It has been a hard few weeks since Mayson has been in the hospital. Holden had to spend a night in jail. The district attorney wanted him charged with assaulting Mayson and putting her in a coma. He even went so far as to trying to take out a charge of attempted murder, but the judge would not sign off on it. He stated there was no evidence of any previous violence in their relationship. He told the district attorney if he could bring concrete proof of malicious intent, he would reconsider the charge of attempted murder. It is still touch and go with her because she is still in a coma. Martha and James Cole are keeping a vigil at her side every day. They are letting Holden see her, thankfully. At first they would not let him stay unless one of them was there. They know that he would never do anything to hurt her, but they did not want to leave her side. They have always been extra protective of their baby girl. They finally let him spend alone time with her. Her mother almost had t
I could hear so many people in my room. I was trying my best to reach those voices. One of them was Holden. I had heard him everyday. I knew he was so worried about me. I will have to let him know how much I love him. I am feeling the weight holding me down just days ago start to lessen. I have to wake up, there is so much I still need to do. I am supposed to marry Holden. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I am trying so hard to squeeze Holden’s hand. I want him to know that I am trying my best to come back to him With all of the tubes and things removed I felt like I was no longer chained down. I needed to try to fight this heaviness of my eyelids. I want and need to wake up. I don’t know how long I have been in what feels like a straight jacket, but I am ready to be released from this captivity. I can feel something on my hand. I can move my fingers just a little. It’s a hand. It’s too rough to be Mama’s hand. Maybe it’s Daddy or maybe it’s Holden. I am trying to mo
Mayson does not remember anything after being in front of the restaurant. That may be a good thing in regard to not having to deal with the trauma of the attack. The person that attacked her most likely thinks she will not recover and can’t identify him. If he finds out that she is awake, he may try to finish the job and take her life. I know how stubborn she can be, so I won’t be able to hide much from her. She will see it on my face if I am telling a lie. “Holden, can we start with you filling the blanks in for me now?” She pokes her lip out in a cute little pout. That is usually my weakness, but not this time. I need her to eat something and get some strength back before we start the questions. She has a lot of missing pieces that need to be filled in. One particular piece I want to talk to her mom about first. She may have said something about it during their conversation. “Martha, can I talk to you outside for a minute please.” I could tell she really did not want to leave Ma
I have done as Holden asked, I ate something. Well it was more like drinking something since the only thing they brought me was chicken broth. I would love to have a BLT (hold the T) sandwich from Parker’s. Maybe I can bribe Daddy later to get me one. “Since I asked my first question of twenty, nineteen more to go.” I laughed because I could see the frustration on everyone’s face. When I was a little girl I could ask questions with the best of them. Mama and Daddy thought for sure I would either be a detective or a reporter with all the questions I could come up with. “I will promise to not give all of you a hard time, at least for now. I want to know what happened to make me upset and walk out of the restaurant.” Holden and Mama looked at each other. Mama nodded her head. I am not sure what those two have going on with each other. They will get questioned later. “I had hoped to have dealt with this before now, but unfortunately there have been other more important things going on
My mother died about an hour after she gave me the letter. It was weighing heavy in my carryon bag. I could not open this letter alone. I had texted Holden before I boarded my flight that I needed to see him. Seth: Holden I am getting ready to head back home. Mom passed away. Need to see you ASAP Holden: Sorry man have a safe trip. No problem. Meet me at the Cole’s when you get back Seth: Why are you staying there? Holden: My house is still a crime scene. I think the DA is being an ass. Mayson woke up today Seth: That is awesome man. Give her love from me. See you when I get into town After all of what I have been through the last couple of days, I welcomed the good news of Mayson waking up. I hated to have to pull him away from being with her. Holden and I know what it is like to have a dysfunctional family. I don’t know how I would have survived college without Holden. When I arrived at the Cole’s house, Holden was sitting on the porch. He looked so happy. I env
I have so much on my plate today that I do not even know where to start. Mayson is getting out of the hospital tomorrow. Seth and I have a meeting with the board after lunch to discuss the project. We are still in limbo as to whether or not it is going forward. I need to go to the police department and talk to Daniel to see if there are any new leads on Mayson’s case. He has gotten the police chief to agree to extra patrols at my house. The chief knows that I had nothing to do with Mayson’s attack. In a town as small as Chance, the rumor mill gets to buzzing. He cannot afford to lose the next election. Having an unsolved case involving a single woman almost killed in her own home does not look good on his resume. I was able to talk Seth into meeting me for breakfast at Fred’s this morning. We haven’t had the opportunity to eat together since before the project started. This has been a crazy few months. I never would have thought this town would have the same things going on that big
