Olivia Cunning - Tie Me

The night washed over Kellen, wrapping him in a cocoon of nothingness. The occasional flashes of yellow in the distant clouds would soon be overhead, and hed have to go inside. Although a powerful storm brewed over the Gulf of Mexico, he wasnt ready to face that empty house. Hed just stay on the beach until resolve proved stronger than dread.

As the flickers above the horizon intensified, the wind picked up, whipping his long hair around his neck and face. He stared out at the endless water, fighting shivers as the damp bite of the salty sea air drew warmth from his body. His skin had become numb. He wished the Gulf breeze could numb the raw ache deep in his chest. Would the feeling that part of him was missing ever leave or was he destined to feel empty for the rest of his life? Saras loss was still as tangible to him as it had been five years ago when hed stared at that fucking heart rate monitor, holding his breath, waiting for just one more blip. Just one more.

Just one more, Sara. Ill do anything.

It had never come.

All the hope in the worldall the love he had to givehadnt amounted to anything in the end.

Beneath the angry clouds, the water looked like shifting obsidianshiny, black glass with peaks and valleys. Random curves of white froth approached the damp sand at Kellens feet and then receded, a ceaseless pattern of surge and withdrawal. The surf toyed with himslowly retreating as the tide went out. Waves churned beneath the power of the storm, sometimes washing over his bare feet and drawing the sand from beneath his soles, but those waves never claimed him. Never pulled him under. Kellen stepped forward, following the slowly ebbing water, knowing eventually the sea would push him back toward the shore as the tide returned. There was little a man could count on in life, but he could count on the tides. And Kellen could count on memories of Sara haunting him.

He glanced over his shoulder at the dark house behind him. It was painted a sunny yellow, but at night it looked gray. Cheerless. Not like the happy place hed shared with her before shed gotten sick.

Oh, look at this house, Kellen, Saras cheerful voice echoed through his memory. Wouldnt it be fun to rent it for a week and pretend its ours? Ive never seen the ocean. I want to see it for the first time with you.

Kellen had peered at the computer screen over Saras shoulder. Shed flipped through pictures of an enormous, sunny yellow vacation rental with open, airy rooms, inviting furnishings, and sprawling decks with beach views.

You want to go see the ocean, honey. We go, hed said. How much is it?

Shed clicked on a reservation link and both their jaws had dropped when the weekly rental rate had been displayed. Shed closed the laptop and looked up at him, her big blue eyes drawing him in. Like a riptide, theyd always pulled him under.

I dont need that, shed said. I have you. And shed kissed him the way only Sara could kiss. A kiss that stirred his body into a heated frenzy. A kiss that touched his heart and soul. Her kiss had always turned him inside out. Thats what love did to him. Thats why Kellen needed it and at the same time never wanted to find it again.

So Kellen had done what any fool in love with his perfect girl would do. Hed hocked his most prized possessionhis late grandfathers vintage Les Paul guitarand surprised Sara with a week in her dream house. She hadnt made him feel bad about giving up his guitar. She turned the sacrifice of his most cherished belonging into a week of his most cherished memories. The delight on her face as shed stood in front of that obnoxiously large vacation rental with her hands clutched before her chest had been worth any cost.

I love you more than all the water in the ocean. All the grains of sand on the beaches. All the stars in the sky, shed said as shed flung herself into his waiting arms.

Thats a lot of love, hed said, burying his nose in her sweet-smelling hair and taking a moment to just feel her. She was his everything. She would be his forever. He didnt doubt it for an instant.

I love you more than that, Kellen. So much more.

Me too, honey.

Kellen swallowed hard and closed his eyes against the echoes of the past.

Memories of Sara continually tormented Kellen. They ripped his fucking heart out. Regardless, he sought things that reminded him of her. Losing her body and soul had been difficult enough. Losing those memories? He couldnt take that too. He needed reminders of her. Constant reminders. Thats why, even though she was gone, hed bought that huge fucking house on the Galveston shore as soon as he could afford it. Money had become a non-issue after Sole Regrets second album had gone platinum and they sold out concert after concert on their first headlining tour. What would Sara think of his success? Would she be proud? Jealous? Shed never understood his need to make music.

Hed have given up every penny, every cheer, every fan for one more moment with her.

That empty house was why he was here, standing on the beach. He had no business being here. He should be on the tour bus with his band and on his way to Beaumont for their show tomorrow, but he hadnt been able to stay away. Not when the band played in Houston. Not when he was so close to the place that had made Sara happy for a week in her short life. He wanted those joyous memories close. They were right on the other side of the sand dune behind him. In that house. That dark, empty dream house that had become another nightmare.

Now that hed arrived, he couldnt force himself to go inside. He couldnt stand sipping a beer on the deck without her beside him. He couldnt stand knowing that when he climbed into bed, her pillow would be empty. He couldnt touch her, couldnt listen to her breathe. He could only lie there, staring up at the whirling ceiling fan trying to remember what theyd had for breakfast that first morning and the way the sun had danced through the golden highlights in her hair as shed watched the sandpipers skitter through the surf. He could almost hear her laughing. Almost see her spinning in the warm breeze with her arms extended. Almost feel the water splatter against his legs as she kicked at the waves. Shed been so alive that day. So fucking alive. In his memory, she would always be alive.

And that was something he would never give up.

Owen had tried to convince him not to visit the house tonight. Owens reasoning had been rightbeing here didnt help. It hurt. But Kellen couldnt stay away. And even though he knew it would be for the best, he just couldnt let Sara go.

It had been five years since Sara had slipped away from him. Five long years that Kellen should have been healing and learning to move on. Five fucking years of misery.

Hed hit rock bottom the day shed been buried, and hed thought that would be the worst of it. But he was below that now. Whats below rock bottom?

Hell, he whispered to the wind.

Why did you die on me, Sara? I need you beside me. Didnt I fucking tell you that enough?

Kellen wrapped his hand around the leather cuff on his left wrist. To him, it signified a lasting connection with the woman he still loved. The one time Kellen had thought he might let Sara go and move forward, Owen had given him this cuff, a Christmas gift. Its significance hadnt been a huge deal, but it was a signone that had insisted Kellen must remain attached to Sara for a while longer. His feelings hadnt ended when her life had. That wasnt how love worked. People who hadnt lost the love of their life didnt understand that. Owen, God love him, didnt understand that. He thought a man was supposed to move on when his soulmate died. Find some sort of replacement. Kellen didnt want to move on. He didnt want a replacement. He just wanted Sara back.