Liar's Fire: A Cooper Brothers Novel

by Dee Burks

  Chapter 26

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Tyler glanced over at Arlene. She’d accepted his offer of a ride to Macy’s house, but sat stoically in the passenger seat most of the way without saying a word.

  “I’m fine,” she stared out the window. Her voice softened. “Just fine.”

  More silence. Tyler didn’t really know what to say. Serena had laid out her accusations and true feelings for them both in the space of 10 minutes. Not that anything she’d said about him wasn’t accurate. It was. And as they say, the truth hurts. He needed a break and some time to think.

  “Are you going to be all right?” Arlene asked.

  No. Tyler had finally seen who and what he was from Serena’s point of view, and right now, Bobby Jack looked like a better catch than he did. It went so far beyond depressing, he couldn’t put it into words. Not that he wanted to.

  “She was upset, she didn’t mean it.”

  He gave her a skeptical look.

  “Well, not all of it.”

  At least Arlene tried to put a good spin on the afternoon’s events. Serena may not have meant all of it, but he was afraid to think about which parts she did mean. “I thought you were going to stick it out, no matter what?” He pulled to a stop at the curb in front of Frank and Macy’s.

  Arlene blew out a breath. “I’m thinking of this as a tactical retreat.” She gave him a small smile. “I have to think about things. You know, regroup and try another angle.” She leaned over and patted his arm. “Maybe you should do the same.”

  Tyler helped Arlene with her bags, then waved good-bye. He replayed her words in his head as he drove to Chelsie’s. Tactical retreat. He liked that. And it sounded much better than skulking away to lick his wounds.

  Chelsie sat at the kitchen table and barely looked up from her newspaper when Tyler knocked. She waved him in. Though they hadn’t talked much, at least she was speaking to him again.

  Tyler’s nose picked up the distinct smell of chicken and dumplings bubbling away on the stove. Lifting the lid, he frowned. “It’s almost ninety degrees today, Sis. What are you thinking?”

  She glanced over at him. “Had a craving for it, now shhh. Let me finish this.”

  He sat down at the table beside her, noticing how much bigger her stomach had grown in the past few weeks. When was that due date again?

  Chelsie sniffed, her eyes filling with tears.

  “Are you all right?” Tyler asked.

  She put down the paper. “Yes. That is just so, so beautiful.” She grabbed a paper towel and wiped her nose.

  “What?”

  “That “Lone Star Love Affair” that’s been running in the paper. It gets me every time. Those people are so lucky to be so much in love.”

  Tyler gave her a disgusted look. Lucky wasn’t the word he’d have chosen, especially after today.

  “Don’t look at me that way. Love can be a beautiful thing. And stop staring at my stomach. I know I look like a whale.”

  Great. He’d come over here for some peace and quiet. Now had to deal with another emotional woman. “So when’s the…”

  “Three weeks, which I’ve only told you ten thousand times.”

  Tyler raised his brows. What a time for her to have a breakdown when he needed some advice. Today was obviously not a good day for either one of them. He stood to leave.

  “Oh, don’t go. I could use the company.” She motioned for him to sit, and he did. “I’m sorry I’m such a witch today.” She sniffed again. “The doctor said this morning it could be any time, and I don’t think I’m ready. They hand you the baby and you’re supposed to know what to do. Have all the answers, or at least some of them.”

  “Didn’t you go and buy all those baby books? Didn’t Jeff send that What to Do When You’re Knocked Up book?”

  She glared at him. “It’s called, What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

  “So, didn’t it give you some answers?”

  “Well, yes, but what if I still screw it up? What if I panic, and my poor kid has to suffer for it his whole life?” She stood and paced, her arms folded over her stomach. “What if I’m not cut out to be a mom?”

  Tyler tried his best not to stare. The fabric of her shirt stood almost straight out. She looked like she could pop any second. What would he do if something happened? Like right now, this very minute?

