Irresistible Lies (19 page)

“It
is?”

“Yes.
It’s only for very brave little boys.”

Jake
considered this, forgetting his tears. “I’m brave.”

“Yes,
you are. Which is why I thought this would be a good idea. It’s something that
we can do together. An adventure for both of us.” She kissed him. “Now, you’re
going to be a good boy and help Mommy, aren’t you? Because I can’t do this all
by myself.”

He
nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

“But
we need a dog.”

“A
what?”

“A
dog. We need a big dog for our adventure to protect us and help us and be our
friend and we can feed it and love it and take it for walks.”

Jake
had asked for a dog before, but Grace had told him it wasn’t going to happen until
they moved into a house with a backyard so the dog would have room to play. She
didn’t like the idea of keeping an animal cooped up in the apartment, and she
also didn’t like the idea of having to take care of a dog on top of being a
single mother.

But
she was tired, and she didn’t feel like arguing. She just wanted Jake to go to
sleep so she could get them to her parents’ house without having some sort of mental
breakdown.

“When
we move out of grandma and grandpa’s house, I’ll get you a dog.”

“Yes!”
Jake started bouncing up and down on her lap, more excited than she had ever
seen him.

She
put him back in his car seat and got back on the road, listening as he talked
about what he was going to call his pet.

Okay,
so she wasn’t going to win mother of the year award anytime soon, but she was
doing the best she could under the circumstances.

And
considering she was putting hundreds of miles of distance between him and his
father, really the least she could do was get her son a dog.

Chapter 18

Jamie
started off his day in a great mood, happy with the way things had gone with
Grace the previous night. When she had agreed to go out with him to dinner, he
knew he was in. He was going to turn on the charm and take her on the best damn
date she had ever been on, and by the time it was over she was going to be just
as certain as he was that they were meant to be together.

He
bought her a bouquet of sunflowers, her favorite in college, and made
reservations at an Italian restaurant that online reviewers considered the most
romantic in the area. He ordered a bottle of champagne to be waiting for them
when they arrived, hoping that would put a smile on Grace’s face.

Jamie
waited all day for Grace to call, but she didn’t. He was determined to play it
cool and let her reach out to him, but by late afternoon he was itching to call
her and find out what sort of game she was playing. When the sun started to go
down, he got nervous.

He
hoped she hadn’t changed her mind about their date.

Waiting
on his phone to ring made him feel pathetic, like he was in high school waiting
for a girl he liked to call and talk about their homework. When it didn’t ring,
he started to get annoyed. If Grace was going to cancel their date, the least
she could do was make up an excuse.

Jamie
finally gave in and called Grace on her cell phone, but it went straight to
voicemail. He thought of leaving her a message but realized there was no
point—if her phone was off, she wasn’t going to get it until later, and
he wanted to see her tonight.

He
needed to see her tonight.

Why
hadn’t she called? Why wasn’t she answering her phone?

She
had agreed to go out with him, and surely she wouldn’t have lied. What would
have been the point? No, something must have happened. Something must have come
up to change her plans, and she was unable to get in touch with him to cancel.

What
if something was wrong?

His
mind went off on a tangent filled with worrying thoughts, and he found himself
heading toward his car. If something was wrong, there was a chance Grace needed
him. He wanted to be sure that she was okay. If something happened to her...

He
couldn’t even finish the thought.

Jamie
drove down the quiet country road to Grace’s apartment complex, wishing he had
her home phone number. He called her cell phone again and it went straight to
voicemail, but this time he left a message.

“Grace,
it’s Jamie. I haven’t heard from you all day and I’m worried about you. Give me
a call back when you get this.”

He
pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and made his way toward
Grace’s door. There was a light on in the apartment, which made him breathe a
little easier. He knocked on the door.

“Who
is it?”

That
wasn’t Grace’s voice. It was Caroline’s.

“It’s
Jamie.”

Silence.

“Are
you going to open the door?”

“No.”

He
was startled. “Why not?”

“Because
you’re the last person I want to see. Go away.”

