by T K Barber
Two Weeks Later
The wooden door was just as difficult to latch this time as every time before, but now it wasn’t quite as annoying. He still needed to fix it, though. Eventually.
Nick smiled as he stared at it, holding the last box of stuff he was taking with him. The first delivery of furniture and decorations he, Scarlet, and Katelyn had picked out for Annalise would be there in the morning. He shook his head. The first of about twelve.
Scarlet had quite a knack for shopping, as it turned out. Well, technically, she had a knack for spending money while Katelyn pointed to what would match and look “awesome-sauce.” And he had a knack for shrugging and nodding. It was a good combo.
Even though ‘stuff’ wouldn’t fix anything, he’d still feel better knowing Annalise would be comfortable, since she insisted on living here. Alone. He swallowed.
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs behind him drew a massive grin, and he turned to see Scarlet rounding the top post.
“Jesus, I’m glad you’re moving. These stairs are ridiculous.”
She stomped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Nick looked back over his shoulder and snorted.
“So, you’re only happy to lose the stairs, huh?”
“Yes, Nick. That’s literally the only reason. How did you know?”
He threw his head back and laughed, then set the box down. Scarlet took a step back, but Nick spun around and snagged her from the ground, smothering her screech with his kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let out a contended sigh as he set her down.
“There’s that reason too. Getting to have those whenever I want is a HUGE plus to giving up half my bathroom counter.”
Nick rolled his eyes despite his grin and grabbed the box again, hoisting it up as he gestured to the stairwell with his head. He followed close behind her as she practically bounced down the stairs.
“Babe, your bathroom counter is the size of my kitchen. And I don’t have that much stuff. I think it’ll be okay.”
She jumped to the floor and spun around to face him, gracing him with her wide smile, her ponytail nearly whipping her in the face. He stopped on the stair and inhaled. He would never, ever get tired of looking at her. A slow smile spread on his face. Or touching her. She raised her eyebrows and plopped her hands on her hips.
“Cut that out. We’re not even there yet, quit undressing me with your eyes.”
“Nope. Can’t and won’t.”
She laughed and turned on her heel, trotting to the door to hold it open for him.
Once they cleared the entrance, Nick dropped the box into the bed of his truck with the others and slammed the tailgate shut. Scarlet leaned against it and took his hand as he looked up at the building.
“She’ll be home soon. The doctors say she’s doing amazing, right?” Nick nodded and leveled his gaze. “And when she gets back, we’ll have dinner together all the time.” Scarlet stepped up against him and curled into his embrace. “So much that she’ll get sick of seeing us. Besides, I have a feeling she’s going to flip when she sees all the stuff she’s getting. I may have ordered a few more things. It can’t be proven though.”
Nick chuckled and squeezed her tighter. “I love you.” He kissed the top of her head. “And your spending habit.”
She scoffed and shoved back from him. He could practically feel her glare as he rounded the truck and climbed in. She turned to face him with narrowed eyes as her door closed behind her, and he hid his smile by scratching his chin.
“I don’t actually have a habit, you know.” Her face relaxed, and she looked down at her hands. “I just want her to be really comfortable. She deserves it.”
“Yeah. I know. She does.” He glanced back up at the building through the windshield. “You really think she’ll be okay? I mean, eventually she’d have to be, right?”
He caught Scarlet’s gaze, and she drew her bottom lip in. “Heartbreak is—” she swallowed. “She really loved him. He gave up his life. For her. That’s going to take a long time to move past. Live with. But,” she reached across the cab and squeezed his knee. “She won’t have to do it alone. She’s got you. And me.”
Yeah. They shared a smile before he nodded to her. “Buckle up. We’ve got to stop by the store before we head . . . home.”
Scarlet beamed, and he laughed at her squeal as they pulled away from the curb.
“I thought you got all the hooks and stuff you needed yesterday. Did you break something else while I wasn’t looking?”
Nick’s jaw dropped open, and he shot her a look. “No, thank you very much. I just forgot something.”
She laughed and nodded. “If you say so.”
The store came into view three blocks later, and Nick caught Scarlet’s wistful smile as they pulled up to the curb. Yeah. He felt the same way. Seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Be right back.” He popped out of the truck and rounded the front at a trot, his heart slamming a mile a minute. He stepped behind the counter, grabbed the hefty plastic shopping bag he had stashed in the supply box, and trotted back out.
Scarlet was studying her nails when he opened her door and grabbed her hand. “Nick! What the heck?! You scared me to death!”
He tugged her to the sidewalk nearest the crosswalk and positioned her by her shoulders.
“Nick, seriously! It’s freezing out here, and my jacket is in the truck and t—”
She slapped her hands over her mouth, and he smiled as her eyes flitted between his face and the white bag held out to her at arm’s length.
“What is that?” The words barely made it through her fingers.
