Love You Moore Read online

  Holly sat with her on the floor and started picking up the papers.

  “What are you doing?” Abby asked in surprise.

  “I’m picking these up and when your parents get home we will talk to them about it.” Holly replied.

  “But they don’t know that you know, you know, because of your dad.” Abby had been encouraged by her parents not to tell Holly the truth. Since her father was the Assistant D.A. it was best she was kept in the dark about it.

  Abby had told her one night after one of the really bad nightmares she experienced after the accident. Holly had woken her up from screaming and Abby blurted out, “it’s my fault he’s dead, I killed him, I was driving.”

  Holly was confused for a moment, but through the sobs, Abby explained what had actually happened that day,

  “Are you going to tell your father?” Abby asked not caring if she did.

  “I don’t see why he has to know. What’s done is done. Sounds to me like the SOB deserved what he got, I’m not saying anything.” Holly confirmed.

  This had actually brought them closer together. They each had a secret from their parents. Holly knew the truth and Abby had told her.

  “Look Abbs, I have known about this for three years, if your parents get nervous now, that’s their deal. I promised you I wouldn’t tell my folks then and I don’t intend on telling them now.” They reached to hug each other “I do however want to pick up all this blue paper. It’s kinda creeping me out.”

  She and Abby picked up the papers and put them all in pile on the kitchen table. She wanted that to be the first thing her parents saw when they walked through the door. She was angry at them for keeping this from her. Abby imagined it was for her own good but she was still upset.

  Abby and Holly heard the car doors slam. They had just finished picking up the mess Abby had made looking for more letters. She knew it couldn’t be a fluke that the one time she checked the mail there just happened to be a letter in it from Roy. She no longer referred to him as Uncle Roy, she no longer considered him a relative of her. She found the papers in a locked desk drawer in her dad’s office. She no longer cared about respecting his space, she needed to find them. When she saw that there were over 150 of them, she almost vomited in the desk drawer.

  “Abby we’re ho……” her mom stopped abruptly. Abby heard something fall to the floor and crash.

  “Tom!” Abby’s mother screamed in a panic.

  Her dad rushed into the house to see what was wrong. He looked at his wife, followed her gaze to the table. They both looked up and saw Abby staring at them with accusing eyes and next to her was Holly not accusing at all, it was more like pity.

  They came up with the excuses Abby thought they would. “We only did it to protect you, we didn’t want to hurt you, yadda yadda yadda.” Abby was having none of it.

  “How could you hide this from me?” She screamed.

  “Abby please calm down.” her mother pleaded, “we can talk about this rationally or we can scream all night, your choice”

  Abby felt like screaming but she knew she would get more answers if she kept calm.

  “Ok, I am listening” Abby said calmly and sat at the kitchen table, followed by Holly. She and Holly had already explained that Holly was aware of the situation.

  Her dad started. “We got the first letter about six months after Roy was incarcerated. I guess once you stop drinking and your head clears, you can remember things differently. I went to see him, to confront him about the letter. He tried to convince me to go to the DA and tell them he was innocent. You can’t leave me in here for something I’m not guilty of he said, HA not guilty he is totally the reason this whole mess happened. I told him that he needed to take responsibility for once in his life and stop blaming others for his actions.

  “How can my own brother be so incredulous?” he asked all aghast. Incredulous indeed, I guess he had time to look up new words in the dictionary too

  He said he was going to have his lawyer appeal his conviction. Since he had pleaded guilty and accepted the sentence in court there was nothing he could do. I wasn’t 100% sure of that, but he wouldn’t know any difference either and I thought that could buy me some time if needed. He said that he was going to continue to write letters to you until you owned up for the wrong doing you did and set him free, can you believe that, he tried to rape you, caused the accident, killed the poor boy driving the other vehicle and he is claiming you need to own up. He is some piece of work. Well after that your mother and I installed the locked mail box so that if the letters continued to come we could intercept them. We came up with the vandals excuse so you wouldn’t question it. We never meant to lie to you Abby. We honestly didn’t think it would go on this long. I don’t know why I kept them, I guess I thought if Roy tried anything I could bring in all the letters and show harassment and possibly get his sentence extended or at least parole denied.

  He tried to reach for Abby’s hand and she pulled away, this hurt him she could tell. She didn’t care at this very moment. If she had known this was going on she may have been able to fix it, speak to Uncle Roy, make him understand or at least be prepared if her world came crashing down.

  “I can never see Jimmy again” she whispered. “This will make him hate me. I sent an innocent man to prison so I wouldn’t have to go myself.

  “He is hardly innocent.” Holly interjected. Everyone turned to look at her. “You said yourself Abby, you were driving just fine until he started grabbing at you. If he would have just kept to himself and done nothing, none of this would have happened. It is his entire fault.”

  Abby started to cry. “It doesn’t matter, when Jimmy finds out he isn’t going to want to have anything to do with me. He has to think of his career and image. Something like this will end all he has worked for, for sure. I have to talk to your dad Holly, tell him the truth face the consequences.”