What
the hell?

“Yeah,
well I’m not here to see you. I’m here to see Grace.”

“Tough
luck. She isn’t here.”

“Where
is she?”

“Gone.”

Gone?
What was that supposed to mean? He banged on the door a little louder.

“Caroline,
this is ridiculous. Let me in. I’m starting to get really worried about Grace.”

“Join
the club.”

The
door swung open, revealing Grace’s extremely tall and extremely blonde sister.
Jamie and Caroline had only met a few times while he was dating Grace, and they
had gotten along just fine. That’s why the venom in her current expression
confused him. Also alarming were her tear-soaked cheeks, which didn’t set his
mind at ease about his missing lover at all.

“Grace
is gone,” Caroline said. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

“What
does ‘gone’ mean? Did she go to the movies?”

Caroline
laughed bitterly. “Not quite.”

He
pushed past her to enter the apartment, having had enough of her half-answers.
“Tell me what’s going on, Caroline. Right now.”

Caroline
slammed the door closed. “Grace left. She picked up all of her things, packed
her bags and hit the road.”

“What?
Why?” He had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Because
of you, that’s why. You wouldn’t leave her alone. You drove her out of our
apartment, out of our home!”

Jamie
winced, Caroline’s words making him feel like some kind of stalker. Everything
he had done these past few weeks was out of love. If he weren’t so sure Grace
loved him, he would have given up. He knew there were times he probably came on
too strong, but he couldn’t see that as a reason for Grace to run away.

“Grace
told me she wanted to take things slow,” he said, still trying to comprehend
what Caroline was saying. “We were supposed to have a date tonight.”

“There
was never going to be a date,” Caroline said coldly. “She wants nothing to do
with you. You ruined her life by coming back into it.”

“Hey.
Don’t say that.”

Caroline
was crying again, and he suddenly remembered how dramatic she was. Grace had
always been more levelheaded and practical, and Caroline was more emotional. He
couldn’t imagine that Caroline had been a big fan of his after he broke Grace’s
heart, and he could imagine her dislike of him had gotten in Grace’s head over
the years.

“When
did she leave?” he asked, doing mental calculations.

“Yesterday.
After you left. She’s long gone.”

Jamie
thought back to when he had left the apartment the day before, and how Grace
had smiled that sad smile at him. She had told him that she was going to call
him and that she was going to finish making cookies with her nephew, and he had
no reason at the time to think that she was lying.

Now
she was gone. The small apartment was quiet, and even though he had only been
there once before he could feel how empty it was. Grace’s things were missing
from the living room—he couldn’t pinpoint what was missing, just that it
was emptier.

It
obviously hadn’t taken Caroline long to clean up. Not that the place had been
messy before, but there had been things strewn about. All of the little boy’s
toys were gone.

“She
took the blocks?” He asked the question aloud before he had even thought it
through.

“What?”

“Your
son’s blocks.”

He
watched Caroline’s expression go from angry to panicked and his heart rate
doubled. “The pictures on the fridge are gone, too.”

“There
were no pictures,” Caroline said.

“Yes,
there were. The little boy’s pictures from his coloring books.”

Caroline
pursed her lips together. “His name is Jake.”

“Where
is Jake?”

“He’s
sleeping in his bedroom.”

Jamie
knew instantly she was lying. Caroline was probably a great liar when she
wanted to be, but her heart wasn’t in it. If her sad eyes didn’t tell him what
he needed to know, her hesitation would have done the trick.

Jamie
turned around and headed toward the closed doors off of the hallway, which he
suspected to be the bedrooms. The first one was obviously Grace’s, as it was
nearly empty except for a made-up full-sized bed. The second, with its baseball
wallpaper, had to be Jake’s.

The
room was almost empty, stripped of its contents, and there was no Jake.

He
caught his breath and felt Caroline’s hand on his shoulder.

“Jamie,
it’s not what you think.”

“Where
is your son?” His voice sounded funny to his own ears.

“With
Grace.”

“Why?”

“Jamie...”