  A nervous chill crawled up his neck. He suddenly felt very alone. With a very pregnant person. “It’s a little late to be wondering that, don’t you think, Sis? Besides, you love kids, and so does Jim. You’re getting all worked up for nothing.” He reached for her hand. “Now, why don’t you sit down and take it easy.” Very easy. Think relaxed thoughts. Please. “Isn’t Jim coming home soon?” At least Jim was a vet and could handle the basics of reproduction if need be. He hoped.

  “No. He’s tied up at work this evening. I’m glad you’re here, though.” She frowned at him. “Why are you here? It’s not like you to show up in the middle of the day. What gives?”

  “Nothing. Just needed a break.”

  “A break? From what?”

  More like, from whom. He didn’t even know where to start, and now felt a little guilty about unloading any of his problems on Chelsie, given her questionable mental state and precarious physical condition.

  She grinned. “It’s Serena the Wonder Ho, isn’t it?” She giggled with glee. “I knew you would come to your senses eventually.”

  “It’s not like that.” Tyler jumped to Serena’s defense.

  “So, it’s not her?”

  Chelsie’s disappointment irritated him even more. “Yes it’s her, but she’s not like that. Where did you come up with Wonder Ho, anyway? Was that Sam’s doing?”

  “I saw her for myself, Tyler.”

  “What you saw that night wasn’t her. I mean, it was her, but it wasn’t her.”

  “Whatever.” Chelsie waved a hand dismissing his explanation as ridiculous. She got up and stirred the dumplings, turning off the heat.

  He watched her trying to figure out how to explain about Serena. The only thing he hadn’t tried was the truth, and at this point it didn’t seem he had anything to lose. “What if I told you that what you saw was an act that we came up with?”

  She ignored him and went about gathering bowls and silverware to serve dinner.

  Tyler glanced at the newspaper on the table and tried another angle. “What if I told you that she is really a newspaper editor and single mom with a teenage son named Justin?”

  Chelsie glanced back at him, one brow raised. Then she turned her back to him again.

  Okay. She didn’t believe him, but at least he had her attention. “What if I told you that she’s the author of “Lone Star Love Affair,” and the guy she’s writing about is me?”

  Chelsie smacked the bowls on the table. “Oh really, Ty, you should leave the tall tales to Sam. You’re a terrible liar and your initials aren’t…”

  “LRS?”

  Chelsie turned slowly toward him. “Right”

  “We made those up to. Hers are COM, Captain Old Maid. Mine are LRS, Lieutenant Rolling Stone.” He glanced at Chelsie’s stunned face. “She’s also a great actress, which is why I asked her to help me throw you off the trail.”

  “What trail?”

  “To find me a woman. Her uncle wanted her to answer some online personal ads and write about them in the paper, and I needed to get you off my back, so we came to a little arrangement.”

  Chelsie narrowed her eyes as if peering into his soul. “Arrangement? So you’re living with her as some kind of farce just to prove a point to me?” She tossed the silverware on the table. “I don’t buy it. It’s not like you put up with a woman for five seconds unless you’re in love with her.”

  Tyler squirmed. It made him more than a little nervous the way Chelsie threw the word love around so much. Like it was that simple. He could barely grasp the concept of what love is, let alone deal with it.

  “That’s it isn�
�t it?” Chelsie gave him a strange look. “You’re in love, aren’t you?”

  Tyler hated being put on the spot like this. He still wasn’t sure what he felt for Serena, but he knew he was neck deep in it.

  “Aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Chelsie burst into a fit of giggles. “I can’t believe it! Ty’s in love! With the Wonder Ho!”

  “Stop calling her that. I told you it was an act.”

  “Of course.” She gave him a disbelieving look as she dished up two bowls of food. She placed them on the table as Tyler poured two glasses of iced tea from the refrigerator.

  Tyler scooped a dumpling into his mouth and stopped in mid-chew. The thing was so rubbery it could have been a hunk of Silly Putty. Chelsie didn’t notice. Tyler could almost see the wheels in her mind spinning. Finally she looked up at him.

