Not Through Loving You

by Patricia Preston

“Our last hurrah.” She toyed with the button on his jacket. “I say we go out in a blaze of glory. Pink rocks. Popsicles. The works.”

  “I’m all for that,” he said, his voice sensual and eager.

  For a moment, she wished they weren’t in public. Then she stepped off the curb. “See you at home.” She made the peace symbol with her fingers before she got in Gilda’s car, and he laughed as he walked away.

  * * *

  Could today be more perfect? That was the question that filled Aaron’s soul as he took a seat at the table on the deck where a couple of oscillating fans added a constant breeze and ruffled the blossoms of the trumpet petunias that filled large pots on the deck. Aaron felt like he had made it down a long, dark path and stepped out into the light. The worst was behind him. The adoption was only a matter of a judge making John Aaron his legal son.

  Someday there would be other children, too. A year or two from now, he and Lia might have their first baby, followed by a second later on and a third. He smiled as he thought of himself and Lia with a house full of little dark-haired rug rats. Someday.

  For now, he needed to find a lake hideaway where he planned to surprise Lia with a marriage proposal. He began to search on his tablet for weekend rental properties at Covington Lake. His search was interrupted when Stevie plopped down at the table beside him.

  The bill of a baseball cap pulled low shaded Stevie’s face. “I gotta tell you, that Jag is the ultimate ride. It’s awesome. Bitch knows how to please a guy.”

  “Stevie,” Aaron scolded as he looked at an ad for a lake house he liked.

  “You need to take it for a drive.”

  “Not interested.” Aaron hadn’t forgotten the car’s owner was Dallas Peyton. It was registered in his name, and it was his property. He’d be glad when Lia got rid of the Jag and everything else connected to Dallas.

  “Dad likes the hippie chick,” Stevie observed.

  Aaron glanced up. “What?”

  “He’s showing her his garden.” Stevie and Aaron looked toward the southern portion of the backyard where Frank was showing Gilda his raised vegetable garden. “He doesn’t show just anybody his garden.”

  “No way.” Aaron shook his head.

  “I think she’s cool.”

  “I think she is, too. But Dad is not cool. Dad has always been Mr. Straight-laced.”

  Stevie slid Aaron a serious glance. “She might loosen up those laces, but you probably need to get Dad some pills so he can get it up.”

  “Jesus, I don’t even want to think about that.”

  “Hey, you know Dad had sex, or we wouldn’t be here,” Stevie pointed out. “Listen, I heard her in the house talking about Woodstock. She was there. And she said she’d hung out with the Rolling Stones. Sweet,” he said with a grin. “I think she and Dad need to mix it up.”

  Aaron groaned. “I think you need to shut up.” He tapped his tablet screen and enlarged the photographs of the lakefront property that showed a spacious living area and a breezy bedroom. A wide porch offered a great view of the lake. He looked for a phone number.

  “Why do you and Lia call each other Loretta and Cole?”

  Aaron looked up and grinned. “That’s between us.”

  “How about some lemonade?” Lia came outside carrying a tray holding a stack of red plastic glasses and a large pitcher of fresh lemonade poured over crushed ice. Lemon slices floated amid the ice. “It’s really good.”

  As she set the tray on the table, Aaron looked up and smiled. “I found us a place on the lake.” He held up his tablet to let her see the pictures of the lake house. “I’m going to call and see if it’s available.”

  “I hope it is.” She poured lemonade into the glasses. She set one beside Aaron and gave one to Stevie. Then she filled one for herself.

  Aaron took a long drink of the icy lemonade. “Whoa. That is good.”

  “Where’s Frank and Gilda?” Lia asked.

  Stevie grinned. “Dad’s showing her his garden, and you know what that means.”

  “Stevie,” Aaron said sharply to shut his brother up.

  Carrying her drink, Lia walked to the end of the deck and called to Gilda. “Did you see the house in the tree? That’s a fairy house.”

