Shadow of Suspicion (Haunted by the Past) (28 page)

“What are you thinking about?” She
blushed and propped herself up on her elbows.

“I was thinking how incredibly lucky
I am.” Jason leaned over her and kissed her deeply.

She sighed against his lips. “I’m the
lucky one.” She pulled back and gazed deep into his eyes. He felt as if her
golden gaze touched his very soul. “I promised myself that if you ever blessed
me with your love, I would cherish it every day of my life………and I will. I will
never betray you, I will never leave you, and I will love you forever. That’s
my promise to you, Jason.”

Jason’s throat tightened at her
declaration. He unbuttoned his shirt halfway and pulled it over his head. “I
promise you, my fair Callie, that I will always take care of you and protect
you. You will be my heart, my love, and my life, forever.”

Callie sniffled and wiped away a tear
that slid down her face. “I feel like we just said wedding vows.” She blushed
and glanced down at her hands.

Jason knelt down in front of her and
brought her palms to his lips, kissing each in turn. “I feel the same. You are
my wife in my heart, Callie, and it won’t be long before I make it so in the
eyes of the law. If you’ll have me.”

“That’s a resounding yes!” Callie
wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now make love to me, my beloved husband to
be.”

“As you wish.”

Jason covered her body with his own,
her soft sigh music to his ears. How thankful he was that he’d met her that
fateful day on the road. He had a sneaking suspicion he had a certain ghostly
child to thank for that, as well as so much else.

He sent a prayer of gratitude to
Sophie silently before he was swept away in a sea of passion with the love of
his life.

One Month
Later

“Would you grab that box next,
please?” Callie called to Jade. She pointed to a large box standing by the
door. “It needs to go out to the van next.”

Her friend turned to Fay. “Tell
Callie that I’m still not talking to her!”

She picked the box up anyhow and
marched out of the flat with her nose in the air. Callie sighed.

“She’s not really still mad at you,
is she?” Fay asked with a worried glance at Callie.

“No. Jade just likes to make sure I’m
very, very sorry for not telling her about my troubles, so that I’ll never do
it again.” Callie quickly taped up the box she’d just packed and marked it
‘kitchen things’ with a marker pen.

Dumping the tape on the table, she
hurried out of the flat. She caught up with Jade at the removal van.

“Can we talk?” Callie clasped her
friend’s arm and moved them to one side of the street. “Are you really still
angry with me, Jade? I’d hate for us to fall out. You mean far too much to me.”

Jade blew a strand of hair out of her
eyes. “You know I’m not. I’m just going to miss you big time.”

Callie squeezed her arm. “Why don’t
you come with us? We’d all love to have you. Fay positively worships the ground
you walk on already.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Nah. I’ll
pass. It’s your adventure and new life, Callie, not mine.”

Callie blinked back tears. “I’ll miss
you so much. Are you going to stay on in the flat in London?”

Jade shrugged. “I don’t know, but you
don’t have to worry about me. I’ve known for a while that our lives would be
taking a different route.” She patted Callie’s hand, a mysterious smile on her
lips. “I told you that this trip of yours would change everything. Remember?”

“So you did.” Callie remembered the
conversation they’d had before she’d left for Devon. It seemed like another
lifetime.

Jade regarded Callie with a serious
expression on her face. “I am glad you found your answers, Callie. I’m just
sorry they weren’t the ones you would have wanted.”

Callie smiled sadly. “Thanks, Jade.
It means a lot. Maybe one day you’ll find the answers to your own mystery.”

Jade shuddered. “Heaven forbid,” she
whispered, a haunted look in her eyes. She shook herself. “Let’s not dwell on
these things. We have a van to load up. Where is that other half of yours? He’s
leaving us to all the work. Typical man!”

“I heard that!” Jason’s indignant
voice sprang up from behind them.

Callie laughed. She spun round and
hugged him hard. “Where have you been?” She kissed him deeply.

Jade pulled a face. “Erh! That’s too
much lovey, dovey stuff for me. See you guys later.”

