Home in Carolina (24 page)

“She’s an artist?” Annie asked in amazement.

“I say she is. She says she’s just dabbling.”

“She’s good.”

“Tell her that. Maybe your opinion will count more than mine. Of course, she hasn’t listened to Jim, and he collects masterpieces. Can you imagine?” She seemed awed by the idea of it. So, to be honest, was Annie.

Ty said nothing, his gaze firmly fixed on the front door. When they finally heard a car turn into the driveway, he was off the sofa and outside before Annie could blink.

She followed slowly behind him, just in time to see Dee-Dee emerge slowly from behind the wheel. She walked around to the passenger side and reached for the
door, but Ty was there before her, yanking it open and releasing Trevor from his car seat.

“Hey, buddy,” he said, clinging to him so hard Trevor finally complained. With obvious reluctance, Ty set him down.

“Daddy, guess what?” Trevor said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Me and Mommy had a ’venture.”

“I know that,” Ty said.

Andrea crossed the yard and hunkered down in front of him. “Hi, Trevor, I’m your mom’s friend Andrea. Know what? When I found out you were coming, I baked a ton of cookies. Want to come inside and have one while the grown-ups talk?”

“Uh-huh,” Trevor said at once. He looked first to his dad, then his mom. “’Kay?”

“It’s fine,” Ty said, then glanced to Annie.

“I’ll go with them,” she said at once.

They left Ty to have it out with Dee-Dee. From time to time their voices escalated, but they immediately reined them in, whether out of concern for the neighbors or to keep Trevor from hearing the argument.

Sitting with cookies and a glass of milk, Trevor talked about the excitement of the trip, about the big house where he was staying and the swing set in the yard. He was clearly unaware of how much tension there was over it.

Andrea ruffled his hair as she took a seat at the kitchen table. “She’s a good person,” she said to Annie. “And this thing about not being able to have any more kids, it’s really hit her hard. Maybe you could convince Ty to give her a break.”

“Ty’s the only one who can decide how he wants to
handle this,” Annie said. “He’s been there for his son from the beginning.”

“Not the very beginning,” Andrea corrected. “I was there when she was puking her guts out with morning sickness. I was there when she lost her job because she couldn’t be on her feet long enough to wait tables. Ty was trying to pretend it was all going to go away, so he could be with you.”

Annie winced at the picture she was painting. “The point is, the minute he knew Trevor was his son, he took responsibility for him. He’s raised him.”

“Only because Dee-Dee gave him that chance. She recognized that Trevor would have a better life with Ty. Isn’t that what a mom’s supposed to do, what’s best for her kid? She was barely more than a kid herself, but she did the right thing.”

“It’s still the right thing,” Annie said.

“Haven’t you ever done anything you wanted to take back?” Andrea asked. “Hasn’t someone ever given you a second chance?”

Despite her desire not to hear what Andrea was saying, her words resonated with Annie. “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not up to me,” she repeated.

“Just do what you can, what feels right to you, that’s all I’m asking,” Andrea said.

Annie merely nodded. What else could she do? The request wasn’t unreasonable. It just meant that she and Ty might be at odds on the most important issue they’d ever have to face.

When Ty finally walked inside, he was more at peace, but he still didn’t entirely trust Dee-Dee. As they’d talked,
though, he’d seen for himself how scared Dee-Dee had been that he would cut Trevor out of her life forever. He also saw how attached Trevor was to her. As much as he might want it, he knew he couldn’t go back to the way things had been.

Reluctantly, he’d come to a decision. He’d give the visit a few more days. Maybe by then he’d be able to reason with Dee-Dee. Perhaps there was a compromise they could both live with, one that would prevent the need for a lengthy court battle. Of course, he didn’t intend to let Trevor or Dee-Dee out of his sight in the meantime.

In the kitchen, he explained his decision to Annie. “If you can stay, I want you here, but I understand if you need to get back. I’ll arrange for a flight to Atlanta or Columbia, whichever we can get first, and then have a car pick you up to drive you from the airport to Serenity.”

Annie nodded, her expression neutral. “I think that would be best.”

“Then I’ll make the arrangements.” He made the necessary calls, but his gaze never left Annie’s face. She looked unbearably sad. When he’d hung up from the last call, he said, “I’ll take you to the airport. There’s a flight leaving in ninety minutes.”

“You stay here with Trevor,” she said. “I can take a cab.”

Ty wasn’t always attuned to the moods of other people, but there was no mistaking the fact that Annie was withdrawing from him right before his eyes. He made the call for a taxi, then walked with her to the porch to wait.

