“Luanne, I—”
“I’m going to bed. I won’t be here in the morning. I have a meeting.”
Scarlett stared at her friend as she left the room. A huge stone sat on her chest. Was she throwing her family away?
No. She was protecting them.
Wasn’t she?
Chapter 28
“Slow down, bud. There are more pancakes.” Gavin laughed when Aiden gave him a syrupy smile.
“Panie-cakes,” the toddler said around a mouth full of food.
He, Aiden, Kristy, and Jack sat around the breakfast table in the suite. They made a weird sort of family.
There was only one person missing.
Kristy cleared her throat. “So, I…um…I was hoping we could work something out. A custody thing or…maybe…visitation?” She bit her lip and tears glinted in her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I love him like mad. But he has a father, maybe I can just be his aunt.” The liquid rolling down her face spoke of her devotion to his son. “I mean, I can’t believe we’ve made it as long as we have.”
“You made it because you’re a fighter. I know you love him. You don’t have to worry about that, and you can see him anytime you want. I want you to be part of his life.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek. “That might be hard if you live far away.”
“Hey. I’ll always get you to us. In fact, why don’t you come with us?” Gavin warmed to the idea as soon as it popped into his head. “We’ll get you an apartment close by.”
Her face lit up and she looked younger than her nineteen years. “Where are we going to live?”
He laughed. “I haven’t quite decided that yet.”
“I’ll get the papers drawn up and we’ll get them signed,” Jack said, and got up to answer the room phone.
“Boy! More panie-cakes,” Aiden yelled.
Kristy smoothed the hair from his forehead. “Aiden, can you say daddy?”
“Daddy.” His triumphant smile squeezed Gavin’s heart.
She pointed to Gavin. “This is Daddy, not boy.”
Aiden looked between the two of them, then shouted, “More panie-cakes, Daddy!”
And his world made a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. His focus, his mission, became being the best damn dad in the whole freakin’ world. “You can have all the pancakes you want, dude.”
“Okay, send her up.” Jack hung up the phone. “Prepare yourselves for Hurricane Luanne.”
“What?” Gavin’s fork clattered to his plate.
Jack rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “She’s here and on her way up.”
“Who’s Luanne?” Kristy asked.
“Scarlett’s BFF.” Jack pressed his tie against his chest and sat down at the table.
Dread slammed Gavin’s heart into a wall. Why was she here? Surely not to serve him with divorce papers yet. He wasn’t ready for that. He’d lain awake all night trying to come up with a plan to fix things with his wife. No fucking way was he signing anything until he’d spoken to Scarlett face to face.
“Where is Scarlett?” Kristy looked around like she’d just realized the woman wasn’t around.
“Yes, Gavin, where is your wife?” Luanne stormed into the room.
Jack started singing Maneater.
“Put a sock in it, Counselor. I didn’t come to see you. In fact, why are you here? In broad daylight, no less. Blood suckers are nocturnal, aren’t they?”
“Oooh, good one, Luanne. That really stung.”
“Bite me, Jack.”
Jack stood and towered over her. “Ask me nicely.”
“I’ll tell you what. You hold your breath and wait for me to ask you for anything.”
He chuckled. “Nah, I’d probably die a slow, agonizing death.”
“You got that right, Jacka—”
“No cussing in front of Aiden,” Gavin cut in.
“Yeah, Luanne, no cussing in front of Aiden,” Jack taunted.
“Stop it, you two. You’re scaring the baby.” Kristy picked Aiden up and sat him on her lap, his lips trembling as he ogled the adults.
“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Luanne moved to the boy. “Hey, little guy, I’m your Aunt Luanne.” She smoothed her hand over his hair.
He hid his face and giggled.
Jack snorted. “Aunt Luanne?”
She shot him a death glare, then turned her attention back to the child. “Your Aunt Honey is going to eat you up, you precious thing.”
“Who’s Aunt Honey?” Kristy searched the faces of the adults.
“Scarlett’s aunt. She’s a bit eccentric, but sweet as sugar. I’m Luanne Price, Scarlett’s best friend.”
“And rottweiler.”
“Ignore Jack. He has unrequited feelings for me and can’t get over it.”
“Right. Because I’ve lost the last shred of my sanity.” Jack went back to his seat at the table.
A tiny ray of hope pried its way into Gavin’s heart, maybe all was not lost. “What are you doing here, Luanne? And why did you say that Honey would love Aiden?”
“Because she will. And I’m here to drag your sorry a-double-s back to Texas.”
Gavin threw his napkin on the table. “Scarlett left. She doesn’t want me.”
“Oh, boo-hoo.” Her fist went to her hips. “Is that why she’s at my house crying her eyes out? And I heard you told her to leave, that you didn’t want her around you or Aiden.”
The words he’d thrown at Scarlett still burned his throat. He regretted saying them more than anything. He ran his fingers along the edge of the table and wouldn’t look at Luanne. “I did.” With more courage than he knew he had, he met her eyes. “And it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
Luanne placed both hands on the table and leaned toward him. “So, are you going to keep being stupid, or are you going to wise up and realize she left because she loves you and Aiden.”
