From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone (13 page)

Keith calmly picked up the dark green plastic holder, pushed aside a stack of bills, clearing the desk so the only thing on it was his box of tissue. Keith rested his arms on his desktop then glanced at the open door. Frowning, he casually glanced back at Brad. “You always were a player with the ladies all through high school. I watched you when you chased around Crystal, your head shoved so far up your ass you couldn’t see how she’d lead you around by the nose hairs. Just so you could have some hot filly hanging off your arm. To you it was just looks, always going for the same type, a blonde bimbo whose only interest was your bank account and their own pretty ass. What the fuck are you doing?”

It was as if a light bulb blinked on and Brad was ashamed. He’d allowed his feeling for Emily to lead him. He’d pushed aside the little voice warning him to leave her alone. But he wanted her and the sparks between them were off the charts. But not in a got-to-get-you-into-bed, purely physical way, like it had been with Crystal. With Emily, it was deeper. Something he’d never experienced, nor thought possible. He wanted something real with her, and right now, he saw it being snatched away. “I don’t know anymore.”

“Yah, well let me give you a little advice. Whatever you’re doing with this lady, you end it now. You’ve got enough trouble in your backyard you need to clean up first. Let me paint you a picture. You’re standing in front of a judge. Your whole relationship with the lady will be the focus, after of course, you’re painted as the abusive violent man who can’t control his temper, who threw out a postpartum woman who was terrified of you and your threats and didn’t believe she had any rights. And yes, she may have behaved badly, using your money. But she didn’t know what to do. You separated her from her baby. Who is also being diagnosed, as we speak, with autism. You don’t tell the mother, and she’s devastated when she finds out, giving her the strength to stand up to you. Meanwhile back at the farm, you’ve paid a woman to move in and cook for you, look after Crystal’s child and warm your bed at night. She’s there at your beck and call, tending to all your needs. But it’s not a relationship. She’s an employee you pay. Add to that, her small child, who’s watching all of this behavior. I hope you’re following how this is going to look for a judge. A powerful man with no respect for women—women he has to have on his terms, his way. Get the picture?”

“That is absolute bullshit.” Brad shouted again. This time Keith got up and closed the door.

“It’s not about the truth, Brad, it’s
about the law, and who can put the best spin on the situation. And you’re playing right into Crystal and her lawyer’s hands.”

Brad needed to defend himself—to get Keith to understand the truth. The picture he painted was ugly and not what happened, not really. But he was Emily’s boss. And he did almost sleep with her. If Katy hadn’t wakened, he would have had Emily in bed and under him, doing all manner of loving with her all night. So really, it was a good thing they were interrupted, no harm done, no regrets. Right? “So
, now what? What do I do?”

Keith didn’t sit. He wandered over to the large window and gazed out at his horses in the paddock, as they grazed on the green grass. “You behave yourself. Stay away from Crystal and Emily. No more hanky
-panky with the lady. Control your temper. Sleep in another room, preferably not the house. You give Crystal nothing to work with. And I’ll file for legal separation, with a motion for divorce and petition the court for sole custody of Trevor. I’ll ask the judge to order Crystal out of the house. But this’ll take time. And from now on Brad, you call me first before doing any more stupid, hotheaded moves. Because if you raise your hand at Crystal again, she can call the sheriff, have you removed from the property with a restraining order against you. She’ll keep Trevor and your property, she can drag this out for years, putting her in a position of power and the judge will throw the book at you.”

So as Brad sat alone in the dark, thinking back to that awful day Crystal came home, his gut all mashed up as if shot through a meat grinder. He struggled with his painful decision. If it had just been the ranch, he’d have called Crystal’s bluff. But he couldn’t gamble with his little boy’s future. The innocent little boy he loved more than his next breath.

It was better this way—better if Emily left. He could no longer stand by and watch her dragged through the mud. It nearly broke his heart to see her the last few days. He’d done his best to protect her. He’d warned Crystal to leave her alone, even going so far as to bargain with the devil herself. He’d stay away from Emily, but Crystal was to as well. Emily was there to care for Trevor and cook. Crystal made it a point to touch, caress and fling herself at Brad every time Emily walked in. And Brad didn’t miss the beaten down look that haunted Emily, crushing her vibrant spirit.

