Kimber works at the family restaurant. She likes it much better than bartending, and I don’t have to worry about drunk pricks giving her a hard time. There’s always one Wallace in the building to keep her safe.
It’s peak season, and the crowds have been record breaking. She’s been working extra shifts to help Dad out, and I’ve been out on the water with the guys from sun up to sun down to meet new larger quotas. Sneaking a hug or kiss is getting damn near impossible, but I still make the effort.
Delivering fresh catch to the restaurant is usually Brant’s job. He stops by, has a drink upstairs at the tavern and then heads home to make dinner for Jamie, or help out at the vet clinic. I’ve offered to do the drop off today, and after a few suspicious questions I think I’m in the clear. It’s not like Brant knows something. The twins like to give me a hard time because they know I’ve kissed Kimber before. Now Brant thinks he’s onto some big discovery, and even if he is, he has no solid proof. So what if Kimber and I are together a lot? When I’m going somewhere with Brant and Jamie it makes me less of a third wheel. They don’t need to know we’re a couple.
Now Dad on the other hand, well he’s more than suspicious. He pulled me aside a couple weeks ago at family breakfast and asked if there was something going on. He said he could see a big difference and wanted to know if she was the reason. Now I’ll give him credit for paying attention. When I first got to town I couldn’t bear the thought of going to my own house. I wouldn’t have been able to conquer that hurdle without the help of Kimber. Her strength got us both through it. She held my hand while I cried. She shared her own pain with me to help me understand I wasn’t alone. She gave me beautiful stories and filled my life with hope again.
I never gave Dad a straight answer that day or otherwise. I’m a grown man. If I want to see a woman I can do it without permission.
On this particular day I’m careless. I left for work before she woke up, and will be asleep when she gets home. We’re like passing ships in the night and I don’t want her to feel like I’m distancing myself. It’s nothing like that.
Dane helps me unload the fresh fish and oysters into the kitchen. Then once I’m done I head to the front and look around until I see her. She’s standing at the little buffet cleaning the spills. Instead of really scoping out the surroundings, I make one quick check that we’re alone and wrap my arms around her. Now this is where it’s more her fault. Instead of pushing me away because she knew my sister was standing behind me, she takes me in her arms and greedily kisses me. We share a moment. “I missed you. Just thought I’d say hi.”
“I might not have to work late. I could bring something home to eat.”
We kiss again. “If you can’t just let me know. Maybe I’ll come back and hang around.”
She giggles. “Like a stalker? I don’t know why, but when it’s you, it’s kind of sexy.”
I slap her ass. “You’re the one who’s sexy. Get that fine ass back to work before I take you in the closet and mess up that pretty hair.”
She laughs as she turns to get back to work, only to stop in her tracks when my brother’s voice fills the room. It’s Brant, and now he knows without a doubt that we’ve been keeping a big secret.
“I caught you red handed.” We both turn and see Bristol and Brant standing together.
Bristol is laughing, while Brant does all the talking. “I knew it. I knew it and you tried to play it off.”
If this isn’t enough, Dad walks in. By this time I’ve taken Kimber’s hand and hold it tight so she doesn’t freak out and run for the hills. Yes, I’m pretty worried. “We were just messing around,” I don’t know why I think I can fool them.
“It’s about time the two of you got caught,” Dad says. “Alice and I were tired of keeping it a secret.”
I give Dad a dirty look, while Kimber sighs beside me. She has all of my attention. “I guess the cat is out of the bag.”
“Yeah. Are they still staring?” I check to make sure and nod. “Should we say something?”
I shrug. “Maybe we should make out.”
Kimber giggles and shoves me. She looks in the direction of my awaiting family. “Fine. You caught us.”
I give her a little squeeze. “We just didn’t want anyone being negative about it.”
Brant clears his throat. “You spend all your time together. It would be hard not to develop feelings, West. No one thinks any less of you. We’re glad you’re both happy.”
“So you’re not mad at me?” Kimber asks, and I’m pretty sure her question is for everyone in the room.
Dad answers. “No way. We’re glad you’ve been there for West. If it weren’t for you he’d be back in Alaska.”
It’s a matter of minutes before my phone starts blowing up with texts from the rest of the family. We’re going on three months together and they’re acting like it’s new and we need to be careful. Thankfully, Kimber and I took it slow from the beginning. We were friends first and then slowly became something more. Now I don’t think I could get by without her. I swore I’d never love another woman aside from Brice, but damn if I don’t feel that way about Kimber, except it’s different. They both have a hold of my heart, one in my past and the other my present. Kimber is everything Brice never was and I adore her for that. What brought us together may have been a tragedy, but what made me fall in love with her was nothing but the most sincere friendship I think I’ve ever had.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Weston
Kimber is not making this any easier on me. I’ve dreaded this damn day. I hate Christmas at her parents. I always have and I always will. Assuming there wouldn’t be festivities this year since there was a big divorce, I let my guard down, only to be told we were meeting both of them for a Christmas Eve dinner.
