A Forever Love

  “Marry me!”

  I threw my head back and laughed. Then, I held my ring up and said, “I do believe I already said yes.”

  “Too Much” started playing, and Garrett yelled out, “It’s an Elvis marathon!”

  He spun me around, and by the time the song ended, I was exhausted.

  “Garrett, I need to take a quick rest and have a drink.”

  He nodded his head as he took my hand and led me off the dance floor. I scanned the room, trying to find Margie and Billy. When I finally found Margie, she was talking to some guy I’d never seen before. I watched them as Garrett got us something to drink.

  When he handed me my drink, I asked him, “Do you know who Marg is talking to?”

  Garrett looked to where I was pointing, and he shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before.” He looked around. “Where is Billy?”

  I watched as Margie batted her eyes, and she kept putting her hand on this guy’s arm.

  What in the hell is she doing?

  “I don’t have a very good feeling about this, Garrett.” I turned and looked at him. “Maybe we should go before she does something she regrets.”

  He nodded his head in agreement. “You go get Marg, and I’ll go find Billy.” He leaned down and kissed me. “I love you, Buttercup.”

  I smiled. “I love you more.”

  I watched as he made his way to the other side of the dance hall. I turned back around and started walking toward Margie.

  I knew the last two months had been hard on her and Billy. She had been hoping he would ask her to marry him before we all graduated, but graduation had come and gone three days ago. She had no idea he had planned on asking her this coming weekend. Margie had been offered a teaching position in Austin, but Billy was torn. He wanted to go back to Mason and help Garrett run the ranch, but he also wanted to move to Austin.

  As I got closer, the guy leaned down and whispered something into Margie’s ear. She nodded, and he took her by the arm. He started to lead her toward the door. My heart started beating faster, and I began pushing people out of my way.

  I ran through the door and screamed out, “Margie!”

  Margie and the stranger stopped, and she spun around. “Emma Rose, what are you doing out here without your knight in shining armor?”

  “What?”

  Margie shook her head. “Never mind.”

  She turned to keep walking, but I grabbed her arm.

  “Where are you going? And who is this guy?”

  “Just go back inside, Emma, to your perfect fiancé and your perfect little world. Don’t worry about me,” Margie said, slurring her words and pulling her arm from my hand.

  “Oh my God, are you drunk? Did you get her drunk?” I took a step closer and grabbed her arm.

  The guy came closer to me and pushed me. I lost my balance and fell backward. I landed so hard that I screamed. Then, I saw someone run by me.

  “You motherfucker!” Garrett said.

  Billy reached down and picked me up as he yelled out, “Garrett!”

  Everything was happening so fast, and I couldn’t think straight.

  “Emma, grab Margie,” Billy said as he ran toward Garrett and the guy.

  It took me a few seconds to see that Garrett was punching the guy over and over. I threw my hands up to my mouth. Please stop. Oh God, please stop.

  I grabbed Margie and pulled her back. Then, out of nowhere, four more guys showed up. Two of them grabbed Garrett and held him while the guy who had been walking with Margie started to hit him.

  “Stop!” I began screaming. “Please stop!”

  I turned to look at Margie, and she was crying.

  “Go get help, Margie!” I yelled.

  I looked back, and both Garrett and Billy were being beaten.

  “Margie!” I screamed. “Get help!”

  I ran toward them, screaming for the guys to stop. One of the guys reached out and slapped me so hard across the face that I fell back.

  “Fucker!” Garrett yelled, breaking free of the other guy’s grip.

  I’d never seen Garrett hurt anyone, and the way he was punching this guy scared me. The other guy got up and grabbed something from a car. When I saw he had something in his hand I screamed for Garrett to watch out, but the next thing I knew, he’d hit Garrett over the head. I watched as Garrett fell to the ground. I screamed out as loud as I could, and then I saw the lights. The police were pulling up from everywhere.

  One of the guys called out, “Jimbo! The fuzz are here! We’ve got to go.”

