They all chuckle.
“Maybe we should finish breakfast first?” Gil says, always the voice of reason.
“I don’t think I can eat like this,” I murmur against Jonah’s neck.
“I’m not ready to let you go yet,” Jonah says while he sits down, keeping me wrapped around him.
“Don’t worry, baby, I’m never letting you go. Now that all is right in Charlington again, you can expect me to be a regular pain in your ass for the rest of your life.”
He snorts. “You have such a way with words.”
“I know, right? I should do something with that. Maybe become an author or something.”
That manages to make them all laugh, the tension disappearing from the room. And we start our day, acting like nothing changed at all.
It’s dark out, and I haven’t left Jonah’s side all day. Currently, we’re sitting on the porch, Jonah on a good old fashioned rocking chair, me on his lap, and a nice purple blanket covering us both. We’ve been silent for a while, and that’s okay.
He’s absentmindedly twirling a finger in my hair, and it makes me remember when he used to pull my pigtails when we were kids.
“You used to tease me when we were kids,” I remind him. “You pulled my hair.”
“Yeah, but that’s because I liked you even back then,” he instantly replies.
“So it’s true that boys who tease girls like them?”
“Sometimes.” He pulls my hair a little. “Besides, it works, now you like it when I pull your hair.”
Well, yes. Yes, I do.
“I don’t really think that’s how it works,” I answer, trying very hard not to think about him pulling my hair.
“No? How does it work then?” he asks, bending my head all the way back and kissing the side of my neck, giving me goosebumps.
“I don’t know. Let’s ask Gil. He knows.”
Jonah snorts.
The door to the porch opens up, and Kellan and Meggy step outside. Jonah tries to stand up, but I keep us seated by refusing to move even an inch.
“Sorry, bro,” Jonah says to Kellan, “I’m afraid I can’t get up.”
Kellan snorts. “No problem,” he says as he bends down, gives Jonah a one armed hug and gives me a kiss on my cheek. Meanwhile, Meggy seems glued stuck to Kellan’s hand, and I understand.
Kellan sits down in one of the other chairs, and Meggy climbs his lap in the same way I did, creating a smile on my face. I’m so lucky to have her in my life again. Kellan gives her a peck on the cheek before he grabs his phone, opens something up and hands it to me.
I’m staring at the front page of the online Kinseltown Courant. It’s a newsarticle with the title ‘Charges pressed against suspect in Julia Collins murder’. The article doesn’t go into any specifics, but I’m so glad to read the FBI was able to make some arrests, press charges and get some closure for Julia and everyone she loved. Jonah reads along over my shoulder.
For a moment I wonder what is happening to Jonah’s mom, but I don’t really care.
“How are both of you holding up?” I ask them. As hard as this is for Jonah, this day must be equally hard for them. It’s Kellan’s mom as well after all, and Meggy got kidnapped by these men. How she manages to get by without having a humongous trauma amazes me.
“I’m just glad they’re all off the street right now,” Meggy says, her shoulders slumped. “Just hoping it’ll stay that way.”
“I think they’re in trouble for yesterday alone, and maybe they’ll get some charges stuck for all the things they did in the past. So I would trust them to do a good job,” Jonah answers.
His hand slides under the hem of my shirt and he moves it up on my back, softly stroking and tickling me on my spine. It’s making me arch my back because it tickles, but at the same time it’s comforting.
“Well, at least mom will be gone for a while again,” Kellan adds.