Forgiveness Creek: The Creek Series Read online

  “I don’t want you to miss your group. I’m leaving town for Asia again in a couple of weeks, and I don’t know when I’ll be going to another game, but we’ll add it to the to-do list for sure.”

  “Do you make lists?”

  “Can’t live without them. That’s a weird question. Why did you ask?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn’t imagine not being with him and knew I’d spend the entire grief meeting wishing I was with him. “Just curious. On second thought, I’d love to go to the game on Thursday. It won’t hurt for me to miss this week.”

  “Then it’s a date.”

  A date? I had to stop myself from over-thinking things, or I would’ve started an emotional spiral, at the risk of sending myself out of control. Having someone pay attention to me after so long in withdrawal, it was a dangerous game of sudden attachment, which we’d learned about in grief support.

  “I need to get home to Grandfather. I’ll see you tomorrow when I bring him in.”

  “Absolutely. It’s our wedding day, and I’m looking forward to it.” I giggled.

  “You two are a riot. You’ve been the delight in a bad situation for him. I can’t thank you enough for that.” He touched my shoulder softly with a little pat, and then he was gone.

  For the first time in almost a year, I went to bed with a smile on my face, instead of falling asleep on the couch from tears and exhaustion. I felt alive and it was great, if only it would last.

  Nothing good ever lasted for me…

  The next afternoon, Mr. Lawrence and Dane appeared right on time. However, my gentlemen friends were dressed in tuxes and carried a clothing bag from a designer boutique.

  “You two look quite dapper today.”

  “Only the best for our wedding day,” Mr. Lawrence quipped.

  I pushed him back to a private room for his chemo treatment and noticed most of the staff began to gather to see what was going on. Almost everyone knew of the joke going back and forth about our pretend wedding day.

  “Dane is holding a gift for you. I hope you’ll do me the honor of wearing this and giving me the first dance?”

  “The first dance is always reserved for the bride and groom,” I teased and winked at him.

  While he underwent his treatment, I took the bag and went to our locker room to change. My breath was caught in a tight gasp when I unzipped the bag to find an exquisite beaded champagne gown. There were shoes and jewelry in the bag as well. The closest I’d gotten to seeing something this beautiful popped from the page of a magazine.

  Darlie came to check on me. “Oh, my God.” She put her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were huge. “Turn around, I’ll zip it up for you.” She started laughing. “Honey, you have to take off the bra. It doesn’t work with the dress.”

  I walked over to the mirror and laughed. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

  I removed the bra and slipped on the glitzy peep-toe stilettos, and she zipped my dress. The shoes were a smidge tight, but would surely stretch to a perfect fit after wearing a couple of times.

  “I have a brush if you don’t.”

  “Huh?”

  “You need to get rid of that ponytail.”

  “But then these won’t show.”

  I opened my hand to show her the beautiful dangling earrings that were encrusted with stones resembling diamonds.

  “Those are beautiful. They look like diamonds.”

  “I think they might be, or they, along with the little blue box that says Tiffany, are excellent knock offs.”

  Darlie looked over to my left to the bench in the middle of the room. “That is definitely Tiffany. Oh. My. God.”

  She helped me fix my hair into a sexier loose knot and pulled out bits and pieces of make-up she’d stashed over time in her locker. By the time she finished, I was giddy with anticipation. I had no idea what to expect next.

  Darlie went to check on the rest of the patients and the happenings with Mr. Lawrence and came back to get me. “Time to go, tootz,” she said.

  The shoes were very tall, forcing me to walk slowly just to keep from falling off of them. We cut through the back hall, which ended at the side of our Radiation Therapy control room, which was large enough to fit thirty people easily, and thirty people were lined up around the walls, shoulder to shoulder. There were patients, family, and staff all smiling. Standing in the middle of the room was Mr. Lawrence, and soft music played in the background.

  “May I have the first dance?” He asked, his hand extended.

  “But, of course.” I walked to him, taking his hand, and he slowly moved to the music. He didn’t move his feet much, and he held on to me for support, but his grin said he was a happy man for the moment.

  When the song stopped, the audience clapped, and Mr. Lawrence held my hand out in front of my body and bowed to me.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this has been all in fun, but this young lady has been a delight to me every day I’ve been here as a patient, and I thought why not have a little magic? I’m an old man, not getting any younger, and well, we all need fairytales.” He kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Ms. Cunningham, for the dance.”

  “May I have the next one?” a deep voice asked from behind me.

  I turned to see Dane approaching with a wheelchair for his grandfather and Peggy, his assistant walking beside him.

  “Certainly.” I giggled.

  We helped Mr. Lawrence get in the chair, and the music started again. Dane wrapped his right arm around my waist and held my left hand in the air in a formal dancing pose. He led me around the room. His stride was small in steps and easy for me to follow in my very tall shoes.

  “You went to a lot of trouble—the dress, shoes, and even jewelry. I’ll get it cleaned and return it to you, so you can get it back to the owner. This was very sweet.”

  “You are the light for him every day in what would normally be a dark world. It’s the least we could do, but just so you know, he picked everything out online, and I simply picked it up for him. Everything is yours to keep as a gift from him. He would be hurt if you mentioned returning them.”

