Broken Lives (19 page)

“
Yes,” I
lie. 

“
Do you have everything you
need?” 

I raise my clutch, without taking my eyes off
of his, “I think I have everything I need.” 

He places his elbow out for me to take, but I
take his hand instead. We walk hand in hand to the car, and he
gently caresses my fingers. He holds open my car door for me and
says, “You look absolutely beautiful this evening.” 

I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him on his
cheek. “Thank you, you look very handsome yourself.” I get into the
car and smooth out my dress before I buckle my seatbelt. When the
car door stays open, I look up and see that Alec is staring at me.
When he realizes I am looking at him, he smiles and closes my door.
I watch as he walks around the front of the car. He is tall,
handsome, and confident. He unbuttons his jacket before getting
into the car.

We drive to Marina Jacks holding hands and
talking about everything but Molly.

“
I checked on the kids while
you were getting ready and they are having a great time,” he says,
looking over at me. 

“
I imagine my parents are
about worn out by now.” 

“
I don’t think so; they were
talking about surprising them and taking them bowling
next.” 

“
They will like that.
Speaking of surprises, are you going to tell me what the surprise
is that you have for me?” She looks over at me and
smiles.

“
If you tell me what my
surprise is, I’ll tell you what yours is.” 

“
Nope, you’ll have to wait
until later.” I giggle and he smiles.

We pull up at the valet. Alec looks over at
me and says, “Wait here for me.” 

He stands tall and buttons up his suit
jacket. He speaks with the valet attendant before walking over to
get my door for me. We walk hand in hand up a slight incline
leading into the very large boat.

“
Ms. Emma Greyson?” I look
up. The Captain of the boat is standing there greeting
us. 

“
Yes?” 

“
Here, these are for you,”
he says, handing me a beautiful bouquet of lilacs.

“
Thank you.” I take them and
raise them to my nose. I close my eyes and inhale
deeply.

“
Would you have the valet
bring the luggage in now?” 

“
Certainly sir, is there
anything else?” 

“
Is the champagne
ready?” 

“
Everything is set up in the
main cabin, as you requested.” 

“
Thank you, that’ll be
all.” 

I watch as the Captain leaves and speaks into
his radio attached to his white jacket.

“
Alec, what
luggage?” 

Alec looks down at me and smiles. “Come on,
Baby, this is the best part.” 

I follow him into the very large boat and he
pours two glasses of champagne from a bottle that is sitting on a
small intimate table for two. I look around and see that we are the
only two on the entire boat.

“
Come with me or we’ll miss
it.” 

He takes me by my hand, and we walk up the
stairs to the back of the boat. As the boat leaves the port, Alec
raises his glass for a toast. “To a night to remember?” 

I smile and clink my glass on his. “To a
night to remember.” 

The boat slowly picks up speed and we see
dolphins jumping out of the water. Not one, but several dolphins
are swimming in the wake of the boat and frequently jumping out of
the water. As I watch in awe, Alec wraps his arm around me. “This
is amazing,” I say, without taking my eyes off of the
water. 

“
It is amazing; the dolphins
love to play in the wake of a boat for some reason. Sometimes it’s
called bow riding or wake riding.”

I look over at him and smile. “This is
incredible. I have never seen anything like this before.” 

“
Good, I’m glad this is your
first time, and I am very glad it was with me.” He leans in and
kisses me. “Are you ready to eat?” 

“
I am, but I didn’t see any
other guests on the boat. Do we need to go back and get
them?” 

“
No, Emma. I rented the boat
for just me and you for the night.” 

“
Wait. What? You rented this
boat for the entire night?” 

“
I did, this is your
surprise. We get to watch the sunset and the sunrise. Now let’s eat
before it gets cold.”

I follow him downstairs, holding my champagne
and the bouquet of flowers. The table holding the champagne now has
a bouquet of lilacs in the center of the crisp white table cloth.
The champagne has been moved to a side table and a basket of fresh
dinner rolls and seasoned dipping oil is in its place. I look
around the room and see a waitress standing near a closed door in
the back of the room. Alec pulls my chair out for me, and I
carefully sit down. I watch as he nods to the waitress before
taking the only seat across from me.

“
Alec, I don’t know what to
say.” I look at him and around the room before looking out the
window. “This is amazing, thank you.” 

The table is situated near a large glass
window facing the beautiful blue ocean water. 

“
I’m glad you like it.” He
reaches over and takes my hand in his. “I wanted to do something
special for you. We rarely have anytime alone, and I wanted this
night to be memorable.” 

“
I love it! I never imagined
this could be your surprise.” He lets go of my hand as the waitress
places two white bowls of Lobster Bisque in front of us. I close my
eyes and inhale. “This smells delicious.” 

As soon as we are done, the waitress removes
the empty bowls and replaces them with two Caesar salads. Alec
doesn’t salt his food but uses fresh ground pepper instead. The
waitress returns only long enough to refill our champagne glasses.
Once we finish our salads, she serves the main course of surf and
turf: lobster tail with a 6oz. filet mignon, a baked potato, and
fresh asparagus.

We eat and laugh in our own private dining
room. When I can’t eat another bite, Alec pulls my chair out for
me. “Before we watch the sunset, do you want to see the cabin we’ll
be staying in?” 

“
I would love to.” He takes
my hand and we walk into another room. He opens the door and the
room looks like a very large master bedroom. I slowly walk in and
look around. I turn in a complete circle and he laughs at me. “This
is amazing.” I look at him and say, “This isn’t a boat, is
it?” 

“
No, Baby, it’s not called a
boat.” 

“
This is a yacht, isn’t
it?” 

“
Yes, I think a non-boat
this size is sometimes called a yacht.” 

