The Girl He Left Behind (13 page)

Once she returned to her room, she phoned Bill. “Adam is going back to Texas. Please tell the twins I feel better and that I'm coming over in an hour. Have them pack a few things, including their bathing suits. I want them to stay here overnight.”

“I don't think—”

Suddenly she was sick of him. Sick of everything. “You know, Bill, I really don't care what you think. I'm coming, and that's that.”

An hour later, her cab pulled up in front of Bill's cottage. “Please wait,” she told the driver. “I just need to collect my kids.”

The twins were excited to see her. “I'm glad you feel better, Mom,” Nathan said, hugging her.

“Me, too, honey. I didn't want to waste a day out here since I won't be here very long.”

Natalie came in for her hug, and Eve looked up at Bill. “I'll have them back before dinner tomorrow night.”

His smile was tight. “Have fun, kids.”

Once the three of them were in the cab and heading back to her hotel, Eve finally relaxed. “I thought we'd spend the afternoon at my hotel. They have a great pool, and a really nice restaurant. We can have lunch there, you can swim this afternoon, and tonight we'll go see a movie or something, okay?”

“Yeah!” they chorused together.

“It'll be a good day,” Eve said. But even as she made the promise, she wondered who she was trying to convince. Them? Or herself?

* * *

Adam couldn't get on a nonstop flight back to Austin until the next morning. Later, he'd never know what had made him decide to go to Eve's hotel and try to talk to her again, but that was what he ended up doing. If he'd thought to bring his guitar with him when he'd flown to LA, he probably would have simply stayed at his house and worked on his music, but he hadn't, and he couldn't stand sitting still. He didn't ask Luther to drive him, either. Instead, he took the Jag Austin had talked him into buying and drove over to her hotel himself.

When he rang her room and there was no answer, he walked over to the front desk and asked the girl on duty if she knew where Mrs. Kelly might be.

“Actually, I do, Mr. Crenshaw.” She gave Adam her brightest smile. “She and her children went out to the pool.”

Adam spotted them immediately. Eve, wearing a red bikini and huge dark glasses, lay on a chaise in the shade, and watched a group of four or five children playing some kind of water polo. Adam assumed her twins were part of the group. He knew she was going to be angry he'd come to the hotel after saying goodbye to her, but he'd figured he really had nothing to lose. He couldn't leave things the way they were when she'd left the pier. Besides, he'd forgotten to tell her about his visit with her mother and how Anna had encouraged him. Maybe if Eve realized her mother was in favor of them getting back together, she wouldn't be so afraid.

As he walked toward her, he was glad he'd changed into his Southern California disguise of baggy shorts, flip-flops, a beat-up T-shirt, big sunglasses and a baseball cap, because none of the other sunbathers seemed to recognize him.

In fact, Eve didn't take any notice of him, either. It was only when he sat on the chaise next to her and said, “Eve,” that she turned to him.

It was almost comical the way her mouth dropped open. She immediately sat up. “What are you doing here?”

“I forgot to tell you something and I wanted to say it in person.”

“You...you have to go. I can't talk to you here.” She was looking at the kids, and there was panic in her voice.

What the hell was she so afraid of? “I'm not going anywhere.”

“You have to!”

“Eve, calm down. Why are you acting like this?”

Before she could answer, one of the boys climbed out of the pool and walked toward them, dripping water everywhere. He was a slender youngster, but not scrawny. His hair was darkened by the water, but Adam imagined it was a medium brown. There was something about the way he walked that seemed so familiar to Adam. A second later, he recognized what it was. The boy walked exactly the same way Aaron walked. In fact, he looked a lot like Aaron had when he was a kid.

Eve seemed frozen as the boy said hi to Adam.

And then he smiled.

Adam felt as if someone had punched him in the gut when he saw the deep dimple in the boy's left cheek.
Holy shit!
For a moment, he couldn't say anything, but finally he returned the boy's smile. “You must be Nathan,” he said, holding out his hand. “I'm Adam.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nathan said. His eyes were bright with excitement. “You and my mom are friends.”

Eve had still not spoken a word.

Nathan turned around and yelled toward the other kids, “Nat! It's him! C'mon over.”

A minute later, all four kids who'd been playing together came rushing to join them. They clamored around Adam, pushing each other to be the closest.