Holden Today could be the make it or break it day for the company. Not only has there been quite a bit of business funds and personal funds been put into this project, but our reputation as well. Seth and I both have made huge sacrifices to get our business up and running from nothing. We struggled financially until H&S Designs was up and running. Seth and I are so pissed off that someone has tried to destroy everything that we have built. I truly believe this person is the same one that attacked Mayson. Both of us need ot sit down and try to figure out who would hate either one of us badly enough to do these things. They were willing to commit a murder to get to us. If Mayson hadn’t been so stubborn, she may not have made it through the attack. Before the meeting I am heading over to talk to Daniel. I need to have my house back. It should not still be considered a crime scene. There is no evidence showing that I did anything. Mayson should be coming home tomorrow to our home
I am so glad that I can finally get out of this hospital, I am going stir crazy. I have been here for over three weeks. I am ready to be in a comfortable bed. I hate that I have to go back to my parents, but the police have not released the house back to Holden yet. There is only one good thing about being in the hospital this long, it has given me time to think a lot of things over. It has also given me time to do some internet searching on Jennifer Martin. I need to know all that I can about her. She tried to ruin my romantic night with Holden, and she says she is carrying his baby. I am still not sure how I feel about the whole baby thing. It hurts my heart to think that I won’t be the one to give him his first child. I believe him, now, when he says that he always used protection during sex until we were together. Condoms can break and if she was on birth control that could fail as well. The reality is that I may have to face being a stepmother to Holden’s son or daughter. A
The shower washed away the grime of the day, but not the worry. As the water cascaded over me, my thoughts were a whirlwind. Who would want to hurt Mayson? And why? It's a question that's been eating away at me since the night it happened. I knew I had to find answers, not just for her sake, but for my own peace of mind. When I came downstairs, the smell of garlic and onions filled the air.Mayson was at the stove, stirring something in a pan, her bare back glowing from the warmth of the stove. She looked so focused, so alive in that moment, that it was hard to believe she had just survived a traumatic event. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," she said without turning around. Her voice was a little shaky, but there was a determination in it that I hadn't heard in days. I nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table, my eyes never leaving her. She had always been strong, but this was a different kind of strength, one born out of fire and defiance. She was reclaiming her life, pie
The office felt normal again. Our team was three strong again. I could tell Mayson was worn out by the end of the day but she’s tough. Holden will not let her out of his sight. I can’t blame him, someone tried to kill her and there aren’t any leads as to who it was. Amelia was the first to leave the office that night. She’s been acting weird lately, even by her standards. Staying out all hours of the night. When I would wait up for her, she would get defensive as to where she was. "Is everything okay?" I had asked her one evening, unable to shake the feeling that something was off. Amelia had looked up from her desk, her eyes narrowing. "Why wouldn't it be?" she replied, her tone sharper than usual. "Just asking," I said, trying to play it cool. But I couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something. Her evasiveness was more than just her usual prickly demeanor. It was something deeper, something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The office grew quiet as
I know that I am being overprotective of Mayson. But I can't help it. The thought of her getting hurt again is like a knife in my gut. As we walk into the house, I can see the tiredness etched into her features. The shadows under her eyes are more noticeable against her pale skin. She's trying to put on a brave face, but I can see the fear lingering in the back of her eyes. "Do you need help with anything?" I ask as we enter the living room. Mayson shakes her head, her eyes scanning the space with a hint of unease. "No, I'm okay," she says, though the tremor in her voice suggests otherwise. “i am just going to start dinner.” I watch as she heads to the kitchen, her steps tentative. The house feels too quiet, too still. Like it's holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. I know I can't hover over her forever, but I can't shake the feeling that she's in danger. "Holden," she calls out, her voice echoing through the house. "Could you grab me the cutting board from th
