It was in that moment I realized the extent of my betrayal, and I wasn’t sure that Isabelle would be able to forgive me. “Yes,” I whispered, wishing I could say or do something that would make this better.
Isabelle’s hands covered her face and I thought she might cry.
“Isabelle,” Reed said softly, putting his arm around his sister. “This is my fault, not Ellie’s.” Brushing off his arm, she stepped back and glared at him through a blur of tears, but Reed didn’t let that dissuade him. “We haven’t been hiding this from you for the last two years. I took advantage of Ellie two years ago. It wasn’t until she came to see me last month that we got together.”
“He didn’t take advantage of me,” I told Isabelle, the words rushing out.
Isabelle took a deep breath, as if trying to absorb everything. “So before last month, you two hadn’t spoken to each other besides that one night?”
“No, not in person. There were a few emails.”
Isabelle shook her head as if disgusted with me. “Is this because Davis is marrying Brooke? What, is Reed you rebound guy?”
“No! It’s not like that at all. Reed is everything to me.”
I felt Reed’s gaze on me, but I was focused on Isabelle, desperate to make her understand.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever believe anything you say again, Ellie.”
“That’s enough, Isabelle,” Reed said sharply. “I know you’re angry and hurt, but don’t take it out on Ellie. She doesn’t deserve it.”
“She’s why you aren’t with Amber,” Isabelle said accusingly, her eyes fastened on Reed. “Her family took us in and treated us like their own. After all they’ve done for us, doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Of course it does, but being grateful doesn’t mean I have to sleep their daughter,” he replied evenly.
“Fine. We don’t have time for this anyway. You have to be at the hospital in half an hour. Do you still need a ride or are you going with her?”
I winced at the tone of Isabelle’s voice when she spat, ‘her.’ “Isabelle, I am so sorry,” I pleaded, begging her to understand, but she wouldn’t look at me.
“Are you coming, Reed?” Isabelle called, ignoring me.
“Why don’t we all ride together, and then you can drop Ellie by later to pick up her car,” he suggested.
Isabelle folded her arms, and glared at her brother.
Reed sighed. “Then I’ll ride with Ellie. I’m sorry, Isabelle,” he said quietly.
Isabelle looked as if she might argue, but then closed her mouth and walked away. Stopping suddenly, she turned around to face Reed. “I love you,” she told him. “I’ll be at the hospital when you wake up.”
“I love you too, Isabelle.”
Reed pulled me against his chest and held me close while he rubbed my back, whispering soothing words into my hair. I wanted to cry, but Reed was about to have surgery and falling apart now would only be selfish.
“That didn’t go as well as I hoped.”
“She’ll come around, Ellie,” Reed said confidently, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “I don’t want you to worry about this.”
“Funny, that’s what I was going to say to you.”
“Do I look worried?” he asked, grinning down at me as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“I think you’d say anything to make me feel better.”
“Ellie.” His tone was tender enough to extinguish my doubt. “You’re a good person and Isabelle knows that.”
“I lied to her and she thinks I broke up you and Amber.”
“You did what you thought was best at the time, we both did, and Isabelle isn’t upset because I’m not getting back together with Amber. She’s not mad that we’re together. Isabelle is hurt because you didn’t tell her.”
“You’re right,” I said guiltily.
When I would have dropped my head, Reed clasped my chin gently between his thumb and forefinger forcing me to look at him. “No one is perfect, Ellie. Not even you.” He dipped his head and dropped a kiss on my mouth. “Maybe we made a mistake and should have told her sooner, but I know my sister. She just needs some time to cool off.”
“Thank you, Reed. Don’t think about any of this today. You should be focusing on getting better.”
His mouth tilted at the corners. “I’m going to be fine. I have a lot motivation to get my ass out of bed later.”
“To referee between Isabelle and me?”
He laughed softly. “That and I have to meet your dad on Saturday.”
Reed’s surgery lasted almost over two hours. The waiting room was full of his friends, some of them I knew, like Jase and the guys he played cards with, but there were others I hadn’t met yet. Isabelle and I didn’t talk. She sat with Amber the entire time. Later, Cora came and I was glad to see her.
When the doctor announced that Reed was out of surgery and doing fine, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t go in and see him since only family members were allowed in while he was in recovery. Isabelle and Amber went to see Reed. I guess Isabelle told the doctor that Amber was family.
It wasn’t until several hours after the surgery that Reed was moved to a room, and I finally got to see him. Almost everyone had left by then, saying they’d let Reed rest and be back to visit tomorrow.
“You’re awake.” I was surprised, expecting to find him sleeping off the anesthesia.
“I wanted to see you. You alright, Ellie?”
“Me?” I smiled, leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead, careful not to disturb the IV taped to his hand. “You look good.” He did, crazy-good for a guy who’d just been through surgery.
My comment seemed to amuse him. “I don’t have a bionic leg anymore,” he said, looking down at his bandaged leg.
“You’ll get used to it. Does it feel weird?”
“It feels incredible.”
