Summer Wish

by Jill Sanders

  It was strange. Up until that moment, she hadn’t worried that Robbie Dixon and Larry Ryan would come to the camp to find her.

  “Hey.” Damion’s hand gripped her arm. “Oh, shit, I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

  “You…” She took another sip of her water. “You didn’t,” she lied quickly. “I think I’ve just had a little too much sugar.”

  “Well, you could always come out on the water with me. I’m about to take a group out on the sailboat,” he offered.

  She glanced over at Zoey, who was still talking on the phone, and knew that her friend wouldn’t want to be that far away from her daughter.

  “I…” Just then Zoey hung up and made her way towards them.

  “Lea, would it be okay if I skipped out? Paige is hungry and I didn’t pump enough milk to be gone this long,” Zoey asked.

  “Sure, I was just thinking of going out on Damion’s next sail,” she said, already feeling more at ease. She loved going out on the sailboat and figured the fresh salty air would do her wonders.

  “Are you sure?” Zoey asked, taking the water Lea offered.

  “Yes, go on. I hope this morning helped,” she said, hugging Zoey.

  “It did.” She sighed. “More than anyone will ever know. I hope you’re okay. Remember, you always have us fighting for you.”

  Lea nodded. After Zoey shuffled off down the pathway, she turned back to Damion. “It looks like your timing is perfect.”

  He smiled at her. “It’s a lunch sail, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. Everything’s packed and ready. We’re boarding in”—he glanced down at his watch—“ten minutes. We’d better hurry.”

  She rushed to gather her bag and things and then followed Damion down the pathway towards the boathouse. He helped her onto the deck of the sailboat, and she sat with the rest of the guests and sent a quick text message to Brett, telling him where she’d be.

  His reply was simple. “Have fun. See you for dinner.”

  Damion went through his safety speech, but since she’d been out on the boat with him more than two dozen times, she pulled out her phone and sent a text message to her parents, filling them in on what had happened. She knew her mother was probably in court and her dad, since he was now officially retired, was probably out on his boat for the day. She didn’t expect a reply back from either until later that evening.

  They took off out of the small dock area on the bay side of the camp, and she let the wind blow her hair as she put the entire ordeal behind her. Or at least tried to.

  It was hard to put it all aside when she wanted justice. What she wanted more than anything was to never worry about men like Robbie Dixon and Larry Ryan again. To live her life, helping others and being with Brett, without being looked at as if she was lesser than someone else because her ancestors had come from a different part of the world than theirs.

  It wasn’t as if she’d had a choice in the matter. Just like they hadn’t chosen where their family had come from.

  The sailboat turned and started heading out to the see-through emerald water of the Gulf. Someone spotted dolphins, and Damion did his best to slow the boat so that the group could take pictures.

  Since most of the other people on the boat were couples, she sat next to Damion and chatted with him while they made their way to a small island, where they planned on having their picnic lunch.

  She sat on the small sandy beach, watching the boats go by, and ate her turkey sandwich, wondering just what Brett was doing at the moment.

  She knew how she felt towards him but wasn’t sure if he knew it. After all, they hadn’t talked about it or about their future together.

  She knew that there was more to their relationship than just the physical. They had been friends long before anything else. She wondered whether, if anything happened between them, their relationship could ever go back to the way that it was.

  Her parents had made a point to tell her how much they liked and respected Brett. They said how happy the two of them looked together and reminded her of how nice it had been watching the pair of them grow beyond just friends. His mother had claimed that she’d known for ages that she’d had a thing for Brett and was positive he’d had his eye on her as well.

  It seemed as if every single one of their friends was rooting for them as well. Everyone except for his parents.

  She was positive that Brett’s father was pulling all the strings in his parents’ relationship. Lea had been around his mother plenty of times during her youth. After all, she had spent more time in the library than anyone else in town.

  Clara Jewel had never been anything but kind and helpful to Lea her entire life. She’d never spoken an unkind word and every time her husband called Lea or someone else a derogatory name, Clara had an almost embarrassed look.

  Still, the woman had stuck by her husband’s side, which either meant she was okay with the way her husband acted or she was too afraid of the man to say anything. Lea believed it was the latter, especially since the woman acted like a timid little mouse. Lea wondered how she would behave if someone tried to treat her like that.

  Most women didn’t go into a relationship believing they were going to be abused. But since she’d been raised under the guidance of a loving and caring relationship, she didn’t have any insights into what made women stay other than what the psychology books said on the subject.

  “You’re deep in thought.” Damion broke into her daydreaming.

  Smiling, she tucked her knees up to her chin and sighed. “It’s a perfect day.” She glanced around.

  “It is.” He sat in the sand next to her. “Looks like everyone’s having fun.” He motioned to the three other couples. Everyone was done eating and now they were all splashing in the water.

  “Yeah.” She chuckled when one of the men picked up his wife and tossed her into the water. She came up laughing and pushing her wet hair out of her eyes.

  “Have you heard from Brett yet?” he asked.

  She glanced down at her phone and shook her head. “Not yet. I’m sure they’ll catch them soon.”

