Rebel With A Cause (33 page)

And now, back in the present, De was saying that Bekah was behind it all, and that she’d be coming after Carter next.

Just when he thought he’d have a happy ending, with nothing left to work for but Kaitlyn. He didn’t want to keep fighting
, just to keep losing everything.

He felt familiar arms wrap around him. They belonged to Katie. He shook them off, not wanting her near him. He needed to fight – figuratively speaking – De and Bekah on his own. He needed to stand strong, and prove to himself that he was able to stand on his own two feet, or he’d never be able to have a successful relationship with Kaitlyn.

Carter turned to face his old allies and grinned. “Well,” he said casually. “Now that the nutcase criminal has been locked up, how about we go and celebrate?”

Kaitlyn was looking at him, frowning. “De’s insane, you know. Bekah probably had nothing to do with this. De’s probably making it all up.”

Carter shrugged. “I’m not gonna worry about that now. I just wanna get drunk and celebrate De being locked away.”

T-Man grinned and clapped Carter on the back.
“Awesome idea, man.
We definitely need to celebrate his long, long, long sentence.”

The old gang laughed, and Carter hooked an arm around Kaitlyn’s shoulders
. He led the way out of the courtroom, feeling freer than before, but not completely free. It was good enough for him, however.

It was cliché, but the trial had dragged on forever, and the weather outside of the courtroom seemed to reflect the relief they now felt. The sun was up, beating hard down on them, and basking them in warmth.

T-Man, Marcus and Brady all waited for Carter, who stopped abruptly at the top of the steps.
Carter waved a hand at them.

“We’ll meet up over at
Guada
,” Carter said dismissively. “I’ll meet you there. I need to talk to Katie first.”

The guys gave them knowing looks
.

Brady shrugged. “Whatever. I’m going to meet up with Alison.”

Marcus looked at his brother. “You
’re still keeping in touch with her then?”

Brady nodded.
“Yeah.
She finally dumped her loser boyfriend, and now she wants to see me. If all goes well we might be together soon.”

Marcus nodded. “Cool.”

Carter waved his hands at the guys. “Dudes, come on. Go away
already,
I said I needed to talk to Katie.”

The guys laughed and walked to their cars.
Carter turned to Kaitlyn and grabbed her hands.

“I’ve missed you,” he confessed. “
I can’t believe it’s been five months.”

Kaitlyn gave him a small smile.
“Yeah.
It’s been a long time.”

Carter smiled back at her and let go of her hands. He pulled her – late – birthday present out of his front jeans pocket and wordlessly handed it to her.

Kaitlyn took it and looked up at him, confused. “What’s this for?” she asked him.

Carter shrugged nervously and put his hands in his front pockets. “You turned eighteen a month after you left,” Carter explained. “I already had your present, but I didn’t know what to do with it. I guess you can have it now.”

Kaitlyn looked down at the velvet box in her hands. It was obviously jewellery. When she opened the red box, she gasped.

“Oh, Carter,” she said in awe. “It’s beautiful.”

Carter had bought Kaitlyn a silver charm bracelet, with a few special charms already on it. There was a glittering K, for
Kaitlyn; a
silver
C
in the style of tagging
, for Carter; a mini Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, painted red, to represent Carter’s car; and finally, a tiny diamond ring, to symbolise their short-lived engagement.

“
Those charms were custom made,” Carter said quietly. “They cost a fortune, but it was your eighteenth birthday, and you deserved them.”

Kaitlyn closed the box and handed Carter the bracelet. “Can you put it on me?” she asked.

Carter nodded and looped the bracelet around Kaitlyn’s wrist. He then pulled her wrist up to his mouth and kissed the inside of it.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you too,” Kaitlyn replied, hoping like hell he would suggest getting back together.

Carter released her wrist and pulled her towards the stairs. They both sat down, and Carter held Kaitlyn’s hands in his. He looked Kaitlyn in the eye and sighed.

“Katie,” he said patiently. “I can’t be with you.
I love you, and I want to be with you, but I’m dealing with a lot of crap right now, and I’m still shaken up over what De has done to our lives. I need time to work through my crap, Katie.”

Kaitlyn looked down at their intertwined hands and sighed. “Ok,” she said, giving in. “
But just so you know, I’m going to wait for you, Carter.” She looked up at him and gazed into his eyes. “I love you, and I know a good thing when I see one. You, Carter, are the most amazing guy I have ever met. So what if we got off to a roc
ky start? What’s important is that we love each
other, and by the time we
do
get back together, we should be mature enough not to make those same mistakes again.”

Carter smiled.
“Yeah.
I look forward to that.”

Kaitlyn smiled back.
“Me too.”

It was two years later, two years since De’s trial ended, and now it was all happening
.
Everything good they had wanted for themselves was all happening today. De was locked away, Bekah had been arrested and confirmed De’s accusation, and she had been diagnosed with a mental illness.
That illness was the reason she wanted Kaitlyn dead. She didn’t know what she was doing. Both Kaitlyn and Carter had forgiven her.
She was locked away in a psychiatric ward, De was in jail, and their whole group of friends had quit the racing circuit.

Now,
today,
it was two years
later,
and today was the day
Hawke & Johnson’s
officially opened. After months of legalities, red tape, and estate agent bills, Regan Johnson and Carter Hawke managed to finally buy the garage where they worked. Carter
had been working there for over a year now, thanks to Kaitlyn’s dad.

