CHAPTER NINE

Saturday would be Chloe’s twenty-fifth birthday. For some reason, when she woke up on Friday morning her first thought was that she found it a little bit strange that no one in the house mentioned it at all. It wasn’t like she was used to celebrating it. Last year, Roxi, Lexi, and Chloe had a girls’ night out and Roxi took them out for a nice dinner. She wanted to take them to a club in New York, but at the time Chloe was still running from her past, so she turned her down. But this year there was so much to celebrate and she was finally with the people that she wanted to celebrate it with the most. She felt kind of silly worrying about it but she did find it strange.

When she got out of bed she found a note from Derek that said, “Off to Rhode Island today. I have meetings with staff and clients scheduled for most of the day. I will keep my phone on and handy however if you need anything at all, please call me! I love you so much. Have a peaceful, relaxing day.”

She noticed when she came out of her room that the house was deathly quiet. She could tell right away that no one was there, even before she found the note on the big chalkboard in the kitchen that said,

“Dad and I had to go into the office today. Please call us if you need anything at all. We love you! Have a great day!”

Chloe smiled and chastised herself for worrying about her birthday. These amazing people loved her and told her so every day. Her birthday was just another day and if no one remembered it that would likely be due to all of the drama she had caused them recently anyways.

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal. She hadn’t been able to drink coffee, not even decaf lately without getting severe heartburn. She could only drink milk if it was skim milk, and she’d had to give up eggs completely. This child was going to be a picky eater, she could tell already. She took her cereal into the dining room and when she sat down; she looked over and saw the crates of journals. She got back up and went over and picked up the one that came after the one where Sarah talked about meeting Derek. That was the only entry that Chloe read. She didn’t really feel the need to read about them falling in love and she wasn’t sure that she was ready to handle anything that had to do with making love either, so she skipped all of that. The one she picked up this morning was the last one. The very last journal Sarah had written in before she died. It broke her heart to think of Samantha and Trevor reading the last passage she wrote. Sarah’s entries were all so positive and usually so filled with her hopes and plans for the future. If that was the case with her last entry, Chloe wasn’t sure that she wanted to read it herself.

She sat back down at the table and opened it to the first page. As she ate her breakfast, she began to read,

December 24, 2008

Dear Diary,

I haven’t written in a while because I have been so busy living. It’s Christmas Eve! I love Christmas! My last journal wasn’t completely full, but I wanted to start a new one for this entry because it’s so special. First of all, I want to say that I am the luckiest girl in the world. If I died tomorrow, it would be completely fulfilled. Don’t get me wrong; there is still much that I want and plan to do with my life…but I am truly happy and I know that I’ve been so blessed. (And I wouldn’t want to die on Christmas)

With that being said, I will tell you what happened last night. Derek came to pick me up for dinner. I could tell as soon as he came to the door that something was up with him. He was kind of antsy and he and my dad kept making eye contact and secret things were being passed between them, I think. It was like they knew something that I didn’t know.

Derek took me to a beautiful French restaurant in Manhattan. We just talked and laughed through dinner the same way that we always do and I had begun to think that it was my imagination that Derek had anything planned. After dinner, we went to Rockefeller Center and we ice skated and looked at the tree and we even did a little bit of last minute shopping. I found a beautiful charm for mom’s bracelet. It’s a twin’s symbol and Derek had the idea to have “Sarah” engraved on one side and “Sophia” on the other. I feel so bad that Sophia has missed so many Christmases with us. I hope that Christmas in Heaven is extra special for her and I hope she knows that every year, Mom buys her a present. There’s a plastic box in the basement full of them.

Chloe had to stop there for a minute. She could hardly breathe and she had tears so thick in her eyes that she couldn’t see. She thought about Samantha, shopping every year for Christmas and buying a present for the baby she lost. Once she gathered herself, she read on.

