Chapter Thirty-two

Will took over caring for Guy while the five women somehow squeezed into the hallway bathroom Jocelyn had often locked herself in during Guy’s episodes, shaking with fear, hating her life, wishing him dead.

Coco was the one shaking with fear now, perched on the toilet seat so Lacey could fix her hair and Zoe could apply makeup. Tessa leaned against the counter, making notes for Coco’s speech.

Jocelyn crouched on the floor, holding the actress’s tiny hands.

“You don’t have to do this, Coco.”

Coco looked down. “Yes I do.”

“But you do have to look at me,” Zoe insisted. “Unless you are willing to settle for less-than-perfect makeup.”

Coco complied. “And I want to do this, Joss,” she added. “Not just for you, not just for me, but for every woman who’s ever been trapped in an awful situation.”

“Great opening line,” Tessa said, scratching on paper.

“Thanks,” Coco said. “I came up with that on the plane.”

“You don’t need lines.” Jocelyn squeezed Coco’s hands gently. “You just have to talk from the heart.”

“I’m an actress. I need lines.”

“You’re a woman, just like us,” Jocelyn told her. “And if you want to be heard, you will have to look at the camera and speak honestly. And, honey, you have to be prepared for backlash.”

“Backlash?” Lacey asked, holding up a strand of Coco’s hair as she combed through it. “What kind of backlash could there be for doing something so right?”

“Miles’s fans, for one,” Coco said. “They’re rabid women who would die for him.”

Zoe snorted. “Then maybe they should move in with him.”

Coco smiled up at her. “I like you. Have you ever thought about acting?”

Surprising all of them, Zoe shook her head. “No limelight for me, doll face. But I wouldn’t mind the cash and cars. Close your eyes. I’m going all smoky on the creases.”

Coco obliged and gave Jocelyn’s fingers a squeeze back. “I’m going to be fine,” she said. “As long as you’re with me and you field the questions about why we did this.”

“Gladly.”

“And maybe that’ll help you get some clients back,” Coco added. “I’m really sorry that your business has crashed and burned.”

Jocelyn shrugged. “I’m not. I’m moving on.”

Lacey froze mid-comb. “You are?”

“I’m going to be the spa manager at Casa Blanca.”

Zoe shrieked.

Tessa gasped.

And Lacey dropped the comb and fell to her knees. “Jocelyn! Thank you!”

“Why are you all surprised?” Coco asked. “She’s got the stud ballplayer who’d do anything for her and great friends who rally. And a kind of quirky but very cute little old father.”

Jocelyn smiled at her, so eternally grateful that Coco hadn’t given her a fight when she’d explained her decision to forgive Guy. “Exactly,” Jocelyn agreed. “Why are you all shocked?”

“But I thought…” Tessa put down the paper, frowning. “Will was interviewing for a job in L.A.”

“He blew it off to stay in Mimosa Key and be the best damn carpenter this island’s ever had.” And the best damn man Jocelyn had ever known.

“The only job he’s interviewing for is to be your main squeeze,” Coco said. “That man loves your ass.”

“Ahem,” Tessa said pointedly.

“Amen,” Lacey replied.

“I like this girl,” Zoe said with a grin.

Jocelyn just beamed. “He might get that job.”

“Great.” Coco laughed. “It’ll be awesome for you to finally let go of that pesky virginity you’ve been carting around for a lifetime.”

That was met with stunned silence and Jocelyn felt heat creep up her neck.

Zoe’s hands froze mid-eye-shadow-stroke. “You’re a virgin?”

Jocelyn swallowed. “Not anymore.”

“But… with Will… that was your first?”

She nodded, then looked up to Lacey and Tessa for help, but got nothing except open-mouthed, wide-eyed disbelief.

“You know I was never with anyone in college,” Jocelyn said.

“But, we assumed… after… no one?” Zoe shook her head as if the thought just would not find a place in her brain. “At your age?”

“Zoe, not everyone is the sexual tigress you are.”

“But not anyone is a virgin at your age.”

“Well I was,” Jocelyn said.

Zoe gave Jocelyn a look, then straightened to get back to work on Coco’s face, still unable to process the unbelievable news.

“So,” Tessa said, tapping her pen on the paper. “You don’t tell your three best friends that you’re a virgin, but you share that with a client.”

“Coco’s more than a client,” Jocelyn said quickly. “She’s my friend, too. And she is a sister in…” She closed her eyes. She’d have to talk about this now, so she might as well practice with the ones who loved her the most. “Abuse.”

