Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
T ears streamed down Mattie’s face as she watched Adam turn into a tiny dot that vanished on the horizon. So much had been left unsaid, and undone. When she’d arrived on the island everything was exciting and new. The potential of songs not yet written hung in the air, and Adam had stirred her thoughts and imagination in enticing new directions.
It made everything hurt so much worse. Devon never had the power to hurt her like this. She’d never let him get close enough.
Adam, though, had wormed his way past all her defenses and doubts. He was intense, driven, and passionate about music and life, and he saw her in a way nobody else ever had, not even her sisters.
But it wasn’t real. All of it had been a lie, and they’d never even started the third song.
A sob bubbled in her throat. She swallowed it down.
By the time she reached the hotel suite the resort had arranged for her to wait in on the main island she was so exhausted she could hardly put one foot in front of the other. She barely noticed the well-meaning staff who ushered her through the lobby and up to her room, or the tray of fresh fruit, cheese, and coffee on the table in front of the sofa. She collapsed onto the bed, curled into a ball, and waited for oblivion to find her.
It didn’t.
Her brain was too wired to let her sleep. She pictured Adam watching her leave. That twisted, angry, confused look on his face burned her heart.
How could she have been so stupid? After everything she’d gone through with past mistakes, he’d made her believe for a fantastic couple of weeks that she would finally be taken seriously. On the surface, he’d treated her with respect. He’d listened to what she had to say, worked with her as they struggled to find the right words, and he’d made her feel wanted and special.
Then he’d taken her on that romantic picnic and made her nightmares come true.
The image of them under the waterfall taunted her. She’d been happy. She’d felt cherished, and sexy, and alive.
“Nothing lasts forever,” she whispered to herself. Her heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces.
Mattie lay there for hours, until she’d run out of tears and there was nothing left but the numb awareness that the charter would arrive to take her home soon and she still wore the sundress she’d thrown on when Piper had called in the middle of the night. She’d left everything behind. Her bag, her clothes, even her phone. She realized with a start that she’d also left her notebooks. She choked back a sob at the loss.
She was alone with self-recrimination and a broken heart.
A timid knock on the door, followed by a muffled “Mattie?” poked through her consciousness.
She wanted nothing more than to ignore the intrusion, but it was probably hotel staff telling her it was time to leave, and she desperately wanted to go home.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The room they’d put her in was beautiful. Fine wood furnishings set off soothing cool white curtains and a lush white carpet.
“Mattie?” The voice was a little stronger now, and familiar. “The charter’s here. Please open the door.”
“Della?” She trudged to the door and opened it. Her sister stood on the other side with Mattie’s suitcase and bag, looking anxious.
“Della!” Raw, shuddering sobs wrenched out of her despite her efforts to hold them in.
“Mattie!” Della dropped the bag and threw her arms around Mattie in a hug so tight she almost couldn’t breathe.
Mattie melted. All of the anger she’d felt about her sister’s behavior vanished in the familiar comfort of her sister’s arms. “You’re here. You came.”
“Of course I’m here. Where else would I be when my sister needs me?” Della whispered.
Della let her go to drag the luggage, and Mattie, inside. Her little sister ushered her to the couch and rocked her back and forth just like Lizzie used to do whenever Mattie was sad or hurt, but she kept up a running commentary in a way that was uniquely Della.
“It’s okay, Mattie Cake,” Della soothed. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll fix this. I swear we’ll fix this. Renic’s legal team is already working on getting the photo pulled down. I’m so sorry this happened. I’m sorry your rock star turned out to be such a jerk.”
“I thought he was different.” Mattie hiccupped. “I thought…I liked him. I really liked him.”
“I know. I know. Piper told me everything. ”
“Piper?” Mattie sat back and wiped her eyes. “You talked to Piper?”
Della wiped the tears off her own cheeks. “She called everybody as soon as she saw the photo drop. We all agreed you shouldn’t fly back alone. That’s a lot of time to beat yourself up, and you don’t deserve that.”
“Did you draw the short straw?” Mattie sniffed.
Della gave her a be-serious look. “I volunteered. Piper started pounding heads and contacted you while Lizzie and Renic woke up the lawyers and I took care of the transportation.”
Mattie considered her sister. “You chartered a plane, and flew all this way, just to give me a ride home?”
“Yes. I did.” Della took her by the shoulders. “Look, I know I make shitty choices sometimes, and I can be a selfish, self-centered, spoiled, you can stop me anytime now…”
Mattie giggled despite herself.
“I swear from now on I will have your back the way you, Piper, and Lizzie have always had mine. I’ll be here whenever and wherever you need me. No matter what.”
Mattie sniffed and smiled. “Bellamy Babes forever?”
Della lifted her hair to reveal the bell tattoo at the nape of her neck. “Always. Now go take a shower and change your clothes. The charter will be ready to leave by the time we get to the airport.”
Mattie slept in fits and starts during the flight home. Every time she woke, tears would start, and Della would soothe her back to sleep. When they arrived, it was the middle of the night, and she had a throbbing headache and stuffy nose from too much crying. The airport was blissfully deserted. Della’s rental car was a discreet SUV that blended into the night, but Mattie hesitated before climbing in .
“There’s probably cameras camped out at my door, and Piper’s. Adam knows where I live. So does his manager.”
“We’re not going there.” Della gestured for her to climb in. “Trust me, nobody knows where you’re going, and nobody’s going to bother you tonight, except maybe me. Get in.”
