A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2) (12 page)

"Where in the world did you two go?" Hunter returned, out of breath. He sounded more concerned than angry.

"I'm sorry. Sienna said she needed to go to the bathroom badly. I tried to wave you down and let you know, but you were lost in conversation." Rissi frowned. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I know you didn't. I'm just on edge and then I saw that crowd over there-" Hunter pointed. "I don't know what I thought." Then he finally noticed Becca. "Hey, it's okay, Bec." Sienna let her go and he wrapped his arms around her. "Everyone's okay. There was a fight between a couple teens and that's why everyone was gathered around."

Oh, if only that was all that scared her. She struggled in his arms, trying to hold up her phone to show him.

"What is it?" He took a step back.

Still shaking, Becca dialed her voice mail and handed the phone to Hunter. He listened to it, the color draining from his face.

Hunter slowly removed the phone from his ear and handed it to her. "Save that message," he directed, his voice coming out strangled.

*****

Hunter promised Sienna a picnic and that's exactly what they were going to do. Becca agreed with him. But he couldn't erase the words from his mind. He debated on calling Vince back and finding out exactly what the hell he knew. Or maybe he'd run with it and give this information to the investigator without letting on to Vince or the Langes that he and Becca knew of this conversation. If they found out, there was no telling what they'd try to do in terms of stopping them from finding the truth.

When Sienna rubbed her eyes and let out another yawn, Hunter figured it was time to head back. She climbed up in his lap and leaned against him. He kissed her head. If only life would quit throwing curve balls at them so that he could enjoy some good quality time with Sienna and Becca. "I guess it's time to head out."

"Might as well."
Becca sighed. She didn't eat much. She was probably just as preoccupied.

Rissi and Becca packed up the remainder of what they brought. When Rissi went to throw the paper plates in the garbage, Hunter picked Sienna up and stood beside Becca. "You okay?" What a stupid question. He couldn't think of anything better to ask.

She shook her head, picking up her purse and camera case before walking away. Shut out again. Another almost breakthrough with her earlier, and now this. Becca was back to not opening up much. Damn it!

He said his good byes to Sienna at the Sundstrom's, not ready to let her go. She was half out of it and a little fussy, so Beverly took her inside right away to get her down for a nap. She'd invited them in. Hunter explained why they were in a rush to head home, but he was looking forward to the weekend of having Sienna.

As he was about to go back to the car, Eva appeared in the doorway. "Are you sure it's a good idea to take her this weekend?"

He stopped and whirled around. "What do you mean?"

"I heard what you told Mom. You guys are distracted. I'm really not trying to start anything, but..." She darted a quick glance at the car.

Was she honestly concerned, or was Eva playing games because she was jealous of Becca? He hadn't forgotten the look she'd given them all when Sienna tried to make Becca's voice better earlier.

"Eva. Come on."
Keep calm, keep calm.

"I'm just looking out for our daughter!" She raised her voice, folding her arms across her chest.

Anger curled like a tight fist in his chest. He puffed out a breath, not ready at all to have a fight with her. "Can I call you and talk about this later? I get your point, but I need to see her too, you know."

Eva narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll talk to you then." She rushed inside and closed the door, leaving him a little confused. No, make that more than a little.

Hunter shrugged it off and headed back to the car. With Eva, who knows any more?

Back at the house, he wasn't sure if Rissi was actually exhausted or just wanted to give them time to talk, but she said she was going to rest, since the sleepwalking incident startled her so bad that she had a hard time getting back to sleep last night. She hugged Becca, then went upstairs.

"How long does your phone save voice mails?" Hunter asked.

Becca turned her gaze to him.
"I'm not sure. A couple weeks maybe."

"What do you want to do? Confront Vince? Or maybe give this information to the PI I hired and let him find out?" Hunter bridged the gap between them and kissed her forehead. He'd hug her right now, but he had to wait for her to reply.

"Part of me wants to confront him, but of course I can't call."
She moved her hands in angry motions.
"Call the investigator. Let's let him hear this message before it's not available any more. We can go from there I guess."

Could any of it be true? What were her grandparents going to insinuate about his family? Did they think his parents had something to do with stealing a child? This whole thing ended up messier by the day. Maybe that's why they were on the same plane. Carrie could have found out about Becca and because she was so angry at her family and at Rusty, she threatened it all. It would possibly explain the comments about Rebecca Lange not existing. The whole concept make him sick to his stomach, but they had to find out even more now.

"I'll call him then." Hunter looked down, noticing Becca's clenched fists again. Her knuckles were white. Gently placing his hands over hers, he whispered, "Brace yourself, angel. I don't know what we're going to find out." He went to hold her, but she moved her hands from his.

"The truth terrifies me considering what we've heard. Just tell me no matter what we find out, you won't leave me because of it."

Why would she ever think that? He was more afraid of her walking away! Hunter held out his pinkie, staring intently at her. "I'm here for the long haul. I don't care what your past is or how we came together. You're a permanent imprint on my heart and I won't lose you. I know this pinkie promise thing we started years ago is silly, but I mean it, Bec. I'm always yours for as long as you'll have me around."

For the second time today, their childhood promise seal was exchanged. Hunter wrapped his arms around the woman he loved and held her tight, wishing all hell wasn't going to break loose like he knew it would.

"Come on. Let's go make that call." He led Becca to sit beside him, pulled out his phone, and made the call.

*****

Becca's head pounded as the pain increased. Hunter was on the phone for a while with the PI and she could tell from the side of the conversation she heard that this was going to be one heck of a process. When Hunter hung up, he set the phone on the couch's armrest. "He's going to come by tomorrow to listen to the message," he informed her.