By now, Eve had recovered somewhat, enough to say, “Give Mr. Crenshaw some room, kids.”

Adam studied the other children, and it was easy to see which one was Natalie because the only other girl in the group was older, with red hair and freckles, whereas Natalie looked a lot like Eve. When she saw him looking at her, she came closer and said, “I've been wanting to meet you, but my mom said we'd have to wait till we got back home.”

Adam tried not to let on how rattled he was when he returned her smile. But those eyes of hers were the only confirmation he needed to show him he was right. Nathan and Natalie were his children. His and Eve's, not Eve and Bill's. No wonder Eve had been so scared. No wonder she'd tried to avoid having him meet the twins.

All these years.

All these years she'd been keeping this from him.

This
huge
secret.

His heart was beating too hard as the knowledge sank in. He kept staring at the kids, even as he tried to behave normally, to answer some of the questions the children were firing at him.

Did Eve's mother know?

Did Bill?

Of course they did. They would have to. This must be why Eve had tried to get in touch with him twelve years ago. She must have found out she was pregnant and tried to let him know. And then, when she couldn't find him, she had married Bill instead.

Conflicting emotions warred inside him. He was angry she'd kept this secret from him all these years, but he was also sad for the pain he'd caused her—and for all the years he had missed out on while his children were growing up with another father.

If only Eve had tried harder to find him.

If only she'd called his mother, done something more.

But all the if onlys in the world wouldn't change the past.

Now the only question was, what was he going to do about the future?

Chapter Thirteen

E
ve could hardly breathe.

Her worst nightmare had come true. She felt as if every person sitting around the pool must know her secret now. She knew this was ridiculous. No one could know. Maybe Adam didn't even know. Yet looking at her twins, she couldn't imagine he wouldn't see what she saw.

Nathan was his spitting image.

And Natalie's eyes were a dead giveaway.

Dear heaven.
Of course Adam knew.

She couldn't look at him. Couldn't bear to see the condemnation in his eyes. Earlier today he'd said he loved her. He'd asked her to marry him. He'd shown her the most gorgeous ring she'd ever seen. He couldn't know how his words had thrilled her yet terrified her at the same time. She loved him so much. The days—and nights—they'd spent together in Austin had been some of the happiest of her life. She had wanted, more than anything in the world, to say yes, to say she'd marry him and make a home with him and their children.

But how could she say yes with this secret between them?

And now that he knew the truth, he would no longer want her.

Eve wanted to cry.

She couldn't look at Adam. She listened as he bantered with the kids, but the words meant nothing. All she could think was that there was no way to salvage this impossible situation. Her second chance to build something with Adam was finally and irrevocably over.

* * *

Adam felt as if someone had hit him with a sledgehammer. He wasn't sure what to do, whether to get up and walk away, go somewhere to calm down or stay and face Eve and let the truth finally come out.

Yet even as upset as he was, he knew he had to behave as if nothing was wrong because of the kids. They were all so excited that he was there. They weren't about to go back into the pool and forget about him. And he certainly didn't want any of them, but especially Nathan and Natalie, to realize something was seriously wrong. So it was imperative he act normally.

But what was normal?

Think!
How
would
he act if this was a normal day? If he hadn't just found out one of the most important things in his life?

Normally, he would join them in the pool. Buy himself some time before having to talk to Eve. Deciding he could probably find a bathing suit in the hotel's gift shop or one of the other shops he'd noticed earlier, he said to the kids, “Why don't you all go back in the water? I'm gonna buy a bathing suit, then I'll come join you.”

“You
will
?” This came from Nathan, who was so excited he was hopping from one foot to the other.

“I will.” For the first time since the kids had come out of the pool, Adam turned to Eve. “If that's okay with you?”

She nodded. He wished he could see her eyes, but her glasses were too dark.

Twenty minutes later, wearing a navy suit and carrying a blue-and-white beach towel, his other belongings stowed in a canvas carryall he'd also purchased in the gift shop, Adam rejoined Eve. After dropping his stuff on the chaise next to her, he said, “Want to come in the water with us?”

“Maybe later.”

But an hour passed, and she still hadn't joined them, and Adam knew she wasn't going to. He also knew it was time to say goodbye to the kids and get out of there, because the longer he stayed, the harder it was to keep pretending everything was fine. He knew if he didn't leave soon, he might lose it and say something to Eve, and this was not the time or the place to have that kind of confrontation. Not with the kids in hearing distance.

