Surrender to Fate (Fate's Path Part One: A New Adult Romance Series) (17 page)

With one final long stroke, Adley pulled his hand from her and reached for her panties. He softly pulled them back up, and let her dress fall back down, until it was just how he had found it. They wrapped their arms around each other, feeling the other attempt to slow their heart rate and breathe normally. Sarah felt that she could’ve stayed in his arms indefinitely. What he had just done to her couldn’t be put into words, but she couldn’t help but to whisper, “I’ve missed you, Adley.” It was a feeling that she hadn’t even known to exist. And he gave it to her. The power that he now possessed over her was alarming. He pulled from their embrace and put his hands around her cheeks and lifted her face to him. He tenderly placed a single kiss on her lips, “Happy Thanksgiving, Sarah.”

She blushed and looked down. “You too, Adley. It was really nice of your parents to invite us.”

He bent down and kissed her again before whispering in her ear, “It was my idea.”

Sarah looked up and him in complete surprise. “You? Why?”

“I had to know, Sarah. If we still had...something between us.”

“Then why did you stop yourself from kissing me when I got there?”

“I had to know that it was something
you
wanted. I thought I could feel it when I was holding your hand, but it wasn’t until you kissed
me,
here in the garden, that I knew for sure. And once I knew, I couldn’t wait to show you, that it was something I wanted, too.”

Sarah blinked and looked down. He was right, she had kissed him. She had allowed herself to let go, and Adley had been there to catch her. She began to completely doubt everything at this point: Her and Will, her and Adley. Everything. And if things weren’t complicated before, they sure as heck were now. Now that she and Adley had entered even further into…what? What was it that she and Adley had? Was it the beginnings of love, or was it lust, plain and simple?

Adley kissed her again, although this time, she was so confused that she couldn’t kiss him back. “Look, Sarah, it’s been a helluva night, for both of us. And I’ve loved every minute of it, believe me. We don’t need to figure anything out tonight. Let’s go back, have some pie, and try…
try
to act completely normal when we get back to the house. What do you say?”

Sarah looked at him, and noticed how he was looking at her. He had changed her tonight. She knew that her feelings for Adley had deepened exponentially after what they had just shared. In fact, her body was still reacting to what he had done to her. Part of her couldn’t wait to experience that feeling again, and part of her was scared to admit that she may not be able to get enough of whatever Adley had in store for her the next time she was with him.

She slowly nodded her head, and started to step toward the gate. Adley grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace. “Hey, come here. Kiss me, Sarah. I have to have one more kiss, although what I really want to do is much, much more.”

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him deeply into her kiss. She pressed her breasts into his chest, and slowly sucked on his bottom lip as she pulled away.

Adley closed his eyes and groaned, “Oh Sarah, you have no idea what you do to me.”

Sarah smiled shyly and kissed the palm of his hand, “I know exactly what you do to me…”

He smiled mischievously, “Mmmm,” he agreed. “And now that you know, just wait until I can have you all to myself again.” He stole one more ravenous kiss before he led her out of the garden and back to the house. Breathless. Every single thing he did left her completely breathless, and aching for more.

The rest of the evening was decidedly less eventful than it had been earlier for Sarah and Adley. They tried to join in the small talk over coffee and pie, but in reality, they couldn’t keep their eyes off each other. Sarah would find herself actually squirming in her chair with memories of the garden, and more than once, Adley had excused himself to go get some fresh air on the porch. It seemed that just a mere glance at each other sent a force through the room that was hard to deny. And it seemed like an impossible request to act as if nothing had happened between them.

Anne and Ellie had reached a new level of their friendship over the cooking shenanigans, and Edward and Oscar had been able to relive some of their childhood memories. Matty had fallen asleep on one of the couches and Sarah was happy that she didn’t have to feel guilty about abandoning her brother once again for Adley. Eventually, everyone was tired and full, and saying their goodbyes.

After hugging Oscar and Ellie and thanking them for dinner, Sarah was once again, face to face with Adley. Acting as normal as possible, he held his arms out to hug Sarah goodnight. But once she was in his embrace, he whispered, “Tomorrow…I have to see you tomorrow. Yes?”

Afraid of gathering the attention of her parents from a lingering embrace, she quickly whispered back, “Yes, Adley…yes.”

Before letting her go, he murmured back, “I want to make you say that over and over…and
over.”
He let her go but gave her devilish smile that made her melt all over again, not to mention made her feel a now familiar wetness that begin to flow from deep inside.

William awoke early on a crisp, clear Saturday morning to his father shaking him.

“Wake up, William, wake up!”

