“Sunshine wants to have reporters and photographers at your wedding,” Hayes threw out there, and he got the responses he’d expected. Groans from Sunny and McCall. A “no way in hell” from Hadley. Em gave a sarcastic “Is that all?” followed by a humph.
“Of course, Sunshine intends to sell the coverage to the highest bidder and says she’ll take one hundred percent of the money in exchange for giving us back the rights to Little Cowgirls.”
Rights that Sunshine owned because of the way she’d originally set up the contracts for the show. Over the years, Sunshine had tried to shop the reruns around, but she hadn’t gotten any takers for her asking price. Still, there was always the threat that someone would bite, and that’s why Hayes had tried to buy them himself. His mother had refused. Maybe because she figured she could use them as a bargaining tool one day.
Like now.
His sisters exchanged glances, and Hayes could almost see thought bubbles over their heads. Little Cowgirls had basically played out the triplets’ every embarrassing moment for the sake of TV ratings, and provided plenty of emotional baggage. They wouldn’t want all that aired again, but they also didn’t want to open up their wedding to Sunshine and reporters.
“If we’re voting, I say no.” Hadley spoke up.
McCall, Sunny and Em all echoed that no. Again, it was what he’d expected, but now he had to tell them the rest.
“I told Sunshine that none of us would go for tabloid wedding coverage,” Hayes continued, “and that’s when she brought up Ivy.”
Silence. For a long time.
“What about Ivy?” Hadley finally asked.
She was the only one of his sisters who’d met Ivy, but apparently the name wasn’t unfamiliar to the others. There was no huh or blank looks. That meant either Hadley had talked about her or they’d read the tabloid stories about her.
Since there was a lot of misinformation in those stories, Hayes started with, “Ivy was a friend. My best friend,” he amended after he tamped down the damn lump in his throat. “Ivy suffered from depression, and she killed herself a couple of months ago.”
All three of his sisters reached out to put their hands over his. Until they did that, Hayes thought he’d been doing a good job keeping the emotion out of his voice and off his expression. Apparently not.
“Somehow, Sunshine got access to some of Ivy’s emails,” Hayes went on. “Personal, private emails that I know Ivy wouldn’t want published.”
Hadley cursed. “But that’s what the she-witch threatened to do.”
That brought on a chorus of groans but not one bit of surprise. Just the opposite. This was the kind of shit that Sunshine loved to spread around.
Hayes nodded. “I suspect Sunshine used a hacker to get to the emails,” he explained. “Ivy’s family could try to get a court order to stop her from using them, but Sunshine claims that Ivy shared them with her.”
“Bullshit,” Hadley concluded.
“Very deep, smelly bullshit,” he agreed. “Sunshine met Ivy. Or rather Sunshine arranged to run into Ivy, probably so our beloved mother could try to get some dirt that she could use to milk some money out of me.”
“What’s in the emails?” Sunny asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but Sunshine read me a couple of excerpts. In one of them, Ivy talks about killing herself. That’s true. Ivy sent me an email where she said that, and the moment I read it, I called Ivy and then went over to see her.” He paused. “Still, Sunshine can use the emails to make it seem as if I didn’t do anything to stop her from taking her own life.”
He had done something. But it hadn’t been nearly enough. Maybe one day he’d be able to look at himself in the mirror and not think of that. Maybe one day he’d forgive himself.
But it wouldn’t be today.
“Despite the emails and some of the articles that were printed about Ivy, I didn’t have anything to do with her death,” he went on. “I didn’t drive her to kill herself because I wouldn’t marry her or do whatever the hell else the tabloids say she wanted from me.”
“The story I saw said she killed herself because of her parents,” Hadley commented. “True?”
