The Friends We Keep (Mischief Bay) (26 page)

Nothing had happened, but she’d enjoyed listening to him breathe while he slept.

She was, she acknowledged, healing.

Rob released her. “Okay. Time to let the wild things know there are prizes.”

He clapped to get everyone’s attention, then told the kids about the Easter eggs. Immediately the game stopped and the search began.

She watched Rob help the twins find eggs. He was so good with all the children, she thought. So patient and loving. A great husband. She’d been lucky to fall in love with him and have him love her back. More than lucky. Blessed.

Kennedy ran up to her with several stickers in her hand. “Look what I found.”

“Those are very cool,” Hayley told her.

“I know.” The five-year-old hugged her. “You’re the best, Auntie Hayley. I love you.”

Hayley hugged her back. “I love you, too.”

She’d meant the words. She did love the twins, and Morgan’s kids and her friends and Rob most of all. Which meant that however damaged her heart might be, it wasn’t, in fact, broken beyond repair. There was hope. And if she was very lucky, there was a happy future with her husband.

* * *

Gabby waited patiently in the parking lot. Right on time, a half-dozen or so teenage girls walked out of the building. Two more followed, a teenage boy in tow. Two minutes later, she spotted Makayla.

She walked directly to the car, her head slightly bent, her shoulders slumped. Gabby drew in a breath as she wondered what on earth she could say to make an impossible situation better.

“How was your parenting class?” she asked as the teen settled next to her in the car and put on her seat belt.

“Okay. We learned about how to tell if our baby’s sick.”

“That must have been a little scary.”

“It was.” Makayla shrugged. “Heather’s boyfriend dumped her. He’s going into the army or something.” Her mouth twisted. “They were like engaged. He asked for the ring back. He told her he might want to give it to someone better.” Tears filled her eyes. “He got her pregnant and he’s acting like it’s all her fault, you know? It’s not fair.”

Gabby squeezed the teen’s arm. “I’m sorry. Boys can be idiots.”

“Yeah, they can.” She wiped away the tears. “I’m not crying over Boyd, you know. He’s not worth it. He’s a total shit head and I hate him. I’ll hate him forever.”

Gabby wondered if she should tell Makayla that kind of thinking wouldn’t get her anywhere. But a part of her wondered if hating Boyd was kind of a good thing. At least it gave her something to focus on for the moment. Over time, the teen would have to figure out a strategy but for now, maybe having an enemy wasn’t so bad.

“I hate him, too,” Gabby admitted. “Because of how he hurt you.”

Makayla surprised her by smiling. “Then he’s in trouble, because you’re really strong.”

An unexpected compliment, Gabby thought, as she signaled and then pulled out of the parking lot.

They didn’t talk as they drove home. Gabby kept listening for the familiar notes that indicated her stepdaughter had a text. Lately, her phone had been far too silent. Gabby wasn’t sure about the balance between supportive and interfering, so she didn’t ask too many question, but from what she could tell, most of Makayla’s friends had drifted away. She wasn’t hanging out with them after school or making plans on the weekend. There weren’t any phone calls, no giggling conversations.

Cecelia and the twins were at the table coloring when they got home. Boomer raced over to greet them, circling and moaning as if they’d been gone five years instead of a couple of hours. Gabby had a feeling his enthusiasm had a lot more to do with dinner than with missing them.

“How’s it going?” she asked as she placed her handbag on the kitchen desk, then bent down to kiss and tickle her daughters.

“Mommy! Look what I did.” Kennedy held up her picture. The princess was an interesting shade of green, with a purple dress and red trees in the background.

“Beautiful.”

Kenzie smiled at her. “Hi, Mommy.”

“Hey, sweetie.”

Kenzie’s picture was done in traditional colors and there was some kind of pattern drawn on the skirt. That girl was going to have a career in fashion or the arts, Gabby thought.

“Everything went great,” Cecelia said as she rose. “You have the best-behaved twins I know.”

