Stoneface

Chapter Ten

“You sure you don’t want to fly out to California with me, babe?” Tim asked her Monday morning. “Let me show you the Pacific Ocean?”

She wanted to say yes. God, did she want to. But they had to find Amy. It wouldn’t be right for her to leave Liam there and for her to just take off with Tim. “It’s not that I don’t want to—”

“It’s okay, sweetie.” He kissed her. “I know you’re worried about your sister.” He held her tightly. “I’m going to miss you, but I’ll be back in a couple of days. Promise me you’ll still be here.”

She enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. “I promise.” She’d stay here forever with them if they’d have her.

Quit thinking like that, stupid! she chided herself. You’re already too much in love with them!

“I promise I’ll take good care of her, Tim,” Jack said in a playful tone.

“You’d better, Stoneface.” He kissed her one more time before he released her. Then he kissed Jack. “I’m going to miss you, too, buddy.”

Jack smiled. Gwen couldn’t get over how handsome he looked when he did that, so much different than his usual rocky visage. “Me, too. Come on, we’d better get going if you want to make your flight.”

She bid them good-bye and waved to them from the front door. She was walking past Liam’s bedroom door when he opened it, a bleary look on his face. “They gone?” he asked as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Yep. Coffee?”

“Oh god, yes, you beautiful thang, you.”

She giggled as she walked to the kitchen. Amy might be MIA, but she still had Liam.

She always had Liam. Despite his MS, he was her rock, her haven.

He made it to the kitchen by the time she had his coffee ready. After breakfast, she tried to sit down with her laptop and do some work. It wasn’t hard to craft a ménage love scene after the past several days of real-life experience. She stifled a laugh. Some of the things she’d written about in the past wouldn’t quite be physically possible in real life.

But it sure would be fun trying.

Jack watched as Tim walked into the terminal with his carry-on bags. He always felt a mournful pang when Tim left. He knew he wouldn’t be sleeping alone that night, and Gwen was wonderful to sleep with, but he always missed the hell out of Tim when he had to leave.

And deep in his heart, he always carried the tiny fear, What if he doesn’t come back?

He drove to the station. When he walked into his office, he found a message slip on his desk. He sat and stared at it for a moment before returning the call.

“I found that unofficial BOLO subject for you,” Ralph told him.

“Let me have it.” Jack jotted down the info, then thanked his friend and hung up. He stared at the phone. If he had found Amy, it meant Gwen would head home immediately, wouldn’t it?

It’d be wrong to not try to find her. Gwen and Liam deserve answers.

One of the benefits of living in a smaller town like Rapid City meant tracking down people who didn’t know law enforcement was on the lookout for them was a lot easier than in the LA area. After a couple of calls on Friday, he thought he had the name of the man she’d been with. That had allowed him to contact a friend of his at the airport, who gave him some rental car contacts, one that paid off. Amy’s rental car had been spotted at a hotel close to the airport. He signed out and drove there, showing his badge to the desk clerk on duty.

“I’m looking for one of your guests. Her name’s Amy Oxford, but she may be registered under the last name of Tamsin, or as Mrs. Robert Tamsin.”

The clerk tapped on her computer, then nodded. “Room 126.” She frowned. “Are they in some sort of trouble?”

“No, nothing like that. Just a routine welfare check. Paranoid family worried about her back home. She hasn’t checked in the past few days, and they were concerned.” He smiled. “I just need to pass her a message to phone home. They think her cell phone might have died. No trouble.”

The desk clerk relaxed. “Oh, good. We don’t want any trouble around here.”

Jack found the room. Before he knocked he grabbed his ID and badge. “Amy Oxford? Detective Jackson Kelly, Rapid City PD. I need to have a word with you.”

He held up his photo ID and badge so she could see them through the door’s peephole. He heard a soft female voice say, “Just a minute.” Then the rattle of the chain and deadbolt as she opened the door.

She looked pale and drawn, her blond hair limp. She resembled Liam and Gwen in the nose and chin, but if you didn’t know they were related, you wouldn’t suspect. “Come in.”

She wore an oversized T-shirt and sweat pants. He stepped in and glanced around. Other than her laptop on the table and cosmetics on the bathroom vanity counter, the room looked tidy. “I suspect you know why I’m here, Ms. Oxford.”

