The Only Shark In The Sea (The Date Shark Series Book 3) (8 page)

Chapter 10

The Imminent Collapse

Arriving at work was always a stressful thing for Natalie. Even coming in half an hour early to avoid the morning rush left her trembling. That was an average morning. Sitting in her car, terrified of another confrontation with Samuel, the man who had accosted her, she couldn’t force her hands to let go of the steering wheel.

What if he saw her? Surely by today he would be informed about her complaint. The day before, with Vance there to support her, filing the report really did seem like the smartest thing to do. Everything was different that morning. Vance wasn’t there to back her up. Neither was her boss. All she had to defend herself against Samuel’s inevitable anger was herself, and that was never going to work.

By ten till nine, she still hadn’t left her car. The parking lot was filling with other employees. It was the terrifying prospect of actually having to interact with one of them that finally got her moving. She still took the stairs to avoid contact, but by the time she made it to her floor there were already several people milling about. Natalie tracked their movements warily and dodged them as best she could, not breathing again until she was locked away in her office.

The second she sat down, her office phone rang. She nearly fell off her chair at the sound, but she snatched it up a moment later to make the offending noise stop. “Hello?” she answered. Expecting to hear the voice of her boss, she wasn’t at all prepared for what she heard instead.

“Natalie?” the gruff voice barked.

That voice stilled the blood in her veins. Everything seemed to stop. Her heart. Her breathing. Her thoughts. Panic hovered around her like a fog, but she was too stunned to even give in to its pull. All she could do was sit stiffly in her chair, fingers white around the receiver, and stare blankly at the wall.

“We’ve waited long enough,” he grumbled.

Her brain was screaming at her to hang up the phone, to make his hateful voice go away, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe, either, and black spots swam in front of her eyes.

“It’s been seven years. Seven years of you escaping punishment. Seven years of hiding from us, but now that I’ve found you, it’s time to come home and face what you’ve done.”

Hang up the phone!
she screamed at herself, but her body was completely useless as the black spots grew larger and her fingers began to go numb.

“Don’t ignore me!” he shouted. “If you won’t come face your misdeeds willingly, I’ll drag you back kicking and screaming like I’ve done before!”

Pure terror gave her a strange burst of strength. Her right arm moved fast, slamming the phone down on the receiver before he could say another word, make another threat. She had escaped him once and she would never go back. Not of her own free will. That thought sent a horrible shiver through her body, one that turned into full body trembling, because she knew he was capable of dragging her back to face his punishments. He had done it before and she knew he’d never give up.

How had he found her? It had been seven years since she ran away. When she left, she promised herself she’d never have anything to do with that town or her parents again. It was the one brave thing she had done in her life. She’d left with only the money she had been saving since she was twelve years old when she had started babysitting her neighbor’s kids. She hadn’t even taken a change of clothes.

Natalie had no idea how he had finally tracked her down, but she was terrified of him pulling her back. The life she’d left behind was barely a life at all. Everything she had done since running was to build something better, to become something better. That was why she’d finally called Guy in the first place. Even though the idea of becoming a date shark client had horrified her, she wanted to start living a real life.

Natalie was desperate to leave all of that behind, but she also knew how difficult it was to resist the call she had answered to out of fear and duty for the first eighteen years of her life. He was her father. Didn’t he deserve her respect? He had drilled it into her mind for so long and with so much force that even now she struggled to rebel against it. Eighteen years of being treated like she was worth less than the dirt his boots carried in every day from work said she was right to run, but eighteen years of being forced to play his games made it almost painful to resist.

Samuel didn’t cross her mind for the rest of the morning. Neither did any of the work she was supposed to be doing. On the verge of shutting down, Natalie sat in the same position, not moving or thinking, for over an hour. She might have stayed there all day if her phone hadn’t rung again.

Her heart leapt into her throat at the shrill ringing. She felt like the Tin Man, joints rusted shut, as she tried to force herself to lean toward the phone enough to check the caller ID. Lightheaded to the point that her vision blurred, Natalie was barely able to make out her boss’s number.

Snapping the phone off the cradle and up to her ear, Natalie’s quavering voice said, “Yes, Mr. Burk?”

“Natalie, have you seen Samuel this morning?”

The mention of his name pushed her already taut nerves closer to their breaking point. “No. Why?”

“He was supposed to meet with me fifteen minutes ago to discuss the mediation required by what he did to you, but nobody’s seen him this morning,” Mr. Burk said.

Not sure she could handle much more, Natalie struggled to remain as calm as she could. “I haven’t seen him. Should I be concerned?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Donald said. “I know you’ll probably stay in your office all day regardless, which is good today, but if you do see him, please let me know right away.”

“Yes. Okay.”

He hung up while Natalie’s head spun. Samuel was missing. Her father had found her. Everything was falling apart. She did the only thing her scrambled thoughts could manage. Phone pressed to her ear, she trembled as she waited, pleading for him to pick up.

