We went back into the conference room. I noticed that Dominic, Cassandra and Mikeala were gone. Elizabeth mentioned that they needed to go, Dominic had a work issue, and Mikeala was getting a little fussy. I even learned that Mikeala was only six-year-old.
I signed the documents that Elizabeth brought for me. She set me up with a new account and direct deposit at the same bank where my savings account was. My father mentioned that I needed to do something with the money. He said I should go to school, but he told me he didn’t really care what for as long as I was happy.
I got to speak to Judge Jethro Winters. He thanked me for what I did to save his daughter and then scolded me for my actions. Said I should never do that again, but told me that he loved me and was glad he could finally tell me in person. I learned that the pictures Momma took every birthday of me were for my father. They got update letters from Momma. She even told them when she got sick. Asked that they do what would be in the best interest for me. Which they assumed would be to leave me with Wendy and Tom. I guess no matter the outcome we can’t change where I went after Momma died.
I was told by my father that they took care of Momma’s house. They were the ones to pay for her funeral and headstone. My father told me he made sure it was something that I would like. I told him that I do like the inscription. Elizabeth mentioned that she continued to help with me. Wendy and Tom received the same five thousand a month Momma did. She told me how when time came for me to graduate that she got a call from Tom. He mentioned that they had money left over and would like to know if they could use the money to purchase a car for me. The money was meant to help me and they could do with it as they please. Which is why I got a car for graduation.
I enjoyed learning about my family. Sad that I missed a lot of important pieces, but I can take what I have now. Hanna chose not to say anything during the meeting. I noticed she seemed very grumpy, and I figured the anger was directed at me.
I was polite and hugged everyone before they left. Well, almost everyone, Hanna ended up storming off. I got both my sister and brothers cell numbers. Bridgett told me she wanted to have lunch with me sometime soon. Elizabeth was nice to just take my cell phone. By the time I got it back, I had a ton of new numbers. One number programmed was for a Grandmother named Chloe. Wow, I now have a grandmother. I allowed both Elizabeth and my father to take a close look at my injuries.
My father said that any medical bills acquired from them needed to be forwarded to him. I told him about Doctor Crabtree, who I was seeing. He said he knew and that all that paperwork had been handled in advanced. I thanked him and then it was just Jordan and me.
The drive back to his house was quiet. I knew when we pulled into the driveway I needed to say something. He was probably not going t like what I had to say.
“Jordan, I need to move my things into a spare bedroom. We can’t…I can’t stay in your room anymore. Hanna is my cousin, and I don’t think what we have done lately is a good thing anymore. I think there is like this girl code where you don’t hookup with your cousins ex.” I watched Jordan’s hands tighten on the steering wheel.
“Cara Mia, Hanna made a choice to cheat on me and you want to pull away from me because of some stupid girl code. Please don’t do this.” I couldn’t decipher if the tone in his voice was hurt or anger.
“I have to Jordan.” I decided to get out of the truck. Jordan followed and opened the door to his house, but he didn’t follow me inside.
“Your choice Cara, if you want to move your things you can take either spare room. I’m going to head back to the office. I don’t want to watch you move your stuff. Do not leave and do not answer the door.” I watch as he turned around and left. I wanted to take my words back more than anything, but now I had no clue what to do. It would be five days before Jordan and I talked to each other longer than a few words here and there.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Today is Wednesday. I have moved a lot of my things into a spare bedroom. I’m no longer happy with the idea of doing the right thing. I barely sleep, and my appetite is off. I want to take back what I said about the girl code and I can’t. Jordan seems to be avoiding me.
I took it upon myself to find a distraction. I’m having lunch with my father and the rest of the family. I was nice enough to tell Jordan about my plans. His response was simple and cold. “Okay.” What more am I to do?
