He cleared his throat. “I agree. Even if the . . . uh . . . props were somewhat kinky, I think Kendall looked hot.” Charlotte jammed her husband in the ribs with her elbow.
“Great. I mean Kendall looked great,” Roman corrected on a forced groan. Then he reached out and pulled his disgruntled wife into a hug. “You know what I meant. I adore you but a guy would have to be dead not to look.”
Raina rolled her eyes.
“You should have quit while you were ahead, son,” Eric said, chiming in at last.
“She wasn’t a disgrace,” Roman said.
“I agree.” Eric propped an elbow on the table.
Raina smiled. She’d knowingly taken the temperature of the room and it had registered high on Kendall’s side. “Okay, now that we’re all on the same wavelength, what are we going to do to help Kendall out? Lord knows the poor woman must be mortified.”
“The most we can do is cut off any gossip we might hear and support her. Beyond that I’m sure she’d like the whole thing dropped,” Charlotte said.
“Dropped?” Raina said, outraged on Kendall’s behalf. “First of all, someone set the poor girl up.”
“And it’s up to her to figure out who did it,” Roman said in a stern voice meant to warn Raina to mind her own business.
She ought to know considering she’d been on the receiving end of his outburst before. But she’d given birth to him and that gave her some seniority and the right to continue her thoughts. “Second of all she’s like family and I’m sure Rick would appreciate it if . . . ”
“We all minded our own business,” Eric finished for her.
Raina scowled his way. Considering they’d grown close over the last few months, he understood her burning desire for grandchildren and happy marriages for her sons. Neither of those things would happen if Kendall got spooked and tried to run off now.
“I agree, Raina. As much as you love Rick and Kendall, you can’t make decisions for them and you can’t change what fate has in store.” Charlotte spoke softly but in a pleading voice.
“I beg to differ. If you’ll recall, a little thing like a fake heart condition got my sons to participate in that ridiculous coin toss and put Roman on a wife hunt. Glitches aside, you two are extremely happy. I’d call that altering fate.” And though she still felt awful about lying, the cause and the end result had been positive, thank God. Given the opportunity to do it all over again, she’d take a different course of action. However, she couldn’t deny it had worked.
“You will mind your own business, Mom.” Roman’s deep blue eyes, so much like his father’s, bore into hers.
She exhaled hard. “What’s so wrong with giving support to people you love?”
Charlotte crossed the room and placed a hand on Raina’s arm. “Listen. I’ve spoken with Kendall and from what I can figure Rick had his hands full with keeping her in town, and that was before someone put her on display for everyone to see. He’s going to need your support but not your meddling. You’re going to have to trust me on this one.”
“I wish someone would trust me,” Rick said.
Raina gasped and everyone turned at the unexpected sound of Rick’s voice.
“I’m not sure whether to be more insulted that you’re all here discussing my life or that you’ve been keeping secrets.” He stepped into the kitchen, arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face.
Raina hadn’t heard him enter the house and from the shocked expressions around her, neither had anyone else. He leaned against the door frame, looking exhausted and distraught. Defeat wasn’t in a Chandler’s vocabulary, but it was obvious that whatever had happened between him and Kendall hadn’t gone well.
And judging by his obvious displeasure now, things here wouldn’t go much better. “How long have you been standing there?” Raina asked. But the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach had already provided the answer.
“Oh I arrived somewhere around the time you mentioned your fake heart condition.” His jaw clenched in unmistakable anger while his eyes flashed with betrayal and hurt.
“Rick . . . ”
“Not now, okay? I’ve been through enough tonight. I don’t need to deal with this too. I’m glad you’re healthy. Thrilled in fact.” Shaking his head in disbelief, he turned to leave.
“Rick.” Roman stepped toward his brother.
Rick didn’t glance back. “Unless you’re going to tell me you had no idea she was faking, we have nothing to discuss either.”
