Shattered Edge (17 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

Terri

My dad’s funeral...the worst day of my life. The pity on everyone’s faces made me want to throw up everywhere. I knew they were trying to be kind and understanding, but I wasn’t the pitying kind of girl.

There was a huge chunk of me that was pissed off as hell at my dad. Why the hell didn’t he have the damn courage to face his demons like the rest of us did every day? He took the coward’s way out and left my mom with nothing to show for it...except a financial fuck up. The other part of me cringed every time I thought of the last time I saw him and the awful words I shouted at him. God, if I could just go back in time and undo that horrid moment. Call him first, give him fair warning that I was on the way so we could’ve had a decent discussion. Maybe I would’ve even told him how much I loved him. Because the bottom line was that throughout my whole life, he’d been the greatest dad in the world. He’d always been there for me and always had my back. He taught me everything I knew about real estate and made me into the business person I was today.

I couldn’t even begin to wrap my brain around what was coming with all the business issues and how that would shake out. My mom said something to me the other day that made me think she wasn’t even aware of the gravity of the situation.

Then at the funeral home, that slut that was blowing my dad had the damn audacity to come up to my mom and me and cry about how much she was going to miss him. I almost slapped the shit out of her right there. If Justin hadn’t had his arm around me, I think I would have.

Justin pulled me away from the crowd and took me outside. He almost forced me to take a Xanax.

“Honey, this isn’t going to work out so well if you start swinging at the bitch here. It’ll look like you’re the lunatic, even if you do yell out that she was giving your dad head. But how would that make your mom feel?”

Damn! He was right. I took the Xanax and let the thing calm me down. It did the trick and I still wanted to gouge that tramp’s eyes out, but my attitude changed into one of that revenge is best served cold. I would get her back somehow.

When the service at the funeral home was finished, we all made the procession over to the cemetery for the final words of departure.

I broke down as I passed by the casket for the last time. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Justin holding me up.

As we walked back to the limo, I looked up and off in the distance I saw a dark haired figure. We caught each other’s gazes and I knew for sure it was Preston. I clenched Justin’s arm and he looked at me, but when I pointed across the way, Preston had faded into the landscape. Had I imagined it because I wanted him there to say goodbye to Dad, or was he really there?”

We got into the car and I said to Justin, “It was him. I know it was. I locked eyes with him and it was the old Preston.” I’d whispered it to him because I didn’t want my mom to hear. He just squeezed my hand in return. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that it was him. His eyes weren’t shifty like they were the last time I’d seen him. He was different.

We went back to my mom’s where she was having an open house for the funeral guests. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn’t have a choice. All the Middletons were there, and they’d been so supportive of me during this whole thing. My belly was in such turmoil that the last thing I wanted to do right now was eat. I shuddered at the thought.

“What is it?” Justin asked as he felt my body tremble.

“The idea of food makes me....bleh.” I made a nasty face.

“You need to try to eat a little something babe. It’s been since yesterday.”

  Food. That was the last thing I wanted to think of right now. “Uh huh. I know. But I don’t want to hurl either.”

He took my face in his hands and kissed me softly. “Your lips are salty.”

“I’m surprised I have any dern tears left to cry after these last few days.”

“Terri, I hate to break it to you, but you have an endless supply.”

“Funny.”

“Not trying to be.”

I put my hands over his and looked up at him. “I wish you were. I need some funny in my life right now.”

He cleared his throat and offered, “Let me get you at least a little something to eat.”

“Ugh, okay.”

He suddenly grabbed me and crushed me against his chest and asked, “Have I told you how much I love you today?”

“Nope,” my throat suddenly thick with emotion.

“Yes I have.”

“I know. I just wanted you to tell me again,” I muttered.

Then he pinched me on my ass. Really hard.

“Ouch!”

“That’s what you get. Now I’m gonna make you eat more than a bite.”

“Hmm. Sounds like it might be interesting.”