  Aaron chuckled to himself. A fairy house. He had planned to repaint the interior someday and turn it into a boy’s tree house. But he had a good memory of that fairy house now, and he might end up with a daughter who would love it like her mom. He turned back to his tablet. He’d need to look up jewelry stores, too. With his phone in his right hand, he started to punch in the phone number listed under reservations for the lake house.

  He heard Stevie gasp “Holy shit,” and he glanced up in time to see Lia’s red glass hit the deck floor. The plastic glass bounced. Ice and lemonade spilled across the wood. She pressed her hand against her chest, and she looked as if she had been shot through the heart.

  He started to say her name when someone else did.

  “Lia.” The deep voice that called to her was rich and melodious with just a hint of heartbreak and soul in it.

  Aaron looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man standing beside a maple tree at the end of the driveway. He wore a blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and faded jeans. Despite the simplicity of his clothes, they had a tailored fit as if they had been made specifically for him. He held a black hat, styled like those worn by the US cavalry in Custer’s time, pressed against his knee, and his long hair brushed against the back of his shoulders. He looked directly at Lia and waited.

  Aaron’s gaze shot from Dallas to Lia, the woman he loved. Shock had drained the color from her face, and her pretty green eyes were filled with pain and disbelief.

  “Dallas?” she whispered as if she thought he was a mirage.

  For just a brief second, Aaron saw himself, a long time ago, reaching for the letter Molly had left on the dresser. All those emotions came rushing back: the fury, the disillusionment, the torment, the way his heart had fractured into a thousand pieces.

  The sudden tightness in his chest seemed to crush his lungs.

  “Dallas.” Lia blinked, coming out of her trance. She broke into a run toward the man who waited in the shade.

  Aaron swore as he stood. He had to stop her, but suddenly his brother was in his face, blocking him. “Move, goddamn it.”

  “No.” Stevie refused to budge. “He’s got a bodyguard with him who’ll take you out in a heartbeat,” Stevie said. “Aaron, going all crazy won’t help. Not with this.”

  “Nothing’s going to help with this,” Aaron shot back as he saw Lia stop in front of Dallas. At least with Molly, it was just words on paper. He hadn’t had to witness it firsthand. As he stood there, he could have sworn vultures were already plucking at his dead heart.

  He watched as Lia spoke to Dallas, who responded by putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He couldn’t hear what was said or see their eyes, but something about them spoke volumes. Their body language was that of a couple with ten years of history and togetherness .

  Aaron wondered how he could have been such a fool.

  Chapter 15

  Lia trembled as she reached the shade of the maple tree where Dallas stood. She knew Dallas would not be here unless there had been a tragedy, and her first thoughts were of her father. “Is it Dad?” she asked, her voice shaking. “What’s happened to him? I heard from him—”

  “Lia.” Dallas gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “It’s okay. Julian’s all right. Nothing’s happened to him.”

  “Good,” she managed to get out, her breath ragged as she struggled to recover from her shock. She gazed into Dallas’s gray eyes. Almost thirty now, Dallas had matured into a handsome man. The boy she had met at the stable years ago was gone.

  “Dallas.” Gilda approached, followed by Frank. “It’s been a long time.” She had peach begonia blossom that looked like a rose stuck behind her ear.

  Dallas smiled as he put on his hat, the fl
oppy brim shading his eyes. “What a surprise.” He gave Gilda a warm hug, something he had not offered Lia. “It’s great to see you, Gilda.”

  Still trying to make sense of this surreal scene, Lia noticed Robby Oxford, a former MMA champ and Dallas’s bodyguard, circling close to them. She turned to see the reason why. Aaron was heading her way with Stevie striding along beside him. Robby eased in front of her as Aaron closed in.

  Gilda took Dallas’s arm. “I want to introduce you to Frank and his sons,” she said as if there was not the least bit of tension or awkwardness swirling in the air. Of course, Lia knew that Gilda was completely aware of all that surrounded her. Sun. Moon. Stars. Earth. Sky. Plants. Battle lines.

  Dallas’s mother was Victoria Caroline Peyton, who had been raised in the Mississippi Delta where good manners were as essential as food and water. She had raised her son likewise. Victoria had once told Lia a gentleman without good manners was simply nothing but a barbarian. So it didn’t surprise Lia to see Dallas graciously extend his hand to Frank and say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  Stevie was busy taking photos with his phone as Aaron stood rigidly beside him.

