Is this destiny?

Doctor came in and gave them the results of exam: JoAnna is OK. Nothing is broken, cracked or sprained. Besides minor discomfort in her gluteus maximus* for next few days, she should not have any other symptoms. He voiced his surprise that she got such a minor injury after falling off the horse and said that she is free to leave. Doctor didn't give much follow up instructions after he found out that JoAnna has medical background.

They all sighed in relief. Oscar followed up with the doctor, asking him to keep the results private.

"OK. Go change, and we are going home." Jeff told JoAnna.

She got off the bed and went to the bathroom to change.

Three of them sat in silence for some time.

"Home, like our home here, right?" Elanor wanted a confirmation.

Jeff was resolute. "Only to get our things. Then we are going to LA without any delays."

"No. Why can't you stay until evening?" Elanor protested.

"Because we are going earlier." Jeff was not relenting.

Elanor approached him slowly and placed her hand on his shoulder. She lifted her head and smiled. "Jeff-Jeff, I really want to enjoy company of you two until end of day. How can you deny me this?"

Jeff twitched when he heard his mom calling him 'Jeff-Jeff', and wanted to retaliate. He is a grown man, about to be married. How can his mom bully him like this?

JoAnna came out of the bathroom and heard Jeff say, "Fine... But we are not going anywhere. I don't want to risk someone else trying to hurt Anna. And after dinner we are going to LA."

Elanor smiled happily. Oscar nodded in approval from the back.

"Oh? We are staying longer?" JoAnna was surprised with this change. Few minutes ago Jeff was firm for them to leave as soon as possible, and now they are staying.

JoAnna saw that Jeff is not very cheerful, but didn't get a chance to think about it, as Elanor spoke with a big smile. "Yes. Jeff agreed to indulge us. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not." JoAnna smiled and turned to Jeff. "Let's get a wheelchair. In case someone sees me, I'm hurt."

…

That afternoon, Elanor was showing to JoAnna photos of Jeff when he was a kid. She saw him starting from newborn-butt-naked photos chronologically, and now they were covering his teenage years. Elanor would tell her stories about Jeff. JoAnna enjoyed listening very much. Elanor was very good in telling entertaining stories, and JoAnna could not help but think how she would get along well with Stella. Jeff was keeping busy with his laptop while listening in on two of them. When Elanor praised him, Jeff beamed, but when she told non-flattering stories, he wished that he has a remote controller that could render his mother mute.

One photo got JoAnna's attention. It was a bunch of youngsters gathered for some event. They posed for the photo on the grass under a large tree. JoAnna recognized Jeff right away, he was taller by at least a head from everyone else on the photo. 'Would I be attracted to him, if I met him then?' JoAnna glanced at Jeff and their eyes met. Her heart fluttered. 'He is so handsome! I can't believe that I am engaged to him!' It took her some time to snap out of her daze and look back at the photo in her hands. One other face got into JoAnna's view.

"Who is this?" She pointed at a young girl on the photo.

"That is Lindsay. She was at the Club this morning."

"I noticed her." JoAnna mumbled.

Elanor noticed that JoAnna's mood worsened. "Did she give you hard time?"

"I'm not sure, but the way she looked at me is something I will not forget."

Elanor frowned. "Hmph, their whole family will never learn."

JoAnna looked at Elanor waiting for her to talk, but Elanor finished there. JoAnna didn't give up. She put on her sweetest smile on. "Mom, tell me more about them."

Jeff was watching them, and he was visibly surprised that JoAnna's tactic worked!

Hearing JoAnna call her mom, with that sweet smile, made Elanor melt and she started talking. "She is older daughter of Stacey Cox. Stacey came to me more than once asking me to collaborate in order to get Lindsay close to Jeff. I refused at first, but then I started thinking that it can't hurt..." Elanor saw JoAnna's expression changing and quickly added, "That was many years ago! ... Before I showed any willingness to get them together, Stacey started some gossips and even went to underhanded methods to damage us. I never got any solid proof, but I know that it was her. After some time, I assumed that she accepted the fact that matching Lindsay and Jeff is not going to happen. Then she started asking about Aiden and if he is available to get together with her younger daughter. I mean, they have no shame whatsoever. It's obvious they are just trying to hook up their daughters with our family just for the sake of their pesky business. At that point I started keeping them at a distance. But I see that they are still around. For this morning, I didn't invite them. Stacey found out about the brunch at the Club and swapped place with another woman and her daughter."

JoAnna listened carefully while coming up with a plan. "They have a business?"

"Yes." Elanor confirmed. "Oscar can tell you more about it if you are interested."

During dinner, JoAnna asked Oscar about the business owned by Cox family. He was happy to tell JoAnna what he knows. It was not with a lot of details, because Oscar never wanted to work with Timothy Cox (Lindsay's father), but it was enough for JoAnna to understand that they are worth about $250M and they are using shady tactics to secure deals while their competition mysteriously removes offers clearing the path for Cox Industries.

~Los Angeles~

Jeff and JoAnna arrived at their penthouse.

"Did you have fun?" Jeff asked while JoAnna rummaged through the suitcase, finding souvenirs and gifts she got from Elanor and Oscar.

"Yes. I think your parents are great!" JoAnna was really happy that they accepted her as their daughter-in-law. She does not see any obstacles for her happy-together-forever with Jeff.

"When will you tell me why you are interested in Cox Industries?"

"Oh, you were there... I thought you understood my intentions." She teased him while standing up and walking to him. "Remember what Sophia said when we were in that cave? We can work together to remove bad guys off the streets and earn a lot of money?" JoAnna wrapped her arms around his neck. "This Cox family has history with your parents, and Lindsay is on my case, their business is suspicious. How I see it, they look like bad guys. And I'm sure you can find a way to make us a lot of money after you take over Cox Industries."

JoAnna's phone buzzed. It was text from Sarah. "Perfect timing! It's not very late. Let me see if we can gather for a video conference to discuss destroying Cox family and their business."

Jeff looked at JoAnna with a newly found admiration. 'This wonderful woman is mine! Beautiful, smart, kind and ruthless at the same time!'

JoAnna got off the phone. "Video conference in... 14 minutes! Both Sarah and Sophia can join... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jeff could not hold himself back. He pulled JoAnna in embrace and kissed her passionately.

"Jeff, honey... we don't have time...." JoAnna protested while her voice got weaker with each passing second.

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