She loved him? A giant ball of joy smacked him in the head and he couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across his face. “She does?”
“Yes, you idiot. But she’s freaking out. There’s stuff you don’t know about that has her acting the way she is.”
“I know about her mom.”
“It’s not that, it’s something else.”
He pushed his plate out of the way. “What else?” He didn’t like that Luanne had more information than him.
“Poppy Sims, the new bank president, owned and operated an escort service while we were all in school at UT. Nobody knew. It was a complete shock to me.”
He rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands. “I don’t see what this has to do with Scarlett.”
“She tricked Scarlett into attending one of her parties, and the place was raided. Scarlett was arrested for p-r-o-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n.”
“What?” Kristy yelled.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Jack said.
“Are you fu—” He glanced at Aiden playing happily with the spoon. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
Luanne dropped into one of the dining room chairs. “No. Poppy got away and wasn’t arrested, but she managed to get pictures of Scarlett being cuffed and in a jail cell. She’s threatening to release the photos to the media unless Scarlett convinces Floyd to sell Poppy the farm. She wants it for some multi-million-dollar housing development. Your wife found out yesterday that Poppy’s going to release them this evening, because there’s no way Scarlett will ever do what that B told her to do.”
“That’s awful.” Kristy pushed the butter knife out of Aiden’s reach.
“You’re handling it, right, Luanne?” Jack was in total lawyer mode.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “She has what she needs to shut this down forever. I hired a private investigator, and apparently Poppy wasn’t very careful and burned a lot of bridges when she left Austin. He had no problem finding people to talk.”
Jack nodded. “Good job.”
If Gavin hadn’t been so furious he’d have been curious about
the pink tint on Luanne’s cheeks at Jack’s compliment. But rage seethed beneath his skin. Someone was trying to hurt his woman. “When did she find out?”
“After you left the park, while she was waiting for you in the car.”
He dropped his head into his hands. “Kristy, cover Aiden’s ears.”
“Done,” Kristy said.
“Fuuuuuck. I said all that shit to her.” He ran both hands over his head. “She must hate me.”
“Ha. She’s too busy hating herself to hate you. Me, on the other hand…”
Jack chuckled.
“Hey. Don’t talk to him like that,” Kristy said.
“It’s fine. I deserve it.”
“Yes, you do, but what are you going to do about it?”
Aiden wiggled out of Kristy’s hold and ran around the table to Gavin. “Daddy.”
Would he ever get tired of hearing that word? Hell no. He picked Aiden up and studied his smiling face, and knew no one else could raise him better than he could, like he knew no one could love Scarlett more than he did. She belonged with him, and he’d spend the rest of his life proving it to her.
“Kristy, have you ever been to Zachsville, Texas?”
“Um…no.”
“Pack your bags. You’re going to love it.”
Scarlett strode past Poppy’s secretary without stopping. She had no idea how to save her marriage, or even if she could, after walking out on Gavin. But this was one thing she could do. Luanne was right. She needed to stand up for herself and stop caring what people she didn’t care about thought of her.
The manila envelope in her purse was only there as a backup plan. Poppy was batshit crazy and she might not back down without it.
A braid of fury, fear, and indignation wound through her and spurred her forward. She was on a mission for herself, for Gavin, and for Aiden. If she had any hope of repairing the damage she’d done, she had to be willing to do whatever it took to get them back. And it started with Poppy Sims.
“Scarlett, if you’ll wait I’ll see if Ms. Sims is available.” The assistant jumped up from her desk and trotted after her.
“That’s okay. I’ve got it.” She flung Poppy’s office door open.
Shock skated across her enemy’s face for the briefest of seconds, then her mask of superiority slid back into place. “It’s fine Elaine. I’ll see Ms. Kelly.”
Scarlett closed the door in Elaine’s face.
“Scarlett, you really should work on your manners. I guess that’s to be expected from someone raised the way you were.” Poppy stacked papers into a pile.
“I was raised just fine, Poppy. However, I question the way you were raised. But that’s not why I came to see you.”
“Are you here to tell me what I want to hear?” Poppy purred.
“Nope.” She flung her arms wide. “I came to tell you to do your worst. I’m not afraid of you.”
Poppy’s brows crawled up her forehead. “You should be.”
Scarlett shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m not. In fact, I think you should be afraid of me.”
The most unladylike snort shot from Poppy’s lips. “Oh, and why is that?”
Scarlett examined her nails, then slid her own snake look at Poppy. “Because I spoke to your father this morning. He and your mother are having a lovely time, by the way. Or they were until they heard about the nastiness going on here in Zachsville.”
Every ounce of color drained from Poppy’s face. “You’re lying.”
“No. I’m not.” Scarlett scrunched her nose up and drew air through her teeth. “I have to say, they were as shocked as I was to find out you were running an escort service in college. For different reasons, of course.”
“How would you even get in touch with him?” The woman’s voice sounded like she’d drained a canister of helium.
“Your father is one of my father’s oldest friends. He had his number.” She rested her hands on Poppy’s desk. “So release your photos and tell your story. I don’t give a damn because once the town finds out you were Madame Millicent, an innocent case of mistaken identity won’t matter to them at all.” She doubted that were true. This town’s life blood was gossip, but in light of all she had to lose it simply didn’t matter anymore.