Nick laughed and grabbed one of her wrists, gently tugging it away from her mouth. He placed the handle of the bag in her shaking hand, and she stared at him, wide-eyed, with her mouth still covered.
“Open it, Scarlet.”
Her eyes never left his as she lowered her other hand and slowly pulled the handles apart. He laughed again and gestured to the bag with his head. She blinked and peered inside.
“Oh my God, Nick!”
She squinted her eyes shut, popped them back open, and jammed her hand in. Nick grinned from ear to ear as the .22 revolver, complete with dangling engagement ring, eased out of the bag. Tears clung to the corners of her eyes, eyes he’d never get tired of, and she held the gun to her chest as she gazed at him.
When he dropped down to one knee and took her hand, she let out a helpless whimper.
He blew out a slow breath through pursed lips. Took two days to get it just right. He hoped like hell he wouldn’t forget anything.
“Scarlet—”
“Yes!”
Nick laughed, rubbed his hand down his face, and smiled at her already tear stained cheeks. “Let me get it out first.”
She nodded, hugging the weapon closer, and he cleared his throat.
“Scarlet—”
“Yes! Nick! Yes, yes, yes, for the love of God, yes!”
She tugged on his hand until he stood up, then cradled the gun like a baby as she crashed into him, wrapping her other arm tightly around his waist. He laughed again and held her just as tight.
“God, I love you, Scarlet. Marry me. Be on my zombie team for the rest of our lives.”
She nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “I’ll have to think about it.”
Nick snorted and leaned out of her embrace. He untied the little string holding the ring and moved to take the gun, but she swapped it to her right hand instead, oblivious. A one-sided grin spread on his mouth as he watched her excited eyes scan the gun. Not the ring.
Lessons would be fun as hell.
He kissed her ring finger and only her eyes snapped to his. Now that he had most of her attention, he slid the ring on her slender finger. She sucked in a breath and let the gun hang lose at her side as she hooked her arm around his neck.
Had she even looked at it yet? Nick grinned and encircled her waist, ci
nching tight until she leaned her head back to look at him. She wiped her cheeks and reached up to cup his with her free hand.
“I love you so much. Marrying you will be the second-best decision I’ve ever made in my whole life.”
Nick quirked an eyebrow. “Second?”
She nodded and grinned. “First being when I decided to walk home that night.”
Nick’s face ached from smiling, and his heart was full to bursting when he bent down to capture her mouth in a kiss.
She said yes.
THE END
I hope you loved reading this as much as I loved writing it! Please consider leaving a review! It doesn’t have to be long, but it will help in so many ways, not the least of which is feeding my writerly soul!
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Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Now, read on for a teaser of HIDDEN! (Publishing 11/1/2019)
HIDDEN Teaser
“ . . .GSW lower right . . .”
“ . . .stat!”
“ . . .CLEAR!”
Anna . . .
“ . . .you hear me?”
“ . . .ICU for at least . . .”
“ . . .stable . . .”
Anna?
“ . . .rehab.”
“Incredibly lucky to . . .”
“ . . .difficult road . . .”
“Thank God. Make sure no one else finds out, especially Annalise. And tell the coroner we need a body.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Anna, where . . .are you?
Acknowledgements
This may be similar to my last acknowledgement, but when my first few books were written, my circle was much smaller! First, a round of love for my hubby, because jeebers—he’s amazing. Plus he helped craft Steven’s sidewalk take-down scene, and his ultimate death, and read the sex scene even though he *hates* those with a passion. Second, a big thank you to my friend, Angie, one of my very first fans on this series (in 2016!) Her enthusiasm for these characters (even though the first version was so, so rough) pushed me that much harder to make them even more real. Thank you to Hilary, the comma-assassin, who not only has a keen eye and a different way of seeing my little Twin Bay world but is just generally awesome. To Amanda, thanks for being so thorough and supportive! To the my other very first beta readers Amy, April, Wendy, Linda—you guys were instrumental in letting me know what worked and what didn’t, and gave me the motivation to keep making books you’d like to read! Thank you to Janet, again, because I’m not sure I can say enough honestly. Our nearly endless convos while I was writing Held, Hidden, and even early parts of Caught were invaluable. To the RChat peeps—again—for the sometimes-vehement conversations that happened back in the day over these characters and their motivations; I loved every second. Thank you to Jessie for being so invested in the story from the get-go, and for shouting/cheering in the margins. Chloe and Kristin, thank you for reading and loving these crazy characters, pointing things out that had been missed by even all these eyes, and being amazing cheerleaders. And JEN! You da bomb. Thank you for being your splendiferous self, and for finding time in your insane schedule to help squash my ridiculous writerly anxieties. I can’t name everyone, because I have the memory of a goldfish, but I appreciate the heck out of anyone who touched this story in any way. And finally to Taralynn; Nick says ‘Hi’.
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