Unconditional Love (Journey of Love 1)

Tristan walked in behind Ryn and said, “Come on y’all, or we are going to be late. I’m ready to get my dance on.”

I glanced over and looked at Lark talking to some guy. He was our age and I was guessing Lark knew him from high school. When Lark threw his head back and laughed, I suppressed the whimper I wanted to let out.

Everyone was so incredibly nice and they all seemed to love Lark. Although everyone here called him Michael except for Tristan, Ryn, and me. Scott had told me Lark began going by his middle name after Nikki died. I had no idea what the hidden meaning was behind why he did that and I would never ask him.

Tristan walked up to me and smiled. As I glanced up at him, I smiled back. He was just as handsome as Lark. Same height and build and almost the same smile. I’d never seen a smile like Lark’s. It melted my heart and I swore I fell more in love with him every time he smiled at me.

“Care to dance with me?” He glanced at Ryn, who was sitting at the other end of the table talking to Peter. Tristan seemed to treat Ryn more like a friend. There were a few times she went to kiss him and he would just smile and turn away. Other times he kissed her with so much passion I had to look away.

I looked back up at Tristan and nodded my head as I held my hand out for him. Jason Aldean’s “Even if I Wanted To Be” began playing, and we both started dancing. We didn’t speak for the first minute or so. I finally pulled away some and said, “Why are you with Ryn?”

His face was shocked, but then he slowly smiled. “My brother said you were a smart one. Does it show that much?”

I smiled slightly and said, “Maybe not to everyone, but it does to me.”

He tilted his head and asked, “What shows?”

I quickly looked at Ryn and then looked back at Tristan. “One thing that stands out is you love to dance and she doesn’t.”

He nodded and said, “True.”

I continued on. “She seems like she is a safe pick for you. After talking to her, I know she is focused on her career big time. She works a lot and likes to have fun. So I’m guessing she isn’t pressuring you to settle down.”

He stared at me, not saying a word. “I’m guessing there might be another girl in there somewhere? Am I right?”

He closed his eyes and smiled and then opened them again. “Her name is Liberty and she is the polar opposite of Ryn.”

I let out a giggle and said, “That scares you?”

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t necessarily think it scares me. She just wants…more. I’m not ready for more. But I think when I am, Liberty is who I should be with. She is smart, has a good head on her shoulders and would be a good fit for me.”

I nodded.

Tristan pulled back and smiled and said, “I have to tell you, Azurdee, I haven’t seen my brother this happy in a very long time. You know about Nikki, right?”

I nodded my head and said, “Yes.”

Tristan looked over toward Lark, who was still talking to the same guy. When he looked back at me his expression changed. “He also told me you know he is still in the Marines.”

I sucked in a breath of air. “You know?”

“I’m the only other person besides you who knows. He wanted to let someone else know just in case. Well, I mean. Ah…”

Tristan must know what Lark does in the Marine Corps.

“It’s okay, Tristan. I don’t pressure Lark to tell me anything. I figured if he needed me to know he would tell me. It was a mistake on his part that I even found out. I had my suspicions, but I would never pressure him. I love him too much.”

The smile that spread across Tristan’s face caused me to smile. “What are you smiling so big about?” I asked.

“You have no idea how much my brother is in love with you, do you?”

The same feeling I had when Joyce said Lark was in love with me happened again. I gripped onto Tristan harder and looked at Lark, who was now watching Tristan and me dance. He smiled and I quickly looked back at Tristan.

“Azurdee, just be patient with him. He’s guarded his heart for so long, afraid to let anyone else in for fear they would leave him like Nikki did. Her death really messed him up. He just needed to find the one person who would be able to wake up those feelings again.”

I smiled slightly and whispered, “I’m not Nikki, though.”

He laughed and said, “No, you are not. Nikki was Lark’s safety net. She was his Ryn. Lark was planning on asking Nikki to marry him.”

I momentarily stopped breathing and looked away. Panic began filling my chest and I wasn’t sure why. I looked back at Tristan and gave him a confused look.

“She would have said no, and Lark knew there was no way in hell she would say yes. She was the type of girl who wanted to do things her way, was completely career driven and just wanted to have fun with no ties. When she left to go on that trip to the coast, Lark was devastated. They had planned to spend time together at our grandparents’ condo in New Mexico. Nikki found out a couple friends were heading to the coast, so she dropped Lark for them. Nikki knew Lark was hurt by it and that’s why she decided to come home a day earlier. She wanted to make it up to him, but she did shit like that to him all the time. Made plans and dropped them. Lark has felt guilty for her death ever since. He told me once if he hadn’t made her feel guilty for leaving on that trip, maybe she would still be alive.”

