The Creek Series: Complete Set: Parts I, II, & III Read online

  I wasn’t miked for my conversation with Carl, but the room was recorded. Agent Kirby had assured me before I went in that anything Carl said would be preserved.

  “Did you ever beat Stella?”

  “What? Absolutely not. I’ve never hit a woman.”

  “Good. That’s one of her lies she used with Carl to reel him in. Did you sleep with his girlfriend?”

  He took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Yes.”

  “That’s his beef with you and why he so easily participated.” I looked up into his eyes. I tried to picture him as I knew him and not how he was going to react to the rest of the story. “After Stella took the chip, your father kept it. Do you remember Brad from my dorm and one of class-mates?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “He’s your brother. He’s the one who put the chip in my wallet and the tracker in my purse. Stella killed your father because she thought he was double-crossing her, when in fact, he’d done as she’d asked.”

  Dane removed his arms from me and leaned over between his knees as if he was going to be sick. By then, the plane had leveled out. Dane got up and poured himself a drink.

  “I could use one of those,” I mumbled. As if the baby heard me, he knocked on my tummy and reminded me of my reason for resistance. My fight.

  Agent Kirby got up and spoke quietly with Dane. I didn’t even care what they were discussing. My part in all of this was over. They would have to find Brad and deal with him. Soon, they both started making calls, and the conversation back and forth was for the most part—nauseating.

  There wasn’t enough time to lie down in the back, so I reclined my seat and tried to stifle the headache that was taking me over. I was certain the doctor visit scheduled for the next morning was going to be another lecture about my blood pressure.

  Dane returned to the seat beside me and circled my hand with both of his. “You’re a hero in so many, many ways. Do you know that?”

  I shook my head, but continued to stare out the window at nothing in particular.

  “So brave.”

  I felt his hands tremble around mine. A man of his size and stature would seem hard to shake, and yet the life he’d been given to live, while some would argue was privileged, was filled with secrets and lies. A life of pain and regret—no better than anyone else’s.

  In the car on the way home, he held me as close as humanly possible without consuming my flesh. Somewhere along the journey, I decided to move forward and not look back.

  Without warning, I straddled his lap, took his face in my hands, and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I got robbed of my wedding night. I need you and expect you to make it up to me.”

  He laughed, the first time in days. “Is that so? And what would you like?”

  “You in every way imaginable.” I leaned back and lowered my gaze to his full crotch.

  He pulled on my wrists, bringing me closer. “We’ll be home in ten minutes,” he mumbled against my neck.

  By the time the driver pulled up to the front of our home, I’d experienced enough foreplay. My desire for Dane was on a short leash.

  He carried me over the threshold. “I promise to do this every anniversary, even on replaced hips. I shall not forget.”

  “And I promise every anniversary to remind you. I shall not forget.”

  He continued to carry me to our bedroom where he ripped my clothes from me. “Every way imaginable, huh?”

  “Uh-huh. Make me remember and help me forget.”

  Slowly, he pleasured me and explored my expanding body. My pleats exposed to his caresses and tantalizations. He pleasured me in ways I’d only read about, and I swore I’d beg for in the future. Ice cubes became a new toy to me and would forever have new meaning.

  When the sun was about to rise, we took blankets out to the patio and watched the first yellow and orange beams permeate the sky, bare in each other’s arms.

  “I want my first breath every morning to be with yours. Promise me you will never leave me, Mrs. Lawrence.”

  “I’m naked without your skin.”

  My doctor’s visit was fun, watching our little boy suck his thumb and do somersaults, but that was where the fun ended. Due to blood pressure issues, my ass got canned to the bed for ninety-percent of the day, which basically meant I could use the bathroom and bathe, but the rest of the time I had to remain in bed. My husband promised to have pizza delivered and gave me handwritten coupons for ice cream trips. He swore to be the attentive, but commanding, soldier. My follow-up was scheduled for the next week.