After promising the twins he would see them again soon, he climbed out of the pool. Walking over to Eve, he reached for his towel, dried himself off and said, “I'm taking off, Eve. I'm going back to the house, getting ready and then flying back to Crandall Lake. I may even go on to Nashville tomorrow. Depends. I need to talk to Austin and then to Bethany. Get that whole mess straightened out.”

“Okay,” she said in a small voice.

Part of him felt sorry for her, knowing she was as upset as he was, but the other part of him, the part that had been denied knowledge of his children for twelve years, wanted to lash out at her. Hurt her the way she'd hurt him. Because the truth was, if she had been brave enough to leave with him all those years ago, none of the rest of this would have happened. He would have been there when the twins were born. He would have had the past twelve years with them. They would
know
he was their father. “And you need to get some things straightened out, too, don't you?” he said. When she didn't reply, he hardened his heart. “When you get back home, we'll talk. Decide just how we're going to deal with this mess.”

And then he left.

He didn't look back.

* * *

The rest of the day was difficult for Eve. All she could think about was the look on Adam's face when he'd realized the twins were his. She knew he was hurt, that he felt betrayed. And yet, how could things have been any different? If she'd gone to Nashville with him when they were kids, and then discovered her pregnancy, he would have had to do things very differently. He would have had to get a job and wouldn't have been able to keep making music, to keep pounding the sidewalks and haunting producers' offices. Adam Crenshaw and Version II wouldn't exist. And how happy would Adam have been if she'd been the reason he'd had to give up his dreams? Would they even be together now, twins or not?

Hadn't she given him the freedom and time necessary to achieve what he'd achieved? Hadn't she, in the end, been responsible for his success just as much as he was?

This, and many other thoughts, tumbled through her mind as she pretended to be enjoying the day with the kids. They were all excited, of course. Seeing Adam, spending time in the pool with him, had made their day and they couldn't talk about anything else.

Every word out of their mouths added to the pain in Eve's heart. How would they feel about her—and
him
—once they learned the truth? And learn it they would. Of that, Eve was certain. Adam would not be content to be the secret father. She knew him well enough to know that. He would want to be a part of their lives.

But no matter what he wanted, she knew Bill would be adamantly opposed. She really had made a mess of things. And no matter how she looked at their dilemma, it seemed that nothing but trouble lay ahead.

* * *

Austin stared at him as Adam told him about the twins.

“You're kidding.”

Adam shook his head. “No, I'm not.”

“You have eleven-year-old twins.”

“Yeah.”

“And possibly another baby on the way courtesy of Bethany.”

“So she says.”

“Jesus, Adam.”

“I know. It's a mess, isn't it?”

“It's more than a mess. It's a damned circus.”

Adam laughed mirthlessly.

“What're you doing to do?” Austin's hazel eyes, so like their mother's, shone sympathetically.

“Hell, I don't know. When I first realized Eve had concealed the truth about the twins, I was so upset I wanted to tell her off, make her suffer. But after I calmed down, I started to kind of understand. When she got pregnant, she was just a kid, Austin. I'm sure she felt desperate and scared out of her mind.”

Austin nodded. “You know, if she
had
told you, you'd have had to support a wife and two kids and you'd have probably never had the kind of career you have now.”

Adam nodded grimly. “I know.”

“So do the kids know?”

“No. But I want 'em to. I want 'em to know I'm their father, not Bill Kelly.” Adam sighed heavily. “But before I can do anything about the twins, I need to do something about Bethany.”

“I figured that, so I've done some checking, and as far as I can tell, she hasn't seen a doctor yet.”

Adam frowned. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

“So she's basing her claim on a home pregnancy test?”

“I don't know
what
she's basing it on. You'll have to ask her.”

“Nothing like the present.” So saying, Adam reached for his cell phone and placed the call.

She answered almost immediately. “Well, well, well,” she said. “Look who's calling.”

“Don't act as if you didn't expect it,” Adam said.

She chuckled. “You're right. I expected it. In fact, I expected it sooner.”

“I was out in LA. I waited till I got back to Texas.”

“Yes, I knew you were in LA.”

“That's right. I forgot. You hired a PI to keep tabs on me.”

