Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2)

by Lucy Gage

  Defiant, she said, “Is that what you told Liam?”

  “Like I said, how I handle things with Liam and how Rob deals with you are, and always will be, different. Are we good?”

  Emily sighed, nodded and left.

  **********

  Liam’s head was spinning. Not literally, but it felt that way. It was a little like being drunk, that sense of things both making sense and not at the same time. Ignorant of a secret relationship, and he thought he was good at finding things that were hidden.

  Maybe it was just that he didn’t want to see it. If he thought about it hard enough, he’d recall countless looks that passed between them, long before this last week, could think of numerous times when Rob’s behavior seemed odd.

  Liam was sitting on the deck, trying to wrap his mind around Jenna’s confession, when Rob made his way tentatively out the kitchen door. He sat in the chair next to Liam’s.

  “She told you?” he asked.

  Liam took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to punch me? Should I brace for that?”

  Liam scoffed. “Are you sleeping with her now?”

  Rob shook his head and looked at Liam strangely. “No.”

  “Then why would I punch you? I spent three years sleeping with other women while I was in love with Jenna. Even if she had been sleeping with you that whole time, what could I possibly have to say about it?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I expected you to be pissed off. We kept something from you all this time. You’re not even a little angry?”

  “Do you want me to be mad at you? Do you want me to yell at you or punch your pretty face before your premiere?”

  Rob shook his head. “No. I didn’t say that.”

  “Then what are you getting at, Rob?”

  “I don’t know, okay? I thought you’d react differently.”

  Liam shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why couldn’t you be honest with me about it from the beginning? Why did it take her nearly dying to get you two to tell the truth? You’re supposed to be my fucking best friend.”

  That part hurt the most.

  “What did she tell you?”

  “Does it really matter? I want to hear what you have to say. Because something tells me that she thinks she knows the score and she doesn’t.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that I know you, Rob. You love Emily with all your heart. Now. But since I know you had something with Jenna just before I met her, I also know you lied when you said you were trying to get over Lola all that time before you met Em. It was Jenna. That morning before we left for Shattered Glass. She’s the one who had you all sad.”

  “So?”

  “So you were in love with her. Right? And she tried to tell me that the two of you never had a romantic relationship, that you had never fallen in love with each other. Which is a lie. You were in love with her and either she’s still lying to me or she’s lying to herself. Which is it?”

  “She’s not lying to you,” Rob whispered.

  “What?”

  “I said she’s not lying to you, okay? She didn’t know how I felt about her. I never told her.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Because she told me, straight from the beginning, that she didn’t feel it, all right? I didn’t want her to know that I did feel it.”

  “All that time, from when you met, you were in love with her, and you never told her? If you were so in love with her, why’d you introduce her to me? Why take the chance that she’d fall for me?”

  “Because I didn’t think she would! I didn’t think you’d be any different than you had in the past! She’d spent three weeks in my bed, three weeks where I thought for sure she’d changed her mind about us, but when I asked her to come to Mexico, she balked! I got it. I understood that she was looking out for me, for my reputation. Lola had made accusations about me being a cad and had hinted that I’d cheated on her. It was all a lie. You know I’m not like that.”

  “Do I?”

  “Fuck you, Liam! You know I’d never cheat. Lola gave me an ultimatum. She told me that I had to fire Jenna or else it was over. I told her that she was crazy if she thought I’d walk away from a loyal friend for a fickle woman like her. So she dumped me and then spread rumors to ruin my reputation as payback.”

  “Does Jenna know that?”

  “No! I never told her. I didn’t want to put that on her. It was my issue. She didn’t need to feel like that situation was her fault.”

  “So, why did you introduce her to me? It’s not like I happened to meet her. You asked her over to the house that day specifically to meet me. She told me that. Why?”

  “Because I couldn’t have her at the time. I told her it was the studio, but during that lunch at Harvey’s house, he made a point to tell me I should lay low for a while, give relationships a break, build my reputation without romance involved to heal the damage Rachel and Lola had done. He hinted that he knew I’d been with Jenna. I don’t know how he knew, but it was pretty obvious that he was specifically telling me to keep away from her. Given that Lola had implied I’d cheated on her with my assistant, it wasn’t a bad suggestion. Except I was in love with her, so I didn’t want her to meet someone else before I could have her back. I figured you’d be the perfect placeholder. I thought she’d get a taste for you and then she’d get a clue how good she had it with me, maybe give me a sign that she felt the same way I did and then I’d have the guts to go for it, career be damned.”

  “You’re an asshole. A selfish, cowardly asshole.”

  “You made out pretty good in the deal, so maybe you should be grateful that I’m a selfish coward.”

  “Fuck you. Like she deserved that. You knew how I’d been with girls, Rob. It was wrong to push her toward me and hope I’d break her heart or at least get her to see how wonderful you are.”

  “You’re right, okay? She didn’t deserve that and I’m a fucking asshole for thinking it was a good idea. I never thought it would get as far as it did. I thought you’d be your usual aloof self, would be standoffish to her, would make her work for it like all the other girls, and she’d ignore you and push for a relationship with me.”