She sat on one of the beds and nodded but wouldn’t look at him.

He stood over her. “Your brother and sister are extremely worried about you. Not to mention they’ve lied to your parents to cover for you. What’s going on?”

She burst into tears. He waited her out as she composed herself. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

“What?”

She nodded as she sniffled. “I found out two days after I got here. I was worried I might be, then I couldn’t stand it anymore and bought a home test from a drugstore here.” She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I can’t go home yet. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you’re almost forty, right? Don’t you think you’re a little old to be worried about what your parents will think? It’s not like you’re in high school.”

“Oh, you do not know my parents. They’ll flip out!” She sounded near panic at the thought.

Well, at least Gwen and Liam hadn’t exaggerated about that. Apparently the three siblings shared a common enemy. He sat at the table. “Liam and Gwen are really worried about you. What do you want me to tell them?”

“Tell them?”

“Yeah. When I get home today, they’re going to ask me if I found you yet.”

“What?”

“They’re at my house. Staying with me and my boyfriend.”

She groaned and fell back on the bed. “I’m going to kill her! She made Liam come out here with her? Goddammit!”

“No, actually, it was Liam who made Gwen come out here. She flew by herself. That’s how worried she was about you. Then they found out you were here with a guy, and she was terrified to fly home again. Liam apparently wanted to escape your parents badly enough he flew out here to bring her back, but they decided to spend a few days with us while looking for you.”

“But how’d they end up at your house?”

“My boyfriend is Gwen’s friend, Tim Ellis.” She looked clueless. “Ellis Books and Bites. He reviews her books on his store’s website. When she told him she was out here, he sort of took charge of her for Liam.” He smiled. “And that’s how your brother and sister ended up as our guests.”

Amy sat up. “Oh, yeah. I know who he is now.” She laughed without humor. “Small world.”

“Yeah. So. What do I tell them?”

Panic returned to her face. “Please, you can’t tell them you found me!”

There was more to this than just being afraid to tell her parents she was pregnant. “If you tell me the whole story, maybe I won’t. What are you really afraid of?” Legally, there wasn’t anything he could do to get her to confess the full story. Just being there talking to her violated several department regulations because of how he’d obtained the info. She wasn’t a person of interest in a crime, and she wasn’t in danger.

Finally, she sniffled and looked at him. That’s when she revealed why she couldn’t tell her family.

After leaving her, Jack drove back to work and sat in his car outside the station for a few minutes, still processing the information she’d revealed. On the one hand, he should tell Gwen and Liam. On the other, it wasn’t technically any of his business. There was no crime involved.

Then there was the matter of him falling in love with Gwen.

I’m a stupid asshole. Even knowing how much it would hurt to lose her, he’d let himself do it. Gwen and Liam would return to Ohio, and he’d never see her again. Tim would have his heart broken, too.

There was also the matter of not wanting to hurt Gwen with the information he now held. From what Amy admitted, the revelation would devastate Gwen and Liam, not to mention probably drive a permanent wedge between Amy and her siblings. Amy planned to stay out here a few extra days to give her lover time to get his affairs in order before she came home, saving her the guaranteed drama of living with her parents.

If the guy wasn’t bullshitting Amy and even planned on leaving his wife in the first place. She wouldn’t be the first person screwed over, literally and figuratively, by someone they trusted.

How well he knew that pain.

Pregnant…well, there were worse things to be. Like dead.

With a heavy sigh, he called in that he was taking lunch. Then he shifted the car into reverse and pointed it toward home.

Better to get this over with sooner rather than later.

Liam had set himself up to work on the back deck, tapping away on his laptop with his iPod cranked. Gwen knew she should be working, too, but she also wanted to be out looking for Amy. Her life was on hold because her freaking older sister decided to bug out and leave the two of them holding the bag.

Oh, she’s damn well getting a piece of my mind when she gets home.

Then again, she couldn’t complain too much about the fact that coming out here to look for Amy in the first place was the reason she met Jack and Tim. That brought a smile to her face. Okay, so that wasn’t too bad.

Hell, that was fantastic. A dream come true.

She missed Tim. Part of her wished she’d taken up his offer to fly to Laguna with him so she could see California and the Pacific Ocean for the first time. For him she’d fly.

