Hooker (36 page)

I smile at my mother when she comes to stand beside me. ‘She’ll be out soon,’ she says. ‘She looks beautiful, Brock.’ I didn’t doubt that for a second. I can’t wait to see her.

‘I bet she does.’

‘How are you holding up, you look nervous?’

‘I am, Mum. I honestly thought marriage wasn’t on the cards for me, but when I met Jade all that changed.’

‘The
love you have for each other is rare. Hold on to that.’ I have no doubt in my mind that we will. She means everything to me and I intend to cherish her for the rest of my life.
She completes me
. ‘You’re going to give me the most beautiful grandchildren.’

I chuckle at her comment. She’s brought the subject up a number of times since we announced our engagement. My mother has flourished since my father’s death, but there are times where she seems lost. Grandchildren would help fill that void I gather. She’s very active in mine and Josh’s lives now which is great. I love having her around.

‘Hopefully one day we’ll be able to give you grandchildren.’ It’s not like Josh will be able too. Leaning forward I place a soft kiss on her cheek. I would love nothing more than to start a family with Jade one day, but for now I just want to enjoy her.

‘I’m going to go and take my seat. Good luck, honey,’ she says, rubbing her hand affectionately down my arm.

I roll my shoulders and take a deep breath trying to calm myself. Where the fuck is Josh? I look down at my watch. They’re late. A few minutes pass before my brother comes rushing down the red carpet that was laid on the lawn earlier. He’s breathless as he comes to a stop beside me.

‘Where the fuck have you been?’ I ask in an angry whisper.

‘Long story,’ he replies. By the look on his face I know he’s been up to something and that makes me feel uneasy. Before I get a chance to pry further, the music starts playing, signalling Jade’s arrival. She chose the song Endless Love sung by Stan Walker and Dami Im, to walk down the aisle too.

‘Shit,’ I mumble nervously to myself as I turn and face the house.

‘You’ve
got this,’ Josh encourages, placing his hand briefly on my back. ‘You guys were made for each other.’

The moment she appears on the patio I take in a sharp breath. She looks even more beautiful than I imagined. Theo walks down the aisle first, but I barely notice him because I can’t take my eyes off Jade. Her arm is linked through Rupert’s as they slowly make their way towards us. My heart is thumping rapidly against my ribcage. When she is within metres of me, she gives me a breathtaking smile. The tears that glisten in her eyes bring a lump to my throat.

I reach for her hand and lace our fingers together when she comes to a stop beside me. ‘You look beautiful, sweetheart,’ I whisper. Her grip tightens around my hand as we both face the marriage celebrant. I’m eager to start my new life with her by my side.

She’s my best friend
.

My dream girl
.

My soulmate
.

Five months later …

JADE

I
leave the kitchen carrying a batch of freshly baked Snickers cookies. It’s my own recipe and one of my bestsellers. Buying that chocolate at the airport turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. That insignificant moment changed my life. Brock still says that, to this day, he can’t walk past a Snickers bar without thinking of me.

The bell above the door chimes just as I place the hot tray on the counter. Taking off my oven gloves, I turn to greet my first customer for the day. It’s been almost three months since I opened my patisserie. It’s everything I dreamed it would be, and more. I decided to name it ‘Life’s Sweet’, because that’s exactly what life has become—sweet. I’ve come a long way from where I once was. Thanks to my husband and new found family, the horrors of my past seem like a distant memory.

As hard as it was for him, Brock didn’t interfere, and let me pay for everything with the money I’d earnt from working for M. He likes to spoil me, but he knew how much it meant for me to do this on my own. He’s very understanding and
supportive. I worked hard for that money, sacrificed my soul for it, so I got immense satisfaction from seeing it put to good use. It helped make everything I went through worth it. In the end, those hard times not only helped me fulfil my dreams, they led me to Brock. That can’t be a bad thing.

‘Morning,’ I say as the man approaches the counter. He’s around my age, and quite handsome with his dark hair and rugged features.

‘Morning,’ he replies with a genuine smile as he comes to a stop in front of the display cases. The moment our eyes meet, my heart starts to race. His eyes are identical to my jade green ones.

‘Jade?’ he says hesitantly.

‘Tate?’ My eyes instantly cloud with tears. When he nods his head, I clutch my hands to my chest. My brother.

I’ve found my brother
.

Before I even realise what I’m doing, I’m on the other side of the counter, launching myself into his arms. I don’t mean to cry, but I find myself sobbing into his chest as we hold each other tight. I finally have a real blood relative, something I’ve wished for my entire life.

‘Your husband wanted me to come to the house for dinner tonight, to surprise you,’ he tells me, tightening his embrace. ‘I feel bad for ruining this for him, he seems like a great guy, but I couldn’t wait another second to see you. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment. The minute my plane touched down, I headed straight here.’

‘I’m so glad you came,’ I manage to say. ‘So glad.’

Tate spends the rest of the day with me at the shop. We don’t stop talking the whole time. I call Brock and he comes over in his lunch break to meet him. He isn’t upset that his
surprise was ruined, he’s just happy to see us together again. I have the most amazing husband.

Tate was adopted a few months after we became wards of the state. The family that took him already had three daughters and desperately wanted a son. Maybe that’s why they didn’t want me as well. He was only three years old when we were separated, so in time, he forgot about my existence. He tells me that when Brock contacted him four days ago, he called his adoptive parents and asked about me. They told him he cried for weeks when he first came to live with them, and kept asking for his bubba.

