Heart of Gold

by Michaela Haze

  Harry didn’t like to talk about it, but she had taken the news of her parentage hard. Harry had pulled away from Gilly, but the guilt had won out. The woman she'd known as her mother had been placed in a medically induced coma. The whir of the dialysis and the sweet smell of liver failure lingered in the room. It was uncomfortable, in the way that only proximity to a dying person can be.

  Gilly's skin was yellow and gaunt as she laid prone on the hospital bed. I'd only met the woman once before in passing. Her bloodshot eyes had been wild as she scrambled away from a loud and violent fight with a boyfriend outside of one of the bars in town. I didn’t know who she was then.

  It was hard to imagine that the woman on the bed—lifeless and unmoving—was responsible for so much pain in Harriet's life.

  The fact that she wasn’t her mother did little to comfort me. Gilly Thompson was evil. The scum that preyed on the weak.

  Harry had been a child when Gilly's violence had started. When she'd been prey to those men that Gilly brought into their home.

  Harry had admitted that she was scared. Not scared of Gilly dying, but of the DNA tests coming back and contradicting the liver compatibly tests had been false.

  In her mind, it was a done deal. An easy way for Harry to divorce and escape the woman that had abused her.

  I wasn’t blaming her for taking it.

  The fact of the matter was that Gilly Thompson was dying. Her medical bills had to be mounting up. I knew that Harry had to be worried.

  I had excused myself to go down to the canteen and get us both a coffee. Harry's expression was resigned but not sad. I lingered outside the door for a moment. Harry's soft voice drifted to where I stood and her words broke my heart.

  “I hate you so much, Mama.” Harry choked on a sob. “We were meant to rally and you abandoned me. Actually, do you know what? You made it worse. You brought those monsters into our home. You let them d-do ... You let t-them... I can't help but feel like this is karma. Karma for lying about being my mama and for letting all of your shit poison me. I hope you've made peace with God, mama. Because he ain't gonna be happy with you when judgement comes. You're gonna burn.”

  Her voice shook. I reached up and traced the glass.

  “I should just ask them to turn off those damn machines.” She laughed without humour. It sounded more like a gasping sob. “But I won't let you make me evil like you. But I’ll say this, I'm not that worthless little girl anymore. You don't have the power to make me feel small no more.”

  I stepped away from the door as guilt as eavesdropping overwhelmed me. My footsteps echoed down the corridor and my thoughts drew me under. Harry kept so much to herself.

  I had no idea if she would request the machines to be switched off, or if she would hold out for a transplant for the woman who had been her mother in name only.

  The question that went unsaid was so cloying it was almost a physical presence.

  I could hear it, in Harry's mind, as clearly as if the thought came from my own brain.

  Would it be evil to do nothing and let my abuser die?

  I would not have been the right person to ask. It took every ounce of my strength to not put a pillow over Gilly Thompson’s face and smoother her. For what she'd done to Harry. A defenceless child.

  I came back up to the room, just as visiting hours were almost up. Carrying a coffee in each hand. Harry was hardcore. She drank it black. I preferred my coffee fully of creamer and sugar.

  When I rounded the corner of the ICU, there were people in suits, hovering outside of Gilly's hospital room. I saw the outline of a gun holster when the man lifted his hand out to knock on the glass door. He was accompanied by a woman, who took a badge out of her pocket. She flipped it open and was showing it Harry as I reached her side.

  I handed Harry her coffee. She thanked me with a weak smile.

  I held out my hand for them both to shake and introduced myself. “Hello officers. I'm Elliot Gold. Harriet’s partner.”

  Both of them look at me from head to toe and then at Harry.

  “You can speak in front of him.” Harry said. I was glad she affirmed that because there was no way I was going to leave her with the suited man with a gun in his jacket.

  “We're from the FBI. I'm Agent Tilton.” The woman in a pantsuit included her head and gestured to her male counterparts. “This is Agent Briggs. Is there somewhere we could go that’s more private?”

  I relayed their request to a passing nurse and we were directed to an empty hospital room. The light flickered on and I gave Harriet space, whilst trying to remain close enough to show my support.

  “Is this about my Mama’s car accident?” Harriet croaked. Dejected.

  “No ma’am,” Officer Briggs replied. “You were recently tested for organ compatibility regarding a potential transplant for Gillian Thompson; is that correct?”

  Harry nodded slowly and worried her bottom lip. She was scared and trying to hide it. It hit me like a freight train. Harry didn't have an identity. Her entire life had been cash in hand with no paper trail. Fuck. The FBI wouldn’t come down to Baton Rouge for that, would they?

  “Your DNA raised a flag on the system. I take it that you're aware from the test results that Gillian Thompson isn’t your biological mother?” agent Tilton chimed in.

  “What do you mean by 'raised a flag'?” I asked.

  Briggs's eyes fluttered from me to Harry. “Your DNA is linked to a child abduction case from the state of New York.” Tilton said. “The person that you knew as your mother Gillian Thompson, and a man named Daniel Davis, took you from the back of a car when you were a toddler.”

  “W-What?” a tear leaked from Harry's eyes and trailed down her cheek. “I don’t u-understand.”

