Chapter 27
Jayden
“How’s the arm?”
“Good as new.” I hold it up and twist my wrist.
After the fight, I did end up going to the hospital and it’s a good thing. My wrist was broken, I had a few cracked ribs and a concussion. The best part was Georgie playing nurse for me during my recovery. She even got a little outfit, damn did she look sexy.
I realize Zander’s asked me a question and have no clue what. “Huh?”
“How’s she doing with everything?”
“She’s definitely skeptical, but it’s her mom. From the stories I’ve heard, her mom really might have been kept there against her will.”
Isabelle McNamara kept true to her word and hung around. It wasn’t until two weeks after my fight that Georgie finally decided she could leave my side to meet up with her mom. Being a Cage man, of course I went with her. No way was I going to let her go through all that by herself.
I crutched my ass to her grandmothers where we had a sit down. She explained everything. And by that, I mean everything. About how she got pulled into the life of the compound under false promises. When Georgie’s dad found out that Isabelle was pregnant he would have been an outcast. It’s against their moral code to even have sex before marriage. So, he fed her whatever shit he had to. They had a shotgun wedding, and she found herself forced into something she didn’t agree with. She didn’t know about Gwen, his first wife, until all her things were moved in and by then it was too late.
She didn’t get into a lot of specifics. Over time I’m sure she’ll fill her daughters in when she feels comfortable to do so. I said daughters but she’s yet to meet up with Ash again. She kind of freaked when she found out her mom was in town staying with her Gran no less.
I check my phone looking for an SOS from Georgie. Today’s the day. Ashlyn finally agreed to meet up with her mom and it should be going down right now.
“Nothing yet?”
“Nope. That must mean it’s going okay. I hope.”
“You know Ash, she doesn’t fuck around. I just hope she gives her mom a chance to explain herself.”
“You know if shit goes down, Gran’s gonna kick some ass.” We both laugh.
We pull up in front of a row of stores in the town center. My hands get a little clammy thinking about what I’m about to do. I’m acting like a pussy, pull it together Jay.
I knew Georgie was it for me the second I laid eyes on her, and today I take the next step to get her to be my wife. I’ve been eyeing a few rings for the past few weeks, but nothing really called to me. Settling isn’t an option when it comes to this. I’ve been looking for something particular and the jeweler called me the other day saying they had something I might want to check out. I’m not getting my hopes up, for all I know it’s a piece of shit.
We exit the truck and quickly enter the jewelry store. It’s a Sunday afternoon so it’s not busy at all. This place is really upscale and makes me kind of uncomfortable. I was gonna go to Kay’s but Zander threw a fit and sent me here telling me to drop his name.
“Ah, Mr. Cage. We’ve been expecting you. Let me pull the ring out of the vault.” He exits leaving me wondering how much a fucking ring costs that’s kept in a vault. I can afford a very nice ring, being on Josh’s payroll keeps my bank account pretty hefty. The teaching gig is mainly for my passion to teach. But the vault? I feel like that’s where the Crown Jewels are kept. When he walks back into the main area of the store he has a box with a padlock.
“Fuck me. Z, we may need to grab and dash.” I whisper out the side of my mouth.
“I’m sure it’s in your budget.” He places his hand on my shoulder.
“Here it is. I’ve scoured high and low to find what you’ve described to us. When I found this beauty, I locked her up tight.”
That little speech makes me feel better. But he makes me sound like a prima donna. I didn’t have demands, just ideas. So what if I turned down over 50 rings shown to me. If that makes me a picky son of a bitch, so be it.
When he opens his hand, my eyes zero in on the ring and I almost squeal in glee. By almost, I mean not at all because I’m a grown fucking man. The squealing’s all on the inside.
“Holy shit, this is it. Gavin, you’re the man.” I hold up my fist and he bumps his back.
“Z, check this out.” He looks over my shoulder and sees the ring I’ve been searching for. It has a flawless platinum band with intricate diamond work all up the sides. The diamond is massive and a faint shade of yellow.
“It’s perfect bro.”
“A sunshine for my Sunshine.” I turn to Gavin. “Wrap her up, she’s coming home with me today my friend.”
“As you wish Mr. Cage. I’m so glad we were finally able to accommodate you.”
“You accommodated the hell outta me. For all your efforts, Zander here is going to buy something expensive for his wife as a thank you.”
Zander sighs. “Sometimes I hate you.”
“No, you love me way more than anyone else in the family. If that’s not true now, it will be when Savvy’s banging the shit out of you after you give her some new earrings.”
