She didn’t think that your everyday psycho would be too happy if they tried to run someone off Dead Man’s Gorge and the victim—a.k.a. her—lived to tell the tale.
It just made her think, what next?
Two weeks flew by before she could blink. The time went by so fast. Thankfully nothing dramatic had happened and everyone seemed calmer and not so agitated, like they’d been when she first woke up.
The doctors released her early Monday morning of the following week because she was able to walk around and do a few things for herself.
Her mother had volunteered to practically move in with her and Kelly until she was back on her feet.
Taylor couldn’t complain, especially since Chloe had moved out and shacked up with Wade.
She couldn’t complain about that either. In fact, those two were probably the only thing keeping her going at the moment. She loved seeing Wade and Chloe together. There was something magical about them that just made her feel better. Maybe it was because she loved them both so much and had wanted to see them happy for a long time. It would just be weird not having Chloe around the house, and Taylor would miss her a great deal, but she was happy for her and Wade.
What was weird, too, was feeling like she couldn’t go back to her parents’ home, if she could call it that. Her mother hadn’t said much, but Taylor had the feeling that she’d moved out and was somehow with Brian.
That wasn’t that surprising, what was surprising was that her mother could have had someone like Brian and ended up with her father. Taylor didn’t know how that happened. She guessed things must have been different in the past.
In the afternoon, after everyone stopped fussing over her, she went to sit out on the front porch with her precious Pisces. She just needed time to herself, to be a girl with her beloved cat.
“Do you want some lemonade and muffins?” Flick asked her. She’d opened the door and stuck her head out.
Taylor smiled. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? Your mother just made a fresh batch of blueberry and chocolate muffins.” Flick smiled. She looked so much like Chloe, or rather Chloe looked a lot like her. Especially when she smiled. They both had beautiful, heartwarming smiles that made you feel at ease.
“I think I’ll burst if I have another muffin.” Taylor giggled.
“Okay princess, just call us if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
Flick blew her a kiss just like she used to when Taylor was little, and Taylor caught it.
Taylor laughed and settled back against the wooden back on the chair when Flick went back inside.
She liked sitting and watching the beach. She loved the position of the house and had to admit that was one of the things that made her get it. She’d leased it with Chloe and Kelly, Kelly now, but had thought about buying it awhile back. Before she met Richard.
The location was perfect and exactly what she wanted. The house was at the end of their road and almost stood on the curve. That meant that with the exception of the left side of the house, they practically had the beach surrounding them and the picturesque oceanfront. She could see the best part of it from the balcony outside her room and also from the terrace. But sometimes, like now, she liked sitting out at the front.
It was just a different position that allowed her to see the rock formations out in the distance. It was soothing, along with the languid air.
Pisces purred on her lap as a black Mercedes she recognized all too well pulled up slowly in the drive. She would have rushed inside the house if she had the strength, but was certain that if she moved as fast as she wanted to she’d do some damage to the recovery she’d made. Pisces jumped out of her arms as she managed to stand and glare at Richard as he stepped out of the car.
He looked over at her with stern eyes and a solemn expression on his handsome face. She felt like screaming and running away, far away. Or better yet, jumping into a black hole so she could escape this man who had crushed her heart.
She’d been too focused on healing and the dire situation to think about how he’d broken her heart. Her poor heart had been through so much that she couldn’t feel it anymore. The devastation of seeing him with his family had left a hollow in her chest, a void of where her heart used to be.
“Don’t, don’t come any closer.” She held her hand up as he came up the steps.
“Taylor we need to talk.” He still looked at her with love in his eyes, or what she thought was love.
She didn’t know anymore if she could trust her judgement when it came to identifying things like looks of love, or feelings.
She’d been so wrong about him, so very wrong and she felt stupid that she could have allowed him to come into her life and take her for a fool.
“We don’t need to say anything. You don’t need to say anything to me. Just leave.”
“I have to explain.” His brown eyes pleaded with her. “Please.”
“Explain what? What the hell could you possibly say? You have two kids. And who was that woman? Your wife?” Her heart thudded in her chest. She really hoped to God he’d say no, but the ashen look on his face told her otherwise and she immediately felt sick.
“We’re separated.”
“She’s really your wife?” Her legs turned to jelly and her throat tightened. She shook her head at him in disgust.
God in heaven, for two years she’d been sleeping with a married man.
Richard was married. How could this have happened to her?
“It’s complicated. We broke up before I met you,” he attempted to explain. “And then I… Taylor I made a mistake and she got pregnant.”
Everything he just said made her more furious. Her cheeks burned and her whole body felt hot.
“You bastard.” A gruesome feeling of anger and regret clenched at her insides, and the sight of him repulsed her.
“Taylor, I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you what happened.”
“Jerk, don’t make it sound like any of this is reasonable. You have a family. What kind of person are you?”
