While It Lasts

by Paige Rion

  Rachel swallowed. She hoped Carma liked it. She had no idea what to expect or what kind of spirits her friend would be in upon her return. Things had been so hectic, but by the time the charges against her had been plead down, she owed restitution, community service, and a week in jail. Today, she came home to stay.

  For weeks following her father’s arrest, she scoured Callaway Cove for apartments. In the end, she settled on a nice place, just on the outskirts of town. She imagined Carma would want something as far away from her stepfather as possible, and with a year of probation, she had no choice but to remain in the area.

  In many ways, apartment hunting had been therapeutic for Rachel. Buying furniture and setting up house had been a welcome distraction from her father’s legal troubles, and since he made bail immediately following his arrest, she had never been happier than to get out of the house. She needed time to process everything. To let the dust of her feelings settle.

  For the most part, the media had died down, but they still came around from time to time. Her father’s scandal still covered the local news channels on a regular basis with updates or any grain of information they could scrounge up, true or not.

  It had taken time, but the six weeks since that horrible day had given Rachel a measure of acceptance for what her father did, and the fact that he would likely spend several years behind bars. She was working on forgiving him for everything he put the family through. Beaumont no longer came with the stamp of pride, but instead, a sense of shame. It wasn’t easy, but each day she focused on going into town with her chin up, shoulders back, and she found that when she managed this, she garnered the townspeople’s support, rather than their pity.

  At the sound of someone knocking, she twirled around and made her way through the living room to the door. She glanced in the peephole to find Carma, huge as ever, nearing her eighth month. Beside her, Andi beamed.

  Wrenching open the door, Rachel held her arms out and hugged her two best friends, relishing in the joy of having them in her life.

  “This is your place now. You shouldn’t be knocking,” she said, leaning back. “Andi gave you your key. Right?”

  Carma nodded. Her strawberry-blond hair hung to the middle of her back, shapeless and in desperate need of a cut. Rachel made a mental note to take her out for a girl’s day at the salon later that week.

  “I know. Sorry. It just felt weird since I haven’t been here yet.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to get over that because this is just as much your home as mine, and don’t think I’m going to come running every time you come and go,” she scolded.

  Carma stepped inside after her. Her eyes twinkled as they roamed around the apartment, taking everything in. Rachel had decorated with neutral colors, a beige couch, creamy walls, and white curtains.

  “It’s so pretty. Peaceful.” Carma took another step and ran her hand over the back of the couch.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Rachel said. Grabbing her hand, she led her into her bedroom. “This room is yours. And the baby’s.”

  “Oh. It’s beautiful.” Carma covered her face, as her eyes filled with tears. She moved to the mobile above the crib, touching one of the fuzzy lambs. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything, then. We’re glad you’re back,” Andi said.

  Rachel played with the hem of her shirt, wondering at Carma’s silence and hoping she was okay. “I know we haven’t had much time to talk, but we will. You don’t have to be alone in this. We’ll help you figure everything out. We’ll do it together,” she said, squeezing her hand.

  “Thank you.” Carma nodded. She bit her lip, as if she wanted to say more. Then, meeting Rachel’s gaze, she said, “I saw Colton today. He was there when they released me.”

  A lump lodged itself in her throat. She could barely swallow and when she spoke, her throat ached with the effort. “He was there? Why?”

  Carma shrugged. “He wanted to make sure I got out okay. That I had a place to stay.”

  “Oh.” Rachel blinked, trying ease the pain in her chest at the thought of him. “How did he seem?”

  “Okay, I guess.” Carma said, and Rachel had to stop herself from asking for more details. She wasn’t supposed to care about him.

  “Rach, he’s not over you,” Andi said. “He loves you, and he’s still here in Callaway Cove. Why do you think that is?”

  Of course she had known he hadn’t left town yet. It wasn’t hard to keep tabs on someone in Callaway Cove. Regardless, she hadn’t gone to see him and avoided places she thought she may run into him at all costs, which often meant not going out at all. What would she say? She loved him but it didn’t matter.

  When she said nothing, Andi placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay to love him. You know that, don’t you?”

  Her chest tightened. “How is it okay?”

  “Your father broke the law. He did something he shouldn’t have. You can’t keep blaming his choices on Colton.”

  Rachel shook her head. “I don’t blame him, but—”

  “Let me ask you this. Do you still love your father? After everything he’s put you and your family through, after all of his selfishness, do you still love him?”

  “Of course. I’m angry, yes, and I don’t know that I fully forgive him for all his lies, but I couldn’t just stop caring for him. He’s my father.”