  “You thought that little of me?” Liam was hurt.

  “No, Liam. I knew you had it in you to be a great man, to step up and love the right woman with all your heart. I’ve always known. I just never expected that the right woman for you would be the first girl I ever truly loved.”

  He had to ask, though he didn’t think he wanted to know.

  “Are you still in love with her?”

  “No. I’m not in love with her. I’m in love with Emily.”

  “But you still love her.”

  “I’ll always love her.”

  “If you cared so much for her, why the hell did you let me fuck around on her? Why did you let me sleep with other girls? You knew I was in love with her! Why didn’t you call me on my shit more?”

  “Because I still wanted her for myself! I kept hoping you’d fuck it up good and I’d come in and mend her broken heart! That she’d finally realize that I was the one she wanted all along!”

  “I could punch you. Do you know the heartache you caused?”

  “Yes, I do! I know because I was the one who was her rock while you let Ally and Dana use you as a sex toy, while you played games with Reggie.”

  “Listen, asshole, if you had objected to my behavior, then you should have told me to stop!”

  “I did! You’re such a stubborn prick sometimes that you wouldn’t listen! You couldn’t even be bothered to call Jenna when you were apart unless you were ready to get between the sheets with her! I told you to call her, more than once. I told you to stop fucking other women. Don’t blame this all on me! If we’d told you sooner, what good would it have done? Would you have stepped up sooner? No! Because you didn’t do that. You stole the girl I loved, and you couldn’t even be bothered to treat her right!”
/>   “You know why that is! I told you about Mia!”

  “As if that gave you an excuse to make Jenna fall head over heels in love with you and then treat her like shit after!”

  “I never treated her like shit or pretended to be something I wasn’t. I never lied to her about my feelings.”

  “Didn’t you? You were in love with her all that time, and you took three years to tell her that. And yet, you strung her along.”

  “I didn’t string her along. We had an agreement!”

  “That’s just making yourself feel better about how you acted.”

  Liam was about two seconds from punching Rob, had his fist balled and pulled back, when he heard Emily yell, “Enough!”

  That shook him out of his rage, if only for a moment. He turned to her, eyes wide, wondering how long she’d been listening to the argument.

  “Go back into the house, Rob,” she said, softly.

  “Em…”

  “I said go in the house!”

  Rob looked hurt, but he listened, understanding that it wasn’t a good idea to try to kiss his wife at the moment, though Liam could tell he wanted to. Suddenly, all the anger he’d felt at his best friend dissipated and he felt like an ass.

  **********

  Emily stepped in front of him, Liam wrapped his arms around her and she immediately began to cry.

  “Shhh, hey, it’s okay. It’s not the same as Rachel.” He held her as she cried into his shoulder.

  “It’s worse because he lied to me. He told me there wasn’t anyone after Lola until me. He made me think I was special.”

  “You are special, Em. Did you talk to Jenna?” She nodded into his shoulder. “She tell you that even I didn’t know?”

  “She said that there were very few people who did and that until what happened with Lola, only she and Rob knew they had ever been more than friends.”

  “If Jenna wasn’t mine, they’d have told me because I’m in the circle of trust. But remember what I said? Until you married him, you really weren’t there yet. The circle was always small, but after Lola, it became a lot smaller. Even Pat and Anja are in the dark sometimes.”

  Emily pulled away and they sat in the chairs. She sniffed.

  “You’ve had a sudden change of tune from a few minutes ago. Why is that?”

  He sighed. “I realized I was being harder on Rob because I can’t exactly yell at my fiancée when she nearly died giving birth to my babies. They’re both to blame, not just Rob.”

  “I understand why they kept it quiet. Really. After everything I went through last winter, I do get it. But I feel betrayed because he lied. Now I’m asking myself if it’s the only one.”

  “I’m sure if there is ever anything you want to know, he’ll tell you. This was the big whopper.”

  “You really believe that?”

  He nodded. “I’m confident. If you need to talk about it, come to me, okay? Anytime. Don’t think he lied about the important things. Can you believe that? Do you trust me?”

  Emily nodded. “Yes. I trust you with my life. I should have listened to you about Rachel. He told me what she did to the two of you. Why didn’t you tell me that last winter?”

  “For one, if Rob hadn’t told you, I wasn’t sure he wanted you to know. She blackmailed me into keeping her secret, but she used and manipulated him for years. He’d have eventually told you, but at that point, he hadn’t said anything, and I wasn’t sure if it would have helped at the time. In hindsight, it would’ve encouraged you to hear his explanation for that kiss.”

  Emily nodded. “It would have.”

  “That was my big mistake. All four of us made them. From here out, we have to trust each other completely. It’ll be tough for both of us. You learned that your husband had an affair with his assistant long before you were in the picture, but I found out that my fiancée and my best friend have been lying to me for years.”

  Em shook her head. “All secrets are secrets.”

  He nodded. They were. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “Do I have to keep it from them?”

  “You don’t have to, but you can.” She nodded. Maybe feeling like they each had a confidant of their own would help them get past this. He was hoping, anyway. “I talked to Nina on your wedding day.”

