Hidden Shadows (The Shadow Series Book 1) (27 page)

At least until she could guarantee her children’s safety.

She was stubborn, could be hard to cajole and convince, and she knew it. There was a defiant part of her that wanted to stand up, yell, provoke, bring this person out of the shadows and take whatever they had to throw at her. She hated they had the satisfaction of disrupting her life, causing her fear, bringing her tears. But she had her children. And she couldn’t allow any ignorance or impulsiveness on her part to endanger them in any way.

Hauling her half empty suitcase up on the bed, she began folding clothes, packing them neatly while she considered all that had happened in the last fourteen days.

In light of the circumstances, Dr. Vick had taken the clinic to part time hours and allowed Jenna to cancel her appointments for the weeks she’d been absent. She’d checked in occasionally, kept tabs on patient's through Molly.

The Youngs had finally had their baby. A girl. They named her Grace Taylor.

Four births from the Pregnancy & Nutrition class.

Dozens of applicants for an additional front desk position in the wing.

Taryn had also been calling, repeatedly, apparently desperate to speak with Jenna. Once again, Jenna had referred her out, this time with the absence of patience or politeness. Though the police had cleared Taryn as Jenna’s stalker with what they called ‘solid alibis,' Jenna wasn’t convinced.

She knew they’d been working hard, following leads, tapping out all the sources they could. But they were still coming up empty-handed. No progress with the photo—could’ve come from any home printer, no prints—and no leads on the note—any number of people, staff, patients or off-the-street, were able to come in, scribble some words that could pass as Jenna’s. Reviewing the security footage of that day was taking hours and hours of manpower, plus, with the hundreds of people coming and going, there were literally hundreds of possibilities to evaluate. Even crossing one off the list took time, investigation.

Of course, the clever and infuriating prowler knew, or caught a lucky break, that there was no video at Molly’s desk or down that staff hallway.

Perry’s death was also going unsolved. No witnesses, no neighbors reported seeing anything strange, suspicious, or out of the ordinary. Just a typical day . . . except for the poor, sweet bird who’d been killed.

Though Cooley hadn’t said, Jenna knew the case hinged on Leigh. What she saw that night, who she saw. And incredibly, Leigh was still hanging on. She hadn’t made it to consciousness yet, but she was alive, and right now, that's what mattered.

While Jenna wanted her to wake and her memory to break this thing wide open just as much as anyone—actually, more—Leigh’s survival alone would be an answered prayer.

In the last two weeks, Jenna and Leigh’s husband, Eddie, had become friends, talking almost daily and sharing their fears, concerns, and theories. His compassion and constant reminder that she was not to blame was a good indicator to why Leigh loved him so. What a great a husband and father he must be.

As Jacy and Dawson circled around her in a game of noisy tag, she couldn’t deny it tapped into her own desire, maybe every woman’s desire, to have a wonderful man for her children to love and look up to. She so wished Keith could just love them, unconditionally, sacrificially, and show them that.

They needed it now more than ever in this unsure and uncertain time. Their lives in upheaval, mom scared, schedule turned upside down.

But he couldn’t show something he didn’t feel, couldn’t give what he didn’t possess.

Sadly—or maybe wonderfully—she’d come to wonder over the course of these last days if her children would find that love from Ben.

He’d checked in by Skype daily, visited for a long weekend at the cabin, and they’d all had a blast. She was still amazed at his genuine ease in dealing with the kids. He felt for them, was interested in them. It wasn't an act to get into her heart, but a true gesture.

He loved them, and she loved him all the more for it.

The phone rang, had Jacy wriggling up from tackling Dawson—their tag always did escalate—dashing to it.

“Hello?”

She listened, nodded her little head. “Yep. Yep. Uh-huh.”

Jenna walked over, concerned, mouthed, “Who is it?”

Jacy waved her hand like she’d seen her mother do a thousand times, mouthed back, “Ben.” She turned around, away from Jenna's stare.

