Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset Read online

  “We’ll get him at the potluck,” I said. “Lots of kissing and touching between us. That kind of thing would make him go nuts.”

  Charlie raised an eyebrow and came closer to me, pulling me in close to his chest. Smiling, he said, “We should practice.” Leaning in, he kissed me and then smiled again as he pulled back. “I could do this all day.”

  Smiling, I lifted my hands to his face and framed his jaw with my hands as I kissed him passionately. Charlie’s arms, or rather arm for now, was exactly where I wanted to be. He was everything that I wanted in a man, and though it took a broken road to find him, I’d do it all again if it meant being with him. We left the hospital and headed back to my house.

  When we arrived home, he got out first and scouted out the perimeter with the knife in hand that I left on the railing of the porch. After he finished, he came back to the car and gave me a nod. Getting out, I said, “Thank you.”

  “I’m your protector,” he stated. “I might only have one good arm now, but that won’t stop me from kicking the snot out of him again.”

  I touched his shoulder and said, “You can’t do that unless we have some sort of evidence against him.”

  “If he’s here, that’s evidence enough.”

  We went inside, and I made Charlie a big dinner even though it was after midnight. Chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. After we finished eating, he set his napkin down on his plate and smiled across the table as our eyes met. “This right here. This is what life’s about.”

  “Food?” I asked as I finished chewing a bite of chicken.

  He shook his head and held out his hands. “Spending time with people you care about. A home cooked meal is nice, don’t get me wrong. But just . . . just sitting here with you makes me so happy, Serenah.”

  “I agree.” Standing up, I took both of our plates into the kitchen and set them in the sink. “What’s the deal with your job? They going to let you come back?”

  Sighing, he replied, “No. They weren’t going to let me leave, so I just quit.”

  My eyebrows went up and I looked over at him. “What about money? Bills?”

  “I never liked paying bills anyway.” He laughed. “I’m just kidding. I already set everything up for that side business a few days before I quit. There are a couple of projects I already have lined up from old customers that don’t do business with Ikan anymore.”

  “Wow,” I said, coming back over to the table. Resting a hand on the back of my chair, I nodded. “So you’re finally going to do it.”

  “Yep.” Standing up, he pushed in his chair and walked around the table to me. My heart fluttered as his fingers touched my arm and made their way up my shoulder and to my neck. Tilting his head, he said, “I’ll have all the time in the world to spend with you. That is, if you can stand me.”

  The words warmed my soul. There were no limits to the amount of time I wanted to spend with Charlie. “You seem so different since you’ve come back.”

  He nodded. “I am. Once I realized that God didn’t punish me by making me go through what I’ve been though, I’ve been a changed man.”

  “Why did He make you go through it?”

  His fingers traced my neckline, back down my shoulder, and to my arm as he continued speaking. “Going through difficulties is part of life. It’s how you come out the other end that really matters. God showed me that I can help others who are struggling by my own experience. God willing, I’ll be a certified Christian counselor at ‘A New Me in Christ’ in a couple of years. Just as a side passion project of sorts. That’s my hope.” Taking my hand, Charlie placed it on my shoulder and said, “May I have this dance, my dear?”

  Smiling, I said with a dip of my knees, “you may.” Laying my head on his chest, we began to sway slowly in the dining room of my house. My thoughts turned inward as I began thinking about the abuse I endured. Maybe my experience could help someone someday. Charlie was a man who had crossed over from the dark shadows of sadness, possibly even depression, and come out a new man. He was an inspiration to push on through the dark times that I had found myself in. Tomorrow’s community potluck could go well and according to plan or absolutely disastrous, but I had to trust God that He was in control.

  Chapter 15

  Arriving at the Inn at the Lake with my arm wrapped around Charlie’s free arm, we went inside and were greeted by Jody in the kitchen. He stayed and chatted with her while I broke off into the dining area just outside the kitchen to sit down with Emma. She was reading a book while sitting at one of the tables near the French doors that led out to the balcony. Meanwhile, people were chatting in the living room beside the dining area and out on the balcony.

