After the Storm: Midseason Episode 1 (Rising Storm) (7 page)

His brown eyes stared straight into her. “What circumstances? Because of yesterday? Damn it, Kris. Let me in. Someone could see me standing out here and start asking questions.”

His words struck her heart, but he was right. Especially now that she was ending things, she didn’t want to spark yet another scandal. It had been worth the risk when she’d believed he was only waiting for the right time to leave his wife, but now she had to be more careful than ever. She stepped aside and he slid in.

He’d only been out to her place a handful of times. He preferred more innocuous meeting spots, the types of rendezvous places he could easily explain away should they get caught. Sometimes it felt like half their relationship had occurred in the cramped space of his office, with its ugly florescent lights and utilitarian furniture. But that’s what a mistress got. She got the crumbs and not the cake.

He stepped inside and set his briefcase down on her kitchen table before turning to her. “So you’re angry about yesterday?”

How could she explain this to him without making a fool of herself? She’d already done that enough for this man to last a lifetime. “I think it’s time to reconsider what we’re doing.”

“You don’t want to be involved with me because you found out about Jacob. I didn’t tell anyone because it wasn’t anyone else’s business, Kris. It wasn’t gossip. He had an accident and the doctors said he wouldn’t be able to father children. That was something for Jacob and his wife to discuss. Not me.”

He was misunderstanding her. “No, I wasn’t…”

He didn’t let her finish. “When he died and Ginny told us she was pregnant, we thought the doctors had been wrong. Maybe I was naïve to think that, but sometimes they are wrong. The human body can do amazing things and because Ginny wasn’t the type of girl to lie, I thought maybe, just maybe this had happened to Jacob and he’d healed himself. I wasn’t trying to trick anyone or steal a baby. I heard that one today at the gas station. We were trying to trick Ginny so we could get another baby, hopefully a boy since we obviously don’t want to leave our money to the girls. They actually said that about us.”

Her heart clenched at the thought. How could people be so cruel? She hadn’t thought at all about the consequences to Travis when it came to gossip. He wasn’t at fault. All he’d done was take in a needy girl and try to give her and her baby a better life. She’d lived here long enough to know that Storm ran on gossip, but she’d thought it would all be about Ginny and the senator and Dakota Alvarez. She’d never imagined there would be things said about the Salts.

“I’m so sorry. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

He ran a hand over his head, a weary gesture. “It will eventually die down, but it’s going to be hell for the next few months. Once Ginny has that baby it’ll all come back again. I hope it looks exactly like Sebastian Rush.”

“You don’t want a miracle?”

Travis’s jaw tightened. “There are no miracles, Kristin. That’s what I’ve learned from all of this. There’s only duty and responsibility and small moments of time when we actually get what we want.” His eyes came up and she could see the hollowness there. “But I’m not going to get that today, am I?”

She didn’t pretend to misunderstand or force him to explain. “No.”

“You’ve changed your mind about us? I think I deserve an explanation.”

Did he? Maybe she deserved one, too. Maybe if they really talked this out, they could both move on. Or perhaps he would simply walk out her door and find a new woman he “wanted.” He would be careful, but she would see the light in his eyes and know he’d found someone new. She would be alone, but at least she would know she was doing the right thing. “I saw you with Celeste yesterday.”

He frowned as though going through the memory in his mind and not coming up with anything that made sense. “Of course I was with her.”

“No, I really finally saw how you were with her. I saw how tender you were with her. When everything went wrong, you didn’t look around for me. You didn’t hesitate. You moved to her and cradled her. You still love your wife.”

“Of course I do. I’ll always love Celeste. Kristin, I’m sorry if you ever thought for a second that I would stop loving her. I married her. We’ve shared our lives and our kids. I can’t not love her. It’s not in me.”

Well, he couldn’t put it any more plainly than that. She could feel tears in the back of her eyes, but she was determined not to shed them. Too many tears. There’d been too many tears shed for him. Later, she wouldn’t be able to hold them back, but she was determined to get out of this last conversation with some dignity. “All right, then. I guess I only fooled myself. I shouldn’t have believed you when you said you would leave her.”

