Aftermath (16 page)

She shook her head in his direction and he stopped. Centered her attention on her not-quite-husband. “Listen, you don’t have to do or say anything right now. Let’s just take a minute. Outside.”

Those beautiful eyes traveled the space between the door, to where they stood. The weak-kneed reaction zipped into her blood stream, even with the vice gripping her heart. This man was her best friend. She’d die for him and make sure he never had the need to do the same for her.

Lilly was hurting. Had been hurting all this time. In silence.

And now they all were, too.

Those blue-green orbs rested on her in complete torture. He grabbed her hand and started walking. “She never said anything.”

Robinson might not have expected it, but Amanda had been waiting. A person didn’t lose the love of their life and have nothing to say about it.

Maybe they could talk to her. Get her some counseling. They could all do it together. In time, Lilly would forgive her for a choice that hadn’t been hers.

When they made it outside the sanctuary, his sister paced the area like a caged animal. One hand raised, the pointer finger extended while her other fingers curled inward in a clenched fist. Eyes were wide and feral, every emotion captured there like a still frame. “I hate—”

The door, behind them, burst open. Eileen Nettles rushed toward them as if the devil were dogging her steps. Her lips were squished together. “My daughter would be disappointed in all of you.”

Oh, no. No. Not now. Her heart sank.

Her dad came out next, panic stamped on his face like a misbegotten tattoo. Half their guests were standing. This had to be some kind of pre-wedding nightmare. She’d wake up and shake it off.

Marry Robinson. Live happily ever after.

“Mom...” Amanda moved to her side. Laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me.” The other woman shrugged off her fingers. This hadn’t been the first. Wouldn’t be the last. “You disgust me. Thinking you can have this man.” She gestured toward Robinson.

“Eileen.” Her dad stepped forward, panic turning to bone-deep sadness. “Honey, you don’t mean that.”

She turned on him. Used her pointer finger to jab Amanda’s dad halfway across the room. “I mean everything I say. Who are you to question that?”

“Eileen.” He raised both of his hands, palms toward the woman all but physically attacking him. “Think about what you’re doing. On your daughter’s wedding day.”

Before anyone could blink, Eileen’s fist headed toward Walter Nettles’ face. A blur of black tuxedo entered Amanda’s peripheral vision as Robinson stepped between husband and wife. Wrapped her mother in a hold reserved for combative psychiatric patients. Talked to her quietly.

From across the room, his eyes met Amanda’s. Anger crashed with pain, there.

For once her mother’s Alzheimer’s rant was right on target. How could she think she could have Robinson without consequence?

“She doesn’t remember it, A.J.” Robinson’s soft voice pulled her from the memory. His fingers were the barest of touches on hers. It still sent tingling through her body. And the sudden urge to snuggle into his arms and forget everything.

She blinked. “What?”

He slipped the thin dental material between her ring and finger. Began wrapping it around the digit. “Your mom. She doesn’t remember saying anything to you at the wedding.” He concentrated on his task as if it were of utmost importance. “She doesn’t know I’ve even asked you to marry me. All she knows is that she had a moment of lucidity and everything was unfamiliar. She found my number. Harassed me about popping the question. Told me if a ring got stuck, it was meant to be there.”

Amanda laughed past the lump in her throat. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

“Or you should go on a diet. Stop wearing someone else’s ring.”

The laughter fell into heaviness that soaked into her heart like a dark stain. “I miss her.” Everything from her easy smile to the way she talked about health-related topics. How she always supported Amanda, even when she’d wanted things far out of reach.

Robinson slipped the ring past her knuckle with slow steady movements, sans pain. “You just walked away.” His voice was low, as if he hadn’t meant to say anything. He sighed. “One minute we were going to focus on our families, the next you’re gone.”

It must have seemed that way to him. The disagreements over things they couldn’t change. Constant discord without a solution. They couldn’t use a magic wand to poof everything better. Or heal Lilly’s heart. Couldn’t help a woman who refused that end.

One day everything had been great and then it wasn’t. Every day they spent together hurt somebody. Lilly was angry. Ariana was scared. They were all sad.

And everything they’d built was crumbling. Anyone who said love was the only ingredient to success was only half right. They’d forgotten to mention the sweat and blood required to bridge familial issues so wide it would scare the bravest soldier or most creative architect.

“I couldn’t ask you to leave them to deal with that kind of trauma alone. Ariana needs you. And so does Lilly.” And she’d never have been content with such strife. They’d either had to find a way to heal or risk more damage.

His lips pressed closed, his jaw tightening.

Lilly was right. She’d done enough—unknowingly. Couldn’t bear to cause more upheaval. Disentangling herself from their lives had seemed the best course, the reality akin to ripping off parts of her flesh.

All at once.

“I’d equate it to the polar bear plunge. One minute you’re warm and dry, the next you’re freezing and pretty sure death has your number.”

He slid the ring off and handed it to her, but didn’t release it. His eyes met hers, searching in signature Robinson fashion. With his whole being. “Just to be clear, the freezing part is after the complete mayhem at the ceremony, right?”

More like the minute Lilly had spoken. And everything in between then and now.

As if he knew the direction of her thoughts, he zeroed in on her finger and unwrapped the floss from it.

She flexed it, full blood flow coursing through the phalange for the first time all day. “I got out of the water, but I’m still shivering.” The words jumped from her mouth, a little freeing. She unclasped the necklace Ariana had given her, took the ring from him and slipped it along the chain. Then resituated it at her neck and found herself trapped in his gaze.

She’d forgotten how easy he was to talk to. How he listened with every fiber of himself. Attempted to hear the non-verbal and see to the heart. “There’s not a blanket big enough to warm me up.”

