Page 56 of Love Under Protection

“Can you lay with me again? I won’t walk off this time.”

“Whatever you need.”

* * *

The next twoweeks fly by. Raylynn’s coping a little better every day thanks to Olivia, who hooked her up with a therapist that she wouldn’t have to wait months to get an appointment with. According to Raylynn, this Laura person has generously been working with her twice a week at the moment.

I’m just coming back from my doctor’s appointment and the meeting with work to find out my fate. I walk into the precinct, fully expecting a shit show. What I get is a pleasant surprise.

Internal Affairs cleared me, and now that I’ve got clearance from my doctor, I’m free to return to duty. I paid a visit to the bullpen and already have my name back on the shift rotation for next week.

Tonight, I’m making good on that dinner date that never happened. It will also be a social experiment of sorts for Raylynn since it will be the first time that she’ll be truly out and walking through the city since the attack. I’m prepared that this whole thing could flop, but she’s promised me that she’s ready to try.

Raylynn:Okay. I lied. I’m really nervous. I know I shouldn’t be, and I know you’ll be with me the whole time.

Her text comes in while I’m getting dressed.

Me:It’s okay to be nervous. Remember what you said, I’ll be with you the whole time. And if you decide it’s too much, then we turn around and come back.

Raylynn:No. I refuse to let that bastard own me from the grave. I can do this.

Me:That’s my girl. I’ll see you in ten.

Over the last fourteen days, we’ve alternated which apartment we’ve stayed at. Some nights she wants to be around everyone, and other nights, she likes the solitude of my place. You won’t hear me complain, though I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to the day that she decides to give in and stay with me permanently.

Raylynn’s waiting for me the minute I knock on the door.

“Let’s do this.”

I chuckle. “I’m ready if you are.”

“If we don’t leave, right now, there’s a chance I might chicken out,” she says, looping her arm in mine.

Each step we take from the apartment all the way through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk, Raylynn focuses on her breath, taking deep breaths in and out. She freezes for half a second when we hit the pavement but laces her fingers with mine and steps forward.

Tonight’s adventure doesn’t take us far, just three blocks away but in the opposite direction from where Sawyer tried to nab her.

La Roux is packed when we arrive, I called ahead and made a reservation, so we don’t have to wait long for our table.

Over dinner, Raylynn’s mood seems to continuously improve. When she begins to open up to me about some of the things she’s worked on with her therapist, I’m able to relax and feel confident that we’re both on the right path.

She takes a bite of her pasta then says, “The biggest thing is that I have to believe in myself and trust those closest to me. Which, I feel like I already do. Laura reminds me at each session that it’s okay to feel whatever it is I feel in that moment but that I can’t live in that spot. I have to work through it and move on. And I realize she’s right. That night changed my life. It changed a lot of lives actually. It’s up to us to decide how we let it dictate the future. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time but it’s still time, and with each day the memories fade a little more.”

“Laura sounds wise,” I tell her. What her therapist is telling her is something I’ve heard often over the years. Especially when I’ve had to do the unthinkable and shoot someone.

“Having a gun pointed at you and being dragged through an alley. Watching someone you love get shot at, it really puts things in perspective.”

It takes my brain a second to catch up. Surely, I heard her wrong. “Run that by me again?”

Raylynn reaches across the table and takes my hand in hers. “I said, seeing you get shot put a lot of things in perspective. Like how being just friends isn’t what I really want.”

I give her hand a squeeze and smile back at her. “About fucking time, darlin’.”

“I’m sorry about the whole crazy ex thing too. I still can’t believe that he thought he could force me to marry him and cash in on an inheritance that even I didn’t know existed.”

“Honey, I don’t think you could have controlled anything about that train wreck.” I assure her.

“About my parents, I never told you how they died.” She sighs. “They were so in love with each other. Childhood sweethearts. I remember catching them slow dancing together in the kitchen, sneaking kisses when they thought I wasn’t looking. For as long as I remember, they went on date nights once a month. Sometimes Dad would come home from work with flowers and he’d ring the doorbell and ask for Mom. She would be upstairs and make him wait a good five minutes before she’d walk down the stairs, like some scene out of a chick flick and off they’d go. They were on their way home from one of their dates when they were in an accident. It was snowing and they debated not even going out but since they didn’t plan to really travel far and thought they would be home before the roads got too bad, they went anyway. I was home, studying for finals when the police came knocking on the door.” Her voice cracks but she holds it together. “They were both killed instantly.”

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