Perfectly Imperfect Mine (Garrison Brothers Book 1)

by Amelia Shea

  “That’s not an answer. Do you want to fight for him, yes or no?”

  “Yes!” Sadie said with tears streaming down her face.

  “Good. Go get packed, our flight leaves in three hours.”

  *

  They were waiting in the airport lounge having a drink. After packing, she washed up and they headed to the airport. She didn’t have time to second guess her decision. Now, they were at the airport with only time to kill. Boarding started in twenty minutes.

  John gave Sadie a small piece of information she hadn’t known before. She found out her ticket was already purchased and he just needed to change the date. Apparently, she was booked on a flight with the others originally scheduled for Tuesday night to fly into Houston. Stone wanted her to come home with him for the holiday. He was going to tell her on Monday, the day he ended things.

  John told her Stone insisted on everyone leaving Monday night. He even paid for all the ticket changes.

  “I don’t understand why he ended it with me then.” Sadie was still unsure about going. Stone didn’t want her, he told her that.

  “Sometimes we do things because we believe we are protecting the people we love; it’s not always the right thing. I gather he thought breaking things off with you would protect you. Love does strange things to people.”

  “But Stone doesn’t love me.”

  John laughed as he answered his ringing phone.

  “Baby girl!” He answered with love in his voice. He hit the button on the side of his phone, the volume button.

  “Hey, Daddy! Just checking in.” Hearing Roxanne’s voice made her smile.

  “I’m on my way, should be home in a few hours. Everything ready for tonight?”

  “Yeah, the guys cut up the wood, and Bogs and I got all the food ready. Emory is on her way over now.”

  “Good. How are the boys?”

  “Well, Bogs is still annoying, if that’s what you’re asking? But T and Ethan have been working. They got in touch with Trent and got that whole mess squared away. And Stone’s at his place.”

  “How is he, Roxanne?”

  “He misses her, Daddy. I tried to get him to talk to me but he wouldn’t. He said it’s over but Dad, he’s hurting, I can see it. And he completely freaked on me when I said I was going to call Sadie. I just want to make sure she’s okay. But I didn’t. Stone asked me not to. I still feel bad, I miss Sadie, too.”

  “Well, everything happens for a reason. Go finish everything up and I’ll see you soon.”

  John ended the call, looked over at Sadie and winked. The intercom announced their flight was ready to board. John took out his wallet and threw cash on the bar. It was time to go.

  “You ready?” he questioned.

  “I’m ready.” She smiled up at him. Stone was hurting. He didn’t want to end it? Now she was going to find out why he did. It was time to go fight for him.

  ****

  Stone had been sitting in his truck for the last twenty minutes. He would never get used to the idea that this place was now a part of his life and he’d always have a love/hate relationship with it. Usually he came here with his family. On rare occasions, like today, he came by himself.

  Stone got out of his truck and slowly made his way down the small cement stairs. It was quiet here today, nobody else in sight, just him. He walked across the grass, passing the statue of Mary. This was the love part he had for this spot. It was open, and flowers adorned the grounds. Large oaks were scattered throughout. It gave a park-like appearance, a place where one came to be at peace.

  He didn’t need to count the three rows he had passed. He would be able to find where he was going even if he was blindfolded. He would always find his way here. He turned down the fourth row, ten feet in and stopped. This was the hate part.

  Here he was.

  “Hi, Mom.” Stone’s voice cracked with emotion. It always did when he visited her at the cemetery. Three years had passed but it was still so raw for him.

  He stood at the foot of her headstone.

  Beloved Wife and Mother

  Darla M. Garrison

  There was a light breeze and Stone could almost feel his mom wrapping her arms around him and whispering, “Hello, Stone.”

  Stone stared down at his mother’s headstone.

  “So, I met a girl. Sadie.” Just saying her name brought her face into his mind.

