AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She knew couples who had gotten divorced or broken up, but in her close circle, that was the exception rather than the norm. She’d always been surrounded by people whose love and trust proved stronger than any storm.
But not everyone had such a love story. And most people—like Sam—probably hadn’t been exposed to the level of deep commitment that was the foundation of Brooke’s life.
How many people didn’t even know what a long-term love relationship looked like? Even if they did, in the midst of the world’s problems, they might benefit from a reminder that love didn’t just exist. It was alive, dynamic, ever-changing. It bound people together through life’s celebrations and tragedies, over vast distances, across time. Love would always be the most powerful force in the universe.
After asking Frank if she could use one of the newsroom’s computers, she sat at a spare cubicle and typed up a proposal about Bliss Cove’s “real-life love stories.” Charlie and Ruth, Mary and Dan, Frank and Linda, her parents.
Other couples came easily to mind—Len and Nancy Tomkins, who were in their eighties and had met as teenagers. The innkeepers of the Outside Inn, Hilda and Hank Higgins, who’d been married for forty-two years before he passed away.
Brooke changed the couples’ names until she could get their permission for in-depth interviews. The story would be perfect forEmpire’s February edition, but even if Michael didn’t like the idea, she could still write it forThe Gazettefree of charge. Maybe she could make it a series, with individual profiles published each week.
She typed “Lifelong Fling” into the subject line and sent the email to Michael.
Pleased, she gathered her belongings and headed back outside. The mixture of excitement, satisfaction, and anticipation told her it was a good idea. Agreatidea. She hadn’t had this feeling in longer than she cared to remember. She couldn’t wait to tell Sam.
She hurried across the street to Title Wave, but the shutters were drawn and the Closed sign hung in the window. Getting into her car, she drove to his house tucked away in the woods a few miles from the Bliss Cove Library.
Both his truck and his car were in the driveway. She parked and rang the front doorbell. Through the glass window in the door, she saw his tall figure approaching. Everything inside her lit up.
He pulled open the door, looking deliciously rumpled and a bit lumber-jacky in faded jeans and a wrinkled gray T-shirt under a red flannel shirt.
“Hey.” His face relaxed into a smile. “I didn’t know we had class this morning.”
“Oh, shoot. Am I interrupting? Are you in the middle of a big writing session?”
“No, I was just taking a break. Come in.” He stepped aside, holding the door open.
As she entered, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Unlike the intense, powerful kiss he’d given her yesterday morning, this one was light and gentle, anI’m glad you’re hererather than anI need you now.
Brooke loved all of Sam’s kisses. She wanted to experience the entire range of them. Knowing his depths and layers, that could take a lifetime.
Deflecting the thought, she preceded him into the living room. Not surprisingly, the furnishings were as basic as an interstate motel room, aside from two large desks and a computer. The second desk was littered with notes and papers, a bookshelf held worn paperbacks, a big-screen TV sat against one wall, and a massive whiteboard was scribbled with ideas and hasty graphics.
Sam disappeared into the kitchen as Brooke set her backpack down. She studied a chart on the whiteboard, which appeared to list emotions for John Kane.
A soft feeling – tenderness, affection
A hot feeling – lust, desire, anger
A feeling he’s never experienced before – ???
“Love, Sam,” Brooke murmured.
Until Patricia, John hadn’t known what love felt like. He didn’t even appear to know what itlookedlike.
“Did you say something?” Sam came back into the living room.
“Just thinking out loud.” She turned to face him, and he extended a cold bottle of lemon-cayenne iced tea.
Brooke took the bottle, faintly surprised. “I thought you didn’t like iced tea.”
“I don’t.”
“But you…” She twisted off the cap. A light glowed in the back of her mind, like a sunrise.
“I got those for you.” Sam rested his hands on his hips, a puzzled crease appearing between his eyebrows. “What, you’re not drinking iced tea anymore?”
“No, I am.” She took a long swallow, suppressing the urge to smile. “It’s just nice that you thought of me. It’s romantic, one of those little gestures that means a lot.”
