Last Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 6)

by Natalie Ann

  The Truth

  “Riley!”

  This day had turned into one hell of a rollercoaster. When Trevor came back and told her what they’d discovered, she felt both relief and sadness.

  She could never reconcile the fact that someone was out to hurt her, to harm her. That she’d done something so bad in her life to bring this on herself.

  Come to find out, it wasn’t something bad at all. It was something good she’d done.

  “Hi, Debra,” Riley said, as Debra came rushing forward and hugged her hard. Riley held on tighter than Debra, happy to see her and relieved to know this seemed to be over.

  “I knew you wouldn’t leave me forever.”

  Riley felt the tears form in her eyes. She’d asked Cole, Trevor, and Logan to let her do the talking. To just sit there and listen to what was being said while she visited with Debra.

  “Did you send me the letters and flowers, Debra?”

  Debra looked at her father first, got his nod, and then said, “I did. I missed you.” Deb had her hands clasped in front of her, almost bouncing on the chair she was sitting in at the kitchen table in her father’s small apartment.

  “The flowers were very pretty.”

  “Did you like the sayings? I picked them out by myself. You’re special. That was the last one,” Debra said, nodding her head. “That was my favorite of them all.”

  Riley really looked at Debra. She looked older than forty-two. Her short hair was in a simple style, lots of gray coming through, but a bright yellow headband with a red bow on the side kept it from falling in her face.

  Her jeans were faded, with a pair of comfortable walking sneakers on her feet, and a yellow shirt with a smiling cat on the front. She even had little sticker decals on two of her nails.

  “How come you didn’t sign your name to the letters?” Riley asked gently. “If I’d known it was you, I would have sent you a thank you card.”

  “Would you have?” Debra asked, her eyes wide, bouncing a little more in the seat. Not a nervous movement but a happy one. A thrilled one. “Really?”

  “I would have. Do you like getting letters?” Riley asked.

  “I’ve never gotten any. I don’t have any friends,” Debra said, frowning slightly. “But you always talked to me. No one else did. No one else does.” She looked around the room at the men, then lowered her voice. “Everyone thinks I’m stupid.”

  Riley looked at the men. Cole, Trevor, and Logan all looked stunned. Frank looked sad.

  “Everyone ignores my daughter in the building,” Frank said, his voice cracking.

  “They don’t like me because I’m different,” Debra said. “But that’s okay, because I’m a nice person. You know that. You’re my friend, Riley.”

  “How did you know it was my birthday?” Riley asked. There were still so many unanswered questions on how Debra managed to do what she did, but Riley was wondering if it even mattered—the how—because she knew the why.

  “I know where Daddy keeps his files.” She turned her head and looked at her father, then dropped her eyes in shame. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m not supposed to touch them, but I recognized Riley’s name on your desk. I saw numbers and wrote them down. I asked my teacher what they were. She said it looked like a birth date. I remembered the date because I kept asking my teachers when it was coming.”

  “You’re not in trouble, Debra,” Frank said softly. “We just want to know the truth. You’re doing good. Just keep answering Riley’s questions.”

  All those months of fear she experienced—all that time wondering what she’d done that was so bad in her life to deserve this—were washed away.

  Here she was feeling sorry for herself for almost a year. Looking at the bad. When all along there was Debra, just looking for a friend. A happy face that would talk to her now and again. Enough to do something that she knew she shouldn’t have.

  “Yes, I’m your friend, Debra.” Riley reached her hand across and lay it on Debra’s, saw her hesitate and then put her other one on top of Riley’s, sandwiching them together.

  “I was sad when you left. It took me a long time to find you.”

  “How did you find me?” Riley asked, shaking her head, amazed that she was able to do all this with no one knowing.

  “I heard someone talking about you being a dentist. At day treatment, I told them you were my dentist and you moved. I asked them to help me find you one day. That you were my friend.”

  “That was pretty smart of you,” Trevor said.

  “Then I asked them to help me write you a letter. It was the first letter I ever wrote. I was going to sign my name but my writing is messy and I didn’t want you to laugh at me, so I didn’t put it in the envelope.”

  Her heart was breaking right now. Everything she’d beat herself up over in life meant nothing to what Debra lived with each day.

  “I’d never laugh at you, Debra. I really wish you did send the letter or sign your name, though.”

  “If I write you again, you won’t laugh if I do?”

  “No. I won’t laugh at you at all. And you know what? I want you to write me. I’m going to make sure you have everything you need so that you can send me letters anytime you want. And I want you to write them or type or anything you feel good about doing. And I want you to sign your name.”

  “Yay!” Debra said, clapping her hands. “Do you like stickers? I love stickers.”

  “I do. I like stickers a whole bunch.”

  ***

  “You did a good thing back there,” Trevor said. “You are an amazing woman.”

  She held her tears back while they were all in the room, but when they left, Cole took Logan for a short flight, while Riley and Trevor sat in a cafe out of the way of everyone.

  “Did you see her face? It was like talking with Lara. But not really. I mean, even Lara has a better understanding of life and right and wrong. Debra didn’t even seem to understand that. She just wanted the one person who’d been nice to her to know she was there. I’d never thought anything of it before when I saw her. Not one way or another. She’d say hi or talk for a few minutes, and I’d talk back and then go on my way.”

  “Frank said that the lapse in time of communication was probably nothing more than Debra not grasping time well. A day, a week, a month—they tend to blend together for her. She’s been known to just wake up and remember an event, but not remember when it happened.”

