Epilogue #2
I looked over at the self-serve coffee bar. “Can you make me a half-coffee, half-hot chocolate with French vanilla creamer?
Liam brought me the coffee concoction, and I’m pretty sure it made both of us happy.
My phone vibrated with a text as we were eating.
Nicky: Do you have a backup plan to take care of Thor if I end up in jail?
Me: Nope, so don’t go to jail.
Nicky: Can’t promise.
Nicky: I’m gonna kill him
I started writing, but deleted it. “Be right back,” I said to Liam. “I need to call Nicky.”
“Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t tell if she’s being dramatic or if something’s really wrong.” I popped the last bite of waffle in my mouth, grabbed my coffee, and walked over to a quiet corner of the lobby to call her.
“Hey, so who are you killing?”
“Luca’s dad,” Nicky’s clipped tone held barely restrained fury.
Crap, she was serious. “What did he do? Are you okay? Is Luca okay?”
“Luca had finger-shaped bruises on his arms.”
Pain shot through my heart. Luca was only a little boy. “What are you going to do?”
“I already called CPS, but I barely slept last night worrying about them. What if I made it worse?” Nicky sounded on the verge of tears, something I rarely heard from her.
“You did the right thing,” I soothed. “You didn’t have a choice about that anyway.”
“I know. I probably should’ve just quietly left before I called, though. But I couldn’t leave Luca there with that asshole thinking he could do whatever he wants!”
Oh no. “You told them you were calling?”
“I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t say I was calling CPS, but I mentioned the bruises. I just wanted him to know someone was looking out for Luca. It was so stupid of me!”
“What happened?”
“He was furious. He said if I knew what was good for me, I’d focus on fixing Luca and mind my own business. Luca’s mom looked terrified, even more than usual.”
“Call your boss and report it. You can’t keep working there if he’s threatening you, Nicky.”
“Who’s threatening her?” Liam growled from behind me.
I jumped. “When did you get here?”
“Just now. Who’s threatening Nicky?”
“Jenna, don’t tell him,” Nicky pleaded. “I’m not going to stop seeing Luca!”
“I’m not keeping it from him, sorry,” I said, my eyes on Liam.
She kept talking, but I shushed her and filled him in.
“May I?” He put his hand out for my phone, and I handed it over. “Nicky, tell me everything, please.” His words were nice, but his tone was all soldier.
I couldn’t hear her, but judging by his dark expression and increasingly demanding tone, she was obviously pushing back.
“When are you scheduled to go again… We’ll be home before then.
We’ll get someone to go with you… No, that wasn’t a question.
In the meantime, go to the police and file a report today…
Doesn’t matter. File it anyway… Do not contact them.
Do not go near them. Do you agree, or do I need to get Ryan to sit on you…
Nowhere near them, Nicky… If you see Luca’s dad or anything feels off, you call the police immediately, then Ryan or me…
Yes, I am. There are no secrets when it comes to safety… Do I sound like I’m serious?”
I motioned for him to give the phone back. “Nicky, please listen to Liam. We have to go to Tyler’s graduation now, and you’d better not ruin this day for me by being reckless and selfless. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”
“I promise I won’t do anything stupid today,” she said like a petulant toddler. “But there’s no way in hell I’m letting Ryan or any of them tell me what to do.”
“They know what they’re doing. Please listen to them.”
“I will. Don’t worry about me. Go enjoy the graduation.”
“You sure you’ll be alright?”
“Positive. Tell Tyler I say congrats.”
“Love you, Nicky. Be safe.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up, and Liam pulled me into his arms. “She’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m going to call Ryan, and he’ll make sure of it.”
I nodded, grateful for that, but I knew all too well that there was no way he, or anyone, could protect her all the time.
Like he was a mind reader, Liam pressed a kiss to my forehead. “It’s not the same thing, Firefly. Snake Eyes was a serial rapist and murderer. This guy sounds like a big bully. We’ll take care of it.”
We got in the car, and he called Ryan on the way to graduation.
“He’ll watch her?” I confirmed after they hung up, even though I heard the whole conversation, including Ryan yelling that she needed a good spanking.
“Yep. Now the only risk is her killing Ryan.”
“That’s a definite possibility. Do you know she started calling him bacon?”
“Bacon?”
“Delicious, but bad for you.”
Liam laughed. “Well, that makes his name for her not so bad.”
“What does he call her?”
“Yips. Like a yippy puppy. Cute, but annoying.”
“Bacon and Yips. They’re adorably ruthless.”
“Do you see him?” I squinted into the sun, searching the sea of caps and gowns for Tyler.
It was a beautiful day, and therefore graduation was outside.
It was the scenario I’d initially been worried about, but now it was perfect because Brian and the Belkes were far from welcome, and we needed the extra ticket for Liam.
Tyler had assured me Liam could get in either way, but I was glad this worked out easier.
“Found him,” Liam said, grinning.
I looked where he was pointing, and— “Oh!” Tears sprang to my eyes and I grabbed Liam’s arm. “His cap. It…”
“It’s for you, Firefly.”
“4 Jen Jen” was boldly painted on top of his cap.
“I can’t believe he did that. I’ve barely even been here for him all these years.”
“You’ve always been there for him. And now he knows it.”
“He’s always looked up to you,” my mom said from my other side. “Even as a baby, he lit up when he saw you, and from the moment he could move, he just wanted to follow his big sister.”
