Romance: Love Left Behind - A Mystery Romance: (Romance, Mystery, Mystery Romance, Romantic Suspense) (12 page)

“How did Ben end up here?” Starla asked weakly.

Ben was shaking his head, a mixture of anger and distress fighting on his face. “Katie called me,” he said. “Katie called me and told me what happened. I came right away. I swear to God –” He paused, his body shaking so hard that Starla thought he might explode. He took a few deep gulps of air to calm himself before resuming, “I swear to God if Blair ever comes after you again, I’ll kill him.”

“Where is Blair?”

“He’s sitting in jail,” Katie piped in. “Nobody could deny what he was doing to you anymore. He’s going to go away for a long time, Starla.”

The room began to swim in front of her eyes. Everything was getting hazy and Starla was so tired. “He’s in jail?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Ben said, “and I promise you that nobody will ever hurt you like that again.”

Her eyes fluttered shut and the world vanished as Starla fell into a gentle sleep once more.

She was running through a field of wildflowers, deep purple wildflowers that swayed in the breeze. As she pumped her arms and legs, she realized that her skin bore no bruises or cuts. For the first time in years, her body bore no signs of the abuse and pain she had endured on a weekly basis. Seeing her body in its natural state made her feel whole rather than broken. She was free, free to live her life however she wanted to. Collapsing into the field, the flowers crushed beneath her to create a bed. Everything seemed so natural.

Clouds shaped like butterflies floated across the wide expanse of vibrant blue sky. She had never seen such a luminous blue. She had the urge to steal some blue from the heavens and paint herself in it and dance around and around in the field until her legs could no longer stand it. She felt like Alice in Wonderland.

A bumpy green toad hopped up to her, jumping onto her hand. “You can stay here,” said the toad, “and live here forever and ever. It’s a nice place, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes,” said Starla. “But I’m afraid I can’t stay here.”

“Why not? The sun is always shining, the flowers are always swaying in the wind, and there’s never a care in the world,” the toad replied.

Starla thought about it for a minute. It was such a beautiful place. There was a peace that settled in between every flower and blade of grass like she had never experienced before. Thoughtfully she said, “I suppose I can’t stay here because I’ve got people who love me back in the real world. They’ve given up so much for me, so shouldn’t I be there for them?”

The toad hopped back onto the ground. It landed with a squish in the dirt. With its beady black eyes staring at her, it said, “Any world can be the real world if you think hard enough.”

The room was nearly empty when she woke up, except for Ben, who was propped in a barely-cushioned hospital chair. He looked exhausted.

“How are you still awake?” Starla asked incredulously. “Not to be mean, Ben, but you look awful.”

He gave a brief nod of agreement before saying, “I haven’t slept since I heard you were in the hospital. I drove down right away from the city and I’ve been here ever since. This is all my fault. If I never took you to the city, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Starla shrugged as much as her broken body would allow her to. “That’s not really true. I knew it was coming eventually. There were many times when I should have left but I stayed. That’s on me.”

“No it isn’t,” Ben argued fiercely. “Nobody ever deserves to be hit like this. Especially not you.” He stood up unsteadily from the chair and walked until he was right by the bed. Grabbing Starla’s hand, he said, “You deserve the absolute world. I want to give that to you, Star. I’m so sorry about what happened in the city…”

“It doesn’t matter,” she interrupted.

“But it does! It does matter. You were right about everything. I should have ended things with Mina on the spot. Instead I pushed you away the same way I’ve done over and over again. I chose someone I wasn’t in love with and I let you go back to your piece of shit boyfriend. It’s because I’m so madly in love with you that I don’t know what to do with myself sometimes. I’m so afraid of hurting you that you end up in these awful and painful situations where you get hurt even worse. But that’s all over. It’s over right now. Because today, Starla Bluff, I’m letting you know that there is nothing that I want more in the entire world than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Starla looked taken aback at the words coming out of Ben’s mouth. When she was younger she used to dream about this day. Right now it was all just a shock. In just a short time they had reconvened, had sex, and had explored the city. Blair was in jail. Her entire world was turning upside down.

“So what now?” she asked. Those were the only words she could muster up the courage to say.

Ben smiled and squeezed her hand, trying to send comforting vibes to the love of his life. “What now is that you recover and I take care of you. Then I’ll whisk you away to somewhere lovely. If you agree to it, I’d love for you to move into my apartment in the city. Mina is done. She’s moved out. I want you to come live with me so that I can love you and protect you forever.” He spoke fervently, his jumbled words spilling out and tumbling all over the hospital bed. “I know I sound a bit crazy right now and maybe I’m not making a lot of sense. But it’s because I’ve finally realized how my life is supposed to go. And that’s with you.”

She squeezed his hand back. “You’ve hurt me a lot, Ben.” She paused. “Can you help me sit up?”

He pressed a button on the side of the hospital bed. The bed screeched, a dull metallic sound, but then rose. Soon Starla was in a sitting position. She closed her eyes and breathed in. “It’s nice,” she said.

“What? Sitting up?” asked Ben.

“Being alive.”

Taken aback, Ben couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He glanced around the room to see if any doctors or nurses were around. When he saw that they were not, he gently nudged Starla to the side and climbed into bed with her. She smiled and leaned into him.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you too,” she whispered. She planted a tender kiss on his collarbone. “Please don’t let me go.”

“Never again,” he replied. “Never again.”

Neither of them moved. They just sat in bed and held each other. As Starla drifted off once more into a restful sleep – the result of all of her pain medicine – Ben stared down at the girl he had once almost lost and thanked the universe for putting them back together.

Love isn’t always easy. In fact, the right love is rarely easy. Love is something that you will spend your entire life searching for but might never find. The good kind of love comes to you but you can’t just take it. You must work for it. Loving someone is a full-time job. But when you find the person you are meant to be with, you will know. When you’re apart, every fiber of your being will miss them. Your morning thoughts and uneasy dreams will forever hold your face.

Ben knew that he and Starla still had a long way to go. All that mattered in that moment was that they were finally together. No, love wasn’t always easy. But at the end of the day, it was worth it.

Thank You

I hope you enjoyed this story and would love to know what you thought about it. If you have a moment to spare, I would appreciate it if you could leave a review of this book at Amazon. Your opinion goes a long way in helping others decide if a book is for them.

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Paige

Booklist

Links to the other books by Paige Powers:

http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Growing-Love-Paige-Powers-ebook/dp/B00MUEKFPY

http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Reflection-Love-Young-Adult-ebook/dp/B00NH192GC

http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Love-Paige-Powers-ebook/dp/B00QPHUMPK

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Forever-Leap-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B00QO03ZXO