She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “This is your Miss Hattie?” She gasped for air as the world swam before her eyes.
Tugging her chin up, he looked into her eyes. “Faith? What’s wrong?”
“I…see…her…” Sucking in a breath, she continued, “She’s…my…muse…”
“Hey, look at me.” He put her hand on his chest. “Feel how slow my breathing is, breathe with me. In.” He continued five seconds later with, “Out.”
She concentrated on the feeling of his breathing beneath her hand, trying to match her breaths with his, her gaze riveted to his bottomless blue eyes that made her feel safe. As her respirations slowed, Logan stared at the photo in his hand.
“You see Miss Hattie?” He stared at her, his frank gaze making her self-conscious. “That makes sense.”
“I thought she was just a figment of my imagination, like the characters in my books. Why does my seeing her make sense?”
“The girl with the pigtails is you. Brent found our family connection when he was looking into Madison’s past. We lost track of that girl when her parents moved out west.” He brushed the hair off her face. “You realize you gained more than just a husband today, don’t you? You’ve also gained a couple of cousins who’ve been looking for you for years.”
She smiled at the mention of cousins. “I have a family.” She rubbed her fingers on the picture. “She talks about her boys all the time. She must be talking about you and Adam.” Faith smiled at the thought of telling Miss Hattie how Logan still carried around a picture of her.
“It’s great that you can talk to her. Most people would think you’re crazy, but Adam and I have always lived with things that most people would scoff at. Someday, I’ll tell you about them. Even back then, you could talk to ghosts. You spent most of that summer in conversations with Grandpa Jack.” He looked up at the distant sound of sirens. “Sounds like the cavalry is almost here.”
“Was Robbie mad I took off?” she asked worriedly. “I just needed to get away and think. I didn’t realize how much drama it would cause.”
“He was mad but only because he was worried. When he found your purse and your meds he got scared for you.”
Robbie looked at Brent in disbelief when he grabbed the keys out of his hand. “What?”
“The jingling is driving me nuts. Relax, you talked to her, and she’s fine.” Brent threw the keys into the center console and shut the lid. “Logan is with her. He won’t let her take off again.”
“What if this changes everything? What if she thinks I only love her because she’s Madison?” Robbie scrubbed his hands up and down his face. “I can’t lose her again.”
Just before they turned onto the dead-end road, an ambulance roared past them with lights flashing and siren screaming.
“An ambulance? I thought you said she was okay.”
“It’s not for her. Logan had to shoot someone who was threatening Faith.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry about it. It’s over, and she’s fine.”
Brent pulled up beside the ambulance and put the car in park. “Let’s get you to Faith. Logan can explain everything later.”
Robbie hurried over to Faith, pulling her into his arms. “You okay, baby?”
She nodded, her face buried in his chest.
He smoothed her hair, scanning the controlled chaos around him. His eyes widened in shock when he recognized the guy sitting on a gurney, one arm wrapped in a blood-stained bandage, the other handcuffed to the stretcher.
When the paramedic stepped up and asked to examine Faith, Robbie agreed, wanting to have a discussion with Logan about what happened. He found Logan standing off to the side talking on his cell phone. When he ended his call, Robbie stepped closer.
“What’s wrong, Robbie?”
“Why was Sam Demond threatening Faith?”
“You know that guy?”
“Yeah, I used to work with him out in Los Angeles.”
Logan pulled out his notebook and started writing. “How well do you know him?”
“Just professionally. He was employed by the finance department at Pacific Securities. I usually worked with his boss, but we attended some of the same meetings.”
“From what Faith told me, he’s been harassing her for months, threatening to hurt her if she told anyone about what she witnessed.”
Robbie’s heart rate increased as rage filled his mind when he realized what that meant. “What the hell? Threatening her? That bastard knew she was Madison?”
Logan replied, “Calm down, let the police handle it. We’ll find out why.”
Robbie stomped over to the gurney and grabbed Sam. “What the hell, Sam? You knew she wasn’t dead?”
Sam sneered at him. “Stupid bitch saw me talking to Simon Collins. I had to take care of her. If she had blabbed, my career would have been over. The SEC frowns upon insider trading.”
“What the hell did you do?” Robbie seized his collar and stepped closer. “Did you try to kill my wife?”
His face emotionless, as if a mask. Sam replied, “I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw her pull out of your driveway alone. It was my chance to make sure I didn’t go to prison. I was ready to drive her off the road, but she exited the freeway and stopped to pick up another woman. Man, she was a looker. They hugged and laughed after she threw her suitcase in the backseat. I thought I would have to wait for another day, but they pulled off the freeway to change a flat tire. The looker took off in the car as I was taking care of your wife.”
Robbie clenched his fist, visibly shaking with the effort to not punch this piece of shit. He needed to hear the whole story first. “You beat her up and left her to die. Did you know she was pregnant? You killed my child.” His eyes went flat and looked hard enough to chip ice.
Nonchalantly, as if he was standing in line at a coffee house, Sam finished his story. “Fate was partially on my side that day. I heard about the accident so you can understand my shock when I found out that your wife had died a fiery death, but then there she was on the evening news, unrecognizable but still alive. Damn woman was always with someone, so I had to bide my time until I could get her alone. After weeks of following her, I saw her run out of the store downtown alone. Once I was sure no one else knew where she was, I moved in. I would have been in the clear but for that hick deputy.