“Sure.” Callie waved a hand at her
departing friend and turned back to Jason. She raised an eyebrow and repeated
her question.

“I went to say a final goodbye to
Mitch,” Jason said in a soft voice.

“Oh. How is he?”

Callie had seen her brother only once
since everything had happened. He’d thanked her rather grudgingly for getting
him out of prison, but he’d made it clear he didn’t want to know her. He
couldn’t help but feel she was partly responsible for his mother’s death.
Callie understood his feelings, but it hurt nonetheless.

“He’s moving away too. He can’t hack
the gossip any longer, and it’s only going to get worse.” Jason hesitated a
moment. He drew a deep breath and continued. “Apparently, Max and Sandra are in
the process of emigrating to America together. They are planning to live as
husband and wife. I don’t even want to tell you what that’s doing to Mitch.”

Callie closed her eyes and shook her
head. “Unbelievable!”

Her parents had tried several more
times to contact her, but Callie refused to reply. She had no desire for either
of them to play a part in her life. Now she knew she’d made the right call. As
far as she was concerned, she only had one set of parents and she was very much
looking forward to seeing them when they visited her in Cornwall.

“How are we doing here?” Jason asked.

“Almost done. Is Doug nearly packed
up?”

Callie was glad the older man seemed
to be moving on from Sandra. He’d stopped drinking and had thrown himself into
the move. He was making big plans to go into business with Jason. Callie was
glad. She couldn’t bear for Max and Sandra to ruin someone else’s life.

“He’s done. He texted me a short
while ago that he’ll swing by soon to pick up Fay.” Jason stared up at the
window to his flat. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Callie squeezed him tight. “Are you
going to miss this place?”

“No. It’s just bricks and mortar,
Callie. Wherever you are is home to me.” He smiled down at her. “Are you ready
for our new life, love?”

“Almost. Do you mind if I have a few
minutes to myself. I have something I really want to do.”

Jason kissed her gently. “Of course
not. You take all the time you need.”

Callie kissed him again before she
wandered down the street. She glanced around at the town as she moved through
it. The place held some terrible memories for her, but it had also given her
the love of her life. She would always be grateful for that.

Callie reached the cemetery and
slipped inside. She wandered through the graves until she reached the one she’d
found only a couple of weeks ago. Sophie’s name stared up at her. She knelt
down in front of the grave, heedless of the stones that poked into her knees.
Callie placed a kiss on her fingertips and pressed it to the cold stone.

“I want you to know, my precious
sister, that I will never forget you.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “You will
always live in my heart.”

“Well said.”

The gravelly voice from behind her
gave Callie a fright. She spun round. An elderly man approached her. Despite
his age, Callie recognised him. She’d seen pictures of him in Sandra’s album
when he’d been so much younger.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” her
grandfather said as he stepped up to her side. “I’m your grandfather, Max
Fuller sr. I heard you were leaving today and I just wanted to spend a few
moments with you before you go. I was on my way to Jason’s flat when I saw you
coming here.”

Callie stared at him, shocked and
unsure what to say. “Why now?” she finally choked out. “I thought you must
be………..”

“Dead?” He cocked a grey, bushy
eyebrow at her. “Not quite yet, although it’s a wonder I’m not after everything
my children have put me through.” He shoved his hand in his pockets. “I wanted
to see you, Callie. Believe me, staying away was hard.”

“Then why did you?” Hurt welled up
inside her. Was she always to receive shocks where her birth family were
concerned?

“To be honest, I stayed away because
I would have told you the answer to anything you asked. I believed you deserved
the truth, but neither my wife, Max, nor Sandra wanted you to know.” Her
grandfather reached out and touched Sophie’s gravestone. “It was such a shock
when we found out who Sophie’s real father was.” He stared into her eyes. “But
I want you to know, I loved that little girl with every breath in my body. It
didn’t change when I knew the truth.”

Tears slipped slowly down Callie’s
cheeks. She wiped them away with one hand. “She was special, wasn’t she, Mr
Fuller?”

