Forever With You (20 page)

At the door, a sudden flashback of the first time I’d been there flooded my memory. I’d been so nervous, standing there waiting with Hudson for his sister to answer. It had been our first outing as a couple—as a
pretend
couple. The fear that I’d mess up the charade had been immense, but more than that, the sizzling energy between me and the man that stood at my side had threatened to light me on fire. Threatened to consume me.

In the end, it
had
consumed me, and that was why I was there now—burned and blistered and broken.

Before ringing, I turned to Liesl. “This is where I need you. There’s a peephole. If Stacy looks through it and sees me, I’m not sure she’ll open the door.”

“Cool. I got this.”

I moved to the side of the building and made myself flush with the wall. At my nod, she rang the bell. The door opened almost immediately.

“Hi. Vanessa Vanderhal?” Stacy asked Liesl.

She must have been waiting for a client.
Before Liesl could answer, I stepped into view.

“Oh, no. Not you.” Stacy began to shut the door.

But Liesl wedged her shoulder in the entrance before the opening got too narrow. “Hey, she only has a few questions. Nothing that’s going to take more than a few minutes. You’re the only one she can ask. Can’t you help a girl out? Woman to woman?”

I’d known Liesl could be intimidating. I didn’t realize she could also be charming.

Stacy narrowed her eyes, considering. Considering was better than I’d expected, to be honest.

I looked to Liesl, mentally sending her signals to lay on more charm since it seemed to be working.

She apparently wasn’t on the same wavelength. “If you aren’t interested in doing this the easy way, I’m willing to go another route. I’ll introduce myself—I’m Liesl. I have a triple black belt in karate and I do competitive boxing on the side. So come on. Let us in.”

The extent of Liesl’s fighting skills was kickboxing at a nearby gym. But Stacy didn’t know that.

Stacy groaned. “Oh, all right. Come on in. But make it quick. I have a client in fifteen.”

I was more relieved than I realized I would be. There were too many questions about the video that could only be answered by three people. And I wasn’t about to ask Celia. “Thank you, Stacy. We’ll be in and out. I promise.”

She widened the door for us to come in. “Yeah, yeah.” To herself, she muttered, “I knew there wouldn’t be an end to this.” As soon as we were in, she let the door slam and crossed her arms over her chest. “What is it you want to know? I didn’t stage the video, if that’s what he’s convinced you.”

Obviously we were having our conversation in the front entry of the store. At least she’d let us in.

“No, he didn’t.” I supposed he deserved credit for that—for not denying that the kiss had taken place. By avoiding telling me anything, he’d avoided making up a lie. Was that an effort to remain true to our promise to be honest with each other? If so, didn’t he realize that concealment was just another form of lie?

“Actually,” I said, “he won’t tell me anything about the video at all.”

“Ah, I see.” Stacy rubbed her gloss-shined lips together. “And so you’re asking me instead.”

The judgment and superiority lacing her words irked me to no end. I wanted to shake the woman by her thin shoulders and tell her she didn’t know. That she couldn’t understand.

But I was trying to play nice. And why would she understand anyway? My best friend was having a hard time figuring out why it was so important to me to uncover Hudson’s secrets, why would a practical stranger get it?

She wouldn’t.

I gritted my teeth. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m going behind his back and asking you instead. It’s definitely not one of my finer moments.”

Stacy stared at me hard for several seconds. “Well, we’ve all experienced some of those, I suppose.” Her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. “So he doesn’t know you’re here?”

I shook my head.

“And you’re not planning to tell him?”

“No.” Guilt shuddered through me like a cold chill. Hudson hadn’t asked me not to talk to Stacy again, but I’d promised to be open and truthful with him. Not telling him felt secretive. Sure, he wasn’t living up to his promise, and he’d called for a fucking break—those facts probably excused me from the open-door policy. But I’d said I was done keeping secrets. Period. Either I meant it or I wasn’t worthy of him in the first place. And if I wasn’t worthy of being with him, why did this whole detective scheme matter?

I changed my answer. “Actually, that’s a lie. I will tell him.” If I ever actually had a chance to speak to him again. “I told you before—we’re working on honesty. I can’t betray him.” Even if he’d betrayed me by not being forthcoming.

