Shaping Destiny (17 page)

I squeezed her in a hug
once more. “I’m completely healed, but I am starving.”

“Right, I’m on
it.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I looked
over to my dad. “How is everybody? Luke? Leon?”

“Everyone is fine, just
worried about you.”

“And the Spark family?
Jared?”

“Now the boss is gone, I
don’t see a problem. I called some family that’s in law
enforcement. Everything is taken care of.” My dad folded his arms.
“Jared, well, I think he’s still unconscious.”

“What?”

“Well, your brothers
didn’t have much patience for him. Go get dressed and then you can
talk to him.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled
and turned back to my room.

Max was already awake and
half dressed. “Where did you run off to?”

“My family was worried
about me.” I grabbed my clothes and sat next to Max. “I need to
talk to Jared one last time before this is over.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”
He put his shirt on.

“No, not this time. He’s
harmless, and I need to take care of this myself.” I finish getting
dressed.

Max placed a light kiss on
my lips. “OK, but I won’t be far.”

***

Jared looked asleep,
hunched over in the same chair we had tied him to. Seeing him now,
I realized that I didn’t need him in my life anymore. His betrayal
took any love and respect I still had for him. I did my fair share
of lies in our relationship, but his whole life had been a lie. His
first hello to me was a setup.

I went to the kitchen to
get a cold glass of water and returned to Jared. In one quick
movement he was dripping wet.

“What? What’s going on?”
Jared connected eyes with mine. “Leah.” Sadness enveloped his
words. “You’re alive. Thank heavens. I thought I would never get a
chance to apologize to you. The boss held so many threats, I never
had a choice.”

“That’s where you’re
wrong. You’re a coward, and you chose murder over me. You’d rather
see me dead than go against the boss.”

“At first it was an
adventure, two cousins daring each other to learn more about the
Hawks. I never thought it would end like this. One thing led to
another, and . . .”

“It’s too late. Nothing
you say will fix this. I just wanted to tell you good-bye. I never
want to see you again.” I started walking away, but stopped.
“Forgiveness is something everyone needs in this world, and when
there is none it’s hard to move forward. So take my forgiveness so
there is no excuse for you to show your face here
again.”

“Leah, please . .
.”

“Leon, will you untie
Jared and show him out?”

“My pleasure.” Leon rubbed
his hands together and grabbed a knife.

Max waited for me in the
kitchen. “I hope that knife is to undo the tape.”

“Me too.”

***

Days passed with a lot of
clean-up on the home and cars. Windows got repaired and new
furniture was purchased. We worked hard to make the home better
than it had been before.

“So, Dad, how should we
fix the fence this time?” I folded my arms.

“I’m thinking steel this
time.” Dad nodded his head. “Yes, steel.” He exited to accomplish
his vision.

I turned to see Max
finishing up some flooring. When he noticed, he took a towel to
wipe his hands.

“So what’s the plan for
us? Where should we go from here?” I asked.

“Anywhere you want
to.”

“I thought maybe you could
show me your hometown.” I placed my hand in his.

“I can’t wait.”

“Then maybe go visit the
roomies, try school again.” I inched closer, putting a hand on his
chest.

“We can do
that.”

“And then because I had
such a great teacher to help me be in control of the shift, maybe
we can practice being out of control again.”

“Perfect,” he said over my
lips as we kissed.

THE END

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