“Partly,” Hayes admitted. Hell, he was going to have to get into Ivy’s big-assed dark past so they’d get the big picture of what Sunshine was trying to do here. “Ivy’s parents got divorced when she was a kid, and one of her mother’s boyfriends molested her. She told her mom, but she didn’t believe her. Probably because at the time her mom was using drugs. Ivy ran away to her dad’s, but he was newly married and didn’t want her, so he sent her back.”
Obviously, this wasn’t painting her parents in a good light. And it shouldn’t. They’d screwed up big-time, and Ivy had paid the price. She’d kept paying through a lifelong battle with depression that had eventually claimed her life.
“Her parents aren’t the same people they were back then,” Hayes went on. “They’ve both gotten treatment for their problems and tried to make amends with their daughter. It would crush them to know Ivy had maybe killed herself because of them.”
They all stayed quiet a moment. “One of the stories I read said Ivy had a miscarriage and that’s why she took her own life,” Sunny added.
Hayes nodded. Yet another dark pit of memories. “She had a miscarriage, and, no, it wasn’t my baby. She got pregnant by some loser who walked out when she told him she was carrying his child.”
More silence, and Hayes could feel the question coming before McCall even asked it. “Did you try to kill yourself?”
“No,” he answered as fast as he could. Though this was one of those gray areas of truth. “I didn’t specifically set out to kill myself,” he amended when they continued to stare at him.
He could almost feel Em and his sisters taking collective breaths. Well, everyone but McCall. She always could see right through him, and she had no doubt picked up on the wording. He hadn’t set out to do it, but he’d come damn close.
“So, if we don’t let the she-bitch trash our wedding, she’ll publish these emails about Ivy,” Hadley summarized. “It’ll create a media firestorm about you and about her parents.”
Hayes nodded. “Maybe about Cait, too, because a lot of the tabloids are now linking me with her. The trash reporters could say I’m using her to get over Ivy or that I dumped Ivy to be with her. They could end up blaming Cait for what happened to Ivy.”
He didn’t have a chance to add more because Em’s and his sisters’ attention shifted to the doorway. Where Cait was standing. Judging from her uncomfortable expression, she’d heard that last part.
Hell.
Cait held up a phone, her gaze going to McCall. “You left your phone in the dining room, and someone’s called four times.”
Since McCall was a counselor, those calls could be important, and that’s why his sister quickly took her phone, muttering to herself when she checked the screen. “I need to take this,” she said, stepping out.
Hayes stood when Cait started to leave as well, and he took hold of her hand. “I’m not using you,” he said.
Then he frowned. Because that’s exactly what he was doing. Or rather it’s what he’d started out doing. He’d asked her to help lessen his family worries by pretending he’d come back to be with her.
But it wasn’t like that now.
“I’m not using you,” he repeated, some of his own frustration coming through in his voice.
She managed one of those wiseass Cait smiles. “All right, then I’ll use you.”
That got a cackle of laughter from Em, who was likely all for any using since it might lead to the real thing—him pairing up with Cait. Still, Hayes was beginning to think that a temporary pairing up was inevitable. Along with being plenty satisfying. That would have to go on the back burner, though, because he still had the Sunshine issue to deal with.
“My mo
ther’s up to her old tricks,” he told Cait to bring her up to speed. “She’s trying to blackmail me so that she can profit off the wedding.”
“Sunshine’s stinkier than a dead skunk,” Em declared, and no one could argue with that.
He waited until McCall was back in the room before Hayes continued with what he had to say. He made eye contact with each of his sisters. “You are not having paparazzi or reporters at your wedding. That’s not up for discussion. I’ve got the ball rolling with Ivy’s parents so they can try to stop Sunshine from publishing those private emails. If it doesn’t work, though, I just wanted all of you to be prepared for the fallout.”
“I could maybe bargain with Sunshine,” McCall offered. Obviously, she just wasn’t going to buy into letting him handle this. “I’ve got stuff from the set of Little Cowgirls that I could offer to get her to back off.”
“Same here,” Sunny piped in. “I have photographs, some jewelry and clothes. Sunshine could sell it as a collection of memorabilia.”
