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I check the flight itinerary again for Jason. He’s flying back home tomorrow. I have plans to meet him there.
I clear the computer screen in front of me. My hand hovers over the mouse. Once again, Summer and Gabe pop up in my thoughts. I promised myself that I would stay clear of them. They didn’t need me. I would do nothing but cause them harm.
Even though I know those words to be true, I hit the mouse and open the screen to the camera system. When Albany set up the house for Summer, I had her hire a security crew to come in and set up cameras on the outside of the house. Despite how bad I wanted to put them inside, I refrained. It would have been torture watching her and not being able to touch her.
I access the outdoor cameras.
The first view is from the front porch and driveway. The car I picked for her is in its regular spot. The street out in front of the house is clear. I chose that neighborhood for the low traffic and the safety. I switch to the back door cameras. The yard is clear, other than a few balls lying in the grass and a plastic toy house.
I close out of the cameras, feeling settled even though I didn’t see them.
I have work to do. My plans are simple, figure out who is running the Church and eliminate them, make sure my brothers and Priest are safe, set Summer and Gabe up for life, and then disappear forever. I just have to stick to the plan.
chapter seventeen
Rehabilitated
Summer
“Are you excited to be graduating in a few months?”
Placing my fork back down in my empty plate, I wipe my mouth with my napkin before giving my attention to my lunch companion.
I look over at my sponsor and good friend, Shay. Her long black and honey blonde tipped locs hang down to the middle of her back. Her dark brown skin is flawless and blemish free. Even though she’s forty she doesn’t look a day over twenty-five.
I lift one shoulder and let it drop lazily. “Yes, I guess. I mean, I’ve worked for this for four years.”
Shay smiles as she leans forward on the table. We are at the restaurant where we always have our monthly meetings.
“It’s okay to be nervous, Summer. Remember I told you that just because one goal is obtained, you can always add another goal. Life is all about striving for better.”
I don’t reply.
I spent six months in the rehab program Fem sent me to. It wasn’t easy. Between the therapy sessions and the depression, I spent most of the earlier months crying. I learned that a lot of my issues with relapsing was due to the fact that I was going to rehab to treat my drug problem, but I never fixed the real issue. But I was finally able to heal from my father’s suicide.
Before I left the program they connected me with a sponsor in my area. That’s how I met Shay Covington. She has truly been the biggest help in my recovery process. Well, her and finding out that I was pregnant. Memories weren’t the only thing I took from that night with Gabriel.
“You’re still afraid of relapsing,” Shay states.
I cut my gaze down to my empty plate on the table before looking back up at her. The thing about addiction is that it forever lingers with you. I’ve been clean for five years, but every day is a battle to stay sober. It may not require as much fight as it did in the early stages, but it’s still a fight.
“You’ve made so much progress. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she chuckles when I grimace at her words. “Why do I have more faith in you than you do?”
“Because clearly you don’t know me as well as I do.”
She shakes her head as she laughs.
It isn’t that I crave the high anymore, I’m past that stage. I fear relapsing because I have someone very important that depends on me now.
“How’s the jewelry business?” She asks distracting me from going down my self-pity spiral.
One of the things I was taught during my time at rehab is the importance of hobbies and finding other ways to stimulate the mind. An idle mind is sometimes my greatest enemy.
“The online business is great, and I was able to get my products in two more stores.”
“That’s wonderful,” she says. “Everywhere I go I get asked about my pieces.” She touches the jade necklace around her neck.
I made her a matching necklace, bracelet, and earring set one Christmas. Since then, she’s been one of my regular customers.
