Page 45 of Deserving Maisy
“Maisy,” Jack said, but she didn’t stop.
“When I was twelve, there was this kid at school who picked on me. Spread nasty rumors that I was adopted and my real parents were serial killers. It was ridiculous, but when you’re twelve, everything seems like the end of the world. Jason went to that kid’s house and had a talk with him. I never found out what he said, but the rumors stopped. Immediately.”
She sighed and lay back on the blanket and stared up at the sky. Jack lowered himself next to her and took hold of her hand. They lay like that, on their backs, staring up at the clouds lazily blowing overhead as she continued to speak.
“When Mom and Dad were killed, I was so lost. Scared out of my mind that I’d go into the system. Jason had just graduated from college, but he moved home, did the necessary paperwork to become my legal guardian. When I wanted to die, he got me to a doctor and got me the meds I needed to keep going day after day.”
“The meds that made you a zombie,” Jack couldn’t help but say with a frown.
She shrugged. “Yeah. But the fact is, for years he was my rock. The only person I saw. He kept me going, even when I didn’t want to. His life hasn’t been easy, Jack. He gave up everything to come home and take care of me.”
“I understand that, Maisy, I do. But you aren’t eight anymore. Or twelve, or fifteen. And you’ve got me now. I don’t understand this hold he has on you, and it scares the crap out of me. Is this why we were separated?”
Maisy sighed but didn’t respond for a long moment. Then she turned her head and locked eyes with him. “I want to leave, but I’m scared.”
“Of what?” Jack asked.
She frowned. “He’s different. He’s not the big brother I remember anymore. He doesn’t like you, and I’m afraid he’s going to do something to…ensure we can’t stay together.”
“There’s nothing he can say or do that will make that happen,” Jack vowed.
Instead of reassuring her, his words seemed to make Maisy even sadder. She turned her gaze back to the sky. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Jack. I mean that,” she said quietly. “No matter what happens, that’s the God’s honest truth. Take the job, you’ll be awesome at it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t part-owner of that ranch in a couple of years.”
“I won’t do it if you really don’t want me to. We can find another way to make ends meet,” Jack said, her belief in him warming him from the inside out.
She shook her head and turned back to him. “No. I don’t want to stay. I want to leave. With you. Start a newlife. It won’t be easy, but I’ll do whatever I can to help. I’ll get a job, I have no idea what, but I want to contribute.”
“All I need is for you to support me,” Jack told her honestly.
“I do.”
“Good. The owner is supposed to call in a few days after a couple more interviews. If he offers me the job, I’ll accept and we’ll figure out our next move. I’ll tell Jason that we’re moving out, and I don’t want you anywhere around when I do. If he protests, I’ll set him straight. I won’t give him another chance to abuse you.No onehurts you, Maisy. You’re mine to protect. To provide for. As your husband, I take my vows seriously.”
She swallowed hard. “And you’re mine to do the same.”
Jack brought their clasped hands up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, but made no move to get up. “It’s such a nice day,” he sighed.
She chuckled. “Yeah, it is.”
Jack felt more content at that moment than he had in what seemed like forever. He had his wife by his side, a future with her to look forward to, and a knowledge in his bones that he was right where he was supposed to be.
A noise in the distance caught his attention. Turning his head, Jack couldn’t see anything in the sky, but the sound seemed incredibly familiar to him.
Sitting up, he stared in the direction the noise was coming from.
Ten seconds later, a helicopter came into view. It was flying fast and seemed to have a specific destination in mind. Jack recalled Maisy telling him about a hospital that wasn’t too far from the park.
The sound of the rotor blades settled in his soul—andhe had to close his eyes because of the intensity of the pain shooting through his head.
Pictures flashed through his mind…of a strong and sturdy cabin nestled among the trees…sitting around a large table laughing with a group of men…sitting at a console of switches and lights as he stared out the windshield at the ground far below…men in uniform and weapons, climbing in and out of a chopper he was flying…his friend and copilot, Owl, sitting next to him, frantically trying to keep the helicopter from crashing…pain, blood, a hospital…Owl laughing with a blonde-haired woman…warning that same woman not to touch Stone if he had a nightmare…joy at being at the controls of the chopper they were buying for The Refuge…waking up in a trunk, panic…
A gasp left his lips as his memory returned hard and fast. It didn’t gradually come back, letting him acclimate to the sights and sounds his unconscious mind had been keeping from him. No, it played back like a horror movie on full volume.
“Jack?”
He heard Maisy calling his name as if from a distance. His given name, not the one he’d used for years—Stone.
He was Stone. Not Jack Smith. No, his last name was Wickett. He had no siblings, his parents were retired and living in New York. He was owner of The Refuge, a kick-ass retreat for people suffering from PTSD. Co-owner, actually, along with Brick, Tonka, Spike, Pipe, Tiny, and his best friend, Owl.
