It felt strange. I knew I didn’t want to sleep alone tonight. I also didn’t want my mother alone in the house. I wondered if Jack would be willing to sleep here again, now that his father was gone.
“I’m going to go make some calls. People have to be notified,” my mom said, almost like a zombie.
Jack and I went up to my room. I began sobbing. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t even know why. But once I started, the tears wouldn’t stop.
“Shh, it’s over. It’s over,” Jack whispered, holding my head to his chest. I sobbed into his shirt, soaking the cotton.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“I was on the phone. I decided to return the call I’d missed before going home, and I didn’t want to drive while on the phone. You left the front door open, and when I heard the cries, I came running.”
“You always have perfect timing when it comes to saving me.”
“It’s a superpower I hope I never lose.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. The man was a monster. I’m glad he’s gone.”
I hugged Jack tighter.
“Can you sleep here with me tonight?”
“Of course. I’d like that.”
I went and spent some time with my mom, who was still distraught beyond words. I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital, but she said no. She took a sleeping pill, and went to bed. In the morning I would find her still there, her pillow completely soaked with her tears.
Jack and I did the same a minute later, falling asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. Who would have known that one day could have been so amazing, and the next so awful?
Chapter Twenty Six
Over the next few days, my mother grieved by taking care of everything. She met with the lawyers, she organized the funeral, she made sure everyone in John’s calendar knew what had happened, she organized the buyout of his share of the business – Jack had told her he wanted nothing to do with the man, or his legacy.
Originally, my mother had been incredibly annoyed at Jack. She already wasn’t thrilled we were dating, but to have her stepson be responsible for her husband’s death didn’t put him in her good books.
“It was him or you, Mary,” Jack told her one day, after she gave him another glare. “He would have killed you eventually. You know it, I know it. He deserved what he got.”
If anything that only made their relationship worse, but I have to give it to my mom: she was fair. The title and the estate were left to Jack, but everything else was my mom’s. The total figure in her bank accounts was now in the billions. She gave half of it to Jack, telling him that no son should be left out in the cold like that.
Jack thanked her, and told her he was sorry her husband was dead, and I smiled as the first wounds between the two of them began to heal.
Later, a few weeks later, when everything began to settle down, I spoke with my mom about her relationship with John, and how he was hitting her.
“He did start before the wedding. And I had doubts then. I didn’t know about Jack’s claims back then. But you know when I had that bruise on my face and I told you I slipped on some ice?”
I nodded.
“I didn’t slip on some ice. He had done that. It was the first time he hit me. I was going to leave him, but he apologized. He said it was so unlike him, that he would never do it again. I shouldn’t have believed him.”
“But that wasn’t the last time?”
“No. He started being more controlling, then the next time he told me it was my fault, he grabbed me by the arm during an argument so hard that it bruised.”
I realized then why my mother had started wearing more modest clothing; it was to cover up the proof that John had been hitting her.
“I still loved him, though, Julianne. That’s the worst part. I started believing it was my fault, that I deserved it. After all, I was so lucky to be with him. And even now, knowing that what he did was wrong and it wasn’t my fault, I still love him. Is that really so wrong?”
“There’s a lot of things about love that might seem wrong, but aren’t necessarily,” I told her, and she took me in her arms and held me close.
*
I think the funeral provided some necessary closure for Jack. He seemed brighter afterwards, like he had a new lease on life.
Two weeks after his father’s death I sat with Jack in the garden behind the house.
“You know, since my father died, it really feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. There were just too many bad memories there.”
“I’ve noticed, you seem happier.”
“Nothing could make me happier than being with you, Jules.” I loved the way the name sounded when he said it. He fumbled with his hands, as though he was wondering if he should say something. Finally, he decided. “You know, in fact, I’ve realized in the last few weeks just what you mean to me. When I saw my father coming at you, I knew in that moment that I would do literally anything to save you. I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want to spend another day without you. Julianne Reeves, Jules, will you marry me?”