Love Series (Complete Series)

by Natasha Madison

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he says, and if he wasn’t so perfect for her, I might have rolled my eyes.

  “This is such a nice surprise,” she says and then looks at us. “What’s the matter?” She spots it right away.

  “Shall we go inside?” my father says, and Hailey nods. Her hand remains in Jensen’s as he whispers in her ear.

  My mother looks around and tries to make small talk. “This is lovely.”

  “Cut the bullshit,” Hailey says. “What’s the matter?”

  “Dear, why don’t you sit down,” my mother urges, and she walks to the couch, sitting on it, with Jensen next to her. My parents sit on the other one, leaving me in front of them. “Blake,” my mother says, and I just nod.

  “I have something to tell you,” I start saying and hold my neck with my hand. “There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m in love.” Hailey’s eyes go wide, and the smile fills her face as tears start to form. “Before you celebrate. I’m in love with Samantha.” Just like that, her face drops; my mother and father quickly look at her while Jensen looks like he’s going to freak out.

  “What?” she whispers and gets up, throwing her hands up. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

  “Honey, hear him out,” Jensen says, and she turns and glares at him, but he doesn’t stop. “Come and sit down and hear him out, and then if you freak out, you freak out.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest. “You knew?”

  He shakes his head. “I did not, but I think since he dragged your parents here, you should hear him out.”

  She returns to her seat next to him, and he puts his hand around her shoulder. She leans into him. “Okay. I’m listening.”

  I take a deep breath. “It started when Crystal and I went to see her before you guys moved here. Then she called me, or I called her, I don’t even know anymore,” I tell her, and now I start pacing. “She wanted answers; that is how it started.”

  I look at Hailey and see that the tears are rolling down her face. “She wanted to know how it happened. How you and Eric met.”

  “What?” she asks on a whisper.

  “She wanted to know if he did certain things for you that he didn’t do for her. I don’t know how it happened, but it just did, and then our conversations got deeper. We spoke every single day. And every single day, she got stronger and stronger, except she refused to leave the house.”

  “I don’t understand,” Hailey says.

  “Her in-laws started treating her differently when she started to question things. She is actually a ward of the state. She grew up and had no one till she met Eric.” I stop talking to see if she is still up to it. “Are you okay?” I ask her.

  “I’m fine.” She motions with her hand for me to continue.

  “Anyway, they took her in and treated her like she was family until she started pointing out that it wasn’t your fault that Eric cheated. That it was Eric’s fault.” I stop, not sure I should repeat the rest. “They told her if she was woman enough or wife enough, he wouldn’t have gone elsewhere.”

  The gasp of shock comes from both Jensen and Hailey, but I don’t stop. “It gets better or worse, depending on how you look at it. She found a letter.”

  Hailey sits up straight. “It was a brown envelope. He left his confession of cheating on her along with the picture of you two on your wedding day.”

  “Oh my God,” she says, putting her hand to her mouth. “Yeah, and if that wasn’t enough, he basically told her that she made him, but you completed him.”

  “Asshole,” Jensen says while Hailey just looks down and shakes her head.

  “I can’t even imagine,” she says and looks up. “I don’t understand.”

  “It gets worse,” my father finally says. “Her in-laws are suing her for custody of the girls.” Jensen gets up now and storms out of the house, slamming the door. “Um,” my father says, “perhaps I should make sure he doesn’t do anything that will need my assistance.”

  “Surely, they can’t take the kids away from her,” Hailey says. “That’s crazy.”

  “They are out for blood,” my mother says, getting up and going to her. “They are also kicking her out of the house and tried to seize all her accounts.”

  “What?” I say, shocked at the last part.

  “She didn’t want to worry you, but they blocked all her accounts even the one she transferred money into. Luckily, she went every day and took out a little bit at a time because she would be stuck with nothing and two girls to feed.”

  “I don’t understand what this has to do with me?” Hailey asks just when my father walks in the door with a red-faced Jensen who goes to Hailey and kisses her lips.

  “I don’t know how to ask for this, but she has no one. And Dad doesn’t want to put me on the stand. All she has is herself and the letter that Eric …”

  “NO!” Jensen says, yelling. “No fucking way is she going in that courtroom.”

  I don’t say anything because I would probably be the same way. “I love her with my whole soul,” I start slowly. “I never thought I would be able to love again, but she fixed my broken.” I get down in front of Hailey, taking her hands. “And I want to fix her broken. I want the girls to be happy and not live in fear that someone is going to take them away from their mother. I want her to be able to go to the store without feeling shame or fear.”

  “She has no one.” My mother looks at Hailey. “She came and sat in your father’s office with the world on her shoulders. She walks with her head down and her shoulders slumped.” My mother looks at me. “I noticed when we went to the courthouse. Then she almost shrunk into the floor at the restaurant.”

  “What do you mean?” Jensen asks.

  “She’s so afraid of running into her in-laws that she barely leaves the house. She googles paint colors, so she can bring sunshine into her house. She has her fucking groceries delivered by Amazon, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Amazon delivers food?” my mother asks, and my father just shakes his head.

