Only Her

by Allie Everhart

  Jade hugs my chest. “Garret, if something like that ever happens and you have to make a choice like that, please don’t leave without telling me. Don’t go missing and leave me wondering what happened to you.”

  “I’ll never have to make a choice like that. We’re out of that world. And we’re never going back.”

  We both get quiet, which is what always happens when we bring up the organization. It’s like we have to take a moment to remind ourselves that it’s over and they’ll leave us alone.

  “What about your mom?” Jade asks. “If they find out she’s back, would they try to come after her?”

  “If they did, my dad would kill every fucking one of them. And I am not joking.”

  Jade knows the world my dad lives in. She knows he’s killed people. She watched him kill her father. She knows he’d do anything to protect our family.

  “We have to tell William,” she says. “He’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”

  “Yeah, I told her I’d talk to him, but it’s probably better if my dad did.”

  “Is she worried they’ll do something to her? Is that why she was talking about leaving again?”

  I sit up a little. “She told you she’s leaving again?”

  “She said she’d leave if being back in your life would put us at risk.”

  “Fuck. I wish she would stop thinking that way. She’s not putting us at risk. They wouldn’t do anything to us.” I sigh. “She can’t leave again. She can’t do that to me.”

  “Did you tell her that?”

  “Yes.” I lie back down on the bed. “And she said that if she did leave, she’d tell me where she is so I could go see her. But I told her that’s not good enough. I want to see her all the time, not just once or twice a year. There’s no need for her to go into hiding. William will deal with the organization. And my dad will protect her. He’d never leave her side if that’s what it took to make sure she’s safe.”

  “How do you think your dad’s going to react when he sees her tomorrow?”

  “He’ll be shocked, like I was, and then…I don’t know.”

  “You don’t think he’ll be happy?”

  “He’ll definitely be happy. I just hope he doesn’t get mad at her for leaving.”

  “Why would he get mad at her for that? She didn’t have a choice.”

  “Yeah, but you know my dad. He thinks he can fix every problem. He might be mad that she didn’t tell him what was going on so that he could try to fix it so she wouldn’t have had to leave.”

  “But I thought you said some guy was supposed to tell your dad what happened.”

  “Yeah. Jack was supposed to tell him, but he died before he could.”

  “That sounds suspicious.”

  “I know. I’m sure his death wasn’t an accident.”

  “So when your dad never showed up in Italy, why didn’t your mom try to come back?”

  “My grandfather kept her prisoner there.” I hear Jade gasp, but I continue. “He found out she was alive and he hired some men to keep watch on her so she couldn’t leave.”

  “Oh my God,” Jade whispers. “He knew she was alive? And he didn’t tell your dad?”

  “Yeah. My dad’s gonna be so pissed when he finds out.”

  “Did Holton go over there, or what—”

  “Jade, let’s not talk about it. You need to get to sleep.” I kiss her. “You’re growing a baby. That’s gotta be tiring.”

  She smiles. “You wouldn’t believe how tiring it is. But can I ask you one more thing?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “How does it feel? To have her back?”

  “Like a freaking dream come true. Part of me still doesn’t even believe it. When I saw her at Grace’s house, I thought it was someone else. I kept telling myself it couldn’t possibly be her. I was yelling at her, telling her to stop pretending to be my mom. Now I feel like an ass for doing that.”

  “Garret, you were in shock. You thought she was dead, and then this woman shows up claiming to be your mom. I would’ve reacted the same way.”

  I kiss her cheek. “Enough talking for tonight. Go to sleep.”

  “Okay.” She yawns and turns back around. “Goodnight. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I hold her against me, my hand over her stomach where our new baby is growing.

  We just found out last week. Jade had been really tired lately so I kind of wondered if maybe she was pregnant. We weren’t really trying to have a baby. We said we’d wait a year before trying again, but we also weren’t using birth control so we both knew it was a possibility.

  Jade told me the news when I got home from work last week. But instead of telling me, she made up a letter from the stork, since I always tell her we have a standing order with the stork. He brought us Abigail and now we’re waiting for him to bring us baby number two. But according to our original plan, or order, he’s not supposed to drop off this baby for a couple years.

  Jade put the letter in an envelope and stamped and addressed it, then left it in our stack of mail. As I was sorting through the bills and the junk mail, I stopped when I saw the plain white envelope with a return address of ‘801 Birdland Drive, Some Beach in Florida.’

  “What’s this?” I asked, holding it up.

  Jade shrugged. “I don’t know. Open it and find out.”

  We’d just had dinner and Jade was cleaning up the kitchen. I was sitting at the kitchen table. Abi was asleep in her room.

  I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Jade even made official letterhead with Stork, Inc. at the top. The letter read as follows.

  This is to inform you that the baby you requested to arrive at your house approximately two years from now will not be arriving as planned. There was a mix-up with your order due to an error made by my senile frog assistant who misread the dates you originally asked for. Because of this, your delivery will be arriving in approximately seven and a half months. We apologize for this mix-up, and since it’s our fault, we won’t be charging you our usual delivery fee. We hope you continue to use our services in the future. -Sincerely, Mr. Stork

  I laughed when I read it, then realized what it said and got this huge grin on my face.

