(C) 2009 BK Reeves\/Short Story\/LOVE ME FOREVER <\/p>\n
The snow was just beginning to fall when Callie pulled in at the west gate. She could see that it was chained and padlocked. Rummaging in her bag for the keys, she jumped out of the pickup truck she\u2019d rented in Abilene.<\/p>\n
The sun dropped behind the pastureland at her back as she tried to fit the key into the icy padlock. Finally the lock gave and she was able to unwrap the chain and push back the double gates.<\/p>\n
Cold, she was so cold. She blew on her hands before she started the truck and pulled onto the land she\u2019d inherited, the small Caddel spread. Small for Texas, 2500 acres more or less. Callie had forgotten to call Lucas Calvert and ask if he was running any cattle on the wheat right now. She squinted, trying to catch sight of a possible herd, but they would already be down by the barns, eating and getting ready to snug in for the night.
\n\tIf she left the gate open, cattle would be scattered all up and down the county road before sunup. Damn, damn, damn! She glanced at her cell phone beside her on the seat. She could call Luc if she had enough bars. His number would be easy to find in her purse. She grabbed the phone, punched it on and nothing.
\n\tOkay, Callie. Don\u2019t sit here freezing your butt off. Think. She decided she\u2019d shut and latch the big iron gates, but wouldn\u2019t chain and lock them. She took a deep breath and hit the ground running. Swinging the gates together, she slammed the big latch down and made sure it held.
\n\tHer hair was wet from the snow as she sprinted back to the truck and climbed in. Pushing the heater bar over to hot, she shivered. Her lights were on high\u2014she\u2019d forgotten how quickly the darkness came out here. Ten minutes after sundown and she could see very little. The snow was whirling now, the big flat flakes clinging to the ground. No telling how many inches would fall before morning.
\n\tThat was all right with her. She\u2019d stopped at the grocery store in Sheldon for supplies. Plenty of food so she wouldn\u2019t need to get out of the house for a couple of weeks. Batteries for the flashlights if snow got really heavy on the electric lines and she had a blackout. She had extra batteries for her laptop, too.
\n\tThe old house was heated by big propane gas stoves, so she\u2019d be cozy and warm, even if the electricity did go. She would shut the world away, write the perfect ending to her screenplay and maybe find some personal closure, too.
\n\tCallie let the truck whine to a stop when she came to the electric fence. Just as well she\u2019d shut the gate; that charged fence told the story. As she\u2019d suspected, there were cattle in here. Without thought, she left the pickup again and ran to the fence.
\n\tShe bowed her head against the blowing snow and reached for the insulated wire to unhook the single-strand gate. As she took the gate and started to carry it back, she noticed the lights of a vehicle pulling in at the west gate. The driver closed the big gates behind him and started slowly down the road Callie had taken.
\n\tHer heart pounded, but she wasn\u2019t afraid it might be some stranger. No. This was Lucas Culvert, owner of the big spread to the east and longtime sheriff of the county. He\u2019d always leased the place from Grandma Phillips. Word had spread that she stopped in town and here he was. Not a stranger at all, but the man she hadn\u2019t seen in seventeen years, not since he\u2019d betrayed her.
\n\tCallie and Luc were the same age. She had loved him at six, given him her first kiss at twelve, her virginity at sixteen and her promise to marry him at the same time. They were nineteen and in college at Texas Tech when Luc had given her cousin Lana what was hers, his baby. The very baby he\u2019d promised to give Callie after they were married.
\nHe had betrayed Callie with her own cousin. She\u2019d refused to listen to his side of it; wouldn\u2019t even let him talk to her. She\u2019d left him and gone straight to Hollywood, taking her screenplay with her. Two years later, that screenplay was made into an Oscar-winning movie, and she had two more scripts optioned. When she learned Luc had married Lana, Callie wed Sam Phillips, a famous director, but always slept alone.
\nSam was a closet gay, masculine looking, a sweet guy. And he loved her. Platonically. He was upfront with Callie. No one knew about his homosexuality\u2014not even his own family. He didn\u2019t want anyone to know. He respected her for her writing genius, that was apparent. She told him about Luc.