  Her beautiful face with that smile. Her soft brown eyes looking back at him and seeing inside him. She saw him, really saw him. And he saw her. If he was being honest with himself, beyond her body that tied him in knots, her heart was his undoing. You can tell a lot about people by how they interact with others when they thought no one was watching. Genuine kindness wasn’t something Stone saw often, until he met Sadie. All the nights she spared extra time for the lonely old guy at the counter, a small act of kindness that probably meant more to him than she realized. Then, that kindness was directed at him. The way she listened when he talked about being adopted. The tears she shed for him. She understood his pain, she even tried to console him. Stone snorted at the irony. After her own screwed up childhood, she was consoling him. He knew why though. Because that was Sadie. She had a good heart. A heart that he broke.

  Stone rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair in frustration.

  “I messed up, Mom. I had her and I let her go. This girl was everything and I pushed her away like she was nothing. I never even gave her the chance to accept it, to accept me. I did what I always do…” Stone exhaled harshly.

  “Fuck!”

  Stone froze and held out his hands and released a sad laugh. “Sorry, sorry, Mom.” He smiled. “I can almost hear your voice.”

  In his mind, he could hear her. “Garrison Stone, you better watch that mouth.” Her disapproval was laced with warning.

  “I miss your voice.” Stone stood with head bowed.

  “I fu…messed up and I don’t know what to do. I walked out on her. She was crying and I just walked out, letting her think I was done, that I didn’t want her, like she was nothing. I did that to her. She’ll never forgive me, hell, why should she, I don’t deserve her. I treated her like she meant nothing to me.” Stone looked up at his mom’s stone. “She means everything.” His voice cracked with emotion and he whispered, “I love her.”

  Stone stood there for a while, silently seeking the comfort of his mother. The first woman to ever love him, care for him, and truly accept him. He couldn’t hear her or see her but he felt her, she was there, with him.

  He stepped back and glanced at his mom one last time with a sad smile.

  “Thanks for listening, Mom,” he whispered.

  Stone walked down the row, across the grass and back to his truck with a light breeze surrounding him. Yeah, she’s here.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The flight had been nonstop and quick. Sadie had not even had time to grasp that her first airplane ride was to Houston, another first for her. They landed on time, grabbed her bags, and headed to John’s truck. It was a big truck, like the one Stone had been driving in Nebraska. Like father, like son. John’s house was a thirty-minute ride from the airport. She looked out the window at the big city. It looked so beautiful with the lights and all the people. It was dark so once they were out of the city, she couldn’t see too much but she looked anyway.

  During the ride, John had told her how all the guys had houses and condos of their own.

  “Stone and Bogs have condos in the same community, Scarlet Heights. T just bought a house, his first. It’s a rambling shack but he’s gutting it and he’s working on redoing it,” John explained.

  “And Roxanne lives with you?” Sadie confirmed.

  “Yep, only Roxanne still lives at home. Before I know it, she’ll be out in her own place too.” John smiled and glanced over at Sadie. He winked and turned back to the road.

  “Where does Ethan live?”

  “An apartment in the city. It’s fancy. I make sure I double wipe my sh
oes before walking in to Ethan’s place.” He laughed hard and she giggled.

  “The boys all went their separate ways, starting their own lives but every holiday they come home and stay in their childhood rooms and all wake up together. I think they did it because Darla asked and well, they loved their mom. She had always hoped that tradition would live on even after the kids all started having families of their own. I’m still holding out hope that they will.” His voiced was laced with emotion, a little sadness.

  “So,” Sadie said, “Roxanne told me about your bonfire ritual on the eve of Thanksgiving. It sounds awesome!”

  John smiled over at her. “It’s been tradition since Darla and I first got married. We bought our property forty-five years ago. At the time it had a tiny two-bedroom house that sat on fifty acres. Over the years we added onto the house to accommodate our growing family. When we adopted Roxanne and Ethan, we added a new master suite and Roxanne’s room on the first floor. It looks a lot different than it did when we first bought it.” John laughed.

