What the Heart Takes

by Kelli McCracken

  The last cup crashed into the dishes below. Faith spun around, gripping the sink behind her. “Layne was mine before he was ever yours.”

  Heaven crossed the room to the spot where her sister stood. Day-old garlic penetrated her nose, but she didn’t bother looking in the sink. She kept her eyes locked with her sister, enjoying the fact that she could burst her self-absorbed bubble with just a short explanation.

  “Layne’s never been yours, Faith. He’s been mine since the day he was born. I’m the reason he was born.” It only took one eye roll from Faith and one attempted step to the side before Heaven pushed her back against the sink. “I will not stand by and let you make him your punching bag. Haven’t you hurt him enough?”

  “Layne checked out of our relationship before I ever cheated on him. Do you even realize how long he’s wanted you?”

  As usual, Faith wanted to point the finger at someone else. She never took blame for anything, least of all her mistakes. “It’s not like that, Faith. He’s been drawn to me since the beginning. He’s my Keeper. You said you understood what that meant.”

  “I do, but I also know that it can be a burden as much as blessing. Do you know that I believe my guy is my Keeper?”

  “You do?”

  When Faith nodded, Heaven gave her some breathing room. She moved to the counter near the opening to the dining area and watched her sister caress her belly. “The first time we were together, he told me how he’d been resisting the urge to be with me. He said he’d gone to great lengths to make sure we weren’t alone together, but that night, there was nothing stopping us…and it was amazing. I’ve always enjoyed sex. A lot. But with him…” She struggled with the words as she gazed off. “It wasn’t about the sensations in my body. It was those sensations mixed with this greater sensation in my soul. Later that night, he told me how he felt the need to protect me. I didn’t understand what he meant until I found out about Keepers.”

  “You really do love him, don’t you?”

  Shrugging her shoulders, Faith pushed away the passion swelling in her heart, the first ounce of passion Heaven sensed in her. “Like it matters now. It’s over. I have nothing and no one, other than this child. You’ll have to forgive me for not giving a shit about Layne’s feelings. I have my own wounds to lick.”

  Every time Heaven felt compassion for her sister, Faith opened her mouth and ruined it. It was hard to be sympathetic to someone who spoke such vile, hurtful words. “Maybe if you had told Mr. X when you first found out you were pregnant, he wouldn’t have gotten the girlfriend pregnant. You two would have been together, getting ready for this baby. Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

  “I didn’t know he was going to leave her for me. When I first arrived in New York, I didn’t know if I’d see him again.” Faith cradled her abdomen as the painful memories pulled at her heart. An emotional battle wavered in her energy, making it harder for her to speak. “It wasn’t until we started spending time together that I realized I loved him. I wanted to make sure he would leave his girlfriend because he wanted to be with me, not because he felt obligated. Guess obligation won out anyway.”

  Though Heaven sensed how strong Faith was trying to be, she also sensed how much her sister ached for this man. Nothing removed him from her thoughts. That would only get worse once their child arrived.

  “Don’t you realize that there isn’t always a perfect time to tell someone this sort of thing? You should have let him know the second you confirmed your pregnancy. Now you’re paying the price.”

  As was Layne.

  The thrum of his energy had finally eased. She hoped it meant he’d passed out. It wouldn’t solve his heartache, but it would be a few hours that he didn’t have to stress over the situation. He shouldn’t have to stress over it anyway. Just the thought had her burning mad.

  “You know what’s really sad is that everyone’s paying for your mistake, including my Keeper.”

  Faith did her infamous eye roll, following it up with a hair flip as she leaned her elbows back onto the counter. “I didn’t ask him to get involved with this. Hell, I tried to set him free. He’s the one that’s been in my face demanding answers and a paternity test. He’s going to make the rest of my pregnancy miserable.”

  She deserved to be miserable. The life inside her did not. “It seems that Delia has saved you from your dilemma. My mother-in-law has the gift of intuition. She sensed that the baby wasn’t his and confirmed it with a tarot reading. Layne won’t be a problem for you.”

