Irresistible Lies

by Juliette White

  GRACE LEFT THE house around sundown. It took longer than she had hoped to pack up Jake’s belongings. She left most of her things at the apartment, knowing she would have to come back and get them, as there was not enough room in her car.

  Still, once the car was packed she couldn’t help thinking that she had accumulated very little after five years. It was kind of sad, really. She had thought she had built a life for herself and her son in Virginia, but really, she hadn’t. It was all just stuff, nothing that truly meant anything to her.

  What did it matter if her stuff was in Virginia or New York?

  “Why are we going to grandpa and grandma’s?”

  Jake’s question didn’t come as a surprise, but it did pull Grace from thoughts as she drove North along the quiet highway.

  “Because they miss us. They want to spend more time with us.” She reached over and mussed up his hair. “They miss you, especially.”

  She had hoped for a smile, but Jake’s mood had turned sour after the first hour of the drive. “I don’t want to go. I want to live with Aunt Caroline!”

  “What’s wrong with grandma and grandpa? We love grandma and grandpa. They are the coolest.”

  “But I love Aunt Caroline. She’s my friend!”

  “You’ll still get to see her sweetheart, we are just going to try something new. You’ll get to make new friends!”

  “No! No! No!”

  Jake started wriggling around in his seat, on the verge of a very bad tantrum. Fortunately, his tantrums were few and far between, but this was the last thing Grace wanted to deal with when she had so much on her mind.

  “I want to go back! Turn around!” Jake was crying, throwing his little fists in the air.

  Grace took a deep breath, trying to steel herself for a battle. “I’m not turning around. Be a good boy please, I’m trying to drive.”

  “But... but I wanna go home! I wanna make cookies and watch Beauty and the Beast.” Jake was really crying now, his sobs making the car seem much smaller.

  Grace pulled over to the side of the road and thought about turning around. What if this was all a mistake, like Caroline said? Maybe she was just running away from her problems. Maybe this wasn’t going to solve anything after all.

  What if leaving wasn’t enough to get her over Jamie? Had it really worked the first time? Had there ever really been a time when she wasn’t in love with him?

  I’m doing this for you, Jake. I’m trying to protect you.

  She wished Jake would understand that someday, but he would never know. He would never know about Jamie or know the real reason they were leaving Virginia tonight. She would make sure of that.

  Her son would always feel wanted.

  She released Jake from his car seat and pulled him onto her lap, holding him tightly to her. “Don’t cry, baby. I know you’re sad, but this is going to be an adventure.”

  That got his attention. He sniffled. “An adventure? What kind of adventure?”

  “Well, moving to a new place is very exciting. You get to have a new bedroom, and you have to make sure that all of your toys have a special place there. You get to go to a new school and meet all new people, and some of them will be your best friends.” She was making this up as she went along, but by the look on Jake’s face it was working. “Moving is a big job.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes. It’s only for very brave little boys.”

  Jake considered this, forgetting his tears. “I’m brave.”

  “Yes, you are. Which is why I thought this would be a good idea. It’s something that we can do together. An adventure for both of us.” She kissed him. “Now, you’re going to be a good boy and help Mommy, aren’t you? Because I can’t do this all by myself.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  “Okay.”

  “But we need a dog.”

  “A what?”

  “A dog. We need a big dog for our adventure to protect us and help us and be our friend and we can feed it and love it and take it for walks.”

  Jake had asked for a dog before, but Grace had told him it wasn’t going to happen until they moved into a house with a backyard so the dog would have room to play. She didn’t like the idea of keeping an animal cooped up in the apartment, and she also didn’t like the idea of having to take care of a dog on top of being a single mother.

  But she was tired, and she didn’t feel like arguing. She just wanted Jake to go to sleep so she could get them to her parents’ house without having some sort of mental breakdown.

  “When we move out of grandma and grandpa’s house, I’ll get you a dog.”

  “Yes!” Jake started bouncing up and down on her lap, more excited than she had ever seen him.

  She put him back in his car seat and got back on the road, listening as he talked about what he was going to call his pet.

  Okay, so she wasn’t going to win mother of the year award anytime soon, but she was doing the best she could under the circumstances.

  And considering she was putting hundreds of miles of distance between him and his father, really the least she could do was get her son a dog.

  Chapter 18

  Jamie started off his day in a great mood, happy with the way things had gone with Grace the previous night. When she had agreed to go out with him to dinner, he knew he was in. He was going to turn on the charm and take her on the best damn date she had ever been on, and by the time it was over she was going to be just as certain as he was that they were meant to be together.

  He bought her a bouquet of sunflowers, her favorite in college, and made reservations at an Italian restaurant that online reviewers considered the most romantic in the area. He ordered a bottle of champagne to be waiting for them when they arrived, hoping that would put a smile on Grace’s face.

  Jamie waited all day for Grace to call, but she didn’t. He was determined to play it cool and let her reach out to him, but by late afternoon he was itching to call her and find out what sort of game she was playing. When the sun started to go down, he got nervous.

