Beach Lane (21 page)

Mack stared at him. “You were dating a professor?”

“Well, technically I guess she was an associate professor, but yes. Anyway, I think she was probably the perfect warm-up for Kristen.”

“You amaze me,” Mack said. “But I thought I heard something about you planning to go to Europe after graduation. I believe you’ve described it as the trip of a lifetime. What happens to your brand-new relationship then? Will I have to pick up the pieces of Kristen’s broken heart?”

“Absolutely not. Actually I’m going to Nice and Monaco. I think Kristen would fit right in.”

“She has a job here,” Mack reminded him.

Luke gave him a disgusted look. “It’s two weeks, bro. Find a substitute. Do you want me to bail you out of this mess or not?”

“I would be incredibly grateful,” Mack admitted. “You’ll have to pardon my skepticism, though. I know Kristen, while you haven’t even met her.”

Luke held out his hand. “Address, please.”

“You’re going over to her house?” Mack asked, shocked by his audacity.

“Do we have time to waste?” Luke inquired.

Mack scribbled out the address, then shook his head. This crazy plan of Luke’s just might work, though he had this awful feeling he was tossing a baby minnow right into the path of a circling barracuda. At the moment, though, he couldn’t be entirely sure which was which.

Susie came home from her shopping trip with Shanna feeling marginally better. She’d found some dynamite clothes that Shanna assured her would leave Mack tongue-tied. She’d even tried on dozens of wigs and found a short cap of golden-blond curls that worked with her complexion and made her look like a different woman. Rather than Little Orphan Annie, she looked more like Sharon Stone after she’d taken scissors to her own blond hair and cropped it short.

She was surprised to find Mack at home. He’d been staying so late at the office, she’d been sure she’d have time for a leisurely bubble bath before greeting him in another of those sexy negligees Shanna had insisted she buy.

He looked up from his paperwork and smiled. “You must have had fun,” he said, noting the number of packages she was carrying.

“I haven’t shopped like this in years. Shanna is like some fashion drill sergeant. She bossed me around from store to store, refusing to settle for anything that wasn’t absolutely perfect and a bargain to boot. Kevin should thank me.”

“Why?” Mack asked, looking blank.

“She was so focused on me, she never got around to splurging on the baby. Apparently she’s gone a little overboard lately and he’s spending his spare time returning the excess.”

Mack chuckled. “Something tells me that’s her strategy, to buy more than she wants, so he’ll be happy if she lets him return a few things.”

Susie regarded him with astonishment. “How’d you figure that out? Kevin hasn’t.”

“It’s probably easier for an outsider. Now, come over here and show me what you bought.”

She shook her head. “Sorry. They’re surprises.”

He looked vaguely disappointed. “Then just come here and tell me about your day. Don’t run straight off to bed.”

“I wasn’t going to. I’d planned a bubble bath and something special for you for later.”

“Really? I’m intrigued.”

“Give me a half hour?”

He nodded. “Take all the time you need. I have plenty to do. I still have an editorial to write for next week’s edition.”

“Write fast,” she told him, and headed for the bedroom.

She put away her purchases, except the negligee with spaghetti straps. The silk skimmed over her curves in a creamy cascade.

She took her bath, donned the silky confection, then adjusted her new blond wig. She added just a whisper of mascara and a bit of lip gloss.

When she walked back into the dining room, Mack glanced up from his laptop. His eyes immediately filled with appreciation.

“You look like Carole Lombard in one of those old movies,” he said. “You’re gorgeous, Susie. You honestly take my breath away.”

She smiled at his words, but it was the barely banked desire in his eyes that convinced her.

“Come here,” he murmured, a hitch in his voice.

“I think I’d rather you came over here,” she said.

“I’m not sure I can stand up.”

She regarded him skeptically. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he confirmed, though he did stand unsteadily and made his way toward her.