Poppy’s bloodless face filled with rage. “I’ll get you for this.”
Scarlett stopped at the door and glanced back at her nemesis. “No. You won’t. And if you ever threaten my family again, you’ll regret it. I was raised to protect family no matter what. Which means, if you come near my family or me again, I’ll put a boot so far up your ass, you’ll need a surgeon to remove it. Have a nice day.”
Chapter 29
“She what?” Floyd exploded.
Scarlett looked into the shocked faces of Honey, Joyce, and her father. “Poppy blackmailed me so I would convince you to sell the farm.”
“That’s ridiculous. What on earth could she have to blackmail you with?” Honey said.
Scarlett tore a paper napkin into tiny pieces. Her newfound courage didn’t quite help with confessing all to her family. It had taken every ounce of the stuff she could muster to march into the kitchen and tell her story. “My junior year in college Poppy invited me to a party. Shortly after I arrived the cops raided the place. I was arrested for prostitution.”
“What?” they all said in unison.
“Turns out Poppy had an escort service providing the company of young women to older men.” She shrugged. “Wrong place, wrong time.”
Joyce’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my word.”
“I always knew that girl was twisted.” Honey crossed her arms over her chest.
Floyd wrapped Scarlett into a fierce hug. “Oh, my poor girl. You must’ve been terrified. Why didn’t you tell us?”
As tempting as it was to hide in her father’s embrace, everything needed to be brought into the open. She untangled herself and sat up to tell the truth. “I was afraid of what you’d think of me.”
“Scarlett, I could—”
“Let me finish. I was afraid you’d think I was like mama, and I didn’t want to hurt you like that.” She didn’t stop the tear that rolled down her cheek.
Honey took her hand. “Oh, darlin’. You could never disappoint us.”
“We love you,” Joyce said.
Her father stared at the tabletop and didn’t say a word. The knot in her stomach cinched tighter as all of her fears hung in the air between them. She could let it lie. Take Honey and Joyce’s words and move on with her life. She’d never hold her father’s silence against him. This was painful for him, too. But she’d spent too much of her life hiding her feelings and she wasn’t doing it anymore. “Daddy?”
The wrecked look on his face nearly had her backtracking and telling him he didn’t have to say anything. But she didn’t. She only waited for him to speak.
“This is my fault.” His words sounded like glass crushed underfoot.
She wrapped her fingers around his folded hands. “What? How is any of this your fault? I’m the one who trusted Poppy. Then I complicated it by not trusting you enough to tell you what happened.”
“If I could’ve gotten past my own pain and embarrassment when your mother left we could’ve talked about it. You would’ve known that you are nothing like your mother. Yes, you look like her, but that’s where the similarity ends.” His chest expanded then deflated, as he gazed out the window. “I loved that woman, but it wasn’t healthy, she wasn’t healthy. I thought my love and our family could heal her. But I was wrong. So wrong.” He turned back to Scarlett and cupped her cheek. “And you’ve paid the price, darlin’. Can you ever forgive me?”
She started to tell him there was nothing to forgive, but realized he needed forgiveness like she needed transparency. “Of course I forgive you.” She leaned in, wiped his tears, and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”
“And I love you, sweet girl.”
“I want to know how you got out of jail.” Honey pulled a plate of cookies
toward her, like she was settling in for a story.
Scarlett smoothed her hair from her face. “I honestly don’t know. The next day they let me go with no explanation. When I got outside, Poppy was there. I walked right past her, got a cab, went home, and never spoke of it again. Luanne didn’t even know. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I definitely saw a county judge at the party. Maybe she got him to pull some strings and get me out. Who knows? She’s not stable.”
“And wicked,” Joyce said.
“She has pictures of me being arrested and in jail that she’s threatened to send to the media, and considering the whole Gavin thing…”
“Oh, no she’s not.” Floyd dug his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Hartley right this minute and tell him everything his daughter’s done.”
Scarlett took the phone from his shaking hands. “No need. I already did.” She’d forgive herself for the pride and self-satisfaction in her voice.
Honey’s eyes got as big as saucers. “You did?”
“Yep. He was none too pleased, and neither was she when I went to the bank and told her.”
“Did you also kick her ass?” Floyd asked.
“No, but it was made clear that it was the next step if she messed with the Kellys again.”
Honey slapped the table. “I like this new Scarlett. Now, darlin’…tell us the rest.” She arched a brow, daring her to argue.
Scarlett rubbed at an imaginary scuff on the table. “About that…”
She told them everything about how she and Gavin met, about Aiden, about falling in love, and about why she ran out on him.
“I think we all knew there was more to the story than either of you were telling, but it was so much fun watching you lose your mind over that boy, we didn’t say anything.” Honey laughed.
“You weren’t embarrassed?”
“Lord, no,” Honey said.
“When that video was released we did worry for you some,” her father said, “but that worked out too because it gave you and Gavin an excuse to get out of this small-minded town.”
“But now you’ve come back without him,” Joyce said.
“And that baby,” Honey added.
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