Chapter 40
40
[Cort]
“ H ey.” The call follows me as I slam open the door to Milton Roadhouse and step out into the early evening sunlight.
I round the corner onto Corner Street and head for the lot behind the building where I parked my truck.
“Hey. I’m talking to you,” Vale calls out again.
As much as I love her, I’m not in the headspace to be with her right now.
“And you shouldn’t be,” I snap as I spin to face her, witnessing the instant hurt in her eyes.
Those beautiful clear eyes that smile up at me when I’m over her.
That stare at me across my kitchen island.
That laugh with me seated on my couch.
Dammit .
“Vale, I just can’t—” Cause issues between her and her brother.
Love her. Lose her.
“What?” she quips.
“Be with me?” Vale crosses her arms. “I call bullshit. And if you walk away from me again, Cortland Haven, then I’m just going to have to?—”
“What?” I taunt, goading her.
Will she close the door and toss back my key?
Will she walk away from me?
Will she stop loving me?
I feel sick at all the possibilities.
“Dammit, Cort,” she whispers.
“Fight for me, not against me.”
Once again, I’m disappointing her.
I hear it in her tone.
This isn’t some failed orgasm during a quick fuck.
This is heartbreak. I’m letting her down and I know it.
It’s just that the way Stone looked at me.
The hurt in his eyes.
The knowing in them.
I hang my head a second but pop it back upright at the crunch of gravel under firm boots.
Glancing up, I catch a glimpse of Stone, feet behind his sister, glaring at me like he did inside Milton’s.
Are you fucking kidding me?
You piece of shit.
You were my best friend.
I’m at an all-time low here, man, and you just buried me.
The words echo through my head as if they happened yesterday, not twenty-three years ago.
And I’d taken all of them to heart.
I held them in my chest, knowing he was right.
I’d done him a huge wrong.
Dressed in his uniform, Stone looks more imposing than I know he is.
Or at least, the man he once was.
He’d always been large, solid even.
He was a damn good football player with a bright future ahead of him.
But his heart is soft, and he didn’t have a choice, or so he’d said.
He couldn’t leave his siblings behind without their father, even if the man had been a piece of shit.
Stone felt he’d already walked away once by going to college .
“I’m trying to let bygones be bygones here, Cortland.” Stone crosses his arms then unfolds them again.
“But my sister? Really? Why Vale?”
Vale spins at the harsh tone of her brother.
A voice I’m certain he reserves for sheriff duty.
“Why not me?” Vale counters, narrowing her eyes at her sibling, letting her hands fist at her side as she faces off with her older, bigger brother.
Not taking my eyes off Stone, I answer, knowing exactly what he means.
“You’re too good for me.”
Vale swings her head back toward me, her voice lowering when she says, “Don’t say that.”
Then she glances back at her brother.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Think I don’t know what happens in this area?” Stone stares at Vale.
“With my sister?” His jaw is tight.
He isn’t exerting his authority like Andy, where power has been misplaced.
Stone looks angry. And hurt.
“Why didn’t you say something?” Vale’s voice drops again, hesitant and puzzled.
I almost hear Stone’s rebuke before he speaks it.
“Why didn’t you ?”
Why hasn’t Vale told him the truth?
There wasn’t a plan for Vale and me to keep a secret.
There wasn’t even a plan for Vale and me, period.
But it happened. And I could say for right or wrong, for good or bad, it happened.
But Vale is right for me.
She’s good for me. I’m not accepting an end.
Not like this.
Stepping closer to Vale, I set my hand on her lower back.
A sign of possession but also a sign of my protection.
I don’t intend to hurt her.
Not like I hurt him.
Even back then, it wasn’t intentional.
It was being young and stupid, making regrettable mistakes with heavy consequences.
I’ve paid enough .
“I never thought you’d lie to me,” Stone lowers his tone, addressing Vale.
A fatherly edge laces the words.
Disappointment as well.
“I—” Vale chokes, blinking at him before looking at me and then back at her brother.
