Close to Heart (19 page)

Nathan shook his head and took a swallow of his beer. “Trust me, I know the way the media think. They dragged me through hell and back several times over the years. There are far better ways for Alyssa to have gained media attention. Hell, you only have a couple reporters parked outside the clinic now. You two just aren’t a juicy enough story. Plus, if she went back with him now, it would all end up making her look bad.”

“Sounds like you’ve been talking to Bailey.”

“A little before she headed out to your place,” Nathan admitted before taking a long draw on the bottle. “Look, I’m on your side, man, but you need to make sure you’re fighting the right person. I know you’re hurting right now. Trust me, I’ve been there and you just want to beat the crap out of someone just to make the pain stop. But it’s not going to disappear until you find some kind of resolution to this. Avoiding her won’t help.”

“What if seeing her doesn’t help, if it just makes it worse? What if she tells me it
was
all an act?”

“Then you’ll know for sure she wasn’t the person you thought she was. Until you do, you’ll just be guessing, and doing that will make that hole in your chest grow bigger each day until the regret swallows you whole.”

His phone vibrated again and he pulled it out, seeing the text message from Bailey:
News crew gathering at the porch. Get home, NOW!

“Shit,” he muttered. “I’ve already had two beers. Can you drive me home?”

Nathan didn’t hesitate, didn’t even ask why. “Give me your keys.”

“T
HANK YOU SO
much for giving me this opportunity to clear the air and put a rest to all the rumors floating around about my wife and me.”

Elijah looked back at Alyssa, waiting in the shadows on the front porch of Justin’s house, as several reporters pressed close, waiting to hear whatever juicy morsel he was ready to divulge. They looked like wolves circling a downed deer, waiting to pounce. It was sickening, and in that single moment, she made the decision to never return to this lifestyle. Nothing was worth putting her son in the midst of this environment of duplicity and lies, where nothing was as it seemed and everyone had an ulterior motive. Where the only goal was to feed off the pain and suffering of others.

Elijah waved her toward him and she hesitated. If she ran back inside with Sam now, could she lock him out and find a phone? But it wouldn’t accomplish anything, and Elijah would simply use it to make her appear unfit. She squared her shoulders and pressed a kiss to Sam’s brow. If she was careful and waited for just the right moment, she could do far more damage to his reputation in front of the camera.

“My wife has had a very traumatic week. But as you can see, some of it has been wonderful. We would like you to meet our son.”

Alyssa didn’t miss the fact that he didn’t mention Sam’s name. She turned so that the cameras couldn’t get a clear shot of Sam, shifting so they saw only her profile. It was the last thing any publicist would have wanted, but it was exactly her intention. Elijah looked at her and glared in warning. Alyssa heard a motor slow and tires crunch on the driveway of the clinic, praying it was Franklin or Justin and not another reporter.

“By now, you’ve probably heard that my wife filed for divorce last week. I’m happy to say, it was simply a misunderstanding. As you can see, we are happier than ever.” She wanted to gag at the sickeningly sweet tone of his voice. “And thrilled to celebrate the birth of our first child.”

There were several
Ahs
from the reporters gathered around the front porch, leaning in to ask questions and catch a glimpse of Sam.

“We did have an argument, as most couples do from time to time,” he conceded, “but Alyssa overreacted. However, we have spent a lot of time talking and want everyone to know that, while we will be spending time with a counselor to strengthen our marriage, it is still fully intact. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

Before she could answer, to deny his claims and reveal him for the pig he was, Elijah wound his hand into her loose hair, bending forward and crushing his mouth against hers in a punishing kiss. His fingers curled, pulling at her scalp painfully, and Sam whimpered in protest at being crushed between their bodies. She tried to push him off, but her arms were locked between them, holding her son.

She heard the footsteps on the porch, heard Justin’s voice as Elijah was jerked away from her and thrown backward. “You son of a bitch!”

“Justin!”

Cameras clicked and reporters called out questions as chaos ensued. Justin followed after Elijah as he stumbled backward down the porch steps, into the reporters as he tried to escape Justin’s huge clenched fists.

“Don’t act like this was a surprise, cowboy. I already told you.”

“I remember.” Hatred flared in Justin’s eyes as he caught hold of Elijah’s shirt and dragged him through the throng of people, shoving him toward a news van. “Get off my property. This is the only time I’m going to warn you. The next time I see you anywhere near my place”—Justin looked up and waved a hand at the crowd around the porch—“I’m going to have you arrested for trespassing. All of you.”

Bailey came running through the crowd, heading toward the porch as Elijah righted himself.

