“I do.” The decision came quick. I craved to leave this place, but that could wait a few more minutes.
“Hazel . . .” Heavy emotions bombarded Maddox.
“Everything is OK, Maddox. You and me . . . we’re OK. Nothing else matters.” I leaned up to kiss him and finally felt home with the connection.
“You and me.” I memorized the way his voice vibrated against my skin. I’d spent enough time away from him to last many lifetimes, and now I’d get to be with him forever.
The police and ambulance reached the end of the driveway and were let in by a groggy guardsman. Echo stopped her horse’s ass in front of an ambulance and let Asher get off. The paramedics could look him over, and he’d be set.
After I talked with the detective and told him everything I had seen, we were released from the premises but not before watching the Collector be towed into a police cruiser with her mouth covered.
We rode together in Asher’s muscle car while Echo drove. I could not stop touching Maddox to make sure he was alive and warm. He was everything I dreamed of during our time apart.
“If you guys are thinking about having sex in the back seat, just know it’s awfully snug back there. Makes things a little tricky. Trust me,” Asher teased and I laughed. Echo shook her head, but I knew she loved his jokester side. He livened up the place.
“Thank you, guys, for coming to get me and for using your gifts to help the situation.” Maddox had told me about Echo’s idea to close their ears like otters. It seemed like we were all on the same brainwave when it came to dealing with the Collector’s charm.
“You’re one of us, and Echo wouldn’t be able to live without your music. She dances around naked at the bar to it all the time.” Asher teased his woman this time, and she smacked him on the shoulder. Oh love, makes us act nuts, and put up with our soulmates. Even when they act like idiots too.
They dropped us off by Maddox’s car. Once Maddox was settled in his seat, I climbed into his lap. He drove us home and I listened to the steady beat of his heart and to his lungs filling with air. Once home, Maddox lifted me out of the truck with him, then carried me through the garden toward the house.
“Wait . . .” I looked around.
“You took care of my plants?” I whispered in awe. Maddox was my military man that I’d assumed couldn’t keep a cactus alive if he tried. Blush coated his cheeks as he nodded, his lips gunning for mine.
“I couldn’t have you come home to wilting flowers,” he admitted as we parted for air, and I swore I fell in love with him all over again.
We’d transformed from our past and grew a new future from the ashes in our very own version of spring. My favorite season.
Two years later
Hazel
I took a deep breath, the fluttering in my belly turned into a mosh pit of butterflies.
“Hazel Kennedy!” The announcer called my name, and I walked onto the stage with the biggest smile on my face. Tonight, I’d be singing songs from my newest album that had already surpassed one million records sold. I’d never stop being grateful for my life, for how all the lost pieces came together to form the most amazing picture.
“Hello, New York!!” I yelled to the crowd, and they went wild. I soaked in their screams, eager to hear their reactions from tonight’s events. My hands raised to touch the dandelion seed necklace Maddox made for my sixteenth birthday. After surviving the Collector trauma, I’d decided time was too precious. I grabbed the jewelry from the nightstand and rarely took it off. I wanted a part of him with me forever.
The house band played the upbeat song “Skipping Stones,” a song I’d written about taking life one skip at a time. The new album had been such a hit, everyone felt the love in my heart with every lyric.
I glanced to my bodyguard who stood at the side of the stage, stoic as ever while I kicked off my first tour of the year. The last time I sang a song about him, it was about him leaving. The last time I performed it in front of him, it stripped us bare, and we had the opportunity to heal from our past.
While he broke my walls down, bit by bit, he’d inspired in me a new song for us. Tonight, I’d sing it for him, for us, and our future.
I walked to the piano on the stage and sat down gingerly, finding my bearings against the keys.
“I feel lost and all alone. But now he’s here and it feels like home. I don’t know if I can trust again. Should I walk blindly on this new terrain? What if he leaves? What if he stays? Are these feelings just a phase?”
I glanced at my inspiration and smiled. I’d been such a confused mess when he had shown up in my life again. I was bitter and angry. Now all I felt was joy. Sure he could be a pain in the ass, and I rebelled against him daily. But that was our tangled love.
“He compliments my joy, and as much as I want to deny it, he’s not the same boy. I wanna laugh and feel with him. In my heart I know it’s true. The only love I ever wanted is you.”
I sang at the top of my reach, pouring out my soul for the crowd and for Maddox. When the song came to an end, I thanked everyone and walked off the stage, straight into Maddox’s waiting arms.
“How are my girls?” He grinned sweetly, an expression very few saw.
“We are fabulous. She was just as excited as I was to perform.” I kissed his lips before he knelt down to kiss the growing bump on my belly.
