Love and Lies (Sunshine & Shadow Book 4) (2 page)

“Were you lonely at the
ranch?” Lex asked.

April flushed crimson.

Lex noticed.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“I was very lonely, Lex. I
tried not to think about you. But…nothing I did could distract me long enough
to forget everything we had. Nobody could…”

“Who?”

Cheeks burning, April
said, “...Kip.” Just saying his name made her heart ache.

“Oh,” Lex said with his
lips tight. He looked at the pool of water in front of them. April could feel
the anger emanating from him. The horses looked up, feeling it too.

“Please don’t be angry.”

“I’m not...Not at you, at
least.”

“Please don’t be angry
with Kip. It was unfair of me to use him as a distraction. It’s not his fault.”

“Are you kidding?” Lex
turned irate eyes on her. “It
is
his fault.
He
used
you
.
He knew how vulnerable you were and he took advantage of it.”

“No, Lex, no he didn’t.
If anything
I
used
him
.”

“...You, what?”

April nodded.

“It’s not like you love
him though, right?”

She didn’t say anything.

“April...Do you love him?”

She bit her lip, refusing
to answer again.

“April, do you love him?
Answer me.”

She nodded slightly. “But
not like I love you! It’s different, Lex. I love him, because he’s my best
friend. And you...”

“What about me, April?
Why do you love me? After everything I’ve done.”

“I don’t know why I love
you. But
I do
. You’re...different and you challenge me to be stronger,
and braver.”

Lex stared at her
incredulously. “Do you mean that?” he said after a long pause.

“Of course I mean it.”

“I guess after everything
I’ve done, I just expect you to hate me. Miracles don’t exist in real life.”

April hated to point out
the obvious but she had no choice. “It’s not exactly a happy ending, though.”

Lex scoffed painfully. “I
guess not. God,” he said, putting his head in his hands. “How could everything
have gone so wrong?”

He reached for her. April
wanted to pull away, to protect herself, but the desperation in his eyes made
her let him take her hand and hold it in his lap. He ran his fingers along hers,
feeling the tremor that went through her as he did.

 “Whatever happens, Lex,
I’ll be here. I’ll be your friend. You’re not gonna lose me.”

“Promise?” He turned
terrified eyes up to her face.

“I promise.”

She let his cheek lay
against her chest and wrapped her arms around his back, one hand resting on his
soft hair.

The ride back to the lot
was a quiet one. It was comfortable silence. Lex seemed a lot more relaxed than
before they had left.

Trinity was calm and
willing whenever Lex gave her a command. April thought that Lex had been right
with his diagnosis; the horse had been bored with her daily routine. April
would request she be transferred to an outdoor field, instead of living her
life in the box stall.

When they arrived back on
the lot, they untacked Benny and put him in his stall. As they were grooming
Trinity before the afternoon of filming, Damian arrived for an update.

April followed him into
the staff lounge.

“So, what’s the verdict?”
he asked.

“I think that’s what she
needed, Damian. We had a nice long run and let them graze for a bit. And on the
way back Trinity was way more willing to work and seemed a lot happier. I
really think she should be kept outside, where she has a bit more room.”

“She spends her off-season
in a field. While she’s at work, she’s in the barn. That’s just the way it is.
Even I can’t change that; there’s just nowhere to put her.”

“Then at least have a
groom take her out every couple of days for a run. Honestly, Damian, I really
think it helped.”

“We’ll see, I guess.
Violet Rose just arrived. A groom should be taking Trinity to the set right
now. Let’s go.”

Lex and Violet were
standing by their horses when April entered the set with Damian. They were
filming, so the two walked silently to the seats behind Campbell and watched.

“My father will never
accept you, Malcolm! You’re a thief and a liar...” Violet’s eyes filled with
tears and she wiped them away.

“I used to be, Elizabeth,
I know! But you’ve changed me, made me into the man I am today. That man is who
I want to be forever, and I have to have you beside me if I have any chance of
making that happen. Please, don’t leave me.”

“If I go with you my
father will find us. He’ll never let me marry you.”

“We’ll find a way.”

