Sandi Lynn - Forever Us

The house felt empty without Connor. I heard Julia cry, so I walked upstairs to get her from her crib. It had been over a week since I’d seen or talked to Connor. Every second and every minute of each day was killing me slowly. As I took Julia from her crib, she looked at me and smiled. I bundled her up in her jacket and took her down by the water just as the sun was getting ready to set.

“Listen carefully, Julia, and you’ll be able to hear the whispers of the ocean.”

The soothing sound of the waves lapping against the shoreline made me think of the special times I was with Connor at the beach. My mind traveled back to when Connor proposed to me in California. When I first told him about my past after the autism charity, and when I ran to the beach in the middle of the night before I got the final results of my last treatment. But the most special memory was when Connor asked me to marry him. The ocean held so many memories for me, not only with Connor, but with my mom. The sun was starting to set and, as I pointed to it, I told Julia to look up.

“The sun setting over the ocean will be one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see. Your daddy proposed to me on the beach, just as the sun was setting. He made sure everything was perfect.” I smiled.

Julia screeched and then looked at me and put her hand on my face. She knew I was sad, and I could tell how much she missed Connor. I sat down with her and let her run her hands through the sand. The beach, the ocean, and the sunset, would become as special to her as it was to me.

“He misses you, and he’s not doing good,” I heard a voice say behind me.

I turned around and saw Denny standing a few feet away from us. I smiled and held out my hand for him to sit next to me.

“What are you doing here? Should you even be here?” I asked as I kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m fine. Dana drove. She’s in the house, talking to Mason. I don’t want to talk about me. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” I said as I looked out into the ocean water.

“No, you’re not. I know you, Ellery, and you miss him just as much as he misses you.”

“I’m so mad at him, Denny. How could he do that to me? How many times do I have to tell him not to keep things from me before it sinks into that thick head of his?”

Denny smiled at me and then looked at Julia. “Sometimes, we don’t always make the right decisions under pressure and stress. Need I remind you of a few times you didn’t make the right decisions where Connor was concerned?”

I laughed and shook my head. “That was different and we weren’t married.”

“You may not have been married, but you were a couple and you loved him. Listen to me, Connor is Connor, and he always will be. It’s how he’s wired. His love for you is so powerful that it clouds his judgment sometimes. The only thing he saw when he made the decision not to tell you about Phil was keeping you safe.”

“You’re always defending him,” I said as I looked over at him.

“Not always. I had a talk with him too. Believe me, I yelled at him and pretty much called him every name in the book. I think he got my point. The two of you can’t even be apart for one night, let alone an entire week. Everyone makes mistakes, Ellery.”

I glared at him with knitted eyebrows. “Okay, some more than others.” He smiled. “Should I remind you about how you lied to Connor and went and saw Ashlyn?”

“Just another thing he didn’t tell me,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“And for a good reason. You could have gotten yourself killed. You know that girl is crazy,” he said.

It was getting chilly and the winds were starting to pick up. “Let’s go inside.” I smiled as I picked Julia up and looped my arm around Denny’s.

As soon as we walked inside, Dana came over and took Julia from me. “Why don’t the two of you stay here tonight and then we can all head back in the morning?” I said.

“You’re going back home?” Denny asked.

“Yeah, I think it’s about time, and Connor and I need to sit down and have a serious talk.”

After I put Julia to bed, the four of us sat around the table and talked. It was eleven o’clock p.m. and my phone started to ring. I looked over and saw it was Connor calling. I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, so I rejected it. A minute later, my phone rang, and it was him again.

“Connor, what do you want?”

“Hi, Ellery, this is Sarah.”

I froze as I held the phone up to my ear and my heart started racing with the thought that he was with her.

“I know what you must be thinking right now, and this isn’t what it seems. I took Connor’s phone to call you because he’s here at Club S, a drunken mess, and you need to come get him.”

“What the hell is he doing there?” I asked.

“I’m assuming he came in to drink his troubles away. Listen, I’ll wait with him until you get here.”

“Thank you, Sarah. I’m on my way,” I said as I hung up the phone.

Denny looked at me as I got up from my seat. “Now what?”

“Connor is drunk at Club S, and Sarah told me that I need to come get him.”

“Do you want me to go and bring his sorry ass home?” Denny said.

“No, I’ll go.” I picked up the phone and called a cab. “Mason, can you pack up all of Julia’s things and bring her home tomorrow? I don’t want to wake her up.”

“Of course I will,” he said as he walked over to me. “Go get your man and spend some time alone. We’ll be fine.”

As I got out of the cab, I stood in front of Club S as the line of people waited impatiently to get into the now famous club. I walked up to the front and stood behind the rope as I called Frankie’s name.

“Ellery Black! How are you, girl?” he said.

“I’m good, Frankie. It’s nice to see you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Connor’s inside and someone called me to come get him.”

Frankie lifted the rope. “Go on in, Elle. It was good to see you. If you need my help, come get me.”

“Thanks, Frankie. It was good to see you too.” I smiled.

The music was loud and people were everywhere. As I pushed my way through the crowd, I headed towards the bar. While I stood there looking around, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Sarah standing there.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“He’s over there,” Sarah said as she pointed to a table in the corner.

Instantly, I started to have flashbacks of the night when I first saw him. I took in a deep breath and started walking towards him. Sarah grabbed my arm.

“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s full of regret, and he’s sorry.”

“So he told you what happened?”

“Not all of it, but I know he messed up. I’ve never seen love like I do when I see the two of you. It’s romantic, and I’m envious of what the two of you have. I didn’t think a love like that existed.”

“Thank you for keeping an eye on him. I appreciate it.” I smiled.

“No problem, Ellery,” she said as she walked away.

I stood there and stared at him from across the way. He could barely sit up. After being apart for a week, this wasn’t the way I wanted to see him. As I took in another breath, I walked over to him, sat down, and took the glass out of his hand.

“Ellery,” he slurred.

“Come on, Connor. It’s time to go home,” I said as I helped him up.

“Are you coming too,” he slurred.

“Yes, I’m coming home. Now let’s get out of here.”

He put his arm around me as I held him up and helped him to the door. He could barely walk and he was stumbling so badly that he almost took me down. We reached the doors and stepped outside. The cab was parked at the curb. I opened the cab door and tried to help him in.