by Sandra Owens
“Well,” she said. “That was too close for comfort.”
“No kidding.” I was actually glad I hadn’t known it was Autumn in the car when I’d watched it go over the drop-off. I’m not sure my heart could have handled that. “We need to call and report this.”
“Would you just take me home? I’ll send Brian an email telling him where he can come get the stupid car.”
Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise? “I think that would be considered leaving the scene of an accident. Maybe you should stick around for the cops so you can explain what happened.” I turned to face her. “Exactly what did happen?” She’d almost hit me head-on, for Christ’s sake.
“I didn’t see you, and then…” The blood drained from her cheeks. “Oh God, Connor. I could have killed you.”
She launched herself at me, and suddenly there I was, standing on the side of the road with an armful of woman naked under her raincoat—yep, I hadn’t forgotten—that I wasn’t sure what to do with.
“I’m so sorry.” She started crying again.
“Hush now.” I patted her on the back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“No, it isn’t.” Pushing away, she marched to my car, slid into the passenger seat, and closed the door.
Okay. Now what? Other than wishing this day was over, I didn’t have a clue what was going on with her or what I should do about it.
“I’ll take you home, but we have to call this in first,” I said after I got in the car.
She let out a weary sigh as she pushed her head back against the seat. “Fine. I’ll call Jenn. She can send Dylan out here.”
That was actually a good idea. Jenny Nance was not only Autumn’s best friend, but Jenn’s fiancé was our new police chief… Although he’d taken the job six months ago, so I guess he wasn’t exactly new. Everyone just referred to him as the new chief and probably would for years.
“Crap. My phone’s in my purse, which is still in the car.”
“Use mine. I’ll go get your stuff while you call Jenn.” I put my thumb on the bottom of my cell to open the screen, then handed it to her. While she made the call, I retrieved her purse. When I returned, she was still talking to Jenn.
“I’m going to divorce the jackass, that’s what I’m going to do. Listen, I’ll call you tomorrow. We’ll meet for lunch or something,” she said.
Divorce? What the hell had happened? She hung up, then handed me the phone. “Is Dylan coming?”
“Yeah, she’s calling him now.”
“Autumn, why are you wearing a raincoat and nothing else?” I didn’t mean to ask that, but the question was driving my mind nuts. And I should have kept my mouth shut. Her eyes filled with tears again.
“I was going to surprise Brian. It’s his birthday, you know?”
No, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t so stupid I couldn’t add two and two. Something had happened to spoil her surprise, but what? Something so bad that she’d driven off the side of a freaking mountain. There was only one thing I could think of, and if my guess was right, as soon as I got her home, I was going to find Brian and do him bodily harm.
Jenn had told me a while back that she didn’t trust Brian. For one, according to Jenn, he had a tendency to check out her butt when he thought no one was looking. “What man about to get married checks out his girlfriend’s best friend’s butt?” she’d once asked. I didn’t have an answer, but after she’d told me that, I’d taken to watching him. The dude not only liked eyeing Jenn’s butt but any other hot woman’s ass who happened to walk into his line of sight.
I liked Brian as a guy, but after that, I’d never liked him as Autumn’s future husband. Jenn had tried to talk to Autumn about her concerns, but Autumn hadn’t wanted to hear it. Afraid she’d damage her relationship with her best friend if she persisted, Jenn had shut up about Brian.
“What happened when you surprised him?” I hoped I was wrong about my assumption.
“Ha! The surprise was on me.” Her lips trembled. “I caught him cheating on me, Connor. And the thing is, I don’t think it was the first time.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” When she started crying, I leaned across the console and wrapped my arms around her, giving her my shoulder.
My twin, Adam, and I had been tight with Autumn, Jenn and her twin Natalie—who’d died a few years ago—and Savannah since grade school. At different times, Adam and I had had fleeting crushes on one or the other of them throughout high school. Only Adam and Savannah had actually hooked up, though, and that hadn’t gone so well. Savannah had broken my brother’s heart when she’d taken off for New York to pursue her dream of becoming a model. But that was a whole other story.