“My girl has a naughty mind.”

“Yes she does, when it comes to her guy.”

“Damn Terri, you’re sexy when you talk like that.”

“I was hoping for sexy.” I kissed him then. “We better move or the guests will think we’re gross.”

“I don’t care if you don’t,” he smirked.

Then I pinched him on the ass...hard.

“Hmmm. That gives me all sorts of ideas.”

“I’m sure it does.”

“Does your mom have a garage?”

That question brought me back to that day at his parents and I felt myself flush, my heart rate kicked up a notch and I felt my panties becoming wet.

I felt him pulling me into a different room and heard the door shutting. “Don’t look at me like that Terri. It does all sorts of things to me that are very inappropriate here.” He took my hand and put it on his very hard erection. My lips parted as I sucked in my breath. I felt him lifting up my skirt as his fingers pushed the elastic of my panties aside.

“So ready. You feel so warm and slick.”

He started to move his fingers across that tiny spot of mine and I was breathing like a marathoner, until he put his mouth on mine. When he slipped his fingers inside of me I was done. I came around him, my muscles compressing against him.

“I want you in my mouth. Now.”

I unzipped his pants and watched him spring out. I took his velvety  length in my hand, touching him from base to tip. Then I slipped my mouth around him, licking and sucking. I swirled my tongue around his tip and began the motion again until his hands were fisting my hair. I felt his thighs tensing up, indicating he was close and moments later, I felt the warmth of him as he came.  I put him back inside his pants all nice and neat, and zipped and buttoned him back up. Then I rose to my feet and was rewarded the sexiest smile I’d ever seen.

“Now that was a thing of beauty,” he said right before he kissed me.

How do you go back to a funeral after that? I’ll tell you how. With a suppressed smile on your face.

We made our way around the food table and I did end up eating, which made me feel better. Three hours later, we left my mom’s. She and I would have a meeting in two days with the attorney and go over everything in dad’s will. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be too painful.

On the way back to Justin’s, we swung by my house so I could load up on more clothes. He didn’t want me staying there and I really didn’t want to either.

I loaded up another duffle with some more panties, and other things and we were heading out when I decided to check things around the outside of the house. There were some things out back that looked suspicious. Like perhaps someone had tried to get in the back door. There were markings around the jamb, like maybe they had tried to use a screwdriver or something. I grabbed onto Justin’s arm so tight I’m sure there would be permanent finger marks on it.

“Should we call the police?”

“Yeah.” Justin was already on the phone.

When they arrived, they were none too friendly. I suppose my little outburst and calling them morons was responsible for that. Nevertheless, they inspected all around the exterior of the house and couldn’t find anything, so there wasn’t much else to do.

On the way home, I kept rubbing my clammy hands on my skirt. Justin finally picked one up and held it in his hand.

“I’m sorry. My hands get all disgusting when I’m scared.”

“Don’t be scared honey.”

“Justin, I know that was Preston at the cemetery today. I know it. Please believe me. I wasn’t seeing things. Our eyes locked. I swear it was almost like he was trying to tell me something.”

“I believe you Terri, but I want you to stay clear of him. I don’t trust him not to hurt you, okay? Drug addicts are desperate people and will go to any lengths to feed that habit. I don’t want you to take any chances no matter how small they seem to you. Promise me honey.”

“I promise.”

He gave my clammy hand a squeeze, but held it tightly all the way to his house.

When we got inside I undressed and we relaxed by watching TV.

Justin hit himself on the head and said, “I almost forgot, next Saturday is the Heart Ball. We don’t have to go, but we have tickets. It’s up to you.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot all about it too. I think we should go. It could be a fun diversion. Besides, that was our first official date. Remember?”

