Love Is Enough

by Emma Easter

  She ran down the street as fast as she could, tears blurring her sight. So that was why he hadn’t come to pick her up from the airport or answered her calls. He was busy with that blond.

  She couldn’t stop running until she reached the end of the street.

  She leaned against a tree and bent her head as she let the tears pour down her cheeks.

  How could Ken do this to me?

  She should have known. The relationship was too good to be true, and they had been moving way too fast. Perhaps the long-distant relationship had proven way too hard for him to handle.

  She took a deep breath and dashed at her tears. He had no right to cheat on her! The distance was just as hard on her as it was on him. She exhaled and flagged down a taxi. “The Renaissance Hotel,” she said. She got in and shut her eyes, feeling completely numb. As the driver drove back to the hotel, she vowed never again to give her heart away.

  *****

  Ken woke up early, made pancakes for Lauren, and hurriedly prepared to go to Audrey’s hotel. He had no information about her room number, but he would check every single room in the hotel if he had to.

  He had tossed and turned throughout the night, worried about her. With everything in him, he longed to go to the hotel and find her, but he couldn’t leave Lauren in the house alone at night. He’d decided to postpone to this morning and tried to force himself to go to sleep, without success.

  He carried the pancakes and syrup on a tray and went to the guest room where Lauren had slept. Quietly, so as not to wake her up, he set the meal beside her bed. In spite of his stealth, she stirred and then sat up.

  “Hi,” he smiled at her. “Did you sleep well?”

  She smiled back and combed her hair with her fingers. “I was in some pain during the night and had to take the meds the doctor gave me. Apart from that, I slept quite well.” She looked at the pancakes he had set on the bedside table. “You made me breakfast?” she smiled sadly at him. “Always such a gentleman.” She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t.

  Ken shrugged. “Lauren, I need to go out for a short time this morning, but I’ll be back soon.” He didn’t want to leave her, especially after what had happened with her husband yesterday, but he had to go find Audrey.

  She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and disappointment in her eyes. “Okay,” she replied.

  “Make sure you don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll call you when I get back so you can let me in.”

  She nodded, and he smiled reassuringly at her. From the expression on her face, she was clearly scared, even though she was trying hard to be brave.

  He left the room, walked out of the house and locked the door. He glanced at his phone to see if he had any recent missed calls but found none. Yesterday, after they’d returned from the hospital, he saw several missed calls on his phone from a number he didn’t know. When he called the number, no one had answered.

  He had called an acquaintance of his who worked at the airport to help him find out if Audrey’s plane had landed safely. The man had gotten back to him with reassuring news. Her plane had indeed landed in one piece. Which meant that she was fine and probably the person who had tried to reach him with the strange number.

  He drove off to the Renaissance Hotel, strode into the lobby and walked up to the receptionist. “Hi, I’m looking for a Miss Audrey Gardner. I think she checked into this hotel yesterday.”

  The receptionist, a friendly-looking woman, smiled and asked him if he knew Audrey’s room number. When he said he didn’t but would like her to find out for him, the woman shook her head. “I’m so sorry. We don’t give out our guests’ room numbers, no matter what.”

  He sighed, brought out his police badge, and held it out to her. “MPD. I’d like you to check for her room number for me, please.”

  She lifted a brow and then looked down at her computer. “Just a second.” A minute later, she looked up at him. “Miss Gardner checked out this morning.”

  He blurted out, “To where?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know.”

  “Did she leave a message or something?”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  Ken shut his eyes for a second, bewildered. He opened them, exhaled and then left the hotel, determined to get a hold of her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bryan was counting the days before he would be reunited with Sienna. He had been lying in bed in his family home reading a book, but he put the book away after he’d spent almost an hour staring absentmindedly at the same page. He stared at the ceiling, thinking.

  There were eight days left before he could finally get to see her again in person. They talked on the phone, and he got to see her during their video chats. But it wasn’t the same, and it wasn’t enough.

  For the last two weeks, he’d been at his parents’ house in Green Valley. He enjoyed spending time with them, as he hadn’t done so in quite a while. However, he would rather be with Sienna now. Their phone calls and video chats were great, and he knew she was in good hands since she was with her sisters. But he just wanted to get back to school so he could finally be with her in person. He wanted to be able to hold her, to run his fingers through her hair and kiss her.

  But you won’t even be able to do all that in school.

  He sighed and sat up on his bed. Just seeing her in person would have to do. How they could have a relationship without ever being alone with each other or being able to express their love for one another, except maybe by text, was a mystery right now.

  But they would find a way. They had to. He would graduate the beginning of next year. Even if they had to wait until she graduated two years from now, then they would. He would wait because he loved her deeply.

  He prayed, asking the Lord to give him the strength to not mess things up when they got back to school. Any attempt he made to try to see her privately would probably result in disaster. Those watchers were without a doubt now going to be spies for the provost, looking out for anyone who would break the new rules and telling on them.

