“I’m sorry I let my pain blind me. I should have told you sooner.” Crystal said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, their smiling mouths just inches from each other. “I won’t be reckless with your heart ever again.”
He leaned down and kissed her passionately, his arms pulling her in and squeezing her body against his. How had he gotten this lucky? How had he found this much redemption when he felt like he deserved none?
As Crystal leaned back, her wide, ever-present smile staring back at him, Jedda stopped asking himself those questions. The answers didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered now was holding onto what he’d been given.
Someone clearing his throat nervously behind them took them both by surprise. Josh stood, his eyes darting uncomfortably around the hallway as Jedda and Crystal stepped apart from each other.
“Hi Josh,” Crystal said, straightening her rumpled shirt.
“I just wanted to see how she’s doing,” Josh said, clearing his throat again.
“She seems okay, the baby was about to go down for a checkup or something,” Jedda explained as he pointed over his shoulder back to the room they’d just left.
When Josh didn’t answer, his uncomfortable stance growing more so, Crystal seemed to key into what was wrong.
“I don’t think that’s the she Josh was asking about,” Crystal said quietly, touching Jedda’s arm gently.
“You mean Willow,” he said, his face lighting with understanding. “She left this morning.”
“She went back home, back to her parents?”
“No,” Jedda responded with a sigh, remember the state Willow had left things in. “She stole a bunch of money out of her college fund and headed out to California. Bobby’s partner was watching her when she left and was able to get a good tracking on the new phone Willow picked up. Hopefully she doesn’t ditch the phone and we can at least know where she is.”
“She’s got to have a good reason,” Josh said, pushing his hair off his forehead. “I can’t imagine she’s just running off and stealing stuff for no reason.”
“I’m not sure. I keep telling myself I still know who she is, but if I’m honest, she’s been out of my life so long, I can’t really say I know why she’s doing what she’s doing.” Jedda felt Crystal loop her arm around his and squeeze his tensed bicep.
“If you hear from her, will you tell her that I . . .” Josh hesitated, clearly not sure what message he wanted to pass along. “Just tell her I hope she comes back.”
“I will. And If I get a lead on where she is, or find out how she’s doing I’ll let you know,” Jedda said as he grasped Josh’s extended hand in a firm shake.
Josh turned on his heels and headed back down the hallway, looking disheartened with his head hung low.
Crystal leaned her head on Jedda’s broad shoulder as she spoke, “I think he really cares about her.”
“I do too. I just wish she’d wake up and figure out what the hell she’s doing.”
“At least you’ll know where she is. You’re lucky to have that, trust me.” Crystal’s voice was small and tinny as he spun her back into his arms.
“I’ll help you. I don’t know how, but I’ll try to help you find Erica.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her jasmine scented shampoo.
“I think that’s what makes us perfect for each other. I know you’re never going to give up on Willow and I’m never going to give up on Erica.” She rested her head on his chest as he rubbed her back consolingly. She tipped her chin up and smiled into his face brightly. Grasping her cheek firmly he pulled her mouth to his and began to kiss her with a hunger he’d fought off since the moment he’d met her. He backed her slowly to the wall and held her there with the weight of his body, as he continued to kiss her fervently, their tongues clashing with a craving for more.
“I guess you will fit right in with us,” Bobby said through a laugh as he rounded the corner.
Piper let out a laugh as Crystal and Jedda split their bodies from each other and tried to right themselves. Jedda wiped at the peach gloss smeared across his lips, Crystal smoothed back her frazzled hair.
“What is it about all of us and hospitals?” Piper asked, shoving Bobby along. “Let’s give these lovebirds some privacy. Glad to see you worked it out,” she laughed as she winked at them.
“Good choice, bro,” Bobby said, slapping Jedda’s back on his way by. “But maybe take this party somewhere a little more private.”
As they disappeared around the corner Crystal buried her embarrassed face into her hands.
“That sounds like good advice.” Jedda leaned his body back against Crystal’s. “You still have the keys to your hotel room?” he asked, raising a seductive eyebrow at her.
She slipped her hand into her bag that was still slung across shoulder and fished out the key to the hotel room. She waved it back and forth with a playful smile dancing on her lips.
He looped his hand around her dainty wrist and pulled her along behind him as he raced for the door. They flew past Piper and Bobby, who couldn’t contain their amusement. “Drive safely,” they called out behind them as Crystal and Jedda stepped outside, the whooshing doors closing out the laughter of their friends.