  “I tried to tell him it wasn’t his baby. He and I weren’t even having sex when I got pregnant. That’s when I was seeing—um, let’s stick with Mr. X.”

  “Doesn’t change the fact that you hurt him, Faith.”

  “Oh bullshit.” Her sister pushed away from the counter and punched her hips with her fists. “You can’t hurt someone who doesn’t want you. I know when a man wants a woman, Heaven. I’ve spent years playing the game. Layne never wanted me. It’s always been you.”

  Heaven refused to listen to the nonsense spilling from her sister’s tainted lips. She wouldn’t allow her to stir up emotions over a pack of lies. Faith would continue to cause havoc. It was in her nature to do so, but Heaven could limit what she let bother her. Feeding into Faith’s jabs would only give her the ammunition she needed to inflict pain.

  Yet the more she ignored her sister’s comments, the more Faith insisted on getting under her skin. “Here’s a little news flash about Saint Layne. Once when we were having sex, he groaned a name against my neck. But it wasn’t mine, and to be honest, it wasn’t the last time he said your name when he came.”

  “You have no shame, do you?”

  Her sister shrugged, though she did little to remove the smugness from her face. “Well, it’s true. I noticed a pattern after a while. The sex was phenomenal when he was pretending I was you.”

  “You’re such a li—”

  Bam-bam-bam!

  The knock on the door startled Faith as much as it did Heaven. Her sister spun toward the opening as she clutched the counter in front of her. She looked panicked. No, more than that. Her wide eyes and gaped mouth coincided with the fear rushing through her energy. She wasn’t scared. She was terrified.

  Another round of knocking ensued, causing Faith to step away from the counter. She edged toward the back of the kitchen as if to escape the person determined to get their attention. But before Heaven could ask what was wrong, a voice resonated from the other side.

  “Faith, it’s Dylan. Is Heaven in there?”

  “Yes, Dylan. I’m in here,” Heaven called back, checking on Faith once more before she moved toward the living room. Her sister’s features had softened, but she still remained on edge. She clung to the wall near the back door, ready to use it as an escape route should the need arise.

  Shaking her head at the odd behavior, Heaven continued into the other room. Dylan opened the door. He rushed inside, heading straight to her the minute he laid eyes on her. Warm arms encompassed her waist as he pulled her close, releasing a heavy sigh that ruffled her hair.

  “Thank God you’re in here. I was getting worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, shivering when his damp clothes cooled her skin. Thanks to her sister’s drama, she’d nearly forgotten about the rain. “After I checked on Layne, I had to come talk to my sister. Did my parents tell you anything?”

  Dylan’s eyes moved into the kitchen, landing on her sister when they did. His mouth fell open as he nodded his head. “Wow,” he mumbled. “Okay then, I um…” he met her eyes again, hesitating on whatever it was he wanted to say.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. I went to check on you to see if everything was okay when I noticed the car pulling out. I couldn’t see inside, so I ran to the cottage to see what was going on. No one was there.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, biting back the acidic taste rising up her throat. “Layne is there. He’s holed up in his room.”


  “No, he’s not, Heaven. He was inside the car. I thought maybe you went with him at first, especially when I found this.”

  He broke their embrace and reached around to his back pocket. Pulling something out, he brought his hand forward and placed a paper-thin item inside her palm. Once he pulled away, she gazed down to her hand. A tarot card stared back at her, and not just any card, the one Layne had been holding. His energy remained on the compressed paper.

  Letting her eyes wander over the image, she noticed a heart pierced by three swords. The dismal image seemed to whisper words to her soul—words of heartache, pain, and suffering. Each one described Layne’s current state of mind. She flipped it over to look at the back when she found a message in permanent marker.

  Guess you’re not the only one who can take off for Cleveland. Was going to tell you, but I figured this note would suffice.

