Where is she? She was just here.
The knock came again, softer this time. The door handle rattled. I heard the shuffling of booted feet on the porch. A man’s heavy boots.
“Maddie, it’s me.”
The deep timbre coming from the other side of the door sounded perfect, a voice I would recognize anywhere. Anytime.
A sigh of relief whooshed out of me. Why was he knocking? What’s going on? If this is a new way to get me angry, he was doing a good job at it.
Holding Emma with one hand, I unlocked and opened the door. A cool breeze blew against me, tossing my hair around my shoulders. The sunlight blinded me for a second, making me squint against the glare. But it didn’t matter. I only cared about the man standing before me.
Ryder.
From his boots to the top of his perfectly tousled hair, the man was magnificent. He took up most of the doorway. His muscular chest was wide and his stance was one of power. His five-o’clock shadow made him look dangerous and deadly. His strong jaw flexed, making me want to reach out and touch it. But it was his eyes that always got to me. They could make me burn with desire, heat me with rage, or look at me with love. But today his eyes were hidden behind the shadows of a hat.
“Ryder, you scared me to death! What are you doing here? And why are you knocking?” I asked, irritated.
Without answering me, he shifted to the right. That’s when I saw everyone behind him. Janice, Roger, Brody, Cash, Gavin, and Eva. Eva? She stood with a big grin on her face, a satisfied smile that had me concerned.
“Ryder?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper as I looked back at him.
He just stared at me, not saying a word. A closed off expression was on his face, one that I had seen so many times. What’s going on?
Feeling stunned, I watched as Janice walked around Ryder. Stopping beside me, she reached for Emma. Dazed, I let Janice take her from me. She smiled, tears in her eyes.
Ryder never took his eyes off of me as his mom returned with Emma to stand beside the others. I shifted to my other foot, growing warm under his scrutiny. My body hummed, something it did quite a bit around him. With just one look, he could make me want him. Need him like nothing else. It was very unfair.
He grabbed the brim of his hat and pulled it off his head. Holding the ball cap in his hands, his hair blew in the wind. He ran his fingers through the strands, making it spike up all over. His eyes slowly moved up my body, touching me everywhere. Where I wanted his hands to be.
I felt a blush color my cheeks. He noticed it too. His eyes flared with desire before dropping to my lips.
“Ryder, what’s going on?” I asked, taking a step toward him.
“There’s something I want to do,” he said, holding out a hand to stop me from coming closer. “Something I should have done a long time ago.”
As he spoke, everything disappeared. The breeze wrapping around me. The sunlight shining down on us. Our family watching us. There was only him and me and this moment.
He swallowed nervously, his eyes on me.
“This is where I was standing when I first met you,” he said, pointing to the wooden porch at his feet.
“I remember,” I whispered.
“And I’m still the same boy that stood here when I was nine, looking at the girl that would drive me crazy for the rest of my life,” he said.
Taking a step closer, he stood in the threshold.
“This is the door I walked through a million times to get to you. The door that always led me back to you,” he said, hoarsely.
Without warning, he reached around me, tossing his hat into the kitchen.
I watched as it missed its mark and fell beneath the table, landing on the old floor.
When I looked back at him, the world fell away. My lungs forgot to breathe, my heart forgot to beat. I never heard him move. I never saw what was coming.
He stood in the doorway, towering over me. In his hand was a small box I recognized. A box from my past. A box I knew would be my future.
“This is the spot where I want to marry you, Maddie. The spot where we first met. The place where I met my best friend.”
Words escaped me. Tears filled my eyes.
Taking a step inside, his body brushed against mine. I started to step back but he grabbed my hand, keeping me close to him, his fingers holding mine.
“This is where I want to marry the woman I love.” His voice dropped, his words barely a whisper. “Marry me, Maddie. Right now.”
Letting go of my hand, he opened the small box. My mother’s box. The one I had seen my dad handle with care. Reaching inside, Ryder pulled out a simple gold band. My mother’s wedding ring.
“Ryder?” I asked, looking up at him with shock.
“Your dad gave it to me the night we made it home.” he said.
Tears ran down my cheeks as the memory of that night returned.
“That night you left the bedroom but he asked me to stay. Remember?” Ryder said.
I nodded, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“I told him that I loved you and that I’d always love you. But he surprised me and said he already knew and saw it every time you and I were together.”
I smiled sadly, remembering how my dad always teased about Ryder and I giving him grandchildren. You were right, Dad.
“I told him that I was going to marry you,” he said.
“But that was before you admitted you loved me,” I said, surprised.
“It’s always been you, Maddie,” he said, brushing a stray tear away from my face. “I told your dad that no matter what happened, no matter what hell we had to go through, I would always take care of you. I loved you too much not to.”
His hand went under my hair, grasping the back of my neck gently. Lowering his head, his lips brushed against mine. A gentle kiss, one that promised much more.
“I may be a sonofabitch but I’ll always love you,” he whispered against my lips. “You’re my everything.”
“I love you,” I said. “Forever and always.”
Looking down, he slipped the ring on my finger, holding my hand in his. As soon as the ring was on, his lips captured mine, a promise behind his kiss of things to come. A promise of forever.
Then he whispered the words that I would remember until the day I took my last breath.
“I love you, Maddie. You’re my past. My present. My future. You’re my life. And I will always love you.”
Taking my hand, he pressed something into my palm.
I looked down.
It was a wrinkled picture of two kids. Smiling. Happy. Inseparable.
Best friends.