My transparency had likely cost me Stacy’s cooperation, but my only other option was to lie to her. And that seemed shitty too.

She pursed her lips, her eyes darting back and forth between me and Liesl. Finally, she sighed, leaning back on the counter behind her. “What do you want to know?”

Knowing our time was short, I jumped right in. “Why did you film Hudson and Celia kissing? I mean, what did you plan to do with the video in the first place?”

“Prove he was lying.” She said it matter-of-factly, as if I’d understand with just that much. When she realized I didn’t, she expounded. “I was supposed to meet him that night. For coffee—I think I told you that before. As I was walking up, I saw him with
her
. He’d protested so much about them being a couple that I knew he’d deny it again. So I filmed it. As proof.”

My chest tightened. Oh, how the protest story sounded familiar. Still, there were holes. “But you never showed it to him.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t end up needing to. I walked up to them right after I filmed it. While they were still...like that.” She cringed as if the memory of seeing them kissing hurt her.

I knew how that felt. And it hurt doubly that Stacy was upset about it. She obviously had something with him, even though he’d denied it. How many women had he been with that he’d told me he hadn’t? Was Norma also on that list?

Well, that I’d find out tomorrow, if all went as planned.

Stacy brushed a strand of golden hair off her face. “I’d filmed them in case they stopped before I got there. In case he denied it. But he didn’t.”

No, denial wasn’t Hudson’s thing—redirection was. And avoidance.

Or maybe that was just with me. “What did he do when he saw you?”

Stacy’s nose crinkled as she recalled the scene. “He acted surprised, even though I was supposed to be meeting him. Or maybe it was because he’d lost track of time or forgotten he was meeting me. I don’t know. Celia apologized first, which was strange because I didn’t realize she knew anything about me. Then Hudson apologized. Most of the explaining came from Celia. I guess he was shocked to have been caught or something. I really didn’t listen to most of what she said. I was shocked as well. And too busy feeling stupid.”

“Feeling stupid?” This was where I needed clarification. Hudson had seemed honestly perplexed when I’d mentioned Stacy had been there to meet him.

“Yes, stupid. He’d made me feel like he liked me, you know?” She seemed to be recalling an old ache that hadn’t healed entirely. “And all the time he was with her. Why would he do that? ”

“Why do any men cheat on their women?” Liesl asked then returned to biting the nail she’d been working on since we’d arrived.

I frowned. Of all the negative traits I was realizing about my lover, I sure hoped cheating wasn’t one I had to add to the list.

Stacy protested the logic in that. “He asked me to meet him, though. Hudson Pierce doesn’t seem like the type to mix up his dates. If anyone could successfully pull off an affair, that man could.”

That’s exactly why Norma scared me. But, like Stacy was saying, if Hudson were really with Norma—or back then, with Celia—wouldn’t he be better at covering his tracks? That was the part that didn’t make sense.

Maybe Stacy had misread his intentions. “How did he make you feel like he liked you? I thought you only accompanied him to that charity event last year.” Taking a stab in the dark, I added, “I didn’t realize you were together.”

Stacy lowered her eyes. “We weren’t. Not really.” She ran her hands along the counter behind her. “After that charity event he never asked me out again. But we talked a lot—by email. He flirted. Sent me flowers a couple of times. That’s why I thought there was a possibility. That night on the video was the first time he’d offered to see me in person again.”

“Maybe they were dicking with you together.” Liesl wiped her freshly “manicured” hand on her jeans. “You know. Like maybe the emails weren’t from him.”

“You mean Celia sent them?” I considered it. I’d certainly learned Celia wasn’t to be trusted, that she’d manipulate information for her benefit. “Yeah, she could have.” And I liked that scenario better than some of the others.

Stacy, on the other hand, didn’t like the idea at all. She straightened up to her full height and narrowed her eyes in my direction. “Are you saying that you think Hudson couldn’t possibly like me? That’s pretty nervy to assume. What, you don’t think I’m good enough for him?”

Man, that woman had claws. It wasn’t even me who’d suggested the idea.

