“How much longer before dinner?”
“An hour,” she practically panted, “maybe more.”
“Perfect.” I hooked her waist and spun her around, backing her toward the countertop to my right. With one hand on each hip, I lifted her and placed her on top. With her legs parted, I moved in quickly and cupped her face with my hand, pulling her mouth toward my own. “I’m planning on using every single minute of that hour to devour you.”
God damn there wasn’t a thing I didn’t fucking love about this girl. She destroyed me in the best possible way, and all I wanted from that day forward was more of her. She owned me, and I don’t even think she understood just how much.
Chapter Twenty-Three
AJ
I sat in the booth in the back of the diner. My books were spread out in front of me, my third cup of coffee before me and a half-eaten bagel on the plate to my left. It was hard to believe that graduation was just around the corner. This would be that last time I completed finals or sat in a college course. Life and the dreams I held were becoming more real with each passing day. Only now, those dreams were also filled with Rhett.
For the last seven months, I’d been lost in love. He made me so happy, and the way he loved me back was almost surreal. I used to wish he’d notice me, wish for the chance to be his, and there we were, together. Nothing had ever felt this amazing.
“Hello, Allison.” I lifted my head, looking into the face of my mother, and that happy bliss I’d felt only moments ago faded. “Your father says you’ve been staying with your boyfriend.”
Instead of replying, I continued to stare at the woman who at one time I could have considered one of my best friends. As a little girl, I idolized her and wished that one day I could be as kind and as beautiful as her.
I watched as she hesitantly slid into the booth opposite me, and I instantly noticed the timid behavior of her movements. “I know that it’s wrong of me to ask you to forgive me, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping that one day you’ll be able to.” When she started talking, I wanted so much to just get up and walk away, but the little girl inside me, the one who longed for that mother-daughter relationship, held me in place. “I wish I could go back and change the choices I’ve made. Go back and right all the wrongs I’ve done to not only you girls but your father too. None of you deserved the things I inflicted, and I’ll never be able to accept myself for the pain I caused all of you. Sometimes I find it impossible to like myself.”
She blinked back the tears, and I could feel that tightening in my own chest as I allowed her confession to roll around in my mind. I was so conflicted about what I should feel and what I felt. I wanted to tell her that I hated her, but deep down I knew I didn’t. I also wanted to reassure her that one day I’d let go of the pain, but I knew I couldn’t. Because right then, that pain still felt too raw.
“I can’t promise with time I’ll be able to let go of the past, but maybe one day.” It was all I could give her; even that little felt like too much. Part of me wanted to hold a grudge forever, because she took something away from me, something away from Raven, that we both needed.
Our mother.
“I hope so,” she whispered. “Because there’s nothing I want more than to be a part of your life and of Raven’s. I know I have no one to blame other than myself for the wedge that’s driven between us, but I’m willing to do whatever I need to in order to be a part of your lives again. Even if it’s only a small part, I’ll accept it. Because that small space is better than nothing.”
I watched in silence as she stood and turned toward the exit. I remained seated as she stepped outside and began walking toward an older Ford Escape with rusted quarters and peeling paint. I took one slow breath after another as I tried to hold back the raw emotions I felt bubbling inside of me. But the more I tried, the harder it became, and in that instant, there was only one place I wanted to be, and that was in Rhett’s arms.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rhett
“Grab the left side,” Dad hollered out as he lifted the large barrel from the trailer. “This is heavier than it looks.” Hurrying to his side, I lifted the barrel and grunted, which only caused him to laugh. “Told you.”
“What the hell is in this? Concrete?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Feed for the pigs.”
One by one we moved the barrels off the trailer toward the barn while Grandpa and Uncle Gavin stood almost knee-deep in pig shit inside the pen. I had to admit I was much happier with my job than being forced to perform theirs. There was nothing appealing about shoveling pig shit.
With my back to the drive, I heard a car door closing and looked back over my shoulder. Long, blonde hair blew in the wind and flowed through the air behind her as she rounded the front of a bright-red car. My hands shook, and I swear I felt like I’d stopped breathing for a moment.
“Is that…” My father didn’t finish his question, because he didn’t have to. I nodded my head, still not moving.
I watched, and almost as if it was all in slow motion,