He smiles and makes his way around to look. The price of the ring is actually in my price range making me wonder if Zander was up to something? I was expecting another zero on the price tag. But good old Gavin swears up and down that it’s the correct price so I’m going with it. Carpe Diem and all that shit.
“Alright bro, let’s go. I have to plan the greatest proposal to ever be made in the history of proposals.”
***
Georgie
My hands are shaking I’m so freaking nervous. Never in a million years did I think I’d be having a sit down with my mom and Ashlyn.
After the wedding, I waited a bit to tell Ash about my run-in with mom. I didn’t want to put a damper on her honeymoon, so I waited until she got back. She didn’t take the news great, actually, it was awful. She wanted to call the police and report her but I managed to talk her down. And that’s when we had a heart-to-heart for the first time about my life in the compound.
I’ve never brought up the topic before because I didn’t want to upset her. She got kidnapped and brought into that situation. Being raised in it makes you numb to the things that go around. So, I told her about my time there. The rules, the lack of emotion, no sense of loyalty or family. Except for my mom. I’ve only ever told Jayden about me and my mom’s relationship, it was about time I told Ashlyn.
I explained her fighting my dad at times, and especially fighting Gwen when it came to me. Standing up for me in the early years, and the fact that something happened and all that stopped. She never stopped trying to give me a normal childhood, but she was less public about it. Opting to take me away in private rather than letting me play amongst town where it was frowned upon.
I’ve talked with my mom several times since I saw her at the wedding and she’s explained so much to me. Surprisingly it all made sense and it broke my heart. The stuff she had to do to ensure I was safe. Having to endure a loveless marriage out of fear that she’d be kicked out… or worse. Then she’d be unable to protect me from all the craziness of our compound. And through the compound she was able to keep an eye on Ash.
She even told me she tried to escape with me once. She didn’t go into great detail on what happened once we were found and brought back, but the tears in her eyes and the way her hands began to tremble spoke volumes. I don’t remember any of that, but she said I was only a toddler. She grabbed me one day and ran. Planned on going to Gran’s and begging for forgiveness. She didn’t make it anywhere near her destination.
So here we are, sitting in Gran’s living room waiting for Ash to arrive. When there’s a knock on the door, I start to sweat when Gran stands up and make her way to the front door.
Ashlyn enters the room hesitantly, looking extremely nervous. It’s completely opposite to how she usually carries herself. Usually super confident and self-aware. She comes over and takes a seat next to me on the couch. Our mother in a seat on the other side of the coffee table.
“Hello Gen… Ashlyn.” Mom corrects herself. She doesn’t know her as Ashlyn. The brief time she had custody of her she was Genevieve.
“Hey.” She fidgets with her hands in her lap. I reach over and place my hand on hers letting her know I’m here and that everything’s going to be okay.
For the next hour, the conversation’s stilted and awkward. But after mom explains everything I can feel Ash’s demeanor change and she visibly relaxes. Ash stands up and makes her way to our mom who stands as well. They stare at each other for a beat before slowly going in for the hug. Moms eyes are closed and she looks content. Happier than I’ve seen her in my whole life. It makes me emotional.
Finally, Ash pulls away and says she’ll be right back. A moment later she comes into the room with Mia and Josh. They must have been in the car this whole time.
“Mom, this is your granddaughter Amelia. Mia, this is your…” Ash looks up to my mom with question in her eyes.
“Grammy.” She smiles.
“This is your Grammy. Can you say hi, sweet girl?” Mia clings to her mom acting shy.
“It’s okay angel, I look forward to getting to know you.”
Josh walks up behind Ash and places his hand on her shoulder. “This is my husband Josh. Josh, this is my mom Isabelle.”
They shake hands and it’s slightly awkward. This relationship will take time, but at least we’re off to a good start.
“Alright we have to go because Mia’s due to go down for a nap. Do you maybe want to come over for dinner one night this week?” She looks around the room. “All of you are invited.” She looks from me, to Gran, then ends on my mom.
“I’d like that.” Mom says with tears in her eyes.
We say our goodbyes and I squeeze mom extra hard before saying goodbye to Gran. I walk out with my sister and kiss Mia before Josh puts her in the car seat.
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me? You should be smacking me upside the head for putting up a fight for so long. I should be thanking you for making me do this. You guys are a lot alike you know? You act the same.” She smiles.
I look back to the house then back to Ash. “You think?”
“For sure.” She pulls me in for a hug. “I love you, see you soon.”
And with that, I get in my car with a smile on my face and head home knowing that Mom being here’s going to be a good thing.