Forgiveness Creek: The Creek Series Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Forgiveness Creek

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Prelude to Redemption Creek

  More From Abbie

  About The Author

  Forgiveness Creek

  The Creek Series

  Forgiveness Creek

  Abbie St. Claire

  Forgiveness Creek

  Copyright © 2014 Abbie St. Claire

  Editor: Andrea Grimm Dickinson

  Cover Artist: DeLaine Roberts, www.drgraphicexpressions.com

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a produce of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN:

  ISBN-13:

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  DEDICATION

  This story is dedicated to my husband.

  His strength amazes me and without his support,

  I would not be able to tell this story.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A story never comes to life by itself.

  I want to thank Kimmie, Vatonia, and Geri for listening to the synopsis while spending a creepy night with me at Plum Lake.

  A weekend I shall never forget. Good times!

  To Kelly, you are a rock of support for me and I adore you. I’m grateful for our friendship and I appreciate all the extra tips

  and treasures!

  To my editor, Andrea, you are a gem and I will never leave home without you. You take my stories to the next level and

  are simply not replaceable.

  To my family, thank you for eating take-out so many times without complaints. I’m not sure if that means I’ve lost my touch in the kitchen and you’ve found new loves in delivery and frozen foods or if your undying support has a willingness to sacrifice, but whatever, I love each of you to pieces.

  To the Tramps of St. Claire Street Team, you gals rock it. Every day you are posting and pimping and I want to say a special thank you to: Nicole, Debbie, Adalinda, Ebony, Monica, Mariela, Angela, Becca, Samaris, Elizabeth, Betty and Susan.

  To you, the one reading this story, I say thank you and bless you for reading and supporting my work. I hope you enjoy this story, but even if you don’t, I love to hear from readers and

  welcome you reaching out to me.

  Big hugs,

  Abbie

  Justin moved in as scheduled, and within a couple of days, the place didn’t look the same with the cattle and horses, feed and tack. I helped him remove the aged debris from the cattle corral and felt like a cowgirl again, with blisters on my hands to prove it.

  But, it had been years since I’d entered that end of the barn. The doors had been locked to hold the sins in and the memories at bay. It would’ve been nice if it had worked. Mom had a saying, “Sins have a way of finding themselves out,” and there was pure truth in that.

  The large hook still hung from the rafters. Its intended use was for hanging a saddle, not for hanging a young girl in love.

  I spent my days clearing out the stalls, the attic, and doing some painting and caulking outside as weather permitted. I spent my nights wrapped up in Stephan’s arms.

  Mom was happier than I’d seen her in years. Every night, I cooked dinner for the four of us, then I would go home with Stephan. Splitting time was hard, but she understood what it meant to be in love.

  I finally admitted to myself I was falling in love with Stephan all over again. Maybe I never fell out of love for him, just protected myself from the pain of us. We were trying hard not to rekindle what we had, but rather build a new relationship. One that was going to be hard as hell long distance.

  The last couple of days, Stephan took off work and spent every minute with me.

  We were lounging in his recliner, listening to music. “Tomorrow’s our last full day. What do you want to do?”

  “Beat your ass fishin’ for small mouth.” My cocky jibe was going to get me in to trouble. I was sure of it.

  “You can’t beat me.”

  “What’s the bet, big boy? Cause I can take you down.”

  “You know what I like out in the boat.” He wiggled his brows.

  “Really, you want me to go down on you in the middle of the lake?”

  His grin said everything.

  “Okay, fine, and if I win, I get to drive the boat.”

  “Ugh, that’s my baby. I…I don’t know…”

  “If you think you can win, then what do you have to lose?” The man never missed taking a challenge.

  “Deal.” He started tickling me, and one thing led to another. We ended up on the rug in front of the fire, soft music playing in the background. He broke our connection long enough to slowly peel my camisole and matching lace boy shorts off, while I gripped the thickness of his freed erection. The touch of his skin on mine left me heated and wanting. He was always a romantic and patient lover, making certain I was pleased before he got his. When he entered me, it was as if two halves became whole.

  “I’m so grateful you asked for help weeks ago. If you hadn’t been so desperate, we might not be where we are now.”

  “My grandmother always thought things worked out the way they were supposed to. You needed closure to the factors causing pain in your life, and I needed to find the courage to start mine.”

  “Where do we go from here?” His question was one I’d been pondering an answer to as well.

  “One moment at a time.”

  Fishing in Lake Catherine, or any lake for that matter, in windy weather was difficult, and even though it was a sunny January afternoon, the only good spots with any action wound up being in the small coves, but we were never alone, with other boats congregating as well.