“Right. ‘Kay, see ya.”

Completely nonchalant, acting too grown for Jenna’s liking, Jacy hung up, and started to prance off. But Jenna grabbed her arm, spun her around. “And just what were you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

Jenna raised her brows. “That was Ben?”

“Yep.”

“He didn’t ask to talk to me?”

“Nope.”

“And you’re not gonna tell me what that was about?”

“Nope.”

“Hmmm,” Jenna shrugged, released the slender arm, “suit yourself.”

She hoped, of course, her own nonchalantness would break Jacy, have her spilling all the details. But she did nothing of the sort. Instead, she turned on her tiny sandals and swiveled off down the hall, calling, “I’m going to pack my suitcase."

Jenna stood staring, wondering how her baby had grown to . . . to a witty, clever little girl.

Shaking her head, she stepped over Dawson laying in the floor narrating a battle between a miniature Luke and Darth, went to finish packing up.

As to Jacy and Ben’s secret, they were headed home within the hour, so she guessed she’d find out soon enough.

****

No more trips over four hours
, Jenna told herself as she pulled in the driveway to the lovely home she’d never been more thrilled to see as Dawson bellowed his thousandth, “Are we there yet?"

“Yes, we’re here. Finally here,” she sighed, tapping the garage door opener, edging the car forward as it drudged up. As she focused, looked into the dark space, her eyes widened. Jabbing the gear into park, she unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out.

“My Jeep!”

Oh, she knew she was being perfectly superficial, perfectly teenage about the whole thing, but she couldn’t help it. There’d been four hours of poking, prodding, whining, arguing from the backseat, one torrential downpour to drive through——and what looked to be another rolling in if those dark clouds were any indicator—and she was just so grateful to be
home
. To be back with the things that felt familiar, felt like hers.

And the Jeep was hers. Finally hers again.

She helped the kids out of the car quickly, excitedly approached the restored vehicle.

She could admit it felt a little bit like a point of pride, of perseverance, that she’d had this repaired, would drive it again. Kind of a ‘You may knock me down but you can’t keep me there’ middle finger to the person who’d ruined it.

She circled it, admiring the work, remembering how much she liked it in the first place.

“Kids, this is Mommy’s new car. Our new car. Do you like it?”

With their excited affirmations making her smile, she rounded to the front, smiled bigger at the man lounging on the steps in the garage.

“Ben!” She ran to him, reached to throw her arms around his neck as he stood. “You’re the one to thank for this, obviously.”

“Drove it here myself to make sure she was runnin’ okay. Looks like it’s good as new.”

She pressed her lips to his with a smack and two little voices giggled behind them with Dawson adding a decisive “Yuck!”

Ben peered down, bent to Dawson with a wary eye. “No hello for me? ‘Yuck’ is all I get?”

“Hello.” Dawson grinned as Ben wrapped him in a hug, lifted him up.

“And you, missy,” he looked down at Jacy, smiled, “how was the cabin?”

“Fun.” Jacy lifted a shoulder and, Jenna noted, eyed Ben with a hint of mischief. “Mom,” she asked, swiveling suddenly, “did you see the other stuff?”

“What other stuff?”

Jacy started off, turned as she made her way into the drive, “This way,” she gestured, urging them to follow. Dawson wiggled out of Ben’s hold, galloped after her while Jenna hummed a sound of interest.

She turned to Ben, lips pursed. “And what you do know about this?”

Those green eyes lit with innocence, playfulness. “Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about."

“Uh-huh,” she mumbled as he grinned, grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

As they turned into the front yard, Jacy yelled, “Surprise!”

She threw out her hands, smiling, while Dawson chanted “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

Laughing, Jenna moved along the walkway to the front porch, took in the small area Jacy presented. A double stacked stone border walled a petite grouping of lush miniature evergreens, a handful of shrubs just popping with deep red berries and a mix of blues, greens and silvery whites to create a quaint little patch of color and life in her otherwise empty beds.

