Book of Love Page 18

  Chris sat down next to Janice, holding her hand as she related the horrifying events again.

  After hearing her story and recalling Chris’s statement, Shane was satisfied that her shooting David was totally in self-defense and that Chris had also acted to protect Janice.

  “I have some news to share with you. David Banning is dead. He did not die from the gunshot wound, but from the potassium hydroxide that entered into his blood by way of the gunshot wound.”

  “So, we don’t have to worry about him getting loose anymore,” Chris said quietly.

  “Also, just so you know, the cases in Aspen have been reopened and are being reinvestigated. They are also investigating Senator Banning and his role in the cover-ups. News stations from all over the world have arrived in Aspen, trying to get information about David Banning, his parents, and the crimes they covered up,” Shane said with a sigh. “Senator Banning, who was just elected early in November, had to concede his seat to his opponent after everything broke wide open. It was all spilled out on the national news—his involvement with his son’s evasion of justice, his wife and the letters, her death, and Janice’s first and second near-death experience with his son, the death of another person, and other crimes that David was responsible for. It put Senator Banning in a very bad light.”

  Janice didn’t say anything. She just stared across the room.

  * * * *

  Janice went back to work part-time for a while. Sometimes it hurt to walk, so she spent most of her time behind her desk. Hundreds of people stopped by the library to talk to her and wish her well.

  Even though she was seeing a psychiatrist, she still felt depressed. When she was home with Chris, she knew he was doing his best to try and bring her out of it. Finally, one night, he sat down on the bed next to her, put his hands on both sides of her face, and made her look at him.

  “Look, honey,” he said tenderly. “Do. Not. Let. Him. Win. You fought the fight and you won. You are so strong. You don’t realize just how strong you really are. You were so clever at leaving a trail so we could follow you, and we were on your trail all the way. You kept him busy talking and left hints all over the place for us. There was no way we would have missed you. Didn’t you hear the helicopters over your head? If you hadn’t shot him, he would have killed you. He made that perfectly clear, and he was ready to pour that stuff down your throat when I shot him. Do not let him win, Janice.”

  That night, she lay in bed with her head on his shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around her. Somewhere, someplace inside, she’d heard what he said. She decided she was not going to let David win. She had a man who truly loved her, a family that cared for her, and she had a community that cared about her. She pulled herself together and found the strength to go on.

  Chris had called her sister, Amy, the day after she was brought to the hospital and called her daily with updates. However, Janice waited to call Amy until she was able to find the courage to talk about what had happened. Her sister promised that next summer she and her family would take a vacation and come out to Montana to visit her.

  * * * *

  The house was filling with Christmas decorations and the Christmas spirit. Janice had convinced Chris to put up lights outside the house, and that was a hilarious mess. Chris brought down the boxes of decorations from the attic. The last time he had put up decorations, he got sick right after Christmas and the kids had put the stuff away for him. His boys had put the lights away; some sets were stored neatly, but others were just tossed in. He suspected Alexis was the one who had done that. Alexis had never had a sense of neatness.

  Chris called for Alexis to come downstairs. He didn’t come, so Chris went upstairs to his room. Alexis was just getting out of bed.

  “Yo, you can come down and help with the Christmas lights.”

  Alexis flinched and said, “I’m not into that, Dad.”

  Chris turned and looked at his son. “The deal was that if you helped around the house you didn’t have to pay rent. So are you saying now you’d rather pay rent?”

  Alexis rolled his eyes. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  Alexis came down about five minutes later and started to unravel the mess of Christmas lights. Chris was trying to get them to work. He would plug the lights in and he’d find one light burned out, replace it, and then they all went out. Chris let out a few choice words while Alexis watched him with a slight smile on his face.

  Janice had sent Robin and Glen with Ruthanne to get a tree. They came back with a thirteen foot tree and Chris almost blew a gasket.

  “Where in the hell do you think we’re going to put this?” he asked Robin.

  “Oh, Chris, it will fit just fine.”

  Glen shook his head when Chris looked at him. “I tried, Chris, but you know Robin. She has it in her head...” He left the rest of the sentence unfinished.

  Chris was glaring at Robin, and she blithely ignored him, but he had to admit to himself he was enjoying it. They ended up cutting three feet off the tree just to get it in the house, and then Chris had to go and buy a bigger tree stand for it because the base on the tree was too big for the one he had. Then, because he and Alexis had put the lights on the trees in the front of the house and around the big picture window, he had to go buy more Christmas lights.

  Aaron couldn’t find a place to escape and was always getting snagged to do something around the house. Cheryl and Sandra were fighting about the icing on the cookies in the kitchen while Dale was underfoot trying to steal them.

  The tree was settled in the tree stand, but it was leaning one way. Chris struggled with it, trying to get the tree to stand straight. Finally, he gave up trying and told Janice that it was crooked and couldn’t be straightened.