  Stephan was ahead of me, six fish to my five, but I was determined to beat him. We were out on the chilly open water, and I asked about a cove off to my right.

  He shook his head. There were two other boats in the cove, but he kept going. We circled a bend and found a cove that wasn’t occupied by anyone else.

  “This looks like a great spot. Let’s start at the crest of the cove and work our way out.”

  He maneuvered the boat to the edge of the tree line and shut off the main engine. Then it hit me. Loverboy thought the time for the bet had come. He had another thing coming. I loved his Bassmaster boat with all the room. It didn’t feel like we were going to topple over if I walked around.

  I stood from my seat behind him and walked to the front.

  “Hey, that’s my spot up there, so I can run the trolling motor.”

  “Easy, cowboy. I’m simply changing out my lure.”

  “Oh yeah, what bait y
ou going out with?” His cocky laugh gave his opinion away. I thought I’d show him what I remembered about his baits. Whenever he was talking about them or his guide trips for the day, I don’t think he realized I was definitely paying attention.

  “I’m putting on a little Spook.”

  He snickered.

  “Hand me a white Willow Spinnerbait.” I winked at him with the bait in my hand, but his big grin solidified the challenge. It was game on.

  First cast yielded nothing but some floating debris. Second cast and my baby was hooked. I just needed to bring him in, and with a bit of a fight, I got him to the side of the boat before he got off.

  “Damn.” My need to win was getting the best of me, but I wasn’t ready to give up.

  Stephan was steadily casting his lure with no response. Seemed his team wasn’t hungry for his offering. My next cast landed a nice little fight, and I got my prize in the live well. That made us six to six.

  “Well, a tie. I guess we both win.”

  “Not so easy, big guy. Who said anything about being done? As far as I see it, this boat is not on the trailer yet, so I can still pull this off,” and with my snarky attitude, I threw out my lure again and pulled in the winning catch.

  My happy dance with shaking my money maker in Stephan’s face got me tossed on the boat’s floor with him on top of me. Every few minutes, he peeked his head up to see if we were still alone.

  Who says sex out on the water in a fishing boat can’t be accomplished? After that, I got to drive his boat back to the marina. Of course, he was sitting beside me and coaching me the whole way, but I didn’t care because there was conceit in victory—I won in more ways than one.

  It was our last night together, and we were lying in bed, drawing every minute from our final hours.

  “How do we do this with me in Texas and you up here? I can’t come home every weekend.”

  “We’ll work it out. I’ll come down there some, and you can come home when you can. Difficult, but not impossible. It’s going to be hard not seeing you very often, but I’m holding on to us having a future.”

  “Me too.”

  We decided on no goodbye. Stephan planned to go to work as normal, and I slept in. I had my car packed and stopped by the diner to say goodbye to Mom on my way back to Denton.

  It was painful. Not the trip I thought I would have when I started my holiday. I cried all the way to Texas. Everything I thought I wanted was in front of me, and yet everything I craved was in my rearview mirror. Our home was on the rebound, my love for Stephan was growing deeper than I ever thought possible, and nothing seemed more important.

  But I had made a commitment to myself and was determined to see it through.

  Karina and I spent the first night filling each other in on the happenings of our winter break and decided my story was much more enticing than hers. She said she finally gave up and left her family to stay with Aaron at his place in Weatherford the day after Christmas.

  “I want to see a picture of Stephan. I love his name by the way, sounds so sexy,” she squealed.

  I showed her a picture of the two of us from New Year’s Eve. He looked so dang hot that night. It was the first time I’d seen him in something besides jeans and boots since my prom night. I licked my lips at the thought of that night, when I’d lost my virginity to him.

  “You’re rosy all of a sudden. What’s making you blush?”

  “Thinking about my prom night and doing it for the first time.”

  “Was it him?”

  “Yes. It’s only ever been him.”

  “I’m happy to see he’s turned his life around.”

  “Yes, me too. There’s something about that place. I was so angry for the first two weeks, and then somehow, that place worked its magic like it always does.”

  “Well, I need some of that magic, so the next time you go home, I’m going with you.”

  “Deal.”

  The school routine was hard to get into, but every morning I woke up to a text or a sexy morning photo of Stephan. He was super sweet and caring and would send the funniest jokes or stories of happenings. We also shared stuff privately by message on Facebook. I never thought I would become a sexter, or even phone sex for that matter, but as a confession goes, it’s not bad when it’s all you have.

  The new job was going great. In a way, it was very much like working with Dr. P, except the patients were always changing and I was meeting new ones. I was working on the fourth floor in geriatrics, and Karina was stationed on the second floor in pediatrics. We would meet for dinner when we could, but most of the time we only saw each other in class and for about ten minutes before we crashed every night.

