11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ana Maria

W e wake up to texts and missed calls from family and friends. I don't really understand the messages, so I turn to Justin, who is sleeping next to me. I nudge him on the shoulder, and he slowly opens his eyes.

"What's going on, gorgeous?"

"Something's happened, but I can't figure out what. Everyone is texting us."

He grabs his phone from the nightstand and frowns.

"My brother Ben sent me a link to a video. Let me pull it up."

What pulls up is a long-winded speech from Mayor Douchebag, where he talks about integrity and honor. Then screenshots of text messages appear on the screen. They seem to be from Ana's phone, and she's having a conversation with her best friend, Mandy about how I offered for her to be my wife to help me with my campaign.

"How did he get those texts?"

"I'm betting illegally. I guess I'll have to get that private detective my brother's suggested. This is a disaster."

He gets up and starts putting his clothes on. My mind is going a mile a minute. The citizens of Woodland Falls will see this as a betrayal, and it will probably be the end of his campaign for the mayor's seat. I hurry to shower and change to help him strategize.

When I come downstairs, he's a wreck, and talking on the phone to one of his brothers is my guess. I make us some coffee and toast while he's on the phone. He keeps pacing all over my living room. I remember Lindsay from the Woodland Falls Gazette and an idea starts brewing in my mind.

Finally, Justin is off the phone, and I pass him a cup of coffee. He gives me a small smile and takes a sip.

"This is really good. Thank you, I needed it."

"I think I have an idea."

"Oh yeah? Lay it on me."

"Well, we get the dirt with the detective, and I know Sam and Mandy have some dirt on the mayor. We could do our own live stream about his evil deeds."

"I don't know if that would work or just confuse the community."

"Let me at least talk to Mandy and Sam to see if they're willing to share their stories."

"Yeah, do that. I'll talk to Ben about the detective. I want to know how he got those texts."

Once we had breakfast, we headed to our respective jobs. Surprise, surprise, my front yard had a TV van and some reporters waiting for us. We declined to make any comments and just got in our vehicles.

The hate mail and calls start as soon as I get to the library. People are outraged and are not afraid to show their feelings. I keep my head down and do my job as best as I can, but it's not easy. When I close up the library at five in the afternoon, I notice someone has sprayed graffiti all over the front of the building.

That’s the last straw. I break out in tears. I sit down on the front steps and hug myself. That's how Justin finds me. I feel him sit next to me and put his strong arms around me. I recognize his aftershave immediately and just let myself go.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, gorgeous."

I'm just sniffling and can't say a word. It's partly his fault, but also mine for accepting the agreement and babbling to my BFF. The worst part is that the real reason I'm crying isn’t so much the hate aimed at us but the possibility that Justin will call the wedding off because his campaign was a bust.

I know, I'm a horrible person. The thought of being Justin Hoffer's wife makes me happy deep inside and I don't want that dream to end anytime soon.

"I'll paint over it tomorrow, don't you worry."

He means the graffiti. I nod my head so he knows I'm listening to him. I start to calm down as the warmth from his body seeps into mine. I'm afraid to ask him about the wedding.

"Will this kill your campaign?"

"Normally, it would, but we're dealing with Major Douchebag here. A lot of people might prefer me as mayor despite what happened."

The steady tone of his voice makes me realize he's not giving up. He's not giving even an inch, and I'm glad.

"I'm here for you, Justin."

Tonight Justin can't stay with me, so I go home alone. I get my dinner ready and read a romance novel on my e-reader when my phone rings. It says unknown, and I know better than to answer it, but what if it's an emergency?

"Hello?"

"Miss Gonzalez, this is Mayor Mitchell."

"What do you want?"

"I just thought we should talk. Can I come over?"

I don't know why I say yes, but he tells me he'll be right over. I'm pacing in my living room and I don't know if I should call Justin or one of his brothers to come be my backup. I know nothing good can come from any conversation I have with Gene Mitchell.

When my doorbell rings, I jump up, my nerves completely shattered. I go and open the door and let the hateful man in. Once he's inside, we start a staring contest that seems never-ending.

"What do you want?"

"Has the fallout from Hoffer's deceit been difficult for you, Ana?"

"People are upset."

"How are you feeling regarding this entire situation? You know he's using you, right?"

"Justin is a good man."

"Oh, you've slept with him. What a shame."

"Did you come all this way to harass me?"

"He's just going to use you and throw you out once he's done with you."

"How did you get those texts from my phone?"

"That's my little secret."

I feel foolish now that I've let this man into my house. I wish I could get something from him to use against him, but I'm not that wily.

"If you have nothing else to say, you can leave right now."

"Oh, but I have plenty to say. Break the engagement, or I will tell everyone your fiancé is a murderer."

I go pale and grab the arm of the chair for support.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can ask him about his late wife. What really happened. He killed her."

"Get out of my house right now."

I get up and open the front door. He just leers at me and gets up as slowly as he can. It seems like forever until he's out of my house, and I feel dirty for having let him anywhere near me. The first thing I do is call Justin and ask him to come over.

When Justin arrives, I jump into his arms and hug him tight.

"Hey, what's going on, gorgeous?"

"He was here."

"Who?"

"The Douchebag."

"What?! What did he want? Did he touch you? Are you okay?"

He pulls away from me and starts running his hands all over my body as if making sure I'm physically okay. I stop him and go into his arms once again. How do I tell him about this new threat?

"I shouldn't have let him come here. I made a mistake."

"What did he want? What did he say?"

"He started taunting me about our relationship—how you were going to use me and discard me. Then he threatened us. He said if I didn't break up the engagement with you, he would tell everyone you are a killer."

Justin tenses in my arms, and I try to look up at him. He's pale and has a weird look on his face.

"Why would he say such a thing?"

He pulls away from me and guides me to the couch. We sit next to each other, but he doesn't take my hand like he normally would. He just looks forward and puts his hands on his knees.

“He said—” I stutter. “He said you killed your late wife.”

Justin winces.

"Ellie lost a lot of blood during her labor. Then there were complications. They did everything they could to stabilize her. Only she was gone. A vegetable. It was horrible. I didn't know what to do. I was her only family. For a few weeks, I just let things stand as they were, but one night, I realized the truth. That she was no longer with me."

I look at his profile and see that tears are coming down from his eyes.

"That's when I decided to let her go. So, I told the doctors to stop life support. She died as soon as they took her off the machines."

"I'm so sorry, Justin."

"Ana, I've been a coward. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and one of them was keeping a distance between us because I couldn't close that issue with my wife. I dread the moment Daisy asks me about her mother and how she died."

"Ellie wouldn't have wanted to stay alive like that. My opinion doesn't matter, but I think you did the right thing."

"That man is the lowest scum on the earth. That he would bring up my wife's death to threaten us. I really hope the investigator finds some dirt on him." He hesitates. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I don't care if he tells people about my wife's death. It's something I have to live with, and I think it might even come back and hurt him instead."

"Tomorrow, I'll talk to Sam and Mandy to see if they'll come forward. I promise you, this guy is not getting away with it, and you'll be mayor of Woodland Falls before you know it."

I'm filled with the desire to bring down Mayor Douchebag. That man does not deserve to be mayor of our beautiful town.

Justin changes his mind and decides to stay with me tonight. We go to bed and make love. Not sex. Our caresses are loving, and they convey the sentiment we're afraid to reveal to one another. That there's love between us.