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Chapter Twenty-Four
Holly tappedher foot against the wooden flooring. Jake sat right next to her, quiet but supportive. Holly had tried to tell him he didn't need to come back up to Miami with her, but nothing she had said could dissuade him.
Gabby had come along, too. Holly hadn't thought that was a good idea, figuring her daughter didn't need that kind of stress while she was pregnant. But Gabby was just as stubborn as Jake, and so the three of them had all driven up together in time for Holly to testify.
Now, they sat side-by-side in the courtroom on hard wooden benches, waiting. Her lawyers had gone over everything with her multiple times. All she had to do was tell the truth, and she would be golden. That didn't stop her anxiety from going into overdrive, though.
She just wanted to get this all over with. What she would do afterward, she still hadn't figured out. She would return to the Keys most likely. There was still so much work to do around the inn. Jason and Paul's crew had made good progress already, but it was still going to be another couple of weeks before everything was finished.
Plus, Nelly still wasn't up to running the day to day part of the business yet. Well, she claimed she could handle it just fine, but her doctor disagreed. Cara was there now, helping keep the place afloat while Holly dealt with her own mess.
Jake and Holly had sat by the water for quite a while that night, barely saying a word to each other. And by the time he had escorted her back, the fundraiser had been completely cleaned up, and her family was waiting for her at the house.
One look at their worried faces had been enough to crack the little bit of a shell Holly still had wrapped around herself. So Jake had sat with her again while she told them the story, filling in Gabby on the details she had kept secret. They had all been shocked and outraged at what Will had done, but not one of them had looked at her with pity.
They had all hugged her that night, promising to stand by her, no matter what. Holly couldn't ever remember crying as much as she'd done that night. But she had it all out in the open now, and everyone was ready and willing to help her if she needed them.
She had been more disappointed than she'd expected when Jake had finally left that night. Part of her had wanted to ask him to stay with her, but she bit her tongue. She appreciated everything he had done for her, but she didn't want to rush things.
And now, sitting in the courtroom waiting to testify, she had to fight to keep from reaching out and taking his hand. More than once, she had started to reach out with her hand but then stopped herself, afraid of what he might think.
Finally, Gabby nudged her. When Holly looked over at her daughter, Gabby gave her a look. She didn't need words for Holly to understand exactly what she meant. Gabby was urging her to go for it, to take that final leap.
She had told Gabby about her relationship with Jake the night before they had driven up to Miami. They had sat in the old Archer family kitchen, shoveling ice cream into their mouths like the sugary treat might make all the pain go away.
Holly took a deep breath and then went for it. She reached over and put her hand on Jake's. He glanced over at her, smiled, then turned his hand over and threaded his fingers between hers. It may not have been a proclamation of undying love, but it was just what Holly needed to keep her strength up.
And when it was time for her to step onto the stand and look out over the audience, she kept her eyes locked on Jake. He couldn't be up there with her, but he wasn't far away, offering his silent support the entire time.
"And you had no idea your husband was skimming money off the top of each sale?" the prosecutor asked.
Holly shook her head. "He had always wanted us to keep our clients separate from each other. At first, I just thought it was some kind of little rivalry between us, you know? Who could land the most clients who could sell the biggest house-- that kind of thing. It was only after the police showed up that I realize he had kept his clients separate from mine, so I wouldn't notice the accounting discrepancies."
The prosecutor nodded, then walked over to his desk and retrieved a stack of papers. He set them on the stand in front of Holly, and when she leafed through them, she realized they were copies of all the sales she had made in the last ten years or so.
"And these are the sales you made yourself, correct?" When Holly nodded, the man took the stack back to his desk. "After a thorough examination of these files, it does appear your accounting was accurate. All money accounted for and all taxes paid."
Holly held her breath. She had known that, of course, but now it was on the record. She was almost there, almost in the clear.
"Do you know what your husband was using the money he skimmed for?"
Her gaze strayed from Jake to where her ex-husband sat in his orange prison jumpsuit. He glared at her, and she glared right back at him. She had been wondering that same thing until recently. Her lawyer had shown her exactly where the money had gone.
"He was seeing another woman on the side," Holly said, still staring at her ex as she sealed his fate. "Apparently, it had been going on for quite some time. He would tell me he had to work late and then take her out to dinner. Or that he was attending a conference when he was really taking her on a fancy vacation. All the while leaving me to take care of our children. And then he tried to use the last of it to flee the country and leave us here to clean up his mess."
She only had to answer a few more questions after that. When she finally stepped down from the stand and headed for the door, her shoulders were lighter. The burden Will had dumped onto her was gone now. He would no doubt rot in prison for quite some time, but Holly would never again have to worry about going down because of him.
Holly had barely passed through the little swinging gate that separated the observers from the rest of the courtroom when Jake rushed over and wrapped her in a tight bear hug. Holly leaned against him, smiling and not caring who saw the two of them together.
Her marriage was over. Her business was over. And now, the life she'd had in Miami was finally over. Now, she could focus on the next phase of her life -- rebuilding the family inn and dedicating a lot more time to her mother, kids and grandkids.
Gabby hugged her next, squeezing her almost as tight as Jake had. When they pulled apart, Gabby smiled at her for a moment. Then, she looked over in the direction of her father and shot him an icy glare. Holly didn't bother looking to see if Will was watching them. She knew he was.
Instead, she took her daughter's hand and Jake's, and then they all headed out of the courtroom together.
One problem down, only a million more to go. But despite the daunting list of tasks ahead of her, Holly had a renewed sense of energy. She could do this, and she felt it in every bone in her body. No matter what curve balls life threw at her, she could do this.
And she wasn't alone. She would never have to worry about being alone ever again.