Gabby grinned, knowing that hers were the only twins Cecelia sat for. “Thanks. We’re working on it.”

Makayla gave a halfhearted wave. The twins were having none of that. They rushed to her and hugged her tight.

“We missed you,” Kennedy told her. “Every minute.”

“I missed you munchkins, too.”

As they embraced, Gabby saw the fabric momentarily pulled tight across the teen’s belly. She was getting bigger by the day, she thought. There was a child growing inside her. A child that would one day be a baby.

That fact was no longer as startling as it had been. No longer as upsetting. She and Andrew still had their fragile truce. They were getting along, talking, making love, but they hadn’t figured out what to do when the baby was born.

Gabby paid Cecelia, then glanced at the clock. It was nearly five. The casserole she’d prepped for dinner still needed a few ingredients added, then twenty minutes in the oven. But she also had to make cookies for the classroom tomorrow. Not just any cookies, but healthy, nut-free, low sugar, yet delicious cookies for twenty five-year-olds and their teacher. There was laundry and about four hours of work. She’d gotten up at five to start her day and figured she would be lucky if she got to bed before midnight. Sleep? Yeah, that was for someone else.

“Okay,” she began. “We need a plan. I’m going to start the laundry, make sure we have what we need to make the cookies, then get dinner cooking.” As she spoke, she turned on the oven. “How does that sound?”

“I can sort the laundry.” Makayla’s mouth twisted as she spoke. “I did all my homework at lunch and I don’t have any tests to study for.”

There was a lot of information in those two sentences. First, that Makayla was not hanging out with her friends at lunch anymore. Gabby had suspected as much, but her heart ached when the information was confirmed. Second, her offer to help was a bit of a surprise. She wanted to ask if the teen knew how to sort laundry, then decided it didn’t matter.

“That would be so great,” she said. “Thank you.”

“We’ll help, too,” Kennedy added.

Kenzie nodded.

Which meant chaos, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Gabby pointed them in the direction of the laundry room. She collected pet dishes and opened cans. Jasmine materialized and wound her way around Gabby’s legs.

Once the pets were fed, Gabby returned to the cookie prep. She had flour and—

A sharp cry cut through the relative quiet.
Makayla
. Horrifying thoughts of a miscarriage had Gabby running through the kitchen to the laundry room. Kennedy met her halfway.

“Mommy, Mommy, it’s Makayla!”

Gabby had enough time to brace herself for blood. She rounded the corner and saw the teen curled up on the floor. Her phone was next to her and Kenzie was crouched close, stroking her hair.

“What happened?” Gabby demanded. “Are you bleeding? Cramping?”

Makayla turned a tear-soaked face toward her. She slowly shook her head and pointed to her phone.

Gabby picked it up. There was a text message. Her relief that Makayla was hearing from at least a few of her friends disappeared when she read the message. It was from Candace.

I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve come to the conclusion I can’t deal with you right now. You’re a chronic disappointment and I simply don’t have time for all the drama you’ve created. I will not be picking you up this weekend.

The cold words cut like a knife. Gabby couldn’t begin to imagine what Candace’s text had done to the teen. No Boyd, no friends and now no mother. Words were useless. Not that it mattered. Honest to God, what was there to say? “Your mother is a bitch” wouldn’t be helpful, despite the obvious truth.

Not sure what else to do, she sank onto the floor and pulled the teen against her. Makayla went willingly, then wrapped her arms around her, as if she would never let go. The twins joined in, the two little girls holding on to their sister. Makayla shook with her sobs. Gabby rocked her gently, but didn’t bother saying everything was going to be fine. What was the point in that? They both knew it wasn’t.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Andrew paced the length of his study. “I can’t describe how much I loathe and despise that woman. Makayla is her daughter. No one wants her to be pregnant, but she is. We have to take care of her. To bail on her like that...”

He moved with controlled fury. With another man, Gabby might worry that he would throw something, but that wasn’t Andrew’s way.