  “That’s okay, dear, it adds character,” she responded enthusiastically.

  He gave her an exasperated look. The men put the lights on it and the women, along with Ruthanne, began to decorate it. Janice brought in some drinks for everyone and they toasted merrily to the Christmas tree and to being all together.

  * * * *

  Janice’s birthday was coming up. Chris decided to use this time to propose to her. He picked Janice up at the library and they drove to Shulers.

  “Oh, Chris, you didn’t have to bring me here. I know it’s expensive,” she said with a sigh.

  “I don’t mind coming here on special occasions, and your birthday is a special occasion,” Chris replied with a grin.

  The hostess seated them back in a corner, and Chris was thankful that they would have some privacy.

  Chris ordered wine for the both of them and he said to Janice, “I have something to give you, and then to ask you.”

  Janice sat patiently.

  Chris put a small box on the table in front of her. She looked at the box and back at him.

  “Go ahead, open it,” he said.

  The little box was wrapped in gold-colored paper with a tiny bow on top. She lifted the top and pulled out a black velvet ring case. Inside it was a solitaire diamond ring. The diamond was squared and it was a half a carat.

  “Oh, Chris…it’s beautiful,” Janice exclaimed.

  Chris was happy that she liked the ring. For a few minutes, while she was opening the box, he was sweating nervously, hoping she would like it.

  He leaned forward and took the ring out of the case. Grasping Janice’s left hand, he slid the ring on her finger and then held her hand. “Janice, will you marry me?”

  Janice didn’t say anything for a second, looking at the diamond he’d just put on her finger. “Chris…are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m very sure,” he replied, smiling at her.

  Janice broke out in a big smile. “Yes, Chris. I will marry you.”

  Chapter 21

  Chris and Janice got their marriage license a few days later, and four days after that, on December twenty-second, they decided to get married. They asked Reverend Davis to perform the service at his church that Janice had been attending. He
agreed, and they made arrangements for him to marry them in the chapel.

  They informed Chris’s family, and Janice called her sister in Michigan. Chris had his brother-in-law, Glen, stand with him, and Robin stood with Janice. Chris’s children stood around them as they took their vows. At the altar, Chris confessed his love for Janice, promising to always protect and honor her. Janice shared her deep gratitude for him rescuing her and vowed her love and devotion to him and to always be there for him as he had been for her.

  Christmas Eve morning, everyone came over for breakfast and proposed a toast to the couple with coffee and orange juice and happy wishes from their excited family. Late in the afternoon, Janice told Chris that she had something she needed to do before going to church that night and that she would meet him there. She left with Ruthanne and headed to the church for rehearsal before the services started.

  * * * *

  Everyone was sitting in the church, waiting for the services to start. Chris went to the second row and sat down, saving a spot next to him for Janice. Aaron and Cathy sat next to him, then Cheryl and Dale. Sandra sat in front of them with Chris’s camcorder. He wondered why she would want to record a church service. Robin and Glen sat down next to Sandra.

  Chris looked around for his wife. He knew she was there because her vehicle was in the parking lot. Come to think of it, he didn’t see Ruthanne either. He looked to the back of the church, and he saw Alexis with a young woman walking down the side aisle toward where they were sitting. He smiled. His agnostic son, in church for the first time since he was ten years old.

  The services were starting up when Janice came out the side door and sat down at the piano. There was a background music of O Come All Ye Faithful playing softly, and Janice picked up the next stanza on the piano. Everyone listened as the minister came out and took his place at the pulpit.

  After the prelude, the reverend made a few announcements and started the offering by calling down the ushers. The reverend led them in prayer, and at the end of the prayer, Chris looked up and saw Ruthanne seated next to the piano with her flute. Janice and Ruthanne played the duet O Holy Night. It was a lovely, calm piece that left everyone quiet and mesmerized by the purpose of the season.

  Robin cried at the sight of her daughter playing the flute. Sandra was videotaping the entire scene. Chris felt as if his heart would explode from the beauty around him and the love he had for that perfect woman sitting at the piano. By the time the piece had ended, not a sound could be heard.

  Janice and Ruthanne got up. Ruthanne went to sit with her parents, and Janice came to sit next to Chris. He held her hand as they listened to the message of the Miracle of Christmas, and Chris thought about his own miracle, sitting next to him, and their love for each other.

  About Constance Bretes

  Constance Bretes is an author of contemporary romance and suspense. Her romance books are often set in different parts of the country, but her favorite site is Montana. She’s married to her best friend and resides in Michigan with him and a houseful of cats. When she’s not at her regular 8-to-5 job, she can be found writing, researching, and spending time with her husband.

  Constance’s Website:

  www.conniebretes.weebly.com

  Reader eMail:

  cbretes@sbcglobal.net