When Lightning Strikes (21 page)

“Are we going to pretend?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

He had the sunroof open. The warm, midmorning air ruffled his
hair, but she’d put hers in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. “Why didn’t
you tell me you were in a romantic relationship?” he asked.

They were both wearing sunglasses, which helped hide their
feelings and reactions. Today, Gail liked the buffer those glasses provided. She
didn’t necessarily want to know what Simon was thinking, and she sure as heck
didn’t want him to discern
her
thoughts. “I told
you—I wasn’t. I don’t know what’s going on. I think…I think Matt’s return home
is just bad timing.”

“When you’re ready, he’s not. When he’s ready, you’re not.”

“Something like that.”

“We could make some changes in our…arrangement,” Simon pointed
out.

This was a business deal. She didn’t mean anything to Simon on
an emotional level so she didn’t have to worry about hurting him. She understood
that. But she couldn’t dissolve the marriage too soon. He’d lose all the ground
they’d just regained. And if that happened, it could be the trigger that would
send him back to the bottle. He needed more time.

She could give him that, couldn’t she? “I’m okay. I’ll take one
for the team.”

His lips thinned. “Choosing me over him is taking one for the
team? Wow, you really know how to flatter a guy.”

“You have enough women drooling over you. You don’t need me for
that.” Actually, she drooled over him plenty. She just didn’t want him to know
it. Whenever she was sure he wasn’t aware of it, she found herself watching him.
It was a good thing she understood the difference between reality and fantasy.
Matt was someone she’d known her whole life, someone she had a right to hope
for. Except for this brief period of time, and their very practical reasons for
being together, Simon was as out of reach as the moon. Once their two years were
up, he’d shoot back into orbit.

She just hoped she’d still have some semblance of her old life
to resort to—and that she’d be satisfied with it.

His phone buzzed on the console, but he didn’t even glance at
it.

“You have a new text message,” she said in case he’d been too
preoccupied to hear.

“I know.”

“Want me to read it to you?”

“No.”

“Want me to drive so you can read it?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not interested right now.”

“Why not?” She looked down and saw the message. “It’s from
Bella.”

He didn’t seem surprised, which concerned her.

“Why would she be texting you?”

Lifting his bottom from the seat, he shoved his phone in his
jeans pocket. “If you knew Bella you’d understand.”

“What does she have to say?”

“Nothing new, I’m sure.”

Another ripple of alarm went through Gail. “You haven’t been
contacting her, have you?”

“No. Not once—at least, not in several weeks.” He sounded
adamant. Whether she was right to take his word for it or not, she believed him.
She hadn’t caught him lying to her yet. He’d actually told her some pretty harsh
truths—including the fact that he was incapable of falling in love again. She
figured he deserved the benefit of the doubt.

“She’s been reaching out to you?”

“I wouldn’t call it reaching out.”

“What would you call it?”

“Bella’s own brand of torture.”

“Which means…”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Sure it matters. Why is she texting you?”

“She sends shit she thinks will make me mad.”

“Such as…”

He grimaced. “‘Meet Ty’s new daddy.’ ‘Before long your little
boy won’t even remember your name.’ Crap like that.”

Outrage gnawed at Gail’s soul. “That’s not fair! She has a
restraining order against you. How is it that you can’t contact her, but she can
contact you?”

“Welcome to Bella’s world, where nothing ever makes sense. You
can’t fight emotion with logic. I learned that years ago.”

“So you haven’t gone to the police.”

He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What do you want
me to say? ‘My ex-wife keeps sending me upsetting texts?’ How do you think
that’ll make me look?”

Gail supposed it did sound a little whiny. “Well…can you block
her, at least?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never blocked anyone. But even if I could,
I wouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

His gaze slid over to her again. “Because she has my son, and I
need to know if anything happens to him.”

Gail adjusted her seat belt so she could turn toward him. “Does
she ever send you anything to do with him?”

He passed a slower-moving Honda. “I’ll get a picture every now
and then.”

“So she tries to be nice sometimes.”

“Definitely not,” he said with a laugh. “She’s twisting the
knife, but that’s better than nothing.”

