So far, though, they had nothing, and with no further avenues of investigation open to them, they’d finally released Ted’s body for burial.
Looking around, he frowned when he saw Carrie standing there, her head bowed, at the back of the circle of mourners surrounding the grave. As he watched, she raised her head and met his eyes, smiling. She’d insisted on coming to the wake, but he’d told her to meet him at the house. He’d had no idea she’d turn up here.
The priest had just finished and the mourners started dispersing, making their way to their vehicles to drive over to Ted parent’s house.
“Go and get in the car. I’ll be there in just a second.” He kissed his sister’s cheek and watched as she walked off in the direction of the black limousine parked a short distance away.
Everyone had left the graveside now except Carrie, who was waiting for him.
“What are you doing here? I told you I’d meet you at the house.”
“I wanted to pay my respects. It’s a free country, you know.”
“Pay your respects? But you didn’t even know him!”
“Actually, I did.” She looked at him and sighed. “We had a bit of a ‘thing’ a few months ago.”
She said this so casually that for a moment, Jake was lost for words. “I’m sorry? A ‘thing’?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry, it was before I met you.”
He couldn’t believe she was telling him this, here, now.
“And you think now is the right time to be telling me this?” He could feel his face getting flushed. “You don’t think maybe you should have told me this before?”
She looked genuinely confused. “Why? It doesn’t have anything to do with you. I’m only telling you now so you know why I needed to come.”
Jake shook his head, bewildered. She was right; it had nothing to do with him really, other than the fact that it was further evidence that Ted was a serial cheater. It certainly didn’t bother him.
“For God’s sake, just make sure Jamie doesn’t find out. She’ll run straight to my parents and, let’s face it, they already have a pretty low opinion of you,” he snapped.
“Give me some credit will you!”
“I’ll see you up at the house.” He glared at her as he turned to walk away.
“Wait! Can I go with you? I took a taxi here. I didn’t bring the car in case I wanted to drink.”
“No, you can’t come with us. We’re in the funeral car. It’s not appropriate. You’ll have to get a ride from someone or get another cab.”
Leaving her standing there pouting, he headed to the car where Jamie was waiting.
Eleven
“I told you, not yet,” Jake hissed.
“When, then?”
They were having the same old disagreement again. She’d been pushing him to tell his parents about their plans for the past week. Every time they were alone together, she’d bring the subject up.
“Jeez, Carrie! We’re at a wake. Will you just quit?” He was getting seriously pissed now.
He wouldn’t have a choice. He knew that. He’d have to tell them at some point. If he didn’t follow through on his promise, then he had no doubt whatsoever that she would go straight to Jamie and his parents and he would lose everything.
He was struggling with the guilt. Every time he saw Jamie’s ravaged, tear-streaked face he felt sick to his stomach. He had done this to her, he had caused her this pain. It may have been unintentional, but the result was the same. There was nothing he could do to change things, but he was determined that he would do everything he could to make her smile again.
“Okay, okay! We’ll give it a couple of days and then we tell them. Agreed?”
With a sigh, he nodded. “Agreed.”
That seemed to put a smile on her face and she wandered off happily to pick at the buffet.
***
She was feeling quite pleased with herself. That ring was practically on her finger. She could almost feel it!
She wasn’t naïve. She knew how most of the men she had relationships with saw her: the cheap whore worth a lay but not worth anything else. She probably hadn’t helped herself by screwing half the men in town and getting herself a reputation for being easy. But she was determined to marry into money, to escape her life.
Her mom had raised her, if it could be called that, in a trailer singlehandedly, and she had no idea who her father was. He could have been any one of the trail of men that traipsed through her mother’s life, leaving nothing but bruises and heartache.
At the first chance she’d gotten she’d left, taking her mother’s current beau with her. She’d been sixteen and he’d been forty-four but he had his own car and a job and that was enough for her. She’d stuck with him for about six months, until she’d grown tired of his old body on top of hers. Then she’d relieved him of his cash and hit the road.
She’d ended up here and somehow she’d stayed. Ted had been her first chance at marrying well but it hadn’t gone according to plan. Then Jake had come along. She’d done everything she could to make sure that she was the perfect woman. She hadn’t been demanding, had played it cool, and had screwed him senseless whenever he wanted her to.
When he’d come to her that night wanting an alibi, she’d known that was it. Home run.
And now, the end was in sight. Soon she would have that damned ring on her finger and people would stop looking down their noses at her. She might even go back and find her mother and buy her a new trailer. She laughed out loud at that thought, drawing glances from the other mourners. Jeez, relax people!
Filling her plate with food, she looked around the room as she ate. God, there was so much money in this room! And soon, she would be one of them. She only just managed to suppress her grin at this thought. She could see the sideways glances now from people wondering what on earth she was doing here. More than a couple, she knew, were wondering if their wives or girlfriends were going to get a nasty shock.
