Lucky Break (21 page)

Then Clara had challenged her to think positively. To put her deepest wishes into the universe and hope they came back to her. So she'd greeted Jason without harboring anger from their visit to her sister. And what had she received in return?

He basically accused her of lying about her motives for working in this room and then he dropped the bomb about Brody Pittman being at the prison.
How could that be anything but a coincidence?
Day after day, her sister sat in bed or a chair and stared into space. How could she have any interaction with the man? And even if by some bizarre fluke they had met, what could that have to do with this house and the fire in the electrical system?

Lauren pressed her palms against her pounding head. She wasn't looking for a fight with Jason, nor was she trying to be blind to her sister's faults. She just looked at the facts, and for the life of her, Lauren couldn't reach the same conclusions as Jason. He insisted on thinking the worst without proof.

They made love in such perfect unison, but when it came to the important things in life, they couldn't even agree to disagree.

 

T
HOMAS SAT ACROSS
from his brother Hank in a booth at the far end of a restaurant two towns over from Stewart—far enough away that there were no familiar faces. Thomas faced the back wall and slunk down in his seat, embarrassed he'd let Hank talk him into spying on Clara and Edward's date.

“Here they come now.” Hank, who faced out, pulled his Red Sox baseball cap lower on his head and slipped on a pair of sunglasses.

“Like that's going to help,” Thomas muttered. “It's nighttime and you look like an ass.”

Hank snorted. “I'll take another beer,” he said to a waitress passing by.

“Would you like anything?” she asked Thomas.

He shook his head. “Unless you can make him disappear, I'm good.” He lifted his still full glass of club soda.

Hank leaned forward, elbows on the table, staring toward the center of the restaurant. “What do you know! Edward held the chair for Clara,” he said in a hushed yet still loud whisper. “I'm surprised he remembered that's the right thing to do on a date.”

“Maybe he read Emily Post.” Thomas shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Listen, we can still go out the back door and they'll never know we were here.”

Thomas didn't want to get caught. Though
Edward wasn't speaking to him, his brother had taken his advice and started to move forward in his relationship with Clara. Thomas believed his brother would forgive him next. At the very least he still held out hope. But if Edward discovered Thomas and Hank lurking here, he would probably pile another wrong onto the list of grudges he already held against him.

Hank shook his head. “If you're going to be such a downer you should've stayed home.”

“You've got a point, but someone had to make sure you behaved.” Thomas had had visions of Hank crawling on his hands and knees, ending up beneath Clara and Edward's table in order to hear their conversation.

“I don't buy that excuse. You wanted to see how things worked out between them for yourself.” As Hank spoke, he leaned around the booth once more. “They're talking like civilized people!”

Thomas wouldn't let Hank get sidetracked. “If I'm so interested in Clara and Thomas, why are you the only one spying?”

“Because someone has to, and I fill you in as soon as I see something worth reporting! Come on. Admit you're as interested in these two getting together as I am.”

Thomas hated it when he couldn't argue with
his brother's reasoning. Thank goodness, it wasn't often that Hank was right.

Thomas leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest. “Of course I'm interested. I want Edward healthy so we can be a family again, and these baby steps he's taking with Clara will help lead him back to us, too.”

“Aha!” Hank picked up a fork and waved it at him.

“But that doesn't mean I'd invade their privacy to do it.”

“Stick-in-the-mud.” His lips turned down in a classic Hank-pout.

Thomas shook his head, suppressing a grin. He'd already decided not to respond.

Suddenly the ringing of Hank's cell phone broke the silence. The loud song called attention to their booth, and as Hank fumbled to find his phone, the song continued its seemingly never-ending chorus.

“Why didn't you put that thing on silent?” Thomas hissed.

“Because I don't know how.” Hank finally found the phone and flipped it open, ending the serenade. “Talk to me,” he said, again in a too loud whisper.

“Who is it?” Thomas asked.

Hank put up a hand, telling Thomas to wait, his
concentration on the call. He listened, nodding until he finally said, “Holy cow!”

“What?”

Hank ignored him. “Yep, he's with me. I'll let him know and we'll call you when we get home.” He disconnected and placed the phone on the table. “I knew I shoulda brought my shotgun.”

“For the last time, what is wrong?” Thomas asked.

“That was Derek and you'll never believe why he called.” Hank met Thomas's gaze. “That lunatic Elizabeth Perkins escaped!”

Thomas blinked, certain he'd heard wrong. And if he hadn't, how was such a thing possible?

He leaned closer to Hank. “Do you think we should tell Edward, so he hears it from family first and not from some stranger?”

“No need to tell me anything, I overheard everything,” a deep, familiar male voice said.

