Keeping the Pieces

by Brenda Lowder

  Kids.

  Emma collared him outside Hot Topic. She grabbed the back of his black T-shirt. He rounded on her. “What? What do you want?”

  “Hi, Draxton. Remember me? Your old babysitter?”

  He looked around for an escape, but she had a firm grip on his T-shirt. He shrugged. “Yeah. Oh, hey, Emma.”

  Hey, Emma? Really? Here was this ridiculous person who had upended the lives of her entire family and all he could say was hey?

  “Hey.” She gritted her teeth.

  He shifted his weight and looked over her head. “You wanna let go of my shirt?” He crossed his arms with exaggerated nonchalance.

  “No. I don’t think I will. You’re a little weasel who’ll run off.” She gripped the fabric tighter and hoped she was leaving wrinkles. “Where’s my mother?”

  “How should I know?” He scowled at her.

  “You ran away with her. Surfing. In Mexico.”

  He rolled his eyes. “That was like, weeks ago. I have no idea where she is. I left her in Mexico.”

  A stunned ice-cold feeling hit her in the gut. “You left my mother in Mexico?”

  “Yeah. What?”

  She swallowed and succeeded in not hitting him. “Well, it seems very ungentlemanly to run off with a married woman and ditch her in a dangerous foreign country.”

  “She’s a grown-up. She can take care of herself.” He yanked at his shirt, but Emma held on. “What do you want from me?” He shoved at her arm.

  “Whoa, there.” Derek caught Draxton’s hand and bent his arm behind his back, making the younger man wince. Emma felt butterflies stir in her stomach. She’d never have guessed she’d be so happy to see him.

  “Hey, man. What’s your problem?” Draxton yelped in a high register.

  “I have a problem with how you’re treating the lady.”

  “Sorry. Sorry.” Draxton raised his unrestrained hand in surrender, and Derek let the other one go. Emma released his T-shirt. Now that Derek was here she wouldn’t lose Draxton if she needed him. With Derek’s perfectly toned body, he’d have no trouble apprehending Draxton again for her. She spent a moment dwelling on the thought of Derek’s body and then chided herself for being so shallow.

  When he was unencumbered, Draxton glanced from Derek to Emma and frowned. “I don’t know what you want from me. Yes, I was with your mom. We went to Mexico for some fun. Drinking, surfing, swimming.” He shrugged. “When the fun was over, I came home. She didn’t. Not my problem.”

  The little worm was right. It wasn’t his problem. But Emma wanted so badly for there to be someone to blame. Someone other than the mother she couldn’t understand.

  Derek raised an eyebrow at Emma. Already she was becoming able to read his expressions. This one said, are you all right here? Any other strong-arming I should do for you? She gave a slight shake of her head.

  “Okay, I guess.” Emma sighed. “Nice catching up with you, Drax.”

  Draxton lost no time. He turned and ran, disappearing around the corner.

  “So that was your mother’s boyfriend?” Derek nodded in the direction Draxton had run, his voice full of wonder. “I’m having trouble picturing the kind of woman who would voluntarily run off with that.”

  Emma laughed, the tension in her chest easing an inch. “I know, right? Personally, I’m past the diaper stage. Oh, hang on.” Her phone was ringing, and she reached to the bottom of her bag to fish it out. Her dad’s picture showed on the screen.

  “Sorry,” she said to Derek. “Just a sec. It’s my dad. Finally.”

  Emma picked up, but before she could say anything, her father bellowed loudly in her ear.

  “Emma? Sorry I’ve been out of touch. My phone charger broke, and I had to get another one. We haven’t found your mother yet, but we will.”

  “Who’s we, Dad?” Had he picked up a hitchhiker along the way?

  “Baxter and me!”

  Oh, right. She’d forgotten her “brother.” Her father continued. “When we find them, I’ll duel that boyfriend of hers, if I have to. Pistols at dawn!”

  “Dad! She’s not with Draxton anymore. I just saw him here in the mall.”

