“That’s how I am with you, Cassie. So damn gorgeous my eyes don’t want to leave you.” Our eyes connect in the rearview mirror, leaving me blushing.
J pulls into the driveway of our temporary home. Once J makes a little more money we will be looking at buying a house here in Brilliant. I never figured I would love the small town life as much as I have, but this little town has grown on me. J and I wanted to move out before Ella arrived, but Jane dismissed the idea and told us to wait for a while.
J parks next to a sleek, black SUV we haven’t seen before. Dan and Jane must have company.
J gently sets me down on the grass before retrieving Ella. Hand in hand, we enter the house. Jane instantly greets us automatically taking Ella from her car seat. “Welcome home!” Dan and a middle-aged man, dressed in a suit with a badge hanging around his neck and a briefcase in his hand, step out from the kitchen.
The man takes a step for me and holds out his hand. “Cassie, I’m David Mitchell, FBI, nice to meet you.”
Hesitantly, I shake his hand, shrinking closer to J
“What’s this about?” J asks, snaking his arm around me protectively.
David gestures to the couch. “Shall we make ourselves comfortable?” We all make our way over to the couches and sit. My hand grips J’s in preparation for what’s to come. “Cassie,” he begins. “there is no easy way to say this, but seventeen years ago you were abducted from your parents by a woman named Marcie Henderson and her husband.” Several loud gasps filled the room, including mine. Abducted? “You had just turned one and Marcie worked for your mother and father as a live-in nanny to take care of you. Your biological mother, Amanda, fired Marcie and Marcie became highly upset. She had become so attached to you and it broke her because she couldn’t have children.”
I’m trying to wrap my head around everything he is saying. “So you’re telling me the people who raised me kidnapped me? What about my aunt Beverly? If you’re telling me the truth, then how come no one found me for seventeen years?”
David opens his briefcase and pulls out several papers, passing them over to me. “The search lasted for months with no leads, Cassie. Your picture was blasted on every news channel, flyers were posted just about everywhere, but after so long, the case closed and your parents lost hope. They never gave up, though. Mike and Amanda call me every so often wondering if we have any leads. Two months ago, your mother called me and told me she read a news article dated a few months prior about Marcie and her husband’s death. She emailed me the article and we began investigating and wound up here. It is unclear if Beverly Odom knew about your abduction. She will be questioned and if there is any evidence proving she had any knowledge, she will be charged.”
My mind is spinning as I read newspaper clippings and copies of the case file. “I-I..”
“It’s a lot to process I know.”
“Can you tell me about them? Where do they live?”
“You can ask them yourself,” he says with a smile.
“They’re here?”
He nods. “They are waiting, with your brothers, in a hotel about thirty minutes from here. All I have to do is make a call and they will be here.”
“My brothers?”
David digs through some papers and finds a picture, handing it to me. “Austin is fifteen and Jake is thirteen,” he says, pointing to each one.
I stare dumbfounded at the two scrawny boys in the picture. Austin is the tallest, with sandy blond hair and green eyes while Jake stands next to him looking almost identical. Jake has slightly darker hair and braces.
J leans over and places a kiss on my cheek. “No matter what you decide, I love you.”
Taking a deep breath, I look up to David. “I’d like to meet them.”
David stands. “Excuse me while I make a call.”
Thirty minutes seemed to take a lifetime. Sitting wasn’t cutting it so I started pacing, trying to shake the nerves away, yet they didn’t seem to go.
“Cassie, just breathe,” J murmurs, taking me into his arms.
“It kind of all makes sense. I never understood why I didn’t connect with them,” I say into his chest. My whole body is practically shaking from being so nervous.
The sound of gravel crunching has my heart pounding. They are here.
J links his fingers with mine as we step out on the porch. Amanda, my mother, is out of the car first. She is beautiful. And she looks just like me. My father is next to her, holding her hand, both teary eyed. Letting go of J’s hand I step off the porch, taking my first steps toward my real parents. They meet me half way, engulfing me in their arms. All three of us burst into tears.
“My baby,” mom weeps. “Just as beautiful as I imagined you’d be.”
“So glad you’re safe,” Dad says kissing my hair.
