29. Lennon
Chapter twenty-nine
Lennon
Oh God, I feel like I can’t breathe in a full breath. I have so many questions. Starting with, how the heck Hayes found out about my book? I planned on telling everyone if it didn’t epically fail. I published under Lennon Rae and set up social media accounts under the pen name. I look over at Shelby, and with the mischievous look on her face, I instantly know she was the one that found out. I don’t know how, but my best friend used her snooping skills against me. I’m brought out of my shock when Hayes starts speaking again.
“Just one more thing, and I’ll stop talking.” The crowd laughs, but I’m starting to sweat. “Can Rosie come up here, please?” I give Hayes a questioning look as Rosie runs up to the stage and stands next to him. “Lennon, until you came back into my life, I didn’t know what I was missing. You were our missing piece. I want the good days. The bad days. And everything in between. You are so deep under my skin; you are in my blood stream. I can’t breathe when I think of not growing old with you.” Both Hayes and Rosie drop down to their knees, while I gasp and cover my mouth with shaking hands.
This can’t be happening right now! I must be dreaming. In a minute I will wake up in bed with Hayes, and this will just be a distant memory from my dreams.
“Some may think this is too soon, but—” Hayes looks down at Rosie, clearly rethinking the next word he was about to say. “But they don’t know us if they think that. Lennon Rae, will you make me the happiest man and marry me?” Rosie doesn’t give me a chance before she makes the crowd laugh when she yells, “Marry my daddy, Mommy!”
I drop down to my knees in front of two people that have completely stolen my heart. “Yes, I’ll marry you!” The crowd cheers as Hayes slides the ring on my finger. I look down at my finger, and back to Hayes with tears running down my face. “Hayes, this is my mom’s. ”
I quickly seek out my brother and finding him nodding his head at me. He knows what this means to me. Our dad had just upgraded Mom’s ring for their anniversary before they passed away, and I can vividly remember her telling me that the ring would be mine one day.
“My sweet Lennon, some day you are going to find the man that lights your soul on fire, and it will be beautiful. I hope that both of my children find a love like your dad and I do. And when that day comes, this ring is yours.”
Our dad had his mother’s wedding set, and it was always known that they would go to Cash. Those rings sit proudly on Shelby’s finger. I don’t realize that I am still staring down at the ring until Hayes speaks again, “We can get you another one. I’m sorry, I thought you—” I end his rambling when I kiss him. “I love it. I don’t want anything else, so don’t even think about it.”
Our family joins us on stage, and everyone is trying to hug us at once. I pick Rosie up and spin her around, earning a laugh. When I stop, Hayes wraps his arms around us. “My girls.” I haven’t allowed myself to dream of being this happy. I spent so long feeling trapped, thinking that I was in love, but that was a delusion. This is what happiness is. What true love is.
I set Rosie down and she runs over to her grandpa, and I lean into Hayes. “I have so many questions.” He laughs with his whole body. “Let me guess. How I knew about your book?” I nod my head. “Shelby saw your laptop and you had the cover pulled up. She then called in reinforcements.” I had a feeling it was my best friend’s doing. “I’m going to do my very best to make you happy. Give you everything you can dream of. I promise, sunshine.” I lift my hand and gently place it on his cheek. “You already have, Hayes. I never knew I could be so happy. But I can’t even think about not having you and Rosie in my life.”
We spend another hour talking to everyone and celebrating before I look at my phone and cringe. I originally wanted to go check on Max an hour ago, but the love of my life was proposing. I walk over to Hayes but stay back because he is talking to a potential customer, but he looks over at me and excuses himself, and walks over to me.
“Everything okay, sunshine?” I take his hand and interlace our fingers. “Everything’s perfect. I’m going to run home and let Max out. Maybe bring him up here so your dad can just go straight home when Rosie crashes. Which probably won’t be much longer.” He slightly cringes when I say that I was going to go home. “I don’t know, sunshine.” I know what he is talking about, but I’m sick of hiding from a man that refuses to come out of the shadows .
“Don’t know about what?” I turn and find that Tessa walked up to us. “I was just telling Hayes that I was going to run home and check on Max and bring him up here.” Tess looks between us and a knowing look crosses her face. “I’ll go with you. Let me just grab my phone.” Hayes makes a noise that sounds close to a growl, so I turn my attention to him. “Yes, future husband? Something to say?”