  A summer breeze was blowing lightly through the dining area as I sat down in a chair across from her. Setting her book down, she greeted me with a warm smile and grasped my hand. “How are you, Serenah? That eye feeling any better?”

  “I’ll survive.” My eyes peered over at Charlie to steal a glance at his laugh.

  Emma caught it and commented, “You’re in love.”

  Dismissing it, I furrowed my eyebrows and said, “No. Maybe someday, we’ll be in love, but I don’t think I’m there yet.”

  “Why?” she pressed.

  “It takes a lot of time to fall in love.”

  Emma rocked her head back and forth a couple times. “Maybe a deeper love, but I believe true love has a blossoming moment.”

  John walked into the room out of nowhere and conjured all my anger inside with five words. “Ms. Montgomery and my wife.”

  Charlie overheard and came over from the kitchen. Leaning over my shoulder, he planted a kiss on my cheek and looked up at John, saying, “Ex-wife. Right?”

  John’s jaw clenched and he didn’t respond.

  Standing upright, Charlie said, “I see you have some lovely stitches from our little altercation yesterday. It’s too bad you don’t actually fight men, only women who can’t fight back. I would have loved to see what you can do.” Charlie told me what he was going to say to egg John on, and it was working flawlessly. John not only had a few stitches across an eyebrow, but a pretty swollen lip to top it off. John was already boiling and wanting to hit someone, judging by his clenched fist hanging by his side. He knew his reputation would be ruined if he caused a scene though.

  Through his teeth, John said, “We’re not divorced, yet.” He excused himself from the room and went into the living room to talk to the people there. I breathed a sigh of relief as he left, and Charlie sat down at the table with Emma and me. He looked at Emma with a smile and asked, “How are you doing?”

  She beamed warmly. “Great. How’s Ikan?”

  Shaking his head as he looked down at the wine glasses and grapes on the placemat, he said, “I don’t work there anymore. I’m starting my own business online.”

  “The internet?” Emma asked, perplexed. “I thought that thing was only good for the Facebook and recipes. Huh. That’s neat though, Charlie. As long as it’s paying the bills.”

  He entertained her with a friendly smile and said, “You know what? I call it fakebook. There’s just nothing that beats real face-to-face sit downs with someone like this, huh?”

  “Yes,” Emma said with a gleeful tone and smile. “I was just trying to tell Jody that the other day, and she went on and on about how wonderful social media is because the face-to-face conversations aren’t available.” She leaned in toward Charlie as she continued, “They’re only unavailable when we don’t make them a priority!”

  It was cute to see Charlie engage so willingly with Emma. He listened to every word she said as we sat there for the next thirty minutes. He listened, smiled and nodded as Emma went on and on about how different America was since she was a child. Every moment that I witnessed him interact more with people that day sent me falling harder and harder for him. Maybe Emma was right. Maybe I am in love.

  After filling up on an assortment of various finger foods later in the day, I went out to the balcony to look at the
water. It was beautiful, but a soft meow caught my attention from down below. Looking, I saw a neighborhood cat get a paw stuck between the dock and the grass. Setting my glass of water down on the railing, I journeyed to the far end of the deck and took the steps down to the path that led through the flower beds. Getting down to the cat near the water, I bent a knee and helped wiggle the cat’s leg free. With a slight limp, the cat began to walk away, continuing into the nearby woods.

  “I tried with you, Serenah,” John said from behind me, causing me to jump. His voice was deep and steady.

  “John, what are you doing?” I asked, glancing up at the empty balcony.

  Paranoid that someone could be watching, he jerked his head back behind to see if anyone was there.

  Smelling liquor, I asked, “Have you been drinking?”

  He shrugged and said, “So what if I have?”

  Seeing a couple people walk out to the balcony in my peripheral vision, I antagonized him. “You’re pathetic.”

  He grimaced. “You want to see pathetic? Try your little boy toy Charlie. I’ve seen you guys make out and play around like you two are a couple of teenagers.” John laughed. “That’s not a relationship.”

