Chapter 47
[Taxi]
The second Stone pulls into Trudy’s driveway, I’m rushing to his truck. I’ve been pacing outside since he called me. A phone tree of calls went out after I spoke to him.
The department was notified. The school informed. Stone’s family told the joyful news.
They’re so relieved that many of them are here, showing up unexpectedly.
Full of relief, they arrived with a breakfast casserole, baked goods, and booze, although it’s only ten in the morning.
Stone rounds his truck, popping open the door for Simon. I don’t look at the hero of the moment.
I need to lay eyes on Simon first.
The second he slips free, I rush him, falling to my knees and pulling him into my chest.
“I’m sorry, Simon. I’m so sorry.” For all I know, he heard the entire fight, but missed the part where Trudy adamantly said Simon wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe he only heard half the argument. Maybe he misunderstood the entire thing.
All that mattered was that he was home and we were going to fix everything.
Meaning nothing was changing.
Simon is staying with Trudy, right where he belongs.
Clinging to him, I cup the back of his head and hold him crushed to my chest. Then I push him back by the shoulders.
“Don’t you ever do that again?” I warn. “You scared me, and Jolene, and Grandma Trudy.”
My voice is tougher than it should be, fear and relief colliding inside me.
“Taxi,” a stern but gentle voice speaks from beside Simon.
And I pull the boy back to me. “I love you, Simon. I love you.” Tears fill my eyes. “Please, don’t leave me.”
His fear mirrors my own. The fear that others would leave me behind, wouldn’t want me around, but he needs to know that fear so we don’t have more misunderstandings.
He’s afraid I’ll go.
And I’m afraid he won’t stay.
Simon wiggles, signaling me to release him, and he stares at me.
“Your glasses.” The frames are off kilter, one lens cracked. “Are you hurt?” My hands hover over him, scanning his shoulders and arms, glancing at his legs and feet, before returning to his face.
He shakes his head.
“But I hurt your heart, didn’t I?”
Tears begin to leak from his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Simon. I didn’t mean it. I don’t want you to go anywhere. I want you to stay right here so I know where you are. Where Trudy loves you.” I swallow thickly. “I’m gonna stay right here, too. So Trudy can love me as well.”
My vision is completely blurred, like I’m the one wearing cracked glasses.
I pull Simon back to me, afraid to let him go.
“Are you gonna keep sleeping on the couch?” he asks, like nothing else matters right now.
I chuckle, watery and thick, and pull back. “Well, I’ll probably live someplace else, but here in Sterling Falls. Where I can be close to you, and we can keep drawing.”
“Can I paint a building with you?”
“Absolutely.” I tug at the thin jacket he’s wearing and jostle him again. “You can be my apprentice.”
“What’s an apprentice?”
“A student. An understudy.”
“Sounds magical,” he says, tilting his head.
“It can be.”
As my smile starts to spread, the tears still fall, and I hear Aunt Trudy call out Simon’s name.
He looks up, rushing around me, no longer interested in my apology or my offer or magic. And none of it matters, as I twist, falling on my ass to sit in the grass and watch Simon reunite with Trudy.
That’s magic right there.
That woman. Her hugs.
More people filter out the door, the first in line being Judd, who embraces Simon hard and picks him up. Words are whispered by Judd to Simon, who nods into Judd’s neck. Genie stands nearby, eventually running her hand up Simon’s back. Only when he’s on his feet does he get a hug from her.
I sit in awe, in wonder, admiring how much this family loves. Not just each other but others around them.
Trudy and Simon.
The Havens, even Cortland.
Seven siblings. Six with partners. And a multitude of kids.
Stone is the rock for all of them.
And me.
His presence is felt behind me. He crouches in a way that one knee rests against my back, the other near my front, as if he’s caging me. Not a prisoner, but protection.
“Taxi.”
There is so much to be said, and yet I can’t get the words out. I only nod my head, leaning into him, sobbing against his shoulder.
“Shh, baby. He’s alright now. He’s home.”
I keep nodding, reaching for Stone’s neck, until the next thing I know, I’m up in the air, cradled against him. He spins for his truck, the passenger door still open, and he sets me on the seat.
“No,” I reach for him, shifting to keep hugging him, unable to let him go.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He rubs a hand up my back. The other holds my head to his chest.
“I’m so sorry,” I finally mutter. “For leaving last night, and reacting to what you told me about Sebastian, and—”
“Shh,” he whispers again. “None of that matters right now. Simon is home. He’s safe, unharmed. We don’t need to talk—”
“But I have so much to say,” I lift my head, meeting his gaze. His cloudy eyes look tired, concerned, with a twinge of sadness . . . because of me.
“I . . . I didn’t mean to overreact to what happened between you and Sebastian.”
Stone covers my lips with two fingers, but I need to get this out.