“I’m breaking up with her. I just wanted to wait until after the baby was born and a little bit older. If you just give me a chance I’ll prove it all to you.”
She was shaking her head even before he finished.
“Prove? Richard, I don’t want any proof. You hurt me so badly, you hurt me deeply, and I was so stupid. I thought you were going to propose to me.” A tear ran down her cheek.
“I was.” He nodded. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, blue, velvet box. She watched him open it and felt nothing as he revealed the beautiful princess-cut diamond ring within it. “This is yours. I was going to take you to Bora Bora and propose.”
Conflict raged through her, making her feel like she’d combust from the heat it created. She couldn’t stand this, she couldn’t…
She stepped back, feeling the need to get away.
How many times had she dreamt of him proposing?
After she found that ring certificate it was all she thought about, all she dreamt about. She’d been on the verge of booking a dress fitting, ordering wedding flowers, and looking at venues. She really had taken forward planning to the next level.
“I still can,” he added.
“No.” She shook her head again. Those were words she never thought she’d say to him. Not for this, not to him.
A pained expression filled his eyes. “I love you. We love each other. Please give me another chance. I’m so sorry for what I did to you.”
Sincerity. Was that what she saw in him?
She didn’t know, couldn’t tell. Even if a sign was written on him she didn’t know if she could trust it. It was too much for her. This was too much. She moved away from him and rushed inside.
Once the door closed she let the tears fall. Wade had come into the corridor at that moment and saw her.
“Taylor, are you okay?” he asked.
She couldn’t answer. She just propelled herself f
orward into his arms.
Wade
“You can’t think about Richard right now.” Wade told Taylor. He’d taken her up to her room. She didn’t want to alert anyone else and wanted some privacy.
He’d been on the brink of finding that damn Richard and beating the life out of him. While Taylor spoke, trying to tell him how conflicted she felt, it was all he could think about.
It was bad enough that Wade was already so protective of his sister. He couldn’t imagine that there was anyone dumb enough to hurt her, but then he had to remember that he’d been away for a massive part of the time that she’d been with Richard. Wade hadn’t gotten the chance to instill the you’re-dead-if-you-mess-with-my-sister message that he’d usually assert when Taylor had a new guy.
Richard had slipped through the net, but he wasn’t going to get away with what he did. Wade had it on his list to catch up with him. Soon too, if he was going to pull a stunt like he did today.
He could only imagine how Taylor must feel, and he didn’t want her worrying about Richard. The doctors cautioned against stress. They said specifically to stay away from it. When they left just this morning her blood pressure had been on the high side. Not high enough to keep her in for much longer, but high enough to warrant medication. Who knew what it was like now.
She pulled out a tissue from the Kleenex box and dried her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do.” He sincerely hoped that she wasn’t considering giving Richard another chance. Some guys could give very convincing arguments. Him being one of them. However, he was never guilty of faking sincerity. His blatant personality prevented him from being a hypocrite. That’s why his relationship with Merissa bothered him so much when he was with her, and now as the weeks rolled it pained him to keep the truth from Chloe.
She said she’d give him the time to talk, but that was so important that he needed to get his ass in gear, get over his grief, and talk to her.
“He still loves me.” Her frail voice broke into his thoughts.
“Taylor, he’s married with children. You’re…” How did he say this without upsetting her more?
“I’m the other woman,” she filled in. When he nodded a fresh bout of tears ran down her cheeks.
He moved over to sit on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. There she cried for hours.
She was still upset when he left. By that time everyone had come up to see where she was and if she was okay. The only person she told what happened was Chloe, everyone else thought she was crying because of the stress from the last couple of weeks.
The following morning, before he set out to his first day of work, he called to check up on her. Taylor still sounded upset. Knowing her she’d probably cried all night. He promised to stop by later and bring her her favorite chocolates. He knew Chloe was already going to be there during the day with his mother, Kelly, and Flick, so he felt assured she’d have support till he next saw her.
His spirits lifted when he saw the crowd outside Adrenaline. Jared had arranged a mini-bar with some light finger foods. Everything looked enticing and more than the vision Wade had when he first talked about the idea.
“My man Wade,” Zeek boomed. He’d cut his blond curls off and now sported a military-low buzz cut. It suited him and made him look manlier.
He high fived Wade as he approached the door.
“This all looks amazing.” Wade nodded with approval.
He looked over to Jared and two women who were handing out flyers by the bar. He didn’t know the names of the women, yet, but they were administrative staff. One was the receptionist and the other took their phone bookings. Wade anticipated that they’d need more staff as they expanded.
“The people are loving us, Wade.” Zeek smiled. “Do you want to grab a drink?”
“Sure. I think I need a mega cold Dr. Pepper.” He still wasn’t drinking any form of alcohol. He thought maybe eventually he’d allow himself a glass or two of wine for special occasions. No more than that. His drinking was never as bad as the drugs, but Wade wasn’t a nice person when he drank. He was also sure to hook up with some woman, which of course was entirely out of the question now.