Right now my friend was hurting, and my protective instincts were out in full force. There was one more thing I needed to know. “Autumn, were you trying to kill yourself when you went over the mountain?” If she was, then Jenn, Adam, and I needed to set up around-the-clock guard duty so we could keep an eye on her. We’d lost Natalie, and I wasn’t about to lose another from our group.
She reared back, looking at me as if I were crazy. “What? God, no. I was crying and my vision was blurry. I didn’t see you until the last minute. I guess I jerked the wheel too hard. Believe me, I’m not about to kill myself over that jackass.”
That was a relief. A silver Mustang pulled in front of us. “Here’s Dylan.”
“You go talk to him. I can’t face him right now. Tell him I just want to go home.”
“Sure.” I got out of my car. “Hey, Chief. Got a little situation here,” I said when I reached him.
“So I understand. Where’s her car?”
Dylan Conrad was a cool dude, a big-city cop come to a small town, searching for peace. He’d found it with Jenn. They were getting married in May, and I couldn’t be happier for Jenn. After suffering the crushing blow of losing her twin sister, she deserved some happiness in her life. I couldn’t imagine my life without my twin in it.
“Down there,” I said when we reached the edge of the drop-off.
Dylan whistled. “She was damn lucky.”
“Yeah. Are you going to have to write an accident report? She’s had a bad day and wants to go home.”
“How’d you know her car was down there? You see her go over?”
“Watched it happen in my rearview mirror.” I wasn’t going to add to her problems by telling him she’d almost hit me head-on. “Scared the shit out of me. Just knew she’d gone down the mountain.”
He glanced over at my car, where Autumn was sitting. “Jenny said she walked in on Brian with another woman. That makes me want to give him a piece of my mind.”
“Tell me about it. Can we make this easy on her? She said she’d tell Brian where he could come get the car.”
“I think I’d like to tell him in person. Get a feel for his intentions. If he wants to cause her trouble, maybe I can head him off.”
“You’re a good man, Chief.” That was one reason I liked Dylan Conrad. He didn’t see things only in black or white like a lot of cops. “I’m going to stay with Autumn for a while. Call me, let me know what he has to say.”
“Will do. Jenny might stop by later. Autumn told her not to, that she’d talk to her tomorrow. Doubt Jenny will stay away, though. Not when her best friend just had her world turned upside down. If Brain’s not still at the dealership, I’ll track him down. He shows up after you get her home, let me know.”
After he left, I returned to my car. “I can take you home now.” I glanced over at Autumn. She was sound asleep, tearstains creating vertical lines on her cheeks, making me wish I were the one going to see Brian instead. He wouldn’t like getting a visit from me.
“Let’s get you home, sweetheart,” I whispered.
3
~ Autumn ~
“Autumn, honey, wake up. You’re home.”
Connor’s voice was so tender as it penetrated my consciousness that I started crying again. I didn’t want to cry over Brian anymore, but here I was, doing just
that. It made me angry. But I really wasn’t crying for him, was I? My heart was broken, so the tears were for me.
“Let’s get you inside.”
I nodded. What would I have done if Connor hadn’t come along? And he was being so sweet and protective. It was almost too much, his thoughtfulness and gentle voice. We’d been friends for what felt like forever, and I was more used to his good-natured teasing. It would hurt Connor’s feelings, though, if I told him that was what I wanted from him right now, not this treating me as if I were a helpless female who needed taking care of. So I kept my mouth shut.
When we reached my door, I fished the keys out of my purse. Still in caretaker mode, he took them from me, unlocking my door. I let out a tired sigh. Men really didn’t quite know what to do with a crying woman, I guess.
