Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 3: Falling from the Sky\Maid to Love\When the Lights Go Down\Start Me Up by Sarina Bowen

Author:Sarina Bowen [Bowen, Sarina; Avery, Rebecca M.; Cousins, Amy Jo; Knight, Kristina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460339534
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“You did great during your testimony both for the grand jury and at trial. This next part will entail you telling the court how the defendant’s actions affected you. Corrine will give an impact statement as well, but being that you were a child at the time yours will have just as much bearing on the sentence that gets handed down,” the prosecutor said. “Both of you take a few minutes. I’ll come back and get you when it’s time.”

Looking across the table at Aunt Corrine, Courtney felt like they had fought the battle against the two men together this time…and won. The past three months had been both painful and liberating. Aside from the conviction of both suspects, and a slowly receding fear of men and people in general, the best thing to come from this experience was that it had brought the two of them closer. Like before the attack ever happened. Ian had a hand in that process and was waiting in the hallway of the courthouse along with his army buddies, Kayla, Tori and, of course, Jess.

Courtney grabbed Aunt Corrine’s hand. “With this thing almost over, a part of me worries that I won’t get to see you as often now.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. Neil and I will come down every chance we get, and hopefully you and Ian can come up our way and visit from time to time, as well,” Aunt Corrine replied.

Tears threatened to spill but Courtney forced them down. “I’d like that. There’s so much to catch up on. I don’t want to go back to only talking when some life event requires it. I want to talk just to hear your voice…and I want to talk often.”

“We’ve both experienced something no one should have to,” Corrine said. “And we’ve come out ahead this time, so I’ll be damned if anything will keep us apart now that this is finally over.”

When the prosecutor returned and ushered them into the courtroom, she noticed Ian and all their friends were already seated and waiting. She stayed right by Aunt Corrine’s side as they approached a podium facing the judge. The older woman pulled a handwritten note out of her pocket and carefully unfolded it, grabbed Courtney’s hand and began to read.

“Hatred is like having a hole in the bottom of your boat when you are far from shore. Once you let a little of it into your heart, it becomes a geyser that will eventually sink you. You will suddenly find you’ve started to hate all kinds of things that never bothered you before and all that negativity will take you down right along with your boat. To hate based on how someone looks or the things that make them unique, such as race, nationality, or gender—it doesn’t harm that person…it sinks you.

“I never hated those men for what they did to me that day. I figured they obviously hated themselves enough already if they had to harm another to ease their own pain and anger.

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