Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (26 page)

Feeling her stare, Rush
turned and smiled at her. He moved to her and pressed his lips against her
head. “Good morning, sleepyhead. We thought you’d never wake up,” Rush said.

“Can I hold him?”

“Of
course.
 Just be mindful of your stitches,” he
said, as he placed Blake’s little body in her arms.”

Trinity’s eyes misted as
she kissed Blake’s little head and smelled his wonderful smell. 
“Hey, Blake.
 It’s mommy. Hey, my precious boy. I’ve
missed you so much. Have you been a good boy for daddy? Mommy is so sorry. So
very sorry,” she murmured against his dark hair. He started to squirm and
nuzzle into her neck looking to find a place to nurse. When he was denied, he
began to whimper and then wail. She looked helplessly to Rush, who walked
calmly to her and handed her a bottle. She tried to put the bottle in his
mouth, but he kept moving his head, seeking her. Tears filled her eyes. She’d
never be able to give him that again. Frustration had Blake’s face turning red
and his wails got louder. She looked once more to Rush, who moved to her
solemnly and took both Blake and the bottle from her.

Once he got Blake calmed,
he sat in the chair and fed him. From Rush, Blake took the bottle. Trinity
couldn’t help but feel cheated.

“You’re overthinking this,
Trinity. It will all work out. You’ll see,” he said.

Trinity’s chest burned.
She’d done this to her poor baby. Pleating the sheet across her lap between her
fingers, she said, “So what happened?”

Rush rolled his head on his
neck and sighed. After a moment’s pause, he told her the story, glossing over
what he could. When he was done, she sat staring at her stilled fingers. “You
should have just left me,” she said softly. “If something would have happened
to you or Blake because of me…” she stopped and swallowed hard.

“Well, it didn’t. We’re
fine and you’ll soon be fine. I am curious about one thing,” he said.

“What?”

“What did 
Marlena
 Franklin have to do with anything?” he asked.

Trinity told him what 
Marlena
 had told him.

“So, she went after you to
get your father?” he asked.

“I think it was a weird
mixture of that and revenge. She really hated my mother…” Trinity paused.

“What is it?” he asked when
she didn’t continue.

“I should have asked you about
the package. I think I knew all along that it wasn’t real. I just so wanted it
to be. I’m sorry, Rush, so very sorry,” she said softly.

“It’s over,” he said as he
stood. “I’m going to take Blake back to the hotel so you can rest. I have a few
things to take 
of
. But we’ll be 
back
 this evening. Okay?”

“Okay,” she answered
quietly.

“Trinity, in a few days
we’ll be home and then we can all move forward with our lives.”

Chapter Seventeen

As Rush had promised, they were home within the week. They settled
into somewhat of a routine. Because Trinity had to sleep at an angle due to the
after effects of the pneumonia, a hospital bed had been brought in and set up
in one of the spare bedrooms. Blake still refused to take a bottle from her and
would cry when she attempted to give it to him. Trinity was still so weak and
spent most of her time in bed. She did force herself to get up and move around
a little each day in order to rebuild her strength. Rush was forced to hit the
ground running after having been gone from work for so long unexpectedly.

They’d been home two weeks,
Blake was asleep, and Trinity was at the table eating dinner alone, as was
becoming the norm. She’d barely seen Rush since they’d returned. He always
stopped by to check on her when he returned from work before he retired either
to his office or to the master bedroom. While he always pressed his lips to her
forehead, for the most part, he kept his distance. His obvious withdrawal from
her made her already scattered emotions even more scattered. What had she
expected? She’d put their son in mortal danger, even after having been warned.

As she pushed the food
around on her plate, she was surprised to hear the front door open. She turned
her head to see Rush come in. He gave her a strained smile before turning to
head for his office. Unexpected tears came into her eyes, but she blinked them
back. He was busy and she’d pulled him from his work for nearly a week. She’d
just laid her napkin on top of her plate and was preparing to leave the table
when he came into the dining room. As usual, he placed a quick kiss on her head
and moved into the kitchen to retrieve his plate.

He sat down across from her
and poured himself a glass of wine. He took a sip. “How are you feeling today?”
he asked as he forked linguine into his mouth.

“Good… fine,” she replied
as she always did. She let her eyes roam over him. He looked tired and his hair
was in desperate need of cutting.

He studied her for a
moment. “
Sundra
 called me today concerned about
you. 
Said you were too tired to see her.”

Trinity looked away from
his gorgeous face and shrugged.

He chewed his food as he
contemplated her. “I need to fly back out to the Caymans but I don’t want to
leave if you’re not feeling well enough.”

She swallowed at the
thought of him being gone – and also that he’d not asked her to go with him -
but smoothed her features before turning to face him. “I’m fine. You go.”

He nodded as he
thoughtfully chewed his food. “I had a message your father called me at my
office. I didn’t have time to call him back. I can’t imagine what he’d want. Do
you?”

“No. I haven’t spoken to
him since… before.”

He took another sip of his
pale wine. “I shouldn’t be gone for more than a week. Jorge and Radcliff are
here, so you should be okay.” He hesitated before adding softly, “You and Blake
will stay with them, won’t you?”

She snatched her head up to
stare at him, amazed at the question. 
“Of course!”

“Good,” he said. “I… 
uhh
… will be leaving in the morning. Sorry about the late notice.”

“No problem. I hope you
have a good trip. I’ll see you when you return. If you’ll excuse me, I’m
feeling a little tired. I think I’ll go
  lie
 down.
Goodnight, Rush,” she said as she rose quickly and put her plate in the
kitchen, not waiting for him to respond.

