ERIK AND I HAD A BEAUTIFUL honeymoon at an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas. All-inclusive meant we really didn’t have to leave, which suited us fine most of the time. We did venture out for a few excursions, but they mostly turned into foreplay, and we couldn’t wait to get back to our room. By the time the honeymoon was over, I was certain that I was showing, but Erik said I was as beautiful as ever. We spent the next couple of weeks breaking the news to everyone and then getting back to our regular routine. Erik’s job kept him busy during the day and I usually got out of school before he was done, so dinner became my responsibility. I burned more dishes than I served for a few months, but then I got the hang of the basic stuff. Erik didn’t seem to mind. He ate whatever I prepared and complimented it, even when I was struggling to chew my way through a single bite. Life became a bit of a routine, but we always made time for each other, regardless of what challenges we faced during the day between school and work.
“The wedding photos came today.” I held up an envelope as Erik walked through the door.
“You didn’t open it?” He hung his jacket and walked towards me.
“I figured we could do it together. I’ve seen most of them on the website, but they included a few candid shots that might be fun to see.” I started tearing it open and hugged me as I shuffled through them.
“You were beautiful—still beautiful.” He put his hand on my stomach and kissed my neck.
“Yeah you better correct yourself.” I chuckled and kept moving through the photographs.
“Look at that one.” He pulled one out of my hand. “That is right before your father walked you down the aisle.”
“Right before Madison threatened to marry him.” I leaned against him and looked at the photograph.
“Say what now?” His words carried a bit of shock.
“Long story…oh wow.” I blinked as I looked at the photograph.
“What?” He looked closer at it.
“My father…” I pointed at his face in the photograph. “He’s actually smiling.”
“Damn…” Erik nodded. “You’re right.”
I felt a bit of joy seeing the smile on my father’s face. It felt like the moment came together perfectly. He might not be a man of many words or much emotion, but sometimes it did shine through. I knew he would have no choice but to show it when I put his granddaughter in his arms for the first time. I was beyond happy with Erik. I looked forward to many years together. With his help, I had gotten my life back on track and amplified it beyond anything that I ever imagined. I had the man of my dreams by my side and together, I felt like we could accomplish anything.
The End
If you would like to sign up for my mailing list to get information about future releases, and special extended-epilogues, click here!
Chapter 1: Heather
The sun had been down for a while and what was supposed to be a great trip to the Appalachian Mountains with friends had turned into a miserable tour of falling snow as I drove down a long, seemingly deserted road. Even the radio had given up on me as I fought between bouts of static for a brief melody of actual music. I didn’t even care if it was a genre I hated if it kept me company and reminded me I wasn’t alone in the world. Each push of the radio’s scan button brought a little bit of hope, but it wasn’t long until the static started again and the music was drowned out.
“Come on. Give me something.” I tapped the radio and hit the scan button again.
My cell phone was dying and I hadn’t even thought to pick up my car charger because I thought I would find the cabin I was searching for long before it ran out of juice. It wouldn’t have helped anyway because the reception was so bad my GPS couldn’t even get a signal. I stared at the spinning circle indicating it was searching for satellites, but it always timed out before anything was found.
Ugh.
I cranked the heater up another notch and tried to peer through the mixture of snow and ice forming on my windshield. The wiper kept pushing it out of my line of sight, but the cold outside was making it harder to defrost as the temperature dropped. I squinted my eyes against the darkness and tried to see with the abysmal light the high beams were managing to produce in the falling snow. Mostly I just got a reflection of snow that seemed to be falling in sheets instead of flakes.
Yeah, this is bad.
The situation was going to turn from bad to dangerous very soon if I didn’t find a road sign to guide me back to civilization. I wasn’t even sure where I took a wrong turn. I tried to remember the landmarks and follow my GPS even when the signal went out, but I had made a terrible mistake somewhere along the way. The road stretched on, my eyes got weary, and the gas meter signaled that the end of my journey was coming fast.
“Please, just a bar. A half a bar? A quarter of a bar?” I picked up my cell phone and tried to get a signal but I was still met with nothing. I even tried flipping it into airplane mode in hopes of somehow picking up a distant service tower, but it went right back to zero bars when I told it to search for a cellular signal.
Driving around in the dark until my car ran out of gas wasn’t going to help the situation and there was nothing for miles that I could see. It certainly didn’t help that my vision was fairly obscured by the frost on my windshield and the blinding snow falling in front of me. I let my car roll to a stop and kept the engine running as I thought about my situation.
Am I the only person on this freaking road?
I pulled my coat from the bag behind me and opened my door. I just needed to get a lay of the land and see if I could somehow get a signal if I wasn’t confined to my car. My coat did little to protect me from the elements as I wandered away from my headlights with my phone in the air, searching for any sign of service. I was met with a constant row of empty bars, and every step I took plunged me further into the darkness.
“Come on…” I muttered through chattering teeth.
I heard noises in the distance and felt fear creeping up my spine. It was cold, but there were still wild animals out there, especially in the mountains. I turned towards my car and quickly ran back to safety.