Never Forgotten Love Read online

  Once Harlow is back at the table, the officer starts to ask questions about the day, the fire, and Brad. Harlow tells the officer about her relationship with Brad his attack on her and her father in West Seattle and that the Seattle police have been looking for him so they can question him about the attack. I informed the officer that Brad falsified his information and documentation and that he was only with the company for a couple weeks, but that he expressed his desire to hurt Harlow and myself to two of our employees. I also tell him about Stacey and the incident the week prior. Harlow looks at me with big wide eyes. I explain to the officer that Stacey had applied for a job at our office and that we weren’t comfortable with her. Then when we found out that Thomas was really Brad, I found a notepad in his office and did the pencil trick on it and it spelled out Stacey and what he was trying to get her to do. “I’m sure you are going to want to speak to Raven and Carson since Brad talked to them about what his plans were for Harlow and me.”

  Mitchell supplied a copy of the video from the back alley of the arsonist, and video of the assault on Davis when Brad attempted to abduct Harlow. Mitchell walked in as we were finishing with the officer to make sure everything was ok and to make sure there was nothing else the officer needed.

  After the officer was finished questioning us, I let him out the door and locked it. Harlow and I cleaned up the mess that was left from the day and decided to go out for a nice relaxing evening. It had been a while since I could really feel relaxed, now that I don’t have to worry about Brad.

  Harlow called her parents to let them know, and I call Richard so he and Nicole could relax and enjoy the last week of their vacation.

  I had almost forgotten what it was like to breathe again without fear of an attack on Harlow. It’s going to be nice to get my life back to where it was, where I could just concentrate on Harlow and our relationship. I guess there is good and bad in this. Now Harlow doesn’t have to live with me anymore and as much as I loved her there, this was going to be her decision and I know I probably won’t like it. It’s funny how what you wish for doesn’t always turn out what you want. I mean, I wanted Brad caught so Harlow would be safe, but by doing that, I don’t get to have Harlow with me all the time.

  After dinner downtown, we stay with our tradition, getting cappuccinos at the Starbucks in Pioneer Square. I take Harlow by the hand and we start to walk, no place in particular, just walking. I couldn’t stop thinking that this would probably be the last night Harlow would be at my house and that had put me in a somber mood. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Harlow noticed it. I tried to be upbeat, but the more the evening went on, the harder it was.

  Chapter Twenty

  HARLOW STOPS. Pulling at my hand, I turn to look down into her striking blue eyes. The moonlight casts a beautiful glow on her face, I just want to hold her and never let her go, but I know I can’t do that, I sense she is slipping through my fingers. It feels like my heart is being ripped in half. “I thought you would be happy that Brad was caught.” She looks at me with questioning eyes.

  “I am, all I want is for you to be safe. Brad was always lurking in the back of my mind. Now we don’t have to worry about him, you can start your life now without fear of him.” I say to her sardonically. She tilts her head with a questioning look.

  I start to walk again, but she doesn’t move, for a little thing, she is strong, she pulls my hand again, and I stop and look down at her. “STOP!” she said sternly, now there is anger in her eyes, even in the moonlight, I can see her eyes are turning gray and stormy; this isn’t going to be pretty. “What the hell is going on, and why in hell are you so quiet?” she demands.

  “It’s just me; it has nothing to do with you.”

  “Bull Shit! I believe that as much as you do. So spill it!”

  “Harlow…”

  “Don’t Harlow me! TALK!”

  “Ok, fine.” I drop her hand. “You’re free to go.”

  “What do you mean, I’m free to go? Go where?”

  “I know you didn’t want to be forced to stay at my place, now you don’t have to worry about it. Brad has been caught and you are free to live your life. I told you that once he was caught that you would be able to return to your regular life, he’s caught and you can move back to Nicole house.”

  In a quiet voice, almost a whisper she says, “Oh…you don’t want me to stay with you or be with me anymore?” Her head drops and she starts to turn from me.