Being a new mom myself, I can’t imagine the pain and heartache they endured losing a child.
Stepping back, Mom runs a hand over my hair and then cups my cheeks. “Would you like to meet your brothers?”
Unable to find words, I nod. Mom looks back at the car and waves them over. Austin and Jake get out and come over. I hug each one of them. Jake ruffles my hair I guess to lighten the mood.
“Would you like to meet my family?” I ask them, hoping I didn’t offend them.
Mom beams. “We would love to.” Taking mom’s hand, I lead them over to everyone.
J steps forward, who is now holding Ella. “This is my boyfriend, J, and our daughter, Ella Jane Michaels.”
Mom gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. “My baby has a baby.”
Dad shakes J’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Once everyone was introduced to one another, we all head inside to where Jane cooked a huge dinner.
“Can I hold her?” Mom asks eagerly.
My heart swells with emotion. “Sure, Grandma.”
Mom laughs. “I can’t believe I am old enough to be a grandma!”
I learn a lot about my family in a few hours. Dad is a construction worker for a big company and Mom is a Dental assistant in Phoenix, Arizona and have lived there all their life, which makes Phoenix where I’m from. Austin is a jokester while Jake is very active in sports in which he prefers soccer.
When it was time for them to go, I almost started crying again until I learned they will be staying here for a week. A week to get to spend time with the family I was taken from doesn’t make up for the seventeen years we lost with each other, but it’s a start.
Mom hugged me for so long I wasn’t sure she was going to let go. And I wasn’t sure I wanted her to let go either.
After they are gone, J scoops me up in his arms and kisses me until I am breathless.
“You have no idea how happy I am for you, Cass.”
It almost feels like a dream. “I am feeling so many things right now, J. My emotions are scattered all over the map.”
“You deserve this, Cassie, and so much more.”
Even if I only had J and our daughter, I would still be the happiest person on earth. “Thank you for being so annoying when I first met you.”
J’s laugh fills the room. “Anytime, Cass. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you I had to have you.”
While Cassie may have received the biggest shock of her life a few days ago, I have never seen her smile so much. Seeing her with Ella, though, is the most amazing sight. There are times when I just stand from afar and watch them together because I am so mesmerized. My whole world is standing before me.
“I’ll be right back, Cass, I have an errand to run,” I say, dropping a kiss to Cassie’s lips and then a kiss on my daughter’s head.
Nerves take over when I reach the hotel Cassie’s parents are staying at. After talking with mom and dad last night, I know I am doing the right thing.
I knock on the room door and then stuff my hands in my pockets so I won’t fidget. I’ve gotten to know Mike and Amanda pretty well over the past few days and I can definitely see where Cassie gets her sweetness from. They are t
wo of the nicest people you’ll ever meet and I’m glad their lifestyle didn’t affect Cassie’s personality.
“J,” Mike says, obviously surprised by my impromptu visit. “Come inside. Is Cassie with you?”
“No, it’s just me,” I tell him as I step inside the suite.
“What can we do for you?”
Amanda and Cassie’s brothers come in the room and say hello. I return their greeting and then turn to Mike. “I’d like to talk to you if that’s okay?”
“Sure, make yourself comfortable.”
I find somewhere to sit and nervously rub my hands on my jeans. “Before I get to why I am really here, I want to thank you and your wife for not giving up hope. Is it wrong that I felt relieved to know that they weren’t her real parents? I never told Cassie, but I wondered a few times how they were her parents because they weren’t mature as Cassie was. So, I just wanted to thank you for her even though it hurt to know there was nothing all those years.”
Mike and Amanda smile at each other, Amanda with unshed tears in her eyes. “She is our world. We never wanted to stop praying and hoping that one day we would find her because it would have felt like we failed her. So, thank you and your family for finding her and taking care of her.”
Pride swells in my chest from hearing his words. “I felt a fraction of what you felt for seventeen years when Zack took her and I never want to feel that way again. Cassie and Ella are my world, which brings me to why I am here.” Pausing, I inhale and then exhale slowly. “I know that I have only known you two for a few days, but I can see where Cassie gets her sweet personality and her strength from. My parents and I talked and we didn’t think it would be fair to ask Cassie to marry me without your blessing. You’ve missed watching her grow up and I feel like I should ask you for her hand in marriage so you don’t miss out on another milestone in her life.”
