Embracing Forever

  Embracing Forever

  Sheryl Lister

  Copyright

  This ebook is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only.

  This ebook may not be sold, shared, or given away.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Embracing Forever

  Copyright © 2017 by Sheryl Lister

  Ebook ISBN: 9781943772957

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  NYLA Publishing

  350 7th Avenue, Suite 2003, NY 10001, New York.

  http://www.nyliterary.com

  Acknowledgements

  My Heavenly Father, thank You for Your sufficient grace.

  To my husband, Lance: your love, support and encouragement is what keeps me going.

  Brandi, Maia, Riana, Otis, Sr., Otis Jr. and Jace, Mom (Grandma) loves you!

  Thank you to my friends and family for your consistent support.

  Leslie (Elle), Sherelle and Angie, I love you ladies!

  A huge thank you to David Ruggles at Fuqua Physical Therapy for all those make-your-back-better massages and for making me laugh through the pain.

  To all of my readers: thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  Latoya Smith, your editorial guidance is priceless. Thank you.

  A very special thank you to my agent, Sarah E. Younger and Natanya Wheeler. I appreciate you more than I can say. You ladies are miracle workers!

  The Pact

  Raven Holloway followed her three best friends across the grounds of the Rosewood Estates and dropped down into one of the four cushioned wicker chairs set up around a table. She toed off her heels and groaned. “I don’t know how women wear these things every day. My feet are killing me.” Though she didn’t mind dressing up occasionally, Raven was far more comfortable in jeans, sweats, a tee and sneakers.

  “Look at them. They’re so happy.”

  She shook her head. Quinn Jacobs tended to be the hopeless romantic of the group. Raven glanced over her shoulder at the newlyweds. “Yes, they do, and I think Owen will be good for Ava.” Raven, Quinn, Mackenzie Cannon and Ryleigh Fields—best friends since childhood—had all come back to their small hometown of Rosewood Heights, South Carolina to serve as bridesmaids for their friend, Ava Prescott. While each of them had moved away to pursue their careers, Ava had been the only one to stay.

  A waiter approached to take their drink order. Dinner wouldn’t be served for another hour, but the bar was free and flowing.

  “I’ll have a mojito,” Mackenzie said.

  Raven stared. “Isn’t that like your third or fourth one?”

  “Sixth, but who’s counting? And this is a celebration.”

  She chuckled. “Can’t argue with that. I’ll take one, too,” Raven told the waiter.

  “I’ll have a margarita,” Ryleigh chimed in.

  Quinn put up a finger. “Make that two.”

  They continued to laugh, catch up and talk about how it felt to be back home. They all lived in different states, but made a practice of having a conference call at least once a month. Raven admittedly missed the slower pace and all the greenery, but loved her job as a physical therapist in Los Angeles.

  The waiter returned and placed their glasses on the table in front of them. The women thanked him and he departed with a nod.

  Quinn picked up her glass and took a sip. “I think we should toast.” Once they all had their glasses, she lifted hers high. “Here’s to us all finding that special one and saying ‘I do’ by this time next year.”

  “Oh, hell no.” Ryleigh placed her glass down with a thud.

  Mackenzie shook her head. “The only thing I’m saying ‘I do’ to is one night with that tall, mouth-watering best man standing over there.” She gestured in his direction.

  Raven just stared. It took a moment for her to finally find her voice. “Are you crazy?”

  “No,” Quinn said. “We’re thirty years old. I don’t want to be pushing a stroller when I’m fifty.”

  Raven couldn’t see herself pushing a stroller at all.

  Quinn scooted forward in her chair. “Think about it. Just about everybody we know has gotten married in the last three years, yet we’re all still single. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a warm, hard body to snuggle up to every night? To not have to worry about those awkward bar or club meetings? I mean how hard could it be?” She lifted her glass again. “Come on,” she pleaded. “We can do this. Let’s make this a best friend challenge.”

  Quinn turned that sad look on them and Raven groaned. She slowly reached for her glass. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” she mumbled.

  Mackenzie and Ryleigh muttered a curse, but followed suit.

  Quinn smiled. “To finding that special one and saying ‘I do’ by this time next year.”

  They reluctantly touched glasses and sipped.

  Raven took a big gulp of her mojito. She needed it. What the hell did I just agree to?

  Immediately after the toast, Ryleigh slammed her glass onto the table and stormed off, no doubt heading to the bar.

  “I’ll see you guys later,” Mac said.

  Raven smiled and shook her head when she saw Mac walk over to the best man.

  Quinn tossed back the rest of some drink that had been sitting on the table. “I’ll be back.” She mumbled something about the best one winning, stuck her feet back into her shoes and strutted off.