It felt so good for all three of us to be back together. Seth proceeded to fill me in on the projects we had been working on, his words coming in a fast and efficient stream. My mind struggled to keep up, trying to piece together the puzzle of the past few weeks. "And the big news," he paused for dramatic effect, "we are on schedule for completion of the project." I nodded, trying to absorb the information. My office felt smaller than ever, the walls closing in as the reality of the workload hit me. "That's great," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Seth studied me for a moment before his smile faltered. "Are you sure you're okay?" I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm fine," I assured him, though my voice wavered slightly. "Let's just get to work." Seth nodded and handed me a stack of files. As I flipped through the first few pages, the words swam before my eyes, and I realized how much I had missed the structure and purpose that work gave me. The office was a haven
I am so ready to get back to work. Holden and I never argue but we have had some knock down drag out fights. He wants me to stay at home until they find out who attacked me. If I stay at home, this person wins by controlling my life. I want to prove them wrong that no matter what they tried to do to me they were not going to win. "Holden, I'm going to work," I said firmly, as I pulled on my favorite pair of boots and grabbed my keys. His eyes followed me with concern, the tension in the room palpable. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" "Yes," I replied, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "I can't let someone dictate my life like this. I have to get back to normal." Holden sighed heavily, his jaw tightening. He knew arguing with me when I was like this was futile. "Fine, but you are not to go anywhere alone.” I nodded, a flicker of relief crossing my face. "Thank you." Holden took a step towards me, his hand brushing mine as he gently took the keys from my hand. "I
I have had so much on my mind lately. Now that Mayson was out of the hospital and on the mend we could get the project back on track. Whenever I have talked to Holden, he said she was so ready to get back to work. The project has been on hold ever since Mayson’s attack. The investigation into Holden caused a couple of sponsors to pull their funding. Luckily the amount pulled wasn’t going to impact the overall budget. We are behind the eight ball on the time frame. It will take a miracle for the project to be completed on the original timeline. As soon as Holden gets back into the office, we both need to be making calls to contractors to get them back into town. We could not afford to pay contractors that were not working for over a month. Thankfully, this project isn’t the only thing that the firm has going on. There are a couple of projects in Clinton that have come in that have kept me busy. It has kept Amelia busy too, which keeps her calm. Ever since Mayson was attacked she’s act
That bitch just will not die. Mayson seems to have nine lives like a mangy cat. I am so over this whole thing. She should have stayed gone eight years ago. My life would not be so complicated if it were not for her. There is no way that I will be able to get close enough to her again to try to finally rid this world of her. After the incident in the hospital, she has not been without some sort of guard dog, Seth included. I had thought about slitting his throat in his sleep many times over the last couple of months because of Mayson. She sucked him into her perfect world just like everyone else. I can’t help but go back to the night of the attack and try to figure out what I did wrong. My footsteps sounded like thunder as I ran across the driveway behind the house. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. I was so scared that someone was going to see me sneaking through the back yard. I almost could not catch my breath, but I had to keep moving. The stench of the roses that Ma
I ran my hands all over her body, exploring every inch of her soft skin, I let my fingertips linger on the lacy edges of her lingerie. Mayson’s own hands began to work on the buttons of my shirt, one by one. I could not help but moan as she traced the lines of my abs with the tip of her nail. I quickly moved to the clasp of her bra, freeing her breasts with a gentle touch that sent a shiver down her spine. Our kisses grew deeper, more urgent, as we were both seeking to reconnect with the passion that we had lost. The fabric of our clothing seemed to melt away, leaving us both bare to each other's touch. Mayson’s breath hitched as I slid my hand down her back, cupping her ass and squeezing gently. She had to feel how hard I was pressing against her. She rocked her hips slightly, teasing me. I could see in her lidded eyes how turned on she was and she was enjoying the power she had over me. The air was charged with electricity as our eyes met. We were making a silent promise of a pa
I really did not want to go lay down for a nap. I was tired of laying in a bed, but I could see how I really did not want to go lay down for a nap. I was tired of laying in a bed, but I could see how worried Holden was about me. He is blaming himself for what happened that night. I don’t blame him at all. I blame whoever walked into our house like they belonged and tried to take my life from me. I suppose it is a good idea to just leave Holden with his thoughts for now. If I could just remember something about that night after I got home. I know Mama said that I talked to her, but I don’t remember the whole conversation, just bits and pieces. What I really want is to be able to reconnect with Holden. Our love for each other has not diminished, but there is this cloud hanging over it because of what happened here. We need to find our way back to each other. It has been too long since we have laid in our bed together and I miss him so much. I want to feel his arms around me. Holde