Love Me to Death (21 page)

“Here,” I say, handing it to her, “keep this safe, we’ll start it as soon as we are back from Ohio.”

“Yes,” she breathes.

“Babe?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go to bed,” I say knowing that I can’t speak about anything more tonight. I can feel the difference in the air and I know Ned can too. I don’t understand it and I’m not sure I want to. We walk hand in hand to her room. We get into bed silently. Neither of us makes a sound as I pull her back into my chest and wrap my leg around hers. Neither of us says a word as we listen to the sound of each other’s breathing in the still of the night. We fall asleep in silence. Both saying nothing and saying everything.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
“Ned,” I grumble. She ignores me.
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
“Ned, make it stop.” I groan. She stirs a little before slowly lifting her head off my chest.

“What is it?” She moans.

“Your stupid phone. Tell it to shut up.”

“Shut up,” she grumbles. I smile.

“I don’t think it’s going to work like that, babe.”

She blows out a frustrated breath against my chest. She doesn’t move her body but instead moves her arm around trying to grab for a phone that she can’t see with her eyes closed.
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
I sit up in frustration with Ned in my arms, grab her phone, lie back down and hand it to her.

“Why the hell is Jerkson calling you at,” I pause as I try to make out the time on her phone, “five in the morning?!”

“Like I know,” she says angrily before hitting the answer button and pressing the phone to her ear. “Jackson, yes?” She says sleepily into the phone. Her morning voice is incredibly sexy but that doesn’t take away from the fact that that jerk just woke me up. “Yes, I’m still in bed. Yes, I’m flying to Ohio, how did you know? Oh, Misty, of course. No, my flight isn’t until ten. No, it’s ok, you weren’t to know.”

“No, he wasn’t to know or to wake us up either,” I say in frustration. She looks up at me in warning.

“Sorry, no it’s just Cole. He’s just miserable because your call woke him up.”

“Damn right I am.”

“Cole,” she warns. “Sorry, Jackson, yes I’m going to see my parents. Yes, Cole is coming. Look, not to be rude but can we have this conversation when we get back tomorrow evening. I had a rough night, I’m tired and I don’t need to be up for another couple of hours. Yes, yes that’s fine. I’ll see you when I get back. Thanks. You too, bye.” Finally, she hangs up.

“What the hell did he want?”

“To wish me a safe flight. He thought I had an earlier flight so he was just trying to catch me before I left.”

“He doesn’t need to wish you a safe flight.”

“He’s my friend, Cole and he’s being nice.”

“If you say so.”

“Whatever, can we just go back to sleep now please,” she moans.

“Yes but I’m making a no phone rule first,” I say.

“What?”

“A no-phone rule. I don’t want to see any more calls coming from Jerkson or any other slime ball. We’re supposed to be on vacation in a few hours so I say we make a deal. No phones until we come back tomorrow evening.”

“Fine by me,” she says shrugging her shoulders. “All my business things are being handled so I’m not expecting any calls anyway. But what about you, playboy? Will all your girlfriends be able to wait until you get back?” She says sarcastically.

“I don’t have any girlfriends. You’re my first.”

“Pfft.”

“I’m being serious, I haven’t been with a woman since I signed your contract and even when I tried to it was a major fail anyway.”

I hear her laugh.

“I’m sure there will be other opportunities that will come your way.”

“Actually, there have been. I met a very hot girl — called Lorraine — who I’ve slept with before who practically offered it on a plate and I told her that I have a girlfriend.”

“Really?” She’s looking up at me in shock now.

“Yes, really. I only have eyes for you now, Ned,” I joke, flicking her nose. “Now can we please get back to sleep before the
real
alarm goes off?”

“Yes. Yes, we can.”

“I can feel you smiling against my chest, Ned.”

“Yes, because you finally followed a rule on my contract without me having to enforce it.”

I take a deep breath and roll my eyes.

“Me saying no to Lorraine had nothing to do with your stupid contract, Ned. In case you haven’t realized yet, I do whatever the hell I want, babe. Now. Go. To. Sleep.”

I’m sitting on the plane and closing my eyes. We’re about to take off and I’m saying a little prayer in the hope that the big guy upstairs is listening. Taking off is the worst part. You can forget you are flying but the take off doesn’t let you forget a single thing.