Spotting Jamie standing alone by one of the room’s many windows looking lost, she made her way over to her.
“How you doing? You okay?”
Jamie looked confused for moment, her eyes unfocused.
“Sorry, I was miles away.” She smiled weakly. “I’m okay. Thank you for asking. I was just thinking about how unfair it is that such a good man should die so young.”
“Um. Yeah.” If she only knew what kind of a man he really was! “So they still don’t know anything, huh?” She knew the answer, but she had to ask.
“No, nothing.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wrung her hands. “Our whole future, snatched away, and I still don’t know why!”
“What did you say to her?” The question made her jump. She hadn’t heard Jake approach. “Has she upset you?” He put his arm around his sister, pulling her slightly away from Carrie.
Of course it had to be her fault! “No, I didn’t!”
He just glared at her.
“She was being really nice, actually.” Jamie sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Saying what a nice man Ted was.”
I was?
“Well, that surprises me, actually. I didn’t think you and Ted got along that well.” He looked at her quizzically. “When I saw you at the party, it looked like the two of you had been fighting, remember?”
“Why were you fighting?” Jamie was looking at her also now and she felt like a rabbit caught in headlights.
“Really, it was nothing.” She tried to pass it off. “Look, I’d better go. I’ve got to work later and I need to go home and get ready. Will you drop me off?” she asked Jake.
“I don’t really want to leave Jamie. Can you make your own way back?”
“I didn’t drive, you know that,” she hissed back. She’s in a room full of people fawning over her. She’ll be fine, is what she actually wanted to say but that would be rude.
“No, go. Take her home. I’ll be fine.” Jamie smiled at him.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. Go.”
Twelve
He was not looking forward to this at all. It had only been a week since the funeral, but Carrie was getting increasingly upset and he knew that if he didn’t speak to his parents soon she was likely to shoot her mouth off. He’d told them he had something important to talk to them about and they were both now standing in the living room of the house waiting for them.
“Seriously, Carrie, do you have to be here? Why can’t I talk to them by myself?” He just knew that it was going to make it so much harder with her present.
“Because I know what you’re like, and I want to make sure that you don’t back down.”
“I won’t. I just think it would be better coming from me. On my own.”
“Better coming from you? Jeez! You sound like you’re going to give them bad news! You’re telling them you’re getting married. Any normal parents would be happy for you.”
“It’s not as simple as that and you know it.” She knew how his parents felt about her, why did she have to make it so much more difficult?
Before she could answer, the door opened and his father walked in with his mother just behind. She pulled up short when she saw Carrie.
“What is she doing here?”
“This involves her, Mom.”
“Well, get on with it then. We haven’t got all day, you know,” his father barked at him.
Jake cleared his throat, trying to think of the best way to put it. However he said it, he knew that it wouldn’t be well received. Carrie was looking at him with an exasperated expression on her face.
“For God’s sake, will you just tell them?”
“Okay, okay.” Oh well, here goes. “I’ve asked Carrie to marry me.”
The silence that followed was so long he thought that maybe he hadn’t actually spoken out loud. He was just about to repeat himself when his mother spoke.
“I really hope this is some kind of sick joke.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s true. We’re getting married.”
His father still hadn’t said a word.
“Dad?”
“Is she pregnant?” he asked him, not even looking at Carrie.
Carrie threaded her arm through his. “No, I’m not pregnant.”
“If she’s not pregnant, what’s the rush, for God’s sake?” his mom snapped. “Can’t you at least wait until Jamie’s had a few months to grieve before you hit her with this?”
***
She’d had enough of this. It was about time someone told Jake’s parents how it was going to be and it clearly wasn’t going to be him. “Why should we wait? Ted’s dead and buried.”
Jake parents looked at her with distaste. “Jake, I think you should take some time. Make sure this is the right thing to do,” his mom said desperately. “And I know you don’t want to hurt your sister. Hearing news like this right now will be devastating for her.”
That was the last straw. “For God’s sake! He was only marrying her for her money, anyway. It wasn’t the love of the century or anything!” She couldn’t help herself. “Probably did her a favor, him getting himself killed!”
They all turned then at the sound of a loud gasp coming from the doorway. Jamie stood there with her hands raised to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.
“How dare you say such a thing! It’s not true!” she screamed at Carrie, hands now clenched into fists at her side.
“It is true,” Carrie sneered. “His whole family is broke. You were going to be the golden goose that got them out of the mess they’re in.”
Jamie launched herself across the room at her then, hands grabbing for her hair and face. Reacting quickly, Jake grabbed Jamie by the waist and held her, arms and legs flailing, preventing her from reaching her target.
“Calm down, she didn’t mean it,” he said to her, trying to keep her under control, glaring across the room at Carrie.
“Take your fiancée and get her out of here. Now,” barked his father. Gingerly letting go of Jamie, pausing to make sure she wasn’t about to fly at Carrie again, she felt Jake take her by the arm and pull her out of the room.
