Chapter 38
I”m sitting in the living area of my new cabin. I”m surrounded by luxury everywhere I look: a white leather couch, a cashmere throw blanket over my feet, a water feature gurgling faintly in the background., I”m surrounded by vibrant flowers and plants. You would think that I would be rolling around in it, luxuriating in the details that River chose for our home.
But instead, I am staring at a box that contains a pregnancy test. It”s unopened and sitting on the dark wood coffee table, seeming to stare right back at me.
I try to tell myself that it doesn”t matter what the test says. Either way is fine with me. Things with River are going well enough. But soon enough, we will reach a natural conclusion.
I don”t want to marry River. I mean, I love him, but his reason for proposing is all wrong.
Perhaps I will take this test today and the results will tell me that I”m pregnant. It will be everything I have wanted for the last few months.
And yet...
It”s going to spell the end of the road for me and River. So even though I should be vibrating with excitement over peeing on a stick, I”m not.
I exhale a big breath that I didn”t know I”d been holding and crack my neck. Somehow, I cannot bring myself to do it right this second.
I get up off the couch and carry the test back to the bathroom, hiding it in the chic new mirrored medicine cabinet. Just as I stow it away, a knock comes on the door.
It”s obviously not my fake fiancé, because he has the code to the new keypad beside the door. I check the security camera screen and see my Aunt Delta standing outside the door. Her expression is pinched.
What on earth is that expression? My stomach flip-flops when I wonder if it has to do with the IRS calling. Could my aunt have received bad news?
Swinging the door open, I greet her. ”Hey, hey. Look who it is.”
Delta”s lips thin. ”Can I come in?”
”Of course.” I step back and wave her inside. ”I was wondering when you would come by for a tour.”
”I”m not here to view the property, baby. I”m here because I got a text message asking me to meet here.”
I look at her curiously. ”Who asked you to meet them here?”
She shakes her head. ”I didn’t know the number. It just told me to be at your door two minutes ago.”
”Huh. That”s super suspicious.” I squint. ”Is it possible that whoever sent you that message doesn”t know that I’ve moved? It”s not exactly common knowledge outside our immediate family.”
Aunt Delta checks her phone and shrugs. ”Could be. Should we walk over to the trailer?”
”I don”t really have any idea who is sending secret messages. If I did, I”d send them a text telling them where to meet me.” I shrug. ”Let”s go outside and check.”
I open the door and follow Delta out onto the porch. The sound of gravel crunching under tires makes me look left. I see an ostentatiously lifted white truck coming down the lane.
My stomach drops. I can tell from here that it”s Bishop driving his truck. What the hell is he doing here?
Grabbing Delta”s arm, I still her and jerk my chin toward the truck. She raises her eyebrows, but says nothing.
Bishop pulls to stop before the cabin and gets out. Delta scowls at him, one hand going to her hip in a gesture that I know all too well. She”s pissed.
Bishop smiles at Delta as he strolls into the yard. He avoids my gaze, which only makes my queasiness increase.
”Miss Delta,” he says, stopping when he”s just a few feet away. He cuts a look at me. ”Pearl. I heard you moved from a friend at my construction company.”
”What are you doing, young man?” Delta pops off. ”I thought I was clear as day when I asked you to leave my property. There”s no call for you to be running around, hiding who you are just to get an invitation.”
”I did it for you. For both of you. I can”t just sit by and watch you be taken in by that con man,” he says, spreading his hands.
”Who?” I ask, my tone frigid. ”Give us a name, Bishop. Nobody here is interested in your made-up hooey.”
Bishop puts his hands behind his back and smiles. ”You should know by now, Pearl. You”ve been shacked up with the man for months.”
Delta licks her lips and looks at me. ”You mean River?” she asks.
”The very same,” Bishop says, solemn as a grave. ”It”s time you two knew what River has been up to. See, he targeted you, Pearl.”
”What are you talking about?”
He grins like a gator sizing up his prey. ”Your man has sold you down the river. He’s been scheming to get your land before he even started dating you. Bragged about how you were going to inherit it. And then he told me and my boss that the property was about to fall into arrears with the government. He”s been scheming on this since the first day you met, probably.”
My mouth opens to defend River, but Bishop”s words are still reverberating through my skull. I open and close my mouth a few times, trying to figure out if what he”s saying could possibly be true.
It doesn”t sound like something River would do. Then again, I don”t really know River, do I? I only met him a few months ago...
Delta lifts her chin and eyes Bishop. ”And what do you want, Bishop?”
The smile slips from his face. ”What do you mean, what do I want? It”s life changing stuff!”
“Why are you telling us about this?” I ask, finding my voice. “What do you get out of it?”
“Just the pleasure of ruining your boyfriend’s life.” He grins.
My stomach flip-flops. This is way worse than I imagined when I first saw my aunt frowning.
Delta lurches forward, sweeping both hands at Bishop. ”Get off of my land. Pearl doesn”t want you back. She can do better.” She flicks her hands again. ”Go on.”
Bishop”s whole face darkens. His smile is nowhere to be found. ”Y”all just going to let River Taylor swindle you? Because if that”s the case, I wasted my damn time.”
