Lush (41 page)
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another picture her hand was on his ass! Oh, and the last one
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was them in a hotel lobby. After the event.”
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“What did he say about them?”
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“Say? Like I needed to ask? I saw the situation with my own
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eyes. I packed my shit up, drove his car to town, rented a car
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and came back here. He’s probably still working and hasn’t
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noticed I’m gone yet.”
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He sighed, holding her and rocking just a little. If this was
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true, Damien Hurley was in for a healthy dose of fi st meeting
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face. He just hoped for her sake that it wasn’t true. Because he
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knew how much his sister loved the guy.
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“Why don’t we go back to your house?” He kissed her fore-
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head. “You’re cold. Let me make you some tea. I’ll liberally
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dose it with whiskey. We’ll get drunk and you can call the
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others.”
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“I can’t face anyone, Cal. They were right. I told them they
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were wrong and they were right.”
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He held her back at arm’s length. “No. I don’t want you
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to even think that. Do you truly believe any of us wanted this to
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fail? Or that any of us would say I told you so? He loves you. If
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he doesn’t, he deserves an Academy Award because I sure as hell
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believe he does.”
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He stood, pulling her to her feet. He held her with one arm
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while he managed to get her chair collapsed. “Come on.”
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She sighed but let him boss her around, which worried him.
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She wasn’t one to allow such behavior.
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Lush
Daisy stood on Mary’s back porch and she moved quickly
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once she caught sight of the two of them.
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“What? Oh my god, what is it?”
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“She tells me Damien cheated on her.”
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He handed Mary over to Daisy as he got them all inside.
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Daisy ushered Mary into the living room and onto the couch.
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“Why are you here? God, Cal, when did you have the time
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to call everyone? I can’t take all this nice. Please just go and
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leave me alone.”
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Daisy looked to Cal and then back to Mary. “Tough shit. I
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seem to remember you bursting into my house, yanking my
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blankets off, taking away my pint of Chunky Monkey and mak-
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ing me shower when Levi broke my heart.”
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“I’m opening your mail. I want to see these pictures myself.”
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Cal dropped another kiss on the top of her head. “Water’s on
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for tea.”
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Jules burst through the back door and it only made Mary
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cry harder.
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“Shhh. Oh baby, honey, stop. Stop crying.” Daisy hugged
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her tight, and Jules landed on the other side, hugging her as well.
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“I need to be alone.” Mary pulled her knees to her chest and
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buried her face. She hadn’t thought she had any more tears left
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but there they were.
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“Bullshit.” Jules brushed the hair from her eyes.
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Daisy pressed tissues into her hand and a shot glass into the
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other.
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Gillian came through the back door moments later. “What
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is that prat on about?”
S28
N29
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Lauren Dane
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Mary laughed through her tears. “You all should go home.
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Gillian, you don’t need any upset. Jules, you have to work tomor-
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row and, Daisy, you have Levi waiting for you. You all tried to
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tell me and I thought I knew better. This is what I get.”
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“This is most assuredly
not
what you get! He loves you. I
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know it. I don’t know what the hell happened in New York but
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I know what I know. I know what I saw every time he looked
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at you.” Gillian sat next to her on the couch, kissing her temple.
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“What does he say?”
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“Nothing. I left. I didn’t . . . I couldn’t. I just left. I saw
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enough. What can he say? I blocked his number from my cell.”
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Cal cleared his throat. “These are some pretty damning pic-
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tures. But . . . I think you should see what he says.”
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They all got up to look, clucking and arguing amongst them-
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selves. Mary lay on the couch pulling the blanket up and over
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her head.
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Gillian simply moved her over and pulled the blanket back.
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“Baby, remember the night that whole business with Adrian
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went down? You and Jules picked me up at the ferry? I cried
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and cried until I nearly threw up. You said to me that you knew
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Adrian loved me and you asked if we couldn’t work it out. I’m
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asking you the same right now.”
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Jules snorted. “Why should she? Gillian, he cheated on her
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with a panty model. My god!”
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“We don’t know that. I’m saying, Juliet, I know from expe-
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rience now that the paparazzi sometimes makes things look like
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they aren’t. They catch a certain angle or a moment that is com-
28S
pletely innocent but it doesn’t look it. I know Damien. I spent
29N
a lot of time with him on the tour and I just—Mary loves him.