“What the hell do you think you were doing in there?” he hissed at her as he pulled her out the front door and to the car.
“Shit. Sorry. They just got under my skin, treating me like I’m dirt and going on about Saint Jamie.” She slammed the passenger door shut, turning to him. “It’s not fair. They can’t even be happy for us.”
Jake didn’t say a word as he started the car and one look at his thunderous expression told her she should just let it go. So she would. For now.
Thirteen
She was struggling to hold the tears back as she drove. It couldn’t be true could it? She had to find out. She couldn’t go and ask Ted’s parents. They were grieving, too. It would be unforgivable to go storming in there asking intensely private questions, especially if everything Carrie had said was a lie. No, she had to go back to the horse’s mouth and see Carrie, but this time alone.
She’d had to wait all day until Jake had come home, wanting to make sure he was out of the way before she left, and then she’d had to sneak out without being seen. These days, her parents hardly let her out of their sight and they would undoubtedly question where she was going if they saw her leave.
Pulling up and parking out back, Jamie checked her face in the mirror in her car. The tears had dried, leaving her face blotchy and her eyes puffy. At least I’m not crying any more, she thought to herself as she climbed the stairs and knocked on Carrie’s apartment door. She’d already checked at the diner and been told that today was her day off, so she was hoping to catch her at home.
She was rewarded by the sound of locks turning and the door being opened.
“Oh. It’s you.”
“Can I come in?” Judging from her face, Jamie was clearly the last person she’d been expecting to knock at her door.
“I suppose so,” she replied, pulling the door open wider so that Jamie could come inside. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Or do I even need to ask?” she said, sitting down on the couch.
“May I?” Jamie asked. She didn’t really want to sit but her legs were a bit wobbly and she didn’t want to collapse in a heap in front of this woman.
Carrie nodded. “So?”
Jamie took a deep breath. “I want you to tell me more about what you said yesterday. I need to know if it’s true.”
“It’s true, all right. Why would I lie?”
“To hurt me, though God knows what I’ve ever done to you.”
“Here we go again. It’s always got to be all about you, doesn’t it? Princess Jamie,” Carrie snarled. “Well, guess what? This time, it’s not all about you. It’s about me and Jake, our future, and I’m sick of everything being on hold because of you.”
Jamie was taken aback at the hostility coming from her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“You really don’t see it, do you? First Ted, and now Jake. You always have to come first.”
“Ted? Of course I came first with Ted. Why on earth would that affect you?” Jamie looked at her quizzically.
“Because even when I was sleeping with him, I had to hear about you all the goddamn time. About how important his damn wedding to you was for his whole family.”
The room started to go out of focus then and she felt the black hole that had been threatening her since Ted had been killed engulf her.
“What do you mean, when you were sleeping with him?” She had no idea how she’d managed to speak, let alone keep her voice so calm.
Carrie looked at her as if she were stupid. “Like I told you already, he was marrying you because he had to, but he wasn’t about to go without, was he? We had a lot of fun, him and I. He was a great lay”
She didn’t know how, but somehow she made it to Carrie’s bathroom just in time, throwing up in the toilet until she was empty. Shaking, she stayed on the floor, leaning her back against the bathroom wall. Wh
at on earth did Jake see in this woman? She’d come here for answers and she’d gotten a lot more than she bargained for.
Once she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up again, she pushed herself to her feet. I need to get out of here. Throwing open the bathroom door, she pushed past Carrie, who was standing just outside and, on unsteady legs, left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
***
Hell! She stood for a moment watching the door after she’d gone, as if expecting her to suddenly come back but it remained firmly closed.
Dammit! What had she done! Grabbing her cell from the kitchen counter, she quickly dialed Jake’s number.
Come on! Pick up! she urged, as it rang and rang. Finally, just as she was about to put it down and try again, he answered.
“Jamie’s been here,” she said before he had a chance to say anything.
“What? What for?” Jake said, sounding shaken.
“Well, I didn’t invite her!” she shouted. “She wanted to know about Ted, about what I said yesterday.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The same as I told her yesterday, the truth. That he wanted her for her money.”
“You stupid bitch! That’s all we damn well need. It’s bad enough I have to marry you without getting my parents pissed.” She could hear him take a deep breath. “My father is not beyond cutting me out of his will completely if I marry you. He’s gonna take a lot of convincing not to as it is, and I doubt that’s what you want, is it?”
Of course it wasn’t. The whole point of going through with this was so that she could be rich. There wouldn’t be much point if he got cut off.
“Of course it’s not. You’ve got to stop her. She’s on her way to see your parents.”
“How much does she know? Does she know about me?” The panic was oozing into his every word.
“No, just Ted. Everything about Ted.”
“Please tell me she doesn’t know about you two?”
True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) Page 20