  “Your real parents are in New York, Harriet.” Tilton stepped forward and handed Harry a business card. “And they'd very much like to meet you.”

  Epilogue

  Elliot and I were both very different people. He would lash out verbally when he was confronted. I would curl into a ball and distance myself. Our coping mechanisms were poles apart.

  The court case against Sarah Mallory pushed our relationship to the brink.

  He would storm around the house and slam cabinets. I would retreat into myself as the residual fear from Gilly's abuse gripped my mind.

  We both had to relearn how to cope.

  We had therapy. Together and alone. I knew that he was it for me from the second we had laid eyes on each other. People told me it was too soon but we were determined to work through our issues together. Slowly and surely.

  After the stabbing, Elliot had become so protective of me that I almost couldn’t cope with the attention.

  He sold his house on Goldryn Row and we moved into one of the Antebellum homes on the edge of the Bayou. We lived next to the sheriff, in the small gated community. There was a tire swing out the front and we talked about getting a dog. One of our favourite games to play was suggesting outrageous names for the metaphorical pooch and then shooting them down.

  Sarah Mallory had been put away for a long time. Over fifteen years for attempted murder. Coupled with second-degree sexual assault, as well as breaking and entering.

  Walter Mallory had tried everything to stop his only daughter from being put away. He offered rehab. He even tried to bribe me to change my testimony. Elliot and I stayed firm. We stuck together and it paid off when the jury declared her 'guilty' in front of the court.

  The raised scar tissue an inch above my belly button was a reminder of what she did to me. Tried to do to Elliot. I was grateful she was behind bars.

  “What are you thinking about?” Elliot asked, he handed me a coffee and I thanked him with a smile.

  Sat on the patio, around the back of our home, I caught a glimpse of morning dew on the grass.

  “We should call our dog Jellybean.” I mused with a smile.

  Elliot cocked a brow. “That so? Does that mean Lava Cake is off the table?”

  I hummed as
I took a sip from my coffee. He made it just the way I liked it.

  Without warning, Elliot Gold gripped my coffee mug and placed it gently on the side. When he turned back to me, his lips claimed mine. My hands gripped his hair as I held him towards me. His kiss pulled me out of the chair and into his arms.

  My chest heaved. Our foreheads rested against each other.

  “What was that for?” My voice was husky. Wanton.

  Elliot smiled. A secretive smile that told me he was up to something.

  “What?” I asked, poking him in the shoulder.

  “Nothing.” He was smug.

  I narrowed my eyes but slid back into my chair. I reached over for my coffee, keeping an eye on him as I took a sip.

  Without a word, Elliot sat down by my side and we sat together. Content with each other’s company.

  I wished I had my camera. So I could take a picture of the pink sunrise as it coloured the sky in front of us. Instead we watched in silence.

  My photography business was going well. Gwen Bell had outsourced most of her event photography for me, and I was finally able to quit the Pink Sleeve.

  The FBI had connected me regarding my biological parents. They’d informed me that Kimberley and Gerald Norde ran a charity in NYC for kidnapped children. They'd never stopped searching for me.

  Strange as it was, Elliot had connections to their charity and gave money to it. He knew the Nordes from various galas they had held. His prior meetings with them were one of the reasons I hadn’t freaked out and dismissed them entirely.

  I now had a birth certificate and a social security number. Once upon a time, I had been Alice Norde, one of the most high-profile child kidnapping cases in the US.

  Still, I kept the name with which I grew up. It was easier that way.

  When I had met my biological parents, there had been a media storm and it still hadn’t been long enough for it to tide over. The Nordes had bought a house on Goldryn Row so they could get to know me better. My biological mother, Kim, was an overwhelming woman but I couldn’t blame her.

  It was hard to decide how to feel about it all.

  Gilly Thompson had managed to find a donor. An estranged sister who I’d never met. After surgery, Gilly had been woken from her coma only to find that she was going to prison for a long time for child abduction.

  I had wanted an explanation. An apology.

  I got neither from her. Not even when she stared down at me from the stand in court.

  I think that was why my Pop killed himself. He knew what she’d done when she took me, and he couldn’t live with the guilt. Gilly was sterile. I found that out in court too.

  “I have a surprise for you.” Elliot said once I’d finished my coffee. “Please don't think I need my head checked.” He added with a mutter.

  “What was that?” I laughed.

  “Nothing.”

  He took my hand and we walked to the driveway. In the place where Elliot’s silver Porsche normally sat, was Gilly's dilapidated trailer.

  I stood there in confusion. “I was expecting flowers. Maybe candy. Not my old home.” I laughed. My laugh sounded like a dying hyena but for some reason it always made Elliot smile. Really wide. The kind that lights up the eyes and shows off the dimples.

  God, I loved that man.

  Without a word, Elliot picked up a sledgehammer from where it was lying on the porch. He handed it to me with a mischievous smile.

  “You said you wanted to burn it to the ground. Bit risky. It would almost certainly end in arrest. I thought the next best thing would be a sledgehammer.”

  Tears beaded at the corner of my eyes. I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. I lowered the heavy tool to the ground and once my hands were free, I threw my arms around Elliot’s shoulders.

