by Debbie Mason
Until a cold sensation trickled down her spine. She pushed thoughts of Kate from her mind. She needed to concentrate. Glancing at the time on the radio, Vivi lightly pressed on the gas. Two beams of light flashed through the passenger-side window as a car pulled out of a lane and onto the road behind her. Bright lights filled her car. Idiots. They had their high beams on and were riding her ass. She eased off the gas, motioning for them to pass. They sped up. She had no choice but to do the same. She leaned on the horn to get their attention. They kept coming, and coming. They slammed into her, her head whipping back. She hit the shoulder, wheels spinning on the gravel. She swore as she fought to regain control of the car.
Princess whimpered. She didn’t dare reach out to comfort her. “It’s okay, Princess. Everything will be all right.”
They came at her again. Screw the rain, she had no choice. She hit the gas. Lightning lit up the sky and that’s when she saw the make of the car. It was a black Mustang. She couldn’t take her hands off the wheel to call Chance. They were five minutes out of Christmas. All she had to do was hang on until then. As if the driver of the Mustang had read her mind, he revved his engine and came at her. Lightning crackled across the sky at the same time the car smashed into her. She saw the driver. A shocked cry escaped from her mouth. They’d been wrong. So very wrong. Betrayal and anger swamped Vivi, and for one small second, she lost her focus. And that’s all it took.
* * *
Chance peeled back the bun on his burger. “Give me your pickle,” he said to his brother.
“I’m not giving you my pickle.”
“Vivi gives me her pickle.”
His brother laughed. “From what I heard tonight, she gives you a lot more than her pickle.” Gage grinned. “That was hot. Her voice—”
“Seriously? Shut up or I’ll shove your burger down your throat.”
Gage snorted, then sobered, shifting in the passenger seat. “You love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m crazy about her.” It felt good to finally admit it to someone other than Vivi. There were times he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. To let the whole world, at least the small town, know that she was his. He wanted to get home to her instead of sitting in the car watching the minutes tick by. Nothing was happening. The stakeout was a bust.
“Sounds like she feels the same. Did you tell her you love her?”
“Of course, I did.” He smiled, remembering. Jesus, he shouldn’t be thinking about that night, he was frustrated enough.
“Well look at you. I’m impressed. Given how long it took you, she must have been pretty emotional.”
“Vivi, emotional?” He told his brother what she’d said.
Once he finished laughing, Gage wiped his eyes. “Geezus, you’re screwed. You’ve met your match, big brother.”
He knew he had. She was perfect for him, but as it had the past few days, the thought made him feel disloyal to Kate. He knew it shouldn’t, but there it was. It’s why there’d been no shouting from the rooftops.
“Don’t,” his brother said. “You have no reason to feel guilty. It’s been five years.” He should have known he couldn’t put anything past Gage. His brother continued, “Kate was perfect for the man you once were. Vivi is perfect for the man you are now.”
“You’re right, and I’d like to get home to my perfect woman. So what do you say we call it a night? Nothing’s going—”
A call coming over the radio interrupted him. “All units respond to a single-vehicle accident on Mountain Road. Emergency crews have been dispatched.”
They heard Jill respond that she was en route. ETA three minutes.
Every muscle in his body tensed. Gage put his hand on his shoulder. “Do not even go there. Vivi’s at home waiting for you. Call her.”
He grabbed his phone, trying to hide his panic from his brother. Please, God, not again, he prayed. If anything… She didn’t pick up. He tried five times before he raised his frantic gaze to his brother.
Gage’s fingers tightened on his shoulder, and he pulled out his own phone. “Hey, honey, have you heard from Vivi?” His brother nodded, and Chance held his breath. Please, fucking God, please. “Yeah, no, everything’s okay. I’ll see you soon.”
“She hasn’t heard from her, has she?” He couldn’t believe he managed to get the words past the painful lump growing with each passing second in his throat. He couldn’t breathe.
