Fearless (The Story of Samantha Smith #1) (47 page)

Fortunately, the Lamberth family also immediately filed a civil suit against Damian. Just in time, too. If I had waited much longer, the statute of limitations would’ve passed, and Damian would’ve gotten completely off the hook. The reason was that Taylor’s parents were the ones paying her medical bills. So even though Taylor was a minor at the time of the accident, the three year civil statute applied to her parents, not her.

Luckily, my testimony was enough to sway the civil jury against Damian. They awarded the Lamberth family enough money to cover all her medical expenses, the loss of her scholarship, and substantial pain and suffering.
 

And because the Wolfram family was so well-off financially, they actually paid. In installments, of course. They weren’t paying out of the goodness of their hearts. Of that, I was sure.

Taylor’s parents climbed out of debt, and Taylor finally went to a four-year college, like she’d always dreamed. She ended up majoring in Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware.

After telling everything to the police that day, Christos and I went back to my parents’ neighborhood and bought Christos some new underwear, socks, a winter jacket, and a tooth brush.

For the fourth time in one day, I told my parents the whole story. I owed it to them. They were very supportive. I was sort of surprised.

At first, they had a hard time believing that Damian could be so heartless. But when I described how callous Damian had been, and that he’d threatened to shoot me and kill me, they actually believed me. I don’t know why I thought they wouldn’t, but they did.

I was extremely grateful for that.

Christos stayed at my parents’ for the entire winter break. He didn’t end up going to New York to see his mom, but that was okay. I was glad to have him with me for emotional support.

My parents didn’t seem to mind his presence, and I think he grew on them by the end of the two weeks. He was so helpful, and did lots of dishes, and took me and my parents out for dinner several more times. I could tell my dad was getting irritated that Christos would never let him pay. Poor Dad.

The topic of my burgeoning art career never came up with my parents over the break, I think because everyone was so overwhelmed talking about the drama surrounding Taylor Lamberth and awful Damian Wolfram, especially after going to Taylor’s attorney in Maryland to give my deposition. When my parents met Taylor and her parents face to face for the first time at the attorney’s office, I think it made my story all the more real and shocking in Mom and Dad’s minds. They had nothing but bad things to say about Damian after that.

All the distraction meant no lectures from my parents about focusing on a sensible business major. Somehow, I suspected it was only a temporary reprieve. Once the drama of Taylor Lamberth died down in our lives, I was sure discussions about my career path would come back with a vengeance.

Christos and I returned to San Diego at the end of December, giving us a few days to settle in before winter quarter started.

I still needed to figure out what was going on between me and Christos. I loved him, and I knew without a doubt that he loved me.

But could I be with him, considering all that I had been through?

Was I that Fearless?

Want to get an email when the sequel is released?

Sign up here:
http://eepurl.com/B7crf

Find out how FEARLESS Samantha Smith is in:

Reckless

the sequel to FEARLESS

coming October 2013

Personal thanks from Devon Hartford:

Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to live with Samantha and Christos for awhile! If you enjoyed Fearless, please leave some positive feedback on Amazon, Goodreads, or any book blogs you frequent. Be sure to tell your friends about it!
 

If you want to drop me a line, you can find me at any of the links below. I love to hear what you have to say, and I love to talk books!

-Devon

Like me on Facebook

Friend me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter @DevonHartford

Follow me on WordPress at devonhartford.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Devon Hartford spent most of his life in Southern California, frequenting many of the locations in Fearless. Devon also paints. His background in the arts was the inspiration for this book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I need to thank fellow New Adult author Elle Casey. She has gone above and beyond in her efforts to help me promote this book and get it into the hands of you, the reader. You should definitely check out her work!

Secondly, thanks to all my passionate and fantastic beta readers: Kimberlin Sanders, Sarah Welsh (a.k.a. Princess Frilly-Bottoms of the Land of Willow), Anne Berkeley, Emaleth Morrigan (mermaid), Whitney Marceleen Hutchinson, Mandy Jamerson, and Camie Laterza, for invaluable feedback and encouragement!

A special thanks to Jennifer Mignano, the official caretaker of the term “breasticles.”
 

And thanks to everybody else who has helped make this book a reality!