More Than Enough Read online

  More Than Enough

  Published by Ashley Johnson

  Copyright 2013

  Ashley Johnson

  Cover by

  Robin Harper/Wicked By Design

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-soldor given away. If you would like to share this book with another person,

  please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work

  Of this author.

  All characters in this publication are purely fictious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This book is dedicated to my best friend Adrienne Williams and to all the amazing people I’ve met on this journey. I love all of you!

  Table Of ContentsChapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Flowers everywhere. Flowers that were meant for mine and Trevor’s wedding that never happened. Flowers that were now meant for Halley and Marcus’ wedding. White and pink roses, gosh they were so beautiful, that’s why I had picked them. Something about them just clicked for me. As soon as I saw them, I knew they were perfect back then. These flowers should bring tears to my eyes, I should be crying over what never happened but instead I am so relieved and happier than I’ve ever been in my life. Trevor had been history since that day in my room where he said he would leave if I didn’t want him. I was glad to never see him again but I made a mental note that if I ever did, I would be sure to thank him for everything. Probably hug him and blow his ever loving mind.

  Moving in with Luke was one of the riskiest things I’d ever done in my life but it was the best risk. I had to move out anyway because of Halley and Marcus getting married so really it came at the best time. I never thought I could love someone so much. Thank you God for walking me into Gills that night.

  “Earth to Macy. You going to stand there or are you going to help me arrange these flowers?”

  I turned my head and rolled my eyes directly at my best friend Halley who was sitting beside me with her hand on her hip. Miss bossy pants just had to do this right now. I mean I’m not a procrastinator but it could have waited just a little longer. The wedding wasn’t for another month or so but she kept insisting all this had to be done right now. Unfortunately for me, I had to help do it all. I knew nothing about planning weddings; I never got too far planning my own so basically I just acted like a puppet and did whatever Halley asked me to do.

  “I’m here, what’s your rush. These flowers aren’t going to sprout legs and run off.”

  “I just don’t want to be stressing about these last minute. What time is Luke coming to get you? I need all of these done before you leave.”

  Luke and I had a dinner date later. He was amazing to me in any way he could possibly be. He cooked, cleaned, and pampered me, what more could a woman want?

  “He should be here in a few minutes and I hate to break it to you, whether I’m done or not I’m gone!”

  A handful of flowers flew at my face. Good thing they were artificial or she’d have to go shopping. And that was one shopping trip she could do alone. I needed a break from all this. Truth is, we were almost done, I just like watching her go absolutely nuts over all this.

  “Just help me with a few more and I’ll let you off the hook,” she says knowing that’s all that’s left.

  Carefully, I continued to tie the pale pink ribbon in bows around the roses. If she weren’t paying me in liquor I would probably be pissed. I grabbed the glass of crown and coke beside me and took a small sip. Drinking wasn’t something I clung to anymore though, I had a drink occasionally but since Luke came into my life, I slacked off a lot. All the demons I had were now gone. Halley was proud. She didn’t know how to take it the first time I told her I quit. She thought I was playing around with her and it took a lot to convince her otherwise. For a brief moment she even asked if I were pregnant and I literally laughed out loud in her face. That’s just not something Luke and I have discussed just yet. It’s not something I’ve given any thought about since my miscarriage.

  My cell buzzed and Halley shot a look in my direction daring me to look. Luckily, I’m not scared of her so I peeked and it was Mom. I hadn’t heard from her since our heartfelt chat months ago when she promised the new world to me. When she took him back, I never heard from her again. She was about due to make a phone call. How sad is that? I shouldn’t have to look at a calendar and guess when my own mom will most likely call me. I rolled my eyes and hit ignore and went back to tying ribbons.

  “Who was that?” Halley eyed me suspiciously waiting for me to crack. I don’t even want to know what her suspicions were.

  “My mom. She can wait. I have ribbons to tie.” I gave her a cheesy grin and continued on my mission.

  She shot me thumbs up and replied, “Good girl. What do you think she wants?”

  I finished the last ribbon and smiled at its perfection. The smile I had before fell flat. “Who knows? She’s due for a call anyway. I haven’t talked to her in months. I don’t even think Gary has. Whatever it is can wait.”

  The mess that was staring at us was unreal. Now that all the ribbons were tied, we needed to box the flowers and throw all the trash away. That was the part I was absolutely dreading. The trash definitely outweighed the actual flowers.

  Slowly I drug my body off the floor and began putting the flowers in the boxes she had ready. One flower in and her doorbell rang. My eyes jumped to look at the door then towards Halley who was giving me the death stare. I glared back and ran to answer it. Luke stood there with a red rose in his hand, looking amazing as always. He wore a blue plaid flannel shirt that fit his chest just right with the new blue jeans I bought him. I bought them because I liked the way his backside looked in them, sue me. It was mine to look at anyway. If it has to be clothed then I at least want to be able to still enjoy it. He had the sleeves rolled up and his tattoos were playing peek-a-boo underneath. I suddenly didn’t want to go to dinner anymore, skipping to dessert sounded just fine to me.

