Maybe Baby Lite (39 page)

That's it! I’d had enough
of Jenna’s cattiness. I’d had enough of Trey’s obnoxiousness. I
grabbed my purse, checking my wallet to see how much cash I had. I
counted $127 in cash. My bank account had over $1400 in it. That'd
be enough to last me for a while. I packed my suitcase with as much
as it could hold. I grabbed my cell and called Denise, thankful
when she answered.

“
Denise, don’t say my name
please if Ray's close by. This is Tylar.”

“
I know who it is darlin’,
why the suspense?”

“
Is Ray there right
now?”

“
No, he won’t be back for
another hour, why?”

“
Denise, I need you to do
me a big favor. It has to be just between you and me though. Do you
promise?”

“
What is it Tylar? Tell me
what you need.”

I glanced at the clock on
the microwave. Fifteen minutes had passed since I'd talked to
Denise. She should be pulling into the drive any minute now so I
shoved my cell phone and charger into my purse, and locked my
cottage door behind me. I'd have to collect the rest of my things
later. Maybe Denise would do it for me. Just as I turned to walk
down the steps of my porch, I spotted Jenna coming down the
path.

“
Well, well, what have we
here? Have you found someone new to shack up with?” she chided,
nodding at my suitcase. I set my suitcase down, and calmly
approached her.

“
You're the biggest and
most hateful bitch I've ever had the misfortune to come in contact
with,” I hissed at her. I must've presented somewhat of an
intimidating front because she backed up a couple of steps. I
whipped the folded photo out of my purse and handed it to
her.

“
I believe this is yours,
you skank,” I spat.

Her eyes widened as she
opened the paper. “Nice picture,” she commented, “it doesn’t belong
to me, though.”

“
Yeah, right. And you're
not the one who took it and then made copies, leaving this on my
door?” I didn’t mention anything about Trey getting a copy. I
wanted to see what she had to say about it.

“
Sorry, no,” she
said.

“
Jenna, I saw you in your
cottage the evening that Mark walked me back to mine. I saw you
peeking out from your window through the mini-blinds. That window
right there in your bedroom, you can see my front porch from
it.”

“
That’s right Nancy Drew,
I can and I did. I saw him kiss you, I also saw you break it off.
But I didn’t take a picture of it.”

I didn’t know whether to
believe her or not. She was close enough, had opportunity, and
certainly had a motive for wanting revenge no matter how twisted it
was.

“
Look at the picture
again,” she demanded.

I studied it. It was taken
from a distance away, but the distance wasn't off to the side of my
cottage; the distance was directly in front of my cottage, over
beyond the path and bushes. Someone had taken that picture from a
spot hiding in the bushes. I suddenly realized Jenna couldn't have
snapped the photo.

“
There you go, Sherlock,”
she said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve nothing more to say to
you.”

I watched as she went up
the path then into her cottage. I hadn’t considered that it could
have been anyone other than Jenna. Now this was getting creepy. I
grabbed my suitcase, scurrying down the darkened path toward the
stables. I quickly said goodbye and kissed Derringer. I had no time
for tears right now. Those would have to come later.

Denise had parked her VW
close to the stables. I threw my suitcase into the back seat and
got in.

“
Thanks, Denise. I owe you
big time.”

“
Please don’t make me
regret this, Tylar.”

“
It’s what I have to do,
Denise. Trust me. I need to get away from him.”

“
Where are you going to
go, darlin'?”

“
I'm not sure, Denise.
I'll figure it out when I get to the bus station. I don’t want to
make you any more of an accomplice than necessary, although I
really think Trey could not care less. He’s back with
Charlotte.”

“
Honey, he's just trying
to make you jealous. He doesn’t care anything about her. Hell, she
got on his nerves the 15 minutes I saw her at the hospital that one
day. He finally got her to leave. She’s a pain in the ass to
him.”

“
Evidently, not as big of
a pain as I am, then.”

“
I really think that
you’re over-reacting, Ty.”

“
Denise, he fired Mark for
no reason at all; he's cast me out to the plantation, working with
Jenna. He wants me to quit. I'm obliging him. He wins; I lose. I
can live with that.”

“
What about the rest of
your stuff?”

“
I was gonna ask you if
you'd pack it up for me? Once I get settled, I'll send money to you
so that you can ship it to me. Would you do that,
please?”

“
Of course, darlin’. You
know that I will.”

We'd reached the Greyhound
Bus station. Denise got out and retrieved my suitcase from the back
seat, handing it over to me. I set it down and gave her a big
hug.

“
Thanks again, Denise.
I'll be in touch.”

“
Take care, Ty.” She
watched me as I went into the terminal. I was glad that she'd not
come inside with me. It was better if she didn’t know my
destination. I went over to the ticket window.

“
May I help you?” the
ticket agent asked.

“
One ticket for Atlanta,
please.”

“
That will be
$57.”

I handed him my
money.

“
That will be Bus 451
departing from Gate D in about 45 minutes.”

I went over to a bench
near Gate D. I looked at my ticket. It looked like with all the
stops and one transfer, I'd arrive in Atlanta around 10 a.m.
tomorrow morning. I fished for my cell phone in my purse and called
Gina.

“
Hey girlfriend, I thought
I was supposed to call you next?” she greeted me.

“
Gina, I'll be in Atlanta
at the bus station around 10 tomorrow morning. Can you pick me up
then?”

“
Absolutely,” she
answered. “What happened?”

“
I’ll tell you all about
it once I get there, okay? Can I stay with you for a little while,
until I figure out what I’m going to do?”

“
Don’t worry, we’ll figure
it all out together, okay?”

“
Okay, Gina,” I said, my
voice cracking. “I’ll see you soon.”

“
Hang in there, babe. Ian
and I are here for you, got that?”

