Authors: Ashley Johnson
Halley still sat on the phone but I was too horrified to speak so I just put the phone to my ear sat in my closet and cried.
I awoke in a panic, kicking and screaming.
I can’t remember ever doing that, but then I don’t remember ever having had a nightmare that recalled everything as if it were happening again. From time to time, I did have a nightmare or two but they were never so vivid and it scared the hell out of me. Frantically, I began looking all over the room, watching to see if Ray were in there. I knew he wasn’t but I couldn’t help but look.
Luke grabbed me from behind and held me close. “Shhh. What happened Mace? Are you ok?”
When reality sunk in and I remembered I was home, my breathing eased up and I began to cry. I turned and cried into his chest, glad he didn’t have a shirt on because it would have been soaked.
“I had a nightmare
about….I’m so sorry. What time is it? I’m so sorry I woke you.”
He wiped the tears from my face and replied, “It’s four in the morning and don’t be sorry. I just want to know you’re ok.”
“I’m ok now. I had a nightmare about my stepdad, it seemed so real. He was there….and…and he…” My hands began trembling and Luke grabbed them.
“Lay back down baby. I got you.”
I nodded my head and lay on his chest. His breathing was comforting to me and within a few minutes I was asleep again.
The smell of coffee was what woke me up and I could hear voices coming from the living room. Ouch, my head was killing me. All that crying I had done was wreaking havoc on my head.
Luke opened the door and popped his head in the room. “Hey babe, you up?”
“Yeah, my head is killing me.” I held my head in my hands and tried to rub my temples.
“Let me go get you some medicine. Mom and Dad are here. They stopped by on their way out of town. They said they need a getaway so they’re heading to Texas for the weekend.”
“Ok, I’m getting up. I don’t want to be rude.” I slowly got up and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I threw on my bra and a shirt along with my favorite dark gray sweatpants. There, this should be acceptable for now. It is only eight thirty in the morning. No sense in trying to be a beauty queen just yet.
Luke came in the room with an aspirin and a glass of water. After I took the medicine, I decided to grace Randy and Sherry with my presence.
Sherry immediately came and threw her arms around my neck. I hugged her back and smiled. “I love what you two have done with this place Macy. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“Oh, thank you but Luke did most of this himself. I only added a few things.”
Randy and Luke were in the living room flipping through the channels and talking about who knows what.
I turned to Sherry who sat beside me at the table once I fixed my coffee and decided to hold a conversation with her. “Luke said you guys are going to Texas for the weekend. That sounds fun.”
“Yes, we need a getaway. We love the restaurant but we spend literally all our time there, it’s nice to go
somewhere else once in a while and have someone wait on us for a change.”
“Where in
Texas are ya’ll headed?”
“We’re just going to
Houston. Probably do a little shopping, but don’t tell Randy that. He’ll change his mind.”
I began laughing and replied, “That sounds like Luke too.” I took a sip of my coffee and blew a kiss at Luke. He turned our way when he heard his name.
“What are you ladies talking about anyway? I heard my name.”
“Geez, Luke do you have supersonic hearing? We were just talking about shopping.”
Just mentioning the word shopping, Luke immediately covered his ears and went back to the conversation with his dad.
Sherry began laughing and gently touched my arm. “Macy, sweetie, I really am so glad he found you. You have no idea how happy it makes us to see him smile again. He was so devastated and hurt. He wouldn’t talk to anyone. He didn’t answer phone calls and even when we drove here, he wouldn’t answer the door. We really were scared for him.”
Her smile was contagious and I smiled too. I looked over to Luke who was still talking with his dad and whatever they were talking about had him grinning like a little kid.
“The night Luke and I met was the first time I had been out since I had my miscarriage,” I took a deep breath as I began to open up to her. Sherry’s eyes got wide and she held onto my hand. It was so comforting and I continued, “I was engaged to this guy and when I was five months pregnant, I lost the baby and I didn’t want to leave my room or talk to anyone. He ended up cheating on me and that was it. I refused to believe his apologies and I just moped around. Going out that night was the best thing that happened to me. I believe it saved me from doing something terrible.”
“Sweetie, I’m so sorry I had no idea.” Tears filled her eyes and I smiled to let her know it was ok. I’ve learned to accept that it wasn’t meant to be and occasionally I did get upset over the loss of my child but that was it. I knew that from the moment it happened, I would have my good days and my bad days. The bad days were seldom but they were there especially as the due date got closer and closer.
“The first night I stayed with Luke, I ventured into the spare room and saw his equipment and he explained everything about Juliann to me. I felt so horrible for him and I shared my story with him. I really think we saved each other, in a way our experiences helped heal each other.”
“I think you’re right. Randy and I wish nothing but the best for you two. If anyone can get through the craziness of this world, you two can. I’m so glad he asked you to marry him.”
She squeezed my hand again as Luke and Randy came walking in the kitchen. Luke pulled a bowl from the cabinet and began whipping up some pancake batter. I got up to join him and as always we made the biggest mess but when we were done, it was so worth it. Everyone ate and there wasn’t a single pancake left.
Sherry and I cleaned the kitchen up and soon you couldn’t tell that pancake batter once sat all over the counter and syrup was on the table.
We all sat around talking until about two in the afternoon
. Sherry brought up the idea of us planning a trip to Florida soon. Luke and I agreed it would be fun to get out of the state for a few days and relax. The idea of a real beach was more than convincing for me, I was ready to go right now. We decided we’d start planning and try to go in the next few months probably right after the wedding and our honeymoon. I grabbed my phone and immediately began looking up hotel prices and Sherry and I started comparing them to get an idea. The trip didn’t seem like it would be too costly and I couldn’t wait.