  He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind about their date.

  Waiting on his phone to ring made him feel pathetic, like he was in high school waiting for a girl he liked to call and talk about their homework. When it didn’t ring, he started to get annoyed. If Grace was going to cancel their date, the least she could do was make up an excuse.

  Jamie finally gave in and called Grace on her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. He thought of leaving her a message but realized there was no point—if her phone was off, she wasn’t going to get it until later, and he wanted to see her tonight.

  He needed to see her tonight.

  Why hadn’t she called? Why wasn’t she answering her phone?

  She had agreed to go out with him, and surely she wouldn’t have lied. What would have been the point? No, something must have happened. Something must have come up to change her plans, and she was unable to get in touch with him to cancel.

  What if something was wrong?

  His mind went off on a tangent filled with worrying thoughts, and he found himself heading toward his car. If something was wrong, there was a chance Grace needed him. He wanted to be sure that she was okay. If something happened to her...

  He couldn’t even finish the thought.

  Jamie drove down the quiet country road to Grace’s apartment complex, wishing he had her home phone number. He called her cell phone again and it went straight to voicemail, but this time he left a message.

  “Grace, it’s Jamie. I haven’t heard from you all day and I’m worried about you. Give me a call back when you get this.”

  He pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and made his way toward Grace’s door. There was a light on in the apartment, which made him breathe a little easier. He knocked on the door.

  “Who is it?”

  That wasn’t Grace’s voice. It was Caroline’s.

  “It’s Jamie.”

  Silence.


  “Are you going to open the door?”

  “No.”

  He was startled. “Why not?”

  “Because you’re the last person I want to see. Go away.”

  What the hell?

  “Yeah, well I’m not here to see you. I’m here to see Grace.”

  “Tough luck. She isn’t here.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Gone.”

  Gone? What was that supposed to mean? He banged on the door a little louder.

  “Caroline, this is ridiculous. Let me in. I’m starting to get really worried about Grace.”

  “Join the club.”

  The door swung open, revealing Grace’s extremely tall and extremely blonde sister. Jamie and Caroline had only met a few times while he was dating Grace, and they had gotten along just fine. That’s why the venom in her current expression confused him. Also alarming were her tear-soaked cheeks, which didn’t set his mind at ease about his missing lover at all.

  “Grace is gone,” Caroline said. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

  “What does ‘gone’ mean? Did she go to the movies?”

  Caroline laughed bitterly. “Not quite.”

  He pushed past her to enter the apartment, having had enough of her half-answers. “Tell me what’s going on, Caroline. Right now.”

  Caroline slammed the door closed. “Grace left. She picked up all of her things, packed her bags and hit the road.”

  “What? Why?” He had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “Because of you, that’s why. You wouldn’t leave her alone. You drove her out of our apartment, out of our home!”

  Jamie winced, Caroline’s words making him feel like some kind of stalker. Everything he had done these past few weeks was out of love. If he weren’t so sure Grace loved him, he would have given up. He knew there were times he probably came on too strong, but he couldn’t see that as a reason for Grace to run away.

  “Grace told me she wanted to take things slow,” he said, still trying to comprehend what Caroline was saying. “We were supposed to have a date tonight.”

  “There was never going to be a date,” Caroline said coldly. “She wants nothing to do with you. You ruined her life by coming back into it.”

  “Hey. Don’t say that.”

  Caroline was crying again, and he suddenly remembered how dramatic she was. Grace had always been more levelheaded and practical, and Caroline was more emotional. He couldn’t imagine that Caroline had been a big fan of his after he broke Grace’s heart, and he could imagine her dislike of him had gotten in Grace’s head over the years.

  “When did she leave?” he asked, doing mental calculations.

  “Yesterday. After you left. She’s long gone.”

  Jamie thought back to when he had left the apartment the day before, and how Grace had smiled that sad smile at him. She had told him that she was going to call him and that she was going to finish making cookies with her nephew, and he had no reason at the time to think that she was lying.

  Now she was gone. The small apartment was quiet, and even though he had only been there once before he could feel how empty it was. Grace’s things were missing from the living room—he couldn’t pinpoint what was missing, just that it was emptier.

  It obviously hadn’t taken Caroline long to clean up. Not that the place had been messy before, but there had been things strewn about. All of the little boy’s toys were gone.

  “She took the blocks?” He asked the question aloud before he had even thought it through.

  “What?”

  “Your son’s blocks.”

  He watched Caroline’s expression go from angry to panicked and his heart rate doubled. “The pictures on the fridge are gone, too.”

  “There were no pictures,” Caroline said.

  “Yes, there were. The little boy’s pictures from his coloring books.”

  Caroline pursed her lips together. “His name is Jake.”

  “Where is Jake?”

  “He’s sleeping in his bedroom.”

  Jamie knew instantly she was lying. Caroline was probably a great liar when she wanted to be, but her heart wasn’t in it. If her sad eyes didn’t tell him what he needed to know, her hesitation would have done the trick.