“A winter garden, Mom. Do you love it?”

“Of course I love it.” Jenna placed her hand on Jacy’s head, ran her fingers down her girl's fine hair. “It’s beautiful.”

“Ben did it! He did it!” Dawson proclaimed, running in circles.

“Well, that was very nice of him, wasn’t it?” She looked over her shoulder to Ben, “Thank you, it’s lovely.”

He moved in, placed a hand on the small of her back. It was a simple gesture, a small one that he did unconsciously and often. But it always made her feel protected, loved.

She leaned back into him as he spoke.

“I’ve been meaning to replace all that was pulled up in the Fall, and I just now got a chance to get around to it. Couldn’t give you what you had with the winter coming on, but I tried a least a little something. Snuck a bit in for everyone to enjoy.”

Dawson and Jacy gathered in as he pointed. “We’ve got Bearberry for the little guy with his favorite color red berries, pink Lenten rose for Jacy, and for you,” he pressed his warm palm into Jenna’s back, “silver kisses.”

“Silver isn’t my favorite color,” she teased.

“No, but they remind me of you. I chose the Fall plants, those colors, based on the physical you . . . which don’t get me wrong is phenomenal,” he wrapped his arm further around her, squeezed, “but now I see so much more. I love all of you—inside and out. This plant, it’s a goofy way of me saying I think you’re amazing. It’s hearty, it’ll survive in the harshest of times and bloom when the spring comes. It's beautiful, it perseveres, it lasts. That to me, is you.”

Unable to look at anything but him, she turned to face him now, didn’t even feel silly that big tears welled, that one spilled down her cheek. So what if it was a small gesture, a few plants. To her, the meaning behind it meant everything.

He took his thumb, brushed at the watery trail. “I know we haven’t been together a long time, but it’s enough time to know you, to know what I want for us.”

He stopped, cleared his throat loudly and Jacy suddenly tugged at Jenna’s arm.

“Mom, what’s that in the garden?”

“What’s what, baby? And Ben’s the one to ask, he knows all about anything there.”

“Not plants, something shiny.”

Ben narrowed his eyes, stared hard at the space. “I don’t see anything.”

“Uh-huh,” Jacy pointed, “it’s there, see?”

Jenna laughed. “We don’t see anything, sweetheart. Show it to us.”

Jacy hurried over, bent and carefully grasped a small object. She walked with meticulous steps, held an open palm to Jenna.

There, in the small, sweet hand Jenna knew so well was a shimmering stone.

Delighted, Jacy breathed, “This is it, Momma.”

“I see it, Jacy. I see it.” Her own delight and shock had Jenna sighing her words, too, trying to breathe calm and steady in the midst of a heart that flew from zero to sixty in mere milliseconds.

Ben winked at Jacy, picked up the ring.

He narrowed the space between them, brought the band close to her face. “This,” he placed the tip of his finger on the elegant, round, white diamond, “is you. The center of my world. These,” he gestured to two colored stones on either side of the diamond that Jenna quickly connected to Jacy and Dawson’s birthstones (aquamarine and peridot), “are the support, the helpers that are an essential part of our love and life.”

Swiftly, Ben pulled her to him, kissed her eagerly, then went down to one knee. “Marry me, Jenna Gregor. I love you. Always will.”

She stood, transfixed, gazing down at the man holding a beautiful ring and a promise.

For the first time in a very long time, no words sprang to her mind. Only feelings, emotions overflowing from the heart. She was literally unable to put into words the surprise, the wonder in the shift her life had taken since meeting him.

As she stood, silent, he laughed lightly, rubbed at her hand he held. “Hey, we’ve already had some rocky times, right? Just means we know we can get through ‘em. And they’ll be there, Jenna. But that’s life. That’s love. We can do this. We can make happiness for ourselves. For your children. Be with me. Be my wife.”