Tough Love (Hidden Secrets) (20 page)

“What?”

“What you don’t want to?” He asked confused.

“No
it’s not that. Ugh! I need to go shower so I’m not smelling like you and sex,” I say pulling away leaving a laughing Jackson behind me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jackson

We
arrived at my mom’s and Shannon seemed real nervous. As I helped her out of the car, I pushed her against it and kissed her. I kissed her until I felt her body lose the tension and loosen in my hold. Once I was sure she was relaxed, I pulled away.

“What’s
wrong beautiful?”

“The
last time I saw Nick and Kayla, well and talked to Mary, they were mad at me.”

Chuckling,
“No, beautiful. They were mad at me, not you. Trust me, I was either visited or called by them. You have nothing to worry about.” Looking in her eyes, “There’s something else isn’t there?”

“You’re…You’re
sure that Sebastian and Atreyu are in there?”

My
heart broke for her. “Oh beautiful. They’re in there. No one is touching them ever again. Come on. Let’s go in so you can see. Okay?”

She
nodded her head and I led her inside. I could feel her shaking against me. We walked into the living room and the boys jumped off my Mom and Dad’s laps and came running up to her. She dropped to her knees and held the boys tightly against her. When I looked up, I saw the confused looks on their faces, but they could wait. Even I wanted to make sure they were unharmed. I knelt down next to them and pulled Sebastian into my arms.

“Are
you okay buddy?” I whispered.

“I’ve
missed you Jack.”

“I’ve
missed you too. I’m not going anywhere now though. Okay?”

“Where
were you?” He looks sad and steps away.

“I
made a mistake buddy. Have you ever picked up a toy that you really wanted to play with, but when another kid started crying you gave it to them to stop their tears?”

“Yeah.
When we went to the group there was a little girl there that always had bruises and was scared of everyone, but me and Atreyu. She always liked the toys I played with.”

“Well,
that’s kind of what happened. See I was in love with someone before your sister. We were going to have a baby, but she left my house one day and got into an accident.”

“They
die?”

“Yeah,
buddy?” My voice breaking.

There
was a gasp sound causing me to look up. My mom stood there with tears in her eyes. “Jackson, why…”

Standing
up, I walked over and gave my mom a hug. “No one knew. We were going to move in together and tell everyone once we got both families together. It just never happened.”

“I’m
so sorry baby.”

“No
Ma. Don’t be. She knew I loved her and I knew she loved me. It just took me a while to accept it,” turning I looked at Shannon, who still hugged the boys. “Or maybe it was more it took the right woman.”

Sebastian
walked back up to me and I squatted down to his level. “But you left and these mean people took us.”

“Sissy
told me and I’m so sorry. I can’t take that back, but I’m here now and I won’t let anyone come near you guys again, okay?”

We
were all lead into the dining room, where Kylee and Nick were setting the table. We were all sitting around the table, everyone making small talk. As per usual, Sebastian and Atreyu were the center of attention. They cracked me up.

Shannon’s
phone rang and I watched her pale as she looked at the screen. Pressing silence, she puts her phone back in her pocket. It rings again and she jumps. Placing my hand over hers, I asked her to look at me.

“What’s
going on?”

“N-nothing.”

“Shannon, we promised to not leave each other in the dark.”

“No!
You promised those things!” She yelled as she got up and left the room.

Sighing,
I got up and went after her. Looking around I found her in the sitting room. Approaching with caution because honestly, I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t want her to run.

“Shannon?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” she said quietly.

“You
don’t need to apologize, but baby we’re in this together. There’s no more you and me. There’s only us. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.” I said as I wrapped her in my arms.

After
a moment, she speaks softly. “When the boys were taken, this woman called…”

“And
she wanted to trade you for the boys. You told me that.”

“The
boys were hurt because of me. Thankfully, one of the kidnappers had a conscience because they brought the boys back before they were severely traumatized. They’re going to get hurt and it will be my fault.”

“No
one will hurt you or the boys,” I promised. “But if I’m going to keep my promise, I have to know what’s going on, okay?”

She
nods her head in my chest. We stood there for a few minutes before I pulled away from her. Kissing her lightly on the lips, I smiled at her.

“Come
on, let’s tell everyone our news.”

She
laughs. “Okay.”

We
walk back into the dining room and all eyes are on us. Taking advantage of the situation, I lean down and apologize in her ear ahead of time. She looks at me scared. That causes me to laugh harder.

“Shannon’s
house looks great. Good thing Kylee came to decorate it to cover your ass aye Nick.”

“Yeah
sure was a great idea. Just like using Jake to score dates.”

“Nah,
I don’t need Jake anymore.”

“I
wouldn’t be so sure,” he teases.

“Oh
but I am, because just a few hours ago Shannon agree to marry me,” I said, winking at Shannon.

“Say
what?” Nick said.

Everyone
looked shocked so I held up her hand to show them her ring. My mom sat there and stared at me for a moment.

“Mom?
Are you okay?”

“Jackson,
you really have overcome a lot to get to this point. I didn’t understand before why you were so closed off, but I do now and baby I couldn’t pick a better woman for you.”

