation.
Looking into my eyes, he said, “I care about you. I think it’s best that I go.”
Leaning in, he kissed me softly on the lips, driving my desire deeper.
“Please stay a while longer.” My eyes begged and my heart pleaded.
“That’s not the right thing to do here, Charlotte. We both know that.” He took my hand in both of his and kissed my palm, folding my fingers to caress the lingering memory. Standing, he headed back to his house. As I watched him walk away, the fire within me that wanted that man grew tenfold. He was truly a man of God. He knew if he would’ve pushed, I would have given in, and he didn’t let that happen. Letting the fire smolder both in the fireplace and within me, I turned in for the evening.
Chapter 13
The following day after church, my mother and Dylan came over to my house for lunch. After turkey sandwiches, the girls and Dylan went out in the backyard to play a game of croquet. Sitting down on the patio with my mother and our glasses of iced tea, I looked out into the yard. Seeing Dylan play, laugh and goof around with the girls brought a smile to my face.
“You like him.”
Turning to my mother, I looked down and shook my head. “Mom.”
“You do.” Her eyes followed Dylan in the yard as she nodded slowly. “I can see why . . . he’s so good with the girls, kind-hearted, handsome, and most importantly, a man of God.”
Letting out a sigh, I let down my defenses. “It’s true. But there’s a part of me that is scared of him.”
“Why on earth would he scare you?” my mother asked as she finished her drink of iced tea.
I tilted my head slightly without saying a word and looked at her.
“You can’t let what happened with Bradley hold you back in your life, Charlotte. Don’t let that jerk have control over you.”
My eyes drifted back to the yard where the girls and Dylan were playing. “You don’t care about him being an Atkin?”
My mother laughed. “I love Edith and her family dearly, but I wouldn’t ever hold someone’s name against them. That would be preposterous. I am glad you finally came to your senses.”
Emily let out a laugh and twirled in the grass as Bailey ran circles around her. I felt a soul stirring warm settle into me. Dylan made sense. For me, my girls and for my life. He was everything I ever wanted, and he made me feel loved the way I had always wanted to be loved. He made me feel beautiful.
Bailey and Tristan were exhausted later that afternoon and wanted a movie on upstairs before I left to take my mother home. After putting the movie on, I went to leave, but Tristan called out to me. “Mom?”
“Yes, dear?” I asked at the doorway, looking back at her.
“Are you and Dylan going to get married?”
Warmth wrapped itself around my heart at the thought, but I quickly pushed it aside for logic. What the future held for Dylan and me was unclear, and my girls didn’t need to worry about any such matter. Their thoughts needed to be on mermaids and far off princesses and castles, not if their mother was going to marry the next door neighbor. “We’re just friends, dear.”
“But don’t you like him, Mom?” Tristan pressed.
“Well, yeah.”
Tristan shrugged. “Why don’t you marry him then?”
“Mommy, you should marry him!” Bailey added.
With a laugh in my voice I said, “We’re not talking about this, girls. Enjoy the movie!”
Shutting their door, I shook my head as I smiled. Children. I headed back downstairs and found Emily on the couch with ear buds in and a sketch pad on her lap. As I walked into the living room, she pulled the ear buds out. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey.”
“Could I go with Ashley and Brianna to The Newport Theater’s opening next week?”
“Yeah. I can give you guys a ride to it.” Glancing back at the stairs, I said, “Your sisters are watching a movie upstairs. Keep an ear out for them, please. I’m taking Grandma home.”
“Thanks, and will do.” Smiling, Emily put her ear buds back in and went
back to her sketch pad.
Walking to the car, I saw my mother already in the passenger seat. She was sitting quietly, reading one of her western romance novels as I came up to the car. Her love for westerns stemmed from her deep love of cowboys. My father often took her horseback riding when they were a young couple. I flashed her a grin as I got into the car. “What number is that for the month?”
“Oh, stop pestering me!” she retorted, placing a bookmark in to save her spot. Placing the book in her purse, she continued, “The sermon Pastor gave today was nice.”