“I lost more than three years, Sam. Three years I thought she was dead.” He pulled the guy off the gurney, not caring when the handcuffs wrenched his arm back. Robbie’s fist plowed into his face, splitting the skin on his cheekbone.
Chapter 23
Faith couldn’t believe they finally had everything done. The letter in her hand verified that her identity had been restored. She was now Faith Madison Newlin. It had taken six months to get everything sorted out. The life insurance had been repaid, and her new social security card was on its way. She mourned a sister she couldn’t remember as she worked to build a life with Robbie.
And now, everything was perfect; the pregnancy test in her hand confirmed it. They were going to be parents. The thought of the child she had lost that fateful day brought a tear to her eye. Wiping it away, she vowed to look to the future instead of the past. Fate had stepped in and intertwined her with Robbie’s life a second time.
Her husband was on his way home. The restaurant could run without him for one night. It was certainly good experience for the kids in the program to run things on their own. They knew they could call if they needed to.
It was the anniversary of the day that she returned to Robbie’s life. One year ago, she had pounded on the door to her destiny, and Robbie had answered. The sound of keys hitting the dish on the table next to the front door made her smile. She wanted to see his face when he found the test.
His arms snaked around her, pulling her in closer. He nuzzled her ear. “Something smells good.” He removed a box from his back pocket. “I have something for you, baby.”
&
nbsp; Faith’s eyes lit up at the name on the box. “Isn’t that the jewelry store on the Venice Beach boardwalk? What did you do, Robbie Newlin?”
“Just a little something for my beautiful wife,” he replied with a smirk on his face. “Open it already.”
Yanking off the box top, she gasped at the necklace nestled in it. “It’s beautiful,” she said as she removed it from the silky interior.
“You know I wanted to get you a new chain for your pendant, so I had this specially made just for you. See how the links are shaped like the moon?”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s beautiful. I have something for you, too. Go sit down at the table, and I’ll bring it to you.”
He took a seat and noticed that the plate wasn’t sitting flat on the table. “What the heck?” he said as he lifted it up. When he saw the pregnancy test, he picked it up and looked at it in wonder.
“Say something. Are you happy?”
Robbie pulled her into his arms. “Words can’t express how I feel about this.”
Faith smiled as she realized this was where she was supposed to be: home in his arms.
About the Author
L.A. Remenicky writes love stories with a twist. A forty-something wife and mother of three fur kids, she works as a payroll professional by day and writes out the stories in her head by night.
An avid reader all her life, she finally put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) during NaNoWriMo in 2012 and has never looked back. When she’s not typing away on her latest tale with music playing in the background, she can usually be found spending time with her family and friends.
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Other works by L.A. Remenicky
http://amazon.com/author/laremenicky
Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners Book 1) - Everyone has secrets. Sometimes secrets can get you killed. After ten years in the big city, Cassie Holt is moving back to her hometown to take over the bookstore left to her by her beloved Gram, vowing to live her life alone. To her best friend, Sheriff James Marsten, Cassie seems to be the same girl that left Fairfield Corners to go to college but Cassie has secrets and one of those secrets could get her killed. When one of her secrets becomes a threat to her life, James turns to his new deputy to help him keep Cassie safe. Deputy Logan Miller has been burned by love and is not looking to get involved with anyone anytime soon. When he is thrown into close quarters with Cassie, the sparks begin to fly and he begins to see through the walls Cassie has built around her heart. As the threat gets closer, can Logan protect Cassie and protect his heart? (Mature Adult, 18+)
Ragan’s Song (Fairfield Corners Book 2) – It only took one look into his eyes for her to know she was in trouble. Adam Bricklin has heard the melody in his head for years, the melody that told him if a decision was right or wrong. When he met Ragan Newlin the song told him she was the one. He was devastated when circumstances tore them apart. It has taken three years for Adam to finally move past the heartbreak he suffered when Ragan left town in the middle of the night. No note, no email, no text. She was just gone. Now he has a new girlfriend, a new album in the works, and his daughter is doing well in school. Until the day Ragan returned to Fairfield Corners. Ragan came home to celebrate her parents’ anniversary, hoping they would forgive her for not telling them about her marriage or her son. When she discovered that Adam was still living in Fairfield Corners she hoped her secrets were safe; secrets that drove her away three years ago, secrets that could change their lives forever.
Invisible - They found each other. Then the killer found them. Detective Jackson “Jax” McKenna walks into a psychologist’s office and finds that the doctor bears a striking resemblance to his first love, Lainie, who disappeared ten years ago after their disastrous first date ended in violence. Dr. Elizabeth Parker is really Elaine Wilson. She’s been in hiding since the night that changed both their lives. Can Jax save Lainie and help her stay Invisible? (Mature, 18+)
Loving Jessie’s Girl (Love on the Double Book 1) - When AJ Monroe fell in love, he fell fast, he fell hard, and he fell forever; but there was one problem - he fell for his brother Jessie’s girl.
Where There's Faith Page 13
