Authors: Bec Botefuhr
My mother sits on the bed beside me and I stare up at her, shocked to actually see her here. She hasn’t had much time for me lately. She takes my hand and Jenny sits beside me too, stroking my hair. Ava stands beside her.
“The island blew, as you know and you got hit with a rock. Jagger stitched you up on the boat ride home. The doctor said he quite possibly saved you because you’d lost so much blood. They got back and Ace brought you to the hospital…”
“Wait,” I whisper. “Why did Ace bring me?”
They all stare at each other.
“Tell me!”
“Jagger went to find Mick. There was a massive shoot out. Jagger got shot again, kinda badly, but he killed Mick. Huck called the cops and had Sharleen arrested and Mary too. They were all caught out planning and there was a lot of evidence against them.”
He killed Mick? Jagger killed his own father?
“I want to see him,” I
whisper. “Call him.”
“Honey…”
“Now!”
Ava nods and pulls out her phone,
dialing Jagger.
“Hey, she’s awake.”
She nods a few times, then says goodbye. She takes my hand and smiles.
“You scared us honey.
When Ace called and told us you were at the hospital, and they didn’t know if you’d live…”
I squeeze Ava’s hand and then turn to Jenny, who’s looking down and crying.
“Hey,” I whisper, reaching for her hand. “I’m ok.”
She nods and swallows. My mother takes my hand from Jenny’s and squeezes it.
“We were afraid Willow, we thought you were dead.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t scare us like that again.”
Just as my mother has finishes
speaking, Jagger skids around the corner and flies into the room. He comes to an abrupt halt when he sees me lying on the bed, propped up and awake. His eyes fill with tears and I see first-hand how scared he’s been. Ava stands and ushers the others to follow her.
“We’ll come back later, ok?”
I nod at them, but I don’t take my eyes from Jagger. He’s standing, just staring at me with hot tears streaming down his face. He looks so venerable right now, like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. I take him in, letting my eyes scan every part of him. I see he has a few stitches on his face and one of his eyes is a little bruised. His shoulder is bandaged but aside from that he looks quite good. He stares at me with pained blue eyes and I just want to run to him, but I can’t.
He looks like he wants to say so much, but he also looks more
venerable then I’ve ever seen him. He looks…broken. I grip the blanket and I toss it aside, patting the bed beside me. He walks slowly over and then very gently, crawls into bed with me. He isn’t speaking, and part of me knows why – he’s afraid he’ll break down if he speaks. I don’t blame him, if he speaks I’ll probably break down too.
Instead, he wraps his arms around me and puts his head gently on my chest. I tangle my fingers in his hair and breathe him in. Hot tears prick my eyes, remembering how close we both got to losing each other. I feel Jagger shudder
silently, his body is trembling. I know he’s crying, but he’s silent about it. A man like Jagger doesn’t cry openly. I hold him as close as I possibly can. A moment into it, the nurse comes in. She stops when she sees us. I shake my head at her and she nods, smiling and leaves.
I hold Jagger like that for over an hour. My legs become numb and I can’t feel my body but I don’t care. He needs me for whatever reason and I’m not going to pull away until he doesn’t need me anymore. After another half an hour, he finally moves. He lifts himself up a little and looks at me. His eyes are bloodshot and broken. I stroke his cheek and feel the stubble scratch my palm.
“It’s ok,” I whisper. “We’re ok.”
“I nearly lost you.” His voice is scratchy and hoarse.
“But you didn’t…”
“I thought…I was sure…I thought you were dead
, Willow.”
I stroke a thumb down his cheek. “I’m ok, I know it was close but I’m ok.”
“I killed Mick.”
I swallow. “I know honey.”
“Fuckin’ shot him right in the head. He begged and…”
His voice cuts off painfully. I know it hurts. Jagger hated his father but killing him couldn’t have been easy. It didn’t matter how cold one person was, that would tear into even the best of hearts.
“I can’t say anything to take that pain away from you, I know how hard it must have been…”
“He tried to kill my family and everything I loved. He tried to let my son grow up without his dad. He doesn’t deserve
anyone’s pain.”
“Doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard,” I whisper.
“It’s over now, that’s all that matters.”
“Are you going to get into trouble?”
He shakes his head. “No, Huck has it covered. Mick was a bad man, no one is going to question what happened to him.”
“Sharleen?”
“In jail with Au…Mary.”
“I’m sorry
, Jagger.”
He looks up at me
again, his eyes are full of love and pain. “No, you shouldn’t be sorry. You were right and I didn’t listen, if I had listened we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“No,” I say
, stroking his cheek again. “One way or another, this would have come around. Mick was determined.”
“Well, Mick’s gone. The island is gone and the cops have gone after anyone else involved.”
“And the girls?”
He sighs. “They’re not good Willow, but
the force has put them in some serious mental health care. They’ll get there…eventually.”
“At least we saved them, it’s a start.”
He sits up, groaning in pain as he does.
“They said you got shot when you went after Mick?”
He lifts his shirt and right near the faded scar from the time I stabbed him, is a stitched wound. I stroke my fingers over it and he shudders.
“Are you ok?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m ok.”
“Cody?”
He smiles. “Been keepin’ me up all night, revenge and all that.”
I giggle softly. “
It’s fun, isn’t it?”
He strokes my lips.
“Wouldn’t change it for the fuckin’ world, Willow baby.”