  “You cut his brake lines, didn’t you?” I asked. Hope dwindled that the guests on the balcony could actually hear anything. They walked away from the railing. They couldn’t have heard anything . . .

  “You bet I did. Paid a guy to take care of it for me, but obviously, he didn’t finish the job. Charlie needs to go away—he’s a waste of space, but so is everything in the entire square mileage of this pathetic town.”

  Charlie appeared at the railing and shouted down from the top balcony, “You’re not going to get away with this, John!”

  “Really? What are you going to do?” He laughed. “It’s not what you know. It’s what you can prove. My alibi is airtight.”

  Jody appeared next to Charlie at the railing and said, “John. You need to leave now.”

  John furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me. It worked. He was riled up for sure. Begrudgingly, he climbed the path that led up around the house to the driveway out front. Charlie made sure to say something to Jody when John was in earshot about hanging out tonight to shoot pool with a buddy.

  The trap was laid.

  Charlie hurried down the path, pushing John on his way, down to the water. Wrapping his arm around me, he asked if I was okay. After assuring him I was fine, he told me about how he had spoken to Brody, and Brody wanted to be there to arrest John on sight of an altercation. The work John had lain with the town was beginning to crumble, and I knew he’d be furious. Though I didn’t know what the night would bring, I did know one thing.

  God was with me.

  Chapter 16

  Sitting quietly, pretending to watch TV as I pet Milo, my heart raced with anticipation of John’s arrival to my house that night. How long would it take for him to come over? Brody, Charlie and I took all the needed precautions going into the night. First—no cars. I drove them both over to my house. Second was safety. Charlie and Brody would only be a scream away, outside the kitchen window.

  After a couple of hours passed and the clock struck eleven, my heart rate had lowered and I began nodding off. Being up half the previous night talking to Charlie was all fine and dandy when it happened, but I was paying the price now. Straining to keep my eyes open and on the TV show, I was jolted a bit awake by my phone buzzing—it was Charlie.

  Charlie: Do you still think he’s coming tonight?

  Me: I don’t know. It’s getting late though.

  Charlie: Brody’s nodding off, but I’m going to stay awake and keep an eye out.

  Me: Okay. Thanks.

  Getting up, I went down the hallway and into the bathroom. When I came back out into the living room, a gloved hand shot out from the corner and covered my mouth. A knife pressed against my throat. “Shut your pretty mouth and don’t scream,” he whispered.

  Pushing me into the hallway, he forced me down to the bedroom. Screaming as loud as I could did nothing against the muffling fabrics of the glove. The sharp edge of the blade slid down the skin of my neck, causing small nicks. Tears poured from my eyes as hopelessness swallowed me whole. Keeping his hand over my mouth in the bedroom, he threw the blade onto the bed and pulled out a roll of duct tape from his coat pocket. My eyes widened as he used his teeth to pull a piece that’d fit over my lips. My screams again fell silent against his glove. Slapping the sticky silencer across my lips, he proceeded to add more layers and then taped my hands behind my back, binding me to my doom.

  “You stupid woman,” he said, pushing me down onto the bed. Jumping onto the bed, he stood over me and pulled me up to the pillows, positioning my head on one. Then he dropped down beside me and laid his head on the same pillow my head was against. Putting his hands behind his head, he looked at the ceiling took a deep breath. “I never wanted this kind of life for us, Serenah.” He looked over at me. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I never wanted to kill you.”

  Kill me? With those words echoing through my skull, I jerked my body and launched myself off the bed. He climbed over to the edge and grabbed my hair, pulling me up off the ground a few inches. My eyes watered heavily. Pushing through the pain, I yanked my head away, losing a great deal of hair in the process. Wiggling farther away, I was able to get up on my knees by using the night stand as an anchor point for my shoulder, and I turned to run. He lunged from the bed and grabbed onto my backside causing me to fall face first halfway to the door. Tears streamed down my cheeks and onto the duct tape as he pulled me by the legs back into the bedroom.

  Please, Lord. Deliver me. Please!

