Holding You

Kissing me quickly on the lips, I watched Colt take off jogging toward the parking lot.



Feeling my father walk up next to me, I glanced up at him. Letting out a sigh, he said, “He loves you very much, Lauren.”



Smiling, I nodded my head. “I know he does. I don’t think he ever left the hospital once.”



Letting out a soft chuckle my mother said, “No. He didn’t. Gunner had to force him at one point to go eat.”



Worrying my bottom lip, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to say this without sounding crazy, so I just inhaled a deep breath and blew it out. “He saved my life.”



“What?” my father asked.



Turning to me, my mother asked, “Who did, Lauren?”



Still staring straight out to where Colt ran, I decided I was going to tell my parents what happened to me. “Colt did. I felt him pulling me back.”



My mother’s voice cracked. “Pulling you back? What do you mean?”



Turning to look at her, I felt such a sense of peace. Smiling I said, “I saw Grandpa.”



My mother’s face fell and the color all but drained from it. “What do you mean, Lauren?”



Looking straight ahead, I inhaled a deep breath once again. This time I could smell rain in the air. Glancing up, I smiled when I saw the rain clouds. Oh, how I hoped it would rain. I wanted to sit in the barn and listen to it hit the tin roof. “I think for a few minutes, I might have been . . . gone. I was standing in a really bright room and Grandpa was there. Except, it didn’t feel like I should go with him. I kept hearing Colt; he was calling out for me and his voice sounded so pained. Like he was in agony. Then . . . I felt his warmth and it was like he was calling me back to him and I couldn’t leave.” Letting out a soft chuckle, I turned to my mother. “Grandpa told me to open my eyes. That I needed to go back to Colt.”



With her chin trembling, my mother pulled me to her and cried as my father wrapped both of us up in his arms. “Lauren, I don’t know what we would have done if we had lost you.”



With my father holding us tightly, we cried softly together. I’d never felt so loved before in my life. It was as if I could feel my parents’ love pouring into me. I had to smile because I knew the moment they found out Colt and I were leaving to get married, they were not going to be so loving.



Hearing Colt clear his throat, my father dropped his hold on my mother and me. Kissing me gently on the cheek. “You ready to head home, sweetheart?”



Nodding my head, I turned to kiss my father, then my mother. “See you at home?”



Giving me that smile that has made me feel safe since I could remember, my mother said, “Be careful driving, Colt.”



Reaching out, Colt shook my father’s hand, then kissed my mother on the cheek. “Yes, ma’am.”



Opening the door to his truck, Colt helped me up and buckled me in. Giving me that melt-my-panties smile, he placed his hand on the side of my face and whispered, “You’re forever mine, Lauren Ashley Reynolds.”



Becoming acutely aware of my own heartbeat, my fingers ached with the need to touch Colt. “Care to make that Lauren Ashley Mathews?” Colt’s eyes turned dark as his mouth opened slightly. A shiver ran across my entire body.



“When?” Colt asked in a whispered kiss against my lips.



Slightly parting my legs, I internally begged for him to touch me. “As soon as we can,” I stuttered.



Holding in his breath, Colt smiled as he pulled back and shut the door. Watching him jog around the front of his truck, I wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to make it without being with him. It felt as if our connection had grown stronger since I had gotten sick.



Jumping in, Colt reached over and hit play on this stereo. When his iPod started playing, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard “Say You Do” by Dierks Bentley begin playing. Colt had played it the night we shared our first real kiss. Ever since then, I must have listened to it at least twice a day.



“I love this song,” I said as I turned to Colt. Smiling, he nodded his head and looked back at me.



“I know.”



Leaning my head back, I felt my body warm. Just being with Colt and knowing he was going to wrap me up in his arms when we got home had my heart fluttering. Closing my eyes, I slowly drifted off to sleep.



MY FATHER AND I rode along the fence line in silence. I’d been waiting for him to have this talk with me since Lauren came home from the hospital almost two weeks ago.



Clearing his throat, I turned slowly and looked at him. His posture was rigid and I knew he had a lot on his mind. “Dad, I need to talk to you.”