Love Is Forever Blue Read online

  Love Is Forever Blue

  A McGinty's of San Antonio Series Novel, Volume 2

  Donalyn Maurer

  Published by Donalyn Maurer, 2016.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  LOVE IS FOREVER BLUE

  First edition. October 16, 2016.

  Copyright © 2016 Donalyn Maurer.

  ISBN: 978-0998251004

  Written by Donalyn Maurer.

  Also by Donalyn Maurer

  A McGinty's of San Antonio Series Novel

  Love Is Forever Blue

  To my children, my life:

  Patrick, Regan, and Julia

  Love is Forever Blue

  Copyright © 2016 by Donalyn Maurer

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2016

  ISBN 0-9000000-0-0

  Falling Anvil Publishing

  123 Mesa Street

  Scottsdale, AZ 00000

  www.FallingAnvilBooks.com

  Dedication

  Content Warning

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Extra Chapters

  From the Author

  Acknowledgements

  To my children, my life.

  Patrick, Regan and Julia

  Some violence and sexual content. Recommended for mature audiences.

  Three Months Earlier

  After days in the hospital, it’s good to be going home. My shoulder is still a little sore but the pain medication helps a lot. I have a small bandage covering the wound where Rocky shot me and I have to wear a sling for another week or two but the rest of me is feeling free and wonderful.

  Sometimes guilt creeps in about the relief I feel knowing Rocky is dead, but I ignore it. It’s like a weight has been lifted from my chest and I can finally breathe. The only thing is that he was the first person I ever gave myself to. I hold something in my heart for him because of that, and the knowledge of how damaged he was. The life full of pain he endured from his dad’s abuse is something I know no one could survive without being affected.

  Dr. Davis Jennings disappeared after everything happened at the cabin only to resurface a couple of days ago, not offering any explanation of his disappearance or his whereabouts. He came back to see his other son, Lincoln Jennings, who is doing better and is now out of ICU and in a private room. His mom, Lina, stays with him most days. Since Lina filed for divorce, she’s refusing to go back to their house. Her friend, Lucy White, picked up some of her things for her.

  Nick Callaghan, Linc’s friend and neighbor who helps him out on his ranch, has stayed in town to help care for both Lina and Linc. As soon as Linc can travel, they’re planning on heading back to their ranches in Lubbock. Nick has also been down to check on my sister, Abigail, quite a few times. He’s the one who grabbed her and took her to safety after Rocky stabbed her. He kept pressure on Abigail’s wound and when Linc made it to them, although severely injured himself, he helped Nick stabilize her until the police and EMT's showed up. My family will be forever grateful to both Nick and Linc.

  Max discussed moving in with me at my grandma’s house with my dad and uncles. When I say discussed, I really think he told them there was no way in hell he was ever leaving my side ever again. I’m not sure of what exactly went down, but I’m told by Abigail and Violet that they heard yelling coming from my dad’s home office where they were meeting. In the end, they agreed, although reluctantly, and gave their blessings to allow him to move in. My brothers and cousin didn’t give him much of a hassle about it, which actually shocked me. I guess they know Max will take care of me and our grandma.

  I'm beyond relieved. I want him with me. I don’t think I can go back to being without him during our days and nights and I wouldn’t want to.

  When I fell for Maxwell “Blue” Bradshaw, I couldn't help but fall into him with everything I had in me.

  By the time we arrive at the house, it’s dinner time and all the family has gathered to once again welcome me home. When I step out of the car, the aroma from the smoker hits me and my stomach leaps for joy. Sausage and brisket. Oh, yeah.

  Max helps me from the car and we make our way up the steps to the front door. My grandma, Aunt Savannah and Aunt Paige come around the corner from the kitchen and give me a hug, careful not to jostle my shoulder. A couple of seconds later, Abigail comes in on her crutches with Violet helping her. Abigail and I hug as best we can and then Violet takes me into her arms.

  “Now, Jaycee I’m going to tell you what I told Abigail. If this is you girls’ way of fishing for new jewelry, it worked this time.” We all know she’s trying to joke and ease the tension of almost losing both her daughters. She pulls out two velvet pouches and hands one to each of us. We both smile when we see JA on the pouch. It’s a charm bracelet from James Avery. Each has a few charms, a cowboy boot, state of Texas, heart, cross, and one that says big sister on mine. Abigail's has the same except she has little sister on hers.

  “Girls, from now on, how about you get your jewelry in the old fashioned traditional way, buy it, inherit it or have a man spoil you with it, but stop scaring me to death. When you scare me, I get emotional and when I get emotional about you girls, I get sentimental and then I go shopping. Shopping for jewelry apparently.” She points at both of us. “You’re going to get me in trouble with your daddy.” At which time, Abigail and I both smile because we know if our big bad daddy is scared of anyone, it’s Violet. “Although," she continues. "I should share that after your daddy started to gripe, I decided to show him what I was doing. The Texas charms, he picked. They’re from him but I doubt he’ll admit it.” All three of us smile.

