Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48 Dream

Joy

After ordering a chandelier from Dom’s, I went and bought a ‘get well soon’ gift box at the novelty shop beside the town’s bookstore.

When I arrived at Abigail’s hospital room, I saw Cris and Lisa sitting outside. Cris was wearing light blue jeans and a black polo shirt while Lisa was wearing black high waisted jeans and a long sleeved brown knitted top.

Lisa’s eyes were puffy and red and both looked utterly grief-stricken. Judging by their faces, I knew Abigail’s prognosis wasn’t good.

“Lisa, how is she?” I asked, sitting down in the empty seat beside her, placing the gift box on my lap.

Lis

looked at me teary-eyed. “She’s in a coma, Virtue. The doctors don’t know when she’s going to wake up.” She suddenly buried her face in her hands and began to s ob.

I wrapped my arms around her and allowed her to cry on my shoulder.

a, I’ll go and get you some water.” Cris quickly left, looking uncomfortable with his wife’s lay of emotion.

After drinking some water, Lisa’s s obs died down. I rubbed her back while she wiped the tears from her eyes with a tissue.

“How about we head to the washroom, so you can fix yourself?” 1 offered. “Cris, I’ll tend to Lisa, okay?” I handed him my gift box and led Lisa to the restroom.

Gosh, Cris, you are so useless….

Lisa washed her face with cold water as soon as we entered the bathroom. “You know… I’ve only cried for two people… make that three, if 1 include Cris.”

“I’m guessing the other person is either your mom or your dad,” I said.

“No. Actually, there was this girl named Joy. She was a friend of mine. To make a long story short, something terrible happened to her during our junior year in high school,” she

explained while fixing her hair.

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CHAPTER 48 Dream

“Joy? I haven’t heard of her. Did she, uhm, pass away?” I asked, playing dumb..

“She and her family left after…” She paused, not wanting to say what happened to Joy. “I-I’ve

tried to find her, but it’s like she disappeared.”

“Well, maybe she needed to forget,” I reasoned. Lisa nodded her head.

“You’re right. I just wish I could tell her how sorry I am,” Lisa said, lowering her head in

shame.

Lisa thought a simple apology could make up for what happened to me. I felt my anger bubble up inside me once again.

I wanted to grab her and smash her head against the mirror over and over again until I saw her blood drip down the side of her face. I wanted to scream at her and tell her how I felt

while Cris, Liam, Jack and Dan brutalized my body.

A simple apology won’t cut it, Lisa!

“I feel much better now, Virtue. Thank you,” she said as she wiped her hands with a paper towel and threw it in the trash bin.

inhaled and exhaled deeply in an effort to calm myself. Thank G od she didn’t notice my

mentary spurt of anger.

“Since you’re feeling better, I think we can go back. I’ll just drop off the gift I got for Abigail and head on home. Jack and I will be heading to Bismarck to do some antiquing later. I’ll probably get a tea cup for Abigail. She said she collects them.”

“You’re going out with Jack? Didn’t you just have dinner with Liam last night?” Lisa asked, surprised.

“Friends are allowed to go out together, right? I’ve asked you out for coffee. I don’t see what the problem is if I ask Jack to go shopping with me,” I argued.

“I forgot… you’re new in town. Jack is a great guy. He’ll take care of you,” Lisa remarked while exiting the restroom.

I was allowed to go in and check on Abigail. She was bruised and wounded. Her leg was in a cast and her head in bandages while a tube went down her throat. I squeezed her hand and told her to fight. I promised her when she woke up, I would be there to greet her.

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CHAPTER 48 Dream

I waved my goodbyes to Lisa and Cris and quickly left the hospital.

Before I could enter my car, a hand tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around ready to

defend myself. It was Cris!

A tall man like Cris sneaking up on me was a no-no. This will not happen again.

“Gosh, you scared me, Cris!” I exclaimed. “Did Abigail wake up? Did I forget something?”

“Sorry, Virtue. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cris said apologetically. “I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something. Bo suggested that I should ask for your help for additional campaign

funds.”

“I’m guessing you want me to be a sponsor?” I asked.

“Among other things. Since the spring formal is coming up, Bo recommended, as an opening promotion, you could give a discount to students and announce that a percentage of each purchase will go to our campaign fund.”

“I’m in. How do we do this?” I asked.

“Come by my office tomorrow around ten in the morning so we can discuss it,” Cris

wered. “You have my card right?”

do. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

Cris waved goodbye with a big grin on his face as I drove off to go pick up lunch and head home to get ready to see Jack.

So many men, so little time.

I decided to wear white high waisted jeans and a green short sleeved floral cropped top with a low neckline paired with brown high heeled sandals. I pulled my hair back in a messy bun, put on a little make-up and accessorized with aviator sh aves, gold jewelry and my trusty brown tote bag. I also decided to bring a thin brown blazer if ever it got cold.