Did her grandparents push Vince in her life to keep their secrets? Marry her off, make sure he got control of her money and everything else? They'd threatened her more than once to have her checked in to a hospital over things. If she'd married Vince, he would have had a say, wouldn't he? Then they'd never have to let out some big family secret that she'd been a part of and never knew. The whole thing made her blood boil. She never loved Vince, never wanted to marry him and had a feeling he had his own motives, but she never would have guessed anything of this magnitude!

She'd never felt so alone in her life!

"What happened during our years apart, Bec? I think now more than ever, I need to know. Vince is in your life for a reason and I think it's only beginning to come to light. Please don't hold back any more. Let's put it all on the line so we can move forward. You know I'm not going to judge, no matter what your feelings were."

She wasn't ready for this conversation, but Hunter was right. She'd held back so much.
"You already know I thought you stopped coming because something changed with us that last year. Then those months after, we hardly talked, and then it stopped all together. I went to the island, hoping for the best, expecting the worst. You were always the one person I could count on. Always. When I lost you, or thought I did, it was a blow to the gut. I struggled with feeling angry at you, and guilty because I thought I pushed you away with feelings you'd never return. Feelings I didn't understand myself."

"But to think you'd lose me if you told me how angry you were?" He shook his head. "Well, I guess after four years apart and me showing up like I did, I might have done the same thing."

"It hurt. Everyone around me ended up leaving or acted like I was a burden. It messed with my mind and I had a hard time. So I came home confused and lost. You already know my grandparents always expected me to be perfectly imperfect."
She made a face.
"Does that even make any sense?"

"I get what you're saying. Basically, they wanted to mold you into who they thought you should be. Strong, but still incapable, which is why I've always questioned their motives. They didn't want to take you in, but they still keep you close even though you're on your own."

"I suppose since Rissi told you I had a breakdown when Vince was brought into my life, she told you what they threatened me with."
She'd promised herself when she returned from the island that year that she'd get over it, that it didn't bother her. Coming home to even more memories and things from Hunter changed that. When the first round of tears fell, they didn't stop. She'd been all mixed up with how she felt until she couldn't take it any more.

Hunter licked his upper lip and closed his eyes for a second before nodding. She could tell he was holding in his anger over all of this. "She did."

"What I didn't know at first was that Vince is a psychiatrist."

Hunter straightened. "You're kidding! No, what the hell am I saying. You wouldn't kid about that. Bec, this really gives me warning signals."

"Me too. I wish I'd pushed harder to get away. I should have fought instead of sucking it up and pretending I was okay. If I'd had the courage, I could have moved and started fresh somewhere. All I know is they were so against you, always had been, and they wanted me to forget all about you. I wasn't supposed to succeed, but I wasn't supposed to cry or feel anything over my past- including the accident."

"If you gave in and married Vince, none of these secrets they're trying to keep would come out, because he would have a say in your mental well being. With his credentials, he could have gotten away with it and no one would know any better, other than someone close to you. Like me." Hunter ran a hand through his hair. "I knew he had ulterior motives. Question is, what's in it for him other than possibly gaining access to your money? Didn't you say he was well off when we talked about him the first time?"

"He is. I don't know how well off because he doesn't discuss those things with me, but you can tell."
What
did
he want? She'd never figured out Vince's reasoning for going with her grandparents idea to marry her. He was much older and could find a woman that he was more compatible with. There was no way he went with it just to simply please his family or hers, right?

"Now I want to question him even more. And to me, that phone call didn't seem right. He 'accidentally' calls you during that conversation?" Hunter shook his head. "I don't quite buy it. But again, I don't know why he'd do it purposely either."

"You remember when you said you were afraid of a relationship with me because you seemed to have an effect of people going away?"
He'd said something like that on the island. She recalled it well.

"Yeah..." Hunter replied slowly.

"That's how I feel right about now."
Talk about all sorts of confused. Everything and everyone around her was changing, including herself. It was like somehow, even not here, she was losing people.

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Hunter went to spend some time with Sienna and try to talk to Eva. Rissi had convinced Becca to go out and have a little girl time. Good for them both. They needed it. Becca needed a little more reassurance that she still had friends who loved her and didn't have ulterior motives. Rissi had a whole list of ideas like manicures, clothes shopping, and maybe a movie. The PI wouldn't be arriving until five, so they had most of the day to enjoy themselves. She actually seemed happy to be going, which made Hunter feel a thousand times better.

Sienna played happily in the pool with him for an hour before she started rubbing her ear again. He picked her up and carried her out of the pool. Eva walked out on the porch at the same time. "She had enough of the pool?"

"No, but I think her ear is bugging her again. This is what, the third time in a few weeks?" He gently tousled his daughter's hair as she slumped down in the seat with her towel.

"Something like that. Guess it's about time for a referral to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong. That's way too many infections. I'll call her doctor and get her in," Eva promised, glancing down at Sienna. "If that's the case, maybe it is best she stays home this weekend."

Hunter flinched at the word home. He knew at this point Eva wasn't trying to be mean, but the realization that his daughter would grow up in a split family, going from house to house on weekends, really hit him. He wasn't about to argue with Eva. She had a point, as much as it sucked. "Fair enough."

"Wow. From the initial look on your face, I was expecting an argument." Eva wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'm not that bad." He kept his voice low.

"Umm, sometimes you are," Eva muttered. "Especially lately."

"And you're much better?" Well hell there went that. They still couldn't go without arguing.

"Hunter, I didn't say it to start anything." She raised her hands in frustration. Sienna whined, causing them both to stop and calm down.

"I know," he admitted after a moment of silence. "Don't let this go to your head, but you're right. I am that bad lately." Thinking back to the way he'd snapped at Becca in Vermont to other things. Yeah, he was bad. Why was it so difficult to admit defeat?

"I won't, but man do I wish I had that confession recorded." Eva smirked. "Come on, let's take Sienna inside."