Moving On (Rolling Thunder #7) - P.J. Fiala Page 0,82
morning."
"Why?"
"Answer it."
He saw her swallow a lump in her throat, then tap the answer icon, then the speaker.
"Hello."
"Hi, LuAnn, it's Jeremiah."
"Yes. I recognized your number."
"Of course." Dog inhaled deeply. "I wanted to apologize again to both of you for my behavior at the wedding. I had no right to accuse you of doing something wrong when what you did was sacrifice yourself for my daughter and granddaughter. For that, we are all eternally grateful."
"I didn't know whose children they were Jeremiah. I saw two little girls in trouble and needed to help. If I would have known whose children they were, I would have done the same thing. You have every right to think the worst of me after my behavior in the past, and for that I apologize to you and Joci. It wasn’t my intent to hurt her or Maddie let alone nearly kill them, but I did it. I own it. But you should also know, I've learned..."
She looked up at him, stared into his eyes and her lips smiled a soft smile. "I've learned so much. And while we can't predict the future, any of us, I know one thing for sure. I will never behave in that way again. I've grown. I'm grounded. I'm finally becoming the woman I want to be and can be proud of and I'll never be that other woman again."
The line was quiet again and Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Lance would be very proud of you LuAnn. Of that, I'm certain. As I told you, you I’m trying very hard to put the past behind me. Joci is helping me to see that I have to reach forgiveness for all of our sakes."
LuAnn nodded her head quickly, tears in her eyes. She tried saying something in return, but her voice was clogged with emotion, so he jumped in.
"Dog, I'm here with LuAnn and I was going to tell you this in person next week, but I may as well tell you now. This morning didn’t seem the time to tell you either. I appreciate what you had to say, and you gave me something to think about when you asked me how I’d feel if it was LuAnn." He reached forward and took LuAnn's left hand in his. "Anyway, LuAnn and I were married today and we’re both ecstatic. And, we'll be moving to Durango, Colorado in the coming weeks. I've been offered a job out here at Chief's as head designer. I appreciate all you've done for me, including being the closest man I had as a father, but I honestly think this is better. I get to move forward in my career. LuAnn and I won't have to live with people snarling, jeering and basically holding her past against her and we get a clean, fresh start out here."
"Wow." Jeremiah cleared his throat, inhaled deeply and responded. "I'm very happy for both of you. I mean that with my whole heart. I'm sorry to lose you Chase, but you are one hell of a designer and you'll be a huge hit at Chief's. Gil is a great guy."
Chase swallowed and cleared his throat. "It all started with you, Dog. I will always love you and the guys. Always."
"Same here, Chase. Same here. Let's finalize things when you get back."
The line went dead, and he looked into LuAnn's watery blue eyes. But there wasn't sadness on her face. It was relief.
"I'm so happy to move out here and leave ugliness behind. I feel like we are really starting over now.”
He leaned in and kissed her lips. "I’m glad to hear it. You deserve it and Dog needs to forgive you. I’m happy about what you said to Dog, too. Remember when you said that making amends was one of the things you needed to find peace?”
She nodded.
Well, I think you just did it and Greg will be glad for you. As for being happy to be moving out here, all I can say is me, too."
Turning to jump out of the Jeep, he walked around the front, cleared the emotion from his throat, straightened his shoulders and opened the passenger door. His phone rang and he halted LuAnn's progress, shrugged when he didn't recognize the number, she sat back and he answered the phone, speaker on.
"Chase Matthews."
"Hi, Chase this is Leslie Peyton. I have great news; the Seller has accepted your offer."
LuAnn's smile said it all. They were homeowners. Almost.