Promise Me Forever

  “Dance with me, Cat.”

  I looked down at his hand and placed mine in his. He pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around me.

  We started moving slowly. The grass was our dance floor and the lake our audience. My body fit against his like we were meant to do this from the beginning.

  His hand moved to the small of my back, urging me closer. He tucked my head against his chest as we swayed to the music.

  “I love you, Cat,” he whispered. “I want to grow old with you and have babies with you. I want to wake up in the morning and see your face and go to sleep at night with you by my side.”

  He let me go and cupped my face, looking into my eyes.

  “If you want to leave, we’ll grab Tate and go. Make our home somewhere else. I’ll follow you anywhere—”

  I shook my head. “I love you, Cash. As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter.”

  I was right where I wanted to be.

  I was home.

  Epilogue

  Cat

  Two Weeks Later

  I walked through the house with slow steps. Cash had brought Tate and I home.

  He told me the story of how he had come here looking for me after the EMP hit, bleeding and burning up with fever. How he had hallucinated and saw me.

  The house was still standing but it was covered with vines and hidden by weeds. Cash and Gavin had boarded up the windows. Cash admitted that he had hoped I would show up one day and if I did, he wanted me to have my old home.

  The pool was green, only rainwater in the bottom. The cabinets were bare. The furniture was still in the same place but covered with a thick layer of dust and grime.

  I walked over to the kitchen and stood there, imagining Nathan leaning against the counter, smiling at me. Tears filled my eyes. A hand went to my hip.

  “He’s here with you,” a deep voice drawled behind me.

  “I know,” I whispered as Cash stopped next to me, his face shadowed by his cowboy hat.

  Pulling me close, he leaned over and kissed my temple then let go of me and returned to the living room.

  I took a deep breath and turned to follow him. Tate was upstairs, going through his room. I wanted to do the same.

  With Cash behind me, I went up the stairs. The hallway was dark, the silence eerie. I glanced at the expensive artwork still on the walls and remembered when my mother had bought them. They were layered with dust and hanging crooked now, useless material things.

  That had seemed so long ago, in a time that seemed like an alternate reality. But I still got choked up, remembering my life then and how I missed Nathan and my dad.

  In my room, I stopped and looked around. The past came back in a flood of images. Lying on my bed, listening to Tate and Nathan argue. Thinking of a cowboy with gray eyes and a crooked smile.

  The clothes were gone – stolen Cash said – but the old me was still there. I could almost hear my laughter and remember my tears.

  Cash leaned against the doorframe and watched as I walked into the room.

  “I always pictured you in here, pulling on those boots you wore on our first date, strutting in front of the mirror.” His eyes ran over me. “Looking gorgeous as always.”

  “I thought I was too good for a cowboy like you,” I said, smiling at him over my shoulder.

  He pushed off the doorframe, a predator look in his eyes. “You were,” he rumbled, walking toward me. “Still are.”

  I blushed, something I only did with Cash.

  He stopped in front of me and slid his hand over my stomach. “Have you told Tate?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I’m waiting for the right moment.”

  “Told me what?” Tate asked from the doorway.

  I looked up. He was standing in the hall. I swear he had grown a foot taller in the last week. Janice was filling him full of food and Ryder had taken him under his wing, teaching him all he knew about hunting and…women.

  Emma followed him around like a puppy dog. He grumbled about it but I saw the look in his eyes. He had grown to love her.

  I smiled at Tate, wondering what he would think when I told him he was going to be an uncle. “I’ll tell you later,” I said, easing away from Cash’s hand and going to the door.

  “Oh, hold up,” Cash said, turning away from me. “I think there’s something still here.”

  He went over to the grime-covered dresser and opened the top drawer. Reaching inside, he pulled out a small piece of paper. A photo?

  Turning, he headed back to me. “I found this when I came here looking for you.”

  He stopped in front of me and held it out. With shaking hands, I took it.

  It was a picture of Luke and me. He smiled back at me, frozen in time. His arm was around my shoulders. I was grinning at the camera. I remembered the day perfectly.

