Tempting

by Susan Mallery

  Katherine turned back to him. "Are you seeing her?"

  "No," he said flatly. "I would never cheat, and I'll never go back to Fiona. I just don't get it. Why her? Why would Dani think I was seeing her?"

  Katherine knew exactly why. Because that's what Fiona had told her.

  Her stomach twisted and she fought the need to vomit. How could she have lied to Dani like that? How could she have gotten in between Dani and Alex? She loved her son and if Dani made him happy…

  But the relationship was already over, she reminded herself. She hadn't really destroyed anything.

  A feeble attempt to pass the blame, to not accept responsibility.

  She told herself that the right thing to do was to confess her part in all this and ask for forgiveness. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Right now her world was already askew. Seeing disappointment in Alex's eyes, knowing she'd lowered herself to lying because of her own hurt feelings, was more than she could bear.

  "She thinks Fiona's pregnant," he said, his voice thick with disbelief. "What kind of crap is that?"

  "Maybe she is."

  He looked at her, then swore. "Pregnant? Fiona? She never wanted kids."

  Katherine blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about? She always said she wanted a family."

  "It was just talk," Alex told her. "I bought into it, too. But when we were married, every time I pressed her to get started on our family she had a reason we should wait. She didn't want children. So if she's pregnant now, it's got to be an accident."

  "Or a way to make trouble," Katherine murmured, wondering how far her former daughter-in-law would go to get Alex back. Would she get pregnant by another man and try to pass that child off as Alex's?

  "You really haven't slept with her recently?" she asked, then waved her hand. "Forget I'm your mother. I'm serious, Alex. Have you been seeing her at all?"

  He met her gaze. "No. The day I moved out of the house was the day I walked in on her with someone else. I didn't want you to know that- you're still friends with her. But that's what finally ended our marriage."

  Her heart tightened with pain. She ached for her child and what he'd gone through. Tears filled her eyes.

  "Oh, Alex."

  She walked over and hugged him.

  "You'll muss," he told her.

  "Screw that."

  He chuckled. "You're getting feisty. It's charming."

  "Oh, please. Don't treat me like I'm old and infirm. I'll get there soon enough."

  "You'll never be that."

  She stepped back and stared into his handsome face. How she loved this man. She'd loved the boy and every day her feelings had grown. She couldn't have loved him more if she'd given birth to him herself.

  That was her absolute truth, she reminded herself. That she loved her children completely. No one could take away the specialness of their bond-not without her letting them.

  "I have to tell you something," she said as the I tears once again burned. "I did something awful."

  He smiled at his mother. "Not you."

  "I'm serious. And I'm sorry. What I'm about to tell you could damage our relationship. I can't tell you how much I regret that. I was hurt and angry and I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted to hurt Dani. That was deeply wrong of me. I know that. I'm ashamed of myself. I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I hope that in time you won't hate me."

  Alex stared back at her. She knew he'd probably never seen her like this. His face reflected his unease.

  "Mom, it's okay," he told her. "Whatever it is, we'll fix it."

  "I can't fix this, but maybe you can." She swallowed. "Dani came to see me a couple of days ago. We went over the speech, or we tried to. She was upset about a lot of things, but mostly you. She told me Fiona had come to her and told her were still seeing each other. Fiona had information that seemed to only come from her having been in your house."

  Alex swore. "She's never been there. I haven’t had her over."

  "I know that, but there are other ways. She could have found out you had put in an offer the house and then gone to see it herself. Who knows? The point is she convinced Dani she was pregnant and that the child was yours."

  Katherine folded her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry. Feeble, feeble words. I've always prided myself on being a good person. It's a joke. All of it. I'm living a lie."

  "You're not." He grabbed her shoulders. "You're the best person I know."

  "I'm not. Oh, God. I'm so scared to tell you."

  She looked at him. Tears darkened her eyes. Her pain and regret was a tangible beast in the room.

