After the Storm: Midseason Episode 1 (Rising Storm) (6 page)

“She’s not my girl.” Logan’s voice was a harsh growl over the line.

“What?”

“You heard me. You can’t expect that I would still be with her after what I found out about her yesterday?”

Logan had been crazy about that girl. He’d fallen head over heels. Marcus had known it would be rough, but he hadn’t quite expected this response. He had to step carefully because he’d never been super supportive of that relationship. “She made a mistake.”

“She lied to everyone. She lied to me. She lied to the Salts. Hell, she lied to her own family from what I can tell.”

“She definitely lied to herself and that might be the real problem.” Apparently he should have given his friend a call the night before. He’d gone into protective mode, thinking he’d watch out for his woman while Logan took care of his. Everything Dakota had uncovered happened before Ginny had met Logan. It wasn’t like she’d cheated on him. “She wanted the baby to be Jacob’s. I can’t blame her for that. If I were in her in position, I’d want the baby to be Jacob’s, too.”

“She lied to me, Marcus. That’s the end of the story. She wasn’t the girl I thought she was.”

He thought Logan was taking a harsh stance. Young women did foolish things. Hell, young men did, too. They all looked for love and affection where they shouldn’t. It was a difficult time to get through and the senator had preyed on their vulnerability—Ginny and Dakota and probably dozens of other girls. Though his sister should have known better than to play around with a married man, he was definitely less angry with Dakota for the affair than what she’d done on that stage yesterday. He’d expected Logan to think the same way. It seemed he’d been very wrong and his friend was hurting. “Was it really a lie if she didn’t know herself? She had no idea Jacob couldn’t father a child. I think she was trying to be optimistic.”

“I’m not talking about this with you. I’ve made up my mind about Ginny. I can’t trust her. I’m not going to be with a woman I can’t trust. I’ve had enough betrayal to last a lifetime. So feel free to bring Brit by. Ginny won’t be here. I’ve made it plain to her that she’s not welcome.” The line clicked and went dead.

Damn. Everyone was hurting.

It seemed his sister had done more damage than even he’d counted on.

Chapter Four

Travis looked down at the prescription that had been called in. Two medications. One for sleep and one for anxiety. Both were for his wife and he kind of wished at that moment that they were for him.

God, he wanted to sleep and never wake up. The night before had been pure hell. He’d listened to Celeste cry and rage and wondered if there was anyone anywhere who would listen to him.

A vision of Kristin assaulted his brain. He could see her looking up at him with pure love in her eyes as she reached up to drag him down for a kiss.

Celeste had looked at him that way once. So long ago. She wouldn’t again. She loved the children and never had time for him. She never understood that the business was important. How did she think the children got to eat and got clothes on their backs? He provided. It seemed to him that she took and took and he never got anything back.

Still, it was his place as her husband to take care of her.

He’d thought Kristin was only a fling, a way to build up his fragile ego. Now he could see plainly she was the only one in the world who thought about him.

He moved to the shelves and found the medications, carefully counting them out. This was what he could do for Celeste now.

He could still see her, her arm drawn back, ready to hit Ginny Moreno. She’d been ready to do violence to a pregnant girl. No matter what she’d done, Ginny didn’t deserve that, and yet his once gentle wife hadn’t cared there was an unborn child involved. She’d been foreign to him in that moment. Like an alien had taken her over and he couldn’t recognize the woman he’d married. She’d been a shell of her former self.

All for Jacob. All that rage and pain had been for Jacob. If he died tomorrow, she likely wouldn’t notice. She would be far too busy mourning their son.

His hand tightened around the bottle of sleeping pills. It wasn’t like he didn’t mourn. Jacob was his son, too. He’d died a little that day but no one cared about his pain. All the sympathy of the world was aimed at his wife and there was none left for him. He was expected to move through his days like nothing had happened, but poor Celeste was to be coddled and protected from the world. Because of her loss.

It was his fucking loss, too.

He screwed the cap back on as he heard people moving in the outer sections of the store.

