Chapter 25: Alex

“I could get used to this,” Samuel said, folding his hands behind his head and sighed as I rolled him towards the house in his wheelchair, briefly struggling with the uneven path that led to the front porch.

The hospital had released him an hour earlier, and I had never seen him happier. He looked at least ten years younger, and a part of me knew it was because of all the attention he had been getting from the nurses. I even caught one blowing him a kiss as we drove away, and when I asked him about it, he expertly dodged answering.

“Maybe I should just leave you out here,” I said, grunting as I pushed him towards the makeshift ramp I had set up at the end of the porch steps.

“I think Kelly might just kill you if you do that.”

I chuckled. “Her and about half of the hospital staff.”

“Are you still going on about that?”

I pushed him up the ramp. “What they see in an old man like you, I will never know.”

“It’s the Logan charm, Alex,” he laughed. “I don’t expect you to understand that, the grunt that you are.”

“Gee, thanks, dad,” I said.

The front door flew open, and Kelly raced out, practically jumping onto my father’s lap as she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed.

“Woah, easy there, chipmunk,” I said. “He’s not fully recovered.”

“Oh, shut up and let the girl welcome her grandfather back home,” Samuel laughed, hugging her back and trying to hide his pain.

I looked up just as Jenni walked out, all smiles and eyes glowing. It had been a week since the kidnapping, and I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight, insisting that she stay with us as long as she needed. As long as I needed. I had gotten so used to her being around, I couldn’t even imagine her going back to her apartment. It was as if she belonged, and even Kelly could attest to how much brighter our lives had become with Jenni around.

“Can I roll the old man inside, or are we going to spend the rest of the afternoon out here?” I asked.

“Is the chair too much for you to handle?” Kelly asked. She shot me a look that made me hold up my hands in mock surrender, and she quickly pushed me aside, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair and taking control. “I got this. You can go back to growing old.”

Samuel laughed as she rolled him away, looking at me over his shoulder. “She takes after her grandfather,” he said, winking at me.

Jenni bent down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Welcome back, Sam,” she said.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Jenni,” he said. “I hope my son’s at least trying to be a good host.”

“Push faster, Kelly!” I called out as they disappeared inside the house.

Jenni giggled as I wrapped her in my arms, kissing her deeply. “It already feels good to have him back,” she said.

“Yeah, now I have a trio against me,” I said. “I’m jumping up and down in glee.”

She slapped my arm and led me inside. “You don’t actually think we needed Samuel to gang up on you, did you?”

“Nope,” I smiled. “Between you and Kelly, I’m as castrated as they come.”

* * *

“So, you’re done?”

I was sitting in my father’s room, adjusting his bed as he watched me from his wheelchair.

“Pretty much,” I said.

Samuel nodded, clearly impressed. “Never thought you’d do it.”

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Thought I’d be getting a call one day telling me you to collect my orphaned granddaughter and the casket with my son’s body in it.”

I looked at him, meeting his eyes and trying to decide if he was joking or serious. “That’s a little dark.”

“Hey, kid, I know you,” he said. “That shooting you survived? I never doubted you’d jump right back into the line of fire if they let you.”

I shrugged. “I probably would have,” I said. “A part of me still wants to.”

“What changed?”

“Kelly, for starters,” I said. “We had a heart to heart. I don’t think I can put her through any more of my crap.”

“That’s mature,” Samuel replied. “And very unlike you.”

“Come on, dad, give me some credit.”

Samuel grunted. “Well, I’m definitely proud of you.”

“Thanks,” I said, bending down and looping an arm under his legs, carrying him off his chair and onto the bed. I fluffed his pillows, adjusted them, and made sure he was comfortable before rolling the wheelchair by the bed and propping his crutches up against the bedside table.

“So, what’s the plan?” Samuel asked.

“I’ll go back to Miami in a week or two, after I’ve made sure everything’s settled here,” I said. “Finish off the paperwork, finalize Kelly’s transfer papers, and if you’ll have us, we’ll make the remaining few years of your life miserable.”

