Promise Me Anthology Read Online Free PDF

was okay, too.
     

 
    Heart’s Bells
     
    (Previously
Published in Bedtime Shadows anthology 10-2012)
     
    “Don’t you wish we could stay here forever?”
Casey murmured softly. She leaned her head back on Theo’s broad
shoulder, her hopeful sea blue eyes meeting his.
    Instead of the loving, or even lustful look
she expected to see, Theo’s eyes were overcast, his grey-blue eyes
dark as storm clouds, his expression grim as he looked out over the
quiet mountain lake and surrounding trees nearby. “You know I want
that,” he replied tersely, even as he shifted her into his arms,
hugging her slight body to his muscular one under the thin blanket
that covered their entwined bodies. “But it’s the end of the
semester. With how things stand now, my dad’s not going to let me
come back next semester. He wants me to pursue ‘real work’, not
‘that art crap’.”
    “You don’t have to listen to him,” Casey
soothed. “We don’t need his money. We’ve only got a semester left,
then we’ll graduate. We can start a new life together.”
    “With what?” Theo scoffed, though he was
secretly pleased at her faith in him. “Do you really want to be
married to a starving artist?”
    Casey turned in his arms, suddenly nervous,
scared hope and shock on her face. “You want to marry me?”
    “If you’ll have me,” Theo said with a boyish
grin. His smile became wider. “Not that you haven’t already copious
times, but—”
    “Jerk!” Casey said, giving him a good–natured
shove. “Don’t make light of this. Now are you proposing or
not?”
    “Yes,” Theo said, his smile wavering as he
fumbled a small box from his pocket. He cracked it open to display
a small diamond ring. “Will you—?”
    “Yes!” Casey yelled, her call loud enough to
send the birds on the lake into the air, their wings beating
frantically as they shouted their annoyance on the breeze.
    “I guess we don’t need an audience,” Theo
said, slipping the ring on her left hand. “Do you like it?”
    “I love it,” Casey gushed, then grabbed
Theo’s head in her hands, bringing him in for a smoky kiss that
consumed them in its passion.
    Eagerly, Theo moved atop her, wishing that
they never had to leave the mountains, or face the worries of the
real world. They’d fallen in love here, he and Casey. This was
their special place, near the shore of the lake at Heart’s
Bells.
    * * * *
    Hours later, their ardor sated, Theo hugged
the sleeping Casey to him. It felt like the best day of his life,
and yet, he was scared to death.
    His father had threatened to cut his college
funding. He wanted Theo to be a lawyer, like he was. Theo’s mother
was on his side—her father had been a carpenter—but she wasn’t
willing to stand up to her husband, not even for her son.
    Casey had also glossed over a lot of details.
Yes, she was close to finishing up her nursing degree, but he would
only have an associate’s degree by the end of next semester. While
he’d saved some money at his part time job, there wasn’t enough
there for a down payment on a one room apartment. His father would
be against this marriage just as he’d been against everything Theo
had ever loved...
    Theo took a deep breath of mountain air and
looked around, trying to forget his father. Maroon Bells, Colorado
had never seemed so much like home. Some of that was because his
best memories were here, his memories of Casey and falling in love
with her. She had always called this place Heart’s Bells since they
had claimed it for their own.
    Theo hugged her close, then closed his eyes,
remembering.
    It had happened two years ago, in fall. He
had come up to hike Maroon Lake after moving all his stuff into his
dorm. His father and mother had left almost immediately, after a
few encouraging words to make sure he was going to attend all the
freshmen activities scheduled. Theo waited until their car had
disappeared from sight, then taken off in his own small Plymouth
Neon. He’d be