“We’ll need a miracle.”

Campbell shouted, “Cut!”

Lex and Violet relaxed
and stepped apart.

“That was good. Next we
bring in the father from stage left...” He gestured and an actor April had
never seen before entered from her right. “We shout, shout, shout and then Lex
and Violet jump onto their horses and escape. Easy peasy. Let’s get it in one
take, yeah guys?” He sat back down and grabbed his megaphone. “Action!”

“We will find a way,” Lex
repeated.

“We’ll need a miracle.”

The new actor shouted
from the side. “Elizabeth! What do you think you’re doing?” He rushed forward.

Lex grabbed Violet by the
shoulders and pulled her close. “My love, you must choose. Either go to him and
say goodbye to me, or take the risk and follow me. And we’ll find a way to get
married.” He looked up at the approaching actor. “Choose now, Elizabeth!”

Lex jumped on Trinity,
who had been standing calmly beside them. She seemed alert and controlled.
April smiled. She looked at Damian, who was also smiling. He nodded once in
recognition at her. Her smile widened and she turned back to the set.

Violet grabbed Prime
Time’s reins and pulled him away from the wall where he stood quietly. She
yanked on his face as she pulled herself into the saddle and kicked him hard in
the ribs, digging the heels of her boots into his sides.

Oh no
,
April thought.

Prime Time’s front hooves
left the ground and he rose up on his hind end, striking out, his ears pinned
back. Violet was unseated, but managed to grab the horse’s mane and hold
herself upright. He landed hard as he came down. She was thrown forward, over
his neck and he spun sideways, humping his back in a huge buck and rose up
again. Violet’s hold on his mane was not strong enough and she was hurled over
the horse’s shoulder and into the dirt. She lay still.

April and Damian rushed
forward and split up. April grabbed Prime Time and tried to calm him; Damian
and Cash ran to Violet.

Lex joined April just as
the horse reared again, striking April in the forearm and causing her to fall
backwards into the dirt. She cradled her arm against her chest and covered her
face with her hands as the horse reared again.

“Don’t touch him!” she yelled
at Lex, who was reaching for Prime Time’s reins. “Easy boy, easy does it. Bring
it down. You’re okay. No-one will hurt you now.” She spoke softly to the horse.
As he came down, his front hooves landed inches from her legs, on either side
of her.

Slowly, she slipped her
legs out from under him and stood up, being sure to make each move calm and
controlled. Prime Time let her get a hold of his reins and, as she did, he
breathed a deep sigh.

April tried to use her
other hand to stroke down his face, but her arm screamed in pain. She gasped. She
wiggled her fingers, sighing; at least it wasn’t broken.

“Are you alright?” Lex
asked from beside her.

“Yeah, fine,” she lied.

“Your arm,” he said,
noticing her cradling it against her body.

“I’m fine,” April
repeated. “Go to Violet.”

Realization of the
mistake he had just made dawned on Lex’s face and he spun around. Violet was
not moving. Her body was supported by Cash. Lex squatted beside them, Campbell
at his shoulder. Paramedics rushed to the scene.

“Out of the way!” they
shouted, moving people with the stretcher they carried.

They quickly and
efficiently lifted Violet onto it and carried her out of the studio. Lex
followed, giving April an apologetic look as he passed. She nodded. She
understood. He had to go. He had to make sure the baby was okay.

Damian stormed past her,
fuming.

“What the hell happened?”
he shouted, as they entered the barn.

April locked the horses
in their stalls and turned to him. “The horse said no.” She shrugged. To her,
it was simple.

“What does that mean,
Cooper? Horses don’t say no. They do as they’re told. You told me he was
fixed!”

April stepped closer. She
was tired of being bulldozed by this man. “No, I didn’t! Before I left, I told
you he was improving. And I said in front of everyone that you can’t tell a
horse like that what to do; you heard me! You have to ask. He’s too proud to be
bossed around.”

“Well, he won’t have to
worry about that anymore.” Damian strode into the staff lounge. “He’ll have to
go.”

“Go where?” April said,
following him closely.

