My temper was about to boil over. The girl must have sensed it too.
“Room 5. Top of the stairs. Just, please, don’t hurt him.”
Her eyes were searching mine. I slowly nodded.
“Shit. Why did you tell her that?” Tarron whispered as I walked up the stairs.
“You’re going to have to fill us in,” Grant said.
“I really don’t know all the details, but I know enough to know that if that’s the Olivia then she’s the absolute last person on this planet we want around him right now.”
My heart sank and most of the fight went out of me. I heard them leave, but I couldn’t bring myself to knock on the door. My hand was just suspended there in mid-air when the door flew open.
My heart nearly stopped. Baine was standing there alive and in the flesh, a whole lot of flesh as he was sporting only a pair of boxers. My eyes scanned his body noting the addition of many tattoos covering his arms and a small broken heart on the left side of this chest.
“Olivia?” he asked rubbing his eyes like he wasn’t sure he believed I was actually there.
I knew that feeling all too well.
The last of my resolved disappeared.
“I’m sorry. I thought I could do this, but I can’t.”
I turned and ran down the stairs.
“Olivia, wait.”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
I sucked in several deep breaths when I got safely outside. I looked back, but he hadn’t followed. Tears started streaming down my cheeks. I swiped them away before someone saw me.
As I crossed the street heading for the alley that would lead me to the backdoor of my store, I noticed Tarron, Grant, and T standing across the street watching me. They looked worried, but they didn’t say a word or come after me. Instead, they walked back inside. Somehow, I knew they were going to check on him and I was really grateful he had friends like that to watch his back.
*****
The day passed by in a blur. When I didn’t react in any way, the local ladies spearheaded by Mrs. Young had nothing to gossip about. I wouldn’t give them anything either.
My last appointment was at three and I decided to close up shop early for the day.
I cleaned up and busied myself with an overdue pile of paperwork until Killian arrived with Macie. He picked her up from school every day. It was her favorite part of her routine and I never wanted to come between her and her uncle.
“Macie Laine, I swear you grew a full inch since yesterday.”
“No I didn’t. I’m still the shortest person in my class,” she pouted.
“Your mom was always little too. Don’t sweat it,” Killian said.
“Is that true?” she asked me.
I nodded. “Afraid so. You come by it honestly.”
“You turned out okay.”
“Well, I like to hope so.”
Macie jumped down and threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek before running off to play with the toys we kept in the back room for her. She had always been a sweet and affectionate child. She made parenting easy… most of the time.
The back door opened and the crew arrived. Tori, Resa, Felix, and even Kano.
“Well, the gang’s all here. What bomb are you dropping on me today?”
“She went to see him today. The rumor’s floating all over town,” Tori told my brothers.
“You just couldn’t resist, could you?” Killian said.
“Well, you sure weren’t going to tell me what happened.” I knew I was being stubborn.
Killian got a funny look on his face. “What exactly did he tell you?”
I sighed and my shoulders slumped. “I chickened out.”
“You didn’t see him?” Tori asked.
“No, I saw him.” I saw a lot of him, I thought as my mouth watered at the vision forever engrained into my brain.
“But…?”
“I chickened out, okay. The second I saw him it was like everything just came flooding back. I was relieved; I was angry; and I got scared and ran away. So there, your secret remains safe.”
“We’re just trying to protect you,” Kano said.
“I’m a big girl, in case you haven’t noticed. I have been for a very long time. And I know I’ve never actually told you guys this, but he’s Macie’s father. He’s right here. Doesn’t he deserve to know he has a daughter?”
“No,” Killian said. “Besides, he’s already met her.”
“He thinks the kid is yours,” Kano said. “Oh yeah, he was real shocked to find out you settled down.”
“Blaspheme. I’ll never settle down.”
“He knows she’s not Killian’s,” Felix said. “He even knows she’s your daughter. Judging by the look on his face I’d say he was a little pissed about it too.”
“You told him?” I yelled.
“Not that it was his. I could see him doing the math in his head though. Thinks you moved on pretty quickly. He wasn’t happy about it but said he was happy for you and that he’d be out of here as soon as the pilot gave the, all clear.”
“Who knows when that will be,” Kano said. “Silas called and said their plane took a hard lightning strike last night. It shouldn’t have done any damage, but it did and he won’t fly again until he figures out why.”
Killian groaned in frustration.
“Wait. Hold up. I just told you that Baine is the father of my daughter and not a single one of you even attempted to act surprised.”
Resa snorted. “Who else would it have been?”
“And why else would he have left? We always just assumed,” Tori said.
I shook my head. “Impossible. I hadn’t told anyone I was pregnant when he left, not even him.”
Killian’s face looked pained.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t know, okay. I didn’t know about the baby. I didn’t know you actually loved him. I made a mistake. I can’t take that back no matter how much I wish I could, Liv.”
“What can’t you take back? Dammit Killian, what?”
