CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jillian swept her hair off her neck and held it up, turning around so her back was to me. I kissed the slope of her neck before fastening the necklace she’d handed me to place on her. “You ready for today? If it’s too much, I can tell the district attorney you’re not up to it. There’s enough evidence without your testimony.”

Jillian picked up silver dangle earrings and put them in. “No, I’m ready for this. I need to face him and let him know he didn’t break me. And having a part in locking him away will give me some closure. My therapist said it could really help, and I agree. I need to put this behind me so we can move forward.”

“Christian will be there too, you know. You okay with that?”

She leaned into my chest and grabbed hold of my arms, wrapping them around her. “He is my past. And you are my present and future.” She laid her head back against my chest. “After he wrote me that long letter from rehab, I forgave him. I can’t say I will ever trust him again, but I forgave him.”

I spun her around and captured her lips. “You never cease to amaze me, Cupcake. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

We made it to the courtroom and walked in, side-by-side and holding hands. We took a seat directly behind the prosecutor but still had about ten minutes before the trial was to begin. Originally, the trial wasn’t supposed to begin for another four months, but we were lucky the prosecutor pushed for it to be expedited, taking into account that school was starting soon.

Taking a look around, neither Christian nor the attacker, who we now knew was a mid-level dealer by the name of Kenny Meridan, were present yet. Kenny had a record a mile long, including several prior drug arrests, gun possession, and even domestic abuse. He’d served time before, both as a juvenile and adult, and while Georgia hadn’t adopted a “three strikes” rule like California, we were hopeful the bastard would get the maximum time not only for the drug charges, but also the attempted kidnapping and attempted murder charges he now faced.

Jillian’s knee bounced incessantly, and she began to bite the side of her thumb. I pulled it out of her mouth and covered her hand with my own.

“Just say the word if this becomes too much.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I can do this. It’s the uncertainty of this whole process. What if the jury feels bad for him? Or they don’t believe me when I tell them what happened? Or what if his lawyer finds some sort of loophole that gets him off? I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did.”

I kissed her temple. “No one in their right mind would feel sorry for him, and even if they get some of the evidence tossed, there’s no way they can dismiss it all: fingerprints, DNA, your testimony, and Christian’s testimony. This douche bag is going away for a long, long time.”

She let out a nervous breath. “I’ll feel better when this whole thing is over.”

Ava and Trish sat behind us, offering Jillian encouragement and hugging her tight before taking their seats. Since JT wasn’t attached at Trish’s hip, I assumed they were fighting again. Those two had the most tumultuous on again and off again relationship I’d ever seen. They only knew two levels: frigid cold or boiling hot. In the two months they’d been dating, I think they’d broken up and gotten back together four times. Neither Jillian nor I knew what to make of them, but we both vowed to stay neutral parties in their antics.

“No JT?” Jillian asked.

Trish rolled her eyes. “That boy has gotten on my last nerve.”

Ava snickered. “Didn’t you say that the last two times?”

“I’m serious this time. He broke yet another date with me to do somethin’ for his momma. If it was serious like takin’ her to the doctor or somethin’, I wouldn’t mind. But he took her to play Bingo! Left me all dressed up in my favorite leopard-print dress and fuck-me boots to play Bingo with his mom, not even botherin’ to tell me until he was supposed to be at my house to pick me up. Well, I told him if he needed to spend so much time with her, fine. He could spend all of it with her for all I cared.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back around, kissing Jillian on the shoulder, grateful that she wasn’t as dramatic as her friend. Trish was amazingly smart and down to earth when it came to everything else, but when JT was involved it was all emotions with that girl.

Jillian’s mom, dad, and grandmother took seats next to us. Her sister had offered to fly in several times, but now that she was almost seven months pregnant, it was hard for her to travel. Mrs. Mayfield sniffed, blowing her nose in a slightly shredded tissue. She’d been a basket case through this whole ordeal, and I knew this trial was going to be painful for her, especially with Jillian and I heading back to college next week.

I thought turning down the internship with Google was going to be the end of my career, but my advisor notified me she’d already gotten several other interviews lined up with companies like Apple, Yahoo, and even the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that started after I graduated with my Masters in the spring. I wasn’t sure where my plans would take me yet, but Jillian and I had already talked, and whatever I decided, I wouldn’t be going alone.

Jillian clutched my arm, breathing a sharp intake of air that betrayed how freaked out she really was. Kenny Meridan entered the courtroom looking smug. He glanced over at us and gave Jillian a little wink. I flew out of my seat, ready to end this before the trial even began, but the prosecutor stopped me.

“Walk away, Mr. Hardwick. Go get some air or water or something.”

Jillian pulled on my arm to try to get me to sit down, but I couldn’t. I had been forced to restrain myself from beating the shit out of Christian not once but twice now, and this motherfucker was goading me. I wanted to kill him. To pound his face in until he resembled a zombie from The Walking Dead.

“Grant?” Jillian’s voice brought me back, the quiver of her bottom lip sobering me. I wrapped my arms around her.

“He can’t hurt you now. I won’t let him.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “I know. But I don’t want to attend a second trial for you.”

I kissed her forehead. “I’m good now. Honest.”

Finally, Christian came in seconds before the judge called the court to order, sitting opposite us. He half-smiled and waved but didn’t try to approach us. I hadn’t seen him since that night in the hospital and while Jillian might have forgiven him, I still had to make a conscious effort to stay in my seat and not pound the shit out of him for putting her through that. Jillian still spoke to his mother once a week or so, and I knew he was clean now and getting the help he needed. That was great and all, but I would still beat his ass if he even thought about going near Jillian again.

