Then she saw the crowd surging toward her. Except for Sam. He must have taken her at her word and left.Swallowing her disappointment, she forced herself to stand up. Open the drum bag. Begin to take the set apart. When she finished, she could go home.
To her empty house and cold bed.
She’d squatted on the floor to take the bass drum off its stand when someone grasped her elbow. “Delaney, it’s Jen. I’m so sorry. I’ll give you a more thorough, detailed apology later, but right now you need to get out of here.”
Delaney stood up and faced her friend. “Jen.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jen begged. “Please.”
“I’m exhausted, okay? I can’t deal with this right now.”
“I know. There’s someone in the kitchen to take you home. He’s got your coat. Give me your keys, and we’ll drive your truck home later.”
It took a moment to process the request. Jen wanted to help her avoid the reporters who were clustered around the front door. A gauntlet she’d have to pass to get home. Delaney dug in her purse and handed over the keys.
“By the time they all realize you’re gone, you’ll be home. Paul can take your drums apart. Right, Paul?”
“Yeah, Del, you get going. I’ll put them in the bag and bring them to you tomorrow.”
She didn’t want to leave them behind, but she was swaying on her feet. And Jen was right. The members of the press were gathered at the front door like a pack of jackals.
“Take care of my babies, Paul,” she said.
“Like they were my own,” he assured her.
Jen wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her through the crowd. When one guy got too close, Jen threw an elbow.
When they reached the kitchen, her friend hugged her once. “We’ll talk.”
“Yeah.” The adrenaline had all drained away, and Delaney could barely walk. The door wavered in front of her, and she leaned against it to push her way through. As she staggered forward, Sam stepped into view.
“Ready to go?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“SAM.” She stopped walking and stared at him. “I thought you left.”
“Not without you.” He helped her on with her coat, then slung an arm around her shoulders and steered her out the door. “Barnes and I worked it out. We’re doing an end run around the press. Jen and Maddie are going to distract them while we get out of here.”“I can drive home.”
“Of course you can. But they’d all be on your tail.” The engine of his car was already running. He opened the door and waited for her to get in. Moments later, they were driving down County M.
“How do you feel?” he said.
“Wiped out.” She laid her head against the seat back and closed her eyes. “I meant it, Sam. No sex.” She still wanted him, though. In the car, she was sitting close enough to smell the leather of his coat, the scent of his shampoo, a hint of his aftershave.
“You’re thinking about sex when you can barely sit upright? Wow. That performance adrenaline must be a kick and a half.”
She turned her head and opened her eyes. He was smiling. Teasing.
“No more sex, Sam.” Her lack of sleep had turned off the filter between her head and her mouth, and she couldn’t wrestle it back into place. “I want you. I thought about you tonight while I was drumming. I love you, but I can’t do sex without love. Every time we made love, you’d take another piece of my heart. I wouldn’t have any left by the time you leave.”
He took her hand and twined their fingers together. In the darkness, with her eyes closed, she concentrated on his touch. His palm, rubbing against hers as the car vibrated. His mouth, as he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, then the inside of her wrist. He lingered on her pulse, and she wondered if he felt it leap.
“I don’t want it to be that way, Delaney.”
“Me, either.” She let go of his hand. “But it is.”
She woke when the Jeep stopped. “Can you walk, or should I carry you in?” Sam asked.
“Walk,” she mumbled.
He draped one of her arms over his shoulder and circled her waist with his. He steered her through the house, then took off her jacket, her shoes and socks, and her jeans. He eased her onto the bed and pulled up the covers.
“Bra, too,” she said, reaching behind her. “Can’t sleep in it.”
He unfastened it through her tank top, then his hands disappeared. “You’re on your own the rest of the way,” he said in a hoarse voice.
She managed to pull her bra off and drop it on the floor, then snuggled into the pillow. Her last thought was that it smelled like Sam.