“I know what you’re thinking and you can’t have her arrested,” Gabby said flatly.

“I know that.”

“I’m serious, Andrew. This makes her a shitty person, but it’s not illegal.”

“She’s violating the parenting plan. I could take her to court for that.”

“Yes, and then what? She’d be ordered to spend more time with Makayla. How does that help? The problem isn’t the time, it’s that she doesn’t want to deal with this. She’s abdicated any responsibility. Worse, she’s hurt her daughter. You think I don’t want to bitch-slap her? I do.”

Gabby thought about all the teen had been through. “I’ll admit Makayla and I haven’t always had the greatest relationship, but this is different. She’s scared. Boyd is gone, her friends have abandoned her. She only has us and we have to be there for her. But does Candace care about that? Of course not. She only cares about herself. I’m sorry, Andrew, but you made a sucky choice when you picked her.”

Her husband stared at her for several seconds before crossing the office, grabbing her and pulling her close.

“I did,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “But I made up for it when I found you. Just so we’re clear, I’m never letting you go. You’re amazing.”

Gabby let his love wash over her and give her strength. They would figure this out, she told herself. Get through all of it.

“I feel so bad for her,” she admitted. “The hits keep on coming. Candace’s timing really sucks.”

“Because it’s all about her,” he said. “Damn that woman.”

She stayed where she was for about a minute, then drew back. “I’m sorry, but I have work to do.”

Andrew frowned. “You’ve brought home work every night this week.”

“I know. It’s just the load is incredible and with me working only twenty hours a week, I can’t possibly get it done.”

“Gabby, they hired you part-time but you’re putting in full-time hours.”

Something she was very aware of. “I know and I’m concerned, too. What I haven’t figured out is how much of my struggle is them piling it on and how much of it is me being slow because I was out of the workforce for so long. Until I find that line, I’m not going to complain.”

“They’re taking advantage of you.”

“Maybe.”

Right now that was the least of her problems. More important to her was how much she didn’t like her job. Had she lost her work ethic or was the job really not what she wanted to do? Hard questions considering how long she’d been imagining herself back at the office. She’d wanted this and now that she had it, she hated everything about it.

But to complain about it seemed wrong. She was so lucky, not to have to work if she didn’t want to. She could do anything and sadly, she had no idea what she wanted.

“Don’t wait up,” she told her husband. “I’ll be a few hours. And I’ll check on Makayla before I go to bed. In case she can’t sleep.”

He kissed her again, this time on the mouth. She drew back reluctantly and headed for the makeshift office she’d set up in a corner of the family room. Her back hurt and she was exhausted, but those files weren’t going to read themselves.

It was for the greater good, she told herself, although at this moment, she had no idea what the greater good might be.

* * *

Nicole told herself that she looked fine, that she had a handsome date and everything would be perfectly okay. Except for the handsome date part, she wasn’t sure how much of it she believed. Going to your ex-husband’s movie premiere was an event designed to get nerves quivering and stomachs roiling. She’d made herself eat because she’d known that no food wasn’t a good thing. But the protein drink she’d forced down an hour ago now sat like an unhappy rock, low in her belly.

“I’m scared,” she admitted, as they pulled up to the valet. A young man opened her door and she stepped out. Mostly because staying in the car didn’t seem like a reasonable option.

Jairus, all sexy in a dark gray suit, complete with a tonal shirt and deep blue tie, walked around the car to stand next to her.

“Let’s work this through,” he said lightly. “We have tickets, we each have a date, although mine is much better-looking than yours. Did I mention you look totally hot in that dress?”

“You did and I appreciate it.”

The dress was the most expensive article of clothing she owned. The Alexander McQueen pleated leaf crepe design had a squared-off sweetheart neckline that was cut low enough to be supersexy without showing too much. The dress itself was fitted to her hips, then flared out before ending well above her knee.