  "There's nothing you can say to make me turn away from you," he told her, meaning every word.

  "You don't know that. Dani wanted to know if I thought it was possible you and Fiona were still seeing each other. I told her it was."

  He stepped back. Of all the Canfields, Dani most trusted Katherine. Hearing that from her would make it all the more real.

  "I know," Katherine said, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I know it was horrible and wrong and I have no excuse or explanation. I was hurt and I lashed out. I…" She turned away. "I'm sorry."

  He didn't think he could have been more shocked if she'd told him she'd murdered someone. Katherine didn't act out of anger or impulse. She wasn't deliberately cruel. He would never have guessed her capable of hurting Dani… or him.

  He didn't know what to think or say. While a part of him knew he had to find Dani and talk to her, explain the complexities that had conspired against them, the rest of him wrestled with the uncomfortable truth that his mother was not the saint he'd always believed.

  "Alex?" Her voice was a whimper. "I'm sorry."

  "I know," he told her, knowing being sorry wasn't going to fix anything.

  ***

  "This was a hard decision for me to make," Dani said earnestly, wondering if knowing she felt guilty would help. "You've been so great and I've loved working here. I really want to stay until you find someone else. I'm not leaving you short-staffed."

  Bernie shook his head. "You're worrying too much. We'll be fine. I have family I can guilt into working here temporarily." He grinned. "I learned from the best."

  "I adore your mother," she murmured, knowing she would miss hearing Mama Giuseppe's constant comments on everything from the weather to the state of the cannelloni.

  "She adores you. I'll bet you won't miss hearing about how perfect I am."

  Dani sighed. "If only you were a few years younger."

  He chuckled. "Or you were older." He put out his hand. "Go with God, Dani. You're taking a job with family. That's always the right decision. Give me a couple of weeks to start looking, but no longer. You need to start on the next chapter of your life."

  "You're being a lot nicer than I deserve."

  He shrugged. "I'm a nice guy."

  He was. Perfectly nice. Despite the age difference, she should have fallen for him instead of Alex. Bernie wouldn't cheat and lie and break her heart.

  She forced her mind away from thoughts of Alex because thinking about him was too painful.

  She shook hands with Bernie, then rose. "You're a good man. Thank you for everything."

  He released her hand and pointed to the door. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."

  She waved and left.

  She would miss Bella Roma, but working at Buchanan's felt right. She was grateful she'd made up her mind before finding out the truth about Alex. She didn't have to worry that her decision was too much like giving up and running home.

  A quick glance at her watch told her she had to leave right away or she would be late picking up Bailey for their shopping trip. She'd nearly made it to the back door when one of the wait-staff yelled for her.

  "Phone call. A guy. Alex somebody?"

  It was the first time she'd heard from him in four days. She hated that her first reaction was pleasure.

  How bad did it have to get before she was willing to s
ee him for the snake he was?

  "Tell him I've already left," she said.

  "Will do."

  Dani grabbed her cell phone and turned it off. There was nothing Alex could say to her that she wanted to hear.

  ***

  An hour and a half later, she was in an oversized dressing room with Bailey and laughing so hard she was afraid she was going to pee her pants.

  "Stop!" she insisted, as Bailey danced like a chicken in a seriously ugly, yellow tulle gown. "Stop, I swear, I'm too old. I'll collapse or something."

  "But it's so fluffy," Bailey said, actually doing a fair imitation of the horrible salesclerk "helping" them. "And the yellow is so perfect for my hair."

  Dani blinked away tears and sank onto the floor. "I give," she said. "This place is awful. We'll go to another store where they have pretty dresses."

  "But I want to be a chicken," Bailey insisted, her eyes twinkling with humor.

  "Sure you do. Oh, man, what was that woman thinking?"

  She'd brought in four dresses, each worse than the one before. One had been marked down three times and Dani wasn't surprised. Who would buy it?