The song had ended and another song began playing. I shook my head and asked, “If Lark knew she wasn’t the type to settle down, why was he planning on asking her to marry him if he thought she would say no?”

Tristan shrugged. “Same reason I brought Ryn home to meet my parents and not Liberty. The idea of settling down but knowing you never really will. If I had brought Liberty to meet my parents, Liberty and my mother would have begun planning our wedding. No way in hell I’m ready for that. Ryn makes me happy. She is fun, sexy as hell, and just enjoys me for me. She could care less I have money. There is no pressure, no expectations with Ryn. I think that was how Nikki was for Lark, but deep down inside I think Lark truly wanted all of the other things, he just knew he would never get them with Nikki, even though he wanted to believe he would. I think he would have waited forever for her…or until he met someone who made him want more. You’re the one who makes Lark want more, Azurdee. Don’t ever think he is comparing you to Nikki. The way he looks at you—I’ve never seen him look at another girl that way, not even Nikki.”

I shook my head and said, “I would never hurt him.”

He nodded and said, “I know. That’s not what I’m afraid of.”

I tiled my head and asked, “What do you mean?”

“I’m afraid he is going to be the one hurting you if he doesn’t open up his heart soon.”

I took a step back away from Tristan and was about to ask him another question, when my whole body came to attention because Lark placed his hand on the small of my back. I quickly looked up into his eyes. He was smiling, but the smile didn’t touch his eyes. He looked more concerned than anything.

“This sure looks like a serious conversation,” Lark said as he slowly looked away from me and over to his brother.

Tristan smiled and when I looked at him he winked. “Azurdee is beginning to panic about her place opening soon. I was trying to let her know not to worry. Sometimes things take longer to fall into place but those are usually the best things in life. The things we have to wait longer for.”

He slapped Lark on the back and began walking over to Ryn. He whispered something into her ear and she stood up and they began walking out of the dance hall.

Lark looked back at me and smiled. I smiled and tried like hell to calm my beating heart.

When Billy Currington’s “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right” began playing, Lark smiled so big it caused my stomach to drop.

“Dance with me, mi amor.”

I nodded, and when he pulled me up against his body I instantly relaxed. The way his body moved with mine made it feel like we were on

e. We didn’t speak at all as we danced.

Finally our silence was broken when Lark asked, “What were you and my brother talking about?”

I bit down on my lower lip. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t want him to think we were talking about him also. I pulled back and looked into his eyes and smiled slightly. “We talked about Ryn and Liberty. A little bit about you and me.”

His jaw tightened and he attempted to smile. “What about me and you?”

“Michael, may I cut in?”

I quickly looked and saw Lark’s father standing there with a smile on his face. I could tell by Lark’s body language he was not happy about this, but he smiled and held out his hand for his father to take the lead.

Peter took me into his arms and we took off two-stepping. I quickly found out where Lark and Tristan got all their charm.

“I daresay you are the most beautiful girl in the room, Azurdee,” Peter said with a sly smile.

“Hmm…do I detect a little bit of bribing about to head my way?” I said with a giggle. Peter threw his head back and laughed before looking at me again and saying, “Not only beautiful, but smart as well.”

“Oh yeah, a bribe is coming for sure,” I said as I smiled bigger. I looked across the room and saw that Lark was watching us. He had a slight smile on his face, which caused me to relax a little.

“What will it take to get you to talk my son into coming home more often? He hasn’t been home in months.”

I looked at Peter with a shocked look on my face. “I would figure he came home a lot. I would if this was home for me. It’s beautiful here.”

Peter shook his head and his eyes filled with sadness. “No, neither one of boys really come home very often. I had such dreams for them. They were both going to help me run the ranch and we would work together every day.” He tilted his head and frowned. “I guess they had dreams of their own though.”

I smiled slightly and said, “Lark talks so much about the ranch. I know he loves it here.” I glanced back over toward Lark. He was talking to Tristan and it appeared to be a serious conversation. When Lark looked back over to me he shook his head and turned to walk out. Panic filled my body from head to toe and I wasn’t sure why. Was he leaving? Did he get called away again? Did Tristan tell him we were talking about him and Nikki?