by Ciara Knight
“Stop. Just stop pushing me away. Yes, I hesitated, not because I believed Lacey but because I’ve been scared, and it was easier to push you away than to keep having you play with my emotions.” She stepped forward, her feet slurping with each step. “Give me a chance and open your heart to me. You’ve done so much for me since you’ve arrived, more than any person has ever done, next to my grandmother, and I blew it. I should’ve taken a chance and forced you to see how much you mean to me instead of protecting myself from rejection. There’s nothing I can do about your record from before, but I can prove your innocence this time. I promise to clear your name and prove you weren’t the one who stole money from the nursery. I’ll even send Lacey to jail. Please, tell me what I can do to make this right between us. Tell me what I can do to prove how I feel about you. How I trust you. How I love you.”
He turned from her and clutched the handle of the shovel. “It’s no use. Lacey’s going to turn me into the police along with those documents, and there’s nothing I can do to fight back. No one will listen to an ex-con.”
Felicia grabbed hold of his sleeve, which was drenched in sweat and rain. “I will. I’ll listen. More than that. We’ll fight this together. There has to be some way to show this is all lies. And you’re the man to help me prove it. Say you’ll do it. Help me clear your name and prove to the world once and for all that you’re the amazing, smart, charismatic, honest, loving gift from God that you are.”
His jaw twitched, his gaze searched the massive hole he’d made leading out to the ditch, and then he searched her face, leaving her feeling vulnerable, breathless, hopeful. “No.” He yanked the shovel from the ground and stared her down. “I won’t prove who I am to the world.”
She grabbed hold of his shirt, popping several buttons. “You have to.”
“I won’t waste my time proving myself to the world, but I’ll prove myself worthy of your love.”
Twenty-Six
Water dripped from Declan’s hair, sending muddy raindrops into his mouth. He’d tasted that flavor on more than one occasion when he’d first entered the system. The new guy tasted dirt in the yard on a regular basis. He’d learned how to survive then, and he’d learn how to survive now. He stormed past Felicia, up the gravel drive, and shoved the door open to the office, hoping she’d follow him out of the rain. The last thing she needed was to get sick.
It didn’t matter how much she professed her belief in Declan. He couldn’t let it go. No way would he start a life with someone who had any doubts of his innocence. “It doesn’t matter what you think now. What happens when someone more credible accuses me of a crime? I don’t know that we have a future together, but if we do, we need to work through this first. Otherwise, a police officer could show up at any moment and arrest me.”
Felicia opened a drawer and snagged a towel out of it, wiping her face and then tossing it to him. “I won’t let that happen.”
“You can’t stop it,” he grumbled, wiping his face and arms free of sludge.
Her hand covered the towel, stopping him midswipe. She took the cloth from him and dabbed at his neck and cheeks. “Help me, then.”
“How?” A shiver went through her, so he pulled her to his chest and held her tight. The warmth of her body heated him from the inside out.
They stood in the middle of the office, breathing in unison, clinging to one another and the hope of possibilities. She leaned back, slipping her fingers under the hem of his shirt. She tugged it up, and he leaned down so she could slip it over his head. She pressed the towel to his chest, soaking up each drop before she moved lower to his stomach.
He sucked in a quick breath and stayed her hands. “Stop.” With every ounce of his waning determination, he managed to step away, turning to face the outside world, and clutch the wood beam on the wall. He squeezed tight to hold on to something in order to keep his hands off the woman he wanted more than his next breath. “I won’t allow myself to be with you when I could be gone tomorrow. It would kill me to know I lost you. I won’t survive another year behind bars. Not after I’ve tasted the freedom of working outside, breathing fresh air…of you.” His knuckles popped under the pressure of his grip.
For several moments, all he heard was the wind and rain outside until he finally spoke again. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I just can’t have a life again only to lose it.”
Her arms slipped around him from behind. “Then let’s make sure you don’t lose it.” Her short nails traced around his belly button, drawing his breath. “Help me go through the documents, through the computer, until we discover our own evidence. If you need this to finally let yourself believe in us, then let’s figure it out.”
“There isn’t time. You and I both know that Lacey won’t stop. The police will be here before we even have a chance to comb through all those documents.”
“I’ll tell Lacey that I’m going to report you but not until the show’s over. That I need your help until then. That’ll buy us some time,” Felicia whispered into his back, pressing a kiss to his spine that seared through his skin, his lungs, all the way to his soul.
That was it. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He turned, but she had slipped away.
“No. I know that look, but you can’t. The next time you kiss me like that, it isn’t going to be a hit and run.” Felicia’s lip quivered. She backed away to the threshold. “Get cleaned up and then we can meet back here in a bit. I need you to trust me.”
“God help me, I do.” He ran his hand through his hair. The cold of the damp air and the heat of his desire for Felicia made him tremble, but she was right. Passion wasn’t the answer, not now. Did he dare believe there would be a right moment for them? A real moment without his past looming over them, threat of jail around them, and darkness ahead of them?
He didn’t know, but he knew he had to keep fighting or he’d lose everything. “I’ll meet you back here in twenty minutes.”