  They'd been to other stores in the mall and nothing like this had happened. Was the salesclerk reacting to the fact that Bailey had Down's syndrome? Dani didn't want to think so, but she had a bad feeling that might be the problem.

  She reminded herself that people like that were stupid and had their own problems. Dani wasn't going to sweat it. She would simply get Bailey out of here and they would go somewhere else.

  Once Bailey was dressed and the awful gown was on the hanger, Dani led her out of the store.

  "So, I'm thinking we need some fuel to help with our search," Dani said. "How about a snack?"

  "Pretzels?" Bailey asked hopefully.

  "Pretzels it is."

  They went to the Auntie Anne's stand and each got a pretzel with a drink, then sat on a bench and ate. Dani listened to Bailey talk about her school.

  "I like reading better than math," Bailey told her. "Sometimes Alex comes over and helps me with my math. You know I'm in special classes, but I’m doing really well."

  "I'll bet you are. You study hard."

  "I do." Bailey smiled and tucked a long, red curl behind her ear. "I'm glad you're my sister. Mom explained about how we're sisters now."

  "I'm glad, too," Dani said. "I have three brothers, which means they're part of your family, too, right? Or are they. I can't keep it straight."

  "I can't, either.”

  Bailey snuggled close and leaned her head on Dani's shoulder. "You're nice. Fiona was never nice." She looked at Dani and covered her mouth. "I shouldn't say that.”

  "It's okay. I won't tell anyone you did."

  "Good." Bailey rested her head on her shoulder again. "She said mean stuff to me. Not when Alex was around. Sometimes she scared me. But I didn't want to say anything."

  What a bitch, Dani thought, furious with the other woman. What on earth could Alex have seen in her? To think he knew she cheated on him and he went back to her.

  Dani's stomach twisted at the thought. She wanted to tell herself to give him the benefit of the doubt-that there was a perfectly good explanation-but she couldn't. Not when Katherine had confirmed her worst fears. Once again her life was a nightmare.

  Well, not all of it, she thought as she stroked Bailey's head. Having a new sister was nice. Today was nice. That was how she was going to get through the pain-one moment at a time.

  They finished their pretzels and went into another store. Bailey found a pretty pale green dress that fit her perfectly. She turned back and forth in front of the mirror.

  "I love it."

  "You look like a princess"

  "Really?" Bailey beamed.

  "Uh-huh."

  Dani studied her. The dress was perfect- youthful without being childlike. The neckline was conservative, the bodice fitted, the skirt all floaty, and it twirled when Bailey spun.

  "It's a perfect party dress," Dani said. "Are you wearing your hair up?"

  "I think so. Mom said she knew how to pin it up and everything."

  They paid for the dress, bought a pair of matching shoes and made their way back to the car. It was later than Dani expected, and already dark. She held the packages in one hand and Bailey with the other as she led the way to her car.

  Suddenly three teenage boys stepped right in front of her.

  "Well, what have we got here?" one of the boys asked. He was the tallest of the three, dressed in jeans, an oversize T-shirt with an open flannel shirt on top. He stared at Dani. "I know you."

  "You don't," she said and started to move around them.

  Only they stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

  She stiffened, not sure what to do next. What did they want? They looked like regular suburban kids. Were they going to steal her purse? Hijack the car?

  The kid on the left frowned. "You're right. I've seen her picture."

  "She's the chick in the paper. The one sleeping with her brother." The guy on the left snickered. "You know. The daughter of that guy running for president."

  "Senator Canfield" Bailey said. "He's my dad. Now leave us alone."

  The boys hooted. "Look, J.P., the retard has balls. You got balls, honey? Can you understand me?"

  Concern for Bailey overwhelmed Dani's fear. She started moving toward the car.

  "I’m not retarded," Bailey said clearly, her head held high. "There's nothing wrong with me."

  "You look like there's something wrong with you." The guy on the left grabbed Dani's arm. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

  She jerked free. "To my car."