  I watched as one guy hit Billy three more times before finally letting him go. He dropped to the ground and began crawling over toward Garrett.

  I jumped up and ran to Garrett, calling out, “Garrett! God, please no. No!”

  All of a sudden, people were everywhere, and Garrett was being put into an ambulance. Billy had blood all over him, and Margie was standing off to the side, talking to the police. I started to make my way to the ambulance. A police officer grabbed my arm.

  “Please let me go with him. He is my fiancé. Please,” I begged.

  They shut the doors, and I watched the ambulance drive off.

  “Miss, I promise, I will drive you to Brackenridge myself. I just need you to answer a few more questions. Did you know any of the other men?”

  I wrapped my arms around myself to try to calm my shaking body. I shook my head. “I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

  “So, you’ve never seen them before at this dance hall?” the officer asked.

  Then, I remembered one of them had said a name. I spun around to face the policeman. “Jimbo—that was what one of the guys called out. Jimbo was the one who walked out with Margie.”

  The police officer shook his head. “You just gave me everything I needed. I know exactly who they are. Jimbo Duran has been causing trouble for us for the last six months. We didn’t have anything to use to put him in jail, but with the assault on your fiancé and his brother, we do now.”

  Margie walked up. “He told me he was taking me to a frat house.”

  I glared at her. “This is your fault.”

  She went to open her mouth to talk, but she shut it.

  I shook my head and started pointing my finger at her. “I will never forgive you for this—ever!” I screamed.

  Billy came up and took me in his arms. “Emma, it’s okay. Garrett is going to be okay.”

  I tried to push Billy away. “He is not waking up, Billy. He. Is. Not. Okay!”

  Margie began crying. “Em, I’m so—”

  “Don’t call me Em! Only Garrett calls me that. Don’t you dare call me that.”

  The officer took me gently by the arm and began walking me to his car.

  I looked back and shouted, “I hate you, Margie. I hate you!”

  I jumped when I felt someone touch my shoulder.

  “Daddy!” I said as I jumped up and into his arms. “Oh, Daddy, no one is telling me anything, and they won’t let me in there to see Garrett. Please just tell me he is okay.”

  “Emma Rose…calm down, okay? Garrett is going to be all right. He does have some big injuries, but he’ll be okay.”

  I began crying as I nodded my head. “What kind of injuries?”

  “Well, he is very lucky that he didn’t really get injured when they hit his head. Billy said Garrett moved at the last second, and they barely caught him, but they did hit him again when he was down.”

  I tried to think back to when it had happened. “Daddy, I don’t remember them hitting him when he passed out.” I thought for a second and then looked at my father. “I did look away at Billy though.”

  My father nodded his head. “Emma, I need you to sit down, okay?”

  I started shaking from head to toe, and then I felt someone grab a hold of me. I turned around. “Julia!” I threw myself into her arms.

  “Shh…honey, calm down. Garrett is going to be okay.”

  I couldn’t even talk. I was crying so hard. When
I finally settled down, Julia had me sit on the sofa. I glanced up to see my mother walking up, and she took a seat on the other side of me.

  She grabbed my hand and gave me a weak smile.

  Why do I get the feeling they are about to tell me something very bad? “You’re all scaring me,” I whispered.

  My father bent down. “No, sweetheart. I promise you, he is okay. Now, I need you to listen carefully. Garrett does have some serious injuries, so he will be in the hospital for a while.”

  I slowly nodded my head. “Tell me, Daddy.”

  My father took a deep breath and glanced up. David was standing on the other side of the waiting room with a battered and bruised Billy.

  When my father started talking again, I looked into his eyes and held my breath.

  “Garrett has four broken ribs. His right arm is broken—”

  A loud sob escaped my mouth, and my mother squeezed my hand.

  “And his left leg is broken as well. He has stitches across his forehead from where the bat hit him.”

  I let out a gasp. “Bat? He was hit by a bat?”