I have managed to do little things now. At first, washing my hair was interesting. Having my fingers wrapped and my wrist in a cast made the whole process last ten times longer. I have to wash my hair and I do not have anyone to help me. Since my pointer finger and thumb are free (kind of) I can button a pair of shorts or pants. That was a fun task to figure out. I don’t even bother with shoes. Flip-flops are easy and less hassle than shoelaces.
Today I chose a pair of shorts and this cute oversized top. I can’t really braid my hair, so I keep it in a messy bun and arrange my loose curls. When I come out of the bathroom upstairs, Jordan seems to be busy on the phone. His back is to me and I choose to say nothing. I don’t think saying anything would make a difference anyway.
When I got outside, the time on my phone says 10:00 am and the temperature is hot as hell. As I come around Jordan’s truck, I freeze. My poor car has been damaged. I first notice the black paint on my car. The tires all have a big hole in the side, and all the windows are broken except for the front. Attached to the windshield wiper is an envelope with my name on it in dark red ink.
I want to cry looking at my car, but I hold it in. I immediately turn and run into the house and up the stairs. Jordan’s still on the phone when I get to the office area. His back is to me. I don’t know what to say as I watch him turn around.
“Seth I need you to figure out that connection for me. Hang on. Cara, what’s wrong.”
“My car, he ruined it. I didn’t touch the note.” Jordan’s voice changes into that deep, commanding voice that sends a wonderful yet scary chill down my spine.
“Seth is Amber still there? Good put her on the phone. Amber, I need you to check my security camera and then send over Nate and Tyler over here. Travis has paid a visit.” Jordan ends the call, and we head back outside. He takes a walk around my car. There is glass only on the inside of my car. Hardly any of the glass got on the ground. Jordan takes a look at the note.
“I didn’t touch it, I promise,” I tell him.
“I need you to Cara. Be careful of any glass. I can’t touch the note, but you can.” I’m careful and remove the note. Jordan watches as I open the unsealed envelope and pull out the letter. I read the words out loud.
BEAUTIFUL CARA,
Funny how interesting things can be. Seeing as how you’re now FUCKING my former boss, don’t you think it’s ironic how he should protect you and somehow I was able to break your car. I love it. I have learned just as you have that Mason Winters is your father. Makes my job just as easy. I figured Hanna would be an easy target for my plans and now knowing how you’re related to them makes my plan simpler. You butted in and ruined everything. Now you’re the whole thing. I will come and get you when the time is right. I will get what I want. No matter what Jordan thinks he can do to protect you there’s always going to be an unnoticed hole. I will find it. Fucking my former boss, well, fucking my former friend won’t save you. I’m coming and you won’t know when or where or how.
I had Hanna and now I think I want to have you.
SWEET DREAMS CARA
Travis
Jordan is immediately on his phone. He’s angry, and I think talking with Amber. I lean against his truck and start crying. The letter makes me sound dirty. I don’t like it. Travis stated that he will come for me and that he will have me. What does that mean? I don’t want Travis to have me in any way.
My phone starts to ring in my purse. When I pull it out, I see on the caller ID that my father is calling me. I’m late for lunch. I don’t know if I should tell him. I quickly show my phone to Jordan, and he takes it from me and answers
while hanging up his phone.
“Sir, it’s Jordan. We had an incident at my house. No, she is fine. Her car got damaged early this morning. We have him on camera. No, he did not hide. According to my sister it looked as though he was trying to taunt us. Yes. I don’t think that her car can be fixed. Amber said from the camera angle he went under the car. Yes, Sir. I have two of my best guys coming to take pictures and gather evidence. Yes, Sir, I can do that. No, she will be there for lunch I can take her.” I listen to Jordan talk. I’m surprised at how he’s handling this. Even more surprised that he’s taking me to lunch with my family.
Jordan then hands me my phone. “Hello.”
“Cara, I told Jordan to leave the keys in the glove box. I have Dominic calling for a tow. We will hold off until you two get here.” I smile at how calm he sounds.
“Thank you,” I let out a sigh. “I hate to ask, but what do you want me to call you?” I hear him laugh a little.