“What
do you mean?” Kayla asked.

Again,
I explained to everyone about Hannah. How I blamed myself and how much more I love Shannon. I even told them about going to Hannah’s grave before going to Shannon’s to tell her everything.

“I’ll
always love Hannah, but just not in the same way anymore.”

My
eyes then met Eli’s. His eyes seemed sadder than everyone else’s. “What’s up, E?”

“I
brought that hurt on you. If I hadn’t been a pussy, you wouldn’t have had to go through that.”

“No
man. Don’t apologize for it. I’m glad I got to know her, to love her. She was an amazing woman and I think being with her made me better. At least she led me to an amazing woman, anyway,” I said looking at Shannon. “I’m not a whole man, but you’ve accepted the pieces of me that are left and with those pieces I will love you more than any other man can. I love you.”

“I
love you too,” Shannon’s voice cracked.

“Yes!”
Mary and Kayla exclaimed.

We
both turned toward them with confused looks on our faces. This caused Kayla and Mary to start laughing. I look at Jason and Tobey and they both shrug their shoulders.

“You’re
going to sisters day now,” Mary and Kayla sang.

This
made Shannon laugh and I smiled. Then turned my attention to Sebastian and Atreyu who just high-fived each other.

“What’s
going on over here?”

“We
knew it at the cabin that you were getting married. Grandma Jane tried to tell us that you just fell asleep, but we knew.”

“How
did you know?” Shannon asks.

“Because
he’s the only one that’s made you smile.”

I
hear Shannon’s breath catch and I put my arm around her. “Well I’m glad it was me.”

“Me
too,” they say together.

The
rest of the dinner went well. Everyone was in higher spirits and I couldn’t be happier. Finally everything had fallen in place and my life was finally whole again.

“I
was wondering if I could keep the boys tonight?” Mary asked.

“Oh,
uh, I…”

“You
guys are going to have to give her time to come to terms with everything before she’ll be comfortable with letting the boys out of her sight again.”

“Sissy,
we’re okay. We want to stay. They will watch us. Please,” Sebastian begged.

“What
do you mean ‘come to terms’? What’s happened?” Jason asked.

I
watched Shannon glance at Kayla and Kayla’s face drops, her hands flying to her mouth. “Oh my God! They were really kidnapped weren’t they?” She exclaims shocked.

“I,
uh…,” Shannon’s head drops and she nodded.

“Why
would you tell me they were just hiding?”

“Because
they called right after. They were going to do an exchange, me for the boys.”

“But
the man said he wasn’t going to hurt kids so when the mean lady left he took us home. It was a really long walk, but the guy was nice,” Atreyu says.

Just
then, Shannon’s phone started ringing again and a small scream escaped before her hands covered her mouth. This was really beginning to piss me off. She didn’t even reach for her phone. When I went to say something, she just shook her head. I was willing to let it go… for now.

“Shannon,
I can understand why you’d not want to let the boys out of your sight, but maybe them being out at our ranch is safer,” Mary suggested.

That
was a good point. Mary and Tobey were out in the middle of nowhere and owned a serious amount of land all around their house. It would get the boys out of sight for a little while until whatever this is blows over.

Just
as I was about to suggest just that, she turned to the boys, “Do you want to go there?”

“Yes,
we love it at Aunt Mary’s. Uncle Tobey even helps us ride the horses.”

“Okay,
I guess. It does make sense.” She looks at Mary and Tobey. “Please, watch over them for me. If anything were to happen to them…”

“I
know hun. We won’t let anything happen to them.”

The
night went on with no further phone calls and the boys were starting to dose off. Mary and Tobey gathered up the boys and head back to the ranch. Shannon and I left shortly after them.

“Since
meeting you, the boys have been away from me so much, I feel like I’m losing them,” she mumbled, staring out the window.

“No,
beautiful. Think of it this way, they have a family. They have a lot of people that love them.”

“Yeah,
maybe you’re right.”

We
walked into her house. She locked up and walked into the kitchen checking the back door. Anger boiled in me, at the thought of her not feeling safe in her own home.

“Would
you like me to check all the windows?”

“Yes,
please.”

Going
around checking the windows, I finally got a full view of the changes that were made in the house. Nick really did an amazing job. This house felt so new, yet a glimmer of the old home still remained. Once the check was done, I walked back out to the kitchen and wrapped my arms around her as she stood at the counter.

“Hey
beautiful, we need to discuss something.”

“Oh
yeah? What’s that?”

“Living
arrangements…”

“Oh
I thought since you brought your clothes you were moving in here,” she said turning around with a smirk. “Did you think I wouldn’t go through the boxes and bags?”

“Well,
I’d hoped not before I’d asked,” I said grinning from ear to ear. “So…Is that what you want?”

“Yes,
actually. I love this house now.”

“I
do too.”

“Would
you be willing to come in and help me out tomorrow?”

“Why
what’s wrong?”

“I
fired Rachael because of the stupid shit she was doing at the office to fuck everything up. It’s just if I don’t get some reliable help soon then I may never be home,” I said pouting.

“Of
course. I think it’d be fun to work together,” she says with a sexy smirk.