  “God, no, Harlow, that’s not what I want.” I take her shoulder and turn her back toward me as I lift her chin to look at me. “Do you really think my feelings for you were that shallow? Do you really think everything I said and did for you was to get you in bed? Do you really think so little of me that I did this just for me?” I look away, it feels like a knife has just been thrust into my gut and twisted.

  “No I don’t.” Tears start to flood her eyes. She takes my face in her hands and turns it toward her so I am looking at her. The look of pain and fear are in her eyes as the tears start to roll down her face. “Let me try this again. I have never thought of you that way, and you should know that by now. You have been quiet all night; you haven’t opened up to me to say what is wrong. I thought you would be happy this evening, but you’re not and I don’t know why, Please tell me. You once asked me to speak my fears, now it’s your turn. Speak your fears Beckett.”

  “God, Harlow, you’re my fear.” She furrows her brow with a questioning look. “My fear is that you won’t need me anymore. I told you that you only had to stay with me until we caught Brad, and now that he has been caught… “

  “You thought I would just leave you? That I would just walk away from you, from what we have?”

  “What do we have Harlow? I mean I know what I want but…Well, you fought so hard for your independence and I don’t want you to lose that either, and you didn’t want to be tied down, you act as if you didn’t want to be with me. That’s why I said you could walk away when this was all over.”

  “Beckett, for the last six years I have been running scared, so afraid that Brad would find me. I didn’t know what he would do. I wasn’t just scared for me; I was scared for my family too. I dropped off the grid too. I couldn’t take the chance that he would find me. Now I find myself running again but the thing is, now I’m not running from something, I’m running to someone. God, Beckett, don’t you see, you’re my lifeline; I’m not running from you, I running to you.” My eye flash to hers, searching them. “You are my talisman, you are my security, you are my best friend, my lover, and you are my home.” Harlow pulls me to her. She takes my mouth with hers as she slides her fingers through my hair wrapping them through it pulling me as close to her as she can as she kisses me, each stroke of her tongue against mine sends that jolt of electricity to my cock that I have grown to love, and she tastes delicious as she moaned against my lips. I could feel her moan vibrate through every cell of my body. She pulls away, we are both panting, I am sure we are putting on a good show for everyone downtown to see, but I don’t give a fuck. Her thumb brushes my lower lip and my breath hitches as she looks into my eyes, tears still streaming down her face. “Beckett, I love you, I’m not going anywhere because one day I am going to marry you.”

  I look at her, wondering if I had heard her right. My brow furrows. “What did you just say?”

  “I said you better put your clothes on one side of the closet if you expect to marry me.” She has a mischievous smile on her face as she raises one of her eyebrows at me.

  “Really?”

  “Really, Really.”

  I grab her around the waist; I can’t believe what she said to me. I spin her around as she squeals. Nothing like an emotional three-sixty. I set her back down, pulling her face to mine as I kiss her franticly. My heart is racing; I can’t think straight, I just won the fucking lottery! “I guess we have a lot to talk about then huh?” Harlow, panting from my excitement can’t even talk she just nods her head.

  Taking Harlow’s hand,
I gently pull her to me. Looking in her eyes, I softly say, as I brush my thumb across her soft, sumptuous lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you and every day I’ll be thankful for second chances.” I lower my lips to hers kissing her softly. Opening my eyes to look at her, I say, almost in a whisper, “I love you.” Taking her mouth again in a soft, passionate kiss.

  Epilogue

  A MONTH HAS PASSED since Brad’s attempted abduction of Harlow. Life is getting somewhat back to normal. Harlow ended up moving back into Nicole’s house after she and Richard returned from their vacation. I wasn’t happy about it, but she needed to see what it would be like to live without fear of Brad always looming in the back of her mind.