  “Hailey, I know you don’t have to do this, and I hate myself for even putting you in this place, especially after everything that she put you through.”

  “She didn’t do that,” my mother says loud and proud. “She did none of that.”

  “The only one who can help is you. Eric spoke to you about his family or lack thereof.” I get up. “It’s the best shot we have.”

  “You love her,” Hailey finally says, getting up and coming to me. “You really, really love her and not because you want to save her, but because she fixed your broken?”

  “Yes”—I nod—“with everything I have, I love her. I would carry all her worries on my shoulders. I would step into the ring with the devil for her.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it,” she finally says, and I have to accept that. “It’s not because of Eric or what I felt for him; it’s because I don’t want to lose what took me so long to build.”

  “I understand.” I smile at her, my heart broken that I even had to ask her. “It’s okay.” I grab her and hug her.

  “I’m sorry,” she cries. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s going to be okay. She has Dad on her side,” I tell her. “He won’t stop fighting and neither will I.” I look at her. “I can’t apologize for loving her. I won’t.”

  “The heart knows what the heart knows,” she finally says. We sit, and she asks us questions about the girls, and Mom fills her in, telling them about their camping trip in the backyard. She stays quiet the whole time, and I look at Jensen, wondering if it’s too much for her to take in.

  We leave there with her standing on the porch with her arms around Jensen’s waist and his arms around her. “It was worth a shot,” I say quietly as we make the drive back home.

  I get into bed, defeated as I try to think of another way to help when the phone rings, showing me Jensen’s name.

  “Hello,” I say.

  “She’s in,” he
says quietly, “but if this breaks her…”

  “She has you,” I tell him. “She’ll be fine.”

  “She’d better be, or else those fucking people won’t know what hit them,” he says, hanging up, and I finally release the breath I’ve been holding.

  Samantha

  Samantha

  I don’t think I heard right. I thought he said Hailey Williams. Surely, he’s mistaken. I look at him in confusion with my mouth open, and he just winks at me while the court door opens, and Hailey walks in. Pure class, I see a man following her, and Nanny right next to him.

  They walk to Joanne and Blake and sit next to them, Nanny winking at me and looking over at the Schneiders.

  Mr. Feldman jumps up. “Your honor, I object. This witness wasn’t on the list.”

  “I have her on my list,” the judge says. “Maybe you didn’t get your copy, whatever the case. Please swear in the witness.”

  I watch Hailey walk up the two steps to the witness stand. “Please raise your right hand,” the bailiff starts and proceeds to swear her in.

  “Please state your name for the record,” Henry tells her.

  “Hailey Williams,” she says softly while I look at her.

  “Ms. Williams, do you know the defendant?” he asks her.

  “No,” she says, “I do not.” She looks at me, and a tear rolls down my cheek. “But we had a mutual person in common.”

  “Objection, your honor, irrelevant.” Mr. Feldman jumps up, and I finally look over at my in-laws. Sitting there glaring at her, they are like vultures waiting to devour their prey.

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” she says. “Proceed.”

  “Who did you have in common?” Henry asks, knowing full well.

  “I was married to her husband,” Hailey says, and then she looks at my in-laws with her head held high. “Sorry, that isn’t true, the marriage was null and void.” She looks at the judge. “I was the secret wife.”

  “Your honor, this has no relevance to the case,” Mr. Feldman says. “Eric Schneider isn’t the one on trial here.”

  “Your honor, this is just to show the court that my client was the main person in the girls’ life,” he says, and I know it’s a loophole.

  “Proceed,” she tells him. Mr. Feldman sits down, looking down at his papers.

  “So how much time would you say Eric spent in your house, pretending to be married to you?” I thought it would hurt a lot more than it did, but it really doesn’t.

  “He was there for maybe three weeks a month,” she says softly and then looks over at me. “Sometimes more.”

  “When he was at your house, did he call his children?” Henry asks.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” she answers honestly.

  “Did you guys FaceTime them?”

  “No”—she shakes her head—“not once.”

  “Did he, at any time, tell you about his children?”

  “No,” Hailey says, looking at me, as if she is communicating just with me. “At no time was I aware that Eric was married to someone else or had children.”

  “When did you find out?” Henry asks, not giving her a chance.

  “The day he died,” Hailey answers, but she doesn’t stop. “The police handed me a brown paper bag with all his things in it.”

  “How did you find out?” Henry asks her. Hailey leans forward and takes a drink of water from the glass sitting in front of her.

  “There were two phones in the bag,” she says, a tear leaking out that she wipes away with her thumb. “I thought it was a mistake, so we plugged it in to return it to the rightful owner.”

  “And then what happened?”

  “And then I found out that my life was a lie. I found out he wasn’t my husband but someone else’s husband. That the family and life he promised me was all a lie. Everything was a lie.”

  She grabs a tissue now, wiping her eyes.

  “That must have been a shock to you,” Henry continues, and I almost want to tell him to stop. I look over at the judge who is waiting for her to answer.

  “It was, considering he told me he was an orphan.”

  “Your honor, hearsay,” Mr. Feldman objects.