  He gripped my waist. “I love you.”

  “You weird and infuriating man!” I laughed through happy tears as he eased me back to the ground. I shook my head, battling laughter.

  “I'm gonna destroy that trailer...” I said with an evil glint in my eye. I bent down to pick up the sledgehammer, careful to balance the heavyweight. I noticed that Elliot wasn’t standing anymore as I straightened my spine.

  He was on one knee.

  With a ring.

  “Harry,” He said my name on a breath. Like I was the beginning and the end. The moon and the stars. When he spoke, his accent was thick like molasses. Breaking through as emotion overtook him. “You have me. My heart is yours. I wanna grow old and gray with you. I wanna raise kids with you and watch them on that tire swing over there. I want your face to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night. I've loved you since the moment I saw you. Your whisky eyes. Your good heart. You’re my soulmate, Harriet Thompson. Will you marry me?”

  I started to cry.

  Elliot didn’t falter. He didn’t wait for my response. He took the ring from its case and slipped it on my finger.

  “You aren’t going to wait for my answer?” I asked. Hiccupping as my chest heaved with happy tears.

  Elliot’s lips twitched into a smirk. “As if I’d let you say no.”

  ❤

  The series continues with Nate and Gwen's story;

  'Good as Gold'

  To be released fall 2018

  (And find out more about Harry and Elliot’s happily ever after too)

  ❤

  If you liked HEART OF GOLD, don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads!

  As an indie author, reviews are our lifeblood and every one counts.

  Thank you!

  - Michaela Haze

  Coming Soon

  The Golden Boys – Book 2

  Gwen Bell thought that coming back to Goldryn Bois was going to be easy. She was wrong.

  After being blacklisted by her New Orleans clients (banana related incidents aside), Gwen Bell is forced to return home to Goldryn Bois with her tail between her legs.

  She left for a reason and that reason's name was Nathaniel Gold.

  Nate Gold was a bully.

  He made her high school life hell and tricked her out of her virginity. He made it very clear that Goldryn Bois was no place for a girl with an eidetic memory and a love of Japanese Manga.

  Gwen's big break comes when she is hired to organise the Goldryn Masquerade.

  The only problem?

  Nathaniel Gold is her boss and he's determined to run her out of town.

  Good as Gold is the second book in the Golden Boys series, it can be read as part of the series or as a standalone.

  Coming Soon

  The Golden Boys – Book 3

  Rina Langley is the wayward daughter of one of the richest families in Goldryn Bois.

  She's got six months to find a husband or she'll lose her inheritance.

  Hope comes in the form of Julian Gold. Her childhood friend.

  He's a manwhore, but if he keeps it behind closed doors and Rina gets her money, she can live with that.

  There’s one small problem.

  That was a lie.

  Rina is in love with her husband.

  And it’s breaking her heart.

  Going for Gold is the third book in the Golden Boys series, it can be read as part of the series or as a standalone.

  Good as Gold

  Sneak Peek

  Prologue

  *

  10 years ago

  I stared out at the bored faces of my peers as I waited for the graduation ceremony to start. The air was a thick and humid soup. The polyester graduation gown clung to my back. I did not allow my nerves to show, but I still felt them.

  I was the valedictorian and my mother, Sylvia, was immensely proud. So much so that I worried for her blood pressure. My father, the sheriff, had corralled most of the Goldryn Bois police force to stand at the back of the crowd and to hoot where appropriate.

  I took to the stage with carefully measured steps. Staring down at the people in the crowd that had no interest in my words, but we
re being made to stomach them none the less. My palms were slick but my back was rigid as I stood in front of the projector screen and cleared my throat to start my speech.

  I felt his gaze in the crowd. Out of the hundreds of people, how did I know it was him?

  Nate Gold held a power over me that I refused to give into him. Refused to acknowledge. I had done so once, and it had ruined me.

  As I began to speak about the future and moving forward, the sound of a low moan filled the air. The ceremony was outside, in the middle of the football stadium and the sound echoed across the carefully tended grass. The shriek of microphone feedback punctuated the noise. I turned back in horror to see what had made the sound.

  At first, I thought that someone had replaced the video slideshow of our small town with generic pornography. But that would have been too kind.

  On the projector behind me, was the shaky camera phone footage of me.

  Losing my virginity to Nate Gold.

  I couldn’t move. Frozen in fear. My eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

  I turned to him. Seeking him out of the crowd. He did not smirk. He did not look smug. He didn’t need to. His glowing expression. Indignant and angry at my mere existence told me all I needed to know.

  Nate Gold had done it again. I thought he had ruined me once but it was only a taste.

  I ripped my graduation cap off my head and stormed from the stage. He got what he wanted. I would never again come back to Goldryn Bois.

  1

  *

  6 months ago

  I have never expressed the desire to have a tattoo. Marring my skin with an image of a dolphin or a rose seemed trivial to me.

  I enjoyed facts and lists.

  Tattoos were neither of those things.

  I stood in the doorway. Hovering like an awkward giraffe. My eyes fluttered over the bridal party. Drunk and squawking like gulls in mating season.