What Makes Us Stronger (A Well Paired Novel Book 3)

by Marianne Rice

  Meatball lifted his head a fraction of an inch from his dog bed in a weak greeting and went back to doing what he usually did. Which was nothing.

  Ty headed to the bathroom and stripped off his sweaty shorts and shirt, turning on the taps to his shower. If only he could wash off his stupidity.

  This time he couldn’t blame it on his depression. Pure selfish arrogant pride made him treat Lily poorly. She’d suffered enough, and he hated himself for being the cause of more pain in her life.

  He showered and threw on work clothes, checking his text messages on his way to his truck. Between being gone all day and his dad at the hospital with Mia, he still had a shit ton of work to do and the Cummings jobsite.

  Josh had left four messages. He was Ty’s hardest worker but, he was young and still had a lot to learn. On his way to the jobsite Ty called him back, thanking him for putting in extra hours and got the lowdown on the progress.

  He’d have to put in some long hours this week and find time to check in on Mia and talk with Lily. There was no time to mope, to wallow in self-pity, or to let his depression get ahold of him.

  Ty pulled into the site, checked the work that had been done, and added to his list of things to do. An hour later, his crew left and he stayed behind to finish the window casings. It was nearly dark before he headed home, and with the sun not setting until well after eight, he knew he needed to get home to feed Meatball.

  And figure out how the hell to make things right again with Lily. That is, if she’d ever forgive him. Was he even worth it? Why would a woman with her background want to settle with a middle-class carpenter from the middle of nowhere?

  Self-doubt continued to creep its way into his head. This was too big for him to handle on his own. Lily was worth the fight. Worth the effort. Worth groveling. In the morning he’d call his therapist and refill his prescription that had expired a month ago.

  He’d do anything, absolutely anything to make things right again with the woman he loved.

  LILY CHANGED BACK INTO her clothes and ate a bowl of oatmeal, forcing it down, knowing she needed some food in her body, by the time Agent Thorne came back to get her.

  “How dare you leave me here stranded!” Lily slammed the door behind him when he stepped into the living room. “What if Damian’s men found me while you were gone? How would I have contacted you? I could be dead, laying in a puddle of my own blood on your grandparents’ floor, and you’d have no idea.”

  “You seem alive and well. Get your things. I’ll bring you home.”

  “What?” She planted her hands on her hips and shook her head violently. “No. Tell me what’s going on first. Where’s Ty? Is he safe? Is Mia safe?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

  “Nothing.” Thorne brushed past her into the kitchen and locked the backdoor. “You have your things?”

  “Things? What things? I have nothing, including the battery to my phone.” She dug out her phone from her pocket and held it up to him.

  Thorne paused for a moment before reaching into his shirt pocket. “Here.” He held out his hand, the battery in it.

  Lily stepped back afraid to touch it. If her phone had been traced to her, as soon as she turned it on Damian’s people would know where to find her. Her eyes grew wider with fear, and she looked up at Thorne and swallowed. “What if...”

  “It’s clean. Your phone. Take it.” He held her wrist and turned her hand over, placing the battery in her palm. “Let’s go.”

  He walked out leaving Lily standing alone and confused in the empty living room. When she heard the start of the engine, she jogged out the door and slid into the passenger seat.

  “Is Mia in a safe house?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “There’s no threat to her.”

  “The hit and run?”

  “An elderly man had a stroke. There’s no connection to Gervais.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Lily picked at her nails as she watched the scenery speed by. The nervous churning in her belly was back.

  “I looked into it.” He continued to drive, taking the corners with ease, keeping any emotion from being revealed on his face.

  She wanted to believe him, to believe her friends were safe. If Thorne thought they were in danger he wouldn’t be so blasé, would he? Yet he’d held her prisoner for nearly twenty-four hours. But he also brought Ty to her. Too bad being upfront and honest with him had totally backfired.

  “So, uh. Thanks for bringing Ty.” She waited for Thorne to say something in response. Which, of course, he didn’t. “He wasn’t too happy to learn I’d been lying to him.” And he’d hurt her more than she thought a man could.

  Damian and her father’s plot to kill her hurt and angered her. But mostly she felt like a fool for being so gullible.

  The hurt Ty brought on was an entirely different kind of pain that ripped at her soul. She didn’t hate him; she hated what he’d said to her, how he looked at her. Like she was the spawn of Satan. He’d ripped away a piece of her soul and even so, Lily still loved him.

  She understood his pain and he had every right to be mad at her, but it hurt to her core. Sticks and stones. Those were thrown at her by her father and Damian. She’d never really loved either of them. Their relationships were centered around business, not around love or emotions.

  But words can never hurt me. Yeah. Wasn’t that a big, fat lie? Words didn’t heal with time. They stayed forever. And while what Ty said wasn’t necessarily cruel, his intentions were deliberate. He wanted to hurt her, and he did, by calling her a liar.

  “I’m flying back to New York. Call if you need anything.”

  “Like a comforting shoulder? Someone to talk to?”

  His lower lip quirked a fraction of a millimeter before he turned to her. “Sure.”