  We walk into my grandma’s kitchen and it looks fabulous since it was remodeled after the fire. Luckily, most of the damage was caused by smoke, not fire. It gave my dad a chance to update things for my grandma. It’s an old house with just a simple kitchen, but my dad and uncles gave it nice facelift. She now has stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. They replaced her old white cabinets with cherry wood, and added an island set up to double as a breakfast bar complete with stools lined up in front of it. The linoleum flooring has been replaced with hardwood flooring and it runs all the way into the dining room. My grandma told me he'd had people working around the clock. He'd tried to pay them but most insisted on doing the work on a volunteer basis.

  Set up on the kitchen island is the normal essentials we always have when we barbecue. Beans, potato salad, coleslaw, chips and our homemade barbecue sauce. Someone has made one of my sister’s favorites, fruit salad and one of my favorites, carrot salad with raisins and powdered sugar.

  Before I can start picking at the food, Max pulls me into my bedroom and closes the door. I jolt to a stop and slowly look around to take it all in. Th
ere’s so much I can’t believe it. It’s beautiful. My old bed with wood frame has been replaced with a beautiful wrought iron four-poster canopy frame with white lace valances hanging down. The headboard is stunning in its design. It reminds me of a live oak tree with branches are growing wild in every direction. The bed covers are a brilliant white with lace trimming and there are half a dozen throw pillows in different shades of pink. I immediately know my Aunt Paige had her hand in this. Looking at the windows, I see old style lace draped over the rod and hanging all the way to the floor. And my carpet is gone. It’s been replaced with a throw rug over the same hardwood floor that was in the kitchen and dining room. From the ceiling, an antique looking miniature chandelier hangs. The dresser, night stands and chester drawer are all oversized ivory and look worn. At the foot of the bed, there’s an old cushioned bench with big brass tacks and a patchwork quilt with different pastel colors hangs across it. A few prints of wildflowers are on one wall and then another wall full of old family photos. I make my way to them and my eyes slowly travel across them. I can tell this is my Aunt Savannah’s work.

  Frames of all shapes and sizes hang with various pictures of our family over the years. Pictures at the lake, our cabin, Easter and Halloween get-togethers, Christmas pictures of us with Santa and opening presents around the Christmas tree. There’s one of me around two years old, standing in my grandpa’s old cowboy boots with an empty beer bottle to my lips. I laugh thinking how not much about me has changed. When my eyes hit one picture in particular, my breath leaves me. My eyes water but I rub the moisture away so I can focus on the picture. Stepping closer, I touch the frame and a smile touches my lips. The old worn picture is in a beautiful brass frame and it’s of me and my grandpa. He’s standing in our cabin holding me on his hip. I’m looking up at him laughing and he’s smiling down at me. I have to be about five years old and I’m barefoot, wearing a little blue sundress with sunflowers on it. In the background, all over the counters in the kitchen and on the table, coffee cans with blue bonnets are scattered. I remember that dress and I remember that day. I’d been sad because my grandpa had been out on the lake all day with my brothers while I stayed at the cabin with my grandma. It was the day before the rest of the family came up for a couple of days. Grandma and I spent the day getting extra linens ready and airing out cots and roll out beds. This was the day we’d have fifteen or more people sleeping in the same room. The same room as the breakfast area and kitchen. We’d cook out, go skiing, swim at the beach, play games in the field, hunt for snipes in the woods and head down to the lake with our lawn chairs to catch the sunset by the dock. The lake’s dam sat not too far away and at night it was lit with beautiful blue lights. My grandpa would take my grandma out for a sunset ride in the boat and they always took me; those memories are the ones I cherish the most. Grandpa would make me wear an old giant orange life jacket that doubled as a pillow. I’d lie down between their seats in the boat and fall asleep to the feel of the boat crashing gently over the waves and then I’d fake sleep so my grandpa would carry me from the boat. For the rest of the night, he’d held me up against his chest and shoulder while I slept. He sat back in his lawn chair on the dock, with me, and visited with the rest of the family. My heart swells remembering how he told me how glad he was to get back to his pretty girl, giving me kisses all over my face to make me laugh. I smile at the memory with happy tears in my eyes.

  “If I had only one wish, ever in my life, it would be that you could have known him. He’d love you as much as I do.” I whisper to Max. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me.

  “Me too. I remember seeing him with your brothers at school events; I met him a couple of times.” he says softly against my ear.

  Feeling my breathing start to hiccup, I take a deep breath and move away to continue looking around. I notice a couple pictures on the nightstand and walk over to them. My sister must have taken them. One is of Max sitting on a chair in my hospital room. He’s looking out the window in thought as he absently plays his guitar. He looks handsome and deep in his own thoughts. The other one is of Max and I asleep in the hospital bed. He’s laying on his side, facing me and my head is cradled into his shoulder and chest; our arms around each other's waist. His head is resting on the top of mine. I turn to find him watching me with tenderness in his eyes.

