Page 18 of Saving Trinity
Trinity:
I’m okay. Just trying to breathe.
Carla:
I figured. Just don’t shut me out, okay?
Trinity:
I’m sorry. I won’t. I didn’t mean to.
Carla:
I know. I saw on the Jail Report this morning that Zac was arrested. Some more digging showed he’s also lost his job. It was alluded that there’s enough evidence to convict him. I guess the hospital doesn’t want to be attached to his name any longer.
My hands shook as I read her message. Not only had he been arrested, but he’d lost his job. The one thing he’d always prided himself on having, he’d lost. And honestly, that made me feel good. It warmed me to know that the hospital that used to value him so much no longer wanted to be affiliated with him.
Trinity:
Good. I’ll call you later, yeah?
Carla:
I’ll be waiting.
I headed out of Jimmie’s room—or was it ours now?—and made my way to the kitchen. Jimmie was leaning against the counter with a bottle of water, and resting on the bar was a warmed up cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee.
“I love you so much,” I groaned as my stomach rumbled.
He and I both froze at the same time, and I swallowed thickly as we stared at each other. I wanted to take the words away, but how could I when I knew deep in my soul they weren’t a lie? I did love Jimmie. I was sure a part of me always had. I just never thought he could be mine.
“Say it again,” Jimmie rasped as he set his bottle of water down.
I licked my bottom lip, my fingers trembling at my sides. He slowly rounded the counter to come closer to me, and I didn’t dare rip my eyes from his. Drawing in a deep breath, I whispered, “I love you,” just as he reached me.
He clasped my face in his hands and lowered his head so his lips were just brushing mine. With our eyes still connected, he murmured, “Fuck, baby. I love you, too.” And then, he was kissing me softly, slowly, and deeply.
I swore, something inside of me healed at his confession.
MONDAY MORNING
“You sure you’ve got him for the day?” Jimmie asked Byron. I’d woken up a nervous wreck about three that morning with a nightmare, thinking Zac had gotten released on bond and had come straight for me. I’d spent the next hour sobbing in Jimmie’s arms. Neither of us had been able to fall back asleep afterward.
With Zac potentially getting released today, Jimmie had called Byron about six thirty this morning, asking if he could take Wyatt for the day. Because we both knew if Zac got released, I was going to be a disaster, and neither of us wanted Wyatt to witness that.
What happened to me would not touch our son more than it already had. I refused to let it.
“I’ve got him,” Byron assured Jimmie. We’d both already said our goodbyes to Wyatt. He would be staying the night with Byron and having a movie night with their two kids, Millie and Alan. He was so excited, he didn’t even notice something was wrong with me, which was exactly what Jimmie and I wanted.
He was just a child. Adult problems had no place in his life right now.
“Call me if you need anything,” I said. Jimmie wound his arm around my waist, tugging me close to his side.
Byron shook his head. “Trust me, we’ve got him. We’ll bring him back sometime tomorrow.” Surprising me, he reached forward and drew me into a hug. My throat closed with the threat of tears. “He won’t touch you even if he gets released, Trinity,” he promised. “Even if we all have to camp out here, you and Wyatt are un-fucking-touchable.”
I blew out a soft breath and nodded, stepping back from him. “Thank you.”
“Kids are in the car!” Winter called. “And Wyatt is antsy.”
