If her clothes and hair weren’t enough to make me gasp, Amber’s drawn pale face and trembling hands were enough all on their own. She looked like she had lost about fifteen pounds or more and Amber had never been thick, to begin with. Warning flags went off in my head, and my mind whirled with questions.
“What happened to you, Amber?” Dalton asked softly. I felt Reece and Lucas join us on the back patio, and I was sure they were wondering the same thing. This was not the woman who had delighted in trying to keep Synclair and Reece apart, this woman didn’t look capable of standing up against a stiff wind.
“Um,” her sad, blue eyes flashed something I couldn’t read just before she lowered her head. “I just, I’m not here to make trouble. I need to talk for a minute.”
I was standing closest to her, and I almost hadn’t heard her. Reece stepped forward, and I could tell he wasn’t buying this new look. “Not happening, I’m not giving you a chance to mess with this family again Amber, no one here wants to hear anything you have to say.” Reece’s jaw ticked with controlled anger, and I honestly couldn’t blame him.
Amber had wanted Reece since they were kids, the spoiled only daughter of the only other prominent family in Carson City, she was convinced she and Reece were meant to be. Although Reece had tolerated her and gently turned her down throughout high school and college, Amber had other plans. As soon as Reece came back to Carson City on the heels of his colossal screw up with Synclair, Amber had gotten Reece drunk and then slept with him. A few months later she announced she was pregnant, and my brother did what he thought was right and married the wench. Miserable and missing Synclair, Reece had never slept with Amber again. A few months later Amber confessed, she had made up the whole story, and they got a divorce. However, she didn’t stop there. Amber and her brother Michael, who was the city Mayor and actually a good friend, had a cousin named Travis who at one time had been Lucas’s best friends. Long story short was Travis drugged Sara’s drink, who was dating Lucas at the time, and raped her. Then to make matters worse he sent the pictures to Amber who could not wait to show the compromising photos to Lucas. That little stunt cost Lucas and Sara years together and Lucas almost five years with his son, Logan. Of course, Amber tried to play innocent and claim that Travis had told her that Sara was willing and wanted to sleep with him, that she had no idea that Travis had actually raped her.
The way Amber had protested, part of me actually believed her on that one. Her brother also insisted that Amber was telling the truth. He had once confided to us that Amber was desperate for attention and love because their father hadn’t wanted a girl, only a son. So, while their father doted on Michael, he practically ignored Amber. Of course, since her mother had died when she was a child, it seemed she never was able to get any nurturing from anyone. Still, it didn’t excuse all the crap she’d pulled so I could understand why Reece didn’t want her here. He finally had everything he’d always wanted, Synclair was his wife, a son he never thought possible and life was good.
Instead of a sarcastic comeback, Amber shocked all of us by backing down the patio steps while pulling her sweater cuffs over her hands and gripping them with her short, unpainted nails.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone Reece, I talked to Synclair and Sara and apologized to them for what I did. I sent you a letter, did you even read it?” she asked her eyes brimming with tears.
“No, of course not! I threw it away,” he growled. “And stay away from Synclair and Sara, don’t test me on this Amber,” Reece warned in a tone I hadn’t heard very often.
Still, even I wanted to step between them to make Reece stop bellowing. It was evident that something was wrong with Amber, and it seemed almost cruel to berate her, despite her past.
When she looked up at Reece, I saw a spark of hurt flash instead of the anger I expected. She took a deep breath and it looked like it physically pained her. “I wrote you to apologize for everything, I know it doesn’t excuse my actions, but I’m trying to be a better person, Reece.”
“Really, you wrote me a letter apologizing? I don’t need your lip service, Amber, I’m just happy I don’t remember having sex with you, I must have been dead drunk or so disgusted that I blocked it from memory,” he spat at her. Now things were getting out of hand.
I didn’t remind Reece that it had been his choice to get wasted that night, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t participated.
“You didn’t,” she replied her eyes steady and unwavering.