Having full custody of his son had empowered his ex-wife. It
tied Simon’s hands behind his back while
she
was
free to slug away. That drove Gail crazy. But as long as Bella had Ty, Simon
would remain defenseless. He wouldn’t fight her if there was any chance Ty could
get hurt.

“She’s taking advantage of your love for your son.”

“Is that news?” he asked.

She thought most people would be pretty surprised if they ever
learned the rest of the story. Bella had done such a good job of smearing Simon
as a heartless, irresponsible, selfish bastard. “We’re going to get him
back.”

He slid his glasses down until he could see over the top of
them. “And Matt?”

“Matt’s going to Green Bay to play football.”

“While you keep up appearances with me.”

“Yes.”

“I can depend on that?”

She slipped her hand inside his and felt far more gratified
than she should have when his fingers curled through hers. “You can depend on
it.”

* * *

“
What
is it you want me to
do?”

Simon checked to make sure Gail was still engaged with the
furniture salesman across the display area. Ian sounded understandably shocked,
but what good was money if Simon couldn’t use it to assuage his conscience? “I
want you to call Mark Nunes, the diamond guy.”

“I heard that part. But then I thought you said to buy Gail a
five-carat diamond.”

“That
is
what I said. Have him
design the setting himself. Tell him it better be good, too.”

Just out of hearing range, the salesman was having Gail try out
another leather couch, one with a recliner at both ends.

“Why are you doing this?” Ian asked. “You got away with a gold
band, man. Why would you buy her anything else? You know she’ll just want to
keep it when this is over, don’t you?”

He didn’t care about that. She was sacrificing more than he’d
expected so she deserved a nicer ring. Or maybe it was the sudden competition.
He wanted to appear more favorable than some dysfunctional movie star destined
to devastate the town sweetheart. He had his shortcomings but he wanted people
like Matt to know that at least he was generous with his money. Professional
athletes made a fair amount, but chances were good,
very
good, that Matt couldn’t give Gail a diamond of quite the same
value. There weren’t a lot of men who could.

“Just do it.”

“Okay, but…how am I supposed to get it to you?” Ian asked. “I
can’t imagine the insurance company would cover it if it got lost in transit.
They have stipulations on stuff like that.”

They’d learned a few of those stipulations when Bella had lost
her wedding ring and demanded that he replace it with one twice as expensive.
Turned out, the insurance company was right to be careful. She’d been lying
about losing the ring, had merely wanted to get another rise out of Simon.

“Drive it to me if you have to,” he said, and hung up because
Gail was coming toward him.

“Who was that?” she asked when she was close enough. “Not
Bella…”

“No. Ian.”

“What did
he
want?”

He could tell by her tone that she didn’t hold Ian in the
highest esteem. “He was giving me an update on some business at home.”

“Everything okay?”

She was searching his face so he manufactured a bland smile.
“Fine.”

“Do you like this?” Drawing him over to the brown leather couch
he’d seen her sit on, she insisted he try it out.

“Feels comfortable to me,” he said as he settled into the
recliner at one end.

“I like it, too,” she mused. “But…it’s almost ten grand.”

The salesman, an older guy with a toupee, stood at a respectful
distance so they could discuss their buying decision. If he recognized Simon as
a celebrity, he didn’t show it. He probably hadn’t seen a movie since
Casablanca.

“Would you quit that?” Simon murmured.

“Quit what?”

“Worrying about price!” Bella hadn’t thought anything was too
much if she wanted it. Buying her the best of everything was just another way he
was required to prove his love. Gail acted as if she didn’t want to be a
burden.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I don’t see any point
in wasting money. Who buys a ten-thousand-dollar couch when there are starving
children in Africa?”

“I’ll make a donation to compensate. We need a couch, and we
need one today.”

“We don’t
have
to have one today,”
she hedged. “We could shop for something we like that’s a bit cheaper.”

“No. Enough shopping already.” He was done traipsing through
one showroom after another. “Let’s have them ring it up. Otherwise, they’ll
close before we get anything at all.”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

Bedroom furniture came next. By the time they’d picked out two
beds, including mattresses and box springs, and a kitchenette set, which was all
that would fit in their small house, plus a couple of coffee tables and side
chairs, they’d been gone all day. They arranged to have it delivered on Monday,
since the store didn’t offer that service on the weekend, and headed out, tired
but happy.

