Imperfect Heart (Combat Hearts Book 4)

by Tarina Deaton

  “Yeah, well, I can blame it on my raging hormones. Women get off for that kind of stuff all the time.”

  He curled around her and kissed her hip. “Hurry back and I’ll make sure your doorbell gets rung.”

  Zoe pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and headed downstairs, dragging her hair into a messy bun on the way.

  Checking the peephole, she dropped her head against the door and groaned. A salesman would have been preferable. At least that encounter would have been short. She opened the door for her sister-in-law. She’d always been put together whenever Zoe had seen her. Now Alicia’s eyes were red and puffy and her face devoid of makeup.

  “Alicia. What’s wrong? Are the kids okay? João?”

  She shook her head and looked down briefly. “They’re all right. The kids are anyway.”

  Zoe’s stomach dropped. “Did something happen to João?”

  “No. No, he’s fine. Physically. It’s— Can I come in?”

  “Of course. I’m sorry.” She stepped aside and let Alicia pass her.

  “Do you want something to drink?” She asked over her shoulder as she led her into the living room.

  “Is it too early for wine?” Her laugh came out as a half sob.

  “I don’t think it’s ever too early if the occasion calls for it. I have some.”

  Alicia shook her head and sat on the love seat. “No. Water’s fine.”

  “I’ll be right back.” She fixed two glasses of water and grabbed a box of tissues from the bathroom on the way back, handing both to Alicia.

  “Thank you.”

  Zoe sat in the chair next to the love seat, curling her legs under her. “What’s going on?”

  “João came clean. He admitted to the affair.” She looked up as if trying to keep the tears from spilling over. “He also told me what you said.”

  “I’m sorry. I had no business dragging you into our fight.”

  Alicia looked at her, tears spilling unchecked down her cheek. “You must think I’m so weak.”

  “What? No. I don’t think that at all. I think we’re two very different people living two very different lives. I do think my brother is an asshole, though.”

  She pulled a tissue from the box and wiped under her eyes, bunching the tissue in her fist. “You were right, though. I knew, but I could ignore it as long as I didn’t really know. I could pretend nothing was wrong as long as neither of us admitted the truth.

  “I kept telling myself it didn’t matter about the other women because it was me he married and me he came home to. But then I would wonder why I wasn’t enough. Why weren’t the kids and I enough to keep him happy and what was I teaching my kids if I continued to accept this?”

  Zoe moved to the love seat and grasped Alicia’s clenched hands in hers. “I don’t have any answers for you.”

  “He blames you.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  Alicia met her gaze. “I came by to tell you it’s not your fault. I should never have let it go on for so long.”

  “It’s not your fault either, Alicia. João did this to himself.”

  She shook her head and looked up again. “I should have taken responsibility for me and the kids but…I wanted him to choose us. I wanted him to choose me.”

  “I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.” Damn, this felt like her fault. Even though João was the one cheating on his wife, if she hadn’t said anything to him, would Alicia be here? “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I kicked him out of the house.”

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “I love him.” A small sob escaped. “Even with everything he’s done, I still love him. I want my family whole, but if he can’t choose us…” She took a deep breath and sat up a little bit straighter. “I can’t stay with him, even though it will rip a hole in my heart.”

  “Just so you know—I’m on Team Alicia. If you need anything, let me know.”

  That earned her a watery smile. “Thank you. No matter what happens I will never keep you from JJ and Mary. You’re their favorite.”

  “Did you drive this whole way here just to talk to me?”

  “No. I took the kids to Raleigh for the weekend to see my parents. I told them I was running to the store. I needed a little time away. It was getting hard putting on a happy face for them and pretending everything is okay. I should really head back. Thank you for talking to me.”

  “There’s no need to thank me. You’re my family.”

  Zoe walked her out to her car. Alicia promised to bring JJ and Mary by to see her at the bookstore on their way home the next afternoon and she made a note to put a couple of books aside for the kids.

  Once Alicia had turned the corner and was out of sight, Zoe rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. Alicia may not blame her, but it didn’t stop her from blaming herself.

  She’d lashed out. Being angry at João wasn’t a good enough reason for dragging his and Alicia’s marriage into the argument. She’d never expected João to confess to Alicia because he didn’t see anything wrong with what he was doing. Zoe couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done that to prove to her that Alicia wouldn’t care either but it’d blown up in his face instead.

  Which still made it her fault.

  She closed the door softly and leaned back against it. Tim sat halfway up the stairs.

  “Eavesdropping?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. I’m a cop. Being nosy is part of my job.” He walked farther down and sat again a few steps from the bottom, putting them at eye-level. “I came down to make sure you weren’t trying to hide the body of a door-to-door salesman.”

  Her lips quirked up.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Sucks though. I love Alicia.”

  “In case I haven’t made it clear—I’m choosing you.”

  There was no stopping her smile. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. For as long as you’ll let me.”

  Chapter 24

  “Wow. I didn’t realize all this was out here.” Zoe gazed out the window of Tim’s truck as they passed miles and miles of trees interspersed with open fields.