“Hang in there. I’ll call Jill.” His brother’s cell rang before he could make the call. It was Jill. Gage averted his eyes as he listened to his deputy, the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Right. Okay. Yeah. We’re on our way.” With each word his brother clipped out, Chance felt his heart break into pieces until there was nothing left. The light that had filled him when Vivi walked into his life went out.
He heard his brother yelling at him from a distance. Gage shook him. “Listen to me. You are not going to lose her. Do you hear me? Dammit, Chance. Look at me.”
He slowly lifted his eyes. Tears rolled down Gage’s face. He pulled Chance against him. “Stay with me. It’s going to be all right. She’s alive. They got her out. Dad’s on his way to the hospital. Jill’s in the ambulance with her. She’s not alone. She’s tough, Chance. She’s a fighter. Hang on to that.”
Chance didn’t know how he’d gotten in the passenger seat, how long it had taken them to get to the hospital, or who his brother had been talking to on the way. Nothing mattered. Not his brother telling him she’d be all right, that she was tough. He’d been here before. He should have known he’d be here again. But he had known, hadn’t he? That’s why he’d left her the first time. Why he’d fought so hard against loving her.
The hospital doors swooshed open. The bright lights and antiseptic smell slapped at him. “Yeah, he needs a doctor,” he heard his brother say.
What the fuck was he talking about?
“You busted your hand. And watch your mouth.”
Shit, he didn’t think he’d said that out loud. “I don’t need a doctor.” He made it to the waiting room and sat down, staring unseeing at the white wall. He knew they were all there. Family and friends. They’d been here before.
“Chance.”
“Not now, honey,” Gage said to his wife and led her away.
Jill came into the room and walked to Gage’s side. They talked, glancing his way. He stood up. A firm hand pushed him down onto the chair. Trainer crouched in front of him. “Focus on me, Chance. You’re in shock.” He pressed a cup in Chance’s hand. “Drink this. Your dad’s with Vivi. She’s in X-ray. She’s stable. She has a concussion. As far as we can tell, her injuries are minor.” Chance raised his gaze when the doc paused. Trainer looked away, then looked back at him. “You’ve been given a second chance. A gift. I know what you’re feeling right now, I do, but don’t shut down. Don’t go so deep inside yourself, you won’t be able to find your way back. Talk to the EMTs and Jill. Vivi shouldn’t have walked away from the accident, Chance. Someone was watching over her.”
“He’s right, Chance,” Jill said quietly. “I didn’t think…” She blew out a breath, shook her head. “It’s a miracle.”
He needed to know why she’d been out there. “Did she say anything? Did she tell you what happened?”
Jill glanced at Gage, and he gave her a tight nod. “She said something about a lead on a story and that she’d lost control of the car. Princess is okay. She wouldn’t leave Vivi’s side.”
Chance put the cup on the chair beside him and got to his feet. “Take care of her,” he said to Trainer and walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Every muscle in Vivi’s body ached, but none of those aches compared to the one in her heart. Chance had left her again. He’d walked away without a word, without a note in his bold handwriting. No matter what Maddie and Skye tried to make her believe, he wasn’t coming back to her or Christmas. He was gone for good. She imagined it was the reason his brother could barely look at her. She didn’t know why Gage insist
ed he be the one to take her home from the hospital. Home, the cabin wasn’t her home anymore. Nowhere would ever feel like home again.
She cast Gage a sidelong glance from where she sat in the passenger seat. His handsome profile hard and unyielding. She wished Maddie had come along. Gage had refused to let her, and Vivi knew why. It was only a matter of time before he questioned her about the accident. He’d tried at the hospital earlier this morning. Maddie and Skye had made him stop. He’d picked up on Vivi’s lie. Like his brother, there wasn’t much that got past Gage McBride.