It twisted at his guts to hear how quickly his sisters were able to come up with possible solutions. They’d had to go through this “been there, done that” crap way too many times. Not in the same vein as what Marty was doing to his family, but it was still creating the havoc stream that never seemed to end.
“I could just kick her ass,” Hadley grumbled, confirming the nickname of Badly Hadley that she’d gotten from the show.
“I could help you,” Em said to Hadley, confirming his grandmother’s disgust with her own daughter.
Hayes couldn’t shake his head fast enough. “I don’t want any of you confronting her. Don’t take her calls or texts, either. Just give it a day or two and see if Ivy’s folks can come through.”
If not, then Hayes had his own backup plan. And, yeah, it would involve a bribe similar to the ones his sisters had just offered. Well, it would if he could pull it off. He didn’t have the clout that he’d once had on the set of Outlaw Rebels, but if he jumped through enough hoops, he might be able to work it out so that Sunshine could get some exclusive interviews with the cast that she could in turn sell. He could possibly even swing getting her a cameo appearance on the show. The she-witch would lap that up and then rub it in his face, but it might be enough to get her to back off.
“We’re not going to let Sunshine win this one,” Hadley insisted.
“No, we’re not,” Hayes assured her with far more confidence than he felt.
Unfortunately, his plan and backup plan might not work, and if it didn’t, then the ball would be in Sunshine’s court. She could continue bargaining to get access to the wedding, or she could be the usual pisser that she was and release the emails. Right now, he didn’t have a clue which way this would go.
He went to his sisters and grandmother, hugging them one by one. Or that’s how it started, anyway. It turned into a group hug, with Em gathering Cait into the mix. It was sort of a sealing of the pact to defeat the evil force bearing down on them.
But Hayes could feel something else, too.
The overwhelming pressure to fix this. Not just for his family but for Ivy’s folks, too. If he failed, there’d be a shitstorm in the press, and some of that crap could fly right at them.
Hayes headed out of the kitchen, hoping Em and his sisters would be able to get back to the wedding sewing and decorations so they’d have a much-needed distraction. Hoping, too, that he could shove away this dark cloud he felt descending on him. Damn Sunshine for poking at his unresolved feelings about Ivy. His grief. And for bringing all those dark memories straight to the surface again.
Cait followed him to the front door, and he figured she was about to try to give him words of encouragement. Or cheer him up with a joke. Or maybe she would volunteer to use her badge in some way to get Sunshine to back off. Instead, she took hold of his arm.
“Come on. I think you need to get out of here for a while,” Cait said.
Hayes froze and mentally replayed that. He didn’t believe it was his imagination or wishful thinking that her voice had had an enticing silky purr. He stared at her, studying her. No, not his imagination. That enticement was in her eyes, too.
“Are you taking me to Prego Trail?” he joked.
“No. Someplace better.” Her voice was still purring. “I’m taking you home with me.”
* * *
CAIT TRIED NOT to think of this as playing with a big ol’ ball of fire. But that’s exactly what she was doing by taking Hayes to her place. A place with privacy.
And a bed.
Of course, she’d had other men in her house, and she hadn’t made it a habit of dropping into bed with them, but come on—this was Hayes. There was also the fact that both of them were riding massive waves of emotional crap right now. His because of his mother and hers because of Adam. Waves of emotion could lower barriers and screw around with all those other feelings.
Especially sex feelings, of which she had legions when it came to Hayes.
Still, she had seen his expression and knew that he needed something to keep from falling face-first into a deep well of grief. Grief that might lead to another bout of depression. Cait also knew she couldn’t just pull him out of depression. No. That took meds and maybe even a good therapist. Hayes thankfully had those. But she thought maybe she could get his mind off his troubles for a little while and give him a short reprieve from the crud that his mother was tossing at him.