  Tim glanced at her from the driver’s seat. “You’ve never been out this way?”

  “I don’t think so. I mean, we may have come out this way when I was in high school, but I haven’t since I’ve been back.”

  “I wanted to ask…why did you come back here instead of opening a bookstore in Arizona?”

  “My family is all out here on the east coast. As difficult and trying as they are, I love them. My oldest nephew is twelve and my youngest niece is five. I missed seeing them grow up. Plus, the rent was cheap.”

  She loved when his dimple popped out. It made him look younger and a little mischievous.

  He twirled one of her curls around his finger. “Lucky for me then.”

  “How far out do Jase and Bree live?”

  “They’re only about thirty minutes to downtown Raleigh, but when you get off the highway and away from all the towns, it makes it seems a lot farther.”

  He slowed and turned onto a hard-packed dirt road.

  “How far off the beaten path are they?”

  “Not that far. This is the back way to their house. It cuts across their property. You used to have to drive all the way around to get to this part, but Bree made Jase put in a road from the house to the pond so they didn’t have to drive around to get to it. It had the added benefit of providing a shortcut to the house.”

  They rounded a bend in the road and the pond came into view. “Wow. I’d prefer to drive by this every day too.” She squinted at the water’s edge. “Is that a grave?”

  Tim slowed the truck to a stop and put it in park.

  “What’s wrong,” she asked.

  He shifted in his seat so he was facing her. “The grave is Jase’s best friend. They grew up together and served in the Army together. He took his life a few years ago.”

  “Oh.” S
he glanced at the headstone.

  She’d lost two friends to suicide. They hadn’t been really close friends, but their decision had still impacted her deeply.

  “Jase took it hard. For a while, my sister, my parents, and I worried that he was going to do the same.”

  “He got help?”

  “He got Bree.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Bree drew him out of his shell. Helped him heal, got him to go to counseling, and helped him get better. Sometimes I can still see the shadows in his eyes, but they’re fewer and farther between than they used to be.”

  “He’s lucky he has her,” she said quietly. Having the right person in your life made all the difference in the world.

  “He is.” He threaded his fingers into the nape of her neck. “Just goes to show you—all a good man needs is a great woman.”

  Her. He was talking about her. She’d never had anyone look soulfully into her eyes, but that was exactly what Tim was doing. The depth of his emotion poured from his gaze. He brushed his thumb across her cheekbone and lowered his head to hers, kissing her gently.

  When he pulled away, she was sure her own eyes were full of cartoon hearts.

  “Ready for barbecue?” he asked.

  “Definitely.”

  The Spanish Inquisition had nothing on Bree and Denise. They asked her everything from where her favorite place was growing up to her favorite author to whether Tim had invited her to the wedding because if he hadn’t, Bree would make sure she had an invite.

  “Oh. I— We—” It was the very definition of awkward.

  “Tim,” Bree shouted.

  “Please don’t put him on the spot.” What if he said he wasn’t inviting her? What if he’d already invited someone else before they started dating.

  “It’s fine. It’s probably one of those guy things where he assumes you’re going to do something so he never gets around to asking.”

  “I hate it when Chris does that,” Denise said.

  “You hollered?” Tim came in from the back deck, followed by Jase, Chris, and the three dogs.

  “You haven’t invited Zoe to the wedding yet?” Bree asked.

  “Considering I haven’t received my invitation, I thought it was a bit presumptuous to invite her to a wedding I’m not even sure I’m attending.”

  “You’re the best man,” Denise said. “You’re obligated to be at the wedding whether you get an invitation or not.”

  “I’m the best man?” Tim wasn’t being snarky. He seemed to have no idea he was going to be his brother’s best man.

  “Are you serious?” Bree asked.

  Denise leaned close and whispered, “It’s going to get guy sappy in a minute.”

  “Guy sappy?”

  She tilted her head toward the three men. “Watch.”

  “Jase, you haven’t asked Tim to be your best man?” Bree demanded.

  “Why would I have to ask him? Of course he’s my best man.” He looked at Tim. “Who else would I ask?”

  Denise nudged Zoe with her elbow. “See? Guy thing.”

  Tim pointed at Chris. “Your best friend.”

  “Dude. You’re my brother. Of course you’re my best man.”

  “I’m honored.”

  Jase pulled him into a back-pounding hug. “Can’t believe you thought I’d ask someone else. Asshole.”

  “Shut up.”

  They released each other with one last pounding and Tim turned to Zoe, his eyes suspiciously bright. “So…want to be my plus one to my brother’s wedding?”

  Zoe grinned. “When you ask like that, how can I refuse?”

  He hugged her and kissed her temple. “Sorry I abandoned you. I hope they weren’t too bad.”

  “It was fine. It shows they care.”

  “Did they ask you to foster a dog?”

  “No. Why?”

  He looked down at her with a serious face. “Don’t fall for it. Whatever they tell you. It’s a trap. They give you a dog and you’re never free. Even if they find a home for that dog, there’s another dog waiting in the wings. A sweeter dog. A cuter dog. It’s a never-ending cycle of dogs.”