“Dog food factory, glue
factory; I couldn’t give a shit. Horses like
him
are the reason why
people like
me
lose their jobs. Do you realize the repercussions of
letting
Violet Rose
get injured on my watch? I’ll be a pariah! No-one
will hire me again!” He pulled a flask out of his inner pocket and poured over
an ounce of the strong-smelling liquid into his coffee mug.

“It’s not his fault,
Damian! Watch the tape back and you’ll see that Violet kicked him! I told her
to
ask
when she wanted him to do something. She didn’t listen and that’s
not the horse’s fault. It was only a matter of time before something like this
happened.”

“I’m gonna lose my job
over this! Do you understand that? I’ve got a family!”

April chewed her lip.
“Tell Campbell it was me,” she said after only a second of deliberation, “Tell
him I’ve been working with Prime Time. I’ll tell him I thought he was fixed, because
he was good for me. Tell him it’s my fault.”

Damian looked up, his
eyes full of pain. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re good at
your job, Damian, most of the time. Horses like Prime Time are rare. A lot of
times, you can tell them what to do and they don’t pitch a fit. But if I do
this, you have to make me a promise.”

“What?”

“If you ever encounter a
horse like this again, no matter where you are, you will
not
let them be
slaughtered just because they aren’t right for this industry.”

Damian nodded.

“And you won’t send Prime
Time to the auction. I’ll buy him.”

Lex felt helpless, pacing
up and down the waiting room in the hospital. He hated not knowing what was
happening behind the closed doors. He didn’t know if Violet was okay, or even
alive. And his baby...he didn’t know what he would do if something happened to
the baby. He would go to his grave making sure that child had everything it would
ever need.

Cash sat in the waiting
room, watching Lex. “Lex,” he said. “Sit down. You’re making me stressed. She’ll
be fine.”

Lex fell into the chair
beside his brother and put his head in his hands. “Yeah, but what if she’s not
fine, Cash? What if something happens to the baby? What if...?”

“You can’t think like
that, man. These are good doctors and it wasn’t a bad fall. She hit her head,
knocked herself out, but they’ll take care of it. She’ll be alright.” He spoke
slowly, like Lex was a child.

“Quit saying it like I’m
overreacting, Cash!” Lex jumped up and began pacing again. “You have no idea
how this feels! You have no idea the stress I am under right now because of
that baby in there! I didn’t want a baby, Cash!” He leaned forward, seething.
“I didn’t want to have a baby with Violet and you know that! So if you don’t
mind, fuck off!”

Cash leaned back in his
chair and crossed his arms. Lex knew that his brother was worried, but Cash had
no idea how much stress he was under. He was trying to figure out his life,
trying to plan a future in his head that worked for him.

A doctor walked through
the door, with a clipboard in his hands. “Alexander Mitchell,” he said.

Lex nearly ran over to
him, searching for clues on his face as to what news he was about to deliver.

“Yes, yes that’s me,” he
said.

Cash stood up.

“My name is Dr. Jude. I
am the physician for Ms. Rose. I understand you are the father?”

“Yes, I am,” Lex said.
“Is Vi okay? Is the baby?”

Dr. Jude held up his
hand. “Ms. Rose is fine. She suffered a slight concussion so we’re going to
keep her in overnight for observation,
but other
than that, she’s fine. She was very lucky.”

Lex breathed a huge sigh
of relief. “And the baby?”

“The baby is in great
health. You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Mitchell.”

Cash stepped forward.
“Thank you, doctor,” he said, putting his hand on Lex’s shoulder.

Lex patted it a couple of
time, an unspoken apology for yelling at him.

The doctor continued.
“And you are?”

“Cash Mitchell,” Cash
said, shaking hands with the doctor. “His brother.”

“Can we see Violet?” Lex
asked.

Dr. Jude nodded.

Lex and Cash followed the
doctor down the hallway. Lex looked around uncomfortably; he had never liked
hospitals. They turned into a private room. Violet lay in the wide bed, asleep.

“Try not to wake her.
We’ll be monitoring her for the next twenty four hours, so she needs the rest.”