“Natalie?” Vance said. He sounded like he was anxious, maybe even on the move.

It was only then that Natalie realized she had probably interrupted a session. Why had he answered instead of letting it go to voicemail? Why had she called?

“Natalie?” Vance tried again. “Are you okay?”

“I…”

No. The answer was no. She was so far from okay she was barely holding it together. He was in the middle of something, though. As panicked as she felt, neither Samuel nor her father would burst into her locked office and attack her right in that moment. Taking a deep breath, she did what she could to calm herself back down.

“Could we have an extra session this week? Today?”

There was a moment of hesitation before Vance responded. “Of course, Natalie. Whatever you need. Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Yes. I mean, maybe. Well, yes on one front and only maybe on the other. I just…”

“Need to talk,” Vance finished. “Will you be okay until this evening? I’m heading to the hospital during lunch to see my friends’ new baby. I can meet with you this evening if that’s okay, but if you’re feeling threatened or in danger…”

“No, no,” Natalie said hastily, even though she had no idea whether or not that was true. “I’ll be fine until tonight. Go see the new baby. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? You don’t sound fine.”

It was so tempting to tell him how right he was, but Natalie dug up some courage and shook her head. “It can wait. We can meet at the café later. Just call me when you’re ready.”

Vance sighed, but relented. “Steph had to stay home from work because of a migraine. Will you be okay if it’s just me?”

Probably not, but at this point Natalie was already so close to her breaking point that a little more panic would hardly make a difference. Plus, she was desperate. “Yes. Fine. I’ll be okay. Sure.”

Her rambling was a clear sign that she was on the verge of a meltdown, but Vance didn’t push her. “Okay. I have to get back to my patient, but I’ll check on you later, okay?” He hesitated.

“Yeah, sure.” Natalie could tell he was worried and didn’t want to leave her hanging, but he had a patient waiting on him and she had already interrupted his day too much. Breathing in slowly, Natalie steeled herself to be strong. “Vance, really, I’ll be okay.”

She doubted he completely believed her, but she must have sounded calm enough to allay his fears. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m done with my last patient. Text me throughout the day on how you’re doing. If you don’t, I’ll assume you’re about to have a repeat of yesterday and I
will
cancel my patients and come find you. If you don’t want me to do that, keep me updated.”

Blown away by his concern, all Natalie could manage in response was a squeaky, “Okay.”

He hung up a few seconds later, leaving her to sit and stare at her desk again. It was just after ten o’clock in the morning. Her work day ended at six, and she assumed it was the same for Vance. That left eight hours for her to sit safely behind locked doors and cross her fingers that no one would find her. Surely it would take longer than that for her father to track her down…if he wasn’t already there.

That thought sent her breathing rate through the roof. There was no chance in hell she was unlocking her office door until she knew Vance would be there to protect her from the imminent collapse of her entire life. It was poised to crumble down around her feet at any second and she only hoped the bubble gum and Band-Aids she’d been using to hold it together for the last seven years would keep her together until six o’clock. She had faith in Vance, and trusted him, but maybe she was asking too much this time.

Chapter 11

The Truth

Waking up next to Stephanie earlier that morning, who had been complaining about a horrible headache and being sick to her stomach, was a sure sign Vance was in for a rough day. Steph was rarely sick, but when she was, it hit hard. The last time she had been truly sick had been two years previous, and she had been forced to stay home for over a week. Vance hoped this time wouldn’t be as bad.

Between checking on Steph and getting updates from Natalie, his phone had been buzzing like he had a bumblebee trapped in his pocket all morning. As he rushed to catch the elevator in the lobby of the hospital, it buzzed again and he read a text from Natalie saying she was staying locked in her office for lunch as the door slid closed.

He had hoped to see a text from Steph as well, but maybe she had finally fallen asleep and was getting some rest. Hope that was the reason plagued him, because he suspected his last text telling her he was going to see the new baby during lunch was the real reason she wouldn’t text him back. The ride up to the maternity floor was anxiety ridden. He’d been excited the night before after getting the text that Leila was in labor. It had been a long labor and Leila hadn’t delivered the baby until just after four in the morning, too late to reschedule any of his patients to be able to get there sooner.

When he’d told Steph about the new arrival that morning, she ran for the bathroom and promptly threw up. While holding her hair back, he told himself it was just whatever bug she’d picked up from her students. The tears she tried to hide when he tucked her back into bed hit him harder than he wanted to admit. He knew the promises he’d made to Stephanie, but watching his closest friends find what he had wanted his entire life was tearing at him regardless of his happiness for them.

Between worrying about Stephanie not feeling well and possibly being angry at him, Natalie being wrapped up in something dangerous, and his own personal struggles, it was a miracle Vance didn’t walk right past Leila’s room and into a wall. Eli flagging him down probably helped. The second Vance stepped into the room, everything he carried vanished.