“Remember? How could I forget? You had on that red gown and I couldn’t tear my eyes off of you. There was only one thing I wanted to do and that was bring you right here, unzip that gown and discover, inch by inch, what was hidden beneath it. But I didn’t dare do that because I was trying my damnedest to impress you with my incomparable gentlemanly ways. I was even pissed off at myself for kissing you the way I did, but hell, Terri, when I started, I could hardly force myself away. You managed to do things to me and my libido that I couldn’t explain. You still do, you know.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Get all sexy on me and say things like that? I’ve just blown through another pair of panties.”

“Sweetheart, I told you to give them up. They’re overrated anyway.”

I smiled at him and then his expression changed into something more serious as he looked at me. “I think I knew it then. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, I knew I would fall in love with you. That’s why I tried so hard to be the gentleman with you that night. It’s why I blamed myself for your accident.”

I went to stop him from saying anything else, but he held up his hand, his palm facing toward me.

In a deep voice laced with emotion, he continued, “It’s why I was so
messed up afterwards and why I tried to hide the truth from you. It was wrong but my heart was involved already only I wouldn’t admit it. There are so many different kinds of love Terri, and I can say this to you. You have all of mine.”

My heart was in my throat, it was so filled with my love for him, and I couldn’t do anything but smile as my eyes spilled their tears. I crawled over to him and wound myself around him. If I could have crawled inside his body, and put my heart next to his, I would have.

It took me quite a while before I could even say anything, but I had to tell him my feelings too.

“Justin, you’re not the only one who felt that way.” I looked up at him and took his hand and put it over my heart. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, even when I told myself I hated you. You were always there. And here.” I squeezed my hand to show him what I meant.  “You’ll always be here. Always Justin. I love you.”

********

Two days later my mom and I sat in the attorney’s office and listened to him as he explained the contents of my dad’s will. Fortunately for my mom, she would be well taken care of as my dad had a lot of investments in other things besides real estate.
Since the business had been incorporated, none of his personal assets had been impacted by the bankruptcy. Their home was paid for and he’d been well insured. His policy had been taken out years ago and paid no matter the cause of death. He also left me financially secure. There was a clause in the will regarding Preston. If Preston mended his ways and was clean for a period of five years, there was a trust fund set up for him. If he failed to clean his act up, everything diverted to me. It felt like Dad was telling me he loved me from the grave and making up for the errors he made with the business. I went home and cried.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Justin

The girl knew how to dress. Her gown was a cobalt blue that made her eyes dance and my body sing. The back of it dropped sinfully low and it stopped right before that place that I loved to drag my tongue along until she moaned. It would be with great difficulty that I’d keep my hands off of her tonight.  The front was a deep V and the only thing missing was a sapphire necklace. I would have to do something about that this week.

Her hair was twisted up into some kind of an intricate style that left her neck bare, although there were a few long tendrils that tantalized me. I played with them on and off all night. The great thing was that since her hair was up, I was able to brush my lips across her neck while we danced. I enjoyed her rosy blush my kissing would create, as her arousal increased with my persistence at us dancing to almost every song. My other reason was I wanted my hand on that place on her back. While we danced, I was able to slip my fingers beneath that satiny fabric and run my pinky dangerously close to places I shouldn’t be touching in public. Hearing her breathe and seeing her lips part caused me to stay constantly aroused.  Her tongue would dart out and lick her lips and every now and again I would allow myself to kiss her. I didn’t give a damn how many looks we got. She was too damned gorgeous to ignore.

“Have I told you how perfectly beautiful you look tonight?”

“Mmm huh...about a dozen times.” She gave me one of her sexy smiles.

“Good. I plan to tell you a dozen more before the night’s over. But Terri, I have to tell you. I don’t know how much longer I can last here.”

“Who said we had to stay here all night. As I recall, last year Pearce and Lexi made a mysterious departure. Why can’t we do the same?”

I liked the way my girl was thinking.

“Give me a few more minutes and I think we may be doing the same thing.”