\nThey made a fabulous team, along with Sam\u2019s lover, Gary Sanders. They worked, lived and scored success after success together. Callie the writer, Sam the director, Gary the producer. Their company was called Trifecta. It was at the Golden Globes, that the unthinkable happened. They\u2019d just won best picture, and she was holding her acceptance speech, written on a small slip of paper. Callie was standing beside Sam and Gary was behind them. She dropped the paper in her hand, bent and reached for it, and heard the shot that blew half her husband\u2019s head across her face. The shot came from above.
\nGary grabbed and dragged Callie to the floor, and security police hurried her and her husband\u2019s lover away.
\nThat night she held Gary in her arms as he wept. She cried, too, for her husband, for Gary, for herself. <\/p>\n
\tShe waited for the slow-moving truck to pull up behind her.
\nIt was Luc, all right. She could tell by the way he moved as he shut the gate. She\u2019d never forgotten how he moved. What would he say?
\n\tCallie rolled down the drivers-side window when he walked up beside her truck.
\n\t\u201cDrive around to the main house,\u201d Luc shouted over the wind. He turned away with no greeting, only that harsh order.
\n\tCallie followed his black SUV around the long drive and parked in front of the hundred-year-old house, big and homey, and so welcoming to her battered heart. The lights were all on, every window blazing.
\n\tLuc opened her pickup door; she got out and asked, \u201cWho\u2019s here?\u201d
\n\t\u201cMy daughter Coral. She stays here a lot. I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d mind.\u201d
\nThe snow was heavier now and snowflakes tangled in Callie\u2019s eyelashes. She shook her head and looked up at him. He was everything she remembered, only more so. In that instant, Callie knew she\u2019d never, not for a minute, stopped loving him. Now she knew why she\u2019d come home.
\nLuc\u2019s grip tightened and he opened his lips. What he would have said, she never knew. The front door of her old house opened and a girl rushed out on the porch.
\n\u201cDad, who is that with you?\u201d
\n\u201cGet back inside. It\u2019s Callie Phillips.\u201d
\nCatching her breath, Callie fought for composure. This was Luc\u2019s daughter. The daughter he should have given her. The one he\u2019d thoughtlessly given her cousin.
\nLana had been dead since Corel was four, and Callie\u2019s hate had burned out years ago.<\/p>\n
Smiling, Coral threw her arms around Callie the moment her Dad shoved them inside the house. She took Callie to stand before the fire. \u201cOpen your coat. Get warm. I\u2019ll get a towel for your hair. Oh, I\u2019ve waited all my life to meet you!\u201d She put her arms around Callie again and simply held her. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she said. \u201cSo sorry for your loss.\u201d
\nCallie felt dazed and looked around for Luc as Coral came back and gently pressed the towel to her hair, trying to soak up the melted snow. He had gone outside to get her stuff out of the truck, she thought.
\nShe turned her attention back to the girl. \u201cYou are so beautiful, but you don\u2019t look like Lana.\u201d
\nCoral flushed. \u201cNo, I look like you. We are cousins, after all. My dad said I should have been your daughter. I\u2014I wish I had.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, so do I,\u201d Callie choked.
\nLuc came in, carrying luggage, her laptop computer and a large sack of groceries. His daughter was weeping in Callie\u2019s arms. They both had tears streaming down their faces.
\nCallie looked over Coral\u2019s shoulder to find Luc standing there, his expression unreadable.
\nHe put everything on the couch, crossed the room and silently took them in his arms. He held them a long time, then pulled away and wiped at his own face.
\n\u201cI\u2019m going back to town,\u201d he told them. \u201cCoral, are you staying? Will y\u2019all be okay out here?\u201d
\nBut Coral was shaking her head. \u201cI\u2019d love to stay, but I have basketball practice. I was just getting ready to leave.\u201d
\nLuc\u2019s eyes were watchful. \u201cCallie, you don\u2019t need to be alone tonight.\u201d
\nHe walked over to an old rotary phone sitting on a side table. It was a landline. Plucking the phone from its cradle, he dialed a number.