  “It all makes sense now. Nothing was ever threatening. Nothing had a pattern because there wasn’t one. Nothing was as it really seemed. There was no malicious intent. No one was trying to scare me, no one was stalking me. She just wanted a friend.”

  “It was simpler than we all thought,” Trevor said. “The problem is society has taught us to be so cautious now. To always look for the bad before the good. Even I never expected this.”

  “I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

  “You’re going to write her every month like you said, aren’t you? Even if she doesn’t write back?”

  “Of course I am. It’s not about me. This is about her feeling good about herself. About having some type of acceptance in her life. It’s very little effort on my part to let her know she has a friend. To let her know there is someone else in her life other than her father.”

  “And you’ll visit her when you come visit your parents?” he asked, but he knew the answer.

  “Of course. If she wants to see me.”

  “I’m sure she will,” he said. “Now I’ve got to ask. I’ve got to know. It’s over with. Do you regret moving like you did? Do you wish you’d stuck it out and found the truth here before you uprooted your life?”

  She laughed. “I told my mother earlier today that I never ran away. This situation with Debra was the final straw. All those other things happening in my life, with Jason, with my own unhappiness, just clouded my judgment in finding out what all those letters, calls, and flowers meant. That there was no threat, but everything else in my life seemed s
o negative that I was looking for the negative here, too. Truth was I needed something in my life that I couldn’t find here. And I used that fear as an excuse to leave. It just took everything else for me to realize it.”

  He smiled and reached his hand out for hers. “Are you still searching for it?”

  “Not at all. Trevor?”

  “Yes.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Will you marry me?” His jaw dropped and she laughed at him. “You’re going to let me rip your kitchen apart without blinking an eye—and if I have my way every room in that house will be hit—but bringing up marriage shocks you?”

  “You didn’t bring it up. You asked me. I’m supposed to ask you!”

  “I didn’t want to wait. Who knows how long it would take you? Everyone is telling me not to let you get away. I figured this was the only way I could make that happen.”

  “I won’t be going anywhere,” he said. “No more running for you, either. No more hiding.”

  “Not unless it’s a weekend away together,” she said.

  “Only then,” he said, pulling her up and hugging her. “Time to go find you a ring so I can do this the right way.”

  “There is no wrong way when it comes to love.”

  Epilogue

  “Are you sure you’re okay living here for a few months?” Riley asked.

  “I’ll survive,” Trevor said, glancing up at her as she walked in the room.

  She handed him a beer and joined him on the couch, putting her legs over his. “I know you’ll survive. I asked if you were okay with it.”

  “It’s only a few months. Besides, I guess the bigger question is—are you okay selling a house you just bought?”

  “I haven’t been here long enough to develop any attachment to it.”

  “Not what I asked. It’s the first place you bought on your own. Are you okay with letting it go so soon?”

  She knew he was still worried that she was going to regret so many things because they were moving fast, but that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Trevor.” She grabbed his face in her hands. “I love you. I don’t care where I live. This is a house. Not a home. I want a home with you.”

  “Then why are you gutting my entire house?” he asked, frowning.

  “We’re gutting it. Not me, not you—us. And it’s because it’s just a house to you right now. It’s not your home.”

  “I’ve lived there my whole life,” he argued. “How can you say that?”

  “Because you’ve never once said ‘home.’ There’s a difference. We’re going to make it a home now.”

  “If you say so. I’m not about to argue with you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What did your mother say when you told her? She’s not upset we’re changing up her home, is she?”

  “You just said home,” he said.

  “Geez, Trevor. It was her home. It had her touches on it. It’s not yours. Do you get it now? You may own it, but it’s still theirs more than yours. Understand?”

  “She didn’t say anything at all. She was too excited to hear we were engaged.” He squeezed her sides and kissed her on the lips.

  “Do you think everyone is going to think I’m a spoiled princess for wanting to change everything?” She’d never worried about that before, but now she worried a great deal.

  “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” he asked.

  “Nope. And for the record, you’re the only person who has ever called me a princess. I’ve been called a lot of things, but princess wasn’t one of them.”

  “What about brat?” he asked, tickling her.

  “Maybe a time or two. Stop that,” she said, trying to wiggle away.

  “Riley,” he said, sliding his hands up her shirt now. She was getting distracted. “I know it’s just a house to me. I know what you’re doing and I’m all for it. I want it to be our home. A home we raise kids in someday.”

  “Lots and lots of kids.”

  “No. No more than two. I can’t go through the newborn stage more than twice,” he said, nibbling on her lips.

  “You? What about me?” she asked, shifting back to look at him. He lifted a knowing eyebrow. “Okay, fine. Two kids it is.”

  “And I want to be married by this time next year,” he said.

  “Boy, you’re awfully demanding. You’ve never been this way before. Is this what I get to look forward to when we’re married?”

  “I want to get married before your next birthday because I know you wished for it, even if you won’t tell me. I don’t want to have to sit through another birthday full of tears.”

  She laughed and hugged him tight. “I think I like the fact you know me so well.”

  “You better get used to it, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  “And neither am I.”

  The Road Series-See where it all started!!

  Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery

  Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption

  Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality

  Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason

  The All Series

  William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love

  Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing

  Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me

  Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way

  Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want

  Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love

  Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You

  The Lake Placid Series

  Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance

  Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance

  Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance

  Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance

  Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance

  Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton- Last Chance

  The Fierce Five Series

  Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed- Brody

  Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti - Aiden

  Love Collection

  Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love