“Didn’t what?” Reece hissed throwing off Lucas’s arm when he tried to stop him from walking down the steps to stand over Amber’s small frame.
“Reece, I know you're pissed, and you have every right but you are scaring her, and I will put you on your ass!” Dalton’s voice boomed from my left.
I shot a surprised look at Dalton and then Lucas, only to see his face contorted into an angry glare as well.
“Are you serious, maybe you don’t know what she’s done, Dalton?” Reece shot back, my brothers glared at one another in a tense standoff.
“I’m not defending her Reece, but Sara told me that she did come into the restaurant while they were setting up and told Sara she was sorry and that she hadn’t known that Travis had raped her.” Lucas’s voice was calm and steady, but I could tell that if Reece made a move, he’d be ready.
My brothers didn’t often fight, Reece especially. However, since getting back together with Synclair and then little Wyatt being born he had become ultra-protective of his family.
“She’s obviously not okay Reece, and she’s so scared she trembling, and we are not the kind of men who scare women, Reece. No. Matter. What.” Dalton's voice was hard and lethal. I had only heard that voice come out when we were on missions as Navy SEALS. Usually, Dalton was the easy going one, the jokester but few people realized how lethal he could be when provoked.
Reece looked like he was torn between smacking Dalton and stomping off. Instead, he calmed down and became the mature, older brother I knew him to be. Emotion under control, he turned back to Amber.
“Look, I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t some extremely hard feelings or that I have a clue as to what is going with you, but you seem determined to have your say, so please enlighten me on what I didn’t do,” Reece finished with an exasperated sigh. I could tell it had taken a lot for him to be this civil to her.
Amber took another stumbling step backward and instinctively Reece reached to grab her arm. She shrieked and grabbed her arm to her chest but not before we all saw the purple bruises up her arm. Ignoring our collective gasp, she quickly stepped back and pulled the sleeve of her sweatshirt sleeve over her clenched fist.
Reece recovered first, and I knew it was actual concern when he spoke, “Jesus, what happened Amber?” she didn’t answer, and when she stumbled back another couple of steps, Reece put his hands up to let her know that wouldn’t come any closer. “Did someone hurt you?”
I had to hand it to my brother. While none of us could stomach the idea of a woman being hurt, it just showed his good character that despite his dislike of Amber, at least he was still concerned about her welfare.
“No, no, it’s not what you think. That’s not why I’m here,” she said shaking her head.
“Those look like some nasty bruises Amber, I was the medic for my unit, why don’t you let me take a look?” Dalton asked in a tone that one would use with a hurt child. Her drawn, porcelain face look past Reece to Dalton. When she look at Lucas, she shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. I just need to talk to Matt, but we seem to have gotten off track.” She said with a forced laugh.
Reece didn’t take his eyes off her, and I knew that he was seeing the desperate girl that he hadn’t had the heart to straight out reject back in high school.
“Despite our history Amber, we’d never let anyone hurt you. Let us call Michael for you.” Reece said gently as if she was a wounded animal. I was sure the veterinarian in him wanted to help. Reece was a healer by natu
re no matter if it was human or animal; it was something I recognized in Alison too. They were compelled with their big hearts to help, even when it was someone they didn’t like.
Amber apparently didn’t like that idea one bit. Her head shook back and force with such force that I thought it was snap off. “No! Leave Michael out of this, I’m already an embarrassment to him. He hasn’t spoken to me since you guys rescued Sara from Travis. I tried to explain to him that I didn’t help Travis, I refused is calls and even told him to leave Sara and Logan alone. I had no idea he would kidnap her and Logan or try to hurt Synclair!” she insisted huge tears falling down her cheeks, wetting the neckline of her oversized sweater.
“Okay, it’s okay Amber. Sara said she forgave you, I know that doesn’t make you guys friends but if Sara can let it go then so can I,” Lucas told her coming to stand next to Reece. I could tell he wanted to be in grabbing range if she collapsed and to be honest, she looked like she might.