But until she discovered why Natalee had driven her off the road, Vivi would keep her own counsel. She felt as if, in some way, she owed it to Kate and Mary to find out the truth. Because while Natalee was without a doubt the person behind the wheel, Vivi couldn’t shake the feeling someone had forced her to do what she did. She’d played the moment over and over again in her mind. Each time she did, the image of Natalee became clearer. Her wild, terrified eyes, her mouth opened as if she screamed “No.” Or was Vivi imagining the look of terror on Natalee’s face because she didn’t want to believe the young woman she’d come to like, and thought liked her, could do something so horrific.
“Tell me again what story you got the lead on?”
“We’ve gone over this already, Gage. I know I shouldn’t have gone out that late at night in a storm. I’m the one who was in the accident. So as bad as you’re trying to make me feel, it wasn’t intentional. I didn’t drive off the road on purpose.” She was lucky she hadn’t died. Everyone said so. She was also lucky that the car had not survived, otherwise Gage would have immediately seen through her lie. The car had exploded as they wheeled her into the ambulance.
“You didn’t see him. You weren’t with him when the call came over the radio.” Gage’s knuckles whitened around the steering wheel, a muscle pulsating in his jaw. “You survived, Vivi. But he died. He died last night.”
She bowed her head, her throat tightening as she tried to hold back her tears. She’d overheard Matt talking to Paul in her room. They hadn’t known she was awake. And Gage didn’t know that hearing the state Chance was in just about killed her. She would do anything to make it up to him, but he wouldn’t let her. He wouldn’t take her calls. It wasn’t fair. She hadn’t gone looking for trouble. Trouble had come looking for her. Hot tears burned tracks down her face, falling onto Princess, who was curled up on her lap. Vivi moved her head so her hair fell forward, hiding her face from Gage. Princess looked up, then came to her on furry paws. Placing them on Vivi’s chest, she licked the moisture from her cheeks. And that’s when Vivi lost it, holding the only link she had left to Chance close to her chest. At least Princess loved her.
“Aw hell, honey.” Gage moved her hair over her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. Come on now, you’ll hurt your ribs. Five years ago we lost him, Vivi. And because of you, we got him back. He loves—”
“No, he doesn’t. If he did, he couldn’t walk away. I needed him. I needed him, and he left me,” she sobbed. “I would never leave him. I would do anything I had to to protect him. All I wanted to do was protect him.”
“Vivi, what do you mean all you wanted to do was to protect him? Protect him from what?”
That’s what happened when she got emotional; she revealed too much. “Nothing, Gage. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just tired and sore and heartbroken. Chance doesn’t hold a license on heartache, you know.”
“I know, honey.” He turned onto the road to the cabin. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, you staying on your own. We’ll pick up your things, and I’ll take you home with me.”
“I want to be here if he comes back.” She caught the distressed look on Gage’s face before he could hide it from her. Chance wasn’t coming home. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be here. I just want to be alone for a little while. I’ve got some things to do. If you don’t mind picking me up tonight, I’d appreciate it.”
Vivi held a hopeful breath as Gage opened the garage door. Of course his truck wasn’t there. Only a man who loved her would stick around to see if she was all right. To hold her hand while she was in the hospital. To bring her home the next day. Those thoughts fanned the small spark of anger that lay beneath her heartache, fueling the flame until slowly it burned away some of the pain.
Gage got out of the Suburban. “Let me just check around first, okay?”
She nodded. With Natalee on the loose, she’d feel safer if he did. See that, McBride. I’m not stupid. I don’t go looking for trouble. Her eyes filled, blurring her vision. Damn you, Chance, why did you leave me? She scrubbed at her eyes. He left her for the same reason her mother did. He didn’t love her enough.
Gage unlocked the door and walked inside. Vivi got out of the truck, letting Princess down to do her business. Much to the nurses’ chagrin, Paul had let the dog stay with Vivi at the hospital. “It’s just you and me now,” she said to Princess, unable to keep a small warble from her voice. She’d have to find an apartment that allowed animals.
Gage appeared at the mudroom door, eyeing her carefully. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stick around?”
“No, I’m good.” She picked up Princess and made her way up the stairs.