  It was the day he was killed.

  “It’s him, isn’t it?” Cash asked, standing close.

  “Luke? Yes. Earlier in the day before the accident,” I said, my voice hoarse and thick.

  Cash looked down at the picture. Suddenly, he grew stiff. “Holy shit.”

  “What?” I asked, alarmed, looking from him to the photograph.

  Cash’s throat worked hard. He went a little pale. “I saw him.”

  “What? No, you didn’t. He died,” I said, feeling faint.

  Cash shook his head and looked at me. “I saw him. It was the second night after you were shot. You cried out and I woke up. There was a man standing over you. That man.” He pointed to the picture. “Before I could grab my gun, he was gone. I thought I was dreaming. It had been days since I ate or had a good night’s sleep and I was worried you were going to die…I just figured I was imaging things but it was him. I know it.”

  ‘I’ll always be with you, Cat.’

  A shiver passed over me, remembering Luke’s words. He had been there, urging me to live. I smiled down at the picture and ran my finger over his face. I still missed him after all these years.

  “Y’all are freakin’ me out. Can we go?” Tate grumbled from the doorway. “I’m starving.”

  I smiled and tucked the picture in my pocket. “Okay. Let’s go home.”

  Cash touched my elbow in passing and led the way down the hall and stairs. We would be back. Cash had already talked about spending more time here, to get away and be by ourselves some more.

  Ryder’s ranch was getting crowded. David had been given a small patch of land on Maddie’s old farm; Eva and Brody lived in the old house. Keely, Tate, Cash, and I were staying in Ryder’s parents’ home until we could build a house. Gavin was bunking with Ryder and Maddie even though Ryder wasn’t happy about that.

  And Adam?

  He had said goodbye three days ago. I still felt sadness, remembering his goodbye. He was going to find someone he had wronged, he said.

  He promised to come back. I told him he better. I already missed his smirk and teasing.

  Tate was still grumbling about being hungry as we walked through the living room. I turned to tell him to stop cussing and watch his language when suddenly a man appeared.

  He was stepping through the boarded-up door, the same way we had come in. His skin was leathery and his tall frame was gaunt. He wore a heavy flannel coat, big clunky boots, and tattered pants. His hair was a mass of gray and black that stood up everywhere. Most of his face was covered with a thick beard that reached the top of his chest.

  His gaze snapped up at us. Surprised, he paused as he stepped over the threshold.

  Cash pushed me behind him and snapped the shotgun he had been carrying to his shoulder. “Stop right there, mister.”

  I peered around Cash’s arm. The man’s eyes went from Tate to me. There was something about him…

  I stepped around Cash but he grabbed me and pulled me back. “I swear, princess,” he muttered under his breath with frustration.

  But I wasn’t listening. I was staring at the man. His eyes. I knew those eyes.

  “Dad?” I
whispered, pushing Cash’s hand off my waist.

  The old man blinked. “Catnip?”

  “Oh god! Oh god!” I threw myself at him, sobbing.

  The man’s thin arms caught me. He smelled awful and I was sure there was something alive in his beard but he was here. My dad was alive.

  He started crying as he hugged me, his thin body shaking against mine.

  “Cat! I can’t believe…I’ve looked…” His voice was thick and scratchy, thick with tears and rough from disuse but I would recognize it anywhere.

  Cash eased closer but kept his gun trained on my dad. “Cat? You sure it’s really him?”

  I sniffed and pulled away, looking over my shoulder at Cash. “It’s him. It’s my father.”

  Cash lowered the gun and relaxed but still looked wary.

  “Where have you been? Are you okay?” I asked my dad, looking over him. Making sure he wasn’t injured.

  He brushed my hands away and smiled. “I’m fine. I…I hitched a ride on a cargo ship leaving Dubai. I’ve…I’ve been traveling for years, trying to get home to you. I…I just hoped you were here.”

  I hugged him again, unable to believe it. He patted my back, his beard tickling my face, and looked over my head at Tate.

