My grip on her tightened. “Love always is.”
“Thank you, Miss Ocean, Mr. Downing.” Officer Raymer nodded to us both, flipping his notepad closed. “We’ll be in touch if we have any further questions.”
We stood inside Roasters, the morning having passed in a steady state of gentle touches and desperate kisses. The aftermath of survival, sweetening each moment of the present.
The Carmel police called for Laurel’s statement, so we’d agreed to meet them at Roasters. We’d made an early stop at the hospital, but there was still no change in Jules’ condition. They kept her sedated to prevent her brain from overreacting to the trauma.
Tomorrow, the nurse, Gwen said. Tomorrow she should be through the worst of it.
After begrudging entrance was granted by the security installed outside Jules’ hospital room and a few dark glares from the Vandelsens, Laurel sat with her cousin for a few minutes before we left to come here.
“Thank you.” He didn’t see it, but I felt Laurel shiver under my arm.
I nodded and shook the man’s hand, holding myself steady until the bell signaled his exit from the shop.
“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Laurel turned to me and said.
“Yeah? You sure?” I scanned over my woman, searching for signs of distress.
She looked at me. “I know it was the right thing.”
I nodded, neither of us speaking out loud the fact that she’d lied to the police in her recounting of last night, switching out Mick’s name for Ace.
“I don’t think they’re going to look into Blackman,” I said, roughly, gauging the officer’s every response to what Laurel said.
“Maybe we should’ve told them about the connection to the Cartel.” She chewed on her lip.
My head shifted, glancing toward the kitchen as I heard the back door open and shut.
“I think it’s better this way. We don’t know what their plans are—or if they had plans that extended beyond Blackman. But I think it’s better to let Ace and Dex pursue that lead and let them contact law enforcement when they have enough concrete evidence.”
She nodded just as Ace stepped into the room.
“It go okay?” His direct question was aimed at Laurel.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” He reached out and shook my hand. “They didn’t seem to question it was me who shot him. Guess they must know by now I do most of the bad-guy shooting in this town.” He smirked and we all relaxed a little.
“Any new information?” I asked while we were on the subject.
Ace shook his head. “Dex is still looking, but my guess is the cartel will go elsewhere. Too much attention on Roasters now to make it a viable front. At least in my opinion.”
The bell dinged and our attention shifted to Mick as he joined us.
The carefree and friendly spark that he carried was dimmed.
“Mick, are you alright?” Laurel asked, approaching him.
“How is she?” were the first ragged words he spoke.
“Stable.” Laurel reached for his shoulder to comfort him. “She’s going to be fine.”
“God,” he swore, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “If the fucker wasn’t already dead, I’d fuckin’ kill him again for what he did.”
The rest of us nodded in silent agreement. Mick stood like a monument of loyalty and concern—but even more so than I’d anticipated.
“Mick, you sure you’re—”
“Does she know?” he rasped, cutting me off. “Does she remember it was me?”
Laurel’s gaze ducked for a moment. “She’s not awake yet, so I don’t know. The doctor said she would probably suffer some short-term memory loss and that it may never come back.”
“You can’t tell her,” Ace broke in.
“What?”
“The fewer people know of your involvement the better,” he explained firmly. “If she remembers, that’s one thing. But if she doesn’t, she should get the same story as everyone else. For your safety—”
“I don’t give a shit about my safety.” My eyes widened at his vehemence.
Ace stepped forward, the two men like giant bulls about to go at it in a ring. “Even more for her safety.”
Mick’s fists clenched and unclenched at his side for several tense seconds before he sighed and speared his fingers through his hair. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I just feel so helpless.”
“Mick, you killed the man who did this to her,” Laurel comforted him.
“I know but—”
“No buts. She’s going to be okay, and I’m alive because of you.”
His shoulders slumped. “So, what do we do now?”
I turned and pointed to the wall behind me. “Only thing we can do. Move forward… starting with patching up those bullet holes and getting this place ready to re-open.”
Ace added, “We are still investigating to see if the cartel has any other connections in Carmel, but right now, it appears Blackman was their only link.”
“So, this is over?” Mick rasped.
There was a slight pause, a weight both suspended by relief that Blackman and the threat to Roasters was gone, yet pulled down with worry that there was more to come.
“For now.”
“Just feels like there’s more to do,” he said, planting his hands on his hips and looking around the room.
I walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “There is always more to do, my friend. Just have to start where you are…”
His eyes jumped to the wooden sign he’d carved for Roasters, and he agreed.
“Jules is safe. She’s going to be fine. We’ll make sure of that.”
He relaxed. “Alright, then we’ve got some work to do.”
Laurel stepped in and hugged him, her small form comical in the way it tried to wrap around his. “I’ll make some coffee.”
Two days later…
I loved waking her up like this, with gentle kisses down the back of her neck that made her moan in her sleep.
Every moment over the last few days seemed to linger—drawn out and stretched like a piece of yarn. Almost losing the woman I loved put every moment I now had with her into a special kind of focus. A deep, soul-soothing focus.