“Cole,” Ned whispers. I ignore her. “Cole, open your eyes.” I do. “Look at me,” she says quietly. I turn my head slowly toward her. “You have nothing to be afraid of. Remember, it’s death you’re scared of but you can’t escape death so open your damn eyes and enjoy life. Do you know how awesome it is to say that you were alive when planes were up and running, that you experienced what it was like to fly above the clouds like a bird and take in all of the world’s beauty? Do you have any idea how many people would love to be where you are right now, but can’t for whatever reason? This is awesome, Cole, and we’re experiencing it together.”

I smile as the last word comes out of her mouth.

“Cole,” she calls.

“Yeah?”

“Look,” she says, pointing toward the window on her side. “It’s over; we’re in the air.” She beams. I look through the window and she is right. I was so distracted by what she was saying that I didn’t even feel us taking off.

“Thanks,” I say threading my fingers through hers.

“Anytime.” She winks.

“Tell me about Ohio.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything? I want to know what it was like growing up there.”

“It was beautiful. My mom and dad still live in the same house that I grew up in. It’s a small town called Blue Creek. It’s pretty much just houses, hills, and beautiful green grass. It takes around thirty minutes just to get to a store. It’s pretty secluded.”

“Nothing like New York then?”

She laughs. “Not at all. I think New York would turn my folks dizzy.” She laughs. “They love their life.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No, I did. I loved my childhood, it was the best.” She says it with a beautiful glint in her eyes. “But I knew what I wanted to achieve and I knew that I couldn’t stay in Ohio if I was going to do that. I left when I was nineteen. I set up by myself and just made it work.”

“Wow, that had to be pretty scary.”

“It was at first but you learn to adapt and I wanted it so bad that it had to work. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love going back and visiting my hometown. Everyone seemed to know each other. It was more like a community … a family. I miss that.”

“I can imagine.”

“There’s not much to do but you make stuff to do if that makes sense?”

“It does. Do you think your mom and dad will ever move?”

“No way, their roots are firmly grounded in Blue Creek. That was always their plan, have kids, grow old, and die there. It sounds simple but sometimes simple is good.”

“Sometimes simple is perfect.”

“Exactly. What about your childhood?”

“I had a great childhood,” I smile as I remember. “My parents were amazing. Layla and I never wanted for anything. My dad used to do lots of stuff with me, teach me to ride a bike, take me fishing, play basketball. He had way too much stamina for his age,” I chuckle. “I used to sometimes watch him secretly. Layla and I were convinced that he was a vampire … he never aged. But of course, we never witnessed him drinking any blood and as the years went by they stopped being kind to him and our theory died.”
Along with our mother.

“What about your mom?”

“My mom was perfect. I know it’s impossible to be perfect but she just was. Even when she messed up she could do no wrong. My mom gave me the kind of love that I didn’t even think existed. She never shouted or got mad once. No matter how many times I screwed up or got things wrong, she was the voice that kept telling me I could make it.”

“She sounds
perfect.”

“She really was. Things changed when she died, though. My dad changed. Layla had already moved to New York with Jamie by then and it was only me, Mom and Dad. When she died the house turned cold. It was like she took every bit of happiness with her. Especially my dad’s. He was so angry when she died. He blamed her and he went from loving her in life to hating her in death. But I couldn’t take him saying anything bad about her because she was perfect, Ned. She was. And I couldn’t allow him to take that memory of her away. So a year after she died I left and I haven’t been back since.”

“Do you ever talk to him?” She says softly.

“From time to time but it never ends well.”

“I think you’re pretty amazing,” she whispers.

“Why?” I ask.

“Look at what you’re doing for me, Cole.”

“You’re paying me, Ned.”

“You and I both know that money is not the reason you are helping me.”
She’s right.
“You’re a good person, Cole. I’m lucky to have met you. I should add ‘meeting Cole’ to my bucket list and check it off.” She laughs.

“If that had been on your bucket list you wouldn’t have needed anything else,” I joke.

“And in he comes to ruin the moment.” She laughs.

“We all have a role to play, babe.”

“Yes, we do don’t we …” she says with a smile before turning to look out the window. I squeeze her hand a little hoping she can understand just how much her words truly mean to me.

I’d be lying if I said that meeting Ned’s dad wasn’t making me feel a little nervous. After an hour and forty minutes of flying, we are finally standing outside of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport waiting for her dad to arrive.

“So how far is your parents’ home now?” I ask, pulling her suitcase out of the way of an old lady.

“Around another hour and thirty minutes drive.”