Chapter Twelve

Lucy

Three weeks later I clutched my purse in my lap, while I sat in a familiar office, waiting to hear my fate.

Three agents stood around a large desk opposite me. Agent Dickwod was one of them. My stomach twisted in knots as they whispered among themselves, opening and closing file folders, pointing at the contents while they spoke in hushed tones.

Finally, the only female agent crossed to the front of the desk, and leaned against it, so that she was directly in front of me.

“Rosalita,” she began. That was all it took. I knew. I held my breath, choking on my own sobs, determined to hear every word as she spoke it. “After a thorough investigation, and much consideration, we have concluded that any immediate threat posed to you is now gone. As of today, we are releasing you from the witness protection program.”

Hot sticky tears of relief blinded me. My personal nightmare was over, and I could see my family again. I could hug my mother and father, and visit Luca’s grave. And then I could go home. To Mike, and Betty, and Rusty, and Blaze. My family.

The agents stood there awkwardly watching as I cried. If Mike had been there, he would have hugged me, and cried with me.

Agent Dickwod was actually the first to be of any use, thrusting a box of Kleenex into my lap. Thanking him, I took two. One to dab my eyes, and one to blow my nose. Then I exhaled deeply, smiled through my tears, and thanked the agents who were still looking a little shell shocked over the whole situation.

I understood. What had happened to me was unheard of. With how big and sneaky the mafia was, I had been considered a lifer. And now, I had my life back, thanks to one unknown man. The man I loved.

The female agent, whose name was Darcy, was all business. “On behalf of the United States Federal Government, I am authorized to purchase you one plane ticket to anywhere in the U.S.  Where do you need to go?”

New York was on the tip of my tongue. New York made sense, since I only planned for it to be a stopping point. I opened my mouth, and pictured my parents, who probably thought both of their children were dead. It had been more than two years.

“Dallas, Texas.”

*****

Lucy

I had an hour to pack up my apartment, which wasn’t hard since nothing in it actually belonged to me. The trip took 5 hours total. At 5pm Texas time, I was standing in the middle of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. I hadn’t told anyone I was coming. I had Mike’s number in my pocket. He would have picked me up in a heartbeat. Springvale was a long lonely cab ride. And an expensive one too.

With only a moment’s hesitation, I pulled out the small tracphone. They had let me keep it until I could get a replacement. I dialed for a taxi.

My taxi driver was probably afraid of the crazy woman in his backseat. As soon as the door had closed, this whole thing had become real again, and I had become a sobbing, shaking mess.

Great. When I finally did see Blaze, I was going to look like a cracked out, blubbering raccoon. Not that it mattered. I would turn into one as soon as I saw him.

When we were ten minutes away from the ranch, I asked the driver for a wetnap, washed my face as best I could, and reapplied my make-up. I was wearing a new dress I had bought that afternoon to celebrate. The color reminded me of Blaze’s eyes.

When he pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway, I sat there frozen. It was like that phrase, the first day of the rest of your life. This was mine, and knowing it was a scary thing.

I fumbled in my purse, pulling out a hundred and passing it to the driver. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks.” He paused, regarding me in the rearview mirror with an expression of concern. “Hey lady, you okay? Cause if you’re not, we can turn back around. I can take you to like, a hotel or something.”

“No!” My response was loud, and nearly frantic.

“Okaaay,” he dragged out the word slowly. “We can just sit here for a few if you need. I got nowhere to be.”

I nodded, trying not to cry again. I looked at the ranch house, and tried to picture what was going on inside.  The lights were on in the living room, and it was past dinnertime. I could picture Blaze and Rusty sitting in their matching recliners, watching something lame on TV.   Rusty would be snoozing before too long, and Blaze would get up and cover him with a blanket, and wait for the old man to wake up and put himself to bed. Most of the time he did. Sometimes he didn’t.

I noticed the driver still gazing at me in the mirror, an expression of worry on his face, and I smiled. Drawing a deep fortifying breath, I checked my reflection, smoothed my dress and opened the door. I was home.

*****

Blaze

After enjoying a meal of Sal’s fine cooking, complete with cannoli and coffee for dessert, he and I had settled in with an old western movie on cable.

When the knock on the door came, strong, and steady, we looked at each other, startled and glanced at the clock. It was only seven, but nobody ever came to call at that hour, without, well, calling first. Sure was different from life in the city.

“Better get that, Boss. Might be important.”

I raised my eyebrows and frowned pointedly. “I told you to stop calling me that. It feels even weirder now.”

“Old habits die hard, boss,” he replied with a wink. I sighed. He had always been a smart ass.

I walked to the door and pulled it open without glancing through the peephole. There was no need. I finally felt safe in my own home.

The sight that greeted me was the most beautiful one I had seen in my life. Lucy. Standing there with a smile and a suitcase.

I was too stunned for a moment to speak, but words weren’t needed when she jumped into my arms, knocking the words and breath right out of me.

She kissed me with a passion that was deep and crushing, pressing her lips against mine as if she was dying and I was the only life source.

In a way, it had been true. But she didn’t know that, couldn’t know that.

Kicking the door closed behind us, I carried her into the living room, kissing her back with everything I had. Out lips never disengaged, not even for a moment.

Uncle Sal cheered loudly from his recliner. He understood exactly what it had taken to get to this point, for all of us.

When we had no choice but to take a breath, she pulled back and looked at me, with tears in her eyes and a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Surprised to see me?”

“Well, they did tell me you were dead, but, no, not as surprised as you might think.”

She scurried her legs down mine-they had been wrapped around my waist a second ago and stood in front of me with a hard, knowing look. “Is that so, Marco?”

I wasn’t surprised that she knew. My face had been all over the news. People not looking for a connection wouldn’t have seen one, but she would have, and obviously did. I shook my head and put a finger to her lips. “I can’t be Marco anymore. And if you stay here, you have to be Lucy. It’s bad enough that everyone thinks you’re dead. They had a funeral, for god’s sake.”

“I know. I know. Tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives, you can be Blaze and I can be Lucy. But here, tonight, right now, no secrets.”

I met her stubborn gaze and nodded. I didn’t care what she called me tonight, or ever really. I only cared that she was here, and soon, I would finish what I had started and ask her to be my wife.

“Well then, in the spirit of no secrets and moving forward, we have two matters that need to be addressed immediately, Miss Lucy,” I said grabbing her waist, and pulling her around to face the man she knew as Rusty.

“I’d like you to meet my Uncle Sal, the best Italian chef in the whole state of Texas, and New York too.”

Her eyes widened and filled as she pulled Rusty in for a hug. I stood back watching the old man blush.

“But,” she asked sheepishly as she pulled away, “does this mean I’m out of a job?”

“It might. That’s okay though. We have another opening that just became available,” I teased, pulling her back to me.

“Oh, yeah?” She looked slightly skeptical. “What’s that? A maid? Sal doesn’t do all the things I did, huh?”

“Not a maid. Not even close.”

I dropped to one knee, and she began to get the picture. Sal ran to my bedroom. I knew he was retrieving the ring from my sock drawer, and I was glad I had told him the truth about that day.

“Marry me, Lucy. When I thought you were gone, I could hardly catch my breath. I never want to live another day, wondering where you are and why you’re not by my side. I knew it back then, and I know it even more now. You are the love of my life. You’ve shown me what love even means, and you have redeemed me from the man I am without you.”

The ring materialized in front of me, and I took it, holding it out to her as I waited. She couldn’t answer right away because she was crying too hard.

Her answer came out between choked sobs, even as she wiped the tears away, and held out her hand. I slipped the ring onto it, and we sealed the deal with a kiss.

Finally.