He stepped back to let her pass. “Vivi, I know it may not feel like it right now, but Chance loves you.”
“If he did, he’d be here.” Princess struggled to get out of her arms, and she let her down.
As though Gage realized nothing he said would change her mind, he confirmed a time to pick her up and left. She locked the door behind him, then walked through to the living room and kitchen, scanning the space. She knew what she was doing and hated that she’d become so needy and emotional. She’d just been run off the road, and here she was, desperately searching for some sign that he’d been here, that he’d be back. That was not going to get her the answers she needed.
At the sound of Princess barking down the hall, she tensed. She was being ridiculous. Gage had done a walk-through. Then again, it had been a quick one. She pulled her phone from the back pocket of the jeans Skye had delivered this morning along with a white Envirochicks sweatshirt to replace her torn and bloodied clothes.
“Come here, Princess,” Vivi called out, grabbing a rolling pin as she walked past the island. She followed the sound of Princess’s anxious yips to the third bedroom. Muffled feminine sobbing came from within the room, and Vivi’s lungs seized. She didn’t know if she felt better that the sound was more human than otherworldly. “Who’s there?” she said, picking up Princess and hugging her to her chest.
“It’s me.” The closet door slid open. Natalee sat huddled in the corner. She lifted her pale, blotchy face, rocking in place as tears trickled from her puffy, bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to do it. He… he made me do it.”
Vivi crouched down. There was a part of her that wanted to reach out and comfort Natalee, but she held back. Although Kate’s sister’s words jibed with what Vivi had thought she’d seen, she reverted back to the more familiar and comforting habit of trusting no one. “Who made you do it?”
“Zach. He had a gun. I didn’t want to hurt you, Vivi. Honest. Please, please believe me.” Her eyes were pleading.
Her answer wasn’t unexpected, but Vivi needed to understand Zach’s motivation before she believed Natalee. It didn’t make sense to her. At least not yet. “Why me? Why not Chance?”
“Because you were easier to get to than Chance. And Zach… he thought you were trying to break us up. I told him you weren’t. I promised I wouldn’t leave him if he’d leave you alone. But he freaked out after Chance brought him in for questioning. He was afraid they’d find out he was behind the break-ins. If you… if you died, Chance would go away again and leave him and his family alone. Zach hates Chance, Vivi. He wanted to make him pay for what he’s done to his family. He wanted to make him suffer.”
Zach Callahan was a twisted little bastard. And as twisted as he was, his plan
would have made sense in his mind. But what didn’t make sense was why Natalee hadn’t left the guy a long time ago. Abuse? Maybe. But right now Vivi had something more pressing to worry about “Where’s Zach? Does he know you’re here?”
Natalee’s eyes went wide and panicked. “No. He’s at his house, I think. When he dropped me off at home after…” She held Vivi’s gaze. “I didn’t want you to die. But he was screaming at me and waving the gun around and every time I backed off, he’d put his foot over mine on the gas.”
“Why involve you? Why didn’t he just do it himself?”
“Because he wanted something else to hold over my head,” she whispered.
“What do you mean, something else?” Whatever fine thread Natalee had been holding on to snapped at Vivi’s question. She let go of Princess, who went immediately to the sobbing, broken young woman. Vivi did the same, taking her hand. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay now.”
“No, no it won’t. It won’t ever be okay. I did it. I killed my sister,” she screamed through huge gulping sobs.
Vivi stared at the hysterical young woman who collapsed in her arms, unable to process Natalee’s shocking admission. She had to be mistaken. She gently moved Natalee into a sitting position. “Talk to me, sweetie. Tell me why you think you’re responsible for Kate’s accident.”
It took several halting tries before Natalee was able to tell Vivi what happened that long-ago night. She’d been at a party and had too much to drink. Shy, and more interested in her grades, Natalee didn’t have many friends. She didn’t need them; she had her sister and Chance. But all that changed at sixteen when she developed a crush on a boy from school. There was always a boy.
