The Truth Between Us

by Tammy L. Gray

  Moving quickly, April snatched Beck’s jacket and hauled him off to the corner before Sean could beat her to him.

  “Were you part of this conspiracy too?” She let go the minute they were alone, mostly because her hands were trembling and she didn’t want him to see.

  “No, but it’s sure been fun to watch you squirm.”

  “I’m not squirming. I’m fishing. It’s always good to know who’s likely to shove a knife in my back.”

  “Is that what you’re calling it? Interesting.”

  “What’s interesting?” She narrowed her eyes knowing she wouldn’t like his answer.

  “Just that you’re awful spun up for someone who isn’t supposed to care.” His gaze shifted to Sean and back to her. “Then again, Sean has always been your weakness.”

  “Not any more. His coming back doesn’t change a thing.”

  “You might want to tell your face that, especially since we have an incoming.”

  April turned and like Beck, smiled brightly as his mom approached.

  Like most of the people in attendance, Anne Marie was stylish in her white lace blouse, gray ankle length slacks and nude leather sandals. The difference with her was that she didn’t possess an ounce of snobbery, despite her husband’s wealth and position.

  “Well, you kids must be thrilled. I had no idea Sean was back in town.” She wrapped a slim arm around her son who’d outgrown her years ago. She and Beck shared the same warm brown eyes, though Beck’s were currently mocking April with his brow to the ceiling.

  “Yes. We’re all very happy to have him home.” Lying came easy, but it didn’t feel good. Not with Anne Marie. The woman had always treated April like a daughter, even after her parents had relocated to Houston and severed all ties they’d once had to Bentwood. Harold and Anne Marie included.

  She eased forward with a mother’s intuition. “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

  “I really am fine. I knew he was coming back.” This time, the lie came without remorse. “We’re perfectly able to coexist.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Satisfied, Anne Marie squeezed her hand and continued on.

  When his mom was out of hearing range, Beck chuckled. “Careful Pinocchio. Your nose is actually growing as we speak.”

  “Shut up.”

  That only made him laugh harder. Jerk.

  April stalked away before she let Beck’s taunting get under her skin and checked her watch. Perfect. Enough time had passed to leave without suspicion. Now all she had to do was grab her things, and this terrible, fiasco of a morning would be over.

  Her silk clutch lay right where she’d left it, and as she approached the edge of the table, the pulse of escape made her legs tremble.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way between us,” Sean said from behind, his body becoming a mold of hers. The heat of his skin seared through her clothes as the hard line of his chest pressed against her back. Fingers slipped through hers. Warm and calloused from years of weight training. “We don’t have to be enemies.”

  In the past, she would have leaned back, let him wrap his arms around her, let his lips brush the skin on her neck. For three years he taught her the beauty of affection, something her mother had never once shown her. He made her trust him. Made her love him. It was the darkest kind of cruelty.

  Stiffening, she turned her head, ice on her breath. “Enemies would imply strong feelings of disdain and dislike between us—but I feel absolutely nothing for you.” His eyes bore into hers, searching for a lie. But her words were true. She felt gutted, hollow, a walking tomb. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re strangers. Nothing more.”

  To her relief, he was the one to let go and back away. She didn’t know what he’d expected to find when he returned, but the girl who’d followed him into the water with a leap of faith was long gone.

  She’d drowned ten months ago, held under by his own hand.

  Chapter 8

  The faded leather couch in her living room was one of the few places Caroline found peace. But even its cozy cocoon had yet to take away the aftermath of her tension-filled morning. She would never let Ty talk her into attending a Sunday brunch, ever again. The event had been nothing but drama and angst and model-thin dates in short, skintight dresses.

  Her groan echoed through the room. “Say no, Caroline. It’s simple, a two-letter word, one syllable, that’s all. No. No. No. See? That shouldn’t be so hard?” She groaned again.

  At least her discomfort all morning seemed less severe than some of the other victims at her table. She’d never forget the look on April’s face when Sean approached… she shuddered at the memory. If torment had an expression, she’d seen it displayed in full color. April wasn’t the kind of girl you pitied—she was too aggressive, too confident to ever dare—but for those thirty long seconds, she’d looked almost… broken. Lost to an unbearable, invisible pain. And it was that heartbreaking look that Caroline couldn’t seem to shake from her memory. For the first time since meeting April, she began to think they might have something in common.

  Her phone buzzed on the coffee table and dread immediately wove its way around every muscle in her back. She peeked a glance at the lit screen, refusing to pick it up.

  Another number she didn’t recognize.

  The second one she’d received today. There were three yesterday. All from an Austin area code.

  The device continued to clatter against the wood, incessant, like a woodpecker stripping away at her fortified shell. Finally, the buzzing stilled, the screen going dark. Hands trembling, she picked up the phone and blocked the number, half expecting the keys to burn at the touch.

  A deep breath in. A long exhale. A silent prayer to be released from the fear.

  Peace came slowly, letting reason break through the haze.

  The multiple unknown calls were very likely a coincidence. She’d just bought her condo, and filled out more paperwork than a bill before congress. A telemarketer getting her information and selling it was a perfectly logical answer.

