Romance: New Beginnings (Young Adult and Adult Romance, Christian Christmas Fiction book as a Love Story) (Second Chances Trilogy 3) (10 page)

Chapter 18

“Trent, we don’t think there’s any danger to Sara, but keep her close until you hear back from me,” Samuel said.

“I take it you all have a plan in place?” Trent asked, motioning for Becky to shut the door to his office.

“Yeah. We’re only after visual identification right now. We need to know what this woman looks like so we can track her movements. Without any sort of eyewitness evidence, we’d never come close to getting a conviction if we just arrested her for meeting with Sewell.”

Trent nodded his head, “I hear you. Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do from this end.”

“Will do. Now, about the wedding coming up…would you stand up with me?” Samuel asked, knowing that Jane had already asked Sara to be her maid of honor.

“Man, I’d be honored. You thinking of doing the whole dress-up thing?” Trent asked, thinking he’d need to take a trip to find a tux if that was the case.

“No!” Samuel stated so quickly, Trent couldn’t help but laugh.

“Got it! No tux! Definitely no tux!”

“You laugh, but when was the last time you voluntarily put yourself in one of them monkey suits?”

“Oh, come on. They’re not so bad. But I’m with you. So what, suits and ties?”

“Yeah. I’m going with a brown theme to match Jane’s peach dress. I haven’t seen the dress yet, but she bought it here in California, so I can assure you it isn’t going to offer anything in the way of keeping her warm.”

Trent could hear the planning in his friend’s voice and asked, “What did you have in mind?”

Samuel spent the next thirty minutes planning with Trent. When the two men hung up their phones, a plan had been devised to give Jane the romance she’d said she didn’t need or want in a wedding. Sometimes, a man just had to make a decision and go with it. Samuel couldn’t wait until the wedding. Jane was going to get romanced right off her feet!

*****

Tori stood under the spray of the hot shower and tipped her head back. The warm water felt so good against her skin, and after washing her hair and rinsing it, she had to admit she lacked the energy to do more than just stand there.

After another couple of minutes, she heard Grace ask if she was ready to get out and she sighed and answered, “Yes.”

Tori turned the water off and then reached for the towel. Grace had hung it over the top rail of the shower enclosure, and it took all of her energy to reach up and pull it down. She dried her face and then wiped the dry towel over her head.
Remember when you used to have enough hair you needed two towels when you took a shower?

She let a hand lightly touch her scalp, almost crying when she felt how smooth it was. What little hair she had was falling out, thanks to the last round of chemo and now she had to start all over.
At least it was the last round! This time when your hair grows back, it might get longer than a quarter of an inch before falling out!

Grace knocked on the door once again and then opened a crack, “Tori, are you okay in here?”

“Yeah, just feeling sorry for myself.” She wrapped the towel around her and then stepped from the shower, sinking down to sit on the closed toilet lid while her energy level recovered.

“That’s understandable. I brought you some clothes. Can you manage, or do you need some help?”

Tori looked up and met Grace’s eyes, “I hate to admit this, but I guess I’m going to need some help. If you don’t mind that is.”

“Do you want me to get Emily…?”

“No! I don’t want her to see me…I mean, she hasn’t seen…”

Grace stepped inside the room and then closed the door, “Honey, it’s okay. You don’t want Emily to see your scar. It’s okay. Let’s get you dressed and then go eat.”

“Is Jackson still here?” Tori asked as Grace helped her pull a clean tank top over her body, a darker one this time that hid her scars, but not her disfigurement. “Can you get me a sweatshirt as well?”

“Are you cold?” Grace asked in concern, sweating from the steam the shower had created. It was almost still in the high seventies outside, an uncharacteristic heat wave having moved through Southern California in the last few days.

“No, but…I can’t go out there in just a tank top.”

Grace looked at her and then asked, “Tori, are you planning on covering up your body for the rest of your life?” Hearing her own voice, she paused and waited for Tori to tell her to get out.
I’m butting in and it would serve me right if she told me to take a hike and mind my own business!

“Grace, look at me. I mean, really look. I may be cancer free, but what it left behind is hideous. I can’t even look like a woman right now!”

“Tori, everyone understands….”

“I don’t! I know this doesn’t make any sense, but I feel so violated! The cancer took so much from me, and I can’t ever get it back.”