  “They never have to know Abby.” Holly stated. “You’ve had it hidden from you for the last three years and you live here, how would Jimmy or my father ever know, unless you told them?”

  “Yes but if Jimmy ever did find out and knew that I hid the truth from him, then what, he hates me forever.” Abby said turning to everyone at the table. “How can I not say anything?

  “You just don’t.” Holly exclaimed.

  Abby looked at her with shock and disbelief.

  “Holly, you are always so ethical with these things, how can you tell me to just act like this is not happening, like it’s no big deal?” she said barely above a whisper.

  Holly turned to look Abby in the eye, she was crying now too. “Because over the last two months, I have seen you happier than I have ever seen you. Something tragic happened to you three years ago that you cannot change no matter who you tell or what you confess, it doesn’t change anything. Your uncle needed reality to slap him in the face to own up to what he had put people though all his life. He still hasn’t taken responsibility Abby, he is trying to get you to take the blame so he can get out of jail even though he caused this whole mess. Don’t you see? It doesn’t help anything having you go tell my dad and what, get probation or time in Juvenile Detention, for reckless endangerment, have this all come up again, have Mitchell’s parents go through all of that again? That’s crazy Abby! Jimmy will not find out unless you tell him. You were a juvenile at the time of the accident and your name wasn’t even in the papers. All the records show your uncle was driving and he was the cause of the accident.”

  Abby was shaking her head trying to make sense of what Holly was saying. She thought to herself, “Could I really just not say anything?” She looked up and saw her parents staring at her, hoping she would accept Holly’s rationale. They were thankful Holly was there. Abby’s mother had her hand over Holly’s in silent appreciation. They sat in silence for quite awhile. No one dared saying anything to Abby while she sat there contemplating her choices, afraid it would sway her to call Clifford Applebee and negatively impact the rest of her life.


  “Ok.” Abby relented. “You win, I won’t say anything.” Abby could hear her father exhale, her mother wiped her tears away, stood up from the table and gave Abby a hug. She also hugged Holly, tightly. She owed Holly big time.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 13

  That was the last it was spoken about. Life continued just as it had before Abby knew about the letters. Her parents went about their business as if nothing had happened. School was all a buzz over the Winter Formal and everyone’s plans over the Christmas break. Abby was going to skip the dance this year. Holly had suggested they go together without dates and have just a fun time hanging out. Abby declined, she just wanted away from the hustle and bustle, she planned on staying home, getting pizza and talking to Jimmy. She invited Holly to join her but she knew Holly would rather be at a dance if she could. It was the weekend before Christmas, Jimmy had told her he would try to come for a visit before he had to go to Mississippi to be with his parents, but it wasn’t looking good. He was very busy in the recording studio. He tried to persuade her to go to the dance and have fun. She didn’t feel like being at a school dance where she knew Billy would try his hardest to start something up with her. She told Jimmy should would rather be home talking to him. In the middle of their conversation the doorbell rang.

  “Abby, there is someone on the porch here to see you.” Her father yelled up the stairs.

  “Hold on one sec Jimmy someone’s at the door for me, probably Holly making one last ditch effort to get me to the dance.” Abby told Jimmy.

  “Want to call me back?” Jimmy offered.

  “No, this shouldn’t take long, one sec ok?” She headed down the stairs with the phone in hand. She was wearing her pajamas and her hair was in a ponytail, there was no way Holly was going to convince her to get all dolled up and head to the high school. She opened the door and dropped the phone. Jimmy was standing on her front porch with his phone to his ear.

  “You still there Abby?” he asked into the phone jokingly.

  Abby jumped into his arm and hugged him tightly.

  “What are you doing here?” she cried.

  “Trying to breathe at the moment.” he kidded her again. “Merry Christmas.” he said through chattering teeth.

  “Let’s go in to the house,” she told him, “it’s freezing out here, the weather isn’t conducive to a country boy.” she was the one teasing now.

  Jimmy greeted her parents and he was invited to stay with them.

  “I appreciate that, unfortunately I can only stay for a short time. I have to be back in LA in the morning.”

  “In the morning?” Abby said in disbelief. “Why so soon?” she was already sad that he was leaving and he had just gotten there.

  “I have a meeting I can’t miss but I wanted to come to bring you your Christmas present.” Jimmy informed her.

  Abby was glad for any time she could be with him. She told him she also had a present for him and she was to follow her to her room.

  “Abby?” her mother questioned.

  “Stop worrying Mom, it’s nothing like that geeze.” She said as she led Jimmy up the stairs.

  Jimmy laughed nervously and her parents watched them ascend the staircase.

  “Me first." She said and made him sit on her bed and close his eyes.

  He heard rustling, a dresser drawer close and her curse as she banged her knee on the footboard of her bed. She then sat next to him on the bed.

  “Ok open your eyes” Abby told him.

  “If you’re not dressed then we are both in big trouble.” Jimmy stated with a laugh. Abby slapped his arm in jest.

  “Open your eyes” she demanded though her laughter.

  He was holding a beautifully wrapped box. He looked at her said, “You didn’t need to get me anything, just having you in my life is the best present I could ask for.”

