Chapter 13
SIERRA
I kind of expected it but my first thought is surprisingly not for my family.
“My bridesmaids. Please tell me they’re safe.”
“They are, along with your mother. They were taken to our home, where they will be cared for while the dust settles.”
“And me?” I falter, the news not really sinking in about my father and Maximus surprises me by reaching out and gently tracing his finger down my worried face.
“You will join your mother at my home.”
“Will we be safe?” I must ask the question, and he nods, a protective gleam in his eye.
“We owe you our lives. Of course we will repay that debt.”
“And us?” I hold my breath because I never really considered the situation as us before and he rests his head against mine and whispers, “That is your choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We are not married, Sierra. We didn’t even come close and now the decision is yours—ours even. We can walk away from the situation and you are free to get a job and live a life outside of the one you were brought up to expect. I am not so lucky. This is my life and it always will be, but I am giving you the choice whether you want to pursue, well, whatever this is.”
“As in what?”
I fix him with a tentative smile and he sighs deeply. “I suppose what I’m asking is, would you like to go out one time, on a date perhaps?”
For some reason, his question causes us both to laugh out loud and when we catch our breath, I stare into his eyes and say with certainty, “I thought you’d never ask.”
He reaches out and pulls my face to his and as his hand wraps around my head, I do the same to him. As we hold one another and deepen the kiss, we do so as equals. Just a boy and a girl who have somehow weathered a storm and come out of it with hope and a little bit of destiny.
Whatever the future holds for us will be our choice to make and what happened in Vegas certainly won’t remain there and yet, despite everything, I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat because it brought me to him.
Thank you for reading my short story.