  ~L

  “Damn it,” she mumbled, lifting her eyes to her husband. “He shouldn’t be out there alone, Dylan. We still don’t know if anyone’s looking for us. What if someone sees him? Worse, what if has a wreck? He’s been drinking.”

  “Heaven, he’s a grown man—”

  “He’s my Keeper. I have to help him.” She watched him fight with the anger brewing inside him. He didn’t want to look for Layne, mainly because he feared what he would do to his friend when they found him. Yet he hadn’t forgotten the promise he made to her, the promise he intended to keep.

  “Even if we go looking for him, there’s no guarantee we will find him in Cleveland. It’s a decent-sized city. We wouldn’t even get there until midnight.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if we didn’t get there until three in the morning. We have to go. And don’t worry about how to find him. I can sense his energy, Dylan. All we have to do is narrow down his location.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  “Easy,” she assured him, digging her phone out of her pocket. “All we have to do is use the GPS signal on his phone.”

  * * *

  A collection of raindrops gathered on the windshield of Heaven’s mother’s car. The nearby fluorescent lights hit each drop just right, giving it a kaleidoscope effect. At least it did for a few minutes. The wipers swished across the glass, removing the rain from their view.

  Staring at the neon sign across the road, Heaven read the bright blue words to herself. The Last Resort. What a name for a bar, but that’s what it was, nonetheless. She wasn’t surprised to find Layne somewhere drinking, or that it would be at one of the busiest bars in the city—a bar that was notorious for having fights break out every night. As frustrated as he was, he’d be the one starting one tonight.

  Her stomach did a somersault, causing the baby to kick. She caressed the tiny ball that formed above her navel, a tiny ball she assumed to be her child’s foot or elbow. Slow, deep breaths helped her steady her heartbeat from the stress of the evening. It did little to help relieve the stress of knowing she had to go inside a bar at eight months pregnant to get her Keeper.

  As she played with one of the buttons on her coat, she fought with her anger, trying not to let it rule her head. The fact that Layne took off without a word upset her, but not as much as knowing she was the reason. It wasn’t Faith or the baby. It was her, his duty to her, and the connection that came along with it.

  The pull of Dylan’s energy had her gazing across the car to the driver’s seat where he sat facing the bar. He stole a glance at her a second later, pressing his lips in a thin line. He wasn’t happy that they were out looking for Layne either, yet he felt as guilty as she did. It was his decision to leave Layne in the dark about their trip. This stint was the repercussion of that choice.

  “God, I know this place. A bunch of us stopped in one night after a show.” He flashed his eyes back to the building and then to her once more. “What are my chances of convincing you to stay here while I go get him?”

  “I think you know the answer to that. He’s upset with both of us. If you go in there by yourself, he’ll just leave. Then we’ll have to track him down again. Besides, wouldn’t I be safer with you than sitting alone in a car?”

  His eyes closed. He nodded a moment later and released his grip on the steering wheel. “This is why I have such a hard time with him. He won’t listen and he won’t think before he acts. He just does what he wants and worries about the fallout later. He always has, but it’s your life at stake this time, not his selfish needs.”

  “You have a point, Dylan, but remember, you haven’t been accepting of him and our connection. This is his way of reacting to it. Please, remember that when you deal with him. Underneath the tough exterior is a man who has a big heart. My sister has crushed it, twice. We’re his closest friends. We have to be there for him.”

  He tightened his jaw before blowing out a breath. As much as he didn’t want to let go of his anger, he did so for her sake. “Know one thing. Your safety comes first. I will risk everything to keep you safe, including my life. But I made you a promise. I’m keeping it this time. If that means we go in there and drag him out by his hair, then that’s what we’ll do. Just say the word.”

  An image of Dylan dragging Layne by his hair ran through her mind. She couldn’t contain the chuckle that left her chest or the happiness in her heart when he smiled at her. He zipped up his jacket and opened the driver’s side door afterward, and that’s where they left the conversation. Nothing more needed to be said that couldn’t be felt, or expressed with a kiss. A kiss is exactly what he gave her the minute he opened her door and helped her out.

