Beyond Intent

by Karice Bolton

  “I get it,” I interrupted him. “I won’t try to do it all.”

  “I think Carla started planning back in December when I asked for their permission.”

  “I still can’t believe you asked my dad. What would you have done if he said no?”

  Jason laughed and held me close. “We would’ve just eloped very quickly and quietly to a tropical island.”

  “Good call.”

  “I think I could stay here forever, in your arms,” I said.

  Jason hugged me a little closer and kissed the top of my head as I thought about how our lives had intersected. We’d shared so much; yet we had so much more to explore, dreams to discover, and chances to take.

  Snuggling a little closer, Jason pulled the blanket over us, and I felt the sturdiness of his embrace.

  “How about a Christmas wedding?” I mused.

  “Sounds like it could be spectacular,” he said.

  “I think I’m kind of liking the idea.”

  I tried to stifle a yawn, but Jason caught me. “Today was probably not what the doctor ordered,” he said.

  “Worth every drop of exhaustion,” I said.

  “Glad you think so.”

  “Gabby Baines,” I whispered.

  “I love how that sounds.”

  “Me too. It rolls off the tongue.”

  We heard a thump upstairs and both bolted off the couch, Jason reaching for his pajama bottoms, and me pulling on my sleep shirt. Wobbling on one foot as I pulled my underwear on, I couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly things had changed. Jason braced me as I pulled them all the way up and shared that knowing smile.

  We jogged up the stairs and peered into Katie’s room. She was sound asleep. A book had escaped her hands and had fallen to the floor. Relief spread through me, and we walked to our bedroom in silence

  Things had changed, but that was a sign of a good life. We both crawled under the covers, and Jason wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him. I felt our bodies entangle in one another and knew there was no other place I wanted to be. I belonged in his arms.

  In my life, I had earned all of my scars, and I had found a man who loved me for them. Every single one of the wounds helped to mold me into the person who I became. I was stronger for them. I wasn’t perfect and neither was my life, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

  Perfection was overrated. Life wasn’t perfect and it never would be. Life wasn’t meant to be seamless. Life was a crazy mess of accidents, decisions, and wishes all rolled into one giant ball of missteps and blunders. Throw a few prayers into the mix and everything would work out.

  Life’s crazy. It’s sad. It’s filled with brilliant joy and enormous heartache. New lives replace old ones and everyone’s tears eventually evaporate. We were born resilient. We were wired to embrace the changes that were thrown at us with such speed that we never even saw them coming. But that was what life was about—so take a chance and hold on for the ride.

  Follow Aaron and Brandy as they head to Paris in Beyond Chance!

  Be on the lookout for more books in the Beyond Love Series.

  Beyond Chance

  Beyond Promise

  and

  Beyond the Mistletoe

  Lemon Shortcake

  1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

  1/2 cup sugar

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1 egg

  1/3 cup buttermilk

  1/3 heavy cream

  1/4 cup butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons

  3 tablespoon lemon juice

  2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

  1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 9 inch round baking pan. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.

  In a second bowl, combine the egg, butter, lemon juice, lemon peel buttermilk, heavy cream and vanilla. Stir mixture into dry ingredients until moist.

  Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean).

  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

  Can be served plain or with strawberries and cream on top!

  Strudel Cookies

  1 cup butter

  1 cup white sugar

  1 egg

  2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  1 jar of apple pie filling

  Preheat oven to 400°

  Combine the flour, salt, and almonds. In a bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

  Stir into the sugar mixture. Form dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Using a spoon, create a slight indent and place apple pie filling in each.

  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden at the edges. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

  Keep reading for excerpts from some of Karice’s other titles.

  Contact the Author

  To contact the author, please visit her online at http://www.karicebolton.com or via

  Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest @KariceBolton.

  If you’d like to be included on her mailing list to find out about

  new releases, click here or go to Karice Bolton’s website

  Hannah

  “Have you found her yet?” The male voice cut through my soul as I peered down from the hayloft. It was Miles, the father of the man I was supposed to marry. It was an arranged marriage. One that I couldn’t accept, but I never would’ve guessed that his father was involved in this. Then again, for the first twenty years of my life, living here had seemed like an amazing gift, not a horrific nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I steadied my breathing to ensure I wasn’t heard as I watched the two men below me. I needed to stay in control. I had planned too long to fail now.

  “No. It looks like she took off. Maybe two days ago. She left most of her belongings behind, but I’d say enough was missing to indicate that she’s on the run. Her mother went through the house to confirm that there were items missing,” the younger man said. There was something about his voice that was familiar, and I tried to focus on his features, but I couldn’t place him, which was odd. The community I grew up in wasn’t huge, but it was large enough that people could blend in somewhat. I guess a face could be missed here or there.

  “She knows too much, Eric,” Miles said, rubbing his temples.

  Eric! I knew an Eric in high school, but we were told he’d left the community. Obviously not.