  “I’ll rephrase,” Henry says. “Who was at your wedding?”

  “No one,” she says. “Just him and me and the judge.”

  “Your honor, I would like to offer exhibit A.” He takes a picture from his stack. “Is this you and Eric?” He shows it to Hailey, who nods her head.

  “Yes, that was before my family came in,” she says, and Henry hands the picture to the judge.

  “Where was Eric’s family?” he asks her. Oh, he’s good.

  “He told me he was an orphan, so he had no family there,” she tells him.

  “Ms. Williams, would you say that Eric wasn’t interested in his children?”

  “Objection, your honor.”

  “I withdraw the question. Ms. Williams, would you say that Eric was close to his parents?”

  “I can’t say since he never mentioned them, and when he did, he said they were dead.”

  “Oh my God.” I hear my mother-in-law gasp out.

  “No further questions, your honor,” he says, and he comes back to sit down next to me. “If he fucks with her, I’m going to eat him alive.”

  Mr. Feldman looks over at us and sneers. “Ms. Williams, would you consider yourself a scorned woman?”

  I see a different side to Hailey. Gone is the soft girl and in its place, she looks like she is ready to fight. She smiles at him and then looks at my in-laws. “Scorned? No. Lied to? Yes.”

  “So you’re here out of revenge?” he asks her.

  “No,” she says. “I’m here because I figured if Eric didn’t even acknowledge his parents, he wouldn’t want his kids living with them.” Direct hit.

  “So you have no reason to be here,” he starts and then doesn’t give her a chance to answer. “Isn’t it true that your brother is dating Ms. Schneider now?”

  “I have no idea who my brother is dating.”

  “Your honor, what does that have to do with anything? My client is allowed to date.” Henry stands up.

  The judge looks at Mr. Feldman. “I’m watching you, Mr. Feldman.”

  He puts his hands up. “Ms. Williams, is it true you tried to cash in Eric’s life insurance policy?”

  “Yes,” she answers.

  “And is it correct it was denied because of fraud?”

  “That would be correct. He used his middle name for all our legal documents, which is why it was approved.”

  “So it’s safe to say that you were angry.”

  “No, I was too busy trying to piece together my life to be angry.”

  “Ms. Williams, were you not angry when the plaintiffs had you served with a cease and desist letter blocking you from attending the funeral?”

  “No, but I was sad and broken,” she tells him. “I had just lost my husband, or who I thought was my husband, and the plaintiffs blocked me from attending the funeral or talking about him.”

  “So you didn’t attend the funeral?”

  “Mr. Feldman, if I did, I would be arrested.” She looks at the judge. “There was also a restraining order filed against me.”

  “By the Plantiffs?”

  “I don’t know who sent it to me. I didn’t bother to sit around memorizing it,” she snaps back. “Mr. Feldman, I married a man who was already married. I had no idea, so when he died, and I was blocked from attending the funeral and saying goodbye to him, I wasn’t angry; I was sad. I was sad that my husband lied to me; I was sad that our life was a lie, but I was most sad that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. I wasn’t given that chance because the parents who he told me were dead were very much alive.”

  She shakes her head. “But I get it now why he lied about them. He wasn’t vindictive; he wouldn’t want this.” She raises her hands. “The Eric I knew wouldn’t want to drag their kids away from their mother. The Eric who lived with me and married me wo
uld not want this dragged out because we are moving on,” she says. “The only one vindictive in all this and seeking revenge in all this is Mr. and Mrs. Schneider.”

  “No further questions, your honor,” Mr. Feldman says.

  “The court is in recess. We will reconvene in one hour,” she says, banging the gavel and stepping off the bench as we all stand.

  Hailey walks by us, and the man holds his hands out for her. She goes in them and kisses his lips. “You did amazing,” he tells her as she looks back at me. I’m about to say something to her when my in-laws walk past them.

  “Adrian?” Nanny says as we all look at her and then back at him as his face goes white. “What are you doing here? Where is Lucille?” she asks him, and his mouth opens and closes.

  “Who is Lucille?” Judy asks him, and Nanny finally answers.

  “His wife!” she says. “They just moved into the condo next to me.”

  And the madness breaks out.

  Blake

  Blake

  “His wife?” I stand here, not sure I understand what is going on, so Nanny continues, “They moved into the condo next door.”

  “Adrian,” Judy says, looking at him. “What is she talking about?”

  Nanny throws up her hands. “You have got to be kidding me,” she says. “Well, I guess like father, like son.” She shakes her head. “Adrian and his wife, Lucille, who is a lovely lady …” She turns to look at us, then back to Judy and Adrian, who looks down. Ethan and Elliot stand beside him. “They moved into the condo. They downsized because they are now empty nesters.”

  “Empty nesters?” Judy asks.

  “Yes, their daughter is eighteen,” Nanny starts. “Oh, I think she is eighteen; I might be wrong. What is her name again?” She looks at Adrian, and he doesn’t answer. “Anyway, she just went off to college; she got accepted into University of Houston. Their son, who is named Evan,” she says, “he just got married. They have a beautiful little boy.”