The Girl He Left Behind

by Patricia Kay

  Now all that was left was for her to tell Adam it was over.

  * * *

  Adam watched the happy kids and the adults accompanying them as they rode the Ferris wheel. Soon he and Eve and her twins would be joining them. He was excited; he’d been wanting to meet Eve’s children for a long time now. He was also nervous. He wanted them to like him. He knew they probably would; he was good with kids, plus he had the fame thing going. Although he hated to admit it, his fame could be a good thing instead of the noose around his neck he often complained about.

  He stood at the railing at the edge of the pier and looked out over the ocean. The water sparkled as if a million diamonds had been sprinkled over it. He had to admit, as much as he loved Nashville, LA had a lot to recommend it. For one thing, people didn’t bother him. They were so used to celebrities out here that they pretty much ignored him unless he was appearing at a performance.

  And then there was the ocean, which was always magnificent, something he never tired of looking at. He couldn’t wait to take Eve to his house in Malibu. He knew she’d love it with its ocean views and open, contemporary styling. The kids would love it there, too.

  He looked at his watch. Luther had picked Eve up an hour ago. They should be coming to the pier anytime now. He decided to walk out to where the limo would have to stop, since it couldn’t drive onto the pier.

  Minutes later, he saw the car approaching, and his heart lifted. He was smiling when the limo stopped and Eve got out. The smile quickly faded when he realized she was alone.

  “Where’re the kids?” he said, walking toward her.

  “They’re not coming.” She didn’t smile.

  Adam swore softly. He guessed her ex wasn’t quite the nice guy she’d portrayed. “Should I have Luther wait?”

  “That’s up to you. There’s something we need to discuss.”

  Now he frowned. What was the matter with her? She looked as if she were upset with him. What had changed since they’d parted at the hotel? Walking over to the car, he waited till Luther had lowered the driver’s-side window, then said, “Why don’t you go on home? I’ll call you when I need you.”

  Luther nodded. “Okay, boss.”

  Once car and driver were gone, Adam said, “Let’s walk, okay?” When they’d gone a far enough distance from the pier to have some privacy, he said, “What happened?”

  “Have you read today’s paper?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Your ex-girlfriend, Bethany, has made an accusation.”

  “About me?”

  “Yes.”

  Austin was wrong. Adam should have fired her. “What’d she say?”

  “That she’s carrying your baby.”

  “What?”

  “So you didn’t know?”

  “Hell, no, I didn’t know.” His mind whirled. Was it possible? He had always taken precautions with Bethany. Not just to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, but because he believed in safe sex, for his partner’s protection as much as his own. How could Bethany be pregnant? Especially with his child? “That doesn’t make any sense. We’ve never had unprotected sex.”

  “Birth control isn’t foolproof,” Eve said.

  Adam didn’t know what to say. Eve wouldn’t meet his eyes. He couldn’t help thinking that she was remembering how just a week ago he hadn’t used a condom with her. Maybe she thought he was lying about using them with Bethany.

  “Bill showed me the story,” Eve finally said.

  “That’s why he didn’t want you to bring the kids today.”

  Eve nodded, looking out over the water. She seemed a million miles away. “I don’t blame him.”

  The way she was acting hurt. “I think it’s interesting how I’ve been tried and convicted already. You seem to feel the same way Bill does.”

  Her head whipped around, and now her eyes were blazing. “How should I feel, Adam? Happy? Today only proved what I’ve been thinking for a long time. Any relationship with you means the entire world will know my business. My whole life will be spread out for people to judge.”

  So that was what her fear was all about. “Look, I can’t deny that the tabloids love to leap on anything that smacks of scandal, but we wouldn’t be living that kind of life. There’d be nothing interesting to write about, and they’d soon forget about us. Oh, hell, this is not the way I wanted to do this, but thanks to Bethany, it looks as if I no longer have a choice.” He reached into his pocket, where he’d been carrying something around for a while now, waiting for the right moment. Extracting the small velvet box, he opened it to reveal a gorgeous Neil Lane diamond ring. “I bought this when we were in Austin, Eve. I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I want us to be together, to build a family together. That’s why I was so eager to meet your kids today. I was hoping you’d say you’ll marry me.”

  The color had drained from her face as he spoke.

  “What do you say?” he asked gently. “Will you marry me?”

  Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you love me. Say yes.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not? Is it Bill?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “He can’t stop you, you know.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “You’re right. I don’t.” He reached for her hand, tried to put the box in it, but she wouldn’t take it. “I never thought you were a coward, Eve. If you’re afraid to tell him, I’ll go with you. I’ll tell him. We’ll tell him together.”

  Her eyes widened, and now two bright spots of color blazed on her cheeks. “No! I... You have to give me some time. I—I can’t... I can’t give you an answer today. I have to think about all this.”

  Knowing he was beaten—at least for now—he sighed heavily, closed the box and put it back in his pocket. “Fine. You think about it, and I’ll go back to Crandall Lake and talk to Austin about Bethany. Have him investigate and see if she’s telling the truth.”

