Dalton, Tymber - Stoneface (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (24 page)

When he first got sick, she was the one who slept at his bedside in the hospital every night during that first stay until they diagnosed him and he ended up moving in with their parents.

When she caught Dickweed cheating on her, her first call had been to Liam. He even went to the lawyer and to court with her during the divorce hearings, holding her hand and drying her tears more times than she could count.

Eventually he rolled over to face her. “You awake?” he mumbled.

“Yeah.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I can’t yet.”

“Okay.” He lay there quietly for a moment. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m here to listen. I swear, kiddo. Do I need to plan a return trip out there to kick their asses?”

She managed a faint smile. “No.”

“No, I guess I wouldn’t need to kick Tim’s, would I? Just Jack’s.”

That made her smile. “I think we’ll be too busy kicking Amy’s ass when she gets home to worry about those two men. In fact, I’d rather not think about those two men at all.”

It hurt way too much.

* * * *

Later that day, once Gwen was wider awake and fully caffeinated, she called Ruthie. “Thanks again for helping me out. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’m sorry I was reluctant to do it at first.” She hesitated. “I had a lot of fun. Thank you for trusting me to take care of him.”

Gwen felt a rush of sadness for her friend. She remembered kick-ass Ruthie, afraid of nothing.

She remembered the baby shower she’d been planning for her friend.

Gwen’s tears caught her off guard. What did she have to feel sorry for herself about? All she did was have a few fuck-filled days with some hunks, end of story.

Ruthie lost herself, and nearly lost her life.

And she lost her baby.

“Gee? What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Gwen couldn’t help it. She broke down sobbing as she spilled the entire story to Ruthie, leaving out the part about Amy’s guy being married and Amy being knocked up. If anyone would understand, it was Ruthie. Although Gwen felt guilty as hell for burdening her friend with her relatively petty problems.

After she finished, she heard Ruthie sigh sadly. “Want to come over for whine and wine?” she joked.

Gwen laughed as she grabbed a dishtowel from the kitchen counter to wipe her face with. “Whine and Wine” nights were one of their special things, had been since they were both old enough to drink. Ruthie hadn’t suggested one in years.

Maybe her friend was starting to heal.

“That sounds good,” Gwen said. “You don’t think I’m horrible?”

Ruthie snorted in amusement. “Honey, hell no I don’t think you’re horrible. I envy you. You got to live out one of your fantasies.” She paused, her voice growing somber. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, hon. It sounds like they were great guys.”

Gwen’s turn to snort. “I thought they were. Tim was great. Jack was just an ass, it turns out. Tim’s a better man than I.” She realized what she said as Ruthie burst out laughing. “Well,” she said, laughing with her friend, “you know what I mean.”

* * * *

Despite their mother’s dire warnings that Liam should continue living with them, her passive-aggressive protestations that she didn’t mean to make him miserable, and resolve-weakening bouts of tears, Liam called in a few favors with friends since Bob was unavailable to help them move Liam’s stuff. Catching up with work from being gone for so long on his trip or some such nonsense.

Gwen guiltily pushed away her irritation. Bob was a good guy. He didn’t deserve for her to be ticked off at him.

The next afternoon, they got Liam’s stuff packed and relocated, some of it to Gwen’s house, some to a storage unit.

Their father didn’t weigh in on the topic, preferring to let his stony silence speak for him as he sat in the living room and read his newspaper without lifting a finger to help.

That night, as Gwen and Liam sat on what was now their couch and ate pizza, she unexpectedly broke down sobbing. The day’s events had kept her mind off Tim and Jack. She hadn’t checked her e-mail or her BlackBerry, preferring to let that issue remain undisturbed for a while.

Now, with another lonely night alone in bed ahead of her, she couldn’t help but think about them.

Or about the fact that Tim hadn’t e-mailed her. She’d hoped against hope that he might.

She thought about breaking down and e-mailing him and rescinding her request for him not to contact her, but her pride wouldn’t let her do that.
What, beg a man I have no chance in hell with to e-mail me?

That would flat out be masochism of the bad kind.

Liam stroked her hair. “How about calling them?” he suggested. “Or at least call Tim.”

“No. Jack made his position perfectly clear. I was an idiot to get my hopes up.”

When her phone rang a little later, she felt her heart jump until she realized it was Amy.

“Gee, I’m sorry,” Amy said immediately.

Gwen didn’t want to fight with her anymore. She’d had enough recent loss in her life to last her a lifetime. Alienating her sister wouldn’t help things. “I’m sorry, too. When are you coming home?”

“That’s why I called. I’m flying home late tonight. Can you come meet me? And…can I spend the night there? I don’t want to go to Mom and Dad’s yet.”

“Yeah, but you have to sleep on the couch. Liam’s moved in with me. We got his stuff today.”

There was a moment of hesitation. “Oh. I didn’t realize it was going to happen that fast. How did Mom and Dad take it?”