  “Tater Tot?” he asked in a whispered, surprised voice, his arms dropping away from me.

  I glanced back. Tate was shifting to his other foot, looking uneasy.

  He stuck his nose up and sniffed. “No one calls me that anymore.”

  Our dad walked over to Tate and stopped in front of him. Tate glared at him then looked away with an angry frown.

  “I missed you, son,” our dad said in a tear-choked voice, his beard twitching as his chin started quivering.

  Tate’s eyes filled with tears. Our father reached out and grabbed him, hugging him tight. At first, Tate resisted but then he wrapped his arms around the man and squeezed his eyes shut.

  After a minute, my dad let him go and looked around. “Where’s Nathan?”

  I glanced at Tate. He looked at the ground and kicked at the edge of a dusty rug.

  My dad looked at me. “Cat? Where’s your brother?”

  Tears welled in my eyes. Cash stepped next to me and slid an arm around my waist, giving me strength with his quiet presence.

  I took a deep breath and looked at my father. “He was killed, dad.”

  “Oh God.” He drew in a sharp breath and looked up at the ceiling, blinking quickly as his eyes watered.

  Tate wrapped an arm around my father’s shaking shoulders. I went to them and hugged my dad, missing Nathan like never before.

  After a moment, my father drew back and sniffed. Clearing his throat, he looked at Cash and glanced at the shotgun in his hand. “Who are you?”

  I started to answer but Cash beat me to it.

