“Did you ever stop to think there might have been a reason why I left?” She tried to deliver the words calmly, but by the end of the sentence, her voice was high-pitched and rickety.
“Oh, I know the reason.” Jake looked at her squarely. “You said it a thousand times when we were kids and again on the way home. This town is tiny. This town is boring. There’s nothing here. I can’t wait to get out. What I don’t understand is why you ever came back.”
“To face her.” Each word came out with a ragged edge.
“Face who? Miranda?” Fine lines etched down his forehead. “God, Giselle, so she doesn’t like you. She’s never liked you. She was jealous of you then and probably is now. Who cares? Get over it.”
Her muscles seemed to lose their function. She rubbed her eyes roughly with her knuckles. How could he so misunderstand?
“Forget it. You won’t believe me anyway.”
He nodded slowly as if mulling things over in his mind. “You didn’t trust me then and you don’t trust me now. You were right before. We are strangers.”
He took his plate and walked out the back door into the garden. The screen door banged behind him.
And so left the only thing that had ever held her to Turtle Beach. Her only true friend. Now he, too, had turned his back on her. So what if the world’s media was after her? She couldn’t stay another second in Turtle Bloody Beach. She strode up the stairs and grabbed her handbag. But before she left, she’d finally face the demons that had stalked her and then she’d leave it all behind.
CHAPTER NINE
It took Giselle under an hour to walk to her mother’s estate. She skirted around the property boundary, not wanting to run into anyone who’d recognize her. The café. The crèche. The gallery. The community garden. It all seemed so well established.
She paused behind a large fig tree. She’d ridden off so fast yesterday, she hadn’t really looked at the place. People were everywhere enjoying the facilities and the gorgeous summer’s day. The delightful shrieks from children sounded all around. She blinked away the sudden moisture in her eyes. Children. Happy. Here. At her home. In Turtle Beach. Perhaps that was enough.
She ducked under the wire back fence to the house. Why was she considering making the community pay for this place? Some sort of payback? Nothing could undo what had happened to her. She’d written off Turtle Beach as wholly bad, but in reality it was filled with lots of good people, doing lots of good things. She’d give the estate to the community and never set foot in Turtle Beach again. Perhaps the sadness and pain of one child might be wiped away by the happiness of many?
Unlocking the back door, she stepped tentatively into the house. She stood for a moment and took three deep breaths to control the avalanche of emotions threatening to take her down. She pulled her spine straight. Why was she frightened? Nothing could hurt her now.
She took a step, then another. With each movement her breath came faster. The house creaked. A small cry escaped her pinched lips. Bloody hell. What was wrong with her? Scared of ghosts.
She continued into the hall. The heavy wooden cellar door loomed before her. She stopped, her feet refusing to take her any closer. She clasped her hands together into a tight ball. A shudder seized her body, ruthless and fast. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t go any further.
Get a grip. She squeezed her eyes shut. You’re not a kid anymore. She can’t hurt you now. She’s dead.
Something flashed. She jerked her head around to the source. A camera lens was pressed up against the glass panel on one side of the front door. Another appeared on the other side. Dismay dropped heavily into her belly. The pack had found her.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
She dived into the living room.
“She’s in here,” a voice shouted. She dropped down behind a sofa.
“Giselle! Giselle! Came out and talk to us. Tell us about your relationship with Christian. How do you feel to have ripped a family apart? Destroyed a marriage? Destroyed lives?”
She covered her ears with her hands.
Destroyed my marriage.
Destroyed my life.
Destroyed my marriage.
Destroyed my life.
The words screamed through her brain. Her mother had shouted them at her again and again. Each time she’d disappointed her, upset her, or did anything, which reminded her mother of the life she’d had before Giselle had arrived. Giselle had taken away her mother’s freedom, her career, her happiness through her very existence. Her mother would throw the accusations at her, before she’d shove Giselle into the cellar and lock her away. Shout them before she’d pick up the stick of willow and slash it across her skin.
Strong hands hauled her to her feet and dragged her into the hall, toward that door. Toward that prison. She kicked and thrashed. But the door came closer and closer.
“No. No. No,” she wailed. “Please no.”
It was happening again. She was being thrown into darkness. Thrown into hell.
“Giselle. Giselle. Stop. You’re scaring me. Please.”
Giselle became aware of Jake’s face close to her own, his voice surrounding her. She was slumped on the floor, Jake’s arms around her. He rocked her gently. She blinked. What was going on?
“The media!” Her head throbbed and she struggled to stand. Jake held her firm.
“They’re gone,” Jake said. “Just sit for a moment. Take some deep breaths.”
Something moved down the hall. Giselle flinched.
“It’s okay,” Jake soothed. “Everything is under control. No one will hurt you now.”
A policeman walked into view.
“If you’re okay now, Ms. Harrington, I’ll wait out the front to ensure the press doesn’t worry you again. Please let me know if you want anyone charged with trespass.”
She shook her head, trying to clarify what was happening.
“Thanks,” Jake said. The policeman left, closing the front door behind him.