“Charlotte, I’m taking my brother out for a drink. Eric will make sure you get home okay.” Roman glanced at the other man who nodded in silent assent.
“I’d rather drink alone,” Rick muttered.
“Don’t worry about me. You two need to talk.” Charlotte’s blue eyes flashed with compassion and concern for her still-new family. “Rick, you know we love you.”
“You all have a funny way of showing it.”
“You’re right. And there’s no excuse but . . .” Raina’s voice trailed off.
“I’ll handle it, Mom. Just relax and get some sleep, okay?” Roman laid a hand on her shoulder. She appreciated his concern.
Though he’d never condoned her charade, he wasn’t turning on her now and she appreciated the loyalty. She loved her sons, too much if causing them pain was the end result of her good intentions.
“Where’s Kendall?” Charlotte asked the unspoken question Raina was certain lay on everyone’s mind.
“Home. Probably packing,” Rick muttered.
Raina winced. “If it would help I could take a ride over and talk to her.” Even as she offered, even as Roman gestured for her to zip her mouth shut, she knew what her son’s answer would be.
“Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” Rick asked. His disappointment shot straight through to her heart, the organ she’d used to manipulate him. Poetic justice, Raina realized, the thought bringing no consolation and an extreme amount of pain.
Rick was suffering too, from a combination of Kendall’s withdrawal and Raina’s revelation. Her own predicament and feelings now paled in comparison to the agony her middle son must be feeling.
Whether or not Rick forgave her, Raina needed to help him and Kendall find their way back to each other. Unfortunately she had no idea where to begin.
Somehow Kendall survived the night with two teenagers, a new dog, and her own heartache. The girls helped give Happy a bath and the activity helped keep Kendall’s mind busy and off the humiliation she’d suffered—at whose hands, she wondered, for the millionth time.
Though Rick insinuated he had a hunch regarding the culprit, Kendall had no idea who hated her enough to post her nearly naked picture on a billboard-sized screen. The only person who overtly disliked Kendall was Lisa Burton and Kendall couldn’t see the schoolteacher risking her job or her own reputation to pull such a juvenile stunt.
By the time the girls’ giggling subsided and they’d fallen asleep, oblivious to what had happened at the slide show, Kendall came to the conclusion it didn’t matter who’d set her up. The fact was, the person had done her a favor. They’d shown her proof of why daydreams could never be reality and why Kendall Sutton didn’t belong living in a small town with a good, decent man like Rick Chandler.
By the time daylight streamed through her still-open shades, the slide show and the photograph had replayed itself over and over in Kendall’s mind. She wasn’t ashamed of her past career or even the particular picture displayed. No matter how badly she needed the money, Kendall would never have agreed to an assignment she felt would devalue her own self worth or that of her family. But the fact remained that she’d been plastered half naked for the town to see, for people who’d been good to her to be affected.
And the Chandlers deserved better. From Charlotte who ran her own business, to Raina who had class and morals and a heart condition that couldn’t handle stress, to Rick, whose reputation as a good cop was unsurpassed and untarnished. Until he’d hooked up with Kendall.
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She shook her head and walked to the windowsill, looking out at the dew-soaked grass. For the first time in her adult life she’d let herself believe in possibilities. She’d wondered if she should stay, if she could become a part of Rick’s town, Rick’s family. Rick’s life. Last night she’d been given her answer. Shown it in living color and those possibilities had been taken away from her. Just as she’d been taught as a child, she’d learned again last night, family and stability existed for other people, not her.
Thank God Hannah had missed the display. Kendall would have to break the news to her before Hannah heard it from someone else. Nothing would be more embarrassing to a teenager and Kendall wished she could spare her sister completely, but she couldn’t. The most she could do now was soften the blow when Kendall explained that she had been a poster girl at the town’s historical display.
Then she and Hannah would move west, away from this town before either one of them got any more attached—or suffered any more disappointment.
“Morning, Kendall.” The young girls bounced into the kitchen with all the exuberance of teenagers facing a new day.