  As they crossed the street, she searched her surroundings. Most of the businesses were closed, except for a few other bars on the strip and a café on the corner. They passed an alley as they drew closer to the building. Their steps fell in rhythm with the beats pouring from the bar, beats that could be nothing other than a live band.

  “Great,” he whispered. The steam of his breath blew around them as they reached the door. “Live music in a place like this is usually a recipe for disaster.”

  “Which is all the more reason to find Layne and leave before something starts. This place is notorious for drunken brawls.” She didn’t doubt it’s the reason Layne chose it, especially if he’d been here before. With the amount of rage flowing in his energy, he wanted someone to pick a fight with. It would give him an excuse to unleash his fury. Not that he needed an excuse.

  Once she stepped inside the door, the music blared in her ears. Guitar riffs accompanied the sultry beat of a song she swore she knew. She couldn’t think about which one when finding Layne in the sea of bodies promised to be a challenge.

  Dylan remained less than a foot away as they maneuvered through the people. Most were so drunk that they barely knew they were there, much less anyone else. The band performing caught her attention for a brief second. The dim lighting made it difficult to see who they were, though she’d like to know if it was one of the bands she and her sisters went to see during their junior year of college. Maybe that’s why the song sounded familiar.

  Inch by crowded inch they moved about the bar, dodging carefree patrons, high on life and liquor. One man came close to elbowing her belly when they passed by. Luckily, Dylan was on alert. He curled his arms around her, pulling her out of the way as the guy stumbled back into the bar.

  “Are you guys okay?” He had to yell the question over the music, but the caress of his hands said enough. He was worried and not the least bit afraid to tear someone apart if they hurt her or the baby.

  Squeezing the arm that held her close, she nodded her head and pulled him forward. The last remaining section of the bar was the far left corner, not far from the stage. A few tables were spread sporadically around the area. Some had people; some didn’t. Some were lined with empty glasses and beer bottles. Most of the patrons were out on the floor, rocking to the music. She wanted to do the same, wanted to shake her hips each time she heard the bass drum.

  When they made it to the last table, disappoint
ment welled in her heart, along with fear. Layne was nowhere in sight, even though she felt his energy as if he were standing beside her. Each anger-filled vibe increased with the tempo of the song—and the riffs—and the beats.

  The heat of Dylan’s body drew her attention back to him. He gazed over the dance floor, his eyes roaming the faces in the crowd, lingering on none. He had enough time to take another sweep before he leaned over her shoulder, near her ear. “Are you sure he’s here?”

  “Yes,” she yelled, still looking at the crowd. She hadn’t given up on finding him. He was there. Close—really close.

  She concentrated on the pull of his energy, allowing her soul to guide her to his. Strangely, she kept facing the front of the crowd. Finding him there wouldn’t be a surprise. Nothing but women lined the edge, dressed in low-cut shirts and skirts so short they made Faith’s attire look like her Sunday best. If Layne needed a distraction from his problems, she didn’t doubt one of the women would be more than happy to help him.

  Why were there so many people on the dance floor? The band wasn’t all that great. They weren’t particularly horrible either, but nothing comparable to Sliders, which would have this place more than crowded. It would be packed. This band wasn’t as good as Dylan’s band, not even close, yet the crowd couldn’t get enough. If people looked better after drinking, did music sound better too?

  A rush of heat spiraled around her, tempting her toward the crowd. The urge was so overpowering she couldn’t help but take a step forward. It wasn’t until Dylan’s hands warmed her shoulders that she stopped.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know,” she shouted. “I feel him, Dylan. Layne’s close.” Her throat stung from all the yelling. She’d be hoarse by the time they left.

  Giving the crowd one last scan, a sense of frustration had her fighting the urge to scream, sore throat or not. Where the hell was her Keeper?

  As the guitar broke off for a solo, her eyes drifted to the stage, wishing she could be on it. She’d have the best view of the bar, would be able to see every face as they stared at the band with eager eyes.