Might puke her guts up, but she’d fly. Then again, she had Jack all to herself for a few nights, and that was definitely not something to complain about.

She couldn’t help but smile over that fact.

Okay, enough daydreaming. Time to get to work. She was about to go get her laptop when Jack walked in.

“What are you doing home? I thought you were grabbing lunch out?” She leaned in for a kiss and didn’t miss how tense he seemed. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he muttered. “I just stopped by for a few minutes.”

Her intuition screamed at her. “For a man with nothing wrong, you sure do seem off your feed, so to speak.”

“What if Amy has a good reason for not coming home right now?”

Her intuition screamed even louder. “What? What the hell are you talking about?” She gasped. “You found her?”

“But what if?”

“I don’t give a shit what her reason is. She’s my sister. I’d hope she’d love me enough to care about me and hunt my ass down if I ever went AWOL. Now tell me what you found out.”

He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t want to come home right now, and she has a pretty good reason.”

Gwen grabbed his arm. “Would you please just tell me?”

“I promised her I wouldn’t.”

Gwen stared, in shock. “You actually talked to her? When?”

“Before I came home.”

“Where the fuck is she? Dammit, you have to tell me!”

“Only if you promise me you won’t go off half cocked.”

Gwen felt like slapping him. How could she have gone from madly in love with this man just a few hours ago to wanting to murder his ass where he stood? “Where the hell is my sister?”

He handed her a slip of paper. “Room 126.”

She snatched it out of his hand. “Why didn’t you call me as soon as you found out?”

“Because I needed to talk to her first.” He pushed away from the counter and gave her a wide berth on his way to the fridge. “The universe doesn’t revolve around you and your priorities, Gwen.”

Oh, fuck. He knew that was the wrong thing to say—and not what he’d meant to say in the first place—as soon as he said it. Her face turned red. “Wait, hon—”

“Fuck you,” she softly said. “I can’t believe you. I trusted you. You know how damn worried we are about her and you say that to me? Nice to know where I stand.” As she started across the kitchen he snagged her arm.

“Gwen, please. Just wait.”

She jerked her arm away. “How long have you known where she was? Were you just keeping me hanging around so you could have me to fuck while Tim was gone?” He spotted the tears in her eyes.

He wanted to put his arms around her, but something inside him snapped. “Oh, that’s rich. Not like you were ever planning a return trip to Rapid City once you got back to Ohio.” He didn’t want it to end, especially not like this, but maybe it was for the best. Get the truth out on the table. Tim wouldn’t have to go through this, the good-byes with empty promises that she’d return. He could do the dirty work for them both, get the inevitable over with, and make it easier on Tim.

She looked shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“You were just using us, weren’t you? Research, right?” He used finger quotes around it. “A roll in the hay with two gay guys for one of your books? Or were we just a personal ego trophy, to see if you were hot enough to make us want a woman again?”

She stepped backward, away from him. “No!” She shook her head as tears rolled down her face. “If you’ll recall, you two made the first move.”

He did remember that, specifically that it was Tim who’d desperately wanted to make the first move, and he went along with him because she looked so much like Mel.

Yet another reason he never should have gotten involved with her. “Yeah, well, that was a mistake I shouldn’t have let happen. I knew it would have to end, and Tim especially would get his heart broken.”

This was for the best, even though he wanted to take it back, apologize and grovel, and pull her to him and hold her. If she left now, before he fell any more in love with her, he would be able to get over her. He could simply tell Tim she’d left, not that he ran her off.

“Tim would get his heart broken, but not you.” She shook her head. “I fucking knew it,” she whispered. “I’m a goddamned moron. I never should have let myself fall in love with the two of you.” She angrily wiped at her face. “I knew this was a bad fucking idea. There’s never a happily-ever-after for a situation like this in real life, is there?”

“Not in my personal experience,” he said. “Someone always gets hurt.” How well he knew that.

She turned away from him, grabbed a paper towel from over the sink, and blew her nose. She didn’t turn to face him. “And here I’d actually been practicing in my head how to break it to my parents I’d be moving out here.” She laughed, but it sounded pained, harsh. “One of these days I’ll learn that fairy tales are only for my books,” she softly said. “If I want one, I’ll have to write it. We’ll be gone when you get home tonight.”

