Chapter 16 #2
“Mine, too. I’ve had the jukebox for about three years and was just recently able to bring myself to play ‘Tupelo Honey’ for the first time. I cried my eyes out.”
“I heard that song once, a few years back when I was with some of my coworkers having a drink after work. We were in a pub near the office, and I was actually having a pretty good time.”
The way he said it told her that didn’t happen very often, which made her sad for him.
“And then the song came on over the sound system. It was so loud in there I shouldn’t have been able to hear it, but it was like all the other noise faded away. It was the first time I’d heard it since that night, and I felt like someone had punched me or something.”
Carly walked over to him and rested her hands on his chest.
He put his hands over hers but was a million miles away from her, locked in a memory.
“I’d heard of a song transporting people back to some moment in time, but it’d never happened to me before.
I got up from the table and went outside because I couldn’t bear to listen to it.
I remember sliding down this brick wall in the alley next to the bar and just bawling my head off. ”
Slipping her arms around him, she held him close to her for a long, quiet moment. “Do you think, maybe, if we listened to it now, together, we could create a new memory that would make the old one less painful for both of us?”
He glanced down at her. “That might work.”
She went to plug in the jukebox and select the song. When she returned to him, she was suddenly filled with shyness.
Reaching for her, he brought her into the shelter of his arms and kept her there as the first notes of the song filled the room. They didn’t dance so much as sway.
“I wanted so badly to get you out of there,” he recalled. “All I thought about back then was getting you alone. I just wish I had known those were the last minutes I’d ever have with my brother, with all of them.”
“Do you ever wish we’d gone with them?”
He pulled back from her so he could see her eyes. “There’ve been times when I thought it might’ve been easier. But then I think about my parents losing both of us, and I know I wasn’t in that car for a reason, and neither were you.”
“Sometimes I’m not quite sure what that reason is. My life has been very small. I haven’t left this town in more than fifteen years. I have my job, my family, my nieces and nephews . . . but not much else.”
“That’s about three times as much as I have. Even your apartment is a real home. Mine has a sofa, a TV, a bed, and twenty suits hanging in the closet.” He sang along softly to the song, like he had so long ago.
“I’ve pictured you living a glamorous life in New York City.”
He snorted with laughter. “If you only knew how boring and empty it is.”
“You must have friends, people you do things with.”
“Not really. I never went to the trouble to make new friends. It didn’t seem worth the risk.”
Her eyes burned with tears. “Our lives are a lot more alike than I ever would’ve imagined.”
“When I was in Florida, my mother was going on and on about how courageous I’d been to go off and have my life despite what happened. She said I didn’t let it ruin my life. But in so many ways it did ruin my life and yours. When I think about what we should have, compared to what we do have . . .”
Carly looked up at him.
He brushed his lips softly over hers. “How’s this for a new memory?”
“It’s working for me,” she said, breathless.
Burying his face in her soft tangle of curls, he said, “Me, too.” The song ended, and three more came and went before he lifted his head from her shoulder.
“It was kind of funny today. People in town didn’t seem to recognize me until I was with you at Miss Molly’s. ”
“You look a lot different—even more handsome than before, if that’s possible. In fact, you remind me of your dad when I first knew him.”
“You think so?”
“Totally.”
“Would you’ve known me if you saw me somewhere and hadn’t seen me on TV?”
“I would’ve known you anywhere.”
He combed his fingers into her hair and tilted her face to receive his kiss. “I still love you, Carly. I realized the instant I saw you last night that I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”
Her eyes grew wide with wonder. “You never stopped? Even when you were mar—”
He quieted her with his fingers on her lips. “I never stopped.” Reaching for his back pocket, he said, “I want to show you something.”
Carly watched as he opened his wallet and withdrew a piece of paper from one of the leather compartments. When she realized what it was, she gasped. “You still have that?”
“I’ve carried it with me since I left. Whenever I thought I couldn’t go another minute without you, I’d take it out and read it again. The reminder that you love me made it possible to keep going.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “If you missed me so much, why didn’t you just come back?”
“Because I said I wouldn’t. My foolish pride and a whole lot of stubbornness kept me away.”
“That stubbornness got you through college and law school,” she reminded him. “Don’t forget that.”
“Did I stay away too long?” He put his wallet back in his pocket and then brushed his thumbs over the tears on her cheeks.
“No,” she whispered. “I meant what I said in that note. You’re the only one I’ve ever loved, the only one I will ever love.”
He hugged her tight against him. “That’s all I need to know. We’ll figure this out, Carly, and this time, nothing will stop us from having it all. Nothing.” He lifted her to him and kissed her.
Carly clutched his shoulders and moaned when she felt his hands slide up the back of her legs to hook them around his waist.
Her skirt impeded him, so he pushed it up and out of the way.
She tightened her arms and legs around him.
A groan rumbled through him, straight into her.
The sensation of falling had Carly opening her eyes just as she landed on the sofa.
Brian settled on top of her and gazed down at her.
She tucked her hands under his shirt, desperate for the feel of his warm skin.
“I want you,” he said softly as he slid his lips over hers. “But I’m afraid we’re moving too fast.” He sucked in a sharp, deep breath when she pushed her hands into the back of his shorts.
Smiling, she said, “Am I moving too fast for you?”
He answered with a passionate kiss, and desire surged through her. She wrapped her legs around him, lifting her hips to press against him.
“Carly,” he said hoarsely. “Are you sure?”
She nodded and brought him back for another kiss.
His fingers brushed against her chest as he unbuttoned her yellow uniform dress.
He moved slowly, his lips following his fingers on a path straight down the front of her.
His hazel eyes went hot with lust when he caught the first glimpse of her lacy bra.
“Do you always wear such sexy underwear to work?” he asked as he unhooked the bra and pushed it out of the way.
“I wore the good stuff today—just in case.”
He chuckled. “In case of what?”
“In case I got very, very lucky.” With her fingers buried in his hair, she directed him to where she wanted him most and gasped as he drew her nipple deep into his mouth.
“Oh,” she said, turning her head away as if to escape from the overwhelming sensations.
She opened her eyes and shrieked when she caught a glimpse of someone watching them through the door.
Pushing at Brian, she urged him up. “He was there!” she cried. “He was watching us!”
Brian bolted from the sofa and raced for the door.
With shaking hands, Carly quickly buttoned her dress.
Brian returned a minute later, his expression grim. “He’s gone. Call the police.”