“Stop, Justin.”

Reporters began tugging at him, each trying to be the first to get an answer to what was happening. Justin moved between Alyssa and Elijah, barely glancing her way as he stalked after Elijah.

“You can’t keep my wife here against her will,” Elijah yelled. “You reek of alcohol. I don’t want you near my wife and son.”

“You bastard, I’ll kill you.” Justin’s fist cocked back and connected with Elijah’s face, knocking him backward into a cameraman. Elijah’s hands flew to cover his nose as blood began to pour from between his fingers.

Sam began to cry as Alyssa tried to get the reporters’ attention, prepared to explain how Elijah was lying and violating the restraining order she had against him. She wanted everyone to know how he’d threatened to blackmail her with custody of her son if she moved forward with the divorce. Before she could say anything, Justin stepped forward.

“Everyone get off my property. I’m calling the sheriff, and anyone here when he arrives will be arrested for trespassing. No one has permission to be on this property except my cousin.” His blue eyes turned toward Alyssa, and he met her gaze. She could see the pain of betrayal in their depths. “That means everyone.”

“Justin.” She hurried down the steps after him, trying to get past the reporters at the foot of the stairs. He ignored her, jerking the keys from the hands of the man who’d driven him there and climbing into his truck. He backed out of his driveway without another glance in her direction. The roar of his truck engine sounded like a pained howl as he pulled out onto the highway and away from the future she’d thought they would share.

J
USTIN DIDN
’
T KNOW
where to go now or what to do. He’d tried to do exactly what Nathan suggested, and it had failed miserably. When he’d finally seen Bailey’s urgent text, he’d sped there. He hadn’t known what to expect, but he assumed it had to do with Alyssa or her husband. There was no other reason for the reporters to gather at the house. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do or what he planned on saying, only that he had to be there to face Alyssa. A part of him prayed that he’d arrive and find out she’d meant everything she’d said to him, that she wanted to stay, but driving up and seeing them with reporters surrounding them with their lips locked in a passionate kiss on his porch had been too much. It was the last straw. His control over his temper had snapped.

He’d been stupid enough to believe her once, but seeing Lyssa in the arms of her husband was something she couldn’t explain away. She hadn’t even tried. She hadn’t cared about him in the slightest, hadn’t cared how much her deceit hurt him.

If that was true, then why were there tears in her eyes? What was the anguish on her face when you told her to leave?

Because she’s a brilliant actress
, he answered himself.

Justin didn’t want to think about the questions too closely. Both emotions must have been something he’d imagined because Alyssa Cole had lied to him, several times, used him and conned him. But it wouldn’t happen again. He was finished with her and her husband. He reached for his cell phone and dialed the number for his friend Chase McKee, the local deputy sheriff.

“Hey, Justin, what’s up? How are things?”

“I need a favor, Chase.” He refused to stop and think about what he was doing. Once he sent Chase out to his place, there was no turning back.

But she’d lied. He’d been ready to offer her everything he had: his name, his life, his heart. He rubbed the heel of his palm against the ache in his chest, wishing he could go back to the night of the accident and do things differently. The problem was, he knew he wouldn’t have done anything differently. In spite of the pain, he loved Lyssa, loved her son, and wanted to prove to her that he was the man who deserved them. But she’d rejected his love for that bastard.

“Sure, what’s up?” Chase sounded concerned. Justin didn’t ask for favors unless it was something he couldn’t handle, and he could handle almost anything.

But he couldn’t go back and face her. Couldn’t look her in the eye and ask the questions he didn’t really want the answers to.

How much of the past week had been a lie? Had any of it been real?

“I need you to head out to my place and make sure everyone except Bailey and Nathan are gone in the next hour. All the reporters and anyone else there. Bailey will be watching the place for a few days. Can you keep an eye out for her?”

“You bet. Anything wrong?”

“Nope.” Nothing a bottle of Jack and some time alone by the river couldn’t cure.

A
LYSSA WENT BACK
toward the house, unable to stop her tears from falling freely down her cheeks. If only Justin would have given her the opportunity to explain what he’d seen, explain Elijah’s threats. The devastation in Justin’s eyes had said more than any words could. There was nothing left of what they had shared. He felt nothing but contempt for her now. She wasn’t sure what had sparked his hostility, but Elijah’s comment made it clear he had something to do with it.

“I’ll drive you into town, Alyssa.” Bailey’s voice was quietly sympathetic. “But you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you need to, either here or my place in town.”

