by Dena Blake
“I was hoping I’d see you here.” The familiar voice filled her ears as she stared out into the night sky, and she shuddered. Shay.
She didn’t turn around. “And I was hoping you wouldn’t come.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to move your things out so soon.” Shay’s voice faltered. “I had to see you. If only to say—”
“You’re sorry? Again?” She spun around and narrowed her eyes. Choked down the pain expanding in her heart.
“I am sorry, Chloe. I don’t know what else to say. What can I do to fix this?”
“Nothing. Just leave me alone.”
She moved around Shay and headed back inside. She had to go now, and the struggle to leave was about to begin. She touched Erica on the elbow. “I’m beat. Can we go?”
“You remember Jane and Allen?” She motioned to the couple in front of her. “They have a piece of your art.”
Fuck. She held out her hand and smiled. “Yes. Nice to see you again.”
They exchanged niceties and asked a few questions about her current work before she said, “I’m so sorry, but I did a lot of heavy lifting today, and I’m just wiped out.” She smiled. “I’d love to visit with you more. Are you coming to the next First Friday at the gallery?”
They both nodded eagerly. “Yes. We’ll definitely be there.”
“Okay. We’ll talk more then.” She turned and sped across the room. She’d grab a cab if she had to, but she was leaving now.
Erica caught up with her as she reached the door. “What are you doing? Those people love you.” Her voice was louder than necessary.
“That’s awesome, but I’m tired. I’m going home.” She needed time to recharge. Talking to strangers physically and mentally drained her. She’d also had too much wine, and seeing Shay had pushed her over the edge.
“You’re being rude.” Erica pulled her lips into a scowl.
“No, she’s not,” Shay said, suddenly right there beside her. “I can take you home.”
“Absolutely not.” Chloe swayed, trying to get her balance. Shay wrapped her arm around her waist to steady her. Chloe moved out of her grasp quickly and leaned against the wall. She couldn’t believe Shay was still trying after the conversation they’d just had.
Jackson appeared out of nowhere to save her, as he always did. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“God, no. This is your party, Jackson. Just call me a cab, please.”
He took his phone out of his pocket, and Erica stopped him from punching in the number. “No need.” Her voice softened. “I’ll take her.”
Conversation was sparse on the ride to the beach house, and Chloe dozed on and off. The mashed potatoes hadn’t helped absorb the alcohol. They’d hit her system too late to prevent the dizzy feeling brought on by too many glasses of wine.
She’d stripped off all her clothes except her panties on the way to the bedroom, then fell into the bed. When she felt Erica slide in and press up against her back, she knew what came next, but all she wanted was sleep. When Erica’s hand went to her breast and plucked at her nipple, she placed her hand on top of Erica’s and stopped the motion. Her message wasn’t received. Erica rolled her over and continued. She crawled on top of her and sucked the other nipple into her mouth. She wished her body wasn’t so sensitive, but it was, and it reacted fully. Even though all she wanted was comfort tonight, she didn’t stop her again.
* * *
The next morning, Shay sat in front of the beach house gripping the steering wheel as she gathered her courage. She flipped down the visor and looked at herself in the vanity mirror. Minimal makeup as usual, but more wouldn’t hide the dark circles. They made her amber eyes look dull, void of any life.
She hadn’t slept much last night. Chloe had known she’d be at Jackson’s party—it had been planned for over a month, and they’d been invited as a couple. She’d hoped to have an opportunity to talk to her, plead her case again. And she’d tried, but Chloe had immediately cut her off. She certainly hadn’t expected her to have brought Erica, who was an extra, an outsider who didn’t belong there. Yet Shay had been the one treated as an outsider, which had been incredibly hurtful. Not by Jackson or Whitney, but by Erica, and Chloe hadn’t prevented it. Her usual plus-one had chosen someone else as her escort last night.
What the fuck had she been thinking when she’d gotten involved with Lila? She’d made so many mistakes over the past year, and she didn’t know how to atone for them. Even if she could, she didn’t know if Chloe would forgive her. If last night was any indication, she might never. This was her last shot. She wasn’t willing to just walk away from what she had with Chloe without doing whatever she could to stop the divide between them.
She stood at the doorway debating whether to knock or let herself in. It was technically still their house. She’d socked away every extra penny she could for two years, so they could afford to buy it. The renovation hadn’t been easy, but Chloe had needed an inspirational place to create her art. Shay had done everything in her power to give it to her. It would soon be Chloe’s alone, unless Shay could convince her that she was worth a second chance. That they were worth a second chance.
The door was unlocked, so she pushed it open and walked slowly through the small entryway. “Chloe, you here?” No response. She wandered into the bedroom, thinking she might be still asleep. “I’d like to talk if you have some time.”
The bed wasn’t made, and she noticed a pile of clothes on the floor at the foot of it, a storage container in the corner. She picked up a few items. They were her clothes. What the fuck? She went to the closet and fingered through the clothes hanging in their place, recognizing them immediately.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” Chloe’s voice startled her, and she spun around.
