While I was cleaning my glasses, she stopped her phone conversation abruptly and pointed at me. “Do I know you?”
“Uh, no? I don’t believe so.”
“Huh.” She gasped and snapped a couple times. “Are you a member at the Stockton Country Club?”
“No.” Lord no, no more country clubs for me.
“What’s your name?”
“KC.”
Her eyes widened with recognition, and her glossed lips formed a perfect O. “Oh, this is your bakery?”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you know what you were wanting?”
Her head was still tilted to the side as she looked at me. “I’ll just take two. Anything chocolate.” She rummaged around in her massive Coach purse as she hissed into her phone, “No, I swear I know this girl. Anyway, so like I was telling you. He may have been planning on leaving before, but he’s definitely not now. Not after last night.” She handed me her card, and all the blood left my face.
Olivia Saco. Olivia . . . oh, my God! My boyfriend’s wife is in my bakery, and she recognizes me! How does she know who I am? Has someone seen Brody and me together? Did she know Brody was having an affair? As the room swirled around me, I was positive this was what Barbara was going through when she had hot flashes. Somehow I managed to stop staring at the credit card, and my eyes shifted to watch Olivia’s back as she stood next to the window whispering on her phone.
I suddenly hated that my shop had amazing acoustics.
“. . . with him lately. He’s different. But I played the whole guilt-trip thing . . . Of course, he bought it, he said he wasn’t leaving me, didn’t he? God, it really is pathetic how easy he is to sway, though . . . Oh, I know, right? How he hasn’t realized by now that I can cry at the drop of a hat is beyond me. I never wanted the damn kid anyway. Shit, I’m probably going to hell for saying that, aren’t I? . . . Ha! Love you too, bitch. Be there in thirty . . . I know, I know, I’m getting you a cupcake too.”
My throat burned and my hands shook as I grabbed a little plastic container and put two cupcakes in it. It took everything in me not to scream at her and break down in the middle of my store for Brody’s sake as I realized the amount of guilt and manipulation he’d lived with for years. I’d heard enough stories from Brody’s family and Kinlee, but my God I’d had no idea. Three minutes in her presence and I wanted to get Brody as far away from her as possible. And what did she mean he said he wasn’t leaving her? My gut churned as I replayed Olivia’s words: “I never wanted the damn kid anyway.” I have to tell Brody. I have—
“That’s not your natural hair color.”
I jumped at the sound of her voice so close to me and looked up at her. “Excuse me?”
“Your roots are starting to come in. You’re not naturally a brunette, are you?”
Thank God for my appointment tomorrow, I didn’t realize anyone could see the blond. I couldn’t even see it. “Um, no. I’m not.” I swiped her card and handed it back to her. When she didn’t take it, I looked up.
“I swear I know you, but I would remember that accent of yours.”
I really hope you don’t. I put the credit card on top of the cupcake box and slid it toward her. “I must just have one of those faces, I guess. Thank you so much for coming in, please stop by again soon.” Don’t. Don’t. I never want to see you again.
“Oh. My. God! K-C, like initials, you’re—are you—oh, my God, you’re Kamryn fucking Cunningham!” she screeched, then did a high-pitched, girly squeal.
“Oh, shit,” I breathed and took a step back.
“I have to call my mom, she’s going to flip! Everyone thought you’d been kidnapped! Why are you here? Did you just, like, move here? Your parents and Chad—oh, my God, Chad. You left him! Why would you just leave him?”
“Please don’t! Don’t call your mom, don’t tell anyone. Shit. This is not happening, how do you know who I am?”
Olivia leaned across the counter, a massive smile on her face. “Wow, you just look so different. You really shouldn’t wear glasses, they don’t look good with your face.” She grabbed for a chunk of bangs and I took a step away from her hand. “All your blond hair is gone. I loved your hair, I’ve always grown my hair out to look like yours. See?” She turned to the side to show me her long blond hair before facing me again and screeching, “I can’t believe Kamryn Cunningham is here in Jeston, Oregon!”
