A Forever Love, Part 2 Read online

  A Forever Love, Part 2

  By Sharon Cummin

  Copyright © 2020 Sharon Cummin

  All Rights Reserved

  Warning: This story contains explicit sexual content that is not intended for those under the age of 18. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and the age of 18 and older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 1

  Grace

  I got to the school, parked my car, and hurried up the walk. Noah came running over the moment he spotted me, pulling Ava behind him by her hand.

  “Hey mom,” he said. “This is my friend Ava. You remember her from last night.”

  “Well hello there,” I heard Sawyer's voice come from behind me.

  I'd already known he was there. I could feel the air around me change before he even spoke.

  “Uncle Sawyer,” Ava let out with excitement. “What are you doing here? You never pick me up.”

  “I was on my way home from visiting a friend, so I called your mom to let her know that I'd get you,” he answered.

  Ava looked up at me with the cutest smile on her face.

  “This is my Uncle Sawyer,” she said. “He lives with us now.”

  “Oh, she knows who he is,” Noah interrupted. “She said she knew him even before she knew my daddy, but I'm not sure she likes him though. She said something bad about him on the way home last night.”

  “Really?” Ava asked, as she scrunched her nose up. “What did she say?”

  “Hello, Noah,” Sawyer said, looking down at my son, acting as if I wasn't there. “I've heard so much about you.”

  “Oh yeah,” Noah said, looking up at Sawyer.

  “We need to go,” I said, cutting off whatever was coming next. “You'll see your friend tomorrow.”

  I grabbed Noah's hand and began walking toward my car. The second I saw the bike, parked right next to my car, I let out a huff. Then I heard Sawyer's amazing laugh, and I couldn't help but wonder how I'd gotten there before him. Without a word, he walked up to his bike, grabbed a helmet, not the one I had been wearing earlier, and handed it to the little girl. Where had it come from, I wondered? I could feel him looking at me, and when my eyes connected with his, I could see a sneaky look in them. It was the same look he had growing up when he'd been hiding something.

  “That's your motorcycle?” Noah screeched out from next to me.

  I looked down to see that he was barely containing his excitement. His little body was buzzing with happiness, ready to burst at the seems, waiting for an answer.

  “It sure is,” Sawyer answered, with a smile filling his face.

  “Oh, I love motorcycles,” Noah let out, with a smile just as wide.

  “Do you?” Sawyer asked, as he looked back at me.

  Not being able to hold back anymore, Noah dropped his backpack, walked over, and ran his hand softly across the bike, being very careful, treating it as if it were a priceless treasure and not just the piece of metal it really was.

  “I do,” Noah whispered, as he continued to admire the huge machine in front of him.

  “Isn't it cool?” Ava asked, as she shoved the helmet she'd been given over her head.

  He had to have gone home to switch the helmets out, but how, he hadn't been gone that long.

  “He takes you on it?” Noah asked, with shock filling his tone.

  “He sure does,” Ava replied, as Sawyer reached under her chin to make sure the strap was in place and tightened.

  “You're so lucky,” Noah said, before looking at me and then at Sawyer. “Can I have a ride?”

  “Sure,” Sawyer let out at the same time I gasped out “No way!”

  “Mom!” Noah snapped out, as his eyes shot up to mine.

  “Don't mom me,” I said, with what I'm sure was a look of fear in my eyes.

  Then it hit me, and my eyes moved quickly back to Sawyer.

  “Wait!” I growled out. “You're taking her on that huge thing.”

  “I sure am,” he replied calmly, but I could tell he was fighting not to laugh at me.

  “Does Julia know you're doing that?” I asked.

  Sure, he might have told his sister he was picking the little girl up, but had he told her he was putting her on the back of a very large and dangerous motorcycle?

  “Of course,” he said, shaking his head as if I were crazy.

  I couldn't take it. What he was about to do was scaring the shit out of me. Why? I had no idea. I'd just been on the back of that very same bike. Just as I was about to open my mouth again, he burst into laughter, and I instantly narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Calm down,” he said, as he looked at me with a huge smile on his face.

  “Calm down,” I repeated his words, feeling as if my head was about to explode.

  “It's only a block,” he said, trying hard not to laugh again.

  “A block?” I asked, making sure I'd heard him correctly.

  “Yes, one block,” he answered, as he shook his head. “You should see the look on your face.”

  “Julia lives one block from here,” I said, more to myself than to him, ignoring his last comment. “How have I not seen her?”

  “I've been wondering the same thing myself,” he said, as he looked over toward the group of women watching us from the sidewalk. “It seems neither of you like to hang out with the gossip crew. I'm assuming you both get out of here as quickly as possible each day.”

  “It's Valentine's Day,” Noah said, pulling my attention away from Sawyer and a conversation that had already gone on way too long.