\n\u201cJosie? I\u2019m staying out here at the old Phillips place with Callie Phillips tonight. Yeah, she\u2019s here. Don\u2019t tell anybody, okay? Except Iggy, of course. Is he there? Good, put him on.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou remember old Iggy Springer,\u201d he heard Coral tell Callie. \u201cHe was one of Granddad\u2019s deputies; now he\u2019s Dad\u2019s.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah, Iggy,\u201d Luc said into the phone. \u201cHold down the fort tonight, will you? Josie has something to tell you, but y\u2019all keep it under your hats. I\u2019ll see you in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSupper was sandwiches and strong, fresh coffee. And lots of sexual tension. Every time Luc looked at her, Callie\u2019s stomach clenched. She tried not to let her eyes rest on his mouth. She knew what he could do with that mouth, how he could make her feel. They were alone. Coral had gathered her books, said her bio-dad was expecting her and left with a sandwich and a coke.
\n\t\u201cCall me when you get there,\u201d Luc said.
\n\t\u201cCoral has a biological father? I thought you\u2019d gotten Lana pregnant.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSo did I. Turns out she\u2019d broken up with Troy Morgan and decided to get even with Troy by sleeping with me. And get even with you. She told me later she\u2019d always hated you.
\n\t\u201cLook,\u201d he continued, \u201cI was drunk that night. Remember you wouldn\u2019t come home from Teck that weekend? You wanted to stay in the dorm and write? It was homecoming.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI remember.\u201d Only too well.
\n\tLuc blew out his breath and drew another. \u201cI don\u2019t have a good excuse, no excuse at all, really. I was mad at you, got drunk at the homecoming dance, Lana climbed all over me and I got us a motel room in Spur.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you use a condom? You were always super careful with me.\u201d
\n\t\u201cLana lied, said she was on the pill.\u201d
\n\tCallie looked at him a long time. He held her eyes, determined that she know the truth.
\n\t\u201cOne time, and it ruined our lives.\u201d Her tone was bleak.
\n\t\u201cNo. I was with her all night, Callie.\u201d
\n\tHer anger flashed brightly again. \u201cThat was my baby, you bastard. Coral should have been mine.\u201d
\n\t\u201cIf I\u2019d gotten Lana pregnant but I didn\u2019t. We\u2019d been married two months before Lana told me she was already pregnant with Troy\u2019s child when she slept with me.\u201d
\n\tAfter a while, Callie said, \u201cSo Coral is not yours after all. And she knows. She said Troy was her biological father.
\nHe and Lana were her parents.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah. She calls me A. I\u2019m her adoptive dad and Troy is B, her bio-dad.\u201d Luc grinned. \u201cShe\u2019s a great kid.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI wish she was mine. And yours.\u201d Callie sighed.
\n\tThey were quiet a while, and Luc poured them another cup of coffee.
\n\tThe phone on the kitchen wall rang. Callie picked it up, wondering if it might be Gary. Luc was tracking her with his eyes. \u201cOh, Coral. Did you want to talk to your dad?\u201d Pause. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll tell him.\u201d
\n\t\u201cCoral says she got to town okay.\u201d
\n\tLuc nodded and asked, \u201cHow long are you staying? Are you moving home?\u201d
\n\t\u201cYes. I plan to use this as my home base. I can write anywhere. For the next few weeks, I\u2019ll be finishing the screenplay for Trifecta\u2019s next film. Gary had just gone into pre-production when Sam was killed.\u201d
\nCallie hesitated. \u201cThey caught the murderer, you know. Right there, that night. She was Sam\u2019s longtime secretary, Agatha Turnbow. Aggie had become more and more irrational the last couple of years. Sam finally had to pension her off. She thought he should have made her part of the company instead of me. She resented me from the first.\u201d Callie found her voice shaking. \u201cAggie was shooting at me, Luc. She was trying to kill me.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah, the story was all over the papers.\u201d
\n\tCallie got up and cleared the sandwich remains away. Finally she faced him, leaned back against the sink and crossed her arms over her breast.
