Secrets in the Shadows (43 page)

Authors: T. L. Haddix

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense

BOOK: Secrets in the Shadows

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After Mary Margaret was arrested, Troy had approached the prosecutor and offered a deal. In exchange for his confession to Margie’s murder and the vandalism, he would accept a life sentence. In return, the prosecutor agreed to offer Mary Margaret a reduced sentence at a medium security psychiatric hospital instead of prison. Her public defender had quickly moved to accept, realizing upon meeting her that she was not competent to stand trial.

Since the night she was arrested, Mary Margaret refused to speak to anyone, and had fallen into a near-catatonic state. There were still some legal hoops to jump through, but it looked like everything would be pushed through without having to go to trial. Lauren was relieved. Justice would be served, and they would all escape the stress and ordeal of a jury trial.

Today was Saturday, a hot and humid day, and all the family was gathered at Molly and Winston’s to celebrate Ava’s eighth birthday. David and Josie had driven over, and it had been a loud and joyous party. Telling her mother she needed to steal away for a few minutes, Lauren looked around for Charlie. Spying him standing on the edge of the patio talking to her brother and David, she tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow her.

“Oooh, going off for a little nookie… I never thought I’d see the day,” Tristan teased. Lauren shot him a very rude gesture over her shoulder, causing Charlie to grin.

“You’d better hope your mother didn’t see that,” he told her. “You’ll be grounded if she did.” She just rolled her eyes and tugged him along, heading toward his house. “Where are we going?”

“I just needed to get away from everyone for a few minutes,” she told him over her shoulder, not stopping until they were safely in his yard, hidden from the party behind her parents’ garage. She walked over to his back door and stood there looking at him, biting her lip a little. “Can we go inside?”

He narrowed his eyes and opened the door. “Sure.”

The house was quiet, especially after the noise of the party. Lauren moved to the kitchen table, looking around nervously before turning to him. Walking over, she took his hands in hers and spoke.

“I have one condition before I agree to marry you.”

“Okay.”

She licked her lips and swallowed, drawing in a shaky breath before speaking. “If you ever want out, you’ll come to me and tell me. No games, no making each other miserable. You’ll just tell me, okay?”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t think that’s ever going to be an issue, but yes, I promise I’ll tell you if I ever want out.”

“Then I guess my answer is yes,” she told him, her voice trembling. “Yes, I will marry you. If you still want to.”

Charlie stood there for a minute, looking as though he couldn’t quite believe his ears. A smile slowly spread across his face as her acceptance sank in, and he started laughing. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her off her feet.

“You mean it? Really, seriously, you’ll marry me?” he asked, keeping one arm around her waist and cupping her face with the other. She nodded and he closed his eyes, saying a fervent “thank God.” He pulled her close to him, as close as he could get her and held on tight. “I love you, Lauren,” he said. “I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He picked her up and twirled her around, setting her back on her feet as she laughed softly.

She cupped his face in her hands, smiling. “I love you, too.”

“The past two weeks have been the longest ones of my life,” he told her feelingly.

“I know,” she said apologetically. “But I had to be certain. It’s more than just my happiness at stake. And, for the record, although I haven’t outright told her, I have discussed this with Ava, and she’s ecstatic. I thought we could tell her later, after the party.”

“That sounds like a plan,” he told her. He touched her face wonderingly. “Are you really here?”

“I’m really here.” She smiled back at him with happy tears in her eyes. “And I love you dearly, you sweet, sweet man. Now, do you think you could kiss me?”

“Gladly.”

Epilogue

It was much later that night before Lauren finally made it home and into bed. Ava had gone home with David and Josie for a few days before school started, and Charlie had insisted on driving her home. She thought about how they had agreed to not make love until their wedding night, and she smiled.

“I don’t want you to think that the only reason I’m marrying you is because things ‘worked’ in bed,” he had told her. “I want you to know I’m marrying you because I love you, no matter what. So we’ll wait. Just please, please, don’t make me wait too long?”

Lauren had laughed, promising him that she would do her best to make sure they had a small ceremony, and soon.

He shook his head. “I don’t care if it’s small, large, or something in between. The soon part is what I’m concerned about.”

“Define soon?”

“Less than six months. Six weeks would be better. Six days would be amazing.”

“We’ll see.” Walking him to the door, she kissed him goodnight.

Groaning, Charlie had backed out of the house. “Soon,” he reiterated, and then turned and headed to his truck. As he opened the door, he glanced back at Lauren, still standing in the doorway. “Call me tomorrow,” he told her. She nodded, and he left, heading for home.

Going back inside, she locked the door and went to her office, pulling the letter Charity had written to her out of her desk drawer. She had read and re-read it many times since the night of the memorial service. She took it into the living room and curled up in her favorite chair, looking at the envelope for a long time before she opened it. She began reading.

Dearest Lauren,

Where do I start? How about with ‘I’m sorry’?

All those years ago, I was a stupid young girl who didn’t think she had a prayer of a chance of getting out of Leroy alive. I did what I had to do to survive, and you got caught in the crossfire. I’m going to keep this short, because all my journals are addressed to you, and they will explain things better than I ever could in this letter. However, I wanted to say that I’m proud of you, who you’ve become. You have a beautiful little girl who reminds me so much of you at that age, and you have a thriving business that you’ve busted your butt to get where it is. The only thing I could wish for you would be that you someday allow yourself to find love, true love, and not let the past keep you lonely. We went down separate paths after Carl did what he did to us. I took the road of promiscuity, and from what I’ve seen, you took the road that closed you off from the sexual side of yourself. Don’t let him do that to you, honey. God finds justice for the wicked, and Carl is wicked. You aren’t. Stop punishing yourself for something that wasn’t your fault.

I hope that you know how much you meant to me, in my life as Charity and as Margie. I hope that you can forgive me someday for not telling you who I really was. I’m sorry for everything I ever did that caused you pain. I wish we could have been together again as cousins, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

That’s all I wanted to say, Lauren. The journals say the rest, and I hope you will read them, and not be too disgusted by my behavior.

I love you, little cousin. Always will.

Love,

Margie

As Lauren finished reading the letter, she closed her eyes. She thought about what Margie had said, about finding happiness and true love, and God finding justice. Realizing that it was true, and that she had been handed the chance for true love with Charlie, she smiled, glad she hadn’t turned it away. Opening her eyes, she stood up. Going to the window, she gazed up at the stars, and finally whispered “I forgive you, Margie, and I love you, too.” She said a quick prayer for Margie’s soul, and whispered “Rest in peace, my friend, rest in peace.”

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