  “It is,” I replied to my son.

  “Ava is my Valentine,” he said, as a matter of fact.

  “Is she?” Sawyer asked, before I could get the words out.

  “Yep,” Ava answered, with a nod. “I'm his girlfriend. He asked me today.”

  “Even though she's older than me,” Noah chimed in, with a smile on his face that spread from ear to ear.

  I looked up at Sawyer, who was shaking his head, while he covered his face with his hand, trying hard to hide a laugh.

  “I hope you have a good day with your mom and your uncle,” I said, as I looked down at Ava.

  “Oh, I will,” Ava replied, with a smile. “We're having pizza, and Uncle Sawyer said I can have any kind I want. It can even be the expensive kind.”

  “Oh, you're lucky,” Noah said, looking at Ava as if she was the luckiest person alive. “I love expensive pizza.”

  I couldn't take it. My head fell back, and I shook it, as I looked up at the sky, wondering if it could just swallow me up and take me away from the embarr
assment falling upon me at that very moment.

  “I'm making your favorite spaghetti for dinner,” I said, trying my best not to respond to his comment from just moments before.

  “I do like my mom's spaghetti,” he told Ava. “Pizza does sound good though.”

  “Oh, I like spaghetti,” Ava said, as she looked from Noah to me and then back to Noah again before scrunching up her face. “You're lucky. My mom's spaghetti isn't very good.”

  “Ava,” Sawyer said, almost as if he was warning her.

  “You haven't had it yet,” she said, as she looked at her uncle.

  Sawyer let out a laugh and shook his head.

  “Come on, Noah,” I said, trying not to watch the gorgeous man laughing in front of me. “We really need to go. I still have to start the sauce. We'll already be eating late as it is.”

  “Really?” Noah asked, with a confused look on his face.

  “Yes,” I replied, as I narrowed my eyes at Sawyer. “Mommy was distracted today, but don't worry, I won't let it happen again.”

  I didn't miss him narrowing his eyes right back at me.

  “Okay, bye, Ava,” Noah said, as he grabbed his bag and walked to his side of the car. “Are you sure I can't ride on Ava's uncle's motorcycle? It might be fun.”

  “It's not that fun,” I replied, knowing that I was totally full of shit.

  “Have you ridden one?” Noah asked, as he got in the car and closed his door.

  “Yeah, have you ridden one, Gracie?” Sawyer yelled from behind me, over the loud rumble of the bike he'd just started.

  “I have,” I answered, as I opened my door before turning to look at Sawyer, “but I won't be doing it again, ever!”

  Before Sawyer could speak again, I got in my car, closed the door, and put my car in reverse. Then, making sure not to look in his direction, I backed up and took off. Yeah, I thought. That was definitely something I would never do again.

  Chapter 2

  Grace

  I couldn't wait to get away from Sawyer. I didn't know what it was about him, but he could set me off with just a look or a word. It had always been like that with him. The man knew how I reacted to him, and he used it to his advantage every single time. He always had. How I went from happy one second to being ready to rip his head off the next, I would never know.

  The further away I got from him, the better I felt.

  “How old were you when you knew Ava's uncle?” Noah asked.

  “Since I was a little girl,” I answered honestly.

  I truly couldn't remember a time that I hadn't known him. Well, not until after he left anyway.

  “Why don't you like him?” he asked.

  “I never said I didn't like him,” I answered.

  “What about last night,” he said. “Does he make you mad?”

  “Sometimes,” I said, as I thought about just how often sometimes was when we were growing up.

  “Ava makes me mad sometimes too,” he said. “She wants me to play with her all the time at lunch. Sometimes I want to play with my other friends.”

  “She just likes spending time with you,” I said, as I looked over at my son.

  “I guess,” he said. “Are all girls like that?”

  “Sometimes,” I said, as I tried to stop myself from letting out a laugh.

  “Do you know Ava's mom too?” he asked. “You know her uncle.”

  “I do,” I said, as I thought about my friend and how we'd lost touch. “We were best friends when we were kids.”

  “Like me and Ava?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” I answered, as I pulled into the driveway and shut the car off. “We were friends for a very long time.”

  As we walked up the porch steps and I unlocked the front door, I couldn't help but wonder how I'd never known that Ava was Julia's daughter. I'd heard Noah talk about the little girl he knew named Ava for months. How had I not met her before the dance? How had I missed who her mother was? As I walked in behind Noah and shut the door behind me, I realized that I spent more time avoiding being at the school than I did paying attention to who was actually there every day. That needed to change. I wanted no part of the gossiping moms, but I also needed to stop missing out on what was happening there with my son.

  He set his backpack on the table, opened it up, and began pulling out his work. Without being asked, he sat down and began working on his homework. He really was an amazing boy. While he worked, we talked about his day and how they'd had extra recess.