Lex nodded and the doctor
left. He went to Violet’s side, lowered himself in one of the armchairs and took
her hand. He brought it to his mouth and ran his lips over her skin.

Cash came up behind him
and put his hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be alright,” he murmured.

“Yeah.” Lex nodded. “I
know.”

Lex watched the way her
pale eyelids fluttered, but didn’t open. His gaze travelled down her body until
they fixed on the slight bump on her abdomen. He wanted to rest his hand on it,
but he didn’t want to risk waking her.

Cash sat in the chair
beside him, leaning back and closing his eyes.

“It’s gonna be a long
night,” he said. “Try and get some sleep.”

Lex shook his head. “I
don’t want to sleep.”

Cash sighed. “Then you’re
gonna need coffee. I think the cafeteria is open.”

Lex nodded. He let
Violet’s hand rest on the bed and stood up.

“You want any?” he asked
Cash.

Cash shook his head.
“Hell no; I’m sleeping.”

Lex wandered down the
hallway, looking for a sign or a map—he was completely lost. The corridor was
narrow and he knew he had to find the main one if he wanted to find the
cafeteria.

Up ahead he could see
double doors. Pushing them open, he was faced with another long hallway. He
read the names of each patient as he passed, hoping he would find his way out
of this maze soon.

Out loud he said,
“Elizabeth Turner...Henry Caldwell...Damon Radcliffe...Gerald Carnell...Frank...”

He froze, staring at the
name plate on the fourth door. His brain began to spin.

No.

It couldn’t be possible.

The plate read, Frank
Mitchell.

Lex hadn’t seen his
father in almost fifteen years. Here he was trying to wrap his head around
Violet’s pregnancy, and her accident, when his father was lying in the same
building. Surely it couldn’t be his father, who he hadn’t seen since he was
twelve years old. Lex took a step away from the door. He shook his head; it
might not be him. It might be another Frank Mitchell. But something inside him
knew; his father was lying behind the door in front of him. He had to find
Cash; he had to tell him.

As he rushed back along
the corridors, his mind spun. How could his father be there?
Why
was his
father there? He searched rooms until he found Violet’s. Pushing the door open,
he stopped.

“What?” Cash whispered.
“’The hells wrong with you?”

“Dad...is here.”

“He’s...what?”

Lex gestured for his
brother to follow him and Cash joined him in the hallway.

“He’s here.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just saw
his name on that sheet that’s on all the doors.”

Lex leaned against the
wall.

“It might not even be
him, Lex.”

He looked up at Cash. “That’s
what I thought too, but…I don’t know, Cash.”

“You think it’s him?”        

Lex straightened up. He
nodded. “We need to find out for sure. Come on.”

They rushed down the
hallway until Lex found the double doors that had lead him to his father’s
room. He searched the names and recognized them.

He counted the rooms out
loud. “Two...three...four.” He pointed at the paper. “There,” he said.

Cash leaned forward,
reading the name. He stepped backwards and looked at Lex.

At that moment, a doctor
left a room down the hallway. He saw the boys and approached them, smiling
gently.

“Good evening. Can I help
you gentlemen with anything?”

Lex looked at his brother,
then back at the doctor.

The doctor raised his
eyebrows. “I’m sorry, but unless you’re immediate family of a patient, you’re
not authorized to be down here.”

“We are...We think we
are.”

The doctor looked at him
questioningly.

Cash spoke up. “We think
this patient...” He gestured to the room behind them. “...might be our father.”

The doctor stepped
forward and took the sheets. “Frank Mitchell?”

Cash nodded.

“I’m Dr. Grey and I’ve
been Mr. Mitchell’s nephrologist for ten years. He’s never mentioned having
sons.”

Lex looked at his
brother. “Figures,” he murmured.

“We haven’t seen him in a
long time. Can you...ask him?” Cash said.

The doctor nodded. He
opened the door and disappeared inside.

Cash and Lex leaned
against the opposite wall silently. Lex didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even
know what to think. If it truly was their father, lying behind that door, did
he want to see him? Could he see him, without the anger coming back? Without
feeling vengeful for everything he had done to them as children?