  Alone now, she leaned her head back against the cushion, closed her eyes and tried to process what she’d just done. Her track record with men had her batting a big fat zero, so it made no sense to agree to something so stupid, pact or not. She opened her eyes, lifted her glass to her lips and froze, her gaze connecting with reason number one why men and marriage were off her list. Shawn Lewis. Her first boyfriend. They’d started dating in their junior year and both had planned to attend college together at the University of South Carolina, get degrees in physical therapy then come back and open up a rehabilitation clinic in Rosewood Heights. That dream died the moment she caught him kissing another girl at the homecoming dance during their senior year. When the October early application period came around a month later, she researched colleges that were furthest from home and settled on California State University, Long Beach. One, it was clear across the country and two, her mother’s sister and family lived in Los Angeles, so she would have some family nearby. Her mother hadn’t been too happy, but Raven excelled and opted to stay in California once she finished school. Much to her mother’s disappointment, Simeon, Raven’s younger brother, fell in love with the area after one visit and followed Raven out to the West Coast. He had graduated from Stanford Law School just over two years ago.

  Shawn smiled. Raven didn’t. Last she heard, he was on his third or fourth marriage. She shifted her attention and took a sip of her drink. After Shawn, there had been the guy in college who, after two dates, thought she “owed” him for all the money he’d spent feeding her. After refusing to sleep with him, Raven had slapped a twenty-dollar bill in his palm and told him to keep the change. Her bad luck didn’t stop there. She’d had to endure guys who cheated, got angry when she wouldn’t give them the “hookup” with the professional athletes that frequented the rehab clinic where she worked, or who were so jealous of her three male friends, they tried
to give her an ultimatum. A smile curved her lips as she thought about Bryson, Jerome and Kendrick. With them she didn’t have to worry about the drama that plagued her with dating. And she liked her life that way.

  Raven searched the grounds for Quinn, Mac and Ryleigh and sighed when she didn’t see them. She couldn’t do this. They’d been doing these crazy challenges as long as Raven could remember and for the first time, she contemplated telling them she changed her mind. On second thought, they didn’t need to know.

  Chapter One

  Eight months later

  “Ow!”

  Raven shook her head and continued the therapeutic massage. “Chris, for sixteen weeks a year, not including playoffs, you’re smashed by three-hundred pound linebackers. Surely you can handle this little bitty massage. Chris Powell was a tight end for the local professional football team. He had suffered a back injury at the end of the season and after undergoing surgery a couple of months ago, had been sent to the state of the art rehabilitation center where she worked as a physical therapist.

  “Yeah, but when a beautiful woman is giving me a massage, pain is not something that I want to feel.”

  “Well, this isn’t the wine and candles kind of massage. It’s a make-your-back-better-so-you-can-get-back-on-the-field massage.” She finished up, attached electrodes for the electrical stimulation and turned on the machine. The machine worked by sending stimulating pulses across the skin and along the nerve endings to help with pain management. “How’s that?” she asked as she adjusted the strength.

  “That’s good. Thanks.”

  Raven covered his back with a towel and placed a bag of ice on top. She set the timer for fifteen minutes, turned off the lights and exited the room, pulling the door partially closed. She washed her hands and went to chart Chris’s progress. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the text from Darren Hayes, her boyfriend of the past four months, confirming their date for the evening. He’d said he had something to discuss with her and she wondered what could be so important that it warranted going out on a Thursday night. Fridays were her early days with a start time of seven and she dearly hoped Darren didn’t plan on making it a long evening.

  Raven saw her final two clients and rushed home, or what passed for rushing as she made her way through the LA traffic. By the time she arrived, she barely had time to shower and dress. She slipped into a sleeveless eggplant-colored sheath silhouette dress and black strappy sandals then ran a brush through her straight shoulder-length strands and added a coat of bronze lipstick. Satisfied with her look, she dropped the lipstick back into the cosmetic bag just as the doorbell rang.

  She turned off the lights, picked up her purse and wrap and walked down the hallway of her condo to open the front door. “Hey, Darren,” she said, stepping back so he could enter.

  Darren’s eyes widened. “Wow! You look beautiful.” He lowered his head and kissed her.

  “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” Raven said with a smile. With his tall, slender build in the tailored gray suit and dark good looks, he didn’t look bad at all.

  He slid an arm around her waist. “You think so?” He kissed her once more. “Mmm, I’m looking forward to sharing these kisses every day.”

  She gave him a questioning look.

  He merely smiled and gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”

  She locked the door and let him escort her out to his late model Lexus. Though the sun had begun to set, the late May temperatures still hovered in the upper seventies. At this rate, the summer promised to be a hot one.

  As they settled into the car and pulled out onto the road, Darren asked, “How was your day?”

  “Pretty busy. I had back-to-back clients all day. And yours?”

  He smiled and turned her way briefly. “Very good.” He worked as a supervisor at a press release distribution company.

  Raven waited for him to say more, but he just refocused on the road and said nothing. They made small talk for a few minutes, then she asked, “So what’s this important news you wanted to talk about?”