Leila beamed as she held her infant daughter. The smile Eli had plastered across his face was like a neon sign. Their joy was infectious and Vance found himself grinning as he stepped up to Leila’s bed. Leaning over to kiss his friend’s cheek, he gazed down at the tiny bundle of joy. Her pink cheeks pulsed as she made sucking motions in her sleep and one set of tiny fingers stretched up out of the blanket cocoon.

“Oh, Leila, she’s perfect,” Vance said. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had silky dark hair, a tiny layer of fluff coating her little head. It beckoned to Vance and he desperately wanted to hold her, but hesitated to ask.

Leila knew her friend so well, she shifted and offered up her precious daughter. “Come on, I know you want to hold her.” She grinned as she gestured for Vance to take her.

He didn’t have to be told twice. Carefully scooping the infant into his arms, he had to choke back tears when she stretched her little hand out and grabbed hold of his finger without opening her eyes. “What name did you decide on?”

“Amelie Grace,” Leila said with a smile.

Vance adored the name. They probably could have named her Myrtle and he still would have loved it. Even knowing that he had turned into a doting fool didn’t stop him from fawning over little Amelie. He already volunteered as babysitter for Guy and Charlotte every chance he could get, and he knew he’d be the first in line to give the new parents a break whether Stephanie was as excited about it as he was or not.

“I’m sorry Stephanie isn’t feeling well. We’ll have to have you both over for dinner when I get out of here so she can meet Amelie,” Leila said. Eli stepped up to the bed and took his wife’s hand, but his eyes were on Vance and filled with concern.

A well-practiced habit of making excuses for Stephanie’s family phobias brought the perfect words to his lips, but he faltered in uttering them. “She really was sick this morning, but this kind of thing isn’t easy for her,” he heard himself say. It was like the words were coming from someone else. Eli and Leila both blinked in surprise at his honesty. They both knew about Stephanie’s issues, but they weren’t used to Vance being so blatant about them.

“Well,” Leila said with a kind smile, “we’ll give her however much time she needs.”

“In the meantime,” Eli said, “you’re welcome to stop by and get your baby fix whenever you want.” He reached out and patted Vance’s shoulder. There was understanding in the gesture, but sadness as well.

Struggling to face his friends, Vance looked down at the sleeping child in his arms. She was so sweet, so innocent and pure. How could Stephanie not want this as a part of their life? He knew, and he really did understand, but it was breaking his heart to hold something he wanted so badly and know there was a good chance he would never have it if he stayed with Steph.
If
. Startled by his word choice, Vance struggled to hide the emotions that one word brought up. He’d never before let himself consider
if
, but now it stuck like a burr that refused to be ignored.

Neither of his friends commented on his obvious pain. Instead, they allowed him to hold their brand new daughter as long as he wanted and talked about everything but the obvious. Vance felt blessed to have such amazing friends, and for his chance to have Amelie in his arms. Returning her in order to make it back to see his next patient in time wasn’t easy. He was only able to peel himself away after promising to drop by their apartment as soon as Leila was released to go home.

The rest of his afternoon felt painfully long. He never got another text from Steph, which had him on edge. Regular check-ins from Natalie allayed some of his fears, but when his last patient of the day called to cancel because of a flat tire, he put off calling Natalie in favor of running back to his apartment to check on Stephanie.

Running up the stairs, he fully expected to find her asleep in bed despite his anxiety. He knew something was wrong as soon as he unlocked the door. The quiet he had been hoping for was broken up by muffled sobs. Dropping everything in his hands onto the entryway table, he dashed through the apartment toward the crying.

The search ended at the door to the master bathroom. Shock kept him from responding immediately. Even when Stephanie had been sick to the point of barely being able to get out of bed a few years ago, he had never seen her like this. Sobbing hysterically on the bathroom floor with one arm around her knees and one hand pressed to her head, she didn’t even realize he was there.

“Steph, honey, what’s going on?” Vance begged as he entered the bathroom.

He only made it two steps before a clattering sound caught both their attention. He was merely distracted by the noise, but Steph’s hand shot out from her body in a panic, desperate to retrieve whatever he’d kicked. Blinded by swollen eyes and tears that seemed incapable of slowing, she didn’t see it lying across the room at the joint between the wall and floor, but Vance did.

Numbness spread over his body as he squatted down and reached for the thin plastic rectangle. His girlfriend, the love of his life, sat sobbing on the bathroom floor, but the only thing he could process was that there was a pregnancy test in his hand. He was hardly an expert on pregnancy tests, but the double pink line and the fact that Stephanie was beside herself made it crystal clear what was going on.

