Sierra hung up and quickly dialed old man Pete to inform him she would be gone for a little while. The man grunted into the phone. “It’s about time you got off the island and went back in the real world. I will be over shortly to turn everything off for you and close up.” Then he hung up before she could say anything.
She stared at the phone and shook her head. Grabbing more items as she moved, stopping in her office to grab her laptop before calling Valeur back. Sierra told Valeur she would be on her way shortly and stuffed her toiletry bag in her suitcase when a loud knock echoed through her home.
She stuffed more of her products into the suitcase as she tucked her phone to her cheek. Then when she heard another impatient knock at her front door, she took the bag she was putting smaller items into and made her way through the house. Thinking it was old man Pete, Sierra yanked open the door without checking. But when the man didn’t step inside or say anything, Sierra finally looked at who was at her door and almost dropped her phone.
Jacob just stood there, dressed in a rain slicker and boots, the hood pulled low but with the hallway light, she saw the face of the man she’d thought she’d love for the rest of her life. But now, he stood there, staring at her coldly. As distant as the day he left her crying in her hospital bed.
“I have to go. Jacob’s here.” She whispered.
“Okay, girl, bye. Call me back when you get a chance.”
And they stood there staring at each other with the sound of the wind and the rain interrupting the silence.
Chapter 12
As Jacob looked upon the tiny island, a gamut of emotions ran through him.
He hadn’t told his family that he watched her walk out of the hospital, leaning heavily on a cane. He didn’t know where she was headed or who owned the black Sedan that she slowly got into. The vehicle didn’t match anything associated with her father, who had already disowned her.
That day he’d been full of mixed emotions. Anger, hurt and distaste, but also sorrow for his daughter, that she lost a mother, and pity for Sierra being alone, the life she knew gone. The final emotion, he buried it. Even if he could have loved her, her actions throughout the years that they were together made it impossible. Even the warmth and caring he felt for her in the beginning had died.
He also knew he was partly at fault. He should have stood firm and continued to turn her away; his body led too many of his decisions, which ruined both of their lives. Eventually, she would have tired of pursuing him and moved on. But after having a taste of her passion, he couldn’t get enough. He was not surprised with how persistent she’d been after they’d hooked up, he expected she would show up where he frequented. And she did.
He let out snort at his gullibility into believing that with just one taste, he would end it. But then one night became two; another taste became a regular sampling, a craving he couldn’t shut off. He’d warned her in the beginning when they became lovers that he didn’t think he had it in him to love another being and she didn’t ask why.
He thought maybe it was because she’d finally realized that this wasn’t serious but now, he knew it was because she thought she would be the one to change him. His father had scarred his brothers in some way or another. Him, Colin and the twins were cautious when it came to commitment and the idea of loving someone. Rafe, Dyson and Bronson—he’d been an absent father, so they became unable to trust loved ones would stick around, something their grandfather couldn’t quite overcome when he took them in.
The atmosphere had been tense throughout his father’s visit when Kaitlyn was born, and he soon left, with barely a word to his children.
He could not understand his father, even less after he held Kaitlyn for the first time; he vowed to make sure she felt loved and wanted for nothing. Her hand wrapped around his finger and her eyes staring blindly up at him with trust.
Her uncles fell in love with her the moment they saw her. There were times he had to fight his brothers to get his daughter back. As she grew up, her uncles became her protectors, and her tea-and-dolly playmates. He found it hilarious to see grown men sitting in small chairs, sipping fake tea and eating dessert but they did it because she was their precious princess. She was an adorable, loving and friendly child.
He should have expected it because of how Sierra was, but he was still surprised that Sierra had struggled with being a mother to Kaitlyn. It wasn’t easy for her to adapt while a small being needed her attention constantly, unable to fathom her life wouldn’t go back to what it was before having a child.
There were moments where he saw her love and care for their daughter but also the times where she grew frustrated and cool toward Kaitlyn. It got worse as Kaitlyn aged. Otherpriorities pulled his attention away from her; taking care of Kaitlyn and taking over more of the Norris empire took precedence. Their fiery love-making, the strongest draw they had between them, became more infrequent. To cope, Sierra clung to the bottle, and her temperament turned more volatile and angrier. He brought in a nanny to watch over and take care of Kaitlyn when he couldn’t be home.
He never forgot how he lashed out at her on that devastating day. He’d been so tired of her accusing him of anything her alcohol-soaked mind could concoct.
He had gripped the cell phone so tight and in a low tone said harshly, “If you hadn’t pretended to be pregnant in the first place, I would not have married you! I have tried with you for Kaitlyn’s sake, but I want a divorce.”
When he heard her soft gasp and her beseeching call of his name on the phone, he continued to berate her. “Save your denials; keep it for the next sucker you try to bring into your hellish, drunken life.”
The silence he had heard on the other end sounded warning bells in his head and he realized too late he’d let his anger get the better of him. And just like that his anger cooled, and he thought to himself it was obvious Sierra needed help and he was going to make sure she got it, but they were not good for each other. Beyond her addiction, he couldn’t make her the priority she wanted to be.
Then she just hung up the phone without another word to him. The guest at his table gave curious looks and he’d assured his clients he just needed a moment to resolve a personal call. As he left the room, his phone rang again. Relief poured through him. It was a chance to apologize and try to placate her until he could get back home. But the relief turned to fright when heheard the nanny’s panicked voice alerting him that Sierra took Kaitlyn and drove off in her car.
Without a word, he left the dinner, hitting redial until Sierra finally picked up. No matter what he said to her to try and calm her down, she yelled at him, most of her words incoherent and slurred. He begged her to pull over, but she shot back with a threat and a laugh.
Her sudden scream would haunt him until he died. Seeing his little girl looking so small and fragile, he’d simply cried, wiping away his tears when his brothers got there to support him. It had been a long night, but her surgery had gone well. His wife, on the other hand, had to fight for her life.
When she got out of surgery, she was almost unrecognizable, her face swollen and bruised. A long scar went down her face and her hair had been shorn in places for them to get to the swelling in her skull. They had to induce a coma in order to deal with her head injury. The fact that she’d been awake in the beginning was a surprise; she was in a lot of pain. He’d never felt so hopeless in his life, except for that day in the hospital. Guilt weighed him down that he was unable to make everything okay for Sierra or his daughter.
Seeing him this way, his family stepped in and told him to not feel guilty for Sierra, that she’d done this to herself and even the Senator advised him to walk away now.
He hadn’t argued because they were right. He’d become focused and determined to think only about Kaitlyn’s safety and well-being. And now he would continue to follow this path, even if it meant facing his ex-wife again.
He walked up the drive of a tiny brick-and-wood bungalow. The wind pulling at his hair and the rain making it a bit difficult to see, he pulled the hood further down his face.This place wasn’t easy to find information on. He had gone back to the hospital, inquiring with any staff member he could, even though she’d been discharged over a year ago. Fortunately, the male physiotherapist remembered an elderly lady coming to one of her sessions and asking questions on her care. Jacob explained it was important and if the physiotherapist could provide any information he could, and after digging through his files, he found an emergency contact number with the name Patricia scrawled beside it.
