Chapter 4 A Secret With Teeth #2
Maureen walked down the hall and hesitated as she saw the open bedroom door where Lana had retreated.
She almost walked into the room to check on her, but changed her mind.
She needed sleep, and there was no doubt that the poor girl was probably knocked out cold.
She let herself out and set off to meet Heathcliff.
Paula sat next to Kayden and looked at him silently as he sipped his bourbon. He put his glass down and glared at her.
“What?” He ran his good hand through his hair now, still in desperate need of a cut, and waited for her to say something.
“I’m so sorry, baby brother,” she said, as her big eyes filled with water.
Kayden averted his eyes, seeing hers so sad, and it caused a lump to form in his throat. He blinked back tears as he spoke.
“This is all my fault. Lana’s already been through hell and back, and now the baby, too?”
He looked at his sister now, unable to hide his emotions, morphing from horror to disbelief and sadness as he fought to keep it together.
Paula grabbed his hand as he lay his head on her shoulder.
“This is not your fault. Not either one of you. Kim’s going to get exactly what she deserves, don’t you worry,” she said as she comforted her brother.
LANA LAY IN BED on her side in the darkened room and cried silently, staring through the open room door.
The house was quiet, so she heard the conversation between Paula and Kayden clearly.
Her best friend and her fiancé. She was thankful that Paula was there to give him some comfort, because she didn’t have an ounce to spare.
She lay lost in an abyss of physical and emotional pain and wouldn’t be able to do or say a word.
Hearing Paula’s reassuring words to him did double duty.
Everything around her was still changing, no matter what they had gone through before, or how they tried to pick up the pieces after.
The hurt of the past didn’t compare to the pain of this.
Hopefully, it would all be a bad memory that would be replaced with years of good ones, she prayed.
Then, her cell phone began to vibrate on her pillow. She lazily picked it up and saw a text message from Sam.
SAM: Your OB gave me a call. Are you OK?
Lana deleted the message for several reasons.
One of them being Kayden, and the other being that it was none of Sam’s business.
He must’ve added himself as her primary care physician when he was in town, and she would undo that as soon as possible!
She appreciated the concern on one level, but wanted him to take a hint and leave well enough alone.
She squeezed her eyes shut as the memories of the last few weeks swirled in her mind, regardless of her trying like hell not to dwell.
Fresh hot tears stung the back of her eyelids.
She really missed her mother and wanted—no, needed—to go home and be with her a while.
Lana decided she’d wait after the court hearing, when everything quieted down, before letting Kayden know.
She willed herself to stop imagining the face of the baby lost, and soon the medication she was prescribed drifted her off into a deep sleep.
THE KNIFE SLICED into his medium-rare T-bone steak like butter, and he dipped the chunky, moist meat into his steak sauce.
Heathcliff popped it into his mouth; the tender beef barely needed any chewing.
Maureen pushed the pasta around her plate, her stomach recoiling at the thought of putting anything into her uneasy stomach.
“What’s going on with you today?” Heathcliff asked, as he took in another mouthful of steak.
“Oh, nothing. I don’t have much of an appetite,” she lied.
There was more going on, and he knew it by the look on her face. He remembered the same expression from a little while back, after Kayden and the crew busted her for her bad behavior. After swallowing, he placed the fork down.
“Maureen, this is me you’re talking to,” he blurted, getting pissed that she still thought she could bullshit him.
Maureen smiled at him the way she always did when she wanted to change the subject but couldn’t follow through. The smile faded as fast as it appeared. There was no use. He was onto her, and she was too burned out to craft a convincing lie.
“It’s Kimberly,” she admitted.
“What about her?”
“I went to see her,” she replied, waiting for him to blow a gasket at the table.
He took a deep breath, reached for his beer, and took a long swig. His appetite for the succulent dinner in front of him had gone.
“What possessed you to do that?” he asked before taking another chug.
