Harts of Arizona Series

by Yahrah St. John

  Lucas stared at the television in his hotel room in stunned silence. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d been on a phone call with a distributor when they’d advised him to turn on the television. That’s when he’d seen the late-breaking news that Chynna James and her twin, Kenya James, had traded places. It was reported that the sisters had done so after a spa getaway at Canyon Ranch, and that’s where they’d hatched the plan. Kenya returned to Los Angeles in Chynna’s place while Chynna stayed in Tucson and, as luck would have it, hooked up with widowed rancher Noah Hart. A photograph was displayed with a guy wearing a cowboy hat.

  Lucas stepped backward and fell down into a nearby armchair, loosening his tie. Chynna isn’t Chynna? So, he hadn’t been falling for Chynna, he’d been falling for her sister, Kenya? Who in the hell would concoct such a lie? Immediately he thought of Eli. He’d always thought that Chynna hadn’t been right since she’d come back from Arizona. But has he been right all along?

  Lucas recalled how unusual it had been for Chynna to show up to the Boys and Girls Club and how happy yet uneasy he’d felt by her surprise appearance. He recalled how great Chynna’s acting had been in the movie and how the director had been amazed by her transformation. He thought back to Chynna’s poor dancing in rehearsals and her lack of willingness to put on skimpy costumes. Anger began to boil inside Lucas.

  It’s true!

  Chynna, no, Kenya, had been lying to him the entire time. She’d led him to believe she was her sister when she was an impostor. It explained all the irregularities in Chynna’s behavior. But why? Why would Chynna want to trade places with her twin? And why on God’s green earth would her twin agree to such a thing? But the real issue was that it didn’t change how he felt inside. He had real feelings for Kenya. He couldn’t turn his feelings on and off on a dime like apparently Kenya could. Is that why she’s been pulling away from me the last few days, because she knew the end was near? He knew he meant something to her. He’d felt it. Of that he was sure. So after everything we’ve shared, why hadn’t she trusted me enough to tell me the truth?

  “Deacon, I need you,” Chynna said into the phone.

  “Oh, really,” her manager said with disbelief from the other end. He’d been flabbergasted like the rest of America to find out moments ago that Chynna had lied to everyone including him. She and her sister had concocted an elaborate plan to deceive them all, and they’d been damned good at it.

  “I know you’re upset with me,” Chynna said, “and you have every right to be, and I promise I will explain everything to you when I get back.”

  “And when might that be?”

  “I chartered a private plane, and I’ll be landing at LA in a couple of hours.”

  “And I take it you need security?” he asked.

  “That’s a given,” she responded. “But I need something else.”

  “Really, Chynna? You are really testing the limits here and asking a whole lot of someone you just lied to for the last month.”

  “I’ll make it up to you, Deacon. In the meantime, I need you to get my sister to my house until I get back. When I get there, we’ll figure something out.”

  “Oh, you mean Kenya, the woman who’s been imitating you the last month?”

  “Deacon, please,” Chynna pleaded. “She doesn’t have the means I have at my disposal, and she’s all alone. She’s only got me. And of course, now you. Help her.”

  Deacon sighed. “Alright, where is she?”

  Chynna sighed heavily when she got off the phone with Deacon. Her phone had been ringing incessantly since she’d left the ranch. Caller ID showed it was Rylee, Eli, Fiona and Kenya again, probably in a state of panic, but no Noah. Should I be surprised? She’d left him in the midst of a media blitz to deal with the fallout. She had hoped that by leaving, the press would follow on her heels, and she’d been right. As she glanced through the back window, she could see several vehicles tailing them, but she also knew the press. Several of them would stick around to get the story on her and Noah. They’d want to know what she’d been up to all those weeks. They’d interview everyone in town and try and get to the ranch workers. Luckily, the ranch was private property, so it wouldn’t be so easy, but the paparazzi were relentless and they’d look for cracks. Worst of all, she knew they would bring up Noah’s deceased wife and probably compare her to Maya.

  Chynna covered her face with her hands and began bawling. She’d brought this all on herself because she’d wanted some time away to find herself. But then life had thrown her a loop, and she’d met Noah. She hadn’t been looking for it, but she’d fallen in love with him, which is why she hadn’t wanted to leave the ranch. She’d wanted to stay and see if she could find something as real and lasting as his parents had. It had been a fool’s dream, she knew, but she’d wanted to try nonetheless.

  The problem was she’d stayed too long, leaving Kenya to hold up the charade for far too long, causing suspicion, all because she’d wanted too much. But then again, that was her, always looking out for number one, others be damned. You’d think she would have learned a lesson during her stay, but some traits were harder to get rid of.

  Chynna could ride the wave and deal with the bad publicity, but the scrutiny would kill Kenya. It had been different when Kenya was playing a role as Chynna, but now that Kenya’s own life was in the spotlight, it would be much different. Chynna resolved to do everything in her power to make things right for Kenya. Somehow she had to make this up to her sister.

  A knock sounded on the ladies room door. “Kenya?” a male voice that she remembered called out her name.

  Kenya walked out of the lounge and opened the restroom doors to see Deacon’s and Chynna’s bodyguards standing outside waiting for her.