  Jamie turned around and headed toward the closed doors off of the hallway, which he suspected to be the bedrooms. The first one was obviously Grace’s, as it was nearly empty except for a made-up full-sized bed. The second, with its baseball wallpaper, had to be Jake’s.

  The room was almost empty, stripped of its contents, and there was no Jake.

  He caught his breath and felt Caroline’s hand on his shoulder.

  “Jamie, it’s not what you think.”

  “Where is your son?” His voice sounded funny to his own ears.

  “With Grace.”

  “Why?”

  “Jamie...”

  “Why, Caroline?” He spun around to face her. “Tell me the truth. Whose son is he?”

  Caroline’s lower lip was trembling, and her voice was a whisper. “He’s Grace’s. Not mine.”

  Jamie already knew the truth, but hearing the words out loud made it all the more real.

  Grace had a child.

  “And is he mine?”

  As soon as Jamie asked the question, he knew what he wanted the answer to be. If Grace had a son, he wanted that son to be his. He wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything.

  Caroline nodded slightly, and his world shifted right on its axis.

  He was a father. He had been a father for years, and he had never known.

  He didn’t know anything about his son.

  Grace had taken years away from him.

  “Are you mad?” Caroline looked uncomfortable, guilty even. “Grace was afraid to tell you.”

  “Why?” He had so many questions, but Caroline was not the person he wanted to ask. Grace should have been the one to tell him all of this, and she should have told him all of it years ago.

  “She didn’t want to ruin your life,” Caroline said, as if that explained everything.

  “Ruin my life? That’s ridiculous.”

  Why would Grace think that he wouldn’t want to know? What had he ever said or done to give her that impression?

  Then the expression on Grace’s face when he had broken up with her in college flashed in his mind, haunting him just as it had so many times over the years. How could he blame her for keeping this secret when he had broken her trust in him?

  Had she not told him about Jake because she didn’t want him to be a part of her son’s life? Because she didn’t trust that he would be a good father and be there for her and their child?

  The thought almost broke his heart. He needed to get to Grace and get some answers. He needed to make things right.

  Jamie walked past her and toward the front door, not really knowing where he was headed, just knowing he needed to be out there, looking for them.

  “Jamie, where are you going?” Caroline ran to cut him off, pushing herself in front of him. “Don’t leave like this. I shouldn’t have told you anything... Please, let’s talk. She’s going to be so angry with me... Don’t tell her I told you.”

  “Where is she, Caroline?” He wasn’t messing around this time, and Caroline was going to give him an honest answer. “Where are they?”

  “I can’t tell you. I’ve already said too much. I promised... I promised I would never tell you about Jake and now I have. I can’t tell you anything else, it will just make it worse.”

  Jamie knew when a woman was about to burst into tears, and Caroline was quickly reaching that point.

  He put his hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.

  “Look at me,” he said. “I know that you are trying to protect Grace. I know how much you love her, and I can only thank you for being there for her and looking out for her when I wasn’t around to do it. But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. The best thing you
can do for Grace right now is tell me where she is.

  “Why should I? You broke her heart.” Caroline said the words, but there was no anger behind them.

  “I never make the same mistake twice, Caroline. I love her. You know I do.”

  “I know. I know you do.” She sighed, and he saw the guilt in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I think I may be responsible for all of this. I hated you for so long after what you did, making my sister hurt like that. I wouldn’t let her forgive you. And now look at what’s happened. She’s gone, and it’s all my fault.”

  “It’s my fault, too. Where did they go?”

  This time, Caroline didn’t hesitate. “To my parents’ house in New York.”

  Jamie relaxed a little, now that he knew they were somewhere safe. He could be there in six hours if he broke the speed limit a little. Six hours stood between him and his family.

  Jamie couldn’t wait any longer. He gave Caroline a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have to go. Don’t tell Grace I’m coming.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Caroline, you owe me this. Do not tell her. Do not give her time to run away again.”

  “Okay, I won’t,” Caroline promised as she squeezed his hand. “Drive safe, Jamie. Go get her.”

  GRACE CLIMBED INTO bed after a long day of unpacking and soul searching.

  The previous night, she and Jake had fallen asleep as soon as they reached the house in New York, and she hadn’t even had the energy to take their bags out of the car. The next morning, it all hit her like a ton of bricks.

  Jamie had seen Jake, and she had run away.

  Even in the light of a new day, however, she couldn’t think of a better alternative. Telling Jamie about Jake’s parentage was not an option, and he didn’t seem to have any plans to leave Virginia.

  Grace wondered what Jamie’s reaction would be when he realized she wasn’t going to call him to set up a date. She knew he would call her to find out what was going on, so she turned off her phone and left it off all day.

  It was kind of nice having the phone off, because it also meant she didn’t have to deal with Caroline texting her, trying to change her mind about leaving. Caroline’s texts had started coming in a few minutes after Grace left the apartment, and they continued coming in throughout the night, some of them short, angry snippets, others long, depressing diatribes.