  Jade stood in front of me and said, “So what do you think?”

  “I think the frog should get a raise.” Then I got up from my seat and wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her.

  “So you’re okay with this?” she asked. “You’re not going to yell at the stork for this?”

  I kissed her again and said, “He can make a delivery whenever the hell he wants.”

  “But this isn’t what we planned.”

  “Yeah, well, plans change.” And then I asked her, just to make sure. “We’re really having another baby? You went to the doctor?”

  She smiled. “Yeah. It’s confirmed.”

  “Holy shit! We’re having another baby!” I kissed her again, then told her how much I love her.

  We heard Abi crying on the baby monitor and Jade said, “I think she heard the news.”

  “Go get her. She can celebrate with us.”

  And she did. The three of us had ice cream, then watched a movie on the couch. Well, I watched the movie. Abi fell asleep in my arms and Jade fell asleep on my shoulder. That was a great night. I’ll never forget it. I was so freaking happy. And now, a week later, I’ve got my mom back. No wonder I can’t stop smiling.

  The next morning I go to the small private airport to pick up my dad. He arrived a little after noon.

  My mom stayed home with Jade. When I left the house, my mom seemed nervous. She kept asking me if she looked okay. I told her she looked beautiful, because she does. She’s wearing a light blue dress, which was always my dad’s favorite color on her. The blue brings out the blue in her eyes. It’s a sleeveless dress and shows off her toned arms. She’s in good shape for someone her age. She said in Italy she spent a lot of time walking and biking, so she stayed active and it shows. She doesn’t we
ar much makeup, but she never did. She doesn’t need to. Her face is pretty without it.

  I don’t know how my dad’s going to react when he sees her. During the night, I was up thinking about what I told Jade. About how my dad thinks he can fix every problem, and how he might get mad at my mom for not calling him and telling him what was going on the minute she found out.

  Shit, now I’m getting worried. I don’t want him to reject her or start fighting with her.

  “How was the trip?” I ask my dad as we’re driving to the house.

  “It was fine. It was a smooth flight. No problems.”

  “Good.”

  “Garret, are you going to tell me why I’m here?”

  “You’ll understand when you get to the house.”

  “I’m not liking the sound of this. You know I don’t like surprises.”

  “I can’t tell you this. It’s something you just need to see for yourself. And please, whatever you do, don’t freak out. Just stay calm and don’t get mad.”

  “Why would I get mad?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know how you’re going to react.”

  “Garret, just tell me what this is about.”

  “You’ll see when we get inside.”

  We’re at the house now and I park the car in the driveway instead of the garage. I want to go in the front door because it leads right into the living room, where Jade and my mom are waiting. I texted Jade just now and told her we’re here.

  My dad gets out of the car and goes around to the trunk to get his luggage.

  “Just leave it, Dad. I’ll get it later.”

  He follows me to the door and I open it and step inside to the living room. My mom isn’t there, but Jade is. She glances back at the hallway. My mom must be waiting back there.

  My dad walks in and sees Jade. “Hello, Jade.” He gives her a hug. “Congratulations! I hear I’m getting another grandchild.”

  “Yeah, it’s a ways off but we’re really excited.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Good. Just tired.” Jade steps back and stands beside me.

  I see my mom peeking out the side hallway.

  “Dad,” I say, getting his attention. “This is why I had you come out here.” I look over at my mom.

  She slowly walks into the room, stopping a few feet in front of him, tears falling down her face. “Pearce.”

  He stands there, frozen in place, staring at her in disbelief.

  “Pearce,” she says softly. “It’s me.”

  He doesn’t respond. He’s in total shock. Speechless.

  “Dad, it’s her,” I tell him. “She was never on the plane. She’s been hiding out in Europe until she knew it was safe to come back.”

  I don’t know if he’s listening. He’s just standing there, his eyes on her.

  “Pearce, I’m so sorry.” She steps closer to him. “I didn’t think I had a choice. I knew they were going to kill me and I was afraid to go back. I didn’t want them to hurt Garret. Or you.”

  She’s now right in front of him and he’s still not saying anything. This isn’t going well. Why isn’t he saying anything? Is he mad? Really? Shit, get over it. This is your wife back from the dead. Do something. Say something. I’m about to intervene, but then he finally wakes up.

  He steps up to her and wraps his arms around her and hugs her into his chest.

  “Rachel.” He breaks into tears. Big tears, streaming down his face.

  I’ve only seen my dad cry once that I can remember. It was when he told me about the plane crash. He’s always so strong. He rarely shows emotion. But right now? He’s full-out crying. They both are. He’s hugging her so tightly she probably can’t even breathe.

  I look over at Jade, who’s also crying. Jade cries all the time now because of the pregnancy hormones. She even cries over commercials. But I think she’d be crying even if it weren’t for the pregnancy hormones. I’ve got tears going as well. Seeing my dad cry really got to me. And seeing my parents reunited is overwhelming. It’s something I never thought I’d see, and here it is, right in front of me.

