The Lies We Tell Ourselves (A Southern Heroes Novel Book 3)

by Michelle Heard

  The doorbell rings, and because I’m still holding the hot baking tray, I call out, “Nurse Hensley, can you please get the door?”

  “Sure, dear,” she answers.

  Placing the cookies on a cooling rack, I almost drop them when I hear Nurse Hensley scream. Yanking the oven mitts off, I rush out of the kitchen but come to a standstill when Mr. Tymes comes walking in with an arm wrapped around Nurse Hensley’s throat and a gun in his hand.

  Oh, shit. Shock ripples through me as I try to wrap my mind around what I’m seeing. Not thinking, I take a couple of steps to my right, placing myself in front of Mom.

  “Mr. Tymes, what are you doing?” I ask, my voice trembling from the shock.

  “I want money,” he says, his voice thin with tension. “I need to leave the country. Get me money, I just want money.”

  “I’ll have to withdraw some,” I say, hoping I can get him away from Mom by going to the bank.

  “No, you’ll call the cops.” He shakes his head, and there’s a crazy look in his eye, which makes me realize just how bad the situation is.

  “You can come with me,” I say.

  He shakes his head again, and with his bloodshot eyes and clammy skin, he looks downright insane.

  He shoves Nurse Hensley to the side, and when he points the gun at me, the danger we’re in hits hard.

  “You’ll call the cops,” he says frantically.

  “I won’t. I need to go to the bank to get your money.”

  He slaps his hand repeatedly against his forehead and groans. I take a step in his direction, but his head snaps up, as he yells, “Don’t move! I need to think. I just need to think. Stand still!”

  “Okay,” I say, breathless from fright.

  I hear a gurgling sound behind me and spin around, seeing Mom having a seizure, my heart all but stops.

  “Stand still,” Lawrence yells behind me.

  Panic bleeds into my soul, and I slowly move toward Mom while holding my hands up in front of me. “Let me just help my mom,” I plead with him.

  He waves the gun, his eyes bulging with madness. “I’ll shoot you.”

  Movement at the front door draws my attention, and I’m so glad the first floor has an open-plan layout because seeing Alec inching his way toward the living room makes me want to cry with relief. Not knowing what to do, along with the worry for my mom, and fear of Lawrence have been ripping me apart.

  Alec manages to surprise Lawrence and obtain the gun from him in a quick move. Knowing there’s no immediate threat any longer, I rush to Mom’s side. Grabbing the wooden spoon we used for the cookies, I force it between her teeth so she won’t choke on her tongue. Nurse Hensley gets to us as I struggle to get her out of the wheelchair and on the floor. With Nurse Hensley’s help, we turn Mom on her side, and I step back.

  Watching her body spasm, I can’t hold back the tears. Sagging to my knees, it’s ripping me apart watching Mom seize and not being able to stop it.

  She was doing so well.

  She could finally have a conversation with me.

  Oh, God.

  Mom.

  When the seizure finally stops, I crawl to Mom’s side and lifting her head onto my lap, I remove the spoon and toss it to the side. Mom’s lost consciousness, and when she doesn’t come too, sobs tear through me.

  “Please wake up,” I beg, and I hug her to my chest as the fear bleeds through me.

  I won’t survive it again.

  Please.

  “Please let her be okay.”

  “Let’s move her to the room, dear,” Nurse Hensley says, pulling at my arm so I’ll let go of Mom.

  “Give me a second, and I’ll carry her,” Alec says, and I glance over my shoulder to see him shove Lawrence into the guest restroom, and lock him inside.

  Alec rushes over to us, and picking Mom up, he carries her upstairs.

  “I’ll get her comfortable. Don’t worry too much, dear.”

  I nod, unable to get to my feet. My body feels paralyzed with dread.

  Minutes later, Wyatt comes running into the house. Reaching me, he crouches and places a hand on my shoulder.

  “Are you okay?”

  I can’t find the words to answer him.

  Am I okay?

  No. No, I’m not okay.

  Mom was doing so well.

  We were finally happy again.

