Ties That Bind (33 page)

Reese spoke softly to the boys and shuffled them out, then he came to her side. He grasped her arm. “Dray, please, we have to talk.”

Facing him fully, she nodded to the bed. “You slept with Kate, didn’t you? That’s what the boys meant.”

“Yes, it’s what I wanted to tell you.”

“Did you just sleep in the same bed? Was it like the night she was attacked?” She cursed the hope in her voice, the near begging tone. What had happened to her?

“No, Dray, it wasn’t like that. We made love. I’m sorry.”

She wanted to fling herself into his arms. But she didn’t. Instead, she threw back her shoulders and asked, coldly, “You said you’d never cheat on me.”

“I weakened.”

“Because of Emily and your grief? Did it cloud your judgment?”

He drew back and stared down at her. His green eyes were turbulent. “Maybe some. But that’s not the only reason I did this. I’m sorry, I’m still in love with Kate.”

“You never told me you loved me.”

“Dray…”

She wanted to bawl like a baby. She wanted to pound on his chest, rail at fate. But she knew, in that moment, she had to take care of herself now, protect herself, and falling apart, begging, wasn’t what was best for her. So she gathered her strength. “I guess this is the end of us then.”

He didn’t object, didn’t beg for another chance, and that hurt most of all.

She glared at him. “For the record, I hate you for sleeping with her before you told me we were through. It was wrong, no matter how upset you are.”

“You’re right. I deserve your contempt.”

“I’ll move out of your house.” She watched his face, saw the lines of grief, now accompanied by guilt and regret. She knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but the pain of his rejection eclipsed everything else. “When will you go back Westwood?”

“Tomorrow. The boys are coming in with Dad on Saturday. But you can stay at the house until you find a place to live. I don’t want you out on the street.” He moved toward her, to touch her.

She stepped back abruptly. “Don’t.”

He recoiled.

She lifted her chin. “I won’t stay with you now! I’ll move into the apartment over the gym. It’s empty.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“And what do you want, Reese? To have Kate back in your life?”

“There’s a lot to consider.”

He was so obviously dodging the question.

“What does Kate want?”

“She’s as confused as I am. We didn’t mean for this to happen. Kate’s really broken up about telling Tyler.”

Tears did moisten her eyes now. “Oh, poor Tyler. This will kill him. He loves her so much.”

She saw Reese’s mouth tighten and his eyes flame green fire.

It was all the evidence Dray needed. Despite his hedging words, it was obvious in that instant exactly what Reese wanted.

o0o

FEELING A SENSE of dread, Tyler showed up at Kaitlyn’s house about six. He’d gone golfing today, to think things through, to decide what he really wanted and how to get it. Now, he was ready to say a few things to her. Using his key, he let himself into her house, and found her on the phone in the kitchen. She hung up quickly.

Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, she smiled, but didn’t come toward him. He stayed in the doorway. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He nodded to the phone. “Was that Reese?”

“Jason and Jimmy. I think it helps them to talk to me. A woman, you know.”

“Hmm.”

“Come in and sit. Want something to drink?”

He noticed a bottle of red wine open on the counter, and a glass half full next to it. “I’ll have some of that.”

She poured him a glass and brought it to him; he took a seat and sipped his wine, wondering how to open this discussion. She started to speak, but he held up his hand. “I have some things to say before you talk.”

“Ty—”

“No, let me.” He cocked his head. “Something’s happened with you and Reese, I can sense it. Maybe not physical but…”

Her blush, and the way she averted her gaze, told him otherwise.

“Shit.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “You promised you wouldn’t cheat on me, Kaitlyn.”

She said only, “I’m sorry.”

He remembered voicing his fears when this whole thing with Bingham began. I’m afraid you’re still in love with him. That he’ll get you in the sack, then take you away from me. He’d been right on target.

“Are you? Sorry?”

“Of course. What I’ve done is an unconscionable betrayal of trust.”

“It was.” He drew in a breath. “You know, if this is just a slip up, I might be able to forgive you. He’s not good for you.” He watched her for some reaction. Her face told him nothing. “It’s not a slip up, though, is it? You’re in love with him.”