  “Who is going to keep me safe?” She didn’t mean to sound so pathetic, so weak. She hadn’t needed Thorne by her side for the past two years and was proud of the independent woman she’d become.

  “Ty.”

  Lily snorted. “Not likely. He’s not impressed with me right now. Besides after the way he... I won’t be calling on him.” She’d read the pain in his eyes when she told him about her heritage. The wealth. She wanted to gloss over it, but it was part of the mess that got her to where she was. After being left for a man who made more than him, Ty was extremely insecure when it came to financial status. The last thing she wanted to do was rub her wealth in his face.

  Yet that seemed to be the thing he focused on. Her secrets and her supposedly lowering her standards by being with a common carpenter.

  Fury bubbled up inside her once again as Thorne neared the hospital. Annie had rescheduled her appointments and closed up for her, for which Lily was very grateful. If rumor hadn’t already spread like wildfire throughout the town, they’d surely start to spark soon enough.

  When Thorne stopped in front of her car in the hospital parking lot, Lily unbuckled and reached at her feet for her purse.

  “Just so you know, I’m telling Mia and Hope. I trust them. They deserve to know.”

  “Okay.”

  Lily scrunched her face in shock. “Okay? You’re not going to try to persuade me to button up?”

  “It’s your choice.”

  “Really? Because you didn’t want to give me a choice last week when I told you I wanted to tell Ty. Why the sudden change of mind?”

  Thorne kept his hands on the steering wheel and his focus forward not responding to her question.

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, Lily looped her fingers through the door handle and opened the door. She had one leg out the door when Thorne spoke.

  “You’re safe here, Lily. I’m glad you have Ty and your friends around you.”

  “If anything happens to—”

  “It won’t. If anything changes, though, I’ll be here in a heartbeat
.”

  “You have one?”

  Thorne glanced at her keeping his face stoic, yet she could see a trace of laughter in his eyes. The man needed to lighten up, but she was extremely thankful for him in her life.

  “I guess I hope I don’t have to see you for a while. Or ever. No offense.”

  “None taken.”

  She climbed out of the car and unlocked her own. Had it been only twenty-four hours since her life once again turned in an instant?

  Even though Thorne told her there wasn’t a connection, she still felt obligated to tell Mia what could have been. Not wanting to lose her ambition, Lily picked up her cell and dialed.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Mia. I heard you may be home by now.”

  “’Bout fricking time. Those damn nurses were pricking and prodding at me every other minute. At least now I can get some rest.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Annoyed. Tired.”

  Maybe now wasn’t a good time to come over. “Are you in any pain?”

  “I’m still pretty doped up. My parents brought me home, and Ty came over and hovered. I kicked him out. He’s annoying. You two still having a rough patch?”

  Patch? No. It was worse than that. “I’m more concerned about you. I’d like to come visit, but if now isn’t a good time...”

  “Now’s great. Bring some wine. And ice cream.”

  “Should you be drinking while on medication?”

  “Great. Ty’s been rubbing off on you. He said the same thing.”

  Lily really didn’t want to talk about Ty. Once she started the story of her past, she was pretty confident Mia would be sidetracked. “I’ll let you rest. Tomorrow, though. Can I come by after work?”

  “You okay? You don’t sound your usual perky self.”

  “I, uh...” Lily played with her keys and then stuck them in the ignition. “I need to tell you some... stuff about the accident.”

  “About the old couple?”

  “Well, no. Not really. It’s just that... it’s just... I thought your accident was because of me.”

  “What do you have to do with them?”

  “No.” Lily rested her head on the steering wheel. “I didn’t. I don’t know them. The accident was just a terrible accident, and thankfully I didn’t have anything to do with it but I could have.”

  “It could be the lovely drugs I’m on right now, but I’m not making heads or tails over what you’re saying.”

  “I know,” Lily groaned. “I don’t mean to sound so evasive, so edgy. It’s just not something I want to talk about over the phone.”

  “So come over.”

  “You need to rest.”

  “I can’t rest now. You’re freaking me out. You sure you’re okay? Is this about Ty?”

  “No. Ty has nothing to do with this.” Absolutely nothing.

  “If you won’t pick up wine at least grab a tub of ice cream. Rocky Road or cherry chocolate chip.”

  “I’ll be there in a bit.” Lily hung up and called Hope, asking her to meet at Mia’s as well. Better to get the story over in one tell instead of two.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “OH. MY. GOD.” MIA’S jaw dropped, her eyes filled with shock.

  “Lily,” Hope gasped. “This is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard. Are you safe? Are you okay?”

  Lily nodded, tears filling her eyes. “You are too.” She filled them in on her initial fear of Mia’s accident being connected to Damian in some way, and of Thorne’s thorough investigation into it.

  “Oh, honey.” Hope drew her in for a warm hug and sniffed. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.”

  “I’m sorry for lying to you. To everyone. I—”

  “Sorry? Hell, you have nothing to apologize for.” Mia straightened, unable to move too much on the couch. “Shit. I’m touched you’re telling us. I swear I won’t tell a freaking soul.”

  “We’ll keep this between us. I’m assuming Ty knows?” Hope pulled back and stroked Lily’s hair.