********

That night, as I lay in bed with her tousled hair next to my cheek, I knew I had to be with her forever. Valentine’s Day was in two weeks and I decided I would pop the question then. The wheels were spinning now...this wouldn’t be just an ordinary proposal. It would be spectacular. The rest of the night was spent conjuring up ideas of what to do and where to take her.

In the morning, I slipped out of bed and made a few calls before she woke up. Middleton Enterprises, the family held corporation owned a private jet, so I reserved it for a four day trip. Then I checked the top ten romantic vacation destinations and decided on Amanyara on the island of Turks and Caicos. Luckily, Ocean Pavilion 115 was available as it had the best ratings of all the rooms there. It would be difficult to hide my excitement, but this would be the surprise of her life. Now, my next mission would be to get Lexi or Alana to secretly pack a small bag for her. She wouldn’t need much as my intentions were to spend most of our time in the privacy of our pavilion. On Monday, I would start my search for her engagement ring.

********

She suspected something was up. My behavior was like that of a little kid’s on the night before Christmas. It was a very good thing that I was on call this coming weekend. I’d found the perfect ring...or at least I hoped it was. If she didn’t like it, she could exchange it for one that she preferred. My heart did a loop-t-loop in my chest every time I thought about slipping it on her finger. I would imagine her eyes getting all soft and shimmery and then her lips would curve into that sexy smile I adored so much. The wait was gonna kill me.

When Monday morning hit, I left the hospital worn to a nub. The proverbial shit had hit the fan all weekend with all sorts of accidents pouring in. We couldn’t seem to catch a break at all. After texting Terri, I dragged my ass to bed not even spending the time to take a shower. It was late afternoon when I woke up, and I finally felt like a human being again.

The first thing on my list was to call Terri. She answered immediately.

“Welcome home.”

“Thanks babe. I missed you.”

“Hmm, me too. You up for some company?”

“Yeah. How soon can you be here?”

“Fifteen. Do you want me to stop and pick up something for dinner?”

I thought for a second. “No, how about we order in?”

“Sounds good to me.”

I quickly checked the house to make sure there were no signs anywhere of our upcoming trip.  My phone started ringing, so I picked it up, thinking it was Terri again.

“Hey, you on the way?”

“Justin, John Remington here.”

My surprise at it being John had me silenced for a moment.

“Justin? You there?”

“Yeah, sorry, John. You caught me by surprise.”

“Sorry. Listen, we have a problem. You know that little issue at the hospital...the sexual harassment case?”

“Um, yeah. What about it?”

“Destiny is countering your charge with one of her own. She’s contending that you sexually harassed her.”

“What! That’s crazy! I did no such thing! I never laid a hand on her or ever said anything other than work related things to her. That is until she started to get so annoying. Then I told her she was being unprofessional.”

“Well, she’s charging that you took unfair advantage of her as a female.”

I kicked the bar stool and pounded my hand on the counter. “That’s bullshit!”

“Do you have any witnesses to anything that she did?”

I tore my hand through my hair. “I don’t know John. At the time, I was so pissed off at her, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.”

“Well, think about it. And then get back to me. Don’t worry about it yet.”

“Wait! There was an incident when I came out of surgery and I complained about her to another surgeon.”

“Great! Get me his name and number. Anyone else like that would be great.”

“Oh, the OR nurses. I complained to them too because she interrupted my scrub routine one day when she tried to put her hands down my pants.”

“Christ. What a
demented mess that chick is.”

“I know!”

“Well, just get me everyone’s information. I’ll need it.”

“Okay, I’ll send it by email.”

“Excellent. And don’t worry about this. I think I’ll be able to bury her.”

“Thanks John.”

I ended the call and shouted out “Fuck” about the time Terri was walking through the door.  I slashed my arm across the countertop and the stack of newspapers went flying.

“What’s wrong?” Terri asked as she came up to me and put her hand on my arm.

“That crazy bitch Destiny.”

“What’s happened now?”

