Epilogue
JAYNE
Six weeks later
It’s the first week of January, and I got a call from Lourdes a little while ago, asking me to meet her at the house.
Lindy has been splitting her time between staying with Bodi and me, and staying at the house with her mother, since everything blew up just before Thanksgiving.
Lourdes has been flying back and forth to see her parents and didn’t want to keep taking Lindy out of school.
I don’t know what that’s all about and I don’t care—I’m just glad I get to spend time with her.
Lindy’s at school, so Bodi and I are on our way over together.
I don’t know exactly what she wants but she said it was important and had to do with Lindy.
Last I heard, she and my father were negotiating some kind of plea deal and they’ve probably come to some sort of agreement.
I’m not sure what the best possible resolution could be, but I’m willing to hear her out.
I want Lindy with me, but she’s scared and confused. She obviously doesn’t understand their legal troubles and it’s hard to explain it in terms a seven-year-old can comprehend. Some days are better than others, but it’s mostly the back and forth that’s a problem.
“Hi.” Lourdes opens the door looking like a completely different woman. Her bleached blond hair is brown now, and without makeup she looks more her age. She’s wearing yoga pants, an oversized T-shirt, and sneakers, and the house is full of boxes.
“What’s going on?” I ask as we follow her inside.
“We sold the house,” she says, heading for the kitchen.
“There’s enough equity to almost pay back the team for the money your dad took, and I sold some jewelry for the rest. We agreed to a plea deal today.
” She pauses and meets my eyes. “Your dad is agreeing to pay back the money and three years in a low-security prison. I agreed to a year and will hopefully be out in six months.”
“Okay.” I’m not sure what to say.
“Here.” She thrusts a small tote at me. “There’s about twenty-five thousand dollars in there. I had it socked away for a rainy day, but you’ll need it for Lindy.”
“We don’t need money,” Bodi says quietly. “We can afford to feed and clothe her.”
“I know.” She swallows. “But it’s a lot to ask for someone to take care of your child for six months.
Maybe more. There’s no guarantee I’ll get out early.
” She clears her throat. “And when I get out, it’s going to take me a while to get back on my feet.
I’ve never had a real job, so I’m not sure where I’ll be able to work.
So, it’ll probably be more than a year that you’ll have her. ”
“That’s not a problem,” I say quickly.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with your dad after…all of this. He’ll be in prison longer than I will, though.”
“Does Lindy know?”
She shakes her head. “No. I didn’t know what to tell her. It’s been overwhelming, and I think it’s just better if she stays with you from now on, even though my sentence won’t start for another month.”
“Okay. Whatever she needs.”
She uses both hands to massage her temples. “I’m sorry,” she says finally. “I know we’ve never gotten along, but I appreciate you always being there for Lindy. She loves you and feels safe with you, and that’s all I want for her.”
“We’re going to take care of her.”
“I know.” She looks around. “Is there anything you want? I know the two of you are looking for a house. We’re going to sell most of the furniture, but if you wanted to take Lindy’s bedroom furniture, or even the kitchen stuff—it’s not going to bring in enough money to make a difference.”
“Don’t you want to save any of it for when you get out?”
She shudders a little. “No. I don’t want anything to do with any of it.
I’m going to try to start fresh. I, um, have a bunch of Lindy’s things—like her baby book, the blanket my grandmother made her before she died, a few personal items of mine.
It’s just one box. Would you be willing to keep it for me?
I don’t have anyone else…my mom doesn’t have room. ”
“Of course,” I say smoothly. “I think we could really use the kitchen stuff.” I glance at Bodi and he nods.
“Thank you,” he says.
“I’ll be here the rest of today and all day tomorrow, getting my affairs in order. I’m going to go see my mom before I go in…she’s in Wisconsin and she doesn’t fly.” Lourdes tells us a few other inconsequential details, but it seems like she needs to keep talking, so we let her.
“I’m going to call a few of the guys,” Bodi says to me. “See if they can bring their trucks over so we can pick up Lindy’s bedroom set and whatever else you want.”
I walk over to the cabinets and stare at everything.
This is huge for us.
Beautiful china and glassware. Every appliance known to man.
Silverware, pots and pans, even place mats and potholders.
Literally everything we’d possibly need.
Probably more since I don’t know how to cook many things.
Bodi and I are actually going to take a cooking class this summer, and West promised to teach us some basics beyond boiling pasta and mac and cheese out of a box.
“There are boxes in the garage,” Lourdes says after a moment.
“Thank you,” I say sincerely. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
She waves a hand. “I did it to myself. But I always land on my feet. This time was just a much harder lesson to learn. My only regret is Lindy being in the middle of it.”
“Lourdes…” I pause, unsure how to phrase what I’m about to say.
“Look, I know this is difficult, but Lindy isn’t a baby anymore.
You can’t just pop in and out of her life.
You have to put her needs before your own, especially if you don’t know how you’re going to support yourself once you get out.