  Later that evening, Agent Kirby arrived with a couple of photos for me to ID as Brad Crenshaw, and I confirmed them. After that, Dane and Agent Kirby took their conversation to the den. I didn’t try to overhear and quite frankly, had recalled my stubborn streak to put it in the past. My baby’s life depended on it. Dane and I agreed I would trust him to make the decisions; he was alpha all the way.

  As long as we were repeating wedding night sex over and over, I didn’t care. He could be the damn hot alpha all he wanted to be. I was completely satisfied.

  Karina came out and spent the days with me, since she was off during the week. She had taken a job working weekends in the emergency room and enjoyed it. She and Aaron were living in our old house and loving it.

  “This room looks more like an office with a bed in it,” she said as she appeared in my doorway.

  “If that’s ice cream in your hands, I’ll forgive you for the insult.”

  We laughed in unison.

  She plopped down on the foot of my bed. “It is, but they were out of your favorite, so I brought Dane’s favorite.”

  “That sucker paid you off to do that, didn’t he?”

  Her giggle was my answer.

  “You’re fired as best friend. When the best friend jumps ship to the husband’s side of the turf, there’s no going back.” I snatched the bowl of ice cream from her hands before she spilt it on my cream chenille duvet.

  “Hey, that’s my bowl.”

  “Not anymore.”

  With laptops and iPads, we went through the bridal gowns over and over, until she narrowed them to three. One of the chosen designs was very close to the gown I’d worn in Paris.

  “Go into my closet, and on the right side at the back, get my gown. I want you to try it on.”

  “No way, that’s kind of sacrilegious or something, isn’t it?”

  “No. Go.”

  She came back and modeled the gown. The biggest difference was that mine had straps and hers didn’t, and she wanted hers to have a black ribbon at the waist. She’d set her wedding for January, and everything was black and white with red roses. As her matron of honor, I was grateful I had two months to get my baby weight off.

  She showed me her cake choices and said she’d set up tastings for the following week. I was praying I would get good news at my next doctor’s appointment, so I could have my get-out-of-jail card.

  “Mom’s coming for gown shopping next Wednesday. I dread it.”

  “Instead of dread it, try to be glad you still have your mother. She’s not perfect, but she’s all you’ve got.”

  “Would you feel that way if your father was still alive?”

  I froze. My stare should’ve burned her in the place she sat. “Get out,” I cried.

  “Wrenn, oh God, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. That just slipped out. I didn’t mean it.”

  “Please leave.”

  “Wrenn, please. Please don’t hate me. It was a mistake of words. I was just trying to defend my position of how I felt about my mother. Not all abuse is physical. Mental abuse is just as real and as damaging. Please forgive me. I’m so sorry.”

  Dane came running into the room, shouting, “Why is she crying? What did you do?”

  Karina led him back out into the hallway and explained everything, and when he returned to me, he pulled my hands away from my face. “She left. Honey, it wasn’t nice, but it wasn’t meant to hurt you. She didn’t mean to say i
t the way it came out.”

  I tried to speak between sobs. “I know.” I paused. “Hormones maybe.”

  “You think? Come here, my love. It’s okay. She loves you. You love her.”

  That night I had nightmares over and over. I woke Dane up on numerous occasions. By three in the morning, we were both exhausted.

  “Please take me to the hospital. Something’s not right.”

  Chapter 40

  Dane

  I watched Wrenn thrash about in bed with such distress. I prayed she’d outshine the madness that held her hostage. Once, she opened her eyes and smiled when I pulled her to me, but the moment she was back to sleep, the villain keeping her oppressed rose from the grave.

  I was ready to take her in long before she begged, and I was grateful she was willing to go, but as I watched the doctor and her team drug Wrenn, I feared for her life and that of my son.

  Dr. Bledsoe came over to my chair and knelt beside me. Her voice was a whisper. “If we don’t get her pressure down, she could have a stroke. We may have to take the baby.”