He followed Zeek to the bar, maneuvering their way through the crowd.
Just moving past the people was exciting enough, and knowing they’d gathered there for them, for this project they’d done, which was now happening. There was a lot going on but he was glad he’d never had to ask his parents for any help. All of this was Jared, Zeek, and himself. Wade had never had such an accomplishment.
Yesterday when they went through the figures he was truly excited. They had bookings now for the rest of the year, and in all the locations they’d hired out. That included U.S. mainland and overseas. They’d even secured a Kilimanjaro experience for the end of the year. Wade planned to go on that excursion as Kilimanjaro was the only mountain he had left to climb.
It was good to have something planned. Something that was him. He hoped all the craziness would blow over soon. He’d left L.A. to find himself, then come back only to feel lost again. What anchored him was Chloe.
The last two weeks had been calm. Chloe took that to mean that their new psycho friend had been scared away by the police presence and hoped that they’d get caught soon. Wade was going to go out on a limb and say that their new friend was a he.
There was no evidence to suggest that it was a man, Wade just felt it was. Of course, he could be wrong. The person could well be one of the women his father had been with. It was a strong possibility.
Man or woman, Wade definitely didn’t think the police presence had scared them anyway, but he’d allow Chloe to think it if it helped her not to worry so much.
He, however, thought it was wiser to be alert. There was always a calm before and after a storm. Paranoia was not something he’d entertain but he’d come up with his theories from all that had happened. Wade thought this person had everyone exactly where they wanted them. It may have been farfetched and he probably sounded paranoid in thinking this, but he thought the psycho wanted them to figure out that they were all being watched through the security cameras that covered wherever they went, inside and outside whatever buildings they were in. They probably didn’t mean for the police to get the footage of the car running Taylor off the road, but the other stuff yes, Wade thought they wanted everyone to know they had the power.
It all occurred to him when he saw the last drawing his mother received with the message. And nothing spoke more than the damn severed finger.
To him the message was saying they were being watched wherever they went and there was nothing they could do about it.
Except allow the police to handle it.
They hadn’t heard anything new in the last few weeks, and while the lack of knowledge made him antsy, he knew he just had to wait and allow them to carry on their investigation.
He and Zeek got their drinks and moved over to the little wall at the corner of the store that separated the beach from the pavement.
“How’s your sister doing?” Zeek asked.
“Not too bad. She’s recovering.”
“I’m glad. It was a terrible thing to happen to her, and your family.”
“Yeah.” The news had died down a lot. As like with everything, news of Taylor’s accident had spread like wild fire after it happened, and when she woke up from her coma that spread too.
Nothing was private when you were a Vanderville, except for the things you had to fight to keep secret.
“And you? Are you okay?” Zeek looked concerned.
“I’m good.” Wade hadn’t really spoken to Zeek other than talk of work and anything business related. There was a line that they kept between them, and Wade was fine with that. He was thoroughly impressed by Zeek’s skills and work, but there was always that reminder that they hadn’t exactly gotten on in high school. Wade still struggled to remember him, and when he thought he could he just couldn’t place his face at school. “I�
�m thrilled with your work.” Wade smiled.
Zeek laughed. “I’m glad to hear it, man. I have another marketing project in Maine in a few weeks. It’s for a new shipping company.”
“What? You aren’t leaving us are you?” Wade shook his head. He couldn’t remember any talk of him leaving, but then Wade had had so much going on that it was possible he’d known but it hadn’t registered in his poor brain.
“I’m not. But there’s not much left for me to do this year besides manage the advertising. I can do that from home, but I suppose I could come in from time to time.”
“Zeek, you’re an integral part of this business. I’d like you here permanently and I think you should take a percentage of the money we get for the excursions.”
Zeek’s jaw dropped at the suggestion. “Wade, do you know how much that is?”
“Yes.” He knew it was a lot, but he also thought it was well deserved. “Think about what you think is reasonable and we’ll discuss it.”
Wade thought for a moment and thought he’d ask him about the system he’d set up here. He would have hated for their system to get hacked.
“Zeek, can I just ask about our internet security and our security system in general?”
Zeek laughed. “You worried someone’s going to run in and steal our stuff?”
“A little. Just humor me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I got all sorts of firewalls set up to protect our mainframe system, and I outsourced a booking system from a company with tight security. As for the security on the grounds, I think we’re good too.” He smiled. “Worst case scenario we’ll lose a few computers and brochures.”
“Thanks man. That helps,” Wade told him. It was good to have someone like Zeek around who was so technologically clued up.
Wade turned and stared ahead past the crowd. It must have been that sixth sense most people talked about that alerted you when someone was looking at you.
Secrets and Lies Page 12
