Page 64 of Love At Peace

“Did he tell you to get on my laptop?” Heather asked as sirens sounded in the distance, growing closer.

She nodded, crying harder. “He gave me the flash drive to put in so I could get all your documents. I thought he just wanted to hit back at you where you’d hit him. To get his money back that you stole.”

“It’s the other way around, kid,” Heather said.

“He hardly cared about me helping him. I thought he just wanted revenge on his ex. He made you sound so horrible. But then I heard him talking to himself last night in the hotel room he got. He was saying how he hoped that you getting caught for fraud would give him a chance to be your lawyer, and when he saved you in court, you’d owe him and be together again.” She broke down crying as the EMTs arrived.

We were so far out here that they had to use their truck.

Heather and I moved back as the paramedics took over with Gavin. She frowned, looking at Nevaeh. Then she caught my attention and tipped her chin to gesture for me to go to her.

I didn’t need her prompt. Now that my friend was being seen to, I was free to help comfort my niece. She looked like my niece, the younger version of herself who just wanted comfort.

She didn’t push me away as I hugged her. Nor did she fight me off her. All she did was cling to me and sob.

“He wasn’t over you. He never loved me. Never wanted me. He was just using me to get you back.”

“He never wanted me either, Nevaeh,” Heather said, surprisingly calmly as Gavin was loaded onto a stretcher. “I was a possession. He was obsessed with controlling me. It was never, ever a matter of him loving me.”

“He was so sincere. So slick. He was everything I dreamed of. A guy who’d take me out to eat. Who’d treat me to nice hotel rooms. He never gave me a hard time about not having a job and being a nobody. It was so easy to fall into the allure of being loved for who I was.”

I rubbed her back, glad that she had this moment of reckoning. It was too late. She’d already lost herself in believing him, but there was no more chance of her sticking with stubborn denial or protesting that she was right about him. About life.

“If he was being so good to you, why did you keep stealing? Why did you keep shoplifting?” I asked.

“Because he was starting to lie. To distance himself from me. I didn’t want to believe that he wasn’t interested in me anymore, and I just couldn’t bear to ask him for anything. I didn’t want him to see me as a charity case, but a woman he could love and desire.”

“He always lies,” Heather said. “That’s how he’s able to get his way.”

“Not with me.” Nevaeh wiped her face and glanced up. “He’s not getting away with this anymore. He came to my tent and was so mad about you kissing Heather, and that was the biggest clue that I couldn’t ignore. I told him to leave me alone so I could nap. Once he left, I started sending in all the things I’d recorded of him. Of him telling me how to get on your laptop. Of him admitting how he’d stolen money from judges and counted on bribes with cops. Of him...” She cried again, harder.

“I got it on video of him texting Eric and trying to persuade him to talk to him. He wanted to make Eric convince Heather to agree to talking to him because he was owed an apology for how she screwed him over in Chicago.” She growled, shaking her head and grinding her teeth. “He lied to me about seeing Eric at all. When you were there at the building, I started to worry. I was scared that I’d made a mistake about him. I was so scared of being pregnant around a liar like that. I didn’t see Eric. I never went that way. But I knew that David had to be at fault.” Still sniffling, she looked at Marty. “I’ll tell you whatever you need to know. Because that asshole is going down. Nothing will make me happier than seeing him suffer and rotting in prison!”

“I hope we can make that happen,” Heather said.

“We will make it happen,” I promised, letting Nevaeh out of my hug as she stepped toward Heather.

“I know this won’t matter. I’ve been such a bitch to you, but I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. And I feel sorry for you.” She sniffled again. “You were stuck with him for longer, and I don’t even want to know how bad it could’ve been. I’m sorry, Heather. I’m so fucking sorry I’ll never stop being sorry.”

Heather exhaled a long breath, looking over her shoulder to stare at me as she brought Nevaeh in for a hug.

My heart pattered faster, revved up to push more blood through my body at this selfless woman being so forgiving of my niece.

“You know what, Nevaeh?” she said. “More than once, I saw myself in you. I saw the teenager I was. Always feeling alone and not good enough. Judged. I never trusted anyone.”

I smiled slowly, at peace that she could grow from this too. Of course, she’d adjust to all that happened today. She wouldn’t have to fear David ever again.

“But since I came back, I’ve seen all these wonderful people come together. Like friends. Like a community. And I know I’m not alone. I won’t be alone ever again if I take the risk to let the right people in.”

“It’s not easy,” Nevaeh said as she backed up and wiped her eyes.

“No. It’s not easy to let people in when you’ve been hurt or looked over so many times in the past. But you learn to let the right people in. To accept help from those who really care. And that’s why I’ll continue to try to let you in, too. I forgive you because I’ve been there too. I know what it’s like to be alone but also to be a victim of his control.”

Nevaeh hugged her again, crying harder.

“But,” Heather said once they released each other. She walked up to me and took my hand. “Don’t expect a spare key to visit at our home.”

I grinned, so thrilled. It seemed strange to be so happy after the scare of a lifetime. “Our home?”