On the Line (4 page)

“Little matchmaker,” Kelsey said, smiling.

“Maybe,” Janelle replied with a shrug. “Well, he fixed it for me and asked if there
was anything else that needed attention.”

“Other than you?”

“Would you stop it?” Janelle said with an exasperated sigh. “It wasn’t like that.”

“I’m still waiting for you to tell me how it
was,
Janelle. So far, I’m not getting
any heat at all from this story. It’s all about Nathan’s mother, not Nathan.” Kelsey
yawned as she raised the head of the bed.

“That’s the point. It wasn’t any one moment that did it. Nathan has always been my
friend. After that day, he started coming by more often. He began to call after work
to see if I needed anything. He’d come over and have dinner with me and keep me company
as late as he thought he could without setting tongues wagging. He’d leave around
ten, and Richard would still not be home until two or three in the morning.” Janelle’s
voice faded as she reflected on that time in her life. “Actually, it
was
one moment.”

“Really? What happened?” Kelsey began to sit up and tried to hide the pain. Janelle
stood up and helped Kelsey adjust as she tried to remember everything. Once Kelsey
was adjusted and comfortable, Janelle sat on the edge of the bed and faced her sister.

“It was one night he’d had to work later than usual, but he still called me when
he got off to make sure I’d eaten and to see if I needed anything. I told him I needed
a drink and a good movie, and he showed up with a six pack of hard cider and
Steel
Magnolias
on DVD,” Janelle said with a chuckle.

“Good man.” Kelsey grinned up at her sister.

Janelle nodded. “He sat beside me on the couch and placed a box of tissues between
us. He handed me the first tissue as the first tear fell, and I think I spent the
rest of the movie thinking about this man beside me more than I paid attention to
the movie. I think that was the moment he became more than just ‘Nathan, the friend
I’d grown up with’ and became ‘Nathan, the man who . . .’” Janelle sighed, “‘who
filled so many needs.’ He was taking
care of me the way Richard was supposed to be
without asking for anything in return. He just . . . he just did it.”

Janelle looked out the window and remembered all the times he’d just been there the
moment she’d needed him, all the times he’d play with Zach while she made them all
dinner, all the times he would fix something around the house she’d been nagging
Richard to fix for weeks, if not months, after only being told about it once. She
couldn’t remember when or how they’d slipped into that pattern. She just knew that
she’d loved feeling normal for a change. She’d felt, then, that Nathan belonged in
her life.

If she were honest with herself, she still felt that way.

“I guess some people would have considered that part of the affair, too,” Janelle
said with a curl of her lip. She hated thinking of their relationship as scandalous,
even though everyone would now see it that way. “But it was still a few weeks after
that before we made love.”

“And Richard didn’t know?” Kelsey asked.

“I didn’t think he did.” Janelle looked at her sister. “Obviously, I was wrong.”

“How long did it last?”

Janelle tilted her head to the side and looked at her lap. “Six months, more or less.
I found out I was pregnant with Zoe just before Zach’s second birthday. I knew it
wasn’t Richard’s baby, that wasn’t possible. I’ve never been so torn about a decision
as I was about whether to stay with a husband who ignored me or leave him for the
man I loved.”

“You still love him.” It wasn’t a question from Kelsey.

“Am I that obvious?” One corner of Janelle’s mouth lifted.

“Only to those who know you well.” Kelsey touched Janelle’s arm and squeezed. “Does
Nathan know?”

“I don’t know, I never told him. I had to act fast, before too much time passed in
the pregnancy. I ended it with Nathan and seduced Richard when he got home all in
the same night.” Janelle shuddered at the memory of that night. “The women in this
family do everything we can to make our marriages work,” Janelle said, mocking her
mother’s tone. “You know how I feel about that idiom.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “That ideal has done nothing for us. Is that why you called
it off with Nathan?”

“As much as I didn’t want to, I didn’t see where I had much choice.”

“Why?” asked a male voice as the door closed.

Janelle looked up and watched Patrick stride into the room and directly to Kelsey’s
side. Without a word, he took her hand and then turned his gaze on Janelle.