“They know where we’re going,” Crystal said with blushed cheeks as she bit at her lip.
“I don’t care if the whole world knows.” Jedda spun back toward her and scooped her up at the waist, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
She let out a yelp and a squeal as he spun her around in a circle then dropped her back down to her feet, both of them needing a minute to lean on each other and steady themselves. “You make me happy, Crystal,” he said, staring down into her face. “Now let’s go see if we can spend the next few hours being really happy.” He smiled as he tickled her side then bolted for the car.
Chapter Twenty-One
Little Frankie was the perfect baby, at least according to Betty. If you took one look at her haggardly tired parents you might begin to question that statement.
“Eight-week-olds are supposed to sleep all the time,” Michael said as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the dining room table. Apparently a tradition they’d all gotten away from, Betty had revived Wednesday night dinner as a means to make sure everyone took time from their busy schedules to slow down and be together. While they all complained about having too much to do at times, they always showed up.
Tonight’s dinner was done and Jules yanked Michael’s tired body up from the table. “Come on, we’ve got a baby to go stare at all night while she stares back at us. I swear this child is nocturnal.”
“I told you she just needs a bluebird feather hanging over her door and a rub of some of that ointment I gave you on her belly. It works like a charm,” Betty insisted for the fourth time.
“Ma, bird feathers are littered with bacteria and that cream looks like it was made at the turn of the century. How long have you had it?”
“It’s been handed down for generations.” Betty nodded. “A dab is all you need to get her clock turned back the right way.”
“I don’t think so, Ma; there aren’t any ingredients listed on the bottle. Is it hypoallergenic? Organic? I’m not going to rub it on her.”
“It worked for you and you turned out fine,” Betty said, reluctantly handing Frankie back to her mother.
“Are you sure you want to make that argument?” Michael asked, gesturing with his eyes over to Jules, suggesting fine was a relative term. He dodged her scornful stare and changed the subject. “Jedda, I’ve got the information for the counselor over in Ilksville. He comes highly recommended from Josh. I’ve told him about you and he’s ready to meet with you as early as next week. He actually has a great program for transition veterans that he thinks you can benefit from once he alters it a bit.”
“Thanks,” Jedda said, squeezing Crystal’s hand a little tighter. When his nerves flared, having someone to ground him made all the difference.
“I passed the bar but two straps and a buckle are too much for me,” he jested to everyone on the porch as he waved a final goodbye and they drove off.
Clay and Betty yawned in unison and didn’t settle into their rocking chairs, as usual. “We’re heading in, kids. The renovations at the restaurant are killing us. We’re so close to being finished but we are bushed,” Betty said as she blew them all a kiss. “You kids stay out here as long as you like. Jedda just turn everything off when you come in.”
“Aren’t you guys staying?” Crystal asked as Bobby reached in his pocket for his car keys. “You have to sit there and swing for a little while, it’s your thing.”
Piper laughed. “Bobby put up a porch swing at our house. It’s cute, and we’ve been sitting on it at night before we go to bed. We’re going to head home.”
“Good night,” Jedda said as he sat on the kitchen chair at the corner of the porch as he usually did.
“We were thinking though,” Piper said as she stepped off the porch, “there’s no use leaving the thing empty. Someone should swing in it. Maybe it’s got a little extra magic in it.” She and Bobby hopped in his truck without saying another word.
“You know I believe in magic,” Crystal said as she dropped down onto the swing, holding the chain with one hand as she started to move it back and forth.
Jedda raced over and sat next to her, like a little kid getting his turn on an amusement ride. He stared out into the yard, his arm wrapped tightly against Crystal as she leaned against his side.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked as she gently moved the swing along to the rhythm of their heartbeats.
“I’m wondering if I’m wrong to wish Willow was back here. She stole drugs that put people in the hospital, lied about going home, and tricked her parents in order to take their money. Maybe her being gone is a good thing. I think it will make my life less chaotic. But something inside of me just wants her back here. Am I seeing something in her that doesn’t exist? And if that’s the case, why do I keep hoping she’ll pull up here any minute.”
“I don’t think anyone is completely good or completely bad. Maybe you just came back into her life at a time when she’d made some mistakes. She can come back from them, and when she does, it’ll be important for her to know those things don’t define her. She can be more than just a culmination of her missteps.”
“She was right about one thing,” Jedda said as he brushed Crystal’s hair to the side. “You are brilliant.” Jedda sighed, turning toward her and bringing his face down to hers. When their lips were only centimeters apart he whispered, “Thank you for believing in me even when I wasn’t sure I was worth it. Maybe you’re right about magic after all.”