“What about reconstructive surgery?” Grace asked, having already discussed this with Tori when she was in a better frame of mind. She wasn’t sure what had her thinking about herself like this, but she wondered if it didn’t have to do with the gorgeous man sitting in the other room.

“Yeah, it will make things look better. But that can’t happen for at least the next two weeks. And then I’ll have another surgery to recover from.”

Grace could see the pity party was building steam and decided it was time for some tough love. “Are you listening to yourself? How many of the women you took care of didn’t get the chance you have? How many of their husbands, and children can only go to a gravesite to remember them?

“You’re alive! You may not like the way things look right now, or how crummy you still feel, but you’re alive! You will wake up tomorrow and have the opportunity to change the superficial things you don’t like. How many other women never get that chance?”
People like my mother!

Tori opened her mouth and then closed it. “I…”

“You know what, Tori? You are so blessed but you don’t see it. Not all the time anyway. Stop letting the cancer win and live!”

Tori released the tears that had been tightly held for so many months, sobbing even harder when Grace wrapped her arms around her and murmured, “Shush. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you. Really, please quit crying.”

Tori shook her head, “No! You’re right. I am blessed and the longer I feel sorry for myself, the longer the cancer wins. I can’t let that happen.” After several minutes, she pushed away from Grace and then gave her a tremulous smile, “Thanks. For everything. You and Jane have blessed me in so many ways…”

“Don’t, or we’ll be crying again. Do you want one of the wigs?”

Tori blew her nose and then shook her head, “No! This is who I am right now, and if anybody has a problem with it, they can leave.”

“You know that neither of those men out there are going to care, right? They’ve see it all, and it won’t even phase them.”

“I don’t quite believe you, but then again, they’re only doctors, not boyfriends. A boyfriend would care.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?”

Tori shrugged but then walked from the bathroom. She didn’t look at herself in the mirror, nor did she hesitate when she opened the door and headed for the kitchen. She knew Michael wouldn’t care, but he didn’t look at her like a woman. As for Jackson, she didn’t know him very well, and while he was gorgeous, she knew he didn’t really see her as a woman either. Just another victim of a horrible disease he fought every day.

“Hey, momma, feeling better?” Michael asked as he entered the house, followed by Jackson.

“Yes, thanks.” She briefly met his eyes, but didn’t even acknowledge that Jackson was in the room. She couldn’t. The girls entered moments later, forgetting to shut the door all the way, and before anyone knew what was happening, a flood of little puppies crashed through the doorway.

Tori watched the men struggle to capture the puppies, who were slipping on the tiled surface and crashing into one another. When Shelby came in, she decided this must be some sort of new game and started barking. Grace had entered the kitchen, and the four females could do nothing but watch and laugh.

It took almost ten minutes before all of the puppies had been corralled and put back outside, along with their mother. The men were scowling when they re-entered the house and Grace and Tori just laughed all that much harder. Emily was laughing, but not Dani.

Grace watched her daughter’s face and tried to head off the tantrum that was brewing. “Girls, why don’t you come get some dinner on your plates first?”

Emily readily agreed, but Dani stood in the middle of the room and crossed her arms over her chest. Preparing herself for battle, Grace asked, “Dani, what’s wrong?”

“I wants to eat with the puppies.”

“Well, the puppies have to stay outside. Why don’t you come eat and then you can go back outside and play with them?”

Dani shook her head, “No! I want to eat with them.”

Tori saw the storm clouds brewing in the little girls face and spoke up, “Dani, where did you want to eat?”

“Inside!” Princess Dani informed the room.

Tori shook her head, “Dani, the puppies would make a big mess if we let them in the house. They aren’t housebroken.”

The new word gave Dani pause, “Aunt Tori, they won’t break the house. They’re too little to break the house.”

“No, sweetie. Housebroken means they know they have to go outside to go potty.”

Dani thought about that for so long, Grace wondered what was going to come out of her daughter’s mouth next. She didn’t have to wait for long, “You has a bathroom cuz I’s used it.”

Tori nodded, “Yes, but that bathroom is only for people.”