He narrows his eyes as he looks down at me. “I love the word husband coming out of your mouth.” He nuzzles into my neck, kissing me below my ear. “I don’t like you going to the house by yourself, sunshine.” I slightly pull back from him before speaking, “I’ll be fine. Promise. I’ll run in and grab Max and we will be right back. Twenty minutes.” After giving him another kiss, Tess and I walk to Linen and Lace, where her car is. The Bronco was blocked in, and she was smart enough to leave her car at her building. Since the festival officially starts tomorrow, Pine Creek isn’t too busy yet. Come tomorrow, there will be no available parking.
We pull into the driveway, and before she has her car in park, I unbuckle my seatbelt. “I’ll just run in and grab him. Your dad already has his food. I should have just brought him to begin with, but I was worried it would be too many people for him.” I look out the window, not noticing anything that shouldn’t be there. I’m sick of feeling paranoid. Maybe he got bored and went back home. I don’t even know how he is here; his hours were demanding. “Sounds good. Go grab my nephew. I might steal him from my dad tonight.” I glance over at my future sister-in-law, and all I see in her eyes is sadness. “I think that is a good idea.”
I jog over to the garage, punch in the code, and slip inside once the door is high enough. “Max! Momma’s home. I’m going to bring you with me so you can see Rosie and your daddy. Why am I trying to have a conversation with a dog? Wait…why don’t I hear his tail wagging in his cage? I know I closed it all the way when I left; I double checked it when I gave him one last treat. “Max?”
I round the island to find an empty cage. “Max! Where are you, buddy?” I open the back door and yell for him but go back inside when I don’t hear him. Maybe he went up to Rosie’s room, he likes to lay on her bed. I enter the living room, and what I find makes my blood run cold.
“Lennon, do you think that you have been making me happy? That I wanted to come to this fucking podunk town to bring you back home?” My worst nightmare is sitting on my couch with Max in his lap. This Connor is not the man I ran from. I can tell his hair is greasy, there are dark rings under his eyes, his clothes disheveled. Max tried to jump off his lap when he sees me, but yelps when the blade in Connor’s hand knicks his throat.
“Just let him go, Connor. I’ll come with you; you don’t need to hurt a puppy.” Connor propels off the couch with Max raised over his head and throws him, Max yelping when he hits the wall. I don’t dare take my eyes off the man in front of me, but breathe out a small breath when I see that Max is able to stand up. “Oh, so now you will go with me? You stupid bitch! I fucking gave you everything!” A snort escapes me before I can think better of it. But is he serious? He gave me everything?
Before I can even blink, Connor charges me and wraps a hand around my throat, pushing me against the wall. “You think that is fucking funny? I’ve seen you. With him. What a fucking slut. Spreading your legs for someone else. I always knew you were a whore. Then you started to play house here. I would say cute kid, but I’m not a liar.” I start scratching him wherever I can reach, his arms, his neck. When he wrapped his second hand around my neck and I started to struggle to breathe, the life I was so close to having flashed through my mind.
Hayes at the altar. Rosie and I wearing matching dresses. Max fully grown taking up all of Rosie’s bed. Me pregnant. Watching Hayes become a dad for the second time. We have a boy first; Rosie doesn’t know how she feels about having a brother. Then, two years later we have another baby— a girl. Rosie’s graduation. Rosie getting married. Growing old with Hayes.
No. I am not dying today. I am going to live to see all of those things. I am going to live a good life. With Hayes. How has it only been an hour since Hayes asked me to marry him? God, if I live through this, I’m suggesting a courthouse wedding as soon as possible. “Con—Connor. Don’t do this.” I open my eyes to find his eyes wide, with fully dilated pupils. He looks nothing like the person I fell in love with, but he hasn’t been that person in a long time. He takes one hand off my throat, and I gulp in a breath, but that was short lived. With his free hand, he starts punching me. In the ribs. Over and over again. In the face.
In the distance I hear a scream, but with one more punch to the face, I feel myself losing consciousness. As I drift away, I think of the man that put me back together. That loved me even with my broken parts.
I love you, Hayes. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough.