by Naomi Niles
“That’s up to him,” I said. “As long as he treads the straight and narrow, I have no objections to anything he wants to do. Either way, he’s lucky; he’ll have Madison’s support the whole way through.”
“Have you made your peace with him?” Sam asked.
“For the most part,” I nodded. “I did save his ass from jail, so I accept that that’s buried the hatchet. Still, I’ll be watching him.”
“Any follow ups from the police?” John asked.
“Not since yesterday,” I replied. “It seems an open and shut case, though. I doubt it’s going to go any further.”
“Does that mean you’re in the clear?” John asked, with an edge of worry in his tone.
“I think so,” I nodded.
“That was a pretty big risk you took.”
“And I’m well aware of it,” I nodded. “But the thing about being a police officer is that you know how to cover up your tracks.”
“Comforting,” Sam said sarcastically.
“I don’t know if it was the right thing to do,” I admitted honestly. “But it’s the only decision I felt I could make, given the circumstances.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing,” Sam said, and John nodded along.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“As if I say anything just for the sake of saying it,” Sam said, rolling his eyes at me.
I smiled and took a deep breath, trying to put the burden of the past few days behind me. “Why don’t we go look at the new addition?” I suggested. “We haven’t really given it the opening ceremony it deserves.”
“That’s a great idea,” John nodded as he and Sam rose from their seats to follow me to the new room.
It looked spectacular and even I was impressed by how amazing it had turned out. The fact that it was a family effort made it all the more meaningful.
“You guys like the furniture?” I asked.
“It’s great,” Sam nodded. “Although I’d probably say that about a cardboard box.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Sam laughed. “No seriously,” he said. “This looks great.”
John walked around the room and examined the stuff that I had picked out with Madison. “Some of these pieces are actually quite tasteful; you didn’t do this by yourself, did you?”
I smiled. “Madison helped,” I admitted.
“By ‘helped,’ do you mean she picked out all the furniture and you just stood there and nodded?” John clarified.
“Pretty much,” I laughed.
“It just goes to show, huh?” John said in a thoughtful voice.
Sam and I exchanged a glance. “It just goes to show what?” Sam demanded impatiently. “Finish the thought man.”
John smiled. “It goes to show what a woman’s touch can do. We’ve lived in a house of guys for as long as I can remember and, let’s just say it shows. This room is worlds apart.”
“Maybe we should ask Madison to re-do the whole house?” Sam suggested.
I smiled. “I bet she’d like that,” I said.
“The wall needs something,” John said in a distracted way.
“The wall?” I repeated, frowning at him.
“This one here,” John pointed out to me. “It looks a little bare.”
“What would you suggest?”
“A picture perhaps,” John spoke as though he were talking to himself. “And, I think I have just the thing.”
He turned and left the room, leaving Sam and I to wonder after him. Sam turned to me and shrugged. “I think its old age.”
I laughed, and Sam and I continued to survey the room together. John came back a few minutes later and in his hands, he carried a framed picture. He turned it over so that Sam and I could see it better. I froze as I saw the image nestled in the frame. It was an old photograph of the whole family, including our mother. She was sitting in the center of the frame with Talen in her arms.
She looked impossibly young and extremely beautiful. Her eyes shone, but there was a sadness there that was impossible to deny. She was smiling ever so slightly, but I could see it for the mask it was. Dad was standing next to her, tall and broad shouldered with a massive smile on his face. Alan, Sam, John, and I were crowded around both of them, fighting for a prominent spot within the family dynamic.
“Jesus,” I breathed. “That looks like an eternity ago.”
“Look at Talen,” Sam breathed, edging a little closer.
“He must have been about five months when that picture was taken,” John said, peering over so that he could look at the picture, too. “I was around eleven.”
“I barely remember taking this picture,” I said.
“I do,” John said softly. “It was a pretty nice day actually.”
I stared at John’s face and my curiosity piqued. “Where did you even find that picture?”
“I found it in the attic when I was cleaning it out.”
“That was months ago,” I pointed out. “You never mentioned finding it.”
“I guess… I wasn’t sure if you guys would want to see it, given that Mom is there, too. So I framed it and kept it in my room. I don’t know why I decided to show it to you guys now. I guess I just thought…maybe it was time to move on. Fresh, new room, fresh, new start.”
“That’s a very romantic way of looking at it,” I pointed out.
“One could also call it optimistic?” John suggested.
“One could also call it stupid,” Sam said unexpectedly before he walked out of the room.
John looked after him and sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“Leave him,” I said.
John hesitated a moment, but he took my advice and left Sam to deal with his feelings in his own way. I turned my attention back to the picture and stared at my enigma of a mother. Even after all these years, she was still just a beautiful stranger.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Madison
It was a beautiful day. There was nothing particularly spectacular about it. It was just my mood that was making the world seem brighter. I even wore my favorite white slip dress with the yellow daisies on it. I paired it with combat boots and a dozen different braids that I weaved over my head.