  "I don't think so. We're not done here."

  "Leave her alone," Bailey said fiercely. "We're not afraid of you."

  Dani wanted to disagree. She was plenty afraid. Now that the boys were closer, she saw their eyes were dilated. Great-they were high on something. So she wasn't dealing with rational attackers. Not that any attacker was good.

  She pushed the panic button on her key fob. Nothing happened. She must be too far from her car. If she could just get them closer, the loud noise might scare the kids away.

  She pushed forward a few steps. The boys continued to crowd around. J.P. pushed between her and Bailey.

  "People like you shouldn't be allowed to live," he said, his face inches from Bailey's. "They should drown you at birth, like deformed kittens."

  "You're nothing but a butthead," Bailey yelled and pushed him.

  Dani turned to get between them, but the other two teens grabbed her arms. She twisted and squirmed but couldn't break free.

  J.P. pushed back, his hands coming down on Bailey's chest.

  "Whoa, lookee here. The retard's got some curves on her." He reached for his belt. "Let's have a little fun with her. I'll go first." He smiled at Bailey. "I'll bet you're still a virgin, aren't you? You're going to like what I do to you."

  Dani lost it. In that moment, it was as if she were possessed by a rage and need to protect she'd never experienced before.

  "Get the fuck away from her," she screamed.

  She pulled free of her captors and started swinging her packages as if they were weapons. She shrieked as she cracked one of the kids in the head with the shoe box and kicked out at the second. J.P. swung toward her. His arm came up and before she could get out of the way, his right fist crashed into her face.

  Pain exploded. The impact of the blow sent her spinning into a support pole where she hit her head hard. There was a bright light, a blurring of sound, then what looked like a car racing toward them.

  "Help," Dani said weakly as she collapsed to the cement floor. "We need…"

  The world went black.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Dani woke up to find herself propped up against a pole in the parking garage. She knew exactly where she was and what had happened.

  "Bailey," she yelled.

  The strange man holding a flashlight in front of her
eyes smiled at her. "It's okay," he said. "Bailey's good. Nothing happened to her. You're the one who got hit. You're gonna have a black eye."

  "Great," Dani said, still looking for the teenager. Her face hurt, as did her head, but none of that mattered.

  There were a dozen or so people milling around. Several EMT workers, police officers and a few shoppers being kept at a distance. Dani continued to search the crowd until she saw Katherine and a young woman she didn't recognize holding Bailey.

  "She looks okay," Dani breathed in relief.

  "She's fine. Tough. Her mom said she was standing over you like a lioness, prepared to take on all those kids."

  "The boys got away, didn't they?" Dani asked, wanting them punished for what they'd tried to do to Bailey.

  "They'll be caught. We have good descriptions. Bailey was paying attention."

  Katherine looked up and caught Dani's gaze. She said something to Bailey and the other woman, then hurried over.

  "How is she?" she asked. "She hit her head."

  "Yes, ma'am. She looks good. We're going to transport her to the hospital to run a few tests, probably keep her overnight. But she's doing well right now. You want to sit with her a minute?"

  "Yes. Of course."

  Despite her pale wool slacks, Katherine sank onto the cement and took one of Dani's hands in hers.

  "My God," she breathed, as tears filled her eyes. "How can I ever thank you?"

  Dani sniffed. "Don't thank me. It's all my fault. Those damn boys recognized me from the paper. They started taunting me, then they noticed Bailey. They went after her. If they'd hurt her…"

  Katherine reached out and wiped away tears Dani hadn't even felt fall. "If they'd hurt her, there would be no place on this earth for them to hide. Alex would hunt them down and kill them, then I'd dig up their bodies and do it all over again."

  She spoke so fiercely that Dani believed every word.

  "It's not your fault," Katherine continued. “Please don't think that."

  "But they-"

  "Were assholes" She smiled slightly. "Don't let the press know I can talk like that, but I can, if necessary. Little bastards."