Lime Tree Hill (A Reluctant Kiss #1)

29. Eavesdrop

29

EAVESDROP

Mitch had spent most of the morning in town, looking at a property with Luka. They managed to ignore the topic of CeCe until they had a beer with lunch. With a little alcohol in his veins, Luka wanted to talk. It seemed nothing had changed between his sister and best friend. They were still jostling for position on the outskirts of each other’s lives, much the same as him and Tayla.

He couldn’t work out where Tayla stood. She seemed conflicted, unable to decide whether she was open to his invitation. Maybe he’d misread the signs. Slow it down? They were already parked at a stop sign. But when he thought about it, his verbal foreplay technique had left a lot to be desired. ‘Let’s have sex. Marriage with benefits; no emotional attachment necessary.’ Shit.

Just as he pulled into the driveway, his phone rang. He hit the call icon on the steering wheel. “Ned, what’s up?”

“Where are you?”

He eased his foot off the gas pedal. “The bottom gate. Why?”

“Tayla has a visitor, and it’s not sounding pretty. Do you want me to go up? See what’s going on?”

“No, I’m on my way. ”

Mitch parked in the garage and joined a concerned Ned outside the packing shed. “Who’s with her?” he whispered.

“Some fella in a rental car, Hayden someone, a friend of hers from Sydney. They were hollering back and forth before, but it’s been quiet for a bit. You want me to hang around in case I need to show him who’s boss?”

“That’s the guy who’s staying in Norman’s old place.” Mitch looked toward the now silent loft. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, I’m off home. Call if you need me. He seemed happy to see her, but Tayla didn’t give much away. See you in the morning.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Mitch stood for a moment, watching Ned walk toward home. The packing shed was quiet when he entered; the staff had gone for the day. He took the stairs one at a time instead of the usual two, stopping on the top riser as snippets of a conversation floated through the door.

Hayden was speaking. “…by taking off and marrying some hippy organic farmer?”

Tayla replied, but her words were muffled.

“We’ll make it work,” Hayden continued. “You can live in the terrace. It won’t be any different from before.”

“Why would I want a relationship with another woman’s husband? A man who sneaks away to visit me between daddy duty and sleeping with his wife?”

Mitch shook his head; murmured an obscenity under his breath.

“It’s how half the world lives,” Hayden said. “Monogamy is an overrated concept maintained by religious dogma, and I, for one, don’t buy into it.”

“Good for you,” Tayla said. “But even if I were single, I wouldn’t come back after what happened. You don’t deserve me. And I’m done.”

Mitch had heard enough. He straightened his stance, took a deep breath, and strode through the door. He addressed Hayden. “What are you doing here? ”

Tayla stood and moved to Mitch’s side as Hayden eyed him up and down. “Sorry, I should introduce myself properly. I’m Tayla’s fiancé.”

Mitch scoffed. “As if, mate. Tayla’s my wife, and I heard her say she didn’t want you in her life.”

Hayden stood and puffed out his chest but kept the table between him and Mitch. “When?”

“Just now, when I was climbing the stairs to my home.”

“Home? Is that what you call this tin shed?” Hayden frowned at Tayla. “You can’t possibly be happy here. I’m not leaving without you.”

“Tough, because I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay, both of you calm down,” Mitch said. “If Tayla really wanted to be with you, I wouldn’t stand in her way. But it looks like she’s picked me, and I’m damn happy about that.”

Hayden ignored Mitch and addressed Tayla again. “I don’t even believe you’re married.”

Mitch crossed the room to his office and returned with a framed wedding photo. He lay it on the table in front of Hayden. “There. Proof enough for you?”

Paying no attention to the picture, Hayden’s eyes stayed on Tayla. “We fly out at four thirty the day after tomorrow. Anna would like to meet you. It might help you understand what the three of us could have.”

“Let’s get something perfectly clear,” she countered. “I am not meeting your wife. Not now, not ever. Understand?”

Mitch walked to the door and held it open. “Okay. That’s it. This little reunion is over.”

Hayden stepped toward Tayla, his expression showing a sadness Mitch understood only too well. “Please, just think about it overnight.” He turned, brushed past Mitch, and bounded down the stairs with Mitch a few steps behind. Outside, the men stood on the drive, eyeing each other.

“It seems you’re quite the flavor of the month.” Hayden pulled his car keys from his pocket and pressed the fob. “But it won’t last. She’d never had a relationship before me, did you know that? That’s why we work. I don’t expect her to live in my pocket every minute of the day, or do my laundry and cook my meals. She’s better than that.”

“Look, Hayden, I’m an easygoing guy, but you’re trying my patience to the max. I’m asking you, man to man, to leave her alone. With her father’s illness and sorting her parents’ affairs, she’s had more than enough to deal with lately. And if you think you can come over here and throw your weight around, you can piss off back to Sydney right now.”

“So you scored yourself a virgin bride on the rebound, did you? Bully for you. Shit, she didn’t waste any time, did she?”

Virgin bride?

“Well what do you expect her to do? Live on her own while she shares you with your wife and kid? What kind of love is that?”

“You’re telling me you don’t play around?” Hayden scoffed. “That you don’t have any outside interests?”

Mitch clenched his fists at his side. He wasn’t a fighter, but he wanted to deck the guy. “Shit, mate, you really do have a screwed-up sense of reality. But, hey, each to their own.”

“I’m not your mate, and I can’t imagine you giving her the intellectual stimulation she needs.”

“My wife can get intellectual stimulation from her friends and family any day of the week. But the type of stimulation I do give her isn’t so easily quantified. If it weren’t for your little boy, I’d have the cops come and remove you from my property right now. I want you gone by ten tomorrow morning. And don’t you ever come over here again.”

“But we’re booked until Saturday.”