  “Does that mean your mother’s back too?” His voice rose with hope. She wanted to cry.

  She swallowed before speaking. “No. No, sorry. Draxton said she stayed. But he didn’t say where.” She looked at Derek who folded his arms, listening. “Dad, how do you even know where to find her?”

  “She’s using our credit cards, Em. I called for the charges. She’s staying at a resort in Cancún. Or was, anyway. When I got there, she’d already checked out.”

  “Oh.” It had to be a good thing that he was out of the house and actively pursuing her. Whether it would work or not would be up to them, but at least he was taking positive action to control his life. Her mother was long overdue for a confrontation.

  “We’ll let you know when we find her.”

  “Thanks. I hope it works out. For you both.” She said goodbye and ended the call.

  “Good news?” Derek asked.

  She shook her head. “Just a status report. My dad hasn’t found her yet, but he says he’s going to bring her home.”

  Derek raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

  “I know. He’s ridiculously optimistic. But she ended their marriage and left the country. He’ll have to confront her once he’s there, and maybe they’ll finally have a real conversation about their relationship.”

  “Sounds like a good first step. Shall we shop?”

  Derek stuck his arm out. Emma laughed and put her own arm through it.

  “Follow me to H & M,” he said.

  “Gladly.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  We have a problem.” Cole, Derek’s oldest younger brother barged through the front door Derek held only partially opened.

  “Please. Do come in,” Derek said sarcastically. He closed the apartment door behind him, folded his arms, and regarded his brother, who’d already made himself comfortable on the sofa. It was eleven thirty at night, and Derek was tired after all that shopping with Emma. And playing her bodyguard with that child her mother called a boyfriend.

  “What?” Cole looked distracted. “Oh, yes. Sorry to come around so late, sorry to disturb you and not text or call first, and no, I don’t want anything to drink—and all that manners stuff Mom cared about.” Cole took a breath and ran both hands through his dark blond hair, the lightest amongst the Chase brothers. “But seriously, we don’t have time for all that. Macey’s pregnant!”

  “I know.”

  Cole sat up. “You know?”

  “Of course I know.” Derek rolled his eyes and beckoned his brother to follow him to his room. “Look, I was in the middle of something.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Cole followed.

  Derek picked up where he’d left off packing for the trip and grabbed two pairs of jeans from his bottom drawer.

  “You know about Macey and you’re not freaking out about this?”

  “No, I’m not. And neither should you. Ryder’s over twenty-one. He can do what he likes.”

  Cole shook his head and collapsed onto the easy chair in the corner of the room. “What would Mom say?”

  Derek hunted around in his second drawer until he found his swim trunks. “She’d say she didn’t like him putting the cart before the horse, but she’d support him.”

  Cole smiled. “Yeah. You’re right. That’s exactly what she’d say.” His smile slipped and his face clouded over. “But Mom never met Macey. She’d hate how she treats him.”

  Derek paused in front of his sock drawer. “I know.”

  “And now with the baby coming, he’s trapped with her forever. They’ll always have that child together. He’ll always have to deal with her.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why the hell are you being so calm about it?”

  Derek threw three pairs of socks—two casual, one dress—into his duffel bag before looking at his
brother.

  “Because there’s nothing to be done about it. Yes, Ryder is trapped. He’s shackled to a girl we all know is terrible to him. But he put those shackles on himself. He loves her.”

  “Love? Please.” Cole snorted. It was a well-established fact in their family that Cole had never been in love and didn’t believe in it. Derek was sure Cole would change his mind someday. At thirty-two, Cole might have made it through his twenties without falling in love, but Derek would bet money his brother wouldn’t make it through his thirties unscathed.

  “Love sucks. Speaking of which.” Cole leaned forward in the chair. “Ryder says you’ve got a new lady.”

  “Ryder gossips like a girl.” He turned to his closet and chose three shirts to pack. After a second’s pause, he picked a fourth.

  “Wait.” Cole looked around. “Why are you packing?”