He looked at Cash as the
doctor came out.

The doctor nodded. “He
just woke up.” He held up his hand as Lex tried to pass him, suddenly
determined. “I need you to be prepared for the change in your father since the
last time you saw him.”

“What’s wrong with him?
Why is he here?” Lex asked.

“He’s suffering from
Poly-Cystic Kidney Disease. He’s been receiving dialysis treatments for over a
decade. Yesterday we performed transplant surgery and we thought we’d
succeeded. This morning, it seems your father’s body has rejected the new
kidney.”

“What does that mean?”
Lex asked.

“He’s dying,” Cash said.

Dr. Grey nodded.  “Most
likely, Mr. Mitchell won’t make it through another night.”

“Can we go in now?” Lex
said.

The doctor waved his hand
towards the door. As Lex stood and pulled Cash with him, Cash grabbed his arm.

“Are you sure we should
do this?” Cash said.

Lex knew Cash had caught
the worst of their father’s abuse, putting himself between him and their
mother.

“Have you...” Cash pulled
Lex aside. “Have you forgotten what he did to me? To mom?”

Lex looked at the ground.
“No, I haven’t. But...I feel like I’ll regret not seeing him. He only has so
much time left, Cash.”

“I wish he had no time
left.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“You’re damn right I do.
You know, sometimes I wish I’d forced mom to come with us when we moved out.
Because then she’d be alive. She’d be alive and that rotten bastard in there
would have been all alone.” He jabbed his finger at the door.

“I know what he did to
you, Cash, but he was an alcoholic. He might have changed.”

Cash scoffed. “People
like him don’t change. I hope he rots in hell where he belongs.” 

Lex looked at his
brother. “I need to do this.”

“I don’t.” Cash’s voice
was pitiless, cold.

 “I understand.”

He felt Cash’s eyes on
his back as he followed the doctor through the door. He didn’t look back.

“That’s correct, sir,”
April said.

Campbell stared at her
incredulously. “You thought he was fixed?”

She nodded. “I did, sir.”

“Well, clearly you were
wrong, April. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“There’s nothing I can
say but that I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would react that way to someone else.
With me, he was perfect; never put a foot wrong.”

“Working in this business
means you always have to be prepared for the unexpected. You have to evaluate
all sides of a decision before you make it. If you want to have a career like
this, that’s a lesson you will have to learn.”

“Yes, sir.”

April hated being
scolded, especially for something she didn’t do. She just kept thinking about
Damian and his family, and she knew she was doing the right thing.

“I know you’re probably
going to fire me,” she said, looking at the ground. Something in her mind told
her that being dismissed might not be a bad thing.

“Who said I was going to
fire you?”

April looked up suddenly.
“But Violet...”

“You do good work here, April.
Damian has put in many good words. You still have a job here, if you want it.
It will be explained to Ms. Rose that horses are unpredictable and her accident
was just that; an accident.”

“Thank you, sir,” April
said. She ducked her head and retreated from the studio. As she neared the
door, Campbell’s voice stopped her.

“Oh, and April?”

“Yes sir?” She turned
around.

He looked over his
glasses at her. “Taking the fall for someone else is a nice thought. But it’s
honesty that will get you on my good side in the future. I know you haven’t
worked with that horse since you got back. It was very brave of you to take
Damian’s place, but just be careful. Having the ability to make allies is a
very sought-after trait in this city; just make sure the allies you make are as
honest as you are.” He waved his hand and April turned back around, mulling
over what he had just said.

Dr. Grey stood in front
of Lex in the private room. Lex didn’t take his eyes off the doctor’s back,
refusing to look at the thin man in the bed against the far wall. The TV was
on, showing a baseball game. He glanced at it and then away. The man in the bed
turned his head slowly in the doctor’s direction.

“Who’s this?” he asked.
His voice was rough, like sandpaper.

Lex stepped out from
around Dr. Grey and faced his father.

“Alexander.”

Lex didn’t answer, just
stood, unmoving, staring at the frail man who vaguely resembled the bully he
had grown up with until he was twelve years old.

“For a second I thought
you were your brother,” the old man said.