Page 60 of Blackstone's Heart
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Nick sat in the Summerland living room nursing a glass of scotch. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and found Ethan. "How's Krista?"
"I think she'll sleep through the night tonight." Ethan answered sitting in the chair across from Nick. "Christ Nick, she's trying not to fall apart."
"Yeah, she gets that from me I'm afraid." Nick nodded.
"She finally let me in this afternoon."
"Thank god." Nick breathed, his shoulders sagging in relief. "Son, she's going to need you in the coming days. Oh I know she'll want me and her mother, but it's YOU that will get her through this."
"Nick..."
"No, I want you to listen to me. Ethan, you have always understood her and she you. Oh you may have been Jax and Hayden's best friend, but it was Krista that you always gravitated to. You and her are a perfect match. Just as me and Deb and your own folks are."
"I know that. Now. I don’t think I did back then." Ethan stated.
Nick chuckled. “Oh I think a part of you did.”
Ethan nodded with a smile. "Maybe I did."
The two men sat in silence for several minutes before Nick spoke again. "Did you know that your dad and I knew each other when we were kids?"
"What? No, I didn't. I thought you met when we moved to Austin." Ethan answered in slight surprise.
Nick laughed. "Figures Dale wouldn't have told you. He and I both grew up in Tyler. You know he was on the basketball team. I was on the track team. Anyway, our families lived two houses from each other. He and I go way back. I went to Northwestern, then on to OCS school. Your old man joined the army right out of high school. We had lost touch for a few years. Hell me and Deb had been in Austin about six months when I bumped into him at the bank.
"Deb had just had Hayden and your mom had just had you. Ethan, I've always believed in fate. I knew you and Krista were meant to be from the moment you and she became friends. Oh you pretended to be annoyed when she tagged along with you boys, but I saw even then there was that bond between you."
"You know, for a while there I thought you didn’t approve of me being with Krista?"
Nick frowned. "Why did you feel that way?"
"Well, because of the night I told Krista and the rest of you I was joining the Marines. You had this look that, well looked like disapproval or something."
Nick recalled that night and let out a sigh. "That wasn't disappointment son, it was worry. I worried about you going off to war, so did your folks. Ethan, answer me this. Had you not joined the Marines, what would you have done?"
Ethan thought a moment. "I guess I would have gone to college somewhere. I know I would have eventually married Krista."
"Okay. What do you want now?"
"I want to find this asshole and protect Krista. I want her with me Nick."
"Good. See what I mean. You wanted her then and you still want her. Despite the fourteen years you two were apart. You and Krista still came together. If that's not fate, then I don't know what the hell is." Nick smiled. He finished his scotch then stood. As he passed Ethan he laid his hand on the man's shoulder. "You just take care of my daughter and you'll always have my approval. Good night."
"Good night, Nick." Ethan nodded.
Ethan sat in the silence for a long time after Nick left. He thought back to when he and Krista had dated his senior year. Even then he felt she belonged to him, with him. Now he had the opportunity and the means to make that happen. He stood, turned out the light and headed back upstairs. He quietly walked into the room. Through the moonlight filtering in from the window, he could see Krista sound asleep in bed.
He stripped and slipped into bed beside her. Even in sleep she wanted to be in his arms. She rolled onto her side and snuggled into him. His arms came around her and he smiled, breathing in her wildflower scent that he loved. He softly kissed her forehead. "I love you Krista."
"Mmmm. Ethan." She mumbled in sleep.
Holding his life in his arms, Ethan drifted off.
Chapter 17
Krista sat between her parents in the front row of the church. One the other side of her mother sat Tessa and Carl. She had to admit, the church looked beautiful and the weather outside was beautiful. A crystal blue sky, the smell of fall in the air, Jerry would have loved it. She dammed near jumped when the preacher called her up to give her eulogy. Taking a deep breath, she stood and moved to the pulpit.