\n\t\u201cYou might as well know. Gary was Sam\u2019s lover. They had a long-time relationship. They were a couple, and I was odd man out. Or odd woman. They loved me like a sister, taught me the business, made me a full partner in Trifecta, their movie company.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhy did you marry him, Callie? Didn\u2019t you want to have a life?\u201d
\n\tCallie straightened. \u201cWhen you married Lana, I didn\u2019t care what I did.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cThere was no place for me here. Lana was starring in my role. She was your wife and lover, or so I thought. When I learned she was pregnant, I finally gave you up. That\u2019s why I was willing to marry Sam. He and Gary became my family; they took very good care of me. And I was the perfect wife. Never played around on Sam like some Hollywood wives.\u201d
\n\tLuc came to his feet. \u201cAre you telling me you\u2019ve been celibate all these years?\u201d His voice had a husk in it.
\n\tOne corner of her mouth quirked in a tiny smile. \u201cI\u2019m telling you that you\u2019re the only man I ever slept with, Luc.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s impossible. You\u2019re beautiful. Don\u2019t tell me men didn\u2019t try to . . . I know how the world is. When Lana died in that motorcycle wreck, why didn\u2019t you come back to me?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat would you have done, Luc? Would you have taken me in?\u201d
\n\tLuc snorted. \u201cTaken you in and had you under me in two seconds flat. I never stopped wanting you.\u201d
\n\t\u201cMaybe I was afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cGrandma had written that Lana was dead. And you had Coral. What was she? Four when her mother died? And I had a husband. We were shooting a movie in Ireland. I decided to ask Grandma to come for a visit. She was my one remaining link with home. I enjoyed those three months she was with me very much.\u201d Callie smiled, remembering. \u201cShe got the biggest kick, meeting all those Hollywood folks, especially the two famous stars who were the leads in our film. A movie crew becomes a tight little family for the duration of the shoot, you know. Grandma loved being part of that. Then she died suddenly. She loved Ireland. That\u2019s why I buried her there.\u201d
\n\tLuc leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. To keep from reaching for her, he thought. \u201cThe time was never right for us.\u201d
\n\tCallie nodded. Until now. She was wandering around the big kitchen, touching things. Restless.
\n\t\u201cThanks for keeping the place up, all the painting, the necessary repairs, and everything. It\u2019s like new, or as new as an old house can be. My room looks exactly like it did the last time I saw it. It\u2019s beautiful. Did Grandma do that?\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah, until she left to go be with you, she turned your room into, I don\u2019t know, a shrine. Then I sort of took over.\u201d
\n\tCallie straightened. Her nipples tingled; her body was ready for him. \u201cTell me why you did that, Luc.\u201d
\nShe put her arms around his lean waist and eased close to his body. Her breasts were touching his chest. He was so tall and smelled so good, like she\u2019d always remembered. \u201cTell me what you want from me,\u201d she breathed.
\n\tLuc held her against him, his hands rough on her back. \u201cNo, first you tell me the real reason you\u2019ve come home. Why are you in my arms right now?\u201d
\nBefore Callie could answer, he lowered his head and kissed her, his tongue aggressive. He was hungry for her, seventeen years hungry.
\n\t\u201cWhy, Callie?\u201d His hands were hard and he shook her a little.
\n\tCallie shook her head. \u201cI\u2019m tired, Luc. Exhausted. I thought I could rest here, regroup. It was a good excuse. But what I wanted, needed, was you, your sex, your arms, your wonderful body I could never forget. I came for you, Luc.\u201d
\n\t\u201cAh, God,\u201d he gasped after another deep kiss. Suddenly he held her away and shook her. \u201cI\u2019m warning you, Callie. Don\u2019t start this unless you mean to stay.\u201d
\n\tCallie laughed. \u201cNo, I mean yes. I want to stay.\u201d
\n\tHe swung her up in his arms, walked with her into her old bedroom. \u201cI\u2019ve dreamed of this.\u201d
\n\tCallie clung with her arms around his neck, barely aware that he had tossed the covers back. He stripped her heavy sweater over her head, removed her bra and followed her down on the bed. His mouth was hot on her breasts and Callie gasped as he unsnapped her pants, pushed them off and kissed her all the way down her body. He penetrated her with his tongue and she thought she would climax before he could get out of his clothes.
