Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(46)

Sighing, I laid back into the sofa. What the hell was I going to do now?

Cole ran his fingers through my hair. “Are you okay?”

“I think I’m going to get a tattoo saying I’m fine on my forehead.”

Turning his nose up, he replied, “I’d prefer Property of Cole.”

“I’m sure you would. If I was paying to be repeatedly stabbed I’d get my one true love’s name though. Cam Gigandet.” Cole mumbled something under his breath that sounded like blonde bastard. “Being jealous of someone I’ll never even meet is weird.”

“Feed me,” he said, changing the subject completely. Okay.

“Hey, I just got home from the hospital. You be my slave!”

He smiled and stood up. “What do you want then? I’ll get you anything”

“Anything?” I raised my eyebrow. “What if I want KFC?”

“Then I’ll go get KFC,” he said.

Pulling the fleece blanket over my lap, I smiled. “You’re sweet, but I think I’d prefer to keep you here. Maybe a cheese sandwich or something?”

“Salad cream, no butter. Coming up.” He saluted and walked into the kitchen, making me smile. He was the perfect boyfriend, and I was so lucky to have him.

I laid back into the sofa and pulled the blanket up just under my chin. I used to do that when I was little, the cover was a protection from him. I used to think if it was covering me then he couldn’t get to me.

Since I’d got back, I hadn’t stopped worrying about giving evidence again. I knew that if I hadn’t collapsed my part would be over by now; instead I had to start all over again and build up my courage once more. I had called my therapist and been through a few things, which helped a lot. Talking to her seemed to put everything in perspective again, but the anticipation was still killing me.

I couldn’t change what had already happened. Things in the past were carved into stone, never to be changed. All I could do was go back in there and tell them the truth. After that, it was completely out of my hands. The jury would decide if they believed my dad was guilty or innocent.

Dad had charm and charisma though. He was well liked and respected. I prayed that the jury would be able to see through that. If they found him innocent, I didn’t know what I would do. He’d told me over and over that I wouldn’t be believed if I ever did speak up. He couldn’t be right.

My phone rang in the kitchen and just as I was about to get up, Cole brought it through.

“Miles,” he said, handing it to me. He went back in the kitchen to finish making our sandwiches.

Putting the phone to my ear, I smiled. Finally, he was calling. “Hi, Miles.”

“Oakley, how are you?”

“I’m doing okay. How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you. Is your mum alright?”

That I have no idea. Like me, she always said she was, but I think she was lying too. “As alright as she can be. She doesn’t talk about how she feels. Mostly she just worries about me and Jasper.”

“That sounds like your mum. Is she there?” He sounded nervous all of a sudden. If Mum didn’t give Miles a chance I was going to have to slap some sense into her. He was kind, caring, and generous. What you saw was what you got. There was no ulterior motive or mystery about him. He was exactly what Mum needed and deserved.

“Not at the minute. She’s at the supermarket.” Getting all my favourite foods to cheer me up. I would prefer a happy Mum. “I can ask her to call you…” I trailed off, realising that she probably wouldn’t.

“Do you think she will?”

I cringed. I didn’t want to say no and hurt his feelings. “Um…”

Miles laughed. “Me neither. Look I called to get your opinion on something anyway, forget talking to your mum at the minute, okay?”

“Okay. What did you want my opinion on?”

Miles launched into the reason he’d called. My smile grew and grew as I listened. When he had finished telling me his plan, we spent about twenty minutes talking about everything, from the trial to life back in Australia, and his work. It was good to talk to him again.

Cole sat beside me patiently, rubbing circles on the palm of my hand with his thumb. My sandwich was probably starting to harden, but I didn’t care. When we eventually wrapped up the phone call, and I turned my attention back to Cole.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, actually. Everything’s great.”

He looked intrigued. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see,” I replied and kissed him.



I spent the rest of the night doing nothing, but it was nothing with Cole so that was plenty. We lounged on the sofa, watching TV. It was perfect. The only time we were apart was when he quickly went home to get a change of clothes for work in the morning. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go back, but I didn’t want to get in the way of his job. Mum and Jasper would be with me constantly anyway.

“Let’s go to bed,” I yawned, pressing my face into Cole’s shoulder. He kissed the top of my head and helped me up. “Night,” I mumbled to Mum and Ali.

“Night,” they called back at the same time. Mum and Ali had had two bottles of red wine and were determined to finish them off. I didn’t blame them. If I’d liked red wine, I would have joined in after how the last few days had gone.