  She wouldn’t change her number just yet.

  A knot still lodged in her throat, Caroline stood and tossed the phone as far away as she could without breaking it. Coincidence or not, her debilitating reaction meant one clear thing. The luxury of avoiding the security issue had passed.

  She’d moved to Bentwood to stop living in fear and she wouldn’t allow it to ever rule her again, especially when she’d purchased this condo solely because of the twenty-four hour guard and limited access. Yet, more than once, the so-called security had let Ty back to her apartment without checking with her. And the excuse that Ty was Journey’s fiancé and here all the time, didn’t cut it either. A standard had to be maintained. The guards should never flippantly allow guests to pass without scrutiny, especially when she paid hundreds of dollars a month in condo fees for that very protection.

  Problem was, she’d approached the head of security three times already and chickened out every time. Chester was too big, too powerful and he watched her with keen eyes that made her stutter and tell him, “never mind,” before rushing away.

  She stared at her abandoned phone again and felt a new surge of adrenaline. She feared Jeremiah more than Chester. End of story.

  Armed with determination, she pulled open her door and yelped, shocked to find a girl standing in her pathway. Hair in a ponytail and clothed in a spaghetti strapped tank top, she was barely recognizable. “April?” Caroline had never really noticed how soft April’s features were. A gentle slope of her nose, long black eyelashes and plump lips that were rarely seen not pressed in an annoyed line.

  Her head tilted. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Because she looked far too… small. April was a walking tornado in four-inch heels. She’d click into a room, insult at least one person, and leave a lingering scent of Christian Louboutin in her wake.

  When Caroline continued to stare, April rolled her eyes. “Okay fine, let’s not pretend you didn’t
witness what happened at brunch today. I tried to stay at work, only I nearly took off the head of one of the partners. Not good. Then I tried the gym, only my favorite treadmill was occupied. I don’t know when Journey will be home and since I know myself and my temper a little too well, I have no other choice than to come here.”

  As usual, April had an uncanny way of putting things. In other words, Caroline was her least desirable option. “You want to hang at my place?” It wasn’t meant to be an invitation, yet April’s lips perked upward.

  “Sure.” She went to move past the threshold, but Caroline blocked her entry. To her surprise, they were almost the same height. At five one, she was used to looking up to everyone. Her equality with April gave her an extra dose of boldness.

  Caroline held up her finger. “A few rules first.” April crossed her arms like a petulant teenager. “You will leave all your snarky right here, on my doorstep. No passive aggressive comments. No judgmental eyebrow raising.” April immediately lowered her brow. “Not everyone lives like they own a museum. I like my chaos. It’s mine.” Caroline waited, the sting of April handing her housekeeper’s card over still fresh in her mind. “Okay?”

  April shrugged. “Fine.”

  Victorious adrenaline ran through her blood, and Caroline moved aside to let her pass. She was getting stronger. Finding that willful side of herself again.

  “Wow, it’s even messier than last time.” April stepped over two pairs of abandoned shoes. “How does this not bother you?”

  “I don’t know. It just doesn’t.” Caroline kept the real answer to herself. That for two years she’d lived in pristine neatness, and now every speck of dust, every sock under the couch or dish in the sink felt like it’s own rebellion. “How do you live in a space devoid of any warmth?”

  She’d only been to April’s condo once, and it reeked of bleach and discontentment.

  “I wear sweaters,” she answered curtly, and Caroline found herself smiling. Despite all reason, she liked April and found her oddly intriguing.

  April trekked around the living room, stopping at the framed picture on the mantle. One of Caroline’s favorites. “This girl looks familiar. Who is she?”

  “My sister.” A deep sense of homesickness wove through her. Angie was her best friend and the weekly phone calls were hardly enough to satisfy. “But I can’t see how you would know each other. She lives south of Lubbock and hasn’t been to Bentwood since we were kids.” Caroline had asked her entire family to wait six months before coming out. Jeremiah was shrewd and calculating. Watching her family’s movements was absolutely something he would do to track her.

  April brought the picture closer and ran a finger over the glass. “Weird. It’s the eyes. I swear I know those eyes.” She set down the frame and continued her perusal around the space. “Where did you find all this stuff?” she asked, lifting a porcelain lighthouse and turning it over to check the bottom. “Your entire condo looks like it came from various garage sales.”

  Embarrassment stabbed at her. April was right. She’d traded high-end wood furnishings for particle board and used upholstery.

  “I’m sure what you meant to say was, ‘I really like how you decorated this place, Caroline. It’s very eclectic, like you.’”

  “Are you giving me etiquette lessons?”

  “No, I’m trying to retrain your thinking. Affirmation doesn’t seem to be in your wheelhouse, and frankly, I think people have let you get away with being cruel for way too long.”

  “What I said wasn’t cruel.” The surprise in her voice would have validated her innocence if there hadn’t been a smirk on her face. “How am I to know you didn’t go for this look on purpose?”

  Caroline went to the couch, grabbed a pillow and stuffed it into her lap. “When you make biting comments to people without knowing their story, that’s when it’s cruel. Like when you handed me your housekeeper’s card the first time you came over.”