  “I’m Cash. Her husband.”

  ~~~~

  A little bit later, I stood in the doorway, staring out at the land. Tate and my dad stood at the fence, their arms resting on the top rung. They were gazing out at the pasture and talking. Tate wanted to be the one to tell my dad how Nathan died. I was thankful. I didn’t want to relive the moment and feel the pain.

  There would always be a hole inside me, missing my brother. But as I stood there, watching my dad and Tate, a warm feeling filled me. I was safe. Happy.

  “Cat.”

  Tingles went up my spine at the voice. I turned. In the shadows of the house, he stood there, silhouetted against the sun. His cowboy hat was pulled low. His sharp jaw was dusted with whiskers and his eyes were a light gray under the brim of the hat.

  My cowboy.

  I went to him, wrapping my arm around his middle. He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “I love you, Beauty Queen. Let’s go home.”

  ~

  This was the story of my life. A story of love. Of finding strength when there was none. Of living when the odds are stacked against you. It all started on a rainy night when a quiet cowboy helped a spoiled brat fix a car…

  The following is an excerpt from Paige Weaver's first book, Promise Me Darkness.

  Chapter One

  This is the story of the end of life as I knew it. We thought the world would continue as it always had. Society would stay the same. People would stay the same. We were wrong. In a heartbeat, the world changed. I changed.

  “I can’t believe you talked me into this!”

  An Eminem song blared loudly from speakers as I followed my best friend through the smoky bar. Men covered in tattoos stood shoulder to shoulder with women in barely–there clothing. As for me, I stuck out like a sore thumb in my light pink sundress and matching sandals.

  “Relax, Maddie. I just wanted to check the place out,” Eva said, bopping her head to the music as we walked through the crowd. I wasn’t sure if she noticed the nasty stares we were getting or was just oblivious to them. Knowing Eva, she just didn’t care.

  I stuck close behind her, afraid of being separated among these people. Eva and I had been to many of the bars near our college and seen some crazy things but this place was just plain scary. Talk about a hole in the wall. The smoke was thick and suffocating. The music was the kind your mama wouldn’t want you listening to — loud and full of every damn cuss word that existed. Most of the bar patrons looked either like convicts or members of a local motorcycle gang. I bet a few even had switchblades hidden somewhere on them. Two college girls definitely didn’t belong in here.

  “TABLE!” Eva squealed when she saw two empty chairs. Pulling on my hand, she charged forward, bumping into a couple of leather–clad men who scowled at us.

  At least the seats were in the corner. Maybe no one will notice us here. Eva could have her fun and then we could leave. Hopefully, in one piece.

  “WOOO HOOO!” Eva shrieked as one of her favorite rap songs started blasting from the speakers. It earned us a few more dirty looks.

  To my dismay, she started rapping along with the song. The girl couldn’t sing worth a darn but I had to give her credit for trying. I hugged my purse closer to my body and glared at her. She was so drawing attention to us! I hushed her but this was Eva we were talking about; there was no hushing her.

  Out of nowhere a waitress appeared next to our table. “You girls want anything?” she asked with a bored expression. Her blond hair was stringy, her tank top cut too low, and her tiny shorts didn’t cover her butt. She had about an inch of makeup on and it was starting to cake in her wrinkles.

  “Two shots of whiskey,” Eva yelled over the music.

  The waitress nodded and walked away, her shorts trying so hard to cover her behind.

  “I don’t drink, Eva, you know that!” I leaned over to shout.

  Eva waved me off as she went back to singing. I cringed as she rapped about sex and someone getting shot.

  We were so different. She was the exact opposite of me. Spontaneous and unpredictable, Eva was a true wild child who wasn’t afraid of anything. Some people found it amazing that we were friends but I’ve known her since the first grade — fifteen long years now. We had been through thick and thin together. There was no separating us. That’s why I had agreed to come to this dive in the first place. Needless to say, she owed me big time.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some men staring at us, practically drooling. “Those guys are gawking,” I said.

  “Wooo, baby, come to mama!” Eva growled dramatically as she studied them.

  I rolled my eyes at her version of a sexy purr. She loved bad boys and these men fit the bill perfectly. They were cute if you liked the tattooed, muscular, badass type of man. I didn’t. My type was more the khaki wearing, BMW driving, tattoo–free gentleman.

  The men were forgotten as the waitress appeared and delivered our shots. She took our money and stalked off, not thanking us for the tip or looking our way again. The customer service in here rocks.

  I picked up the small glass and studied it closely. It was dirty and whatever was in it smelled awful.

  ??
?I’m not drinking this,” I said, sitting it back down with revulsion.

  “You’ve got to. It’s bad luck if you don’t.”

  I eyed Eva with skepticism. “That’s not true and you know it.”

  “Okay, well, just drink it for me. You need to relaaaax.”

  I picked up the dirty glass and sighed. The things I did for a friend.

  “Okay, on three. One, two, THREE!” Eva said, smacking the table with each count.

  I tossed back the drink quickly. Fire raced – no, scorched – down my throat. My eyes watered, making it hard to see. I squeezed them shut, feeling the burn as the whiskey traveled from my throat to my stomach. Oh, shit! That was terrible!

  Eva started giggling as she watched me. “Another!” she laughed, pushing the second glass my way.

  “What? No freakin’ way! That was awful!” I shuddered in disgust.

  “I bought it for you. Drink up. You need it.”

  I knew Eva would win this argument so I threw back the drink. My throat instantly felt as if someone dropped a lighted match down it.

  “I love this song! Let’s dance.”

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the dance floor before I could protest or recover from the drink.

  There were only a couple of people dancing but Eva didn’t care. She started moving to the bass, really getting into the music. By now, my muscles were starting to relax thanks to the alcohol. Moving my hips to the pounding beat, I began dancing.

  By the second song, we were having a good time. Eva turned to shake her butt at me, sending me into fits of laughter. We started rubbing against each other, grinding to the music and acting silly.

  After the song ended, I noticed we had gathered an audience. Many of the rough looking men were now standing on the sidelines, watching us. I nervously scanned the crowd, afraid we were over our heads here. These men looked at us like we were their dinner and they were starving.

  I was about to tell Eva that we should leave when someone caught my attention. He was at a pool table in the back, lining up to take a shot with his cue stick. A voluptuous blonde was rubbing up against him like a bitch in heat. She wore a short black skirt, plunging neckline blouse, and five–inch stilettos. Her hands were all over him.