Hearing that breaks my heart
.

He confesses to dreaming about me the night after finding out he was adopted. He says he was standing beside my crib and reached in to take hold of my hand. He distinctly remembers saying the words, ‘I love you, bubba,’ which makes my cry. We were both robbed of so much.

Tate tells me he always felt like a part of him was missing, growing up. Even though he had a good life, and his adoptive parents loved him, he confesses to never truly feeling like he belonged. He tells me how his sisters resented him for being the son their parents always wanted, and gave him a hard time for it; how he left home as soon as he was old enough. He’s been working abroad for the past five years. That’s why Brock had trouble tracking him down.

We sit up into the early hours of the morning catching up. We laugh and cry. It’s an amazing feeling to be reunited with him. I hate that we’ve missed out on so much, but we have the rest of our lives to make up for lost time.

*

I
don’t have the nerve to bring out the letter that my father had written before he died until a few days after Tate arrives.

‘What’s that?’ he asks when I place it on his lap.

‘It’s all the information I have on our family. There’s some photos inside, and a letter from our father.’

‘Really? What’s it say?’

‘I haven’t read it yet. I was waiting to find you so we could read it together.’

Tate holds the letter from our father in his hands. ‘Are you ready to see what it says?’

‘Yes.’ It’s the last piece of our puzzle. Hopefully it will tell us why he took his life. It’s the only thing we don’t know. My brother’s hands slightly shake as he removes the letter and unfolds it.

We’re both quiet for the longest time once we’ve read our father’s parting words. I have a kaleidoscope of emotions running through me. I’m sad that he was so broken by her death, but at the same time, it was nice to hear how much he loved her. At least I’m the product of love.

I feel guilty my mother died giving birth to me. My birth ruined all our lives and ripped our family apart. I’m also angry that my father’s decision tore me away from Tate and led me into a life of abuse at the hands of my carers, before being adopted by a woman who forced me into prostitution. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

I wish he hadn’t taken his own life, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Tate’s life wasn’t that bad, but my childhood was horrific. My life would’ve been so different if he’d stuck around.

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t around to look after you,’ Tate says.

‘It
was out of your hands. You were just a kid. I had a good life,’ I lie. There’s no point dredging up the past. Telling him the truth will do no good. Squeezing his hand, I force out a smile as pieces of my childhood flash through my mind.

‘I’m happy to hear that.’ He pauses. ‘Would you come to the cemetery with me tomorrow?’ he asks.

‘Of course.’ I don’t need to think about it. It will be good for us both.

It’s a two-hour drive to the small town where Tate and I were born, and where our parents are buried. Brock is with us, but opts to stay in the car when we reach the cemetery. He thinks it’s something we should both do together, but assures me he’s here if I need him. I’d be lost without that man.

We stop off in town and buy some beautiful white roses to place on their grave. As we approach the gravesites, I clutch the flowers to my chest as Tate bends down to clear the leaves that have gathered over their headstones. A lump rises to my throat when I read what they say.

When Tate straightens, he drapes his arm over my shoulder. ‘Mum, Dad, it’s us, Tate and Jade. It’s taken twenty-four years for us to find each other again, but we wanted you to know that we’re finally together.’ He turns his head and smiles at me. ‘And I’m so glad we are.’

‘Me too,’ I say, putting my arm around his waist and resting my head on his shoulder.

I pass one of the bunches of flowers to him and he bends down and lays them on our father’s grave. ‘I promise I’ll look after her,’ I hear him whisper.

Crouching down, I lay my bunch of flowers by my mother’s headstone. ‘I’m sorry.’ I was just a baby, but I can’t help but feel responsible for her death. Suddenly, it all becomes
too much and I cover my face with my hands and sob. I feel relieved I finally got to say that to her, it’s played on my mind my entire life. I wish more than anything that things could’ve been different.

‘Come here,’ Tate says, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. He hugs me tightly as we both cry for our parents, for our family, and for the life we missed out on. It’s cathartic. It’s closure. I know coming here today is the first step in truly healing. It will help us both. You may not be able to change the past, but you can shape your future.

*

M’s trial finally rolled around. Both Rupert and I were subpoenaed as witnesses. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but on the other hand, I was eager to see this through to the end—to finally be able to put M, my past, and everything I went through behind me. I have a wonderful life now and a family who loves me, so there’s no point dwelling on something I can’t change. I know Rupert is keen to see justice served, and the monsters responsible for his daughter’s death finally held accountable.

To my dismay, I’m the first to be called to the stand. I’ve been dreading this day. Under the circumstances, the court offered to let me give my evidence by video link, but that would be the coward’s way out. I refuse to let her take one more piece of my dignity. I’d forever be disappointed in myself if I didn’t face her. I firmly believed standing up to M is exactly what I need to finally be free. It’s something I’ve yearned for. She bullied and intimidated me for far too long. With Sasha’s death always in my mind while I lived
with M, it gave her the power to control me in the worst possibly way.

Butterflies churn in my stomach the moment I enter the courtroom, but like every other tough situation I’ve faced in my life, I plan to tackle it head on. Squaring my shoulders, I put on my you-can’t-fuck-with-me-face as I walk to the witness box. My eyes briefly meet Brock’s as I pass. He nods, giving me a reassuring smile. His presence is all I’ll ever need. He’s my rock. Tate, Joshua and Theo are here with him to give Rupert and I moral support.