I nodded. “Edith was giving me dagger eyes the whole time during service.” Letting out a sigh, I continued, “She’s upset Dylan and I are friends.”
“Friends? Is that what you’re calling it?”
I put the car into reverse and began to back out of the driveway. “It’s a friendship for now, Mother.”
She crossed her hands together in her lap and shook her head. “I don’t know why you young people waste so much time in life! Your father and I were married at nineteen, and I spent many years with him . . . but it didn’t seem like enough.”
“I’m thirty-seven. I’m not exactly young. You’re right about you and Dad not wasting any time . . . but it’s different for me. I have my girls to look after.” Turning onto her street, we came to a stop in front of her house.
Opening the door, she paused and looked over at me. “Don’t waste your life away waiting, or you’ll miss your chance with Dylan.”
“Okay, mother,” I replied with a smile.
She closed the door, and I turned around in the middle of the street to head back home. As I drove, I thought about Dylan and how much I wanted to be with him. I was scared, but I was so ready to be in those arms of his in a more permanent sense. He’s good with the girls. I nodded. He’s a good kisser. I nodded again. He likes spending time with me. I smiled. He’s godly. There was no reason to not be with him. Fear couldn’t hold me back any longer.
Pulling back into my driveway, I saw two trucks, one with a boat in tow, parked in Dylan’s driveway. That’s a little odd. Getting out, I crossed through the grass and over to Dylan’s front door. Knocking, I waited for him to answer. Each second that passed filled me with more anticipation than the previous moment. When he opened the door, I could see Frank and Cody sitting in his living room. My pulse began to race.
“Hey, Charlotte.” He held onto the door. “What’s up?”
Shaking my head, I stepped back. “Nothing.”
“What?” He shook his head and grinned. “You knocked on my door for nothing?”
A couple of quick shakes of my head, and I said, “I’ll talk to you later.” Turning, I darted back across the lawn as my heart pounded. Seeing Frank and Cody gave me a bad feeling. Was he telling them about the part of the paddle we found? I prayed not, but I had no way of knowing.
At four o’clock, while I was doing the dishes, I saw the brothers emerge from the house through my kitchen window. Frank and Cody left in their trucks, but Dylan strolled down his driveway toward the back. Placing the last plate in the dishwasher I went out to my patio to watch him. He traveled down to the dock, then got into his boat and seemed to search around for something.
“Mommy!” Bailey shouted from behind me, startling me.
“Yes?” I replied whipping around. “What is it, Bailey?”
“Can I have a hug? I missed you!” She rubbed an eye as she stepped closer to me. Bending down, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her cheek. “Did you fall asleep watching your movie?”
She nodded.
A knock came from the back door.
Opening the door, Dylan smiled. “Sorry about earlier. I didn’t expect them. It was a random thing with Cody and Frank stopping by.”
Shrugging it off, I said, “No need to apologize. It’s your family.”
He squinted at me. “I know how you feel about them. Anyhow, what brought you over that you didn’t want to talk about in front of them?”
A few quick shakes of my head to dismiss the visit didn’t suffice him. He pressed again.
I replied, “Look—just drop it. Okay?”
Bailey scurried out of the room and upstairs. Dylan saw her going upstairs and stepped into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. Our eyes connected as he reached to draw me to him. “I like you, Charlotte. My heart’s desire is to be with you.” His eyebrows went up. “I can’t stop thinking about that kiss.”
Smiling as I revisited the moment, I nodded in acknowledgement. “Me too.”
He drew me closer and gently drew my hands toward his lips. His touch drove me crazy. “Why can’t we have that? I promise I won’t ever hurt you. I understand your ex hurt you badly . . . but I’m not him. I’m not like that.” Gently caressing his lips to my fingertips, he said, “Please give me a chance, Charlotte.”
My heart pounded as Dylan serenaded me with his sweet words. It took everything within me not to fall into his arms right then, right there in the middle of my kitchen. “Dylan, I’m just scared. Wanting to be with you was actually why I went to your house earlier . . . I feel the same way you do.”