“I’m sorry. I really am. But it’s for the best for everyone.” He tried not to react to her revelation about how she felt or that she wanted to move, because frankly, he wasn’t sure he believed it. It could simply be an act to gain his sympathy. In truth, he didn’t know her that well. She could be a freaking manipulative bitch, for all he knew.

Except that’s not what his heart or instincts told him. Those told him to grab her, apologize, take it all back, and beg for forgiveness with a whole lot of groveling on his knees, if necessary. He loved her.

But she looked like Mel.

He couldn’t force himself to move.

She nodded but didn’t turn to face him.

“Look, your sister and Liam need you anyway. You don’t have to tell me stories about you wanting to move out here to make me feel better. You don’t need to lie to me. I know how it would have happened. You’d go home, plan to come back for a visit, then something would happen. Delays. More delays. Until a year or more passed with more excuses, and eventually we never hear from you again. I love Tim too much to let that happen. Isn’t it better we just end it now? Remember it as fun and just let it go?”

She made that sound again, a laugh that sounded like a snort, but she didn’t reply.

Part of him desperately needed her to agree with him, to ease the ache in his own heart. So he didn’t feel like such an asshole. “You’re a nice woman, you’ll find—”

“Please, don’t. Okay? Have enough respect for me not to give me that bullshit line. That’s almost as bad as the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line.” She still wouldn’t turn from the sink.

“But I’m right, right? Tell me I’m wrong.” He felt his own anger creeping in. “Tell me I’m fucking wrong that we’d never see you again.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, because you are obviously pretty sure of yourself. Thank you for your hospitality. And please tell Tim thank you for us.”

This isn’t how he wanted things to end. But they had to end.

Things always ended.

He just wanted them ended on his own terms, with as little pain to Tim as possible. “Gwen, would you please look at me?”

“Just go. You made your position perfectly clear. I’m sorry you feel the way you do. Obviously, you’ve made up your mind. Nothing I say will change it.”

This felt wrong. His old pain warred within him. Wasn’t that part of the problem, that she looked like Mel? If she hadn’t looked like her, he never would have fallen for her, right?

But why did it hurt so much to think about her walking out of their lives?

He walked over and touched her arm, but she sidestepped away from him, still not turning. “I’m a big girl, Jack. You don’t need to comfort me to make yourself feel better.”

“Gwen—”

“Goddammit, you spoke your piece, now get the hell out of here!”

He turned and walked out, somehow resisting the urge to slam the door behind him. He was halfway back to the station when he pulled into a park and sat, thinking. What right did she have to act hurt? If he was wrong, why didn’t she beg him to change his mind? Challenge him?

Why couldn’t he get her words out of his head? I never should have let myself fall in love with the two of you.

She held it together until she heard the door shut and his car pull out. She locked herself in the master bathroom, turned the sink on for noise, and slid down the wall to the floor where she cried for half an hour.

Moron! she screamed at herself. Fucking moron! You should have known better than to fall in love with someone you’d just met.

Someones.

She washed her face, blew her nose, and turned off the water. Then she went and packed her stuff. Not that she had much to pack, fortunately. She washed her face again then decided she looked reasonably normal enough so she could face Liam.

He still sat on the back deck, working on his laptop. He looked up when she stepped out the sliders. He immediately slid his sunglasses on top of his head as he frowned. He yanked one of his earbuds out. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She’d rehearsed this in her head. “Jack found Amy.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. He talked to her. Do you want me to pack your stuff for you, or can you manage?”

He sat back in his chair and studied her. “Gee, what’s going on? What happened?”

She shook her head and held up a hand as she struggled to maintain her composure, finally winning that battle. “He and I just had a talk,” she softly said. “Apparently he was convinced I wasn’t serious about him and Tim.”

“Did you tell him you loved them?”

“It doesn’t matter, Li. He spoke his piece. He made it perfectly clear to me that it’s best if I leave.”

“What about Tim?”

“He said he doesn’t want Tim to get his heart broken.”

“Well what the fuck about your heart getting bro—”

“Please,” she softly begged, holding on to her composure by a rapidly fraying thread. “Please, let’s just go. I told him we’d be gone when he gets home.” She handed him the piece of paper. “This is where she is.”

Liam looked at it before returning his gaze to her. He frowned briefly then a look she recognized well took him over. Protective big brother, upset for her.