“He came to me. He told me he was in love with you and just waiting for your bear to show. He told me you’d been together for nearly two years. I was so pissed. He was supposed to look after you. He was supposed to protect you. He crossed a line I couldn’t ever forgive.”
My head whipped around to Kano. “You were in on this too?”
“You’re our baby sister. We thought we were looking out for you. He was twenty-two years old and you were just seventeen. He’s lucky we didn’t press human charges for rape on top of it. It was wrong, Olivia. Or at least that’s what we all thought at the time.”
My throat went dry and everything inside of me hardened. “You said yesterday he was excommunicated. Is this why?”
Every head in the room nodded.
“It was kept quiet and done discreetly. Your dad didn’t want this to become a scandal or anything,” Felix added.
“He didn’t even say goodbye,” I whispered.
“What’s done is done, Olivia, and right now you’re just better off letting him go once and for all.”
“How do I do that, Killian? I stare into Macie’s eyes and all I see is him. Every single day.”
“He’s leaving, Liv, and this time, he won’t be coming back,” Felix told me sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“Tori, could you take Macie for the evening? I really just want to be left alone for a while. It’s a lot to take in.” My voice was distant and hollow. I noticed the worried faces of my family. I couldn’t deal with them right now; I already felt like I was drowning.
“Of course,” she said.
When I discovered Baine had left, I wasn’t sure I would ever recover from the heartbreak. This felt like my heart had just been shattered once again, only this time it was tainted by the deception of my family. I barely survived the first time. If not for Macie I probably wouldn’t have. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to go through this again.
Baine
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Chapter 7
She’d come to me. Why? For one amazing moment I thought maybe we’d talk this out and everything would finally be okay, but that didn’t happen. This time, she turned her back on me.
I had never been able to stand seeing that girl cry. Even from the top of the staircase I’d seen the shiny streaks coating her cheeks before she reached the door and disappeared from my sight. I had wanted to go after her, but a combination of shock and the fact I was in my underwear had stopped me from following after her.
I’d moped and agonized about it all day barely functioning during the run Silas insisted we take. I needed to go after her, but my pride and fear of further rejection stopped me.
The day was rough enough but being alone in the darkness was far worse. I tossed and turned throughout the night.
I got up and dressed the next morning, but by the time I got downstairs, Killian was there waiting for me.
“I know you’re stuck here for the moment, but it changes nothing,” he said. “Stay away from Olivia.”
“And did you tell her that?” I asked giving him a smirk. “She was the one coming to my room not the other way around.”
He still thought I wasn’t good enough for her and that hurt like a bitch. I instantly turned into a sarcastic smartass to cover my pain. The thing was, he knew it too. Aside from Olivia, no one knew me better than Killian Murphy.
“She did what?”
“Relax, nothing happened. She freaked out and left before even saying what she was here for.”
He looked relieved to hear that.
“Just keep your distance. You’ve already hurt her enough for one lifetime.”
“And who’s fault is that? I told you I loved her, and you turned your back on me, Killian. And then from what I heard you never even had the balls to tell her why I left.”
His jaw set in a hard line. I knew that stubborn pride all too well. There was nothing I could say that would penetrate that thick skull of his.
I shook my head. “Relax, we’re leaving as soon as the pilot gives us the go ahead.”
He seemed surprised by that. I couldn’t imagine he thought I’d actually be staying.
“You haven’t heard? Your plane took damage in the storm last night. You’re not going anywhere until it’s safe to fly that tin can. Don’t even know how you stand to fly in that thing anyway.”
I shrugged. “You get used to it.”
“I never could.”
“Well, I have had to learn to deal with it. You do what you have to do to survive.”
He nodded and then walked away.
I missed my friend. That was a hard pill to swallow, but the truth. I was happy to see him, as screwed up as that was. It hurt that there wasn’t even some miniscule part of him that felt the same for me.
I sat down on one of the couches in the lobby just trying to regroup. It had already been a hell of a morning. I hoped he was wrong about the plane. I really needed to get as far away from this place as possible and soon.
The door opened again. I was too lost in my thoughts to even notice.
“Hi. Are you Baine?”
I looked up to find the little girl that had been with Killian only the day before. I’d thought she was his daughter, but according to Felix she was Olivia’s kid.
“Yeah.”
“I thought so.” She sighed and sat down next to me.
“I’m not sure Killian would be very happy that you’re here talking to me.”
“I know. That’s why I waited until he was good and gone first.”
“Shouldn’t you be in school or something, kid?”
I could tell by the look on her face that I was right.
“Yeah. I told the nurse I wasn’t feeling well and that Uncle Killian was going to pick me up and take me home. She said I could wait outside for him.”
“And then you came here instead?”
“Yup.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. She was very frank. I liked that.
“You thought Uncle Killian was my father, didn’t you?”
“At first. Felix told me you’re Olivia’s daughter.”
“Yup, that’s my mom.”
