Finding My Forever (Beaumont 3)

“Mine either,” Paul says. The only one missing is my pretend boyfriend who hasn’t come back in. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but if he’s serious, no one is going to believe that he’s my boyfriend.

“Mine either. I was walking around outside and noticed a car down the road. Whoever is in the car has a torch because when I started walking towards them, it was switched off. If it’s him, he’s looking for an opportunity. Josie and I can go and get Jenna’s stuff, but I think Liam and Harrison should stay here with Jenna. Paul, you should leave and circle back around and maybe check those license plates unless he follows us out of here.”

The room goes quiet as Jimmy stands in front of us. We hadn’t heard him come in, but the room falls silent when he speaks. Mouths open and close again. No one’s sure what to say in response to his outburst. He must’ve been thinking about this for some time to come and assert himself.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Paul says, standing up and leaving the table. Everyone starts shuffling around me. My need to move on, to leave Beaumont, has fallen on deaf ears. If I’m to do this, I’ll have to do it in the dark of night.

“What do you need from your apartment?” Josie asks when she sits down next to me. She has a piece of paper and a pen in her hand. Her paper says mommy notes and I realize that the kids are nowhere to be seen.

“Where are the kids?”

“Mr. Powell has them. We thought it would be better if they stayed away tonight.”

“That’s not fair.”

Josie looks up and smiles. She rests her hand on top of mine. “You’re family, Jenna. You’re important to me… to us. Please let us help.”

“He’s dangerous.”

“Yeah well my husband is big and likes to hit things so he can be dangerous too.”

I know she’s trying to make light of the situation and I do smile at her comment, but I don’t want them to bend over backwards more than they already have.

“One night,” I say with no conviction. Josie rolls her eyes and nods, but I have a feeling she doesn’t believe me, not that I believe myself. I tell her what I need and where she can find everything. She kisses me on the cheek and yells for Jimmy. I jump when the front door shuts and anxiety builds knowing that Damien is out there and he could be watching this house, waiting to pounce on my friends.

“Everything will be fine.” Katelyn sits next to me and holds my hand. I hate feeling like this. I worked hard to get over the things that happened to me, but in the blink of an eye he’s back and I feel on edge and afraid.

“I wish it were that ea

sy.”

“It can be, if you think positive. Maybe he just wants to talk or maybe after Paul gets a hold of him he’ll realize that Beaumont isn’t safe for him. Harrison and Liam aren’t going to let anything happen to you and neither is Paul. You have friends here, Jenna, friends that care and love you. Liam thinks of you as his sister. So do I.”

“Yeah,” I say, my voice breaking. She’s going to make me cry and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“We’ll be more hurt if you leave us or if we don’t beat this psycho at his own game. You’re one of us whether you like it or not.”

Thing is, I like it. I’m just afraid of what they’ll think when they find out I’m pregnant. I don’t even want to know what they’ll do if they find out who the father is. That’s a secret I’ll take to the grave.

AS soon as we drive onto the road, the car I spotted earlier turns its lights on. He thinks he’s being a sly little shit, hiding in the dark like the big bad wolf. What he doesn’t know is that Paul is lurking behind Liam’s gate waiting to see if the car moves. I watch out of the rear view mirror as Paul’s lights flash. Josie turns around and watches while I drive her car away from the scene that’s taking place behind us.

“Should we stop?”

“No, we’ll get in the way,” I say even though I want to turn around and get a good look at this dickhead so I can try and protect Jenna. “We need to get her stuff and get out of there while Paul is talking to this guy. We don’t know if he knows where she lives, just where she works and we have to make sure she’s never alone.”

“That’s really nice, Jimmy.”

“What?”

“You wanting to take care of Jenna. I don’t know you’re not around much so it’s usually just the five of us. I’m really hoping to set Jenna up with Paul.”

“Why?” I ask.

“He likes her and he’d be good for her. We’ve known him for a long time. He’d make a good husband.”

For some unknown reason my jaw clenches together. My teeth grind at the thought of Jenna being with Paul. I shouldn’t give a shit. She’s just a friend. A friend that I care about a little more than I should.

I remain silent until we arrive at Jenna’s apartment. I look around as I get out of the car. There’s no sign of the car or Paul and I’m hoping they’re still talking. Josie and I run up the stairs and down the hall to the apartment. I look around, mentally taking a note of her neighbours. It’s very quiet up here so if she were to scream I’d like to think someone would hear her. But then again, if this was LA and someone screamed they’d ignore it, so who knows?