Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) (26 page)

This was turning out to be the longest day of Claire’s life. Tomorrow she should be marrying the man she loved. Instead, she volunteered for overtime at Butlers. It would be better to stay busy than sit at home and cry, which she knew was exactly what would happen.

She should have picked Zoey up on her way home from work, but she just wanted to take a hot bath and lie down for a little while before she took care of her daughter. Louise told her to take as long as she needed. Claire called the school and left the message for Spencer to go there instead of home, too. She wanted a little time alone.

The drugstore was on her way home, so she stopped and splurged a little bit, justifying it by thinking it was to help soothe her aching heart. She bought a bottle of bath oil with the barest scent of roses, and a small box of chocolate candy. She knew sitting in a tub eating candy would do nothing to ease her pain, but maybe she could at least relax a little.

Just as she was about to walk into the living room, somebody knocked on her door. Claire decided it didn’t matter who it was; she would send them packing. This was her “alone” time, and she wasn’t going to give it up.

She was surprised when she opened the door and saw Judy. At least they were good enough friends that Judy would understand why Claire was asking her to leave.

“I know you already have your own plans,” Judy told her, “but I really need a friend right now.”

Claire inwardly sighed. Judy sat and held her as she cried her heart out all evening on Wednesday while Spencer was at scholar bowl practice and Zoey was down for a nap. If Judy had a problem, Claire owed it to her to listen and help if she could.

“Come on in and sit down,” she invited her friend.

“Actually, I need a little retail therapy,” Judy said. “Would you come shopping with me? Mom knows, and she said not to worry about Zoey. Spencer will be fine since he’ll get to drive you home when you pick them up.” Claire had been letting him drive all she could, since Spencer still refused to have anything to do with Mason. He even said he didn’t care if he wasn’t able to get his license on his birthday. He’d rather walk than have to accept any help from Mason.

“Will you come with me?” Judy looked worriedly at her.

Something about Judy’s request didn’t make sense. “Why do you need me to come along if you’re going to use retail therapy to help you with your problem?”

“We can talk while we shop.” Judy’s eyes beseeched her. “Please, Claire. I don’t ask you for much, do I?”

That was very true. Claire shook her head. “Let me change clothes. I’m not going shopping in my uniform.” She would just use the bath oil later, and Spence would have the chocolates gone in two seconds flat.

A few minutes later, Claire rejoined Judy. She followed her friend’s lead and wore a pair of jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt. It looked like they were going to Seasons and Such. They weren’t dressed to go window shopping like they sometimes did.

“How are you doing?” Judy asked once she was behind the wheel, and they were on their way. “I mean with tomorrow being—”

“Can we not talk about it, please?” If Judy didn’t want a blubbering fool on her hands, she better start talking about her own problems. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. I just can’t handle it right now.”

Judy glanced at her. “I understand.”

“Did your mom say whether Zoey has been in a good mood today?” Maybe Claire should have just gone and picked up her children, and tried to have a plain weekday evening.

Judy smiled. “She was sitting in the high chair throwing her toys all over the kitchen while I was there changing my clothes. It’s so funny to hear her say ‘Dada’.” One hand flew to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry, Claire. I wasn’t thinking.”

Of course her daughter’s first word would be “dada.” Claire knew Zoey was just making noise and didn’t know what it meant, but it was still hard to hear. It was only enhanced by the irony that Zoey said it for the first time on the very next day after Claire returned Mason’s ring. Oh, well. He would hear her when he visited her. If he ever visited her. He had yet to call and make arrangements to see his daughter.

The two women rode in silence for a while. Claire noticed they weren’t in the right neighborhood for Seasons and Such.

“Where are we shopping?” As far as she knew, there weren’t any stores in this part of town. Unless somebody opened a new consignment store.

Judy had an apologetic look on her face. “I just need to stop by the church. I left something there when I was getting things ready—I’m sorry.” Her gaze shifted back and forth between the road and Claire. “If it’s too much, I’ll come back later.”

The church was the last place Claire needed to be, but she didn’t want to add to Judy’s problem, whatever it was. “I’ll be okay.”

“Thank you.” Judy sigh was audible.

When they pulled up next to the back door of the church, Judy shut off the car and turned to Claire. “I know it’s hard, but could you please help me carry stuff? It’ll only take one trip that way. Otherwise, we’ll have to be here longer.”

Claire did not want to go into the church she was supposed to be getting married in the next day, nor did she wish to wait beside it for any length of time. “We have to hurry.” She took a bolstering breath and opened her door.

“I promise it’ll only take me a minute to do this,” Judy spoke lowly as they walked to the church.

Claire took another deep breath. She refused to let herself shed even one single tear. Judy pulled out a key out and unlocked the door.

“It’s all in the back room.” Judy’s voice didn’t sound right, but Claire could only focus on getting whatever they were after and back out of this church.

“Watch your step.” Judy glanced over her shoulder. “The light switch is at the other end of this hall, so we have to walk in the dark.”

Maybe that wasn’t so bad. Claire could pretend she was somewhere else.

“In here.”

Claire followed her friend’s voice through a doorway into an even darker space. “Judy, will you turn on the lights? I can’t see a thing.”