  CHAPTER 25

  “Don’t tell me to walk away.

  I don’t know how to.”

  ALEC

  Rushing back down the stairs, I see Wyatt crouching by Reece. I called him on my way over after the panic receiver went off.

  “I locked Tymes in the guest restroom.” I hold the key out to Wyatt. “Will you get him out of here, please? I’ll get everyone’s statement after they’ve calmed down a little.”

  “Sure,” Wyatt says, taking the key.

  I crouch next to Reece and framing her face with my hands, I tilt it up. Seeing the fear in her eyes, I pull her to my chest and hold her while Wyatt gets Tymes out of the house.

  Once they're gone, I slip my arms under Reece’s back and knees and pick her up. I carry her over to the couch and sit down with her in my arms. Holding her head to my chest, I press a kiss to her forehead.

  “Are you okay?” I ask.

  She shakes her head and curls more into me as she begins to cry.

  “Mrs. Nicolson’s awake,” Nurse Hensley calls from the top of the stairs.

  Reece moves so fast, she falls onto the ground, but jumps up and runs to her mother’s room. I follow behind her, and rushing into the room, Reece crawls onto the bed and takes her mom’s hand in both of hers.

  “Mom?” The apprehension in her voice is hard to hear.

  “I’m okay.” Hearing the clear words, Reece drops her head to her mom’s chest and cries.

  I can’t begin to imagine how relieved she must feel right now.

  Mrs. Nicolson’s eyes find me, and she smiles weakly. “You came.”

  “I promised I would,” I say, sitting down in a chair next to the bed.

  “You did.” She reaches out to me, and I take her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Just tired,” she answers.

  Reece sits up and looks at her Mom again, before reaching next to the bed for some tissues. She wipes the tears away, then lies down beside her mom.

  I get up, and giving the two women some privacy, I walk to where Nurse Hensley is standing. “Let’s talk downstairs.”

  I quickly grab a pen and my notebook from the car, then go back in to get Nurse Hensley’s statement of what happened.

  After I get all their statements, I call Wyatt to let him know I’ll drop it off by him first thing the next morning.

  Later, while I’m reading to Mrs. Nicolson, both the women fall asleep. Placing the book on the bedside table, I press a kiss to Mrs. Nicolson’s cheek.

  Carefully, I pick up Reece and carry her to her own room. I place her on the bed, then take off her sandals. Lying down beside her, I push my left arm under her head, and holding her against me, I place her arm around my waist.

  I let out a breath, and press my mouth against her hair. When she snuggles closer to me, I close my eyes, letting myself relax for the first time since the panic alarm sounded.

  Today I realized just how much Reece loves her mom. I’ll never forget the fear on her face while she was waiting for her Mom to wake up.

  It’s as if their roles are reversed, and Reece is the parent. She loves her mom the same way she’d care for her own child.

  And me? How do I feel about them?

  I know I can’t leave them. I wouldn’t know how to.

  I wake early, and it takes me a second to remember I’m in Reece’s bed. Feeling her body snuggled against mine brings a smile to my face. Keeping my eyes closed, I enjoy the moment, just holding her.

  Damn, I really don’t want to get up.

  Careful not to wake her, I pull my arm fr
om under her and slowly move off the bed. Looking down at her sleeping face, I wonder what her reaction is going to be when she finds out I spent the night. I brush her hair back and lightly press my lips to her forehead, then leave, softly closing the bedroom door behind me.

  I head to the room I used to stay in. I left a couple of things behind, one of them being a toothbrush. After getting ready, I check in on Mrs. Nicolson before letting myself out of the house.

  Once I’m in my car, I plug my phone in, then dial Wyatt’s number.

  “Just can’t leave me alone. I knew you felt the same way,” he answers the call.

  “Where the hell do you get the energy to joke around at four in the mornin’?” I ask.

  “My mamma always said I’m special.”

  “Yeah, I think she meant somethin’ else by that,” I joke, which has Wyatt laughing. “I’m on my way to the station, are you there?”