“Thanks for bringing me home. Thanks for everything, Connor.” Impulsively I gave him a hug. He wrapped strong arms around me. Then, still being sweet, he kissed the top of my head. I inhaled, his scent filling my lungs. He smelled really good. Why hadn’t I ever noticed that before?
“I’m just glad I was there, even though you scared ten years off my life, girl. I think I’m going to need trauma counseling now. I’ll send you the bill.”
I smiled against his chest. That was the Connor I knew and loved. The one who could make me smile on the worst day of my life.
“You can go now. I’m okay. Really,” I said when Connor tried to follow me in.
“Of course you are, but I’m staying.” He closed the door behind him, proving he had no intention of leaving.
Honestly I really wanted to be alone so I could wallow in my misery. “Connor, I know you have better things to do than hold my hand.”
He tilted his head, his gaze shooting to the ceiling as if considering what better things he had to do. Then his eyes focused on me. “Nope, can’t think of a thing that needs doing. What’s for lunch?”
I sputtered a laugh. “You want me to feed you?”
“Well, yeah. We gotta eat, right?”
Oh, I was on to him now. That was his way of making sure I ate. “Connor Hunter, you’re a real pain in the rear end. You know that?”
He grinned. “So I’ve been told.”
Off he went to my kitchen, me following along like a puppy. I leaned on the island, watching him rummage in my fridge. The Hunter twins were identical, only their parents and a few close friends able to tell them apart. I was one of those. Black hair, blue eyes, and nice—really nice—bodies made for two very sexy men.
Women fell all over their feet attempting to get their attention. It was funny, but I’d never seen Connor or Adam as more than my friends, had never doodled their names in the margins of my notebooks. I guess it was because I’d been friends with them since I was a little girl in pigtails.
Jenny and Natalie had decided back in high school that they were going to marry the Hunter brothers. They’d thought it would be cool for twins to marry twins, but that fantasy hadn’t lasted long. I think they came to the realization that it would be like marrying your brother, because that’s what Connor and Adam were to us. Adopted brothers who’d beat up any boy who treated us wrong.
Only Savannah hadn’t seen them that way, at least not Adam. They’d had a hot thing going during their senior year until Savannah graduated and took herself to New York City. I’m not sure Adam ever got over her.
“How about I make us an omelet?” Connor said, interrupting my trip down memory lane.
Accepting that he had no intention of leaving, I shrugged. “Sure.” Not that I felt like eating, but I had to admit having him here did take my mind off my cheating husband. I dreaded going to bed. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was sure I’d replay the scene in his office, him with his pants down around his knees and Lina Kramer’s lily-white ass sticking up in the air. Involuntarily I made a sound, causing Connor to turn around.
“What?”
“You ever date Lina Kramer?” I didn’t think he had or I’m sure I would have heard. Blue Ridge Valley is a small town, and nothing stays a secret where everyone knows everyone’s business. That was probably the main reason the Hunter brothers did their carousing in Asheville.
“Not my type. That’s who it was?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, ouch.”
“Exactly what happened, Autumn?”
After I told him the scene I’d walked in on and how Brian’s employees had gathered around to watch me leave, his blue eyes turned ice-cold. “Can I kill him for you?”
“Probably not a good idea, Rambo. I’d hate to see you behind bars.”
“Pity.” He went back to collecting stuff to make an omelet.
It would have hurt no matter who it was, but Brian had dated Lina Kramer before we started seeing each other. He’d claimed there had been nothing between them but sex. “She’s great in bed, but a bitch out of it,” he’d once said. It hit me then that I’d closed my eyes and ears to what I should have seen as a red flag. A man shouldn’t call a woman he’d been sleeping with a bitch.
I tried to remember if he’d ever told me I was great in bed, but he never had. “Do you think I’m sexy?”
“Huh?”
I laughed at Connor’s deer-in-the-headlights expression as he stood frozen with a bowl in one hand and the fork he was whipping eggs with in the other. “You’re dripping eggs on the floor.”
