Page 59 of Raymond's Forever

“Only on the condition that they know, without a shadow of a doubt that Perkins, Ervin, and several nurses lied about me. That they defamed me, and that I didn’t do anything they accused me of.”

“The hospital waited for the results of this trial, and once the ruling is filed with the courts, everything will be a matter of public record. We will then be drafting a letter with the results and mailing it to every client you ever had at the clinic.”

“Thank you, and that’s nice of you, leaving the decision to come back to me in their hands.”

“That was from the advice of our lawyers. No pressure from us, you, or forcing the patients to see you. I do have to tell you one more thing though.”

“What’s that?”

“As I mentioned earlier, you will be a key witness for our case, how can I get ahold of you?”

“Talk to my lawyer,” she said firmly as she pointed to Raymond, Ilsa, and Jason. They all handed Tallman a business card, then he turned on his heel and walked away from them. No one said a word until the doors closed behind them, and Amelia ended up dropping into a chair, put her head between her knees, and mumbled. “Give me a minute.” No one said a word, and Raymond laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her silent support until she could gather herself. When she felt she could stand without passing out, she raised her head, and looked at everyone.

“Can we get the hell out of here now and go home?”

“Yes,” everyone said, and three hours later, several vehicles caravaned back toward Fool’s Gold, with some of them trailing off at one point to head toward Colorado Springs. Amelia was in the front seat of Raymond’s truck, looking out the window, thinking about all that had happened that day.

“Are you okay?” Raymond asked quietly as he reached over and entwined their fingers, leaving their hands on her thigh.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

She finally turned to look at him, and though her expression was somber, she smirked. “They’re fucked, aren’t they?”

“Yes.” He didn’t bother to ask who she was talking about. “Not only from your trial, but it might be worse if they are found guilty on all the other cases. With their accounts being frozen, you’re guaranteed to get your money. I have no clue how much is in their accounts, but I wouldn’t put it past them to have some off-shore accounts. That will be for someone else to figure out. My job from now on is to guide you when you have to testify against them.”

“Okay.” She was silent for a long time, then sighed heavily. “I know it’s too early, and I’m not going to touch that money for at least six months, but there are some things I would like to do with it.”

“Is it illegal?” he asked, then laughed when he saw her expression. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s not illegal. There are some pieces of equipment I want to purchase for both my office and Caleb’s. Equipment we can both benefit from. I was about to talk to Betty Laurel extensively, and she’s about six weeks away from completing her certifications to become a licensed mid-wife. I would like to set up a clinic in my building for that. I would probably have to talk to Erin about it, because it is her building.”

“I’m sure if you have a business plan, and can answer all her questions, she will allow it.” He looked at her with a smile. “Do you think it might be up and running before she’s due to have her own child?”

“Possibly, if I only sit on some of the money for three months instead of six. But think about this, Erin’s pregnant now, yourown daughter mentioned something about mid-wives, or OB/GYN services. You have to admit, there are a lot of women living on the ranches that could use the services, and they wouldn’t have to travel far.”

“I like it, and no matter what you decide, I’ll support you.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as he raised their entwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. They drove the rest of the way in silence, and after they walked into the cabin they shared together, she turned to him with a wide grin.

“What?”

“Now that this case is over, and I don’t have to wonder how many lies they were telling about me behind my back, I have a feeling that my business is going to explode. I know I’m being optimistic, but I wanted to talk to you before that happened.”

He had been making a fresh pot of coffee as she spoke, and she had been emptying their suitcases into the washer.

“What did you want to talk about?”

She walked over to him, stood before him, and took both his hands in hers. “A few weeks back, you said that I felt like your forever. You feel the same way to me, Raymond. You are my forever. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” He laughed as he gathered her in a hug and twirled her around. He kissed her soundly, then laughed harder as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. “I bought this when we were in Denver. I was going to wait until the verdict, because I didn’t care if you got money or not. That’s not the issue. You are my forever, Amelia Johnson, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”

They stood there in each other’s arms for a long time before they came up for air.

DUCKY’S LUCK

THE BROKEN WHEEL RANCH BOOK #19