Part of me wanted to laugh at the situation I was in. If someone had told me that I would be standing in the backyard with my brothers, trying to placate Amber Donaldson into letting us help her, I would have told them they were crazy. Yet, somehow Synclair and Sara and been able to let things go and maybe not forgive but at least not hate Amber for the things she’d done. It was somewhat surprising to see my brothers falling into line behind them, considering how often they had raged with Amber’s name on their lips.
“I didn’t come here to say sorry, again.” She grimaced. “I came here to talk to Matthew, but since you didn’t read my letter Reece, then I need to tell you.” She looked worriedly from Reece to me to my brothers and then back to Reece who was regarding with a wary look.
Reece sighed and dropped his hand to his sides, something that seemed to make a very skittish Amber relax.
“I thought you knew. Otherwise, I would have told Synclair when I spoke to her,” she took a deep breath like she was about to announce the end of the world.
“We never slept together, Reece. You passed out that night, and I took off your clothes and climbed under the blanket with you naked.” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the ground. “I…w-wanted you so much, I wanted to be a part of this family, but I was selfish and so desperate that I didn’t think about what it would do to you. I thought I could make you love me, Reece,” she whispered.
Reece’s mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find words. “You mean w-we never had sex?” he asked as if he had misheard her.
Amber nodded her head but didn’t look up. The woman was biting her bottom lip so hard I was sure she’d draw blood, and I was conflicted about how I felt about that. There was nothing triumphant about seeing Amber looking bruised and broken, even though I had wished for her demise a million times over the years, actually standing before the woman who looked ready shatter only made me want to bash in whoever had caused the marks on her arms.
Reece suddenly smiled and for a moment I thought he was going to actually attack Amber. Instead, he closed the distance between them and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. Shrinking back from his hold she looked up at him, evidently as surprised as we all were at his about-face.
“Thank you, I’m not saying we’re friends, but I know that wasn’t easy. Please tell my brothers or me if you need help because we will help you, Amber.” Reece told her his tone sincere. He gave her a kiss on her forehead, turned to Dalton, and mouthed silently for him to find out what happened to her.
Then like a teenager setting off for his first date, he dashed past us toward, grabbing up Logan on his way out, shouting to Lucas that he’d drop the little guy off at school. Catching our stunned faces, Reece stopped with his hand gripping the doorknob. “I need to go see my wife, I know it’s bothered her thinking of how Amber and I had slept together and this is gotta be worth a few brownie points,” he chuckled wagging his brows up and down, green eyes dancing with laughter. Yep, it was going to be a loud tonight. Not that I heard them often since they were downstairs but on occasion, I had listened to a few groans and moans filtering up the vents to my room. Usually, I flipped on the television to ignore it since I knew if I imagined Synclair making those moans for even a second, my big brother would use my face as a punching bag.
As soon as Reece left, Dalton moved toward the open door. “Keep her here, talking. I need to get my med kit from the downstairs bathroom, those are severe bruises,” he whispered as he passed by Lucas. I barely heard his words but understood all the same.
I turned back to Amber who was still staring at the door Reece had gone through in stoic, shock.
“Amber,” I said gently, trying not to startle her. Her sunken blue eyes moved back to me, and I saw relief and even sadness reflected in their dark blue depths. “You said you could help, you told me you wanted to talk to me. Why don’t we go inside and sit down, it’s kind of cold out here.” I suggested knowing she’d have a harder time bolting from Dalton if we were inside. Plus, it really was cold, and I could see her nose turning red from the chill in the air.
She seemed to think it over and looked around like she was searching for someone or something. Confused I turned back to Lucas who shrugged and opened the back door in invitation. Still seeming unsure, Amber made a wide path as she climbed the stairs and turned sideways to enter the kitchen since Lucas was still holding the door. It seemed odd since none of us had ever harmed Amber in any way. In fact, the only one that had ever come at her at all had been Synclair, and even that was only armed with an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.