“You’re Uncle Killian isn’t exactly happy I’m back. It’s probably best you run off. Nothing good will come of him finding you here.”
She sighed. “I know. He really hates you, but he’s feeling guilty too for what he did.”
“He told you that?” I highly doubted Killian opened up to his pintsized niece about me.
“No, but grownups aren’t very observant. See, Mom set up a playroom for me in the back of her store. Her office is back there too.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Be patient. I’m getting there. Can’t a girl tell a story?”
I snorted. “Yeah, whatever.”
She was a chatty little thing that was certain. I’m not sure I’d ever met a kid that talked so much.
“So, like I was saying, I have a playroom back there and when I’m sitting there playing with my toys, the adults talk, a lot.”
“You talk a lot.” She glared at me and the look reminded me so much of Olivia that I couldn’t help but smile. “Go on.”
“I hear things. Things I’m not supposed to hear. The sort of things that they don’t want me to hear but they forget I’m right there.”
“Oh yeah. So you’re like a super good spy? I’ll introduce you to Taylor when she gets back. Who knows, in around fifteen to twenty years maybe you can take her place on the team.”
She gave me the look again.
“What? She’s a great spy too.”
“What exactly is it that you do?”
“I blow shit up, uh, I mean I blow things up.”
“Cool. Can I see?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
“Because your mother would likely kill me.”
“Maybe someday you’ll show me?” she asked hopefully.
“Kid, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m only here until our plane is fixed and then I’m gone, and this time, I’m really not coming back again.”
“Oh.” She looked sad and a tear ran down her cheek.
“Nope, none of that. I don’t handle tears very well.”
She sniffed. “Sorry. I just thought maybe you were here to stay, for at least a while. I thought you might at least visit me.”
I snorted. “Kid, I highly doubt your mom and dad would be okay with that. I know for certain your uncle wouldn’t.”
“It’s just me and my mom.”
“Oh, I didn’t know. Where’s your dad?”
“I’m looking at him.”
Time stood still and I was pretty sure my heart stuttered.
“Woah, woah, woah. Who told you that? I don’t have a kid. I can’t be your father. I haven’t seen your mom in the last eight years. You’re probably too young for sex ed, but trust me when I say, that’s impossible. You’re only what, five? Six?”
She frowned. “I’m seven. I’m just really small for my age.”
My brain was already calculating the possibility.
“When’s your birthday?”
“January 3rd.”
I calculated it back. I left that June. My face drained of all color. That meant Olivia was already two months pregnant. I started hyperventilating.
“Just breathe, Baine. Don’t make me run and get help,” she threatened. “You’re going to get us both in trouble.”
The door opened again. I was vaguely aware of it this time.
“What happened?” Grant asked as he ran to my side. “Breathe, Baine.”
“That’s what I told him,” the kid said shaking her head in disappointment at me.
“I’m okay. I think.”
“What happened?” he asked.
I stood up grateful when I didn’t wobble. I was pretty certain I was going into shock. I picked the kid up from behind and held her out in front of Grant.
“Tell me the truth, does she look like me?”
“What’s this all about, Baine?”
“What’s your name sweetie?” Taylor asked her.
“Macie Laine Murphy.”
“Well hello Macie Laine Murphy. I’m Taylor.”
“Are you really a spy?”
“He told you that?”
She nodded.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Cool. Baine blows shit up.”
“Stuff, kid. I blow stuff up.”
She giggled. “What do you do?” she asked Grant.
“Field medic.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s sort of our doctor,” Taylor said.
“Oh,” Macie sounded disappointed.
“I’m serious here you guys, does this kid look anything like me?”
“Mom says I have his eyes.”
Grant looked closely and nodded. “Yeah, actually you do. They do that weird almost brown thing in the center but are otherwise the color of steal.”
“Ack. What am I supposed to do with this?”
“This? Baine, she’s a kid,” Taylor corrected.
“I know she’s a kid, but I can’t have a kid. I’m not mature enough for that.”
“He has a point,” Grant admitted.
“Maybe it’s just a big misunderstanding. Have you talked to her mom about it yet?”
“No, I just got blindsided. Where’s your mom, kid?”
Macie huffed. “She’s at work.”
“Right, okay.”
I continued holding her out at arms’ length as I left the Inn and walked the few blocks to Olivia’s. I opened the door and walked inside.
“Just a min… Oh. Oh!” she said. “Macie, why aren’t you in school?” Olivia demanded.
“So she really is yours?” I asked. A part of me still hadn’t believed it. Killian having a kid would have been more believable than Olivia having my kid.
“Yes, she’s mine. Now put her down before you hurt her.”
“I’m fine,” Macie insisted. “Don’t put me down. You just got me in big trouble,” she whispered to me.
“I think we’re both in big trouble,” I whispered back.
“You’re causing a scene. Both of you in my office, right now. I’ll be in when I’m done here.”
Collision Course Page 5