“You understand why I have to stay, right?”

“Of course.”

“And you know I want you here?”

“Sure,” she said, though she sounded oddly defeated.

“Okay, then tell me why you look as if I’ve just stolen something precious from you.”

Before she could reply—if she’d even intended to—a cab pulled to the curb. She pressed a quick, impersonal kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you at home.”

And then, before he could get to the bottom of what was going on in her head, she was gone. And he had a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach that unless he figured things out in a hurry, she might be leaving him for good.

Two days after she’d returned from Cincinnati, Annie was just finishing up with a client when Elliott came to her, his expression filled with barely contained fury. “There’s someone in your office. You need to see her right now.”

“Who is it?”

“She wouldn’t give me a name. She said she was an old friend.”

Annie shrugged. She couldn’t imagine any reason for the big mystery, but she had a few minutes before her next client was due. “Okay, I’ll see her. Let me know when Phyllis gets here, okay?”

“I’ll take Phyllis’s session today,” Elliott said. “You’re going to need more than a few minutes,” he said, his tone as grim as his expression.

Annie studied him. “What’s going on? Something about this woman upset you?”

He nodded. “She had bruises, Annie. Ugly ones. Some look fresh to me. Others look as if they’re fading. I’d lay money that she’s been abused. If I’m right, the first call you need to make is to the police.”

“Maybe she was in an accident,” she said, unable to imagine who she knew who was likely to have been abused.

Elliott shook his head. “You’ll see. Just go before she changes her mind about coming here and takes off. She’s awfully skittish. For all I know the person who did this to her is right on her heels.”

Annie practically ran to her office. When she opened the door, she took one look at the woman huddled in a chair, her face turned away. But even before the woman turned to face her, even before she saw the extent of the damage, she knew.

“Raylene,” she whispered. “Oh, my God, Raylene, who did this to you?”

It had been four months since Helen’s mother had moved in. She was getting around well now and no longer needed Mrs. Lowell to help her beyond driving her to physical therapy, but Helen still didn’t believe she was ready to live on her own. As much as she’d griped about Flo’s presence, she was reluctant to see her move out. She kept thinking about the lost opportunity to finally make a real connection with her mother. Time was slipping away, and the bond was no stronger than it had ever been.

Unfortunately, now that the condo in Florida had sold and the money would soon be in the bank, her mother seemed determined to start looking for her own apartment. Mary Vaughn had set aside time to take them around tonight.

However, when Helen came in from work expecting to find her mother ready and filled with exuberance, she found Flo sitting on the sofa, all dressed except for her shoes. She was wearing a pair of slippers. She was also verging on tears.

Helen immediately went to her. “Mom, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did you fall again?”

Her mother shook her head.

“Then what’s going on? Why do you look as if you’re about to cry?”

Flo gave her a plaintive look. “I wanted to be all dressed when you got here, so we could go out and look at apartments. I even spoke to Mary Vaughn myself this afternoon, and she says she has some perfect ones for us to see.”

Helen still wasn’t getting the problem. “It looks to me as if you’re ready to go. If you’re not feeling up to it, though, we can do it another day. There’s no rush. In fact, I think it would be better to wait another week or two, at least.”

Her mother shook her head. “I feel fine, but we won’t be able to go another day, either.”

Helen regarded her blankly. “Mom, I’m not following this. What’s the problem?”

Flo gestured across the room to a suitcase. “I had the nanny bring that down. I wanted to put on a pair of my favorite shoes.”

“Okay,” Helen said slowly. “Were they missing? Did you forget to pack them?”

Flo looked up at her with a dismayed expression. “I can’t wear them. None of them. Not one single pair of shoes I own.”

“Why on earth not? Are your feet swollen?”

“Just look at them,” her mother said.

Helen opened the suitcase that had apparently been stuck in the back of the closet since they’d driven up from Florida in the car she’d rented for the trip. At least she assumed it had been there, because she couldn’t recall seeing it before. She knelt down and examined the shoes, a dozen or more pairs of the kind of high-heeled sandals she might have chosen. Oh, these weren’t the expensive
Jimmy Choos or Manolo Blahniks that filled her closet, but the styles were similar, sexy shoes meant for a woman who was steady on her feet. These were indulgence shoes, the kind Helen knew better than anyone, because she had a wardrobe of them.

“If I put those on, I’ll break my neck next time,” her mother said despondently. “I’m just too old and unsteady to take that chance.”

Helen couldn’t help it, she started to chuckle.

Her mother regarded her indignantly. “It’s not funny.”

