A Fire That Burns (6 page)

Chapter Ten

NATASHA
stood in the doorway
and watched the two
laugh
as they stood covered in
paint trying their hardest to clean themselves up.

“Having fun?” she interrupted their fun and stepped into the room. The
pair jumped as though caught in the act and turned to face Natasha. “I thought
you were meant to be painting the walls?” she asked them as she tried to see
the fun and games in this. After all they were getting messy and wasting money
and not much else.

Tyler wanted to pull a face and tell Natasha to lighten up a little, but
he refrained. He couldn’t change Natasha to be as fun as Austin or make her see
the fun side in things. She was too serious and professional now. However this
was what he liked - the clear fact that Natasha and Austin were the polar
opposites of one another. So much so he couldn’t sit and compare them on
anything because they were so far from being alike that it was impossible. He
couldn’t pull Natasha up to see the fun in this, so he lived with her attitude
to it.

“Sorry, we got carried away when we were done,” he apologized to her and
then smirked. “You’re back a little earlier aren’t you?” he asked checking his
watch only to find the clock face covered in paint.

“Well I thought we could go out, or get takeout. I just want to spend
some time with you,” she told him and smirked hoping he would catch her drift,
but he didn’t. Natasha felt the sudden jealous twinge in her stomach and
thought of a plan immediately. She turned shy on him then, and moved meekly to
cover the gap, “We need to talk, Tyler.”

“You know you can say whatever you need to in front of Austin,” Tyler
countered as he watched his fiancée nod, “C’mon, T, what’s up?”

“Tyler, Baby,” Natasha said as she stepped forward to Tyler, taking his
hand in hers. “I’m pregnant,” she said and flashed her gaze to look at Austin,
and dramatically placed a hand to her stomach. She saw how the news struck the
woman from their past and she was happy with the result so far.

Letting her go, he took a step back in shock, “Are you for real?” he
asked her, “Like really, really real?”

“Really, really real, Baby. We’re going to have a baby, Ty,” Natasha
told him, showing that she ignoring Austin’s presence only a few feet away.
“The doctor confirmed it only an hour ago when I was out for lunch and the scan
showed that I’m almost nine weeks.”

“Whoa,” Tyler said as his eyes went wide, “You’re just over two months?”
he asked her and his mind conveyed to the fact that in six months he would be
holding his newborn son or daughter and his excitement was already building. “I
can’t wait to tell my parents!”

“I don’t want to make a big thing of this, Tyler,” Natasha told him. “I
really want to keep this baby news on the down low until I’m used to it, okay?”
she asked him, “It’s all new. Do you understand?”

“I understand, of course I do. Anything for you, T,” Tyler smothered her
all of a sudden. Feeling a new lease to his responsibilities he felt a need to
mollycoddle her and then he realized that he needed to back away from Austin’s
unknown hold on him and invest more time with Natasha. He had to do it hard and
fast.

Natasha turned to Austin all of a sudden, catching his still shocked
attention, “What do you think, Austin? Tyler will make an amazing father won’t he?”

Austin nodded, “He really will.” She doted on the image in her head of
Tyler with children and she knew he would be number one; he would be father of
the year. “
Th
-that’s great news,” Austin managed and
smiled hard trying to cover up her true emotions. “You must be thrilled,
Natasha,” Austin finished.

“Happiest day of my life,” Natasha returned, not shocked that Tyler was
silenced by the news. It was big after all! “That and the day I become an
Armstrong for good, of course.”

Austin felt swallowed by that moment. Her heart breaking was clear and
evident as her beating heart slowed down even more than ever before. She
glanced at Tyler’s face and saw pure, unadulterated happiness and completeness
and she knew she needed to get out of there. She needed to escape that look and
get away from the claustrophobic feeling that was now setting in this house.