  “So, you can still love your father, after everything he’s done. And that’s okay. Why is it so wrong to love Colton? At least he lied to you out of necessity. At least he had a reason. He wasn’t deceitful. There’s a big difference. And you can’t be scared of what your parents would think either. You took this fresh start to start living for yourself and nobody else.”

  She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes, and she tried to blink them back, but she couldn’t because she knew Andi was right. She missed Colton. She thought about him every day and wondered how he could enter her life and change it so completely in such a short amount of time. How she could miss someone she had known for less than two weeks so bad it hurt? How could her body ache for him in ways she had never known possible?

  “What do I do?” Rachel asked. “It’s been almost six weeks. How do we go back now? And how do I know he would even want to?”

  Carma smiled. “Andi said he was still here, didn’t she?”

  Rachel shook her leg, trying to ease the welling in her chest. “There’s so much we don’t know about each other. We were together such a short amount of time.”

  “Why are you making so many excuses?” Andi asked.

  “I don’t know.” Rachel sobbed, hating that she was ruining Carma’s homecoming with her tears. She had wanted nothing more than for this to be a celebration.

  “We’re your friends. You’ve done so much for me already since I came home. I want you to be happy, too,” Carma said, as if reading her thoughts.

  Stepping around the crib, Andi placed both her hands on Rachel’s face, forcing her to meet her gaze. “Do you love him?”

  Rachel swallowed, then nodded. “Yes, but—”

  “No buts. There are no rules when it comes to love. We both know that. Eventually, he’ll give up.”

  She knew what she was getting at. That eventually Colton would leave. He wouldn’t stay in Callaway forever with the hope she might forgive him.

  Andi continued, “And if you love him, then what are you waiting for?”

  * * *

  She arrived at his condo by noon. She wanted to make sure it was a time when Molly would be at school, in case things didn’t go well. She had no idea what to expect from Colton. It was fine for Andi to say he stayed in Callaway because of her, but that didn’t mean it was the truth. There were a ton of other explanations for why he hadn’t left. Molly being one of them, and so she couldn’t count on his feelings for her.

  She rang the doorbell of the condo, but there was no answer, no sounds from within, unlike the first time she showed up there. The memory threatened t
o surface, but she forced herself to push it aside. She couldn’t think of that now. She needed to focus on finding him first.

  Turning, she made her way back down the stairs. It was unlikely he had gone anywhere outside town, since Molly would get off the bus in two hours. But finding him on a Friday afternoon could be more than difficult.

  Resolving herself to waiting and trying back tomorrow, she started for her car, when a balmy breeze off the lake ruffled her hair. She paused, feeling pinpricks roll up and down her spine. Her gut twisted, and without thinking, she turned and made her way over the bluff behind the condos. She stepped carefully down the promontory, toward the lake. Once her feet met the sandy bank in front of the water, she peered down the length of the beach.

  She felt him before she saw him. Her heart drummed in her chest, and the breath caught in her throat as she swiveled in the other direction to face him.

  The stubble on his jaw was thicker than in the time when she had been with him. He wore a white linen shirt and jeans, with several tears in the legs she had a feeling weren’t meant to be fashionable. His black hair flickered in the wind, and though the creases on his face told of lost sleep, his green eyes blazed.

  He said nothing, just stood across from her, taking her in, and for a moment, she allowed herself to panic. Her lungs constricted and her palms began to sweat. Could he possibly still care for her as she did him?

  “You lied to me.”

  “I had to,” he said.

  She nodded. “I know. It still hurts, though.”

  He took a step toward her, but she raised a palm out. “Stop. Please,” she whispered, and the anguish that passed through his eyes told her he still cared. But she wouldn’t be able to think if he came any closer. She would lose herself.

  She closed her eyes, feeling her heart swell in her chest, knowing she couldn’t leave without saying what she came there for. “I don’t blame you for what happened. I just needed someone to be angry at, and a part of me felt betrayed because we had shared so much about ourselves with each other, and I suddenly felt this gaping hole when I saw the truth. Like I lost a piece of you. Like someone pulled the rug out from under my feet. And I lost my footing. Maybe it’s too late. But I think about you...all the time,” she murmured.

  Opening her eyes, she continued. “I don’t know what will happen in our future. I don’t know if this will work or if you even want it to, but I love you. Nothing seems to make sense without you, and I can no longer come up with one good reason for why we’re not together.”

  He hung his head, bringing a hand to his face, and just when she thought maybe she had lost him, that he was going to raise his head and tell her that it was too late, he lifted his gaze to hers and closed the gap in three steps. Meeting her eyes, he brought his hand up to her face and pushed her hair behind her ears, his touch soft and warm.