Don’t get me wrong, Synclair was as wicked with a sugar cone as she was with a baseball ball, but even that didn’t seem to physically hurt Amber. So why she was making sure, she wasn’t too close to any of us made me wonder if someone had made her afraid, specifically a man. Despite my dislike of Amber, my brother nor I would ever stand by and let a woman be abused. Even if her brother Michael wasn’t speaking to her, I knew he loved her, and if he thought someone was hurting her, the man would be first in line to beat someone’s ass. Mayor or not, Michael Donaldson was an upstanding, honest guy, who was a helluva a rancher and even though none of us understood how Amber and Michael could be related; yet, so different, we knew he’d step up if she needed him.
Once we were seated in the living room, Amber choosing the recliner closest to the door, I waited for her to speak. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, I quickly swiveled my head, afraid it was Alison coming to announce she was leaving again. Things were still unresolved between us, and I wasn’t sure having Amber here for that show was a good idea. However, I was relieved to see it was only Dalton padding down the steps with the small medical bag he had gotten in the Navy.
I turned back to reassure Amber that Dalton was just here to help but realized she hadn’t even noticed him come into the room. She was digging into her back pocket, pulling out a folded set of papers; she handed them to me and quickly returned to her seat.
I unfolded the ten page or so document and studied it for a moment, not sure if what I was reading was accurate.
“Is this what I think it is?” I asked dumbfounded. I stared at the words on the page as if they would suddenly change or disappear.
She nodded her head, and I heard Dalton clear his throat. “What is it?” he asked craning his neck to see the papers for himself.
“It’s a deed to five hundred acres of land that is adjacent to yours. I want Alison to have it. I have already constructed habitats for Baloo, Nala, the hawk and the other lion; I even had some large enclosures ready in case she decides to take on other animals.” Amber’s voice raised to almost a frenzied pitch and her eyes lit up when she spoke Alison’s name.
“You know Alison,” I stated more than asked. When she nodded her head slowly, I continued as the pieces started to come together, “You know her well enough to know she has a sanctuary, what animals she houses there and that her ability to keep her animals is in jeopardy.”
Again she only nodded. It seemed I was going to ha
ve to pull the answers out of her.
“How exactly do you know Alison?” Dalton asked as he quietly moved from behind the sofa to sit on the end closest to Amber, his bag clutched discretely against him. Dalton was the White Knight of the family. I had no doubt he’d get a look at Amber’s arm before she scurried out of here.
Looking from Dalton to me, Amber sank back a little in her chair and pulled out her cellphone. She slid her fingers across the screen and turned it to show a picture of Alison and herself. Both women were smiling, arms around each other with Baloo sitting on the ground in front of them sucking on what looked like a giant pixie stick made of honey. Alison’s dark hair was shorter, but her dark eyes were full of happiness. Even Amber looked different. Her hair was a light shade of brown and she was wearing simple jeans and a loose t-shirt. From the photo, it appeared the women were friends. However, it was the man behind them, his hand resting on Amber’s waist that really drew my attention. I looked over at Dalton and could see that he had noticed the same thing I had. Our cousin, Alison’s neighbor, John or Ghost as we still sometimes called him, was practically draped around Amber Donaldson!
“You know Ghost too?” I asked in surprise. The way she was looking up at John in the photo gave me the impression they knew each other very well.
She pulled the phone back and stared at the picture for a long time, then she stared up at Dalton and me, this time, she was the one that looked confused. “Ghost? I only knew him as John, he was Alison’s neighbor. He came over some nights and helped with the animals or just hung out with us on the porch.”
Her words had my mouth hanging open. “Wait! So you lived with Alison? When was this?” I knew my mouth was on the floor, but I couldn’t help it. Not only did Amber know Ali but she had stayed with her and …hung out with my cousin? It was all too much, and part of me feared it was Amber’s new way of screwing us over again, but one look at her face told me I was wrong. She looked at the picture like it was her favorite memory.
No Refunds No Exchanges: A Hudson Family Series- Book 4- Matt and Ali Page 28