“It’s Grandfather to you,” the old
man admonished softly. Callie gasped, and her mouth dropped open. Her
grandfather laughed. “Did you think I wouldn’t love you, just as I loved
Sophie?”

“But you brought Sophie up until she
died. You’ve never known me.”

He shook his head. “Not true. I knew
you here.” He pressed a hand to his heart.

“Why didn’t you come and see me
sooner?” she wept. Her heart ached so painfully, she clasped a hand to her
chest. “I’m leaving today. I would have liked to spend time with you.”

He smiled grimly. “After everything
the rest of the family have put you through, I didn’t think you’d want to know
anymore.”

“I thought so too, but it would seem
that’s not true.” Callie clasped his hand. “Can we stay in touch?”

He squeezed her fingers. “I’d like
that. Give me your address and I’ll write to you.”

Callie released his hand and
scrambled in her bag for a pen and paper. She quickly scribbled down her new
address. She’d already memorised it so she could re-direct her mail and give it
to her clients. Tearing out the paper from her notebook, she handed it to her
grandfather.

He slipped the paper into his pocket.
“I’m so glad we had this chance to speak.” He touched her shoulder. “I actually
came to see you to give you something.”

He rummaged in his other pocket.
“Hold out your hand.”

Callie hesitated then slowly held her
hand out. Her grandfather dropped something cold into her palm. She glanced
down. A gold, heart shaped pendant stared up at her. It sparkled in the
sunlight.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“It was Sophie’s,” her grandfather
informed her.

Callie gasped and glanced up at him.
“I can’t take this from you.” She tried to give it back, but he curled her
fingers around the pendant and pushed her arm towards her body.

“She would want you to have it,” he
assured her. “She loved you so much. She used to sing to you while Sandra was
pregnant with you. Did you know she made a promise to always take care of you?
She was so young and yet so earnest when she said it. I really believe she meant
every word.”

Callie stared in wonder at the
pendant in her palm. “She kept her promise too,” she whispered. She closed her
eyes and hugged the pendant to her chest. “Thank you, Grandfather. You have no
idea what this means to me. I will treasure it always.”

“I knew you would. I almost felt as
if Sophie asked me to give it to you.” He patted her arm. “Well, I must be off.
Have a safe journey to Cornwall. I will look forward to hearing from you. Just
know, you will always be loved by me.”

“Thank you, Grandfather.” Callie
leapt to her feet and wrapped the old man in her embrace. He hugged her close
and kissed her forehead.

“You make sure that young man of
yours takes good care of you.” He patted her cheek before he turned and ambled
out of the churchyard.

Callie watched him leave. She turned
to Sophie’s grave and saw the little girl perched on the headstone, her small
face lit up in a smile. Callie gasped and reached a hand towards her sister.
She drew in a shuddering breath, so grateful to have this moment with Sophie.
She hadn’t thought she’d see her again.

“Thank you for everything,” Callie
whispered.

Sophie smiled and blew her a kiss. “
I
love you for always
.”

Callie choked on a sob. “I love you
forever too.”

Sophie reached out a hand and touched
Callie’s cheek. The icy cold didn’t bother her in the least. “
Don’t cry.
There are only happy things for you from now on. You have such a wonderful life
ahead of you, I promise. We’ll see each other again one day.
”

She faded from sight. Callie lingered
for several moments more, her mind a jumble of thoughts. Finally, she turned
and left the cemetery. Jason stood outside the walls. She smiled, unsurprised
he’d guessed where she’d been. He was always so in tune with her thoughts.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked her,
holding out his hand.

“Yes. I’m finally ready to leave the
past behind.” She gripped his hand tightly in her own.

“Wow, look at that, sweetheart.” Jason
pointed back the way she’d come.

Callie followed his finger. A rainbow
arched across the sky, right above the churchyard. Little sparkles of light
danced around Sophie’s grave. Love filled Callie until she thought her heart
would burst. She blew a kiss towards the heavens.

“I think my beautiful sister just
became an angel.” She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. Deep in her heart,
she just knew.

Jason squeezed her hand and they
slowly walked away towards the happy future Sophie had promised them.