She’d nearly decided to wear something else. After all, this was a dress she’d bought for an event while she’d still been married to Eric. The need for something new had passed quickly. Her life hardly lent itself to fancy events, so why spend the money when she could recycle?

Jairus smiled at her. “We’re going to have a good time. We’ll watch the movie and then later we’ll talk about it. Hell, we can spend a couple of hours trashing Eric. I’m game. Or we can go back to my place where I’ll try desperately to seduce you. Desperate being the operative word.”

Despite the nerves, his words made her relax. She smiled at him. “There’s something wrong with you.”

“I’ve been told that before. I wonder if it’s true.”

She stared into his dark eyes. He was very sweet. Not just with her but with Tyler. He was funny and kind and dependable. He got her. Talk about an unexpected bonus, she thought.

He held out his hand. “Ready to beard the lion in his den?” He frowned. “Is it lion or dragon? Do either of them have beards? Who thinks this stuff up?”

She laced her fingers with his and turned to the entrance to the theater. A few photographers stood waiting. There were small crowds of fans, there for the movie stars. Nicole wondered how many people were already inside and if she would see Eric at all. Not that she wanted to. It was just being at a movie premiere was so surreal, she wanted to be prepared.

“I’m ready,” she said firmly, hoping that by saying it, the words would be true.

“Then I am, too.”

They joined the short line of people being let into the theater. The photographers glanced at them, then away. They weren’t anyone, she thought humorously.

The lobby walls were covered with huge posters from the movie
Disaster Road
. There were sofas and comfortable chairs set up in seating areas. Servers circulated with trays of appetizers and glasses of champagne. A hundred or so people stood talking.

Nicole wondered how many were with the production and how many were guests.

“Did you read anything about the movie?” Jairus asked.

“No. I thought about it, but then figured we were going to see it. Did you?”

“No. I wanted to be surprised.”

“Let’s hope it’s a good one.”

She laughed. “I alternate fear and apprehension.”

“That it will be good?”

The question surprised her. “I expect it’s going to be great. I don’t mind if Eric does well. I don’t wish him ill.”

“A lot of ex-wives wouldn’t be so generous.”

She thought about the article his ex had written and the horrible things she’d said about him. “I’m not vindictive. I have flaws, but that’s not one of them.”

A voice over the loudspeakers directed everyone to their seats. She and Jairus went upstairs and sat in the balcony. The theater quickly filled up and Nicole spotted the stars, the director and Eric down in front. The executive producer appeared onstage and introduced himself and the main players, then promised to answer questions after the showing. Then the lights dimmed and the movie began.

Nicole hadn’t known what to expect. Knowing Eric as she did, she wondered if she would hear his voice in the dialogue or see parts of him in the story. She’d been curious whether parts of their life would be woven into the action. What she hadn’t expected was to find the hero’s wife to be a caricature of herself.

The wife was blonde, shrewish and obsessed with her body. A former dancer, all she worried about was exercise and what she ate. She was a nag and so over-the-top annoying that she became the comic relief in a fast-moving action plot.

Nicole felt herself flushing. Heat burned on her face as she saw just enough of herself to know there was no mistaking what Eric had done. He’d taken the very worst parts of her and had blown them out of proportion to add humor to the story.

No wonder he hadn’t wanted her to read the screenplay. She’d been his muse, but in the worst way possible.

Three-quarters of the way through the movie, the bad guys kidnapped the wife and the audience actually cheered. When the hero kissed the new love interest, Nicole heard sighs. And at the end of the movie, the wife was cast aside as the action star took up with his new lady love.

She didn’t know what to say or do. Of course that wasn’t her. She wasn’t obsessed with her body. Yes, she cared about being healthy, but part of that was because she owned an exercise studio. It wasn’t wrong to want to be fit.

She told herself that Eric’s view of her was like a fun-house mirror—the truth was distorted. Yet a part of her wondered if that was how he really saw her. How much was poetic license and how much was his version of the truth?