  “But I like dogs.”

  “Jesus. Don’t ever tell them that.”

  “Don’t tell us what?” Bree asked.

  “That I like dogs,” Zoe said.

  Tim threw up his hands. “Oh God. Now you’ve done it.”

  Bree smacked him on his stomach with the back of her hand. “Quit it.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Denise said. “That reminds me. We found a possible forever home for Mitzy.”

  “Is it a retirement home? Because I’m pretty sure that’s the only place that will have the same energy level as that dog. If I couldn’t see her chest moving, I would have thought she’d died a couple of times.”

  “Not quite. The person interested is a retiree. It’s one of Gran’s neighbors,” Denise said.

  “I hope he isn’t interested in getting a dog to increase his activity level.”

  Tim’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the display. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  He stepped away from Zoe. “Do you need me to call a cruiser?…I’m about twenty minutes out…I’ve got Zoe with me…I don’t care if you don’t want to get her in trouble, you call a cruiser at the first hint she’s unhinged…I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Thumbing the display, he looked at the group. “We need to go. Kevin’s got a situation at his apartment.”

  “Is he okay?” Zoe asked.

  “Yes, but I think I know who the woman is who warned you off.”

  He called a cruiser anyway. After almost losing Bree to a stalker a year ago, he wasn’t willing to take any risks, no matter what Kevin said about how Ashley was acting.

  “So you think this girl likes Kevin and she thinks we’re an item for some reason,” Zoe said.

  “You’ll have to take a look at her to know for sure, but I think so.” Tim took the corner faster than was wise, but he wanted to get to Kevin’s quickly.

  Zoe grasped the handle above the door as she swayed with the motion of the truck. “But why does she think Kevin and I are together?”

  “I think she’s been following Kevin. He mentioned she joined his gym and she somehow figured out where he lives, so maybe she saw you two together and thought you were interested in him.”

  They reached Kevin’s apartment complex and he wound through the buildings, slowing down only as much as necessary for the speed bumps. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw two cruisers double-parked in front of Kevin’s apartment.

  He parked behind one of the cruisers. “Stay here.”

  “But—”

  “Please, Zoe. You’ll be safe in the car.”

  She sat back in the seat. “Okay. Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  He jogged up to the open front door.

  “I can’t believe you called the cops!”

  The girl was trying to pull her arm out of the grasp of one of the officers as she yelled.

  “I called in for backup,” Tim said as he entered the apartment.

  “You called him?” She pointed at Tim, but asked Kevin.

  “You wouldn’t leave.” Judging by Kevin’s tone, this had been a theme for a while.

  “Of course I’m not leaving, we belong together.”

  “Ugh.” Kevin threaded his hands through his hair. “We do not belong together.”

  Kevin was obviously too nice to deal with this. Tim didn’t have the same problem. “Ashley—it’s Ashley, isn’t it? Right now you’re trespassing. You’ve been asked to leave a domicile that is not your own and you have refused. If you don’t leave of your own volition, right now, you will be taken to the station and charged. If that happens you’re looking at jail time and a fine.”

  One of the other officers cocked an eyebrow at Tim. Yes, he was overplaying the penalty. At most she was probably looking at second-degree trespa
ssing. The penalty was a two hundred dollar fine and twenty days in jail, which usually didn’t happen.

  “Kevin, please don’t do this. I just want to make you happy.”

  “It’s not going to happen.”

  “If you’ll stop seeing that other woman, I know it can.”

  “What other woman?” Kevin asked.

  “The one from the bookstore. I don’t know what you see in someone so old. You’d think she’d have gotten the hint after the warnings I gave her and told her to back off.”

  That confirmed Tim’s assumption that Ashley was the one who’d warned Zoe off.

  “What warnings?” Tim asked.

  “Is she talking about Zoe?” Kevin asked.

  “Yeah. She confronted her at the bookstore and told her to stay away from you.” He looked back at Ashley. “What warnings?”

  “Nothing serious. I spray-painted the back of her store.”

  “Did you slash her tire?”

  She looked away. “No.”

  She was lying. Tim knew it but didn’t have a way to prove it.

  “Kevin, I love you.” Her voice took on a cajoling tone. “We’re perfect for each other.”

  “Jesus.” Kevin turned away and turned back. “I’m gay! There. I said it. I’m not interested in you because I’m gay and I have a boyfriend.”

  He laced his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.

  Tim crossed his arms, smiled, and waited for the explosion in three…two….one.

  “You lying bastard. Do you honestly think I’d believe you’re gay? I’ve seen you with that woman hanging all over you,” she shouted.

  The officers looked at Tim and he nodded. One of them pulled her arms behind her back and she struggled while the other officer snapped the cuffs on her.

  “You can’t do this.” She dug in her feet and tried to pull out of their hold. “Let me go.”

  “Ma’am, please stop struggling.”

  “You’re going to regret this,” she yelled as they dragged her through the open door. “You’re both going to regret this.”

  “Fuck.” Kevin threw up his hands and paced into the kitchen.

  Tim gave him a level stare when he returned with a beer. “You need to get a restraining order.”