“It is a little bit funny,” Helen said, grinning. “All these years I’ve wondered why you and I were nothing alike. Oh, we’re both workaholics, but that’s because you had to be and I love it. These shoes…” She picked them up one by one and held them in the air. “
These
are what we have in common.”

Her mother stared at her for a moment, then started to chuckle right along with her. “Well, it is a starting point, isn’t it? Not everyone can claim an addiction to amazing shoes.”

Helen stood up and announced decisively, “Let’s forget about looking at apartments tonight. I’ll call Mary Vaughn and reschedule. I saw in the paper that there’s a shoe sale going on at the mall. And there were some fantastic flats I’ve had my eye on. Even I can’t walk around in three-inch spike heels all the time anymore. I certainly can’t chase after Sarah Beth wearing them.”

Her mother’s eyes lit up. “Flats? I could wear flats. Anything to get out of those horrible sneakers I’ve been wearing. For so many years that’s all I could wear when I was working as a waitress. The minute I could start wearing something prettier and more feminine, I went a little crazy.”

“Then let’s get Sarah Beth, who’s a shoe diva in training, and go shopping. The Decatur-Whitney women need to splurge.”

For all these months—years, in fact—Helen had been trying to find a way to bond with her mother. Who knew it had been underfoot, literally, all along.

I
t took Annie an hour to persuade Raylene to leave her office at the spa and go to Sarah’s.

“I don’t want to see anyone else,” Raylene whispered, a flush of embarrassment behind the bruises and cuts on her face. “I only came to you because I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Sarah’s not just anyone. We’re friends, Raylene, all three of us. We’ll deal with this together.”

Raylene finally nodded. She looked as if she was simply too tired to fight anymore. Annie bit back all the questions she had, determined to save them until Raylene would only have to answer them once. Given how secretive she’d become in recent years, once was going to be difficult enough.

“I’ll call and tell her we’re on our way,” Annie said.

She left her office to make the call, filling Sarah in as succinctly as possible. “It’s okay if she stays with you, isn’t it? I think that would be better than my house.”

“Of course she can stay here, assuming she can tolerate having the kids around. It might be too much for her.”

Annie hadn’t considered that. “I guess we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

After she’d hung up, she went to Elliott. Before she
said a word, he merely said, “I’ve got you covered. If you need any kind of backup, let me know. I’d like to get my hands on whoever did that to her.”

Annie nodded. “I think there will be a waiting line for that. Thanks, Elliott.”

Back in her office, Raylene needed help just to stand. Once she was on her feet, she arranged a scarf to hide most of the damage to her face, then walked gingerly down the hallway and out the back entrance to the parking lot where Annie had left her car. They made the five-minute drive in silence.

At Sarah’s, she turned to Annie. “Thank you for not asking any questions.”

“Oh, I have plenty of them,” Annie said. “So will Sarah, but you can answer them when you’re ready.”

“Right now, I just need a safe place to hide out for a little bit. Then I’ll go back home.”

Annie stared at her incredulously. “I can’t believe you’re even considering going back home! Are you crazy? Look, I know you said no questions, but Paul is the one who did this to you, right?”

“He never meant to lose his temper the way he did,” Raylene said, near tears. “Honest. And it was because of you and Sarah. He was upset that you’d come to Charleston. And he knew you followed him to the country club. He accused me of asking you to spy on him.”

“I’m sorry if he got mad at us and took it out on you,” Annie said contritely. “But that was just the excuse this time, wasn’t it?” She didn’t even try to hide her contempt. “What did he tell you the last time? And the time before that? I’m sure he has a fresh excuse every single time.”

“Don’t, please don’t,” Raylene begged. “He’s not a bad person. He’s given me everything I could possibly want.”

“Except the ability to feel safe in your own home,” Annie said more calmly. “Nothing is worth more than that, sweetie. Nothing! Not the fancy house, not the country club. None of it.”

She stopped the lecture, because it was evident that Raylene wasn’t ready to hear it yet. Once she’d rested, once she’d had her injuries checked out, once she’d had time to think things through, she would see that she couldn’t go back home. And if she still didn’t get it, then Annie and Sarah would talk until she understood that her life shouldn’t be like this. She deserved better.

Sarah was waiting for them at the front door. Because Annie had prepared her, she managed to keep her shock out of her expression. Instead, she simply opened her arms and welcomed Raylene into them.

“I’ve sent the kids next door for an hour or so,” she told them. “That’ll give us time to get you settled, Raylene. I have a room all ready for you. Did you bring anything with you?”