  “I’m saving it for while we’re having dinner.”

  She shifted in her seat to stare at him. What did he have up his sleeve and why did she have a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach? Minutes later, he pulled up to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and turned the car over to the valet. Inside, he escorted her to CUT by Wolfgang Puck and she offered up a silent thank you that she’d opted for a nice dress instead of the slacks she had originally selected. Despite it being a Thursday evening, the restaurant was fairly crowded. Evidently Darren had made reservations because it only took a moment for them to be seated.

  “Comfortable?” Darren asked as she slid into the booth.

  “Yes. Thank you. This is very nice.” They’d gone to a couple of nice restaurants before, but nothing like this.

  “I thought we’d do it up big tonight.” He winked and lowered his head to the menu.

  What is this man up to? Raven surveyed him a moment longer, then opened her own menu. There were so many choices of steaks—prime from Nebraska and Illinois, Wagyu from Idaho and Japan—and some at prices that widened her eyes. She didn’t know where to begin. She glanced up when the server came to take their drink order and couldn’t mask her surprise when Darren ordered an expensive bottle of wine. She waited until the young woman departed before speaking. “Are we celebrating?”

  Darren smiled. “As a matter of fact, we are. And as soon as the wine arrives, I’ll tell you why.”

  All kinds of alarms went off in her head. It didn’t take long for the server to return with the wine and fill their glasses. Raven thanked her and smoothed her napkin in her lap.

  “I have some exciting news.” He leaned forward. “I’ve been promoted to regional marketing manager.”

  She smiled. “Congratulations. That’s definitely worth celebrating.” She lifted her glass. “To your continued success.”

  Darren touched his glass against hers and held her gaze as they sipped. He set his glass down and grasped Raven’s hand. “There’s something else I’m hoping to celebrate. I know we’ve only been dating four months, but I’m ready to take things to the next level.”

  Next level? Okay, Raven liked Darren well enough and, although she only had four months left on that stupid marriage pact she’d made with her friends, she didn’t yet feel all the warm and fuzzy stuff that went along with falling in love. “What do you mean?”

  “I—”

  “Raven? Is that you?”

  She whipped her head around and saw Chris standing there with his former teammate, Bernard Harris, who had retired a couple of years ago after a career-ending injury, and who had also been one of her clients at the rehab center. “Yep, it’s me. It’s good to see you, Bernard. Retirement looks good on you.”

  “Thanks. I’m enjoying it.” He bent and gave her a quick hug.

  Chris grinned. “Girl, you clean up pretty well.”

  Raven smiled and shook her head. She made introductions. The three men shook hands, but Darren didn’t appear to be pleased by the interruption.

  “Darren, you lucked out. Raven has the best hands in the business.” Chris shot her a teasing wink.

  Darren’s jaw tightened.

  She rolled her eyes. “I think you’re over exaggerating, Chris. Shouldn’t you be at home resting your back or doing your stretches?”

  Bernard chuckled. “Come on, Chris. Leave Raven alone.” He turned to Darren. “Nice meeting you, man and sorry for the interruption.” He placed a hand on Raven’s shoulder. “Good seeing you, Raven.”

  She reached up and squeezed his hand. “You too. Take care of yourself.”

  “I’ll see you next Tuesday,” Chris said. “You two enjoy your dinner.”

  Raven followed their departure with a smile. There was never a dull moment with Chris around. He kept the rehab center lively with his humor. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

  “Are you always so cozy with your
clients?” Darren asked tightly.

  Raven lifted an eyebrow. “Exactly what are you insinuating? I act the same way with every one of my clients, regardless of who they are.”

  “Have you given any more thought to the offer I mentioned?”

  “No.” He had expressed his dislike of her working with all the young men and had suggested she change jobs so he wouldn’t have to worry about some client flirting with her. At the time, she hadn’t put much stock into it, thinking he’d been kidding, but now she realized he’d been quite serious.

  He took a sip of his wine. “My friend won’t be able to hold the position forever.”

  “He doesn’t need to hold it at all. I like my job and I have no intention of changing it.”

  He shook his head. “You know, I thought we might be moving toward something more permanent, but if you’re not willing to compromise…”

  Raven couldn’t believe her ears. “Compromise? So, because you’re insecure about me working with a bunch of athletes, I’m supposed to do what? Take a position in some nursing home so you can be comfortable?” She didn’t realize she had raised her voice until the couple in the next booth turned around. She took a deep breath. “You’re right about one thing…we are moving toward something permanent.” She tossed her napkin on the table. “Take me home.” She slid out of the booth and stalked to the front. Obviously, this relationship was not going to work if he couldn’t respect her or her career choice.

  Darren joined her a moment later. “Thank you for embarrassing me in front of a room full of people,” he whispered harshly.

  She laughed him off. “You’re kidding right?”