Alyssa shook her head. “No, it’s not fair to put you in the middle of this. I don’t want to cause trouble between you and Justin, any more than I already have.” She looked up and saw the tears in Bailey’s eyes. Bailey moved in for a hug and Alyssa welcomed the comforting, albeit unexpected, embrace. “But thank you.”

“Alyssa, are you . . . ” Bailey took a step back and looked into Alyssa’s eyes. “Was all of this a publicity stunt to get your name back into circulation again so you could go back to acting?”

Alyssa’s mouth fell open in shock. Bailey looked at her as if she was trying to gauge her reaction. “Is that what Justin thinks?”

Bailey nodded. “Your husband told him. He said you were going back to LA with him.”

“When did he talk to Elijah?” Alyssa pulled Bailey aside on the porch.

“He called your phone while you were in the hospital and Justin answered. Then you’re here doing some press conference with him. What was he supposed to think?”

Alyssa looked at the man trying to stop his bloody nose on the foot of the porch steps while a young reporter plied him with questions. “He threatened to take my son away.”

After what they’d already been through, after claiming to love her, Justin should have trusted her, at least enough to ask her about Elijah’s claims. It tore at her heart to know Justin had immediately believed the worst of her.

“I’ll explain to him. He just misunderstood.” Alyssa bit the inside of her lower lips and shook her head. Bailey argued, “When he knows what really happened—”

Alyssa watched the reporters as they began to disperse, assuming Justin meant what he said and was calling the sheriff. Now that he’d left, the excitement for their show was over. Elijah leaned back on his elbow, bracing himself up, and looked over at Alyssa and Bailey as he wiped his hand from his face, smearing blood across his cheek.

“I’m pressing charges against that son of a bitch. You tell him.”

Alyssa pressed Sam into Bailey’s arms and strode to where Elijah was still sprawled dramatically on the dusty ground. She was finished listening to his threats.

“You won’t do anything.” She glanced up in time to see a patrol car pull into the parking lot of the clinic, heading directly toward the house. “You will never set foot here again. You’re going to forget that you’ve ever been here.” She took another step closer, forcing him to scoot away from her as Alyssa saw an officer climb out of his cruiser and make his way toward them. “I don’t know what you said to him, what you did, but it doesn’t matter.”

“What’s going on here? Bailey?”

“Officer, this is my ex-husband, and his being here violates a restraining order. You should contact my attorney, Franklin Monroe, and he can verify it. Not to mention that he illegally entered Justin’s house.” She jogged up the steps and took Sam back from Bailey. “I’ll just grab my things from inside.”

“Wait, who is she?”

“Chase, he’s trespassing. This is Alyssa Cole; she’s been staying here with Justin. He”—she pointed at Elijah—“came in here, threatening Alyssa.”

The deputy eyed Elijah and raised a suspicious brow. “Who are the rest of these people?” he asked, indicating the news crews throwing gear into their vans. The reporter beside Elijah tried to sneak away without being noticed.

“Reporters, and Justin wants them gone, too.”

“You,” the deputy said, reaching for Elijah’s arm, “over by my car, and if you give me any trouble, you’ll be sorry.”

Elijah jerked himself away from the officer. “Get your hands off me. I’m going to sue you
and
that hick.”

“You mean the
hick
who called me to tell me you were trespassing on his property and asked me to escort you away?”

“He assaulted me!”

“Sir, if you don’t quiet down, I’m going to take you to the station and you can wait there while I sort this out with your attorney.” Alyssa saw him pull out a cell phone while Elijah sulked against the side of the car.

Bailey followed Alyssa into the house. “Stay, Alyssa. Give Justin some time to cool off, and when he comes back you two can talk.” Alyssa slid Sam into his car seat and buckled him in.

She remembered Justin asking her to stay. Had that really been only two nights before? Her chest constricted and she fought the tears threatening to overtake her again. She’d known this was too good to last.

“This was bound to happen at some point. He told me once we were too different. Maybe he was right.” Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure she believed it. Alyssa took a deep, shaky breath.

“You need to tell him the truth. Make him understand.”

“I will. I promise.” She stood and hooked the car seat over her arm. “But he won’t listen to reason right now. You said yourself, he needs some time.”

“What are you going to do?”

Bailey’s question twisted her stomach and made the air hitch in her lungs. She would never find another man like Justin. He was one of a kind, but she’d recognized that from the beginning. Alyssa couldn’t imagine another man even comparing to him. She could only hope that, once he’d had time to really think about what happened, he’d listen to her side.