  “I dream about you,” he whispered. “Every night. And each and every time it’s like the best dream and worst nightmare of my life all at once, because you are right there, so close, yet I can’t have you. And when I wake in the morning, my chest aches and for a moment I can’t breathe until I remember everything that happened and how I hurt you.”

  He ran his thumb over her mouth as he continued. “But then I come outside one afternoon, because I am haunted by your absence...this woman I had in my life for less than two weeks, and here you are.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She reached up and curled her hands around his, still cupping her face, as if she might not be real, as if he might wake up any second and she’d be gone.

  “I love you. And I know it’s real because I have never felt this way about anyone. I have never wanted someone in my life like I want you. I need you with me.” He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I’ve been lost without you. Maybe I’ve been lost my whole life. But you found me. You found me and made me see how things could be if I let them.”

  She tipped her head up to his, pressing her mouth against the perfect warmth of his own. Goose bumps trailed her arms, and his fingers moved into her hair.

  He kissed her softly, as if the slightest thing might break her, and when she pulled away, he whispered once more, “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she answered back.

  “You were right,” he said, staring into her eyes.

  “About what?”

  “The lake wins.”

  Smiling, she kissed him again.

  EPILOGUE

  It had been a month since the day Rachel found Colton at the lake outside his apartment. Four weeks of rediscovering each other, of delving deeper into the relationship they had started as Rex and Rachel. And she loved him more now than she ever had. In fact, things had gone better than she ever could have imagined, their relationship surpassing her wildest dreams.

  They had waited to tell Molly. Neither one wanted to hurt her more than Rachel’s first exit from their lives, so they agreed to give their relationship some time to grow first. They needed to work out the kinks, to ensure nothing was going to pull them apart again, and confirm that their feelings were real and not the culmination of an extreme situation.

  Rachel hung the last of the balloons and placed the birthday cake in the middle of the table. Glancing at the clock, she smiled. They would be there any minute.

  Jumping up, she grabbed the matches and lit the giant number six candle wedged into the center of the dessert, then hurried into Molly’s room, where she would wait.

  She smiled through her nerves. She wanted so badly to see Molly, but she’d be lying if a part of her wasn’t afraid she might not be as happy as they hoped. After all, over two months had passed since she saw her last. Children were resilient. They moved on quickly. Maybe she hadn’t been as important to Molly as she hoped.

  Whatever her doubts, as she heard the clicking of the lock she pushed them aside and brought her hands to her mouth, stifling her laughter.

  “Okay, birthday girl.” Colton spoke unnaturally loud, his voice echoing through the apartment. “Cake and pizza today, as promised. Giant birthday bash with your friends at the park tomorrow.”

  Rachel heard the soft footsteps come to a halt. “The candles are already lit. Dad, that’s dangerous,” she scolded.

  Colton laughed. “You’re right. You should make a wish, so you can blow them out.”

  The apartment went silent. Several seconds passed, before she heard Colton’s thunderous applause and she knew it was time.

  “I have a surprise for you,” he murmured.

  “What?” Molly asked, her tone suspicious.

  “Your birthday present.”

  Rachel clutched a gift to her chest and slowly pushed open the bedroom door, trying to ignore the nausea coating her stomach.

  Molly glanced up at her entrance. Surprise flashed in her eyes before Rachel’s presence registered. “Miss Rachel.” Her voice was full of awe and before Rachel could react, Molly flew across the room, flinging herself into her arms.

  All of her nerves, her fears dissipated as Molly squeezed her tight. When she leaned away, Rachel crouched down to meet her height and handed her the gift. “Happy birthday,” she said.

  Molly’s eyes glittered, her excitement palpable. “Are you and Dad—”

  “Yeah, kiddo.” Colton moved to her side and kissed her on the head, while he slid an arm around her waist. “Rachel and I are back together, and I have more news. As long as you’re okay with it, we’re staying in Callaway Cove.”

  Molly’s mouth dropped. “Does this mean she’s your girlfriend?”

  Colton laughed. “Yes. It means Miss Rachel Beaumont is my girlfriend.” He turned to face her, staring into her eyes, while Molly squealed.

  “I can’t believe my wish came true,” she said.

  “Me neither,” Colton whispered.

  And in that moment, Rachel smiled, knowing this was only the beginning.

  More Paige Rion

  To be notified of Paige Rion’s new releases and receive exc
lusive content, you can subscribe to her newsletter.

  http://eepurl.com/Qqglf

  Other works by Paige Rion:

  Written On Her Heart (the Callaway Cove series Book 1)

  Claiming Callie: Part one

  Claiming Callie: Part two

  Claiming Callie: Part three

  Claiming Callie: Part four

  paigerion.com