“We still need a TV, a washer and dryer and some patio
furniture.” Gail ticked these items off on her fingers as they walked.

“It’s after nine o’clock,” he said.

“I know. At least we made a dent in it.”

“Furnishing a house by yourself is a lot of work,” he
complained as he held the door for her.

“You probably haven’t done it in a while.”

“Not in a long while.”

“But it feels good, doesn’t it?”

He studied her tired smile. Being with her felt good. He was
beginning to think it didn’t matter what they were doing.

21

“S
hould we stay in our house tonight?” Gail
had fallen asleep against the door of the car, so this was spoken through a yawn
while Simon was still driving. But she seemed excited by the idea. Simon was
sort of excited by it himself. He didn’t know why such a simple thing—camping
out at their new home—would sound remotely enjoyable to someone who’d traveled
the whole world and had the finest of everything. But the idea made him feel
light and free, unshackled for the first time in years. When was the last time
he hadn’t had to watch over his shoulder for determined paparazzi, an overly
zealous fan or his ex-wife, who felt she could show up at his house whenever she
wanted, despite the restraining order? Maybe his past was still following him
around. He had to remain vigilant for more than a couple of weeks before he
could outdistance his previous behavior. But he was feeling more like his old
self. He wasn’t even craving alcohol as much as he had in the past several days,
which proved he wasn’t an alcoholic. With enough determination he could let it
go.

“Stay there without furniture?” he said.

“We could borrow my dad’s blow-up mattress and a couple of
sleeping bags.”

“And get out from under his roof? I don’t know—” he pretended
to be giving it a great deal of thought “—you’d really have to twist my arm to
do that.”

This bit of sarcasm elicited a playful slug from Gail. “Stop.
He was better to you last night.”

“Considering how things began, there was only one way he could
go.”

“It was my brother who was rude,” she argued. “My dad didn’t
say anything.”

“Your dad was stoic. But he kept shaking his head as if he just
couldn’t believe his wonderful daughter would be stupid enough to hook up with
me. I wouldn’t call that polite.”

When she laughed, he did, too. He’d once thought she was so
much more appealing when she let down her guard and relaxed. Now she was
appealing all the time.

How had he worked with her for so long and been unable to
detect her charm?

He’d been blinded by his own troubles. Or by the glitz and
glamour of Hollywood. Maybe he was as subject to following the crowd as anyone
else, despite how jaded he’d become.

“How’s your hand?” she asked.

“Starting to itch.”

“That’s a good sign.” She tightened her seat belt. “You’re
leaving the stitches alone, though, aren’t you?”

He shot her an are-you-kidding-me look. “What am I—five?”

“Sometimes you don’t know what’s good for you.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

She cleared her throat. “So…about Matt.”

Surprised that she’d return to this subject, he adjusted the
volume on the radio so it wouldn’t be distracting. “What about him?”

“I’m fine with our arrangement. You don’t have to worry that
I’ll regret our deal or anything. My commitment hasn’t changed.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond. He didn’t want her to stay with
him because she felt obligated—and yet that would make it easiest to split up
when the time came. “How did you know I was worried?”

She pursed her lips in a smug fashion. “I’m starting to figure
you out.”

“Which means…”

“You’re not as tough as you act.”

“Oh, God. Now I’m losing all my mystery? How much worse can
things get?”

He’d been joking, but she answered seriously. “Things are only
going to get better. There hasn’t been one negative article printed about you in
two weeks.”

* * *

“What about the windows?” Simon asked as they were
packing up.

“What about them?” Gail responded.

He pictured how easy it would be to peer in at them in their
new place. “They aren’t covered.”

“So? There aren’t any neighbors.” She said this while
struggling to get her suitcase zipped. Simon chuckled at the sight of her
sitting on it before waving her off so he could finish.

“What about the paparazzi?” he said. “They’ll find us
eventually.”

She’d already moved on to closing down her laptop. “How would
they trace us to Autumn Lane? No paperwork’s been recorded—not yet.”

Once he’d succeeded in closing her suitcase, he gathered up
their bags. “We aren’t making it a secret where we live. Pretty soon everyone in
town will know.”

“But not tonight,” she said. “So far only a handful of people
even know we bought a house.”

Something else occurred to him. “What about water?”