  I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “Is it possible for him to survive at twenty-six weeks?”

  “Low probability,” the doctor said.

  Medicated, Wrenn’s blood pressure returned to normal very quickly. They gave her something to help her sleep, but I would not dare spare a wink of sleep, in order to be with her for every second.

  For the next day, they kept her medicated, and it was the most peaceful I’d seen her rest since our time in Europe. There she’d been carefree and full of spirit, playful and full of grace, living every second as if there we no more to come. There, Wrenn had let herself be free.

  Karina came by on several occasions to check on Wrenn, and she cried in my arms at every visit. “I did this to her,” she uttered as she wept.

  “No, you didn’t. This is not your fault. The nightmares have always been there. She hasn’t escaped them. She’s only hidden them. For her, there’s no redemption.”

  When the doctor made her rounds on the fourth day, I had an idea and took her outside the room to discuss. “Her pressure has been down now for two days, and she’s back to her normal self. Can she travel by private jet?”

  “How far do you want to take her?”

  “Europe.”

  “That’s not advisable. Healthcare locations are an issue, and she could go into labor at any time. Being in dire need as a foreigner is risky. Can I ask why?”

  “We were married a few weeks ago in Paris. It was the most relaxed and carefree she’d ever been and not one nightmare the whole time we were gone. It’s risky, but so is sitting here every second of every day waiting to see if she’s going to lose our son. Trust me when I say I don’t think she’ll survive the loss of a child.”

  “It’s a dire gamble. I can’t stop you, but I can’t recommend it either.” She put her hand on my arm. “But I do understand and don’t blame you for wanting to try. There are other things that can help, such as therapy animals. I’m on my way to surgery now. Perhaps we discuss this more when I get out?”

  “Sure.”

  Wrenn was discharged and excited to be going home. The first thing she asked to do was to go to the creek. She gathered a blanket and a book of poetry, while I packed us a basket of fruit. We spent hours listening to the water and the sounds of the black birds in the nearby tree line.

  Her head was propped on my thigh, while her hands slowly caressed her swollen belly. It was hard to maintain focus on my reading when I only wanted to stare at her and try to imagine the beautiful touches our son was giving her from the inside. At night, I’d watch her naked skin move as he kneaded his path along her womb. It was the most fascinating experience I’d ever known.

  She rolled onto her side and propped her head on her fist. “Babe, you daydreaming?”

  “Nah, I was thinking about going to the SPCA and adopting a puppy. I think Peanut needs to grow up with a puppy, so there’s no jealousy.”

  “Really? You want to get one today?” She all but squealed.

  We had never discussed pets, and I had no clue as to why I thought about one that very second, but maybe it was a gift from God. Heaven knows we deserved one.

  “I’ve read that Labradors are great with small children.” I brushed the hair away from her face.

  “Great idea. I can see our little guy rolling on the floor with a playmate.”

  The SPCA did not have a Labrador available, but the second pet store we contacted did, an eight-week-old cream female. Wrenn picked the puppy up, and she instantly snuggled into Wrenn’s neck and fell asleep with one of her paws over Wrenn’s shoulder. I took a picture of them; it was love at first sight. We bought the whole menagerie of stuff. Pink collar, pink walking harness, leash, doggie bed, and premium puppy food.

  We left the store with two buggies full of stuff for the puppy, who happened to sleep in Wrenn’s lap all the way home. I put them both in bed, while I set up the food bowls and doggie bed. When I returned to our bedroom, Wrenn was on her side asleep, and the little puppy was in front of her, snuggled up to her belly.

  I had to take a picture. It was a precious moment, and I knew she would love it when she woke.

  The cutest nameless puppy on the planet.

  That night, I had puppy duty, and she did really well house breaking, but the interesting fact out of everything was watching Wrenn’s blood pressure. Every time she or I would check it, it was almost normal.