  “Yeah, sadly I have no life outside of this place.” He actually sounds resigned which has me chuckling.

  “I’ll grab us some coffee and see you in ten minutes. I want to talk to Roberts before the bail hearin’.”

  “Grab me two coffees. One won’t be enough if I have to see his face so early.”

  I cut the call and shoot through a drive-thru for the coffees. When I pull up to the station, Wyatt’s sitting outside on the stairs. The instant he sees me, he’s up and jogging my way.

  He opens the passenger door, and gets inside, then reaches for one of the cups. “Come to daddy. Damn, I need to feel your heat.”

  I start to laugh, but manage to say, “You seriously need to get laid.”

  “Tell me about it,” he grumbles, then downs half the cup of coffee. “This is the closest I get to anythin’ warm and wet these days.”

  I shake my head at him, unable to say anything as I laugh. Wyatt’s really grown on me since we started working together. He’s one of those people who just brightens your day.

  When we’re done with our coffees, we head into the station, and Wyatt goes to get Roberts while I walk to the interview room. Making sure the camera is set up and recording, I take a seat at the table and wait.

  Wyatt brings Roberts in, shoving him down in the other chair, then walks around to my side of the table.

  “Mornin’,” I say, smiling widely at Roberts. “Did you see your friend we brought in last night?”

  Roberts lets out a smirk, rolling his eyes.

  “Your bail hearin’ is set for tomorrow.”

  An arrogant grin spreads over his face. “Yeah, I’ll be out of this place in no time.”

  “You think?”

  “Yeah.” He leans forward, resting his forearms on the table between us. “Haven’t you heard?”

  “No, I haven’t,” I say. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  I watch as Roberts’ face transforms from sneering at me to looking distraught. Fuck, he’s good.

  A tear trickles down his face, and he sniffs. “It’s been so hard tryin’ to do the right thing. I was threatened by Joe Randall. All those photos he sent me of Reece and her mom –” He stops for a moment as if his voice is breaking and I let out a burst of laughter. “I didn’t know what to do, so I paid him whatever he asked. I got pulled into a world of drugs against my will. I went to my foster father for help, and with him being such an upstandin’ citizen of Lyman, he tried to help me by talkin’ to Randall. That’s how he got dragged into this mess. We were just tryin’ to protect our families.”

  Wyatt places his hands on the table, and leaning over it there’s no sign of his sense of humor as he watches Roberts.

  “Let me guess,” Wyatt says, his voice sounding deadly with anger, I’m actually shocked. “Randall’s admittin’ to all of the shit you just said?”

  “Yeah, he couldn’t live with his conscience any longer,” Roberts replies, looking smug as hell.

  “What the fuck happened to you, Clay?” Wyatt asks as he pushes away from the table. “How did you fall so far?”

  Roberts locks eyes with Wyatt, and smirks, “A man will do anythin’ for the love of a woman.”

  I stare at Roberts until he brings his eyes to mine, knowing precisely what he means by the words.

  “You better stay away from her,” I warn him.

  As an answer, I get a knowing smile from Roberts.

  CHAPTER 26

  “I want him to stay.”

  REECE

  Alec held me all night long. The thought is so comforting it makes me feel better after the awful day we had yesterday.

  He only left for a couple of hours this morning to meet with Wyatt, then came back to spend the rest of the day with us.

  We’re all in the cinema, surrounded by snacks and watching Dirty Dancing.

  Noticing Alec’s been a little tense since he got back, I’ve been wondering whether it would be okay to hold his hand. He’s sitting between Mom and me, staring at the screen, and I can see his thoughts are miles away.

  Halfway through the movie, Mom suddenly says, “I miss dancin’.”

  It’s the first time she’s said something like that, and it leaves me at a loss for words.

  Alec looks at her, and smiles, “Yeah, did you dance a lot?”

  “All the time,” she answers. Smiling she adds, “I was pretty good at it, too.”

  “You’ll have to show me sometime.” I almost slap him on the arm for saying something like that to Mom.

  Instead of being upset, Mom winks at Alec. “You just wait. I’ll teach you a thing or two.”