  “And if she is?”

  “If she is and I am the father of her baby, I’ll support her and the child financially.” When she frowned, he added, “What? Did you think I wouldn’t?”

  “No, no... I, well, I didn’t know what to think.”

  “Surely you didn’t think I’d abandon my child. You know me better than that, Eve. I’d never do that.” He could have added that he’d always wanted a child, because he had. He’d been envious of friends who had families. It was just that he’d never imagined having a child like this. When he’d thought about it, he’d seen a traditional family, with a wife he loved in the picture.

  With Eve.

  But the way things were beginning to look, maybe she didn’t love him the way he’d thought. Maybe his feelings were one-sided. He hadn’t imagined she was that good an actress, that she could have responded to him the way she had if she didn’t love him, but maybe he was wrong. He hated to think so. Hated to think he would have to say goodbye to her again, and this time permanently. But he couldn’t force her to love him if she didn’t. And if it was fear holding her back, he couldn’t force her to be brave, either.

  No, the next step belonged to Eve.

  And all he could do was wait.

  * * *

  Eve had never been so frightened in her life.

  What was she going to do?

  She had thought she’d have weeks to figure all this out, but Adam had forced her hand. Damn that woman, that Bethany. If she hadn’t made her announcement, this showdown wouldn’t have happened. Adam would have waited to ask her to marry him, and she would have been better prepared.

  Then again, if Bethany hadn’t released that statement, the twins would have been at the pier with them. And then what? Eve’s own mother had taken one look at Adam and known he was the father
of her grandchildren. What if the same thing had happened with Adam? What if he’d realized the truth and asked her directly if the twins were his? She would have had to tell him the truth.

  Oh, be honest with yourself. You’d have had to tell him the truth regardless. That’s why you’ve been so scared. That’s why you attacked him the way you did. That’s why you’ve tried to run away without facing this.

  And once she had told him he’d have been so disappointed in her and so angry at the ongoing lie she’d perpetrated, he would have changed his mind about wanting her. Then she’d have had a different problem right now, one that was even worse.

  What should she do?

  She’d refused a ride back to the hotel with Adam, instead opting to call her own cab. She told Adam she’d see him when she returned to Crandall Lake and asked him to please not call her in the meantime.

  Once she returned to her room, she phoned Bill. “Adam is going back to Texas. Please tell the twins I feel better and that I’m coming over in an hour. Have them pack a few things, including their bathing suits. I want them to stay here overnight.”

  “I don’t think—”

  Suddenly she was sick of him. Sick of everything. “You know, Bill, I really don’t care what you think. I’m coming, and that’s that.”

  An hour later, her cab pulled up in front of Bill’s cottage. “Please wait,” she told the driver. “I just need to collect my kids.”

  The twins were excited to see her. “I’m glad you feel better, Mom,” Nathan said, hugging her.

  “Me, too, honey. I didn’t want to waste a day out here since I won’t be here very long.”

  Natalie came in for her hug, and Eve looked up at Bill. “I’ll have them back before dinner tomorrow night.”

  His smile was tight. “Have fun, kids.”

  Once the three of them were in the cab and heading back to her hotel, Eve finally relaxed. “I thought we’d spend the afternoon at my hotel. They have a great pool, and a really nice restaurant. We can have lunch there, you can swim this afternoon, and tonight we’ll go see a movie or something, okay?”

  “Yeah!” they chorused together.

  “It’ll be a good day,” Eve said. But even as she made the promise, she wondered who she was trying to convince. Them? Or herself?

  * * *

  Adam couldn’t get on a nonstop flight back to Austin until the next morning. Later, he’d never know what had made him decide to go to Eve’s hotel and try to talk to her again, but that was what he ended up doing. If he’d thought to bring his guitar with him when he’d flown to LA, he probably would have simply stayed at his house and worked on his music, but he hadn’t, and he couldn’t stand sitting still. He didn’t ask Luther to drive him, either. Instead, he took the Jag Austin had talked him into buying and drove over to her hotel himself.

  When he rang her room and there was no answer, he walked over to the front desk and asked the girl on duty if she knew where Mrs. Kelly might be.

  “Actually, I do, Mr. Crenshaw.” She gave Adam her brightest smile. “She and her children went out to the pool.”

  Adam spotted them immediately. Eve, wearing a red bikini and huge dark glasses, lay on a chaise in the shade, and watched a group of four or five children playing some kind of water polo. Adam assumed her twins were part of the group. He knew she was going to be angry he’d come to the hotel after saying goodbye to her, but he’d figured he really had nothing to lose. He couldn’t leave things the way they were when she’d left the pier. Besides, he’d forgotten to tell her about his visit with her mother and how Anna had encouraged him. Maybe if Eve realized her mother was in favor of them getting back together, she wouldn’t be so afraid.