Things had calmed. Roasters was back on track to open. Jules was awake, recovering, and managing the loss of her memory from that night. Laurel managed to speak with her once about what she remembered, but after that, the hospital room was crowded with security and Mrs. Vandelsen, making candid conversation nearly impossible.
My heart ached to see how it tore Laurel up, wanting to help her cousin so badly but not knowing how. But it also steadied it to see how determined she was—the woman who’d come here lost, refusing to tether herself to anyone or anything… that determination now shifted—altered by love.
“Mmm,” she moaned and pushed back against me.
We moved forward, the attack at Roasters fading like a bad dream with each day that passed.
Roasters was okay. Jules was okay. That fucker Blackman was dead and Laurel was here, she was staying, and she was mine.
Her lip quivered as she looked up to me. “Is it bad that I’m still worried about Jules?”
“Laurel…” I squeezed her fingers. “It’s going to be okay for her, too.”
“She’s just been through so much… going through so much. I thought I’d just broken through, convinced her that she could take her future for herself, just like I had. She’s like a prisoner there, Eli. A pretty, perfect prisoner and the worst part is, after all this, I’m afraid it’s only going to convince her that she’s right where she belongs.”
“Hey,” I murmured, tugging her to my side so my arm could wrap around her shoulders. “Jules is a smart girl, you know that. Sometimes, people take tiny steps in one direction without thinking anything of it until one day they wake up and recognize nothing around them. You aren’t responsible for making her wake up, sweetheart. All you can do is b
e there for her when she does and help her find her way back home.”
“We’re going to help her.” It wasn’t a question. “Whatever she needs. Whatever she decides. We’re going to be there for her.”
I thought I couldn’t be any more in awe of this woman—the one who’d come back to face unimaginable loss, the one who rose from the ashes to find her own way back to her heart. She’d then been the one to risk her life, the very last thing she could possibly lose, in order to save her family.
“Of course, we are.” I cupped her face. “That’s what this place is all about, that’s what Larry instilled in all of us, to do what we can to look out for one another.”
She sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
I kissed her gently. “Don’t thank me. Just love me.”
“I guess I can do that, too.” I felt her smile against my lips.
Her loss might have been as big as the ocean but her love was even greater.
Laurel
Two Weeks Later…
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Eli reached for my hand and asked before I could get out of his truck.
We’d just pulled into Roasters and, judging from the cars parked in the back and lining the street, everyone was already inside waiting for us.
I turned and smiled at him, joy bubbling inside me. “Eli, I’ve had this decision in front of me my entire life. I made the other choice once, I tried wrong once. This time, I know this is not only what I want, it’s what I need.”
He gently squeezed my fingers, and then I was leading the way inside.
A smile bloomed over my face as I walked into the front of the shop. The floors now showed no sign of the dirt and dust that covered them for months, the walls patched and painted in tranquil blues and purples, decorated with photos I hoped would remain for centuries to come.
My ears perked at the sound of the hopper as the scent of freshly ground coffee beans hit my nostrils. I turned to see Eve shoot me a shy grin from where she stood by Pavi who was ready to celebrate this new beginning like the best kind of old friend.
I looked around and didn’t just see the memories of my family, I finally saw myself. I saw the girl who’d been too frightened to feel, and the way that love not only overcame that fear of loss, but the way love stopped me from losing myself.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming.” My voice wafted confidently over the small crowd.
The Madison brothers, the Covingtons, Eve’s brother and sister filled in all the spots between the new tables and chairs we’d put in last week. Diane and Josie sat on the new bench along the wall with Jules situated between them. My stomach tightened. I’d only seen her briefly since her mother checked her out of the hospital against medical advice, deciding she could receive better care and recuperate quicker at home.
Whatever leash she’d been on before was only tightened now, and I struggled to sleep last night thinking she wasn’t going to make it.
I’d visited her every day after the shooting, but rarely was I able to get more than a minute or two without my aunt in the room or that giant silent bodyguard of hers who, even in spite of the situation, felt more threatening than he did protective.
And once she’d gone home, it was even worse. When I called, she was unavailable. When I went over to Rock Beach, she was either sleeping or my aunt felt it was too much stress for her to receive visitors. And when she did see me, it was only for a few minutes before she had to go.
I didn’t know what I would’ve done if she didn’t make it to Roasters today. But the relief at seeing her now, I knew wouldn’t last long.
It was almost impossible to tell the horrors she’d survived as the physical marks from her kidnapping faded. But the way she winced as she turned to talk to Josie and the heaviness in her smile suggested that her bones and spirit were taking longer to recover.
Meanwhile, Mick stood with his arms crossed, his hip resting against the counter as he stared intently at Jules, breaking to greet me with a smile, but swiftly returning back to my cousin. He’d taken what had happened to her hard, and he’d taken the strict instructions to stay away from the hospital even harder.
I watched her look at him with uncertainty and confusion. It was only one quick glance before she averted her eyes and my heart wrenched.