“Yes, I did.” She sounded smug.

“So, Bethany, let's cut to the chase. How far along are you and what do you want?”

“I'm three months along, according to my calculations, and I want you to acknowledge your role in the creation of this baby and to act like its father.”

“According to your calculations. Does that mean you haven't seen a doctor?”

“I don't need to see one yet. I tested myself. Three times!”

“I need more than your word, Bethany. So once your pregnancy is confirmed by a doctor, and once
I'm
confirmed as the father, I'll take full financial responsibility.”

“Only financial responsibility?”

“First things first. When I see the results of DNA testing, then we'll talk further.”

“I have no intention of having amniocentesis, if that's what you're suggesting. It's too invasive and possibly dangerous.”

“Austin tells me there are several noninvasive tests that can be done.”

“I didn't know Austin was a doctor.”

“He's done his research. He can make the arrangements for you.”

“Excuse me? I see no reason for any kind of test at this point. You'll just have to wait till after the baby's born. Now, I realize that's going to cramp your style, but—”

“Personally,” he said, interrupting her, “I would think you'd want to prove your claim as quickly as possible. Because if you don't, that only reinforces my theory that you're lying, which is exactly how I'll tell my new publicist to spin our response.”

“New
publicist
?”

“Sorry. Did I forget to tell you? You're fired.”

“You're
firing
me?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Won't the tabloids love that picture of you being vindictive?” she said sharply. “You sure you want that kind of publicity on top of everything else?”

“The publicity won't be targeting me. Not after I point out that you never saw fit to talk to me before springing your story all over the news. That you were obviously trying to do as much harm as you could, which means you forgot you still worked for me when you deliberately sabotaged me.”

Austin was nodding his approval. He'd never liked Bethany.

Adam was tired. Tired of her, tired of the whole conversation, tired of everyone who'd let him down. So he ignored her sputtering protests and said, “I'm hanging up, Bethany. Let me know when you're ready for testing. Until then, we have nothing more to say to each other.”

* * *

When Eve brought the twins back to Bill's the next afternoon, she quietly told him they needed to talk privately. So he walked outside with her, and she told him about Adam showing up at the pool the day before and what had transpired.

“So he knows,” Bill said flatly.

“Yes. He knew the moment he met them.”

“What does he intend to do about it?”

Eve shrugged. “I don't know. He wasn't happy with me when he left. And yes, he's leaving California. Might already be gone.”

“I don't care whether he's happy or not. Legally, he has no standing.”

“Bill...”

“He doesn't, Eve. The law says I'm their father.”

Eve didn't want to make things worse, but he had to face facts. “Yes, right now that's true. But I never let him know about the twins, Bill. If he goes to court, he can demand his rights.” She didn't add that Austin Crenshaw, who handled all Adam's legal matters, was one of the best lawyers around. Or that Adam had the financial resources to fight forever, if necessary.

“Have you told the twins?”

“No, of course not. I wouldn't do that without you being there.”

“I suppose they were all excited to meet the great Adam Crenshaw,” he said bitterly.

“They're just kids, Bill.”

“And when they find out he's their real father...” His shoulders sagged, and he looked as if someone had kicked him.

Dear God. She'd hurt so many people. “I'm really sorry, Bill.”

He stared at her. “You're not sorry. This is what you wanted to happen. So you can go off and play happy families together.”

“I
didn't
want this to happen! It's the last thing I wanted.” But was she being completely truthful? Hadn't she, deep down in her secret heart of hearts, wished she could tell Adam about the wonderful children they had created between them?

“I promise you, Eve, if he takes this to court, if he tries to push me out of the picture, I will fight him, and it will get ugly. You tell him that. Tell him to think twice about what he does. 'Cause I don't intend to go down easy.”

* * *

When Eve returned to Crandall Lake two days later, Adam was gone. He'd texted her to say he was going to Nashville and would be away for a few days. That they would talk and decide what to do when he returned.

Eve was a wreck while he was gone. She told her mother everything that had happened, and although Anna was sympathetic, she had no advice to offer.

“It's a mess, Eve,” she said. “I can't think how everyone is going to come out of this happy. Someone is bound to get hurt.”

Olivia agreed. “I thought my situation with Vivienne was bad. But my life is a piece of cake compared to yours.”