She all but floated into his arms. She knew she would remember the look in his eyes for a long time to come. She was beginning to need that look the way plants needed water. It made her feel like a woman. No, it made her feel like a
desirable
woman, and these days that was a difficult pinnacle to attain. Some days she despaired of ever feeling like that again. Today had been one of them.

The admission made her think once more of Kristen, the woman who’d intentionally or not made her feel less than whole, less than her best.

“Mack, I’m sorry for that whole scene with Kristen at Sally’s. I should have been more gracious.”

“I thought you did amazingly well.”

“It’s just that she’s—”

“Hush,” he murmured against her cheek. “Let’s not bring her into our house, into our bedroom. Besides, she’s not going to be a problem anymore.”

Surprised, Susie pulled back and looked into his eyes. “You fired her?”

“No,” he said, still trying valiantly to distract her by nuzzling her neck.

“She quit?” That would be even more astonishing…and wonderful, she admitted candidly to herself. Mack wouldn’t feel nearly as guilty if Kristen walked off the job.

“No.” His lips drifted to the valley between her breasts.

Susie’s breath caught, but she wasn’t quite ready to let the conversation drop. “Mack, tell me what you meant.”

“Luke’s fixing things.”

She backed away so fast, she almost stumbled. Mack had to steady her. “You got my brother involved in this?”

“Actually he came to me and volunteered.”

She stared at him incredulously. “To do what exactly?”

“I didn’t ask, but I imagine seduction is pretty high up in his plan.”

“But he’s never even met her. He begged me for an introduction. I said no.”

Mack grinned. “I guess that’s why he came to me. And apparently he’d gathered that Kristen makes you feel insecure, because he formulated his request as a way to protect your honor and our marriage.”

Susie just stared at him. “And you let him?”

“Hey, it works for me if it’ll reassure you and keep her focused on something other than me.”

“Then you admit she still has the hots for you? Thank heaven. I was beginning to think you were one of those clueless men who got lured in because of a nonfunctioning brain.”

“My brain is functioning just fine,” Mack said, clearly offended.

“Apparently not, if you sent Luke to take care of this. He’s a kid, Mack.”

Mack shook his head. “Trust me, not so much.”

“She’ll rip his heart out,” Susie predicted. “And if that happens, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Hey, Luke is a grown man. He wanted to do this. I don’t know if he was thinking with his hormones or his head, but I have confidence he can handle Kristen. I didn’t at first, but I saw something in him that we’ve all been missing. He’s got his act together, possibly more so than either Matthew or I did at his age. He claims he learned from watching our mistakes. Surprised the heck out of me, since I thought I, at least, was so smooth.”

“I hope you’re right,” Susie said, not entirely convinced. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“And he doesn’t want you to get hurt. He’s doing this as much for you as he is for his own nefarious reasons. I think it’s sweet that he wants to be your knight in shining armor.”

Sweet? Susie could think of several other words to describe it.
Insane
came to mind.

“Do you think we could forget about your brother and Kristen?” Mack asked longingly. “I have this beautiful blonde stranger in my arms, and I want to get her into bed.”

Susie looked into his eyes. “Stranger, huh? Do you do this sort of thing often?”

“Are you kidding me? If my wife found out, she’d kill me.”

She beamed at him. “And don’t you forget it,” she said sweetly as she wrapped her legs around his waist and covered his mouth with hers, then let herself get lost in the fantasy.

21

S
usie walked in the door for Sunday dinner at Uncle Mick’s and immediately felt the swirl of tension in the air.

“What’s going on?” she whispered to Abby, who was closest.

“Trace just figured out that his sister is involved with your brother,” she replied in a hushed tone. “We’re all waiting for the you-know-what to hit the fan.”

“Laila actually came with Matthew?” Susie asked, not even trying to hide her surprise. “I thought they intended to keep their relationship under wraps a while longer.”

Abby whirled on her. “You knew?”