“Right. I better clean that up before…” His eyebrows scrunched together. “Before whatever.”
“It was a simple question, Connor. Yes, Autumn, I think you’re sexy. No, Autumn, I don’t think you’re sexy.”
“I don’t think of you in that way at all.”
“Oh.” Well, that kind of hurt, although I’m not sure why. If he’d felt like a brother to me growing up, then it would work the same for him, right? And no brother thought of his sister like that. Ugh.
“Christ, Autumn, you’re screwing with my mind.” He let out a big sigh. “I just hurt your feelings, didn’t I?” He gave the eggs a furious whip as if they’d thoroughly annoyed him.
Yes. “Of course not.”
He set the bowl down. “Why don’t you go put on something more comfortable than that”—he waved the fork at me, dripping eggs again—“trench coat while I finish cooking up some lunch.”
How had I forgotten I was standing here practically naked? “Good idea.”
As I passed the dining room, I glanced over, letting out a cry at seeing the cake and presents. I’d worked so hard to make this a perfect night for Brian, and with my rage burning hot all over again, I marched into the room.
I stared at the gifts I’d wrapped in foil paper with beautiful bows that I’d taken the time to make myself. “I’m such a fool,” I whispered. With one sweep of my arm, I sent them flying across the room. The heavy present, the one with the monogramed car mats, hit the wall with a loud thud. The smallest box containing the TAG Heuer watch sat next to my foot. Brian would have loved that one. I kicked it away. It hit the sliding glass door, then bounced back, landing at my foot again.
“You can’t come back,” I yelled.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Connor said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me against him.
Presents were scattered over the floor; the only thing still on the table was the cake in its glass dome, and that was only because I hadn’t gotten to it yet. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing like the devil that I wasn’t crying because of my cheating husband.
Connor put his arm around my shoulders, leading me from the room. “Go change. I’ll have lunch ready in a few. After that, we’ll drink copious amounts of wine and eat gallons of ice cream.” He angled his head, grinning down at me. “Isn’t that what girls do when some schmuck breaks their heart?”
“That’s a girl secret. You’re not supposed to know about that.”
“My lips are sealed.” He put his hand on my back, pushing me down the hall.
I walked into my bedroom and came to an abrupt halt, staring at the bed. The one Brian and I had made love in. No way could I ever sleep on it again. Tonight I’d stay in the guest room, and tomorrow I’d go bed shopping.
My father had been a cheater—still was—and I’d seen how his behavior had destroyed my mother over the years. I’d made one promise to myself a long time ago. Never, ever would I stay with a cheater.
My trust in Brian had been shattered, and if I stayed with him, every time he walked out the door, the questions would come. Where was he going? Was he seeing Lina again or off to meet up with some other woman? The very same questions my mother had spent her marriage asking.
I was not going to be my mother.
Jenn had once tried to warn me about Brian, but I hadn’t wanted to hear it. Not about the man who’d swept me off my feet two years ago. I’d been trying to get Designs by Autumn up and running. Since I didn’t have money to spend on a decent car, I was driving an old clunker that had broken down on the way to one of my first client appointments.
I had been stranded on the side of the road, and Brian stopped. The next thing I knew he had my car towed to his dealership and I was on my way to my appointment in a brand-new Lexus he’d loaned me. We started dating, and I was sure I’d found the perfect man, one nothing like my father.
I’d told Jenn she was imagining things. Now I knew she wasn’t. Oh, I knew there would be hard, sad days ahead of me. I wasn’t done crying and definitely wasn’t done feeling sorry for myself. After the scene I’d witnessed, I was entitled.
Oh God… What if Brian had given me some kind of sexual disease? If, as I suspected now, that hadn’t been the first time he’d cheated since we’d started dating, who and how many had there been?
I was going to be sick. My legs gave out, and I crumbled into a heap on the floor. All right, tomorrow a new bed and get tested, I thought, wrapping my arms around my stomach and rocking my body.