She sank to her knees in front of his chair and cried as he enveloped her in his strong, comforting embrace.

In an hour, they were on their way to the hotel. Gwen didn’t know what she was going to say to her sister when they got there. All she knew was that she didn’t want to lose her temper.

Unfortunately, under the circumstances, she knew that it probably would happen anyway. Hopefully Liam would be able to keep her in line.

But she was dying to give Amy a piece of her mind. Amy better have a damn good excuse as to why she left.

“Don’t lose your temper, Gee,” Liam said.

“I make no promises, bro,” she replied.

“I know you’ve had a shitty day, but just try for me. Please?”

She didn’t reply, just nodded.

Liam didn’t need her help getting out of the car at the hotel. Gwen took a deep breath before they stepped up to the room door. She reached out and knocked.

At first, they received no response. Gwen was about to knock again when they heard the chain rattling. Amy opened the door looking ragged and drawn, like she’d spent the morning crying.

Her sister never looked like this. Gwen felt some of her anger dissolve. “Can we come in?” Liam gently asked.

Amy nodded and stepped aside letting them walk in. She closed the door behind them and stood there, not looking at them.

Gwen had run through several scenarios in her head over the past few days. The one that usually floated to the top of the barrel was her screaming her head off at Amy—if she was alive and well and voluntarily missing—until she lost her voice.

Amy looked like Gwen felt.

“What’s going on,” Liam asked as he settled himself on the bed closest to the door.

It looked like Amy was going to answer when they heard a cell phone go off with a ring tone Gwen had never heard before. Amy snatched a cell phone off the dresser and silenced it. That’s when Gwen realized it wasn’t Amy’s regular cell phone, which was also sitting on the dresser.

Amy sat at the table, refusing to meet their gazes. “I’m sorry I ran off like this. I didn’t mean for you to come out here looking for me.” She stroked her fingers over the phone, like she wanted to dial a number.

“Who is he?” Gwen asked, not even sure if she was right.

But Amy’s head snapped up, shock and fear in her eyes. “Who?”

“The guy you were out here with. I’m guessing that’s what’s going on, right?” Amy stared at them. Gwen hated the cliché of someone having a deer-in-the-headlights look, but if any description applied to their sister at that exact moment, it would be that.

When Amy didn’t answer, Gwen prodded more. “Did you suddenly forget to speak? Don’t piss on our legs and try to tell us it’s raining. Who is he?”

Amy shook her head. She stared at the phone in her hand. “I…I just needed some time—”

“Bullshit! Amy, who the hell is he? What’s the guy’s name?”

If Amy didn’t start coughing up some answers soon, Gwen was going to lose what little hold she had on her temper. Amy wasn’t the only one with personal problems.

Amy’s face went red, a sure sign she was lying. “What guy are—”

“Amy, knock it off!” Liam barked. Gwen and Amy both jumped. Gwen couldn’t remember ever hearing her brother sound so angry. “We were born at night but it wasn’t last night. Quit bullshitting us. Just tell us what the fuck is going on. You owe us answers, dammit!”

Amy burst into tears. Before she realized what she was doing, Gwen stepped over to her and hugged her.

Amy threw her arms around Gwen, squeezing tightly, holding on with a desperation Gwen could never remember her sister expressing.

That frightened her. Amy was always the picture of the utmost composure. Whatever this was, it was bad.

Amy cried for several minutes while Gwen held her. Finally, without lifting her face from where she had it pressed against Gwen’s shoulder, she mumbled, “I’m pregnant.”

Gwen froze and stared at Liam, who looked shocked.

“What did you say?” Liam asked.

Amy lifted her head and, with tears still streaming down her face, wailed, “I’m pregnant!”

Gwen closed her eyes. Part of her wanted to burst out laughing. Her Goody Two-shoes sister had gotten herself knocked up?

Part of her wanted to cry. Her sister would never hear the end of this from their parents.

“Who is he, Amy?” Gwen asked.

She shook her head. “No, I can’t tell anyone right now. I don’t want anyone to know.”

Liam flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “He’s married, isn’t he?”

Amy nodded. “Yes,” she softly admitted. “He’s going to divorce his wife. He was already planning on it before I found out about this.”

Gwen bit her tongue.

Liam asked, “How long have you known you were pregnant?”

