Romance: New Beginnings (Young Adult and Adult Romance, Christian Christmas Fiction book as a Love Story) (Second Chances Trilogy 3) (11 page)

Chapter 20

Jackson showed up just as Grace and the girls were leaving for school. “Hey, what are you doing out so early?”

“I forgot to give you this envelope the other day when I dropped the dress off.” Jackson walked across the driveway and handed her the envelope with a smile.

“Thanks. New ride?” Grace asked, eyeing the black SUV.

Jackson looked back at the SUV with a rueful grin, “Yeah, somehow I couldn’t see the Mustang faring well in the mountains of Montana.”

Grace laughed and shook her head, “Probably not. I couldn’t believe how much snow they had up there at Christmas time.”

“They got another foot just in the little bit of time I was up there,” Jackson nodded his head. “I guess I’m probably gonna have to re-learn how to ski.”

“Skiing? No thanks. I’ll stick to the beach and sunscreen.” She laughed and then hollered for the girls who were playing with Shelby in the front yard. “Emily. Dani. Time for school or you’re going to be late.”

“Hey, don’t let me hold you up. I just found that last night and figured you were probably wondering what happened to it. That, and the fact that the movers are coming at the end of the week and I was afraid I would lose it in the mayhem that is sure to ensue.”

“Hey, Mr. Jackson, watch this!” hollered Emily as she ran across the yard and attempted to do a front cartwheel. Unfortunately, her right arm buckled as she put it down and she cried out, landing in a heap in the grass.

Grace took off across the yard with Jackson right behind her, “Emily! Sweetie, don’t move.”

Jackson bent down next to the little girl, trying to keep her from moving too much until he could assess the situation. Emily pushed her legs out and then screamed in pain as she attempted to push herself up to a sitting position. She cradled her arm against her chest and her little body trembled in pain.

Jackson gave Grace a look and then nodded towards the house, “Can you go get Tori?” he whispered quietly. Grace nodded her head and took off running for the backyard. Her heart was racing and she couldn’t believe this was happening.

Jackson could see Dani still standing in the middle of the yard with a look on her face that meant he was about to have two crying females to deal with.
Grace, come back quickly!
Seeing a little golden fur ball stick its head out from behind the gate, he pointed and sent Dani to stop the puppies from escaping. “Dani, sweetheart, can you go shut the gate and put that little guy in the backyard.”

Dani followed his pointing hand and then nodded. That problem solved, Jackson turned back to the still crying Emily, although she was now shaking uncontrollably and he could see shock starting to set in.

“Emily, sweetie, does your arm hurt?” he asked softly, observing the angle of her arm and knowing that is was most definitely broken.

“Really bad,” she said with a shaky voice.

“Emily!” Tori cried, coming out the front door and hurrying to where Emily sat in the grass.

Jackson looked up and shook his head, mouthing “Easy” to help calm her down. Tori’s nurse training kicked in and he watched as she drew herself up and put a small smile on her face. “Hey, Grace tells me you were trying to be a gymnast.”

“Mommy, it hurts!” Emily cried, reaching up with her good arm for her mother.

Tori knelt down in the grass and wrapped a tender arm around Emily’s head. “I know, sweetie. Can you let Dr. Jackson look at your arm for a minute and then we’ll go see the doctor and get you all fixed up.”

“No!” Emily screamed. “No hospitals! You promised!”

Jackson looked up at Tori with a question on his face. She hurried to calm Emily down, “Sweetie, we need to go see the doctor so they can take a picture of your arm and fix it. Mommy will stay with you, okay?”

Emily let out a shuttering breath and then slowly nodded her head, the movement causing another rush of pain to push through her small body.

Tori looked up at Jackson with tears in her eyes, “I can’t carry her.”

“Shush, I’ll do it. Grace, can you drive us to the hospital?” he asked calmly, dreading the moment when he would need to lift the little girl. Somehow, she had stolen a piece of his heart and the last thing in the world he wanted to do was cause her more pain.

Grace nodded and hurried to open the back door to her vehicle, “Dani, we need to go.” She looked around and then at Jackson.

“I sent her to shut the gate and put the puppies back in.”

Grace hurried over and retrieved Dani, thankful that the shock of her friend’s injury was keeping her quiet. “We have to take Emily to the doctors. Can you get in your car seat, please?”

“Yes, mommy,” Dani said, stopping to tell Emily, “The doctors will make you all better. Can we call Michael mommy? Maybe he can stay with her so she won’t be so scared like he did with me?”

“We’ll see. Get in your car seat.” Grace watched for a moment to make sure she could handle the task and then turned to Tori, “Let me help you up.”

Once Tori was steady on her feet, Jackson made Emily look at him, “Sweetie, I’m gonna carry you to the car. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s going to hurt when I pick you up, but I need you to be real brave for me. Can you do that?”