  I walk over to him and drop my forehead on his chest as he wraps his arms around me. “Max, I don’t know why God sent you to me, but I’m so thankful,” I whisper. His arms pull me tighter to him.

  “Me too, Jayc.” he says as he lowers his lips to my ear. They travel to my cheek where he kisses me. He just stays there, his lips to my skin. I turn into them and rest my lips to his. I don’t kiss him and he doesn’t kiss me for a few moments, each of us allowing our warm breaths to mingle. Finally, he adds pressure as he separates his lips and he runs his tongue along the seam of my lips. I open for him and we taste each other slowly, savoring. We kiss softly, taking our time; each content that we can do this now. After a few minutes, there’s a knock on the door. Max steps back with a soft smile and leaves my side to open the door. My Aunt Savannah and Paige, Violet, Grandma and Abigail step in the room one by one; the amazing women who did this all for me. I take steadying breaths, trying to control my emotions and the deep sense of gratitude for what they did for me. Max walks back to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek, telling me he’s going outside with the men. He’s had enough emotional stuff to last a lifetime, he informs us, which breaks the tension and we start to laugh.

  After he leaves, the girls show me the rest of the work they did. Violet explains my dad wanted me to have fresh memories. I finally notice new clothes in the closet, and a beautiful ivory pedestal sink in the bathroom replacing the old wood vanity. The shower is now tiled in a chocolate colored stone with built in shelves and glass door. All the fixtures are gold worn brass and the towels are mint green and peach. Little knickknacks line one of the shelves and an old freestanding cross with two cowboys on their horses is carved into the wood. The window is now double paned with a security lock and they’ve installed an old crank handle with wooden shutters. It compliments the bathroom perfectly. Just outside the bathroom is a full size antique looking mirror on a stand. It’s absolutely breathtaking. All of it. The women tell me how the men gave them part of the insurance money and told them to “do it up.” I also note there are newly installed smoke alarms in the bathroom and bedroom along with an alarm panel. I hadn’t noticed but I guess they’ve installed a home alarm. Violet tells me all the windows and doors are hooked up to the alarm and if anyone tries to enter, after it’s been set, the alarm will sound and send a distress call to the police. Same for the doors. As we start to leave my bedroom to join the men, I pause. On the dresser, there’s an old pair of cowboy boots decorated with flowers and used for vases. And laying in front of them is a long slender case wrapped in a velvet pouch. I open it to find Violet has replaced the pearls she’d given me that were damaged in the fire. I run my fingers along them before meeting her eyes.

  “Violet, thank you. But you didn’t have to do this,” I take a deep breath and release it while still staring at the pearls.

  “Yes. Yes, I did. I absolutely did. Insurance covered the cost but I wanted to replace them. Not have you do it. I wanted them to come from my hands to yours.” We both smile and I hug her as I lay them back in their case before we walk out to join our men.

  Outside, my dad and uncles are sitting in lawn chairs, talking and having a few beers. The smoker is a few feet away filling the air with the delicious scent of cooked meat. Jake must have set up the dartboard because they have a game going a few feet away from a table scattered with beer bottles and flight tips.

  My dad stands to give me a hug and kiss before helping Abigail to the table. Uncle Duke is checking the smoker and after he closes it, he joins us. He has his arm around Aunt Savannah and me and when I hear a collective yell, I smile and look over at the guys playing darts. They’re all joking
around caught up in their game. I start to make my way to Max but stop when Uncle Brock speaks up.

  “Hey, everyone? Paige and I have an announcement.” We turn towards them and the guys come over from the dartboard. Max pulls me to him and wraps his arm around my waist. “We have something we want to share.” Aunt Paige looks down, but not before I see sadness fill her eyes.

  I’m getting scared and I look around and I can see I’m not the only one. What he says next, sends everyone’s heart breaking it two.

  “As some of you know the adoption agency called us a couple of months ago letting us know we had a baby, a son. Although we were disappointed, we were also happy when the mother decided to keep her baby. She was a teenager and was scared to tell her parents about the pregnancy. When she finally did, they stepped up to help her. She never really wanted to give him up. We prayed long and hard and we know in the end, it was the right thing for the baby. A little over a week ago, we received another call about a baby that had been abandoned in the hospital. He was sick. No one knew how sick, though. Most of the foster parents declined to step up. With their plates already being full fostering others I think they were worried it would be touch much, I guess. When our social worker heard of the situation, they called us and asked for our help,” Uncle Brock tells us.

  “We went to visit him, Cole, we named him Cole," he adds, running a hand down his face. "At the hospital and he was extremely sick.” He coughs and clears his throat from emotion as my Aunt Paige turns into his chest and starts to sniffle. “His birth mom, she was sick, too. There were rumors she used drugs while she was pregnant with Cole but we don’t know for sure.” He takes a deep breath and pulls my aunt Paige even closer to him.