Coming Home For Her

I hear him shout after me before the sound of him running draws closer. I scream when the back door explodes. I drop when I see Beau. He raises his gun and fires. I close my eyes and cover my ears. I only open them when Beau lifts me from the floor.

“Eyes on me,” he says. His voice is calm, but I can see the fear in his eyes. I wrap myself around him, burying my face in his neck. I can hear the sounds of sirens drawing closer.

“Is he dead?” I ask when he steps outside.

“No.” He carries me across the yard towards his parents’ house. Elizabeth comes rushing out, worry etched all over her face.

“Watch her,” he tells his mom as he puts me down on my feet. He cups my face and presses his mouth against mine in a hard kiss before he takes off, running back toward my dads’ house. The front yard starts to fill with cop cars. The sight of them is what finally causes the emotion to overwhelm me.

“I’m going to be sick.” I rush inside, barely making it to the toilet before I throw up. Elizabeth is right behind me. Her hand runs down my back, trying to soothe me. She hands me a washcloth and a toothbrush.

“Is it your nerves or are you pregnant?” I jerk my head up to stare at her. “We’ll worry about that later.” She guides me back into the living room to sit down. “Thank you,” Elizabeth says, her voice full of emotion.

“For what?” I ask, not sure why she’s thanking me.

“You brought him back to life. Since he’s been back, he’s been a shell of himself. These past few weeks he’s become himself again. He smiles and laughs again. You brought him back. I knew you would.” She smiles over at me. Tears burn at my eyes.

“How did you know about us?” I ask. Everyone else seemed to know about us before I even did.

“He’d call for you. When he was in the hospital.” Wow.

“I’ve been in love with him forever.”

“I know, sweetie. You two are soul mates. I can see it in how you look at each other.” She reaches over, giving my hand a squeeze.

The next three hours are a blur from being questioned to everyone showing up at the Meyers’. I’m exhausted by the time the cops all finally clear out. I still have to go to the station and give another report, but Beau told them they’d have to wait until tomorrow. They tried to push, but Beau pushed back harder. I was grateful because all I wanted to do was go home so Beau could hold me.

“You ready to go home?” Beau asks. I’ve been in his lap for the last hour sitting in the living room. After he made sure Brock was handled, he has been stuck to me like glue.

“How did you know?” I ask, ignoring his question.

“He tried to disarm the alarm. It alerted me. I shut it off, not wanting to spook him. I was headed this way to get him. When I got here I saw your car.”

“I texted you.”

“I know. I didn't see it until after.” He closes his eyes, dropping his forehead to mine. “He’s going to jail for a very long time if not forever. They are charging him with the murder of his first wife.” I suck in a breath. As terrible as that is, at least Julia is free.

“I love you, Beau.” I press my mouth against his, not caring that both of our families are standing right here.

“I love you too, dream girl.”

“You know you can’t hog her,” Angel chimes in, making me smile.

“You’ve hogged her for years,” Beau tosses back at his sister, making me laugh.

“I’m going to order pizza,” Elizabeth says.

“We're heading out,” Beau says.

“No you're not,” my dads say at the same time. Elizabeth smirks.

“We’re all here we might as well have dinner together.” Beau nods, giving in to his dad’s words.

As much as I want to go home and be alone with Beau, I want to be here too. I look around the room at my family. I don’t think life could get much better. Beau holds me close, his hand resting on my stomach. Actually, I think it will get even better.

19

Beau

I’m glad Dad made us stay for dinner. I’d been on edge with everything that happened today. Being around everyone helped temper some of it. I couldn't believe that life would be so cruel as to give me a taste of Carey and then rip her from me. I wouldn’t survive it. There would be no coming back from that darkness.

“I’m fine.” Carey reaches over and strokes my cheek as I put my truck into park, closing the garage door. At least it is done. The fucker is in jail. If by some crazy turn of events he gets out, I’ll handle it. If he wants to live, he better hope the system keeps him locked away forever.