Beneath The Lies (17 page)

“I understand. I just miss you, is all.” I can hear Gavin’s warning in my head. Either Leeta is lying to me or she’s an extremely lonely woman because I didn’t spend that much time with her for her to miss me. Then again, she doesn’t have a relationship with her own children so maybe she really did enjoyed the idea of having me around.

“Are you doing okay? I mean with school, friends, money, those sort of things?” I want to ask her if she actually owns stock in my father’s company but at the same time I’m not positive I want to know her answer. If she does and she’s never told me then maybe Gavin’s opinion of her isn’t far from the truth. But if she doesn’t then I’m setting Gavin up to look crazy when she asks where I got my information.

“Everything is fine. No problems to speak of.” Leeta holds my stare, almost as if she wasn’t expecting my answer or is waiting for me to say something more.

“How rude of me. Would you like a drink? Something to eat?” Leeta slowly licks her lips then shakes her head no.

“I should get going, darling. I actually have a business dinner to attend tonight and God knows I can’t go like this. But we should get together again soon. Lunch, shopping, whatever you want, sweetie.” Leeta is dressed to the nines and could easily go straight to a business dinner, which leaves me to believe she’s looking for an excuse to leave.

“Lunch sounds great,” I add as I follow her to my door. Leeta squeezes my hand.

“Call me if you need anything. I hate the idea of you being all alone, but if you’re happy then I’m happy. That doesn’t mean I won’t be here in a jiffy if you need me.” My stomach starts to sink. I’m either allowing Gavin’s opinion of Leeta to bleed into my own or Leeta was just acting fake with me. The pitch of her voice was different. The way her eyes brushed over my face and the almost sour look she had when she told me she’d be here in a jiffy are all things she’s never done when speaking to me before.

“Thanks, Leeta,” I barely say before she turns and walks out, leaving me completely confused.

****

In the last week I’ve spent more time at Gavin’s then I have at my own apartment. Today was my first free day to really pack up things without Gavin and possibly Kiran’s help. After hours of working, I lie down for what I thought would be a quick nap but I’m brought out of my sleep hours later by a knock on my door. I sit up when I hear another firm knock.

“I’m coming,” I shout as I’m heading toward the door. I quickly glance through the peephole but no one is there. Slowly I open the door, leaving the chain on, but again I don’t see anyone. Just as I’m about to shut the door I notice an envelope laying on the ground directly in front of my door.

Instantly my body goes on alert. Briefly, I think about calling Gavin, but I heard him tell Kiran he’s getting behind at work due to having Callie all the time. I stick my eye back up to the peephole and wait a few seconds, checking for any movement. When nothing happens, I quickly pull the door open long enough to pick the envelope up and slam it shut before locking it again.

I’m looking at the envelope like it might jump out and bite me when a thought comes to mind. This could be the letter Ned found in my father’s office. Pushing down my fears, I tear it open. Inside is a white piece of paper with something printed on it and an old newspaper clipping. The paper says, “
Beneath the lies is a little baby with emerald eyes, but every truth comes with a price
.”

This is the second time someone has gone out of their way to say practically the same thing to me but this time it causes me to break out in goose bumps. There’s no way this came from Ned, not to mention he would have addressed the letter to me.

I place the paper on my table and look at the old newspaper clipping. The coloring on the paper is faded and washed out but I’m still able to read the article about a baby that was kidnapped at a strip mall somewhere in Missouri. I look the paper over but I have no idea why someone would send me this. This baby was kidnapped a few weeks after I was born. Someone is trying to scare me, but why? How are my eyes connected to this newspaper article?

I look both pieces of paper over again but I’m not able to come up with any ideas. The last time someone left me a note, I was on edge for weeks. People only have power over you if you allow them and this time I’m not going to. I place the paper and newspaper back into the envelope and set it off to the side then I get back to packing.