Raylene shook her head. “All I could think about was getting away.”

“That’s okay. You can borrow some of my clothes until we have a chance to shop. They’ll be too big for you, but they’ll do.”

“Or I can get you some things from my house,” Annie offered. “I’ll run over there right now.”

She needed a few minutes to herself, anyway. Because seeing Raylene had reminded her that no matter how terrible things had gotten between her and Ty, she’d never had to endure anything like this, being abused by a man who was supposed to love and protect her. The quick drive to her house would offer her a chance to give thanks for that.

Ty was almost at his wit’s end. Ever since Annie had left Cincinnati, she’d stopped taking his calls. He’d managed to catch her once or twice at the spa, but mostly because he’d asked the receptionist to simply tell her it was a client on the line. Those occasions had been awkward and unsatisfactory. No matter how he tried to engage her in conversation, she responded with yes-or-no answers in a monotone.

He knew from talking to his mom that Annie was spending a lot of her spare time these days trying to help Raylene, who’d turned up in town in bad shape. He also knew that had nothing to do with her refusal to talk to him. Something had happened in Cincinnati, something he’d obviously missed, to make her pull away yet again.

Thankfully, he and Trevor would be back in Serenity in a few hours, thanks to a hastily negotiated settlement between the attorneys that would give Dee-Dee limited visitations for now and more generous ones once she’d proved to Ty and the court that she was completely reliable.

After spending some time with Jim Foster, there was no longer any question in Ty’s mind that his son would be safe spending at least some time with them. Ty would come along with Trevor, at least until after the wedding. He’d admitted he would feel more comfortable about extending the visits once Dee-Dee and Jim were married. They’d both understood. Helen and Dee-Dee’s attorney were working out the details now.

Amazingly, it had been Andrea who’d convinced him to open his heart and his mind to what Dee-Dee was asking. As the person who’d spent the most time with Dee-Dee over the years, she’d enabled him to see Dee-Dee for the person she’d become, rather than the reckless young woman she’d once been. And Dee-Dee herself had convinced him she’d only acted so rashly out of fear.

With the custody arrangements all but completed, he could turn his full attention to making plans with Annie. He just had to get her attention long enough to resolve whatever had caused her to pull away just when everything should have been perfect.

He glanced into the rearview mirror and saw that Trevor was sound asleep in the back of the car. That was too bad, because he’d be reenergized and ready to play once they got to the house.

Sure enough, the instant he pulled to a stop in the driveway, Trevor woke up, bright-eyed and eager to see his grandma, Cal, Jessie and Cole. He’d even insisted on picking out presents for them when they’d stopped on the road for lunch. Ty wasn’t sure what his mom and Cal were supposed to do with a battery-operated hamster, but Trevor had insisted they needed it.

As soon as they were inside, his mom pulled him aside. “Go to Annie. I know she’s been on your mind. I’ll get Trevor to bed.”

He regarded her with gratitude. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

He hesitated, then turned back to her. “Mom, I’m sorry for how crazy I was acting the night I found out Dee-Dee had filed for custody. None of that was your fault or Helen’s, but I acted as if it were.”

Maddie gave him a fierce hug. “Who could blame you? I can’t imagine what I’d do if someone came along and took any one of my kids away from me. I suspect my vocabulary would be a lot worse than yours and I’d mow down anyone who stood between me and getting them back.”

“But you were on my side. I forgot that for a minute.”

“And now you’ve remembered. Go. Fix things with Annie. She’s been too quiet since she got back from Cin
cinnati. Some of that’s worry about Raylene, but I know the rest has to do with you.”

“I asked her to marry me,” Ty told her. “And she said yes.”

His mom’s eyes brightened, then filled with tears. “Oh, Ty, I am so happy for you.”

“I’m just scared she’s already thinking of reasons to take it back.”

“You won’t let her, and that’s all there is to it. You could always talk that girl into just about anything.”

“She’s not a girl anymore. She’s a woman and stubborn as a mule.”

“I have faith in you.”

Ty carried that faith with him as he went to find Annie.

Annie was having a margarita with Sarah and Raylene when her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was her mom.

“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

“Ty’s here at Sullivan’s and he’s looking for you. Should I tell him you’re at Sarah’s?”

Annie wanted to say no, but what was the point? If he was determined to find her, he’d eventually track her down.

“Don’t tell him I’m at Sarah’s. Tell him I’ll meet him at our house.” She might as well get this conversation over with, and she didn’t want an audience.

When she hung up, she drank the last of her margarita and stood up. “I have to go,” she announced.