“Oh.” When she looked up at Grace, she nodded her head and said, “Momma, we’s got to get a doggy potty before the puppies come home. I’s don’t want them to potty outside and Aunt Tori said …”

“Dani, we are not going to put a doggy potty in the house.” Grace needed to make that fact perfectly clear to her daughter. Right now!

Michael smirked and she turned on him, “Think this conversation is funny? It’s all yours now. Let’s see how well you fare against the logic of a four-year old.”

Jackson had sidled up next to Tori and whispered, “That’s logic?”

Tori looked up at him, “Ever try to reason with a four-year old?” When he shook his head, she smiled and advised him, “Don’t. You’ll lose every time.”

Jackson watched the smile light up her face.
She needs to do that more often!
Pulling himself back from that thought, he watched as she busied herself fixing the girls plates of food. She’d forgotten the wig and then hadn’t covered her body up. The black of the tank top did a good job of camouflaging her healing body, and as she joked with Grace and Michael, he picked up on a new attitude coming from her. He liked it.

After dinner was put away, Michael asked, “So did you think any more about my offer?”

Tori nodded her head, “Michael, I can’t work with sick kids all day. It would be too hard. I just couldn’t do it.”

Michael gave her an understanding look, “I completely understand. There are days when I feel the same way, but then there are days where good things happen and they make up for it. So, what are your plans then?”

Tori shook her head, “I really don’t know.”

“Why not just go back to your old job?” Jackson asked.

“I can’t. I was entitled to the standard twelve weeks of leave, but the hospital where I worked has new management and they were unwilling to give me more than that. The most I could hope for would be the temp pool, and then I’d have to work any shift they gave me. I can’t do that to Emily.”

“You shouldn’t have to.” Jackson was outraged. It wasn’t her fault she’d gotten sick, but she was being penalized for it anyway. “So, are you wanting to stay in oncology work?”

Tori glanced at him and then away, “I think so. I don’t know. I guess I might have to sell the house and move.”

That thought had everyone drawing silent while they finished eating. Grace broke the tension by saying, “I wouldn’t worry about it right now. These things have a way of working themselves out. Now, who wants dessert?”

Chapter 19

Grace and Michael took Dani home an hour later, and Tori sent Emily off for a quick shower. The little girl had been forced to grow up while Tori was sick and was now capable of doing a lot of things for herself.

When Jackson’s phone rang, he answered it and then said, “Hang on a sec and let me put you on speakerphone so Tori can listen as well.” He got her attention and then gestured for her to listen. “Okay, she’s listening.”

“Tori, Dr. Samuels. I was just calling to give you the results of the blood test. Everything looks fine, but you are slightly anemic just like Jackson suspected. I’m going to call in a prescription for some iron tablets and I want to check your levels again in a week. You know the other things you can do to help things along. Any questions?”

“No, thank you for calling so quickly.”

“No problem, hon. How are you doing other than feeling like someone replaced your blood with water?”

Tori laughed as she realized that’s exactly how she’d been feeling. Couple that with the respiratory infection and it was no wonder she had no energy. “I’m good. The antibiotics seemed to have done the trick.”

“Good. Well, you have my number and I expect you to use it if you need to. On another note, any luck getting your old job back? I miss seeing you on the floor.”

“No, and I don’t think I could work there again, anyway. I’ll find something when I’m ready.”

“Did you schedule with Dr. Chevas yet?”

Tori could feel the question coming from Jackson before he even asked it, but she ignored him, “No. I think I’ll do that in the morning.”

“Good. I’ll sign off on it as long as it’s not any sooner than two weeks. You need to put this all behind you.”

“I know. I’ll call first thing tomorrow. Thank you.”

“Be good. Jackson, you have my number. Make her call if she has any problems.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks for rushing that lab work through. I’ll run down to the drugstore and pick up her pills so she can start them tonight.”

“Fantastic! I’ll call the order in right now. Goodnight!”

“You don’t have to do that,” Tori told him as he closed his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

“Who is Dr. Chevas?”

Tori stared at him and then crossed her arms over her chest. The movement brought home her deformity so she uncrossed them and then turned slightly away from him, “She’s a reconstructive surgeon. Don’t you have some packing to do, or someplace to be?”

Jackson could see she was getting defensive and he didn’t want their interaction to end up there again. “I’ll go grab your pills. Which pharmacy?”

