Chapter Ten #3
Hearing her real name fall from his lips stymied her. She prayed for strength. “I don’t know what I’ll do, but I have to go back to San Francisco. I can’t hide away any longer. I have to make some hard decisions.”
He nodded again. “I’m only concerned for Sienna’s sake,” he said, unable to hide his bitterness. “I’d like to say goodbye to her.”
A lump formed in her throat. “Of course.”
She stared at him for a long while. He refused to meet her eyes. There was nothing left between them, and it hurt like hell to admit it. “I’m terribly sorry,” she repeated. “Goodbye, Jared.”
He said nothing as she walked out of the room.
A loud crashing sound startled her. It was glass breaking against a wall. Jared’s vivid curses reached her ears.
She cringed but kept on walking, putting one foot in front of the other, feeling just as shattered as the lamp Jared had just destroyed.
Bella glanced out the study window at her father’s mansion.
The day was gloomy and gray, matching her mood.
Christmas was three days away, but she wished like crazy it would be over already.
She put on a happy face for Sienna, making a big deal about her “gampa’s” Christmas tree, all snowy white and flushed with beautifully wrapped presents underneath.
She’d agreed to spend the holidays with her father and that they’d mutually try to patch up their differences. After that, she intended to find a place of her own.
Poor Sienna was confused. She’d settled in nicely at the ranch and though they’d only lived there a few weeks she still mentioned “Tared” often.
And it broke Bella’s heart.
She still remembered Jared’s near tearful goodbye to Sienna. He’d given her her Christmas gift early, a stuffed toy palomino horse with a thick golden mane and a saddle. Sienna slept with the darn thing at night.
Now they were back in Pacific Heights, yet her heart was in Texas with a handsome rancher with dark blond hair and incredible blue eyes.
“How’re you doing?” Yvonne said, coming into the room.
“I’m...okay.”
Yvonne glanced at the papers strewed around her desk. “You’re still at it? I’m glad to see you haven’t given up on your dream.”
“Thanks, Yvonne.” They’d had a nice long conversation the other day and cleared the air.
Yvonne wasn’t a threat to her, as Bella had once believed.
She was in her corner, and Bella found she’d been overly hard on her father’s wife over the years.
She’d apologized, hoping it was enough. Yvonne had a good heart.
“I’d go crazy if I didn’t have something to do right now. ”
“Marco says tomorrow he’s taking you out to look for a place to lease...for your restaurant.”
“Yes, he is. He’s actually being quite good about it. But I doubt we’ll have much luck, being so close to the holiday and all. People have other things on their mind.” Now that her trust fund was available to her, she had the resources to pursue her dream.
“I can see that you do.”
“I do. It’s just that... I’m not sure of anything anymore. I’ve been going over my recipes and all. But am I ready to open up my own restaurant? I doubt it.”
“You’re hurting, Francesca.”
“Yes.” She wasn’t going to deny it. Yvonne now knew everything. “It was hopeless from the start, but I can’t deny my feelings. I’m in love.”
“Nothing’s hopeless when there’s love involved.”
She shrugged. “Jared was furious with me. He practically kicked me out of his house.”
“After you broke up with him.”
“I know. I did. But...but...”
“You know you can try to speak to him. See if he’s cooled down yet.”
“No, I can’t. He’s not a good fit for me. I need stability in my life. I need a man I can count on. I told you about the incident with Jared taking Sienna on that horse. It shaved years off my life seeing Sienna so frightened. No, Jared and I are too different. We want different things in life.”
Yvonne took her hand and squeezed. “I think you’ll find a way. You’re strong, Francesca. Just like someone else I know.”
Bella smiled. Maybe Yvonne, with the shapely figure and long blond hair, wasn’t a mother figure to her, but they could be friends, and that went a long way in making her feel better. “Thanks. I want to make this a good holiday for Sienna. I’m trying...”
Jared sat in the great room in Cooper’s house, watching a football game.
Lauren had taken pity on him and invited him over to dinner.
His face was a mess, but he’d let his beard grow to hide the scrapes.
His leg still ached like a son of a bitch from his most recent crash.
But nothing compared to the emptiness in his heart.
He was hollowed out inside and pretty bad company.
Lauren sat next to him, offering him a plate of homemade cookies, while Cooper helped Marie with the dishes.
“No thanks,” Jared said.
“Hey, when a pregnant woman works all afternoon baking, you need to humor her.”