“She just stood right up there and proclaimed to the whole world that the Moreno girl was sleeping with Sebastian,” a hushed voice said.

Travis looked up at the security monitor. He could see the two middle-aged women standing just outside the pharmacy pick-up counter. He recognized them from church, but couldn’t place their names.

“I can’t believe I missed it,” the second said. “The scandal of the decade and I missed it. Poor Celeste Salt. She was counting on that baby. Do you think she really believed it was a miracle?”

The first leaned in and Travis had to strain to hear her. “I think she would have taken any kid in. I’m sure after how Jacob died, she looked at it as a godsend, but we all know miracles don’t work like that. The all Almighty isn’t going to bless a girl like that Ginny with some sort of miracle. I always said if you send your daughters off to Austin, don’t expect them to come back as ladies.”

“Too many young girls leaving home for the big city. That’s where all the trouble starts. I’ll tell you I’m surprised the husband didn’t put a stop to it. I understand that Celeste was out of her mind with grief, but it’s the husband’s job to be sensible. Why did he let that little tramp into their house?”

“No idea. In my day, men were stronger than that. From what I heard, he knew all the time that baby couldn’t be his grandson and he still let it happen. He should have never have let his own boy go off to Austin like he did. I know it’s a popular thing to do, but the city just kills our young people. It takes the morals right out of them.”

Travis hated the gossip, hated that his family was in the middle of it. He stepped out and was pleased when the biddies gasped and moved back. “Dakota didn’t leave town. She had an affair with the senator, too. How do you explain that? If staying in Storm is supposed to keep a girl pure, I guess something went wrong, didn’t it? And I don’t think my son’s lack of morals is what did him in. That was a slick road and a deer. Should we blame that on Austin, too?”

The first one’s eyes went wide. “I’m so sorry, Travis. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“We were just talking,” the second concurred. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Can I help you ladies?” There was still business to be done.

“I just stopped in for some aspirin. I’ll take it to the front.”

They hurried off, scurrying out of sight. Travis knew they might be the first but they wouldn’t come close to being the last, and he would have to take it. There would be no excuses for him. Everyone would forgive poor Celeste, but he would have to be the strong one.

He glanced up and the girl who worked his soda counter was looking at him. Sally. She was a nice kid, but she was staring at him like she didn’t recognize him. Like he’d been a monster to the gossips.

He turned away because he had nothing to say. He had to keep his mouth shut or everyone would be talking about him, too. They would say “poor Celeste, her husband’s turned into a violent asshole. Everyone knew he wasn’t good enough for her.”

He’d been the big city boy she’d brought home. He’d been the one they were suspicious of.

They still were. He was always going to be Celeste Salt’s husband to these people.

All except one.

He went to the computer and printed out what he needed to. He was diligent and careful despite the fact that his hands were shaking with the need to leave this place. He had to get out of here, but he would complete his task first. He would ensure his wife got what she needed, and then and only then would he allow himself to do what he wanted.

He pressed the printouts firmly to the bottles. Everything was correct. The right medications in the right doses to the right patient. A pharmacist must always be perfect.

He placed both bottles in a white bag with the logo of the pharmacy on it and then slid it into his briefcase. He hung up his lab coat and made his way to the front.

“I’m going to run a few errands, Sally. Text me if an emergency comes in. I’ve completed all the prescriptions for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow unless something comes up.”

She nodded her ginger head, her hands on the counter. “Sure thing, Mr. Salt.”

She seemed relieved and he knew why. Now people could come in and freely gossip about what had happened the day before.

It didn’t matter. Nothing they said mattered. Travis strode to his car. All that mattered was getting to the one person who gave a damn about him.

He knew just where to go.

* * * *

Kristin took a long sip of tea and was thankful she was working today. She needed the time to sort through her jumbled thoughts.

Seeing Travis with Celeste yesterday had been a revelation.