Without taking time to think, he showered, dressed, and returned to the office. Thank goodness the rain had finally calmed to a slight drizzle. Unfortunately, when he sat waiting for Felicia to return, his brain went into gear. This plan could work against him. Last time he tried to figure out how someone was stealing money, he found himself confessing to the crime.
Felicia entered with papers in hand and opened the laptop. “Let’s get started.”
“It feels like we’re tempting fate,” he mumbled under his breath.
“I don’t believe in fate. I believe in working hard and creating the life you want.”
He raised a brow at her. “So you don’t believe fate brought us together? I thought all girls believed in that stuff.”
“Nope. You brought yourself here believing you were helping people. Now, you’re going to help yourself.” Felicia opened the computer and brought up banking statements and spreadsheets. “This is where I need your help. I’ve never been good with numbers. My grandmother handled all the accounting until her stroke a little over a year ago.”
“That means any criminal activity happened in the last twelve months.” He eyed the computer. “How long has Jason been controlling Lacey?”
Felicia rolled a pencil under her hand and pressed her lips together before she spoke again. “I’d say a couple of months before you arrived.”
“Great. That narrows it down. Let me see those documents.”
Felicia pushed them in front of him. “If she wanted you to take the fall, that narrows it down even further to the last couple of months.”
“Not necessarily. I think they started taking money before I arrived but didn’t bother covering their tracks until I intercepted that note. They had to have worked quickly, too.” He switched back to the computer. “Wait. The spreadsheets on the computer are shared with Lacey, right? She has access to them?”
“Yes, the file is shared through the drive.” Felicia hovered over his shoulder.
“Perfect.” He went to File and selected File History. “The changes are shown here. We’l
l have to compare this to the sheets she has printed. I know there’ll be evidence in here.”
He scanned the right column with the list of changes, and his gut clenched tight. “It won’t work.”
Felicia settled in next to him. “Why?”
He fisted his hand and slammed it to the desk, making everything vibrate. “Because she’s smarter than I thought.” He pointed at the screen. “See this? She reverted to the version from four months ago and then made all the changes she wished to match to the current sheet. If she’s smart enough to do that, then she’s smart enough to cover her tracks when recreating it. See here, the discrepancies entered are all since I arrived.”
Felicia smiled, a blooming of mischief kind of smile.
“What?” He narrowed his gaze at her. “This isn’t good.”
“Because.” She got up, unlocked a cabinet drawer, and pulled out two large folders. “Lacey doesn’t know that I print everything off each month and store a hard copy. I didn’t do it because I was suspicious but because I keep trying to get my grandmother to look over things for me so that she’ll feel important again. I should’ve known Nana would save the day.”
Twenty-Seven
Felicia’s cell rang. She didn’t have to look at the number to know it was Lacey. The girl had been texting her since yesterday, and when she called to tell Lacey there was news, it didn’t take her thirty seconds to answer.
“Hello? Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Lacey. I’ve made a decision.”
“What?”
Muffled grumbling in the background of a man in a rage told Felicia things were no better with Jason. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? It’s you that I’m worried about with that man stealing from you all the time. What are you going to do?”
She wanted to press further, tell Lacey to come home and leave that man behind, but it wouldn’t do any good. Lacey had left them no choice but to move forward with their plan. “Two days. After the filming at the nursery, I’m going to have the police come and arrest Declan.” Felicia had to force the bitter words from her mouth, despite her stomach’s protest.
“Why then? Do it now.”
“Lacey, I need him for the shoot. There’s no one else who can handle the heavy lifting, and there’s no time to find someone.” Felicia had practiced her response and looked to Declan for his nod of approval.
“Jason.” Lacey sucked in a breath like a whistle through the phone. “Yeah, he needs work and so do I. We’ll come over tomorrow, and we’ll have him arrested, and then we’ll get to work helping you.”
Felicia spun in all directions, looking for answers on the couch, wall clock, television, and then settled on Declan. “No. You and I both know he is the man for the job. Not even the three of us can manage the work load he does on his own. Once this filming is over, I can put an advertisement out for someone strong and able bodied like him, but there isn’t time right now.”
Declan waved his arms, clearly warning her not to go off script.
“No. I gave you what you need.” Lacey’s voice cracked, and the sound of something slamming echoed through the phone.
Felicia had to stifle her need to beg Lacey to get away from Jason. Despite everything, she didn’t like what Lacey was going through, but the girl had made her choice when she framed Declan.
Felicia forced a calm, coldness to her voice she didn’t feel. “Yes, and I’m going to use it to put Declan away for a long time.”
“Fine,” Lacey said in a defeated tone.
Someone covered the receiver. For several long seconds, all Felicia could hear was a deep voice, but no words came through clear. The ruffle of a hand over the phone uncovered, and Lacey said, “We’ll help. We’ll be there for the shoot to make sure everything goes as planned. You can’t do it alone.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to know after everything, you still have my back, Lacey.”
The phone clicked, ending the call.
Felicia collapsed onto the couch next to Declan and held her head in her hands. “I panicked.”