  As he walked toward her, he was glad he’d changed into his Southern California disguise of baggy shorts, flip-flops, a beat-up T-shirt, big sunglasses and a baseball cap, because none of the other sunbathers seemed to recognize him.

  In fact, Eve didn’t take any notice of him, either. It was only when he sat on the chaise next to her and said, “Eve,” that she turned to him.

  It was almost comical the way her mouth dropped open. She immediately sat up. “What are you doing here?”

  “I forgot to tell you something and I wanted to say it in person.”

  “You...you have to go. I can’t talk to you here.” She was looking at the kids, and there was panic in her voice.

  What the hell was she so afraid of? “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You have to!”

  “Eve, calm down. Why are you acting like this?”

  Before she could answer, one of the boys climbed out of the pool and walked toward them, dripping water everywhere. He was a slender youngster, but not scrawny. His hair was darkened by the water, but Adam imagined it was a medium brown. There was something about the way he walked that seemed so familiar to Adam. A second later, he recognized what it was. The boy walked exactly the same way Aaron walked. In fact, he looked a lot like Aaron had when he was a kid.

  Eve seemed frozen as the boy said hi to Adam.

  And then he smiled.

  Adam felt as if someone had punched him in the gut when he saw the deep dimple in the boy’s left cheek. Holy shit! For a moment, he couldn’t say anything, but finally he returned the boy’s smile. “You must be Nathan,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Adam.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Nathan said. His eyes were bright with excitement. “You and my mom are friends.”

  Eve had still not spoken a word.

  Nathan turned around and yelled toward the other kids, “Nat! It’s him! C’mon over.”

  A minute later, all four kids who’d been playing together came rushing to join them. They clamored around Adam, pushing each other to be the closest.

  By now, Eve had recovered somewhat, enough to say, “Give Mr. Crenshaw some room, kids.”

  Adam studied the other children, and it was easy to see which one was Natalie because the only other girl in the group was older, with red hair and freckles, whereas Natalie looked a lot like Eve. When she saw him looking at her, she came closer and said, “I’ve been wanting to meet you, but my mom said we’d have to wait till we got back home.”

  Adam tried not to let on how rattled he was when he returned her smile. But those eyes of hers were the only confirmation he needed to show him he was right. Nathan and Natalie were his children. His and Eve’s, not Eve and Bill’s. No wonder Eve had been so scared. No wonder she’d tried to avoid having him meet the twins.

  All these years.

  All these years she’d been keeping this from him.

  This huge secret.

  His heart was beating too hard as the knowledge sank in. He kept staring at the kids, even as he tried to behave normally, to answer some of the questions the children were firing at him.

  Did Eve’s mother know?

  Did Bill?

  Of course they did. They would have to. This must be why Eve had tried to get in touch with him twelve years ago. She must have found out she was pregnant and tried to let him know. And then, when she couldn’t find him, she had married Bill instead.

  Conflicting emotions warred inside him. He was angry she’d kept this secret from him all these years, but he was also sad for the pain he’d caused her—and for all the years he had missed out on while his children were growing up with another father.

  If only Eve had tried harder to find him.

  If only she’d called his mother, done something more.

  But all the if onlys in the world wouldn’t change the past.

  Now the only question was, what was he going to do about the future?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Eve could hardly breathe.

  Her worst nightmare had come true. She felt as if every person sitting around the pool must
know her secret now. She knew this was ridiculous. No one could know. Maybe Adam didn’t even know. Yet looking at her twins, she couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t see what she saw.

  Nathan was his spitting image.

  And Natalie’s eyes were a dead giveaway.

  Dear heaven. Of course Adam knew.

  She couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t bear to see the condemnation in his eyes. Earlier today he’d said he loved her. He’d asked her to marry him. He’d shown her the most gorgeous ring she’d ever seen. He couldn’t know how his words had thrilled her yet terrified her at the same time. She loved him so much. The days—and nights—they’d spent together in Austin had been some of the happiest of her life. She had wanted, more than anything in the world, to say yes, to say she’d marry him and make a home with him and their children.

  But how could she say yes with this secret between them?

  And now that he knew the truth, he would no longer want her.

  Eve wanted to cry.

  She couldn’t look at Adam. She listened as he bantered with the kids, but the words meant nothing. All she could think was that there was no way to salvage this impossible situation. Her second chance to build something with Adam was finally and irrevocably over.

  * * *

  Adam felt as if someone had hit him with a sledgehammer. He wasn’t sure what to do, whether to get up and walk away, go somewhere to calm down or stay and face Eve and let the truth finally come out.

  Yet even as upset as he was, he knew he had to behave as if nothing was wrong because of the kids. They were all so excited that he was there. They weren’t about to go back into the pool and forget about him. And he certainly didn’t want any of them, but especially Nathan and Natalie, to realize something was seriously wrong. So it was imperative he act normally.

  But what was normal?

  Think! How would he act if this was a normal day? If he hadn’t just found out one of the most important things in his life?