“I’ve converted you? Do you want to go throw a coin in the wishing well?” Crystal asked, lighting with excitement.
“Tomorrow.” He pressed his lips to hers and felt the excitement of his love for her run through his body. He always assumed the most intense feelings he’d ever experience were those of rage or fear, but they were like fleeting distant memories compared to the sensations he felt while kissing Crystal.
“I think the swing is working,” she joked as he lifted her onto his lap and kissed her even more passionately.
“Then let’s never get up,” he said, pulling away and locking eyes with her, both his hands bracing her cheeks. “Let’s make magic together.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Willow sat in the corner of her nearly empty loft apartment and waited for her phone to ring. She stared down at it and willed it to chime. Finally it cooperated. She juggled it for a moment in her overly anxious hand and then finally put it to her ear.
“Hello?” she said, attempting to make her voice sound stronger than it was.
“Is this Claudia?” the man on the other end of the line asked in a heavy Spanish accent.
“Yes,” she lied, her palms soaked with sweat.
“I hear you’ve been trying to get hold of me for a while. I don’t particularly like people who hunt me down. If you got business with me, you better say it now, because after this call you won’t hear from me again.”
“I’m sorry to have badgered you. I hear you’re the guy I need to talk to about setting up a good size score of some new stuff.”
“You think I’m dumb enough to talk about this shit on the phone?”
“No, no of course not. I can meet you in person. I have twenty thousand dollars and a proposition for you.” The silence on the other end of the phone had Willow pulling it from her ear to check the screen multiple times to see if he’d hung up.
“I’ll meet with you tonight. You know where the Saint Charles Bridge is?”
“Yes,” she lied again, but was sure she could find it.
“Ten o’clock tonight.” She heard the line disconnect and, as she dropped the phone to the table, clutched at her racing heart. She’d done it. She’d actually made contact with the largest distributer of boutique drugs in southern California and he agreed to meet with her. For a normal drug dealer her measly twenty thousand dollars would be chump change, but Macario Perez was on the ground floor of a completely new industry and he was in need of capital. Or at least that’s what Willow had learned since she’d come out here a couple months ago.
This deal was going to be her ticket. Everything she’d planned, all the groundwork she laid, this was going to make it happen. This score was going to finally free her to truly start her life over. She looked down at the backpack full of money that she’d swindled from her parents and felt the knot of guilt tighten in her stomach.
“It’s all going to be worth it,” she told herself out loud as she stared into the mirror. Her long blonde hair had been cut short and tucked up into a jet-black blunt-cut wig. She had fake piercings trailing up her ears and one in her nose. A prominent henna tattoo was stenciled across her neck and down her chest. None of this suited her much but that was the point. She didn’t want to look like herself. When all these pieces she was planning fell into place it would be important that it didn’t lead back to her. So the disguise was necessary.
She looked up at the clock and realized it was just after dinnertime back on the east coast. She wondered what her brother would be doing right now. She wondered what they all must think of her running off. Stealing again. Trying to force out those thoughts, she laced up her boots and knotted them tightly. It didn’t matter what they thought of her right now because soon enough they’d know the truth. If she could pull this off, then there would be no turning back.
She looked at herself one more time in the mirror before she headed for the door, on her way to finish up some last minute details. Could she really do this? Was this really who she was? Though the answer wasn’t completely clear she knew she had to try. She’d come out here for one reason and one reason only—to take Brad down once and for all. She never intended for that deal they made to be the last of the fight she had in her. But the only way to make it happen was to separate herself from everyone else’s lives. Two many cooks in the kitchen, Betty would say. This was something she needed to do alone. Not just to protect the people she cared about, but to prove to herself that she could. None of them needed to throw themselves on the sword at her expense. The mistakes she made, the risks she took, were all leading up to this moment.
All she had to do was stand across from a violent drug lord and pitch him a deal he’d likely think was insane. A lump in her throat grew to a suffocating size as she considered what could happen to her.
It was too late now. Her destiny was going to be waiting for her under the Saint Charles Bridge and she was determined to face it. Brad would pay for what he’d done to her, even if she had to go down fighting. All she could hope was when this was
over there would still be someone around who loved her.
The End
Follow Willow’s story
Settling Scores - May 2014
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Finding Freedom (Book 4) (Piper Anderson Series) Page 20