This was all Brad’s fault. He’d screwed up. And in the darkness, his back to the rough barn wall, he wept, furious at God in that moment for all the injustices in life, and why it had to be so damn hard.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A thin wall of clouds filled the morning sky. Emily shoved her hands in her heavy coat pocket as Mac tied a rope to secure her belongings in the back of Brad’s pickup truck. Emily’s throat and chest ached as if she’d swallowed her heart whole; furious at whatever twisted fate ripped the carpet right from under her. She wanted nothing more than to be loved, deeply. It hurt so much to realize this dream had been flushed right down the toilet. Emily pulled at the hem of her brown coat. Wanting nothing more to hurry and get the hell out of here—and at the same time needing to see Brad one more time.

Emily sensed someone watching her. She glanced up at the white sheer curtain as it fluttered in the closed upstairs window. She could still feel the heat of burning hatred.

This morning as Emily packed, Crystal pranced up the stairs and into Emily’s bedroom where Trevor lined up blocks in a straight line, then stacked them in a precise order, while Katy played with her dolly, on the floor.

“Emily, is there anything I can help you with?” Her voice sounded joyfully light. And for a nanosecond, Emily believed there may have been some sincerity in her offer. She smiled to herself; well of course the offer was sincere. After all, Emily, Crystal’s obstacle, had been slain and was on her way out the door. What a generous offer to help hurry her out. For all she knew, Crystal was planning a party.

“No thank you, I’ll be done here shortly. But you’re going need to look after Trevor soon.” Crystal glanced down at Trevor and her smile slipped. She stepped back, once, twice and stopped in the doorway.

It was hard to tell through all that makeup, but Emily was sure her face paled.

“Okay… sure. I guess I can take him now if you’d like.” Crystal shuffled half a step. Then another one, her normally fluent moves became boxlike and jilted. Her hand trembled as she bent over. She pulled away as if she expected Trevor to jump up and bite. “Hello, boy, come here please.
” She dangled her now-stiff hand straight in front of him, and then snapped her fingers. “Trevor, come with Mommy. You can watch some television. Would you like that?” She reached for his hand, the one holding the block. Trevor shrieked and dropped to the floor, rolling on his back and kicking his legs in the air. Crystal jumped back. Trevor then screamed his “whoop whoop” noise over and over again—the one Crystal really hated.

Crystal pressed her back to the door. “Stop that, right now, Trevor. Stop it this instant,” she yelled.

Trevor held his hand up in front of his face and banged his blocks with his other hand. Katy scooted on the bed. Emily blew out a long breath as she sank down in front of Trevor.

“Hey, let’s build these blocks again, come on sit up.” Emily placed a block in Trevor’s hand, well aware it could fly across the room.

“Crystal, just leave him for now. I’ll bring him down when I’m done.” It was the only way to calm Trevor down, get Crystal to leave.

Her mouth gaped as if she wanted to challenge Emily, but something softened her hard unfeeling eyes when she glanced at Trevor, relief maybe, but something else, something real transformed her, for the briefest of moments, into something human. Turning, Crystal left.

After her last bag was zipped, Emily leaned down and hugged Trevor, who was calmly playing with his blocks. He went into her arms, ripping open a hollow ache in her heart when he gripped her shirt with his tiny hands, “Trevor, I have to go. I love you.” Emily pulled away and held his arms as he stood in front of her, trying to memorize his innocent face, the light freckles and the brown wavy hair, which hadn’t been brushed today. His eyes appeared distant, unaware, but his face colored. A boy she’d come to think of as her own, stuck in between two worlds. He sensed something, she knew that much, and maybe he did understand she was leaving.

She held Trevor’s tiny hand. “Come on, Katy bug
. Let’s take Trevor to his room.”

Emily left Trevor with his cars and fringed place mat on his bedroom floor. He hunkered down and drove each car, one by one, over the fringe, lining them up, patting down the fringe, and started all over again.

Emily found Crystal waiting in the living room flipping through a magazine. “Trevor’s upstairs in his room playing cars. You need to go and watch him. Don’t leave him unattended.” Crystal closed the magazine and set it aside, but Emily didn’t miss the way her shoulders tensed. She casually tossed back her hair, uncrossed her legs and rose with all the grace Emily had once longed for.

“Well, good luck to you.” She paused for a second on the first step. Maybe she had more to say. Except she glanced up the stairs and then flicked her hand in a casual wave as she climbed, her heals clicking on each step.