“Mom, predictably. Dad’s pretty upset about all of this.”

Amy’s voice grew soft. “I’m sure he is. What did he say when you told him?”

“What? About the baby? Hell no. That’s your job, not mine. He’s already pissed off at me, and he’s blaming your disappearance and Liam’s moving out on me.”

“I’m sorry about that. Thank you for not telling them.”

“I hope this guy is worth it,” Gwen snarked before reining in her temper. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. A friend of mine said I can stay with her for a while. But she needs a couple of days to empty out her spare room so I can stay there. Until I…get my own place. I can’t live with Mom and Dad anymore. If Liam’s with you, it means I don’t have to.”

Liam motioned for the phone, and Gwen gladly handed it over. She didn’t want to talk to Amy anymore. She didn’t want to think for the rest of the evening. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball in Liam’s lap and forget about the world.

To try to forget about what she’d lost.

* * * *

Liam insisted on going with her to the airport despite Gwen trying to talk him into staying home. He’d had more than enough excitement for a while, in her opinion, but she refused to smother him like their mother had.

All the way there, Liam rested his hand on Gwen’s thigh. They didn’t talk, but his comforting presence helped ground her. When they pulled up to the baggage claim area, Amy was already sitting on a bench by the curb, waiting on them. She looked exhausted. No makeup, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

That wasn’t like Amy. Amy never left the house without makeup. Once again, Gwen felt sorry for her sister despite her irritation at her sister’s irresponsible behavior.

At least I’m not pregnant
, she thought and not for the first time. She knew her own period was due to start any day from the fact that she’d felt the first twinges of cramping. Of course, a raging case of PMS didn’t help with her hair-trigger temper any, either.

Gwen got out and hugged her without talking before they loaded her bags into the back of the SUV. Amy climbed into the backseat.

“Hiya,” Liam said. “What’s new?”

With that, all three of them started laughing. Gwen shook her head as she shifted into drive and they headed back to her home.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” Amy softly said. “I really appreciate it.”

Gwen glanced in the rearview mirror. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Amy said. She took a deep breath. “I owe you both a huge apology. I’m really sorry. I just didn’t want to tell you what was going on. Then after I found out about…” Her voice broke up. She cleared her throat and stated again. “I’m sorry.”

Liam twisted in his seat to look at her. “Why didn’t you think you could talk to us? Haven’t the past couple of months shown you could trust us?”

Amy stared at her hands. “I was pretty ashamed of myself.”

Gwen didn’t say anything. Liam let it go, and they rode the rest of the way to Gwen’s house in silence.

* * * *

The next morning, Amy was already sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and talking with Liam when Gwen wandered downstairs. Gwen had sworn to herself that she wouldn’t get upset with her sister, no matter what. She’d be mature and calm and understanding, if not in agreement, of her sister’s motives for putting them through hell.

Liam got up when Gwen walked in and fixed her a cup of coffee. She didn’t try to stop him. Another of her promises to herself, that she wouldn’t baby Liam, would let him decide what he could and couldn’t do.

“Thanks, bro,” she gratefully said upon accepting the proffered cup of steaming morning goodness.

“You’re welcome. Sit with us. We’re talking.”

She took up the seat between them, Liam on her left. Amy looked even more haggard this morning, her limp hair pulled back into an untidy ponytail. Gwen wondered if she’d even brushed her hair upon awakening, or if she’d slept with it like that. As disheveled as her older sister looked, Gwen suspected the latter.

“So, what’s new?” Gwen tried in a light tone.

The ghost of a smile crossed Amy’s face. “It’s okay, Gee. I know I screwed up. I don’t expect a free pass.”

Gwen sighed and ignored Liam, who bumped her leg with his foot under the table in warning. Gwen tucked her legs under her chair, out of kicking reach. “Amy, we love you, but honestly? This was really whacked.”

Amy nodded. “I know.”

“Mom and Dad were crawling up my ass over this. I got blamed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s bad enough that Dad chews me out every chance he gets for total bullshit, but I don’t need you throwing me under the bus, too.”

“Gee,” Liam warned.

Aaannnd, we’re off.
“No, bro, I need to say this. I’ve held it in long enough.” No, it wasn’t Amy’s fault, but she was tired of being the whipping boy for her parents. “Look, they hold you up as the golden child, the perfect one. I’m sorry this has happened to you, and I’m not trying to lord this over you. But honestly? Couldn’t you have stood up for me once in a while to them?”

Liam sighed and sat back in his chair to wait her out.

Amy nodded. “You’re right,” she softly said. “I should have.” She looked at Liam, then Gwen. “I was always jealous of you.”

That shocked Gwen into momentary silence. “What?”

“Yeah. You had the tenacity to go out and get what you wanted. You got married. I know Dickweed wasn’t a happy ending for you, but you got out of there and away from our parents. You went after the career you dreamed of. You’re making a living at what you love to do. You escaped Mom and Dad.”