“Tough. What part of piss off don’t you understand?”

Her hands shaking, Tayla stood at the sink sipping a glass of water. Ever since leaving Sydney, she’d dreaded meeting Hayden again, but now she had, his demeanor seemed so out of character that she’d hardly recognized him. And as he’d stood in front of her, in need of a shave but still dressed as impeccably as ever, the knowledge their life had been based on a lie was all she’d needed to cut him adrift.

He’d always been a proud man, brimming with confidence in every aspect of his life. From his knowledge of the arts to his bedside manner and the way he presented himself, Hayden was well-respected. Not only by his friends and colleagues, but by his patients too. If summing him up in one word, ‘wonderful’ would fit perfectly.

So what caused a ‘wonderful’ man to lead a double life? Was it greed? Excitement at the prospect of being caught? She’d never know. That part of her life was over, and while Tayla hadn’t realized it at the time, it had ended the day he’d left her at the chapel.

The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs filled her with dread. Apart from the once, Mitch had never asked her about her life in Sydney. Now he’d heard snippets of their conversation. Had he heard Hayden say he still loved her?

Tayla turned as he opened the door, the glass of water still in her hand. She tried to read his expression. His height and the broadness of his chest and shoulders made her feel small—insignificant. And as Tayla stared at Mitch across the kitchen, she wished he’d scoop her up in his arms and hold on tight until her racing heart slowed.

He strode across the living room and into his office without saying a word. He was angry, and rightly so, but she’d never expected the silent treatment. Although, when she thought about it, that had been his reaction when he was angry with Prue as well. Closed off.

Tayla sat at the table for several minutes, wondering if she should approach him. She recalled his words from the night they traveled home from Tulloch Point: discretion doesn’t apply between us. She stood, walked to the office door, knocked and entered.

He sat on the leather couch, his head in his hands, filtered sunlight hitting the wall above him in horizontal bands. She sat side-on next to him. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I had no idea he’d pull a stunt like that.”

He looked up. “You knew he was coming?”

“No, not at all.”

“But you knew he was here. I told you two days ago.”

“Yes, but I decided it was best to ignore him.”

“Come on! The guy flew over from Sydney to see you, and you thought if you buried your head in the sand, he’d just disappear? Does his wife know about your little affair?”

“Please don’t pretend you know the details, because you don’t.”

He held her gaze for a moment, then rose from the couch and sat at his desk. “When I phoned you that day from London, were you with him?”

“No. I went to sort out my apartment. He didn’t know I was there until after I’d come home.”

“But you’ve kept in touch?”

“Not lately.”

He leaned forward in his chair. “You told me you were single. When did you two break up?”

“When I left Sydney.”

Mitch nodded, his attention focused as he waited for her to elaborate. She didn’t.

“You’d better start from the beginning. And before you tell me it’s none of my business, when a guy barges into my home and causes a scene that can be heard from downstairs, it’s my business.”

“I agree. But you seem to think I’m an adulteress, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. ”

“I never said that. But why don’t you enlighten me? Just so we’re clear.”

Tayla went to stand, then thought better of it, her hands gripped together as she took a deep breath. By the time she’d finished, she’d told Mitch almost everything. Almost.

“So you didn’t realize he was still with his wife, is that what you’re saying?”

“I had no clue. Their divorce was finalized in January of last year.” She twisted the wedding band on her finger, the same finger that once held Hayden’s engagement ring. “He said they were long over.”

“What kind of relationship did you have? Were you happy?”

“Cognitive…intellectual might be a better word. We were friends. And yes, I was happy. Content.”

“Friends with intellectual benefits.” She noted the sarcasm in his tone. “That’s a new one.”

Shaking her head, Tayla struggled for composure. When she’d told Ruby and Tim, the process had been different, like narrating a movie trailer for a life she’d never lived. Now she felt as if her heart were slowly being torn open and stuffed with cotton balls. She didn’t want to continue. Didn’t want to tell Mitch the worst part—about the dappled light in the chapel, the forced smile of the photographer as he’d told her how amazing she looked, and the minutes ticking by as she held an anxious breath.

Tayla rose from the sofa and moved to the window, her focus on the farm gate store. She couldn’t see the Cherry Grove homestead or Norman’s cottage from the office, which was just as well. Mitch stayed at his desk, saying nothing.

Overwhelmed and choked with emotion, she didn’t look at him as she continued, “He proposed last Christmas, in the Blue Mountains, and suggested we elope sooner rather than later.” She stopped and took a breath, hot tears threatening to fall. “Turns out, on the day of our wedding, his wife went into early labor. I caught a flight to Auckland to be with Dad the following day. You know the rest.”

“Are you saying he called off the wedding on the day?”

Tayla turned from the window. “He didn’t call it off.” She moved to the chair in front of his desk and sat, her hands trembling in her lap. “He didn’t turn up…didn’t call or send a message. He just left me waiting…all dressed up with nowhere to go. Fairytale over.”

“He left you at the altar?”

She nodded. “When I found out about the baby, I understood why he couldn’t contact me. Anna was in bad shape; they had to operate afterward. I’m not an uncaring person but finding out he’d lived a double life was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.”

“Do you think he still loves you?”

“Who knows. When I returned to Sydney that weekend, I went to his house while he was at work, to collect some things. The moment I placed my engagement ring on his kitchen counter, a weight lifted. He was furious when he realized I’d been there and hadn’t made contact. But what was the point? He’s a very persuasive man. I didn’t trust myself to be around him.”

“So how did you feel when you saw him today?”

Tayla fixed her gaze on his. The air in the office was warm and slightly stuffy and she needed a drink of water. “Okay…once you came home.” She caught his expression, wondering if he understood that her feelings for him were changing by the day. “I feel grounded here, does that make sense?”

“Not trapped?”

She shook her head.