“Why didn’t you have a choice?” Patrick expanded on his first question as he leaned
against the rail on the opposite side of the bed from Janelle.

“Where would I have gone? I couldn’t move in with Nathan while I was still married
to Richard. Kelsey hadn’t bought her house yet and was spending most of her time
in LA, saving up to buy it. Dad would have gladly taken Zach and me in, but Mom probably
would have put us on the street as soon as she could.” Janelle shrugged and smiled
weakly at him.

“How do you know that?” Patrick frowned, and his gaze bounced between the sisters.

Janelle looked at Kelsey, her question in her eyes. Did Patrick not know enough about
her pregnancy to know the answer to that?

“I haven’t had the time to give him much detail,” Kelsey muttered as she looked toward
her feet, color rising to her cheeks.

Janelle met Patrick’s stare. “Mom disowned Kelsey when she came home from college.
Richard and I took her in because she had nowhere else to go. Dad came to my house
every day to see Kelsey, but Mom refused. And when Mom invited us for dinner, she
only meant Richard and me. We brought Kelsey one time and Mom was blatantly rude
until Dad said something to her about it, then she veiled her insults or only got
her digs in when Dad was in another room. Much like she does now.”

Patrick’s eyes filled with anger as he looked at Kelsey, but Janelle knew it wasn’t
directed at her. “So, you thought she’d do the same to you?”

“I knew she’d do the same to me. If I had told her the truth, she’d have disowned
me and possibly Zach, too,” Janelle stated sadly.

“Why?” Patrick asked again.

“Because she still sees him as my mistake,” Kelsey answered softly. She looked up
at Janelle and smiled weakly. “And that is why she’ll blame me for the affair. And
Richard’s problems. And whatever else she decides to throw at me this week.”

“And you’re okay with this?” Janelle questioned and Kelsey nodded. “Why?”

Kelsey sighed. “J, I died last night.”

“Kelsey,” Patrick said sternly.

“Oh hush.” Kelsey swatted Patrick’s arm. “It’s not like it didn’t happen, and not
talking about it isn’t going to change anything.” She looked at Janelle again. “But
what it did do is put things into perspective. Very clearly. There’s no more pussyfooting
around that woman for me, doing that is part of what led to last night. I’ll happily
take her blame, crumple it up, and throw it back at her. She’s always considered
me the rebel, so I may as well give credence to her beliefs.”

Kelsey turned and looked at Patrick, sliding her hand in his. She lifted his hand
to her cheek as they stared silently at each other, and Janelle felt a little out
of place.

Still staring at Patrick, Kelsey softly added, “I know what’s important to me, and
I’m going to do everything I can to hold on to it for as long as possible.”

Janelle felt a twinge of guilt at her own actions. She wished she’d had her sister’s
determination when she’d found out she was pregnant. Maybe things would have turned
out differently with Nathan. She looked around the room. Speaking of which . . .

“Where is Nathan?” Janelle asked as she looked at Patrick.

Patrick met her gaze. “He got called to the station.” He sighed deeply. “And I’m
afraid we need to talk. We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Janelle asked as she watched Patrick and Kelsey exchange
ominous looks.

“I just got a call from Xavier,” Patrick began, and Kelsey groaned as he turned his
attention on her.

“Who’s Xavier?” Janelle questioned.

“My agent.”

“What did he want?” Kelsey slid under the covers and laid her head against the pillow.

“He’s gotten a few calls already regarding you and me.” Patrick ran the back of his
hand across Kelsey’s forehead. “People have started to make
the connection between
us. They’ve heard that we left the premiere party together and asked if I had travelled
with you. He’s trying to put them off, but that little manifesto of Richard’s,” he
pointed to the television, “has gone viral, so we won’t be able to avoid the questions
much longer.”

“That explains the crowd in the lobby,” Janelle stated and looked at her sister’s
face.

Kelsey’s eyes were closed as she brought her hand up to cover them. Janelle’s confusion
slowly shifted to a slight panic. She wasn’t sure she understood what this meant
for her or the kids, but could tell it wouldn’t be good.