“Olivia, please don’t tell—”
She reared back. “How do you know my name?”
Oh, shit. “Your credit card.”
“Oh, right.” She waved it off and slapped a hand on the counter. “We have to go out for drinks at the club. I can’t believe you didn’t become a member of one when you moved here.”
“Look, please, I don’t want anyone to know I’m here. Just, please . . . tell me how you know who I am.”
“Everyone knows who you are in the racing world. It was a huge deal when you disappeared. They thought you were kidnapped.”
“So your family has horses?”
She nodded and flipped her hair back. “We keep them at a place a few hours north. Oh, you’ve probably heard of us! The Reynoldses.”
I hadn’t, but I just smiled and pulled my shirt away from my body a few times. This day couldn’t get any worse.
“I have to run or I’m going to be late, but oh, my God, I can’t believe you’re here! Here’s my number. Call me anytime and we’ll get drinks!” She grabbed the pen and wrote it on the back of the receipt before doing another squeal-screech and grabbing her cupcakes and card.
“Olivia, please don’t tell anyone,” I begged when she hit the door.
She winked and pushed the door open with a hip. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
What the hell just happened?
Brody
July 5, 2015
I FELT LIKE I was losing my mind. After telling Liv I wouldn’t leave her last night, and not hearing from Kamryn after texting her that I was telling Olivia I wanted a divorce, my mind was going in a thousand different directions. I didn’t know how to explain to Kamryn about what had happened last night without her thinking I still wasn’t trying to end things with Olivia. It felt like someone was sticking thousands of knives in my body just thinking about not being with Kamryn. But she had to understand. She had to understand how Liv and her parents were. And even though I’d done everything I could to keep what had been happening away from Kamryn, I knew it was time to tell her about their lawyer, what he’d been threatening, what Liv and her parents had been doing to me, and Liv’s alleged suicide attempt.
She will understand, I told myself again.
“Bro.” Jace kicked at my foot, and I glanced up at him. “What’s up with you today?”
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing. I haven’t seen you look like this in months. What’s going on? Is it something with Olivia?” A pained laugh left me, and Jace actually muted the TV. “I thought things with her were getting better, you’ve been happy lately. Not that I want things with her to get better, don’t get me wrong. But hell, you’ve been around, and if you’re happy, that’s all we really want.”
I shook my head and rubbed my hands over my face. “Things aren’t better with Liv,” I groaned. “Jace, I . . .” What? I’m having an affair? Jace and Kinlee would never look at Kam the same way again. I couldn’t do that to her.
“What? Dude, I’m your brother. You can tell me anything.”
“I told Liv I want a divorce last night.”
His eyebrows shot up, and though I knew he was trying to hold it together, a smile was tugging at his lips. “Are you for real? Brody, I know that must have been hard for you, but I’m proud of you.”
I grimaced and had to swallow an imaginary lump in my throat. “We’re not getting a divorce.”
“What? And why the fuck not?!”
“She kept bringing up Tate. Saying I took everything from her and I couldn’t take our marriage too. I don’t know, Jace. I just . . . fuck! She was
saying she would kill herself if I left her. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Are you shitting me? She’s such a bitch! You can’t let her keep doing this to you, Brody! She’s manipulating you!”
“I—no. I don’t know. I need to get her help, I know that. But it’s just been so fucking difficult trying to get her help with her family and her dad’s damn attorney trying to get me at every damn turn.”
Jace eyed me. “What are they doing?”
I waved him off. “It’s nothing.”
“Brody. Tell me. It can’t be nothing if you’re staying with her! Do you need an attorney? Do you need us to help you pay for one?”
“Jace, what? No . . . no, I don’t.” An attorney couldn’t help me. Not when J. Shepherd had them all watching for my name. “I can handle it, I just . . . it doesn’t even matter. I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this anyway. I’m not leaving Olivia. I need to get her help. I owe her at least that much.”