When Emily nodded, Jackson stood up and then bent over so he could lift her straight up, “Okay, here we go.” Emily whimpered, but thankfully, she didn’t cry out as he lifted her into his arms.

“Good girl. Just rest your head on my shoulder and close your eyes.” He looked up to see Tori openly crying and told her, “She’s going to be just fine. Let’s get her to the hospital.”

*****

“Tori, the break is worse than I originally thought,” the orthopedist told her. “The only way to ensure it will heal properly is to pin it.”

“Surgery?” Grace asked, frowning when Tori nodded.

“I’ve already reserved the next surgery suite available. It shouldn’t be long now. I’ll send the nurse down with the paperwork.”

Tori nodded her head, wondering why this was happening. At least they had sedated Emily and she appeared to be sleeping peacefully at the moment. She was still lost in thought when the nurse arrived with the pre-op paperwork. Everything was fine until she came to the form suggesting someone with the same blood type make a donation, just in case something went wrong.

With type of surgery, the possibilities of the patient needing a blood transfusion were extremely small, but it was standard procedure for every operation. Pulling the page out of order, she moved it to the back of the pile. Tori wasn’t aware Jackson was looking over her shoulder until he asked, “You don’t believe in giving blood. I would have thought someone with your training would have been all for that positive action.”

“I can’t give blood to Emily,” Tori answered, continuing to focus on the paperwork.

“Why not? You’re a little anemic, but you’d only need to give a pint.”

Tori looked up at him and then shook her head, “No, I mean Emily can’t use my blood. We’re not the same blood type.”

Jackson looked at her like she was crazy, “That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe, but it’s true.” Finding the donor paperwork, she thrust it at him and said, “Why don’t you donate?”

“What makes you think Emily and I have the same blood type?” Jackson asked, starting to think maybe he was missing something big.

Tori looked at him and then set the pen down, “Jackson, I know why you didn’t have closure with Michelle. It’s okay. I’m not judging you, but if you really want to help, donate some blood. I doubt Emily will need it, but then again, nothing seems to be going right today.”

Jackson was even more confused when Tori brought Michelle into the equation. “What does your sister have to do with my donating blood to your daughter?”

Tori looked at him and then it dawned on her that Jackson didn’t know. She swallowed, wishing to be anywhere but here. “You didn’t know, did you?”

“Know what?” Jackson sat down next to her, thankful that Grace had taken Dani to school and hadn’t returned yet. “What is it that I didn’t know?”

Tori closed her eyes and then whispered, “I’m not Emily’s biological mom. I thought you knew and…,” she opened her eyes and then looked away. “Jackson, Michelle was pregnant when we left Oregon.”

She saw the shock on his face and then realized what he’d thought, “You thought I was the one with the baby?” When he nodded, she laughed, “That’s a good one. The girl who’s never been on a date gets accused of being promiscuous.” She had tears running down her cheeks she was laughing so hard.

“Tori, I think there’s been a big misunderstanding here. There is absolutely no way Emily is mine.” When she looked at him and stopped laughing, he said it again, “None. Zero possibility.”

“Then...,” Tori trailed off, seeing the nurse returning for the paperwork. She handed it back to her, grateful when she left them alone once again. “If you weren’t…I mean…”

“Look, I found out several months after graduation that Michelle had been dating a couple of guys from the next town over. Evidently, I wasn’t exciting enough for her. The father has to have been one of them.”

Tori was stunned. Jackson was angry that either of them had been put in this situation, and then her words came back to him.
The girl who’s never been on a date…

“How old were you when Emily was born?”

“Sixteen, why?” Tori asked, still trying to process this new information about her sister. She’d known her sister was out doing things she shouldn’t do, but this…

“So, I want to make sure I haven’t misunderstood anything else. Emily was born before the car accident?”

Tori shook her head, “No. Since Michelle was already thirty-five weeks along, they managed to keep her alive long enough to perform an emergency C-section. She died half an hour after delivery.”

Jackson’s admiration for the woman sitting next to him grew. “You were just a kid.”

“I grew up fast. I didn’t have a choice and I couldn’t let them take her away.”

“Tori,” the orthopedist said, gaining her attention, “we’re ready for her. I’ve already sedated her, so things should go pretty quickly. I’ll come get you when she’s out of surgery.”

“Thanks, doctor.” Tori watched him walk away and then turned to Jackson, “So you thought my mom had made us leave town because I had gotten pregnant?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“That’s okay. Part of me wishes that had been true. After the chemo and radiation, my chances of ever getting pregnant are about ten percent.”

“You still have Emily,” Jackson reminded her.

“Yeah, that’s something. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love that little girl as if she were my own. But what girl doesn’t dream of having her own kids one day?”

“It could still happen. Ten percent isn’t a zero percent.”

