45. Nellie.

While I was out at a local book festival I received a text. I didn't look at it for a long time because I knew exactly what it said but looking at it made it real. Looking at that text was going to set things in motion.

During the last twenty four hours I had decided that even if I wasn't in the wrong, even if it wasn't me who took what we had for granted, even if I had to beg, I wanted him back and I wasn't going to let my pride get in my way. I took a breath and slid my finger across the screen to look at the message.

Sylvia: He just walked in the door. He's got a beard.

I wanted to give him a few days to get settled before I called him or went over to the house. I didn't have a specific plan other than to take a chance and hope he wanted me back as well.

I left the book festival with some really good books and most of them were signed. I went back into the bookstore through the back door and walked into the office. I piled up all of the books on the counter. It paid to be a bookstore owner. I would be putting all of these in my personal collection.

I turned to go to my desk and check my e-mail, distracting myself from running over to the Black house.

"I always did like the blue." I froze in place and I closed my eyes at the sound of that deep, haunting voice.

"Amber said you'd remember when you first saw me with the blue." I barely croaked out.

"I never forgot." He said.

I finally opened my eyes and stood in awe of the difference one summer could make.

He had a baseball hat on and out of the back, I could see that his hair had grown a lot. He had a full beard and even though I always thought I hated beards, it suited him.

"You look different." I said.

He scratched at his beard, "Yeah, I just got in this morning. I couldn't think about anything other than getting to you." He shrugged a little like it was no big deal.

"Why is that?" I asked. My heart knew already, but my brain needed to hear the speech.

"Can I sit?" He said.

"Yeah, sit." He took one of the chairs in front of my desk and I took the other one.

"You always looked better in person. My brain can never get you quite right."

He reached out and ran a finger down my jawline and I had to remind myself to breathe.

"I'm not a big fan of things 'happening for a reason' and all of that. But in this case, I think it did."

Oh G.o.d, he's moved on. He doesn't want me.

"I hate the way it happened but at the same time it gave me the time I needed to straighten myself out. Remember what you said about people needing time apart to straighten themselves out?"

I nodded.

"That's what I needed. I needed time to put the past behind me. I needed to be alone to realize who I was and as stupid as it sounds, I needed time to forgive myself."

This is it. We're done.

"I also missed you every single second. The water reminded me of you. The boat reminded me of you. Every piece of clothing reminded me of a time when I was with you. And when I went to the church..."

"Wait, when did you go to the church?" I leaned towards him in my chair.

"I went at the exact time we were supposed to be married. So there was this man there and he told me that the great thing about mistakes was that if I was smart, I wouldn't repeat the same mistake twice."

Tears blurred my vision of him and I had to blink to let them out just so I could see him clearly.

"So, I'm here-wanting to start over or move forward. I promise that I will never ever make the same mistakes I did before. I will never compare you to my past again and I will never distrust the love I have for you and that you have or had for me."

"Have." I said.

"Have?" He questioned.

"Yes, have. It took this fight and separation to make you come back to me. I never stopped loving you or waiting for you to come back. It was worth it."

He took a deep breath and I saw tears in his eyes for the first time in my life.

"I thought I would have to explain for hours to convince you. I thought it would take weeks or months of pleading." His hands reached out for me and then twitched and pulled back.

"Stop second guessing. Stop hesitating. I love you; that had never changed. Do I have to beg?

He slumped to his knees in front of me and laid his head in my lap as if the whole thing had broken him. But sometimes things must be broken and put back together again.

I pulled off his ball cap and I ran my fingers through his longer hair.

"Did you remember the ring this time?" I joked.

"No, but Falcon reminded me in the driveway." He laughed.

He pulled it out and before he put it on my finger, he proposed-again.

"The first time I proposed we were in your bed, the second time in front of my family and this time, it's just me and you again. I hurt you once, broke your heart. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to fix it. Will you marry me, take a chance on me again?"

46. Owen.

There was no one in the church except those who mattered to us. My parents, Amber, Dylan and Nellie's roller derby team. Her parents had opted out of the first wedding and not to our surprise, made excuses for this one too.

Turns out, the man who changed the way I thought was the retired pastor of the church and he showed up as well.

My dad walked Nellie down the aisle. She had brown hair, just like the pictures her mom threw up on the walls when she thought Nellie was visiting. She wore the dress that she never brought herself to return. She held the silver roses that she always wanted. In all my life I had never seen her so incredibly beautiful as she was that day.

We listened and recited the vows and she cried through most of hers. And as she said 'I do' everything else was washed away. And as I took her lips for the first time as my wife there was nothing but her and us on my mind.

47. Nellie.

Instead of our planned honeymoon we opted to go back on the water in his parents' houseboat for our honeymoon.

Owen's smiles reached his eyes now. His laughter deep and sincere. He seemed free and I hadn't seen him that way since we were at his parents' cabin. We were both quiet on the way down to Grand Isle because we both had the same thing on our minds.

I waited again on the dock while he unpacked everything. When he was done he picked me up and carried me aboard. We sat together watching the sun set on the horizon of the lake.

