The Truth About Air & Water (Truth in Lies #2) (56 page)

Movement, words of any kind would destroy the moment and possibly me.

So I just stand there and breathe his air and take it all in.

Then all of his words begin to register with me. “You remember? Don’t you?” I ask him quietly. “That’s what you were trying to tell me before. You remember me. Don’t you, Elvis?” I brush back tears, but they keep on falling.

Linc nods and I know by the look in his eyes that all the versions of Lincoln Presley are here for me today. “You’re impossible to forget. Forever.” He smiles.

My mother cries in the distance to my left. And soon, more crying can be heard from everyone else behind us.

Cara pulls at the folds of my gown asking if I’m okay. Linc is looking more certain by the minute, smiling wide, and assures Cara that everything is fine.

I have so much I want to say. I memorized my lines but now I can’t think of a single one.

A breeze from the open window to my left stirs my hair and veil. It brings me back and I smile as I find my voice and remember my vows for this man.

“Valentine’s Day will forever be marked as sad because of Holly. You should all know that.” I turn toward Marla. She nods at me. Then I turn looking at the small group surrounding us. “I lose my twin and receive the gift that is Lincoln Presley for rest of my life with a single glance. But Holly’s still here, you know. Watching all of us and laughing in her own special way. And she loves Linc. She loves that he makes me laugh…and cry…and feel. She loves that he tells me everything is going to be okay pretty much daily like she used to do, even if I only believe him half the time. She loves his patience, and his steadfast kindness that he shows to everyone but especially to me. She likes that he makes me meals and forces me to eat even when I tell him I already have because Holly knows the truth about me and so does Linc. He always has.”

I turn to face my groom.

“Lincoln Presley, you are the very air I breathe. You give me the best of life and sustain hope and tether to me so closely that I never feel lost. You shield me from pain and heartbreak…when you can, and hold me up even when you are far away in heart, mind, and soul. You have given me love and life and Cara and more of yourself in the past five years than I deserve, although I’ve made up for much of that in this past one, as we all know, waiting for you.”

I laugh a little but then it fades away.

“I’ve been waiting for you to remember. Although, deep down, in my heart, where Holly lives on, she told me to wait to just wait. Her words live on in the breeze where she whispers assurances so clearly. “He’ll find you again,” she said. “Just wait.” And so I have. And here you are. And so I stand here before our family and friends truly grateful for having found you in the first place and again now and loving you the way that I do. You’re my air, and I’ll be your water every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

I hold his gaze and he smiles wide. “I say, yes. Let’s grow old together, Elvis.
So?
Just say,
yes
.”

“Yes,” he says sweetly.

THE END

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all the readers and bloggers—fans of my work. It is because of you that this second novel about Linc and Tally was even written. Your encouragement and enthusiasm about
This Much Is True
led to the continuing story line (or, is that
saga
?) for Linc and Tally. I hope you enjoyed this additional look at their epic love story. Thank you all so much!

I should stop here. Stop here, KO. You’ll just get yourself into trouble if you go on and on…Huh…the thing is I always imagined myself as Meryl Streep at the Oscars on stage one day and getting to the microphone, mostly glad I didn’t fall on the stairs, although Jennifer Lawrence
owns
that role, and it makes you love her even more.
I digress.

Anyway as Meryl, I would say, “I thank no one. I owe this epic moment all to myself. Thank you. Good night. Tip your waitress. Run along. Nothing to see here.” And then I would flip off all the one-star reviewers and all those agents who sent me rejection notes, especially those who asked for the full copy of my manuscript and never contacted me again. Gah! It would be in such bad form and awesome for a few seconds anyway.

But then you know what? You want to thank those people too because despite their thoughtless even sometime vicious selves, they do spur you on.
I digress again.

But truly? There are those people who actually matter, who do the little things that add up to the epic (there’s that word again… I may have to retire it from my vocabulary along with the f-word after this novel) that make you feel whole again and encourage you when you are ready to GIVE IT ALL UP. Those people need to be thanked, and so I do.

This is an incomplete list and if I didn’t mention you specifically by name, please don’t hate me. There will be other books and this will end up being a living document that I update as some of you can attest to. Please let me know if I didn’t put your name down here and you feel it should be here.

Onward.

I start with Jamie Stokes who did
this fantastic Pinterest page
of
This Much Is True
. She still adds to it from time to time and
I
get inspired by her page of
This Much Is Tru
e.
Now that’s an impact on a writer
who has written a little love story. Treasure her!
Thank you, Jamie.

