Chapter 9 Can't live in the past forever

Lauren gave the current staff notice of termination. She felt bad for them, but she couldn't trust them. Paula and Aunt Chan could handle the day-to-day affairs of the manor and she had a cleaning agency to come in a couple of days a week for the heavy stuff. Two weeks later, it was time for Lauren to go to Valerie and Kaitlyn's trial. The case went as the lawyer predicted. Valerie and Kaitlyn were ordered to return everything to Lauren, including cash. Except for their clothes, everything they owned was confiscated and either returned to Lauren or sold at an auction.

It was only a fraction of the money they stole, but Lauren didn't really care about the money.

Her grandparents were taking care of the companies until she graduated from college. Most of the shares were in her name now, so she could spend the rest of her life just living off the millions she'd get in dividends. It was just that money couldn't bring her parents back. So it wasn't important. She just didn't want to let her parents down.

Present day

She looks at the man in front of her.

"Josh? Joshua Franklin? You're real?" Lauren says, just before she faints from the shock.

Josh catches her before she hits the floor.

"Now who's going to catch me if faint from the shock?" he asks her.

"Oh my God, Lauren! What happened? What did you do to my cousin?" a very angry Wendy confronts Josh.

"Easy tiger. I think she was just so shocked, she fainted. She asked if I was real before she passed out," Joshua answers carrying Lauren to a sofa.

He lays her down and watched her face as her eyelashes flutter open. She sees a worried Wendy and a somewhat concerned man. She sits up and grabs the man's face. She traces the face of the boy she often saw in her dreams. The surrounding area was always fuzzy, but the young boy in front of her was always clear.

"I had so many dreams about a little boy named Joshua Franklin. The dream is always fuzzy, but the boy and his name are always clear. He never speaks except for one sentence," Lauren whispers with tears in her eyes

"What does he say?" Josh frowns.

. "Yes. And when I grow up, I'll protect you from everything." she whispers the words she's heard so many times, she knows them by heart.

Josh is stunned. She was asleep when he whispered the last part. He couldn't believe that subconsciously, she heard. She just thought he was a dream, because her mind forgot the actual accident.

"You know, I've spent almost 20 years hunting down every Lauren Short in the world. When I finally gave up, you appear without my trying. If I wasn't already rich, I think I'd try my luck at the lottery," he smiled at Lauren.

"I'm sorry about that. My grandparents were suspicious of the accident. They thought my family was the target so they sent me to be adopted by my aunt and uncle. My name was been Carter for the last 15 years. Just like my little cousin here, Wendy Carter. I took my name back 3 years ago when I took over my parents' company. Wendy this is the boy in my dreams. Or maybe it's a memory, now that I know you're real. Anyway, I think he's the one that saved me from the explosion that killed my, well our parents," Lauren tells her.

Wendy isn't prone to gushing over handsome men, but for him she might. Definitely over 6 foot tall, light brown hair, hazel eyes, and muscles to drool over. Nope, not going there. One bitch ass cousin already took one man from here. She won't even consider thinking of him in that way. Instead she apologized and hugged him.

"Thank you for saving my cousin. I would have been very unhappy to grow up not knowing her," Wendy cries, eyes full of built up tears.

"Actually, she was the one who saved me. She climbed out of the car and went looking for help. She woke me up to help her parents, but she noticed the fire under the car because she was shorter than me. She told me her mommy always told her to run far from a fire, so I took her away, then the cars exploded. I might have still been unconscious in the back of the car if she hadn't woken me up to help her parents. She didn't even complain once about her arm hurting, so I didn't know it was broken until we were rescued a couple of hours later," he smiled at her.

"Sounds like you saved each other then," Wendy says.

"No, I only saved her once, she saved me first and twice at that. I'm forever grateful for that second chance. Say, Wendy, what time do you get off? I'd like to take you both to dinner. You were gone when I woke up, so I've always wanted to know how you were doing," Josh asks Wendy, but he's looking at Lauren.

'She's even more beautiful as an adult than she was as a child' he thinks. He tried to imagine how she would look as he got older, but his imagination never came close.

"Sorry guys. I'm not off till 5 and have a class at 6. Besides, the way you're looking at my beautiful cousin right now, I think I would just be in the way," Wendy laughs as skips off to help a customer.

Lauren blushes at Wendy's parting words.

"Yes, beautiful," Josh says as if in a trance.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. For all he knew, she was married with 20 kids by now. He really just wants to know that she's okay. He promised to protect her, but circumstances never gave him the chance.

"How about it? Catch up over dinner, my treat," Josh smiles at her.

'Damn his smile is so bright, he could almost replace the sun' Lauren thinks. "Dinner is great. I'm getting hungry anyway," she tells him.

"How about the sushi place next door?" Josh asks her.

Lauren groans at the suggestion.

"Actually, I'm allergic to shellfish. Are you a picky eater? If not, I'd like to take you to my favorite place," Lauren shyly asks him.

"Oh good. I hate seafood anyway. But, my employees are mostly women and that's what they always seem to order," Josh laughs.