Julia
Dillon’s trial had been moved up.
I’d been dreading this day for a long three months. But I was also glad that I could deal with this before Austin got back. I kept his last letter in my pocket through the entire ordeal.
Dear Julia,
You are the strongest person I’ve ever met. I can’t imagine how it must feel to testify against Dillon, but if anyone can do it, for a second time, then you can. You held him at gunpoint in your apartment. You got away from him twice. You can do this.
My only regret is that I can’t be there, too. I’d be the best moral support you could ask for.
I’ll be thinking about you, worrying over you, anxiously awaiting another letter to find out how it went. I have faith that the judge will make the right decision.
Counting down the days until I see you again.
Always yours,
Austin
Having his words with me helped.
Dillon was a shadow of himself after spending three months behind bars again. He looked like a wreck. And that helped, too.
When the jury came back and found him guilty, I nearly stood up and cheered. The judge gave him thirty years in prison for a laundry list of crimes. And, just like that, I was free. Finally free.
Heidi and Emery were waiting for me when I left the courtroom. They threw their arms around me, jumping up and down at the victory.
“How do you feel?” Heidi asked.
“Amazing.”
“God, I’m so glad that asshole will be behind bars for the rest of his miserable life,” Emery said.
“You and me both.”
“If you’re so happy…then how come you don’t exactly sound happy?” Heidi asked.
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip and pulled out the letter from Austin. “I need to write to Austin.”
Heidi and Emery shared one of their looks.
“What did he say this time?” Heidi asked.
“And how aren’t you swooning over these letters?” Emery added.
I let them read the letter, and they both sighed dramatically.
“Counting down the days until I see you again,” Heidi read aloud. “Is he for real? Jesus, these Wright men.”
“I wish he were here,” I said, finally admitting the feeling that had been building in me over the last couple of weeks.
“He’s going to be out of rehab soon. What are you going to do when he gets out?” Heidi asked.
“We’ll have to see when he gets here, won’t we?”
“But…do you want to get back together with him?” Heidi asked.
“God, Heidi, so nosy,” Emery muttered.
“Don’t act like you’re not dying to know!”
“Well, yeah, I am. But I’m going to wait for her to tell us.”
I laughed. “You two are so ridiculous.”
“Truth.” Heidi smacked Emery’s ass and grinned wickedly.
“Hey!” Emery groaned.
“So…Julia?” Heidi prodded.
“It’s been three months since I’ve seen him. The letters are…everything. I just won’t know though until I see him.”
Thirty-Seven
Austin
I left rehab with one suitcase and a box of letters.
It had been the longest ninety days of my life, yet…it had flown by. I’d been skeptical when I first arrived. How could ninety days change my life? But it had. In more ways than I could even articulate.
For the first time in a decade, my thoughts were clear. I had a foundation to continue my path and grow into the person I’d always wanted to be. Instead of the drunk I’d become. I still had a lot to make up for. Relationships that I’d splintered, work that I’d neglected, and trust I needed to build up again.
But one step forward.
One step at a time.
Jensen had sent the private jet to pick me up from the facility, and I flew from Malibu to my home alone.
In some way, it was fitting. I might have shown up to rehab with Jensen, but my road to recovery had been a long one, and I’d had to do it all by myself. After all my time away, I needed to prove I could return home on my own, too.
The plane touched down at Lubbock International Airport in the middle of the afternoon on the day before Halloween. After months with an oceanside vista, Lubbock looked flat as a pancake and lifeless. Yet…it was home.
This was the longest I’d been away since that one summer I was an intern in California. Apparently, California was the place I got away. Not that I was in any hurry to get out of here again.
I carried the box of letters off the plane and was handed my suitcase after disembarking. My eyes flickered over the empty tarmac in disappointment. I’d thought one of my siblings would have at least come to get me. I’d been gone for three months!
Then, I heard an engine revving behind me. I whirled around and found my shiny red Alfa Romeo idling. Fuck, I’d missed that car. It had been weird, not driving. I was more than ready to get behind the wheel and take off.