SHE ROLLED OVER in the middle of the night and felt the mattress shift next to her. Then an arm snaked around her chest and pulled her tight against a warm, solid body. “Sam,” she whispered as she fell asleep again.
The next time she woke, something soft brushed against her cheek, then tickled her nose. She twitched and tried to wipe it away. It touched her ear this time.“Are you awake, Delaney?”
She opened her eyes and saw Rennie above her. One of her curls was trailing across Delaney’s neck. “Rennie? What are you doing here?”
“Uncle Sam is making breakfast. It won’t be very good,” she confided. “But I want you to eat with me.”
“Why are you in my house?” She sat up and looked around. This wasn’t her bedroom. This was Sam’s bed. Sam’s house.
“This is our house, silly.” Rennie ran out the door, yelling, “She’s awake.”
Sam murmured something Delaney couldn’t hear, and a moment later he walked in the door. “Good morning.” His hair was still tousled from sleep, and he wore a pair of flannel pants and an old Florida State T-shirt. “How are you feeling?”
“What am I doing here?” She yanked the sheet up and tucked it beneath her chin.
“I didn’t want to leave you alone last night. I’ve never seen anyone so exhausted. So I brought you here instead.”
“And slept with me? With the kids in the house?” She remembered feeling him against her. Soaking up his heat. Sleeping together like that had been almost as intimate as making love.
“I was on the couch by the time they woke up,” he said softly. He sat down on the bed and leaned closer. The smell of peppermint toothpaste filled the space between them. “The other mornings when I’ve seen you, you’ve always been in a much better mood than this.”
“Sex will do that.” Clutching the sheet to her, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Where are my clothes?”
He reached behind him and handed her the jeans, her bra neatly folded on top of it. She snatched it under the sheet, and he grinned. “My favorite part of your sleepover was when you asked me to take off your bra.”
“Get out, Mr. Sunshine.”
He stood up, laughing, and closed the door as he left the room.
What had happened? He wasn’t acting like the man who’d run away from her two days ago as if his shirt was on fire. The man who’d panicked when she said she loved him.
Was he pretending that conversation had never taken place? He seemed relaxed. Calm. Happy she was here.
She was certain they hadn’t made love last night. No matter how tired she’d been, she would have remembered that.
After throwing on her clothes, she ducked into the bathroom to freshen up, then stared at herself in the mirror. Her skin was pasty, her hair limp with dried sweat, and she had huge bags beneath her still-red eyes. Exactly the way she wanted her lover to see her in the morning.
Ex-lover, she told herself firmly.
She took one last look at herself and opened the bathroom door. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t scare the kids.
Something was burning as she walked into the kitchen, and she saw smoke drifting up from the toaster. Leo stood next to Sam at the stove, pouring water into a frying pan and covering it with a lid. “That’s how Rennie likes her eggs,” he said to his uncle.
“Uh, hi,” Delaney said, standing i
n the doorway.
Sam smiled. “Good morning. Have a seat and tell me how you like your eggs.”
She shuddered. “I don’t eat eggs.”
“She needs coffee,” Sam said to Leo. “Pour her a cup, will you?”
Leo set a mug of coffee in front of her, then hesitated. “Do you want some toast?”
“Thanks, Leo. That would be great.” What she wanted was yogurt and fruit and the quiet of her house in the morning. But she was dying to know what this was all about, so she’d play along.
Leo threw the burned slices of toast in the garbage and put in two fresh pieces. White bread. She resisted rolling her eyes.
Rennie was sitting next to her, and she leaned closer. “We have a big breakfast on Saturdays. Uncle Sam doesn’t know how to make eggs, though.”
“That’s okay,” Delaney said faintly. “Toast is good.”
She sipped her coffee and watched Sam put Rennie’s eggs on a plate. Leo set her toast on a plate, too. “You want cinnamon toast?” he asked her.
She’d been Leo’s age the last time she’d had that buttery, sugary concoction. “Yes, Leo, thanks. That sounds good.”