“Okay. Thanks,” he said, grabbing one chocolate-chunk cookie.
His appetite lately was on the blink. He wanted a Bella-original meal and every time he would think it, he’d cuss himself out for being a fool.
If only he could stop thinking about her.
Bella, Francesca, whatever the hell she was calling herself lately.
“Coercing you into eating a cookie wasn’t the reason I invited you over,” Lauren said. “I have news.”
“What kind of news?”
“Bella called me. We had a long talk. She’s concerned about you. Wanted to know how you were feeling.”
“Like crap. But she doesn’t need to know that. I’m...not interested.”
“You don’t want to know what she had to say?”
“No.”
“She put Sienna on the phone and she asked for Tared.”
Jared’s eyes squeezed shut. He was on his third bottle of beer and ready to gulp down the whole damn six-pack. “That’s hitting below the belt.”
“Yeah, a real sucker punch to your gut. I’m that good.”
Jared eyed his sister-in-law. “And I thought you liked me.”
“I do. I want you to be happy.”
“I can’t get over how she deceived me, Lauren. It’s like déjà vu all over again. But I thought Bella was different. I called her my angel. I thought...we had a chance.”
“She is different. Think about this. She didn’t deceive you to cause you harm.
She didn’t want anything from you. She actually had to be talked into taking the job.
With her father threatening to sue her for custody, her back was up against the wall.
Can you imagine how frightened she was? Marco Forte is a powerful man and she didn’t know who to trust. She was protecting Sienna.
I can understand that. I haven’t met my baby yet, but I’m already a protective mama bear when it comes to my child.
” Lauren put her hand on her baby bump. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for the ones I love. ”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. She doesn’t approve of me.”
Lauren laughed, a hearty chuckle that rankled his nerves. “I can’t blame her for that. We’re all down on your hobby. Why can’t you just build things, like Cooper does?”
“I’m not Cooper, that’s why.”
“But you’re not stupid, either.”
“I’m not too sure about that,” Cooper said, walking in and handing him another beer.
“Shut the f-up, Coop.”
Lauren shook her head. “Cooper you’re not helping.”
His brother plunked down on a chair and faced his wife. “Did you ask him yet?”
“I haven’t gotten to that,” Lauren answered.
“Gotten to what?” Jared asked.
“To asking if you’re in love with Bella. Because Lauren is sure she’s in love with you.”
“Cooper!” Lauren shot Coop a hot glare.
“God, you two. Of course I love her. Why else would I be so damn—”
“Idiotic?” Cooper’s brows lifted.
“Hurt?” Lauren suggested.
“Pissed off. Yeah, I’m pissed off, because...damn it. She broke up with me and left.”
“You didn’t stop her.”
“How could I? She betrayed me.”
“That again,” Cooper grumbled.
“If you really believe she betrayed you, then there’s no sense talking any more about it,” Lauren said. “But if there’s wiggle room inside your head, maybe you should rethink it.”
That’s all he had been doing lately...thinking. God, he missed Bella and that kid of hers. His house was like a morgue and it’d only been a few days.
Cooper’s cell phone rang and he answered it. “Hi, Mom.”
Jared began shaking his head. He didn’t need a tongue-lashing from his mother tonight. But Cooper looked straight at him and smiled. “Yeah, he’s right here.” He tossed him the phone. “Mom wants to talk to you.”
Jared mouthed a curse at Coop and then answered the phone.
He was in for it. His mother wouldn’t mince words.
She’d been on his case since the first accident.
It didn’t matter that he was a grown man, worth millions, he was still her little boy worthy of a scolding.
Crap. He got up from the sofa and walked out of the room.
Seeing his brother gloating was too damn much to take right now.
An hour later, after downing two cups of coffee at Coop’s house, Jared drove home at a snail’s pace, needing the time to gather his thoughts.
When he pulled into the garage, he cut the engine on his Jeep and sat there.
Thinking. Special white-tile flooring and all the tools he’d ever need to work on his cars made this a very special place.
His vehicles had all the bells and whistles, the finest money could buy.
Though his Harley was being repaired and his Lamborghini was gone, all the rest of his collection shone sterling-bright, beckoning him to take them out.
Pick me and I’ll give you the thrill of your life.
His phone rang. It was Blake again, manager of his speedboat race team, and Jared knew what he wanted. It was time to pay the entry fees for the upcoming spring races.
Jared let the call go to voice mail for the third time today.
Then an idea popped into his head and he strode over to his hot red Corvette.