Susie winced at her cousin’s stunned reaction. “Not for long. And I only found out after I insisted he bring the woman he was seeing to dinner. When Laila showed up at my door, I thought it was just some weird coincidence.”

Abby propelled her onto the porch. “And?” she demanded. “Is Matthew just fooling around, as usual? Trace will kill him if he is. You know how protective he is of Laila.”

“I actually think Matthew’s fallen hard for her. The way I understand it, they’ve been together for a while now. They’ve split up at Laila’s request, but the breakups haven’t lasted. That tells me the feelings are mutual and getting stronger.”

Abby looked stunned. “Well, I’ll be. Good for Laila. I’d better go back inside and try to keep my husband from punching Matthew’s handsome face.”

Susie smiled. “I’m sure we’d all appreciate that.”

She followed her cousin inside just in case any additional help was needed, but to her amazement, Laila was the one who seemed to have things well under control. She was right up in her brother’s face.

“You do not get to make these decisions for me,” she said, poking Trace in the chest. “I’m a grown woman.”

“A woman who’s apparently lost her mind. Matthew’s a nice enough guy, but he has a track record with women, Laila, and it’s not good.”

She gave him a disgusted look. “Don’t you think I’m very well aware of his track record? Don’t you think I’ve taken that into account? I’m not stupid, Trace. Nor am I self-destructive.”

Matthew stepped forward, rested a calming hand on her shoulder, a gesture that drew a furious scowl from Trace. Matthew ignored him.

“Laila, it’s okay,” Matthew soothed. “Maybe your brother and I should take this outside and have a private conversation. He needs to know I’m serious about this relationship.”

Susie couldn’t be sure who was more shocked by the comment, Trace or Laila. She was relatively stunned herself. She was almost certain the word
serious
had never crossed her brother’s lips before, at least in connection to a woman.

“Serious?” Laila echoed.

Matthew gave her an incredulous look. “Haven’t I told you the same thing a hundred and one times?”

“Yes, but I always thought it was so you could get me into bed.”

Trace nearly choked and his eyes blazed. “I swear to God…” he began, but this time it was Abby who put a restraining hand on him.

“Let him talk,” Abby commanded.

“Laila, I love you,” Matthew said earnestly, then looked around the room with an air of defiance. “There, I’ve said it in front of all these witnesses, who’ll for darn sure hold me accountable for the words.”

“I certainly will,” Trace said heatedly, but at another touch from Abby, he seemed to deflate. “Okay, I’ll back off, but so help me, Matthew…”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll bash my head in or worse,” Matthew said with a grin. “Believe me, I get where you’re coming from. I said the same thing often enough when Mack was hanging out with Susie.”

Susie looked around for her husband, who’d come inside earlier. Now he seemed to have disappeared.

Just then Shanna approached, her expression filled with concern. She leaned down and whispered in Susie’s ear, “Do you have any idea what’s going on around here?”

Susie regarded her blankly. “You mean besides Matthew and Laila coming out as a couple?”

Shanna nodded.

“This is as far as I’ve gotten,” Susie admitted. “You mean there’s more commotion?”

“Oh, yeah. Luke’s in the kitchen with Kristen. Mack looks like a cornered man. And Gram’s antennae are on full alert.”

“Oh, sweet heaven,” Susie murmured. “What was my brother thinking?”

She was halfway to the kitchen when Mack came striding out, silently grabbed her arm and steered her in the opposite direction.

“You don’t want to be in there right now,” he said tightly.

“You mean because of Luke and Kristen?” she inquired sweetly.

His eyes widened. “You heard?” he asked, then groaned. “Of course, you did. Shanna could hardly wait to get out of there and find you, am I right?”

“Yep. How bad is it?”

“Your grandmother is a saint. I could tell she had a thousand and one questions, mostly for me, but she managed to restrain herself. All she said was that perhaps I should find you.” He gave her a hopeful look. “I’m thinking we should leave now. What do you think? I’ve had about all the fireworks I can handle for one day. You?”