“I make it for Rennie,” he muttered.
She’d eaten her cinnamon toast and was on her second cup of coffee by the time everyone else finished eating. “What’s this all about?” she asked Sam.
“All of what?”
“Bringing me here to sleep instead of my own house. You being all cheerful and bright in the morning. Eating breakfast like…” Like a happy family. She swallowed. “Like we do this every day.”
“The kids have something they want to say.”
Not Sam. The kids. She managed to smile at Leo and Rennie. “Yeah? What’s that?”
Leo tore the crust of his toast into tiny pieces. “I’m sorry I was so mean to you,” he muttered. “I called you a bad name.”
“Yes, you did, and that was rude. It hurt my feelings. But I understood. You were mad at me because you thought I hurt your mom and dad.”
He stood up and took his plate to the sink. “You’re not a…not that bad word. You’re okay, I guess.”
From Leo, that was high praise. “Thanks, Leo. I know it’s hard to apologize. You’re a great kid, and your dad would be so proud of you.”
His shoulders relaxed and he scrubbed vigorously at the plate. “His guitar is sweet. Thanks for giving it to me.”
“You want a quick lesson after breakfast? I don’t know much, but I can show you how to tune it and play a few chords.”
Leo looked over his shoulder. “Yeah? That would be awesome.”
“Good.” Delaney looked at Rennie. “What did you want to say?”
“That I love you,” Rennie said promptly.
Delaney leaned over and hugged her, inhaling the scent of her hair. “I love you, too, sweetie.”
“So you’ll stay with us when we go back to Miami?” Rennie beamed at her.
Delaney froze for a second, then untangled herself from the little girl’s arms. Sam hadn’t asked, and he’d made it clear he never would. Even if he did, living in Miami with him would complicate his relationship with the kids. Heather would probably keep them away from him if Delaney was around.
“I can’t do that, honey. I have to stay here. I’ll miss you, though.” She shoved away from the table. “Thanks for breakfast, everyone. Leo, when you’re ready, bring the guitar over to my house. Just don’t use the handle to carry it. It’s broken and needs to be fixed. And come to the back door.”
By the time she retrieved her jacket and purse from the bedroom, Sam was alone in the kitchen.
“I didn’t put her up to it.”
“I know you didn’t.” She reached for the door, and he opened it and stepped outside with her.
“Leo wanted to apologize. I thought it would be easier for him if Rennie had something to say, too. I had no idea she was going to ask you to come to Miami with us.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Delaney started to leave, but he put his hand on her shoulder.
“Would you? Move to Miami?”
Her heart began to pound with hard, painful beats. This was what hope felt like. She turned slowly to face him. “Are you asking me to move with you?”
He let her go. “I have no right to ask you to make that sacrifice. Your business is here. Your friends. You’ve grown roots here.”
So the answer was no. Just as well. The fact that she’d even consider moving was scary. “Right.”
She headed for the trail through the woods. But she hadn’t gotten far when she heard Sam behind her. “Wait, Delaney.”
She turned to face him. He shoved his hands into his pockets, but didn’t try to touch her. “I screwed up the other night. You scared me when you told me you loved me. I wasn’t expecting that.” He picked up a piece of bark from a white birch and crumbled it with his fingers. “It was my fault the press found you. I wanted to protect you, and you didn’t need me to. I expected you to tell me I was a jerk. Not that you loved me.”
She leaned against a tree and stared into the woods. Weak sunlight filtered through the branches, making patterns in the dirt. She’d taken a chance and laid her heart bare, and it had freaked him out. “You’ve made it clear you can’t give me what I want from you, and I don’t need you to protect me. I can take care of myself. So what exactly do you want from me, Sam?” she asked, watching the shadow of a bird on the ground.
He turned her to face him. “I need to sort things out. To figure out how I feel. We’re leaving, but it could be a few weeks. I want to spend as much of that time as I can with you.”