They stowed her bags, and then Della followed chirping GPS directions to a tree-lined street in Bel Air Estates. She pulled up to intimidating iron gates that broke up a long brick privacy fence and pressed a button in an app on her phone. The gates swung open, and Della drove through.
Mattie glanced behind them to make sure the gates closed. “Where are we?”
Della grinned. “Hideaway House.”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious.”
Della laughed. “No, but that’s what I’ve been calling it. It used to belong to Nicolas Cage, but then it was foreclosed on, sold, resold, and spiffed up. Now it’s owned by a company who leases it out to visiting dignitaries, scandalized actors, and girls in need of some quality alone time. They’re extremely discreet, and they have no idea who we are. I leased it under a fake name.”
Mattie gave her sister an appraising look. “That’s very cloak and dagger. Have you been watching Mission Impossible again?”
“Hey, those are great movies.” Della looked smug.
Mattie did a double take as the house came into view. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but nothing she imagined could have come close to the enormous ivy-covered cottage nestled among stately old trees. It looked like they’d driven through some portal into the English countryside. It was too dark to see much of the landscape, but quaint Victorian streetlamps lit the way down the drive to the front door .
“Have we somehow stumbled onto a movie set?” Mattie asked.
“Nope.” Della pulled up to the front door and parked. “We’re home. For now anyway. Safe and mostly sound. I’m totally jet lagged and wired. Come on, let’s get some tea.”
Mattie grabbed her bag while Della took her suitcase. Della opened the door and stepped back for Mattie to walk through first.
“Mattie!” several voices shouted.
She was bombarded with hugs, tears, and a tangle of words from Lizzie, Piper, and Renic. It showed more than anything how horrible everything was that everyone she loved had traveled all this way to rally around her. Her sisters were here, in the same room, and they weren’t fighting. They were united in their concern for her, and it was too much to process.
Mattie lost her battle with self-control and burst into tears again.
Lizzie wrapped her arm around Mattie’s shoulders and escorted her through the kitchen into a cozy den filled with comfortable chairs and a fireplace big enough to stand in.
“It’s okay, Mattie. Cry as much as you need. Let it all out.” Lizzie stroked her hair.
“I loved him,” Mattie burbled. She hadn’t meant to say it. She hadn’t realized that was why she felt so miserable until this moment, but it was true.
“I know,” Lizzie whispered. “I know. That’s why it hurts so much.”
“I can kick his ass,” Piper offered. “I’ve been taking lessons.”
“So have I,” Della said. “We can tag team.”
Mattie caught a conspiratorial grin shared between the two, and suddenly her heart felt a lot lighter. “No thanks. I just want…I just wish…I wish I’d never met him. How am I going to finish that third song?”
“You aren’t,” Renic said. “Kat and my lawyers are working on getting you out of that contract. The work you’ve already done will remain, but there won’t need to be any future contact, if that’s what you want.”
The way he said it made her look up.
He knelt beside the couch and put a comforting hand on her arm. “Is that what you want, Mattie?”
She thought she’d run out of tears, but she was wrong.
“Leave it for now,” Lizzie said softly. “She’s exhausted. Let’s get her some tea, then bed. This will all look better in the morning.”
Mattie didn’t want to go to bed. She’d spent the past week sharing a bed with Adam, and now she had a sinking feeling the bed would feel too big without him in it.
Adam had lied to her. He’d used her. He’d tricked his way into her heart, and he was still in there. The sick thing was that even though she knew better, a part of her still wanted him.
Della handed her a cup of tea. “There’s six bedrooms. You get first pick.”
Mattie held the warm cup in her hands. “That’s okay. I like this room. I think I’ll just stay here for now, if that’s okay. Y’all go on.”
Renic squeezed her arm. “Whatever you need, kiddo. We’re all staying right here with you.” He stood up. “The lawyers should be awake by now. I’ll be in the den if you need me.”
“Thanks, hon,” Lizzie said with a fond smile for her future husband.
Renic had been a fixture in their lives for a long time, but this past year he’d become more than just a family friend. Lizzie and Renic were going to get married, and on any other day it would have made Mattie happy to know that they’d found each other, but today, all it made her feel was sad. They had what Mattie hadn’t known she wanted.
Della plopped down on the couch next to Mattie, while Piper sat on the floor in front of them and leaned against the coffee table.
“No way we’re leaving you down here to stew all by yourself,” Della announced.
“Yeah, we’re not going to bed if you don’t,” Piper said.
Lizzie curled up on the couch next to her. “Want to tell us about the trip?”
“Not really.” Mattie tucked her feet up under her and took a sip of tea. She was so tired. “Can we talk about anything else?”
Della waved a hand at the fireplace. “Did you know Dean Martin used to party here with Frank Sinatra? I hear they used to drink all night and pass out by that fireplace.”
“Want to try that?” Piper asked with a sly smile.
Mattie smiled back at her. “No, thanks. Tell me about your project. How’s that song coming along?”
She leaned into Lizzie, and Della leaned against her, and they all listened as Piper chatted about how cool the animation process was, and how the song needed some spark, and about all the potential male leads they were schmoozing. “They’ve targeted three new guys who can’t sing, and one who’s just meh. At the rate they’re going, it’ll be a decade before they find the male lead.”
“How hard is it to do the voice-over?” Della asked.
Mattie pretended to listen while her sisters provided soothing noise. It had been a long day, and she was ready for all of it to just be over. But she couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes. Every time she tried, she saw Adam’s crooked smile and Delusions of Glory tattoo, and it made her want to cry all over again.