When I got to the salon, Whitney was the only one there. She was wearing denim shorts, a bright pink t-shirt, and a white jacket. Her hair was a brilliant shade of purple that held hints of violet when the light touched it. As odd as the combination was, it somehow managed to work on Whitney’s uniquely chameleon like features.
“Where’s Lola?” I asked, as I stepped into the empty salon.
“She’s taken the day off,” Whitney replied.
“I thought we had appointments today?”
“We did,” she said. “But I rescheduled all of them.”
I gave her a look. “What? Why would you do that?”
Whitney’s expression was careful. “Because I heard about what happened.”
I froze immediately. “Oh.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” I tried to explain. I didn’t like lying to Whitney, but I knew that telling her the truth in this case was not an option. It was simply easier to have her believe the official story. And given that the incident had coincided with my day off, I hadn’t even thought to tell Whitney about it.
“You just thought you’d let me read about it in the papers?”
I smiled. “If I thought you read the papers, I might have told you.”
She gave me a friendly glare. “Oh, very cheeky.”
“Well, do you read newspapers?” I asked.
Her face broke into a smile. “My parents asked me about it.”
“I knew it,” I laughed.
“Was it scary?” Whitney wanted to know.
“I wasn’t at home,” I said. The lie came easily to my lips now that I had resolved to stick to the alibi that Peter had provided me with. “It was my day off, my brother was in town,
and we thought we’d take a short road trip as a way of mending fences, so to speak.”
“Did it work?”
“I think so,” I said cautiously. “I’m still a little…wary, but I have to give him another chance. He’s the only family I’ve got left.”
She nodded with understanding. “You must be relieved now, though. You don’t have to look over your shoulder anymore.”
“What exactly did the article say?” I asked.
“That the burglar was identified as your ex-boyfriend.”
“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t think they’d put that in there.”
Whitney smiled. “You should be happy he’s gone.”
“I am,” I nodded fervently. “It’s just hard to believe sometimes.”
“It was lucky that Peter brought his gun with him when he went to check your place,” she said, shaking her head. “Imagine if he was unarmed.”
“I don’t like to imagine it.”
“Then don’t!” she said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s just have fun!”
“You still haven’t told me why you’ve re-scheduled all our appointments for today?”
“I thought you could use a day off. I thought we both could, actually. We should just go out, enjoy Fort Collins, have some lunch, do some shopping and just…have fun. We’re young, we’re hot, and we can.”
I smiled. “You’re right,” I nodded. “We can.”
“Shall we head out then?”
“Let’s,” I nodded enthusiastically.
It took us only fifteen minutes to get to the town’s hub and once we were in the middle of the shopping district, it was easy to put the past few days behind me. I actually found myself relaxing, letting the stress and worry of my latest ordeal melt away into memory.
“I think it’s time we get you some new clothes,” Whitney suggested, as she dragged me into a massive department store.
“I can make do with what I have,” I argued, as she pulled me along to the women’s department.
“I know you can,” she nodded. “But that’s hardly the point. Live a little.”
We were trying on dresses together in the same dressing room when I turned to Whitney curiously. “What’s with the spontaneous shopping trip, though?” I asked, as I tried on a bright red blouse. “I can’t believe this is all just for me?”
She smiled. “All right, it’s not all about you. It’s a little bit about me, too.”
“Do tell.”
“I was talking to my parents the other day,” she explained. “And they reminded me how hard I worked to get to this point. I busted my ass off these last few years in order to get my salon started. I barely did anything. I neglected my friends, turned down dates and basically cast off any hope of a social life.
“They just made me see that working that hard is not going to be worth it in the end if I stopped enjoying myself. I need to find a balance. And now that I’ve achieved my dream of opening my own place, I have the luxury of doing just that.”
I smiled. “I wish I had parents who gave me that kind of advice.”
“You’ve had a tough life,” Whitney observed. “It’s one of the reasons I admire you so much.”
“You…admire me?” I repeated, in shock.
“Of course,” she said. “It’s partly why I hired you. I could see that strength in you. You looked like a survivor.”
I smiled. “That’s… I appreciate that. Thank you.”
She smiled and tossed a dress at me. “Here,” she said, breaking the sentimental moment. “Try this one on; it’ll suit you better than me.”
After we had finished shopping, we headed to a little bistro around the corner. We sat outside under massive beach umbrellas as the waiter brought us cocktails and starters to share. Whitney took a bite of the shrimp cocktail and then leaned in conspiratorially.
“So…tell me about Peter.”
“Peter,” when I said his name, it sounded like a sigh.
She laughed. “You’ve got it bad huh?”
“I think so.”
She paused a moment and then looked at me pointedly. “How bad?”
“Bad,” I said honestly. “As in… I think I’m in love with him.”