“Ty’s back?” Sarah asked.

Annie nodded.

Raylene gaze her a quizzical look. “You don’t look happy about that. How come?”

Sarah’s gaze narrowed. “She’s right. You don’t look happy.”

“I’m going to tell him that this isn’t going to work, after all.” She’d made up her mind to that on the flight back from Cincinnati. Even with Ty’s proposal ringing in her ears, she couldn’t get beyond the fact that there would always be drama in their lives over Trevor and Dee-Dee.

Ironically, if she and Ty had no history, she might have been able to accept that. Lots of couples dealt with baggage from the past. In this case, though, that baggage had ripped her relationship with Ty apart. She’d begun to see that she would always be afraid it could happen again. Why set herself up for that kind of heartache?

Sarah and Raylene were both staring at her incredulously.

“You can’t break up with Ty,” Sarah said. “You’ve loved him forever.”

“And he’s even asked you to marry him,” Raylene said. “You told him you would.”

“I’ve had time to think about it,” Annie told them. In fact, that was all she’d had since leaving Ty with Dee-Dee in Ohio, time to reconsider.

“Hold on,” Sarah said. “Let’s talk about this before you go and ruin your life.”

“No time,” Annie said. “He’ll be at the house in a few minutes.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind having to wait,” Sarah said determinedly, “especially when he finds out what’s at stake.”

“Yeah, you two have the relationship that Sarah and I both want,” Raylene said. “You’re with someone who’s loved you forever, someone who respects you and listens to you.”

“Someone who has a son with another woman,” Annie added pointedly. “I adore Trevor and I think I could be a
good stepmother to him, but he would be a constant reminder of the past. And Dee-Dee’s going to be popping in and out of our lives.”

Sarah scowled at her. “What you’re really saying is that you don’t trust Ty enough, that you don’t love him enough.”

Annie started to argue, but then fell silent. In fact, Sarah had gotten it exactly right. She simply didn’t have enough faith in what she and Ty had. Recognizing that broke her heart.

Ty sat on the front steps at Annie’s. She’d refused to let him inside, probably because she knew if she did, it was a very short trip straight to her bedroom. He’d listened with increasing dismay to her litany of reasons for breaking up with him.

“So, you see, this is for the best,” she said, winding up. “You’ll be free to move on, and so will I.”

“That’s not how it’s going to work,” he said flatly. “I proposed. You said yes. I’m not letting you back out now, especially when I haven’t heard even one reason that makes a lick of sense.”

She was about to launch into a repetition of her reasons, when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she all but melted against him. He released her and sat back.

“My reason for staying together trumps yours for breaking up,” he said.

She blinked a couple of times, as if trying to get her bearings. “Sex isn’t the issue.”

“No, but love is,” he said. “I love you. I’ve said that. I’ve done everything I can think of to prove it to you. I’m here, for heaven’s sake. I could have done my rehab in Atlanta or anywhere else, but I came home because of you. This was our chance to get it right.”

“It was our chance,” she agreed. “But it didn’t work out.”

He stared at her incredulously. “How can you say that? You agreed to marry me just a few days ago.”

She looked flustered by his vehemence. “Okay, maybe it almost worked out, but then I came to my senses.”

“When, exactly, did you come to your senses?”

“In Cincinnati,” she said. “Or on the flight home, to be more precise.”

“Let me guess,” he said. “It was because you’d left me behind with Dee-Dee.”

She nodded. “She’s always going to be there, Ty. She’s Trevor’s mom, so that’s as it should be. I guess I’m just not broad-minded enough to want her reminding me all the time that the two of you cheated on me.”

Ty raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “Years ago,” he reminded her. “Other than Trevor, there is nothing between us now. Dee-Dee’s in my past. There’s no other woman in my life except you. Why can’t you accept that?”

The look she gave him was bleak. “I don’t know,” she said ruefully. “I just know I can’t.”

“Do you believe I love you?”

She hesitated, then said, “I want to.”

He could have stood up right then and walked away. Maybe that was what he should have done, but he couldn’t. Instead, he clasped her hands and waited until she met his gaze. “Then I’m going to spend as long as it takes, do whatever it takes until you do. Because I am not giving up on us, Annie Sullivan. Not ever.”

Then he did stand up and walk away, leaving her to wrestle with the certainty that he
would
be back, again and again, for as long as it took.

Annie had to give credit to Ty for persistence. He’d told her he wasn’t giving up easily and he hadn’t. She didn’t know what to make of his determination in the face of her conviction that they’d be better off apart.