She stared at him, her chocolate-brown eyes full of feeling.

“This is it, Kaitlyn. Your next words decide our fate. Tell me you don’t love him. Tell me this is an aberration, that what happened physically was all because of the Bingham case and Emily’s death. We’ll go from here and forge a future together.”

Still no response.

“It’s what I want to hear!”

Finally, her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t tell you any of that. I’m sorry. I’m still in love with Reese.”

o0o

DRAY PULLED THE rented car into Reese’s driveway and shut off the engine. She got out, slammed the door, and stalked inside through the front door. “Son a bitch. Damn him. How dare he?” She kept up the diatribe as she stomped down the basement steps to get boxes, then up to their bedroom. His bedroom.

When she saw the bed, her throat tightened. But she held back the response. Time to be strong, she reminded herself. She flung her clothes into suitcases. Stripped the walls of the paintings she had put there. In the bathroom, she swept all of her things into small traveling bags she used for trips. Her cell phone rang an hour after she’d arrived home.

She didn’t let herself hope it was Reese.

“Hello.”

“Dray?” It was Tyler. He sounded awful. “Can you talk?”

“Yes. I gather she had her little chat with you, too?”

“Kaitlyn? Yes, how did you know?”

Holding her phone, she took the stairs down to the kitchen, and began ferreting out her things. “Take a wild guess.”

“Fuck.” A pause. “What’s that banging in the background?”

“I’m home, well, at Reese’s house, which has never really been mine.”

“Is Reese there with you?”

“No. I rented a car and drove back myself. I’m moving out of this godforsaken place right now.”

“Dray…”

“No, I’m done with this. I have an apartment over the gym. It’s small, but enough till I can get my own place. I can’t stay in this house another night. Not now.”

“Want some help?”

“Only if we don’t talk about Reese and Kate. I’m done with all that.”

“Yeah. So am I.” He sounded as sure as she.

“Good. Come on over. I can use some help with boxes. Your truck would be good to transport my stuff.”

After she hung up, she finished packing the kitchen things that were hers, and some of her favorite pieces they’d bought together, like the ceramics they’d gotten in Mexico. Her heart ached when she packed the teapots she’d collected, most of which Reese had brought her. She remembered one time…No, no, don’t do this, she told herself.

She was removing some original prints from the walls in the living room when the doorbell rang. She found Tyler on the porch. He looked like he’d been hit with an emotional sledgehammer. Leaning against the door, hands in his pockets, he swallowed hard. “Thanks for letting me come over.”

“No problem.” She stood aside to let him in. “I’m glad for the help, and the company.”

He wore an old sweatshirt and jeans—moving clothes. “Can I start putting boxes in the truck?”

“Yes, that would be great. “

He grabbed her shoulder as she turned away. “Wait a sec. You okay?”

The muscles of her face hurt from staying composed. “I told you I don’t want to talk about them.”

“This isn’t about them. It’s about you.”

His blue eyes were so sincere. “No, of course I’m not all right. I’m hurt and pissed as hell at them. And I want out of here. I want my own life back, one where I don’t walk on eggshells worrying that the man I love is going to go back to his ex-wife. Christ, I can’t believe I took this shit for so long!” Her voice rose on the last words.

“Well, don’t hold back, Dray.” His eyes twinkled. It was better than the gravity in them when he arrived.

She smiled sadly. “How are you?”

“Ditto.”

She shrugged. “We’ve known for a long time that this was going to happen, didn’t we, Tyler?”

He scanned the room as if looking for answers. “That doesn’t make it hurt less.”

Squeezing his arm, she said softly, “Nothing will for a while.” She drew in a huge breath. “Now, let’s finish packing so I can get out of here, and start my life over. You, too,” she added.

When they finished an hour later, Dray had wiped every trace of herself from Reese’s house. He’d done the same thing—gotten her out of his life completely—by sleeping with Kate.

o0o

TYLER WAS EXHAUSTED by the time he brought in the last of the boxes. The loft over the gym was up two flights of steps, and Dray didn’t pack lightly. She meant it when she said she was done with Reese for good. Tyler flopped himself on the bed she’d just made up with dark green sheets and a geometric print comforter and threw his arms over his head. “I’m whipped.”