  Damion shook his head. “Those two are a special kind of stupid. Everyone knows the Teslas have like a dozen cameras.”

  “I for one am thankful they didn’t know. Out of the many ways they could have gotten back at me”—she swallowed the terrible feeling in her stomach—“this was by far the best possible outcome.”

  Chapter 20

  In the end, it took them almost a full week to catch both Robbie Dixon and Larry Ryan. Larry had high-tailed it out of town when he’d seen the video and his face on the evening news. They’d caught him in Louisiana, where he’d had a few more warrants out for his arrest.

  Robbie, on the other hand, hadn’t been too hard to find. But he had been harder to arrest because, the moment his father and grandfather saw the news report, they had marched down and filed an injunction against Lea.

  The man claimed that his grandson was being harassed by Lea and her family and that he was acting out due to fear. He actually tried to have the warrant voided.

  In the end, the case was taken in front of a different judge, and Robbie was forced to show up to defend himself. He was quickly arrested when the judge sided with Lea and her mother, as there was overwhelming evidence that refuted his claims.

  Now both men sat in a jail cell, waiting for their trial dates. Bail had been denied this time, thankfully.

  That didn’t stop Brett from worrying about Lea. After all, there had been four of them there that night. The other two men had kept a low profile after their initial arrest.

  Brett knew more than anyone how vindictive criminals could be towards their accusers. What hadn’t been in all those books and lessons about helping people who had been abused was the fact that most of them willingly went back to their abusers. Once they did, the outcome was usually worse than the initial event.

  The entire gang was sitting around a campfire when they heard the news that Robbie was finally in jail.
He watched Lea change the moment she heard the news. She’d been jumping at shadows since her car had been vandalized.

  For the remainder of the evening, she’d relaxed, laughed, and joked with everyone like before that night in Whataburger. It tore him up that she had to go through this. After all, that was the number one reason he’d become a cop in the first place. To protect people like her.

  Even though he was thoroughly enjoying his new position, part of him still yearned for the old days. There were times when he wished more than anything that his body would allow him to return to his old job. But then he’d spend too much time standing or step wrong and almost double over with pain and he knew it wasn’t possible.

  The next day, he and Lea had the day off. It was one of the first times their schedules had lined up since he’d started working at the camp. He had a few ideas of what they should do with their time but wanted to run them by Lea.

  The first thing they decided to do was to head into town for breakfast at Sunset Café. He desperately wanted one of their double-chocolate-chip waffles.

  “There’s just something soothing about an early morning sugar rush,” he said after his first bite of the chocolaty goodness.

  “Yes,” Lea agreed, taking a bite of her plain waffle with fruit on it.

  “There’s not enough chocolate on that,” he said, motioning to her waffle.

  “I like fresh fruit,” she said with a smile. “And Cool Whip.”

  “You know, every now and then you can cut loose.” He held up a forkful of chocolate waffle for her.

  She willingly took the bite and smiled. “It’s good. Not as good as mine.” She held up a bite of hers for him.

  He had to admit, both tastes were good. “Good, but you can’t beat double chocolate.”

  “So, Ken tells me that you’re almost ready to move over to twice a month instead of once a week,” Lea said.

  Ken was his physical therapist. He was seeing the man once a week at this point. Shortly after he’d been shot, he’d been going to him twice a week.

  “Yes, I’ve finally graduated,” he joked. “I’m hoping to be able to start jogging in a few weeks.”

  She winced. “I’d give it a little longer. I’ve seen your X-rays. Your bones need a little longer to heal.”

  “You’re the doc,” he said cheerfully, and shoveled another bite into his mouth.

  Just then, the bell above the door chimed, and he glanced over to see his parents walk into the café.

  In one moment, thoughts of having a good day disappeared. Especially after he saw his father’s eyes zone in on him and Lea. With the heat that filled his gaze, he knew what was about to happen before his father even took a step towards them.

  “Brace yourself,” he said quickly.

  Lea glanced over her shoulder and tensed as his parents made their way towards them. Correction. As his father marched towards them and his mother followed behind like a lost sheep following its shepherd.

  “Morning, Mom, Dad,” Brett said, trying to sound cheerful.

  “You’ve got some nerve,” his father said, starting in immediately. “Embarrassing us like this.”

  “I’m not sure what I’ve done now,” he said casually as he gripped his fork and set it down next to his plate. The other half of his waffle, he knew, would go untouched. After this, he doubted he’d have the stomach to enjoy one more bite.

  “This.” His father waved at the pair of them.

  “I assure you, us eating waffles is not even close to the most embarrassing thing I’ve done.” He tried to joke, knowing that it would only further his father’s wrath.

  At this, his father’s voice went from a medium volume to a loud rumble, gaining the attention of everyone in the café almost immediately.

  “You know what you’re doing. You’re tearing this family apart by being with this…” his father started.

  “Careful,” Brett interrupted with a low growl. “Let me make myself extremely clear. You had better choose your next words very carefully.”

  His father’s eyes narrowed.