She might not have told the whole truth, but omission is still considered a lie as well.
“I’m sorry,” Vale hangs her head, and I slide my hand up her back, squeezing her nape.
“I should have told you sooner.”
Not ask for his permission.
Just been honest with him.
Stone doesn’t ask how long this has been going on.
I’m thinking he doesn’t care.
Something is happening here between his sister and me, and that’s all that matters.
“I was . . . scared.” She glances up at me once more before looking back at Stone.
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Vale.” Stone’s rough voice softens while his bushy brows rise, surprised by her admission.
“You’ve done so much for me.” Her voice thickens and she clears her throat.
“ Everything for me,” she admits, giving him the credit he’s due.
“And I love you, Stone. I appreciate all you’ve done, and everything I know you’ll ever do for Hudson.”
Licking her lips, she glances at me over her shoulder before looking at her brother.
“But if you truly love me, and want me to be happy, like you always say you do, then you’ll accept this. Accept that I love Cort.”
My breath hitches and I glance at Vale, who twists to look up at me.
“Because I love you, Cort.” Her eyes are full of hope and desire and a speck of fear.
Fear that I won’t reciprocate the feeling, but I never want her to doubt me.
I never want to disappoint her again.
Any hesitation I ever felt was never about her.
“I love you, too, Bee. ”
Vale flings her arms around me, and I accept the embrace, wrapping my arms around her as well.
Still, I risk a glance at Stone, beseeching him to understand.
I don’t need his blessing, but I want grace for Vale.
Stone only stares back at me, his expression one I can’t read as we are no longer brothers from another.
Two decades of harm and silence separate us now.
So, I don’t linger on Stone’s face.
I tuck my nose into Vale’s neck, inhaling her honey scent and holding her tighter against me.
This amazing, confident, strong woman has chosen me.
She loves me as I am, and I want to love her in return with all I have.
When I hear the crunch of gravel beneath retreating feet, I don’t glance up.
I close my eyes and hug Vale as close as I can get her to me.
With happiness wrapped in my arms, I don’t ever plan to let her go.
With our relationship out in the open, I don’t waste any time doing something I feel is only right.
I’m not looking to rub Vale and me in Stone’s face, but there is someone even more important than all of us to speak with.
With a few hours before Haven Hitters’ practice, Vale is home early today, so I climb the stairs to the Sylver family home in broad daylight.
My chest holds a weight on it, but it isn’t heavy like that time more than two decades ago when I was here.
Standing in the yard, confessing one of my greatest sins to the young, newly appointed owner of this property.
Nope. Today I’m here with a rumble of nerves in my gut for a different reason.
After a short, sharp rap on the front door, I step back, rubbing my hands along the sides of my jeans .
When Stone opens the door, he narrows his eyes at me.
“What do you want?”
Not the greeting I expected, though certainly one I should anticipate receiving every time I step on this porch.
But I’m not here to profess to him all the promises I plan to make Vale.
“I’m here to see Vale.” I’m not asking his permission.
While I’d like his blessing, that might take time, if I ever earn it.
However, Stone isn’t Vale’s father or keeper.
She is her own headstrong person who can make decisions for herself.
There is someone else I’d like to get approval from.
Within seconds, Vale is behind Stone.
Her smile is sweet and hopeful, because she knows this is important to me.
Hudson is right beside her.
“Hey, Coach,” Hudson addresses me before glancing up at his uncle who has hardly moved.
His broad hand still holds the edge of the front door like he intends to slam it in my face any second now.
“Hey, pal.” As I don’t want to do this through a screen door, or even with Stone standing like a centurion in front of Hudson, I ask, “Can you step out here for a second?”
Vale tugs at Hudson’s shoulders to get a better look at his face and smiles, before tipping her chin toward me.
Hudson gives one more glance to Stone before stepping past him and onto the covered porch.
“Want to take a seat?” I point toward a swing at the end of the porch.
“Am I in trouble?” His eyes never leave my face after he takes a seat, and I lower to one knee in front of him.