Jack arrived early, his dark hair still damp from taking a shower. He was wearing a long sleeved white buttoned down shirt with its sleeves rolled up, dark blue jeans and his trusty

brown boots.

“Mmmmm, I can smell the mint of your cologne” I said while I glanced through the rearview mirror, noticing Noah staring as we drove off.

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“And you look and smell really pretty,” Jack said, smiling. “So, what did you do after I left you?”

“I ordered a chandelier and went to visit Abigail Poor thing is in a coma,” I said, glancing at him for his reaction. Cristos had called me earlier to tell me the footage from last night was already deleted.

I heard his sharp intake of breath. “D-Do the doctors know when she’ll wake up?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I answered. “Any word on what happened to her, Jack?”

“We suspect she fell asleep behind the wheel. Her car was moving in and out of the lane. before it hit the tree,” he said, lying through his teeth.

“I see. Well, I pray for her recovery.”

“Yeah, we should pray she wakes up from this.”

It was a quiet drive to Bismarck. Mentioning Abigail had ruined the mood. I didn’t care. I liked not having to talk to him anyway.

Everything changed once we started shopping. I didn’t know Jack liked antiques. He showed me where and what to buy. He was relaxed and fun to talk to and even if I didn’t want to

it it, I had a great time.

reminded me of the time we were lab partners. During our junior year, I looked forward to sitting next to him for Chemistry. Too bad, it all went to s hit.

Jack

After shopping, I took Virtue to a restaurant located on top of a hill with a view of the city. It was a restaurant Cris recommended.

I have never been this happy with someone. She loved antiques just like me and while we Toshopped, it was so easy to joke around with her and make her laugh.

We ordered pizza, pasta and chicken. As she ate, I stared. She was so graceful and elegant. She probably came from a family with money.

“Where did you graduate college, Virtue?” I asked.

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“UCLA, you?’ My eyebrows rose. Good school.

“At the community college,” I answered sheepishly. “Your parents must be proud of you.”

“They are,” she said.

“Will they be moving here to live with you?” I asked.

“Maybe. I definitely have the space,” she answered. “And what about your parents? They must be proud you’re the Undersheriff at such a young age.”

“My dad died a few years back…cancer. My mom is a teacher at the local elementary school. What about your parents? What do they do?”

“My father is a supervisor at a hardware store while my mom is in the medical field,” she replied. “And I’m a former accountant soon to be store owner.”

“Why did you move here? Someone like you usually heads to Hollywood or something. She laughed. Her cheeks turned bright red at the compliment.

“I can’t act,” she murmured. “But seriously, I moved here because I wanted to live in a close-

knit community. My shrink said it would help me with my issues.”

t a lot of people admit they see a shrink,” I muttered before I could stop. I thought I had

ended her, but she smiled.

“There’s no shame in asking for help, Jack,” she said. “I was mugged during one of my visits to Las Vegas and sought help for the trauma. Look at it this way… If I didn’t go to therapy, I wouldn’t have moved to New Salem and you and 1, we wouldn’t be sitting here having dinner.” I nodded, agreeing with her logic.

“Remind me to send a bottle of red wine to your therapist,” I said, “as a thank you.”

“A thank you for what?” Virtue asked.

“For bringing you into my life,” I replied honestly.

“That’s so sweet of you to say, Jack,” she gushed. She took my hand in hers and squeezed it. It was a simple gesture, but it made my heart race with desire.

Practice restraint, Jack.

I needed to be a perfect gentleman to her. I wanted Virtue to fall in love in with me…

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CHAPTER 48 Dream

Because I was falling in love with her.

I didn’t let go of her hand though. I kept her hand in mine until we had to leave.

On her doorstep, she caressed my cheek. “I had a wonderful time, Jack.”

“I’ll be at the diner tomorrow morning if you happen to go out for an early run,” I told her.

“Oh, I don’t know… I have a meeting with Cris at his office tomorrow morning,” Virtue said. My eyes narrowed.

“Why do you have to go see Cris?”

“It has something to do with his reelection,” she mumbled like it was irrelevant. Then, she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. “Good night, Undersheriff.” She gave me one last gorgeous smile before closing the door.

She kissed me!

I wanted to shout for joy, but I had to play it cool. I was being watched.

As I walked back to my truck, I saw Noah peering through his windows while talking to someone on the phone. I had a feeling he was talking to Liam.

itched off my phone. If anyone needed me, they could wait until the morning.

Tonight, I didn’t want to be bothered.

I was going to dream of Virtue.

Chapter Comments

Mary Hall

He better not sleep with Nicole

Luna-Mom

ohhh noooo don’t lower yourself to be with nicole but I guess it’s needed

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