  “Because I’m going somewhere.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “You never go anywhere. You’re like an un-celibate monk or hermit or something. You never travel. You’ve nowhere to go.”

  Derek winced. “Um, thank you?”

  “No, this is weird.” Cole rubbed his chin. “Does this have something to do with her?”

  “Her who?”

  “Your new lady.”

  Derek sighed. “Kind of.”

  He retrieved his toiletry bag from the bathroom. Cole was undeterred.

  “You’re going away with her?” He slid to the end of his seat and rubbed his hands together. “Come on, now. This is big. This is Caroline-big. Why haven’t you told us anything about her?”

  “Because there’s nothing to tell.”

  “You’re going on vacation together.”

  “We’re not going together.” He zipped up his duffel bag and took a seat at the end of the bed. “But she’ll be there.”

  Cole bobbed his head. “Oh, is this some kind of singles’ weekend cruise or something?”

  “No. My friend Emma and I are pretending to be a couple so we can break up my girl from her rich, handsome fiancé.”

  Cole’s mouth dropped open. “And I thought Ryder had problems.”

  Derek stood and picked up his bag. “It’s not a problem—it’s a plan.” Thinking of brilliant little Emma and her plan, he smiled.

  Cole gazed at him in amazement until Derek took his duffel out of the room to put it by the front door.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Cole asked when he returned.

  “What?”

  “Being so casual about Ryder getting Macey pregnant and talking about marrying her and basically ruining his damn life meanwhile you’re going away for the weekend for, what? A Spanish soap opera? Or is it a nineties sex comedy? An orgy? What would you call it?”

  Derek sat back down on his bed. “There’s nothing we can do about Ryder. He’s free to live his own life, make his own mistakes.” He leaned back on his arms and smiled. “And by that same token, you should let me make mine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  If you touch that curtain again, I’m going to have to physically restrain you.”

  Derek’s voice was a deep rumble behind her. She dropped the curtain, a vision of herself being restrained by Derek springing unexpectedly to mind. She was tempted to touch the curtain again, but she refrained. She shook her head to clear it and made another circuit.

  Emma paced back and forth the short distance from the living room where Derek pretended to watch TV to the front window where any second she should see Cam pull up in his black Jeep Cherokee for their illicit couples’ weekend away.

  Illicit might be the wrong word, she thought. But then again, it felt so sordid. Going away—overnight, sharing a room—with her very attractive fake boyfriend to steal away another woman’s fiancé.

  Oh, it was illicit, all right.

  What am I doing? Her conscience jabbed her in the ribs. She was trying to get Cam to abandon Honey just like her mother had abandoned her father.

  No. That was different. Her mother’s ditching them was a betrayal. Her parents were married. Had been for many, many years. They had her, their daughter, and the life they’d built together. Cam and Honey were just two people completely unsuited to each other whom she and Derek were going to assist in making better life partner choices. That’s all this was. Assisting. Helping. Life coaching.

  Yes, that was it. And saving them a ton of money in the meantime since life coaches were expensive. As was a lifetime of unhappiness and the resulting divorce and asset division. Emma and Derek were saving them in so many ways.

  Emma nodded to herself, accepting her inner reasoning despite the guilt beginning to creep around her insides. She looked up to find Derek craning to peer at her over the back of the sofa.

  “Do you want a pair of binoculars?” he asked.

  She glanced at the window again. “Do you think I should I go get them?”

  He growled. “No. Will you sit down? You’re driving me crazy.”

  Sighing, she sat down next to him. The second her bottom hit the cushion, a horn beeped loudly on the street. She hopped up like the couch was on fire, a smile splitting her face.

  Cam.

  Emma ran to the door where her luggage was piled with Derek’s. She struggled with getting the plastic handle pulled up on her roller bag until Derek lifted the suitcase out of her hand as easily as if it were empty. He shouldered his duffel bag and held the door open for her as she collected her purse and messenger bag that held books, magazines, and snacks for the car ride as well as some work she hoped to be able to get to between seductions.