She glanced up. “Don’t you want to go over there?”

He did. Definitely. But he didn’t want to be miserable. “If the
utilities are on.”

“Even if there’s no water we can make it for one night, can’t
we?” She slipped her power cord in her briefcase. “We’ll use the bathroom here
before we go. At least we’ll have a few hours of privacy without constantly
worrying about how we’re coming off to my father and brother.” She grinned. “I’d
hate to get you all excited about skipping out on my family and then renege on
the deal.”

He lowered his voice. Her brother wasn’t home, but her father
was asleep in his bedroom. “Too bad you’ll never meet my family so you can see
what meeting the in-laws is
really
like.”

“You plan on avoiding them for two years?”

He thought of his father and how their relationship had
flip-flopped through the years. When he’d married Bella, they’d actually been
close for the first time in his life. He could hardly believe that now. “I don’t
have to avoid my family. They know to stay away.”

“You’re willing to give them up for good?”

“They gave me up first,” he said.
Especially my father.
He started down with the suitcases, leaving
her to get her computer and makeup bag from the bathroom.

Her brother walked in as Simon was going out to load the car.
“You guys moving already?”

Simon stepped aside to avoid a collision. “Got our own place
now.”

Joe shook his head. “For the life of me I can’t believe you’re
staying in Whiskey Creek.”

“Why not? The people here are so friendly.”

It was a joke, but Joe’s ears turned red. “I meant since you’re
famous. Matt Stinson, who plays ball for the Packers, has been our only claim to
fame. He probably hates it that you’re in town.”

“In more ways than one,” Simon muttered, crouching to fix a
wheel on Gail’s suitcase.

“What’d you say?”

He lifted his head. “I said I’m going to get your sister a new
suitcase.”

“Oh.” Joe lowered his voice. “You love her, don’t you?”

For a moment, Simon felt tongue-tied. How could he respond to
this? It was a question that begged an honest answer.

Fortunately, when he hesitated, Joe added, “You’d never do
anything to hurt her....”

Grateful for the slightly different slant, Simon stood. “No. I
would never do anything to hurt her,” he said, and he meant it.

Her brother seemed relieved. “Good.”

Gail hurried down the stairs with the last of her belongings
and gave her brother a hug. “How’d it go at the station today?”

“Fine. I think Robbie’s getting the hang of it. I stayed with
him tonight so I could keep an eye on things while he did his homework.”

“That was nice of you.” She gestured toward the stairs. “Dad
was asleep when we got home. Will you tell him we’ll see him tomorrow?”

“Sure. By the way…” He caught them before they could leave.
“There were some people asking about you at the station earlier.”

Leaving the suitcases at the door, Simon turned. “People?”

“Reporters, I think. They didn’t identify themselves. They
wanted to know if Simon O’Neal had been in town.”

“What did you tell them?” Gail asked.

“That I hadn’t seen him. They didn’t seem to realize I was your
brother. But…I get the impression word is out that you’re in Whiskey Creek,
so…keep your eyes open for an ambush.”

“So much for our short reprieve,” she said to Simon. “Do we
dare sally forth? We could always roast marshmallows here and watch a movie on
Netflix or Hulu.”

“Wouldn’t be the same,” he said. “I’m willing to risk it.”

* * *

Someone knocked on the door of their new house even
sooner than Simon had expected. They’d just hauled in their bags. Gail was in
the bathroom brushing her teeth. He’d been wrong about the utilities; they had
both water and electricity. But because of the late hour—it was nearly
eleven—and what Joe had said, there was a greater chance of their visitor being
someone Simon didn’t want to see than someone he did. He couldn’t imagine many
people staying out so late on a weeknight here in the town that time forgot.

It had to be a reporter from one of the tabloids. Or some
obsessed fan who’d managed to track him down. Simon had experienced both and
didn’t want to deal with either, especially considering his injured hand, which
limited his ability to protect Gail, if it ever came down to that.

He peered out the window. He could see the dark shape of
someone standing on the porch, but he couldn’t tell who it was or anything about
why he or she had come. The outdoor light wouldn’t go on. He figured it was
burned out, since the rest of their lights worked.

“Gail? It’s me!” their visitor called. “I—I know it’s late, but
Joe said you’d be here. And I wanted you to have this while it’s still
warm.”