William sat up and rubbed his eyes, “What? What is it?”

“I need your help, that’s what. You can’t sleep away the day, there are things to be done.”

William swung his feet out of bed, but put his hands in his head and rested a little longer on his knees. Between working at the lumberyard, keeping up with his chores at home, and not to mention giving his attention to Margaret, William was beginning to understand what it meant to burn the candle at both ends. Ever since the horseback ride with Margaret, she was demanding even more time and attention from him. She wanted to see him after his shift was done, and both days of the weekend. William had to finally tell her that the list of chores to be done on the farm could no longer be ignored, and he would need an entire weekend to catch up. Of course, she pouted and tried to persuade him to change his mind with lingering kisses and placing his hand strategically on her body, but he knew that he had already put off his chores for as long as he could. The last thing he was willing to do was leave his parents high and dry when it came to taking care of their farm. He knew that they were still in a precarious situation, and it had been hard enough for Tommy and his mother to pick up his slack from being at the lumberyard so much.

He finally got dressed and made his way downstairs where his father was already putting on his hat and coat and walking out the door.

“Let’s go, Son. We’ve got to get to town and get what we need for our projects this weekend.” William nodded but wondered why his dad didn’t have him pick up the supplies he needed while he was in town yesterday. But, he wasn’t raised to question his father. He snatched a piece of toast from the breakfast table before he grabbed his coat and ran to catch up to him.

The ride to town usually took about twenty minutes, and Will thought that he might be able to catch a few more minutes of sleep on the way. But Henry was in the mood to talk.

“Well, Son?”

“Yes, sir?”

“How are things going at the lumberyard? Vernon treating you alright?”

Henry rarely wanted to make small talk, and William was a little taken aback with the new task of making conversation with his father.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so. Everything’s fine.”

“Uh huh, good. I’m glad, Son. What about…Margaret? What’s going on with that…” he took his hand from the wheel and waved it in the air a few times, “…situation?”

William turned to face the window, attempting to hide the red that he was sure covering his face. “Uh…nothing. I mean, I don’t know. Why?”

“Oh, I’m just wondering, that’s all. Seems like you’ve been spending a lot more time at the lumberyard than just your shift, and I know you’ve been spending weekends with her, and I’m just,” Henry paused. “I don’t know, Son. I guess I just want to see if you are happy…with your life. You’re a man now, not a boy. It’ll be time for you to be wanting a man’s life. And I’m just wondering about your plans. If you have any plans, I should say.”

“Oh Dad, I don’t know. Yea, I guess I’m happy. Margaret and I are…,” he paused as he remembered drizzling the honey all over her naked breasts and sucking them until they were clean, “…just spending time together, that’s all.” He looked out the window again, trying to avoid looking his father in the eye.

“Well, alright. Look William, I might be an old man now, but I remember what it was like to be a young man, and have the attention of a beautiful woman. I mean, I married her, for crying out loud. I just want you to be sure of what you want before you get yourself too deep into something that you can’t get out of.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Sarah, Will. I didn’t want to come right out and say it, but I guess I have to. What about Sarah?”

William took in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair as he exhaled loudly. “Sarah is…gone, dad. Believe me, I’ve tried to hold onto her for as long as I could. She hasn’t even written to me. We had something…special, yes. I thought it would be something that could turn into forever. But that all changed. It’s like she moved to California, and it all went away.” He looked out the window again, but this time to keep from his emotions from his father. “I didn’t want it to go away, but how could it not? She’s a thousand miles away, and I’ve just had to admit to myself that I’ll never forget how I feel about her, but I don’t know how I can keep holding on to someone that I’m not going to see again, you know? I’m always going to love Sarah, if that’s what you’re getting at. I love her enough to say that I hope she finds happiness in her life. I hope she finds...,” looking out the window was doing no good, as he swallowed hard but couldn’t stop the tears from flooding his eyes. “I hope she finds…love…in her life, because she deserves that. And if it can’t be me to give it to her, then I hope there is someone who will.”

Henry reached over and squeezed William’s shoulder. “I know, son. I know how you feel, believe me. The truth is, I always thought that you two would end up together someday. You should’ve seen the way you two were, even when you were little kids. You were inseparable. You shared a bond that was unique. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this story, or not.” Henry paused, replaying the memory, and pursing his lips. “When you were, oh, I don’t know…you must’ve been about six years old, and Sarah was about four. You were climbing a tree and fell out and nearly broke your arm. We had your arm wrapped up and in a sling and the Ellises came over to see you. Well, Sarah walked in the house, saw your arm wrapped and walked straight over to you. She put her arms around you and gave you a kiss. She just seemed to know that you were hurt, and she couldn’t get to you fast enough. It was somethin’, I’ll tell you what. But that’s how you two were. There was just something always there. You know what I mean?”