Thomas cringed.

Edward stood by their table, Clara beside him. “Odd choice in restaurants for you two, isn't it?”

“When did you notice us?” Thomas asked, mortified.

“When ‘Old McDonald' rang on the phone.”

Thomas shot Hank a deadly look before turning his attention back to Edward. His brother looked
neat.
He was dressed in a pair of pressed pants and
a clean button-down shirt. No tie. Hair freshly trimmed and combed, the same as his beard. He looked fantastic. Like the brother he'd almost forgotten he'd ever had, Thomas thought, and barely refrained from complimenting him. He didn't want to embarrass Edward, especially in front of Clara, who stood patiently while the three men talked.

“I just wanted to be close by in case you needed me,” Hank said in an attempt to defend his actions. “Isn't that right, Thomas?”

Thomas clenched his jaw tight. Hank was covering, but Thomas had promised himself he wouldn't deceive his brother. Not by omission or by lying to himself, either.

He gripped the napkin in his lap. “I came to keep an eye on him.” Thomas jerked his thumb toward Hank. “But to be even more truthful, I also feel like I have a vested interest in whether you two end up together.” The admission didn't come easily, but Thomas was pleased with himself for making it.

“Why?” Clara asked, clearly appalled. “I wouldn't date you even if Edward were foolish enough to end things between us.” She placed her hand on Edward's shoulder. “Not ever.”

Thomas admired her spunk and unnecessary defense of his brother. He should have realized the potential for misunderstanding. “What I meant
was that if Edward could work toward a resolution with you, maybe you will make peace with me next.” He steeled himself for his brother's verbal punch, but to Thomas's shock and relief, Edward's face seemed to soften.

“Why is nobody dealing with the fact that that crazy Perkins lady escaped?” Hank blurted out.

“Oh, Goddess, help us,” Clara said, turning her attention heavenward. “Some men just don't have the sense she gave a goat.”

Clara was right and Thomas groaned. Leave it to Hank to break a potential peace by mentioning the Perkins family.

Hank raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “Don't everyone get your knickers in a twist. It's an honest question, but I realize I shouldn't have asked.”

Thomas turned his gaze to Edward, awaiting his volatile reaction.

Edward drew a deep breath. “It's fine. The Perkins lady has nothing to do with me.”

Thomas had never been so relieved.

“Are you nuts?” Hank blurted out.

“He means, are…” Thomas started to rephrase Hank's words, then realized he couldn't. “I don't know what he means. But…are you sure that's how you feel?” he asked Edward.

After all, his reaction was quite a turnaround from the past.

“No,” he admitted. “No, I'm not sure. But it's what I'm working toward feeling. And repeating that mantra day and night is keeping me calm. So I'd appreciate it if you would help me on that mission. And if you can't, then stay away.” Edward squared his shoulders, challenging his brothers.

Thomas wanted to applaud.

Clara smiled. In fact, she beamed, radiating pride and happiness in Edward.

Thomas didn't blame her.

“Now if you don't mind, we'd like to get back to our date,” Edward said.

Thomas nodded.

Hank did the same.

Thomas waited until after Clara and Edward were out of hearing distance.

“Amazing,” Hank said before Thomas could speak.

“Agreed.” He looked around for the waitress and signaled for a check. “Now do you want to go find out what happened with Elizabeth Perkins and how Lauren and Jason are holding up?”

Hank nodded, a big smile on his face. “I thought you'd never ask!”

L
AUREN STARED OUT
the window overlooking the lawn in the front of the house. The sun had set a long time ago but the police car parked out front kept vigil.

In case her sister showed up.

And Jason had insisted on staying over for protection. In case her sister showed up.

As if Lauren needed protection from her own sister. She may have misjudged Beth's deviousness and mental state, but she'd never accept the fact that her sister could hurt her.

But Lauren knew better than to argue with the men who insisted she needed watchdogs. The little lady needed protection, the old cop had said. Lauren bristled at the memory.

“Are you going to watch the police car all night?” Jason asked, coming up behind her.

“It's not like I'm going to get any sleep.” She
continued to stare out into the dark night. The car was barely visible, but she knew it was there.

“I'm sure we could find something more interesting on TV.”

She shook her head.

“Do you want to talk?” Jason placed a hand on her shoulder, his strong touch meant to reassure her.

But how could anything calm her now? His musky scent aroused her, but she wasn't in the mood for sex or conversation. She still needed to process her sister's escape. The charade. The lies.

She exhaled, her warm breath fogging the window in front of her. “No. I just need time to think.” About how she'd been so easily deceived.

She tried to reassure herself that she wasn't alone. The doctors had been fooled, as well.