  Flipping me over onto my back, John’s eyes seemed almost black as the night as he climbed on top of me. The man I had I fallen in love with what felt like a lifetime ago didn’t exist anymore behind those eyes. He reached over to the bed and grabbed the dagger. Lifting it up into the air above his head, he said, “If I can’t have you, nobody can.”

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited.

  The stab didn’t come, but instead came the sound of John toppling over. Opening my eyes, I saw Charlie on top of John, pinning him with his one good hand while his bad arm was pressed against his chest. Brody dashed in moments later through the doorway of the bedroom and helped subdue John. Cuffing him, Brody led John out of the room.

  Charlie was in tears as he undid the duct tape from my head. “I’m so sorry I didn’t hear him enter the house, Serenah.” My hair pulled and my lips burned as he tried to gently rip the duct tape off me. As it came off my lips, he pulled me into his chest and held me there for a moment, comforting me, loving me. The warmth of his love rushed all over my body and began to ease my nerves down from the ledge they were standing on. Looking up at Charlie, I pushed my torn lips up to his and kissed him.

  It was the sweetest kiss my lips had ever known.

  He undid the duct tape that bound my wrists and then inspected the damage it left. They felt okay outside of a little soreness, but it wasn’t okay to Charlie. Tears, but no words, poured out of Charlie as he brought the reddened wrists to his lips, letting his love fall onto them through his lips. He brought one of my hands to his cheek and looked me in the eyes and said, “It’s over now, and you’ll never have to worry again.”

  “I know,” I said gently. “Thank you for everything, Charlie.”

  “I know it sounds weird, but I think I’m in love with you, Serenah.”

  “It doesn’t sound weird at all. I love you too.” It could have been the heightened emotions of hate, fear and uncertainty in the last few hours, but I felt it too. We both leaned in and kissed.

  Chapter 17

  Walking down the path through the flower beds to go meet with Emma about the Inn at the Lake on the dock, I admired the sunrise that was lifting into the sky. The painted beauty of God’s design wrapped around me. I had called Emma last night and requested to meet with her at the dock in the morning. Seeing Emma sitting in
a lawn chair down at the end of the dock with a chair next to her, I smiled.

  As I walked the length of the dock, I saw a fish jump in the distance. The lake was peaceful and calm like it always was early in the day. As I came between the lawn chairs to sit down, Emma handed me a cup of coffee.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking the cup.

  “You’re welcome. So when do you want to start?” Emma looked over with raised eyebrows.

  Smiling back at her, I titled my head, “You guessed I’d say yes?”

  She nodded slowly and turned her eyes back to the water. “Of course. You love this lake as much as I do, and John is in jail. You start Monday. I’ve already worked out the details of you leaving Dixie’s. Wendy will get over it, but Miley was a little broken up when she heard the news. You’ll have a room that isn’t sanctioned for guests located on the lower level.”

  “Presumptuous of you to think I was on board,” I said. “But I’m glad. I was dreading the talk with Wendy about leaving, and poor Miley. I’m going to miss her.”

  Emma took a sip of her coffee and stood up. “I want to show you something.”

  Intrigued, I said, “Okay.” We walked up the path to the house and climbed the stairs to the balcony. Going in through the French doors, she led me upstairs to the Mountain Suite. She pointed to the bed, so I took a seat. Going over to a nightstand, she took a worn red journal off the top and sat down beside me. “There is a journal in every room for the guests to write whatever they wish. They aren’t mentioned when we give the tours when the guests arrive, nor is it encouraged or mentioned during the duration of the guest’s trip. It’s just something that is entirely decided upon by the guest.”

  “Wow. Neat. Do you read them?” I asked.

  She smiled warmly and nodded. “Of course I read them. That’s the best part of this whole place.” She opened the journal to a random page and began to read out loud. “A Spiritual and relaxing weekend that left me an awe of God’s ability to heal and restore the soul . . .” Emma paused and placed a hand over the pages and looked over at me. “Every guest that comes here leaves with something more in their life, Serenah, whether it’s a healing weekend getaway for a young, single woman or a restorative night for a couple. Each story is unique and full of wonder.”