The Protectors Series: Book One - The Beginning

The Protectors Chapter 15

Chapter 15

          The storm did not wake Jade in the middle of the night, as they normally would have. She was deep into a pain medicine induced sleep.

            She woke up the next morning groggy, and somewhat disoriented. The clock on her night table was flashing.

            Jade sat up and pulled the covers down. The power must have gone out in the middle of the night she thought as she crawled across the bed and pulled open the curtains.

            Her heart clenched when she remembered the last time she looked out the window was last Friday, and Tobey had been standing down below.

            She wished with all her heart that he would be smiling back up at her when she looked down, but was disappointed, then slightly confused as she looked around.

            Instead of Tobey standing there, a huge tree had fallen into the yard. Branches and leaves were scattered all across the green grass.

            Jade jumped off her bed quickly, and then swayed a little as the blood rushed from her head. She had not moved that quickly since before the crash.

            She grabbed a pair of flip flops from her closet before running out of her room, down the stairs and out into the porch.

            There were men working all across the yard, cleaning up the mess from the storm. Jade slipped on her flip flops then made her way around the side of the house.

            A group of men were standing around the tree, cutting off branches. One man in particular looked familiar to Jade.

            She gasped and called out immediately, “Dad!”

            The man turned around and a smile crossed his face as he stepped forward to pull his daughter into a hug.

            Jade had not seen him for over a month, since he was overseas working at one of the new offices. She pulled away after a minute and looked up into the face of her father.

            Jonathan Cooper was a very handsome man. His thick black hair, green eyes and perfect face caught everyone’s attention when he walked into a room.

            “Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?”

            “I’m ok…” her eyes filled with tears immediately, from both sadness and the happiness of seeing her father.

            He looked towards the men working around the tree and spoke, “Ill be back in a few minutes,” he then turned to Jade, “Let’s go for a walk.”

            They walked in silence to the middle of the large yard, away from all the people cleaning up.

            “Now I know….” Jonathan was cut off by his daughter.

            “I don’t want to leave dad.” Tears fell down the side of her face, no matter how hard she tried to get a hold of herself.

            “I know sweetheart, I know…” he whispered and pulled her into a hug, “Your mother said it’s for the best…”

            Jade frowned and pulled out of the hug, then took a step away, wrapping her arms around herself. Her father loved her mother more than anything in the world. He would do anything that she asked for, and clearly her mother had spoken.

            “I love you with all my heart Jade and I know you do not what to leave, but your mother knows best,” Jonathan put a hand on his daughters shoulder.

            “You are growing up so fast Jade… and one day you will understand this is for the best.”

            “Yeah, the best for mom, I know what happens if I don’t stay with Jared, you guys lose everything; I know. I’m not clueless.”

            Jonathan was silent, and Jade knew she had been right.

            “This has to be done sweetheart. It breaks my heart to see you like this, it really does, but this is life, and life isn’t always fun and games.”

            Jade wiped her eyes, sadness turning into anger. She was angrier with her mother for convincing her father to go through with it all, but he wasn’t completely off the hook.

            “Did you even try to talk mom out of it?”

            “I did,” he sighed, “but she wouldn’t hear any of it and was set of her plan.”

            Jade took a deep breath, steadying herself. She was torn between her parent’s future and her own happiness, but she knew what she had to do.

            “All right…” she whispered. “I’ll go to Paris.”