Kendall wanted only to crawl back into bed, but she forced a smile. “Good morning, girls. Can I get you something to eat?”
“Nah. We can make cereal,” Hannah said.
“How was the slide show? We were so busy with Happy last night I forgot to ask.” Jeannie patted the dog’s head. “My mom usually goes but she’s so sick of the same old building pictures year after year that she said she’d take us to the movies instead.”
Kendall had no intention of filling Hannah in while her friend looked on. “It was . . . interesting. So what’s on today’s agenda?”
Kendall’s cell phone rang and prevented the girls from answering. “I gave the number to my friends so I’ve got it,” Hannah said as she dove for the phone on the counter. “Hello?”
Kendall waited, hoping Rick wouldn’t decide to call her first thing this morning.
“Who’s this?”
“Who is this please?” Kendall mouthed, then stifled a groan. Hannah would learn manners or Kendall would die trying, she thought wryly.
“No. No. No! This house is not for sale and it’s not going to be for sale. No you can’t speak to the lady of the house because I’m going to speak to her myself.” Hannah clicked off the cell phone and turned to glare at Kendall. “How could you?”
Oh, she didn’t need this now. “I didn’t list the house, Hannah.”
“Not yet. I heard that Tina Roberts lady on the phone. You’re gonna list and sell. And then what? I go to another boarding school? How could you?” she wailed again, sniffed, and brushed her hand beneath her now smudged eyes.
Kendall’s heart clenched with her sister’s pain. She knew all too well what it was like to feel abandoned and unwanted and those were emotions that Kendall was determined to protect Hannah from ever experiencing again.
Jeannie looked from Kendall to Hannah, absorbed by the family argument. Nothing Kendall could do about it. She certainly couldn’t hold her sister off until they were alone this time.
Stepping forward, Kendall put her hand firmly on her sister’s arm. “I’m not sending you to boarding school.”
“You’re not?” Hannah glanced up at her, wide-eyed and hopeful.
Kendall shook her head. “Definitely not.” There wasn’t much Kendall was certain of in this life, but after a few weeks with her sister, she couldn’t, wouldn’t send her away again. “I’m going to contact Mom and Dad about becoming your legal guardian so I can look after you and make the right decisions on your behalf.”
“I knew it,” Hannah squealed in delight.
Then she threw her arms around Kendall’s neck and held on tight, her arms feeling so good against Kendall’s skin.
“I knew you wouldn’t send me away,” Hannah said in her ear.
How quickly a teenager changed her mind. A woman’s prerogative, certainly, but more a teenager’s whim. Hannah stepped back, looking at Kendall with all the love and warmth she had in her heart. A lump rose to Kendall’s throat, that feeling of being needed threatening to choke her. She didn’t want to get into a bawling fest with her sister nor did she want to let the fear of somehow losing Hannah consume her. As blood relatives and as the older sibling, Kendall had more control of the situation.
It wasn’t like Rick or Yorkshire Falls, both places she’d be putting her faith in. This time it was Hannah who was putting her faith in Kendall and she was determined not to let her down. “I’m not sending you anywhere, Hannah. I’m keeping you with me wherever I go. We’re a team, you and I.” She shot her sister a smile, glad they had each other at least.
“What do you mean, wherever you go?” Hannah pushed back, crossing her arms over her chest. “I thought we’d stay here. I’ve made friends. I like it here. You like it here and Rick loves you.”
I love you, Kendall. He’d said as much last night and then that damn picture had flashed across the screen. And she’d been so wrapped up in her shock and misery, in her determination to believe she didn’t belong, she hadn’t given his words another thought. He loved her but how he felt after the repercussions of that photo hit was anyone’s guess.
She turned to her sister who stared at her, betrayal replacing the love and gratitude in her flashing green eyes. “What makes you think Rick loves me?” After all, Hannah hadn’t been with them last night.
