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

  “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 ice 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.

  Chapter 13

  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.

  “He what?” she asked over coffee in the hospital cafeteria.

  “He proposed.” I slipped the ring from my pocket, and she squealed, bringing every eye in the room to stare at us.

  “Shhh, don’t get us in trouble. Simmer down.”

  “That’s so romantic. You have to give me every single detail.”

  “I will later in our room. I need to get Ramona or Cheri to switch shifts with me, so I can go home this weekend. I don’t want Mom seeing something on Facebook or hearing about it from anyone, so keep your mouth shut. Stephan and I want to tell her in person.”

  “You just want to go home and get laid.” She snickered. She knew me so well.

  “That too.”

  The time crept by. Twenty-four hours later, I watched the clock on our class wall, so I could hit the road in record time. My car was packed, and the only items I needed were a change of clothes and some extra special lingerie I’d picked up. Once I was in the escapades store, it had occurred to me that perhaps it was a place frequented by strippers, not country girls. However, once Stephan got a glimpse of my little number, I might return for an encore purchase if it worked the way I planned.

  I stopped at the last McDonald’s on the way home and u
sed their bathroom to put on my naughty number and covered it with a long coat. Praying nothing happened the last hour of my trip where I would have to explain my dress code. I could just see the story’s caption reading, “Woman arrested for DMTHN, driving-more-than-half-naked”.

  I turned my lights of and coasted my car down Stephan’s drive, barely able to control my excitement. I hoped he was pleasantly surprised by having a late night visitor.

  Shutting the car door quietly, I tiptoed across the front porch, hoping my heels didn’t give me away. Even with the barrier of the cedar siding, I could hear his Bose stereo playing his iPod at full throttle once I got close to the door. He wouldn’t hear me open the door, even if I threw it into the next room. I dropped my overcoat on the porch and cracked the door, but saw his recliner empty. I didn’t have a clear view of the kitchen, but I couldn’t see anything or hear him, so I opened the door and made a sneaky entrance.

  I’d made it to the middle of his living room when he came out of the hall, wearing nothing but a towel. Beads of water covered him, but I could only focus on his smile. Beautiful white teeth surrounded by full, rosy lips.

  “You’re stunning.” He approached me with open arms and wiggling a brow. “What are you doing here?”

  “Returning the favor.”

  “If you were trying to one-up me, you win.” He took my hand and raised my arm above my head, twirling me for his own appreciation. “Outfits of this nature suggest some open-ended promises. Do you agree?”

  “I do.”

  “Then, lead the way.”

  I led us to his bed with our pinky fingers tightly linked together and pushed him to a sitting position on the end of the mattress.

  “Don’t move.” I shook my finger in front of him.

  “Babe, don’t worry.”

  The iPod was playing in the kitchen, and I searched through until I found the perfect song. With Def Leppard singing about some sugar in the background behind me, I strolled back into the bedroom and gave my best attempt at a seductive striptease routine.

  Happy to take the heels off first, since they were killing me, I put my foot in his crotch and motioned for him to remove the fish net stockings, one at a time. The man was a master at garter belts and tried a couple of times at stealing third base with his thumbs, but I slapped his hands. Unfastening the matching black leather corset was more of a challenge than I thought. I was sort of sad to see it go, it gave my waist more shape than I ever knew I had. It was definitely going back into my lingerie drawer.

  The only remaining clothing items were his towel and my black lace bra and matching thong. He was in a race to get them off… I was in a race to leave them on and torment him with enticing anticipation.

  When I yanked at his towel, he was a willing participant. “What do you want?”

  “Everything.”

  After we made love, he held me in his arms. When I tried to roll over to sleep, he pull me tighter.

  “I don’t want your back to me. I want to be able to see your eyes, even if they’re closed.”

  I angled my neck, so I had a better view of his face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Hard to close my eyes on the perfect moment.”

  We continued talking, but I couldn’t stay awake and finally drifted off to sleep on his chest. I woke to his fingers stroking my arm.

  “Hmm, my angel awakes.”

  Through the crack of one barely opened eye, I could see the outline of his face with the lamp behind him; apparently, he’d never turned it off.

  “Angels have a hard time sleeping when the devil is tormenting them.”

  In a swoosh, he’d pulled me on top of him. “I’m the devil? You’re the one showing up at my door wearing nothing but naughty.”

  “Admit it, you loved it.”

  “I did and I want an encore, but we have to go see your mom. First, let’s go watch the sunrise.”

  “Now? Sure, let me get some clothes on.” I tried to roll out of bed.

  “We only need a blanket. I’ll keep you more than warm.” He met me with a grin that would melt ice.

  “You’re what?” Mom squealed and shut the oven door.

  “Engaged. Don’t pretend like you didn’t know it was coming. Stephan told me he asked for your blessing.”