  I was stunned. No one had ever done anything like that for me. “Thank you.”

  The staff went back to work, and Edgar approached Dane and me. “Wrenn, may I have a couple of minutes with you?” His face was stoic, and I suddenly cringed at the thought of being fired.

  As I walked away, I glanced back at Dane, to see him smiling.

  I followed Edgar through the back hall to his office. He didn’t ask me to take a seat.

  Nervous that my termination was coming, I decided to take the bull by the horns and accept my fate. I couldn’t face him, so I focused on the plaques on the wall over his shoulder and spoke with conviction. “I’m sorry, Mr. Walls. I had no idea this totally unethical event was going to happen, but I accept responsibility and tender my resignation effective immediately. I’ll clean out my desk and locker and be on my way. Thank you for everything.”

  He started laughing. “Wrenn, I didn’t call you in here to fire you. For heaven’s sake, you went out of your way to make a dying man happy. In fact, he’s so happy he wrote a gracious note to administration and has left us with this extremely sizeable check to purchase a brand new Cyber-Knife we haven’t had the budget for. He also left a huge endowment for students in your name, but you didn’t hear that from me. I brought you in here to give you this card that was left here by administration and to tell you they have given you a week off with pay any time you want to use it. It’s all in there.”

  He presented me with a large red envelope. “Times like these are one-in-a-million, Wrenn. Enjoy it and be proud of your work here. Remember, it’s always the small things that move the most mountains.” He stood and patted my arm and walked out.

  I reached for the corner of the desk and held it for a moment for stability. While I had been using my work as an escape to forget my pain, I’d been able to help someone else forget his.

  Mom was right; life was a c
ircle.

  I sensed someone watching me and turned to my right to see Dane standing in the doorway. His hand was on his hip, which had his jacket pulled to the side, exposing his toned body. The sight of him standing there excited me in very delicate ways.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, perfect. I should go change. I can meet you in the lobby.”

  “I’d prefer it if you stayed in your gown for dinner; otherwise, I’m gonna look out of place in this tux.”

  I dabbed at my misty eyes. “Huh? Dinner?”

  “Yes, Grandfather made dinner reservations for us at Mansion on Turtle Creek. Peggy is taking him home after his treatment is over.”

  “I need to tell him goodnight.”

  We walked arm and arm back to the treatment room. Mr. Lawrence was dressed in his regular clothes, and the chemo cocktail was hooked to the catheter protruding from his chest.

  “There’s my missus. You look beautiful, my dear. Thank you for a magical moment.”

  Leaning in to kiss his cheek, I said, “My pleasure. Everything was perfect. See you tomorrow?”

  “It’s a date. Good night, Wrenn.” He paused to look at Dane. “Take care of her, son.”

  “Of course,” Dane said with a soft touch to his grandfather’s arm.

  Dane pulled his car around to the side entrance and helped me into the seat. He drove with smooth motions, holding my hand for the most part. I wasn’t expecting to experience such a comfortable feeling with him so quickly, but it was as if we’d been friends for a long time. We laughed and joked, and I wondered if his parents had sent him to charm school or something like that. His mannerism was witty and soft spoken at the same time. He came across as confident, but not cocky.

  “Good evening, Mr. Lawrence,” the attendant said.

  They knew him by name?

  He left the car keys with the valet and opened my door for me.

  The mansion was breathtaking. I’d never been in a place that size or that beautiful. The details were almost overwhelming. My heart began to skip beats, and I felt a little winded as we were shown to our table. There was no one else dining in the same room.

  The chair was held for me to sit, and our waiter placed the napkin in my lap. The realization I was out of my league was all consuming. A hick from Arkansas, I didn’t belong in a world of millionaires.

  I stared at the silverware. For a moment, I imagined the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts is counting the tines on the forks. The problem was I’d forgotten the number of tines to look for.

  As many times as I’d watched that movie…

  “Relax. It’s just food. Try what looks good and eat it if you like it, or not, and don’t freak out over which fork to use, just grab one.” His voice was just above a whisper, so only I could hear him.

  “How did you know?”

  “You’re staring at the forks. I can teach you anything you want to know about fine dining, but this is for Grandfather. He would be here if he felt up to it. The dancing was all he could muster. You’re absolutely stunning tonight. I wanted you to know that.” He put his right hand on my cheek.

  I leaned into it. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  The food was presented so beautifully I felt like I was destroying art as I ate, but it was so delicious I couldn’t stop myself. By the time dessert was brought out, I was so full I thought I might bust my zipper.

  “I can’t eat any more. My stomach and this dress won’t hold it.”

  “Just a bite. You have to taste their crème brûlée.” He scooted his chair up next to mine and began to feed me small bites. When he gave me a bite of strawberry and then kissed me, taking it from my mouth, I thought I might faint.

  Sinfully seductive.

  First one kiss, then another and another. It wasn’t long until he’d forgotten about the dessert and was consuming my lips with his. He nipped and bit at my tender flesh over and over, holding my face in both hands.

  My nipples were hard, my sex was on fire, and all I wanted was to be with him and for the night to never end.