So I filled her in. When I was finished, my fists were clenched as was my jaw.  She grabbed my shirt in her hands and in her calm voice she said, “Justin, you’ve done nothing wrong. You have nothing to hide. Honey, let’s get that information to John and then let him do his job. Okay?”

“I hope you’re right. But yeah, let’s go do that.” We walked to my office and she held my hand in her smaller one. I couldn’t help but think how much size didn’t matter when it came to strength. Terri was strong. She’d been through so much crap and here she was, calming me down. I put on the brakes and looped arm my around her. “You never cease to amaze me. In everything you do. Here you are, just having gone through a major loss in your life...a horrible tragedy...and you’re the one giving me comfort. How do you do it Terri? How did you get to be so strong a person?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think of myself that way.”

“Oh honey, you are. I admire you so much for everything you are. But hell, I can’t even describe the kind of strength you possess. It’s unreal.” Then I kissed her. I wasn’t planning to, but whoever plans kisses? This one just happened. And it made me sing.  “Babe, we keep this up and John won’t be getting what he needs until tomorrow,” I said in a husky voice. I was hot for her and wanted her bad.

“Hurry! Let’s get this taken care of so we can have some fun!”

I loved the way my girl thought. No wonder I wanted to marry her. I laughed at the thought and she caught me.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was thinking how you’re able to change my mood with just a few words.”

“Is that so? I think it’s you who changed the mood with that super sexy kiss.”

“Whatever it was, I like it.” I grinned.

We sent the information to John and later that night we laughed again because neither of us had thought a thing about eating dinner.

********

Thursday rolled around and my imagination was filled with what was going to happen this weekend and how it was going to play out. I tried to play it cool, but it was a losing battle. Thank God I didn’t have to work. I was picking Terri up at one. I told her I was taking her to lunch. As far as I could tell, she didn’t have any idea.

Alana was meeting me at eleven to hand over her packed bag. Then I was gathering up some last minute items...some special things we might need for our four days. Sunscreen was one of them, but I also wanted some body butters and things we could play with. They would be stashed in my bag where she wouldn’t find them.

Finally, it was time to head her way. She was ready and waiting so I helped her into the Range Rover and off we went. She began to get suspicious when I got on the interstate.

“Where are we going?”

“I told you honey. I’m taking you to lunch.”

“Hmm. But where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

I didn’t take the normal airport exit. I took the next one. She was truly confused now.

“Justin, I don’t know of any restaurants up here. What’s going on?”

“You’ll see.”

We drove in the back entrance of the airport and when we went through the private security gates and had to show our ID’s, the light bulb flicked on.

“You’re taking me somewhere, aren’t you?”

Her voice was edged with excitement and her eyes were sparkling.

“Maybe,” is all I would say.

“Oh my God! We’re going somewhere in the Middleton jet, aren’t we?”

“Perhaps.”

When we pulled up to the G5, she started screaming. If she hadn’t been buckled into her seat, she would’ve been jumping up and down.

“Holy shit! We’re going on a trip!”

I couldn’t stop laughing at her.  “You should see your face.”

Her eyes were about to bug right out of her head.

“Lunch, huh?”

“Well, yeah. We will be eating on board.”

She punched me in the arm.

I pulled the car to a stop and we got out.  Jerry came to greet us. He handled everything at the airport for us.

“Dr. Middleton. Hope everything’s well with you.”

“Yes it is, thanks. Jerry, meet Terri Mitchell.”

After they exchanged greetings, Terri and I climbed the stairs and were greeted by our flight attendants, Roy and Kathie. They were a married couple that worked solely for Middleton Enterprises. Then I introduced her to the pilot Mitch, the copilot Mark, and the flight engineer Ryan. Roy and Kathie took our drink order and Mitch told us we were ready to taxi to the runway.

We took our seats and buckled up.  Her hand grasped mine and she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited in my life. By the way, where are we going?”