  For the umpteenth time, he thought about just leaving the school so they could be together, but he knew they couldn’t do that. The Lord had explicitly told him to come to the College, and He hadn’t told him to leave. Sienna also felt the Lord wanted her in the school. As long as it was God’s will for them to remain there, they would have to stay and find creative ways to continue their relationship.

  He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to call her again, even though they had chatted on Skype the evening before. He dialed her number and waited for it to connect.

  Her face appeared on the screen, as beautiful as ever. She said chirpily, “Hi, sweetie!”

  “Hey, babe! How are you today?”

  “I’m good.” She smiled at him. “You look handsome as always. I wish I were there with you.”

  “We will soon be together,” he said. “I’ve been counting the days. We have eight days more.”

  She shook her head. “It’ll be worse when we get back to school, Bryan. I doubt we will be allowed to even video chat. We can talk in a group in public, but we have to vet our words.”

  He moaned. “We need to come up with a plan, Sienna. And we need to do that as soon as possible.” He looked away for a second and then he looked back at her. “I’ve been thinking about it, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything yet.”

  “Me neither.”

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. A plan had been niggling at the back of his mind for days, but it had been vague until now. It suddenly became clear what their best course of action should be, but he decided not to tell her about his idea for now.

  She smiled softly, and the angelic glow it brought to her beautiful face made his heart drum. “What are you thinking about, love?”

  He nearly told her, but he managed to hold it back. He diverted her attention by telling her about his older brother who lived in L.A. After that, they talked about school, about their forced
break and how they were spending it. Sienna told him about her sisters, who apparently were in the process of breaking up with their significant others.

  “I’m so sad for them,” she said. “Especially for Audrey. Ken seemed like a nice guy, but I guess he wasn’t.”

  After the call ended, Bryan ran his plan through his mind again. It was simple, but he knew it would be effective. It would shut the mouths of those watchers and everyone like them. Most of all, it would ensure that he and Sienna could spend as much time as they wanted with each other without fear of punishment.

  *****

  The stars were starting to peek out of the dark sky when Stan drove Trisha home after another date. This time it was a picnic at the Rosefield Park, which they’d frequented for months after they got married. He knew she would enjoy the date, and she had.

  Trish turned to him and smiled warmly. “Have I told you I had a great time?”

  “Yes,” he grinned, “several times already.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw her gazing at him. When her eyes were still on him five minutes later, he turned and grinned at her. “I’ve loved spending these weekends with you, Trish.” He turned back to the road.

  She sighed loudly. “I have too. I just wish you had put this amount of work into our marriage years ago. We probably wouldn’t be where we are now, in the middle of a divorce, if you had.”

  He pursed his lips and then gave her a grim smile. “I know, I messed it all up, but I’m trying to fix it, and I will. I love you, Trish. I don’t want our marriage to end.”

  “I didn’t want it to end either, but I can’t keep putting up with your infidelities.”

  “I haven’t looked at another woman since you filed for a divorce.”

  “Still . . .” She didn’t say anything more.

  They drove in silence until he stopped in front of Audrey’s. He quickly exited the car and went to open her door. He held her hand as she stepped out of the car, and he didn’t let go until they were in front of the door.

  “I can’t wait for our next date,” he said, looking deep into her eyes.

  She gave him a rare grin. “I suppose you are taking me somewhere from our past again? Won’t you tell me where we are going next?”

  “Hmm, I’m not telling you anything. It won’t be a surprise if I do, will it?”

  She chuckled. “Okay then. I will be looking forward to it.”

  He smiled and then tentatively reached out and touched her baby bump. He bent down, his lips almost touching her belly, and whispered, “We’ll tell you all about how we saved our marriage when you are old enough, champ,” he said.

  She giggled. “You know she’s a girl, Stan.”

  “I know. A girl can be called ‘champ’ too.”

  She shrugged, and he searched her eyes. “Do you know something else I can’t wait for?” he asked.

  “What?” she asked softly, her eyes locked on his.

  “I can’t wait to hold our daughter in my arms.” He straightened and looked Trish in the eye. “I promise to spend the rest of my days loving you and our beautiful child. It’ll be the most special thing in the world.”

  She seemed overcome as her eyes shimmered with tears.

  He carefully drew her to him. When she didn’t resist, he took her face in his hands and then gently kissed her. When he pulled back, tears were running down her cheeks.

  He wiped them away with his thumb and said, “I’ll see you later.”

  She nodded.

  He walked to his car, but he could feel her eyes on him. Once he was behind the steering wheel, he waved to her and drove off. About seven minutes later, he got home and immediately brought out his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and waited.

  “Hello, Stan! What news do you have for me?”

  Taking a deep breath, he answered, “Everything is going according to plan.”

  *****

  Ken redialed Audrey’s number and waited. It rang and rang, but she still didn’t answer. He groaned in frustration as it stopped ringing and put his hand on his head. He yelled, “Why aren’t you answering your phone, Audrey?”

  Lenny Stevens popped his head into Ken’s office. “Are you okay, DC?”