William knew exactly what he meant. He knew it all too well, and he could still feel it inside of him. He knew it so well, that it felt like his heart cracked in half and only had half of a heart beat the day he admitted that it might be time to let that ‘something’ go, and move on with his life.

“No. I didn’t know that story.” While William loved the thought of he and Sarah having a bond since before he could even remember, it made it hurt even more knowing that he had acknowledged that they were moving in two different directions now.

Wanting to move off of the subject, and knowing that he couldn’t stand to hear even one more story of how he and Sarah were meant to be, he cleared his throat, and tried to clear his head of Sarah.

“You know, I’m trying to move forward from Sarah, Dad. So, yes…I guess there is something going on with me and Margaret. I just don’t know. I mean, I like being around her and everything, but, I guess I’m just trying to figure out how I feel about her.”

Henry looked at his son and raised his eyebrows.

“What?” William suddenly felt uncomfortable again.

“Son, there is nothing more on this Earth that your mother and I want other than your happiness. And if you think that Margaret could make you happy, then there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not telling you to rush into anything, but it’s also okay for you to want to be happy, too. Right? I know you don’t want to spend your life alone, but I just want you to take into careful consideration who you decide to be with. Some things in this world can be taken back, and some things can’t.”

With that final thought, they dropped down off of Floyd’s Hill and into the outskirts of town. William didn’t want to talk about Sarah anymore. He didn’t want to talk about Margaret either, but it did help to ease some of his guilt hearing that his father understood about him trying to find happiness. He didn’t know if Margaret would end up bringing him happiness, or not. But, he sure was willing to explore everything she had to offer to make him feel good in the meantime.

They pulled up in front of Wheeler’s Farm and Feed store and got out. Walking in the doors, William looked around. “So, what do we need to get, Dad?

“Well, let’s see,” Henry rubbed his chin, as if that would jog his memory. “Chicken scratch. We need some chicken scratch.”

“We came all the way into town for chicken scratch?” William was suddenly thinking how he could’ve still been asleep as he was sure his dad could’ve handled getting chicken scratch without him.

“Yes. Chicken scratch, now come on.”

They walked over to the shelving in the back of the store and William hoisted the bag onto his shoulder.

“Oh, one more thing while we’re here. Come on out back with me.” Henry motioned as he started to walk away.

The two walked out to the back lot behind the store where Wheeler’s kept their farming equipment. They walked past a few plows until they came to five tractors all lined up on display.

Henry walked up to the first one of the five bright orange tractors and pointed, “See this?”

William nodded. He knew how his father felt about tractors, but he still thought that he could be home in bed instead of listening to his father go on and on about a tractor.

“Allis-Chalmers, Model B.”

“Yep, it’s nice, Dad.” William shifted the bag to his other shoulder as his Henry went on.

“Four cylinder, vertical piston engine, and look at these,” he walked over and kicked the tire, “rubber tires. It’s got the three-point hitch on the back, too.”

“I see that.”

“Oh, but I forgot the best part of the tractor.”

William tilted his head and inspected it to see what other option his dad forgot to mention, “What’s that, sir?”

Henry paused until William looked back at him, “It’s mine!”

William dropped his jaw and stared at his father, who was absolutely beaming. “That’s right, Son. You heard me. This one is mine.”

“What? Really?” William dropped the bag to the ground and walked over to the tractor and grabbed the steering wheel. “I thought…I mean, I thought you were still saving for it!”

“Well, I didn’t let on how close we were to getting it because I wanted to surprise you. Four hundred, ninety-five dollars, son. The best money I could’ve spent for our family. And I wanted you to be here with me because…I couldn’t have done it without you.” Henry could usually hide his emotions, but this was too much to contain. He walked over to Will and threw his arms around him. “I mean it, son. I couldn’t be more proud of you, and I want you to know that your mother and I appreciate you so much, and how hard you have been working…and,” Henry was laughing and crying all at the same time, “…and I want to say…thank you. Thank you, son.”

William hugged his father back, still in shock that his dad’s dream of someday owning a tractor, had actually come true. And he had helped it come true. The feeling that rushed through William was unlike anything he had ever felt. The love he had for his parents, and that he had helped ensure the success of their farm was overwhelming. William knew, more than ever, that he would do whatever was in his power to help them, and protect the future of their farm. Amidst his undeniable pride, his joy was eclipsed by the reminder that the one person he wanted to share this moment with was gone. It was just one more punch to the gut that she was no longer his.