“Call me dad, call me Mason. You call me whatever you feel comfortable with Cara, okay.”
“Okay. We will see you soon, Dad.” I end the call. The word sounds foreign to me, calling him dad, but I have to learn to say it. He is my Dad.
Nate and Tyler show up, and I watch as Jordan explains everything. He then goes inside. He doesn’t take long and tells me that the guys can handle things from here and that we need to go. We don’t talk on the way to lunch, but I find it nice when Jordan takes my hand.
When we get to the restaurant, I’m surprised to see that Judge Winters, my uncle, and Hanna are present. The look on Hanna’s face says everything when she sees Jordan’s hand in mine. I pull my hand free only to catch the glimpse of frustration in Jordan’s eyes. After ordering, we spend time talking and getting to know everyone.
“Cara I would like to purchase a new car for you if that’s okay.” I’m shocked that my dad is offering to buy me a new car. I think if we can fix mine I really don’t need a new one.
“Can we fix mine? You don’t need to buy me a new one.” I don’t want him to waste the money.
“Cara, if I know anything about Travis its that your car isn’t worth fixing,” Jordan states very sure of himself.
“Hey. Sis let me tell you something I learned growing up. If Dad offers to do something like this, take his offer. The whole idea is not really buying you a car because he has the money to do so. The point is he can buy you a new car and because he has the money makes him feel good.” I look at Bridgett with a puzzled look on my face. I still don’t understand.
“Okay let me explain my personal car story. When I was a teen, I had a beautiful Mustang. It was August and surprisingly raining. I was driving home and hit a big puddle in the road. I hydroplaned the car into the nearest tree and I totaled my car. Dad offered me a new one, and I just had to learn to drive better in rain. I got driving lessons by a police officer friend. He could have punished me for the accident, but I was not to blame. Hello, there’s never really any rain here. I would take the new car.” She smiled and winked at me. I gave in.
The lunch was nice. I was even able to talk with Jordan. We said our goodbyes and went back to the house. When we stepped inside, I turned to say something to Jordan, but instead he pulled me in for a kiss. I missed him kissing me. I wanted the kiss so bad, but then all I could think about was Hanna and I pulled away.
“Jordan we can’t.” The minute I said the words he went from looking excited and happy, to pissed off.
“Fine, I need to go to the office. Alone. Do not answer the door for anyone. Lock the door after I leave.” Then he turned around and before I could say anything he was gone.
I spent the rest of the day in the spare bedroom. I just cried, slept and only left to use the bathroom. There was no point in eating, I wasn’t hungry. When I woke on Thursday the house was quiet. I looked at my phone for the time, it was 8:00 am and I had missed a text message. The message was from Jordan
6:50am Jordan:
Cara I left early for the office. Do not answer the door and do not leave the house
I was alone. I ate a small breakfast and spent most of the day trying to read, but I was anxious. I sat in the chair that faced the door. After I had made, eaten, and cleaned up dinner I realized he was probably not going to come back. I was really alone and decided to go to bed early to get some well-needed rest. I ended up being very wrong.
I woke up close to midnight. I had a terrible nightmare about Travis. He had taken me away just like he said he would. After that dream, I was officially up. I went and used the bathroom and chose to spend the rest of the night trying to read some more. I jumped when the sun started to come up becauseI had received a text. Again the message was from Jordan.
6:45am Jordan:
Cara I’m heading back into the office you should know what to do and not to do
Really I‘m not stupid, and he can talk to me personally. Like a face-to-face conversation. I decided to text him back.
6:46am Me:
Couldn’t sleep. Will you be gone all day like before? I don’t like this and I can’t stay inside I have to be at the doctors at 1
There was no reply from Jordan. I thought about calling Amber or Jessica around 9:00 am because I had to see my doctor. My phone chimed a little later, and the message was from Jordan.
