Page 54 of Wrecked By You
She reached for a bag and then pulled out a pistol. “Your father gave this to me tonight. He told me the official story is that you didn’t know about it.”
I let out a sigh and took the pistol in my hand. I pointed it down and opened the chamber to see if it was loaded. It was.
“I don’t have to have it. Your father just said he worries about my safety, and he knew you couldn’t give me a gun. Because you are the police chief.”
“He’s right.”
“I don’t have to have one.” She paced in a circle. “I don’t even know that I need one. I’m kind of scared to have one.”
I let out a laugh. “My father is right. You should have one. I want you to put this in that little table drawer that’s next to the bed. At night, you take it out and put it under your pillow. Of course, you want to make sure the safety is on. Do you know how to do that?”
She shook her head.
I quickly showed her how to turn the safety on and off. “I don’t know if I need to say this, but if you shoot at someone, you make sure you unload this gun. Don’t shoot unless you aim to kill.” I handed the gun back to her.
“Your father said the same thing,” she told me, clearly nervous.
“He taught me that.”
She sighed. “I’m a little bit scared. But I’ll keep it.”
I pulled her to me and hugged her. “My father is a good man, and he cares for you a lot.”
“I care for him too.” She closed her eyes. “I hope I will never have to use the gun.”
“Me, too.”
Twenty-Five
Isla
The next week passed in a blur. I would get up at five a.m. and go to work. Damon would usually stop by at lunch, and we would eat our sack lunches together at the park. Then, after work, we would go to either my house or his house for dinner. I was getting to know Jason and Trent well. In fact, they liked to have me read stories to them at night, because I would read them in funny voices, and they liked it.
Saturday evening, after we got the kids to bed, we sat out on Damon’s porch and held hands.
Damon asked, “Are you going to testify at your father’s parole hearing next Wednesday?”
I shrugged. “I want to. I’m just not sure if I can face him.”
Damon put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “I don’t want you to do anything you don't want to do. Though, I always think it’s good to stand up to a bully. In my experience, bullies get smaller when people stand up to them.”
“I’ve been thinking I will. Will you come with me?”
Damon held me tighter. “I would love to. You know I will always support you in all that you do.”
Tears pricked my eyes, and I pulled back and searched his face. “I’m sorry that I ever told you I didn’t want a relationship back then. Or children. Because I already love yours.”
He wiped a tear off my cheek. “As we talked about, maybe we had things to go through to get us to this place.”
I leaned in and gently pressed my lips against his. “I’m still sorry.”
He smiled at me. “No regrets. Can we promise that to each other?”
Warmth filled me, and I sniffed. “Okay, no regrets.”
Damon smiled. “I’d say we’re lucky we have the future together.”
Abruptly, a whistle sounded through the air, and both of us looked up to see Kayla grinning as she strolled across the street toward us. “Seriously, will you two lovebirds get a room?”