“I have to learn to be a mother.” She tucked Sam into his car seat. “I have to make some plans for the two of us, and that includes finding a new place.” She looked around the guest room, making sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. She reached for the cell phone charger she’d left plugged into the wall and caught a glimpse of her phone, halfway tucked under a pillow on the bed. She sighed and shook her head, wishing she’d seen it sooner, wondering how much hurt could have been saved by the simple electronic device.

She ran her hand over Sam’s cheek. “I have to start over. To figure out what it is I really want for Sam and for myself.” Alyssa took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of Justin that still hung in the air. She wanted to tuck every memory into her heart because they were all she would take from here.

Without thinking about what she was doing, she set the car seat down and hurried into Justin’s room. Running her hands over the bookshelf, she searched for the Dr. Seuss book with the picture of him as a child. She slipped the book from the shelf and tucked it under her arm. After picking up Sam’s car seat, Alyssa headed outside.

“This isn’t right,” Bailey argued, following her as she walked resolutely to Bailey’s truck.

“Maybe not,” Alyssa agreed, clearing her throat past the lump that was threatening to choke her with tears. “But this isn’t the movies, or a fairy tale. We don’t always get the happy endings we want.”

J
USTIN SAT ON
the log benches surrounding the fire pit on The Ridge while Grady contentedly grazed in the corral behind him. As kids they had spent most of the summer camping up here with their dad and the families staying at the dude ranch. He hadn’t been up here overnight in years. The last time was probably that summer Nathan last visited. It seemed like forever ago, when life was simple and people were who they claimed to be. No, even then it had been a lie. He’d found out this past year that Nathan had slept with his sister, that they’d been in love but Nathan left to protect her from his father’s threats. Even Julia had kept secrets from him, including the fact that her ex had returned to stalk her. For a man who valued the truth above everything, lies seemed to buzz around Justin’s head like flies. The only one honest with him these days was Bailey, and most of the time she was so brutally honest, he wished she’d keep things to herself.

He took a swallow from the bottle he gripped in his fist. He’d left the beer behind this time, choosing a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s and tossing a few blankets and a sleeping bag on the back of his saddle before riding Grady where he could have some quiet to think. He grimaced as the whiskey burned his chest, but he welcomed the burn. At least it was something more than the painful, aching hollow that occupied his chest since his phone call with Lyssa’s husband. His mind replayed his arrival, seeing Lyssa holding Sam and kissing her husband, the man she claimed to be leaving. He could still see the way his hand curved along the back of her neck, the way his mouth sought hers, the way her hand settled against his chest. Jealousy clawed at him, even as he cursed himself for feeling anything.

Justin stared out over the edge of the cliff at the river below. Snow covered the ground, but not more than a few inches, just enough to make the scenery look like a fairyland. Alyssa would have loved to see this. He’d been looking forward to showing it to her.

It was cold as shit, but he refused to head back to the house. It had been a few hours. He’d lost track of time a while ago, but there was no certainty that Lyssa was gone yet. He took another swallow from the bottle, letting the whiskey warm him, even as the icy cold bit at his exposed face and hands. He must be insane to stay in the freezing cold just to avoid facing a woman. He wasn’t the one who was in the wrong.

He sighed heavily, wishing he could just go back in time, before he had to be the responsible one, the one who was the family protector. Back to a time when the biggest mistake he made was to cheat on a final exam in high school. When his mom found out, she’d read him the riot act for cheating. He’d never repeated that mistake. He’d promised her that from that moment forward, he’d be honorable and do the right thing.

Until now.

He’d ignored his mother’s mantra, and this time it bit him in the ass.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he muttered to himself, tipping the bottle up again.

“Yeah, you are.”

Justin turned to see Bailey dismounting from her horse and loosening the cinch on her gelding before slipping off his bridle and turning him into the pen. The last thing he needed right now was Bailey chiming in. He didn’t want to hear her I-told-you-sos. He already knew he was a fool, and he didn’t need his cousin reminding him of exactly how stupid he’d been.

“Go away, Bailey.”

She shook her head, making it perfectly clear she found him pathetic, and sat beside him, plucking the bottle from his hands and swallowing a mouthful. He didn’t miss the fact that she didn’t even flinch. “Your dad must be so proud.”

“I don’t want to hear it from you.” She passed him back the bottle. “Is that any way to talk to one of your best friends? Or are you back to being an ass again? Just yesterday, you were sweet as honey.”

“Yeah, well, yesterday I thought I was proposing to the woman of my dreams, and today I found out it was nothing but a lie. All of it.” He lifted the bottle to his lips again, but Bailey’s hand on his wrist stopped him.