“Well,” Austin spoke up and she saw Tyler’s eyes still staring at her
with a glance of concern, “Congrats are in order here.” Keeping herself calm,
she praised herself inwardly as she didn’t cry immediately. “I’ll leave you two
to it! Go and celebrate!” she said and she left, not looking directly at either
of them.

Just because she didn’t look entirely didn’t mean that she missed seeing
the satisfaction scrawled across Natasha’s face.

Everyone would know from this day forth that Austin Pearson was Point
Arena’s biggest loser and she had to accept it.

Chapter Eleven

AUSTIN
looked out at the
shore, waves crashing in and sinking out. She wished each day was just like a
new wave, it’d crash in but within seconds, it would be washed out again. A new
level of sand would be left on the shore like a slate wiped clean.

“Always was your
favorite
place in this town,”
Tom said as he sat down next to her on the rocks. He knew she had done well to
hold back everything she felt as a kneejerk reaction to Natasha’s sudden burst
of news.
“Used to find you out here whenever you got stressed
out or you worried too much.”
He had followed her only moments after he
had heard the news broke out. He was helping his brothers with the final
windows and both Daniel and Dean pushed him to follow her and make sure she was
okay. To be honest, all of them had been shocked that the least maternal woman
in town was now three months pregnant.

“The one place no one ever bothered me,” Austin admitted with a small
smile. She loved this place, always had and always would.

She’d been here so many times before. When life got too much or she had
an argument at home and she needed some head space. This place was her peace,
her comfort, her haven. Hell, she had been here recently when Tyler had agreed
to her random bid of buying their old house. She hadn’t expected him to say
yes, but here they were,
remodeling
their old home.
Now here she was back here and feeling like her heart was splintering away in
her chest with every beat. This was the last place she had found herself before
she fled town all those years ago and right now, she was feeling all those
emotions rush into her body. She knew what was happening – flight or fight was
kicking in.

Point Arena Cove was where she had released her grief years ago and here
she was again, releasing a new bout of grief from her soul.

Tom took her words to heart and went to stand, but his sister moved her
hand and pulled him back down, silently telling him not to leave her. As he sat
back down he noticed Austin was crying. The tears wrecking her cheeks by
stealing her mascara and running tracks down the contours of her face.

“It never went away,” Austin finally spoke to him and shook her head
trying to halt more tears from falling. She knew her life was
spiraling
out of control and she needed it to die down now,
before it consumed her. “I left because I thought it would help me get over it,
but every single day I sit and think about it.”

“That’s because that was your downfall,” Tom told Austin back.

Austin snorted, “You can’t blame a baby for that. Mine and Tyler’s
downfall was beginning long before I even found out I was pregnant.” She
breathed out as she finally spoke about the one thing that had driven her from
town all those years before. “You did so
good
with
keeping my secret, Tom.” She swallowed hard and looked at him, “Six years and
counting.”

“If it were up to me, I would have told Tyler just what that doting
fiancée had done though,” he ground out as he remembered the way Austin had
vowed him to secrecy. “Tyler deserved to know what happened that night, Aus. He
needed to know, he still needs to know.”

“It’s my burden now, Tom. He deserves to have what makes him happy,”
Austin stated firmly. “Even if the rest of the world tells him it’s no good,
it’s his life.”

Tom sat up, that irked him, he was angered at his sister’s selflessness,
“And what about you in all of this, Austin? For fuck sake, you’re at your
happiest when you’re with him. You’re the old you, the one that everyone loves
and remembers. When he isn’t around you’re a stranger and I know that when you
look in the mirror that’s all you see.”

“All a part of growing up,” Austin shrugged off nonchalantly. “This is
life, Tom. Deal with it like I have had to.”

“Bullshit, Austin!” he shouted and stood up as his anger riveted through
him. “I get that you were scared and that you were in pain, but Austin, we love
you, we would have been there, whatever. Tyler would have been there for you.”