The lights came on. She forced herself to relax, to smile, to turn to Jairus and say, “What did you think?”

“It was better than I thought it would be,” he admitted. “I didn’t like the hero as much as I could have, but it was good.”

That was it?

“The wife was based on me,” she said quietly.

“What? No way. Nicole, you’re nothing like her.”

He was wrong. Maybe he hadn’t seen it, but she had. What she didn’t know was what Eric had been thinking. Had she ever meant anything to him? Had she been little more than a means to an end? She’d always thought they’d married because they were in love. Now she wasn’t sure. Maybe getting her to support him while he wrote his screenplay had been his plan all along.

Jairus stood and drew her to her feet, then escorted her out of the theater as the Q and A session began. When they were in the lobby, Jairus guided her to a corner and touched her cheek.

“It wasn’t you,” he said flatly.

“It
was
. She was so horrible. Maybe that’s how he saw me. Maybe it’s what he needed to do to leave the marriage. I’ve never understood him and now I’m more confused than ever.” She thought about all she’d been through, all the blame she’d assumed. She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I’m not feeling very well. Could you please take me home?”

For a second she thought he was going to refuse, but instead he nodded. “Of course. Let’s go get the car.”

* * *

There were times, Hayley told herself, when wounds could only be healed by a burger, fries and a milk shake. And this was definitely one of those days.

She slid into the booth at Gary’s Café. Nicole sat at her side while Gabby settled in across from them. Their impromptu lunch had come about through a series of quick text messages. The casual “Hi, how’s it going” had spiraled to “I need some girlfriend time.” So here they were.

Hayley realized she hadn’t been out with her friends since her surgery. They’d been really good about coming to visit her, but there hadn’t been a lot of her getting out. Now she looked around and admitted she’d missed the world a lot.

“How is everyone?” she asked.

“Good,” Gabby said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

Nicole shrugged. “Same old, same old.”

Hayley looked at them more closely. She saw tension in Gabby’s posture and something that looked a lot like hurt in Nicole’s eyes.

“Okay,” she said, putting down her menu. “What’s really going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

The other two women exchanged a look. Hayley leaned forward.

“I’m not dying or breakable. I’m doing fine. Don’t keep things from me. What is it?”

Nicole groaned. “I went to Eric’s premiere a couple of nights ago.”

“What?” Hayley wanted to slap herself. “I thought it was next week. I’m sorry. I would have called and asked about it.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I needed time to process what I saw.”

“How was the movie?” Gabby asked.

“I honestly don’t know. The audience seemed to like it. Of course they were all friends and family, so what were they going to say?” She bit her lower lip. “No, that’s not fair. The reviews have been good. Trust me, I’ve read them all.”

Hayley knew there was a problem, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

“You don’t care that Eric’s successful, do you?” Gabby asked, sounding doubtful.

“No. Not really. I just...” Nicole sighed. “I don’t know him. I did, only I didn’t realize it. I can’t figure out how we got together, let alone married. And that movie.”

Their waitress appeared. “Afternoon, ladies. Our milk shake of the day is peanut butter cookie, which is as good as it sounds. The guacamole burger is our deal of the day.”

Hayley felt her stomach grumble in anticipation. She hadn’t been very hungry lately, but now she felt as if she could eat two burgers and all the fries.

“I need a minute,” Gabby said.

“I’ll be back in a few,” the waitress promised with a smile and left.

Gabby stared at her menu. “I’m going to have something decadent and I honestly don’t care about the calories. I accept the wrongness of that.”

“It’s not wrong,” Hayley told her.

“I hope you’re right.” Gabby looked back at Nicole. “What about the movie?”

“It was...” She glanced away, then back at them. “I’m the villain. Not the real one. He’s trying to blow up the city. But the wife is based on me and she’s awful. Whiny and self-absorbed. I recognized a few things and it was really hard. I’m so embarrassed.”

Hayley turned toward her friend. “You’re none of those things so I don’t know how you could be in the movie.”