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Chapter Six

Author: Krista Lakes
last update Last Updated: 2022-05-25 02:18:28

Laura

Sixteen months ago…

He didn't call the next day after the party.

Laura was disappointed, but as she was nursing a small hangover combined with jet-lag for most of her Sunday morning, she wasn't too devastated. She figured he was probably in the same boat. She kept her phone on her for the whole day as she explored the area near her hotel once she felt up to walking.

It was only one day and a hungover day at that. Plus, maybe his business still needed his help. She wasn't sure what he did for W Motors, but he seemed important.

She woke up early Monday morning, eager to enjoy her last day in California. Today they were supposed to go rock climbing, and she hoped to have another fantastic time together. Her flight home was at noon on Tuesday, so today was really her only day. She checked her messages and voicemail twice before nine am, but there was, of course, nothing.

She sat down on the foot of her bed, staring at the phone. He said he'd call, but she was getting nervous he woul
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  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Eight

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  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Nine

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  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Ten

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  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Eleven

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  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Twelve

    LauraLaura scrambled out of her chair and sprinted across the room. She didn't even care that she knocked her chair over or that she was fairly sure her fork hit Ethan in the face. She had to get to Dallas in time. Time moved in slow motion as she reached for the Halloween bucket and managed to get it into Dallas' lap just in time.She was about to sigh in relief, but Ivy started making the same gurgling noise. She turned, sure she wouldn't make it in time to find that Ethan already had the bucket under her and was holding back her long red hair.Ethan cuddled Ivy close, unconcerned for his nice pants or shirt. His lovely green tie was thrown over his shoulder, reminding Laura of a cape. He was certainly Ivy's hero as he cuddled her close and comforted her.It was so domestic and so laughable at the same time. She smiled at him, even though he was too busy to see it. If he wasn't here, she wasn't sure what she would have done. If nothing else, she would have had a mess to clean up. S

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    LauraLaura's head throbbed, and her mouth felt like she'd eaten fire. She shook her head, trying to clear out the ringing in her ears and figure out where she was. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the gray light and for the world to stop spinning long enough to get a clear image.She was in some sort of empty warehouse. Pale gray light filtered in through windows on the second floor, but other than that she couldn't see much. Everything was dusty, so she assumed that where ever she was, it wasn't in active use.She tried to rub her eyes to get the grit out of them but found them tied behind her. She was on a hard metal chair, the kind used for church get-togethers and elementary school concerts. It was not a comfortable thing to be tied to.“Hello?” she called out. It hurt her voice to talk, but she had to find out if she was alone. Her voice didn't seem to travel far.She waited for a reply, but nothing came. She swallowed down her panic. She was alone and tied to a chair.

  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Thirty-Six

    Laura“Bye, guys! Have fun! Love you!” Laura waved to the kids as the car pulled away. She could see Ivy and Dallas waving back, as well as Grandma and Grandpa. The two kids were off to spend the weekend with their grandparents. Laura had forgotten about it completely until Grandma had called and asked what time to pick them up.Laura had arranged for the weekend off of parent duty two weeks ago, back when she was still with him. She'd had this fantastic idea to steal him away for a sexy weekend adventure. Then they'd broken up.That was a week ago.She turned and went back into the empty house, and she immediately missed her siblings. She had no idea what in the world she was going to do by herself this weekend. If nothing else, the barn was going to get a good cleaning.She sighed and glanced over at her phone. He hadn't called her. The only message she'd gotten from him since she told him she wanted a break was two days old.I'm fine. Home in California safe. Don't worry about me.

  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Thirty-Five

    LauraLaura walked into Sandy's and was glad to see the place was mostly empty. It wasn't quite lunchtime yet, so the usual crowds weren't there. She'd dropped the kids off for their last day at school and headed over to the one place she knew would have comfort food and a friend.“Hey you,” Elena greeted her from the bar as she walked up. Elena's smile faded as she looked at Laura. “What's the matter?”“I think I broke up with Ethan,” Laura told her. The words felt like daggers driving into her heart.“What?” Elena asked. She quickly walked around the bar and wrapped her friend up in a hug. “What happened?”“I freaked out because he was on an airplane,” Laura explained. “Like super freaked.”“Okay...” Elena let her go, motioning to two bar stools. Together they sat down to talk. “How did that lead to you two breaking up?”Laura shrugged. It sounded stupid now, but she still felt mad about the whole thing. “He's going to be traveling a lot,” she explained. “He has to go back and forth

  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Thirty-Four

    EthanEthan let out a long slow breath as the car pulled out onto the highway. He was doing his best not to be angry, but it was hard. It was hard not to be frustrated when she messaged him so constantly. Laura was so amazing in every other way, but her fear of him flying was the one thing that he did not enjoy about her.He stared out the window, watching the mountains to the west rise and dip into the horizon. He knew that he would have texted her too if their positions had been reversed and he'd seen the news on the missing plane. It was just that there were so many messages. He had so many issues on his plate between the R&D department problems and now Janie stalking him and sending him death threats. Getting a million messages telling him to call her was not helpful.He pulled up his phone and checked the news. The other plane was a small personal aircraft, not nearly as nice as his was, but he could see how she would be worried. Luckily, the other plane had landed without injuri

  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Thirty-Three

    LauraLaura closed her eyes and imagined herself at a mountain lake. There were horses, and the world smelled of pine and fresh rain. The lake sparkled in the sunlight and sunlight warmed her skin. It was peaceful and calm. Nothing could be wrong in this beautiful place.And then a plane crashed into the lake, and everything was ruined.Laura groaned and opened her eyes. Visualizing a calm space was not helping her anxiety. Ethan was getting on a plane again today, and all she could think about was his plane crashing and never seeing him again. It didn't matter that he'd survived the last flight just fine. It didn't matter than she knew it was irrational and stupid.She was still anxious and upset about it.She flopped onto the couch and checked her phone for the millionth time. No messages. The kids would be home soon, and she welcomed the distraction. The kitchen was scrubbed to shining, the bathrooms sparkled, and the laundry was folded and put away. She was running out of househol

  • A Wonderful Kind of Love   Chapter Thirty-Two

    EthanEthan walked onto the elevator to the parking garage in a daze. He couldn't remember the last meeting that had gone on that long. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week. Unfortunately, he was going to get about five hours before he had to come back and go back to work.There were going to be more meetings tomorrow that were just as important as the ones today. The new R&D department was causing issues with investors, and he had to make sure everything worked out. It was stressful, but that was his job. He was good at this. He knew he would make it work, but it would mean a lot of hours in the office for the next few days.He was seriously just considering sleeping at his desk. He felt like he might actually get more rest. He sighed and stepped out of the elevator and into the parking garage. It would be good to go home. He could call Laura from the comfort of his car on the drive home. He was already looking forward to it.Ethan waved to Bruce in the security offic

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