****

Gavin gave me a key to his apartment, which is how I let myself in. He told me he was going to work late tonight so when I hear voices coming from the hallway I stop and listen to find out who’s here. Within seconds, I make out Kiran’s voice, and instantly I panic thinking he’s brought another one of his hookups to Gavin’s until I hear the cutest little giggle. I’ve only seen Callie a handful of times, but already she’s in my heart. I head to her room to let them both know I’m here and the second I spot Kiran, I burst into laughter.

Just like I pictured, he’s dressed similar to the way Callie decked Gavin up for their tea party. At the sound of my laughter, Kiran turns and gives me a dirty look. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up while you can,” he practically sneers at me.

“What’s so funny, Kate?”

Apparently, today is salon day and not tea party day, because Callie is in the middle of painting Kiran’s finger nails a dark shade of pink. And if I’m not mistaken, that is Barbie doll nail polish she’s using.

“Nothing, sweetie. I didn’t know you were so talented.” Callie’s face lights up at my compliment. She’s put in a lot of time working on Kiran. He has clips in his rather short hair, a tiara on his head, earrings clipped to his ears, and an unbelievable amount of necklaces around his neck.

Before Kiran can tell me to fuck off, the apartment door opens and shuts, and seconds later Gavin is standing next to me. “Sorry, dude. I thought my call would wrap up faster than that.” The whole time Gavin was speaking he was fighting off a smile. Clearly, he’s more used to finding Kiran like this than I am.

“Well, little lady, I have a date. If I go like this it will kill my street cred. So, as much as it hurts me to do this, I have to disrobe,” Kiran tells Callie as he quickly sheds everything she’s put on him.

“That’s okay. Daddy’s home now and he has an appointment next.” I burst out laughing. Right or wrong, this little girl knows how to persuade the men in her life into doing things they’d never admit to.

“Sorry, baby, my appointment isn’t today. How about we order a pizza from the place across the street for dinner?” Callie started to whine until she heard Gavin’s plans for dinner, then she perked right up.

“Yay! Can we watch Frozen with Kate again?” Personally, I thought the movie was cute but both Gavin and Kiran groan. As far as either of them are concerned, they’ve watch the movie about a hundred times too many.

“Yes, but only if you agree to take a quick bath.” My eyes scrunch. A bath before pizza? I think only a father would suggest that, but I’m going to keep my two cents to myself.

“Well, as sad as I am about missing out on Frozen, I have plans I need to get to.” Gavin lifts his chin toward Kiran.

“Thanks, dude, for helping me out.”

“No problem.” Gavin disappears into the hallway bathroom when I hear water running for Callie’s bath. “Okay, pizza should be ready in ten minutes so Callie you won’t be able to take a long bath, if you want to eat the pizza while it’s warm.”

For some reason, I suddenly feel like an outsider. Gavin needed someone to watch Callie and instead of asking me he asked Kiran, which makes sense. At the same time, he claims he trusts me with her, so why wouldn’t he have asked me, especially knowing I was coming here later today?

“Are you okay keeping an eye out for her while I go get the pizza?”

Without meaning to, I frown when I process Gavin’s question. I don’t think he’s truly comfortable leaving her alone with me yet.

“I’ll go get the pizza. You stay here in case she needs you. I don’t have any experience with giving four-year-olds baths, anyway.”

My comment was meant to ease his worries about me being here alone with her, but instead he gives me a strange, almost disappointed look. “O...kay. Here.” Gavin shoves a couple of twenties into my hands, I assume to pay for dinner. “The place is directly across the street, you can’t miss it.”

I wish I knew what he was thinking right now. His jaw is clenched and while his tone is gentle, I think he was forcing himself to speak that way. I wait a second and instead of saying anything else he turns and walks back into the bathroom.

I have no idea what just happened between us, but it didn’t feel good. No, if anything, I think I might have failed some test Gavin gave me and I’m not sure what I said wrong.