“
Thanks,” I
sniffled.

I'd been at Gina’s for
four full days when Denise called.

“
Denise, hi,” I
greeted.

“
Tylar, I’m in a real
mess, girl.”

“
Denise, what’s
wrong?”

“
What’s wrong? Let me tell
you what’s wrong. Trey has been a raging maniac since you left. Ray
knows that I’m keeping something from him, and you know me, I don’t
like keeping things from Ray.”

“
Well, would it make you
feel better to let Ray know that you simply gave me a ride to the
bus station, and you don’t know where I am, which is the
truth?”

“
At this point, Tylar, I’m
sure he will chew my ass for not coming clean with him sooner about
my involvement. Why don’t you come on back honey? I’m betting Trey
wants to make up.”

“
Denise, it’s not like we
had a big fight or anything. We just want different things. I don’t
like being controlled by him. He has issues of his own. Besides
Denise, Trey knows my cell phone number. He’s not called it even
once.”

“
That’s because he thinks
you ran off with Mark.”

“
What! Why in the world
would he think that?”

“
Because you didn’t take
your car with you. He figured you went with Mark.”

Knowing Trey, he probably
had a bounty hunter on Mark’s trail right now. Trey wasn't the type
to think he'd been bested by another man. I needed to do something
if only to make sure that he didn’t have someone looking for
Mark.

“
Denise, do you know where
Trey is now?”

“
He left for Atlanta late
last night. He will be in his office there today and half-day on
Saturday, then he’s back here.”

“
Okay listen, I'll take
care of this, all right? Don’t worry about it. You're off the hook.
I'll handle it.”

“
Be safe, darlin’. Call me
and let me know what happens.”

“
I will,” I
promised.

Gina walked into the room
just as I hung up with Denise.

“
What’s up?” she asked. I
smiled at her.

“
Show time,” I answered,
filling her in on the details.

An hour and 15 minutes
later, Gina was driving in downtown Atlanta traffic. I'd borrowed a
black pencil skirt that was tight in all the right places, a grey
silk blouse that had the top two buttons undone, hose, and
three-inch black pumps. Gina loaned me a black clutch to set the
very sexy, but very business-like outfit in place. She did my eye
makeup for me as only she could. My hair was flat-ironed straight,
now below my shoulders. I checked my lipstick in my compact mirror.
Perfect.

“
Here it is girlfriend,”
Gina said as she pulled her car to the curb. It was an impressive
building in downtown Atlanta.

“
You call me when you want
me to pick you up, okay?

“
Gina, I’m sure Trey will
give me a lift back.”

“
Honey, I’m just worried
if you’ll survive that fucking maniac.”

“
He’s not all that bad
Gina, give the guy a break. I'll call you if I need a ride,
okay?”

I got out of the car, and
walked across the pavement entering through the revolving glass
doors into the building. Trey’s firm was in the penthouse. That
figures, I thought, pushing the button for the elevator.

When the elevator doors
opened on the top floor, the first thing I saw were the huge, gold
letters with the firm’s name inscribed on the wall: “Pierce,
Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair.” I had to admit, it was
impressive. The heels of my pumps clicked on the marble floor
leading up to the receptionist’s station. A very pretty,
well-dressed blond looked up as I approached.

“
May I help you?” she
asked.

“
Yes, my name is Tylar
Preston. I’m here to see Trey Sinclair,” I stated as if I had every
right to interrupt his day.

“
Is Mr. Sinclair expecting
you?” she asked.

I’m quite certain he’s
not.

“
I don’t have an
appointment, no,” I responded.

She didn’t like me, I
could tell. I didn’t care, I was here to say what I needed to say
to Trey, and then leave. If he chose not to see me without an
appointment, so be it. She picked up the phone and dialed Trey’s
assistant.

“
Yes, Tonya this is
Debbie. There's a Ms. Tylar Preston at reception to see Mr.
Sinclair. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

I waited, tapping my foot
as if my time was far more important than any of theirs. I liked
it. A few moments later Debbie got a look of surprise on her
expertly made-up face.

“
Oh, very well. Yes I'll
tell her. Thank you.”

She looked at me with a
fake smile.

“
Mr. Sinclair’s assistant
will be with you momentarily to take you to his office. Can I offer
you any refreshment, coffee, juice, or water?”

“
I’m fine thank you,” I
replied.

Several moments later, as
predicted, another young impeccably dressed and coifed brunette
came to reception.

“
Ms. Preston?” she asked,
holding her hand out to me. “I’m Tonya, Mr. Sinclair’s assistant.
How are you?”

“
I’m well, thank you,
Tonya.”

“
If you'll come this way,
please.”

I followed Tonya down a
wide marbled hallway that curved several times. There were rows of
doors lining each side of the hallway. We finally reached one that
had Trey’s name embossed in gold on the door, which she held open
for me, standing aside. This was her office, and beyond, there was
another heavy wooden door. “You may go on in, Ms. Preston. Mr.
Sinclair is expecting you.”

My courage was quickly
fading. What was I doing here? It was one thing to be brave and
bold when those sapphire blue eyes weren’t piercing through me.
Suddenly, my legs felt like rubber. I can do this, I repeated to
myself, making my way over to his door, my heels sinking into the
deep carpet.

My hand trembled as I
turned the doorknob and stepped into his inner sanctum. Those
magnificent blue eyes were immediately upon me as I crossed the
threshold, closing the door behind me. He stood up from his massive
desk, dressed impeccably in a custom-tailored suit. In a stride, he
stood before me. I wasn’t sure if I should offer my hand for a
handshake, realizing instantly that this wasn't what Trey had in
mind. His arms were around me, pulling me against his strong, hard
body. His hands cupped my face, looking at me with those
magnificent blue orbs.