  I watched her eyes go up to his and back down to mine before she gripped both of my hands. “I couldn’t be happier for the two of you. Have you made any plans?”

  “No. Maybe this summer, there’s just a lot going on right now to plan much.”

  She pulled out two chairs at the table. “You two sit. I made biscuits and gravy. Justin will be in shortly to join us. Welcome to the family, Stephan, not that you haven’t been part of it all these years, but now it will be official.”

  When Stephan grabbed my mom’s wrist as she walked by and stood to kiss her cheek, I had a swooning moment.

  Chapter 14

  Once the love spaceship dropped me back to reality at school, a routine was hard to find. I wasn’t focused, leaving my grades to suffer. After bombing two important tests, my advisor pulled me into her office and asked what was going on with my studies. Her concern was that work was too much, and I wasn’t able to study.

  “It’s love. I’m in love, and I can’t focus, Ms. Sheridan.”

  “Well, I suppose you better tell that boy of yours to stop distracting you. All jokes aside, Wrenn, you’re one of our better students, and your grades have fallen off from high A’s to some C’s and the courses just get harder the further you get in the program.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I understand.”

  She laid her pen down on top of my file and removed her glasses. “I don’t want to see you back in here, unless you are handing in you final paperwork for graduation, are we clear?”

  I stood from my chair and faced her across the small room with my shoulders tucked back. “Very.”

  With my book bag in hand, I closed her door behind me and propped against the wall outside her office. Stephan and I would just have to be patient; school had to come first if I wanted to finish.

  Later that night, Karina and I made a pact to help each. We were to time our phone calls and support the other with staying focused. I also confessed to Stephan and Mom, so they would understand I was slipping and why I would need to shorten our communication, as painful as it was going to be.

  Stephan offered his apology and concern, uttering his guilt over and over for coming down and distracting me, but the choices were clearly mine to make, and I accepted the fault. Missing a couple of pop quizzes hadn’t helped my GPA. No more skipping class.

  Every time I looked down at my hand, I knew of his promise to me. It was the inspiration I needed to keep going and complete the promise I’d made to myself and finish school.

  I was looking forward to spring break more than ever. I just had one more week to get through.

  I was in the middle of stocking supplies at the hospital when Becky opened the door to the supply closet. “Wrenn, there’s an urgent call for you at the desk.”

  “Okay.”

  She held the door open for me, and I rushed passed her, but not before seeing a ghostly look on her face.

  “Hello?”

  “Wrenn, honey, you need to come home.” Mom’s voice sounded urgent on the phone.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Stephan. I’m sorry, baby—” The rest of her words were lost in a visceral cry.

  “What, Mom? What?”

  There was a long pause. “He was killed today in an accident at work. You need to come home. Call me when you’re on your way. And please drive carefully.”

  I slid down the wall and puddled on the floor. There was nothing in my life that had prepared me for this moment. Why did God allow us to find each other again just to take him from me?

  Becky wrapped her arms around me and pulled me from the floor. “I’m so sorry, honey. He seemed like a wonderful man, and he loved you so much.”

  I cried for so
me time, and Karina came down to comfort me and cried as much as I did. She held me in arms as the nurses looked on.

  When I was able, I drove to the dorm and packed a few clothes, then called Mom to let her know I was on my way.

  It was the longest damn drive of my life to an endless point. Emptiness prevailed…

  Numbness encased me. When I got home, Mom tried to comfort me, but there was no peace to my existence.

  I drove over to Stephan’s house and found his clothes, putting them on. I could still smell him, my senses on overload. I heard his music still playing on the iPod, where he’d forgot to turn it off, as he often did.

  There was no understanding. No heart. Just a cloud of cold darkness. My body weak with physical and mental pain and the fear of never understanding. I cried out in anger. I didn’t want to go on. I thought about ending my life that night and removed Stephan’s pistol from the bottom drawer of his bureau.

  Out on the deck, I looked at it and laid it down on the table. Then I picked it up and stared at the trigger. One bullet and I’d be with my lover for eternity.

  The phone in the cabin rang, and his answering machine picked up. When I heard his voice, I cried harder.

  Then his sister started leaving a message. “Wrenn, if you get this message…”

  I raced in through the open patio door. “Hello,” I answered.

  There was nothing but cries on both ends of the line for the longest of time.

  “My flight leaves in thirty minutes. I won’t be there until tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here. I can take care of the arrangements, if you want.”

  “Just wait and we’ll do them together.”

  “Okay.” I sank to the floor in front of the sink and thought about the arrangements. I remembered them with my father and how hard it was for my mom to make them. I never thought about that with Stephan. Young people subconsciously live as if they’re immortal.

  Half crawling, half walking, I managed the short distance to his room. I turned on the light in his closet, sat on the floor, and started looking for clothes that would be right for him, and realized just how morbid the concept was.