I go next to the
big three super fans
. These are the ladies who periodically check in with me to ensure
I’m still
writing
and haven’t gone off
the deep end
as it were.

They are:
Chelcie Dacon Holguin, Anne Morillo, and Kim Standridge Boykin.

Dear Chelcie who has helped me so much with
The Truth About Air & Water
serving as a beta reader and soundboard when it came to the awesome cov-uh.
And just so you know, when Chelcie told me she loved
The Truth About Air & Water
it was a gift.
That’s all I needed to hear. When the super fan is happy, so am I.
Thank you, Chelcie, for your awesomeness.

Dear Anne, who champions
This Much Is True
for me all the time. If a fellow reader or blogger is asking who their favorite author is, Anne is adding my name to that list. Anne also served as a beta reader for
The Truth About Air & Water
and helped me tremendously with the little typos and forgotten words. Every time I edit the MS they come back in a like a little weed and Anne caught many of them.
So helpful.
Amazing. Thank you, Anne.

Dear Kim, periodically sends me a message asking me how I am coming along with the next book. Kim, who is traditionally published, is so encouraging and I feed off of her legitimacy and her generosity because she champions little ol’ me.
Thank you, Kim
!

Kim wrote one of the first reviews of
This Much Is True
that went like this:

“NOBODY holds the human heart in their hands, deconstructs it, and puts it back together like 
Katherine Owen
. Reading
This Much is True
was a privilege. THANK YOU!” -Kim Standridge Boykin

Wow.
I’m still moved when I read that one.

Thank you, Chelcie, Anne, and Kim. Treasure you all so much!!!

So.

There are the critics who push you to try harder or betray you in real life, and you learn from that too. There are friends and family and followers and each one gives you a little something something you can take away. I thank you all for that. The good and the bad and the in-between. It all helped. These are not in order.
Just sayin’.

Onward to thank: Melissa, Scott, Darla, Steve, Michael, Lauren (help-with-the-cover girl), Blake, Mom, Dad, Dave, Stacey, Colleen, Karen, Christopher, Melanie, Nina, Jennifer, Gail, Heidi, Dina, Cheryl, Angie, Faith, Kristine, Carol, Karen, Jennifer, Michelle, Jaimie, Janell, Naomi, Orly, Laurel, Beth, Sarah, Sandra, Tiphanie, Brittany, Patty, Sandy, Kelly, Marianne, Victoria, Karen, Nora, Debbie, Sherri, Shellie, Nancy, Hikitia, Mo Mabie (author and blogger extraordinaire), StacyHgg Reads, Mare Slitsread Thomas, Happily Ever Ebooks, Laura, Way Too Hot Books, Purple, Daisy Calloway, Kimberly Faye Reads, Giselle at Xpresso Book Tours, SBookLover Reviews, Lit Junkie at Lit Jungle Book blog, Over-Reader Anonymous blog, Debbie D. At Bookish Reviews, Deb at Books and Gibberish blog. And last but certainly not least, Michele with one
l
, Jen, and DCB for teaching me in real life what matters and what doesn’t. Oh so many things I’ve learned along the way and yes there are so many I’ve learned from,
still learning
.

Oh, and Gabriella. She can’t read; she’s a Himalayan cat, but seriously she’s been here every flipping day while I wrote this one. And let’s face it; cats are cool. They get you when no one else does.

I know I’ve missed someone. I’m sorry. There is a more comprehensive list of all that encouraged me with
This Much Is True
,
here
and
here
(under posts to FB page) that should demonstrate how much I cherish you all and please understand that your support and critiques and love and enthusiasm for
This Much Is True
encouraged me to write and ultimately finish
The Truth About Air & Water
.

So.

Thank you for reading my work.

KO

The Playlist for
The Truth About Air & Water
as put together on Spotify.

Music plays an important role in the writing process, at least for me. I tend to start listening to songs that resonate with the storyline and inevitably they become a big part of it. Listed below is the list of songs that made it into the final book as chapter names. It’s about half of what I listened to which is also linked below.

The Official Playlist for
The Truth About Air & Water
by Chapter Name is
here
.

The
Long Play List
for
The Truth About Air & Water
is
here
.

Or visit
my website
if you don’t have Spotifiy installed and I’ll embed the play list.

COPYRIGHT

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are all a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Katherine Owen

All rights reserved.

Published by:
The Writing Works Group