  “What are you doing first to make dinner?” he asked, as he finished coloring some shapes on his paper.

  “I'm going to make the sauce,” I answered, watching him put his things away before zipping his backpack. “Are you done?”

  “I am,” he said, as he looked over at me.

  “Would you like to help?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he answered, as he nodded his head excitedly. “That would be fun.”

  “Come on,” I said, as I walked toward the kitchen. “I'd love some help.”

  “I can definitely help,” he said.

  He hurried over, pulled up a stool, crawled up onto it, and was ready to work. We stirred the meat together as it browned. Then one by one, he added the ingredients. Then he began stirring. When the sauce bubbled up and a little shot out at him, he let out a laugh while comparing it to a volcano, something he'd learned about that day in school.

  By the time we were done making dinner, I'd learned some surprising things about volcanoes, we'd had a lot of laughs, and we were both a mess. My hair was in a bun on top of my head with pieces coming out here and there, and there were spatters of sauce all over both of us. Did I care? No, I didn't. We'd had more fun making our Valentine's Day dinner than we had in a long while.

  While Noah got us both napkins and forks, I walked our plates full of spaghetti over to the table. We'd both just sat down when I heard a knock at the front door. Nobody ever came over unannounced, and we weren't expecting anyone. So, when Noah scurried off his chair and headed for the door, I was up and right there behind him.

  “Hold on there, buddy,” I said, as I reached for the knob ahead of him. “We can't just open the door for anyone. You know we have to see who it is first.”

  I opened the door just a crack before hearing Noah yell out “Ava.” Before I could even be sure it was her, he jerked the door open wide and was pulling her through the entryway. When my eyes moved back toward the door, they landed on a pair of boots.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked harshly.

  My eyes traveled up his sexy jean clad legs and stopped on the pizza boxes in his arms. That was when I saw movement behind him.

  “Looks like we're just in time for dinner,” he said, as he looked behind me and toward the table. “How about some pizza to go with that spaghetti?”

  Before I could say anything, he walked in, and as he passed by me, he asked “Did you leave any sauce for the noodles?”

  That was when I saw Julia, and as pissed as I was at him, I couldn't speak.

  Chapter 3

  Sawyer

  As soon as we walked in the house from school, Ava was bouncing around and smiling like crazy. She ran right through the living room and headed for her bedroom, yelling out something about Noah.

  “What was that about Noah?” Julia asked, as she looked in the direction her daughter had gone. “What's gotten into her today? What did you do?”

  “Me,” I asked innocently. “I didn't do a thing. It's Noah. He's her boyfriend now.”

  “Boyfriend,” she said, as her eyes moved quickly toward me. “Since when?”

  “Since today,” I answered, trying so hard not to laugh at the freaked out look on my sister's face.

  “Did you meet him?” she asked, her voice quivering just a bit.

  “Oh, I met him,” I answered.

  “Why are you saying it like that?” she asked nervously.

  “His mom's name is Grace,” I said, watching closely for her reaction.

&
nbsp; “That's nice,” she said, barely reacting.

  “No, Julia,” I said, as I gave my sister a serious look. “Grace is Noah's mom.”

  When I spoke, I made sure I stressed the word Grace.

  “Grace,” she said, and then it hit her, as a look of shock filled her features. “Wait! What? Grace. The Grace. My Grace?”

  No, my Grace was what I wanted to say, but I didn't. Instead, I just nodded.

  “You just asked me about her,” she said. “That's so strange. I had no idea she was even back.”

  “Oh, she's back alright,” I said, without thinking.

  “What's that supposed to mean?” she asked, knowing damn well that it definitely meant something.

  “I ran into her last night at the dance,” I answered.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Like really ran into her,” I said, with a smirk on my face that I couldn't hide if I'd wanted to. “Knocked her clear on her ass.”

  “Oh no!” she gasped. “I can't imagine how well that went over. She used to hate you. You were the only person I knew that could set her off without even opening your mouth. She was the sweetest person to everyone, but not to you. I haven't talked to her since right after high school. How is she?”

  “She lost her husband, and her parents are assholes,” I answered. “It doesn't sound like her in-laws are all that either.”

  “She told you all that after you knocked her on her ass,” she said. “I can't believe she didn't go off on you.”

  Oh, she did, I thought to myself but didn't dare say it out loud.

  “Noah's having spaghetti for dinner,” I heard Ava yell out from the other side of the house.

  “Oh yeah,” I began with a laugh. “Ava told them your spaghetti sucks.”

  “I never said that,” Ava yelled, with her voice getting louder and closer. “I just said that it wasn't very good.”

  “She isn't wrong,” Julia said, as she let out a laugh. “How embarrassing.”

  “Don't be embarrassed, Mommy,” Ava said, as she walked up to Julia. “My teacher said everyone is good at different things.”