Poison Me Sweetly (34 page)

My breath catches as I pull out the framed five by
seven photo on the top. It's a picture of me and Micah before our junior
homecoming dance. Mom had wanted a picture of just us, while Ashley and Alex
had stood on the other side of the room, patiently waiting for pictures to be
finished. I'm smiling—no, I'm beaming in my short white dress, and Micah is
mugging for the camera. Tears fill my eyes as my finger runs over the glass
above Micah's face. Siblings were supposed to fight, but not me and Micah. We'd
been best friends.

“You okay?” Caleb asks softly.

I swallow the lump in my throat and hold the picture
frame out to him. “Meet Micah,” I say with a watery smile.

Caleb carefully accepts the picture frame and he
stares at it, frowns, looks confused, and then eventually pales.

“What's wrong?”

His blue eyes lift to mine, and they look shocked.
“I've seen him before.”

“Micah?” I ask with puzzlement.

“Holy shit.”

“What?”

“This is going to sound crazy, but he was in my dream
a while back,” Caleb says with disbelief. “The night before I found you choking
on your vomit, I dreamed of him. He...” Caleb frowns. “I'm trying to remember
what he said. Something along the lines that things are not always what they
seem, and that I have to look below the surface and not give up on you. That
you needed me. More than ever before, and that I would be the one to save you.
He was so adamant...so...real.” His eyes hold mine. “I remembered the dream the
next morning and was a little
weirded
out by it. I
just had this bad feeling all day, this insistent need to check up on you. I
think it's that dream that had me worrying over you more than usual, and that's
why I insisted on using the spare key. I remember being bothered by the dream
later that night while you were resting, but then I got distracted, because I
was focusing on you. It just seemed to fade, and I haven't thought about that
dream for a while. Until now.”

“Maybe you saw his picture and then dreamed of him,” I
offer.

He shakes his head, his eyes on mine. “When would I
have seen his picture, Zoey? You don't have any at your apartment.”

“At my parents...” my voice trails off. My parents
don't have any of Micah's pictures up. They've been talking about it lately,
but haven't come out to the storage unit yet. I'm the first to go through his
things.

Caleb watches the emotions flicker over my face. “I
never researched the accident or anything, so this is the first time I've seen
his face.”

“You're serious, aren't you?” I whisper.

“I swear he came to me in my dream. I wouldn't mess with
you, not about this.” His brows furrow as he thinks for a moment. “He was
wearing jeans and a white polo top. His hair was longer than it is in this
picture,” he says, nodding to the framed photograph he's still holding.

My hand goes to my mouth with shock. “Oh my God,” I
say, my voice muffled. Then my hand drops a moment later. “That's how he always
appeared to me. Those are the clothes he was wearing the night of the
accident.”

Caleb blows out a breath and looks floored. “I guess
this means I have your brother's approval.”

“He's real,” I say with shock before my eyes fill with
tears. “He was
real,
Caleb. It wasn't my imagination. He's not ashamed
or mad at me,” I realize as I mentally go over my conversations with him. “He
never was,” I say with dismay. “He's been wanting me to move on for a long time
now. In fact...I saw him at the hospital. He's waiting for me to come see him.”

Caleb comes over and hugs me tightly to him as I begin
to cry with relief. He holds me close as I let the tears escape that I've held
in for so long.

I pull back after a long moment, looking up at him as
I wipe my tears. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asks as he lifts a hand and wipes the
tears off my other cheek.

“For believing in me. For staying when most would have
walked away without a backwards glance.”

“I love you, Zoey,” he says as he stares down at me
with warm eyes. This isn't the first time he's told me, but I savor it every
time I hear it.

“I love you, too.”

Caleb looks around. “So, what are we taking back with
us?”

My eyes brighten. “Anything that will fit in your
car.”

Nine months later...

I carefully set the tiny dragon statue on top of
Micah's grave while Caleb stands in the distance, giving me privacy. I kneel
down and press my palm flat against the smooth surface of the gravestone. “Hi,
Micah,” I say softly. “I have some big news to share, though you probably
already know if you're still watching over me from above,” I say with a smile.