His hands came out, cupping her shoulders and squeezing as though he was afraid if he let go that she would run away. “I meant it. I meant it when I said I would leave her. Kristin, you’re not understanding a word I say. I do love Celeste, but I’m not in love with her anymore. Maybe I never really was. When I look back, I think I married her because it was time to take the next step and she was there. We were good together in the beginning, but we’ve always been more like partners than true lovers. I didn’t have that until I found you.”

The words were a balm to her, but she couldn’t give in so easily. “No. I saw you with her.”

“She’s the mother of my children, but Kris, she’s not in love with me, either. I have to take care of her. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t? Would I be the kind of man you want? Please, baby. Do you even understand what I went through yesterday?”

“I know it was horrible, but you had Celeste.” She had no one. When things went bad, she was forced to stand alone because the man she loved was needed at home. Every holiday was spent alone. On his birthday, he went home to celebrate. On hers she might get some time with him if he could sneak away. She’d sat up worried all night and there’d been no one to hold her.

The trouble was she was worried even if she managed to turn him away, she’d never find another man because she loved Travis.

He stepped back, his eyes wide with pain. “I had Celeste? Do you know what I did all night long? I did exactly what I did on the day Jacob died. I suppressed every damn thing I felt because I had to take care of her. I didn’t cry. I didn’t rage. I don’t get to because no one cares what I feel. All anyone cares about is Celeste and her feelings. I’m nothing more to her than a paycheck and a support system. That’s what you saw yesterday. That’s all you saw yesterday.”

He leaned against her countertop, leaving space between them. So much space. It seemed as though that was always there between them.

“You don’t love her like a husband?” Her heart was already softening. She knew she was a fool, but she couldn’t help herself. His words meant something to her. They were exactly the right thing to say. Everything about his body language read that he was telling her the truth and she was the only one in the world who could ease his suffering. The only one who cared about who Travis was as a man and not as a provider, husband, and father. He had to have a safe place to go.

He stared straight into her eyes. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”

Kristin’s breath caught and she knew the fight was over. It was wrong, but there was no denying love and passion. Celeste had given up her rights to this man by not loving him the way he needed to be. That was her job and hers alone.

She moved toward him and it felt so good. It was like she’d stopped fighting the magnetic pull he had and now the world was right again. She crossed the space between them and wrapped her arms around that body she’d come to know so well. Settling her head over the heart she’d come to rely on, Kristin finally found some peace.

His arms moved, hands finding her hair. “You can’t leave me. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Baby, I need you so badly.”

She tilted her head up so she could look into his deep brown eyes. There was nothing she wanted more than this, to be together with him, to give him what he needed. “I can’t leave you. Not even when I want to.”

“I just need a little more time, but when you think about it, this really could free me faster,” he murmured before his lips descended on hers.

Because he wouldn’t have to worry about the grandchild. Because Lacey was almost grown and his duties to his co-parent almost complete. Ginny’s baby had trapped him all over again, but now it was easy to see that this could be good for them.

He just had to see Celeste through one more tragedy and perhaps then he could find his happiness.

As he kissed her, their mouths fusing together, Kristin realized that sometimes miracles were delivered in the oddest of packages and one person’s tragedy could be another’s salvation.

She kissed her man and let her worries float away, concentrating only on him.

Chapter Five

Payton glanced up at the clock as she heard the sound of an engine revving. Almost five o’clock. Well, they’d survived day one and Marcus and Brittany were heading out to the pub in Marcus’s Impala. Brittany almost never drove her BMW anymore. She preferred to let Marcus take her around town.

Young love. She hoped it worked out. Marcus was a fine young man. Unfortunately his sense of honor wouldn’t mean a lot in the face of the obstacles that would inevitably get thrown their way. They were from different worlds and while it didn’t bother Payton, she knew it would some others in her family. Brittany would be pressured to find the “right” boy. Like Payton had been. Her “right” boy had turned out to be more trouble than he was worth.