Sherry had just finished telling me more of her plans for
Houston when Randy stood up and placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder, “Well son, we need to get on the road. We just wanted to stop by and see you two before we headed out.”
“You guys have a safe trip Dad.”
Sherry and Randy gave us each a hug then they left. Luke and I collapsed on the couch. My head finally felt better but my eyes still felt puffy. I’d need to fix that for tonight although I was pretty sure I would definitely have a hangover in the morning.
The phone began ringing just as I got comfortable. I let out a groan and saw Halley’s name. “Hello?”
“Hey! You better be ready for tonight, we’re going to have so much fun!” She was practically shrieking in the phone. I held it away from my ear for a second to be able to not have my eardrum busted out.
“Oh I am ready trust me. I need to get my outfit together.”
“Oh, wear your boots! We can match. How awesome would that be? Meet me at seven at the apartment, I have a limo picking us up because neither of us will be able to see straight tonight.”
Yay, nothing I love more than blurry vision. Blurry vision usually leads to bad decisions, but I didn’t foresee any bad decisions coming my way. All I saw was a fun night with my best friend a week before she said I do to the man of her dreams.
“Sounds good, I’ll be there. I can’t wait!” I hung up the phone and looked at Luke who was smiling at me.
“She said she has a
limo to bring us out, but would you pick me up tonight? I don’t want to ride in a limo drunk. I don’t know those people.”
“Yeah babe, just call me when you’re ready. I hope you have fun tonight.”
I stuck my lip out and began pouting. I really wished he could come and I knew if it weren’t a bachelorette party he would be there alongside me. We didn’t like to go out without the other one, except for occasions like this. Going to the bar alone was nothing but asking for trouble.
“I will have fun I’ll just miss the hell out of you. But when we get home I can show you how much I missed you.” Provocatively I teased him, raising the hem of my shirt. I straddled his lap and then brought my lips to his, parting them with my tongue.
I pulled away and went to get up when he pushed me down on the couch and positioned himself on top of me. “Can I pretty please get a sneak preview of that?”
I stared into his eyes and melted, “Of course you can.”
I leaned up to kiss him and he ran his hand up my stomach to my bra. I quivered and let out a moan. His other hand was tangled in my hair. He ran his hand down my stomach to my sweat pants which I raised up to help him remove them. He teased me until I begged him to take me and believe me; he made it so worth it.
*****
It was six thirty and I had thirty minutes to get to Halley’s. I sprayed some spray gel onto my hair and scrunched my waves then pinned half my hair back. I put on a pair of blue jean shorts that normally would be too short to wear but they did look amazing with my boots and it’s not every day you are with your best friend celebrat
ing her last night of freedom. I also wore a pink sequin tank top that maybe showed more cleavage than I was used to. Luke was supportive though and knew why I was wearing what I was. He knows he’s the only man for me. I mean Halley informed me she had a skirt on that she could hardly bend over in and a black and green sequin halter top that her breasts literally popped out of. I’d say we were looking for trouble tonight. Hopefully we didn’t find too much of it.
Luke wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. Oh how I was going to miss him tonight. I couldn’t wait to be back home and in his arms. I can’t believe what a sap I’d become but who cares.
“I sure am going to miss you tonight baby. Don’t forget call or text me when you’re ready for me to come get you.”
“You know you could always just be at the bar but hiding in the shadows so I can sneak up and get a kiss anytime I want.” The idea sounded good to me but instead he frowned and shook his head no. So much for that one.
His arms were still around my waist and I inched closer to fill the small space that remained. I rested my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was the most amazing soothing sound I’d ever heard. If I wasn’t getting ready to go to Halley’s, I probably could have fallen asleep for a few minutes.
I liked my comfort zone with Luke. As excited as I was to have a girl’s night with Halley and a few girls she knew from school, I knew I wasn’t going to be at my best until I was literally wasted. Who knows, even then it may make it worse. I vowed I would not be a Debbie downer tonight.
I slowly raised my head off his chest and pouted my lip out. “I know. I’m just really going to miss you.”
“Go have fun babe, you deserve it and I will be there waiting to pick you up and haul you back here. I am jealous other men get to see
my fiancée in that outfit.” Now he was pouting. Great. I smacked his arm and then grinned provocatively.
“Maybe I could find a little something else to wear for you later.” I winked and he smacked my ass. I jumped and squealed then reached up to kiss his cheek. He turned his cheek and met my lips giving me the most perfect intimate kiss ever.
He started to run his hand through my hair and as much as I loved that, I pulled away. “Hey you’re going to mess up my hair silly boy. I better get going. I will be looking for you later.”
I pointed my finger at him and then touched his nose before leaning in to give him one last kiss.
Chapter 9
As I pulled up at Halley and Marcus’ apartment, I suddenly broke into a light sweat. Shit. Were Marcus and Trevor going to be here? I hoped not. I know Marcus was having his bachelor party tonight too but Halley had planned it to where they were never in the same bar as we were. My eyes roamed the area several times over before I finally accepted that I didn’t see Marcus’ car. I checked my face in my mirror one more time before I got out the car and locked it.
I didn’t even knock on the door, I just let myself in. Halley was in the kitchen in, no lie, exactly what she told me she was wearing. She looked like she should be working the corner tonight with how short that skirt was.
“Geez Halley. You looking to give someone a good time tonight?’
She jumped at the sound of my voice and turned around to smack me in the arm. I deserved it.
“Shut up, like yours is any better!”
I laughed then graciously accepted the shot of whiskey she gave me. Since I didn’t drink like I used to, it almost burned going down. But it still tasted pretty damn good to me.