It was natural he’d be
concerned about her taking Blake out by herself, but still it stung that he’d
think she hadn’t learned her lesson.

~*~

The morning Rush flew out on his way to the Cayman Islands, 
Sundra
 called. Feeling lonelier than she’d ever
remembered, Trinity begged her friend to come over.

“About time you allowed me
over, “
Sundra
 said, as they sat by the pool
later that afternoon.

“I was just tired,” Trinity
replied.

“Well, you look better than
you did when you first got home. 
Man, talk about death
warmed over!”

“I’m better,” Trinity said
before glancing over at her friend. “I just felt bad for getting you involved
in all that.”

“You certainly know how to
show a girl a good time,” 
Sundra
 said with
a grin.

Trinity gave her a small smile.

“Were you scared?” 
Sundra
 asked quietly.

“Terrified
at first.
 I’m so thankful you
were able to get away with Blake. 
That was the worst
part… worrying that they had you and Blake.”

“Man, you should have seen Rush’s
face when he came to the hotel to get Blake. He was totally freaked out!” 
Sundra
 exclaimed.

Trinity cringed at the
thought. “I was so stupid.”

“How could you know?” 
Sundra
 replied.

“I… I should have waited… I
should have asked Rush about it instead of just assuming he was keeping
something from me. I could have gotten all of us killed!”

“How is Rush handling
everything now?” 
Sundra
 asked thoughtfully.

Trinity twisted her lips
into a grimace. “Not well,” she answered quietly.

“How do you mean?”

Wrapping her towel around
her shoulders to ward off a sudden chill, she said, “He’s… not happy, I don’t
think.” As she tried to stop her lips from trembling, she continued, “I think
he’s biding his time before he breaks off our engagement… not that I blame him.
I was just so stupid.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He stays away from home a
lot. He… can barely stand to even touch me,” Trinity answered as she looked
away. “I’ve ruined everything because I didn’t trust him. I should have trusted
him.”

“I don’t know, Trinity,” 
Sundra
 said doubtfully, “You didn’t see his face. He
looked… haunted.”

“Before El Paso, all he
talked about was getting married. Now, he doesn’t talk about anything.”

“I’m sure he’s been
busy,” 
Sundra
 said.

“I believe once he thinks I
can manage on my own, he’ll end it.”

“What will you do?” 
Sundra
 asked worriedly.

With a shrug of her
shoulders, Trinity said, “It’s what I deserve… I’ll leave.”

“What about Blake?”

Unable to stop her lips
from trembling this time, she replied, “I don’t know. He may take him away from
me. You can’t blame him for that.”

“But you’re his
mother,” 
Sundra
 said shocked.

“Yeah, but apparently not a
very good one,” Trinity answered softly.

~*~

Rush didn’t call his first night away, nor the second. Trinity
told herself it didn’t matter, he was working. But she felt the distance
between them, and not just in miles. She picked up her cellphone a thousand
times to call him, but put it down just as many times. Calling him would make
her seem needy and desperate… which she was, but she didn’t want him to know
that.

By the second night, the
longing to cling tight to Rush became almost too much. Once she put Blake down,
instead of going into the room she’d been using, she went into the master
bedroom and slipped into Rush’s bed. His pillow still smelled like him. She’d
missed that smell. She missed him… she would always miss him. Pain squeezed her
heart so hard, she nearly lost her breath. She loved him so much and he’d loved
her once.

The next morning it became crystal
clear why Rush hadn’t had time to call her. He’d been too busy wining and
dining Olivia Terry – if the newspaper was anything to go by. There were
several pictures of them together – some when he’d met her at the airport; some
with his head bent close to hers over dinner; and some with their bodies held
close together as they slow danced in the midst of strobe lights. With a shaky
finger, she traced the curve of his attractive face. Inanely she noticed he’d
had time to get his hair cut since he’d left home. 
How stupid to notice
something like that
, she thought to herself.

Trinity felt sick to her
stomach. If she had any lingering doubts as to if it were indeed over, she now
had undeniable proof. Looking beneath the pictures, it would seem there were others
who doubted their engagement would last also.

Hot & Spicy in the
Islands! Is it love or lust for Billionaire playboy Rush Drayton? Is his recent
engagement with Savannah’s own Trinity Grace over? Or is Drayton exercising a
‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy with his lady loves? Rumors on the island say
Drayton has been seen romancing socialite Olivia Terry over many exotic places.
Is it love or lust? Sources close to Terry say it’s too soon to tell.

Tears gushed from her eyes. As much as she’d had tried to deny it,
she knew it was over. Her heart seized in her chest. She struggled to suck air
into her lungs which seared with the effort. She didn’t think she could endure
this again. This time, however, she knew she was the one to blame. She’d done
this to herself. She’d driven him into Olivia Terry’s willing and waiting arms.
While she would have preferred Rush to have just told her it was over, she’d
read the signs long before he left for the Cayman Islands.

She couldn’t contain the
sobs. He was with someone else in the very place he had wanted to marry her. It
should have been her. A small part of her wondered if she just ignored the
newspaper and played along if she could maybe keep a small part of him. A wail
coming through the baby monitor reminded Trinity of the only small part of Rush
she’d ever have. Moving quickly, she picked up her precious baby boy and held
his body against her own as she cried right along with him.

She was numb now… both in
mind and body. She’d put Blake down for the night and now she sat out on the
edge of the dock with a bottle of bourbon. The taste at first had been hard to
handle and she’d gagged. But now, it 
flowed
 smooth,
even without the help of a mixer. It’d been a while since she’d had anything
alcoholic, and it’d gone mercifully straight to her head.