“Jagger, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you after Mick showed me that photo. If I had listened…”
He cuts me off with a soft kiss to my lips, when he pulls back he takes my face in his hands. “I know what you saw and I don’t blame you for how you reacted. I didn’t touch her Willow, I was drugged out so hard I couldn’t move my own body.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugs. “It’s done, justice has been served.”
“Where to from now?”
He grins and looks me dead in the eye. “Marry me?”
“I thought we’ve already been here and asked this?” I grin.
“Next month Willow, I want to marry you.”
“Aren’t you still married?”
“No, Sharleen signed the papers.”
I suck in a breath. “We can get married?”
“Next month?”
“Really?”
I squeak.
He kisses the side of my mouth. “Really baby, what do you say?”
“I say yes, hell yes!”
~*~*~*~
WILLOW
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask, holding Jagger’s hand.
“Yes, I have to.”
We’re at the front of Mary’s house. She’s out on bail and Jagger was insistent that we spoke with her. We knock on the door and she answers only a moment later. Her eyes are tired, but they widen when she sees her nephew.
“Jagger…”
“We need to talk,” he says in a harsh tone.
“Jagger, please…”
“I want
answers, firstly I want to know why?”
She closes her eyes and actually has the nerve to look sad about what she’s done.
“It was a mistake. I…loved him.”
Jagger gasps and I squeeze his hand. Is she serious? She loved him?
“Mick?” Jagger rasps.
“Yes, I loved him. We were together for a while after your mother…died. I loved him and I thought if I did what he said, he’d love me back.”
“You fucked my father, when you knew what he did to us?”
She whimpers and her eyes fill with tears. No sympathy here, love.
“I thought maybe…”
“What?” Jagger barks. “That we we’re
lying?”
“No, but…”
“You could have had me killed, I thought you loved me?”
“I did,” she cries, “I do!”
“No,” he spits, “you don’t. If you did, you would have never set me up.”
“It was because of her!” she snarls, pointing at me.
Jagger grips her arm harshly. “Don’t you ever try and blame her. She has done nothing but love me. She is doing what you should have done. We’re done, I’m done with you. I hope you rot in jail like you deserve…”
“Jagger!” she cries, reaching out for him.
He slaps her arm down and glares harshly at her.
“You are nothing to me.
NOTHING!”
Then he takes my hand and leads me down the front steps, leaving her to cry out after him. Karma is a bitch, ain’t it?
EPILOGUE
A month later
WILLOW
“Do you Johnny Black, take Willow Barnes to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, thr
ough sickness and in health until death do you part?”
Jagger smiles, showing those perfect dimples. “I do.”
“And do you, Willow Barnes take Johnny Black to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health until death do you part?”
I smile, feeling my eyes water. “I do.”
“Then I proudly pronounce you husband and wife, ladies and gentlemen I would like to introduce you to the new Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Black. You may now kiss the bride.”
Jagger grins and steps forward, wrapping his arm around the back of my neck and pulling me in. His lips slide over mine and he kisses me with such perfection it melts me. Everyone cheers and the sounds of their screa
ms and claps fill my ears and a delightful feeling washes over me. When Jagger pulls back, he’s smiling and looking so carefree. He turns towards the crowd and holds up our hands, and everyone cheers louder.
We walk down the steps and Jenny and Ava embrace me right away
, whispering happy congratulations in my ear. My mother grips my neck, holding me at arm’s length and staring at me with a smile on her face. She’s doing well since she’s been out and Jenny and I have been making sure she goes to her counseling sessions each week, just to keep her on track. Two weeks ago she told us she was going on a date with Huck. So far, they seem happy and while it took a while to wrap my head around, I’m happy for her.
“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers with a smile.
“I’m proud of you too, mom.”
Her eyes well with tears.
“I never thought I’d see this day. I made mistakes Willow that I can’t take back, but in this moment, you’ve made me the proudest mother in the world and I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful daughter.”
I hug her close, feel
ing an odd feeling wash over me. Forgiveness. I pull back and stare right into her eyes. “Mom, I forgive you. I want to move on and I want us to be close again.”
Hot tears stream down her face and she trembles slightly. “Oh Willow.”
I hug her again and whisper. “I forgive you.”
When we finally pull apart, Jenny is crying and we both open our arms and pull her in. We stand hugging and crying for long moments. When I pull back, I turn and Jagger is smiling at me with pride. He has that beautiful half smile going on and his eyes are twinkling. Huck grips me and I force my eyes from Jagger. I
smile and hug him, then I move on to the boys. They all hug me, pulling and tugging for their turns.
“I love you guys, thank you for coming today.”
“As if we’d miss it!” Bull grins.
“You look perfect
, Willow.” Rusty smiles.
“Fuckin’ hot bride kid,” Ace grins and I slap his arm playfully.
“You make us proud.” Angel whispers, hugging me.
I smile at them all, and for a long moment I feel truly at home. I look over to my son, who Jenny is pulling from his pram. He looks so cute in his little black pants and black shirt. I walk over, taking him into my arms. It’s a proud moment for me. Jagger walks up behind me and wraps his arms around me. His breath tickles my ear as he speaks.
“We’re finally a family, baby.”
I beam and tickle Cody’s cheek,
“Finally.”
“Now, I’ve waited long enough. I’m taking my wife home, because it’s time I got her all to myself.”