Sentence

"Thank you for not hurting Kali," he said. "She didn't deserve it."

"She still has nightmares," Hillary said, "and sometimes when her husband does something especially kind, she falls apart because she feels so guilty and wants to come clean. But she won't because she's afraid he would leave her.

"I think she's more than paid for what she did. We've actually become good friends, and the families may get together, but her husband must never find out. I'm sure you don't have a problem with that."

"No," he said. "We both wish it had never happened. Thank you for not taking revenge on us."

"Don't thank me for that," she said. "I mean it. There's nothing to thank me for, and now that you've said what you wanted to say, I don't want to hear anything else. If you ever do something like this again, we're through. But now I'm ready to move forward and put it behind us. I'm looking to the years ahead with confidence."

"I'm happy you're giving me a second chance," he said, "but I'm not as confident as you are about the next few years. I wonder if I'll ever find out what happened."

**********

Jake was waiting at the prison the next morning. Hillary approached him for a moment and they exchanged a few words, and then she went over to their lawyer and began talking to him.

Jake came over to Sterling, shook his hand, leaned close to him and then spoke softly into his ear.

"You've got some wife!"

"What do you mean?" asked Sterling.

"I mean she came up with the money."

"I know," Sterling said. "She told me I would be safe."

"She already took care of that," Jake said. "I mean she managed to borrow enough money so that --."

He stopped and leaned closer to Sterling and whispered into his ear.

"She literally saved your ass, if you know what I mean."

Jake straightened up again and gave him a wink before continuing.

"I don't know how much she told you about the hood in the prison you're going to. Did she tell you that he knew all about you and was already talking about what he was going to do to you? I was shocked when my snitches told me. I didn't think you'd even register on his radar until he saw you inside.

"Someone had told him all about your case and when you were reporting. I couldn't find out who or why.

"When I told Hillary about this guy and what he was saying, it didn't seem to shake her up, but it must have hit her this week. I think she took out a loan or something.

"What makes you say that?"

"I know how expensive your lawyer is. You probably ran out of money, because first she only gave me money for the safety plan. But last night she called and said something about how you've suffered enough and asked me to pay for the whole deal -- I mean, so nobody touches a hair on your head -- and her lawyer would reimburse me this afternoon. I took care of everything this morning."

"Thanks," said Sterling.

It was time for a few last words with Hillary before he had to walk through the gates. Sterling's mind was racing. He had been thinking about their conversation the night before and had some questions to ask her. His conversation with Jake added a few more.

But the questions could wait until she visited him. Since it was a minimum security facility, she could come several times a week. There was plenty of time for talking later.

He thought of what he should say to her. He had said everything already. He looked her in the eye and said, "I am so sorry about Kali. I wish I could think of a way to make up for what I did."

"Don't think about it," she said as she stroked his hand.

He couldn't let it go.

"You know, it didn't last long," he said. "It was really very short."

"Yes," she said with a sigh, "I know. Only two months and twenty-three days."

For background on the stories of edrider73, see "Author Interview: edrider73" by Literoticauthor. Tag: "author interview."