Loved by one, felt by many
I went to my knees. Turner had the mind to try and catch me, but I shooed him away. I needed my space. “Oh my God,” I whispered. Both of my hands were covering my mouth and my cheeks were soaked. “I never even thought . . .” I trailed off. If a person was capable of sensory overload, I was having it. My brain didn’t want to wrap around the possibility that there were such generous people in this world, or people who thought beyond themselves to do such a kind thing.
I glanced up at everyone around me as they all watched me. Turner, Donna, Paul, Wrigley, Dodger, Camden, and Keegan. Macie wasn’t there, but it was okay. “Family,” I said out loud. “This is what a family is.”
Turner kneeled by me. “Yeah, beautiful, this is family.” He kissed my forehead and wiped some of my tears away.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Keegan sniffled, and Camden put his arm around her.
“Anybody need a joke to lighten the mood?” Wrigley asked.
Dodger slapped the back of his head. I’m starting to think that was his defense against anything that made him uncomfortable—making people laugh.
“Geez, so dead around here,” he grumbled.
“Wrig, go wait in the car, would ya?” Paul sighed.
A giggle bubbled up my throat. I couldn’t help it. “He doesn’t have to go. It’s okay.”
Reaching his hand out to me, Wrigley offered to help me up. Turner growled. I took it and stood.
“You’re my girl, Belle.”
“Thank you.” I beamed. “In fact, thank you to all of you. Especially you, Donna. I don’t know how you knew what to do, but you did. I’ve not been a part of a family in so long, that this is truly overwhelming. Noah was a very special boy. All I wanted for him in his short life was to know and feel what love was. I hope he did.” A single tear streaked down my face.
“No doubt he did,” Turner said, pulling me into an embrace.
“You’re in trouble Mr.,” I mumbled into his chest.
“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” he replied.
A groundskeeper approached all of us and asked if he could go ahead with lowering the casket into the ground. He said we could stay to watch if we wanted. I didn’t. This was all more than I could handle in one day, and I felt like I was ready for a nap.
“Would you two like to come to the house for dinner? Won’t take me long to whip something up,” Donna offered. “In fact I’d like all of you to come, boys.”
“Thanks, Mom. But I’ve gone some plans with Annabelle this afternoon.”
My eyes shot to Turner’s. “What now?”
“You’ll see.”
Great! He may not live to see another day the way he was going with all the unexpected stuff today.
“Oh, Donna?” I called her back before she had gone too far.
“Yes, dear?”
I looked at the ground and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Th-thanks. For this. For all of this. For Noah and me. It was more than I could have ever expected or known I wanted.”
Her eyes became glassy. She strode toward me and pulled me into the most caring and motherly embrace I’d received since my own mom had held me.
“Always.”
She turned and walked away. Family . . . it really was the cornerstone or foundation of who we are.
“Turner,” I warned.
“Before you say anything, just hear me out.”
“No. No, no, no. And I mean absolutely not!”
“Annabelle, you’re getting worked up over nothing.”
His “nothing” was certainly something. I was currently standing in front of a building that had a sign on the outside that said: Touch the sky, and fall to the earth.
What. The. Fuck.
“This isn’t nothing, Turner Brooks. Did you actually think I was going to bungee jump?”
“No, but I thought maybe if I asked nicely enough, you might.” He gave me puppy eyes. Which was a new one for him.
“There aren’t enough words in the English language that would explain how crazy I think you are right now. Today of all days you want to do this?” He was certifiable.
“Listen.” He stepped forward and grasped my face with both hands. “You know I have my reasons behind everything I do. I knew you were going to fight me on this one, but you need to hear me out.”
My eyes darted back and forth between his. “I just watched a baby being buried today, I’ve been crying my eyes out for days, I have a headache, and now you want me to fling myself off a platform, attached to a cable and expect that it acts like a rubber band? Turner, this is way worse than some zip lining course.”
“Kind of, but again, I have my reasons for asking you to do this. At least come to the top with me and see what it’s like from up there.”
Nerves were setting in. So was anger. “For fuck’s sake, the view is probably just as I’m picturing. I don’t need to go up there to see it.”
He released me and started toward the lift. I called after him but he ignored me. Bastard knew I’d follow just to keep bitching at him. And I did exactly that the whole ride up. I had no clue what these things were called—we were on a platform similar to what we were on when we did the zip line. An electric lift raised us up as high as it would extend. It was really windy up there and I gripped the rails. I had a harness attaching me to the railing as a safety measure and the man who brought us up was giving us instruction for when we jumped. I heard nothing. My heart was in my throat and I wanted to puke. Could this headache get any worse?
“Annabelle?” Turner was standing there looking concerned.
“Huh?”
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
I was sweating so much, it was dripping down the side of my hair line. I shouldn’t be sweating. It was cool outside, and being this high up it was even cooler.
“Were you talking?” I asked confused.
He brought his blue eyes down to my level. “Look at me. You’ve been through a lot. Today was not a good day, and there are a lot of things at play right now. But I needed you to know something.”
“What’s that?” I asked inquisitively.
“I’m here, Annabelle. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. The past two or three months we’ve been getting to know each other I’ve come to the realization that I’ve been taking life for granted. Being a doctor, I’ve not noticed just how out of touch I have been, which is why I think I’m always looking for the next big thrill. You are my thrill, Annabelle. I look forward to seeing you every day. I love our crazy back and forth flirting. I love how you push my buttons and I make you step out of your comfort zone. But I love even more that you trust me enough that you do it.”
As if I hadn’t cried enough today. “Turner,” I softly spoke his name.
“I know you think today isn’t a good day to do something like this, but I think it’s a perfect day. Want to know why?”