  “Just like her sister,” Eric responded. I saw a trace of a smile touch his lips as he shook his head. “But we took care of that problem, and we’ll take care of this one.”

  What about my sister? I’d been told she left the community, ran away. My stomach turned into itself as I thought about my family. Did they know what was going on here? Was my mom actually concerned about my safety or only helping to lead them to me?

  Miles took a seat and propped his elbows on the desk, glaring at Eric. “We don’t actually know that you took care of Hannah’s sister. Now do we?”

  “I watched her fall from the cliff,” Eric argued.

  “No body was ever recovered.”

  “The authorities said that with the currents, it might never be.” Eric stood his ground.

  Miles shrugged as if to dismiss the argument that couldn’t be won. “You’re sure Hannah saw something? Two in a family calls too much attention…”

  Eric paced across the floor. “We found her in the bushes close to where the other issue had been taken care of. If Hannah didn’t see what unfolded, the gunshots and screams surely would’ve alerted her. From her vantage point, she could’ve seen everything. And the wild look in her eyes…”

  I know more than you bastards could ever imagine.

  “Enough said. Add that to the fact that she’d already gone to the authorities about Tina,” Miles shook his head. “And we’ve got a big problem
on our hands. A problem you were supposed to take care of. We’re just lucky that Mark was the officer on duty when she went to the police station. We don’t run our organization on luck, Eric.”

  My heart was pounding as I listened intently. One of the nails in the wood beam poked my ankle something fierce, but I didn’t dare move.

  “She couldn’t have gotten far. We’ll find her. My guess is she’s headed to Florida, and I’ve got people already headed that direction,” Eric said.

  “What makes you think Florida?”

  “I found some notes on different cities in Florida. They were tucked under her mattress.”

  “If this woman is smart enough to vanish without a trace, do you really think she’s going to forget or leave behind a few key pieces of information? Come on. You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s just sending you on a wild goose chase.” Miles pounded his fist on the desk. “I’m taking this over. You’re done. And don’t tell my son any of this. You understand?”

  Eric balled his fists together at the commandment. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Did that mean Brandon, my fiancé, wasn’t involved? I pushed the lump down in the back of my throat as I thought about my entire life being highly orchestrated for some cause I didn’t even understand.

  Miles stood up, obviously agitated, and both men walked out of the office. It would take them several minutes to walk through the stables that the office was connected to, and I had no plans to come down from my perch until well into the midnight hour. I’d gotten what I came for; the last of the documents were securely tucked into my waistband. It was just an added bonus to catch Miles here, discussing my fate. At least my hunch was right. If they caught me, they’d kill me.

  I shifted slightly, moving my ankle away from the nail, as my mind drifted to my sister. Four years ago she had vanished without a trace. My mother was in hysterics, but my father and brother had been completely stoic, dismissing my sister’s disappearance as if the cat never came home for the night. Eventually, they had convinced both my mom and me that she had chosen to live a life outside the community. It wasn’t unheard of so I was willing to blindly believe that assumption, even though my sister never gave me any reason to believe that she wanted out. In hindsight, that was my tipping point.

  With every passing minute that I was stuck in the rafters, I began to doubt my plan that I’d worked on for months. I was only buying time, trying to save enough to get me out of here without looking like I was doing anymore than usual to earn money. Everything was going according to plan until three nights ago. That’s when everything changed in my world. Instead of just wanting to escape, I wanted answers.

  When I saw her eyes—my best friend’s eyes—filled with terror, I knew I couldn’t just walk away so I followed. She asked me not to, told me to stay away, but I followed her from a distance as she walked through the pasture toward the woods. I didn’t know if she knew I was following until it was too late. I watched her trembling hands as she covered her face, and she sank down into the dirt, crying. She had told me that she’d been having troubles with her husband—another arranged marriage, and another reason I had no intention of following through with mine. I halfway expected to see him meet her in the woods.

  Instead, two men came from nowhere, wearing masks. She didn’t fight, and I didn’t know what to expect. I closed my eyes quickly and took a deep breath as I readied myself to run up on them. When I heard the first shot, my eyes flashed open as her gaze landed on mine. She knew I’d followed her. Another shot echoed into the air followed by laughter from the one I could now identify as Eric.

  My body trembled as the images flooded through me, and I knew if I was going to survive long enough to expose everything, I needed to create a new life. I had to forget as much as I could about this old one, until the time was right.

  Hannah

  I let out a sigh as I sat in the dusty, blue truck that had miraculously managed to make it across the country. Between the funny interior smell, the engine knocking at speeds over fifty miles-per-hour, and the tricky method for locking the driver’s door, I hadn’t even been sure I’d actually make it out of my hometown. I found a ’99 GMC Sonoma for only eight hundred dollars, and I bought my way out of a life that wasn’t my own. Or at least, I hoped I had. Only time would tell. I turned off the radio and watched a family wander into the Starbucks. My chest tightened as I thought about who I’d left behind. But it had to be done. I couldn’t second-guess my decisions now. There was no turning back.

