Chapter Thirteen #2
While she worked, she kept an eye on the time. As soon as it was late enough, she did want to go to the hospital to check on him. There was no question she was worried about him. Hopefully the doctor had been able to take care of him, and he’d be just fine.
He’d saved her life yesterday, and in the process, Nola had stabbed him in the back, deep enough to hit his lung.
As he’d held Nola under gunpoint, he’d shown no sign of the tremendous pain he must have been in.
He’d shown nothing but strength and command of the situation, and Monique knew he had done that for her.
It was a few minutes before nine when she checked in at the hospital to see what room Jacque was in.
Once she had the information, she hurried down the hallway.
The scents of coffee and bacon lingered in the air, letting her know that breakfast had either just finished or was still being delivered to patient rooms.
When she reached room 107, she stepped inside, and her heart expanded at the sight of him. He was sitting up in the bed, a breakfast tray across his lap. The blue-flowered hospital gown did nothing to detract from his attractiveness. When he saw her, a wide smile curved his lips.
“Jacque.” She whispered his name as tears blurred her vision. She stepped up to the side of his bed and, unable to help herself, she took hold of his hand and squeezed it. “You look okay. Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine… Don’t cry, Monique. I’m good, and I should come home later this afternoon or first thing tomorrow.”
She released his hand and pulled up a nearby chair and sat at his side. “I heard you were stabbed and had a collapsed lung. I didn’t know, Jacque. I didn’t even know she had stabbed you.”
“The good thing is the nick to my lung wasn’t too bad, and the doctor fixed me right up. I was on oxygen all night, but they pulled me off that early this morning. How are you? The last time I saw you, you were pretty bloody.”
“I’m okay. I have a few stitches in my arm, and she slashed me across my chest, but that didn’t even need stitches.”
He smiled at her again. “You solved the case, Monique. You solved it just like you wanted to.”
A small laugh escaped her. “Not by my brain power. It was just sheer chance that I saw my mother’s book in her kitchen.”
“At least the crime has finally been solved.”
“And I’m no longer in danger,” she replied. “In fact, I’m packing up my things today and heading back to my shanty since you no longer need to babysit me.” She kept her tone light despite the intense pain that wrenched her heart.
“There was certainly no rush for you to leave, but I’m sure you’re eager to get back to your real life,” he replied. “Now you can live your life freely and not be afraid anymore.”
She’d hoped to spend her life with him, loving him and him loving her, but that wasn’t going to happen.
She pushed her chair back and stood, needing to escape before she burst into more tears.
“Well, I just wanted to check in on you,” she said.
“I’m glad you’re doing okay, Jacque. As you know, I’ll always be eternally grateful to you for everything you’ve done for me. ”
“It was my pleasure, Monique,” he replied softly. “And now I hope you have a wonderful life.”
She said a quick goodbye and then escaped the room. She didn’t begin to weep until she was in her car driving back to the swamp. Only then did her tears fall because the man she loved with all her heart and soul didn’t love her back.
It had been seven days since Monique had packed up and left Jacque’s shanty. Life returned to normal. She’d thrown herself into her job, working long hours to keep her busy. She had a pleasant lunch with her sisters, but all the while her heart ached with an unrelenting pain.
She’d heard that Jacque had returned home from the hospital, but in the seven days that had passed, she didn’t see or hear from him. It was as if their time together had never really happened. Except it had, and the end result was that she still felt gutted by it all.
The town buzzed with the news that Nola had killed the voodoo queen.
She remained in jail awaiting trial. While Monique didn’t like the way district attorney Jackson Scott conducted his personal life, she knew he was a good attorney who would see to it that Nola got the maximum punishment for her crimes.
On Monday, Monique worked from nine until five, and when she left work, she was particularly tired. She hadn’t been sleeping well but was hoping tonight she would get some good rest.
When she got home, she changed from her work clothes into a red sundress she often wore in the evenings.
It was comfortable and cool, as the last several days had been particularly warm with little breeze.
Once she’d changed, she made herself a salad for dinner, but only picked at it with little appetite.
Somehow, she knew she needed to pull herself together. Somehow, she needed to forget how much she loved Jacque. But she didn’t know how to do that. Thoughts of him invaded her mind a million times a day, and dreams of him haunted what little sleep she got.
She finally tossed the last of her salad into the trash and then curled up on the sofa with several lanterns lit near her. For the past seven nights, she had read until bedtime. It helped pass the long, lonely evenings that had once been filled with conversation and laughter.
She’d only been reading for about a half an hour when a knock fell on her door. With a frown, wondering who it could be, she got up to answer it.
Jacque. He stood on her front porch with evening shadows darkening his face. “Hi, Monique. Mind if I come in for a minute?”
“Of course not.” Her heartbeat triple-timed in her chest as she opened the door wider to allow him entry.
She drank in his features as the lanterns lit them and breathed in his achingly familiar scent.
Why was he here? Had something come up in the case against Nola?
If that was the case, then surely Daniel would be here.
“Uh…would you like something to drink?” she asked as he sat gingerly on her sofa.
“No, thanks, I’m good,” he replied.
“How are you feeling?” She sat a little distance away from him on the sofa. Still, she was close enough to breathe in the scent of him. Despite everything that had happened, it smelled like home.
“I’m fine…no worse for wear,” he replied. “What about you?”
“I’m fine, too.”
For a moment, an awkward silence fell between them. “Was there something…?” she began.
“Yes…there’s something,” he said quickly. His green eyes stared into hers. “You’ve absolutely ruined me.”
She looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I was perfectly satisfied living my miserable life, and then you came along. You forced me to smile, and you made me laugh. You reminded me how to have a real conversation and look forward to getting up in the mornings.” He leaned toward her.
“Monique, you ruined me by loving me despite my scowls and attempts to distance myself from you.”
With each word he said, a fragile hope began to well up in her heart. But she remained silent, needing to hear more from him…so much more.
“Since you left my shanty, nothing has been right. I eat breakfast, and I miss you sitting across from me at my table. I go out to fish, and I miss having you on the bank next to me. The evenings seem to go on forever…long, torturous hours of utter silence.”
Even though she couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked so much, he still hadn’t said what she wanted most to hear. “Why are you here, Jacque?” she finally asked.
His green eyes filled with a warmth of emotion that threatened to steal her breath from her. “I’ve come to get you and take you back to my shanty where you belong. Monique, I’m madly, wildly in love with you, and I need you in my life forever.”
There were the words she’d wanted most to hear from him. “Say it again,” she whispered softly.
He stood and pulled her up and into his arms. “I love you, Monique. I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re the little woman who has stolen my heart. Will you come live with me and be my wife?”
“Yes, oh yes.” She barely got the words out of her mouth when his lips took hers in a tender kiss that spoke eloquently of his love for her.
As the kiss continued, tears filled her eyes…happy tears because she knew she was going to have a wonderful life with him.
When the kiss ended, he looked deep into her eyes. “I want to marry you and build a family with you,” he said. “Fate is giving me a second chance at happiness, and I’m not going to be the loner of the swamp any longer.”
She knew he would always hold Lauren and Lily deep in his heart, but there was more than enough room there for her. “And I’m going to make you smile at least ten times a day,” she said.
He laughed. “Honey, with you in my life, smiling is going to be easy.”
He kissed her again, and as she tasted his desire, his love for her, she knew with certainty she was going to be right where she belonged…with Jacque.