  My father nodded his head. “Yes, Billy said it was a bat they used to hit Garrett. Emma, we’re going to have to cancel the wedding. There is no way Garrett will recover in a month.”

  My mouth dropped open, and I shook my head. “No, Daddy, no. We’ve been waiting for so long to get married and start our lives together. This isn’t fair!” I shouted.

  “I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know. Garrett is going to have a long recovery ahead of him, and he will need your help,” my father said.

  I sat up straighter and squared off my shoulders. “I’ll do whatever it takes, but I’m not putting off my marriage to Garrett for another second. The justice of the peace can marry us, and then once Garrett has recovered, we will have the wedding.” I held my breath and waited for the four of them to start arguing with me.

  My father smiled. “Garrett said the same thing.”

  I jumped up. “He’s awake? Daddy, I want to see him right now! Why didn’t you tell me he was awake? I need to see him right away.”

  My father stood up and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You will, Emma, but Garrett wanted you to understand how serious his injuries are before you go in to see him.”

  Julia stood up and turned me toward her. “I’m not surprised at all that the both of you would say the same thing. Your mother and I will take care of getting the justice of the peace up here. Garrett has asked that the two of you be married as soon as possible.”

  I gave her a confused look.

  “Emma Rose, they won’t let you stay with him in the room unless you’re married,” my mother said.

  “Oh…well then, yes. What do we have to do?”

  My mother smiled and said, “You’ve already applied for the marriage license, so that is taken care of. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of the rest. Now, I need you to take a deep breath and prepare yourself for what you are about to see.”

  I looked at Billy and then at my father. “Does he look worse than Billy?”

  “Thanks, Emma,” Billy said with a chuckle.

  My father nodded his head. “Yes.”

  I took in a few deep breaths. “I’m ready.”

  We began walking, and I got a glimpse of Margie.

  I stopped and looked at her. “You’re not welcome here. Please leave.”

  “Emma Rose Birk,” my mother said, “that is your cousin.”

  I looked over my shoulder at my mother. “No, she’s the reason Garrett is lying in that hospital bed and why Billy is standing there, looking the way he does.” I turned back to Margie. “Please leave.”

  Margie started crying. “Emma, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I was so mad at Billy, and I just…I just…”

  I walked up to her and got right in her face. “You just wanted to go and screw someone. Is that it, Margie? I should have let you leave with him.”

  She shook her head. “No. I wasn’t going to…I just wanted Billy to be jealous and—”

  “What about the hurtful things you said to me? You’re so stupid. He was going to ask you to marry him, but you couldn’t be patient, and now, you cost me my wedding and possibly Garrett’s future. I have nothing else to say to you.”

  I turned and walked back up to my father. We made our way to Garrett’s hospital room.

  “I arranged for Garrett to have a private room.”

  I looked at my father and wiped a tear away. “Daddy, thank you so much. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Hey, what are the perks of being Chief of Staff if I can’t pull my weight sometimes?”

  I tried to laugh, but I just couldn’t. I stopped outside of the room, and I could hear music playing. I smiled when I heard Elvis singing.

  “Elvis always makes him feel better,” I said in a soft voice.

  “I brought up the record player and some Elvis sides from my office.”

  I hugged my father as tightly as I could. “Thank you, Daddy, for loving him so much.”

  “He’s like a son to me, Emma Rose. There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for him. It was very hard for me to work on him in the emergency room.”

  “Oh, Daddy.”

  He kissed me on the forehead. “Go on. I know he really wants to see you.”

  I quietly pushed the door open and heard “Loving You” playing. I put my hand up to my mouth to hold back my sobs. As I moved closer to him, I couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or shut. His whole face was swollen and black and blue. Garrett was softly singing, and I stopped and listened to him. He had such a beautiful voice. He was singing so softly, and I knew it had to hurt his ribs. The song ended, and another song began.

  “Will you turn it off, Em?”