“You don’t need to do shit. None of it was your fault; it was an accident. And she’s fine! Olivia is fine, Brody. I know you only see her during her crazy rants at home, but you haven’t seen her in public. That girl hasn’t changed a bit, and she is still living it up off her parents’ money.”
“I do see her in public, Jace. She’s normal Liv in public, I know that.”
“But you don’t see her when she’s not with you,” Jace said, looking at me like I was missing something important.
“And how would you know what she’s like in public?”
Jace held my stare before admitting, “We’ve seen her out a few times. Followed her for a while after Tate died.”
“What the hell, Jace? Why would you follow her?”
“Because you can’t keep living like this! She was lying to you and ruining your life, and we wanted to prove it! The crazy shit you tell us about at home, there’s none of that when she’s with her parents or friends out in public. I’ve tried talking to you about this, but shit, other than the past two months, we were only seeing you maybe twice a year. And whenever we tried bringing up what she was doing to you, you just kept pushing away what we were saying because you thought we were making shit up so you would leave her. But she hasn’t changed. She’s not suffering—far fucking from it. She’s just normal bitchy Olivia,” Jace grunted. After a few silent minutes, he stood up. “Let me grab us some beers. I’ll tell you everything we’ve seen, and we’ll talk this out.”
My phone vibrated, and I slid it out of my pocket.
K:
I need to see you. Now.
Work?
K:
I closed up early. 732
I have work tonight, but I’m on my way
I stood up just as the front door opened and Aiden Donnelly walked in. His eyes narrowed into slits when he saw me, and Jace called out his greeting from the kitchen.
“Hey, man! How’d it go at KC’s last night?”
The words were out before I could stop them. “You went to her place last night?”
My thoughts flew. She’d never texted me back last night after the party. I didn’t hear from her until two minutes ago, and Aiden went to her fucking house last night?
“You mean she didn’t tell you?” Aiden sneered low enough so Jace wouldn’t hear, but I didn’t ask what he meant by that. I was too pissed to even think about his question.
Kamryn was already waiting for me at our hotel, I was three seconds from punching Aiden in the face, and instead of leaving Olivia I’d done the exact opposite. “Jace, I gotta go.”
“Brody, c’mon. Don’t leave like this again.”
“It’s important, I have to.” Forcing myself not to look at Aiden, I turned and ran out to my SUV.
I didn’t even care this time if Olivia called me screaming because I wasn’t home tonight, and I didn’t care that my sergeant was pissed because I’d just called in claiming to be sick. Kamryn was my world, and I wasn’t about to lose her to Aiden or Olivia. I’d figure out a way to still get Liv the help she needed, but I’d do anything to keep Kamryn. Fucking anything.
I sped the entire way there, and after thirty minutes sighed in relief when I pulled into the parking lot. The workers standing behind the main counter shot me a look when I ran through the lobby to the elevators, but I barely spared them a glance as I pushed the buttons furiously. When I reached the seventh floor, and after going the wrong way, I sprinted down the hall until I found the right room and Kamryn opened the door almost as soon as I knocked.
“I saw Olivia,” she blurted at the same time I asked, “Did you sleep with Aiden?”
“What?!”
“Wait, you saw Liv? When?”
Kamryn’s mouth was open, and she shook her head fiercely. “Why on earth would you think I slept with Aiden?”
For the first time since Kamryn and I had decided we were going to do this, we weren’t pulling each other closer as soon as we were alone. She had one arm out as if to keep me away and kept taking small steps back. I would have given anything to start the last minute over.
“He stopped by when I was at Jace’s today, and he said he went to your place last night. Why was he there, and why didn’t you tell me? You never responded to me last night, and I hadn’t heard from you since the party. That’s not like you. So did you sleep with him?”
She looked like I’d slapped her. “How dare you,” she whispered. “How dare you accuse me of anything when you have yet to leave your wife after you promised—you promised, Brody—that you would. It’s been months, and you obviously have no plans to divorce her since you told her you’re not leaving her!”