Suffice to say, they have no idea I’m Kimber’s plus one. We’ve now been an official couple for nine months. We’ve had moments where we questioned if being together was the right move. People from the community are quick to voice their opinions and word gets around quick. It’s unfortunate, because my business is none of there, but it happens. Through it all our relationship has only gotten stronger. In fact, Kimber has a lot more than our relationship to be thankful for this year. Aside from working her little fanny off at the restaurant, she’s been doing something she loves. Instead of converting Brice’s old office into a guest suite, I kept it the way it was and provided my beautiful girlfriend with a brand new laptop. From that moment on I knew where I could find her when the house was too quiet. She’s been writing her little heart out, day after day. The book is a true story. It’s about Brice and her life with me, but instead of her death being end, it turned into a new life for her to start over and live again. I’ve never been an avid reader, but the book is damn good, and I’m not just saying that because my girlfriend wrote it. It’s really everything. I guess that’s why it’s being published by one of the biggest publishers in the book industry.
I’m hoping this news will make our relationship seem like it’s nothing to get shot over, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Kimber and I may have butted heads in the past, but when her Dad hates someone, it’s forever.
She’s fidgeting with the dress she insisted on wearing. As much as I like the way it clings to every curve, I can tell she’s uncomfortable. “If I were you, I would have gone with the yoga pants.”
“Stop. That’s not even funny. It’s only a couple hours. I don’t know what’s worse. The dress or the shoes. How do people walk in these things?”
“I’ll rub your feet when we get home. Let’s get this over with.”
She stops before we walk into the fancy place they picked out. “I can’t believe they’re on speaking terms again. Now they’ll be in cahoots.”
“Hopefully your mom told him the good news so we can leave sooner.”
She cups my face to keep me from talking. “I love you to death, but if you don’t behave you’re going to be running from me, not my
dad.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be good, but you have to admit, this is going make his butthole pucker.”
She slaps me lightly but keeps her comments to herself, because she knows I’m right.
I put on a straight face as we walk around and locate where they’re both already sitting. The moment Phillip Carpenter sees me he stands at attention, as if to make him look more superior. I hold out my hand like it’s no big deal I’m with Kimber. For Christ sakes we’ve been living together for nearly a year. It’s time to figure it out and get over it.
“It’s good to see you, sir.” It’s a lie. It’s never good to see him. If there was ever a sinkhole in the area, I’d wish he was the one at the bottom of it.
“Please tell me this is a joke, Kimber.” He won’t even ask me. He refuses to look at me anymore. It’s almost funny.
“Dad, please sit down. West is my guest and I’d appreciate it if you gave him a little respect.”
He remains standing. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How did you do it?” Now the question is directed at me. “How did you convince my only other daughter to jump into bed with you?”
Before I can open my mouth and give him hell, Kimber loses her shit. This is the difference between the two sisters. I’m no longer going to be that guy that’s treated like shit during Christmas dinner. I’m not going to be the worthless piece of shit that’s ruining his daughter’s life.
“I’m going to say this one time, and if you don’t like it we’ll turn around and never share another meal with you again. Weston Wallace is the best man I’ve ever met. The devotion he showed for Brice was admirable, but most importantly unconditional. We weren’t the only ones to lost Brice. He lost his future wife and their baby.”
I know Kimber means business, because we never discuss the baby. It’s still hard for me to think I could have been a father, but I know that baby is somewhere with her mother now and they’ll always be together.
Kimber keeps at him. “This man went to Alaska to live because he couldn’t bear the thought of living his life without her. Meanwhile I suffered from the same unending emptiness. I wanted to end to my life, because I felt like I had nothing to live for. West and I weren’t friends when we lost Brice, but it was our love for her that helped us find each other. He was there for me when I felt like I had nothing left to live for.”
I finish the sentence. “And she gave me a reason to want to come home to the island. If it weren’t for your daughter I’d still be in Alaska.”
“I wish you were,” Phillips chimes in.
“Dad, I love him. I don’t care what you think or how this seems. We’re together. We’ve been together for a while now and I’ve never been happier.”
“This is bullshit!” He says it loud enough other people start looking in our direction. “How dare you disgrace this family.”
Kimber argues right back. “Family? You call this a family? The day Brice died you gave up on your family. You and mom both pushed me away. Did you even know I was living in my car? Then after that I stayed in a crappy motel room because it’s all I could afford? Did either of you even care that you still had a child that was alive who might need you love and support? I lost everything, including the both of you. This man you refuse to see, he’s given me back my life. He saved me when you couldn’t be bothered. He opened his home to me, and got me a better job. He held me when I cried and promised that he’d always be around. Neither one of you gave me that. Instead you blamed me. I didn’t kill my sister. For the longest time I thought it was my fault. A drunk driver hit us that night. He took her life. I regret that I asked her to come get me, but she didn’t die by my hands. It was a horrible accident, and do you want to know the worst part?”
This is where I have no idea what she’s about to say and it’s scaring me.
