Page 40 of Letters Book Two
“Yeah, he’s right here. He’ll ride with me because Clint has the truck. Clint wouldn’t say but he sounded excited about something.” He paused and spoke softly, probably to see if Chad was nearby. “You know Clint, it could be anything. Our beach is where he’s at.” Everyone in our close circle knew whatourbeach meant to Lucas.
“I’ll see you there in thirty. Love you. Be safe, baby boy.”
When I parked and walked along the hidden beach, I saw the three of them traipsing in the low growing shrubs and the trees beyond the shore. I’d seen this shoreline dozens of times. I’d fallen in love here actually, but today it had a special glow. What was it about this place that held such a magical feeling for me? I remember the very first trip here with Lucas last May. I instantly felt it. Love. It was everywhere. I watched as Lucas was pointing at something and Chad jumped up and down in Clint’s arms.What were these guys up to?
Lucas spotted me and made a beeline for me. The other two scrambled to catch up. He arrived breathless and excited, Clint and Chad right behind. I stared at three grinning fools. Each one beside himself with barely containable joy. “Clint saw something out on the road yesterday when he drove by on his way to work.” Lucas bent over to catch his breath. “Did you notice it when you drove in?” he asked, still breathing hard.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Why?” I said, looking perplexed, currently looking around for something unexpected, unseen.
Chad and Lucas each grabbed a hand. “Follow us, Mr. Jackson.”
“Hey! What about me?” Clint put his arm around Chad’s neck, and we half-walked, half skipped to where they’d been. It was impossible to not feel the excitement the three of them had created. I’m not sure I’d ever seen such joy on Lucas’s face.
We walked through the sand, and then to the low growing grasses that became shrubs, the trees just beyond that. Lucas came up behind me and cupped his hands over my eyes and turned me around, pointing me back to the beach. “Open your eyes, my love.” He removed his hands.
I stood looking out toward the beach and the ocean beyond. I’d never been up to the edge of the trees and looked out at the amazing horizon. We were now elevated, higher than the gentle slope that went back down to the beach. Water as far as you could see. Left and right, deserted for miles. Just one beautiful unspoiled view. “It’s beautiful, baby boy.” He came to my side and held my hand. Chad and Clint joined us, also holding hands and anxiously staring at us. “What? Why are you goofballs staring at me?”
“It’s for sale, Perry.” Lucas squeezed my hand. My mind flashed to when I had begged him to squeeze my hand as he battled his way back to me. I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
I turned to him as he stared into the sunlight. His grayish blue, otherworldly eyes sparkled. I loved sparkling eyes. I loved him. He had happy tears falling from his eyes. They were unlike any tears he had wept in his painful history. I knew it in my soul. Lucas was always stunning to me. But at that moment, he had never looked so beautiful.
“I want to live here, Perry. With you. Forever. Can we do that?”
“On one condition.” I dropped to one knee.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Lucas
It was hard for me to sit through the painful reminders of that morning at the station. The courtroom was packed, and I was reliving a nightmare. The loss of Mr. Howard, the carnage that Clint and I had to endure. All were rushing in.
Clint had saved my life. When I woke and started to regain my faculties, memories of the attack came flooding in. “Clint? Is he alive? Where is he?” I asked, looking from Perry and then to Chad. Chad exposed me to the first of hundreds of his amazing smiles. He nodded to the other bed. I strained to look in the direction he indicated but didn’t have the strength to lift my head. He walked to the other bed, and I heard him assisting someone out of it, and before I knew it, there Clint was.
“Hey, Jenson. Welcome back.” He grinned wide as Chad wheeled him to the head of my bed, where he reached for my hand. “He didn’t get me, buddy.”
“You... you... saved my life, Clint. I’m so sorry you got hurt. Are you going to be ok?”
“I’m better now that you’re awake, Lucas. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you didn’t make it. I’m the one that’s sorry. I shoulda got up those stairs quicker.”
He held my hand as Perry and Chad got the confirmation that he had indeed saved me. We never spoke of it again, but we would share a look occasionally. We’d been through something life changing. Each of us knew what we’d survived. I knew what he had done. He had done it out of love... for me.
Now we sat at tables in the front of the courtroom, our supporters behind us. People that did us harm sat across the aisle. There would be sentencing today. There would also be compensation for our pain and the massive medical bills we both faced.
Johnny Hopkins, Clint’s former co-worker at county, identified the assailant. His name was Charlie Rollins, a lowlife meth addict from Columbia. He had accepted five thousand dollars to off me. What he hadn’t expected was to be involved in the killing of Mr. Howard and the severe beating of Clint. As it turned out, he was easy to find. He was in the hospital as well. Clint had inflicted some serious hurt on him, and he barely made it out of my attic before he collapsed in the drive of the Frosty Freeze. An ambulance delivered him to a local clinic before transferring him up to Columbia where he lived. He’d said he had been attacked and no one questioned his injuries at first.
Once the police showed up, he blabbed immediately about who had contracted him for the hit, and it wasn’t long before the trail ended at the capital. The news of the arrest of the Lieutenant Governor, the biggest kahuna of the Tilton clan, was all anyone could speak about in Beaufort and most of the state. He wouldn’t be running for governor. He wouldn’t be running anywhere. Except maybe from his cellmate.
Why the head of the Tilton family worked so hard to keep my birth a secret is unknown. Most people figured that because Lachen was his son, he couldn’t allow, in his opinion, the connection to low-class individuals like me and Momma. He had his sights on a much bigger target than the governor’s mansion. He wanted to live in the biggest of houses. It was white.
The judge was about to rule. The court quieted and I felt my nerves plummet to the pit of my gut. “As for the case of Jenson/Bowers, co-petitioners v. Boregard Tilton II, regarding compensation for pain and suffering, loss of income, medical bills, and all legal liabilities, we award ten million dollars, to be divided equally. The case of the estate of Mr. Edward Howard v. Tilton will be heard in ninety days.”
The courthouse erupted in cheers. Clint and I sat silently staring at each other. A wide grin began to spread across our faces, and he mouthed, “Ten million dollars... fuuucckkk.”
The judge slammed his gavel down hard. “Order! Order! Order in the court.”
The room quieted down, and I felt Perry’s hands on the back of my chair. I turned to find him and Mrs. Howard beaming at the decision. The judge’s voice drew my attention back to him.
“I have one final thing on my docket today. Lucas Chase Jenson, please rise.” The judge’s voice boomed. I wasn’t frightened, I knew this was next, regardless of the case results. “Mr. Jenson, you have petitioned the court for a name change. Is that still your desire, young man?”
“Yes, your honor, and my attorney has also petitioned the court for a legal adoption, your honor,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice calm and my knees from failing. I heard Perry clear his throat behind me. He and Mrs. Howard had no clue what was coming.
