Taylor Lynne: The Women of Merryton - Book Two (30 page)

As I lay in bed that
night, I felt more and more like a teenager. I kept replaying everything in my
head; from the way Easton touched me, to how the ladies in the booth all oohed
and ahhed at me when I returned, except for Cheyenne, who looked defeated. I
almost felt bad for her. The town had definitely been buzzing, and unfortunately,
Landon and Veronica were front and center to witness it all. I saw Veronica on
her phone and had a feeling she was calling Kathryn to report the night’s
events. She kept covertly glancing at me while on the phone, and before she
left she made it a point to stop by the booth. “Well, aren’t you all the
picture of domestic bliss,” she hissed, glaring at me.

Thank goodness for
Cheyenne. “I think you got your holidays mixed up.”

“What do you mean?”
Veronica snapped.

“Since you’re wearing
your witch’s costume, I assumed you thought this was Halloween,” Cheyenne
replied, sounding oh-so-innocent.

Veronica looked down at
her short black dress and matching leather jacket. She looked back up with a
withering stare, but it had no effect.

“I think your broomstick
is double parked,” Cheyenne called out. Veronica walked away as fast as she
could.

I had to admire
Cheyenne’s audacity. I think the other ladies did, too. She didn’t even get
smacked for her comments.

I was trying not to worry
about Veronica or Kathryn. What could they do? Well, I knew the damage Kathryn
could do, but Easton was well over her and she lived in Denver.

I looked at my bedside
clock; it was well past midnight. I had texted Easton an hour ago that I would
keep Emmy for the night. She was upstairs with Ashley in her room. I still hadn’t
heard back from him—it must have been some emergency. I felt bad for him, but I
knew he was used to it.

I tossed and turned,
trying to get to sleep. Easton was consuming my every thought. I was going back
and forth in my mind on whether I should give him another chance. My heart was
leaning toward it. I found myself wishing I were in his arms at that very
moment. I wanted to hear him sing off-key in my ear and kiss his way down my
neck, like he used to do.

In the midst of
fantasizing about Easton, I heard a rap on my window. I grabbed my heart and my
phone. I was ready to call the police until I heard, “Taylor, it’s me.”

I looked at my phone—1:32
a.m. I rolled out of bed and threw on my silk robe before I opened my curtains to
see Easton standing outside my window. I knelt down and opened the old
wood-framed window. It squealed like it hadn’t been opened in years as I pulled
it up. I felt an immediate rush of cool air, but Easton’s presence had me
feeling warm enough.

“What are you doing here?
And why didn’t you come to the door?” I asked.

He leaned into the window
and smiled like he was the happiest guy in the world, although I could see how
tired his eyes were. He didn’t verbally answer me; instead he kissed me, hard
and deep. He had my lips parting in seconds. He drank me in like a man that had
lived through a drought. I ran my hands through his hair and pulled him as
close to me as I could through the window that separated us.

I hoped my neighbors
weren’t watching.

The kiss slowed until his
lips barely lingered on mine. “Hi,” he whispered.

“Hey there.”

“I’m sorry it’s late, but
I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

“You could have come to
the door.”

“I thought this was more
romantic, besides I didn’t want to wake up the girls.”

“Are you trying to romance
me?”

“Definitely.” He had the
sexiest voice ever.

“You know I know all your
moves.”

“You haven’t seen
anything; I have all new moves now.”

“Is that so?”

He lightly brushed his
hand across my face. “I’ve missed you, Taylor. Please say you’ll give me
another chance.”

I breathed deeply and
closed my eyes for a moment.

Easton kissed my forehead
and lingered.

Breathing him in was
calming my nerves. I had waves of emotion sweeping over me. Everything from courage
to being scared out of my mind, but in my heart of hearts I knew I would regret
walking away from him again. “I thought that kiss said it all.”

“I need to hear you say
it.”

“But what if … what if it
doesn’t work out?”

“I’m not going to let
that happen.”

I placed my hands on his
cheeks, the rough stubble scratching my fingers, and looked into his soulful
eyes. “Okay, you win. I’m all yours, but don’t you think we should keep it to
ourselves for a while? Not that the whole town doesn’t already think we’re
together, but maybe we should keep it low-key. I don’t want the girls to get
their hopes up.”

He shook his head. “I
don’t want to keep this from anybody, especially the girls. I want this to be
above board. I want the world to know we’re together.”

“Promise me we’ll take
things slow.”

He groaned and leaned his
forehead against mine. “We’ll take it as slow as you need it to be.”

I brushed my lips against
his. He took that as an invitation and before I knew it my lips were parting.
His kiss had never tasted so sweet. When his lips left mine I was longing for
more.

“I better go before I
can’t hit the brakes. Get some rest, my love. Tomorrow—or I guess later today—starts
Taylor and Easton chapter two. And it’s going to blow chapter one out of the
water.”

I laughed at his
playfulness. “Be careful driving home.”

He kissed me gently once
more.

“Are you sure about
this?” I asked one more time.

He ran the back of his
hand down my cheek. “I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.”

“This isn’t going to be
easy, you know.”

“It was never meant to
be.”

And maybe that was where
we went wrong the first time. We thought it was supposed to be easy, not
realizing marriage is probably the hardest thing we would ever choose to do.
And it was something you had to keep on choosing.

***

We tried to keep things
low-key that first weekend. We sat our daughters down and talked to them about
it, and they both gave their overwhelming approval. In fact, they had been
trying their hardest to make sure it happened. I hoped it all didn’t end in
heartbreak—there were now four hearts on the line.

