Page 10 of Rush Turner (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #6)

Jessa

I wanted to tell Rush where I lived, but I was still scared to trust people. That’s when I remembered Ethel was at his shop. I called a taxi and he took me home. I would use the van to get the others. Together we would decide what to do. But first, I had things to do.

Three days later, I pulled into the driveway, and my younger siblings came running. Joanie threw herself into my arms, and Aunt Marie walked out to greet me. Aunt Marie was my mom's aunt. She loved my mother as if she were her own daughter.

She took my hand, patting it as she pulled me along. “Come inside and you can tell all of us what happened,” Marie said. “How are you, dear?” she said under her breath.

“I’m good, thank you for allowing the kids to stay here.”

“Of course, dear. I want all of you to stay safe. If anyone had come here, I would have killed them.”

“I know you would have.” I hugged my siblings. I glanced around to ensure everyone was present. As soon as we got inside, everyone took a seat, even the little ones.

“When I was on my way back to Little Brook, Ethel broke down…”

“I was afraid of that,” Aunt Marie interrupted.

I had this man stop to help me, and he scared me to death. I almost sprayed him with my pepper spray. But I didn’t because there was a little glimmer of something in his eyes that I knew I could trust.”

“Who was he?” Janie asked.

“His name is Rush Turner, and he has a mechanic's garage in Fraiser Mountain. He’s also a former Navy SEAL. I had to tell him about Kyle because Kyle followed us and showed up at that little apartment I rented. Thank the Lord he was there because Kyle kicked the door down.”

“Oh, my goodness. That is horrible. Yes, thank God he was there,” Aunt Marie said.

I explained to everyone what happened. Then I looked at the children I was now raising since my mother and stepfather were killed when their plane crashed in the mountains.

They were the only ones on the plane. My stepfather was the pilot.

It was a terrible accident that nearly destroyed my siblings.

They felt lost without their loving parents.

That was two years ago. My life has been spent caring for my siblings since that day.

I loved them so much that I would do anything for them.

I looked at them, not knowing what they would say or do. “I sold the house.”

“What?” Joanie and Janie said at the same time. “What about Mom and Dad? That’s their home,” Janie said.

“Janie, sweetie, Mom and Dad are gone. We need to move into a home that won’t cost so much to live in. I rented us a house in Honeywood; it’s not far from where Willa Mae lives. We’re going to love it there.”

“What about our friends?” Joseph muttered. “We have always lived there. I don’t want to move.”

“I know you don’t. But we need to; we have no choice. Now that Kyle is taken care of, we can start moving forward. Aunt Marie, I don’t want you to worry, we’ll visit you often. You can even come visit us; the old house I rented is huge.”

“I would love to visit all of you. Now, all of you know Jessa is right, you have to move on,” Marie looked at me. Jessa, what are you going to be doing in Honeywood?”

“That’s the exciting part. We are going to raise goats and sell the milk. Willa Mae says goat milk is in high demand. Plus, I can work from home.”

Sometimes I feel like I’m under water raising these kids. What if I was doing it wrong? I knew what to do when Joanie told me about Kyle. She said he was a man, and he kept trying to kiss her. She said he tried to force her to have sex. So I called the police.

That’s when he started his terror on our family. He and his friends attacked Jeremy and me when we were in town. He attacked Joanie and Janie when they were coming home from school. That’s when I packed us up and moved to Aunt Marie’s.

Marie and I planned for me to rent a small apartment in another town so that we would have an income. I was always scared he would find us, and I was right.

I was living in San Diego, singing. Singing was my dream, and I had gotten a full-time Job singing at this hot spot on the beach, when my parents died.

I left all of that behind, because my siblings were more important than any job singing.