Be Here Now: A Cedar Creek Novel (37 page)

I could hear the waves crashing against the sand as soon as Frank opened the door of the SUV and helped me out. I looked up and gasped. Frank smirked at me knowingly. Hundreds, no, thousands of twinkle lights were decorating the trees around us. We seemed to be in a quiet and secluded little alcove just above the beach. If I squinted, I could see the ocean through the branches. It wasn’t quite dusk yet and the glimmering lights made the place seem magical.

“What is this place?” I wondered in awe. I had never seen anything like it.

Frank’s smirk turned into a grin. “It’s just a spot that Jason and I discovered one day when we were driving around. He likes to come here when things get too much for him.”

“It’s beautiful.”

He chuckled. “It is, though the lights make it all the more so.” I couldn’t believe that Jason had pulled this off with practically no time at all. It was the most romantic spot I had ever been to and I couldn’t have imagined any better place to get married. It was perfect.

“Does he come here often?” Frank started walking me towards an opening in the trees and bushes. I could see a small path that led to the beach beyond.

“Every couple of weeks or so. More often during the past few months.”

“Why is that?”

“He was thinking about you, girl. He missed you terribly. One night about five months ago he asked me to drive him here after a show he’d had downtown. He was miserable. He’s a broody guy, but that night, he was at his worst. I had never seen him like that. We sat down on the beach and he started talking about you. How much he loved you, how much he missed you, how much he wanted you back. From that night on he stopped drinking and sleeping around.”

“Five months? Why didn’t he come back to me sooner?” I wasn’t being accusatory. I was genuinely curious.

“He was afraid you wouldn’t take him back. See, it took a lot for Jason to talk about you, to tell someone else how he felt about you. We’re men. We don’t share our feelings with each other. Ever. Not like that.” Frank stopped me at the beginning of the path and took my hands in his. “He was afraid that once he admitted to himself that you were the only person who could make him happy and he did something about it, you would reject him. A lot of time had passed, a lot of things had happened. He didn’t even know then if you were married to another man. So I started looking into it, found out that you weren’t married and lived in your hometown in Colorado.”

His eyes were telling me something. Something that he seemed to want me to figure out. “You knew about Jesse, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I did.”

“But Jason didn’t.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Because I don’t think he would have gone after you if he had known. He would have either blamed himself and stayed away from you or blamed you and stayed away from you. He had to find out on his own, he had to hear it from you.” Another chuckle. “Maybe not quite as brutally and bluntly as how it went down, but this was the only way.” I understood what he was saying and I agreed with it.

“Jason never suspected that you were keeping things from him?”

“No. When he asked me to find you, I told him I already had. I told him the basics, that you were single and lived in Cedar Creek, worked at your dad’s bar. He believed that’s all I knew, that I hadn’t dug any deeper than that.”

“What if he ever finds out?”

“He won’t.” His answer came instantly. His eyes again were telling me something he wouldn’t say out loud, but I could read him clearly. He would deny it. He did what he had to do and gave Jason what he had needed, had nudged him in the right direction, protecting him from himself at the same time.

“You’re quite the matchmaker, aren’t you?” I said through a smile.

“You didn’t need me to matchmake. From what Jason told me, I knew that you were an outstanding woman. I knew you’d probably give him a run for his money, and you haven’t disappointed, but I hoped that you would find it in you to forgive him.”

“That’s a lot of faith you had in a person you didn’t even know.”

“Sometimes having faith is all anyone can do.”

I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Frank, for being such a good friend to Jason and for watching his back.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now go and marry that sorry ass already.”

I giggled and did as I was told. I let go of Frank’s hands and carefully walked down the path so as not to get my dress stuck on any of the branches. Maggie had told me to wear flip flops. I had given her a questioning look then, but now I knew why.

I pushed the last low-hanging branch out of my way and saw him. He was standing with his back to me, his hands in his pockets, his feet spread wide, looking out over the ocean where the sun was about to disappear into the water. He was so beautiful he took my breath away.

