On the return trip from meeting with Brigance at the police station, Jane and I ride back to the house in stunned silence. We got to see the bastard ourselves behind the two-way mirror while he sat in the interrogation room. His twitching hands and blank gaze are still burned into my brain and will be for sometime. J.R., whose real name is apparently Joseph Richardson, admitted to the break in at the restaurant before we were ushered out of the room by the other officers.
Jane sighs, and when I look over at her, there are tears running down her face. Maneuvering over to the shoulder of the road, I unfasten her seatbelt and pull her into my lap to hold her close. Her body shakes in my arms, so I tighten my grip on her. "It's over, J. You're safe." I repeat the words over and over, hoping to reassure her and myself for that matter.
One of her hands clutches my shirt as she presses herself close to me. "I-I can't believe it. I thought it would never end." Her voice is ragged.
"But it has. You're free now."
Her watery eyes meet mine, and she attempts a smile before looking away, "This has been my life for so long. It seems too easy for it to just be done."
I tug at her chin and make her look at me, "Sugar, not one part of this has been easy."
She gives me a real smile this time, "Back to sugar, huh? I should make a list of all these names you have for me."
"Make your list, J. I've got the rest of our lives to add to it."
She rolls her eyes at me like she usually does when I say something that she deems too out there to take seriously. The realization hits me that I have plenty of time now to make her see that I mean every damn word I say when it comes to her. Plus, I'm finally going to have enough spare time to buy a ring for her to prove it. As she scoots off of me to buckle herself in the middle of the bench seat, I put my arm around her. I'm glad that she wants to stay close to me.
"Let's go home, Fitz." I'll never get tired of hearing those words come out of her beautiful mouth. Never.
Alex, Pete, and Adam are still there when we walk through the door. I see that they've kept working while we were gone, and they've made a real dent in the destruction today, but we'll still have to stay closed for now. Maybe we can reopen our doors by the middle of next week if we're lucky. Each of the three take turns hugging and congratulating my girl on this nightmare being over. Adam swings her around this time instead of Pete, and I laugh just a little too long when her feet collide with Pete's knees, making him lose his balance and careen towards the nearest table for support.
Jane tries to apologize to him when Adam puts her down, but I pull her to me for yet another hug. "Is it too soon to go somewhere for dinner tonight? I want to take you out." I whisper the words directly into her ear and grin when her body shutters against mine.
"Get a room! There are children present." Pete catcalls.
"I'm not a child." Adam protests.
Pete huffs, "Who said I was referring to you?" He asks while he pretends to shield his own eyes from Jane and me. They continue to bicker as I lead Jane into the storeroom for some privacy. Taking her into my office, I sit in my chair and pull her into my lap. She twists her hands nervously.
"It's okay if you don't want to go out. We can take things slow." Her hands stop moving at my words and her shoulders relax.
"Will, I want to go on a date with you. I do. It's just that this news hasn't had time to really feel real to me yet. I've spent seven years locking myself away. I'm not sure that I can just turn it off." She stares up at me, and the look on her face alone makes me want to go back to that police station and strangle that asshole slowly. Even more so when I think about what he has taken from her. She's not going to feel truly safe for a long time regardless of the fact that he's going to be behind bars for the rest of his existence if I have anything to say about it.
Brushing her hair back with my hands, I lean in and kiss her forehead, "Take all the time you need, J. I mean it. I got carried away back there and that's on me. Our deal was that you got to pick the time and the place, and if that reservation is next week or fifty years from now, I'll gladly wait."
Her nose wrinkles, "We'd both need walkers if I took that long."
"Makes no difference to me as long as I'm the one who gets to take you out when the time comes."
Jane's eyes dance with mischief, "So Pete and Ed aren't invited?"
"Not on our first date, J."
"It wouldn't be the first though. Not really."
"Janet, the minute you let me take you out properly, I am going to give you the first date we should have had and that's final."
She laughs at my tone and kisses me, "I love that you want to do that for us."
"I love you, and I sincerely hope you don't want to kick me out of your house now that he's locked up because I don't think I'd be able to leave you. Even now." I look at her and wait for her answer. She tilts her head and arches an eyebrow at me.
"Fitzwilliam, I gave you the keys to my home. I'm pretty sure that means we are living together."
I pull her close to me and drop my head on her shoulder, "I was worried you would feel differently about that now."
Jane leans back and runs her hands through my hair, "The only thing I feel differently about is the fact that we get to sleep in my actual bed tonight. It's bigger than the other one."
"I won't notice. I like being close to you." She scoffs before climbing out of my lap. I grab her wrist to keep her from going too far, "Where are you off to?"
"I'm going to prepare a feast for dinner tonight. We might not be going out, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate." Then she tugs her wrist loose and all but floats to my office door before turning around, "And I think it's time I pick out a book for you to read too." Winking, she slinks away, leaving me rock hard in the middle of my office.
One feast substantial enough to satisfy a viking village and several hours later, we are settled into Jane's bed for the night. We moved that chest back into the closet and uncovered the windows, but she still locked the door. After what she's lived through, I'm not sure if she will ever stop that particular habit. I don't know that I would either.
Kissing her temple, I start to compile a list in my head of all the places I want to take her once she's ready.
"What was that for?" She asks me. I can tell by her voice that she's close to falling asleep.
I continue to trace random patterns on her back with my hand, "Because I can. Sometimes I need to remind myself that you chose me. That you aren't going to run off in the night. Even now that's it over."
"I would never leave you like that." She yawns loudly, and her breathing lets me know that she's out for the night. Still, I run my hand absently over her back, her arm, her side just to prove to myself that we made it.
When my alarm goes off in the morning, we are in the same position from the night before. I fumble for my phone and take care of the alarm as fast as I can. Jane groans audibly, "You've got to be kidding me. It's even earlier than usual, Will, and you can't even open today."
Chuckling, I roll out of bed and hunt for some clothes. "There's a delivery coming this morning to replace a few things. It's registered, so I have to sign for it."
"And you chose the ass crack of dawn to do that?" I know she's irritable if she's cursing.
The second I'm dressed I go back to the bed and pull the covers up over her. "Go back to sleep. This won't take long, and I'll come right back."
"You better." Her response is muffled by her pillow.
Unlocking and relocking everything on my way down doesn't take as much time as it once would now that I've learned the keys. Part of me hopes that she will be comfortable enough one day to remove some of the locks and heal from what this prick has done to her. I'm sitting on one of the still functioning bar stools when the delivery guy knocks on the door. He looks just as thrilled to be up this morning as Jane did.
"Thanks a lot man," I say as I sign for everything. He grunts in response before wheeling the empty dolly back outside. The bell on the door chimes again right when I've almost got the first box on the bar opened to check the condition of the new glasses.
"Alex, I knew you said you'd be here early, but you didn't have to be this early. I'm headed back up myself once I make sure none of this is broken."