No one spoke for a few long seconds, but Jocelyn and Coco squeezed each other’s hands, the shared experience always there between them.

“All right, Ms. Kirkman,” Zoe said, grabbing a hand mirror. “Now you’re ready to face your adoring fans.”

“Yes, I am.” But she didn’t even look, standing slowly and pulling Jocelyn up with her. “You guys are all awesome and Jocelyn is lucky to have you.”

“We know,” Tessa said, reaching out to hug Jocelyn. “We love her even if we don’t know her secrets.”

“You know them all now,” Jocelyn said. “And in a few minutes, so will the rest of the world.”

“Except the Oldest Living Virgin part.” Zoe grabbed Jocelyn to nudge her onto the toilet seat. “Uh, you need a little makeover, too, Joss. You don’t want the only man you ever slept with to see you like this.”

Ten minutes later, Coco and Jocelyn walked hand in hand to the front patio of 543 Sea Breeze Drive, the place of so many unhappy, violent moments in the past. The sun had finally slipped out from behind the clouds and the crowd of reporters had grown exponentially.

A cheer erupted at the sight of Coco, who walked up to a podium hastily erected by a media outlet after she’d requested one for the press conference.

She glanced nervously at Jocelyn. “Maybe you should, you know, introduce me.”

“Maybe you should introduce yourself.”

Coco nodded and headed toward the microphone, the papers Tessa had written fluttering on the stand. She tapped the mike, and that just elicited more of a roar and a cringe from Coco. Jocelyn walked up next to her and took her hand.

“C’mon, Coco, you can do this. You can do this for every woman just like us.”

“Hello,” she said into the mike. When the crowd quieted, she leaned closer and said, “I’m here to speak on behalf of every girl who’s ever been hit, every woman who’s ever been beaten, and every wife who’s ever had to lie to get away from violence.”

Complete silence fell over the crowd and a soft gust of wind picked up one of the papers and floated it away. Coco ignored the loss, looking out to the crowd.

“I have a message to give to you, and I want you to deliver it to every corner of this earth because abuse has to stop.”

Behind her, the screen door opened and Guy stepped out on the patio, his face the image of confusion. Instantly Jocelyn stepped away, but Coco kept talking.

Jocelyn reached him, turned him around, and guided him inside. Will was in the living room, leaning against the brick wall, dividing his attention between Coco live on TV and Jocelyn.

“He’s not quite understanding what’s going on,” Will said. “I did my best to explain.”

“It’s just part of the show, Guy,” she said, guiding him to his recliner.

“I never saw this part of the show.” He slumped into the chair, automatically patting the arm for his remote. “Where’s the gifting part? When do you gift me with something special?”

“Right now,” she said, kneeling next to him.

Will walked in and handed her the remote. “It was in the—”

“Dishwasher, I know.” She smiled up at him. “What do you think we should gift Guy with for all the trouble he’s been through these past few weeks?”

Will reached for her. “Let’s talk about it.” Wrapping her in his arms, he took a few steps away from Guy. “You’ve forgiven him?”

She nodded. “Completely. I can’t let the past ruin the present, Will. And I can’t spend whatever time he has left hating him.” The announcement felt so good and right on her lips.

“And me?”

“You? I could never hate you. I love—”

“Wait.” He cupped her face with both hands. “Me first. Jocelyn, I love you. I want to live every day for you, with you, next to you. I trust you, I need you, and you have always been the only one for me. Always.”

A happiness so bone-deep she could feel it down to her toes washed over her. “I love you too, Will.”

“Am I on your list of everything now?”

The list that now included family and trust and forever love? “You’re right at the top, where I intend to keep you for the rest of our—”

“Excuse me!” Guy called. “My gift, Missy?”

“—lives,” Will finished for her, guiding her back to the recliner. “How’s this, buddy? We’re getting married.”

Jocelyn sucked in a soft breath at the announcement, but Guy sat bolt upright. “Really?”

“Yup,” Will continued. “We’re going to live right next door and keep an eye on you.” He threw Jocelyn a questioning glance, and she nodded happily. “And we’re having kids.”

Guy tried—and failed—to hide his smile. “Kids running around here calling me crazy?”

“No.” Jocelyn put one hand on Guy’s arm and the other on Will’s strong shoulder, gratitude for the gift of forgiveness and love bursting in her chest. “They won’t call you crazy. They’ll call you… Grandpa.”