“Why,
Caroline?” He spun around to face her. “Tell me the truth. Whose son is he?”

Caroline’s
lower lip was trembling, and her voice was a whisper. “He’s Grace’s. Not mine.”

Jamie
already knew the truth, but hearing the words out loud made it all the more
real.

Grace
had a child.

“And
is he mine?”

As
soon as Jamie asked the question, he knew what he wanted the answer to be. If
Grace had a son, he wanted that son to be his. He wanted it more than he had
ever wanted anything.

Caroline
nodded slightly, and his world shifted right on its axis.

He
was a father. He had been a father for years, and he had never known.

He
didn’t know anything about his son.

Grace
had taken years away from him.

“Are
you mad?” Caroline looked uncomfortable, guilty even. “Grace was afraid to tell
you.”

“Why?”
He had so many questions, but Caroline was not the person he wanted to ask. Grace
should have been the one to tell him all of this, and she should have told him all
of it years ago.

“She
didn’t want to ruin your life,” Caroline said, as if that explained everything.

“Ruin
my life? That’s ridiculous.”

Why
would Grace think that he wouldn’t want to know? What had he ever said or done
to give her that impression?

Then
the expression on Grace’s face when he had broken up with her in college
flashed in his mind, haunting him just as it had so many times over the years.
How could he blame her for keeping this secret when he had broken her trust in
him?

Had
she not told him about Jake because she didn’t want him to be a part of her
son’s life? Because she didn’t trust that he would be a good father and be
there for her and their child?

The
thought almost broke his heart. He needed to get to Grace and get some answers.
He needed to make things right.

Jamie
walked past her and toward the front door, not really knowing where he was
headed, just knowing he needed to be out there, looking for them.

“Jamie,
where are you going?” Caroline ran to cut him off, pushing herself in front of
him. “Don’t leave like this. I shouldn’t have told you anything... Please,
let’s talk. She’s going to be so angry with me... Don’t tell her I told you.”

“Where
is she, Caroline?” He wasn’t messing around this time, and Caroline was going
to give him an honest answer. “Where are they?”

“I
can’t tell you. I’ve already said too much. I promised... I promised I would
never tell you about Jake and now I have. I can’t tell you anything else, it
will just make it worse.”

Jamie
knew when a woman was about to burst into tears, and Caroline was quickly
reaching that point.

He
put his hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.

“Look
at me,” he said. “I know that you are trying to protect Grace. I know how much
you love her, and I can only thank you for being there for her and looking out
for her when I wasn’t around to do it. But I’m here now, and I’m not going
anywhere. The best thing you can do for Grace right now is tell me where she
is.

“Why
should I? You broke her heart.” Caroline said the words, but there was no anger
behind them.

“I
never make the same mistake twice, Caroline. I love her. You know I do.”

“I
know. I know you do.” She sighed, and he saw the guilt in her eyes. “I’m so
sorry, Jamie. I think I may be responsible for all of this. I hated you for so
long after what you did, making my sister hurt like that. I wouldn’t let her
forgive you. And now look at what’s happened. She’s gone, and it’s all my fault.”

“It’s
my fault, too. Where did they go?”

This
time, Caroline didn’t hesitate. “To my parents’ house in New York.”

Jamie
relaxed a little, now that he knew they were somewhere safe. He could be there
in six hours if he broke the speed limit a little. Six hours stood between him
and his family.

Jamie
couldn’t wait any longer. He gave Caroline a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have
to go. Don’t tell Grace I’m coming.”

“Are
you sure?”

“Caroline,
you owe me this. Do not tell her. Do not give her time to run away again.”

“Okay,
I won’t,” Caroline promised as she squeezed his hand. “Drive safe, Jamie. Go
get her.”

GRACE
CLIMBED INTO bed after a long day of unpacking and soul searching.

The
previous night, she and Jake had fallen asleep as soon as they reached the
house in New York, and she hadn’t even had the energy to take their bags out of
the car. The next morning, it all hit her like a ton of bricks.

Jamie
had seen Jake, and she had run away.