  Her heart started to pound as it always did when he was like this to her, which was always.

  “Just open it” she prodded.

  He gingerly peeled the tape off each end. Slid his finger under the fold and took off the paper and laid it on her bed. He took the cover off the box and looked inside. It was a photo album with a picture of she and him on the cover from the first weekend they met, his trip to Maine and her trip out to LA. He flipped through the pages remembering that first great weekend with Holly and the band. Pictures of the concert, when they were all at the mall, the fans that approached them, hanging out on campus and all together on the bus. He then relived his weekend to the Coast, eating enough seafood to replenish the fishing industry, walking the Breakwater, sightseeing in Camden. Then he saw the pictures she took from her trip out to LA. The limo, him and her in front of his house, all dressed up for dinner at London West Hollywood, hanging by the pool and a photo of her and him the morning they left for home. She’d had a black eye in that one. He closed the book and sat there looking down at it. Abby’s pulse quickened, “Did he not like it? Why would he? Such a stupid gift, I should have bought something, but what? What doesn’t he already have” she thought to herself and franticly thought to come up with something to say to appease the awkwardness. She was about to apologize for the silly gift when he looked at her with tears in his eyes, this made Abby gasp. Was he so embarrassed over the stupid book it brought tears to his eyes?

  “Abby…this is” he started when Abby stopped him.

  “I know, I’m sorry, it’s stupid, I…”

  “No,” he snapped making her jump. “It’s not stupid. It’s great. There is nothing I wanted more. This is amazing. You put so much time and thought into it. My gift pales in comparison.” he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a CD.

  “I wrote you a song.” he said quietly and handed it to Abby.

  “Oh my God.” Abby stated. “Thank you. Can I listen to it?”

  “If you want to.” Jimmy replied.

  Abby jumped off the bed and put the CD into her stereo and pushed play. The most beautiful melody she had ever heard came out of the speakers. The ballad was as if he were speaking directly to her. The chorus is what made the tears start to flow,

  “You say that you care for me and I know it’s true,

  They never seemed sincere before,

  But Baby please believe me when I tell you

  I Love You Moore.”

  When the song finished Abby looked at Jimmy. Her heart felt like it was going to come right out of her chest. He took both of her hands in his pulled her closer to him.

  “I love you Abby.” he said with more conviction then she had ever heard before. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone. I know it’s soon, we have only known each other for a few months, but I knew, I knew the moment I saw you in the auditorium crying in the hallway, with your eyes all red and your nose running, that I had just met the girl of my dreams.”

  Abby had a feeling she was looking a lot like she did that first night but she was crying for a whole different reason this time.

  “I love you too.” she confirmed. “I knew it from the moment you handed me your handkerchief. I knew it wasn’t a silly schoolgirl crush. I love you now and forever.”

  They embraced and he started kissing her. The same tender kiss she remembered from that night on the bus. She held him tighter and it now resembled more like the kiss from that day at his pool when he said she was going to get him onto trouble. There would be no interruption this time, even though her parents were down stairs she knew they wouldn’t come up. Is this how she wanted it? Did she want their first time to be while sneaking around in her bedroom? The more they kissed the more she convinced herself it was how she wanted it. She was on his lap now, straddling him just like the day by the pool. She leaned on him and he rested back on her pillow. His hands were moving up and down her back. She slipped her hands under his jacket, under his shirt. She could feel the muscles in his stomach and chest tighten as she caressed his skin. He flipped her over so now he was on top of her. He looked at her like he was going to say so
mething but then started kissing her again. Caressing her neck, nibbling on her ear softly, moving his mouth over her cheeks barely touching. She could feel his hot breath on her face and her heart pounding in her chest. She moved her hands down his back. She slid them in between her stomach and his. She started to unbutton his jeans. He stopped and so did she. She didn’t dare move.

  “Abby?” he whimpered.

  “Yes?” she answered.

  “I don’t think this is the right time or place for this.” he whispered in her ear.

  “Why not?” she argued, “I think it’s a pretty good time for this and what better place than in a bed.” she patted the mattress smiling coyly at him.

  “Well, I can think of a better time without having your parents downstairs and you’re still only seventeen, committing a felony wasn’t on my agenda for this evening.” he raised himself off her and sat up.

  The last comment made her turn cold, thinking of the conversation she had had with Holly and her parents a few days ago. She sat up and looked at him.

  He took her facial expression as hurt and rejection. This made him wince, he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “Abby, please, I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry I took it this far tonight.” he apologized.

  “No it’s ok, I understand, I really do, don’t feel bad, I think it was me that took it to where it was headed” She smiled again.

  “You are going to get me in trouble.” He told her and kissed her on the forehead. “I do have a question though.”

  “What’s that?” she asked and leaned against her headboard.

  “I wasn’t going to put this song on the album it was only for you, but when the label heard me recording it they insisted I add it to the play list. I am not comfortable doing that without your permission. This is your song Abby and if you want to keep it for yourself then that it what I will do. I’ll tell the label it’s not going on the album.”