As if he felt my eyes on him—though he had probably heard me come down the path, it was impossible to walk quietly when you were wearing flip flops—he turned and smiled at me. Then one hand came out of his pocket and he crooked his finger at me. I’d usually have something to say about that, but not now. Now, all I could do was not run to him and throw myself into his waiting arms.

I stepped out of my flip flops and walked towards him on my bare feet. He was wearing a pair of loose linen pants and a white flowy linen shirt with its sleeves rolled up that matched my dress perfectly in style and tone. I was sure Maggie had something to do with that and smiled to myself at how perfect this all had turned out in only a few hours. As I got closer, I could see the tattoo on his left forearm. It was brand new, only a few hours old. Jesse’s name was written on the inside of his arm in beautiful script. It had been the surprise he had talked about earlier today. He had joined me in the shower after he had called Bob and had just stood there and looked at me. Then he had lifted his arm to brush the hair out of my face and I had seen it. Neither of us had said anything. We didn’t need to. We just looked into each other’s eyes lovingly and in complete understanding.

This was it.

This was us.

The way we would be forever.

As soon as I was within reach, his hands went to my face and he cupped my cheeks.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” His whisper was hoarse and full of emotion. “And you’re all mine.”

“You’re not too shabby yourself.” He grinned down at me then kissed me so softly and reverently that my heart skipped a beat. I grabbed his wrists and held on as I kissed him back. He ended the kiss and leaned back without letting go of my face. “You ready?” He asked in a soft voice.

“Always,” I answered just as softly. Then, with one last soft brush of his lips, he turned me so we were facing a man I hadn’t seen standing only a few feet from us.

“We’re ready,” Jason announced. He took my hand in his and laced our fingers together. I leaned into his side and rested my head against his shoulder.

And that’s how we got married on a secluded beach in California at sunset: just the two of us, holding hands, and leaning against each other as we listened and exchanged our vows and rings, completely in love with each other.

And we wouldn’t know it then, but that night when we made love over and over again until we were both happy and sated and completely exhausted, we created the most beautiful thing a couple in love can create: an addition to our family.

JASON

Jason had been awake for an hour, but he couldn’t make himself leave the comfort and contentedness of holding his wife to his side.

His wife
.

He let his fingers trail random patterns on the skin of Loreley’s back as he remembered the past week. Just a week ago, he could have never dreamed to be here with her like this: happy, content, and secure. And married. He grinned to himself.

A week ago, he had felt betrayed and hurt in the knowledge that Loreley had kept his son from him. He was grieving for the loss of the son he had never known and wallowing in self-pity and guilt. He had almost given up on the hope that he could ever be this happy. Now, his life was completely changed. He got his Loreley back only four days ago, but these four days had by far been the happiest of his life.

Now she was his wife.

Loreley stirred in his arms, snuggling deeper into him in her sleep. He brushed his lips against the top of her head and resumed drawing random patterns on her skin. He wanted to stay like this forever. Unfortunately, they had an agenda for the day, something that he hadn’t told Loreley about. It would be another surprise. He hadn’t been sure if he’d be able to pull it off, but Maggie as well as Robert had worked their magic and had come through for him. He couldn’t wait to show her. He just hoped that she wouldn’t be upset.

“Good morning, husband,” Loreley’s whisper brought him out of his thoughts, her words making his heart beat faster. He would never get tired of hearing her call him that.

“Good morning, wife,” he whispered back. Then he did what he’d been itching to do for the past hour. He rolled into her so that she was on her back and he covered her body with his, his weight pressing her into the mattress.

“Took you long enough,” he teased her while nibbling her bottom lip.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

His fingers brushed through the hair at her temple as his eyes roamed her face. “You looked too beautiful snuggled into my side, so peaceful. I couldn’t bring myself to disturb you.”