“Really, between what, nights out at the bar and work meetings?” Austin
asked her brother as she stood and began to make her way up the rocks. She then
turned around and felt pleased that she wasn’t crying any longer, “Hell, he had
Natasha all along to make sure he was never lonely. So where in that mix would
he have been there for me?” Austin shouted and breathed in slow and deeply to
cool her nerves, “Every day since I’ve been back all I have done is cry and cry
and cry. Tom, I’m tired of crying. I am sick and tired of feeling so miserable
and down.”

“Maybe if you just told everyone the truth the-” Tom began, but was
immediately cut off.

“No one is ever going to know! I mean that Tom, no one will ever know!”
Austin bellowed at him, anger beseeching her tone, “I made you promise back
before I left and I want you to promise me again that you will never tell a
soul.”

He knew he had to respect her wishes and hope that one day she would
just cave and admit everything. “I won’t tell,” Tom vowed to her again. “Just
look at it from my angle as I look in at this whole situation.”

“I do and she’s got it all,” Austin admitted and looked to Tom as she
sniffed. Uncharacteristically she used her sleeve to wipe her nose to try and
stop her tears, “Got the guy, got the life,
got
the
baby
.”
She threw her arms up in the air in defeat, “So you know what? There is no
reason to have this conversation anymore, or to look into this situation. We’re
done having this conversation for good.”

“So what are you going to do with the rest of your life?” Tom asked her,
“Be a lonely millionaire?”

“I’m going to build that house up to how I always wished it was going to
look and then I am going to get on with life and if that means leaving Point
Arena again, then it means leaving Point Arena for good.”

With her piece said, Austin left her brother and jumped into her own car
and drove home knowing Tom would be right behind her.

Life would resume just how it always should have done – With or without
Tyler.

Chapter Twelve

May 2006

“HEY
Baby
,” Tyler’s voice sang
to her from the voicemail, the sweet octaves dancing in her ears causing her to
smile. “
I’ve been called out to the bar again to meet our newest recruit.
Apparently, I could be the sheriff over him in the next year. How great would
that be, Aussie, Baby? Me, sheriff! This does mean I will be an hour or so late
home, but when I get back I will be showing you just who the daddy is in our
household.
”

When she had first heard that message she grinned from ear to ear,
especially seeing as she had just taken a pregnancy test and would have shown
him exactly how he was already the daddy. She had put the phone down and stared
at the white stick clutched inside her palm and she knew she couldn’t just
spring this onto him, not now, not with the job prospect and his excitement.

That was three days ago and still no one knew about her being with child
and she was losing her mind. She had to tell someone, she had to share this
news and be able to get excited with someone and that someone had to be Tyler.

Grabbing her phone, she decided to call Tyler once more to get him to
come home after he failed again to come back to her. They had barely had two
minutes together these days and she needed to tell him now or be eaten alive.
Selecting his number she pressed the phone to her ear and as each ring rang out
she got more and more excited about telling him how perfect their life was
going to be.

“Hey, Babe!
Sorry I haven’t called, it’s gotten manic down at the station and now
old man Brandon has me at the bar once again!” Tyler shouted over the loud
cheers, “You should come down, Sunny. They miss seeing you.”

Austin felt a burst of unease wash through her, jealousy rupturing
through every part of her. “Let me guess, Natasha will be there?” It wasn’t
what she wanted to say, but usually when he was at the bar, Natasha was too.

“Of course she will be, it’s her father who helps run the police
department,” Tyler commented and his tone became taunt all of a sudden and
huffed in irritation. “We are not having this argument again.”

“What argument?” Austin asked dumbstruck, “Oh, you mean the one where
she gets to see you more than I do? How about you have fun with her and have
equal fun sleeping on the couch, Ty, because I am sick and tired of feeling
like all I do in our relationship is act like the jealous one and am here to
keep your bed warm.”

“Oh well look at that, you went there again,” Tyler stated. He knew he was
tired and stressed with the demand of being the best in the local PD, but he
hated arguing with Austin. It just caused him even more stress. Arguing with
her was one of his biggest hates.