“Wow,” she said with raised eyebrows. “That was fast.”
“I know,” I sighed. “Probably too fast.”
“Don’t second guess yourself,” Whitney said quickly. “This kind of feeling doesn’t come around very often. Enjoy it now that it has.”
“I feel safe with him,” I admitted, thinking of the night that Kameron had showed up at my door. “He makes me feel safe. I’ve never really had that before. Not with my parents, or my brother or my previous boyfriends. This guy is different. It’s just that…”
“What?”
“I’m scared,” I admitted. “And worried.”
“It’s natural to worry,” she said quickly. “You’re worried that you can’t trust him.”
“No,” I said quickly. “That’s not it. I know I can trust him. Maybe I’m being naïve, but right now, instinct tells me that I can.”
“What then?”
“I’m scared he’ll wake up one day and realize he can do so much better than me,” I said, forcing the words out. I was superstitious enough to believe that saying something aloud might make it true and I said a silent prayer that that was not the case.
“Oh, Madison…”
“It’s how I feel.”
“Only because people have made you feel bad about yourself your entire life,” she said. “And for some reason, a part of you has chosen to believe them.”
“He’s such a good man, Whitney,” I sighed. “And he’s handsome and polite and…brave. He’s a catch – any woman would be lucky to have him.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” she nodded. “But he chose you.”
“For how long?”
“Do you really think he would leave you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m scared he might.”
“You know your problem?”
I smiled. “Oh, I’d love to find out. Please, go ahead and tell me.”
“You don’t see how great you are,” she said. “How great and smart and accomplished you are.”
“Accomplished?” I said in surprise.
“You put yourself through college all by yourself.”
“I haven’t actually graduated yet,” I reminded her.
“Well, I can soon fix that,” Whitney said unexpectedly.
“What do you mean?”
“Finish eating and let’s go,” she said with glittering eyes. “We have one more stop to make.”
“Nails?”
“Nope,” she said, shaking her purple head. “We’re doing one more thing before we get our nails done.”
“Can I get a hint?”
“Not just yet.” Whitney winked at me. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long.”
We finished lunch and headed off. I followed blindly, wondering what on earth she had in store for me. A short while later, we were walking around a magnificent campus that looked out onto lush and spacious lawns.
“The Colorado State University campus,” I breathed. “Why have you brought me here?”
“Because this is where our future lies,” Whitney said, with a smile.
“Umm…I’m enrolled at CSU,” I reminded Whitney.
“Well, then transfer your credits,” Whitney replied. “And if you can’t, then finish your degree there and start fresh.”
I turned back to the campus in astonishment. “I hadn’t even considered that.”
“Well, consider it,” she said. “You can definitely do it.”
“Wait,” I said, turning to Whitney. “You said this is where our future lies?”
Whitney gave me a wink. “You’ve inspired me to go back to school, too,” she explained. “There are a few different courses I’m interested in, and I’d like to give my tertiary education another shot.”
“Wow,�
�� I said, touched by how much thought she had put into this. “Wow, Whitney.”
“Will you do it?”
“Of course, I will,” I practically yelled. “This is perfect. I can finally get my degree. I’ll be a college graduate. I’ll be… Oh my God!”
“What?” Whitney asked, in alarm.
“I can get my masters!” I said, euphoric at the possibilities before me. “I can get a PHD if I wanted to.”
She laughed. “Whoa…maybe slow down a little?”
I grabbed Whitney and twirled around with her in my arms. Taken off guard, she nearly tripped over my feet, but she managed to keep standing. “Geez, I only get this excited about shoes and orgasms.”
“You know, I never considered myself to be a lucky person,” I said, as I came to a stop and looked back at the campus behind me. “But now… I think my luck has just changed.”
“It’s got nothing to do with luck, kid,” Whitney said, shaking her head. “It’s about hard work and perseverance.”
“True,” I nodded. “But hard work and perseverance can only take you so far; sometimes you need to be in the right place at the right time. And sometimes you need to meet the right people – like you and Peter.”
Whitney smiled, and I could tell that she was touched by my words. “Looks like this is the start of a beautiful new friendship,” she said, putting her arm around me.
I laughed. “Looks like this is the start of a beautiful new future.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Peter
It felt a little strange, donning the uniform after so long in civilian clothing. I dressed slowly, trying to get back in the feel of things. My uniform fit perfectly, like a perfect hug, as though it had been waiting for me all these months. I had this tingle in my fingers as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was finally back in action, and it felt amazing.
I drove to work thinking about Madison and the past few weeks with her. Victor had moved in with her temporarily, and she was helping him get back on his feet.
Now that the shadow of Kameron’s death had been put to rest, Victor had come to life. He didn’t seem like the sad, lost soul he had been a few weeks ago. He actually seemed like a nice person and it was easy for me to forgive him for the neglect he had offered to Madison for most of their lives.