“The prosecution calls Jillian Mayfield to the stand.”

Jillian let out a nervous breath and stood, straightening her skirt. She didn’t move at first, just standing staring at Kenny.

“I love you, Cupcake. You got this.” I whispered, knowing she needed that little push.

She squared her shoulders and turned to me. “I love you, too. Always.”

Jillian looked poised and confident as she stepped into the witness box, placing her hand on the Bible.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

She looked her attacker straight into the eye and nodded. “I do.”

EPILOGUE

I turned my key in the door, still reciting Russian conjugations. “Ya paidyu. Mi podium. Oni poidut.” I tossed my messenger bag on the couch before heading to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. I was up to my eyeballs in studying and couldn’t wait until finals were over. I loved learning languages, but I never wanted to learn another Chinese character or translate Russian verbs again. Or at least until next semester.

Grant came from the bedroom, phone attached to his ear. “Yes, I understand. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I look forward to working with you. Good night.”

Catching the tail end of his conversation, it dawned on me who was on the phone. I bounced on my heels with excitement. “Well? It’s good news, right? What did they say?”

Grant hung up the phone, but stayed silent as he walked to the couch and sat down. I followed him, sitting on my knees next to him. “Ugh! You’re killing me, babe! You graduate in a week, and we still haven’t decided which position you’re going to take.”

“Well, I think I have made a decision now. And that decision is—we need to go shopping.”

I squinted my eyes at him. I was too excited and didn’t want to play cryptic games with him, but I knew him too well and went with it. “Okay, fine. What are we shopping for?”

He beamed up at me. “Well, we’re going to need a few umbrellas.”

Understanding dawned on me. “Oh, my God! Seattle? You got the job at The Gates Foundation?”

“They hired me as a Network Engineer. It’s a paid position, not even an internship!”

I wrapped my arms around him. “That is the best news ever! I’m so happy for you. I mean, California would have been fun, but Yahoo only had that unpaid position. Now you won’t have to take out any loans or anything. Ahh! I can’t believe we’re moving to Washington! I’m so excited. Okay, I’ve got to call my mom, and Gamma. I’ll wait to tell Ava, Trish, and JT until they get here. They’re supposed to come over for dinner before Ava helps me cram for my Russian final. And I’m going to have to confirm with the University of Washington. I mean, I got their acceptance letter for my transfer but had been holding off until we knew—”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Cupcake. There was more.”

His faced turned serious, so I paused and sat back, waiting for him to tell me. “Okay, what is it?”

He took a deep breath, taking my hands in his own. They shook a bit and that made me nervous. Whatever he had to tell me, it was obviously big.

“Well, you see, I don’t want to take my girlfriend with me to Seattle.”

My face crumbled, and I tried to pull my hands away. I was shocked. Stunned.

“Oh, okay. I…we’d talked about it a few times. I guess I just assumed…” I bit my lip to keep the tears at bay. “So now what? You’re breaking up with me?”

Grant recaptured my hands and kissed my palms before he pulled me closer. “No, you misunderstand. I don’t want to take my girlfriend away from her friends, family, and the only town she’s ever lived in.”

“Grant, I don’t follow.”

He paused, pulling a small box out from his pocket. “I don’t want to take my girlfriend with me. I want to take my fiancée.”

I drew in a sharp breath and let the tears flow. “Oh, my God.”

Grant slid off the couch and got on one knee. “Jillian Anne Mayfield, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Oh my God. This is happening. This is actually happening. My heart pounded in my chest, and my eyes lifted to the face of the man whom I adored, whom I loved with every ounce of my soul. And now, he was going to be the man I married.

“Yes! Yes, I will marry you.” I threw my arms around him and pulled him on top of me, kissing him with everything I could muster.

He kissed me back until we were both gasping for air. He sat me up and took the diamond ring out of the box. My hands trembled as he slid it on my finger. “It was my mother’s.”

The pear-shaped diamond glittered brilliantly as I held it up to the sun. The antique setting highlighted the stone, which had to be at least a full carat. I had never seen anything quite so stunning.

“It’s beautiful. I love it.”

“And I love you.”

He sat and held me for a long time as we basked in the joy of it. Love emanated from the room, and I imagined down the street and around the block too. The sun shined, the birds chirped, and my world was perfect. As long as Grant was by my side, it didn’t matter where we went. He was my home.

“Go ahead,” Grant urged.

“What?”

He smiled down at me. “You’re not fooling me. I know you’re dying to go call the girls and your mom. So go ahead, I’ll start dinner.”

“Nah. I think I’ll stay here and cuddle with you a bit longer.”

He tilted his head in surprise. “Really? You’re not dying to tell them?”

I jumped off his lap. “Gah! You’re right. I’m dying.” I gave him a quick kiss and ran for my phone.

“Mom? I have the best news! You’re never going to believe it.”

The End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I started my obsession with reading at an early age, getting in trouble for sneaking BabySitter Club and Nancy Drew books into math class in elementary school. I would read any fiction book I could get my hands on. I knew it was an addiction when instead of grounding me from TV or music, my mom would take away my books as punishment (The Horror!). My love of all things paranormal was inspired by my good friend Laurie, who convinced me that books with vampires, witches, and all things shifter were amazing. After a little reluctance, I gave it a shot with the Sookie Stackhouse books, realized she was right, and the rest was history.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, graduated from The University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English, and taught 8th graders to love reading as much as I do for several years. I will always be a proud member of Steelers Nation, but I couldn’t take the cold and moved my frozen tush to Florida where I now live with my family and two cats. You will find me many days with my trusty Kindle in hand and toes in the sand!

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 777