“She called and said it was urgent. I was intrigued.”
“Intrigued? What could she possibly have to say to you that would intrigue you?”
Seeing the way his body language had gone from relaxed to hunched, the way his eyes bored a hole in her face, and his forehead broke into a sweat, she knew telling him the truth would be foolish to do in public.
“She wanted to check on Kayden and apologize for what she did.”
“Really? She wanted to apologize, my ass. That girl almost cost your son and his fiancée their lives. Not to mention she put my career in the crosshairs with the Sheriff, and all she had to say was “I’m sorry?!”
His voice rose in the diner, and people started staring. Maureen opened her eyes wide, beckoning him to calm down. She placed her hand over his, and he stopped, his nostrils still flaring. The last thing she wanted to do was give people in town more to gossip about.
“I’m sorry,” he continued, “I don’t trust that girl for one minute, and I hope you’re not falling for this shit.”
“I’m not.”
“So why do you look like someone about to give her a pass?”
“I’m not. Lana lost the baby, Heathcliff.”
His mouth dropped open, and he reached across the table for her other hand.
“How is she?”
“Not good,” she spoke, unable to stop a tear from escaping and rolling down her face.
“I suppose not.”
“If I had just left them both alone the first time, none of this would be happening.”
“You can’t start blaming yourself, and from the looks of it, Kim was already on the train to crazy town long before you took her under your wing. Don’t do that to yourself.”
Maureen nodded, but she knew better. She did bring this on her son, and what she was experiencing now wasn’t only guilt; it was fear.
What she had to do to keep her secrets buried where they were would make an already impossible situation even worse.
And for the first time, she could admit that if she lost her family forever because of her actions, it would be deserved.
HATTIE MAE SMITH banged pots and pans around in the kitchen of her newly renovated diner as she talked a mile a minute about the day’s menu.
Today, they were preparing for a big dinner rush, and the staff wasn’t moving fast enough for her.
Lana could hear it all as she sat in a corner booth and stared out the panoramic window.
Her cold chicken pot pie stared at her uneaten as her appetite had severely diminished.
Usually, the ramblings of Aunt Mae had her in stitches, but she could barely get the corner of her mouth to lift in recent days.
Paula sipped on a cup of tea and had tried in vain to make small talk several times since they’d been seated.
She didn’t know what to do to make anything better.
She watched her friend sit and gaze out over the town streets as if it were the first time she had seen them.
The puffiness in Lana’s eyes was a constant, since she hadn’t stopped crying since losing the baby earlier in the week.
“Is there anything I can do at all? I feel useless,” Paula finally worked up the nerve to say.
Lana looked at her for a moment and managed a small, forced smile.
“You’re already doing it,” she admitted, and it was the truth.
She didn’t want to talk about it anymore because it wouldn’t change anything.
She didn’t want to be alone, and for some reason, she didn’t want to be alone with Kayden either.
He was trying his best to be there for her in every way possible, but every time she looked at his face, she felt guilty for losing the baby.
Then anger followed the more he tried to console her, and that wasn’t fair to him.
The truth that she felt was that she didn’t feel she deserved to be consoled.
Maybe if I hadn’t gone to his hospital room that night and fought Kim, I’d still be pregnant, the thought swirling in her mind every moment of the day.
Regardless of their situation, Kayden needed to focus on his physical therapy, and she feared her presence was becoming a distraction.
He was paying more attention to her than to his own treatment.
As noble as it was, he needed to get better.
Her leg was nearly healed, and although she wouldn’t be running any marathons, she could at least get around without the crutches anymore.
The cast had been removed and replaced with a boot that Paula also hideously bedazzled. It was sweet the way she looked after her, but Lana didn’t want to be treated as physically fragile anymore, not when she felt utterly broken inside already.
“Are you sure?”
“I am,” Lana replied, not bothering to look back at her friend’s perfect face.
She continued staring out the window, and her eyes landed on the small park in the middle of the roundabout in front of the diner.