The doctors were right. She didn’t remember much about that night. Even some of the time before Blackman took her was lost to her injury. Not being able to recall what happened unsettled her, understandably. It was only at her insistence that my aunt allowed me to tell her what happened that night.
I told her about the gun to her head. About how he threatened and hit her. About how I nailed him with the frying pan to get us out of there. I told her how, when that blow didn’t stop him, I’d left her in the alley hoping I could distract him long enough for someone to help her. And finally, I told her how Ace had shown up and shot him.
And she believed it all without a shadow of a doubt from her memory that one piece of that story wasn’t true.
As far as the world and she knew, it was Ace who had saved her that night. And I wondered if seeing Mick today would change something—flick a switch of recollection. But those concerns were unfounded as her gaze and her interest didn’t linger like it should’ve for the man who saved our lives.
The only other piece I left out was that she’d been the one to call me. There was still something that bugged me about what she said, but she wasn’t going to remember. Not now, at least.
A loud laugh drew my eyes to the corner of the room where Dex and Ace sat with Miles at one of the other tables, their conversation and laughter dying down as I smiled and moved to the center of the space to address the room.
“I know the past few months has been a rocky road for this town, and especially this place,” I continued. “But I wanted to thank each of you for everything that you have done for Roasters and for me… and for my pap.”
I cleared my throat at his mention, feeling the tears start to come.
“Once, when I was younger, I told him Roasters was our family’s legacy.” Eli’s hand reached for mine, and I squeezed it tight, searching for strength to keep my voice steady. “And he scolded me.” I chuckled. “I think some of you might know what it’s like to be scolded by Larry Ocean…”
The soft rumble of laughter from everyone in the room assured me that they all did.
“And then he told me that our legacy wasn’t the coffee house or a cup of coffee. Our legacy is being there for the people who needed us—” I broke off and wiped my eyes on my sleeve, mumbling an apology. “I want to thank you because it’s all of you who have kept that legacy alive. It’s all of you who have not only reminded me of that legacy but have shown it to me at times when I needed it… and at times when I might not have deserved it.”
I kept my eyes moving so I didn’t linger too long on those who were holding back sobs, my need to cry burning hot in my throat.
“I know that my pap… Larry… may not be here but neither is he gone.” Like a deluge, I could hardly see any faces for how thickly the tears suddenly pooled in my eyes. “So, I know that you’ve all heard the rumors, but I wanted to thank you and tell you in person that, in addition to continuing that legacy, I will also be staying in Carmel Cove and taking over this business… our business. Ocean Roasters will officially see its fifth generation of Oceans.”
Instead of stopping, my heart beat stronger. It boomed loudly in my ears, screaming the truth that I’d been afraid to find—to remember.
Our legacy was love.
Tears mingled with laughter at the whoops and clapping from the family that I’d found.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Diane exclaimed, the first to approach me and pulled me into her arms, smothering me in her hair-sprayed cloud of hair.
Then came Josie who made me cry all over again, whispering in my ear how proud my pap would be.
Person after person. Hug after watery hug. Family.
Slowly, I made my way thro
ugh the celebrating crowd to Jules who stood with the best attempt at a smile I’d seen in weeks.
“I’m so happy for you, Laurel,” she said as I carefully gave her a hug.
“How are you feeling?” I asked immediately, making my own assessment up close. “I’ve tried to call. Tried to come see you, but your mom keeps putting me off.”
After what was said at the hospital, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat my interactions with Jackie, not when she’d hidden my concern for Jules before.
“Good. A little better each day.” It was that brave smile of hers that really killed me. “I… I know. I’m sorry. It’s just taken a lot longer than I thought to start feeling normal again. I still don’t remember much about that night.”
I grimaced. “I know. Actually, that’s one of the things I want to talk to you about. Well, there’s a lot of things that I want to talk to you about, like school and working and what you want for your life.”
It was a lot to dump on her right at that moment but, after not having seen her for a week, truthfully, I was afraid if I didn’t at least mention it now, I might never get the chance.
“Thank you,” she interrupted and grabbed my hands. “For everything that night, Laurel, thank you. I just… I’m still recovering. It’s very strange to have pieces of my life missing and, on top of that, my parents have been even more… protective… lately. I just… need some time before I think about anything else.”
Even though she brushed me off, I didn’t miss the small flicker of light in her eyes when I brought up school. “Jules,” I said insistently, clasping her hands in mine. “Remember, it’s your life. It’s your choice. And it’s never too late to start where you are and listen to your heart. I am right here to help you, whatever you need.”
She blushed.
“You know you are welcome to stay with me. You can work at the coffee shop to earn money while you get your degree. Anything, Jules. I’ll do anything I can to help you.” I squeezed her hand and tried to give her a look that said I knew there was something else going on, some other trauma that I wanted to help her out of, if she’d just trust me.
Beholden: A Small-Town Standalone Romance (Carmel Cove Book 1) Page 32