  “Who’s here?” Halley hollered from the other room. “Oh never mind. Luke you can’t have her yet, she made a huge mess in here!”

  Luke laughed and handed me the rose. I kissed his cheek thanking him. “I would have thought I’d be sick of looking at flowers but I really love this one.”

  “I really love you Mace.” He kissed my lips then quickly pulled away due to Halley’s gag noises and throat clearing. She sure knew how to kill a moment when she wanted to. Maybe I’d do the same to her when she was standing on the altar.

  “I love you too. Let me help Miss Bossy Pants clean this mess real quick and we can go.”

  Within five minutes Halley’s living room was looking normal again. She let Oreo out now that there was nothing she could get into. She ran up to me and I held her for a second giving her kisses before I placed her back down. When Marcus got home he would not be able to tell his living room had just been an arts and crafts hazard area.

  She embraced me in a hug and smiled. “Thank you for helping me with that. You have no idea how much I appreciated it.”

  “Yeah yeah. It’s only because I love you. Call me later I’ve got myself a hot date.�
� I winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

  Luke slapped my ass and I jumped. I wanted to be angry or at least pretend to be but I couldn’t help but smile. We said our goodbyes and walked out the door. He laced our fingers together and pushed me against the wall in the hallway and crushed his lips against mine kissing me as if the world were going to end.

  “I’m sorry I’ve wanted to do that since I walked in there.”

  My breath became more ragged as I replied, “Don’t be sorry. I wanted to skip dinner and go straight to dessert.”

  Licking his lips was one of the things that drove me crazy about him and what was he doing right now because of my comment? Licking those lips.

  He leaned in closer until I could practically feel his breath on my lips. What a damn tease. He was driving me insane. “That sounds so tempting but I have reservations for my girlfriend and I just can’t break those.”

  “Well, sounds like she’s going to be rather upset. I think she’ll get over it.” I brought his lips back to mine and placed my arms around his neck.

  He looked up at me and offered a weak smile telling me basically I’m sorry but let’s go to dinner. Playfully I let out a groan and moved from the wall.

  We walked hand in hand to his car. Halley once asked me if I was jealous of being the other woman in his life because his Challenger seemed to be number one. Not when I was around though. I trumped her every time. Luke opened the door and I slid in. I wondered where he was taking me. I hoped I dressed appropriately. I wore my blue jeans and a pink and green striped blouse I’d just bought.

  He started the car and that beauty purred to life. My poor Civic has been neglected and I felt horrible but I’m sure it understands. I buckled my seatbelt and he looked at me with a grin that could melt me completely. “You ready?”

  “I was born ready Luke.” I flashed a smile and he drove off.

  The sun was out and shining although it was getting ready to begin to set. We drove for about ten minutes when I finally asked where we were going. He just looked at me, smiled, and told me to sit back and relax. So I listened and watched the trees alongside the highway as we drove.

  I liked surprises to an extent but he was definitely up to something. I really wish he would just tell me. He liked to be secretive though. Before he asked me to move in with him he would just come over and smile at me driving me absolutely crazy. I could read him pretty well though so I knew he was up to something then. He started acting all fidgety, which come to think of it that’s exactly how he was doing now. What the hell. Anyway back to then, he kept acting funny and it began to aggravate me because no matter how many times I tried to get him to tell me, he just wouldn’t. One day we were at his place and he looked at me with those sparkling green eyes and just came out and asked if I would move in with him. He didn’t just ask though, he had a whole dinner cooked. It was this huge gesture for him. As if just asking wasn’t good enough. I mean, hey whatever works for him. I got a good meal out of the deal. Steak and baked potatoes and ice cream sundaes for dessert, it was so delicious. Good thing he could cook or I may have said no. He even lit candles and had a vase of red roses on the table. Of course I told him yes. You would swear he just asked me to marry him and a week and a half later I was all moved in.

  “You know how I feel about surprises. Am I going to like it?” I was starting to get antsy. He couldn’t be proposing. He’s never brought up marriage before but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about it right? Don’t think too hard on this Macy, just relax and have a good time.

  He smiled and took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. “I sure hope so. Guess we will have to see.” I groaned as I continued to look out the window. This wasn’t fair.

  We drove for another few minutes until we passed a sign that read ‘Welcome To Newton’. I felt like I were about to have a full blown panic attack. I haven’t been back to this town since I was 19 and I was not ready for it. I wasn’t sure if I had ever told him that this was the town so I tried to play it off but he felt me tense up. I didn’t want to ruin our dinner date. Please don’t let me ruin the dinner date.

  “Hey babe, relax. Your tense I can tell. Trust me ok?” He lifted our hands to his mouth and kissed my knuckles.

  “I trust you Luke, fully.” I said as I took a deep breath and then let it out. I trust him more than anything or anyone I know.