Declan rubbed soothing circles on her back. “Do you think she was on to you?”
She shrugged but then let out a long sigh and said, “I don’t think so. I mean, it played out like you said. They want to be here for the big event.”
“It gives us two days to get our side of the story put together, and it’s the only way we’ll be able to get them here and turn everything over to the police,” Declan said in an I’ve-got-your-back tone. “If they get wind of what we’re doing and they have time to react, I don’t know what they’ll do. I worry for your safety.”
“Do we have anything to turn over?” Felicia dared a glance to see his brows furrowed and that vibration under his right eye that always appeared when he was stressed.
“Under normal circumstances, yes, but we both have documentation.”
“That’s enough to clear you, right?”
“I have a record. Lacey doesn’t. She’s a local. I’m not. Even if I was given the opportunity to speak, it would be a long and drawn-out process. I honestly don’t know if I’d be put in jail because my parole officer decides I’m a flight risk and my probation is revoked. I mean, think about it. This is exactly what I served time for in the first place. It doesn’t look good.”
“But I’ll tell the truth,” Felicia insisted. “Besides, if I don’t press charges, they can’t go after you.”
“Based on my experience, they can do what they want if they believe you’re guilty. Sure, they might not be able to convict me, but they can punish me with jail time nonetheless.”
“That isn’t fair!” Felicia pushed from the couch, walked to the table, and searched the dozens of papers they’d been through so many times. “Fine, then I’ll lie and tell them that I saw Lacey stealing and that I know it was her.”
Declan took both her hands and drew her onto his lap, brushing her hair from her eyes and lifting her chin to look at him. “I want you to hear me now, Felicia Hughes. You’re the most pure person I know. You help everyone. I never want you to have to lie for me or anyone else. No more. I won’t be the cause of you discovering a darker side to doing things like Jason has taught Lacey.”
“It’s not the same thing,” Felicia snapped.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek and whispered, “It’s exactly the same thing.”
She wanted to argue with him, but she hadn’t felt good moments earlier on the phone with Lacey. Nothing about this felt right, but she wanted to save Declan. “Then what do we do?”
“I tell you what you sniffling fools do.” Nana shoved her cane forward and took two steps into the room. “You win. I didn’t raise no loser.”
Declan chuckled. “If we’re going to win, we need all hands on spreadsheets. You willing to try to keep me here with you and Felicia?”
“Bring me my glasses.” Nana shuffled forward, and Declan was at her side, helping her into the dining chair. “We’ve got work to do.”
Twenty-Eight
The sight of the film crew’s arrival jump-started Declan’s nerves. There’d be too many variables, and they only had circumstantial evidence against Lacey. Despite the definitive proof that someone had changed the spreadsheets from what it was months ago, they couldn’t show who’d made those changes.
Men set up a tent out on the front open field, and equipment was offloaded from the vans. He took in a deep breath and prepared himself for today. He’d texted James that he’d start his new job in a week, allowing him to work out all these issue prior to starting. Everything was in his reach, including Felicia. Now he just needed to hold out a little longer.
Two hands slid over his shoulders, and his body responded, telling him it was Felicia. Her touch was like a promise of a rainbow in a dark storm. The light beyond the three white walls of a cell to guide him to freedom. His hope never to return to the loneliness of an empty cell overwhelmed him. Solitary life was like a manic unable to find stimulus—harsh, isolatin
g, inhuman.
“Everything will be great. As soon as she arrives, I’ll turn her and the evidence, along with my written statement, over to the police.”
“Don’t forget mine. I’m in this too you know.” Nana waved her cane. The woman had made such progress since he’d arrived. Was Felicia right? Had he been part of the motivation to get her out of her room and back to life again? “And don’t go thinking they’ll dismiss me because I’m an angry old bat. I’m an elder, and what I say matters. Already spoke to Ms. Melba and Ms. Gina. Davey’s on the fence, but we’ll get him to cross over to Declan’s side.”
Felicia took him by the hand and led him to the front door. She paused, blocking their exit. “Listen, no matter what, I’m going to fight for you. That being said, if you decide that this isn’t the life you want, that you want to move on without me, you have my blessing. The next time you kiss me, it’s going to be one that starts our lives together, so make sure before you take me into your arms that you mean it. If not, then go to Creekside and make a life for yourself. You deserve it.”
He opened his mouth to tell her how he felt, but she put a finger to his lips. “Wait. Once you’re free of this drama, you might see things differently. Don’t make a promise to me now that you don’t keep later.” She withdrew from him, opened the door, and strutted out to the center of her friend group, leaving him on the outskirts to watch.
He was tired of being on the sidelines. He wanted to be in the middle of Felicia’s life.
The grass squished and water gushed from under his work boots, but the puddles had dried up. It wasn’t long before he was whisked into action, moving plants, props, and filming paraphernalia. The activity calmed his anxiety, and the familiar joy of a hard day of labor eked into his consciousness. He’d never been this happy working behind a desk. Perhaps he would enjoy the job at the VA more since it wasn’t all sitting and paperwork.