Holiday In Handcuffs

Chapter 7: New Beginnings

Essie's entire family sat in a cold jail cell, their heads lolling as they fought to stay awake, waiting for someone to release them.

Essie had apologized again and again and again for dragging her family into this mess, but she still felt like absolute shit. She could blame her parents all she wanted for her temporary insanity, but when it came right down to it, she was the one who made the wrong choices, she was the one who kidnapped Liam.

She was definitely going to go to therapy once this was all over with, IF she wasn't in prison. The good news was that everyone in the family seemed to realize that something needed to change, and there had been many apologies and promises made to one another in the long hours since they had been brought to the jail.

"Richards family!" An officer barked.

Everyone's heads shot up as they looked bleary-eyed at the officer.

"Your bail has been met, you are free to go. Esther Richards, you are on probation until further notice. Mr. Payne explained the circumstances around this 'situation' and has agreed not to press charges. You will need to meet with your lawyer as soon as possible to discuss the conditions of your probation. Any questions?"

"No, thank you," Essie said, her voice full of remorse.

They all rode quietly back to the chalet. The sun was rising over the eastern snow-covered hills, but everyone was exhausted from spending the night in jail, so they all went back to bed.

When Essie crawled under the down comforter, she noticed something that almost broke her heart...the blankets smelled like Liam. And then she remembered, she was still wearing the ring! She would have to find him and return it. But for the time being, she cherished the one last thing connecting her to him, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Late in the afternoon, everyone packed up their bags in preparation to leave the following morning. When they all sat down to dinner, Essie's father said something she thought she would never, ever hear him say.

"Well, I guess we all need to work on some things, don't we. Myself included. But for tonight, let's just be together as a family."

It was the closest Essie had ever felt to her family.

Two days later, when she returned to work, Essie sheepishly gave the gun and handcuffs back to John.

"I'm so sorry, John. I don't know what came over me. I just...had a little breakdown, I guess. And I'm going to go to therapy and try to work out some of my stress issues, and-"

John just grabbed her and squeezed her in a friendly hug. "I'm just glad you're okay, Essie. Now get out there and take some orders."

Essie's apartment seemed so lonely now, even though she'd always enjoyed her freedom before. She started thinking that maybe she should get a smaller place; it would be nice to have a lower rent payment, and maybe she wouldn't feel so alone.

She painted as often as she could, drawing upon memories from her time with Liam. She painted scenes about love and life and Christmas trees and crotchety old grandmas and ballet studios. She used imagery from her therapy sessions to put a face on some of the emotions and challenges she was facing.

All in all, it wasn't a bad way for the whole Christmas kidnapping debacle to end.

Except that every single day, it hurt like hell.

Late one night, after a frustratingly long shift at the Saloon, Essie returned to her apartment and rifled through the mail. One particular envelope caught her attention. The return address was the simply elegant logo of Artistique, one of the most popular art galleries in the city.