  She set the house alarm on the pad near the door and locked up before running to the Jeep. Unfortunately, the vehicle had driven up to the curb with the passenger side facing, so Emma was treated to the vision of Honey leaning out the window. Honey shielded her eyes with her hand and waved. Emma’s steps slowed. What was she thinking going on this getaway with them? Cam got out of the car to help Derek put the luggage in the back. Her heart took wing when she saw Cam’s bright smile.

  “Good morning!” he called.

  “Good morning!” She took a few steps toward the back of the vehicle even though it was clear the two men had the meager luggage situation handled.

  “Hurry, Emma!” Honey waved her in. “You don’t want to keep standing on the street corner. People might get the wrong idea. In this neighborhood.” She threw a wary glance up the street then ducked back inside the car and rolled up the window.

  Emma made herself turn away from Cam and get in the backseat of the Jeep. There’d be plenty of time this weekend to smile and talk to him. And hopefully more.

  Cam slammed the tailgate, and he and Derek took their places in the vehicle. Cam got behind the wheel, and Derek slid into the seat next to her, grazing her with his giant muscular arm, shoulder, and thigh. As a reflex, she scooted over to make more space between them, and then reminded herself they were supposed to be a couple in love. She scooted back and leaned her head on Derek’s well-defined arm.

  She was pleased to be sitting behind Honey. She’d enjoy gazing at Cam’s strong profile on the ride. She hoped their children would have his light-blue eyes, she thought, smiling to herself, imagining the little angels. But almost immediately she frowned. Really hope only the boys would get Cam’s prominent chin, though. She shuddered, picturing it. Way too much chin to saddle a girl with.

  She turned to find Derek’s eyes on her. He raised a brow at her, but she shook her head. The projected unattractiveness of Cam’s and her theoretical offspring was not worth discussing with Derek.

  “We’re supposed to have good weather this weekend.” Cam raised his eyebrows to Emma in the rearview mirror as he guided the Cherokee into the flow of traffic.

  “Not that we need it.” Derek took Emma’s hand and squeezed it. Emma noticed that the gesture was not missed by Honey, who zeroed in on their overlapped hands with a frown before turning back around.

  “What
do you mean?” Cam hadn’t seen the ostentatious hand-holding.

  Derek brought Emma’s hand to his lips and softly kissed her fingertips, one by one. A shiver ran up Emma’s spine and a tickle in her lower belly made her want to squirm. In a really good way.

  He smirked. “I mean Emma and I are looking forward to some alone time away together, so it doesn’t really matter what the weather’s doing outside.”

  Cam’s eyes narrowed at Derek in the mirror. Emma could almost see the triumphant grin Derek was suppressing. When Cam’s attention was back on the road, she sat up and pulled away from Derek’s grasp. She tucked both her hands under her so they weren’t available in Derek’s bid to provoke Honey and Cam.

  What was bothering her?

  She knew what Derek was doing. What they were both doing. Making Honey and Cam jealous was a big part of the plan. And it was working. Emma could feel the jealousy coming off them in waves. Honey flipped her hair and slanted her eyes at Derek over her shoulder when she thought no one else was looking. Cam peeked at Emma in the rearview as often as he could until Honey caught him at it. He returned his eyes to the road until Honey looked out her window, then he went right back to making eyes at Emma in the rearview.

  What was the problem?

  The problem was the unexpected, unwanted, and surprisingly vivid physical reactions she was having to Derek every time he pulled one of these little stunts demonstrating their (fake) love. Her body was getting very, very confused, and she didn’t like it.

  She loved Cam. Not Derek. And it was Cam’s hand she wanted to be holding.

  For that to happen she needed to win him. This weekend. No matter what it took.

  She sighed. Even if it meant all this stagey flirting with Derek.

  She brought her hands back out and covered Derek’s hand with both of her own, ignoring the excitement that bubbled up in her chest.

  How would she survive a whole weekend of this?

  ∞∞∞

  “Here it is!” Honey announced.

  Emma turned her head so fast she smacked it on the car window. “Ow!”