Seth grimaced. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Sandy doesn’t know who I truly am. She thinks I’m a rancher and that Malcolm and I run the ranch.”
“What? That’s a lie!”
“It’s the truth, so suck on it. She doesn’t have a problem being with a rancher. I can’t say the same thing about you, can I?”
The silence at the other end of the phone told him he had struck a raw nerve. He squashed the remorse he felt at his harsh words. Haley deserved all that and more. Thank goodness he was over her.
“I will fly to New York when I’m certain that Sandy is a hundred percent okay. I don’t want you to step foot in Plyrock again. If you do, believe me, you won’t like what I’m going to do to you.”
“Empty threats, Seth. You’re just afraid that I’m going to ruin whatever you have going with Sandy.”
His voice turned icy cold. “Don’t test me, Haley. Believe me; you don’t want to see the ruthless side of me.”
“What more can you do to me, Seth? You’ve broken my heart with your constant rejection. My career is already ruined with this pregnancy!”
He shook his head. “Only a vain woman like you would see carrying a child as loss of her career.”
“You know what I mean,” she snapped. “Don’t try to play the martyr. You were a workaholic when I met you. So, don’t make it look as if your job isn’t important to you.”
“I’m not denying that it’s important to me. But I’ve found something much more important and that’s Sandy. I’d die for her if it comes to that.”
Haley let out an anguished cry. “Why are you trying to hurt me? Why would you say such a thing to me?”
“Because it’s the truth and I need you to get it into your head. We can never be together again regardless of if we’re having a baby together. You must accept that. If indeed you’re pregnant and I’m responsible, I’ll do right by my child and that’s it.”
“Seth.”
“Bye, Haley.”
Seth ended the call and let out an anguished sigh. How did he get himself in this mess? Haley was driving him crazy with her calls. The right thing to do would be to go back to New York to ascertain if she was telling the truth.
But he didn’t want to leave Sandy. In the week that she returned from the hospital, they had become even closer than they had ever been. Of her own volition, she moved her things into his room and they made love every night.
He recalled the first time they made love after she returned from the hospital. He had been so stunned that she seduced him into it. Guilt had made him stay away from her even though he had thought of doing nothing else when he saw her awake in the hospital bed.
And she hadn’t allowed him to tell her about Haley before they made love. And he had been too horny to have pressed to tell her before sliding into her tight body.
Sandy would resume work at the diner the following day, but she hadn’t said anything about returning to her apartment. He had broached the subject just to get her view on it. She had merely shrugged and told him that she was enjoying the ranch so much that she would decide when she would leave.
He had been relieved by her words. It wasn’t only that he loved having her at the ranch; he was also trying to protect her from James. He had gone to the cops to ask what could be done to get James away from Sandy. He was told that since he wasn’t harassing her repeatedly, they couldn’t file a restraining order against him.
He had argued that James threatened Sandy. But as he hadn’t resurfaced, and after a search, the cops hadn’t found him in Plyrock, they had let sleeping dogs lie.
However, Seth was always on the lookout for him. He didn’t believe that such a nasty piece of work like James would make empty threats.
He thought of hiring a secret bodyguard to follow Sandy around, but he knew she would find out and then be cross with him for doing so without her knowledge.
He hadn’t yet been able to ascertain if her memory loss was due to Haley’s announcement or James’s resurgence. Every time he subtly tried to talk about it, she didn’t want to listen. She would tell him that whenever she tried to remember the bits and pieces of her life that were blank, she developed a headache. So, she had decided to leave well enough alone.
Seth had to admit to himself that even though he liked this laid-back Sandy, he couldn’t help worrying sometimes. Sandy was no longer inhibited. She didn’t have a care in the world and was always smiling and laughing. While he loved her relaxed take on life, he didn’t think it was healthy for her.
It meant that she would let a lot of things go and most likely sweep issues under the carpet. He wished he could tell her about Haley, but he feared that she might just brush it aside and tell him that they could raise the baby together. And when she returned back to her normal self, he was aware that she would feel used. She would also take the threat that was James ultraseriously.
Seth gritted his teeth and walked toward the old shed he’d had reconstructed to serve as a makeshift studio for her. He opened the door to the smell of oil and paint and halted in his tracks.
Sandy was seated in front of her latest painting. In the past, he would have admired the painting and praised her on it. But now, he couldn’t say a single word.
Sandy painted a picture of a woman with pale blonde hair falling across her shoulders, garbed in a satin dress that clung to her body like a second skin.
The woman was Haley.
Chapter 8
“Who’s that?” Jules asked as she walked into the studio.
Sandy turned from the portrait she had been staring at for a while to look at her friend who seemed out of place in the shift dress she was wearing.
Jules. Typical Jules. She hadn’t thought of the fact that she was coming to a ranch and should be appropriately garbed. She came with all her designer clothes that were only fit for clubbing and partying.
Her friend’s hair was styled in a pixie cut which looked absolutely stunning on her. Sandy had been surprised at the new look. Jules used to wear her black hair long. But Sandy had to agree that the new hairstyle went with her friend’s slim and model-like figure.
