Stolen Kisses Read Free Page A

of the
press, which in turn had led to the townspeople becoming interested in the
trial. Fortunately, a police officer recognized her and cleared a way for her
to get into the public gallery.
     
                 
Jenny braced herself for when Geoff entered the court, but her resolve failed
as she caught sight of him. Her legs went weak and she almost fell. He was
looking gaunt, as if the pressure of the past few weeks were beginning to take its
toll and tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. She longed to rush through
the crowd of people, throw her arms round him and tell him everything was going
to be all right. But she knew it wasn’t.
     
                 
The court fell silent as her father entered and took his seat on the bench. After
a few preliminaries Geoff was ordered to stand and Jenny’s father began to
speak, addressing the defendant.
     
                 
“Young man, are you ready to hear your sentence?”
     
                 
Geoff spoke quietly, ”Yes, sir.”
     
                
“Fortunately, for you, the child you so heedlessly injured survived and will
make a full recovery. But that does not diminish the severity of the crime you
committed. We cannot have young hooligans like you speeding along our roads
endangering other road users and pedestrians. Lessons have to be learned here.
Certain members of our society have to learn that we will not, as a community,
tolerate such behavior.” He paused for a few minutes, seemingly considering his
options. Finally, he continued speaking. “I have a responsibility to ensure
that you face the maximum penalty that I can give you.”
     
                
Geoff’s shoulders slumped and he put his hand on the table in front of him for
support. Jenny could take no more. She had to speak up.
     
                
“No, you can’t do that,” she shouted from the gallery. “He is innocent.”
     
                
The court usher pointed to her. “Be quiet, young woman and sit down,” he
ordered.
     
                
Her father looked up from his papers and recognized her, “Jenny . . ?”
     
                 
“He’s shielding me, Father. Geoff wasn’t driving that night. It was me.” Jenny
could hold the tears back no longer. “He’s taking the blame because of me –
because of who I am. The daughter of Judge Lester. He is protecting me and
you.”
     
                
“Jenny, you can’t mean that.” Her father said.
     
                
“I can, Father. I’ll even take the court oath to prove that it’s true.”
     
                
The noise from the court rose and once her father had restored order he had no
alternative but to adjourn the case pending further investigation. Jenny could
see that in the last few minutes she had broken her father’s heart. He was
visibly shaken and for a while was confused. She knew that she had damaged his
reputation and he would never get over the disgrace – neither would Geoff and
neither would she. There was no hope of a future together now. She had
destroyed everything.

Chapter 6
     
     
     
                
Jenny’s father didn’t return to the house that night. He had ordered her home
telling her that he would deal with her later. He had hardly spoken to her or
been able to face her after her outburst in court, but she didn’t regret what
she had done. She couldn’t let Geoff suffer for her actions, even if he wanted
nothing more to do with her in the future after what he had been through. She
just hoped that it wouldn’t ruin his plans for his college education. He had
set his heart on it and it would destroy him to have to give it up.
     
                 
Judge Lester had asked the housekeeper to stay on and ensure that Jenny was
cared for and he had decided to stay in town. There were decisions to make –
decisions that would determine the path