"Are you ready to go to bed Mrs. Black?" He whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." I went to the bathroom and changed into what Amber helped me pick out for my wedding night. It was more like nothing than something but I guess that wouldn't matter soon.

He sat in the middle of the tall pile of blankets that we always slept on and I sat in front of him. With hands on either side of my waist he pulled me onto his lap and we sat there face to face in the dark.

"I love you." He said as he pushed my hair behind my shoulder.

"And I love you." He moved in to kiss me and I stopped him with my hands on his shoulders.

"What?" He smiled.

"There's something I want to hear." I said.

He looked confused and looked me dead in the eyes. "Anything."

"I want to hear you beg." And with those words I pressed myself closer to him.

He chuckled a little and before he took my lips under the full moon, he said "Gladly."

The End.

Thank you for reading.

Other books by Lila Felix: Emerge Perchance Find Lila Felix: Twitter: @authorlilafelix Facebook: Lila Felix (Author) www.authorlilafelix.blogspot.com E-mail: Smash Into You A novel Sh.e.l.lY CRANE.

Jude has spent the whole twenty three years of his life running. From what, he wasn't quite sure. His mother tried to keep him safe; a low profile, a constant move on the horizon, a week's pay always stashed away. She tried to instill in him that he was special somehow, though would never elaborate. He never felt different. He was so completely normal and vanilla that he wondered if it had all been in her head. But then she was murdered and all he saw was a running silhouette of a man as his mother said three final words to him. Three words that changed his whole being.

Never stop running...

Now he's semi-settled into a big town. The college is huge and easy to blend into. It's been three months since he had to move because 'Biloxi', as he calls the man who killed his mother, found him once more.

Then Marley, an eighteen year old girl who is as infuriating as she is blissfully ignorant of her gorgeousness, smashes into his car with hers. Then smashes into his life as he realizes that whatever it is he has that Biloxi wants, she has it, too. And now, they're after them both.

One.

It was a case of mistaken ident.i.ty.

The worst kind.

The kind that ended with appalled, parted lips and evil glares.

The girl was cute enough. Cute wasn't the problem nor the solution for me. I needed to blend and be invisible in the most plain-as-day way and girls like this, girls who just walked up to guys because they had hope somewhere deep inside them that I would fall for that pretty face were the opposite of plain-as-day. Those kinds of girls got guys killed. At least the kind that were on the run.

She had mistaken me for a normal guy.

And this girl who approached, who could see that I was already surrounded by more girls than I knew what to do with, must've thought I had a hankering for something sweet. Because when she spoke, her words were soft and almost made me want to get to know her instead of send her packing. But I couldn't stay in this town. It was better to hurt her now when she wasn't invested than it would be to leave one day without a trace.

The girls who were currently soaking up the attention of mine that they thought they had, they'd move on to their next prey and forget I ever existed. But sweet girls got attached and asked questions.

Don't stop running...

I swallowed and stared bored at her as she finally made her way to me from across the hall. She tucked her hair behind her ear gently and smiled a little. "Hi, uh, can I just-"

Showtime. "Honey, that's real sweet, but I'm not interested." I slid my arm around one of my groupies. I didn't even know her name, but they were always within arm's reach. "As you can see I have my hands full already, but thanks for offering."

She scoffed and looked completely shocked. I took her in, head to foot. She was cute. She had a great little body on her and her face was almond shaped. He lips looked...sweet. She was not the kind I wanted within ten feet of me. She was still standing there. I had to send her packing.

I grinned as evilly as I could muster and felt a small twinge of guilt at the vulnerable look of her. I looked away quickly. I didn't even want to remember her face. "Run along, sweetheart. Go find a tuba player, I'm sure he's more your speed. Like I said, I'm not interested."

She didn't glare, and that was a first. Most of the girls who approached a guy were confident, I mean that was the reason they thought they had a chance, right? But she looked a little...destroyed. When her lips parted, it was in shock, it was to catch her breath. I continued my bored stance, though at this point, it pained me in my chest.

But I was doing the best thing for this and any other girl. People who got involved with me were collateral damage when Biloxi came around. He was a ruthless b.a.s.t.a.r.d and if found me and knew someone cared about me, or worse, that I cared about someone, he'd be all over them.

So when she turned without a word and swiftly made her way down the hall, I was thankful. I probably saved her life, though she had no idea. She thought I was an a.s.s, but I was really looking out for her. That's what I told myself as I watched her go. That I had hurt her feelings for a reason, and that she'd get over it.

A slender hand crawled over my collar.

"What's this for?" she asked in a purr and slid her thumb over the long scar from my ear all the way to my chin. "Mmm, it's so s.e.xy."

It followed my jaw line and it was not s.e.xy. Unfortunately it wasn't the first time some girl had said as much and it p.i.s.sed me off to no end that they thought that, let alone said it out loud.

It was my reminder of what happens when I let my guard down and it was anything but s.e.xy.

I bit down on my retort and sent her a small smile that showed her I was listening, but she had to work for my attention. "Is that right?"

"Mmhmm," she said and kissed my jaw. "I have a little scar, too." She pointed to the place between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "Right here. Wanna see it?"

I managed a chuckle. "Is there really a scar there?"