  “C’mon,” he said, touching her arm. “We’ll get you out of here.”

  They rushed her through the lobby past several onlookers until they came outside. Kenya could see the blur of camera lights waiting for her, and she paused. She’d never been personally on the receiving end of the press, and she wasn’t relishing the thought of becoming tomorrow’s gossip.

  “I’ve got you,” Deacon whispered in her ear. “I promised Chynna.”

  His words of reassurance helped alleviate Kenya’s fears, and with the bodyguard in front of her, Deacon helped usher her into a Jeep away from the crowd of reporters camped at the front door, and they zoomed away from the valet area.

  Kenya turned to Deacon at her side. “Thank you, Deacon. You don’t owe me anything after I lied to you the last month.”

  Deacon smiled. “No, but Chynna’s my girl, and I will protect her always.” Eli had been blowing up Deacon’s phone in the last thirty minutes wanting to know how come Deacon hadn’t realized the truth and how could he have let this happen. That’s when Deacon politely reminded him that he didn’t work for R&K Records. He worked for Chynna.

  Kenya smiled. She was thankful to have his help. Why hadn’t I realized before that Deacon is always on Chynna’s side? She could have confided in him and had someone to lean on during this whole experience. “So where are we going now?”

  “Back to the mansion,” Deacon answered. “Chynna will meet us there after her plane lands.”

  Kenya nodded thoughtfully as she looked out over the landscape. It was amazing how things could change on a dime. Earlier that morning, she’d been looking forward to going back to her life of obscurity in New York. Now that would be impossible, not with the hell the press was about to rain down on her. And Lucas, well she could only imagine how furious he was with her and Chynna. Her most of all, because they’d shared something special and what had she done? She’d lied to him. Every time they were together had been a lie.

  “Thinking about Lucas?” Deacon asked, reading her mind.

  “Am I that obvious?” Kenya asked, turning to glance at him.

  Deacon nodded. “You fell for him quick and he
for you even though I warned you to be careful. Of course, you’re thinking about him and perhaps wondering if there’s any chance with him?”

  Kenya shook her head. “There’s not.”

  “You don’t know that,” Deacon replied.

  “I do. I lied to him for a month. He thinks he fell for Chynna, and he got me instead. He must be awfully disappointed.” She laughed derisively.

  “Don’t do that,” Deacon said, patting her thigh. “You’re pretty amazing too, Miss Kenya James.”

  Kenya’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Not many people could pull off imitating their sister, a Multi-Platinum singer, and convince not only her inner circle of managers, publicists and her record label, but you fooled the fans. They believed you were her. You were damn impressive!”

  Kenya laughed. “Thank you, Deacon, though I doubt they’ll appreciate my efforts. I’m sure I’ll be roasted in the media.”

  “Until the next news cycle and celebrity train wreck comes,” he replied. “You saw what happened with Chynna before.”

  “But this is ten times worse than a supposed affair with Blake.”

  Deacon shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But the two of you will ride it out. And you’ll have my help when you do it.”

  “You mean that?”

  “Absolutely kid,” Deacon said, reaching across to grab Kenya’s hand and give her a gentle squeeze. “Matter of fact, I’m surprised I didn’t see it before. You tried to have Chynna’s hard edges, but your soft side came through every time.”

  Lucas burst through Eli’s door later that afternoon with fury in his eyes. Eli was sitting behind his desk, looking calm and a little too collected for Lucas’s liking. “Did you know about this?” he asked his longtime friend and business partner.

  Eli sat up in his chair. “Know about Chynna? Of course, I didn’t, but I warned you that something wasn’t right about that girl. And look what happened—I was on the money.”

  Lucas glared at Eli. “Are you really going to say I told you so after the hot water we’re in thanks to those two?”

  Eli shrugged and smiled. “Well, I guess now isn’t the right time.”

  “We need damage control. Where in the hell is Fiona?”

  “She’s on the phone keeping the media at bay until we come up with a plausible explanation about why this happened. I was thinking we could say Chynna was overcome with physical exhaustion and had a mental breakdown of sorts. What do you think?”

  “Mental breakdown? Are you kidding me?” Lucas asked. “How about the plain ol’ truth?”

  “And what might that be?” Eli replied sarcastically.

  Lucas could see that he was humoring him, but he didn’t care. He had it up to here with all the lies and deception. He should have listened to his first instincts and stayed out of show business, but Eli had wanted it so bad, had been so convincing, that Lucas had forgone his better judgment in favor of helping a friend.

  “The truth is that Chynna got tired of being Chynna James and wanted a change of scenery. Enter her desperate twin,” Lucas said. “The entertainment shows are already reporting that she’s an actress on a low-rated television show.”

  “Wow!” Eli was surprised by Lucas’s harsh tone. He’d never seen his boy this upset, and he hated that he was the cause of it, but what was done was done. So he let Lucas continue his tirade.

  “The two women meet at the spa and decide to trade places, figuring no one would be the wiser. And you know what,” he said, laughing, “they were right. None of us saw it, most of all me. And I,” he said, pointing to his chest, “was the person sleeping with her.” He paced the room in frustration. “Do you have any idea what an idiot I must look like? She made a fool of me. They both did.”