Hayes followed her out the door, but he put Em’s keys in the ignition of her truck before he got in the SUV with her. She suspected he did that so that Em wouldn’t be inconvenienced when it came time for her to leave.
“You’re doing this because you feel sorry for me,” Hayes said, buckling his seat belt.
“Absolutely.” Here’s where she could start helping with some attempted humor. “First, a pity kiss. Now a pity visit to my lair.”
“Your lair? Do you have an S and M room like that Fifty Shades of Grey guy?”
“Duh. Of course. Doesn’t everyone? Except mine is more of a closet than a room, but I’m sure there’s enough junk in there to do bondage and stuff. I could tie you up with my gym socks and spank you with my old tennis racket.”
He smiled, and mercy, it was good to see it. That didn’t vanquish the dark mood, but it eased a little of the tension. For a couple of seconds, anyway. When Hayes stayed silent on the drive, Cait went ahead and broached the proverbial huge elephant squatting between them on the seat.
“You want to talk about Sunshine?” she asked.
“No,” he quickly answered, but then he hesitated. “Maybe you could spank her with a tennis racket.”
Now she smiled, but it was short-lived. “Or I could look into having her arrested. What she’s trying to do is frowned upon and a crime that we folks in law enforcement like to call extortion. It’d be hard to prove, a he-said, she-said sort of deal, but if she calls you back, you should tell her you’re recording the conversation. You could tell her you’re doing that so your sisters can hear it, and then you could try to get her to say something incriminating.”
Of course, that last part would be next to impossible. Sunshine had played these games many times before and knew, mostly, how to stay out of legal hot water. Still, people did screw up all the time.
Case in point—she was taking Hayes to her house.
“I can do that,” he said, not sounding hopeful. “And I can tell Ivy’s parents to do the same.”
Now, that was a good idea. Cait didn’t think Sunshine was accustomed to dealing with them, so it might make her slip and say the wrong thing.
Cait pulled to a stop in the driveway in front of her house. The place wasn’t grand in looks or size like her family’s ranch. It was a log cabin with the expected rustic exterior and porch. The red barn—which was double the size of the house—sat behind it and suited her four horses. Ditto for the ten acres of pasture.
It was no frills, low maintenance. Like her.
And there wasn’t a white picket fence anywhere in sight.
“This used to be the Carson place,” Hayes remarked, glancing around as he got out.
“It was. I bought it about eight years ago.”
No need to mention that she hadn’t changed much other than upgrading the barn, because he could see that for himself. Hayes had likely been out here many times because the Carsons’ daughter had been a love interest for Hayes for a while. Then again, nearly every woman in town had fallen into that category for him.
Cait started for the porch and felt a bout of nerves sweep over her. Nope, this wasn’t smart. She was going to end up another has-been love interest. A soon-to-be-discarded one. That reminder should have had her at least rethinking this visit, but apparently even nerves and sensible thoughts weren’t a deterrent today.
The moment they were inside, she turned to Hayes to go ahead and kiss him. Something that she was certain would happen soon anyway. But he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he opened the closet that was in the entry and smiled.
There was indeed a tennis racket inside. A gym bag, too, though she rarely used it. Cait preferred to get her exercise by tending to her horses. But she was betting if he dug through the bag, he’d find some old socks for the fantasy tying up that she’d joked about on the drive over.
“Belts,” he said, perusing the contents, and his smile brightened when he spotted the item dangling from a coat hanger. “Handcuffs.”
“Standard-issue,” she muttered and realized that her closet was perhaps a mini red room after all. Though she wasn’t sure the rarely used bowling ball and box of old paperbacks would qualify as kink.
He kept his attention on the handcuffs for several more moments, and when he finally turned to her, Cait figured he was about to suggest they use them. Or maybe make some other poorly veiled sexual remark. But he didn’t.
“Thank you,” he said, his tone as serious as a heart attack. “You brought me here to cheer me up, and I appreciate that.”
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