Page 3 of All Your Firsts Without Me

“You know what I mean, you little shit.”

“I do, but we met the way we met. Why ask me that?”

He runs the back of his finger over my forehead before letting it trail down the side of my face. “Sometimes I think you missed out.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” My brows furrow in confusion. David doesn’t seem himself tonight.

“You missed out on your youth, on falling in love naturally.”

My eyes drop to my lap. He leans back and looks over his shoulder at something before reaching out to tip my chin. “I’m sorry. Let’s not think about the past. I want to talk about your future.”

He hands me my glass, urging me to take a small sip. It warms my belly, giving me the courage to finally meet his eyes. “My future is with you.”

“April, honey, you know I don’t have much time.” He cups my cheek in his palm, his thumb brushing back and forth lightly.

“I don’t want to do this here. Let’s go home, please,” I beg.

“I need you to promise me something.”

I wrap my fingers around the hand he is so lovingly caressing my cheek with. “I would do anything for you.”

“Promise me that six months after I pass away you will come back here. Back to this exact same place.”

I release his hand, allowing my gaze to flit around the dimmed space. A sense of doom begins to fill me. The thought of leaving the house to come back here alone, gives me heart palpitations. I won’t be able to do it. He of all people should know this. I’m only here now because he is here with me. “I…I…”

“You can. I want you to come back here exactly six months after I leave this earth and have a drink. Buy a round for the entire bar. Celebrate life, celebrate my life if that is what you need to do. But you get up, put on a nice dress, and march your happy little butt down here.”

“Don’t talk like this. I don’t like it,” I tell him, pushing my drink away. “I want to go home.”

“Promise me and then we will leave.” He stares into my eyes.

I blink a few times and then lower my head. “Okay, if that is what you want. I’ll do it for you.”

He kisses my forehead and pushes my drink back in front of me. “Drink up, you’re going to want to be foot loose and fancy free for the night I have planned for us.”

I laugh at the way he talks. “Foot loose and fancy free? You’re too much.”

He throws me a sexy wink then glances around the room, searching for the waitress. When he can’t find her, he holds out his card and sends me up to pay for our drinks. I’m leaning against the bar by the cash register when my favorite song comes on the jukebox. I don’t have to turn around to know David played it for me. The song breathes life into me.

Someone nudges my elbow as I hand the card to the waitress. “Looks like someone is waiting for a dance,” a stranger tells me. I don’t even turn to look at the man who spoke, my eyes are solely on David. I snatch the card out of the waitress’s hand when she returns it and rush over to him. He pulls me onto his lap, making me squeal. He wheels us around the dance floor, my hands framing his stubbly cheeks. I love this man so much. I don’t care that our marriage is unconventional. I don’t care he is twenty-four years older than me. He is my soulmate. His sunshine saved me from the dark.

CHAPTER TWO

David ~ The past

“Grab your gear, we’re headed out to that compound we’ve been watching. Child protective services got an anonymous child endangerment call on the leader, James Declan. When they went out to investigate, they were denied entry and things turned ugly. Turns out it’s worse than we thought. Two young women have now come forward with similar stories of what’s going on out there. Several precincts are going in,” Giles tells me as he readies himself.

“Weapons suspected?” I ask as I gear up.

“Yep.”

We quickly load up and head out with several others from our precinct. The compound has a shelter belt of trees on two sides and tall fencing on the other two. We listen to the commanding officer and then take our positions and wait. A lot of what we do is waiting. After several hours, a signal is given, and we head in to clear the compound.

Giles and I are sent with the rest of our team to gather evidence from the alleged leader’s home. As we are going through files, I hear something that sounds like music. “Do you hear that?”

We both straighten, straining our ears. “Yeah, what the hell is it?”

I push the file cabinet away from the wall, finding a vent. “I think it’s coming from here.” I crouch down and place my ear against it. “It’s a girl, singing.” I look up at my partner as he scratches his head.

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