Somehow their relationship had been different in her mind. Yes, she’d seen them out together, but there was always a distance between them. She would have sworn she could almost see a wall between the two of them. They would smile at each other, but it seemed like a practiced thing, as though long years together brought about the expression.

Travis’s smile never reached his eyes. Not the way it did when he was with her.

The herbal tea was sweet on her tongue from the honey she’d spooned in. Nothing had ever been as sweet as Travis’s lips on hers. When he’d held her, she’d been the most important person in the world. She’d been young and beautiful and everything else had fallen away.

Had Ginny Moreno and Dakota Alvarez felt the same way about Sebastian Rush?

She put the mug down, her thirst completely gone.

Stupid. She’d been so stupid. She’d seen what she wanted to see. Yesterday had proven the point. Yesterday there had been no walls between Travis and Celeste.

The funny thing was when she’d first heard what Dakota had to say, she’d turned and looked for Travis, desperate to get to him, to comfort him. His whole world had exploded. How would he handle it? He needed her. She’d known it and she had to find him, had to help him.

He’d had his arms around Celeste, holding her like he would never let her go. He’d smoothed his hand over her hair and spoken gently to her. Every bit of his soul had been focused on that woman. He hadn’t even noticed her standing there.

She’d been such a fool. She’d gotten close to Ginny and helped her out because something in her idiotic heart simply couldn’t stand merely sitting by and watching a tragedy happen. She had to reach out every time and offer whatever she had.

And she and Ginny had a lot in common. They’d both loved the wrong man. At least Ginny had gotten something out of it. She’d gotten a baby. It didn’t really matter who the father was. She would have a baby to love and she wouldn’t be alone.

Kristin didn’t even have that. Not even the hope. Travis was very careful. He claimed he was taking care of her, but she knew the truth now. She wasn’t important to him. Not the way his wife was. She’d fooled herself that he would ever leave Celeste.

The sound of a car coming up her drive forced her from her dark thoughts. She glanced out her window and was forced right back into them. Travis’s sedan was making its way toward her drive. He would make his way around to the back where no one could see his car from the road and he wouldn’t knock on the front door. Oh no. Front doors were for people who didn’t mind the neighbors knowing they’d come to visit. Travis would sneak around the back, far from prying eyes.

What was he doing here? Kristin stood and despite her best intentions, her hands worked over her blouse, looking for wrinkles, and she had the sudden thought that she hadn’t put on makeup.

She forced herself to stop. None of that mattered. She wasn’t going to play that game anymore. It no longer meant anything that she might not look her best in front of Travis Salt because she knew the score now. Kristin—0. Celeste—Everything.

The sound of a knock at her back door made her jump even though she’d been expecting it. Somehow she’d thought she would have more time. More time to process what she’d seen and let it really sink into her soul. More time to build up some armor. Well, her time had run out. She glanced up at the clock. It was the middle of the afternoon. He had to have left work to come out here. She knew his routine. He’d told whoever was working that he was going out to run errands.

That was what she was—an errand. She was nothing more than a bodily function, and she would do well to remember that or she would become the next Ginny Moreno. They could be as careful as they liked, but someday some busybody would figure it out and put all of their sins on display. She would be the home wrecker and even then Travis wouldn’t leave his precious wife.

She would be alone and have no reputation to hold up.

Kristin moved to the door with renewed purpose. It was time to toss out all those ridiculous notions of love and romance and be sensible. A lady didn’t do those things with a married man. She had to be stronger than she’d been before.

Travis stood in her doorway, his briefcase in hand and a worried look on his face. He seemed surprised when she didn’t immediately let him in.

“What are you doing here?” She was pleased with the even tone of her voice.

“I came to see you,” he said, a frown on his handsome face.

She looked directly at him. He needed to understand that she was serious. Unfortunately, all she could see was how tired he looked, how the trouble of yesterday seemed to have stamped itself on his features. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea given the circumstances.”

It didn’t matter that he hadn’t slept. He’d likely spent all his time comforting Celeste, and that was where he should be right now. She wasn’t going to be his second choice for one moment longer. She deserved better than that.