AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That night, he had no trouble falling asleep. Knowing that Vanessa and Opal—his two greatest loves—would have a new place to live, a place without the horrible memories of all that had happened in the apartment, a place they could heal and grow together, gave him tremendous comfort.
They spent their days preparing. Once the offer was accepted, it was time to pack and buy new furniture. In no time, their days became filled with house details, and moving took over everything. Hunter felt like a family man in every sense. He walked through the building supply store, picking out appliances and curtains with his woman by his side and her daughter, and he almost laughed. Never did he think this would make him happy. Being part of a family, being able to see himself taking food from the fridge they had just purchased. It was a dream coming true that he’d never before dreamed.
At night, when he curled up in bed with Vanessa, they made love or simply talked. He tried to comfort her as best he could, but they both knew he could be going away soon. Tonight, he ran his fingers over her forehead as she let silent tears drip down her face.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “I’ll get off on self-defense and the nightmare will finally be over. Jeremy can’t hurt you anymore. After this trial, we’ll never have to think about him again. We can pretend like he never even existed.”
“I like that idea.” She closed her eyes.
# # #
Vanessa enjoyed the feel of Hunter’s fingertips on her skin. His presence and words soothed her to an extent. But he could only do or say so much. The worry built in her every day. While they were in the process of moving, she’d been able to put things aside. But now that they were mostly settled in their new house, her fears returned.
They’d talked with lawyers about how the trial would go. It was still weeks away, but the time was going too fast. She wanted it to be over, but she was terrified that Hunter would be gone when it was. That wasn’t the only thing keeping her up at night, though.
His lawyer said she should testify. If she did, she worried that Jeremy’s family might retaliate. She’d been afraid of them enough as it was before she knew they were part of the mob. But even if the cops knew Jeremy was involved in that level of crime, how could they stop his family from coming after her if they were alive and walking the streets doing their crimes? They might kill her or take Opal and start the nightmare all over again.
But if she didn’t testify, it could hurt Hunter’s case. And she’d do anything she could to make his case strong. She needed him to be here with her and Opal. Needed him as part of their new family. How could she refuse to testify, knowing it could hurt him, and by extension her and Opal? She couldn’t.
So she wrestled. For weeks she had, since the lawyer first suggested she take the stand in the court room. But now she was realizing she really had no choice. She had to stop worrying so much. Stop being suspicious over every person and every little noise she heard. Stop living on the edge. Stop giving Jeremy the power to still make her fearful and suspicious of everyone she came across in her life.
She had found love in Hunter. She had her daughter and a new house. Even if she couldn’t be absolutely sure they were safe, Jeremy was gone. The real threat had been buried. It was time for her to stop worrying, to stop seeing everyone as a threat and trust the lawyer when he said that she wouldn’t be in any danger if she testified. If Hunter could be so sure and so full of hope, then she could be, too. He didn’t see any problem with her testifying, and if anyone was trying hard to keep her safe, it was him. So she had to trust him, too.
“I think I can do it,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“I can testify for you.”
“I thought you were afraid,” he said.
“Well, I realized that I have to start trusting and having hope at some point. If you can do it, and you think it’s okay, then I have no reason not to go ahead and do it.”
“You’re sure?” he asked. “You’re going to sit up on the stand and tell the world what Jeremy did to you and Opal?”
She nodded. “And to you. He hurt you, too.”
“And you’re really okay with doing that?”
She smacked his arm lightly. “Don’t talk me out of it.” She giggled.
“I’m just making sure. I don’t want to you to do this only because you think I want you to. I want you to really be okay with it.”
“I am. Really.”