He swings his gaze to me. I am devastated by the news Bishop brings, but I don”t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. I point to his car. ”You heard Aunt Delta. Get out of here, Bish.”
His lip curls. ”Can”t believe you would pick him over me. He”s trash, but because you think he”s pretty, you keep him around. Disgusting.”
He spits on the ground and then stalks off to his truck. I stare at it as it backs out of the narrow lane. Bishop revs his engine and takes off in a squeal of tires.
I glance at Aunt Delta, who looks at the horizon in intense concentration. She doesn’t like many people. But she has an affinity with River. I hope that Bishop is really full of shit, because if not, I’m not the only one whose life is going to be ruined.
”Auntie.” I tug at her hand. ”Bishop is a liar and a cheater. You can”t believe a word he says.”
She fixes her gaze on me. ”Pearl Mae, you had better get to the bottom of this. If River is really the shark that Bishop makes him out to be, you have some decisions to make.” Her mouth pulls down in a frown. ”If River was sly enough to target you in order to steal my land, I think he needs to get the hell off my land. I don’t even know what else to say because I’m so damn mad.”
Worry claws at my heart. Is that the case? God, if Bishop”s aim was to sow seeds of discontent between River and me, he succeeded with a flourish.
”I”m sure that”s not the case. But I”ll ask River about it the second he gets home.”
My aunt studies me for a second before slowly nodding. ”I think that”s for the best, pet.”
I swallow, nodding. My head feels like it”s full of thick cotton batting and my senses are dull.
Delta reaches out to me, giving me a quick hug, before she steps off the porch and walks toward her trailer.
I sit down on one of the wicker chairs on the porch, thinking over whether or not Bishop could possibly be telling the truth. Have there been any signs that River was too curious? I try to think back and my head starts aching.
Sighing, I shake my head. I would never have thought that easygoing River could be so two-faced.
I drift back inside and take a shower, hoping to clear my head. But it still feels like I”m in a fog.
When River finally arrives home, I am curled up on the couch again. This time I”m not thinking about pregnancy tests, though. I”m brooding over one question.
Did River betray me?
When he comes into the cabin, he tosses his keys on the kitchen counter and unbuttons the top button of his dress shirt. He groans and collapses on the couch beside me, burying his head against my shoulder.
It”s a familiar move and an invitation to snuggle. But I stiffen and he quickly realizes that something is off. River sits up, his eyes scanning my face. ”What”s wrong?” He cups my cheek.
I pull away. ”Bishop stopped by.”
River”s eyebrows jump up. ”Are you okay?”
I pin him with a hard gaze. ”He said that you were a con man. That you targeted me because I”m going to inherit Delta”s property one day.”
His eyes flash. ”That”s not true.”
”No?” I cock my head. ”So you are not trying to steal my family”s land and sell it out from under us?”
He pauses for several moments, pursing his lips. His hesitation tells me everything I need to know.
”Oh my god,” I whisper. Tears prick the corner of my eyes. ”It”s true, isn”t it? Bishop was right!”
”Hold on a second.” River puts his hand on my arm, squeezing it. ”Slow down for a second. Bishop has muddied the waters here.”
”So you”re not a con man? You didn”t start a relationship with me in order to meet Aunt Delta and make her an offer?”
He licks his lips. ”I did, but...”
”Oh my god!” I shake off his touch, repulsed. ”You seduced me, knowing that you already had a plan to steal the land I was supposed to inherit. That”s... that”s awful.”
”Pearl--”
I put up a hand to stop his words. ”I thought you loved me, River. I thought we were going to have a baby together. But it was all just lies.” I shake my head, disbelieving.
”I do love you, Pearl.”
”Bullshit! That”s just total bullshit.”
An aggravated expression passes over his features. ”Don”t tell me what I feel.”
I stand up, pacing away from the couch.
”How can I believe that you love me when almost everything you”ve ever said to me was a lie?”
River cuts his eyes at me. ”Don”t be dramatic.”
”Don”t be a traitor!” I yell. I feel flushed and unhinged.
”So, what? You”re breaking up with me?” he demands.
”Yeah, River. I am breaking up with you. God, you know, you really had me fooled. Turns out I am just incredibly naive to think that someone like you would deign to be with someone like me.”
”That”s not fair,” he growls.
”Well, neither is life. But there you have it.” I cross my arms. ”I think you should leave before you disappoint me again. That’s the worst thing you could ever do.”
He flinches. ”Pearl, I think we should keep talking.”
I point to the front door. ”I want you out.”
He stands up and studies me for half a minute. I”m shaking, full of emotions. He opens his mouth, starts to say something. Then thinks better of it and shakes his head. ”I”ll go to my place for the night,” he says. ”When you”ve cooled off, call me. It”s not as bad as Bishop made it out to be. I swear.”
I stalk to the front door, swing it open, and motion for him to leave. I am barely keeping it together and if he doesn”t go right now, he”s going to see me break down and cry.
He doesn”t deserve to see me be vulnerable.
Tensing his jaw, he picks up his keys and walks out of the cabin. I slam the door shut after him and run to my bed.
The tears start pouring down my face the second I sink into the mattress and press my face against River”s pillow.
It smells clean and masculine, just like River himself.