  Lily stepped out of her embrace and wrapped her arms around herself. “Grace knows. She suspected for a while. Our last book meeting...”

  “You were off. Said you were sick and Grace left shortly after.”

  “Yeah. Damian and I had visited the boutique where she worked. She’d followed us in the magazines and online and made me out. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you then as well.”

  “Honey. Seriously. Why are you apologizing? The FBI worked hard to help you with a new identity. It would counteract what they’d done if you started telling everyone who you used to be.”

  Their acceptance warmed her insides, and also made her realize what a jerk Ty had been. “You’re not mad? You don’t feel betrayed by my secrets?”

  “Of course not,” they both said at once.

  “Well, your idiot brother seems to think I’d committed the worst crime of all by keeping this from him. He didn’t even ask about my safety and, instead, went on a tirade about my dishonesty.”

  “He’s a shit.” Mia smacked the couch next to her. “This is why you two have been off?”

  “Sort of. It is now. He’d seen me with Agent Thorne and thought I was cheating on him. And then when Thorne brought him to the camp this morning so I could tell him about everything, he treated me like a lying, cheating traitor. Like I’d hurt him.”

  Lily snagged the bottle of wine Hope had brought over and filled her glass, sloshing red liquid on Mia’s countertop. The blood red color matched her temper. Matched the rage inside her chest.

  “The next time I see him I’ll give him a piece of my mind.”

  “You do that every time you see him, Mia,” Hope said. “Besides, I think it best for Ty and Lily to work things out on their own. We shouldn’t meddle.”

  “Meddle my ass. My brother is a dickhead. Lily’s the best thing that ever happened to him, and he put his stupid pride ahead of her feelings. I knew he was socially awkward but didn’t think he’d ever hurt his girlfriend like this.”

  “He’s not socially awkward. He has de—” Lily stopped herself by bringing her wine glass to her lips. She didn’t know if his sister or Hope new about Ty’s depression, so she cut herself off. It wasn’t her secret to share. Ty had been fairly closed mouth about it and even embarrassed, as if his depression made him less of a man. He may have hurt her, but she wouldn’t share what he’d told her in confidence.

  “You still love him.” Hope joined her at the counter. “And he loves you. I’ve been his best friend since high school, and I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you.”

  “Granted, Ty hasn’t dated a girl since high school,” Mia added.

  Lily continued to sip her wine, not wanting to confess how much she still loved Ty.

  “He shared stories with you about... his time overseas. He told you before he told me.” Hope gave her a knowing smile and lowered her voice so Mia couldn’t hear from the other side of the room. “We talked one night about it. At first, I was a little put off that you were the first to know about her, but then I realized the implication. It meant his feelings for you were strong. You’ve changed Ty for the better.”

  Lily’s eyes filled again, and she wiped them on her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure it was a temporary change. He’s back to the surly, closed-off man he once was.”

  “He’ll come around. Give him time.”

  “I don’t know if it will matter, Hope. He hurt me. If Ty doesn’t trust me, we can’t have a relationship. I won’t live like that. Ever. I’d rather move on.” And hopefully find a man who could love her for her and not be caught up in what she once was or could be.

  “I can talk to him—”

  “No.” Lily placed her hand on Hope’s arm. “I appreciate it, really, but what’s done is done. Ty said some... some hurtful things to me. If that’s how he feels then we’re done. I don’t want you or anyone else trying to persuade him to apologize. Forced apologies are meaningless, in m
y opinion.”

  “I agree,” chimed Mia from the couch.

  Lily let go of Hope and sat on the coffee table in front of Mia. “I didn’t mean to bring any pain to you or your family.”

  “Don’t ever apologize for your murdering asshole of an ex or what you had to do to protect yourself. I’ll take this to my grave, swear to God.”

  Her heart swelled with love. She had friends. Real friends who didn’t care who her father or ex-husband were. They didn’t care about her name or heritage. They didn’t judge her by her clothing or jewelry. Instead, they cared about what was inside. They cared about Lily.

  Veronica Stewart would never surface again. There wasn’t a single aspect of her life Lily missed or wished to relive. Had she been older when her mother died she might have felt differently, but with no familiar love or relationship other than the business sense, there was nothing Lily wanted other than to start over.

  Everything and everyone she cared about lived in the tiny, sleepy town of Crystal Cove. This was the life she never knew she wanted. It wasn’t just about how the other half lived. Heck, she never thought about the other half other than the times when she wrote checks for charities to help the poor.

  Not once had she or her father, and definitely not Damian, thought about the people receiving the donations. Not once had she thought about the middle class. Not once had she thought about having friends. Or falling in love.

  Life was a series of business deals and acquaintances right up until it all came to a crashing halt. The past was dead, and she never wanted to relive it or unbury it. Out with the old and in with the new.

  Lily Novak of Crystal Cove, Maine, owner of the Sea Salt Spa and friend to many. This was who and what she wanted to be known and remembered for.

  And if Ty Parker couldn’t accept the new her without Veronica Stewart getting in the way, then well, he wasn’t for her.

  “You okay? Looks like you’re as spaced out as I am. You been kicking back my pills?” Mia rotated her foot and cringed. “Speaking of, I think they’re wearing off.”