I relaxed for the first time since Isabelle had walked in on us this morning. Reed was out of surgery, and he was okay. Everything else was secondary to that.
I’d intended to stay only a short time so that Reed could rest, but I fell asleep in a chair beside his bed.
I woke up with the feeling that I was being watched. Blinking, I saw Isabelle standing in the doorway, looking deep in thought as she stared at us. I started to say something, but when I looked again she was gone.
Chapter 16
Reed was released from the hospital the next day.
Three days later Isabelle still hadn’t spoken to me despite that I’d called and texted her several times. She was ignoring Cora as well, but Cora seemed to agree with Reed that Isabelle would eventually get over it. I wasn’t as sure, and it bothered me because the more I thought about it the more I realized that Isabelle was right. If she’d kept something like this from me but told Cora, and the both of them together had left me out of it for two years, I’d be hurt too.
I’d worked long hours the last couple of days to make for the time I’d taken off to be with Reed after his surgery. I figured I was just tired from work and maybe stressed over what was going on with Isabelle, but as the day wore on I continued to feel achy and sluggish.
I rarely ever got sick. Apparently, I was going to make up for it now because when I took my temperature it read 102. I fell onto my bed and buried my head into my pillow. When I opened my eyes I was sure I was dreaming because Reed was lying beside me fully dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, his boots on the floor beside the bed.
Stretching, I felt his hand brush my forehead. “You’re still burning up.”
“I know. You shouldn’t be around me. You’ll get sick.”
“I never get sick.”
“You look like you’re going out,” I told him.
“Nah, I just haven’t been able to put on jeans and boots in so long that I couldn’t resist. Cora called me and told me you were sick.”
“You don’t have to stay here. I don’t want to ruin your night.”
“Where
else would I be,” he said, sliding his knuckles against my cheek. “I brought some soup and iced tea if you feel like eating later.”
“Thanks, Reed.” I closed my eyes, loving how it felt to be nestled against him.
I slept and when I woke up again Reed was still there. We watched several movies and he fixed me a bowl of chicken noodle soup and tea. I loved being with Reed, and I doubted I’d ever get to the point where doing nothing more than lying in his arms wasn’t the highlight of my day.
“I want to take you on a real date,” Reed told me when we were lying together, side by side, on my bed.
That made me smile. Although every time we were together it felt special, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything.
“Where do you want to go on our first date?”
“We don’t have to go anywhere. You could just take me to bed and make love to me,” I suggested, gazing up at him.
Reed’s chest vibrated with his deep laughter. “I was planning on that, but first I want to take you somewhere that you’ll never forget. Somewhere that doesn’t end with me leaving you the next morning or the cops stopping to question us.”
I laughed. “Those were good times.”
“You’re not hard to please, are you?”
“No. I don’t care where I go as long as I’m with you.”
“I used to think about you a lot while I was in Afghanistan.” He traced my bottom lip with his thumb. “If I’d had a bad day, picturing your face helped relax me. I thought about us doing ordinary things that everyone takes for granted like talking about our days over coffee, going out for dinner, seeing a movie.”
I shivered beneath his touch. “I thought about you too, Reed. I wondered what you were doing and if you were safe. I was afraid to imagine us together in the future because it hurt too much.”
“Why did it hurt?” he asked, frowning.
“Because I didn’t think that I could ever have you.”
“If only you’d known, Ellie. I was yours since that day I drove you home from school.” He must have seen the surprise on my face because he added, “It’s true. I didn’t do anything about it because you were too young.”
“I had no idea, and all those years I thought I’d only be able to touch you in my dreams,” I whispered in amazement, reaching out and brushing the side of his face with my palm.
“You dreamed about me?” I saw the interest flicker in his eyes.
“All the time.”
“Me too. Promise you won’t laugh?” he asked seriously.
“Did you dream about something wild and crazy?” I asked him playfully. “Were we naked?”
“No,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Although I did think about you naked a lot.”
“I’m dying to hear this.”
“I used to have this recurring dream of us in Las Vegas. You’re decked out like showgirl and I don’t know what they hell I’m wearing. I guess it’s a gangster outfit—Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing—much. I didn’t actually say I wouldn’t laugh.”
Reed tickled my side and I squealed. “Keep going, I want to hear the rest of your story. What do we do dressed like a gangster and a showgirl, play Blackjack and walk the strip?”
“No. We rob a casino and make a run for it, but as we’re weaving through the crush of people you’re pulled away from me, and I can’t find you. I always wake up after that. What do you think that means?” he asked, staring down at me.
“That you’re contemplating armed robbery?” I teased.
“Nah, I don’t want to spend the next ten to twenty behind bars.”
I thought about the dream. “It could mean you’re afraid of losing someone you care about.”
“I think it has something to do with that night I left you. It’s always bothered me, which is probably why I keep having the dream. I also like how you look in that showgirl outfit.”
He kissed me tenderly, his hand rubbing slow circles on my back. I drifted off to sleep thinking about Reed’s dream and realized that I was a little afraid of losing him too.