Kaitlyn and Carter had reunited not long after De’s trial had ended. About a week after they’d got back together, Carter had officially met Kaitlyn’s dad, Regan. When Regan had heard that Carter was out of work, he’d found a job for him at the garage where he worked. It wasn’t long before the owner had decided to sell, and Regan and Carter had decided to buy the place.

Of course, Carter now owned sixty percent, and Regan only forty, but that didn’t matter to either man. Regan was just glad that he no longer had to rely on his wife Layla for monetary support. From now on, his business would support him.

Today, at the site of
Hawke & Johnson’s
, the whole family had gathered. Regan’s wife, Layla, had taken the whole day off, just for this occasion. She was so proud that her husband had accomplished his goal of one day owning a garage.

Regan and
Layla’s
seven-year-old son, Jordy, was also there. Jordy was following his dad around while he set up for the grand opening party.

Also there was Kaitlyn Hawke, formerly known as Kaitlyn Johnson. She was Regan’s nineteen year old daughter, and Carter’s wife. She had brought along her and Carter’s one-year-old son, Drew.

Currently Carter was cleaning out the garage. He’d swept, vacuumed and washed the floors, washed the benches and all of the equipment, and tidied up the place. Regan was making sure
the wall of merchandise was in order – anything out of place was just not acceptable today.

Together, the adults of the family had decided to completely revamp the garage. Instead of just taking over
Dylan’s Garage
, they had closed down the place, renovated it, bought all new equipment, and created
Hawke & Johnson’s
.

The business was something that the whole family had a stake in. Not only was Regan part-owner, he was the manager. Carter had decided that he didn’t want to be manager; he just wanted to do up cars, which he was exceptionally good at.

Layla, who not only had a passion for design and ran her own design business, was exceptionally good with numbers. Because of this, she was in charge of the accounting side of the business.

Kaitlyn had completed her Diploma of Design, but had decided not to work at her mother’s design company. She had realised that although she was good at design, it was not her passion. What Kaitlyn loved the most was being a wife and a mother, and that was exactly what she was. However, Carter had persuaded her to become the receptionist for
Hawke & Johnson’s
, once she decided she was ready. Kaitlyn was only going to work part-time though, so she could be a good mother to Drew.

Weeks beforehand, everyone had distributed flyers about the opening of
Hawke & Johnson’s
, and as the family waited inside, they were a bundle of nerves. They were all asking themselves the same question:
will anyone show up?

Of course, at ten-thirty, half an hour before the garage officially opened, a crowd began to gather. The employee’s, all recently hired,
had
shown up to work, despite no vehicles to work on that day. Instead, Regan and Carter were paying them to work until two-thirty, doing the free barbeque, and showing potential customers around the garage.

“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” Layla asked her husband. Regan looked over at Carter and grinned.

“Hell yeah,” he enthused.

Carter
grinned
right back. “To be honest,” he confessed, “I never thought I’d own my own business. This is just mind-blowing.”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. “Save it for the speech.”

Carter kissed Kaitlyn, ignoring the fake coughing coming from Regan. Regan was just freaked because Kaitlyn was his little girl, no matter how old she was.

When the kiss broke, Carter slung an arm around Kaitlyn’s shoulders and they looked out at the gathering crowd. Standing there in the front row, grinning like idiots, was Carter and Kaitlyn’s old crew.

T-Man was there with his now fiancée, Tanya. They had set a date for their wedding, and were getting married in a month.

Standing next to him was Marcus. Marcus had given up on being a driving instructor, and was unemployed for now. He still drove his Spyder, but it was now a bright electric blue instead of brown.

Brady and Alison had finally got together after De’s trial. Alison had become pregnant not long after. They were now standing with Marcus and T-Man outside, and they had brought along their daughter, Melody. Melody was only two months older than Carter and Kaitlyn’s son Drew.

Carter grinned and waved at his friends. They waved back, and Carter decided to screw waiting until eleven ‘o’clock; he wanted to get the party started now. He shot Regan a sideways glance, and they nodded in understanding. Together, they left their family, and walked onto the small stage Layla had borrowed for the occasion.

Carter grabbed the microphone and tapped it. A short screech filled the air, and instantly, the crowd grew silent.

“Well,” Carter said casually, as if his heart wasn’t beating a mile a minute because of nerves. “I can honestly say, today is a huge milestone for me. I never thought I would be co-owner of a business, and certainly not with my father-in-law.”

A few chuckles spread through the crowd, giving Carter a huge boost in confidence. He handed the microphone over to Regan, who stood next to Carter with a large smile on his face.

“And I can honestly say I never thought this day would happen either. Especially because the first time I met Carter, I hated him.” The crowd laughed. “However, to own my own business, even if it is only as co-owner…it is a big deal. Because of this, Carter and I both decided to throw a small party to celebrate the opening of
Hawke & Johnson’s
.”

Regan handed the microphone over to Carter, and Carter grinned even broader than before.

“So, I say we kick this off the right way. Regan and I will cut the ribbon, and then we can finally start the party!”

A small cheer rose from the crowd, and Carter and Regan jogged down the stairs towards the garage roller door. The roller door was up, and a ribbon was stretched across the gap.

“Now,” Carter said into the microphone, “Regan here will cut the ribbon.”

Layla handed her husband a pair of giant scissors, and in one snip,
Hawke & Johnson’s
was officially open for business.

Carter walked over to Katie and grabbed the back of her head. He pulled her lips to his and kissed her with a fiery passion.