“I have no idea. I keep seeing her,” Sandy confessed to her friend with a worried frown.
Jules wrinkled her nose at the smell of paint as she drew closer to the portrait.
“She looks familiar but I can’t quite place her face. “Have you asked Seth?”
Seth.
She shook her head. Her man had acted weird when he saw the portrait. She had seen how stunned he was.
When she asked him if he knew who she was, he had stood there for a long moment as if debating over what to tell her, before he slowly shook his head.
“He claims not to know her.”
Jules raised a delicately carved brow. “Claims?”
Sandy nodded. “I think he knows her but he doesn’t want to let on that he does.”
“Why would you think that?” Jules frowned then drew in a sharp breath. “You don’t think he’s cheating on you, do you?”
Sandy shrugged and chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Jules. I know he loves me. I think he does. We’ve drawn closer during my stay here but there’s something about him that is different.”
Jules’s frown deepened. “Do you think he had an affair with her while you were in the hospital?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m thinking maybe he got so distraught when I was in the hospital and then had a one-night stand with her or someone else.”
“Then how come you see her if that’s the case?”
Sandy turned to look at the woman again. “That’s what I don’t know. I’ve remembered everything before the accident but not the actual event that led up to it. At first, I thought it was seeing my stepfather again that caused me so much distress, but I’m beginning to think it’s more than that.”
“Then you should ask Seth about it.”
Sandy looked at her friend with doubt. �
�I’ve asked him twice since I came here and he somewhat evaded it. As I wasn’t in the mood to stir the pot, I decided to let it go, seeing that the doctor said that I would recall on my own.”
“Well, if you don’t want to cause any trouble, I’ll ask him,” Jules announced matter-of-factly.
Sandy eyes enlarged. “Do you think it’s a good idea? Seth would know right away that I sent you to ask him.”
She shrugged. “So? If he’s hiding anything, it will make him come out with it.”
Doubt filled Sandy’s eyes. “I don’t know if that will work. I don’t want to cause trouble between us.”
Jules looked astounded. “I can’t believe you just said that. What’s wrong with you, Sandy? You have changed. Something seems different about you.”
Her friend shrugged. “I guess having a near-death experience has taught me not to overthink things.”
“I gathered that, but it doesn’t mean you should take things at face value either. If Seth cheated on you, you have a right to know.”
“What?”
Both women whirled around and saw Malcolm standing by the door, gawking at both of them with accusation in his eyes.
“Sands, you think my brother cheated on you?” he questioned with a sharp tone. His cold eyes turned to Jules. “Or is your friend here just to stir up trouble between you and Seth out of jealousy?”
Sandy opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She hadn’t meant for anyone to hear her conversation about doubting Seth.
“Cause trouble?” Jules eyes lit with anger. “What are you talking about? You should go and ask your brother who this woman on the canvas is instead of eavesdropping on the conversation between two friends.”
Malcolm’s face became a cold mask of anger as he stepped into the shed. Mortification went through Sandy because she had never seen him like this.
“I will never stoop so low as to ask my brother such a stupid question when I know that he would rather die than cheat on Sandy. He’s got loyalty. A thing that I’m sure you know nothing about.”
Jules’s nostrils flared. “Who are you to cast aspersions on my character when you know nothing about me?”
His heated gaze raked her from head to foot. Sandy’s jaw dropped when she saw the effect the gaze was having on her friend. Jules’ chest was rising and falling in heavy pants and her complexion had turned beet red.
“From the way you’re dressed, I know enough about you to be able to say that you don’t belong here. Like seriously, who dresses like this at a ranch?”
Jules saw red. “Excuse you, I’ll dress whichever way I see fit. I don’t need you or any man to tell me what to put on. I see the kind of man that you are. One who would find no qualms about controlling his woman.”
“If the woman is as air brained as you, then she would be grateful for me to do her thinking for her.”
“Why, you…”
Before Sandy could do anything about it, Jules reached out and slapped Malcolm hard across the face.
The silence in the shed was deafening, Sandy feared what would happen next. The extreme anger on Malcolm’s face had Sandy jerking to her feet to place herself between them.
Without saying a word, though his eyes conveyed the fury in them, Malcolm strode out of the place.
Sandy turned to look at her friend whose face was blooming with twin red spots.
“What was that?”
Jules folded her hands across her chest and eyed her warily. “What was what?”
“The obvious chemistry between you two.”
Jules snorted. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Please don’t tell me you didn’t feel the obvious tension between you two.”
Jules waved a hand in disgust. “Oh, please don’t start, Sandy. The man was completely detestable. I can’t believe that you’re friends with him.”
Sandy giggled helplessly. She had first noticed the instant attraction between her friend and Seth’s brother the first time they laid eyes on each other. She and Seth had shared knowing smiles.
“He’s no longer yummy?” Sandy teased.
Within minutes of meeting Malcolm, Jules had pulled her aside to ask who the “yummy” guy was.
