From This Moment - By Alison Chaffin Higson Page 0,25
Nick gets in Jake’s face, Jake pulls his arm back and slugs Nick very hard. As he staggers back, Jake gets hold of Nick’s arm and drags him out of the house, just in time to see the Sheriff pull up.
The Sheriff, Daniel Jacobs, leaves after taking a statement from both me and Jake. He takes Nick with him and has his Deputy drive Nick’s car back into town.
Walking over to where I’m sitting, Jake crouches down in front of me and takes hold of my hands. “Hopefully, that’s the last time you’ll see him. You must promise if he gets in touch with you again that you’ll tell either me or my dad.”
“Okay.” I start to shake.
Jake moves to sit across from me, “I need to ring my dad and tell him what’s happened.”
Sitting forward, “Jake no, please, he doesn’t need to know right now, I’ll tell him tonight. He’s in Denver and will only worry about me. Please leave it and I promise I’ll tell him tonight when he rings.”
“I’ll leave it for now.”
“Where were you when I rang?”
“I’d already turned up the drive, so I left the truck and came in on foot while putting you on hold and rang Daniel for back up.”
“Thank goodness, I was really frightened. He hasn’t done anything like that before.”
“Hopefully he’ll leave you alone now that Daniel is involved.”
“Jake, he said he has stolen from the wrong guy and needs the money to disappear. He also told me that he has a friend who will come after my boyfriend, if anything happens to him. I’m really scared Jake.” I start to weep uncontrollably.
Moving back to wrap his arms around me, “Rona, please don’t cry; everything will be alright. I don’t know what he was going on about, but Daniel is a good guy and will run his prints and try to get to the bottom of this, okay?”
Moving slightly away from Jake, “Do you really think so? I couldn’t bear it if something happened to your dad.”
“Yes I do. Come on, mop up and we’ll get lunch, then I’ll take you to see my house on the way to Anna’s. By the way, you’ve been invited for the afternoon. Beth and Elise will be there. That’s if you feel up to it?” he asks, looking at me.
“That’s fine Jake; I could do with the distraction to take my mind off everything.”
I kiss him on his cheek, “Let’s put some ice on your hand first and thank you Sir Galahad!”
“Anytime.”
“Jake, when you got the job in Texas, and Elise didn’t want to go, did you ever consider turning it down?”
After a minute, “Yes, I did turn it down.” Looking at me, “The same day she broke up with me. She wouldn’t listen and insisted that we were through. I ended up leaving.”
“Did you try talking to her when you came back?” I place the ice on his hand.
“She was already engaged and planning her wedding, she looked really happy. I’d already caused her enough upset, I didn’t want her upset again, and so I just left it.”
“Okay, let’s get that lunch made so that I can go see this castle you are building and meet the woman who has your heart.”
With a quick glance at me, “You aren’t going to say anything to her, about me turning the job down, are you?”
“That’s not up to me, but I think she needs to know.”
While Jakes makes the sandwiches he turns to look at me, “So you and my dad, huh?”
I can’t help but grin. “Oh yes.” Still grinning, I sense Jake wants me to say more. “What can I say; he’s the sexiest guy I’ve ever met.” Seeing Jakes grimace, I decide to continue. “He has a great body and butt just....”
Not letting me finish, “I think I get it.”
On a serious note. “I love him Jake. I don’t know what the future holds, but I hope with all my heart that it will include your father. I’ve never been so attached to anyone before in such a short time. I just hope your sisters are as accepting as you are.”
“It might take a short time, but they will eventually. My dad has been alone a very long time and when they see how happy he is now, they will accept you.” Grinning, “You have me on your side, so it’s a given.”
Laughing at his assurance, “Thanks Jake, it means a lot.”