“I found out after I got here.” She finally pulled away from Gwen and wiped at her face with her hands. “I’m sorry I put you two through this. I got scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Why didn’t you just come home to us?” Liam asked. “Don’t you know we would have helped you?”

She shook her head. “I can’t face Mom and Dad right now. He…he’s going to make some arrangements and find us a place to live and break the news to his wife that he’s leaving her. I wanted some time alone before I had to go back. And I wanted to give him time to do what he needed to do.”

“So you scare the crap out of us by going radio silent?” Gwen heard her voice getting more shrill.”

“Gee, calm down,” Liam softly said. “It’s okay. Come here.”

Gwen went to sit next to Liam. He slung an arm around her, pulling her close and comforting her. “Amy, I wish you could have trusted us enough to come to us,” Liam said.

“I figured it was better if you didn’t know. That way Mom and Dad couldn’t throw any of the blame on you two.”

“You mean on me,” Gwen bitterly said. “Dad will blame me regardless.”

“Enough, Gee,” Liam chided. “Look at the three of us. It’s not like we’re kids anymore. We’re all adults, and they have us crapping our pants.” He started laughing, and Gwen couldn’t resist his infectious tone. She started laughing too, and eventually Amy joined them, a sad smile on her face despite her laughter.

“Okay,” Liam eventually said. “We need a plan. We need to have our stories straight for when we get home.” He looked at Gwen and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “We’ve all had a rough few days. If we stick together, we can make it through this a lot easier than letting Mom and Dad divide and conquer.”

Amy sniffled again. Gwen felt a little less sorry for herself. At least she wasn’t in Amy’s shoes. She stifled her righteous indignation that Amy was involved with a married man. After her divorce, Amy had heard Gwen rail against cheating men for countless hours.

No wonder she didn’t want to confide in me.

“Just tell them I had a mental breakdown,” Amy said. “It’s close to the truth anyway.” She rested her hand on her stomach and it hit Gwen that in a few months she would be an aunt.

It also struck a painful twang in her soul of what she’d just lost.

No. I won’t think of that right now!

“You need to get your stuff packed and come with us,” Gwen said.

Amy shook her head. “No. I can’t go back yet. I’m not ready.”

“If you think any time is a good time to go back, think again.” Gwen took a deep breath in what she knew was a futile attempt to rein in her anger. “You need to come home with us.”

“I can’t face them yet,” Amy whispered, sounding like a frightened teenager instead of a woman almost forty.

“So you’re going to leave us holding the bag with Mom and Dad?” She felt her temper ratcheting up again.

“Gee,” Liam warned.

“No, Liam, I’m sick of this.” She turned to back Amy. “You want to stay here? Fine. I’m sorry your life sucks right now. But let me tell you something, we’re not going to lie to them for you anymore. You’re on your own.” She stormed over to the door. “Come on, Liam. Let’s go.”

He sighed and got to his feet. “Amy, you’re an adult. But I have to agree with Gwen that there never will be a good time to face Mom and Dad about this. Sooner will be better than later.”

They returned to the rental car. Liam let the silence lay between them all the way to the airport. Before they drove in to the rental car return lot, Liam pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Gwen asked.

“I’m biting the bullet.” He dialed. After a moment, someone answered. “Hi, Mom. Yeah, listen, we talked to Amy.” Gwen heard a burst of excitement from her mom, but couldn’t make out her words. “Just listen, okay? She’s fine, she’s healthy, and she’s not coming back yet. Gwen and I are coming back late tonight…We talked to Amy and she’s fine. She’s just taking some downtime, like I thought.”

He looked at Gwen, who resisted the urge to grab the phone from him and tell their mom the full story. Liam let their mother vent another burst of excited-sounding words. “Mom, she’s fine, okay? She’ll be home when she’s ready, and right now I need to get off because my phone’s almost dead. Good-bye, Mom.” He hung up, then shut his phone off. He looked at Gwen. “I suggest you shut yours off, too.”

She was reaching for it when it went off. The caller ID showed their parents’ number. Gwen sent it to voice mail and shut the phone off.

Liam shook his head. “We’re in for a few rocky days, sis.” He reached over and squeezed her hand.

She squeezed back. “Sure seems like it, bro.”

