Chapter Six
The news of her dad's ill health, brought Jade home. She didn't wish to return to Austin and leave her dad alone. So she drove to college and back everyday.
Jaden was living in Travis Springs with his girlfriend whom he loved and they were expecting their first child together. Her dad invited all her siblings and their families to dinner.
She liked Jaden's girlfriend, Rosalie. She was a very sweet and kindhearted woman and they bonded well although she was 5 years older than Jade.
Throughout dinner she felt the vacuum in her life seeing her siblings happily settled with their life partners. Jayson had twins, and Juliette had a baby boy while Jaden's girlfriend was expecting. She loved them all and watched them interact with each other. She wasn't the eloquent and bold type who could chat non-stop and pour out all her personal problems to anyone and everyone. So she quietly noticed everything and smiled, although the smile never reached her eyes.
After dinner everyone took their leave and Jade escorted a pregnant Rosalie to her car. Jaden was talking to their dad and would join them in a minute.
Rosalie held Jade's hand and said, "See you soon, Jade. We will be happy if you come down to our house sometimes."
"Yeah, I will. You will then soon get tired of me. I don't have many places to goto actually, " said Jade.
"Why? A pretty girl like you didn't have places to goto? Don't you have a boyfriend?" asked Rosalie.
Jade let out a deep sigh. For the first time in her life she wanted to talk to someone about Dustin, "I love someone for the last four years of my life but he doesn't love me back," she said dejectedly.
"You could win him over, " Rosalie suggested.
"No I can't. He's not around. I can't see him," she said, staring at some far away object, unfocused.
"Why? What happened to him?" Asked Rosalie, scared that he might not be alive maybe.
"He's in prison. He had been falsely convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison," she said and Rosalie's jaw dropped at the tragic news.
"You could meet him at the prison, " suggested Rosalie.
"He wouldn't meet me. He says he doesn't recognise me," she said as large teardrops fell from her eyes.
Rosalie hugged her tightly. "Why didn't you ask for Jayson's help?" She asked.
"My family doesn't want me to mention his name. No one's interested. They behave as if Dustin never existed," she told her, wiping her tears.
"I could talk to Jaden and have his case reopened," Rosalie suggested and Jade's eyes shone with new found hope.
"You think it could happen? I'll be forever indebted to you Rosalie," she said, holding her hands.
"Please sweetie, you're just like my own sister. I'll talk to Jaden and inform you. Ok?" She said and Jade nodded.
Jaden came rushing out of the house and they left to go home.
The next day, Rosalie thought about how to approach Jaden and convince him to take up the case of the man whom Jade loved. She realised that she had forgotten to ask his name and details. Without knowing anything about him, she couldn't convince Jaden.
In the afternoon, Jade visited Rosalie on her way back from college.
"Have lunch with me, Jade?" Rosalie asked.
"Sure, thanks," said Jade. They sat down at the table and Betty, Rosalie's housekeeper served them lunch.
"Did you tell bro?" Asked Jade, hopefully.
"I will tonight but you need to give me some details about him," she told Jade.
"His name's Dustin Moore. He used to run his restaurant 'Jenny's Restaurant and Bar' at the marketplace here in Travis Springs. His grandma Jenny helped him run it. They are honest, hard working people Rosalie. He's as old as Jaden. They were classmates in school. Dustin's parents died and he dropped out. He and his grandma started this restaurant at their home," Jade told her.
"Oh. What happened to him? How he was convicted of murder?" Asked Rosalie.
"Four drunken men had come over to his bar. They started a brawl amongst themselves. It was a nasty fight. One of them had a pistol. Dustin tried to separate them. One with the pistol fired a shot at his friend who died on the spot. Before Dustin could react, the actual murderer placed the gun in Dustin's hands and escaped the scene. The police arrested Dustin. The man who actually did it had political connections and escaped," said Jade, unhappily.
"Ok, I will talk to Jaden tonight. Don't worry," Rosalie promised.
They ate lunch and talked about Jaden's dad's health and Jade's studies. Jade left after lunch.
In the evening, Jaden came home and had dinner. After dinner, they went up to their bedroom.
"Jaden, do you know Dustin moore?" Rosalie asked him.
He looked at her with a vague expression. "Yeah, he was my classmate. He used to run a restaurant at the marketplace. He murdered a man and is rotting in jail," he said with a blank face.
"He didn't murder the man. How can you conclude? Did you witness the murder?" Asked Rosalie.
"Why are you supporting his case so much? Don't tell me that you have fallen in love with him," he said, frowning.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's not me, Jade loves him," she said.
"It's nothing serious, just a crush. Dustin is a criminal and Jade should get over him," he said, turning his face towards his mobile with frustration.
"Jaden, how can you say so? For 4 long years she's loved the guy. Didn't you ever notice the sadness in her soul? What if Jennifer murdered Mr McAllister and convicted me? What if I would have been in jail for 15 years on false charges? Would you forget me?" Said Rosalie. Jennifer was Rosalie's stepmother who had forced Rosalie to marry her acquaintance, Mr Allen McAllister. Jaden saved her from the marriage.
"Never, I would knock every possible option and get you released," said Jaden with a fierce conviction.
"Then do so for Dustin too, please. Do you think Jade will love and marry another in this lifetime? All you siblings are happy and settled. Don't you want the same for your little sister? Don't you want her to be happily settled with the love of her life?" Said Rosalie, with tears in her eyes. Why couldn't Jaden see how important this was for Jade?
"Don't cry love. Of course I want Jade to be happy. If her happiness lies with Dustin, then I'll see what I can do about it. Don't stress yourself please. It's not good for you and our baby," said Jaden with concern written all over his face.
"Tell Jayson to take up his case, please," said Rosalie.
"I'll first have the incident investigated and then approach Jayson with evidence and facts. But it will take time as the incident occurred 4 years back," he told her.
"Thank you Jaden. At least we can try," she said, snuggling into him. "I can't imagine what I would have done had I been in Jade's place. I would have died without you Jaden. I must say that Jade is very strong," she said.
"I didn't know. She never told me, she loves him. I'm so happy that she trusted you enough to talk about her problems with you. We all know she's depressed but didn't know why," he said.