She sat up straighter, trying to piece together the parts she was missing. “What happened?”
Jake shifted his position and sat next to her, his back up against the wall. He kept one arm about her shoulders. He felt warm and safe and at that moment, she didn’t know how she could ever live without him in her life.
“The media,” he said. “They swarmed the place. Even the television crews from Sydney were here.”
She rubbed her hand across her brow. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to say sorry. I found the place surrounded. I used the spare key to get in and you were … well …”
“What?”
“I tried to help you into the cellar so they couldn’t get any pictures. You fell to the floor screaming. Telling your mother to leave you alone. You terrified the crap out of me.”
She remembered the media but after that it was all a bit of a blur. “Sorry.”
He reached for her hand, held it to his lips and kissed it.
“What is it about our childhood that I don’t know? That you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me. Why does this house scare you so much?”
The gentleness in Jake’s voice stripped down her defenses. She pointed to the cellar door.
Jake followed her gaze. “The cellar?” He frowned. “What about the cellar?”
“It’s where she’d lock me up.”
His eyes widened. “Your mother? Faye? Locked you in the cellar?”
“For days at a time.” It was odd, the words were so shocking but they came out in a monotone. She didn’t have the energy anymore to fight the horror of her history.
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He tipped his head back against the wall.
“All those days you had off sick.” His eyes drifted as he searched their shared childhood memories.
“Yes.”
“She had you in the cellar?”
Was he probing to understand or trying to find holes in her story? She couldn’t tell. Would he believe her or would he be like everyone
else and deny the possibility that the great Faye Harrington could be anything like the monster she became when no one was watching. If he said those terrible words, “I don’t believe you” she might just crumble to dust.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She took a breath. The next few minutes would make or break her. She’d tell Jake the truth.
“Mom was once an actress, as you probably remember. She’d had all those bit parts and she’d finally got her big break. But she got pregnant with me and they dumped her. She took them to court and won. That’s why we had all that money, but it ended her career.” She rubbed her eyes. Her mother had suffered a great injustice and it had all been her fault.
“I didn’t know.”
She gave a wry laugh. “Just one of the many secrets of this small town. Anyway, Mom had a breakdown and Dad brought her out here, back to his family’s property to recover. Well, she was quite a hit out here. Big fish, tiny town. Gorgeous star calls Turtle Beach home. Everyone falling all over themselves to adore her.” She hated her bitter words, but now that she’d started she was determined to finish. She inhaled two deep breaths.
“Anyway, she loved it. Back in the limelight, but then I came along. Dad’s attention was suddenly gone. People in the street were now cooing at the pretty miniature version of her rather than the original. Every time she looked at me it wasn’t love in her eyes, it was fury. Fury at everything I’d stolen from her by being born.”
She dropped her gaze down to her hands. Her fingers twisted over and over each other. How could anyone else love her when her own mother loathed her so much?
“Then Dad died. She gave me everything a child could ever want. Piano lessons, singing lessons, drama lessons, anything to keep me away from her—out of the house and out of her life. But what she hadn’t considered was that I’d be quite good. The jealousy …” The words died in her throat. She swallowed hard. Saying it out loud made it all too real.
“Why didn’t you tell anybody?”
She stared into her lap. “I did.”
“Who?” Jake’s voice was hard and demanding.
“Miss Tilla. Our teacher. She was sent away from school the next day. The minister, he said he’d pray for my dark, lying soul. Your … your father.”
“Dad? You told Dad and he did nothing?” He was on his feet, breathing hard. “And the scars on your back?” His voice sounded gritty and rough.
“She’d whip me with a stripped piece of willow.” Strange how she could say such terrible things and her voice didn’t even waver. “It hangs on a hook down here.” She pointed to the cellar door.
“I don’t believe it.” Jake yanked open the cellar door and stormed down into the darkness.
She slumped against the wall. There it was. What she’d always feared. Jake thought her story was a fabrication. If hearts could really break, hers shattered.
She dragged herself up. Her body moved as though it had aged a hundred years in a few minutes. She collected her handbag and walked to the front door. Jake’s footsteps sounded behind her. She couldn’t face him. Couldn’t bear to see the disbelief in his eyes.
His hands landed on her shoulders. She tensed.
“Jake, please—”
He turned her around and drew her into his chest, his arms tight around her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered into her hair. “I would’ve protected you. Nothing would’ve stopped me from making you safe.”
Her heart tapped out an erratic beat. Was it real? Finally, someone from Turtle Beach believed her. Jake believed her. She melted into his body as though his skin could absorb a lifetime of pain and anguish. Silent tears trailed down her cheeks. It was what she’d always needed, to be believed.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, pressed against each other. She felt safe for the first time in her life. Felt a lightness that had always been elusive. Finally, Jake pulled gently away.
“This is what drove you away, Giselle. But it’s over. You don’t have to run from Turtle Beach anymore.”
She tilted her head and looked into his deep-blue eyes. She reached up and stroked his cheek. If only it were that simple. “But you must know I can’t stay here. My life and career are in London.”