“I was the last person to hear her speak. Brice didn’t come to get me that night because I was drunk. She came to get me because my friends ditched me at a party with drugs and weapons and I was afraid to be there alone. I knew my sister would save me, because she was always there for me. I could count on her no matter what.” Kimber is crying now as she continues. “She told me not to be afraid. She said everything was going to be okay, even though I knew it wasn’t. Brice knew her injuries were severe, but it didn’t stop her from protecting me. She died promising me that things would be okay, and for the longest time I hated myself for it. But now I know she wasn’t talking about then in that car. She wasn’t talking about the months of pain and struggle I’d endure after I lost her. She was talking about right now. She was telling me that I would be okay. That we would.”
I can barely hear through my tears. Kimber talks about a lot of memories, but never this. I can hardly keep it together.
“I love West. I could give you a million reasons why and you wouldn’t have to agree, because it’s my life. You spent so much time comparing me to Brice. You asked why I couldn’t be like her. Why didn’t I want to go to medical school? Well guess what? I am successful. I just got published. That’s right. I wrote a novel and the second company I submitted the manuscript to offered me a six figure deal with the option for a part two.”
Her parents both remain in the same flabbergasted for what feels like a whole minute. I clear my voice and wipe the tears out of my eyes. “You ready to go, babe?”
Kimber smirks and takes my hand. “Yeah, I think I’ve made my point.” She takes an olive out of her mother’s martini glass and pops it in between her teeth. “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad. Maybe we’ll try this again next year.”
By the time we step outside of the restaurant she’s already in my arms. I’m ecstatic. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I spent enough Christmas dinner hearing him bitch about you. He wasn’t doing it on my watch.”
I cup her face and stare into her beautiful cobalt eyes, almost the same ones as her sister. “You know I love you, right?”
“You better. That was one hell of a show. I probably won’t get gifts for the next twenty years.”
“We can send them one of those fruit cakes. You think they’d like that?”
She laughs as we start to walk, only stopping to kick off the heels that are obviously killing her feet. “I think that would be the highlight of the holiday. Maybe we should get them a monthly subscription for them. Fruitcake of the month club.”
I kiss her on the cheek while taking the shoes from her so she has less to carry. “You hungry?” I ask.
“Starved.”
“Good I know a great place, with better pie.”
The next morning is Christmas. Our very first Christmas as a couple. The house is quiet because the twins stayed at Oyster Cove to give us some privacy. Kimber sits in front of the tree with a box on her lap. She hands me the same size box and we both laugh. I’ve gotten her something that’s one of a kind and I know she’ll love it.
She opens hers first. When the box is pried and she’s holding up the fabric my stomach knots. It’s hard to look at the pictures enlarged and not feel a little sad. I know this means a lot to Kimber and so it’s important to me too. It’s an embroidered throw with a collage of pictures of Brice and Kimber. She’s crying as she looks at each of them and traces her fingers over the stitching. “I love it. It’s beautiful.” She reaches over and gives me the most sincere, meaningful hug I think I’ve ever received. “I love you so much, West. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Burn the house down,” I tease. She sits back and waits for me to open my gift. I shake the box like her sister used to do. We both laugh, because I’d be terrible at guessing if I tried. My box opens easily. First it’s a soft blue miniature fabric. I pull it and it’s nothing. It’s just fabric. Then I dig back in the box. It’s another piece of fabric. This one is yellow. Beneath that is a green one and then a pink. Then there’s another box and my stomach knots up when I have it in my hand and know exactly what it is, but that’s not what’s making me feel like my head is spinning. Ki
mber must not have known how her sister told me she was pregnant. I’m trying to keep a straight face as I open the box, because what’s inside is going to make me the happiest man in the world, but it’s the memories that make it hard. “What’s wrong?” She asks when I have to pause.
“Two years ago your sister gave me the gift of a pregnancy announcement.”
“Good thing mine’s a watch,” she quickly replies.
I open the box and find that she’s telling me the truth. It’s not just a watch either. It’s one of those old watches with the giant calculator on it. I give her a puzzled look. “What in the world?”
“Put it on. I want to see how it looks.”
I have no idea if she’s lost her mind or not. There’s nothing sexy about this old hunk of junk, but I do as she says because it’s Christmas and I love her. I even look over at Bee who is relentlessly trying to eat a bone that’s bigger than her head and realize she couldn’t care less what I got from Santa.
When it’s on she snickers and starts talking to me. “Okay turn it on and add this stuff together. Ten plus eight, minus seventeen, plus eight, minus four, minus three more. Okay what’s the total?”
This is really mind boggling. “Two.”
She hands me two more packages. They’re pretty small. I open the first one and it’s a baseball. I open the second one and it’s a bunny. Then I look over at Bee. “Are these for her?”
“Nope.”
“Huh? Are you fucking with me?”
“Not at all.”
“So you bought me a bunny, a watch and a baseball for Christmas?”
She’s nodding and laughing at the same time. “You’re going to need to that watch one day.”
“For what?”
“For calculating of course.”
I don’t want to offend her, but I’m getting frustrated. “Kimber, you’re screwing with me. I know it.”
Waves of Despair: Oyster Cove Series Page 18