  “Lia,” Aaron called to her while he glared at Robby, who didn’t blink an eye.

  She stepped around Robby and spoke quietly to Aaron. “It’s all right.”

  “Is that what you think?” he shot back, his blue eyes livid.

  With her own temper in turmoil, she retreated to Robby’s side as Stevie greeted Dallas.

  “Dude, you’re awesome. I saw you in concert in Atlanta about two years ago.” Stevie shook hands with Dallas. “Great show. I loved hearing you sing ‘The Midnight Special.’ You just tear that one up.”

  Dallas smiled. “I’m glad you enjoyed the show,” he said. “Next time you’re at one of my concerts, I’ll get you a backstage pass.”

  Stevie held up his phone. “Can I take a selfie?”

  “Sure.” Dallas posed with Stevie for some photographs. He was always polite to his fans. His mother had taught him well.

  Lia didn’t give Gilda a chance to introduce Dallas to Aaron. She stepped in and took Dallas by the arm. “Let’s take a walk.”

  Dallas fell into step beside her. She didn’t look back as she escorted Dallas down the driveway, but she heard Frank and Gilda suggest that everyone go have some lemonade. They invited Robby to join them, but he refused and trailed behind her and Dallas.

  “What is going on? Why didn’t you call me? How did you even know where to find me?” She had never mentioned Aaron’s house to him.

  “I activated the LoJack on the Jaguar and had its whereabouts traced.” They stopped beside Dallas’s black Escalade SUV with blacked-out windows. He spoke frankly. “We’re about to be hit by a shit storm, and we’ve got to get out in front of it. That’s why I’m here. There’s a private jet waiting for us at the airport. We’re going to Paris to see Julian.”

  “What?” she gasped.

  “A photographer lucked up and got some pictures.”

  “No!” she wailed. She wanted to strangle Dallas. “I knew this would happen. I told you, Dallas. I told you a thousand times to be careful when you were with Madison. You know how those paparazzi photographers are. You know they will stop at nothing.” She stood with her hands on her hips. “Shit storm is right.”

  Dallas remained silent for a moment. Then he looked her in the eye. “Yeah. You told me a thousand times. You hammered me with it,” he said with resentment in his voice. “So I get a place on the backside of nowhere and live like a hermit. But guess what, Lia. I’m not the one in the pictures. You are.”

  She frowned. “Me?”

  “Yeah, you, Lia. You and I’m guessing the tall guy who looks like he wants to rip off my head. Is he the one you’re sleeping with?”

  Her face flamed. “That is none of your business.”

  “In a few days, it’s gonna be everybody’s business. Maybe you should have taken your own advice.”

  Stunned, she paced behind the luxury SUV. “It’s not possible.” Aside from the music world and die-hard fans, she was hardly ever recognized in Nashville, much less in an unsuspecting place like Lafayette Falls. And she had never capitalized on her relationship with Dallas.

  “I’ve only been at the hospital, a few stores, and this house.” She replayed her activities in her mind. “I haven’t been approached by anyone. Not even for an autograph.” Dallas was the celebrity with the well-known face. “I don’t stand out.”

  “The Jag does.”

  “The Jag,” she repeated, recalling the two guys loitering around the car at the hotel and at the park. A sick feeling started to build in her stomach.

  “It’s an expensive custom job. We’re not that far from Nashville. Maybe somebody noticed. It would stand out in a town like this,” Dallas said. “And all they had to do was run the plates to know it belonged to me, and you’re connected to me. So they’re asking, ‘What’s Lia Montgomery doing staying in a hick town? Is Dallas here too? Let’s follow her. Could be some money in this.’ And there was.”

  Lia shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Look around you.” He waved his arm at the woodlands. “Look at all these trees. Talk about a great place to hide with a telescopic lens. You would have never known they were there. You and your boyfriend were sitting ducks.”