Emily, returning her thoughts to the present, turned away from Crystal’s bedroom window and took a last look around the house. She took in the sights of the horses grazing in the meadow on the east side of the house, the cattle grazing in the far pasture and all the outbuildings scattering the property. Brad had a thriving business, his life, his land. And that nagging question she’d yet to ask. Why’d he let Crystal stay, when he could have so much?”

When Mac strode around the side of the truck, Emily was buckling Katy in her car seat

“All loaded, you ready to go?”

“Let’s go.”

She closed Katy’s door and she felt Brad, more than she heard his heavy steps crunch through the gravel. Where’d he been all morning? She thought she’d cried her last tear. But the heaviness in her chest threatened to spout another round. She refused to give in, to give him that satisfaction. This was killing her and she refused to make this easy for him. Except when he stepped closer, he appeared to have aged ten years overnight. Deepened lines surrounded his bloodshot eyes—eyes that appeared to have seen no sleep. His shoulders hunched, a man defeated. He yanked down the brim of his black cowboy hat so his face remained in the shadows. He said nothing for what seemed like forever. Even Mac made some excuse and slid away. Emily struggled with a need to make it easier for him. Maybe touch his arm, say it’s okay. But it wasn’t okay at all, so she bit her lower lip, sucking it in to stop herself. Look away, don’t look at him. But she couldn’t, she loved the way he looked, his broad shoulders, the way he filled his snug Levis and the wisdom that was always a part of his warm brown eyes.

He turned his head away and squinted when the sun cut through the clouds. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a thick envelope. He cleared his gruff throat. “Here, Em.”

This somehow made it final. Her lip trembled and tears leaked as she took the envelope. She didn’t know where to look, what to do when Brad stepped forward and pulled her against him, where she’d always dreamed to be, in his arms. She buried her face in his chest and her body jerked from the sob she couldn’t hold back. She slid her arms around his waist crumpling the envelope as Brad rubbed her back and rested his chin on her head. She breathed him in. How could he smell so good? She wanted to scream at the injustice of being denied a life with Brad and Trevor. Dammit, Emily, suck it up. You’re better than this. His rough fingers brushed away her tears.

“If you need anything, Em, you call me. Do you hear? You call me and I swear to God, I’ll be there.”

She wanted to kiss him, but fought the urge when he pulled back, and then walked away. She could barely see him through the open floodgate in her eyes as he disappeared around the house.

She wiped her eyes. Emily didn’t know what it was that made her look up. But when she did, Crystal was there, watching her in a way that sent a shiver up Emily’s spine.

It was time to get the hell out of here. Emily climbed in her van and opened the crushed envelope in her hand. It was filled with cash and a check. But it was the amount that squeezed off Emily’s breath: almost a year’s pay, or close. Why so much?

She couldn’t think about it now, so she stuffed that envelope into her dreaded purse. Mac backed up the truck waiting for her to take lead. Emily pulled in front and headed down the long driveway, saying goodbye to each magnificent tree shading this grand entryway. Emily didn’t look back, not once, no matter how tempted. She let out a hard sigh when she hit the main road, wondering when the pain ripping her soul apart would ease, just a little.

* * * *

Brad watched from the side of the barn as Mac followed in the big one
-ton, with Emily’s belongings piled in the back; tied down so nothing would fall out. He had no idea how long he stayed, willing her to return. For the first time, he felt himself drowning in a black inky darkness. What a cruel twist of fate, to finally realize he’d found a woman who could honestly love him not for his pocketbook, but for him. He could do nothing but watch her walk away; out of his life, taking with her everything good, honest and loving. She was the best thing to happen to him and his son, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

He slammed his fist against the side of the barn. Dragging in a hard breath, he turned his eyes toward the house. Never before had he hated someone as he did the vile woman he’d once loved. Right now all he could do is bide his time, protect his boy
, and bury the burning rage filling his gut. He pushed away from the barn and stalked toward the house. War had been declared. And this bitch who turned his life upside down was in for one hell of a battle. He’d be dammed if she won. “Let the games begin.” He muttered under his breath as he yanked open the door. “Hey Crystal, you need to get lunch started, Trevor needs to eat.” He heard a clatter as if something knocked over upstairs. And Brad chuckled under his breath. “Well, two can play this game, baby.”