“I’m so sorry, Kelsey,” Patrick said as he propped his elbows on the bed. “You avoided
dating me so you could avoid publicity. Now it seems like Richard has thrust us into
the spotlight.”

Kelsey waved his words away and looked at him with a tight smile. “We knew after
the premiere that it would only be a matter of time. This attention isn’t your fault,
and we couldn’t have predicted it.”

“But the paparazzi will be all over you guys.” He looked at Janelle. “All of you.”

Janelle stood and walked to the window. So, not only had her husband kidnapped her
son, tried to kill her sister, and aired their dirty laundry all over the news, now
they’d have to deal with cameras and reporters in their faces. How long would that
last? How intrusive would they be? How would she protect the kids?

She peered out the window at the gray skies and pulled her shoulders up. “How do
we handle this?”

Three

Nathan Harris walked into the police station, ignoring the stares and whispers that
followed him toward his captain’s office. He hated that he’d been called away in
the middle of his interview with Patrick. He hated even more that he’d had to leave
the hospital without talking to Janelle. He wanted answers from her. After everything
they’d been through, he felt he deserved them.

He’d been in turmoil since that night last May when he’d answered the call for a
domestic dispute and Janelle had been the victim. He was thankful that she could
immediately move out of her husband’s home and into her sister’s. When Kelsey had
called Nathan directly in December because Richard had attacked her, he’d been tense,
but also slightly relieved that Kelsey had been the target of his fury and not Janelle.
His relief had caused him a minor bit of guilt, though. Kelsey was, and had always
been, almost like a little sister to him.

His tension was further alleviated when Kelsey had asked him to keep watch over her
house and her family after that incident. He’d been more than happy to protect Janelle
and the children, even if he’d had to do it from a distance.

This morning he had woken up feeling exhausted and stressed from the events of the
night before, but, for the first time in months, also slightly relaxed and borderline
elated. Earlier, with every intention of going to see Kelsey to question her about
what happened in the cabin before he’d arrived, he’d gone to Janelle’s house, simply
to see if she needed anything. Without hesitation, she’d asked for a ride to see
Kelsey, and it almost felt like they’d gone back in time. Back to just before she’d
chosen to try to work things out with Richard.

That had been one of the worst days in his life. He couldn’t say he was surprised.
She’d never said she would leave Richard, had never even hinted at it either. He’d
been the one building their future on the hopes and dreams he’d harbored since high
school. He’d gotten out of bed this morning with the faintest hope that those dreams
might still come true.

Now he had no idea where they stood.

And he wouldn’t be able to ask her until he knew what his captain needed. So, he’d
see what the captain had to say and go back to the hospital to get Janelle as soon
as he could. Then they could have their talk and she could explain herself.

He blew out a breath and hoped this wouldn’t take long as he rapped once on the mahogany
door in front of him. He waited for the muffled “Come in” before he turned the knob
and entered the office.

“Ah, Detective Harris, come in and close the door please.” Captain Bruce Little sat
behind his desk and folded his hands on the papers in front of him as Nathan entered
the room. Just below his whitened hairline, his brow was wrinkled with more than
age. Behind his glasses, his eyes narrowed sharply on Nathan.

Nathan immediately knew he was in trouble. Captain Little had served on the police
force with Nathan’s father and had known him since he was a boy. Even at work, he
was just as likely to call Nathan by his first name as his last. But the way the
captain used Nathan’s rank coupled with the look on his face was a sure sign that
he’d called Nathan in for a reason, and it was serious.

Nathan closed the door and took the seat across the desk from his captain and placed
his hands on his legs. And waited. The longer he had to wait, the more trouble he
was in. Lucky for him, he only counted to twenty before Captain Little stood and
moved to look out of the window behind him.

The captain grasped his own wrist behind his back as he spoke. “Have you seen the
news today?”

Nathan’s brow furrowed as he slowly answered, “Yes.”

“Are Mr. Wagoner’s accusations true?”

“Which ones?” Nathan asked. He felt pretty certain he knew which ones the captain
was referring to, but was uncertain why he would be asking.

Captain Little turned and raised an eyebrow at Nathan. “Regarding you
and Mrs. Wagoner.”