Prologue
“PROMISE YOU’LL wait for me,”I demanded, trying my darnedest to keep my tears from flowing. I’d only just gotten them back. They were everything to me. My heart. My soul. Everything that was good in this world. They were the only two people that kept the darkness at bay.
And they were leaving me. Again.
“Honey.” Ally’s voice trembled, her southern drawl bumping up and down with that one word. She rolled over and her chocolate eyes captured mine. They glistened in the dim lighting peeking out from the partially opened bathroom door. “I’ll wait for you. You know this.”
Her voice cracking, I bit my lip as her own tears started raining down her flushed cheeks. I wasn’t going to cry, dang it. I wasn’t. They needed to leave our this place. Make something of themselves that couldn’t be done here. Nothing could be done in this black void.
I unburied my hand from our wrinkled sheet and wiped away her hot tears, brushing a dark strand of her hair behind her ear. Her curls were a beautiful mess. I fisted my hand to keep it from trembling. I was going to be strong.
“Darlin’, I’ll wait for you,” Brent’s deep, hometown voice rumbled from behind me. His hand slid from my naked hip to my stomach, pulling me tighter against his rock hard body. “How could I not? You’re my very own slice of the sun.” With his freed hand, he yanked on my damp, red hair for emphasis.
I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. He always knew the right thing to say to calm Ally and me down. And he had forever teased me about my fire engine, red hair. One day, I would dye it just to tick him off. I knew he secretly loved it even as he cracked jokes. Itwas probably because he provoked so often, that I knew he really adored it.
I pulled away and sat up. I stared down at them.
My heart.I wouldn’t cry.
My soul.I wouldn’t shed a tear.
My life.Strong. I had to be strong.
I took a fortifying breath. “I’m going to hold you two to that. Momma doesn’t have that much longer. It won’t be forever and if either of you run out and find someone else, I’ll…well, I’ll hunt you down.” I sighed when they both tried to hide their grins. “It’s not funny, dang you both. You’ll regret it if you shack up with anyone else.” I pointed back and forth between them. “You understand me?”
Their heads obediently nodded where they lay on their pillows. I tried to school my expression so they couldn’t see how much their agreement moved me. I needed them. They were myall. How could I live again without them? Blackness threatened and I glanced away. I would break down once they were gone. They would worry otherwise.
“I’ve got a little something for you both,” Brent murmured. In the low lighting I could barely make out a blush staining his cheeks. Hmm…what would make him react that way? He cleared his throat and brushed back his curly, blond hair from his forehead and reached over the side of the bed. Ally leaned up on one elbow and watched avidly. She loved gifts. She was a text book girlie-girl.
She caught me watching the sway of her bare breasts and grinned. She sat up and brought my mouth to hers as Brent dug through his duffle. Lord, I was going to miss them. Ally sighed against my lips. She whispered, “I love you, Ember.”
“Ditto,” I breathed back.My heart.Breaking. Slowly. Obsidian nights.
“One day you’ll say it back,” she grumbled, flopping back on the bed as Brent found what he was looking for.
“One day,” I echoed quietly.
When we were finally together…and at peace.
“Here,” Brent offered a red wrapped package to each of us, his green eyes touching everything but us. “It’s just a little something I’ve been playing around with.”
Ally and I glanced at each other at his bashfulness. Brent wasn’t timid. Never had been. What was this about? We hadn’t seen one another for four years, but good grief, what had gotten in to him?
Ally ripped into hers with her usual zest for life, while I carefully moved around the tape and took my time. I so rarely ever received a gift that each one I did get was precious. Its own small miracle. I had to take my time. It would be my last gift for a little while. Ally squealed with delight – obviously, done opening hers – and threw her arms around Brent. I ignored them the best I could. I didn’t want to know yet. I wasn’t through opening mine.
I removed the last of the red paper, carefully folding it and setting it aside on the rumpled covers. I could feel their eyes on me now, gauging my reaction. I slowly slid the tab from the medium sized rectangular box and opened the end. I tipped it slightly and pulled out a tissue covered item. I sat the box next to the folded wrapping paper, and only then did I remove the expensive, white tissue from my treasure.
And a treasure it was. Worth more than gold. Even more than my new Jaguar sitting outside this hotel room. It was worth more than my inheritance I had only received a year ago.
It was a medley of pictures, new and old. Of the three of us together.The three musketeers.Me, about eight year’s old, sporting horrendous, misaligned pig-tails, smiling shyly at the camera. Ally, around ten, with a riot of curls around her headafter a ghastly haircut, sticking her tongue out. Brent holding a chocolate ice-cream cone, wearing half of it on his face, around seven years old and grinning ear from ear. In each picture you could see each one of us in the background.
The middle picture was us at eighteen years old. Our graduation. Brent on the left, Ally on the right, me in the middle. They were both bending down and kissing my cheeks, and I was smiling a smile that would light up a stadium. The pictures had been doctored and adjusted so each person seemed to shine and glow right through the glass covering. It was beautiful.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Brent…” And, darn if my voice didn’t waver. “It’s perfect.”
The gloom paused.
Chapter One