  She raked her fingers through her hair as her stomach roped into a painful knot. She thought of the evenings she and Aaron had played basketball or sat on the deck together. The night they’d watched the fireworks. She gripped the side of the SUV as she recalled the rainy day they had made love in the tree house with open walls. A deep shudder ran through her as she realized her privacy had not only been invaded but also earmarked for public consumption.

  “Are you sure?” Tears welled in her eyes. “How do you even know about the pictures?” She wanted so desperately for him to be wrong.

  “Connor called me,” Dallas said, referring to his publicist. “He said Raymond Wilkes bought the pictures, and he’s publishing them in that gossip rag of his, TruCelebrity. It’ll be on the stands next week. The headline is going to be ‘Your Cheating Heart: Lia Montgomery Caught in the Act.’ He’s also putting the pictures online.”

  “Oh, God.” Lia rubbed the back of her neck. “Raymond Wilkes. Sonofabitch. He’s doing it to get back at Dad.” Wilkes and her father had been sworn enemies for years. Their feud dated back twenty-five years ago when Wilkes had outed a young homosexual singer and her father had retaliated with multiple lawsuits that had caused Wilkes to declare bankruptcy.

  “Yeah,” Dallas agreed.

  Looking down, Lia watched a trail of ants marching across the cool concrete driveway. Off to do whatever ants do. A small bee hovered over a tiny yellow wildflower that had somehow escaped Frank’s Weed Eater. It was strange how you noticed such small things when you didn’t want to face bigger things. Like your life falling apart.

  “Julian will know what to do. He always does. He’s great at damage control.”

  “Yeah.” Her father had handled publicity disasters in the past, and there were certain things you could count on about Julian Montgomery. He had a backbone of steel and he didn’t mind playing dirty.

  She faced Dallas and the truth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We should have ended things before now like you wanted. I was the one who couldn’t let go. For all the wrong reasons.”

  At the top of that list was a girl who didn’t want to be a failure like her mother.

  “I’m going to make this right,” she promised. “Just take me to the airport, and then you go be with Madison.”

  “No,” he said.

  “I need to see Dad alone. He’s my father, and this talk is overdue.”

  “We go see Julian together. We do this together.”

  “Not anymore, Dallas.” She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Not together. Not anymore.”

  The silence was thick between them, as if they were s
tanding beside a coffin saying farewell to a love that had passed away.

  Finally, Dallas spoke. “Do you remember the day we first met?”

  “Like yesterday.”

  “Me, too. You changed my life, and I’ll always love you for that.”

  “We had some great years together. Really good times.” She swallowed. This was harder than she had thought. “And years from now, when I’m old, I’ll look back on my first love and think how lucky I was to have known you.” Words were forming lyrics in her mind.

  The gentleman cowboy pressed her hand to his lips. “Lia, you are a song.”

  She had to smile. “If I could only be in the studio now.”

  “I can tell your creative energy is getting fired up. I know the look.”

  She sighed. This was not the time or the place for creative energy. “I’ll go get my things.”

  In the bedroom, she threw her toiletries in her tote bag. She had kept her T-shirts, shorts, and underwear stored in the carry-on, so it was a matter of grabbing what she had on hangers and putting those clothes in the upright. She was folding her white strapless dress when Aaron walked into the bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice tense.

  “I have to go. I have to see my father.”

  “What happened to the eighteenth?”

  “It can’t wait.” She packed the white dress and turned to Aaron. “The guys looking at the Jag were paparazzi. I just didn’t think. I never once thought they would track me down, but they did. They took pictures of us that will hit the tabloids in a few days.” She told him about the bad blood between the publisher, Wilkes, and her father. “Wilkes may not have any information on you. Not even your name, I hope.”

  “Lia, you’re leaving because of some stupid pictures?”

  “It’s about more than just some pictures.” She took her turquoise tunic off a hanger.

  He stood beside the open closet door. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. It’s about Dallas’s career,” he remarked curtly.

  “Don’t.” She pushed past him and tossed the tunic in the suitcase. Her shoulders slumped. “This is all on me. It was my mistake. I have to explain to my dad. I have to fix this.”