12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Mandy

I went to Michael's house after seeing him at the police station. He's got a hideaway key on the front porch, and I let myself in. After making a meal for him with the ingredients at hand, I laid down on his couch and fell asleep.

Warm hands nudged me from my stupor, and I looked up to see Michael's beautiful blue eyes sparkling like sapphires.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I was looking for you all over town."

"I wanted to make you a home-cooked meal for when you got out, and I just missed you, I guess."

He kneels in front of me and places his hand on my cheek. It's warm and soft and I just want to lean on it and stay like this forever. He's staring at me, and I try to look away, but he doesn't let me. He squeezes my hand and says my name softly.

"I love you, Mandy."

"Oh, god, Michael…"

"I want strings, Mandy."

"Stop it!"

"I want everything with you."

Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and I can't stop them. This is too much. This man is too good for me. How do I even deal with this when I'm still mired in shame?

"You have to forgive yourself, Mandy. Promise me you'll work on that for me."

I nod and he wipes my tears with a handkerchief that I don't know where he got. He sits down beside me and puts his arms around me. Finally! This is what I need right now. I need him and his comfort. The way only he knows how to give to me.

"We need to talk about Jensen Buchanan."

"Is he going to come after me, do you think?" My voice shakes.

"I don't think the mayor has had a chance to call him. But we need to settle that debt, baby."

"Yes, once the house sells…"

"No, we need to do it now. I Have a couple of contacts in New York that I think can help us negotiate things with Buchanan. Do you trust me?"

"Of course, I trust you, Michael. Where are we getting the money, though?"

"Do. You. Trust. Me?"

"Okay."

We hug again, and we stay like that for the longest time. Then we eat, and at night, we make love, trade words of love, and share dreams of the future. If we can really get this debt put behind me, I can forge a new life with Michael in it.

They text Michael that his hearing is the next day, early in the morning. We get ready together and go to the courthouse. It seems like everyone in town heard what happened and is here in this courtroom. Michael goes to sit next to his lawyer, and I find a seat next to one of Michael's brothers.

Ben leans close to me and tells me that it’s the same judge who let him go after hitting the mayor. I raise my eyebrows at how he says it, like he's proud. The mayor shows up in a wheelchair and looks pretty bad. He's got one of those neck braces on and has someone wheeling him inside the courtroom.

The whole courtroom reacts to his appearance and the judge has to give a few threats until everyone is silenced. Michael's lawyer is fast and provides the statements that both Michael and I signed. He pleads for a little discretion when my statement is presented, and the judge grants it.

"Mayor Mitchell, I have a statement here from Miss Schmidt that you were trying to coerce her into an inappropriate liaison with information you had from undisclosed sources. Is this true?"

The mayor's lawyer frowns upon hearing this. He whispers something into the mayor's ears and the mayor just brushes him off.

"This hearing is about the assault by Michael Hoffer, your honor. I don't see what that other information has anything to do with this."

"Mr. Hoffer claims the information as a motive. He was only defending Miss Schmidt's honor."

"Do I need to talk to your superiors about you, judge?"

"Are you seriously threatening me, Mitchell?"

The mayor's lawyer whisper-shouts some more things into the mayor's ear. They seem to be having a fight, and the mayor is losing.

"It's her word against mine, your honor," Mitchell says with a derisive tone.

"Then it's my prerogative to make this decision for all of us. Charges dismissed. And you need to pay a fine, Mayor Mitchell, for that threat you issued against me. It's on the record now."

Michael's family all jump for joy and I'm pulled to Michael's side by one of his brothers. He gives me a hug, and I can finally breathe now that Michael's not in trouble anymore. What happened in the courtroom doesn't seem really legal to me, but who am I to complain? My honey is free.

"Mr. Hoffer, a word." The judge calls out.

"Yes, your honor?" Michael and I approach the stand.

"I'm hoping you or one of your brothers will run for office soon, do you hear me?"

"Right, I'll talk to them," Michael answers. Then he turns to me and gives me a quick kiss.

"Let's go home," Michael whispers in my ear.

I cannot agree with him more.

Home is not as quiet as I hoped it would be. All of Michael's family is there celebrating with us. I don't know where the food and drink came from, but everyone is enjoying it. As an only child, I'm a little bit intimidated by big families like theirs.

Michael doesn't let me dwell on things for long, though. He grabs my hand and tugs me to a corner where we can be as private as possible in this house full of people.

"I need to ask you something, baby girl."

He's frowning, and I can sense a bit of insecurity there. I don't know what's gotten into him.

"What is it?"

"Would you have done it? Accepted the mayor's proposal?"

I gasp. "Of course not, Michael. That man is disgusting. I mean he's handsome, but I know he lies and manipulates and many other bad things that I don't want to know. I wouldn't want to get involved with a man like that."

"I'm glad, baby."

"Were you really worried about that? Don't you know me at all?"

"It's been five years. People change."

I search his face to be able to get a sense of what he's feeling. There's uncertainty there, and I need to address it.

"Why didn't you tell me that day with the permit?” he asks in a deep voice. “That was the day he said those things to you. I just know it."

"I didn't want you to think I was a failure. A loser. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm glad everything is out in the open now. I didn't like keeping things from you."

"You know I love you, right Mandy?"

I smile from the heart. "I love you too, Michael."

"Will you move in with me? I don't want to spend any more time apart from you than I have to."

"I just need to get my things from Ana's place, but after that, I'm yours."

"Don't say it that way because I'm going to want to make you mine as soon as we're alone."

"I don't have any objection to that."

Michael spends the rest of the night plying me with alcohol. Perhaps he thinks it’s the only way to get me to share a bed with him. I let him because he was having fun with his family all around us. We snuck out for about half an hour to get my things from Ana Maria's house. She was sad to see me go and told me I owed her details.

I promised I would tell her everything as soon as things were more settled. When we got back to Michael's house, people were still celebrating, but pretty soon, everyone started to leave. I was surprised that they left the house as spotless as they found it.

Michael cornered me in the kitchen and put his arms around my waist.

"I hope you weren't too overwhelmed by my family."

"I like them."

"Are you ready to go upstairs and start our own celebration?"

"I'm ready, Michael."

He kisses me gently and takes me upstairs to our room. We take each other's clothes off slowly like it is a ritual we do every evening, and we make love with light caresses and soft words. During the night, we share more secrets and make promises to one another.

We both agree we are ready to start our forever.