Jason couldn’t help himself. He needed his mouth on her, needed to feel her soft skin on his lips. So he gave into the urge and covered her face with soft kisses. When he was done with her face, he moved on to her neck, then to her collarbone and to her shoulder, from her shoulder down to her chest where he brushed his nose against her nipple, then flicked it before he took it in his mouth and sucked.

“You could have gotten up and made breakfast,” Loreley said through a quiet moan that made his cock go from half-mast to hard as a rock in less than a second. He let go of her nipple with a plop and soothed it with soft strokes of his tongue.

“You hungry?” He asked while he moved his mouth across her chest to her other breast. Loreley helped him and arched into his mouth.

“Starving.” She grabbed his hair with both fists and tugged, making him groan. He loved it when she got rough with him. He loved making love to her any way she would let him, but teasing her to the point where she would get rough and take what she wanted, what she needed, making her lose control, turned him on big time. He ground his cock into her softness, satisfied with her response when she lifted her pelvis against him, urging for more. He didn’t hesitate and ground in again.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“Huh?” She asked. She had lost track of their conversation. Jason smiled to himself. He let go of her nipple and leaned back.

Grinning, he said, “I apologize for not fulfilling my husbandly duties and bringing my wife breakfast in bed. But there was no way I was going to leave her in our bed on our first morning as husband and wife without making love to said wife first.”

“You’re forgiven,” she replied instantly then lifted her head and pressed her mouth against his firmly. Her lips opened for him and he dove in hungrily as they once more got lost in each other.

LORELEY

“You know we can only get married once, right?” Frank was pulling up at exactly the same spot he had last night. It looked different in the morning light, less magical, and of course, there were no twinkle lights now, but it was still unbelievably beautiful.

Jason grinned at me and said, “Technically, we can have as many ceremonies as we want.” He was sitting beside me in the back of the SUV. I was leaning against his side with one of his arms around my shoulders. He used one hand to play with my fingers, or mostly with the rings there, and the other to play with my hair. I felt content and happy. I was in total and complete bliss.

At his words, I turned my head from looking out the window to looking up at him. “We’re having another ceremony?” I asked, surprised and confused. Why were we having another ceremony? We did get married last night, didn’t we? We said the vows and signed the papers and everything.

Jason’s eyes roamed my face and he burst out laughing at the thoughts he could probably read there. “Don’t worry, baby. Everything was legit last night. You’re my wife and I’m your husband. And no, we’re not having another ceremony.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

“That, my love, is a surprise.” I scrunched up my face, making Jason chuckle and kiss my nose. “Don’t worry. It’s a good one. At least I hope it is.” That sounded a little ominous. I didn’t have a chance to reply since my phone started ringing again. I checked the screen. My dad. It was the third time he had called this morning. Add four calls from Chris and two from Cal to that, and my phone had practically been ringing off the hook all morning.

“You gonna get that?”

“I’ll call him back later,” I said as I hit the button that would send the call to voicemail.

“Are you avoiding talking to your dad?” I could hear amusement in his voice as well as a hint of disapproval and maybe disappointment.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know how to tell him. I don’t want him to be disappointed or mad at me that he wasn’t there when his only daughter got married.”

“That why you haven’t answered any of Chris’ and Cal’s calls either? Because you think they’ll be mad?” I nodded. My eyes were still on my phone, avoiding making contact with his. This was a tricky situation. I was a grown woman and didn’t need anyone’s permission to marry the man I loved, but on the other hand, I had been through so much this past year and all my friends and family at home had done everything they could to get me to a place where I could do more than just exist, to get me back to life. I didn’t regret getting married to Jason last night. Not one single bit. But I felt a little guilty that we hadn’t let anyone share that moment with us.

It was completely silent in the car. Frank must have gotten out at some point since he wasn’t sitting behind the wheel. I hadn’t even noticed. I moved my eyes back to Jason and saw that his jaw was clenched. He had stopped playing with my fingers and my hair and was tense beside me as he looked out the side window.