We clinked glasses and looked at each other.
“Our parents are pissed,” he told me after our first sip.
“Figures.”
“They’re cutting Edward off though. He’s been ostracized by the family completely. We did it. Our sister’s not going to grow up in a world with him in it.”
We toasted that thought as well, then went to bed.
This had been one hell of a day. We’d ruined a Presidential candidate’s life, ruined the entire Hunt family name in public, decided to get married the next day, and saved our sister from a pervert. All in a day’s work.
Chapter Twenty
Leanne was my Maid of Honour at the wedding ceremony two days later. We decided to postpone the wedding for 24 hours so I could buy a nice dress and shoes (my one requirement), a couple of rings and hire a photographer. After all, even if it was just going to be a simple courthouse wedding, we wanted photos of it.
Kiegan surprised me on the morning of by taking me to the beach, where a nice little altar was set up with a red carpet leading straight to it.
With the sun rising over us, the soft waves of the Pacific Ocean lapping away behind us and little flecks of white sand at our feet, Kiegan and I said “I do”.
It was perfect. I couldn’t believe it had happened. I was in a white knee-length dress that flattered my curves beautifully, and gold sandals that glistened against the sand. There was no one else on the beach, since it was still the middle of winter, but it was still warm enough to be comfortable outside.
I gazed at my new husband after he kissed me, and wondered how on Earth we got here. We were so different. He was “America’s Bad Boy”, and I was basically the complete opposite. And yet, here we were. Married. Not a paparazzo to be seen. Just our own wedding photographer, Leanne, and Josh who acted as best man and actually put on a suit for once.
Hand in hand Kiegan and I walked off, ready to face the world together, and I knew that we were going to be together forever.
*
Four weeks later filming for Kiegan’s TV show had ended. I had moved in to his New York penthouse apartment with him, where he went to work every day and I started to re-do my college applications.
I knew I didn’t have to work a day in my life, but I wasn’t planning on being that kind of wife. I wanted to go into finance, and Kiegan told me as soon as I graduated there was a job ready and waiting for me here in New York.
He had decided not to do a second season of his reality show; not straight away, anyway. Even though it was a huge hit and he was in enormous demand, he figured he was better off concentrating on the venture capital business instead.
On top of that, I think Kiegan just didn’t want to see his face on the news so much. The Hunt family name was in total disgrace. A picture of Kiegan and I made the cover of Time magazine. “The Kids Who Killed the King” it was titled, and inside was an article about how Kiegan and I had taken down his uncle.
I was also in contact with the District Attorney in Middlesex County. He wanted to try Edward Hunt for sexual assault, as the statute of limitations hadn’t run out yet. I was going to do it. I didn’t want any other girls to go through what I had to. I was also seeing a therapist on a weekly basis, which helped.
I was sitting at my desk, working on an entrance essay for Columbia, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. I got up and answered it, and found a flower delivery man with a dozen purple lillies and baby’s breath.
Thanking him and wondering what the flowers were for, I assumed Kiegan had sent them as a “just because” gift. He occasionally did things like that, and I loved him all the more for it. When I opened the card, however, my breath caught.
Dear Tina,
I know you haven’t forgiven me for not believing you. And I don’t blame you at all. But I want to apologize all the same. I should have believed you, and I let my love for Elton and his family skew my judgement. Your sister is going to be born in two months, and I would really like for her to know the woman who sacrificed a lot for her sister’s well-being. If you’d like to get to know her too, I’d love to hear back from you.
My heart panged as I read the note.
My mom was right, I hadn’t forgiven her. I spoke to my therapist about it. After all, when you’re seventeen and your uncle touches you, the one person on the planet who should be there for you is your mother. And instead, my mom made me feel terrible about it.
So no, I wasn’t ready to forgive her. Not yet, anyway. But I still picked up the phone. Because I knew Kiegan would agree with me, being in our new sister’s life was going to be the most important thing of all.
The End