Bringing me in close to him, he said, “You don’t need to worry.” Softly, with the tips of his fingers, he brushed my hair behind my ear and let his fingers glide against my skin, down my neck, sending my heart into overdrive with emotion. “I’m crazy about you, Charlotte. My soul feels drawn to you.” His lips came to my neck, where his fingers had just traced. Feeling his breath against my skin caused my breathing to quicken. Then his lips pressed against my neck as he slowly kissed his way up to my earlobe, causing my knees to weaken.
“Mom,” Emily’s voice from the couch in the other room echoed through my skull from behind me. Dylan let go of me and we quickly separated.
Pushing aside my annoyance for being interrupted, I replied from the kitchen, “Yes?”
“What’s for dinner?”
“Steak. And Dylan’s cooking it.” I raised my eyebrows at Dylan.
He grinned and nodded.
“Cool.”
Stepping closer to Dylan, I grabbed his hand and kissed the inside of his palm. Bring it up to my cheek, I pressed it against my skin. I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them to look into his eyes. “Don’t hurt me, Dylan. Because when you hurt me, you hurt my girls, and they don’t deserve anymore pain in life.”
“I promise I won’t. Hey—I have something for you.”
My interest was piqued. “Yeah?”
“Wait right here.”
“Okay,” I replied as I watched him head out the door.
Returning a few minutes later with heavy breaths, he held a hand behind his back. “Sorry. I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”
I laughed. “It’s fine. What is it?”
He composed himself and pulled his hand from behind his back to reveal a beautifully carved Blue Jay on a perch. “I carved it the other day when I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I want you to have it.”
Taking the bird in my hand, I smoothed my thumb over it and admired the intricate details he had put into it. “You carved this while you were thinking about me?”
He nodded.
Smiling, I looked at him and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He came closer and brought my chin up, connecting his eyes with mine. “I promise never to hurt you, Charlotte.”
Chapter 14
The Newport Theater’s grand re-opening was soon upon us one Saturday Evening. Anybody who was somebody in Newport would be in attendance for the event. Serenah even shut down the Bed and Breakfast for the event. The night’s event was formal, and that meant the girls and I were all dressed up for the seven o’clock ribbon cutting that would be taking place on the red carpet just outside the front entrance to the theater. I was sporting a black cocktail dress, had my hair up in a French twist, and my bangs were curled to each side. It was the first time in a long time that I felt beautiful.
“You look great, Mom!�
� Emily said from my bedroom doorway as I stood in front of my full-sized mirror near the dresser in my room. Whipping around, I saw that she was wearing her new dress she had picked out from one of the local shops downtown just a few days ago when we were all out on an outing with Dylan. The dress was more than I wanted to spend, but I knew it was worth it. She was excited about the evening, and probably even more so than me since Jake Gillian was going to be there. He was a boy from her high school who had been coming over to the house for a summer study program.
“You look like a beautiful young woman, my Emily,” I replied.
She beamed with a smile and headed back downstairs to her friends, Ashley and Brianna, who were dropped off by their parents earlier in the day. As I put my earrings on, a picture next to the bird Dylan had carved for me on the dresser caught my eye. It was a family picture of when Bradley and I took the girls to visit New York City. In that photo, he had a fake, forced smile that he seemed to carry on all our family outings. He had almost always been on his phone between photographs, obsessing over the latest trends and figures coming out of Wall Street. He was always looking to the future, yet never able to enjoy the present. He thought he could just throw money and fix everything that way—including his dislikes with me. I hated to draw comparisons, but I couldn’t help it. Dylan was nothing like him, and I was so thankful for that.
Joining Emily and the girls downstairs, we girls all made our way out to the car.
As we arrived at The Newport Theater a few minutes later, I was surprised by how many blocks we had to drive to find a spot to park. As we got out of the car and headed down the sidewalk, we all watched as the spotlights danced across the overcast clouds that looked to be loaded with rain that could fall any minute.
“They look like they’re chasing each other, huh?” I said over to the girls.
Tristan said, “Yeah. They’re so cool looking!”
I nodded and kept my eyes fixed ahead down the sidewalk in search for Dylan in the crowd that was forming around the red carpet out front of The Newport Theater. I knew he was there, but I just didn’t know where.