Tori nodded her head, seeing Grace returning with Jane and Samuel in tow.
Amazing how nice it is to have friends!

Chapter 21

Samuel chatted with Jackson while the women got up to speed on Emily’s condition. He smiled when he heard Grace taking charge of things, “I’ve already called the women at the church, and they are going to bring meals for the next several weeks. With us all leaving in a few weeks for the wedding, I want to make sure you have plenty of help around. This will give you a chance to meet some new people.”

Tori was so overwhelmed, she just sat there. Grace was taking over her life, and for now, that was okay with her. Emily came out of surgery forty-five minutes later and Jackson went back with Tori to sit with her in recovery.

Grace, Jane and Samuel promised to come up later and left to head their separate ways. Grace had a Children’s Choir rehearsal and needed to be on time as it was the last one before their mid-term concert.

Samuel offered to drop Jane off at the test kitchen, needing a few minutes to explain what was happening with Julian and Trevor.

“So, you all think the lawyer is helping Julian set up a hit on Sara? But he’s going to use Grace and Dani to find her?”

“That’s a good summation of what we think is going on.”

“So, if you followed him and know who the hit man is, why not just arrest them and be done with it?”

“If only it was that simple. We don’t know what she looks like. No one does.” Samuel’s phone rang and he answered it, while he pulled over to the side of the road.

“Tell me some good news.”

“Got it. We have a visual identification on the woman Sewell was calling the Raven. You’re not going to believe who it is.”

“Who?”

“Julian Quintana’s daughter. She showed up on several South American watch lists.”

“You’re kidding me! Julian Quintana’s daughter is the Raven?”

“Yep. We’re going to take her down. She’s either getting sloppy, or she thinks she’s invincible. She left a trail a mile wide when she left the hospital. And get this, she was in the courtroom earlier today when Sewell made his plea for her father to start receiving visitors again.”

“Where is she now?” Samuel asked, knowing that if they played their cards right, they could take her down before the sun set on this day.

“I have two cars following her. Shall we pick her up?” Stan asked.

“Do we have enough evidence to tie her to other crimes?”

“Not yet. But the driver left a message for me stating that Sewell expects the Sara situation to be resolved within forty-eight hours. If she’s gonna grab Grace, it’s gonna be soon.”

“Have the team keep up the surveillance. We need to catch her in the act so that there’s no chance of her making bail or getting off on a light sentence.”

“That’s what I was hoping you would say.”

“Good. I’m going to stick with Jane, make sure both Grace and Dani have shadows today.”

“Already done. See ya later.”

Jane had listened calmly and then asked, “That’s good news, right?”

“Yeah. I need you to keep Grace in the dark for a while longer. I don’t want her acting different, or changing up her routine in any way. We need this woman to go after her or Dani…”

“But what if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t. There’s too much at stake, and they are so well covered, Dani can’t hiccup without one of our team knowing about it.”

Jane smiled at him, “I think the Raven should be very scared. It sounds as if her little reign of terror is about to come to an unpleasant end.”

“That would be a blessing in many ways.”
So many people have been hurt by her actions. It’s time to end this!

*****

Emily did so well in recovery that she was able to go home with Tori about 5 o’clock that evening. Grace drove them all home since Jackson’s SUV was still parked outside Grace’s house.

Samuel and Jane were already at the house with Dani, when everyone arrived. Jackson carried Emily into the house, while Tori went ahead of him and turned down her bed. Jackson had offered to spend the night on the couch, and Tori had accepted without arguing.

Jane had left a casserole in the oven, and after making sure they didn’t need anything else, Grace had headed home via the side gate.

She was halfway across the yard, when a female voice called to her from the street. Thinking that someone was lost and needed directions, she changed directions, but before she could take two steps, four dark sedans surrounded the vehicle and Stan was yelling at her to get down.

Grace didn’t realize he was yelling at her, until she felt Samuel run up behind her and pull her to the ground. “Samuel? What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain everything later. For now, please just stay on the ground until we’re sure she didn’t bring help.”

“Quintanas?” she asked, alarm keeping her down when Samuel nodded. Grace stayed on the ground, hoping Dani didn’t try to come outside and see what all the flashing lights were about. Her bedroom was towards the back of the house, so hopefully she was still in Princess mode and oblivious to everything else.

Jackson’s voice came from behind the fence a moment later, “Samuel. You got everything under control?”

“Sure do. Just keep everyone inside for me.”

“Done. I’m going to wait here. Whenever you feel it’s safe enough, send Grace back towards me and I’ll get her home.”

“Dani’s watching a movie in the house with Jane,” Samuel informed him without taking his eyes off the motion on the street.

Moments later, Stan held up his hand and started across the grass, “She’s working alone. We’ve got her dead to rights. She had both Grace and Dani’s pictures, taped to her dashboard, and is singing like a lark. I’m thinking she doesn’t know that we’ve figured out who she is, but she will. I’m saving that little piece of information for the right moment.”