  “She didn’t tell me that.”

  “I told her that I could have loved her if Jenna didn’t come back.”

  “Did you mean it?”

  “Yeah, I did. I hadn’t fallen in love with her yet, but I would’ve. It killed me to hurt her. She was my first truly adult relationship. I love Jenna with everything I have, but Nina will always have a special place in my heart.”

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Liam nodded. “I think she lied when she said she wasn’t in love with you.”

  Liam wiped his hands over his face. “Shit.”

  “I asked Meg to find her someone to help her get over you. Meg says that she refuses to date.”

  “You don’t think she still hopes we’ll get back together?”

  “I don’t know. She doesn’t say much about it to me, but I know she’s having a hard time, which is why I think she lied. Otherwise, she’d be over it or moving forward by now.”

  “I hope she can get some closure when we leave for L.A.”

  “You’re going, now?”

  “Doctor said the kids and Jenna can travel in a couple weeks. We’ll still miss the premiere, but we’ll be there for awards season. I need you to do me a favor, Em.”

  “Anything, Liam.”

  “It’s more a favor for Rob. He has anxiety attacks before premieres. I need you to be the one to talk him down since I can’t be there this time. That’s why I go to all his premieres. We have a little ritual where I help him talk through his anxiety. If I tell you what I do, can you be there for him when I can’t? Sometimes, I’ll be there, too. But it would be good to have another person to help him. I had to FaceTime him before every premiere while I was out here and there were a couple times he still barely made it through. Somehow, looking at the person makes the difference.”

  “Of course. Are we going to be each other’s secret keeper now? Since I’m not allowed to tell Meg everything anymore.”

  “Yeah. We don’t need to keep stuff from them on purpose, but we can talk to and lean on each other.”

  “Good. Thank you. For protecting me and always doing your best to be honest with me.”

  “You know I always have your back, Em.”

  “I do, Liam. And now you know I have yours.”

  “Thanks,” he said, hugging her. He pulled away and smiled at her. “You’re a good egg.”

  “Right back at you.”

  Chapter 36

  It was the morning before everyone left for the L.A. premiere of Not Worthy. Liam stood on the deck, taking advantage of the unusually warm day, the air slightly crisp and fragrant with the decay of fall and the pungent odor of low tide. He leaned on the railing and sighed. The atmosphere in the house had been tense since Rob and Jenna had confessed to their previous relationship.

  From behind him, Liam heard Rob say, “Got a minute?”

  He closed his eyes for a second, took a breath and turned, saying, “Sure, boss. What do you need me to do?”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Act like we’re not friends.”

  “Are we friends? Last I knew, friendship meant honesty.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For which part, Rob? Lying? Having so little respect for me that you tried to use me as a placeholder?”

  “How can I make it up to you? I don’t want to lose you as a friend. We’ve been best friends for fifteen years. Are we going to throw it all away over this?”

  Liam shook his head. “I don’t want that, but it’s pretty fucking hard to forget what you did. I don’t blame you for loving her. I don’t even blame you for wanting to hold on to her. I don’t think you were trying to hurt her or me. That doesn’t make
your choices less shitty.”

  “I know. It was hard to see the truth until after Em left me. I never realized how much I’d hurt you and Jenna with my actions until the two of you literally picked up the pieces and put me back together, no questions asked. That wasn’t because you work for me. It was because you’re my two best friends. And you love each other. You always have, from the moment you met. Until I had that with Emily, I didn’t see how much my selfishness had hurt your relationship.”

  “Is Jenna the reason you threw everything at Em all at once?”

  “Yes, but maybe not in the way that you think. I wasn’t trying to get over Jenna. That’s not why I was so aggressive with Em.”

  “I don’t believe that you weren’t trying to get over Jenna.”

  “Okay, I wanted to get over Jenna, but that wasn’t why I pursued Em. I really was drawn to her immediately. I knew I’d found the girl for me when Em made me feel the way I had when I met Jenna. So when I started falling for her, straight away, I didn’t want to take the chance that I’d blow it the way I did with Jenna. I knew I had to lay it all on the line with Emily right from the beginning, or else I’d never have a real shot with her.”

  “That’s why you told her you were in love with her when you’d only known her for three days.”

  “I was in love with her, Liam. I loved Jenna, but not like I love Emily. When Em left me, she tore a hole in my soul.”

  “Then why didn’t you run after her right away?”

  “Because I’d screwed up. The stuff with Rachel, that wasn’t in my hands. But the rest? Rushing my relationship with Em to make up for my mistakes with Jenna? That was about my insecurities. After Em dumped me, I thought I was being punished for my past, so I figured I had to let her go. When Jenna told me about Annie’s engagement, I knew it was a sign that I should try one more time to win Emily’s heart.”

  “I sat here, watching her for you, for six months. I missed Jenna’s pregnancy so that you could get yourself together. I would have done anything for you. If you said ‘shoot,’ I’d have pulled out my gun and asked questions later. I trusted you that much. I don’t know if I can trust you like that again. Definitely not now.”