"Then why?" Lee begged in an exasperated tone
as she sat back in her chair. "Why can't you support me on this? If
you knew what my life was like because of that woman. The things
he…"
"Then tell me." I dropped Hope's spoon down
and gave Lee my full attention. I wanted her to talk about this.
Maybe if she said the words out loud she'd realize it was her
father who did all the damage. "Tell me."
"What's the point?" she said in a weary tone
before pushing back her chair and standing. "You've already picked
a team."
"Lee, don't run…" I started to say as she
backed away from me. I frustrated as hell as I watched her rush out
of the room.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I groaned
loudly. "Daddy's in trouble, Hope," I mumbled, pulling my phone out
of my pocket as I fed Hope another spoon of yoghurt. "Have you got
room for daddy in your crib tonight? I think mommy needs a time
out."
Hope answered me by spitting yoghurt on my
shirt. "Thanks for that, angel," I muttered as I pressed the answer
button on my phone and held it to my ear. "What's up?"
"Kyle?"
I sat straight up when I registered the voice
on the other line. "What do you want?" I said coldly. I'd never
liked that guy and after he sold me out to the papers I liked him
even less. He'd better have a damn good reason for calling me.
Dixon sighed heavily before he spoke. "I need
to talk to you."
"Forget it, asshole," I snarled. "Run along
to the papers. Fill them up with more of your bullshit. I'm
done."
"It's about Derek," he growled. "He arrived
at my place last night and went on a rampage. Trashed the whole
damn house."
I sagged in my chair. "How much damage?" I
asked wearily. This shit had to stop. Derek needed to get a handle
on himself. He couldn't keep behaving like this and I sure as hell
couldn't keep chasing after him. All I seemed to be doing was
running around after everyone.
"Two windows, the front door and I need to
replace my TV," he said before adding, "He needs help, Kyle. That
guy needs to be checked in for some serious fucking treatment. He's
lost his grasp on reality."
"I'm dealing with it," I growled. I didn't
need Dixon Jones telling me what I already knew deep down. I knew
Derek wasn't himself, but he wasn't fucking crazy. The man was torn
apart. You couldn't stick a plaster on a broken heart and expect it
to heal overnight. It took time and patience. He was going through
the stages. Right now I was guessing he was at the anger stage and
to be honest I'd rather clean up some broken glass than slit
wrists–or worse.
"Yeah, well someone better go check on him,"
Dixon grumbled. "Wouldn't be surprised if the cops have picked him
up. Fucking lunatic."
"Watch your mouth, dumbass," I snarled. "Keep
your mouth shut about Derek and I'll pay for the damage…" My voice
trailed off as my eyes took in a very flushed looking Lee stalking
back to our table.
I hung up, slipped my phone in my pocket
while keeping my eyes trained on my fiancée. Holy shit, she looked
pissed. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her jaw tight with tension as she
silently lifted Hope out of her highchair and held her to her
chest. "What are you doing?" I asked cautiously.
Glaring down at me, she whispered, "I don't
walk away from my children."
"Lee, she didn't walk away for no reason," I
argued. "I'm not saying what she did was right…"
"Don't," she hissed as she clutched Hope to
her chest. Tears filled her eyes and I watched as she blinked them
away roughly. "Just leave it alone, Kyle."
I shook my head in defeat as I pushed my
chair back and stood. "I have a meeting with Kelsie in a half
hour," I said with a sigh. There was no point in fighting. She
wasn't thinking clearly and I was too fucking stubborn to back
down. "I need to go check on Derek afterwards. Will you be okay on
your own?"
She nodded her head once before turning on
her heel and hobbling out of the restaurant with Hope in her
arms.
"Stay in the suite," I called after her.
Shit.
****
"Another one," I muttered as I strolled into
Kelsie's office and dropped the letter on her desk. Sinking into
the chair opposite Kelsie, I drummed my fingers against the
armrests of my chair in agitation. This day was going from bad to
downright catastrophic. Lee was pissed with me. Derek was AWOL. I'd
just spent the last two hours trying to convince Dixon fucking
Jones not to press charges and when I finally got that mess cleaned
up, I get another damn letter from Rachel… "When is she gonna get
it through her thick fucking skull that I am not going to visit
her."