CHAPTER TEN

ROBINSON STEPPED BACK from Amanda’s side. Crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to dive into treacherous waters without first zipping his life vest all the way.

It was tempting. But racing after a boat that appeared feet out of sight, only to find it was closer to land than the dark sea, where he resided, was futile.

“That’s a terrible analogy. How am I supposed to come out the victor? If I stay in the water with you, I’m a jerk, because it’s freezing. And we’ll die. And if I coax you out and manage to warm you up—”

“You’d be a hero.” She flexed her left hand some more. Rubbed the finger, a small smirk appearing on her lips. She leaned closer and whispered, “But you retired, remember? Seemed a little premature, but...” One shoulder lifted in a who-am-I-to-point-out-the-obvious shrug. She
straightened.

“Sounds like something my inner jerk would say.” Man, he loved seeing her with a teasing light in her eyes. With sass. Heck, he loved seeing her at all.

He placed a hand over his heart. “I’m more inclined to help a beautiful woman in need.”

The sound of her laughter floated around him, magical, like the downward play of snowflakes. Made him forget they stood outside of a serious crime scene—almost.

The smile on Amanda’s face hadn’t dimmed. “Sure you are. You’ll have to reapply, buddy. There’s a character test this time around. Seems the last guy couldn’t handle freezing water.”

He’d do more than deal with frigid temps while treading water. He’d point out the bridge that would help them avoid death. And keep them dry. He’d argue the finer points if he had to. “What’s with Unlikeable-Sam? And why do I feel the need to yank Ariana from her school?”

Her eyes leveled on him, clear and sure. “Jordan, McKenna and I grew up with him. I don’t know about now, but back then he was the kind of guy you didn’t want your daughter interested in. Certainly not dating.”

“If you find a man who wants their little girl dating
anyone
, let me know.” Last year, he’d barely been able to deal with Ariana having a mild crush on a boy in her class.

Amanda pulled her lips to one side, in a smirk. “True, but that doesn’t stop naive girls from stupid crushes. And putting themselves in situations that have the potential to shape the rest of their lives, with boys who have about as much a concept of what that means as they do.”

He braced both hands on the doorjamb, above his head and leaned toward her. “Coming from experience?”

A strained laugh came from her mouth. “No. Awkwardness was my saving grace, there, and a curse all at once.”

He straightened. “Meaning?”

“I had a small, misguided crush on him. It wasn’t a secret. Most girls that age don’t see past the facade to the truth. And boys like him know it and exploit it to get what they want.”

He’d been a stupid kid once. Seen it happen from a distance. Never taken part in an affair with an unwilling partner, to any degree.

Were Sam’s actions, tonight, the replay of high school drama? “Good thing your taste in the opposite sex has improved over the years.”

One dark eyebrow rose on her forehead. “Same to you, buddy.”

“Got me, there.” He pushed off the vehicle. “So, Sam.”

“There was a rumor junior year about him and a younger teacher. This particular woman has a child about the right age. Nothing ever became of it, however, so it’s possible it was exactly that. And people can change. Grow up.”

He crossed his arms. Tonight hadn’t been an indication of it. Not from his perspective. “Next time try it with a little feeling. With the way both you and Jordan gave him the cold shoulder and McKenna’s stoically polite introduction, I’m not buying it.”

“Jordan has never liked Sam.”

That was good enough for Robinson. For Jordan—the guy who got along with most everyone, given enough time—to carry a grudge that long meant more than any words. “What did he do to McKenna?”

“Long story, short. Sam showed up, drunk, to pick her up for their prom. Had a hotel room waiting. Probably with premade drinks laced with some type of drug.”

Even though his protective Amanda instincts had been on alert long before Sam had shown up, his gut had been right on target about the other man. “I’m with Jordan, then.”

“Her parents called his parents. They gave him the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. No one ever really found out about it, because the Richardson’s kept it quiet.”

“Gee, I wonder why? Sounds like a good butt-whooping would have gone a long way. Some community service.” Something that let a person—a seventeen-year-old male know he couldn’t walk around doing whatever he pleased and get away with it.

“Mr. and Mrs. Moore aren’t the type to stir the pot as long as their children are safe. Had they ever known about the hotel, I’d have a much different story to tell.”

“What?” The question floated on the breeze.

She turned toward him, sideways in the seat now. One leg tucked under her body. She grabbed his arm. “Don’t say a word. Jordan and McKenna don’t know. And there’s no reason to tell them.”

“So, how did you find out?” Even as he asked the question, he knew. This was Amanda. The woman who didn’t know how to stop digging for the answers to any question. Let alone one that encompassed her friends.

As if realizing she was touching him, she dropped her hand. Rubbed it over her forehead. “McKenna’s uncle enlightened me on the topic of Sam Richardson. He wasn’t satisfied with the meager way the parents handled the situation, so he checked out the details. Found out about the hotel. Put the fear of God into Sam.”

Robinson could only imagine.

“Sam never said two words to McKenna or I, senior year. No loss for either of us.”

“Sounds like he moved on to other conquests. The question remains. Has he changed? Because he’s around kids all day. Young girls who are too innocent to know when a man is manipulating them. Boys who are impressionable and thirsty for any ideas on how to impress the girls.”

Something dark glittered in her eyes. “If he hasn’t, you know I’ll find out.”

Robinson planned to be right alongside her, finding those details. “I’m sure you will.” The wind blew a strand of hair near the edge of her lips.

He resisted the urge to tuck it behind her ear. To find any excuse to touch her for longer than an accidental brush.

“I want to go through Ariana’s locker on Monday. And I plan to pay Sam a visit. See how he interacts with his class.”