  “They have rooms up stairs. Do you want to get one or go to my house or something else?”

  I couldn’t imagine the wait to be with him, and however close his house was, it was too far. I was also afraid if I didn’t say yes, I might not ever.

  “Get a room.”

  We ascended the stairs hand-in-hand. Nerves and excitement roared through me at the same time. Not paying attention to the tall shoes and the dress, my heel became tangled in the hem and I stumbled, almost pulling us both to the floor, but Dane grabbed me before I embarrassed myself.

  He scooped me in his arms and carried me to the room door. “The key is in my right pocket. Grab it.”

  I did as he asked and opened the door. Once inside, he let me down and held on to my arm until my feet were firmly planted on the floor. There was a cart just inside the main entry with fruit, pastries, and more champagne.

  He opened the bottle and poured two glasses, dropping a strawberry in each one. I didn’t drink much, already buzzing from what I’d consumed at dinner. Anything I did that night, I wanted to do with a clear head, make beautiful memories, and have no regrets.

  I craved to be held. I wanted to remember pleasure. I wanted to forget pain. I needed a connection…to belong to someone, even if only for a few hours.

  His touch to my skin was soft—melting my walls. The thought of him removing my clothes—exhilarating. There was no pretending. The passion was real between us. Kisses, trembles, quickened breaths, I experienced it all.

  “I want you. I have since the first day I met you, but I don’t want to rush this.”

  “Rush. Please, God, rush.”

  “No.” He pushed me hard against the wall and laced our fingers together, holding our hands above my head. His lips trailed down my neck, leaving me tingling, breathing hard, and silently begging for him to never stop.

  Desire filled me, consuming my mind and blocking any focus I had. My body was soft and limp against his, leaving me to experience what silk felt like flowing across flesh. Weightless. Perfect.

  His mouth consumed mine, our tongues dancing, and I tasted the remnants of champagne. He released my hands and gripped my neck and jaw with his fingers, while he slowly unzipped my gown. My dress slipped to a puddle at my feet, leaving me standing in designer shoes and my panties. He leaned back enough to view my body, and I watched as his eyes trailed slowly down every inch to the floor and back.

  “More beautiful than I’d imagined.” With both hands, he gripped my hips and lifted me from the floor.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. My lips found his again, urging him not to stop, quietly begging him to take me.

  He placed me on the bed and knelt on the floor to remove my shoes. He kissed his way up my body. When he got to my breasts, I thought he was going to devour them, palming, biting, and pleasing them.

  Backing away from the bed, he removed his clothes. All of them. I adored his body with my gaze from top to bottom. Beautifully sculpted arms and chest with a slight patch of hair from his navel to his manhood, proudly erect in front of me.

  He gripped my panties with his thumbs and slowly peeled them away from my body. I lost myself in him as he devoured my body for both our pleasure. He knew what to do to please me without even asking. There was no rushing; his movements were slow and deliberate.

  I closed my eyes and moaned as my climax came over me. I tried to stay with him in the moment, but for a second, I thought about how good it felt and how long it had been, which took me to the last night I’d been with Stephan.

  I didn’t want memories of Stephan to be in the room with us, but he was.

  “Where did you go just now?” he asked, rolling onto his back and pulling me close when my climax ended.

  “I just forgot for a moment how good an orgasm feels.”

  “What else?” He took his finger and lifted my chin, so he could see my e
yes when I answered.

  “It made me remember the last time I’d felt this good. I don’t want to stop.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I reached for his left hand and placed it on the left side of my chest. “Feel that?”

  “Yes?”

  “That’s my heart. It’s alive. It’s beating hard right now because of you, and I haven’t felt this real in a long time.”

  Dane got out of bed and walked over to his pants, removing a condom from his wallet. He opened the package and slid it over his erection. He hovered on all fours over me, kissing me and pulling away and repeating the gesture. His eyes were intently watching me. There was no talking, and my senses were on overload. I tasted him and his scent filled my nose. I craved to feel him inside me, completing me, filling the void I never thought could possibly be filled again.

  When he pushed into me the first time, I clawed at his back, trying to grip him and pull him into my body further. Closer. Harder. I met his every thrust with one of my own.

  He rolled us over, putting me on top, one of my favorite positions, but he didn’t leave me there long. When he rolled me to my back, his movements became slow and deliberate.

  When he laced our fingers together and put our hands above my head again, I loved his weight on me. It was beautiful, and I was moved to tears.

  Happy tears.

  When I woke up, the bed was empty, and for a second, I worried he had screwed me and run. I wished I didn’t have such doubts about people and was better at extending trust. The thought of my own weakness made me nauseous for a brief moment.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. I hadn’t even realized the bedroom door to the suite was shut. I quickly sat up and gripped the covers around my body.

  “Yes, who is it?”

  He slowly opened the door and walked in with a couple of Walmart sacks.

  For some reason, I found it funny. I didn’t take him for a Walmart kind of guy. “Shopping this early?”

  He laughed, lifting the sacks out in front of him. “It’s the only thing open this time of morning. You needed some clothes to wear out of here when we leave.”