\n\t\u201cNo, Luc!\u201d she cried. \u201cInside me; I want you inside me. I want us to come together, like we always did. Together.\u201d
\n\tLuc\u2019s eyes never left her face as he tore off his shirt and stepped out of his pants. Then he was on her, pushing between her legs, ready to enter. But he stopped, went still and collapsed on her.
\n\tCallie was frantic to feel his hot skin, his body on hers. Everything was so good, just like she remembered. Her arms were around him, pulling him against her. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t have anything; I don\u2019t have a condom.\u201d His mouth caught hers again; he was carrying her along on a crest of passion, his shaft pushing at the moist entrance of her sex.
\n\tCallie thought later that she\u2019d screamed. He couldn\u2019t deny her now, not when she\u2019d waited so long. \u201cLuc, don\u2019t stop. I want you. Now.\u201d Her arms left his neck and grabbed his hips as she tried to pull him into her.
\n\tStill kissing her, Luc shoved his hands under her and tilted her body up to receive his thrusts. \u201cI can\u2019t wait, sweetheart. I\u2019m coming,\u201d he growled just as Callie shattered.
\n\tSilence, the silence that marked the end of a long separation. The sweet silence of reunion.
\nHis cell phone on the bedside table rang. Luc grabbed it, cleared his throat and muttered, \u201cWhat?\u201d He was still on her, still in her, still hard as he pressed Callie into the mattress.
\nCallie could hear every word. \u201cHi, Dad.\u201d Coral\u2019s voice came loud and clear. \u201cI just wanted to make sure you know I\u2019m not coming home tonight. In fact, I\u2019ll probably be staying with Daddy Troy for several nights, if that\u2019s all right with you. Are you and Callie okay?\u201d
\n\u201cYeah, baby, we are.\u201d Luc laughed. \u201cI\u2019d say we\u2019re better than we\u2019ve been any time these last seventeen years. Thanks for calling.\u201d
\nLuc flipped the phone shut and began loving Callie again. \u201cWhere was I?\u201d
\n\tAfter a moment, Callie said, \u201cStop.\u201d She ran her hands up and down his ribs. \u201cStop, Luc. I want to ask you something.\u201d
\n\tAnother long thrust before he slowed, his body protesting. \u201cAnything, Sweetheart. The answer is yes.\u201d Luc locked his mouth with hers again, kissing her until she was breathless.
\n\t\u201cYou aren\u2019t paying attention,\u201d Callie said. \u201cYou haven\u2019t heard my question yet.\u201d
\n\t\u201cOh, you\u2019ve got my attention, I promise.\u201d He shoved even deeper into her body.
\n\t\u201cWill you marry me?\u201d Callie asked
\n\tFor one instant, Luc was absolutely still. Then he caught her mouth with his and began moving inside her with even greater force, greater intensity, until they both rolled over the edge.
\n\tIn the aftermath, when their hearts slowed, Callie stirred. \u201cI\u2019m gonna take that as a yes.\u201d
\n\tLuc laughed and so did she. \u201cYou knew the answer before you asked. How can I say anything but yes?\u201d
\n\tIt was a very good ending to their story, Callie thought. What any writer worth her salt would call an earned ending. #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(C) 2009 BK Reeves\/Short Story\/LOVE ME FOREVER The snow was just beginning to fall when Callie pulled in at the west gate. She could see that it was chained and padlocked. Rummaging in her bag for the keys, she jumped out of the pickup truck she\u2019d rented in Abilene. The sun dropped behind the pastureland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}