9:10am Jordan:
On my way back
I was beginning to worry. He had been avoiding me and now what do I do. I decided to go up to my room. I needed to make sure I had my things in order to go to the lake tomorrow. The idea of having to spend the day with everyone made me happy. The knowledge that Jordan wanted nothing to do with me hurt. When I was finished, I went downstairs. I heard the garage door and realized Jordan was back.
He didn’t talk to me when he came inside. He looked miserable. Hell, I was miserable and tired. Around noon we left for my appointment. I went through the normal check in. I hated that they had to check my weight. I noticed just as much as the nurse did. I had lost almost ten pounds. Jordan was with me and said nothing.
“Cara, would you like to tell me why you lost so much weight?” Cherry asked as she unwrapped my finger.
“I haven’t been really hungry lately. Stress, I guess.” I took notice of my fingers. The stitches had almost fully dissolved. My fingers didn’t look too bad, just not pretty either. I turned my head away as she looked them over and felt the tears start to fall. Jordan moved from his chair and came over to me. I almost lost it when he brushed the tears away and let me rest my head against him.
“Well, your fingers seem to be healing nicely. I noticed your bruise is almost gone. I don’t think I need to give you a new prescription. You can schedule your next appointment for two weeks from now. If during that time your stitches completely dissolve you can take off the bandage permanently.” I just smiled at her. “As for your weight Cara you need to eat, whatever is stressing you out get rid of it or fix it.”
She was right. I was stressed over Jordan. What can I do? I want him, but I can’t have him. The worst part is Hanna. Which makes Jordan not mine. We scheduled my next appointment, and I thanked her. When we got to the truck I was surprised when Jordan talked to me.
“She’s right you know. I don’t like it any more than the doctor that you have lost so much weight. We need to fix this. Would you like to go to lunch with me?” I couldn’t help that I was staring into Jordan’s eyes. I told him yes. I liked that we were really talking.
“Can we have Mexican food?” If we were going out for lunch, I figured I could ask about what we ate.
“As long as you eat, then yes.” Jordan drove us to a little Mexican restaurant. I ordered a Mexican Pizza, my favorite. The pizza was on a cheese crisp, with shredded beef and other toppings. I was hungry, and I chose not to pick off the black olives.
Jordan and I sat there talking. He explained to me that Amber and Ryan are looking into cases that both my father and uncle worked on together. As for connecting anything that could be his need for revenge, nothing c
onnected. The bigger issue is that the revenge was focused on both of them. Hanna was the first target and now me.
After lunch, we went back to the house. Once we got inside Jordan turned to me and crushed his lips against mine. My head was confused from earlier and was not ready to be here again. I still had not figured out what to do about my relationship with Hanna. I pulled away from the kiss.
“Jordan, I…” He looked defeated.
“I get it. You didn’t kiss me back.” I watch him walk away from me into his room. I could have sworn I heard him say that he gave up. I no longer felt good and went up into my room. I ended up staying in there the rest of the day.
I read a little, but reading did nothing to relieve the feelings I was having. I felt alone and sad. I decided to take a shower. I was able to pull my hair into a bun after a few tries. I let the hot water run over my skin. I could no longer help the emotions building inside of me, and I broke down. I allowed the water to wash away my tears. The only good thing the shower did was drowned out my sobbing. I crawled into bed early. I was not only physically tired, but emotionally drained.
“I told you I would have you, Cara. No one can protect you.” I looked around the room I’m in. I’m still in Jordan’s spare room.
Travis walks closer to me, and for some reason I can’t move, my body is refusing to cooperate with me. I try to open my mouth to scream, and nothing comes out. What did he do to me?
“I drugged you, don’t worry about Jordan he can’t save you. Thought he was pretty smart. I guess the round I put in his head shows who the smarter man is.”
I sit up with a start, my heart racing. I jump out of the bed. Not caring at all as to the clothes I wore to bed I run out of the room. I almost trip down the stairs. All the lights are off, and I hastily open his bedroom door.
Forget Cinderella (True Loves Fairytale Book 1) Page 20