“The one down on the corner, two blocks east.”

“Got it. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Jackson left before he could say something else.
What is it about her? He didn’t know her, had only spent a few hours with her ever, but he was finding it hard to leave her alone.

Jackson retrieved her pills, but she met him at the front door with an unwelcoming look on her face, “Thanks. I won’t keep you any longer. I hope you found the closure you were looking for. Thanks again.” Tori shut the door in his face and he stood there for a few more minutes before walking back to his car.

Jackson drove home, trying to put Tori and her daughter from his mind, but just as the night before, it didn’t work. The next day, he busied himself with trading off his beloved Mustang for a Toyota SUV with all the bells and whistles.

He made arrangements for the movers’ to come at the end of the next week and pack up the belongings he would be moving to Montana, and then contacted a local charity store and made arrangements for them to take the rest of his furniture. He wouldn’t need it where he was going and there was no reason to store it. None of it had sentimental value and he was pleased with his accomplishments when he retired for the day.

Throughout the day, his thoughts had drifted to Tori and her daughter, but he’d pushed them away. She was just a woman he’d crossed paths with and he was leaving town in less than two weeks. No, Tori and her daughter were better off left alone.

That thought worked well for him over the next two days, but then he found the small envelope Sara had asked him to give Grace still stuck in his overnight bag. He’d forgotten to leave it with the dress! Setting it aside, he made plans to deliver it the next day.

*****

Samuel and Stan found themselves sitting in the conference room once again, three days later pouring over surveillance tapes and watching as their video experts worked their magic. The operation at LAX had been as much of a success as was possible, given the circumstances, and they had over twenty minutes of video footage.

“We’ll run this through facial recognition software and see if anything pops.”

“How long will that take?” Samuel asked, feeling the clock already ticking.

“A few hours, maybe a few days. I never know.”

Samuel nodded and then walked out of the conference room. “I don’t like this. Based upon the audio recordings, the targets are Grace and Dani.”

“Any chance you can get them to leave town and stay gone until this is over?” Stan asked already knowing the answer.

“Not likely. Grace has a mid-term concert in three days. There’s no way she’d miss that.”

“Well then, we keep around the clock eyes on her and the kid. Did you talk to Trent?”

“Yeah. Sara’s not happy, but he explained everything to her and she’s agreed to not say anything to Grace right now. Hopefully they can get us a picture or a name to go on.”

“Yeah. That would certainly help. James’ driver played along beautifully when they stopped him last night. According to the information he provided me, James is planning on meeting with one of Julian’s daughters later this month.”

“Julian Quintana has a daughter? How old is she?”

“Don’t know. Julian wants to see her, but aside from his lawyer, he’s not allowed to receive any other visitors at this point in time. Sewell is filing a motion today to remove that restriction.”

Samuel growled and then shook his head, “We can’t let that happen. What’s he using as evidence that he is no longer a threat?”

Stan laughed, “According to the driver, Julian has been a model citizen, and has gained the sympathy of some of the guards since Hector’s death. Three of them had written letters of recommendation.”

“They’re dirty. They have to be on the take! No self-respecting peace officer would ever think Julian Quintana had changed that much.”

“That’s what I was thinking as well. I have a team digging through their personal files, but I doubt we’ll find anything before the court hearing in,” Stan looked at his watch and grimaced, “two hours.”

Samuel shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. I’m going to go talk to Michael. We need to bring him in on what’s going on and as soon as Grace’s concert is over, she’s headed to Montana. Hopefully by the time the wedding is over, things will have calmed down around here.”

“What about Jane?” Stan asked.

“Yeah, what about Jane? There’s no way she’s going to leave early. She’s got too much going on at the test kitchen.”

“Well, I don’t know that it’ll be safe for her to stay at Grace’s house. Once Grace leaves town, we won’t have leverage to keep surveillance on the place. She’d be a sitting duck.”

“They don’t know who she is though. That could work in our favor. I’ll talk to her tonight. Maybe she could stay with Tori for a week or so?”

“That would work. She’d also be able to keep an eye on the house and let us know if anyone comes calling.”

Samuel nodded and began making plans. He just needed to keep everyone safe until the trial. After that, it was lights out for both Trevor and Julian.