Samuel pulled Grace to a standing position, “It’s all over now. With her confession and the other information we’ve gathered this last week, it should be enough to ensure Julian and Trevor get a ‘Do Not Get Out Of Jail’ card anytime in the near future.”

“What will happen to her?” Grace asked, watching as two female agents cuffed the woman and placed her in the waiting vehicle.

“She’s wanted in over a dozen countries. We’ll get first stab at her, but I doubt we’ll be able to hold her. She’ll be extradited most likely over to the UK and they can deal with her.”

Jackson, seeing that everything was under control, headed back indoors to find Tori standing near the living room window, watching the action.

“You should be lying down,” he told her as he ushered her back to the couch.

“I saw the lights and was afraid they’d wake up Emily, but she’s sleeping soundly.”

“The pain meds they gave her should keep her sleeping off and on for the next few days. That will give you plenty of time to rest yourself.”

Tori looked at him as he sat on the arm of the chair nearest the couch, “Thank you for everything you did today.”

Jackson was quiet for a moment and then said, “Tori, I know this is going to sound weird, but I wish Emily was my daughter.”

Tori looked at him in wonder, “Why?”

“Because then I’d have a valid reason to force my way into your lives. When your sister disappeared, a part of me left as well. I’ve had a few girlfriends over the years, but they were more like buddies, than romantic interests.

“I just couldn’t convince myself to take a chance on love again. And before you say anything, I realize we were only seventeen, but I don’t think it matters.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Tori asked.

“I guess I want to be part of your lives. I know it probably sounds crazy…”

Tori shook her head, “Not really. I’d like to be friends.”

Jackson looked at her and wanted so much more, but if a friend was all she could offer him right now, he’d make it be enough. He nodded and then told her, “I have a proposition for you and I need to know what you think about it before I make a phone call. Have you ever considered leaving California?”

Tori smiled, “So many times. Every time there’s another shooting on the freeway, or I see a news story about a violent crime, I think about taking Emily and heading back to Oregon. But there’s nothing there for me. We don’t have any other family, and I doubt I could find work in a small town.”

“But if the opportunity arose where you could raise Emily in a small town, you’d take it?”

“In a heartbeat. Why are you asking me these questions?”

“Well, I’ve been doing some thinking. You don’t have a job holding you here, and the new clinic I’m going to be overseeing is going to need nurses. Nurses with experience in oncology.”

Tori watched him and them asked, “Are they accepting applications? I’ve never been to Montana, but I’d be willing to look at it.”

“Tori, you haven’t been paying attention. I will be hiring the nurses and I just need to know if you would be interested. They haven’t even broken ground on the building yet, but they are planning to be up and running by fall. I was wondering if you’d be interested in bringing Emily up and meeting some people and seeing the town.”

Tori nodded, “Maybe. I don’t know about flying, and with Emily’s arm in a cast…”

“I’m already way ahead of you. Michael is flying Grace and Dani up for the wedding in his parent’s private plane. There’s plenty of room if you and Emily want to tag along and see the town. Talk to Sara and Bill Mercer and see if it’s something you might want to explore further.”

“But that’s in just a few weeks,” Tori exclaimed.

“I know. I have to be there by March second, but you could come up the week after that and check everything out.”

“Do you think Michael would mind a few extra passengers?” she asked, the thought of leaving California behind sounding more and more appealing.

“No, I don’t. It would mean you couldn’t have your surgery right away…”

Tori shook her head, “I’m not sure I can handle another one right away anyhow. I go to see Dr. Chevas next week and she’s going to give me a few other options.” Tori felt herself blushing and ducked her head.

“Tori, whatever you choose to do, I want to be there to offer support. I can help with Emily or whatever. Laundry. Dishes.” Jackson smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“But you will be miles away in Montana by then,” she reminded him.

“I can come back for a week or two.”

Tori was silent for a moment and then nodded her head, “I’ll come look at things if Michael has room for us.”

Jackson, unable to stop himself, kissed her on the forehead, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Now, dinner smells good. Ready to eat?”

Tori wasn’t sure how she felt about Jackson’s brief kiss. A funny feeling started in her stomach, and she passed it off as just being hungry. She nodded and got up from the couch, “I’m just going to go check on Emily. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll fix us a couple of plates.”

Tori crept into her daughter’s room and then knelt beside the bed.
Father, I know I haven’t talked to you in the longest time, but if you can still hear me – I need your help. Please let Emily’s arm heal right and take away her pain. And please help me decide which direction to go with my life.

Tori spent a few minutes watching Emily sleep, before kissing her on the head and then lowering the light. She didn’t know where her life was headed, but Jackson wanted to be a part of their lives and she didn’t have the luxury of turning friends away. Maybe Montana would have a place for them as well.