  “So, let’s assume for a minute that what you’re telling me is true. That Serena is this fabulous career woman with a son, and you’re madly in love with her.”

  Tyler cringed at the word madly. She tried her best to annoy the crap out of him and succeeded as usual.

  “Then what’s the problem? Why are you here?”

  He swallowed another dumpling and took a long swig of tea. “Lots of reasons.” Satisfied he’d eaten enough not to raise any questions, he pushed the bowl away.

  “Like?”

  “Like, I’m incredibly in debt and about to lose my business.”

  “Yes, I know. Jeff told me.”

  Apparently the attorney-client privilege didn’t extend to family. She stared at him, expecting more.

  “I don’t own anything but a ratty recliner and a dog.”

  She still waited.

  “Serena has a job offer in New York that I found out about.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  Chelsie dropped her spoon in the bowl and concentrated on him. “And you wouldn’t be over here telling me this unless you felt guilty about something. What did you do?”

  Tyler twirled his thumbs. “I kind of convinced her son to go to culinary school instead of business college.”

  Chelsie’s eyes bulged in amazement.

  “He’s a natural, Sis, and he really loves the restaurant business. He’d make a world-class chef.”

  Her jaw dropped.

  “I mean, if it was your kid,” he motioned to her stomach, “wouldn’t you be grateful if someone helped him find what he really wanted to do with his life?”

  Chelsie clamped her teeth together. “If you try that with my child, I will shoot you on sight.”

  She grabbed both bowls from the table and stood at the sink attacking them with a sponge. “I mean really, Ty, what were you thinking?”

  “I was trying to help. Justin was going to go off and get some accounting degree or something. I may have saved him years of unhappiness before he figured out what he really wanted to do.”

  Chelsie scrubbed harder, splashing water on the counter.

  “Why am I the bad guy?”

  She turned on him, her face red. “Because you’re a dumbass man, I guess. Did you talk to Serena before you did this to her son?”

  “No.”

  “How did she find out?”

  “Justin told her.”

  “So you’re a coward, too? Who are you to butt in like that?” Chelsie tapped her foot and shook her head. “I’m guessing she’s upset.”

  “A little.” Okay, a lot. “It’s not like it matters now; she’s leaving for New York.”

  “She told you that?”

  “No, I found out from a friend of hers that she’d been offered a job at a magazine.”

  “Offered, huh? But she hasn’t said anything to you?”

  “No.” Now maybe Chelsie would at least feel a little sorry for him. He was tired of always being the one who was wrong.

  “Interesting.”

  “Interesting in what way?” He found it downright depressing.

  Chelsie sat and thought for a minute. “Well, it doesn’t mean she is taking the job.”

  “Why wouldn’t she? It’s what she’s wanted her whole life.”

  She gave him that strange look again.

  “What do I do?”

  “You can start by groveling and begging her to forgive you.”

  That thought had already occurred to him. “What if she leaves?”

  Chelsie thought for a minute. “You let her go.”

  “Let her go? Just like that?” He shook his head. This wasn’t helping at all.

  “Yes.” Chelsie leaned forward. “Don’t you get it?”

  “Get what?”

  “If I’d been offered my dream job when Jim and I were dating, he would have insisted I take it.”

  “Why?”

  “He loves me enough to let me do what I want to do.”

  Where had he heard that before? “But then you wouldn’t have married.”

  “Sure we would.”

  “How’s that?”

  Chelsie smiled. “Because I love him enough to always come back.”

  “What if she doesn’t come back?”

  “Then it wasn’t meant to be.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.” Chelsie excused herself for a minute.

  Tyler pulled the newspaper over and scanned the latest edition of “Lone Star Love Affair.” If he had to guess, the woman who wrote it loved someone. But was it him? Was it real? Did Serena really feel this way? He read the last few lines.