  Most men might find issue with being replaced by a dog in the bed, but to save the life of my wife and unborn son, it was a small sacrifice. I slept in the room across the hall and could hear the puppy whine on the baby monitor I’d placed by the bed at night. The nightmares had subsided, and the breathing room we had, every minute of every hour, got our son that much closer to survival.

  The following week we returned to see Dr. Bledsoe, and she was thrilled at our progress and asked that we continue whatever regimen we were on. I had a bit of a twinkle in my eye because I intended on altering the routine just a smidge, and I didn’t think my wife would mind.

  On the way home from the doctor’s visit, Wrenn surprised me with a request. “I need to see Karina. I have to tell her I’m sorry. Give me your phone. I forgot mine.”

  That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the evening, but I handed my phone over. Wrenn steadily typed out a text, asking Karina and Aaron over for dinner. It was as if my wife was back to her old self, and I was thrilled. Anything for her. At that moment she could’ve asked for a bag of spiders, which I hate, and I would’ve obliged her.

  There had been so many unsure twists and turns to her. On the outside, she appeared confident and secure, even packing a bit of humor, but behind closed doors, and often late at night, her deepest wound vowed to kill her from the inside out.

  What was it she hadn’t shared with me? With anyone?

  I so often wanted to ask, and yet, I prayed for the day in which she would come to me. I feared the emotional healing would never see the light of day. When you loved someone so deeply, there was an unspoken code to protect her. It was what sheltered the love. Shield that person from physical and emotional harm. Their issues were worn as invisible banners that you, as their love, were the only one who could see.

  My heart ached and adored at the same time.

  “Can we stop at the store?”

  Her question brought me out of my thoughts. “Huh?”

  “You were daydreaming, weren’t you?”

  If only they were actually dreams. “No, I was trying to remember the name of the beer Aaron likes.”

  “They have it at Central Market. I’ll know it when I see it. They’ve confirmed for dinner, so we can pick up everything we need in one stop.”

  “We need to hurry. Ms. Puppy will be having a fit in her crate.”

  She laughed and squeezed my hand tighter. “She needs a name, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes, both our children do.”

  The song “Layla�
� by Eric Clapton was playing on the car radio.

  “How about Layla,” I suggested.

  She laughed. “Perfect, but Eric Clapton gets credit for that one since you stole the idea from him.” She winked.

  “You win.”

  Yes, I’m a pushover with her. As long as she’s healthy and happy, I don’t care to ever win an argument.

  After a very quick shopping trip, we rushed home to let Layla out of her crate, but found her outside with Anna, our housekeeper. Anna was tossing a stick, and the puppy was doing a great job at retrieving. While I prepped the steaks, Wrenn played with Layla and the new green ball that had a bell on the inside. If the puppy was awake, she was moving and needed entertainment.

  When Karina and Aaron arrived, Aaron and I stayed inside while the girls visited out on the patio. I watched intently as they both talked, cried, and hugged their issues out. Karina owned her words, but my wife had overreacted. Something she’d been doing a lot of since becoming pregnant. I still possessed the gnawing feeling that there was something she hadn’t shared with me.

  Our evening was great with our friends, but I craved my wife, the love of my life, in many ways. Nights just weren’t the same without her in my arms.

  I lit some candles and placed them around the tub. With bubbles beginning to form, I found her almost asleep on the sofa, with Layla in her lap passed out.

  I figured Layla would put up a fuss when I picked her up, but to my surprise, she didn’t. I was praying for a couple of hours alone, sinfully entwined with my wife without puppy kisses.

  “Hey, babe, you going to bed?” she asked with a yawn.

  “Not yet, I have something else in mind.”

  Her eyes opened wide. I was sure that was the moment she realized we hadn’t been intimate in over a week.

  “Something else?” Her sweet smile was a great indicator.

  I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the bathroom, putting her down in front of the tub.

  “I’m going to take a bubble bath, care to join me?” I wiggled my brows for added effect.

  “You? A man who refuses to step into the tub now wants to double dip?”