Eighteen months from now, you can’t take her from her life here and move her to Wisconsin or something. ”
Lourdes freezes, her eyes meeting mine.
For a moment, the old Lourdes is back, her expression hard and angry. Ready to fight. Then her eyes flutter closed and she takes a few deep breaths.
“I know,” she whispers. “I fucking know that.”
To my utter shock, tears leak from her eyes and she swipes at them angrily.
“I’m so upset with your father. He told me they would never know and once my interior design business took off, we could pay the money back.
That it wouldn’t be a big deal but we needed to show the team that we deserved to be in this position.
I thought he was charging a few things, like personal dinners and office supplies, to his business card, stuff like that—I had no idea he was actually taking money from one of the accounts they set up so he could get things ready for hockey season.
” She clenches her fists. “I love him, but he’s been a shitty husband and a really shitty father—and now not only am I going to prison, my daughter is going to suffer. I’m so fucking mad at him!”
“I heard he had a nervous breakdown,” I say softly. “I guess he got overwhelmed.” I’m not letting him off the hook either, but the situation did seem to overwhelm him.
“Yeah. I knew it was bad when…he slapped you.” She finally looks at me. “I know I’m no saint, but I’ll never condone physical violence. He really went over the edge. I guess he’s getting help now.”
“I can’t help you with any of the stuff with my dad,” I say in a firm but gentle voice. “But your daughter is not going to suffer. I’ll make sure of that. Bodi and I love her—and so do all our friends. The boys are Uncle West, Uncle Simon, Uncle Viktor… She’s learning Russian, by the way.”
Lourdes snickers through her tears, managing a small smile. “That’s great.”
“Lindy will be okay—you don’t have to worry about that—but think about what I said. You can’t just bop in and out. I’m not going to try to keep her from you, so you have to make the hard decisions, like how much you want to disrupt her life once you’re out.”
She nods, her voice barely a whisper as she says, “I know.”
“Okay, West, Simon, and Felix are on the way,” Bodi announces coming back into the kitchen. “Are there tools anywhere? I’m probably going to have to take her bed apart to move it.”
“In the garage,” Lourdes says, reaching for a tissue and wiping her eyes.
“Well, thank you for all the stuff,” I say. “It’s going to help us because we’re literally starting with nothing. Bodi left all of his stuff with his sister when he moved, and I don’t have anything.”
“Technically, I guess some of this should be yours. Your father and I never gave you much, so this is the least we could do.”
“We really do appreciate it.” I look around. “I guess I have to start packing. This kitchen is huge.”
“Let me show you where everything is…”
It’s close to five hours before we’ve taken everything we want out of the kitchen, Lindy’s bedroom furniture, and a couple of Lourdes’s personal items. We don’t know where we’re going to put everything because so far, we haven’t found a house we want to put an offer on.
Lindy’s at the library with Kelly, who picked her up from school, and she chatters nonstop when we pick her up.
“I got my bedroom stuff?” she asks, clapping her hands. “Yay! Oh, and I got a hundred on my math test today.”
“That’s my girl,” I say turning around to grin at her.
“Are we going to look at houses again this weekend?” she asks.
“Bodi’s going on a road trip,” I say, “but yes, you, me, and Kelly will go house-hunting again.”
“I love house-hunting,” she gushes. “Almost as much as I love you!”
I grin and glance over at Bodi.
He’s been mostly quiet today, a strong, silent support during a tumultuous time.
Just as he’s been since everything started.
My rock, and the foundation of everything I’m trying to do.
Finish school. Take care of Lindy. Work at the library.
Build relationships with people on the team and their significant others.
And most of all, be as much of a support to Bodi as he’s been to me.
“Bodi, can I tell people you’re my brother?” Lindy asks him.
He glances at her in the rearview mirror. “I think it’s more accurate for you to say I’m your brother-in-law.”
“How come?”
“Well, because a brother-in-law is married to your sister. Jayne is your sister and I plan to marry her.”
Whoa—really?
That’s news to me but I like hearing it.
“You do? Awesome-sauce!” Lindy’s voice is a squeal. “Can I be in the wedding? Can I wear pink? Pink is my favorite color! Do you like pink?”
She keeps talking and asking questions she doesn’t really want answers to, so I reach over and slip my hand into Bodi’s.
He doesn’t look at me, but I see the smile on his handsome face.
I never believed there could be someone like him out there—I’m still getting used to the fact that Bodi Michener loves me. Really, truly loves me.
And he just told my sister he plans to marry me.
I squeeze his hand in what I hope is a meaningful way. I love him but I also appreciate him.
I plan to spend the rest of my life showing him.
And writing him love letters that I’ll give him as soon as I’m done.
Thank you for reading PENALTY KISS and falling in love with Bodi and Jayne. Next up is West and Serena—West is really swoony… and if you want a little teaser into his past, click here for a bonus prologue.