"This is good, Mr. Carter," Kelsie mumbled as
she tore open the envelope and poured over the hand-written letter
inside. "Do you want to read it?" she asked as she peered up at me
through her overly large glasses. "It may be of interest to
you."
"Hell no," I grumbled as I pulled at my tie.
"I just want this nightmare to be over."
"April thirteenth," Kelsie muttered as she
leveled her gaze on my face. "That gives us a little under four
months. If we don't break her down, Lee goes to the stand on April
thirteenth."
"Then crush her," I snarled. Leaning forward,
I rested my elbows on her desk. "I want you to do everything in
your power to obliterate that woman. Take her down, Kelsie, and
I'll make sure you're set for life."
"We have to do this as above board as
possible, Mr. Carter."
"No trial," I hissed as I pushed my chair
back and stood. "Do whatever the hell you have to…just get her to
change her plea. I don't want my girl on that stand." I fucking
hated using my money as a bargaining tool, but we were on countdown
and Lee…Jesus, I was not going to stand by and watch her be picked
apart by Rachel's defense team or have her name dragged through the
mud again.
"Any suggestions on how to…sway her?" Kelsie
asked and I was pretty sure she was being sarcastic.
"Do you thing I'm joking?" I demanded. "This
is my goddamn reality, Kelsie. It's not a game."
She paled and shook her head. "No, Mr.
Carter…"
"Money," I said with a sigh. "Money is Rachel
Grayson's god."
****
Lee
As I pushed Hope's strolled down the path
towards Cam's grave I could feel my anger dissipating. I knew I
couldn't hide from Kyle forever, but I couldn't sit in that hotel
room and wait for him to come home either. I'd said some pretty
horrible things to him in the heat of the moment, but he just
didn't get it.
I would
never
try to force David on
him. I was on
his
side, not his father's. David probably had
reasons of his own for doing what he did to Kyle, but I didn't want
to hear them because they didn't matter to me. There was no excuse
for abandoning Kyle. Not in my eyes and that's what hurt me so
much. Kyle didn't seem to see my side-or else he didn't want
to…
My step faltered when I noticed the familiar
broad shaped man crouched in front of her headstone with his head
bent. "Hello Mr. Frey," I said quietly. He swung around in surprise
and I felt terrible for spooking him. "I didn't mean to startle
you."
Ted Frey looked up at me with the saddest
gray eyes I'd ever seen and all I wanted to do was hug him. "Lia,"
he whispered. He always called me that. I think he did it because
my daddy hated it so much. They had never gotten along too well.
Daddy hated it when anyone shortened my name. "I should have
guessed you'd come here today," he said as a small smile tugged at
his lips. "Old habits and all…"
"I come most Saturdays," I told him as I
locked the brake on Hope's stroller and eased myself down on the
grass next to him. I was grateful to be sitting. The ground was
cold, but I welcomed the numbing sensation. My back felt like it
was going to shatter into tiny pieces of bone. "I don't like her to
be on her own for too long," I told him. "And Saturday was always
our time together." I didn't add that I came here because his dead
daughter was the only one who understood me.
"I remember," he said sadly. "I'm sorry we
haven't been to see you." He shook his head. "We weren't sure you
would want to see us after finding out…" His voice trailed off and
I flinched. I understood what he was talking about.
My mother.
Mr. and Mrs. Frey had helped my mother leave
my father. I hadn't wanted to know anything about the whole ordeal,
but Kyle had blurted out some of the details one night when I was
in hospital. "I'm not angry with you, Mr. Frey," I said quietly.
"Or Mrs. Frey." I didn't judge Ted or Mora. They didn't abandon
their child. They'd given Cam a wonderful life full of love and
nurture and a clean, safe home. And through my friendship with Cam,
I'd tasted the love of real parents.
Cam's parents had been good to me growing up.
Especially Ted. I remembered overhearing a conversation when I was
little between Ted and my father. He had come by late one night and
had asked daddy to allow him and Mora to take me and raise me with
Cam. I remembered being so excited as I sat on the top of the
stairs. I'd been sure my daddy would accept Mr. Frey's offer. Even
at four years old I'd known I wasn't wanted. Wasn't loved. Not like
other children. Not like Cam. Of course I'd been wrong. Daddy had
gone ballistic and after throwing Mr. Frey out of the house he'd
come looking for me. I still had the burn marks on my bottom from
that fire poker.