“Yeah, well I miss you, Tyler, and I think that says more about you than
me,” she told him and hung up. She refused to cry over this but it appeared
that baby hormones took over and killed her ability to keep a latch on sobbing
her heart out.

With tears still streaming, Austin got up, grabbed her keys, and walked
to her brother’s house. She wrapped her knuckles upon the wooden door and wiped
her face clear of the tears and took in a deep breath.

Tom answered the door and his face illuminated, “Well, what did I do to
be graced with my little sister’s appearance tonight?”

“I have some news,” she stated and found herself drawn into the house,
she couldn’t wait for him to probe for answers. “I’m pregnant,” Austin finally
told someone and she began to grin like any other excited expectant mother.

“Oh my God!”
Tom exclaimed back gobsmacked. “Does Ty know?”

Austin shook her head, “He’s been busy and every time I try, I’ve
failed. I needed to tell someone.” She saw her brother’s look of
skepticism
over not telling Tyler. “He’s been busy, Tom,
and I need him to not be distracted over this!”

“True, but he needs to know before me,” Tom scolded gently trying to
make her see the reasoning in this decision.

“He’s at the bar again,” she sighed nonchalantly and knew not to dwell
on this. “It’s not Tyler I need your help with though,” she paused and took a
deep breath. “I don’t know how to tell mom and dad,” Austin fretted horribly
and felt her eyes water. “I can’t tell them. Dad will disown me. Tom, we know
what he said, he literally drilled it into our brains since childhood. No
children before marriage.”

“It’s not like you and Tyler
are
a stupid
summer fling,” Tom quickly jumped in as the voice of reason. “Mom and dad will
love this and you and Tyler are not far off getting married now. It’s all in
the making. It’s happening next month, Aus.”

“Maybe I can wait the month out to tell them,” Austin told her brother
and tried not to be a mad clash of excitement and nerves.

“No, let’s go and tell Tyler first and then we’ll look at telling
everyone else,” Tom retorted with a matter of fact tone. “I’ll even drag him
out of that bar if need be.”

 
Austin beamed at her brother,
really excited about this baby news, “Let’s do this and then I will think about
telling mom and dad.”

It wasn’t until she was walking down the street talking away with her brother
that she realized she had a decidedly prevalent spring in her step and she was
literally grinning so wide she could feel her muscles beginning to ache. She
and Tyler had discussed a future together and they both wanted this. Even
though they were caught in the throes of growing up and finding a career that
they loved, she knew he would be over the moon with the news.

“How do you feel about being an uncle?” she suddenly asked her brother
and saw him grin.

Tom smirked, “I’m going to be the best. I’m not even going to give the
others a chance to beat me.” He wanted her to be happy and he couldn’t wait to
see her grow into this new stage of life. “I honestly can’t tell you how happy
I am you’re pregnant, Aus,” he exclaimed with such elation he felt his eyes
tear up.

“Pregnant? You’re pregnant?” Natasha’s cold voice came from behind them
and they both stopped to turn and look at her. “Well that is big news.”

Turning on her heels, Austin looked at Natasha and knew she couldn’t
break her mood quite so easily. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes I
am.”

“Wow, Tyler is just going to hate the fact that you’ve now killed his
career aspects!” Natasha chided sarcastically with that same bitchy tone she
had developed since high school. She saw the expression that hit Austin’s face
and she knew the woman before her was panicking that she was really destroying
Tyler’s life. “Anyway, I’ve been
wanting
to see you
because I thought I should show you something,” Natasha suddenly changed the
subject.

“What’s that?” Austin asked, curious to what this woman would strike up
next.

Natasha smirked, “He gave me this yesterday,” she mentioned and pulled a
necklace from her pocket and hung it in the air. It was identical to one Austin
had been given by Tyler years ago and Natasha took merriment in watching
Austin’s face fall. “He told me it was special like me and that I had to wear
it at all times.”