“Are they off?” Francine stepped into the living room, two glasses of wine in her hands.

How comfortable she was in this house with its feminine touches and unpretentious airs. This house was very much like Francine, and it had proven to be a refuge from the storm. With a smile, she took the glass of Pinot. They’d indulged in one at lunch, but she rather thought they would go through a bit more this evening. “Yes. I hope it goes well. Marcus thinks she should start trying to find some normalcy, but I know how hard this is going to be on her.”

“How hard is it on you?” Francine was always worried about her.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t so bad. “I’ve always known Sebastian cheated.”

“But now it’s out in the world.”

She brushed that off. “It’s always been there. It’s not a real surprise to anyone. He’s a politician. Scandals like this are a dime a dozen. It will blow over eventually.”

“I don’t understand why he would choose such young girls. What on earth appeal do they have?” Francine asked. “Women are so much more interesting.”

Of course they were, but then Sebastian wasn’t looking for a woman who challenged him. “This isn’t about finding a companion. It’s about sex.”

Francine’s eyes came up, a light glinting off them. “I was talking about that, too.”

Payton’s breath caught and her heart rate sped up. They couldn’t talk about this. Not now. But it appeared they might. Could Francine possibly be saying what Payton thought she was saying? She was saved from making the decision by the sound of a car coming to a stop in the drive. She turned, expecting to see Brittany running back in to retrieve something she’d forgotten.

Instead she saw her mother-in-law exit her stately luxury sedan and look up at the house with a shake of her head.

“How did she find us?” Francine asked with a little gasp.

“Don’t you know Satan has a very good sense of direction?” Payton shook her head. Where had her manners gone? “Sorry. I’m sure she’s talked to Brittany or Jeffry. Or they really could have a locator on my phone. I wouldn’t put it past them.”

The doorbell rang, a pleasant chiming sound that ran counter to the chaos that was about to rain down on Payton’s peaceful day.

“I’ll deal with her. Why don’t you go and check on the roast?”

Francine frowned but walked toward the kitchen anyway. “I left the bottle on the bar. You might need it.”

She might indeed. Steeling herself, she walked to the door and opened it, giving her mother-in-law what she hoped was her brightest smile. “Hello, Marylee. What brings you all the way out here?”

Marylee’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Are you serious? What brings me out here is the damn apocalypse. The world is falling down on my boy’s head and you’re out here in the country drinking wine. You better have another bottle because I need one after the day I’ve had.”

Marylee strode in like she owned the place. She glanced around and immediately found the bar, homing in on the extra glasses. She poured herself an exceptionally large amount. So that was how she managed to say she only drank a glass of wine a day. She managed to get most of a bottle in one glass. She took a long drink and then sighed. “Do you have any idea how bad the situation is?”

“My husband slept with two girls whose ages when added together barely make my own, and he also managed to father a child with one of them. Yes, I think I understand how serious the implications are.”

“Why? I’ve been asking him all morning. Why on God’s green earth would he choose those girls? The blonde has a sluttiness about her I’m sure calls to all men, but the Moreno girl? She’s a little mouse from what I can tell. I tried to explain to him that if he needed to dip his wick somewhere, it better be with a girl who could be on a magazine cover. He’s brought shame on all of us.”

Payton actually had to bite back a laugh. Marylee wasn’t truly upset with Sebastian’s affairs, merely that he’d had them with what she would consider trashy girls. That summed up her mother-in-law nicely. “We should also consider the fact that those girls were truly hurt.”

Marylee waved that thought off. “Oh, they were little sirens calling to a powerful man. I’m sure they thought they would get some money or something out of it.”

“One of those girls was Brittany’s best friend.”

“Which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that our Brit has horrible taste in people, and we need to make sure to steer her in the right direction. Tell me she wasn’t in that horrible car that I passed on my way here. I didn’t know those things were still allowed on the road.”