  He forced a smile and nodded. “I’m good, Stevens.” But he was far from it. He’d been trying to call Audrey since the day he found out she’d abruptly checked out of the hotel. Every time he dialed her number, it rang and rang without an answer. He’d called her sisters to try to reach her through them, but they also never answered his calls. He had even called a few of the guys at the police station in Rosefield to find out if she was fine, and to ask her to call him, but they always came back with, “She’s good, but she never responds when we pass your message along.”

  Stevens looked at him as though he didn’t believe what Ken had said, but he shrugged and left.

  Ken ran his hand through his hair and heaved a frustrated sigh. Lord, why won’t she speak to me? Unfortunately, he couldn’t go to Rosefield to see her now as he was swamped with work. He was in charge of two ongoing cases that were very sensitive, plus Lauren was still in his house, under his protection. He couldn’t just leave her like that. She had mostly healed physically, but her husband was still on the loose and could attack her again.

  He called Audrey’s number once more, knowing she wouldn’t answer and waited as it rang. When there was still no answer, he moaned and resisted an overwhelming urge to fling his phone across the office.

  There is no way I can do this anymore.

  He had to act now before he lost forever the woman he loved. Obviously, she had something against him, and he had to find out what exactly that was and try to fix it somehow. Case or no case, and Lauren or no Lauren, he had to go to Rosefield.

  He left his office and walked over to his boss’ office. Eric Renner, the chief of police, looked up when Ken knocked. “Can I come in, Eric?” he asked, standing at the door.

  Eric looked up at him and shrugged. “You are already in, Ken.” He pointed at the chair across from him. “Take a seat.”

  Ken came in and sat.

  “What’s on your mind? The drug trafficking case?”

  “Umm, it’s a more personal matter.” He threaded his fingers together, slightly anxious. Telling his boss he had to go to Rosefield now to win back his girlfriend had sounded great in his head. Sitting across from Eric’s intimidating stare now, he realized how it would sound. Still, it was the single most important thing he had to do. He brushed aside his reservations and said, “I need to go to Rosefield . . . to see a friend. It’s imperative that I go.”

  Eric scowled. “We are in the middle of two intense cases, and you want to leave?”

  “I’ll only be gone for two days. No more. I really need to do this. I’ll lose someone I love very much if I don’t go.”

  Eric shook his head. “Unless that someone is at the point of death, I’ll have to refuse.”

  “Eric, sir, I need to do this. Patrick can handle the case just for two days until I’m back. He’s been eager to prove himself, and this is his chance.”

  “Patrick can’t even tie his shoelaces!” Eric shook his head slowly and looked up, his expression thoughtful.

  Ken held his breath.

  At last, he looked at Ken again. “Okay, but only for two days. We need you here, Ken. You know that.”

  “I promise I’ll be back in two days.”

  “When do you want to leave?”

  “As soon as I can . . . probably tomorrow.”

  “Okay, then.”

  Ken smiled and thanked the police chief before returning to his own office.

  Now I need to find a safe place for Lauren to stay and recuperate until I’m back.

  But where could he take her? Lauren didn’t like shelters because of her childhood experiences, and he couldn’t think of a place where she could go now.

  For a few minutes, he sat thinking about it, and then he gave up and went back to work. Half an hour lat
er, as he pored over the narcotics case file, his cell phone rang. He glanced at it and saw the call was from Vince Burns, one of the police officers he’d asked to check up on Audrey. He picked up his phone and answered eagerly. “Hi, Vince. Have you got anything for me?”

  “Umm, I don’t know how to say this, but I heard Chief Gardner speaking with someone on the phone; I’m not sure who exactly it was. She said she saw you with a blonde in your house.”

  Ken nearly dropped the phone. “What? A blonde . . .” And then it immediately hit him. “Lauren!”

  “Who?”

  “Never mind. Thanks, Vince. I appreciate your help.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  Ken ended the call. He stared at the wall in rueful amazement as the pieces began to fall in place in his mind. Audrey had probably come to his house on the day he was to pick her up or the next day. Somehow, without him seeing her, she had spotted Lauren in his home and had understandably misunderstood their relationship.

  He felt like kicking himself. If only he could redo it all. But still, it wasn’t like he’d had a choice. He couldn’t have turned Lauren away after what happened with her husband.

  He glanced at the ceiling. Now that he knew why she wasn’t picking up his calls, it was even more crucial to go to Rosefield as soon as possible and try to iron things out. First, though, he had to figure out where to take Lauren. He couldn’t leave without doing that.

  That evening, as he drove home from work, an idea gradually filtered into his mind. It was risky, but it was the best thing he could do. And it would kill two birds, or maybe three, with one stone.

  He got home and found Lauren lying on the couch in the living room watching TV. She sat up painfully when she saw him and smiled. “Hi!”

  “Hi, Lauren. How was your day?”

  “Good, but boring.”

  He sat on the sofa across from her and said, “I need to leave town tomorrow. I want to go to a small town called Rosefield; that’s where my girlfriend lives.”

  Her eyes filled with fear and she bit her lip.