"I wish things could have been different," he
whispered as he patted my knee. "I have two regrets in this life,
Lia," he told me. "Do you know what they are?"
"Camryn," I breathed. It was hard to hear
this, to sit next to my best friend's father and hear the hurt in
his voice as his pain radiated off him in waves. I ducked my head
in shame. "I'm sorry. I know it should have been me."
"Don't say that." Gently clasping my chin
with his fingers, he lifted my face. "I never want to hear those
words come out of your mouth again, is that clear?"
"Yes sir," I mumbled blinking back my
tears.
He sighed heavily as he wrapped his arm
around my shoulder. "I have two regrets in life, Lia," he repeated
tucking me into his side. "The first regret I have is failing
through inability. My second regret is failing through
ability."
"I don't understand," I told him. The man had
always spoken in riddles.
"I hope you never do," was all he said.
****
Derek
Kyle was sitting on the steps of the porch
when I got home. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded as he
stood up, grabbed his grocery bags and followed me inside. "This is
my third time coming here."
"Out," I muttered. There was no point in
telling Kyle I'd spent half the day sitting at our old table in the
coffee dock of the school campus. The guy had a heart of gold, but
tact and sensitivity were not his strong points… He had as much
empathy as a moose. Sometimes it was hard to be around him. He was
an emotionally strong person…hell, he was virtually invulnerable
and his strength exposed my weakness.
"I'm having a really shitty day, Der," he
growled as he stormed into the kitchen and starting unloading the
groceries I had come so used to receiving. I wasn't hungry anymore,
and I didn't feel jack shit, but if I could I think I would be
warmed by his attempt at keeping me alive. "Hope was up half the
night teething. Lee's on the warpath. Rachel won't back the fuck
off, and you," Kyle continued as he pointed a bunch of bananas at
me. "Running around the neighborhood, breaking and entering is
something I could do without, dude."
"He deserved it," I snapped, feeling
something for the first time today. Anger. I welcomed it. "He's a
douchebag with a big mouth." I honestly couldn't remember why I
went to Dixon's place last night, but I guessed the empty bottle of
jack I found in my bed this morning had something to do with
it…
"Yeah," Kyle sighed as he closed the fridge
door and started gathering up dirty glasses and mugs. "Well, now
he's a douchebag who's seven thousand dollars richer."
"You paid him off?" I asked in disgust. "What
the hell, Kyle."
"What the fuck else was I supposed to do?"
Kyle asked defensively. "It was that or bail your ass out of jail
and read all about it in tomorrow's paper."
"I was looking forward to seeing my face on
the front page," I shot back, knowing I sounded like an asshole,
but not caring enough to shut up. "It's been a while."
Turning on the water faucet, Kyle started
washing the dishware as he continued his rant. "You could have been
locked up, dude. Don't you get it? Dixon could have made life ten
times worse for you."
"How much worse can it get?" I asked in an
aggressive tone as I folded my arms across my chest and glowered at
the back of his head. "My fucking girl…" I stopped, blanked her
face out of my mind and inhaled deeply. "You said Lee was on the
warpath?" I said, changing the subject. "I wonder fucking
why…meddling again, Kyle?"
"She needs to talk to Tracy, man," Kyle
growled as he dropped a plate in the sink and started pacing the
floor. The guy couldn't stand still for a minute. Fucker gave me
whiplash half the time. "Dammit, it needs to happen." He cracked
his knuckles and let out a breath before stalking back to the
sink.
I rolled my eyes in disgust. "You think she
needs to talk to her. Lee obviously isn't ready."
"Fuck that," Kyle growled. "She needs to hear
her mother's side of things. The things he put her through…" He
shook his head as he wrung a wet dish cloth and proceeded to wipe
down the countertops. "She has so much compassion for Jimmy.
Remember when he had his heart attack? She went running straight to
Louisiana to sit by his side. The man that beat her for years,
Derek. And then her mom gives her a kidney and she won't even hear
the woman out. It's driving me crazy." I didn't bother speaking. I
knew he wasn't finished. "He's scum," Kyle continued as he grabbed
some empty beer bottles and tossed them in the trash. "Jimmy
Bennett is a serpent and I swear she would rather speak to him than
her own mother. It's sick, Derek. It's disgusting."