“I think if we leave, it will say way too much about how I let that woman get to me,” Susie said. “We’re staying.” She gave Mack a hard look. “And
then
I’m going to kill my brother for showing the judgment of a gnat.”

Fortunately from Mack’s perspective, once everyone was seated for Sunday dinner, there was so much chaos that Susie and Kristen could barely even see each other, much less exchange words. Luke was safely out of Susie’s reach, as well. Most of the attention seemed to be on Matthew and Laila, anyway. No one seemed to know quite what to make of them as a couple.

As the meal wore on, Mack kept a close eye on his wife. She looked a little pale to him. He attributed it to her treatments, but it could have been the unmistakable tension in the air. The second they’d finished dessert, Jo appeared at Susie’s side and whisked her away, suggesting she, too, had seen the strain on Susie’s face.

Will joined Mack. “An interesting day, don’t you think?”

“It’s been hell,” Mack said.

“How’s Susie holding up?”

“She’s trying, but being in the same room with Kristen is harder on her than I anticipated. It doesn’t seem to matter that she’s here with Luke.”

Will chuckled. “How’d that happen, by the way?”

“Long story,” Mack said, glancing toward his brother-in-law, who was leaning close to whisper something in Kristen’s ear. He couldn’t tell if her amused expression was because of what Luke was saying or because she found the whole situation hilarious. Knowing Kristen, she was probably going along with Luke’s pursuit for her own reasons. Mack didn’t want to think about what those might be.

Jo suddenly appeared at his side. “Mack, I think Susie needs to go home and get some rest,” she said quietly.

He regarded his mother-in-law with alarm. “Is she okay?”

“Just exhausted, I think. And I know she’s worried sick about her test tomorrow.”

Mack stared at Jo blankly. “Test? What kind of test does she have tomorrow?”

Jo looked surprised. “She didn’t tell you about the PET scan? They’re checking to see if there’s been any improvement with her cancer. It’s an important milestone, Mack.”

Mack felt as if he’d been sucker punched. “She never said a word.”

“Oh, dear, I’m sure she just didn’t want to worry you,” Jo said guiltily. “She knows you have a lot on your plate lately.”

“Nothing that’s more important than her health,” he said adamantly. “Thanks, Jo.”

On his way to find his wife, he tried to get his temper in check. How could Susie keep something this important from him? It wasn’t as if it was the first time, either. She’d tried to keep the cancer from him in the first place. Hadn’t she learned anything from that about trusting him to be supportive?

Sure, he was busy, and maybe she thought she was being considerate, but what did it say about their marriage that she thought he wouldn’t want to know, that he didn’t deserve to know? For the first time since their rushed wedding, he wondered if they’d made a mistake after all. Clearly when it came to the important things in their lives, when it came to trust and communication, they were further apart than ever.

Susie’s nerves had finally gotten to her. She’d been so exhausted by the end of the meal, it had taken everything in her just to stand and walk away from the table. Mack had been oblivious, but thankfully her mother had noticed and gotten her out of the dining room and into one of the spare rooms where she could lie down for a few minutes. If she’d crashed in front of the family, it would have been okay, but her pride couldn’t have taken the humiliation of passing out in front of Kristen.

When the door opened and Mack stepped into the room, she sat up, startled.

“How did you know where I was?”

“Your mother told me. She said it was time to get you home.”

There was a tone in his voice she’d never heard before, a distance. Or was it a barely restrained hint of anger?

“Mack, is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” he said, though his tone was unconvincing. “You up to walking, or shall I carry you? We can slip out through the kitchen.”

“I’ll walk,” she said, studying his grim expression. She considered pressing for an explanation for his odd mood, but she wasn’t sure she was up to hearing the answer.

They rode home in silence.

Inside the apartment, Mack said, “Go on and hop into bed. I’ll bring you some tea.”

Susie nodded. “Thanks.”