  They pulled into the drive around nine o’clock. The driveway was long and every twenty feet had a post lamp. They pulled up to the house and Sadie nearly stopped breathing. It was breathtaking. It was a huge colonial with two large pop-out windows in the front. It had a detached three-car garage on the left. They parked in front of the house. There were several trucks and cars in the driveway.

  Sadie opened her door and slid out onto the ground. She could hear music and laughing. It sounded like it was coming from behind the house. Sadie looked around to the trees in the moonlight. She was sure it was even more beautiful in the daylight.

  John grabbed her bags and led her up the porch. The porch was surrounded by plants and flowers. It was a masterpiece.

  “T spent days working on the woodwork as a surprise to his mom. This was her favorite spot on the property. She would spend hours swinging on this porch,” John said with pride in his voice.

  She looked over to it. She could almost imagine a beautiful happy woman swinging on the porch while watching her children play.

  Sadie followed John into the house. It had a large living room to the right with a huge brick fireplace. The walls were adorned with pictures of kids—some alone, some together, school pictures, degree certificates. The room was filled with what looked like comfortable family furniture. This was definitely a place where happy memories were made.

  To the left was a large formal dining room with a huge table. It had already been set for dinner tomorrow. The setting was something out of a magazine. Two centerpieces of fall flowers decorated the table. It looked very elegant.

  “Roxanne sets the table every year; she’s been doing it since she was six.” John smiled into the room.

  “Come on up, let’s get your bags into your room and head out to greet everyone.” They ascended a large grand staircase in the middle of the house. Once they reached the top of the stairs he pointed to the right, down a wide hallway.

  “That’s the main bathroom, Bogs is the next door over, T is across from him, and Stone is the door at the end. Up the small staircase is the attic, Ethan’s room.” Sadie peered down the hall as he walked to the left.

  “And here you are. It’s the original master so you’ll have your own bathroom. I hope you like it.” He flicked on the lights.

  The room lit up. It was gorgeous. The room was painted a light sage and cream-colored curtains draped the windows. The large bed had cream and silver bedding with a bunch of throw pillows. There was a gray fuzzy carpet that covered half of the hardwood and the furniture was a light oak. Her eyes zeroed in on a sage plush chair tucked into the corner of the room.

  John came up next to her. “That was Darla’s favorite spot. She said it was the perfect…”

  “…spot to read,” Sadie said along with him.

  He smiled and quietly muttered, “She would have loved you.”

  She peeked out the window to see the party below. There was a huge fire pit with chairs and wood stumps as seating. There were about twenty people that she could count, all friends she assumed. Her eyes immediately found Stone sitting in a chair. He seemed to be listening to the blonde next to him. The pretty girl was talking and laughing and using her hands a lot. She placed her hand on Stone’s arm and he looked over at her and smiled. The smile didn’t reach his eyes but he gave her his smile. Sadie’s heart dropped and panic set in. Maybe coming was a mistake. Maybe he meant it when he ended it. What if coming here was a huge mistake?

  John stepped close behind her observing the group. Bogs got up and did what looked like a funny dance move and said something she couldn’t make out. The whole group laughed. You could hear them over the music from where she stood. She watched Stone and he laughed too. This time it was genuine. The pretty blonde reached out to rub his hand. And he let her. She’d made a mistake coming here. Stone had moved on.

  “John, I think this is a mistake,” she quickly uttered as jealousy raced through her.

  “Grab your phone,” he ordered.

  “What?”

  “Grab your phone,” he repeated. Sadie pulled it out from her pocket, unsure of what he wanted her to do.

  “Now text him, hit send, and watch him.”

  “Text what?” she asked, a bit confused.

  “Text what you feel,” he answered, never looking away from the window.

  Think. How do I feel at this exact moment? Sadie reached down and typed.

  I miss you

  She hit send and watched him. Seconds later he reached into his pocket and read his phone. Her message. The look on his face was that of a man destroyed. He stared at the text before starting to type. But he stopped and just continued to stare. Finally, he put it back in his pocket and glowered into the fire. The pretty blonde reached out to touch him again. This time he shook his head. She sat back in her seat and watched him while he watched the fire. He was inconsolable.