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Lush
You know it. I know it. What’s the harm in hearing his side of
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the story?”
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“The pictures came from that dude who threw you under
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the bus.”
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Gillian exploded with a string of curses as she rose to her
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feet. Her accent got so thick Mary couldn’t understand more
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than a word or two in every sentence. “You can’t trust this man.
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Or his motives. Mary, he’s an awful, petty, destructive little
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worm. He probably saw you that night at the club and wants to
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mess with you. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a terrible human
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being and I bet his mother cries herself to sleep every night.”
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There followed much drinking of heavy- handed whiskey with
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a little tea in it. Cal went to return her rental car. Jules made
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dinner and they all stared at her until she managed to eat a few
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bites. Mary forced Gillian to leave at ten to go home and rest.
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Daisy refused to go until Mary retreated into her bedroom. Cal
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had been very stubborn but he and Jules left with a promise that
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they’d return fi rst thing in the morning.
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Daisy got in bed with her. “You’re going to get through this.
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I know it doesn’t feel like it right now. I know your heart is bro-
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ken and you’re sadder than you’ve ever been. I love you. We all
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do, and we’re here for you. No matter what happens, you will
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get through this.”
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“Go home. I want to be by myself to cry and go to sleep.
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Thank you for being here for me today; I mean that.”
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Daisy kissed her forehead. “All right. But I’m coming back
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tomorrow. You will call me if you need anything. Even just a
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shoulder while you cry. If you don’t, I will be very mad at you.
S28
As you can tell, this is about me so don’t hate America, Mary.”
N29
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Lauren Dane
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She managed a snort.
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“I’ll be back. I love you.”
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At least someone did.
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She lay there in the dark, listening to the sound of the rain,
05
feeling totally and utterly exhausted and empty.
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D
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ude, we can hold off until this is all settled. Get your
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girl.” Paddy handed him a cup of coffee.
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“I’m going to call Adrian shortly. They’re up, but
19
he takes Miles to school early so I don’t want to catch him until
20
after that.”
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“Have you tried calling her from someone else’s phone?”
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He looked up. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
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“Because you’re the pretty one.” Paddy handed him his cell
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phone.
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“I’m going to let you get away with that one as a gift.” He
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dialed her number and she answered. Her voice was thick and
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hoarse, like she’d been crying and his stomach clenched.
S28
“Curly, what is going on?”
N29
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Lauren Dane
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She sucked in a breath and disconnected. He called back but
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it went straight to voice mail.
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“She’d been crying. Sounded like shit.” He opened his laptop
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and the mail client.
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She hadn’t replied to him. He poked around as he’d planned
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to last night. Most of it was crap. Until he opened one and noticed 07
it was also cc’d to her e-mail address.
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“Well, I think I might know why your lovely Mary did a
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runner on you.” Paddy looked at the screen over his shoulder.
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“What the hell, Damien?”
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Nausea rolled over him. “What do you mean, what the hell?
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Nothing happened! You assholes were there with me.”
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This reporter had sent these pictures to Mary precisely to
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fuck with her and make her think something had happened.
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After he dealt with this mess with Mary, he would be sure that
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reporter got payback. No one could be allowed to do this to her
17
again.
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“Well, you’ve got to explain. Get up there right now. We’ll
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come with you. I was there that night. Nothing happened.
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Though the lobby picture?”
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“She tripped going up the steps; I reached out to steady her.”
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“By putting her hand on your ass and her head on your shoul-
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der?” Vaughan shook his head. “This angle does you no favors.”
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She had put her head on his shoulder. At the time it had felt
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like an affectionate gesture, but in an
old times
sort of way. He’d 26
just stopped her from falling after all.
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Looking at her face now in this photograph, in all the pho-
28S
tographs and he saw she may have felt differently. And if he
29N
could see it, Mary could.
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He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t even remember
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her hand on my ass. I swear!”
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Vaughan moved him out of the way and enlarged the photo
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several times more, peering at it from several angles. “She may
04
not actually be touching you here. I can’t tell for sure. But while 05
her hand is over your ass, I don’t know if it’s on your ass.”
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“Even so, what are you two doing in the lobby of the same
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hotel after the event? Can you not see how this would look to
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Mary?” Ezra was infuriatingly calm and reasonable.
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“I saw her in the lobby for like a minute. Lots of people stay
10
in that hotel. I saw her, paused long enough to say hey and then