There was still an hour before their flight was scheduled to take off. At least dealing with Amy had provided Gwen with a little bit of a diversion from thinking about her men.

She suspected from the way things went down with Jack that Tim was in the dark about it. Regardless, she needed to make a clean break.

Gwen wouldn’t split the men up. If she couldn’t have Jack, she would have to walk away from Tim, too. She pulled out her laptop. Liam arched a quizzical eyebrow at her but she ignored him. He didn’t speak, knowing that at times like this what she needed most was to be left alone.

She tapped into the airport’s Wi-Fi. No, no messages from Tim yet. She suspected Jack hadn’t even told him. This would be the hardest thing she’d ever had to write.

Dear Tim,

I don’t know if you’ve talked to Jack yet, but Liam and I are returning to Ohio. Jack found Amy. He also made his feelings perfectly clear to me, that he didn’t believe I’d fallen in love with you both.

I’m sorry if I read too much into his and your actions. I really did think the two of you felt the same way that I did. I guess it was silly of me to get my hopes up, and I’m sorry if I put you in an uncomfortable position.

Please, do not contact me. I will not do anything to come between you and Jack. And frankly, it would be too painful to hear from you.

Have a good life. Thank you for everything you did for me and Liam. Please tell Jack despite the way things ended that I do appreciate him finding Amy for us. I will miss both of you and treasure the time we had together.

Love,

G.

Tim read the e-mail, shock erasing all other thoughts. What the fuck had happened? He tried calling Jack and got his voice mail.

He hung up without leaving a message. Despite what her e-mail said, he tried calling Gwen, but her phone went straight to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message there, either. Instead, he tried calling Jack again. This time, he left a message.

“Jack, what the fuck happened with Gwen? I got an e-mail from her saying she’s leaving and not to contact her. Call me, goddammit! What the hell happened?”

He tried calling Jack’s office line, but reached his voice mail there, too.

Frustrated, he threw his phone on his desk and ran a hand through his hair. This couldn’t be happening. They were so close to perfect happiness, and now it was slipping through their hands, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

He grabbed his phone and called Gwen’s cell again. This time, he left a message. “Look, I don’t know what happened and I can’t get hold of Jack. Please, babe, don’t walk out of our lives like this. I love you.”

He hung up. Until he could get some answers from Jack, he was stuck in the most painful kind of limbo.

Gwen went to throw up in the bathroom about a half hour before their flight. To take her mind off her queasy stomach, she turned on her phone and checked her voice mail. Playing the message from Tim nearly started her crying again, but she would be strong. She would be brave.

She wouldn’t look back.

She deleted the voice mail.

At their stopover, while Gwen went to the bathroom to throw up again, Liam called Ruthie and let them know they’d be home later.

“Oh, good. Bob’s home, and I was going to let him come pick me up.”

“Thank you so much for all your help, hon. We really appreciate it.”

“Is Gee okay?”

“Bathroom.”

“Tossing her cookies?” Ruthie asked.

“Yep.”

“Poor thing.”

“Hey,” he said, “you can take that laptop home with you for now, if you want. If I need it back, I’ll let you know.”

She sounded happier than he’d heard her in a while. “Really? You mean it?”

“Of course I do. I’ll get it back later.”

“I’m going to ask Bob to buy me a new one and let you set it up for me.”

He laughed. “Be happy to.”

He was off the phone with her when Gwen returned. He slung an arm around her shoulders and held her close. “You okay, sis?”

She wordlessly shook her head.

“I don’t have any easy solutions for you. Unless you let me go back to Rapid City and kick their asses.”

She shook her head again and hid her face against his shoulder.

He sighed as he pulled her closer and held her. “It’s okay, Gee. I’m here for you. I won’t leave you. I promise.”

They made it back to Columbus a little after two a.m. and caught a cab back to Gwen’s. He didn’t like the sad look on Gwen’s face. In Rapid City, she’d been happier than he’d seen her since her marriage to Dickweed dissolved. To see her that happy just yesterday, and now today to witness her agony was almost more than he could stand. This was something he couldn’t fix for her no matter how badly he wanted to.

He hugged her before she went upstairs to bed. “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

She nodded, not releasing him.

He kissed the top of her head. “I meant it, Gee. You and me. Okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered. He watched her slowly mount the stairs to the second floor before he went to bed.