By the time Saturday rolled around I was feeling better, and Reed was anxious to meet my dad. It was impossible to tell what Reed had been through by looking at him because he was the picture of perfect health. His left leg had several deep, angry scars and he still walked with a slight limp, but it was hardly noticeable.
Reed was picking me up at my apartment and we were riding together to meet Dad at The Pit. I was nervous because I wanted Dad to love Reed as much as I did. Changing three times, I finally settled on simple red dress that was covered with tiny flowers, had a scoop neck, puff sleeves and flared skirt that stopped mid-thigh. I slid on my brown leather cowboy boots and spent an obscene amount of time trying to flat iron my waves into submission. Finally, my hair fell into a smooth sheet down my back. As always I went light on the make-up, brushing on light pink eye shadow, mascara, blush and pink lip gloss.
The doorbell rang and my heart tripped a beat, but when I pulled open the door I was surprised to see Dad, not Reed, on my doorstep.
“Dad,” I greeted him with a smile. “I thought we were meeting at The Pit.”
He nodded. “That was the plan, but I wanted to talk to you first. I was thinking we could ride together.”
“Oh, okay. That works. Reed is actually picking me up, but we can all ride together.”
I didn’t think he looked too pleased with the arrangements, and I wandered if it had something to do with what he wanted to talk to me about.
“I saw your friend Isabelle last night at Shooters.” He looked at me as if expecting me to say something, and when I didn’t he asked, “She didn’t tell you?”
“We had an argument. Isabelle isn’t speaking to me.”
Dad frowned. “She mentioned something about that, but she’d had too much too drink, and I didn’t give it much thought.”
A jolt of alarm shot inside of me. For him to bring it up to me Isabelle had to have been pretty wasted and that was unusual for her.
“Some guy was getting too friendly. I had to step in, and I ended up taking her home.”
I blinked, surprised. He took Isabelle home last night? “You arrested Isabelle?”
Dad’s brows shot up. “No. I told the loser she was with to get lost and I gave her a ride home.”
“I’ll talk to Isabelle Dad. She doesn’t usually drink that much.”
“That’s good to know because if I hadn’t of been there last night she’d have ended up going home with that loser and she was in no condition to make that decision.” Dad gave me a look I’d seen a few times when I’d gotten in trouble and he was about to lay down the law. “Ellie, you have to be careful when you’re out. You’ve got to keep a clear head and never let anyone hand you drinks.”
“I know, Dad. So does Isabelle. She’s just been really upset lately,” I told him not wanting dad to think badly of Isabelle.
“Just be careful,” he replied and we started talking about other things, but I couldn’t get what he’d told me about Isabelle out of my head.
Dad was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee when Reed arrived a few minutes later, and my heart flipped when I saw him dressed in jeans and boots with a blue plaid button-down shirt. His hot blue gaze raked over me and his slow smile of appreciation did strange things to my insides. When Reed hauled me into his arms and lowered his mouth to mine, I let out a small gasp of pleasure.
“Don’t mind me,” I heard Cora say from behind us as she entered the apartment.
Breaking apart we stepped out of the doorway just as Cora tossed a black plastic bag at Reed, which he caught in one hand.
“You can thank me later,” Cora said with a laugh. “I was in the ‘Adult Only’ section of the Halloween store, and when I clapped eyes on these little gems I thought of the two of you. Knowing how ya’ll enjoy these kind of things, I thought what the hell.”
What happened next seemed like it was played in s
low motion and I was excruciatingly aware of every second of it.
Reed reached into the bag and I grabbed for his arm just as he pulled out a length silky black material that said on its cardboard package ROPES OF LOVE, but that wasn’t nearly as bad as the little paddle with the words SPANK ME written in the center.
“Thanks Cora.” Reed grinned. “I forgot the handcuffs and riding crop at my place, but now we’re good for the night.”
My dad cleared his throat, really loud. I saw the shock on Cora’s face when her eyes landed on him, and as long as I live I’ll never forget Reed’s expression as he stared at my dad while Reed was holding the silken rope and paddle.
“Your dad hates me,” Reed said later that night as we sat on a pair of park swings.
“He doesn’t hate you,” I told him, but I wasn’t sure it was the truth.
“Did you see the look on his face? I was sure he was going to shoot me on the spot, and he probably would have if he’d had his gun.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Reed got off the swing and paced, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Okay, maybe it was that bad,” I admitted. “Next time will be better. He’ll have forgotten all about this.”
“Ellie, I don’t think your dad is going forget that the first time I met him I was holding ropes and a paddle that he thought I was going to use on his daughter.”
I fought a smile. “You’re right, he’ll never forget that. But you explained that it was just a joke.”
Reed propped his forearms on a bar just above his head and stared at me. “Yeah, I tried and he told me he’d kick my ass if I touched you with any of those things.”
“Did he really say that?”
“No. I gave you the edited version.”
“Okay, so next time we have dinner with him we’ll leave the sex toys at home,” I replied, making a circle in the dirt with the toe of my boot and trying not to smile. He stalked towards me, and my belly did a somersault.
Fireflies From Heaven Page 13