Clutching the identical one around her own neck, Austin lost her cool –
Something she refused to ever do as a result of Natasha Truman.
“You liar!”
Austin snapped as she went to grab the pendant
that Natasha was waving in front of her. Natasha immediately lashed out and
pushed Austin backwards with immense force. She shouldn’t have gotten a sense
of glee from seeing Austin slam into the bench on the sidewalk, but it seemed
she still had the upper hand over Austin like she had in high school.

Austin felt the impact of the back of the bench on her stomach and
immediately she was winded.
 
She fell to
the floor only just aware of her brother fighting in her corner before being by
her side. She could feel where her stomach had taken the brunt force of the
fall and she began to feel positive when the pain began to subside, but she was
still terrified to move.

Ignoring Tom, Natasha went straight for Austin again, “It’s not real by
the way. I bought the necklace myself, but I do still love winding you up,
Aussie!” Natasha exclaimed and looked at Austin’s downtrodden expression. “Want
me to let Tyler in on the big news?”

“Don’t you fucking
dare!
” Tom glowered at
Natasha. “You ruin anything I will make sure he knows once and for all what
type of bitch he’s been friends with. I think your friendship is long overdue
for being over.”

“He’ll never listen to you and you won’t do that,” Natasha challenged
Tom. “Not when I can just tell my daddy that Tyler doesn’t deserve the
promotion they have in line for him.” She spoke that last line with an
exaggerated tone and then smirked as Tom looked on in defeat. “That’s what I
thought.”

She then said nothing more and left the pair and continued walking to
the bar.

Feeling he was beginning to shake from the anger in him, Tom knew one
day he would tell everyone what a mega bitch they had ignored and he would get
the same amount of glee out of it that Natasha got from being it. “You okay?”
Tom turned to his sister, immediately worried about her welfare and hated that
she refused his help as she got herself up.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Austin tried to speak clearly, but her tone was
still strained from the impact. Pushing through it, she got to her feet, using
the bench for support. She saw Natasha going off and she felt her knees go weak
at her going to Tyler.

“We can go to him now if you want,” Tom tried to cause some sort of
damage control of the situation. “We can beat Natasha there if I drive.”

Austin looked up with teary eyes, “Can we just go back to your house?”

“Sure we can,” he told her and took her hand and led her straight back
to his place where she seemed to settle down and forget about Natasha. Just how
he had hoped she would.

Hours later he never expected to be in the hospital, watching his little
sister receive the most devastating news possible. He had been helping Austin
find the perfect way to tell Tyler the news and now there was no baby to share
the news of.

She hadn’t said a word since the doctor had left. All they were waiting
on were the discharge papers, important information to make sure Austin
physically recovered from this quickly and that she had relevant information on
support groups and
counselors
to help her mental
state.

Tom had barely seen her move either but when she suddenly did, he was
terrified at how vacant Austin’s eyes were becoming of emotion.

“I can’t face him,” she whispered to him and her tone was just as void
as her eyes. “How can I?” She asked nonchalantly and attempted to redeem some
composure. “I don’t want to be alone, Tom, and I don’t want to go home.”

He hated hearing his sister so lost and knew it was up to him to protect
her and look after her until she was able to face Tyler. “Then you come home
with me, Aussie,” Tom told his sister, willing to stick by her regardless. “You
stay with me, and tomorrow you have to tell him everything.
Especially
what she did.
He needs to know everything. You cannot lie to him about
this.”

“Tomorrow I will tell him,” Austin told her brother and felt herself
beginning to unravel again. The grief she felt clawing its way up her throat,
burning away within her.

Tom accepted that meek comment, “I will be with you through this all.”

Nodding she accepted and knew he would look after her.

Apparently a few hours changed everything again as Austin ran, unable to
face up to the truths of reality.