Mike kisses his wife’s forehead, who is now crying. It’s been a very emotional few days for all of us. “J, there is no doubt in our minds that your love for Cassie is deeper than the ocean. You definitely have our blessing.”
My heart soars at the thought of Cassie becoming my wife. “Thank you, sir.”
Mike and I rise to our feet and instead of shaking hands, we hug. “I guess I need to get back before Cassie suspects something.” An idea suddenly hits me, stopping me in my tracks. “This may sound crazy since it’s sudden, but since you all are leaving in a couple of days, I want to see if Cassie will marry me at our spot tomorrow evening. Cassie wouldn’t want anything big or fancy anyway and I know she would want her parents to be here.”
“As long as Cassie is okay with it, we are.”
That’s all I needed to hear.
“Come with me to our spot,” I murmur in Cassie’s ear as my fingers link with hers.
“M’kay,” she hums with a sweet smile on her face.
Cassie lays her head on my shoulder and her hand entwined with mine. It’s been a long time since we have been to our spot, which makes this occasion even more special.
I’ve had a ring for a while, waiting for the right time to ask her. Cassie and I may be young and some people may not agree with us getting married. Screw them. What’s the difference if I marry her tonight or years from now? Our love will still remain.
I park my truck the same way I always do. Cassie lets out a small gasp as she takes in the scenery. I may have added some lights to the trees. It’s cold out and we might be crazy for being out, but there is no other place I want to ask her.
“It’s so beautiful out here, J! Did you do this?”
My smile is wide. “I sure did, Cass.” Since I am already holding her hand, I lower one knee to the ground and pull out the ring. “A year and a half ago, I saw this breathtaking girl walking down the hall and I knew in my heart that she would be mine forever. She’s feisty and strong, but she is also one of the sweetest souls I have met. Cass, will you marry me here, tomorrow?”
“Oh, J, you know even if you asked me ten years from now I would say yes, no matter what.”
Removing the glove on her left hand, I slide the ring on her finger. Rising up, Cassie throws her arms around my neck and plants her lips on mine.
And so, on a cold day in the middle of December, I took Cassie’s hand and asked her to be my wife. In twenty-four hours, Cassie will share my last name.
Cassie Michaels has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
Having a love like J and I share is one in a million. J is my soulmate, my rock, and my protector. So, here we are, on a freezing cold December day, standing in front of our tree. Our hands are joined in the middle of our bodies as we listen to the preacher.
“We are gathered here today before God, family, and friends to witness the marriage…”
I love you, I mouth to J, who looks more handsome than ever in a white button-up shirt and jeans.
Love you more, Cass, he mouths back.
Jane and Ella are all bundled up, watching from a warm vehicle so our little one doesn’t get sick.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe how life led me to this man. I thank my lucky stars above every day for bringing my forever to me.
Our wedding was perfect in every way. Our parents (minus Jane) stood on either side of us while our siblings and Jess stood facing us. The lights J hung in the trees are still shining brightly. Yeah, we could have waited, but what’s the point?
It was simple.
It was real.
It was us.
And this is our forever.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I want to thank God for blessing me.
My husband- You are always so supportive of my dreams and I love you so much!
My readers- Your support means the world to me. Thank you for loving my characters and their stories!
My parents- Thank you for loving me and being there for me.
Shannon- What can I say that I already haven’t? Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
My CS Chicks- You ladies always give the best advice and I’m lucky to have such amazing friends!
To the fellow authors who have helped me and given me advice…Thank you!
To all the blogs that have shared my author page, teasers, and helped promote me…Thank you for helping me get my name out in the book world.
About the Author
Shelby lives in Alabama with her loving husband and their energetic son. When she is not writing or working, Shelby enjoys reading, spending time with her family and friends, and traveling.
You can follow Shelby and her writing journey on Facebook, join her reader/fan group, or on Wattpad
Trust in Me (Saved #1.5) Page 10