“I just needed a minute to process it,” I speak against his fingertips, and he pulls them back, lowering his head to listen to me.
“Since the moment I’ve met you, you’ve been such a . . . conundrum.”
He glances up at me, his thick brows pinching.
“Okay, maybe not the best word. It’s just that there are so many sides to you. Playful and protective. Family and friends.” I wave in the direction of the house. “You’re a great brother, uncle, father-figure.”
I watch as he swallows thickly.
“And you have an important job.”
His gaze meets my eyes.
“You are a superhero, Stone. You save people.” I point toward Simon, then toward myself. “You saved me.”
“Taxi,” he whispers. “You’re strong and independent, you don’t need saving.”
“But I did. From myself. I’ve been running my entire life.” Not chasing, just running. “Thinking if I left first, I couldn’t ever be hurt again. But I’m so tired of running, Stone. So tired of never having a place to call my own. I want a backyard,” I blurt.
Stone straightens a little bit, narrowly missing the roof of the truck. He stands tall, staring back at me, before setting his forearm on the lip of the doorframe.
That forearm. Where he’d been hurt on the job, helping someone. Saving someone else. Marking him with another scar.
“I heard what you said to Simon. About not leaving Sterling Falls. Maybe finding a place around here.” His voice is cautious, hesitant.
I hurt his heart, too.
And I cup his jaw, running my hand over his bristly stubble before holding his chin in my palm.
“I’d like to stay in Sterling Falls, Stone. For a long, long while.” I glance around him again, noting his family spilling into the yard. Then I glance back at him. “There’s a great community here.”
“Heard we need a mural,” he teases.
“But what do you need, Stone?” He blinks a few times, tipping his forehead to that arm on the roof.
“I just need you, Taxi. If you’ll have me.”
“I’ll have you. Yes, please.” I clap my hands together, like a child begging for a treat.
He slowly smiles, reminding me of that man in a hotel hallway in Knoxville. A little embarrassed by our collision. Definitely cute but awkward. And so, so lovely to look at . . . both on the outside and the in.
“I know Trudy’s a real estate agent, but maybe you know somewhere I could live?” I arch a brow.
“A place with a big backyard?”
“Well, it doesn’t have to be big. Maybe just a yard swing, and a few Adirondack chairs, and picnic tables.”
“Might need more of them soon. Our family keeps growing.”
Our family.
“I love you, Stone, and I don’t want you to ever doubt that. And, oh—”
I’m cut off by a kiss so powerful it almost knocks me backward on the seat. His hand cuffs the back of my neck, and his mouth locks on mine.
The kiss is a mixture of sweet and claiming. A kaleidoscope of colors.
Beige being the center of all things.
When Stone eventually pulls away, I hear a few catcalls coming from his siblings behind him.
He doesn’t turn around, keeping his gaze locked on me.
“I love you, too, baby.” He leans his forehead against mine. “So much.”
He pulls back and focuses on my eyes. “I want you to stay, Taxi. With everything in me, I want you here. With me. But I don’t ever want to think I’m holding you back. Keeping you from your art, or your need to travel.”
I pluck at the edge of his uniform shirt.
“Maybe you could come with me sometime. I can’t give it up forever, but I’d like to slow down. Maybe find that teaching position I mentioned in one of my postcards.”
His smile grows slowly, like a lazy river. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whisper.
“I told you seeing all your murals was my new bucket list.”
“You’re my bucket list,” I admit before placing my hand over his badge.
He glances down at my thin fingers over the star.
“I . . .” I pause, meeting his eyes. “Tallulah Alexander, do solemnly swear . . .” I smile slowly. “To protect your heart. Honor your love. And chase away the demons.”
His brows lift, knowing we both have them. Our personal bad guys that need to go. No more locking them up inside us, but releasing the past.
Stone sets his hand on the roof of his truck and the other comes to my chest, drawing a star over my left breast.
“I, Stone Sylver, do solemnly swear . . .” He pauses, arching a brow like he’s thinking. “To always be a safe place for you. To be your home. And to love you with all my heart.” He flattens his palm over my chest.
“Jesus, just get married already,” one of his brothers says behind him.
Stone does respond, giving that one-finger salute I’d gotten earlier when I was driving. Someone chuckles, and Stone softly chuffs as well.
“Someday,” he says, keeping his eyes on me.
I lean back, awkwardly patting the space for the driver’s seat. “I’ve been saving this seat for someone.”
“Oh yeah?” Stone arches a brow.
“Been waiting a long time for someone to fill it.”
“Ready to have it filled?” Stone teases.
“Someday.” I smile. “Hopefully, soon.”
He tips his head back and laughs, the sound easy and loud, and filling a space in my heart.
The one I’ve been holding, waiting for him.