  My dad pulls back just enough to see my mom’s face. “It’s really you.”

  “Pearce.” She looks up at him. “Please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t know what else to do. I swear to you if I—”

  “Rachel, don’t. I know you’d never leave us by choice. I understand why you did it.”

  “You do?”

  “We’ll talk about it later. Right now I just want to look at you.” He holds her face, smiling, the tears continuing to fall. “God, I’ve missed you so much. I can’t even tell you.”

  “I’ve missed you too. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day I left. The only thing keeping me going was knowing that someday I’d see you and Garret again.”

  The baby monitor goes off. Abi’s awake.

  “I’ll get her,” Jade whispers to me. “I’ll take her out on the patio so you guys can talk.”

  She leaves, and I look back at my parents who are still staring at each other. They’re not crying anymore, but this seems like an intimate moment and I’m feeling awkward.

  “I’ll just leave you guys alone,” I say.

  My mom stops me. “Garret, wait. Come over here. I want to hug both of you, like we used to.”

  When I was little, my dad would pick me up and then my mom would hug him, making kind of a hug sandwich. She was really into hugs. All kinds. Which is why I’m into hugs as well.

  “Mom, I don’t think that’ll work anymore. I’m a little bigger now.”

  She laughs. “We’ll make it work.”

  She lets go of my dad and the two of them put their arms around me and we hug. It’s an awkward three-way hug but my mom doesn’t care. She’s crying again, a big smile on her face.

  “I’ve been waiting for this for so long. I love you both so much.”

  “We love you too, Mom.”

  “Garret, could you give us some time?” my dad asks.

  I step back. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll be out on the patio with Jade.”

  As I leave, I turn back and see my dad leading my mom to the couch to sit down. He can’t take his eyes off her.

  When I get outside, Jade’s sitting on one of the patio chairs, quietly singing a song to Abi, who’s on Jade’s lap.

  “Hey.” I sit next to her.

  “Garret, don’t sneak up on me like that. You know how embarrassed I get when you hear me sing.”

  “You shouldn’t be embarrassed.” I put my arm around the back of her chair.

  “Well, I am. I’m a horrible singer.” She kisses Abi’s cheek. “But Abi doesn’t mind. She likes my singing.” She kisses her again and Abi smiles and tilts her head toward Jade. It’s freaking adorable. It’s these little moments that make me love being a dad. And a husband. I love seeing Jade and Abi together. I keep trying to store these little moments away in my brain because I don’t want to forget them.

  Abi notices me and holds her arms out.

  “You want to go to Daddy?” Jade lifts her up and I take her.

  I set her on my leg but she reaches up, which means she wants to lie against my chest. It’s her favorite spot. It’s her mom’s favorite spot too. I hold her against me and she lays her head on my shoulder, her tiny hands gripping my shirt.

  “Did they want to be alone?” Jade asks.

  “Yeah. They have a lot to talk about.”

  “What do you think is going to happen? Do you think they’ll get back together?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Maybe she’ll go live in Connecticut so she can be by your dad.”

  “She can’t be seen with him, at least not yet, and not in an area where he’s surrounded by people he knows. They need to go somewhere private and figure out what they’re going to do. Everyone thinks Rachel Kensington is dead, so if she shows up alive, the media will be all over that and reporters might link her disappearance back to the organization.”

  “Wh
at does that mean? She can’t live here in the U.S. anymore?”

  “She can, but they’ll have to make up a story about what happened to her. Something that explains why she was gone for so long.”

  Jade nudges my arm. “Look.” She nods toward Abi, who’s sound asleep.

  “She’s asleep again? She just got up from her nap.”

  Jade leans over and kisses me. “She always falls asleep on your chest. You have a comfy chest. And she didn’t sleep well last night. She’s tired.”

  The three of us remain on the patio so my parents can have privacy.

  My parents. Even just thinking those words seems strange. Like it’s not real. For so long, it was just my dad and me. But now, my dad and mom are together. I just hope they stay together.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  19

  PEARCE

  I’m sitting here, looking at Rachel. She’s not dead. She’s here, right in front of me. And all the feelings I had for her are flooding back, like she was never gone.

  These past fifteen years, my love for her has never waned. But I’ve had to hide it. Bury it deep within my soul. Because it’s too painful to feel that kind of love for someone who’s no longer here.

  But now she’s back and that love is rising to the surface again. And the memories I tried to forget are racing to the front of my mind. I never wanted to forget her, or the life we shared, but it was too painful to remember that part of my life. So I buried those memories and tried not to think about them. But now, as I look at her, those memories are flashing through my head. They’re all there. From the day we met to the day she left, I haven’t forgotten a single moment of my life with her.

  It’s almost too much. Too much emotion all at once. The love I feel for her is so strong, it’s overpowering. But I also feel anger. Why am I angry? I can’t be angry. She’s back and I love her and I can’t be angry. I’m fighting the anger. Trying not to show it, but it’s still there. I need answers. Why did she leave? Where has she been? And why has she not contacted me all these years? I need her to explain. She has so much to explain.