Before she could walk away, he added, “And then we’re going to talk.”

She paused. “About?”

“After I get your tea,” he said, and left her standing there.

If she hadn’t been so tired, she might have argued, but the stress of the day had caught up with her. She took off her clothes, put on her favorite nightgown and crawled between the sheets. The second her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

When she woke, the room was filled with shadows, and Mack was sitting beside the bed, his expression unreadable.

“Your tea’s cold by now,” he said. “I’ll fix you another cup.”

“No,” she said softly. “You’re obviously furious about something. Let’s talk about it.”

He hesitated, then asked, “Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I’m okay. The nap helped.”

He sat back down, then regarded her with a mix of frustration and resignation. “What kind of marriage do you think we have, Susie?”

Her heart plummeted at the blunt question, at the despair in his voice. “We’ve hit a few bumps, but a good one, I think, given all we’ve had to deal with.”

“I’d have said the same thing until I spoke to your mother earlier.”

“What on earth did Mom say to make you question that?” she asked, genuinely mystified.

“She says you have an important scan tomorrow, one you never bothered to mention to me.” He regarded her with dismay. “Why would you keep something like that from me?”

“It wasn’t like a big secret,” she insisted. “I never intended to keep it from you. You’ve just been so busy, and tomorrow night’s the launch party. You delayed it once because of me. I didn’t want you to start worrying and do that again. The test’s no big deal. Mom said she’d take me.”

“No big deal?” he repeated with barely contained anger. “This test is going to tell us if the chemo has helped, right? You don’t think that’s a big deal?”

She winced at his tone. “The
results
are a big deal, not the test,” she said, trying to explain her logic. “I won’t know those right away. I would have wanted you there with me when I got those.”

“Really? How am I supposed to believe that? I thought we were in this together, Susie. All the way.”

“We are,” she said quietly, understanding the depth of the mistake she’d made. She’d left him out of something critical to their future. Good or bad, those results would determine what their life would be like going forward. “I’m so sorry, Mack. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

He shook his head. “You don’t need to protect me, Susie, or keep things from me, or make decisions for me. When it comes to us, when it comes to your health, I get to decide if something is inconvenient or unimportant. And I’m here to tell you right now that
nothing
is unimportant and
nothing
is inconvenient. I’ll be at that test with you tomorrow.” His declaration sounded like the challenge he’d meant it to be.

“Okay.”

“And please remember this.
I love you,
” he added emphatically. “I don’t give two hoots about a stupid party. What time is the test?”

“Eight o’clock,” she admitted, feeling even more foolish.

“At night?” he asked, bemused.

She shook her head. “In the morning.”

He regarded her with astonishment. “And you thought a test at 8:00 a.m. would cause me to postpone a party taking place at six in the evening?”

She winced. “It doesn’t make much sense when you put it that way. I just didn’t want you worrying.”

“Well, I am worried, and it’s not about the test. It’s about us. Is this because a part of you still thinks I’ll run if the going gets tough?”

Was that it? she wondered. On some level was she still worried that the Mack who never stayed with anyone for long would take the easy way out? No, absolutely not, she told herself. She knew better. She’d seen firsthand the undeserved loyalty he’d shown to his mother. He’d never bail on her, either, not when she needed him.

Or was that her real fear, that if the news was bad, he’d stick by her side out of pity rather than love? Maybe so, she thought with a sigh of regret. Admitting to her insecurities, though, simply wasn’t an option.

“Mack, you’ve been my rock through all of this. Please don’t think for a minute that I don’t understand how hard it’s been.”

“Hard’s not the problem, Susie,” he said, holding her gaze. “I can do hard. What I can’t live with is you shutting me out.”

“It won’t happen again,” she vowed.

Despite her promise, he sat there in stony silence for so long, she thought maybe he really wasn’t going to forgive her for her insensitivity, for her lack of faith in him. Finally, though, a sigh shuddered through him.