Chapter 12 #2
For a moment, she reminded him of her mother, that quiet strength emerging to calm down a situation. Remy’s throat burned. Was this why he’d avoided spending too much time with Sarah this year—other than in a guardian/protector role? Because she could raise old ghosts with just a look?
Regret flowed through him and he clapped a hand on her shoulder.
“I only want to make sure you’re not drinking again.”
“I’m not.” She met his gaze, a hard glint in the reflected firelight. “But I was having fun with my new friends.”
“Is that why you haven’t answered my texts? Because I wouldn’t have needed to track you down, Sarah, if I could have gotten ahold of you.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, guilt clear on her face before she started digging in her bag for her phone. “I haven’t been checking it.”
Her dad frowned. “That thing is usually superglued to your hand.”
A few things spilled out from her purse in her rush. He bent to help her.
“I’ve got it!” she snapped, swiping up some stuff and jamming it back in the bag. “Can we just go now?”
Phone in one hand, she tucked the leather satchel under the other arm, her movements jerky.
“Okay.” He pointed at the path down the hill. “I’m parked down here.”
“Me, too.” She hurried away from the bonfire.
“You don’t need to tell anyone you’re leaving?” He looked back over his shoulder where the music had gotten slower and a few couples were dancing close together.
He thought he recognized Ally Finley—Erin’s niece—who whispered something in Sarah’s ear as she walked past.
“No. I’m sure the party is breaking up soon anyway.” She walked faster.
She seemed annoyed. Agitated. That made two of them. He waited until they’d cleared the party and were safely back down to the parking area for the soccer field before he spoke again.
“I got a call from Theresa earlier.”
“She told you?” She twisted the strap of her purse around one finger, her voice pitched at a frightened whisper.
“No, Sarah. She’s waiting for you to talk to me.”
“Can we get in the car at least?”
“Fine.” He unlocked the doors on the rental. “Get in and we’ll pick up your vehicle tomorrow.”
He could see the light on her phone as she hopped in the passenger side. Was she checking the messages that she’d missed from him earlier? Or saying good-night to this Lucas person?
“Oh, God.” Sarah’s eyes were wide in the reflected electronic light of the screen.
“What?” He struggled to hold on to his patience, but it felt like every time they needed to talk something else came up.
She tensed. Bit her lip as she stared at him. Finally, she sighed and blurted, “I’ve been getting messages online from someone who lives in Mom’s hometown. Belle Chasse.”
His stomach twisted, old fear churning in his gut.
“Is this why you don’t want to go back to Miami? Is this guy harassing you?”
Tense with the need to act, he was already thinking through their legal options for an injunction.
“Just listen,” she pleaded, sounding close to tears. “I was ignoring this person’s notes in social media when I saw where she was from.” She turned the phone toward him so he could see a social media profile for “lockeduplove47,” also known as Becky from Belle Chasse.
The woman appeared around his age, with frizzy blond hair and a neck tattoo of a fleur-de-lis.
“I’ve never heard of her. Maybe she was someone who went to school with your mother?”
“Right. That’s the kind of thing that I was thinking so I ignored her.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry you. And you know I try not to dwell on that stuff so…”
“I know.” He covered her shaking hand with his. “You’ve been stronger than any teenager should have to be.”
“Not really. Theresa says I just ignore stuff, which kind of isn’t the same.” She slid away her hand and used it to change screens on the phone. “But anyhow, the woman just messaged me with this.”
She flipped the device so he could read it.
Your dad regrets the hurt he’s caused you. If you give him a chance, you’ll see what a kind, warmhearted man he really is!
Heat burned his chest, as if he’d swallowed sparks from the bonfire. He gripped the phone so hard he accidentally shut the screen off.
“What the hell is she talking about?” He’d never met the woman, so he could only assume that when she referred to Sarah’s “dad” she must mean Brandon.
“That’s what I’ve been scared about.” Sarah took her phone back and put it inside her bag, chewing her bottom lip raw. Then she withdrew a folded piece of paper. No, an envelope. It shook in her hand as she held it up. “I got this two weeks ago.”
Fear crushed his chest in a dark forewarning. He wasn’t going to like this.
“What is it?” His voice was scratchy, the sound barely there. He reached overhead to turn on the dome light.
Sarah handed him a crumbled and dirt-smudged letter sent to her from a federal penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana.
“It’s from my father. My real father.”
“And you didn’t open it?” Erin asked, propping a pillow under her head as she adjusted her phone on her other ear.
She had almost been scared to answer the call when it had come in half an hour ago, worried it might be Patrick again. She’d been so relieved to see Remy’s number—on more than one level—too much so to analyze now. Later, she would sift through the flutter of excitement.
Or at least, she’d been relieved until she’d heard about what had happened to Sarah. He didn’t sound like himself, the stress of the night threading through every word.
“I wasn’t sure of the best protocol from a legal standpoint.
I don’t know what kind of laws protect us from Sarah’s father, but if there’s any chance that he broke one when he contacted her, I want to be certain they’ve got the best evidence to prosecute him or the woman who is contacting Sarah online. ”
If it really was a woman.