Jules stuck her nose in the air. “Forget I said that. The man has nothing to write home about him. My God, Sandy. How do you hope to be able to cope with him here if you and Seth make it to the altar?”
Sandy laughed. “He’s not bad. I think he was just pissed that we were casting his brother in an unfavorable light.”
“Then he should have just told us that Seth wasn’t like that instead of yapping on about my dress.”
“He did mention that,” Sandy pointed out ruefully. She had seen the appreciative way that Malcolm had stared at Jules even though he had been trying to make them think he was disgusted by Jules’s appearance. Jules really did look great in the blue shift dress which fit perfectly with her image of spoiled rich girl.
She believed that Malcolm had come there simply because he wanted to see Jules. Unfortunately, he had heard negative words about his brother and flared up. Jules hadn’t helped matters by throwing barbs at him.
Sandy would have simply apologized and told him what she was suspecting. But the sparks that had flown between Malcolm and Jules had prevented her from saying anything.
Jules had been in several relationships in her lifetime, but this was the first time that Sandy was seeing her so affected by a man.
Her friend’s face was still inflamed and she had started pacing the shed, obviously trying to get her shaky emotions under control.
“I dare say you shouldn’t have hit him, Jules,” Sandy murmured tentatively.
Jules whirled on her with accusing n her eyes. “Not slapped him? Yes. I should have bitten him.”
Sandy giggled. “That would have been worse.”
Jules folded her hands across her chest and tapped her high-heeled foot on the ground.
“Whose side are you on, anyway? I don’t hear you reprimanding him for insulting me.”
Sandy raised both hands in mock surrender. “Hold it right there, Jules. I’m not going to be a part of your quarrel with Malcolm.”
Jules dropped her hands. “Thanks a lot. Perhaps you want me to leave as well.”
Giggling, Sandy shook her head and walked over to her friend to place her hands on her shoulders.
“Surely you can feel the chemistry between you and Malcolm.”
Jules looked as if she was going to have a fit. Her eyes became as huge as saucers. Sandy dropped her hands.
“Please tell me you’re joking? Me, have chemistry with that… that…”
“Yummy guy?” Sandy supplied helpfully.
Jules sighed. “You’re not going to forget I said that, are you?”
“Well, that’s because he’s actually yummy.”
Jules was scandalized. “Sandy!”
“What? I’m not blind. Don’t get me wrong. What I’m saying is that he’s yummy for you and not me,” she explained carefully.
Jules scoffed. “He’s not yummy for any woman, least of all, me.”
Sandy couldn’t keep from laughing. “I saw the way you reacted to him, Jules. You don’t have to deny it. Malcolm is a really nice guy. You both just rubbed each other the wrong way. With time, you’ll get to see that you’re wrong about him.”
“Wrong about him being obnoxious? I don’t think so.”
“Jules…”
“Could we please change the topic? It’s a total turnoff talking about him.”
Sandy opened her mouth to tell her friend not to be so difficult, but when she saw the ominous pout on her friend’s mouth, she changed her mind.
“Fine. We’ll change the topic for now. But as soon as you calm down, we’ll talk about it.”
There’s nothing to talk about, Sandy. Give it a rest.”
Sandy shrugged and sat on the stool to stare at the portrait of the mysterious woman.
“
So, are you going to ask Seth if he cheated on you or what?” Jules came to stand beside her.
Sandy sighed. “I don’t know, Jules. I don’t want to bring unnecessary hurt to myself.”
“You’d wish to hide the proverbial head in the sand?”
“I don’t know, Jules. There’s this part of me that wants to live a serene life without confrontations.”
“But that won’t be possible.”
She sighed. “I know. I’ll go and talk to him about it now.”
Even though she wasn’t up for it, Sandy pushed herself to go and confront Seth about the woman in the portrait. She washed her hands while Jules decided to fool around with her oil paint.
Sandy took a leisurely stroll back to the house. She had left her phone in her room so she had to go and get it in order to know Seth’s whereabouts. The place was so large; she didn’t want to keep going from one area to the other to find Seth.
Sandy just stepped out of the house when a cab pulled up in front. A woman stepped out of it and removed her dark shades.
The breath whooshed out of Sandy when she registered that the woman was the same one she had just painted. And then something kept on nagging at her as the woman drew closer. The feeling became so intense that she developed a strong headache that had her staggering backwards.
And then everything fell into place.
A gasp escaped from Sandy's lips. Standing before her was the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on. The woman was incredibly stunning with pale blonde hair on her head which fell sleekly over her shoulders.
Her satin gown caressed her body like a second skinand her legs, which went on endlessy, were on full display, starting at the hem of her short dress. She was shapely and elegant, and Sandy felt ugly before her.
"What are you doing here, Haley?" Seth asked with barely restrained anger.
Sandy wanted to pull away from his arms but he held her tightly. She eyed him warily. His face had become as hard as a rock.
"What are you doing here?" The beauty retorted, her gray eyes flashing fire. She glared at Sandy as if she were an unpleasant thing she had found stuck underneath her shoe.
Just Stay With Me Page 5