  “William, let’s just…” His mother tried to take his father’s arm as she desperately looked around the café with an embarrassed look on her face.

  His father jerked his arm free and turned back to him. Since he’d stepped into the café, his father’s face had grown even redder. His voice lowered a degree but was still loud enough for everyone in the café to hear his next words clearly.

  “You chose your side, son.” The fact that the last word came out as almost a curse wasn’t anything new to Brett. “You side with scum, trash, lowlifes like her.” His father’s hand waved frantically towards Lea.

  At this point, he didn’t know if his dad just misjudged how close he was to Lea or if he had intended to knock the fork out of Lea’s hands. Either way, the moment his father’s hand connected with Lea’s, Brett was out of his seat facing the man, his temper slipping from his control.

  He was nose to nose now with his father. They were the same height, but his father had twenty pounds of fat on him, and Brett had spent the months since his injury honing his new muscles.

  “I won’t warn you again,” Brett said in a low tone. He watched his father’s face grow even redder.

  “Everyone knows you’re nothing but a nigger gook lover,” his father spat out.

  Brett’s fist connected with his father’s chin before he had a moment to gather his thoughts.

  “And everyone knows you’re an obsolete racist asshole who takes pleasure in controlling and beating his wife for fun.” He watched his father smile as he wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. At this point, most of the people in the café had gasped and were either watching the show or rushing for the door.

  Lea stood by his side, holding onto his arm. With her by his side, he was back under control. He hated himself for letting his old man goad him like that. He knew that if it came down to it, he could be charged with assault.

  “Everyone knows what you are,” his father spat out. “Gook…”

  Brett’s fist rose again. But at that moment, something strange happened. Instead of finishing his sentence, his father gripped his left arm. His face twisted and then drooped as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Then he dropped to the floor so quickly, all Brett could do was watch.

  “Call an ambulance,” Lea shouted, then shoved past him and started rolling his father onto his back.

  He stood in complete shock as Lea started CPR on his father while his mother screamed hysterically for someone to save her husband.

  Part of him wanted to pull Lea away from there. To let fate and all the years of pent-up anger and hate consume the old man. To watch karma take what was due.

  The rational part of his mind had him pulling out his cell phone and calling it in. He stood by as Lea continued to relentlessly work on his father.

  Each time she did a chest compression, her knees would lift off the ground. Once he’d made the call, he knelt by his father’s head and helped by taking over the breathing portion for her. With each breath that filled his father’s lungs, he knew that if the old man made it through this, he would never again want to see him.

  As far as he was concerned, his father was dead to him. He’d made his choices in life. William R Jewel Jr. no longer mattered.

  Shortly before the ambulance arrived, Lea bent down to check for a heartbeat and breath and glanced up at him and gave him a weak smile.

  “He’s got a heartbeat and is breathing on his own now.” She touched his arm before continuing to monitor his father’s vitals. He leaned back and glanced around the café.

  It seemed as if every single eye was on him. Did they blame him for this? After all, he’d just punched the man. His father.

  He glanced down and, for the first time, saw what everyone else did. Even though the man was his height and heavier than him, he was old and frail. His parents hadn’t been young when they’d had him. His father was pushing seventy and was massively out of sha
pe. And because of his temper and control issues, he hadn’t lived an easy life.

  Then his eyes moved over to his mother. She was pretty much the same with the exception of her weight. If anything, his mother was too skinny. You could see every bone and blood vessel in her hands. Her cheekbones stuck out, making her appear even frailer.

  Most people had always thought that his parents were his grandparents instead. Looking down at his father, he saw the trickle of blood by his lip and a wave of guilt washed over him.

  He’d allowed the man to goad him. Had he come into the café that morning to cause problems? To see how far he could push his son, who was no longer working for the law.

  When the ambulance arrived, he stood back as Lea directed them and helped them load his father into the back.

  When they drove away, carrying both of his parents, he remained silent as Lea took his hand in hers.

  Then he noticed Carl and Steven standing just outside the café. His heart skipped as he dropped Lea’s hand and walked over to his old coworkers.

  “Morning,” he said to the pair of them.

  “Brett.” Carl nodded.

  “I suppose you heard what happened,” he said with a sigh. Carl gave him another nod. He glanced back at Lea. “I’ll come in myself.”

  “Why?” Carl asked, causing Brett to turn back towards him.

  “I struck my father. In public.”

  “From what we’ve heard, your father struck Lea first. Knocked her fork right out of her hands. He shouted racial slurs loud enough that several customers felt uncomfortable around him and left the building.” Steven motioned to a small crowd of people who had gathered in the parking lot. Families of all different races were gathered around, watching to see what happened next.

  “I…” He felt his throat close up. Then Lea was there, taking his hand.

  “I don’t want to press charges,” she told Steve and Carl.

  Both men nodded and turned to him.

  “We’ll get a few more witness statements and write this up, so you can head on over to the hospital if you want,” Carl said.

  “No.” Brett shook his head. He glanced down at Lea, who was watching him. “I think we’re going to skip the hospital.” He took her hand as he took a deep breath. “He wouldn’t want us there anyway.”