After we had driven out of the city and into the country, Derek said, “There’s something I need to show you.” He drove a ways further and then pulled off on this long, country road. I was curious, but I waited as patiently as I could. Suddenly, I could see nothing but lights. I asked him what it was and he said, “Just wait, you’ll see.” When we got closer, I could see that it was a little lake. There were trees all around it and hanging from all of the trees were tons of beautiful lighted stars. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. There was a path along behind the trees and Derek and I got out of the car and walked along it. When we got to the center, Derek stopped. He had me sit down on this big rock and then he knelt down next to me. At that second I knew what the surprise was and I was already shaking.

“Sarah, I wished on a thousand stars that someday I would find the woman of my dreams. I found her and I’m hoping that she’ll consent to make me the happiest man in the world.” He opened a box he had in his hand and the prettiest ring I had ever seen was in there. I had to blink back my tears to really see it. Derek went on and said, “Will you marry me, Sarah?”

I’m sure you’ve figured it out diary…I said yes. I’ve never felt anything like the way he makes me feel. I’m so happy and I love him so much and my only regret is that my sister won’t be here to be my maid of honor. I’ll carry her with me where I always do though…in my heart.

**

Chloe spent the rest of the morning after her shower, taking a walk around the grounds. It was such a beautiful place, and as much as she loved the beach, the more she thought about where she wanted to live, the more a place like this came to mind. She loved to walk along the dirt or gravel paths where the countryside stretched out in front of her like a quilt of green, brown and gold squares. The trees along the outside held it all together and it was dotted with the horses all through the center. The further she walked, the more the land rose and fell like giant waves and occasionally she would see a farmhouse or a barn. Out here, she couldn’t help but feel at peace with the world. If someone asked her what she wanted most for the child she was carrying; she would tell them peace. She wanted the baby to grow up with the peace in his or her heart that Chloe never felt until recently, because of all the feelings she’d ever had, a peaceful heart was the best.

She was out walking for almost an hour when her phone rang. It was Jake. “Hi, Jake!”

“Hey, Chloe. Where are you?”

“I’m out for a walk, headed back to the house now. What’s up?”

“I’m here at the house. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there.” As she walked back, she let herself wonder what it was that Jake might want to tell her. It was hard to tell from his tone. It had been neutral, as usual. She assumed since he came all the way out here instead of just calling, that it had to do with her case. When she reached the back of the house, she saw Jake out on the patio waiting for her. “Hi.”

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“I feel good,” she told him honestly. “Almost as good as new.”

“My nephew is doing well?”

Chloe laughed. “He or she is doing fine according to my doctor. I saw her this week.”

“That’s great. You’re going to name him after me, right?”

She laughed again. “What if it turns out to be a she?”

“I think Jake is such a strong name that it could go either way.”

“We’ll see,” she said with a smile. “What’s up?”

“Let’s sit down.”

“Uh –oh!”

“It’s not that bad. It’s something we can deal with a lot easier than you having criminal charges against you.”

Chloe sat down and said, “Okay, give it to me.”

“Vince Donavan is filing a wrongful death suit against you.”

“Jesus, he can do that if the state didn’t even charge me with anything?”

“Yeah, it’s a civil suit. The burden of proof in a civil suit weighs heavier on the defendant than it does in a criminal case. Basically, in a civil suit, you have to prove your innocence.”

“What is he looking to gain?”

“I haven’t gotten served with any papers for you yet, so I’m not sure what he wants in damages, but the bottom line is…he wants you to suffer.”

Chloe nodded. “Sounds a lot like his son.”

“Yeah, unfortunately, the apple rarely falls far. I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to be taken off guard when you get served with the paperwork, but I don’t want you to worry about it. What we have on our side is proof that he abused you. We have proof that he tried to kill you once…he was convicted of it. We had charges filed against him for what he did to Chantelle…we’ve got a lot of witnesses to his bizarre behavior, myself included. I don’t believe that Vince will win, so please don’t waste any time worrying.”

Chloe nodded again and said, “I’ll do my best.”