Then I finger the one and a half carat diamond
solitaire on my left hand. “Caleb asked me to marry him a couple weeks ago.” I
tell him before I laugh with amusement. “I know exactly what you're thinking.
I'm only twenty-one, that's awfully young, and we're not even out of college
yet. We know all that. We're engaged, and the commitment is there, but we're
not getting married anytime soon. This ring is more of symbol of our commitment
than anything.” My expression softens. “When Caleb proposed, he told me that he
wants me to know that he’s with me for life. It’s not really about the wedding,
it’s more about showing me that he’s never going to leave me. I’m his and he’s
mine. He’s the best thing to ever happen to me, Micah.” I swallow hard and
fight back emotional tears. “He knows all my secrets and fears, and he works
hard every day to make sure that I never have any doubts. God, I love him so
much.”

I shake my head with sudden amusement. “I know, it
seems crazy, doesn't it? Within one year, I've gone from having non-friends and
pushing everyone away to getting engaged. Who would have thought, huh? Mom and
dad are ecstatic. They love Caleb, and mom's been hinting about grand babies
already.” My eyes roll. “Yeah, she'll be waiting at least five years before we
consider kids. Caleb and I, we've discussed it, and we'll start a family
eventually. I think I could be a good mom,” I say slowly. “I'm sure I'll make
some mistakes, but my child will never, ever, feel abandoned. I will be there
for everything, the ups and downs, the firsts, and the heartbreaks. I see a
future for myself now, and I wish you were still here to experience it with me.
And even though you're not, you will always be remembered. My children will
know you through me.”

I rub my thumb over his name. “Gone but never
forgotten, Micah,” I say softly. I say my goodbyes, and then rise to my feet
and make my way to Caleb.

He holds out a hand to me. “Ready?”

I nod and slip my hand in his. We walk down the gravel
path, and I am careful in my high heels as I navigate the rocky path. “We’re
going to be late,” I say apologetically as I glance at him.

He smiles easily. “It’s just a party, Zoey.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Our engagement party isn’t just
any party.”

“This one will be just like every other one,” he says
knowingly as he gives me a wry smile. “With Ace in charge, it’s going to be
beer and lots of trashed people. Plus, it’s not even just ours. It’s AJ and
Nina’s engagement party as well. When we actually get around to setting a date,
I’ll plan us a proper one,” he says as he tugs me closer to his side.

I grin and slip my arm around his waist. AJ proposed
to Nina, his girlfriend of nine months, last weekend. Ace decided it’s his duty
to throw us an impromptu double engagement party at a local bar tonight. “I
can’t believe AJ is engaged,” I say with a shake of my head as we walk through
the arching cemetery gates and head for Caleb’s car.

“He found someone he can see spending the rest of his
life with. When you find it, you grab it before it slips away,” he says
meaningfully as he pulls me into his arms and kisses my lips gently.

When the kiss ends, I look up at him with glowing
eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he says as he lowers his head and
presses a loving kiss to my forehead. Then he sighs. “We need to leave or Ace
will have both our asses for being late.”

“I thought it was just a party,” I tease as he opens
the passenger door for me.

He shoots me a look. “It is. But that doesn’t mean I
want him on my ass all week for being late to what he considers an ‘important’
party. Hell, I bet he throws us a dozen engagement parties, and AJ and me
several bachelor parties, just so he has a reason to party.”

My eyes narrow as I stand there. “No strip clubs.”

He grins widely. “I love it when you get possessive,”
he says before he motions for me to climb in the car.

I slide in, and my gaze automatically goes to the
fuzzy, pink handcuff’s hanging from Caleb’s rearview mirror. I can’t help but
grin at them.

Caleb slides in the driver’s seat, and he catches
sight of the expression on my face. “What are you thinking?”

I reach up and trace one of the furry cuffs with my
fingertip. “I’m thinking it might be time to try these out again,” I say
mischievously.

Caleb’s blue eyes fasten on me with sudden interest.
“I sure as fuck hope you’re not
messin
’ with me.
Because I’ve been wanting to test those out again for months.”

“I’m serious,” I assure with a laugh.

“We’re
ditchin
’ the party
early,” he tells me firmly as he starts the car up. He shoots me a determined
look. “By the way, I won’t be the one wearing those tonight.”

“We’ll see, Cowboy,” I say with a snicker before I
turn my gaze on the cuffs again. I had no idea that waking up to a man
handcuffed to my bed would be the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm forever
indebted to Ace and his fuzzy, pink handcuffs.

Building Faith, the second book in the Long Beach
series is now available at Amazon.com.
For
further updates about upcoming novels, you can visit my author page at
www.Facebook.com/DaniMatthews, author.