  My mother passed as well, but not until we had a long talk. Twenty-four years I had to wait, but I didn’t care, it was worth the wait. I never thought I would be able to forgive her for how she raised me, but she made up for it in those two weeks we had together. She knew she wasn’t going to make it, but as she had said that first day, she was a stubborn bitch and she wasn’t leaving until she had told me how sorry she was. She had explained more of how she felt all those years, and I told her that I forgave her. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but who am I to judge? Everyone deserves second chances. I was with her when she passed; she had fought so hard to stay until she had told me everything she wanted me to know and apologized for how she treated me. I knew that she was sorry and if she would have known that, it was a form of mental illness she would have gotten the help she so desperately needed sooner. I sat with her that last day, holding her hand and stroking her hair and letting her know that I loved her and forgave her. That was all she needed to hear before she looked at me, giving me a fleeting smile and told me that she loved me as she went to sleep and took her last breath, and for the last time, I cried in front of my mother, for the lost time we had missed. It’s another one of those things that what you wish for isn’t always what you want. For all those years that I couldn’t care less if I ever saw my mother again, and now that she is gone I wish she was here so she could experience what her life could have been like, happy, and able to enjoy life, the life she never truly got to have.

  Harlow has trained Shannon to be a backup pastry chef along with Kiley. She helps Harlow and Kiley out so she can take the weekends off to spend them with me. So today, I have planned a picnic, and I have the Jeep loaded. It is nine in the morning and Harlow and I have just finished cleaning up after breakfast. “You might want to get a jacket, just in case it gets cold,” I tell her.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I want to take you on a picnic.”

  “Beckett, it is nine in the morning and we just ate breakfast.”

  “I know, but I didn’t say we were eating right now.”

  “Ok, you’re funny today.”

  “But would you have me any other way?”

  She walks over to me, standing on her toes she reaches for my face and brings it to her and whispers, “Absolutely not!” Then she softly presses her lips to mine, kissing me in a way that make my heart skip a beat.

  “God, I love you.”

  I take her by the hand and lead her to the Jeep. I decided to keep the Jeep that Harlow picked out for me. Once on the freeway we just drive.

  “I didn’t tell you that Mitchell and Raven are starting to see each other regularly now.”

  “Really? She is so tiny and he is huge, he’s got to be a good foot taller than her.”

  “Fifteen inches to be exact. Nevertheless, he is so taken by her. The first time he met her I hardly recognized him. I took me six months to get his first name out of him; it took her five minutes if that.”

  “That is so funny; she must disappear when they walk together.”

  “Has Nicole said anything about her and Richard’s relationship?”

  “Yeah, she has fallen pretty hard for him. She always has a smile on her face, I don’t think I have ever seen her this happy before. They are talking about moving in together, did you know that?”

  “No, but I knew he was in love with her a while back. He didn’t know what he was feeling, but it was so obvious to me, maybe because I could see myself in him. That was right before they left for their vacation.”

  “Where are we going? We have been driving forever.”

  “We’re almost there.”

  I haven’t been to West Seattle since we moved away. I pull up to the little park that Harlow and I would talk about our dreams for the future at, I don’t think she recognizes it either. I pull into a parking spot and get out of the Jeep and opening her door. “Are you hungry?” I help her out of the Jeep and grab a picnic basket out of the back. It’s a hot August day, perfect for a picnic. Taking Harlow’s hand, I lead her to a picnic table. I pull a red and white checkered tablecloth out of the basket and spread it out placing the basket at one end of the table. I pull the food out of the basket, setting it on the table. Deviled eggs, hummus with pita chips, coleslaw, fresh lemonade, antipasto platter with fresh figs, small balls of fresh mozzarella, cubed provolone cheese, pepperoncini’s, olives, salami, prosciutto, a baguette and of course malt chocolate cupcakes.

  “Oh my God, Beckett, I can’t believe all this food. Did you make it all?”

  “Most of it, I mean I put the Antipasto platter together, and I had Kiley help me with the cupcakes.”

  We sat there just nibbling and talking. “I can’t believe you drove all the way here to have a picnic.”