  John left Sadie to freshen up. She was to meet him in the kitchen behind the staircase when she was ready. She washed her face and applied makeup before she changed into a black, flirty short dress and red cowboy boots. She peered in the full-length mirror for one last look before she went downstairs. She had curled her hair which left it full and wavy hanging past her shoulders. Her whole look screamed, “Back off, bitch, I’m here for my man.”

  Sadie hurried downstairs, heading toward the back of the house. Strolling into a ginormous kitchen with a huge center island, she found John sporting a huge grin.

  “You look beautiful, Sadie. You ready to go fight?” he asked with a wink. His hand gestured for hers.

  “With my fists if I have to.” She grabbed his hand.

  “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” He chuckled.

  He opened the door to the deck. The music was loud and small groups had gathered, eating and drinking. Some couples were swaying to the music. Sadie saw T with a girl on his lap relaxing around the fire. Ethan was talking with a small group of guys while Bogs was surrounded by a group of girls. They were all laughing.

  Roxanne glanced over and smiled when she saw her dad and that smile turned into a massive grin when she realized who was behind him. Roxanne mouthed, “Oh my God!” Sadie smiled back at her.

  “Hey everyone, sorry we’re late. This is Sadie; she’s with us for the holiday. Make her feel welcome,” John shouted to the group and sauntered to the food table.

  It is now or never, Sadie!

  Everyone looked over and waved. Sadie watched as Stone’s eyes widened in disbelief when his gaze met hers. She heard someone mutter, “Holy shit,” from one of the groups but she ignored everyone and kept her eyes on Stone. She smirked as she stalked over. His expression was complete shock. She stood in front of him giving him what she hoped was a coy seductive smile. Sadie peeked around the group by the fire. She winked when she caught T’s eye. He winked back, nodded his head, and watched.

  She turned both left and right when her eyes landed back on Stone.

&n
bsp; “There isn’t a seat for me,” Sadie whined with a slight pout.

  The pretty blonde called over to a guy. “Mike, can you grab another chair?” She looked back at Sadie and smiled.

  “Hey Mike, don’t worry about it. I found my spot,” she shouted to the group but her eyes never left Stone’s.

  Slowly, she slithered herself into Stone’s lap and put her arm over his shoulder. She nuzzled her lips next to his ear and whispered, “Is this seat okay or should I find another?” She sat back to see the shock was gone and need replaced it. His eyes lost the confusion and surprise; they softened and gleamed. Her heart beat faster as he tilted his face into hers and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  ****

  Stone could not believe what he was seeing. Sadie. Here, in front of him, her arms wrapped around him.

  “Don’t even think about fucking moving, Sadie!” His arms tightened around her body and his hands caressed her waist. He breathed in her scent. Vanilla.

  Stone felt her mouth at his ear again and she whispered, “I missed you!” He crushed her against his body.

  “Sadie…” he whispered. He had no words right now. There weren’t any to define how he was feeling.

  He shifted his body and she slipped deeper into his side. She stared at him with her sweet eyes. He was done. He leaned into her and kissed her. He cupped her jaw and held her close. He couldn’t say anything, he was still in shock that she was here. He just needed to feel her, make sure she was real.

  “Oh my God, girl, you’re here!” Roxanne excitedly shrieked pulling Sadie up from his lap and practically jumping into her arms. Stone smiled at Roxanne’s excitement. They all felt the loss of Sadie.

  “I can’t believe you are really here, Sadie!” she exclaimed while hugging Sadie. He watched Sadie laugh as Roxanne bounced up and down with her in an embrace.

  “I can’t believe it myself, but your dad can be pretty persuasive.”

  She pulled away from Sadie still holding her arms. “Yes, he can. I’m so friggin’ excited! Hey, you got to meet my girls, come on.”