It was important for me
to let the girls get used to the change before the town blew up, so we spent
the weekend in Denver, just the four of us. Easton was a sport and trekked his
way through a dozen shoe stores with us until Ashley found the perfect pair of
silver strappy heels to match her dress. I noticed the girls watching us a lot
as we held hands or kissed—we kept those G rated when they were around—but they
both seemed happy about the turn of events.

After the girls had gone
to bed that night, Easton and I snuggled together on the couch in the hotel
suite Easton had booked.

With my head against his
chest, he kissed the top of my head. “This was the best day I’ve had in a long
time,” he commented.

“Even though most of it
was spent shoe shopping?”

“We could have watched
paint dry. As long as we were all together, that’s all that matters to me.”

“You’re a good dad.”

He wrapped his arms
around me tighter. “Thank you for saying that.”

“I mean it. The girls are
lucky to have you.”

He sighed. “I worry that
Ashley will grow up and hate me because she’ll realize how much I really missed
out on her life, and Emmy will resent me for what I put her through with
Kathryn. You don’t know how painful it has been to hear from her therapist the
damage Kathryn did to her. I thought I was doing my best to make up for
Kathryn’s neglect, but I fell short and my daughter is suffering for it.”

I rubbed his arms. “The
good thing is Emmy’s young and you’re already getting her the helps she needs.
Both girls know you love them. Ashley chose to come here. She chose you, even
against my wishes.”

“And what are you wishes
now?” he whispered in my ear.

He still had the touch.
Goosebumps erupted all over my body. “Well, for starters, I think we should
quit talking for a while.”

I barely finished my
sentence before his lips found mine. The kiss, while passionate and spine tingling,
was brief. We had both decided we didn’t want a physical relationship getting
in the way of a real relationship. We already knew we were physically compatible—more
than compatible—which is why we were trying to be cautious. If we were going to
make this work, we needed to be connected emotionally and spiritually in a way
we never were before. Sex was not the glue we needed right now to make us come
together.

“Do you know how much
harder it is this go around not to make love to you?” Easton whispered.

“Believe me, I know. Promise
me this time we won’t end up engaged in front of a laundromat and married at
the courthouse.”

“Hey, that’s not why I
asked you to marry me. Besides, I have my own laundry room now.”

“I’ll be sure to stay
clear of that room.” I teased.

He laughed low in my ear.
“I’m not going to lie and tell you I don’t miss that part of our relationship,
but there are other aspects I missed much more.”

“Like what?”

“Like holding you in my
arms after a long day and talking to you. You were the best friend I ever had. And
I missed our little weekend adventures, and dancing in the kitchen.”

I snuggled into him more.
“I missed those things, too.”

“I feel like I have my
partner back, the best part of me; I feel whole again.

I nodded against him.

“Taylor?”

“Yeah.”

“I want you to know that
you can talk to me about anything. Even if you don’t think I’ll like it or it
may upset me. I want you to know there is nothing you can say to me to make me
think less of you. I’m here for you.”

I sat up and looked into
his sincere eyes. I ran my hand across his cheek. “Thank you,” I said, barely
above a whisper.

“We’re going to make this
work,” he promised.

***

We made our foray into
public life at the homecoming game. Believe me, everyone in town knew we were a
couple by then but we hadn’t been seen together until that night.

October arrived and along
with it came a cold front. I was trying to figure out how many layers I could
wear to the game and still walk and sit normally. Poor Ashley and the whole
homecoming court were supposed to wear their dresses as they were being
presented at halftime. Spencer was going to be her escort. So far, I was
impressed with the kid. He had been polite and respectful anytime he had been
over. And apparently his kisses weren’t slimy. I wasn’t sure that was a good
thing. I hadn’t mentioned that to Easton, yet.

Easton, Emmy, and I
headed to the game together. Ashley went with a group of girlfriends, because
how cool is it to show up with your parents? At least Emmy still thought we had
it going on, along with the rest of the town, though they did their best not to
stare at us while totally staring at us. One person that did not make any
attempt to cover up the fact she was studying us was Veronica. Did she and
Landon have to come to every event in town? I knew he was the mayor and all,
but please. When I noticed her I scooted in closer to Emmy, who sat between
Easton and me. Easton easily put his arm around both of us.

“I already can’t feel my
face,” I complained a few minutes before the game started.

Easton leaned over Emmy
and whispered in my ear, “I’ll warm it back up after the game.”

I shook my head at him
and smiled. At least I think I did, my mouth didn’t seem to be working right. I
was missing the South more than ever. I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive
the winter if this was what October was like.

Ashley sat a few rows
ahead of us with her friends. Being the best big sister ever, she motioned for
Emmy to come sit with her and her friends. Emmy’s face lit up like a Christmas
tree at the inclusion. Easton beamed, too. I loved how much the girls loved
each other. And I had to admit I didn’t mind getting to snuggle into Easton. It
was so cold I almost threw propriety out the window and sat on his lap with the
blanket we brought wrapped around us, but I behaved.

“I like this arrangement.”
Easton pulled me close.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Shane,
Abby’s husband, said when they sat next to us.

Abby rolled her eyes at
her husband and greeted us as well.

“Where are Jessie and
Blake?” I asked

“Maddie’s not feeling
well,” Abby replied.

“That’s too bad,” I
responded.

“That’s what our son
thought, too,” Shane added.