Jason removed his hand and, despite not wanting the attachment to him, she felt the loss.

“I just want you to know, I am sorry. I didn't want to be right about your sister.”

She inclined her head. “I know. And you've been a gracious winner.” She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes and see the pity there.

“There are no winners in this situation.” Without warning, he gripped her arm and turned her around. “And I don't take any pleasure in your pain.”

She believed his words. She just couldn't deal
with anything beyond the fact that her sister, the sister she'd sold her car to protect, was an escaped felon.

“Did the prison say when Beth's doctor would call you?” Jason asked.

They'd heard about the escape from the institution but not any details about how she'd managed the feat. Lauren only knew it involved fire. Her sister's weapon of choice.

“Lauren?”

Jason's voice brought her back to the present and she shook her head. “The prison says he's tied up with the police.”

A loud knock sounded at the front door. Since receiving the news, they'd locked the doors.

Lauren wasn't in the mood to answer. “Would you mind?” She waved toward the entryway.

“Of course not.” He headed for the front door.

No sooner had the creaky hinges sounded, indicating he'd opened the door for their visitors, than she heard familiar male voices.

“We came as soon as we heard the news,” Jason's father said, his tone kind and concerned.

“I can't believe the loony-toon arsonist escaped!” Hank wasn't as compassionate.

Lauren cringed at the description. But she was forced to admit it was on target. Her crazy sister
had set fire to The Wave last year and apparently she'd set another one today to facilitate her escape.

Nausea rose in Lauren's throat.

“Uncle Hank, if you're going to talk like that in this house, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.” Jason defended her honor.

At this point, Lauren wasn't sure she deserved to be defended. She'd talked to her sister for hours and never once detected something was off.

She straightened her shoulders and headed to the entryway to greet the men. “Jason, he has every right to be upset. Everyone does.”

Jason shot her a grateful look. “Lauren's being generous. Now you do the same for her.”

Lauren smiled. “Well. I see you decided to come into this house after all. What changed?”

Thomas flushed, his cheeks turning red.

Nothing seemed to embarrass Hank. “We wanted to see how Jason was doing. Imagine if your crazy sister came here and realized you and my nephew were a
thing.
News like that might send her over the edge. If she's not there already.”

At his words, Lauren's blood chilled. “Oh my God. What if she recognized you? What if she already knows?”

“Recognized him how?” Thomas asked.

Jason placed a calming hand on Lauren's
shoulder. This time she
did
take comfort from his touch.

“Lauren and I visited her sister in prison,” he said.

Hank's eyes opened wide, and without warning, he reached over and smacked Jason on the side of the head.

“Hey! What was that for?” Jason raised a hand to his head, rubbing the spot.

“For being an idiot! You went to see a Perkins in prison?” Hank yelled.

Lauren's temples began to throb. “Look, we didn't tell Beth Jason's last name, so there's a chance—”

“There's no chance!” Hank insisted. “I heard when the police raided this house last year they confiscated files on almost every citizen. Especially us Corwins. Trust me, she knows.”

Lauren's gut told her he was right.

“Could it be that the visit upset her enough to precipitate the breakout?” Thomas asked, always the polite, rational brother.

Lauren shrugged. “I don't think it matters what precipitated it. She's out. She has an agenda and I can't begin to guess what it is. It's not like she confided in me.” She paused, thinking about what she did know about Beth. “I can tell you two things for certain.”

All three men stared at her intently.

“One.” Lauren held up a finger. “Beth wouldn't hurt me, and two, she's not stupid enough to show up here.” She raised a second finger.

“That's a lot of faith in a—”

“Don't say it, Uncle Hank.” Jason grabbed his uncle's elbow and started nudging him to the door. “We appreciate you stopping by to check on us, but as you can see we're fine. And we have police protection.” He pointed to the street through the side windows near the front door. “So you two can go home and rest easy.”

“But—”

“No buts. I'll call you in the morning and check in,” Jason said, his tone firm.

Thomas nodded. “He's right. Let's go.” The two men had started for the door when Jason's father suddenly turned. “Ms. Perkins?”

Surprised, Lauren met his gaze. “Yes?”

“Try to rest easy. You can trust Jason to make the right decisions. You're in good hands.” Thomas Corwin nodded at his son. Then he led his brother out the door.

Once the men were gone, Lauren retreated to the den once more. Jason followed, settling into a seat on the couch.

She eased down beside him, her mind on Thomas Corwin's words and the love in his ex
pression. She'd never known such unconditional love and acceptance from her own parents and never would. But she was glad Jason had found it with his dad.

Lauren smiled. “Your father is proud of you.”