She dropped down beside him. “Me, too.” They watched the overhead fan whirl around, its low hum the only sound in the room.

“What time is it?” he asked, too tired to raise his arm.

“It’s martini time!”

“What?”

“I brought the fixings for raspberry martinis from Reese’s. He never liked them anyway.”

Tyler sighed. “I don’t drink much more than wine or beer.”

“Well, big guy, you’re in for a treat.” She rolled off the bed and said, “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

He did. He knew it was late, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t due into work until tomorrow afternoon, as this was supposed to be his vacation. He was supposed to walking the beaches with Kaitlyn, drinking rum concoctions with little paper umbrellas in them, taking moonlight swims.

And making love.

Shit! Instead, she’d fucked her ex-husband.

He wasn’t going to do this! He sat up and moved to lean against the headboard. This place was small, but cute. He could see Dray’s touches in it.

“Here they are.” Dray returned with a tray. On it was a huge pitcher of martinis, some fruit and cheese.

He laughed. “Hey, pretty lady, we drink those and we’ll be smashed by midnight.”

“There you go. That’s the first good idea I’ve heard all day.”

“Why not? I can always sleep on the couch, right?”

“Right.” She poured him an oversize glassful and one for herself. They sat on the bed, sipped the tasty drinks and nibbled on sharp cheese.

An hour later, they were giggling over the silly jokes they were telling each other.

Tyler lost track of how many martinis he’d downed.

Another hour, and too many drinks later, Tyler’s eyes began to close. Dray was drooping on the other side of the bed herself, humming some silly song she remembered from childhood.

When Tyler awoke to light streaming in from the window, he was still on Dray’s bed. Only, now he wasn’t clothed. Turning his head to the side, he gasped at the pain radiating from his brain to all of his nerve endings.

And also at what he found next to him.

Dray, still zonked out.

And from her bare shoulders, visible from under the sheets, he was pretty sure she was as naked as he was.

Holy hell, what had they done?

HIS HEART HEAVY, Reese pulled into Kate’s driveway at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. She’d set up a meeting with Chase Sanders to review the journal entries, and Reese was trying to be interested in what she’d found to help their case. But it was hard to muster the enthusiasm. Nothing had as much significance as it had before Emily’s death.

As soon as he’d hit the city limits, he’d wanted to drive right over to Kate’s, but he knew intuitively trying to rush things with her was the wrong move. He didn’t even know if she’d talked to Tyler yet. So he’d gone home and found his house had been wiped clean of all traces of Dray. It was bad enough when he’d discovered she’d rented a car and driven back on her own; he’d tried to reach her but she didn’t answer or return his calls. The stark emptiness of his house only accented the grief he felt when he arrived home. He’d lost so much in his life—Emily, of course; his mother at a young age; Kate and Sofie to a degree; and now Dray; he didn’t know what to do with the emptiness inside him.

While he sat in the car and stared off into space, the door to her condo opened, and Kate stepped out on the porch. A little smile and a wave, a questioning look—why was he sitting out there in the driveway? He took a moment to study her—hair loose around her shoulders, casual black capri pants and a pretty multicolored striped top. Her body language was wholly open and welcoming, not tense and forbidding as before. Saying a small prayer of thanks for that, he exited the car, and strode to the porch. The early May air was warm and a slight breeze rustled the trees around him. He took no joy in summer, though, and his steps were heavy.

“Hi.” Kate studied him and he knew she was seeing the haggard lines at his eyes and grooves at his mouth; then she embraced him right there on the porch. “I’m glad you’re back.”

He held on tight, losing himself in the scent of her perfume, the texture of her hair against his cheek. It felt so good to be enveloped in her strong grasp. Once again he was hit by the notion that if Kate stayed in his life, he might survive the loss of Emily.

Please, God, don’t let me use that to orchestrate a reconciliation. She had to come to him willingly, without being emotionally blackmailed into it. Because he knew if he did get her back, he’d never survive the loss of her again.

Kate drew away and seemed to read his mind. “Don’t think too much right now, Reese. Just come inside, and we’ll talk about the journal.” She linked her arm with his. “We’re not making any big decisions tonight.”