“No, Hudson. You aren’t in trouble.” I chuckle lightly, glancing over my shoulder to where Vale has stepped outside as well.
Stone stands behind her.
With my arm perched on my thigh, I turn back to Hudson.
“I’m here to see your mom, but I have something to ask you first. Hudson . . . ” I swallow thickly and lick my lips.
“I’d like permission to date your mom.”
“What the—” Stone mutters somewhere behind me.
Vale giggles.
“Your mom and I are old friends, and we’ve become friends again. More than friends. And I’d like to take her on a proper date. Dinner. A movie maybe. Or dancing.” I glance over my shoulder at Vale and wink.
Looking back at Hudson, I add, “But I want your blessing first.”
Hudson peers over my shoulder at his mom.
“This is going to be weird, isn’t it?”
“It doesn’t have to be,” I state, drawing his attention back to me.
“We don’t need to be telling our truths to the whole town.” Like I told him about the situation with Atticus.
“But I don’t want to be sneaking around behind your back. I like your mom, a lot.” I love her, as Vale and I have admitted to one another, but baby steps are needed with Hudson.
Vale steps closer to us, setting her hand on my shoulder, while I continue kneeling.
“Are you gonna marry her?” Hudson asks, looking from his mother to me again.
I glance up at Vale.
“I don’t think we’re there . . . yet.” I wink again, expressing my hope with a flutter of my eyelid.
Behind me, the screen door opens and closes with a slap against the door jamb.
I ignore the sound as the hammering in my heart supersedes everything else.
“So, what do you say, bud? Can I take your mom out? Maybe the three of us can even do something together sometime.”
“Like what?” he instantly asks with the typical attention span of a kid.
I chuckle and glance back at Vale before pressing up from the wooden porch floor, using the swing to lift myself .
“I don’t know. Maybe a Terrors game? Or bowling?” I remember all the things I did with Josh at this age.
I should have done more.
Should have paid better attention to the details because the time went too fast.
But I’m focused now.
On my girl. On her son.
On our future.
“Sounds good,” Hudson says before looking at his mom.
“Can I go text Amelia now?”
“You got it.” She holds out her arms and Hudson stands, stepping in for a quick hug from her.
“Thank you, Hudson.” She presses a kiss to the top of his head.
I hold out my fist and he bumps his knuckles against mine before crossing the porch for the screen door.
Vale and I both watch him enter the house.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” she says, reaching for my hand and taking a seat on the swing.
I follow her down to the cushioned seat and rest my arm along the back of it.
The swing is a replica of the one that once hung here and eventually fell from the ceiling.
With a press of my heel on the floor, I rock us gently back and forth.
Can’t say I ever imagined myself sitting here again.
Never imagined it like this with Vale at my side.
But I also can’t say I’ve ever been happier.
“I love you, sweetness,” I turn my head to find Vale watching me.
“Damn right you do,” she teases before leaning toward me for a quick kiss.
Too quick. But as much as I feel like celebrating, and tackling Vale back on this swing, getting her naked out here, it probably isn’t in our best interest with her son and her brother inside the house.
“I love you, too,” Vale says back, smiling at me like it’s her favorite thing to say.
It’s become my favorite thing to hear .
“So, Amelia, huh?” I glance toward the screen door again.
“Yep. Although her daddy isn’t allowing her to speak to Hudson, they talk through texts almost every day.” Vale air quotes.
“ They’re text-dating .”
“What the hell is that?” I ask, glancing back at my beautiful woman.
Vale giggles and shakes her head.
“I don’t even know. Kids these days.” She laughs harder.
“Sneaking around and dating behind backs.”
“Valentine.” I narrow my eyes without any heat.
“We’re gonna be open about this relationship.”
“But not too open,” She smiles, dropping her gaze to my shirt and smoothing my collar.
I catch her meaning and lean over to kiss her again.
“It’s going to be the right mix of public dates and private time.”
Because this feels right.
Love is good. For the first time, everything perfectly happens.