The jolt she felt when Chloe’s startling blue eyes caught her reminded her that she was nowhere near being done with her. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head, and the skin peeking out from under the robe she was wearing was damp. Apparently, the hot tub they’d purchased last year was being put to good use.
“Clearly.” She motioned to her clothes on the floor. “Were you just going to jam all my stuff into that container and leave it out front with the rest of the trash?”
“No. I—”
“We were going to have them delivered to you.” Erica appeared out of nowhere and was standing in the doorway wearing a skimpy bikini while dabbing herself with a beach towel.
Shay’s neck heated, and the room shrank. Her ears rang, and she couldn’t catch her breath as her eyes flashed from Chloe to Erica and back again. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Oh yeah? Because it looks exactly like what I’ve been saying all along.” She turned her focus on Erica. “You certainly move quickly.”
“Jesus, Shay. We decided to split. Didn’t we? I wasn’t alone in that conversation, was I?” Chloe reached for her and she backed away. “I’m sure Lila will move in to the apartment to take my place just as quickly, if she hasn’t already.”
“She won’t move in. That was never the plan. I never in a million years thought she would replace you.” Her heart clenched. No one could ever do that. “Apparently you didn’t have the same sentiment about me.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead. “I’ve been such an idiot. I actually came here to ask you to reconsider for the billionth time. To forgive me for the awful things I’ve done.” She glanced at Erica. “Now I can see we’re even.” She pushed past her and raced out the door to her car, stopping only to yank off her wedding ring and slap it onto the entryway table.
She knew she wasn’t being rational, but she couldn’t believe this was happening after all they’d been through. That Chloe could remove her from her life so easily—from her heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fired the engine and took off down the street. The satisfied look on Erica’s face was burned into her mind. She’d never been so humiliated, and
it was her own fault. Trusting Chloe when she’d told her nothing was going on between her and Erica had been a huge mistake. For Chloe to bring Erica to the beach house Shay had bought for her, that they’d redesigned together, was so totally wrong.
Her mind was still whirling as the car spun and then came to a stop in the middle of the intersection. The light was green. She hadn’t seen it change to red, only felt the impact of the other car when it crashed into her. She gripped the steering wheel. She was okay. Then she heard the loud, blaring horn. She looked to her side and saw the dump truck speeding toward her, smoke billowing from the wheel wells. The smell of burned rubber filled her nostrils. She couldn’t move.
Chapter Two
When Chloe received the call from the hospital, she’d thought it was just a minor accident, possibly whiplash at the most. She’d had no idea how badly Shay had been hurt until she arrived. The nurses immediately pushed paperwork in front of her that required signatures. Then one of them spouted questions at her about drug allergies and current medications.
Her mind spun. “No. She’s not taking anything. Ibuprofen, maybe, for headaches.”
“Allergies?” the nurse asked again.
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. “Penicillin, I think.”
“That was on the card in her wallet. Anything else?” The nurse was persistent.
“No. Not that I know of. She’s never had any major sickness or accidents that she’s told me about.”
The clipboard rattled as the nurse slid it across the counter to another one, who immediately typed the information into the computer. “Come with me.” She led her to a secluded waiting room, where various people were sleeping in recliners or watching TV. “The doctor will come talk to you when the surgery is done.”
Surgery. The word echoed in her head. “What? Can’t I see her first?”
“Her leg is broken, and they’re going to repair it. She’s already on her way to the OR.”
“Repair? What does that mean?”
“Possibly a plate or rod and compression screws. They won’t know until they get in there.”
Oh my God. She felt like vomiting.
The nurse must have noticed because she went to the water machine, filled a cup, and brought it to her. “She’ll be fine. They do these all the time.”
She nodded as she took the cup and sipped the cool water. She poured a little into her hand and rubbed it across her neck, which seemed to help the nausea.
It felt like a full day had slipped by as Chloe sat waiting for the surgeon to come through the doors and tell her how the surgery had gone. When he finally had, she’d waited another hour before the nurse took her back to see Shay. Chloe thought she was going to pass out when she saw the cut on her forehead and the bruise on her cheek. She’d sucked in a deep breath and clutched the bed rail as they went up to her room in the elevator.
Now she sat next to Shay’s hospital bed watching her chest rise and fall in sync with the breathing machine. Relief had flooded through her when, a little over three hours ago, the doctor had told her everything had gone as expected and she would be coming out of the anesthesia soon. Not long after that, the nurse had come to get her and taken her back to be with Shay as they moved her to her room. On the way, Shay’s eyes had fluttered open, and she’d made contact with her. She’d held Shay’s hand, letting her know she was here. She was going to be okay. Shay was broken but still alive. Chloe had never been so relieved as she was at that moment.
Two months ago, Chloe’s world had exploded. One act that she’d wished she’d never discovered had decimated her whole relationship with Shay. It had pushed her into moving forward toward a new uncertain future with Erica, away from all the hurt she’d experienced with Shay. And now it had happened again. One careless action on her part had landed Shay in intensive care and thrown her life into chaos again.
