Bailey, Debbie - Stephanie's Homecoming [Men of Kinsey 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (24 page)

“Sorry, Shayne, we were just teasing you. You are great for Stephanie, and we are glad that she has you to help her here at the paper and keep her life balanced.” Kane stepped forward, his hand outstretched to the young man.

Taking the offered hand, Shayne let out the breath he’d been holding and said, “She’s a great boss, and I love working for her. Even though both of you are built like linebackers and could probably break me in two, I still don’t think I would quit.”

Heading back upstairs, Shayne turned back to them and said, “Now, get out of here so that we can get back to running this paper.”

“You are such a little shit, Shayne.” Stephanie laughed and followed her men out the door.

As the three of them walked along the street heading for the Sheriff’s office, they could see that there was already a number of the area’s new outlets waiting out front. Her first thought was to try and find another way into the office, but Turk leaned down and kissed the side of her head and said, “We will face them together, baby girl.”

And they did. Hand in hand, the three of them walked straight through the throng of reporters and through the doors of the sheriff’s department.

* * * *

Jenny had never seen her parents like this before. They weren’t listening to anything she had to say. And the bloody lawyer just kept telling her to keep her mouth shut.

Who the hell is this guy?

He wasn’t her parents’ regular lawyer, that was for sure. This guy was a lot younger and prettier than old Mr. Jansen.

So she sat there and did what he told her to do, even though it irritated the shit out of her.

There was a commotion at the front door, and then Kane, Turk, and Stephanie stepped into the large room.

Right away, Jenny could see that although Turk had lost a little weight, he was still in great shape. She was happy for that.

Her actions on that day would haunt her forever, but hopefully over the next while she could deal with it all.

“You little twit,” Kane snarled at her.

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to Turk that day if your fucking aim hadn’t been so piss-poor.”

Jenny shrank back in the chair and bowed her head, unable to look at Kane at all.

“I know, Kane, and I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“You’re sorry, Jenny…are you really sorry? Or are you just sorry you got caught?” he snarled.

Her head snapped up quickly at not only the anger but the fear in Kane’s voice.

“Yes, Kane. I am truly sorry. Sorry for it all. I have no excuses and no explanation for any of my actions, but I am truly sorry. I would never have wanted to hurt anyone, especially someone as important as Turk is to you.”

Clearing his throat, Verne Black stepped forward. “Turk, I know that Jenny has caused you pain and suffering, and I would like to apologize to you for that.”

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Black, so no apologies are necessary,” Turk said.

“I think that it is more our fault than anyone else’s, including Jen’s,” he said in a sad voice.

“Could we all sit down, I’m finding this a little more difficult than I thought it would be,” Jenny’s mom said.

After everyone was sitting, Verne Black placed one hand on the top of the table, and the other grasped his wife’s hand.

“You have to realize that although Jenny had the best of everything that money could buy, she didn’t have the two of us very much. We got her the best tutors and dance teachers, riding instructors, and language teachers, we gave her everything but what she really needed…time with us.” Verne leaned over and kissed the cheek of his only child.

“I’m sorry for that, sweetheart. Your mom and I were so busy helping others that we neglected the most important person in the world to us, our own child. We thought that, by giving ourselves and our time with all these different charities, we could make the world a better place, but you were the one that suffered the most.”

Turning toward his wife, he wiped a tear from her cheek.

“We made sure that Jenny had great nannies while we were gone, but they weren’t her parents. They weren’t us,” Josie Black said.

“Mom, Dad, stop it right now. None of this is your fault. It’s all on me. I’m the one who’s made the mistakes, and I’m the one who will have to face the consequences. You are great parents, maybe a little too lenient with me.” Jenny smiled softly. “But you are good parents who only wanted the best for me, and I couldn’t see it. I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it, and that was the problem. I wanted Kane, but he didn’t want me, and I couldn’t handle that. That certainly isn’t your fault, and it’s not his fault. He’s the one who has had to put up with all my crap for all these years. He has every right to hate me for what I have done. I stole ten years of his life with the woman that he truly loves and that he was meant to be with because I couldn’t accept that fact that he didn’t want me.”

Jenny’s mom reached across in front of her husband and grabbed her daughter’s hands. “Sweetheart, if we would have spent more time with you instead of with other people’s children, then maybe we could have helped you sort through it all. That’s what we were supposed to be doing as your parents, and we failed miserably at it.”

* * * *

As Stephanie listened to the conversation between the three Blacks, she also watched the play of emotions on Jenny’s face. She truly was sorry. Somehow Jenny had come to her own realization that her actions were not those of a normal person.

“I’d like to say one more thing before the sheriff locks me up.” Jenny stood and looked directly at Stephanie. “You have been hurt by this as much as anyone, Stephanie. Because of my delusional behavior, you left your home and the man you loved. Although you have done very well for yourself, I am truly sorry to have taken that time away from the two of you. I knew how much Kane loved you back then, and it made me crazy every time I saw you two together. That doesn’t excuse what I did then, but I wanted you to know how sorry I am and that, if I could, I would change it all.”