“I used to carry him everywhere like he was my little doll—my teddy bear. And now he’s all grown up.”
My mom dabbed at her eyes.
“No crying, Mom. Don’t get me started.”
She laugh-cried, and my dad grumbled, then we settled as the speeches started.
The commencement speaker was an engineer I’d never heard of, but she gave a beautiful speech about letting go to move forward.
I crossed my legs to see my tattoo: the infinity sign with exit ramps. Letting go to move forward.
The graduates were eventually called to walk up, and when Tyler walked across the stage I clapped until my hands stung, and Liam whistled loudly. My ears rang, but it was worth it when Ty looked right at me, his smile clear as day even from across the distance.
Being here for him was everything. Worth everything it had taken to get here.
A few hours later, after taking pictures and spending some time on campus, we celebrated at a steakhouse.
Tyler was telling us about his job, so full of enthusiasm, when the waiter came for our order.
“We’ll have a bottle of Pinot Noir, please,” my dad said.
“Do you think one will be enough? Maybe we should get two bottles,” my mom said.
“I’m not going to have any.”
My parents both looked at me. “Even if you just have a little for a toast, one still won’t go far,” my mom said.
Liam’s leg pressed against mine under the table.
I pressed back against him, focusing on keeping the tremble out of my voice. “I’ll toast with my water. You can get as much as you want, but I’m not going to have any.”
My mom’s gaze narrowed, dropping to my chest and lower, as though she had X-ray eyes that could see through the table into my stomach, searching for the only explanation she could fathom.
“There’s no reason. I just don’t want to drink tonight.” Maybe that was a tiny cop-out, but I was fine with it.
“One bottle of Pinot Noir, please,” my dad said to the waiter.
While everyone was distracted giving their orders, Liam pulled me closer. “Proud of you, Firefly,” he whispered in my ear, sending tingles down my spine.
“Me too.”
The rest of dinner passed easily enough with light conversation, then as we were finishing up, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, hoping it wasn’t Nicky’s one call. Beth’s name scrolled across the screen.
“Want to step outside to talk to her?” Liam asked quietly.
My stomach twisted, but I didn’t want to deal with whatever she had to say during Ty’s celebration or in front of my family. “No, I’ll call her back later.” I quickly silenced my phone and put it away before her message popped up.
My mom pulled her phone out, too, staring at the screen for a long moment, her expression unreadable .
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Gloria just texted me,” she started, and Liam grabbed my hand. “Brian was arrested for child pornography. God help me, but I hope that fucker gets what he deserves in prison!”
“Mom!” I was shocked she said that, but honestly, I agreed.
My dad swiped under his eyes. “Thank God. I’m sorry I failed to protect you when you needed me, sweetheart, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that son-of-a-bitch pays for everything he’s done.”
Their heartfelt support settled something in my chest. It wasn’t just me now. I didn’t have to carry this alone, didn’t have to hide behind silence and secrets. For the first time, we were finally on the same side, standing together.
Liam cupped my cheek and whispered near my ear, “You did good, Firefly. Proud of you.” Electricity ran down my spine as those words hit. I helped do this. I helped make our little corner of the world a bit safer and better.
“It’ll be like that Sublime song,” Tyler said. “I hope Brian shares a cell with a large inmate.” He started singing the wildly inappropriate lines, breaking the tension.
“Ty, stop it!” I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
I laughed until tears rolled down my face.
“Thanks, Teddy Bear.” I took a sip of water and pulled myself back together.
“Thanks, Mom and Dad. I hate that he’s doing stuff like that, but I’m glad he’s finally going to face some consequences, and I’m really glad you guys know. Thank you for your support.”
“If he goes to jail, will you come visit more?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, I will.”
“Good.” He grinned, and he looked so much like the little boy he used to be. He raised his water glass, since they’d finished the wine a while ago, and everyone followed suit. “To more time together.”
We clinked glasses and sipped our water.
“To moving forward,” I said, and we all clinked again.
The next day, on the flight home, I snuggled against Liam’s chest.
“You happy, Firefly?”
“So happy.”
He pressed a kiss against my temple. “I’m sorry we had to leave so quickly.”
“I’m not. I’m thrilled we were there for Ty, but I’m just as excited to get back home.
I’m excited for normalcy. To just be us.
To come home from work and find you in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
To meet you at the firehouse after work.
You still owe me a tour of the trucks, you know, and now I want it in person. ”
“I’d love to give you a tour. I want to share every piece of my life with you.”
“Me too. I’m excited to finish the backyard too. I want to fill our garden with perennials, so every year when they bloom again, we can remember when it all began.”
Liam frowned. “I can do without always remembering the last few months.”
I shook my head against him. “Nope. This is our story, and I’m too happy we’re here to regret any of it.”
“I love how you always see the bright side of things, but no. I’ll never be okay with what happened.”
I smiled up at him. “I’m okay.”
“I know you are.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “And I’m so proud of you.”
He was sweet, but I wasn’t giving up on this.
“How about if we only plant some perennials? Those will remind us of when we first began, and we’ll have room to plant more in the future.
As we add to our story, we’ll add to our garden.
This will always be one part of it, and there will be lots more good times to commemorate in the future. ”
“I love it, and I love you, Firefly.”
“I love you, Liam.”
I snuggled deeper into my favorite spot, the groove where his pecs met his shoulder, breathed in his woods and mint scent, and with his strong arms securely wrapped around me, I slept the rest of the way home, dreaming of that future.
*** The End ***