  I grabbed my wallet and slid out of the truck, feeling the warm California air kiss my skin as I slowly walked across the parking lot toward the coffee shop. I wasn’t used to temperatures like this in March, but I was certain I’d quickly learn to love the weather. From what I’d read, Southern California skipped over the entire winter season, which sounded perfect to me. New England winters were brutal and long—really long.

  My stomach growled as I pulled the door open and smelled the aroma of coffee and pastries waft through the air. I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and desperately wanted a big cup of coffee. I’d tried not to spend much money on the long road trip in case I needed any extra cash for emergencies. Lucky for me, I’d made it to my destination without one hiccup and could splurge on a measly cup of coffee.

  Yay me!

  The family from outside was still in front of me, placing their order as I stood in line. The mom’s latte order had so many components I lost track. It was no longer just a drink with coffee and milk. I watched her movements carefully, noticing every blonde hair was in place and her suit flawless. She seemed so in her element, and for some reason that made me feel completely out of mine. Her husband was put together just as impeccably, and I found myself running my hands along my sweatshirt to press out the wrinkles that had formed from the countless hours of driving. I was in yesterday’s yoga pants, which were now technically today’s, and my blonde hair desperately needed to be washed so it was piled on top of my head in a clip. I glanced around Starbucks and noticed that the family in front of me wasn’t the anomaly. Everyone looked put together and ready to conquer the world. I was the odd one with tired brown eyes.

  There was a brunette in the far corner who wore Hollywood shades, and her khaki capris showed off her model legs. The guy at the next table over looked like he’d just stepped out of the pages of a Men’s Fitness magazine as he intently stared at his iPad. This had to be the best-dressed coffeehouse in America.

  “Miss, I can take your order,” the male barista said, as the family walked to the drink counter.

  I snapped my head to see a friendly guy about my age, motioning for me to step forward to the counter.

  “Oh, sorry,” I said, nearly tripping to the register.

  “Take your time.”

  “I’d like a large coffee,” I said, smiling.

  The guy’s blond hair was shaggy and his blue eyes playful as he grabbed the white cup. “Pike Place or French Roast?” he asked.

  “Pike I guess,” I muttered, unzipping my wallet.

  “A Venti Pike Place, and can I get your name?”

  “Hannah,” I said, feeling a breeze from behind as the door swung open.

  A wave of shivers ran across my skin, and I started to laugh at how quickly I became acclimated to the warm weather. The barista wrote my name on the cup and called out my drink as he rang it up.

  “Two-eighty,” he said, as I felt someone come up behind me in line.

  “Can I add a blueberry scone too?” I handed him my debit card as he nodded.

  Taking my card, he quickly added the scone to the order and swiped the debit.

  “So how’s your day been?” the barista asked, waiting for the transaction to complete.

  “Really good. Yours?” Another wave of goose bumps ran along my body, and I glanced around, unsure of the source this time. There was no breeze.

  “Been great.” His eyes landed on the screen, and I saw his jaw tense as he swiped the card again.
“Do you by any chance have another form of payment?”

  My heart sank and my body felt like it was on fire. I had no other cards, and there should be plenty of money to cover a scone and coffee.

  “Can you try it again?” I barely squeaked out. “Third time’s a charm.”

  The barista gave me a sympathetic grin and swiped the card once more.

  “Sorry. Same result.” The barista handed the card back as my entire body turned into a hot mess. I was absolutely mortified. It wasn’t like I was trying to buy a television. I just wanted a lousy cup of coffee. And what was worse was that the money in the account needed to get me by until I could find a job in town. So where was the money?

  “Umm. I’m sorry. Can you cancel my order,” I whispered. All I wanted to do was run out of the coffee shop and hide in my truck. I wasn’t supposed to meet my roommates for another hour, but maybe they wouldn’t mind if I showed up early.

  Just as the barista was about to key in the cancellation, a male voice interrupted my mini-hell of humiliation.

  “I’ve got it covered. Technology can be such a pain.” The guy from behind me took a step forward, and a surge of warmth flooded through me. His voice was gravelly, sexy, and didn’t relay a bit of sympathy for my predicament. His immediate dismissal of the crisis at hand actually made me feel immensely better, like this sort of thing happened all the time. And then I felt him, his energy, wrap around me.

  He was intense.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I said, turning to see the guy take a step next to me, handing the barista his card.

  My heart nearly stopped when I saw how good-looking he was. All six-foot-something of him towered next to me and I felt abuzz with delight. He was dressed like everyone else in this mystical coffee house. But on him, the black suit stretched across his shoulders in such a way that I could almost imagine what lay under his jacket. After all, I was in the land of mirages. Men like this didn’t exist in my world. His wavy, dark brown hair framed his chiseled features, and his green eyes were beyond striking as he smiled at me briefly.