“No, I can do this. I can’t believe he finally contacted me.”
Jenna had been sending him letters each week, but so far nothing had come back. She opened the letter and cleared her throat.
Dear Jenna,
Thank you for your letters, darling. I read and appreciated each one. They’re the only bright things in my otherwise bleak world.
She made a strangled noise, and he pulled off the road and turned off the truck. Undoing both seatbelts, he pulled her across and onto his lap. She let out a deep breath. He leaned over her shoulder to read the rest of the letter aloud.
Not that I don’t deserve to be here. I do. I did those terrible things. Although not for the reasons many might believe. I got into financial trouble, darling. Deep trouble. I owed some bad people a lot of money. Doug knew about my problem and offered me a solution. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. Little did I know, in my naivety, that once you’re in, you’re in forever. I was so ashamed of myself. I hated what I’d done. But I couldn’t stop. And the one time I tried to get out you paid the price.
She looked up at him. “My kidnapping.”
He nodded, his jaw clenched in anger. That bastard.
I told him I’d go back to doing what he wanted. There was no way I wanted to risk him hurting you, Jenna. I love you more than life and I’m sorry.
Take care of your mother.
Love, Dad
She folded up with the letter with shaking hands. “Well, that’s that. He’s truly guilty.”
He hugged her tightly. “Want to go back home? We can postpone the meeting with the adoption agency.”
She straightened her shoulders and glanced up at him, blinking back a few tears. “No. I’m not going to let what he did ruin everything else for me. It’s time to move on.”
She attempted to move from his lap, but he grabbed her, kissing her. Once she was back in her seat and buckled in, he started the truck again. They were silent for a few minutes as he drove.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
She took a deep breath in. That last bit of unease was gone. She had some sense of closure. “Yeah, I really am.” She smiled at him.
“Good.” He smiled back. “You know, I think we only really need to stay one night in the city.”
“But don’t you want to see everyone?” she asked, looking surprised.
“Yeah, but there’s that meeting on Thursday night about the new housing complex going in that I want to attend, and then Saxon has got a poker game arranged for Friday night, and Duncan needs my help chopping down some trees.”
Jenna smiled as she listened to Curt explain all the reasons he was eager to get back to Haven. But she knew what the real reason was. The town had grown on him, he fit right in, and, after a few months, people had started to forgive him for his introduction to the place. Well, except for Logan Ferguson, but everyone knew he liked to hold a grudge. Curt had found a place for himself. He’d even been talking about starting his own security company in Haven.
Yep, Curt had finally discovered there was no place quite like home.
Read on for some excerpts from Laylah Roberts other books.
Saving Savannah
Haven, 3
Logan pulled off the road and parked behind the small, red Porsche.
“Can’t see anyone.” Max grabbed his hat. “Think someone’s already picked them up?”
“Driver’s door’s open.” Logan grabbed his own hat and climbed out of the cab of his dusty, beat-up truck before settling it on his head. He studied the car. The layer of dust didn’t disguise that it was an expensive ride. Max wasn’t kidding when he said no one around here would be seen in something like this. It was made for speed and agility, not bumpy, gravel roads.
“Hello? Anyone here?” Max called out, looking around. He pulled the latch for the trunk. “I’ll see if there’s a spare.”
“Where the hell did they go?”