In love.
Forever.
Epilogue
“Daddy!”
I bent down to catch Emma as she raced toward me. Her little legs ran through the grass, her bare toes peeking beneath her dress. Dark hair bounced down her back, long like her mother’s.
“Hey, gorgeous!” I said, gathering her close. Her tiny arms reached around my neck, squeezing me with more strength than any two year old had the right to have.
I stood up, holding her in my arms. She pulled back to look at me, her hands fiddling with the hair on the back of my neck.
“Where you been, Daddy?”
Eyes so much like my own stared back at me. Emma might be the spitting image of her mother but she had my eyes. They were bright blue fringed with dark lashes, holding a stubbornness in them that I recognized too well. Dark brown hair framed a perfect, oval shaped face, one that would probably drive men nuts when she grew up. The thought made me want to punch something solid.
She was petite, just like her mother. Gavin had started calling her short stuff, something that I found cute but hell if I would admit it.
“I’ve been visiting your aunt and uncle,” I said, carrying her toward the house.
A frown crossed Emma’s face. One that I had seen Maddie make numerous times when I frustrated her.
“Why?” Emma asked, her favorite
word.
“I was helping Aunt Eva and Uncle Brody cut timber to heat their house for this winter,” I explained.
Three years after the EMP, we were still without electricity. Millions of people had died and more were still suffering but the country was slowly recovering. The war still continued, but most of the fighting occurred overseas now. Most of the enemy had been forced out but a few remaining pockets remained. The government was slowly restoring power to the country but it was a slow process.
As for me, I had never been happier. I had two beautiful girls with another on the way.
“Where Avin and Cass?”
I wanted to chuckle at Emma’s attempt to say Gavin and Cash but I couldn’t. I was worried shitless about them. They had taken off weeks ago to find Cash’s younger sister, the only one left of his family. We hadn’t heard one word from them. I know Maddie thought of them night and day. Hell, I did too. I just hoped they were okay.
“Gavin and Cash will be home soon,” I told Emma, praying it was true.
Emma’s tiny fingers reached up and pushed the brim of my ball cap. It was our routine. She pushed my ball cap until it fell off. I tickled her until she gave up. But just like her mother, she never gave up.
“Where’s your mother?” I asked, holding her tight as she wiggled in my arms.
She stuck a finger in her mouth and pointed toward the house.
Pulling my hat further down on my head, I glanced toward my home.
That’s when I saw her. Maddie. Her hair was loose today, just the way I liked it. It made it easier to tangle my fingers in. Something I probably did too much of but, hell, I could never get enough of her.
I watched her walk toward me, just as much in love with her now as I had been years ago. In my mind, I saw her as a little girl, egging me to race her across the pastures and fields. Daring me to climb the highest tree. I saw her as a teenager, awkward and headstrong, driving me crazy with her beauty. Making me want to spend every waking moment with her and hating myself for it. I saw her as a college student, dancing close to me on the dance floor, smiling at me with heat in her eyes. Proving to me that I could love without fear.
“Hey,” I said, stopping in front of her.
She smiled at me and reached to take our daughter.
The two girls I loved more than life itself were now standing in front of me.
“We missed you, Ryder,” Maddie said, reaching out to touch me.
I beat her to it. Pulling her against my body, I put my hand on her hip, Emma between us.
“God, Maddie, I missed you too,” I said, my hand moving lower. My fingers trailed along her bottom.
She blushed, her eyes becoming smoky with desire.
That look drove me fucking nuts.
Leaning over, my lips found her ear, kissing the skin beneath it.
“I need you,” I whispered.
Her hand wrapped around my neck, keeping me next to her.
“I’m all yours,” she said, seductively.
I watched as she walked away, looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes promising things that I only dreamed of doing with her years ago.
I saw her as she was now. Maddie. My wife. The mother to my daughter and unborn child. My best friend. The woman I couldn’t live without. The woman I loved.
Always.
Acknowledgements
First off, I have to thank my husband for putting up with me when I had very little sleep and too much caffeine. Without him, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to publish my books. Thank you, John, for putting in hours to help me make my dream come true.
Thank you to my children for being patient with me while I finished ‘just one more sentence.’
Thank you to my agent, MacKenzie Fraser-Bub of Trident Media Group, for everything you do to support and encourage me.
Thank you to Celeste and all the girls at The Book Hookup for everything y’all have done for me – from spreading the love for my books to organizing my blog tour – THANK YOU! Y’all rock!
Thanks to my beta readers: Emily, Kathy, and Dympna of TheSubClubbooks, Trisha Rai of Devoured Words Book Blog, Alicia Bailey, Vilma of Vilma’s Book Blog, and author Kele Moon. I will always be indebted to you for taking the time to read and help me make Promise Me Light what it is today.
To all the authors that welcomed me with open arms – thank you! The writing community has been nothing but supportive and I’ve made some great friends.
And to my fans – Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
About the Author
Paige Weaver lives in Texas with her husband and two children. Her love for books became a love for writing at a young age. She wrote her first book as a teenager and continued writing throughout the years. Encouraged by her husband, she finally decided to self-publish. Her debut novel, Promise Me Darkness, was released in April 2013 and quickly became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. When she is not writing, you can find her reading or chasing her kids around.
Find out about future books and connect with her on:
Website:
www.authorpaigeweaver.com
Twitter:
@AuthorPWeaver
Facebook:
AuthorPaigeWeaver
Email:
[email protected]
Paige Weaver, Promise Me Light
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