“It’s obvious to anyone who looks at him. Just as it’s obvious to me you don’t care about anyone but yourself.” She stomped toward Jeannie who still stood staring, openmouthed. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” Jeannie asked.
“To town. To your house. I don’t care as long as I get out of here,” Hannah said.
Kendall sighed. “Hannah, don’t. We aren’t finished.” “Oh, yes we are. I’d rather be in boarding school than live with you. At least there people don’t pretend to care when they really don’t. I’m outta here.” And as if to prove her point, Hannah grabbed Jeannie’s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. Seconds later the front door slammed behind her.
The sound coincided with the churning in Kendall’s stomach as her sister stormed out of her life.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rick’s mouth tasted like cotton, his head pounded hard, and he still felt a hell of a lot better than he had watching Kendall withdraw from him last night.
“Rise and shine.” Charlotte’s too-cheery voice carried to him from across the house.
After getting him drunk and not making him talk, Roman had brought him back to his town house to sleep it off. Rick was still pissed at his brother, but as drinking buddies went, Roman had done his duty.
“Get up, sleepyhead.” Charlotte walked into the room and opened the shutters on the family-room windows.
The sunlight hit his eyes first and Rick groaned aloud. “Aww, God, Charlotte, have a heart.” He rolled over and covered his head with his hands.
She walked up beside him. From his prone, facedown position, all he saw were her bare toes. Unfortunately she sounded like she’d strapped tin cans to the soles of her feet.
“I have a heart. Look what I brought you.” Leaning down, she put a glass on the table in front of him.
“What’s that?” He squinted at the dark liquid through slitted eyes.
“Something edible. I was going to make you my father’s old remedy which included raw egg and milk.”
His stomach rolled but he managed not to gag.
“But I took pity on you and brought you flat Coke instead. I also brought you aspirin.” She held out her hand palm up to reveal two tablets that he gratefully grabbed. “Hey, did you drink the water I gave you last night?” she asked.
“I don’t remember.” Pushing himself off the couch, he somehow managed to rise despite his reverberating head. He swallowed the pills first and the Coke second, filling his empty, growling stomach.
Then forcing himself to focus, he met her amused gaze. She was a
glowing vision for any man first thing in the morning. Add to that, she’d given him a hangover remedy without making him scavenge and fend for himself. He couldn’t appreciate any woman more.
Unless she was Kendall, but that was a problem for when he’d recovered a little more. “Did I ever tell you my brother’s a damn lucky man?”
“Tell me yourself and quit ogling.” Roman walked into the room without regard to tiptoeing or to Rick’s obvious hangover.
“Who says I can see well enough to ogle? Everything’s a blur,” Rick muttered.
“Which means you’re seeing two of her. Lucky you.” Roman’s voice took on a distinctly amused tone. Coming up beside Charlotte, he put a hand around her waist and squeezed her close against his side.
“Don’t laugh at me after all you’ve done.” As Rick spoke, he recalled the punch in the gut feeling when he’d heard his mother admit to faking her heart condition. He remembered the relief mixed with betrayal, the urge to hug her and throttle her at the same time, and the unbelievable sense of disbelief that his brother would go along with his mother’s scheme. “How the hell could you let me think Mom was sick?”
Roman pulled up a chair while Charlotte settled on the arm cushion beside him. “We owe you an explanation,” Roman said, then paused as if gathering his thoughts.
Rick waited. The desire to tap his foot in annoyance was strong but he figured his pounding head deserved some preferential treatment.
“This is complicated.” Roman shook his head in obvious exasperation. “At first I didn’t tell you because we were in Europe on our honeymoon.” He reached out for Charlotte’s hand and she placed her palm in his.
Rick had all but given up the dream of having that camaraderie, that sense of oneness with anyone, especially Kendall. So seeing his brother and his wife together now was bittersweet. Rick massaged his aching temples. “You could have called,” he said in an attempt to focus on his family problems and not his even more messed-up love life. He’d have many empty days and nights ahead to figure out where he’d gone wrong there.
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