“
Alec Michael Collins, I
can’t believe you rented a yacht for the night!” 

“
Emma Grace Greyson, I did.
If you need to freshen up, you need to now, or we’ll have to stay
another night to watch the sunset, because we will miss this
one.”

He nods in the direction of the porthole at
the sunset that is setting. 

Alec

“
I’m staying all night in a
yacht,” she says to no one, then exits.

I lean into the doorframe and wait for her to
return. I look at my watch before looking out the porthole. When
Emma returns, I swear she looks more beautiful than before.

“
Are you ready to watch the
sunset?” I ask, reaching out for her hand.

We walk outside of the upper deck of the
yacht. A blanket is lying on one of the outdoor pieces of
furniture. I sit down and Emma sits down on my lap. I cover her up
with the blanket, and we just watch the sun. The fluffy white
clouds are now turning pink and purple. I look around and there
isn’t another boat — or yacht — within view.

Emma snuggles into my chest, and I wrap both
my arms around her. I inhale deeply and all the events of the day
are gone. The sun disappears as the full moon and stars come out. I
hear a noise; the waitress is setting the dessert and coffee on the
table beside us. Emma doesn’t look up; she snuggles closer into me
instead. 

I kiss her head and she turns around and
kisses me. When she pulls away, she asks, “Are we alone?” 

“
Yes, we are alone. We won’t
be bothered anymore this evening.” 

She stands up and removes her dress slowly.
My girl is putting on a show for me and I can’t look away. She
stands there wearing only a white lacy bra and panties. I stand up,
swoop her in my arms, and carry her to our cabin.

Sometime in the middle of the night, while
Emma sleeps, I get up and walk outside to retrieve Emma’s dress
from the deck. To my surprise it is right where she left it. I pick
it up and memories of last night flood my head. I hear a noise and
when I turn around, Emma is standing there wrapped in only a white
sheet.

“
What are you doing up
here?” she asks as she walks over to me. Her long blond hair is
messy, and the sheet is dragging on the floor.

“
I came up to get this,” I
say, holding up her dress for her to see. “What are you doing up
here, half dressed?” I ask, wrapping my arms around
her. 

“
I woke up and you were
gone. I got lonely in that big bed by myself.” She stands on her
tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck. I bend down to kiss her,
and when I lift her up off the floor the sheet falls to the ground.
“Please make love to me out here under the stars.”

I carry her over and gently lay her down on
the outdoor furniture. I make love to her until morning. While she
is wrapped in a sheet, we watch the sun rise over the ocean. We
have breakfast in bed and shower before we leave. 

“
I had an amazing time,” she
says as we walk to the car. 

“
It was pretty amazing,” I
agree. 

“
I almost don’t want it to
end.”

I look over at her and smile. “Now we get to
go back to reality, kids, work, and…” 

“
Molly,” she
interrupts.

“
And Molly,” I
repeat.

The valet already has the
car waiting for us when we get to the parking lot.
Before we drive home, Emma calls and checks on the
kids and I return a phone call from First Step, a drug-addiction
recovery center in Sarasota, Florida. They tell me they have a bed
and Molly is welcome to it.

“
How are the
kids?”

“
Great, they will be home at
two.”

I look at my watch; the time is 11:19 am. “Do
you want to go with me to Bridget and Sam’s house? I found a
treatment center that has an opening for Molly.” 

“
I overheard part of your
call. That’s great news! Of course I’ll go. Wouldn’t that be great
if she got the help she needed, then Raelynn could start to have a
relationship with her mother?” 

“
Yes, Emma, that would be a
blessing.” 

We pull up outside of Sam and Bridget’s house
and begin to walk up to the porch when the front door opens.
Bridget stands in the doorway crying. Sam walks out onto the porch
right after her. 

“
What’s wrong?” I ask,
holding Emma’s hand and walking up to meet them. 

“
She’s gone,” Bridget
cries. 

“
When did she
leave?” 

“
Sometime in the middle of
the night. She was gone when we got up this morning,” Sam says as
he walks Bridget to the porch swing. 

“
I came by to tell you that
First Step has an opening for her.” 

Sam sadly shakes his head, “I really thought
she wanted help this time. I really thought we may get our daughter
back.” 

“
Sam, I’m sorry.”

“
Alec, it’s not your fault,
you warned us not to get our hopes up. We just want our little girl
back.” 

Emma and I sit on the two chairs facing the
porch swing. Emma squeezes my hand to let me know she is there for
me.

“
Like you two, I was hoping
she would get better for Raelynn. Molly has never asked for help
before, so maybe she’s getting close to wanting it. She has been at
a number of centers. We have always forced her to get treatment,” I
say, looking at Sam and then at Bridget. 

Bridget says, “I hope so; she looks so
thin.” 

She cries and Sam tries to comfort
her. 

“
We need to get home, the
kids will be coming home. If she comes back, call me. First Step
will hold her bed for a few more hours.” 

“
Thank you, Alec and
Emma.”

We stand to leave and Emma turns around to
say, “I’m really sorry, and I pray that she gets the help she
desperately needs.” 

“
Thank you, Emma,” Bridget
says.

Molly

When the detox symptoms become unbearable, I
leave. I sneak out of my childhood home while my parents are
asleep. I throw up in the bushes before getting into my car that I
left parked down the street. The needle pricks on my arms, the
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and cramping are more than I can
handle.

I drive to the hotel to get my fix. Bobby is
in the room having a party. He looks up at me and smiles. “Hey,
Doll, I was starting to get worried about you.” 

I look around the room; people are passed out
on the bed and on the chairs. I hear sex noises coming from the
bathroom. I quickly walk over to Bobby while scratching my arms,
“You got something for me?” 

“
Doll, have I ever let you
down?”