  I spent every spare minute I could talking to Mom on email and Stephan by phone or by text, but class, work, and studying took up most of my time, which made the weeks pass by in a flurry.

  Valentine’s Day was on a Tuesday, and I’d shipped my gift to Stephan over the weekend, so he’d receive it on the day and not a moment too soon. When I got to work after my class, there was a beautiful bouquet of red roses waiting for me. The nurses were jealous and two of the doctors took out their phones and called in their urgent floral order because they had forgotten the day.

  I called Stephan on my dinner break. “I love the roses. They’re beautiful.”

  “I wish I could’ve been there to deliver them in person.”

  “Three weeks and I’ll be home for the whole week. Did you get something from me today?”

  “No, was I supposed to?”

  “Yes, you dork. I sent you a package.”

  “Oh, I got a package all right, but this crazy psycho chick sent me her underwear.”

  “Who you callin’ psycho?”

  “Well, I don’t wear women’s underwear.” He teased me.

  “Ooh, but baby, just imagine me wearing that outfit in three weeks.”

  “I’m imagining you wearing it tonight. Turn around.”

  I turned slowly to find Stephan standing in the break room and the nurses clapping, with Karina in tow. Seems everyone was in on the secret, including Mom. She’d given him the names and contact information for everyone, including Karina, and he’d set the whole thing up.

  I closed the few feet between us in one giant leap, landing in his arms. When he put me down, I trembled in disbelief. The package I’d sent him was tucked under his arm and had fallen to the floor when he caught me.

  “Wait, the package. How did you get the package if you weren’t home?” I asked, while picking the opened gift off the floor.

  “It came yesterday.”

  “Good to know.” I laughed.

  “Even better for me.” He laughed too.

  Becky, the shift supervisor, poked her head around from behind Stephan. “You have the rest of the night off and tomorrow night too, Wrenn, and we’ll see you on Thursday.”

  “Yay,” I called out.

  Stephan was so happy he kissed each one of the ladies on the cheek and thanked them all for their help.

  He’d reserved a hotel room for us. We picked up beer on the way and ordered pizza, but the only thing I was hungry for was him. Our reunion was a special one. We were free to be with each other without any haunting from the past.

  As promised, I modeled the underwear, and he took photos on his phone.

  “For the spankin’ bank?” I teased him.

  “You did not just say that to me.”

  “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? Guys are visual and girls are mental.”

  “Yeah, they’re mental all right.” He played with me.

  The next day, he toured the town, while I was in class, and met me for lunch. I decided to skip my afternoon classes and spend the rest of the day with him. When he tried to open the hotel room door, I noticed he was nervously fumbling with the keycard. But, the moment the door was opened, my eyes were drawn to the floor where red rose petals were strewn. I got further into the room and found more petals on the bed and champagne chilling in an ic
e bucket.

  When he dropped to one knee, I knew the special moment had come.

  “I know our time has been short since we’ve been back together, but I don’t need another second to know I want the rest of my life with you by my side. I promise to make you happy, Wrenn. Will you marry me?”

  I nodded.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked nervously.

  “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.” My words were choked, holding in the emotion.

  He removed the ring box from his jean pocket and opened it. I saw the vintage setting sparkle and knew it wasn’t something new. It was a beautiful ring made from many small diamonds in a square setting with a larger diamond on top.

  “It was my mother’s. I’ve been waiting on the day for you to finally wear it.”

  My hand shook as he slipped the gem on my finger. “It’s beautiful. This room, everything, so romantic.”

  He stood and pulled me into his arms. “I’m not rushing you. The engagement can be however long you want it to be. I only want you and the world to know I’m committed to you, to us.”

  “Me too. Summer wedding?”

  “Works for me.”

  We spent the rest of the night touching, loving, and feeling the emotion between us. As the minutes ticked by, I tried to absorb all the events of the last two months and how my life had come full circle. I no longer believed my life was broken, but rather looked to everything as what was meant to be. Stephan was my one true love, and my heart had been given to him years ago. We’d simply needed to find our journey back to one another.

  The next morning, I slipped out of the hotel. No goodbyes, as usual. I knew he would be on the road within a few minutes because I saw him watching out the window of the hotel as I put my car in drive and pulled away.

  I put my ring in my pocket and walked in to class, avoiding drawing attention to the news just yet. Of course, I knew Karina was going to be all in my business the minute she walked in the door. Fortunately, she was pushing the clock and left little time to discuss the events of my Valentine’s Day romp with Stephan, but I couldn’t quit smiling and struggled not to give my secret away.