“I’d like some time, too,” she said. “Time with the kids. I probably won’t see them again after you leave.” She loved Leo and Rennie, and not just because they were Diesel’s children. She loved them for themselves—brave Leo, trying to be strong, and sweet Rennie.
“What about me?”
“I probably won’t see you again, either.” Her heart was crumbling into such tiny pieces that it would take a very long time to put it back together.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant. You want to come over in the morning again. I’m…I’m not sure I can do that.”
“Then let me have time with you and the kids.”
She wanted every last minute she could have with him. “I have that press conference today. Maybe tomorrow we can do something with them.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DELANEY SAT ON THE SMALL rise above the lake at Cave Point Park the next afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and unseasonable warmth as Sam squatted next to Rennie. The girl had been captivated by the sea glass they’d found. Leo had said it was lame, but he was searching for it, too. When he caught Delaney watching him, he said, “Rennie likes it.”
He picked up a piece and examined it, turning it over carefully. Delaney scrambled down to look at it. It was blue and smooth around the edges. “That’s a prize,” she said lightly. “There aren’t too many blue ones.”He stared at it for a moment, then handed it to her. “You take it, then. Rennie has lots.”
The tiny piece of glass lay in her palm, dulled a little by the buffeting of the waves and the sand, sunlight sparkling off a tiny, clear corner. “Thank you, Leo. It’s beautiful.” More precious than the most valuable diamond. She put it into her pocket, checking to make sure there were no holes in her jeans.
“Maybe someone can make a necklace out of it or something,” he said.
“Are you kidding?” She patted her pocket. “I’m not letting this out of my sight.” She held his gaze. “It’s far too valuable to trust to anyone else.”
He blushed. “It’s just a piece of glass.”
“It’s a lot more than that, Leo.” She draped her arm across his shoulders lightly. “Want me to show you my favorite cave?”
“Yeah.” His face lit up. “Can we, like, go into it?”
“Absolutely.”
As they started to walk away, Sam’s p
hone began ringing. He glanced at the screen and froze. Then he motioned her over.
“It’s Heather,” he said in a low voice.
SAM WATCHED DELANEY, Leo and Rennie disappear down the shore, then he turned away. “How are you doing?” he said into the phone.
“I want my kids back. Immediately.” Anger vibrated in her voice, but this wasn’t Heather’s usual shrill, screaming tantrum. Her voice was cold. Controlled.Far more disturbing than her usual tirades.
“When are you getting out of the hospital?”
“I checked myself out today. This evening, actually.”
“Really?” He moved closer to the low cliffs, trying to block the noise of the waves. “Did the doctor say you were ready to be released?”
“I don’t give a damn what the doctor thinks. I saw the pictures.”
Oh, God. She had internet access in the rehab unit? “What pictures?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I saw the pictures of you and her. She killed your brother, and you’re f—”
“Heather, stop.”
“I saw the other ones, too. The ones with Rennie. My baby!” She began to sob. “Walking down the street together, like it was her kid. She’s taking my kids, and you’re helping her.”
Oh, my God. Someone had gotten a picture at the press conference. Sam and the kids had stayed at the back of the crowd, but as they were walking to the car, Rennie had run back to Delaney.
He gripped the phone tightly. “It’s not what you think, Heather. Delaney had a press conference. She was talking about Diesel and the recordings they made. Rennie was excited to hear about her father.”
“Cut the crap, Sam.” His sister-in-law’s voice was weary. “I know what I saw. Rennie wasn’t running up to someone who talked about her father. She knows Chantal. I saw it in her face.”
Heather was just as tragically flawed as Diesel had been. But it would be hard to see a picture of Rennie holding the hand of the woman Diesel had loved. “It doesn’t matter, Heather. You’re still her mother.”
“That’s right. I am. I revoked my power of attorney, so you don’t have legal custody of them anymore. You bring them home in the next twenty-four hours, or I’ll call the cops and tell them you abducted my kids.”
Life Rewritten Page 19