It’s where Kayden’s car sailed through before hitting the diner months ago, although it seemed as if it were yesterday.
Aunt Mae stood at the table now and nodded her head towards Paula, who scooted over.
She sat and threw her kitchen towel over her shoulder the way she always did, then reached her hands across the table for Lana’s.
Lana turned to the hand holding hers and was surprised when she felt the ample woman’s touch, unaware that the sweet woman had even sat at the table. Aunt Mae gave her hands a slight squeeze, and the small gesture made her smile faintly.
“Close your eyes, honey,” Aunt Mae commanded, “I don’t know if you’re a praying woman, but I have a feeling you are.”
Lana nodded as tears pooled in her eyes.
She closed them as asked, and Paula closed hers as well.
They all held hands at the table as Aunt Mae recited a prayer for healing and restoration over her life and body—and the words helped.
When she was done, Lana felt a small part of the weight on her shoulders ease, and she wiped at her face.
“Anytime you need a prayer or someone to talk to, you know I’m here. Anytime, baby girl,” Aunt Mae offered.
“Thank you,” Lana whispered as she stood up and made her way back to the kitchen.
Paula reached both her hands over to Lana’s, held them, and gave a small squeeze.
“You ready to go home?” she asked.
Lana nodded, and they got up, left the diner, and made their way back up the hill.
SPRAWLED ACROSS THE bed, Kayden was sound asleep when Lana crept into the room.
She was sure he was spent after his physical therapy with Theo and didn’t want to wake him.
His arm wasn’t making as good of progress as they’d expected, and she could sense he was getting fearful each day that passed.
She often thought about the sheer force of the squad car impact, the sickening sound of metal crumpling, and a cold wave of terror would wash over her.
Each time, she silently thanked God for protecting their lives and for the outcome that defied all odds.
Most in similar situations weren't so lucky.
She slowly crawled into bed, trying not to move too much, and lay facing his back.
As she closed her eyes, he turned to face her now and pulled her closer to him with his good arm.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Shh, you didn’t. How was lunch?” he asked, his eyes still closed.
She looked at his face, the bruises nearly healed, but he still had some black and blue marks and stitching that needed to come out.
She thought of the alternative—the horrifying, almost—that still haunted her dreams. If that crash had taken him, it would have taken her, too—not her body, but her soul. It would have erased her.
Her thankfulness for his survival was a visceral, daily relief that tightened her throat. He opened his eyes, blinking into focus, and his gaze caught the single, silent tear as it slid down her face.
“I’m sorry,” she wept, losing her desire and will to hold back the despair she felt.
He pulled her in closer.
“You have to stop apologizing, you have nothing to apologize for,” he reassured, stroking her back.
She pressed her forehead to his chest and let out all the pain and frustration and guilt she’d been walking around with for days.
“I love you so much. You didn’t do anything wrong, you hear me? Nothing. Nothing that has happened is any of your fault,” he repeated, and tilted her face to his now.
She nodded and saw him leaning into her through teary, blurred eyes. His lips connected with hers; they were warm and comforting. Kisses that felt familiar and needed.
“I love you too, and I’m sorry for being short with you lately,” she whispered, returning her face to his warm, muscular chest.
“You’re fine, baby,” he replied.
As Lana drifted off to sleep, he held her as close to him as he could and vowed silently that once the nightmare was over, nothing like it would ever happen again.
He didn’t care what he had to do or what it would cost; he would protect her come hell or high water.
He glanced over at his useless arm and tried to wiggle a finger, but it didn’t budge.
He squeezed his eyes shut and forced the negative thoughts out, realizing he might have to go to New York for that consult after all.
He wondered if Lana would come with him, but in her current state of mind, it may not be something she wanted to do. He lay there until his eyes closed too and pushed out all thoughts. He just wanted a little bit of peace for them both and would figure out a way to make it last forever somehow.