Jason glanced away. “I don't know why he would be.”

Lauren blinked, stunned at his words. “Why would you think that? You're a son anyone would be proud of.”

He cocked his head to one side, struggling to find the right words. All it had taken was his father's comment about Jason making the right decisions to bring his frustration and insecurity roaring back.

Not that he didn't think of his failings every day, but since Lauren's return, he'd been able to put them to the back of his mind.

Until now. “What's there to be proud of? What
decisions
did I make that were so sound that you'd trust me to make the right ones for you? I blew the one thing I went after in life. I let myself be duped by a woman. I spent half my life training for my one big moment and never made it because I allowed myself to be led around by my—Never mind.” He rose from the couch and walked to the window she'd been looking out earlier.

“Now who's unfairly blaming himself? Did you do drugs? Ingest them? Cheat? No, you did not. So I won't have you trash-talking yourself!” Lauren was obviously appalled on his behalf. “Just where did this negativity come from?”

“It's always been there. Ever since the committee refused my appeal…when I realized that nobody would ever believe in me again. I just never let you see it.” He stared out the window into the dark night. “Hell, I try not to see it myself.”

Lauren stood and crossed the room, raising her hand to his face. “Jason, you have always been the most honest, determined, goal-oriented man I've ever met. I'd trust you with my life. How can you not believe in yourself?”

Instead of comforting him, her words only served to remind him of his failures. His current lack of a goal, a dream.

“I don't believe in myself because I allowed my goals to be taken away from me. And I haven't replaced them with anything meaningful since.” He turned and walked out of the room.

 

T
WO DAYS
of tense silence passed. Two days of nonstop work on the house to fill the time while waiting for news on Beth. The insurance adjuster came and went. He took photographs to submit to
the company and promised to get back to them. Meanwhile, Lauren felt brittle, yet somehow she kept moving, thoughts of Paris keeping her going. She had to focus on her upcoming debut, because nothing here in Perkins made sense.

Since their conversation the day of her sister's escape, Jason had withdrawn. They slept in the same bed but he made no overtures toward her, and when she rolled on top of him in her sleep, he pulled away. She ought to be grateful he was giving her the distance she'd been asking for.

She wasn't.

He'd become a man filled with his own demons. Demons she believed he'd suppressed beneath a brave facade until his father's comment shattered the illusion he'd created for himself.

She ached for him, surprised he couldn't see that his father's perception of him was dead-on.

And she was angry at herself for being so emotionally invested in Jason, since it was going to be that much harder to leave him behind.

 

E
ARLY THE NEXT MORNING,
Jason placed Trouble's food bowl on the kitchen floor and the cat dove for his meal. The feline devoured the canned food while Jason wondered how even a cat could eat such foul-smelling stuff. “Better you than me,” he muttered.

He called his crew together and gave them assignments for the day while he could look forward to haggling with the insurance adjuster. The sooner they agreed on a settlement, the sooner he could begin work on the area damaged in the fire. If they finished in time for closing, Lauren would accomplish her goal, sell the house and walk out of his life. The end was near.

He was finished deluding himself and he had his father and Lauren to thank for opening his eyes. “You're in good hands,” his father had told her.

“He's proud of you,” Lauren had said.

They'd inadvertently brought him face-to-face with the past he'd been trying to outrun. He wasn't over it yet, much as he'd tried to lose himself in Lauren and pretend otherwise. And when she was gone, he'd have plenty of time on his hands to figure it all out.

In the meantime, he'd been giving her what she wanted—the emotional distance that would make it easier to leave later. He'd taken a lesson from Lauren and put up his own walls to protect himself, even though he knew it wouldn't make losing her hurt any less.

“Jason!” Lauren called from across the house. “Jason!” He started for the bedroom but she came running, meeting him in the kitchen.

“What's wrong?”

“Beth's doctor just called on my cell and you'll never guess who came to the prison not long before the fire and Beth's escape?” Her cheeks were pink, her words rushed.

Only one name came to mind. “Brody Pittman?”

She nodded. “He said he left his tools, and because he'd had clearance before, they let him in. But nobody had turned in any tools after the construction work finished. And within half an hour, my sister had escaped.”

“So there
is
some connection between them.”

“Looks that way. The police have an APB out on them both.”

Jason tried to follow the logic in his brain and couldn't. “Let's talk this through. So your sister and Brody meet up at the prison. We don't know how long ago. In the meantime, you come to the house and find it's been vandalized, right?”

Eyes wide, Lauren nodded. “Go on.”

“Then one day, Pittman gets himself hired at JR Plumbing, the only plumber in town, so he can end up
here
when your hot water heater breaks.”