Her mother nodded. “I understand. And your father will see that you are not his baby anymore. Give him time. He will come around. I only ask you not to move in with Devlin until your father gives his approval.”
She drew her mother into a tight hug. Ava eased away from her. “I will not promise that. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know if Devlin will even ask me to marry him again. But I promise you, Mom, the day he asks me to marry him, to move in with him . . . if I love him, I will say yes. If there is one thing I understand it is how precious time is . . . and I will not lose any opportunities because of Dad’s reluctance to accept that I am grown up.”
Her mother chuckled, and Ava relaxed. She wanted to rush over to Devlin’s place, but she reined in the need. She did not want a recurrence of December 13th. She would get some rest first and then go see him. She only prayed he would still want to give her a chance after all this time.
Yes, they’d had some great sex, and they’d talked some. But she had been so cold to him when he’d suggested that they weren’t over, and the shutters he had drawn down in response had seemed so final. It had seemed so irrevocable. And even last night, they had dance and kissed, gazed at the stars and talked about everything, but a future with them being together in it. By the time they parted, her heart had been breaking because she had been a damn coward. No more.
Ava wanted a chance to recapture what they had lost.
Chapter Nine
Everything inside of Devlin was focused on Ava as she walked toward him. He was at their spot. He never thought she would come there. It had been almost twenty four hours since she’d walked away from him at the park, and he had been in a torment of need to go to her. She had shut him down when he had tried talking about them, but he had decided to give her a full day, and then he would have gone hunting for her. He was not about to let stupidity and pride tear her away from him for a second time.
He had promised himself to woo and charm her, and to hell with her father. She was not broken, like she’d said. She was the same strong, sexy and determined girl he knew. She’d wanted answers and had trekked to his ranch in the middle o
f the night during a storm to face her fears. She had made love with him, with the same passion, love and wildness. He had seen it, and he had felt it. Best of all, she had spoken to him in front of the entire town, kissed him, danced with him.
Ava looked beautiful and determined as she marched towards him. She was dressed in her customary jean shorts, blue sweater and knee-high boots. He didn’t stand as she approached. He simply waited seated under the cypress tree for her to come all the way. She sank am arm’s length away from him on the blanket, tracing along the gorgeous pattern with her fingertips. Long seconds passed before she lifted her eyes to his. The stark need on her face allowed hope to finally uncoil in his gut.
“I went to the ranch house. You weren’t there.”
He smiled. “I left a few hours ago. I’ve been coming to the lake ever since I came back. Hoping I would see you here, dipping in the nude.”
Her soft laughter curled deep into the corners of his heart and filled it with happiness. He threw her one of his apples and she caught it deftly.
She grinned as she bit into it. “If I’d never been to the ranch house before now, why is it so familiar?”
Unable to stand seeing her so far from him, he tugged her into his arms. She came willingly and some of the tension eased from him. “Back when we were together, we talked about everything. Your dreams. Your passions. I knew how you wanted your house designed and I’m good with my hands. I made each piece of furniture you’d ever dreamt up for your someday-home, one by one, and shipped them here.”
She snuggled into him. “So you still had hopes for us.”
He had never thought about it like that. It had just been this compulsion he’d acted on. The need to create everything she had ever spoken of with such joy and enthusiasm. He knew, deep down, he’d dreamt of her by his side. Hoping against all logic that one day, he would be enough for her, enough for her parents, and she would give him another chance.
All of those hopes had faded when he’d thought she had discarded him. And he had lost her for a year, because he had believed the love she’d expressed wasn’t strong enough to go against her parent’s wishes.
Never would he doubt her again. Or himself, when it came down to it. “Yes, I suppose I did.”
She laced her fingers through his. “I asked my parents about the accident. They confirmed that I was coming to meet you, to leave town, when it happened. They knew about us but they kept it from me. I can’t stop thinking about you, and I have regained more memories of us being together. Of us by this very lake. I’m not sure if I am the same girl you fell in love with, though, Devlin. I hardly remember that girl. I feel as if I’m falling in love with you, though, and I’d like to think that tells me I never stopped loving you. But our time together is only coming back in bits and pieces. And Dr. Thompson says I may never regain that year in its entirety. Even twenty years from now, I may not have all of it.”
She tilted her head so that her head rested in the crook of his arms and met his gaze. “I want to date you, Devlin Calhoun . . . openly.” A throaty chuckle pulsed from her. “I think I already know I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you, but I thought we could start by dating, getting to know each other, reclaiming what we have lost.”
Love crashed inside of him as he stared at the honest hunger in her eyes. He thought of the experiences they had together. They had had hundreds of experiences together which she might never remember. A soft pang went through him. He would recreate what he could for her, thrill her with the things he had done in the past, and also introduce her to new things. He would do everything in his power to ensure her happiness, and he would love her, whether her memory returned fully or not.
“I love you, Ava Kane, more than I thought it was possible to love another being. You may not be as wild for me yet, but I promise you will get there.” He pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.
“I know, Devlin . . . I know. I’m already halfway there.”
He drew her to him, and she climbed onto him, straddling his lap.
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and Ava could feel the pieces that had been broken apart inside of her for so long, mending. Happiness surged inside as she sank into him, deepening the kiss.
For the first time in months she felt the possibility of being complete, of making new and beautiful memories. The possibilities were endless, and she was looking forward to each and every one.
Thank you guys so much for grabbing a copy of Remembering Yesterday! I really appreciate your support. This was my first contemporary romance, but there will be many more. I also write sensual Historical romance, and the love of my heart is Paranormal Fantasy Romance. I invite you guys to read the first few chapters of Eternal Darkness below!
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