I put my hands up in an attempt to calm her. “No. That’s not it at all. There’s just details that don’t add up. Like you said he seemed surprised to see you there. And when I mentioned you being there to meet him, he had no idea what I was talking about. Total deer in the headlights. Maybe he was faking his reaction—I’m not denying that’s a possibility. But that’s exactly why I wanted to talk to you. I’m trying to figure it out for myself.”

Liesl poked me with her elbow. “And tell her about Celia WerWhore.”

I ignored her jab though it inwardly made me smile. “That’s the other thing, Stacy. Celia tried to pull a scam on me recently. And now she’s messing with me in other ways. I may not be the first of Hudson’s interests to get that treatment.”

Stacy’s posture didn’t change, but her expression said she was pondering the new information. “So when he took me to the charity event, I showed up on her radar?”

“Possibly.” I hoped that was it. Otherwise Hudson was lying to me about his relationship with Stacy. “And possibly not.” That was the problem with secrets—anything was potentially the truth.

Stacy’s eyes grew dim, as if the idea that all of it had been a hoax disappointed her more than catching the guy she liked with another woman. I got that. She’d wanted Hudson Pierce to be interested in her. Simply by being a woman, I could relate to crushing on a guy. Being me, I could relate to crushing on Hudson. If I’d discovered he’d faked being into me…well, that would have been more devastating than the current situation I was in.

I decided to give her some compassion. “But even if it wasn’t Hudson who wrote those emails, Celia obviously thought you were a threat. That has to mean he showed some interest in you in front of her.”

Stacy blew out a stream of air. “It’s actually an interesting theory. It fits in some ways.”

“Do tell.” Liesl was as eager now for the information as I was.

“Like I said, he did act strange when I came up to him. And whenever he came in the shop, he ignored me. As if he hadn’t said all the beautiful things he’d said to me online. He was very poetic. His emails were like long letters.”

“I’m not claiming to know who the actual author was,” I started tentatively, afraid of hurting Stacy’s feelings more, “but from what I know of Hudson, he’s not much of a letter writer. And Celia does seem to be comfortable around the literary world.” The quotes she’d picked to highlight in my books indicated as such, anyway.

“What was the email address he sent from?” Occasionally Liesl came up with things I should have asked.

Stacy wrinkled her brow. “[email protected], I think.”

I was already shaking my head when Liesl asked, “Is that his email?”

“I only know of his Pierce Industries account. He uses it for both business and personal, but he rarely sends personal emails.” Or if he did, I wasn’t aware.

The bell rang, announcing Stacy’s next client. She looked to the door then back to us, as if she was torn.

I felt the same way. There was more to potentially uncover, but I’d promised we’d be in and out. Besides, there probably wasn’t anything else I could know without reading the actual emails and that seemed like too much to ask from Stacy unless she offered. “Thanks again, for your time and your answers. I know you’re busy now.”

She nodded as she crossed in front of us to open the door. With her hand on the knob, she paused. “I should be thanking you too, I suppose. You’ve enlightened the situation.” She opened the door before I could respond. “Vanessa? Welcome to Mirabelle’s. Come on in.”

Stacy’s client walked in and we headed out.

“If I think of anything else,” Stacy called after me. “I’ll contact you.”

It was a hopeful ending to the conversation. If she was anything like me—and very few people were, but it was possible—she’d go home and reread all the emails “Hudson” sent with the new scenario in mind. Maybe she’d find something there and send me a note.

I texted Jordan and discovered he’d found a meter down the block. He waved, letting us know his location.

Liesl linked her arm in mine as we walked toward the Maybach. “Do you think you learned anything?”

I shrugged. “I’d like to believe it was all a scam on Celia’s part. But that doesn’t answer why Hudson was kissing her or why he won’t tell me the truth about it.”

“Maybe she asked him to play along. Would he do that? Or he was in on it all along.”

I bit my lip. “All of those options are possible.” I thought he’d been well at the time he’d met me, but maybe he had still been playing people. Was that what Hudson didn’t want me to know? That so recently, he hadn’t been well?

Or was it Celia he was protecting? Yet again.

***

The club was already open to the public when I showed up for work that night, so instead of using the employee entrance, I went through the front doors. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen Celia waiting in line. So much for her being bored with the game.