When had Olivia and Kamryn talked? How did they even know each other? “How did you know about that?”
“Oh, my God, she wasn’t lying.”
“I can explain, Kam—”
Kamryn stumbled back, and the tears that had been filling her eyes finally spilled over. “You can explain? You can explain to me how for the last two months you’ve been lying to me and making empty promises of a future together? What was last night, Brody? One last round of pity sex?”
“Of course, it wasn’t! Tell me how you know Olivia and what else she told you.” Kamryn grabbed her purse off one of the large chairs and started walking toward the door. Before she could reach it, I grabbed her arm to stop her. “Kamryn—”
“What does it matter, Brody?!” she cried and pulled against my hold. “I’m just the stupid mistress who believed all your bullshit and thought you really loved me. I’m done, Brody, I’m so done. I can’t do this anymore—what we’ve been doing has been killing me, but I would’ve stayed with you because I love you and I trusted you! I trusted that you were filing for divorce, that you were telling Olivia that you were leaving her, that you were planning our future together. But you never had any plans to leave her, did you? I was never anything to you but a convenient fuck.”
She yanked her arm free and grabbed the handle of the door. Her assumptions about our relationship, combined with thoughts of her and Aiden together, had my anger winning out, and before I could stop myself I was lashing out at her. “You wanna talk about accusations and trust?! How are you going to talk to me about trust and tell me what our relationship did and didn’t mean to me when you were screwing my brother’s friend last night? Yeah, Kamryn, let’s talk about convenient fucks. Starting with Aiden and me. Is it just us or is it any guy who happens to be around?”
As soon as the words were out, and before her palm could connect with my face, I felt like the worst kind of asshole. I couldn’t believe those words had just left me. I couldn’t believe I’d just purposefully hurt her that way.
“Go to hell, Brody,” she seethed and took a step into the hall.
My hand reached out in search of hers. “Kam, I’m sor—”
“Aiden found out about us! He came over to confront me about it, and we talked about my relationship with you. I begged him not to tell anyone else—that was all. I’ve never even kissed him, you a
sshole.”
I gripped the door frame when the door slammed shut behind her and let my forehead fall hard against it. How had I screwed this up so much? It felt like my life was slipping through my fingers and I was rapidly grasping at anything to keep me there. If I lost Kamryn, I lost everything.
I flung the door open and took off down the hall, but she was already stepping onto the elevator so I turned and sprinted toward the stairs and rushed down the flights. Bursting out the side exit door near the stairwell, I searched for Kamryn’s car as I made my way toward the front of the parking lot and looked for her.
When I saw her racing into the lot, I took off after her, calling out her name. She didn’t stop, but I caught her just as she got to the driver’s side door of her car. Pulling her into my arms, I dropped my forehead to hers and held her there.
“I’m sorry. I’m an asshole, I know. I didn’t mean what I said to you about Aiden. God I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave, we need to talk about this.”
“I can’t, Brody, I can’t keep doing this with you. You don’t even trust me. You thought I would be with Aiden? I know I’m in a relationship with a married man, but regardless how society views our relationship, I’m not a whore! And you—you didn’t even deny that you told Olivia you were staying with her.”
“I can explain that, Kamryn, but we need to talk about it. We need to figure something out. You need to know what happened when I went home last night. And Aiden—I’m sorry. When I found out he was there, I just flipped. You’re mine, and the thought of anyone touching what is mine drives me insane.”
“I am yours, Brody,” she whispered and tried to step back from me. “But you’re not mine. You never were. I can’t keep being the mistress in a relationship that I give my everything to, when you’re only giving a fraction of yourself.”
“You’re not a mistress, you’re my world.” I pulled her close and rested my forehead against hers again. “I can’t lose you. I’m so sorry. I love you, Liv.”
Sharing You: A Novel Page 18