  There are a couple of minutes of silence where we focus on the movie again, but then Mom interrupts again. “By the way, can you look at my panic button. The back cover came off yesterday.”

  I lean forward in my chair and glance over to Mom. Seeing the panic button, I say, “I forgot you had that thing.”

  “If only you knew what she’s been doing with it,” Nurse Hensley mumbles.

  Mom’s head swings to Nurse Hensley, and she widens her eyes at her while shaking her head.

  “What am I missin’?” I ask when it’s clear they’re hiding something from me.

  “Dear, your mom’s been pressin’ that button every time you talk about Alec, lettin’ him listen in.”

  Slowly, I glance at Mom, then Alec. They both look like they’ve been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

  “Oh, don’t give me that look,” Mom laughs it away. “I’ve been doing you a favor.”

  When I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow at Alec, he shakes his head. “I had nothin’ to do with that.”

  “But you’ve been listenin’?” Which reminds me. “And the cameras? You still have them up around the house?”

  He moves to get up. “I’ll take care of those now.”

  “No, I’m only pullin’ your leg. Leave them, I feel better knowin’ you can see if somethin’ happens,” I quickly say to stop him.

  “You should just move back,” Mom suddenly says.

  “He might as well, seein’ he’s here all the time,” Nurse Hensley adds her two cents.

  “Yeah, you think so?” Alec asks.

  “Hey!” I snap, then glaring at the three of them, I say, “Why do I get the feelin’ y’all planned this?”

  “Us?” Mom gasps, feigning surprise. “Now, why on earth would we do such a thing?”

  Pointing a finger at her, I give her a knowing look, “I know what you’re up to.”

  “I’m just sayin’,” Mom replies, wagging her eyebrows.

  There’s a minute of silence, then Alec asks, “So just to be clear, I should leave the cameras up?”

  I start to laugh. “Yeah, for now at least.”

  After the movie, we get Mom settled in bed.

  “I’m gonna head home,” Alec says, then kisses Mom goodbye.

  Feeling a stab of disappointment because he’s leaving, I follow him to the front door. Opening it, I say, “Thank you for hangin’ with us today. It was fun.”

  Alec comes to stand in front of
me and smiles while looking into my eyes. “Thanks for havin’ me, I had a great time.”

  He leans down and presses a quick kiss to my lips, which only leaves me wanting more.

  When he first kissed me, it caught me off guard. Back then I was adamant not to get involved in a relationship, but Alec has slowly been changing my way of thinking. He has proved himself over and over to be a decent, caring person, and I honestly don’t think I’ll ever meet another man who will be willing to spend so much time with my mother.

  I’m not sure what we are, and I’m tired of trying to figure it out. I’ve decided to just let things happen at a natural pace.

  I’m reluctant to let him go, but still say, “Drive safely.” I watch him walk outside, but then hurriedly blurt, “Stay.”

  Alec stops and slowly turns around. There’s a tender expression on his face, telling me I did the right thing by asking him to stay.

  He walks back to me, and slipping an arm around my waist, he lowers his head until we’re a breath apart. The way he looks at me has my heart thumping in my chest, and it slams against my ribs when his mouth crashes against mine.

  Unlike the other quick pecks, he brings his hands to the sides of my neck and holds me tight as he tilts his head, deepening the kiss. Reaching up, I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing our bodies closer together.

  Alec keeps full control over the kiss, and even though there are no tongues involved, there’s so much passion it quickly has me gasping for air.

  When he ends the kiss, he slowly pulls back, and his eyes find mine with an intensity I haven’t seen before. It sends waves of anticipation and desire through my body.

  Not wanting to break the moment between us, I lower my arms and take hold of his hand. I close the front door and lock it, then walk to my bedroom.

  As soon as I shut the door and we’re alone in my room, Alec closes the distance between us with one step. Framing my face, his mouth finds mine. Our lips devour each other as his tongue moves over mine, and the sensation is so overwhelming I grab hold of his shoulders to keep from sinking to the floor as my legs turn to rubber.