Suddenly more curious than defensive, Simon opened the door to
find Sophia—the woman he’d met at the coffee shop, the one who’d alienated
everyone years ago with her behavior.

“Sorry to bother you.” She was carrying what looked like an
apple pie and seemed flustered that he’d answered instead of Gail.

“It’s fine.” He held the screen door. “Would you like to come
in?”

She ducked her head as she stepped past him, which brought her
hair forward, concealing much of her expression. “I made you both a housewarming
gift.” Her gaze briefly met his. She was even prettier up close, but he felt no
attraction to her. He wasn’t sure if that was because she was married, or
because he was.

“Thank you,” he said as he took the pie. She had oven mitts on
her hands, but the ceramic dish was no longer hot enough to need them.
“Apple?”

“Yes.”

“Smells delicious. I’ll put it in the kitchen.”

“Where’s Gail?” she called after him.

“In the bathroom. She’ll be out in a sec.”

Gail came into the room as he was returning. “I thought I heard
a woman’s voice.”

Sophia smiled in relief. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable
around Simon. But he didn’t resent that. He was relieved to know she hadn’t come
because of him. “I brought you another pie. You really liked it the last time
you were home.”

Gail’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, right. I did. Thank you.”

“I’ve been baking a lot lately.”

“The last time we talked, you mentioned that you were thinking
about getting a job. How did that go?”

She shrugged. “I decided against it.”

“Why?”

“Skip doesn’t think it’s a good idea, not while Lexi’s so
young. He’s worried about me not being around enough as she goes through
puberty.”

Simon couldn’t help noting the double standard. Hadn’t she told
him at the coffee shop that her husband was frequently gone himself?

“But…you were talking about a few hours a week at the B and B
with Chey and Eve—nothing too time-consuming.”

“Turned out they didn’t need the help.”

Simon guessed that was a lie, but Gail quickly covered for her
friends. “I think they’re having a tough time staying in the black.”

Sophia let it slide. “You’re probably right.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry you have to put off the job search.”

“It’s not a big deal. Really.”

Gail motioned to the empty room. “And I’m sorry we can’t offer
you a seat....”

“That’s okay. I can’t stay. Skip will be wondering where I
went—if he ever gets off the phone.”

After shooting Simon a glance, Gail said, “He’s home this
week?”

“Got home late last night. He does that sometimes. Just shows
up out of the blue.” She laughed, although there was no real mirth in it, and
when she tucked her hair behind her ear she immediately untucked it—but not
before Simon saw the bruise on her cheek.

“What happened?” he asked.

She acted confused. “What do you mean?”

“To your cheek.”

“Oh, that.” She rolled her eyes. “I ran into the door. Can you
believe it? Clumsy, huh?”

Gail stepped up to inspect her injury. “Looks painful.”

“It’s not. Not really. It’ll heal.”

“When did this happen?” Simon asked.

“Last night.”

Before or after her husband came home? Simon had no reason to
assume that Skip might be abusing his wife. Except that her excuse seemed
flimsy. And the way she talked about her husband, as if he had the last say in
everything, sounded suspect.

“I know this weekend isn’t good for you with everything you’ve
got going, but let me know if you can come to dinner sometime next week,” she
said, and headed for the door.

When Gail asked, “What day were you thinking?” Simon almost
laughed out loud. He’d been right about how hard it was for her to withhold her
friendship.

“Tuesday? Wednesday?”

“Tuesday should work. What time?”

“Six?”

Gail’s smile grew more certain. “Perfect. Can we bring dessert?
Or the wine?”

“There’s no need. I’ve got everything. Thanks. Thanks a lot.”
Seemingly excited to have obtained a commitment, she left.

“Way to hold your ground,” Simon teased after Gail had closed
the door. “You showed her.”

She groaned. “I know. I’m such a sucker.”

“That’s okay.” He tweaked her nose. “I like suckers. Especially
when they’re as cute as you are.”

“Because I’m a sucker for you, too,” she said with a
disgruntled look.

“Since when?” he asked with a grin. “If I’d known that, I’d
have been taking advantage of it.”

She was too busy berating herself for caving with Sophia to
respond. “Why did I say yes?”