  I quickly walked over and picked up the needle. I turned, and he was looking at me.

  “How did you know I was in here?”

  He smiled, and my heart broke. His beautiful crooked smile on his bruised and battered face still made me weak in the knees.

  “I felt you…and I smelled your perfume.”

  I smiled and walked up to him. As I took his hand in mine, I gently bent down and kissed it. I was trying so hard not to cry, but he looked so banged up.

  “Tell me you love me, Em.”

  I shook my head, and a sob escaped my betraying mouth. “Garrett…I love you more than the air I breathe. I love you so much that it hurts.”

  “Marry me.”

  I giggled. “When?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  I smiled as that familiar feeling moved over my body like a blanket. “It’s a date.”

  My mother fussed with my hair as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was pulled up with a few curls hanging down. I had put on a simple white skirt and a light blue collared shirt along with my favorite blue pumps that my mother had bought me.

  “You look beautiful, Emma Rose. Are you nervous?”

  I smiled and turned to my mother. “A little. I’ve waited so long to become Garrett’s wife, and well…” My voice trailed off, and an overwhelming sense of sadness washed over me.

  “What is it, darling?”

  I tried to smile, but it was forced. “I just wish none of this had happened, and we were having our dream wedding next month, and—” I tried to hold in the sob, but it slipped through my lips.

  My mother grabbed me and pulled me closer to her. “Shh…don’t cry. It’s okay, darling.”

  “I’m so mad at Margie, Mother, that I can’t even see straight. What was she thinking? Look at what she did!” I began crying harder.

  My mother pushed me away and looked into my eyes. “Emma Rose, Margie did not cause Garrett to end up in that hospital bed.”

  “But—”

  She held up her hand and tilted her head. “Margie made a mistake. We all make them, Emma Rose. She is riddled with guilt, and the fact that you are treating her so poorly is not making her feel any better.”

  I swallowed and
whispered, “Good.”

  “Emma Rose Birk, I am shocked at you. Where is this coming from? Now, I know you are upset that Garrett is hurt and that the wedding is being put off, but you should not carry around such hate in your heart. It does no one any good. Do you hear me? You need to forgive, Margie. You’re best friends and cousins. Would you want someone to hold a mistake against you like that?”

  I thought about the biggest mistake of my life—pushing Garrett away. What if Garrett held it against me when I’d gone out with Michael that one time?

  I slowly shook my head. “No, Mother, I wouldn’t. I’ll work at forgiving Margie.”

  She smiled. “Now, let’s fix your makeup. You have a wedding to get to.”

  I grinned as my mother fixed me up, and we made our way to Garrett’s hospital room. When I pushed open the door, my father and David were standing in the corner, talking to the justice of the peace. Julia was standing next to a sleeping Garrett. My heart broke in two. He was on so many pain medicines that he could hardly stay awake. As I made my way closer to him, he opened his eyes and looked at me. The smile that spread across his face caused me to suck in a breath.

  “Em, you look beautiful,” he whispered.

  I smiled and took his hand in mine as I leaned down. “I thought you were asleep,” I whispered against his lips. I gently kissed him.

  “He hasn’t taken any pain medicine this morning,” Julia said with a sad face.

  I snapped my head at Julia and then back at Garrett. “What?”

  He gave me that crooked smile of his. “I didn’t want to fall asleep at my own wedding.”

  I felt the tear slide down my face, and I quickly wiped it away. “Oh, Garrett, please take something for the pain. The ceremony is going to be quick.” I turned and looked at my father with pleading eyes. “Daddy.”

  He nodded his head, and he was out the door faster than I’d ever seen him move.

  When I turned back and looked at Julia, she mouthed, Thank you.

  I nodded my head and peeked back down at Garrett.

  “Em, I don’t—”

  I leaned down and kissed him again. I pulled my lips back and said, “Shh…I love you, Garrett Mathews.”

  My father walked back in and gave Garrett some pain medicine as my mother introduced me to the justice of the peace.