With Gavin’s money in my hand, I start heading toward the pizza restaurant. My mind is completely caught up in tracing the last few things we said to each other that I didn’t notice the black car that appears out of nowhere until it’s too late. I hear someone screaming, than I feel pain take over my body until finally everything goes black.

My whole body aches and I can hear a beeping sound as I force my eyes to open. When they do, I see Gavin in a chair that’s pulled up to the side of the bed I’m lying in. As I take in the room, I instantly know I’m in a hospital¸ but I have no idea why.

“Gavin.” My voice is soft, almost weak, but it was enough to wake him up.

“Oh, God, babe.” He looks scared and tired.

“What’s going on?” I whisper while I force my eyes to stay open.

Gavin waits a beat before answering me but he takes my hand in his and starts rubbing his thumb back and forth. “You were hit by a car.”

“A car?” I question. I force my brain to come up with some memory of what he’s referring to, but I come up empty. The last thing I remember doing was packing up my apartment.

“You walked across the street to get pizza for the three of us and a car hit you. I didn’t know what was going on until I heard sirens and you didn’t come back. God...Kate. When I saw those paramedics, then saw you lying on the ground...I lost it. Completely fucking lost it.”

I suck in a breath from the pain in his voice. I hate that he was scared, and more than that, I’m concerned about how this might have upset Callie. “Where’s Callie?”

“With Kiran. He didn’t really have plans. He just didn’t want to watch Frozen again.” Gavin smiles at me like I’m supposed to know what that means.

“Oh...what day is it?” I question again.

“Friday. You were brought in last night. Why? Is something wrong?”

I take a deep breath as my panic melts away. I don’t remember Kiran skipping out on Frozen but I do remember I went to my apartment to pack my stuff after my last class Thursday afternoon. Whatever is missing from my memory isn’t much. “No. Nothing is wrong. I just don’t remember a car or pizza or seeing Kiran.”

Before Gavin says anything else, a nurse comes in. “You’re awake. This is good news. I’ll alert the doctor. I’m sure he’ll be here in a few minutes to check on you.” With that, she turns and heads right back out the door. Gavin brings my attention back to him by squeezing my hand.

“Do you feel okay?” I start to nod my head but that causes my brain to feel fuzzy.

“I think so.”

“Seriously, Kate? You were hit by a car, now I’ll ask you again. Do you feel okay?”

Gavin’s worried and looks like he’s in desperate need of sleep. “For being hit by a car, I feel rather good.” I place a mega smile on my face to ensure he believes me. “I’ve never been that scared before. Even with all the crap Carly has pulled on me with Callie, I’ve never seen a person I care for hurt while I’m completely helpless.” I reach out and squeeze his hand.

“I’m sorry—” Before I can say more, the doctor comes into the room. “Ms. Reynolds, I’m Doctor Welch. How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” My eyes shoot straight to Gavin, but he’s watching the doctor.

“I reviewed your scans and everything looks good. You had some minor swelling in your brain that was either a result of the impact of the car or when your head hit the pavement. No matter, you are lucky. It was minor.”

“When can I go home?” Doctor Welch gives me a beautiful smile and I swear I can hear a faint rumble come from Gavin. The doctor is young, at least in the standards of doctors but if I had to guess, I would still place him in his thirties, which is way too old for me.

“As long as you’re not living alone I’ll release you today.”

“She’s not. She’s mine. We live together.” My eyes flare at Gavin’s words and I turn my glare in his direction. I can’t believe he just said that.

“Good. Then I’ll go work on your release papers. I’ll write you a script for some pain pills but try some over the counter pain relievers first. Your muscles and body as a whole will feel sore and possibly a little stiff for a few days. Within the next week, make an appointment to see your regular doctor. Otherwise, unless anything else happens, blurred vision, serious headaches or sharp pains, you should be fine to wait.”

“Thank you, Dr. Welch.” I wait for Gavin to say something but he doesn’t and seconds later, the doctor turns and walks out, which has me turning my focus back toward Gavin.