Stomping on the intense bubble of joy that spread through his body like a lightning strike took a phenomenal effort. The inconsolable sobbing coming from Stephanie was the only thing capable of focusing him. With the test in hand, Vance kneeled down on the bathroom floor. “Steph, take a deep breath, honey. Forget about everything for a second and just breathe.”

“I…I can’t,” she gasped.

Heaving in breath after breath, she was scaring Vance. He had no choice but to grab her shoulders to steady her just in case she fainted. “Steph, I know you’re panicking, but I need you to calm down. You’re pregnant. I know that terrifies you. You’re not here alone, though. I’m here. I’ll be here every step of the way.”

He tried his hardest to reassure her, but his words only threw her even deeper into frenzy. “No,” she sobbed. “I can’t do this. It’s not…I can’t. I thought maybe I’d be ready this time, but I…I just can’t.” She went flaccid, collapsing so Vance’s grip was the only thing keeping her up.

He knew he should pull her in, hold her until she stopped panicking, but his initial shock at seeing the positive test had morphed into a crushing sense of hollowness.
This time?
He choked on those words. They couldn’t mean what he thought they meant. They just couldn’t.

Suddenly finding it difficult to breathe himself, he pulled his hands away from her shoulders and fell backward onto the floor. Sitting there next to her, he couldn’t react to her pain because he was buried so far under his own.

“This time?” he begged. “What does that mean?”

The absolute vacuum of sound that greeted his question pulled his eyes up to meet hers. Red, swollen, the emotion in her eyes wasn’t regret, but fear…fear that she had let slip a secret she had never intended to reveal. “Vance, I…it was just…”

“You’ve been pregnant before?” His voice sounded like someone else’s. He’d never heard himself sound so strained, so empty. Stephanie didn’t answer, but the guilt in her eyes laid bare the lies. The knife twisted deeper, the blood draining from his face. “When?”

A massive sob wracked her body. Stephanie pressed both hands to her mouth. Her body was practically convulsing as she tried to hold everything in, but her hands dropped away in defeat and she whispered, “Two years ago.”

The force with which the truth slammed into him was like colliding with a brick wall at top speed. She almost never got sick. Before this, the last time had been two years prior. She couldn’t keep anything down, but never ran a fever. Emotionally, she had been a wreck.

“Did you lose the baby?” It was a heartrending thought. They could have had a child. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t told him she was pregnant, but he ached for the pain the miscarriage must have caused her. He was about to pull her into his arms when she spoke and threw everything he thought he knew into chaos.

“No,” she whispered. “I didn’t lose it.”

Everything Vance knew about keeping someone calm vanished from his mind. Panic welled in him so fast he nearly choked on it. “What? What does that mean?” Shaking his head back and forth, he couldn’t accept what she was saying. No. No. There’s no way she would do something like that without even telling him.

“I couldn’t do it, Vance. Please, you have to understand,” she pleaded. Stephanie reached for him, but he snatched his hand away and stared at her, unable to speak a single word. “Please, Vance.” Her voice broke and fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks.

“Say it,” he demanded. “Tell me the truth.”

Pressing her hands to her head as she winced in pain, she rocked back and forth. “I…I had an abortion.” Her head popped up, pleading for understanding. “I just couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, Vance, you know that. I couldn’t have a child. You understand that, right? I had to do it. Please, Vance, say something, please.”

When she was so sick two years earlier, it was the first time she had ever missed work. Vance had cancelled patients and sat with her for days. Comforting her. Supporting her. He’d given her everything he had. What had she done in return?

“You didn’t even tell me?” His words were devoid of emotion, just like he felt. Blinking once, twice, it took his last remaining ounce of strength to look her in the eyes. “You were pregnant with our child, and you never even told me?”

“I knew you’d want me to keep it,” Stephanie said with a sob.

Blistering anger rumbled in his core. How could she? His movements were robotic as he stood and took a step backward. Stephanie panicked, grabbing at him, but he pushed her hands away. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped.

She backed off, but started crying again, the heavy, wracking sobs echoing through her whole body. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” he demanded. “But not sorry enough. You were going to do it again, weren’t you? You weren’t even going to tell me you were pregnant before you made the decision about
our
child all on your own and got rid of it like it was nothing, like it wasn’t a part of
us
!”

“I can’t have a child,” she sobbed.

“Why?” Vance demanded. “We’ve been together since college. Have I ever given you a reason to think I would treat you or our child like your father did? Have I not done enough to earn your trust? You know how much I want children, but have I ever tried to pressure you into it? Have I ever put my needs before yours or made a life-altering decision without talking to you about it first?”

Stephanie dissolved into a fit of awful sobbing. “If I had told you, I would have seen how much you wanted it.”

“So?” Vance yelled. “Do you really think I would have forced you into a decision just because I wanted it?”

“I…” She pressed her hands to her face, tears spilling over her fingers with abandon.