“But you must know, Giselle.” He took her hands in his. “You must know, in your heart, we belong together. Last night …”
She dropped her gaze briefly, unable to meet the intensity in his eyes. “Last night was magical.” She met his gaze. “But our lives are too different. Your place is here. You love this town. You love the people of this town and it wouldn’t run without you. My life is out there.” She flicked her hand toward the window. “Touring, hotels, arenas, crowds and big cities. Jake, you would hate that.”
It was only for a moment, but she saw it on his face. He knew she was right. A valley of sorrow carved through her heart. But what had she expected? He’d leave his home, his family, his work, his life and trail around after her, being miserable?
“But—”
She placed two fingers on his lips. It was a mistake. A mistake to touch his sexy mouth. She pulled her hand away.
“Don’t,” she said. “You know I’m right. I can’t leave my life, just like you can’t leave yours. If either of us makes the sacrifice to be in the other’s world, it would end in resentment. I couldn’t live with that and neither could you.” Jake would end up the same as her mother. Hating her for wrecking his life just by being herself.
“So you’re not even willing to try?” His stark words hollowed out her belly. “To give us a chance?” His tone was angry, but she could already hear the resignation in his voice. He knew that she was right. Fresh tears stung the corners of her eyes, threatening to engulf her.
“Sometimes, things are just not meant to be.” Only the years of vocal training enabled her to keep her voice firm and even. How had this happened? How had events conspired to make her walk away from Jake all over again?
She kissed him lightly and for the last time. Her body quivered as though every cell was weeping shuddering, aching tears, but this was the only way. Striding out the door, she hopped into her rental car. The engine started on the first try and she pulled out onto the street. She gripped the wheel tight, forcing herself to put distance between her and Jake. To stop herself from begging him to come with her. She blinked away the blur from her eyes. Being together would lead to Jake’s ruination. She cared too much about him to drag him down that road.
Staring straight ahead, she drove out of town, leaving Turtle Beach behind forever. Leaving her awful history behind forever. Leaving Jake behind forever.
CHAPTER TEN
Giselle stood at the massive floor-to-ceiling windows. The view over Sydney harbor was spectacular from her hotel suite. The brilliant pearly-white sails of the Opera House glistened in the summer heat. Boats of all shapes and sizes and colors cruised over the sparkling water. But the stunning view did nothing to lift her mood.
Since she’d driven away from Turtle Beach, her body and mind had felt stripped of energy. She couldn’t think about Jake and what had happened. Whenever his gorgeous face floated into her mind, she forced it away. There was no point in torturing herself because there was no compromise that would make their relationship work. She needed to leave and that was that.
She tapped the glass with her nails. There was nothing left for her in Australia now. It was time to get back to her life. Back to her destiny. She had an amazing life. Love didn’t have to be part of it. But her heart ached.
Her mobile phone buzzed. She snatched it up, relieved by the distraction. It was Tony.
Please be good news.
She answered.
“It’s over,” he said.
“What? The scandal? The tape?”
“Yes,” her agent confirmed.
She expelled a long breath. Her muscles eased for the first time in days.
“The tape’s been proved a fake and the police have traced the guy w
ho made it and the person behind it,” he said.
“Behind it? Who was behind it?”
“Brace yourself. It was Tara Parry.”
Giselle nearly dropped the phone. “No. It couldn’t be.” Tara Parry was the darling of the American pop world. “Why would she want to ruin me? I met her at the American Music Awards. She seemed nice. And normal.”
“You really must have made it if Tara went to such efforts to damage your reputation.”
“I just can’t believe it.”
“Jealousy will drive people to do terrible things.”
Didn’t she know it? She didn’t have to be a therapist to understand that was at the heart of her mother’s relationship with her. First she’d been born and was the apple of her father’s eye. Then she’d inherited her mother’s talent, only enhanced. Her mother knew Giselle would outshine her and had attempted to crush her. But she hadn’t succeeded. Giselle had escaped.
“Now every chat show in America wants to book you and the ticket sales have gone crazy. So, get your butt over here to LA.”
“I’ll fly out tonight. See you in a few days.”
She dropped the phone into her bag and waited for the heavy weight of dread to lift from her shoulders. But the elation didn’t come. No buzz. No excitement. She should have been dancing around the room. Nothing would stop her topping the music charts in the US now.
The hotel phone rang.
That’s weird. No one knew she was staying at the Four Seasons and she hadn’t ordered any room service.
She picked up the handset. “Hello.”
“Sorry to bother you, Ms. Harrington. But we have Sasha Carlton in reception. She knows the password.”
Giselle gripped the phone a little tighter. What on earth was Sasha doing here?
“Ah. Please, send her up.”
“Certainly. Thank you, Ms. Harrington.”
A few minutes later, Giselle opened the door. Sasha stormed in without a hello. The light salad Giselle had eaten for lunch now felt like concrete in her belly.
“This is a surprise,” Giselle said, shutting the door. “Great to see you, Sasha. Though I have to ask, how did you find me?”
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