The discussion they’d had a few days earlier whirled through her mind. It was more of a shouting match than a conversation. Everything that had happened over the past six months had come roaring back. The suggestive texts, the visions of Shay and Lila, and the lack of connection that had developed between them were at the forefront of her thoughts. She remembered it vividly and couldn’t possibly have tamed her temper. She’d poured it all out, hit Shay with both barrels, and Shay had done the same.
“It was a mistake.”
“One time is a mistake. You’ve been fucking her for months.”
“That’s all it was. I swear.”
Chloe shivered as the vision of Shay and Lila together in her office shot into her mind. “Fucking every chance you got.” Her head throbbed. “Fucking while I was downstairs waiting for you in the car.” Her voice faltered as she hauled in a deep breath. She held her tears. This was not going to turn into a pity party.
They’d been on the way to a gallery event, and Shay had said she’d needed to pick up her laptop from the office so she could finish some work later. After twenty minutes of waiting, Chloe had begun to worry and had gone into the building after her. The biggest mistake of her life.
“I’m so sorry.” Shay said.
“About the affair or that I caught you?”
“I didn’t know she was there.”
“But you took full advantage of the fact that she was.” The vision of Shay pushed up against the wall with Lila’s mouth on hers and her hand down her pants filled her thoughts. She hadn’t been able to erase it. Didn’t know if she ever could.
“No. That was all her. Everything was all her.” Shay rubbed her forehead as tears streamed down her face. “She convinced me that you were having an affair, that all the nights you spent at the gallery without me were with someone else.”
“Did you ever think of talking to me about it?” When had that gotten so difficult?
“I admit not talking to you was a huge mistake. She convinced me that you were moving on with your career and I wasn’t good enough for you anymore.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She lowered her voice and paced the apartment. “If anything, I needed you more.”
“I’m still here.” Shay moved closer, cupped her face in her hands.
Chloe swayed into her, and the tears rushed from her eyes. She knew she was weak. Shay had been the only woman she’d completely trusted, and they had never had any walls or borders between them. She’d loved her unconditionally.
Shay’s phone chimed, and she knew it was Lila. “And so is she.” She grabbed her bag and took off out the door.
Chloe hadn’t gone to the gallery event that night. She’d gone to the beach house instead and spent the next few hours sitting in the sand sobbing and staring at the ocean waves. The vacant beach lit only by a sliver of the moon made the loneliness hit her square in the chest. The love of her life had found someone else to fill her existence.
She hadn’t returned to their apartment after that. She’d gone to Jackson and Whitney’s apartment. They’d put her in the guest room and told her she could stay as long as she wanted. She’d successfully avoided Shay for days, until she’d finally found her at Jackson’s place. They’d talked, but that hadn’t done any good. Shay’s reasons for the affair were ridiculous, and even if they had made sense, the hurt was still enormously real. Many more conversations had followed after that, and Shay’s insistence on blaming everything on Lila had been the breaking point. That’s when Chloe had decided to move permanently to the beach house in Clearwater and leave Shay behind at the apartment in Tampa.
It wasn’t like she’d been innocent in the whole disaster. Chloe had been spending more and more time at the gallery, and the banter between her and Erica had gone way too far, but Chloe had never intended to do anything more than flirt. Shay had been the one to stray. Chloe had been devastated, emotionally wrecked when she found out about Shay’s affair. She still was, and she didn’t know how to get over it—whether she even wanted to.
When she’d gone to the gallery the next night, Erica was there. She’d been concern
ed that she hadn’t shown up for the event the night before and could tell something was wrong. Erica was compassionate, understanding, and loving that night. No wonder she’d fallen into her arms a month later. She’d needed to be held, understood, comforted, and Erica had assumed the role perfectly.
* * *
Chloe had just begun to doze off in the chair when she heard a commotion in the hallway. The door flew open, and Shay’s parents rushed into the room, followed closely by a nurse.
“Only two people can be in here at a time.”
“We’re her parents. We belong here.” Shay’s mother, Mary, was the type of woman who could give you a look and everyone would stop talking. Not this girl.
“That may be so, but you weren’t listed on the emergency card in her wallet.”
Shay’s mother halted and looked at Shay before she veered her stare to Chloe. “I suppose you’re listed on there?”
Chloe nodded. Thank God for Shay’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. She’d downloaded an emergency-contact card template from the American Red Cross and created one for each of them. She’d listed them each as one another’s main contact, with all their numbers, and added Chloe’s parents to them both. After that she’d had them laminated and insisted Chloe keep hers in her wallet, where it still remained.
Chloe had contacted Mary and Fred to let them know about the accident. It might not have been what Shay wanted, since she didn’t have the same loving relationship Chloe had with her parents, but even so, she thought they should know their daughter had been hurt.
“I’ll step out.” Fred dipped his chin at Chloe, then turned to the nurse. “Can you update me on her condition?”