  She shrugged. “I thought I was being generous.”

  “You were insulting me without a clue as to my personal history. Judging someone solely from your worldview without considering one’s upbringing or their struggles can do far more damage than you realize.”

  “You seem to have come out unscathed.” A hint of respect layered the words but Caroline wasn’t going to let that stop her diatribe. She’d spent too long allowing others, specifically the twisted love of one man, dictate her worth.

  “Only because you don’t intimidate me. But to someone else, your words could annihilate their self-esteem. Words matter. And you often use them as a weapon.” She’d been in that war. Knew the kind of terror and manipulation that could come from the simplest of words. Never again. Only one thing truly defined her now—the unconditional love she found when she ran back into her Savior’s open arms.

  April paused as if strongly considering Caroline’s admonishment, though it would take a far closer relationship between the two of them for Caroline to even begin to explain the elements of her faith. Even with Ty, they still only tip toed around the edges.

  April sank into the couch, resting against the opposite side. “I was raised to speak candidly. To control an environment with my speech and body language. It was never my intent to hurt your feelings.”

  It wasn’t exactly an apology but she’d take it. “Thank you.”

  “You confound me,” April admitted, examining Caroline the way she had the multiple knick knacks on her shelves. “I rarely meet someone I can’t easily read.”

  Caroline shifted uncomfortably. “Maybe there’s nothing interesting about me?”

  “On the contrary. I find your situation highly intriguing. Like the fact that despite your young age and limited experience, Mr. Kinder hired you from outside the company for a high level position. He never does that. Based on your pictures, you obviously have a great relationship with your family, and yet you moved six hours away from all of them. To a city where you had no roots and no obvious draw.”

  April was far too perceptive and borderline nosy. “Working at Kinder Enterprises is a great opportunity. One I couldn’t turn down.”

  “I don’t doubt that. I’m wondering why you pursued the job in the first place.”

  To escape. To start over. To get away from an obsessive ex-boyfriend who’d already made two attempts on my life. But she didn’t say any of those things. Instead, she said, “I like a challenge. I would think you of all people would understand ambition and drive.”

  “So, you’re saying you and I are alike?”

  Caroline snorted. “Not even a little.”

  To her surprise, April flinched. “Now who’s doing the insulting?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  “Sure, you did. But it’s okay. I respect your candor.” She leaned down and pulled off her tennis shoes. “Since Journey’s engagement, everyone has been treating me like a broken doll and it’s annoying. I’m not weak, nor do I need emotional babysitting.”

  “Noted.” Caroline snuggled back into the armrest on the couch. “So since girl talk and deep emotional psychoanalyzing isn’t what you came for, what do you want to do?”

  “I don’t mind emotional psychoanalyzing. Just not mine.” She grinned. “Like for instance, I am quite curious about what is going on between you and Beck.”

  His name made Caroline freeze and worse, she knew by April’s growing smile that her expression had given far too much away. “I work for his father.”

  “And?”

  “And that’s it. Nothing could ever happen between us.” He reminded her too much of Jeremiah—beautiful and confident and her body reacted to him in ways that terrified her. She didn’t want butterflies and up and down emotions. Not again. She’d loved Jeremiah too much. So much that she’d excused his behavior for far longer than was sane. Beck had all the makings of another tortured love affair and she had no interest in driving down that road ever again.

  “So you’re telling me that you are attracted to him, but profes
sional decorum keeps you from pursuing anything?”

  “I’m telling you I feel nothing but respect for him… as a coworker. And now, since you started this whole bonding thing, why don’t you tell me what happened with Sean?” Though it was none of her business and she knew from April’s annoyed reaction, she’d get no juicy details, Caroline was curious about the guy. Ty had told her a lot about him and he seemed down to earth and funny. Basically, no one Caroline would have ever pictured with April.

  “Sean is my ex-fiancé. He left town and now he’s back. It’s awkward because we share the same friends, so until I can figure out a new normal, it is what it is.” The statement was made as a simple matter of fact, but Caroline knew from experience that no breakup was easy. Necessary or not.

  “I imagine it’s still very difficult.”

  April swallowed and Caroline respected her enough to drop the subject. She wouldn’t want her past poked anymore than April did.

  “So…” She twisted to grab the remote and clicked on the TV. “What do you like to watch?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t usually watch TV.”

  “Never?”

  “Not since…” her voice faded and she readjusted her focus to the screen. “Whatever, just not sports.”

  “Amen to that.” She clicked on the Food Network, watching some poor sap try and beat Bobby Flay. They never did, but it was still entertaining for some reason.

  “Can I ask you one more favor?” April kept her face locked on the screen. “Don’t mention my hiding out here to Ty, or anyone for that matter. They’ll read the wrong things into it.”

  Caroline watched her steadily. “That’s three times now you’ve asked me to do you a favor regarding your friends. First with Ty, then with Journey’s ring, and now whatever this is.”

  “Favors come with conditions. I get it.” Her eyes flashed something that looked a little like disappointment. “What do you want?”