  Our relationship has grown far beyond what my skepticism would ever allow. I have to wonder if I’ve stopped myself from finding the right person all these years because of fear. Fear of failure, fear of what others might think, fear of losing myself in a relationship. Honesty seems to be the key for us. As long as you have that, everything else can be worked out.

  Tyler was more confused now than he’d been an hour ago. He and Serena had started this whole thing as pretend lovers, lying to everyone they knew and the general public at large. But where did they stand now, after last night?

  She’d kept her job offer in New York from him. What did that really mean? Was it a good thing, like Chelsie thought, or proof she’d leave the minute she got the chance? And how would he explain keeping Krista’s identity from her, not to mention the reporter’s little fact-finding tour this afternoon.

  He glanced back at the article. Honesty? That seemed to be the only thing he and Serena didn’t have.

  Chapter 27

  Serena perched on the edge of her bed listening to cars roll down the street in front of the house. She held her breath when one neared, then gave a sigh as it passed. She hadn’t heard from Justin in hours, and he wasn’t answering his cell phone.

  Fear played tag with reason as the house grew quiet and darkness settled in. What if he didn’t come back? What if he headed down the highway and kept going? Serena paced about the room trying to shake off her dread.

  She told herself it was silly to think an argument about college would create a rift between them so deep or complete that he might leave.

  Justin wasn’t the foolish type. He had to know she meant the best for him.

  Serena’s breath caught in her throat. Arlene had used those same words. She only meant the best for Serena when she sent her away. And look at how that turned out. Serena couldn’t bear the thought that this might have a similar outcome. Justin had been her whole life.

  The last argument with Arlene played through Serena’s mind, the yelling, the tears, the cross. It stirred painful memories and opened old wounds. She went to the old desk in the living room and unlocked it. The rolltop rumbled up with a nudge, and she pulled open the tiny drawer above the writing surface. Red and green stones embedded in the sliver glistened up at her. Serena picked up the cross and laid it in her palm. Just more than three inches long and heavy for its size; Serena hadn’t remembered it being so pretty. She turned it over, the long chain dangling between her fingers.
Squinting at the inscription, she tried to read the strange words.

  Tá mo chroí istigh ionat. The cross had been handed down from Serena’s great-grandmother who came from Ireland on the boat. She vaguely remembered the stories her father told her but had no idea what the words inscribed on the cross might mean.

  A car slowed to a stop in front of the house. She shoved the cross into her pants pocket and quickly locked the desk. Serena yanked back the curtains in time to see Tyler grab a bag from the Jeep and stride up the walk. She dropped the fabric and let her shoulders droop.

  Did she have to face Tyler right now? After all the things she’d said about him? He must think she was the worst bitch on the face of the earth. She didn’t want to have to deal with his feelings or her guilt about the things she’d said. She wanted her son back.

  Her teeth clamped together. Why was she so worried about what Tyler thought, anyway? He could have mentioned that Justin wanted to go to cooking school, maybe given her time to formulate a decent response rather than blow up at everyone. If she believed the story Nolea told her about his blonde girlfriend, he wasn’t to be trusted anyway. But did she believe it?

  The front door closed quietly. After a few minutes Serena heard him rummaging through the kitchen. She crept down the hall and poked her head around the doorway.

  “I thought you might be hungry.” Tyler didn’t turn around as he unloaded the bag. “I stopped by the restaurant and picked up some food.”

  Serena cringed. His thoughtfulness made her feel even worse about the rotten comments she’d made. True or not. “Thanks.”

  Tyler put two plates and two glasses of water on the table. He sat, motioning for her to join him. She picked at her sandwich while he consumed his. An awkward tension settled between them compelling Serena to say something. Anything.

  “Was the restaurant busy?”

  He shrugged. “So-so.”

  What now? She was horrified that he’d overheard the conversation with Justin, but what could she do about it? She certainly didn’t feel like apologizing. Not after Tyler convinced Justin to throw away his future. And he’d been less than honest with her about his own life. “Thanks for taking Arlene to Macy’s.”