  Eli nodded. “We can fix this.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t have it all figured out yet, but we’ll fix your image and Chynna’s simultaneously. We grew up in South Central, and we’re fighters and we always come out on top, remember?” He tapped into Lucas’s nostalgia of their shared past.

  “Yeah, we are, but not when someone ties your hands,” Lucas replied bitterly.

  “You need to cool off, man, and let calmer heads prevail.”

  Now there’s a first, Lucas thought, laughing. Eli telling me not to be a hothead. Usually the shoe was on the other foot.

  “I have to go,” Lucas said.

  “Where are you going?” Eli asked.

  “To have my say.”

  Chapter 8

  Bam, Bam. Noah hit the wood with the ax, shattering it into two pieces. He went to the next piece and subsequent ones after it until he had a hefty pile of firewood for the fireplace. Hard manual labor wasn’t enough to get his mind off Chynna and the abrupt way she’d left Golden Oaks.

  The reporters had tried to follow him into the house, but when he had bellowed at them to get off his property, they took heed. But that hadn’t prevented them, however, from setting up camp outside the entrance of the ranch’s estate, which was a public road, and as he’d overheard from one of the ranch hands, giving a news report of Chynna’s hideout.

  A news report? Really? It wasn’t like she was some escaped criminal that needed to be hunted down, but that’s exactly how they were treating her—like a criminal. Noah had avoided watching the news all day. He was too afraid to see what those vultures had dug up about him and his family. Now he could understand Chynna’s reticence in revealing her true whereabouts, but that didn’t change the fact that had he not caught her, she would have snuck out without saying goodbye. She told him she wouldn’t have, but he wasn’t so sure.

  He was about to hit another piece when Rylee called out to him, “Noah!”

  “What?” He spun around defensively. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone.

  “I was just coming to check on you,” Rylee said. “You’ve been out here for a while.”

  “And your point?”

  “We’re all worried about you,” she said. “And the circus that happened earlier with the press. What happened? Is Chynna coming back?”

  “Rylee, I can’t answer your questions, because I don’t know what happened,” Noah replied and turned back round to chop another piece of wood.

  “Have you spoken to Chynna?”

  “Rylee,” he said, trying to soften his voice because it wasn’t her fault that he was upset, “listen, I know you mean well, but I don’t want to talk, and I don’t want any more questions, ya hear? So go back inside and tell everyone to back the hell off, okay?”

  Rylee stomped her feet. “Fine, Noah Hart. Stay out here and sulk, but it won’t make you feel any better.”

  He knew she was right, but he needed some alone time with his thoughts before he faced his family and their endless barrage of questions. He had no idea where his future with Chynna lie and until he did, nothing in his life would be the same.

  Chynna made it through the private airport and onto her jet and avoided the paparazzi that hadn’t been able to come near the airstrip. It was late afternoon when she made it to Los Angeles, but the press was waiting for her limousine as she approached her mansion. She’d purposely left her phone off because she couldn’t endure the incessant ringing from everyone wanting to know why she’d traded places with her sister.

  She glanced out the darkened windows to see dozens of reporters camped outside her home. Let the spectacle begin, she thought as the iron gates of her estate opened. When the limo came to a stop, her bodyguard opened the door for her. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “Sure thing, Ms. James. Glad to have you back,” he said, “though I must say your sister sure was nice.”

  Chynna smiled at him. She wouldn’t expect anything less of Kenya. She always treated others respectfully. Once in the foyer, she called out to anyone who might be listening, “Hello.”
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  Just then, Kenya appeared with Deacon behind her and yelled, “Twinie!”

  Chynna rushed forward to greet her with open arms and buried herself in Kenya’s hair, an exact replica of her own. They embraced for several moments, eager to hold on to the moment before having to face reality. Eventually, Chynna retreated first. “How are you?” she asked, touching Kenya’s cheek.

  “I’m okay, thanks to Deacon,” Kenya replied, turning to look at Deacon, who’d remained silent during the exchange. “He got me out of the hotel and away from those vipers, but I’ve been held hostage in this house ever since. I’m afraid to go out there.”

  Chynna inhaled deeply and nodded. She walked over to Deacon, and her eyes welled because of the loyalty Deacon had shown her. He’d showed her that more than anyone, she could trust him. “Thank you for taking care of my sister.” She touched her chest. “It means the world to me. I owe you.”

  “Come here, kid,” Deacon said, pulling her into his arms and into a hug. “Haven’t you known since the first day we met that it’s been me and you?”

  Chynna stepped away. “Sometimes I’ve gotten caught up in the whirlwind and thought you were against me too.”

  “Chynna, my darling,” Deacon said, “I only want what’s best for you. And yes, sometimes I go along with the masses to not make waves, but I will always support you in whatever decision you make.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Deacon,” Chynna said, “because there’s going to be a lot of changes around here. First and foremost, I’m taking my life back. I’m not going to let Eli or anyone else rule my life. From here on out, I make my own decisions, bad or good.”

  “Was this bad or good for you?” Kenya asked from behind her. “’Cause I sure as hell haven’t figured that out yet.”