  He pulled up at a local hot spot called Larry’s Cabin. They had everything from fried shrimp and fish to gumbo to steaks. Mom and I used to come here all the time, partially because she hated cooking and partially because we just loved the food. At one point, they knew what we wanted as soon as we walked in the door. I used to always get the fried shrimp with extra hushpuppies, talk about amazing. That was years ago though. Lots of happy memories, the few that I had left. As I unbuckled my seat, I looked out my window and froze. Luke’s windows were tinted so I prayed she couldn’t see me. Why were we really here?

  “Mace, you ok?” Luke looked at me with concerned eyes.

  “Why are we here Luke? I can’t get out of the car. Please.” My voice was panicky and my hands were starting to shake and sweat. Crap. “That’s my Mom right there.” I pointed to the lady wearing jeans and a simple red button up blouse with black flats. She looked the same as I remembered. She looked like nothing ever happened and it took everything in me to hold back my tears and anger.

  “I know. This is your surprise. Gary called me last week and asked if I could talk to her and she asked to see you.” I stared at him in disbelief trying not to lose my cool in front of him. What the hell was he thinking? “I know I should have talked to you, I’m sorry Mace. Please just let’s have this dinner ok.”

  “Luke, I haven’t seen her since I left. I don’t know if I can do this. I’m scared to death. How could you plan this and not tell me anything?” I refused to let any tears fall. Weakness was not an option right now or ever. What do you say to someone who you haven’t seen in years? What do you say to someone who is to blame for your whole world being turned upside down?

  Luke squeezed my hand and looked into my fearful eyes. I kept them glued to his for the security that lied there. Without that security I was sure to fall apart. “I love you Macy. More than life itself. I am here for you, I’ll be right there the whole time. Any time you feel uncomfortable, except right now, because we haven’t even gotten out of the car, you tell me and we will leave. No questions asked. And I didn’t say anything because I knew you would flip out and not come. It’ll be ok babe I promise.”

  I searched his eyes for what seemed like forever before I answered him. I know this was a hurdle I needed to pass but I was fine with waiting a little longer. When I say a little longer, I mean maybe never. I sucked it up and replied, “Let’s do this.” I put on the bravest face possible and pulled him in for a quick kiss. “Thank you Luke, I love you.”

  “I love you too.” His eyes told me everything was going to be ok and I clung to all the security I needed in them. I was giving myself a little pep talk in my head, telling myself I could do this over and over again.

  I stepped out of the car and waited for Luke to meet me. He grabbed my hand and gave it one more reassuring squeeze and we made our way up to the front of the restaurant. Would she even know it was me? She was beautiful with her brown hair that closely resembled mine. She really did look exactly as I had remembered. She could have any man. Why she stayed with that, I have no idea. I never saw what was so special in him, especially after he did what he had. I used to wonder what it would be like to have the perfect life, well I mean the perfect teenage years and I always resented her for that. My younger childhood years were the best ever. Mom always took me to the zoo or the beach, anywhere there was to have fun. Then most of the way into my teenage years, things started to change. I know she tried the best she could but still that was no excuse. In the blink of an eye, everything I knew was taken away from me and I was like a scared kid all over again. I was the kid who got lost in the store an
d searched forever for my mom and never found her again.

  I didn’t want to let go of Luke’s hand. I held onto it as if my life depended on it. I really felt like I might die if he let go of my hand. Maybe I would just melt into the cement where I stood, there that sounds like the perfect solution to this problem. Later on everyone would hear on the news about the local girl who turned into a puddle of goo on the cement and was never seen again. I squeezed his hand, any harder all the circulation may just stop. As we got closer, she recognized me. Holy hell she actually recognized me. I froze, unable to move my legs. It literally felt like my shoes were cemented into the sidewalk. Luke sensed my hesitation when I refused to move any further and gave my hand a gentle squeeze letting me know it was ok. Was it though? Was I ready for this step? I drew in a deep breath and began to slowly move again. My heart was pounding in my chest and it felt like it was going to explode.

  She looked like she hadn’t aged at all in the last few years. She looked like the Mom that I remembered all my happy times with and all the wonderful memories that I didn’t suppress so far back came flooding back in. Memories of a mom who did anything and everything to protect her daughter and give her a good life.

  She wrapped her arms around me instantly, holding me for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly I wrapped my arms around her to seal the hug. I took in the familiar scent of cherry blossom body spray and found a sudden calmness wash over me. The breath that just kept still inside of me was let out and I could relax. I felt like I should be crying or maybe she should be, but we just stood there hugging. The moment was completely bittersweet, like out of a movie. Long lost daughter and mother reunite over dinner, cue the music.

  “Macy, I love you so much baby girl. It’s so good to see you.” She pulled away and looked into my eyes. Her brown eyes had hints of tears in the corners about ready to start spilling out.

  “I love you too Mom. How did you get ahold of Luke?”