Instead of hearing Judy’s voice answer, Claire heard the distinct sound of the door closing behind her.

“What’s going on?” She tried to find her way to the wall, searching for a light switch.

The sound of the exterior door shutting was her only answer.

“Hadn’t we better get your stuff so we can leave? I think somebody else just got here.”

The sound of an engine starting surprised Claire. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her best friend had dumped her in a pitch black room and left. So, what was this? A joke?

“Judy, I don’t know what’s going on, but will you please turn the lights on?” She was becoming angry, whether her friend had a problem or not.

The lights suddenly came on, blinding Claire for a moment. When she was finally able to focus, it wasn’t Judy standing there. It was Mason.

“Judy, I need to leave.” She looked around the room but didn’t see her friend.

“She’s gone.” Mason wanted more than anything to hold her. “We’re alone.”

“Then I’ll go call a taxi,” Claire responded. “I’m not staying here with you.” She started out of the room. If she remembered correctly, there was a phone in the office.

“How are you going to pay for a cab?” Mason asked. “I don’t see your purse.”

He was right. She left her purse in Judy’s car.

“I’ll call Louise. She’ll come and get me.” She headed for the door once more. Maybe just this once Louise could get out of the house long enough to come and pick her up.

Mason stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her path.

“Nobody will come and get you, Claire, because everybody else has listened to me and knows the truth. You’re the only one who won’t give me a chance, and you’re the only one who really matters to me.” He had to make her believe him.

She was bewildered. “What do you mean, everybody else has listened? Who is everybody else?”

“All my friends. The other people I love.” He looked into her eyes, willing her to see the truth. “I just left Louise’s house. Spence and I are good. He understands now.” Mason’s eyes never left hers. If she still refused him, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t very well tie her up and make her sit there and hear what he had to say.

She shook her head. “There is nothing that will make me understand why you humiliated me by letting me think we were…that you are…like me. That you have to work to earn a living.”

“I do work to earn a living,” he insisted. “Please just hear me out, and then if you still want to leave, I’ll take you home myself.” He drew a deep breath. “I won’t bother you again, except to see my children.”

“You’re not giving me much of a choice here, are you?” She couldn’t even set out on foot. It would take her the better part of an hour to walk home, and she didn’t want to be out after dark. She finally took off her coat and dropped it onto the table that took up one side of the room. “Talk.”

“Will you sit down with me?” He knew it didn’t really matter. She could walk away from a sitting position just as freely as standing, but it felt like she was already on her way out the door before he even started.

She sighed and walked over to sit down on one of the metal folding chairs. He pulled one around and sat down to face her.

“I want to tell you about my childhood first,” he began. “You described your parents as strict and upright. My parents were never really parents at all. They treated me like a possession—something they owned. They could just pick me up and place me wherever it suited them, with no thought to how it affected me. Can you imagine what it’s like to be sent off to boarding school when you’re nine years old, just because your parents have some upper crust friends who think it’s the best place to send children? Well, I do.”

She sat in silence, unsure of what to say.

“Before you, there has been one person—only one person—who loved me. My grandmother. She treated me like a human being, and because she controlled the purse strings, my parents had to go along with her.” It still cut like a knife after all these years. “Then, she died when I was nine, and it was all them from then on. My life was a living nightmare. They rid themselves of me under the guise of wanting what was best for their only son. Every school or camp their friends thought were good—I’d be sent there. Until the next ‘best thing’ came along. I wasn’t ever in one place long enough to call it home.”

“I’m sorry, Mason, but that doesn’t change anything between us.”

“Please, I’m not finished.”

Claire slowly nodded. She would at least hear him out.

“When I turned eighteen, I got out of there. You know the kind of lifestyle I had.” He looked over her left shoulder for a moment before he shifted his gaze back to her. “I’m not proud of how I lived before I discovered what I truly value. I can’t go back and undo what I did. Believe me, I would in a heartbeat if I could. Except I still can’t tell you I’d go back and erase our night together. We wouldn’t have Zoey, and I wouldn’t have found you.”

“I don’t think you can fully comprehend how much I love you, and how much you’ve changed my life for the better,” he stated fervently. “And I’m proud of you, no matter what you think. You could wrap yourself in burlap, and I probably wouldn’t notice because I see
you
, who you are, not what you have. That’s what I’m asking of you. Please see me, and not what I have.”

“If you’re not embarrassed by how I dress, then why did you set up the whole thing at Rivets?” She was holding onto anger as her last defense. She had to keep her self-respect.

“I didn’t set anything up,” he insisted. “That was all Joni’s idea. She asked me about it because she thought you’d enjoy having some new clothes. I told her it would be up to you—that she’d have to ask you. She was just trying to be your friend and help you have something you wanted, not just something you needed.”

“You still let me think you had to work for a living,” she reminded him.

“My grandma left me some money—a lot of money. Even though I went through a sizable amount of it when I was younger, there is plenty left. But I don’t use it unless I have to. I live off what I make at Taylor’s.” He thought he saw some acceptance in her eyes and prayed he was right. “When I had my accident, I had to fall back on the savings account to pay my bills, but think, Claire. Do I live like a man who spends a lot of money? I have a one-bedroom apartment.”