  Taking Harlow’s hand I take her to the swings as we sit as we used to and hand her, her cupcake. “This was the place where I fell in love with you Harlow, and even though I had a lot of bad memories here, I had the best memories here too. Memories of when we would sit on the swings and talk about the future when times were innocent, what do you want now Harlow? What are your dreams for the future?”

  “God, I haven’t given it a lot of thought lately. I have been so focused on what was happening around me with Brad that I didn’t want to focus on the unknown. However, there are the things that I have dreamed of all my life, I want you Beckett, I have always wanted you, I want to have your babies, and I want a family full of love. I would like my bakery to do well, I’m pretty simple when it comes to what I want Beckett. What do you want?”

  Harlow starts to pull the paper off her a cupcake breaking it into little pieces and putting them in her mouth. “I guess I am pretty simple too, I want you to be my wife, I want to make babies that are as beautiful and sweet like their mommy is, I want a house full of love where there is no anger, I want you to be the first thing I wake up to in the morning and the last thing I see when I go to sleep, I want to practice making babies everyday with you. I want to give you the world in a cupcake.”

  Harlow gasped as she gets to the middle of her cupcake and finds her dream. She looks at the ring then at me, as tears start to flow down Harlow’s cheeks I wipe her tears from her face and I take the ring that is coated in chocolate and place it in my mouth, sucking most of the chocolate off I then pull it out of my mouth and clean the rest of it on my napkin as I kneel in front of her swing.

  “Harlow girl, you have been my one and only love, you have been in my heart every day since I met you. You were my best friend, my protector, my light during horrible dark times and my talisman that kept me alive for so many years I love you and now I ask you if you will take a new role in my life as my wife and lover and make me happier than any man has the right to be.”

  Harlow slips out of the swing and kneels in front of me; she takes my face in her hands. “Beckett ten years ago I gave you half of my heart hoping that one day those hearts will become one again, I love you, there is nothing I want more than to call you my husband, yes of course I’ll marry you.” I take her left hand and place the ring on her finger as she pulls my lips to hers as we kiss as if there is not tomorrow. As we pull away panting, I hear them, whistle and yells and clapping coming from all around us, I smile at Harlow as she realizes that not only is her mom and dad standing
around us, but Richard and Nicole and Mitchell and Raven are here as well.

  Harlow gasps, and then looks at her ring then to her mom and dad; she throws her arms around me. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this! You did all of this for me?” I stand up and help Harlow up as she runs to her mom and dad hugging them both, then to Richard and Nicole and to Mitchell and Raven.

  “Food is on the table, help yourself.” Although it would have been nice to have my mother there, I know she is watching me.

  The End

  Thank You

  To my Husband:

  Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader and for believing in me.

  To Alexandrea:

  Thank you for your love and support and for all the information on the military and medical

  To Suzanne:

  What can I say? You are still the first one to drop everything when I need help! You are unbelievably awesome. Thank you so much for everything.

  To Anne Mercier:

  Thank you for putting up with my endless questions. Maybe one of these days we can meet!

  To Anie Michaels:

  Thank you for spending your writing time to talk to a newbie.

  To my Beta Readers:

  Suzanne, Tammie, & Liz, Thank you for caring so much about making this book what I dreamed it to be. You are awesome!

  To Sallyann:

  A simple thank you couldn’t express how much I appreciate your help. You are AMAZING! Thank you for helping me in such a busy time of the year.

  To all Bloggers:

  My deepest gratitude goes to the many bloggers and to all who have supported me and helped spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, on their websites and blogs. I can’t express my gratitude enough; and when I panicked and didn’t know what a Media Package was my many thanks go to Suzanne Keller, Tammie Harms, Erin, Sheila Kell, Kelly Hamley, Kristen, Carol Wade, Danielle, Liz Stephenson, Lea & Patches Brazillion, Shaunna Armstrong and Jennifer Trevino.