Stephanie knew that there was no way in hell that she wanted Jenny to spend time in prison. Crazy as it was, Jenny was no longer a threat to them or anyone else, but she was still in need of some serious therapy. Leaning over, she tugged at both Kane’s and Turk’s arms and gestured for them to leave the room with her.

“Sheriff, can you join us for a minute? I’d like to discuss something with you,” Stephanie asked. “You, too, Mr. Lawyer guy,” she said.

“It’s Samuels, Jarrod Samuels,” he told her.

“All right, you need to come along for this as well, Jarrod. It concerns your client, so bring a pen and paper.” Stephanie led all the men out of the room and into another free room directly across the hall.

“What is this about, Steph?” Turk asked

“We can’t send her to prison, guys,” she said.

“What…?” Both men yelled at the same time.

“Just listen to me for a second, please. As angry as I am with her right now, I can see just how truly awful she is feeling. Yes, she needs to be punished and deal with her issues, but prison is not the place for that. A hospital is.”

The sheriff stepped forward, saying, “This isn’t your call to make, missy. That lady in there shot Turk, and I’m sure he’ll want to press charges and make sure she spends a good ten years behind bars, right, Turk?”

Turk blanched when everyone turned to look at him. Dammit. Why did he have to be the one to decide?

“What do you mean by a hospital, Steph?” he asked.

“I think that she should have to spend some time in a psychiatric hospital. I’m sure her parents can find a really good one and that she has to stay there for at least a year. If she walks away, then Turk can file charges, but I think she is ready to deal with whatever issues she has. She’s not a danger to anyone but herself at the moment, so I think this is the best solution.”

Turk smiled and pulled Stephanie against him for a kiss.

“I think you’re right, baby girl. But all three of us have to agree on this.” Turk and Stephanie looked up at Kane expectantly.

“I think it’s probably the best way to get her the help she needs. As long as she agrees to any terms we decided, I’m all for it.”

The sheriff looked at Jarrod Samuels and asked, “Are you okay with this idea?”

“I’m all for any idea that keeps my client out of prison. She doesn’t need to be any more damaged by a stint in jail, but she definitely needs some help. This is the best solution for all involved, but whether she’ll go for it is another thing.”

Jarrod turned and headed back into the other room where the Black family waited.

After two hours of talking and negotiations, Jenny had agreed to spend the next year in a hospital near Toronto. Her parents would be renting an apartment close-by so they could see her as often as was allowed. She would receive one-on-one therapy as well as group therapy, and her parents asked if they could also get some help rebuilding their relationship with their daughter. The sheriff had agreed to allow Jenny and her parents to go home, escorted by a deputy and her lawyer, to pack some clothes for her stay in hospital. Then the deputy would escort Jenny to the airport to board her flight. There would be security from the hospital waiting when she landed so there was no chance of her running.

Hopefully this would be enough, but only time would tell.

* * * *

This time as the three of them walked out of the sheriff’s department, they knew that they would have to stop to answer questions.

“Miss Morrison, is it true that you are married to both Kane Bryson and Turk Delray?” one of the out of town reporters asked.

Surprised by the question, Stephanie could only smile and say, “That would be highly illegal, even in Kinsey.”

“Mr. Delray, what do you think about the woman who shot you, because she was jealous of your
relationship
with Mr. Bryson, getting off almost scot-free?” another idiot reporter asked.

“Miss Black is not getting off scot-free. She is spending the next year in intensive therapy in a psychiatric hospital that we chose for her. She isn’t a danger to anyone other than herself anymore, so putting her in prison would only do more harm than good. She is a troubled woman who needs to be helped by a doctor and her parents, and that’s all she needs. As for my relationship with Kane, he’s my business partner, and we are…”

Turk turned to look at both Kane and Stephanie, knowing if he said he was in a ménage relationship with them, all hell would break loose. It would probably damage Stephanie’s reputation as well as Kane’s.

Stepping forward, Stephanie smiled and said proudly, “I am in what is commonly referred to, by some of my close friends, as a
twofer
. What’s a twofer, you might ask? It’s having the love and respect of not one but two men, and it’s certainly not an uncommon thing in this town. There are a lot of twofer couples as well as some that are three or more. We don’t ask you to conform to our lifestyle to live here, but in Kinsey we do expect everyone to be treated with dignity and respect, and we take care of our own. If someone has a problem with the way I live my life, they don’t need to have anything to do with me, but I’ll be damned if I’ll allow anyone to malign my friends for falling in love. As newspeople, we report on death and destruction on a daily basis. We talk to victims of crime that are so scared they can’t even leave their homes. Many of us in Kinsey have found a life that is a perfect fit for us, so if you have a problem with it, that’s just too fucking bad.”

Taking both men by the hand, she pushed her way through the crowd of yelling reporters and walked straight over to Kane’s truck that was parked in front of the paper.

“Damn, angel eyes, that was spectacular.” Kane laughed and kissed the top of her head.