Samuel smiled. “I love misery.”

“I had a feeling you might.”

Samuel laid his head back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling for a bit before he chuckled and shook his head.

“What’s so funny?”

“How this whole thing played out, you know?” Samuel said. “I mean, I really thought that was it for this town. We were rolling downhill and picking up speed.”

“We’re not out of the woods just yet,” I said.

“Yeah, well, at least we’re not lost anymore,” Samuel mused. “And no one’s going to be knocking on our door trying to buy that piece of land, either.”

“Well, Garth’s behind bars, along with the rest of his crew, if you want to call it that,” I said. “Whether or not Hope Enterprises will stop trying to turn this town into a metropolis is still in the wind.”

“Nothing stuck to that Alexis woman, huh?”

I shook my head. “She keeps herself out of the dirty business, which is smart,” I said. “Would have been surprised if we had been able to link Garth’s drug business to her. And the company had reported those vehicles back in Miami as stolen, so again, nothing.”

“What’s going to stop her from trying to start this whole mess all over again?”

“I doubt she’ll do it,” I said. “Too many eyes watching. The FBI is looking into Sheriff Blake, the community college is reconsidering who it wants to affiliate itself with. No casino, that’s for sure.” I shrugged. “Smart woman like her, she’d take the illegal stuff somewhere else.”

“Another small town in Connecticut,” Samuel mumbled.

“I’d say well out of the state, maybe far away from New England in general.”

“Well, good riddance,” Samuel sighed and closed his eyes. “Now, get out and let your old man get some rest.”

I laughed. “Now you’re old?”

“When it’s convenient.”

I smiled, made my wait and closed the door.

* * *

I found Jenni outside, sitting on the porch swing, coffee mug cradled in her hands. She smiled at me as I approached and shifted to let me fall down next to her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. We didn’t say anything, just stared out at the street and the woods beyond, savoring the peace.

“He’s going to be fine, right?” she finally asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s a fighter. Always has been.”

“Must be to raise you the way he did,” she said.

“Is everyone taking hits at me today?”

“Today?”

I laughed and squeezed her closer. “I’m going to head back to Miami in a couple of weeks, finalize the paperwork.”

“So that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She sipped her coffee and rested her head against my chest. “People are usually trying to leave Kent, not the other way around.”

“I guess they just need a reason to stay,” I replied. “Or in my case, come back.”

“That’s sappy,” she giggled, looking up at me, “and incredibly sweet.”

“Well, you know, I actually like you.”

“Actually?”

I kissed the tip of her nose, losing myself in her eyes. “Wanna join me?”

“Where? Miami?”

I nodded. “Probably won’t be there for more than a week or two. Raul’s willing to send me the finalized papers and sell the house for me, so I don’t have to be there for long.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“So, what do you say?”

Jenni smiled at me. “Fuck, no.”

I laughed, pushing her off me playfully. “You don’t have to be so excited.”

“If I come with you, who’s going to take care of Samuel?”

“Kelly can pull that off,” I suggested.

“She’s still twelve, you know,” Jenni glared at me. “And after what happened, I’m not leaving her alone, at all.”

I fell in love with her all over again. For the two weeks she’d been here, she took on the motherly role pretty well, and surprisingly, Kelly didn’t mind. Jenni had found that perfect balance between being a friend and earning Kelly’s respect enough for the girl to listen to her, and to me, that was almost as if she had performed a miracle. I couldn’t really ask for more.

“Fine, then it will just be me,” I said. “Although that could be dangerous. I might actually enjoy my stay there and reconsider moving.”

Jenni eyed me with mock anger. “You wouldn’t.”

“I might.”

“Fine,” she shrugged. “We’re staying right here. You can visit in the summer.”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me, kissing her passionately. When I pulled back, she was smiling up at me, her eyes glimmering in the sunlight. “You can’t make it a week without us,” she said.

And she was right. For the first time in a very long time, I finally felt like I was home.