Erin didn’t say it aloud, not wanting to upset Remy more, but who could trust a profile name and photo? Anyone could pose behind a fake identity online.
“So you’ll talk to the police tomorrow?” She clicked off the ceiling fan, using a remote beside her bed, so she could hear better.
She’d fallen into a fitful sleep thinking about what approach to take with Remy the next time she saw him.
Pretend their night together never happened?
Well, now she knew they hadn’t destroyed their friendship by sleeping together.
Maybe they could still salvage some kind of relationship for the rest of his time in Heartache.
“Yes. And Sarah’s counselor, too. I didn’t think it would be fair to Sarah after all she’s been through to drag her into the station at midnight. Plus, her therapist might want to talk to her before the letter is opened.”
“I’m glad she confided in you.” She sat up, hugging her knees as she watched the moonlight filter in through the wooden slats of her blinds.
“Finally.” He didn’t sound happy about it. Was he upset that a felon was contacting Sarah? Or did he still resent that she’d kept it a secret that whole time?
“Is there anything I can do?” She had to at least offer. “I know you want to be there for her. But if I can help in anyway—”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” He spoke softly, his voice a little more relaxed than when they’d first started this conversation. “I know you deserved more from me after we were together. I left with a chip on my shoulder, but it didn’t have anything to do with you.”
She wondered how true that was but didn’t question him on it for now.
“You had good reason to be concerned for your daughter.”
“I could kill Brandon for doing this to her. She’s only eighteen. He’s the reason she lost her mother.” Quiet anger rumbled through the phone. “What kind of father treats his kid this way? He could be putting her at risk, and he damn well doesn’t have the excuse that he didn’t realize the danger.”
“Having children doesn’t make a person a good parent.” She’d been reminded of that tonight after the call from Patrick. How could he have walked out on his kids?
Remy was quiet for a minute. “You asked before if you could do anything for Sarah.”
“I meant it.” And she was touched that he trusted her enough to ask.
“I thought I’d let her assist the crew during the filming at Last Chance Vintage. We’re going to be in town anyway and she’s been lobbying to take a more active role in learning about production.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“Since I won’t be on the set all the time, I’d be grateful if you could, you know, look out for her.
With all this distraction of the letter from prison, I haven’t gotten to speak with her about her college options or her frustration with living in Miami.
And tonight I think she was hanging around with some local kid she has never mentioned or brought around—Lucas. ”
“Lucas Maynard?” She remembered Sarah saying he’d changed. Not that she knew much about the trouble he’d gotten into in the past, but in a small town you heard rumors even if you didn’t want to.
He hesitated for a moment, and she could hear the late news playing in the background on his television. He must be in his room at the B and B.
“Is that a bad thing?” he finally asked.
“I don’t know, actually.” She didn’t want to spread idle gossip, especially when she wasn’t positive she was thinking of the right teen “I’ll ask my sister-in-law. I think he’s in Ally’s grade at school.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“And Remy, of course I’ll do my best to keep an eye out for Sarah anytime you’re not around.” She didn’t know if it was wise to tangle their lives up more, but she couldn’t possibly say no if it meant supporting a family who’d been through so much.
She was doing the Dress for Success event for the same basic reason—to give single parents the tools they needed to care for their families.
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “I know last night didn’t turn out exactly the way we thought it would.”
“Some parts turned out better,” she teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
“Definitely. But other aspects got a whole lot more complicated.”
She closed her eyes, remembering the way he’d made her feel. The urgency underlying every touch.
“They don’t have to be.” She didn’t need her hand held. Didn’t have to be a part of his life just because they’d slept together.
“I just don’t want you to feel obligated—”
“I won’t.”
“Or give you a false impression—”
“You can’t.” She cut him off sharply, unwilling to hear him spell out all the reasons they couldn’t be together. “I’m not going to fall for another guy who is…unavailable.”
“Okay then,” he said carefully, making her wish she hadn’t been so abrupt.
“So will you be at the store tomorrow when the filming starts?” She changed the subject, not sure what else to say about where they stood.
He was right—they hadn’t meant to be in this position afterward. But now that they would have to be around each other in the aftermath, she would try to make the best of it.
“Briefly. I’ll stick around long enough to introduce the crew and get you started.”
She was curious about how he’d spend the rest of the day, but maybe he would be looking into the legalities of Sarah’s father sending her mail. Remy didn’t offer anything more, however.
“Great.” She forced a smile, hoping it brought an easiness to her voice she didn’t feel. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
Disconnecting the call, she held the phone for a long time afterward. She’d meant what she’d said about not falling for him. She couldn’t afford that kind of hit to her heart—not so close on the heels of what had happened with Patrick.
It was a shame, her heart whispered just before she fell asleep.
Because if ever there would have been an amazing guy to take another chance with, it would have been Remy.
A caring father, a generous lover, a talented professional…
he possessed so many qualities she wanted in a man.
But his wife’s death might very well have robbed him of the ability to love another woman the same way.
Finding that out would be enough to break a woman’s heart—not just for six months, but possibly for the rest of time.