by Amy Vastine
“I know Bonnie Windsor very well. She’s great.”
“She is,” Sasha said. “Aaron thinks so, too. I’m trying to explain to him that when two people connect the way he does with Bonnie, he’s foolish to let that slip through his fingers.”
“Aaron and Bonnie?” Mitch’s forehead creased, and his lips dipped into a frown. Aaron squirmed. This conversation train wasn’t just going to go off the rails—it was going to plummet into the deep cavern of doom.
“Don’t listen to him,” Aaron said, trying to minimize the damage. “He has no idea what he’s talking about. Try one of these fried mushrooms, they’re delicious.”
Sasha shook his head. “Deny, deny, deny. You can’t deny it forever, Aaron. That woman is your soul mate.”
Boom! The train crashed into a fiery grave.
“Bonnie and Aaron? That’s...hilarious. I don’t see it,” Mitch said.
Aaron tried to smooth things over. “Like I said, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
They finished off two of the appetizers before the waitress came back over to check on them and offered to take Mitch’s order.
“Oh my gosh,” Mitch said, looking at his phone. “I totally forgot I’m supposed to be on a conference call with China in like fifteen minutes. I have got to go. I’m so sorry.” He pulled out a money clip and threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “Let me get the appetizers. It was nice to meet you, Sasha. Aaron, I’ll see you around, buddy.”
“Too bad he couldn’t stay,” Sasha said after Mitch was out of sight. He also snagged the last chicken wing.
“That was the guy who left my sister at the altar because he thought he was in love with Bonnie.”
Sasha popped a fried mushroom into his mouth. “I know.”
“Then why did you say all that?”
Sasha laughed. “All what?”
“The stuff about me and Bonnie.”
“Because I’m right. You two should be together. I wanted everyone to be clear about who deserves Bonnie’s heart, and it’s not Mitch.”
Aaron shook his head. He wished he could be as sure as Sasha was. He also had no idea how he would fix all of these issues. Sasha picked up the bill, refusing to let Aaron throw in any money.
After dinner, Aaron tried texting his sister again and got the same automated response that she was driving. He called her, but it went straight to voice mail. He left a message, asking her to call. He knew she was still upset with him, but the least she could do was respond with an “I hate you” or “Leave me alone.”
Maybe the first person Aaron would tell about him and Bonnie was Lauren. If she knew they were in love like Sasha believed they were, she would finally get past this.
He was in love with Bonnie. The thought made laughter bubble out of him. He loved Bonnie. According to Sasha, she loved him back. What a wonderful world it would be if he could hear those words from her lips.
He turned onto Greenbriar, heading back to the house to do a little more work before he turned in for the night. He’d been sleeping there off and on for a couple weeks. It made it easier to get things done. They had fallen a bit behind because of a couple of the setbacks, but they weren’t too far over.
Aaron’s heart stopped when he turned into the driveway. It felt like he was starring in his own horror movie. Everything he’d spent the last two hours putting in his stomach threatened to come back up. Had he fallen asleep on the drive home and not realized? Because he had to be in the middle of a horrible nightmare.
In pink spray paint, the words I Hate You were written across the garage door. The windows that looked into the dining room were broken. It was possible that was where the missing landscaping bricks had gone. The front door was kicked in, and Aaron could only imagine the horrors that would be waiting for him inside.
He dialed 911 and cried while he waited for the police to come.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
IN BONNIE’S MIND, there was only one person who would have done this. There was only one person who was mad enough, hateful enough and out-of-touch-with-reality enough to do this.
“It had to be Lauren,” she said to the police officer who was interviewing her. Who else would have chosen pink paint? It was like she wasn’t even trying to hide that it was her.
Not only had the outside been defaced. All of the kitchen cabinets had gotten spray painted, and the beautiful quartz countertops were ruined. The chandelier in the dining room was hanging by one wire. The fireplace had the words Blame Bonnie written across the brick. Classic Lauren.
“It wasn’t Lauren,” Aaron said. His eyes were red and swollen. “She wouldn’t do this to me. She wouldn’t.”
“Why not? You said yourself that she’s mad at you. We know she’s mad at me.”
“I know it’s hard to think the worst about a family member, but is there anything that might lead you to believe that what Miss Windsor is saying might be true?” the officer asked Aaron.
Tears fell down his face, and Bonnie’s heart broke in two. How could Lauren do this to him? It took him a good minute to speak. His voice cracked as he explained the situation.
“She felt like I deserted her. That I was disloyal to her and chose Bonnie and Mitch over her after everything that happened at the wedding. I talked to my mom today, and she said she hadn’t been able to get ahold of her lately and that she was worried. She was afraid that Lauren might be struggling with Mitch back in town. That would have easily pushed her over the edge.”
“When was the last time you talked to your sister?”
“I texted her a few times tonight, and I called her right before I came back here. She didn’t answer the texts or the call.”
Because she was a coward. Because she was coldhearted. Bonnie watched as her dad stood in the middle of the living room with his hand over his mouth and tears welling in his eyes. It was unbelievable all the hard work that could be undone in a matter of minutes.
“Is there anyone else who would do something like this? Anyone who has it out for you?”
“She has a whole posse of followers. They could have all been here with her. I bet she had help from Theresa Gilmore, Kathy Cole, Wendy Hillbrand, and Jeanne Watson. Even Mary James and Cheryl Cooper could have tagged along.” It made Bonnie sick to her stomach, but everyone she used to call friend could easily have had a hand in this. Everyone knew that if Lauren said something had to be done, they all would have done it, because no one questioned Lauren. No one stood up to her. No one told her she couldn’t have something, do something, say something. Lauren did whatever she wanted, and this time, she’d gone too far.
The officer took all the names down and promised he would follow up with every one of them.
“Bad, bad Lauren,” Sasha said from where he sat on the floor. He hadn’t even gone into the bedrooms to see what had been done in there, because he had collapsed on the ground when he walked in.
“She wouldn’t do this,” Aaron repeated.
Bonnie walked over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around him. This was one tough pill to swallow, but the proof was written all over the house.
“I have to go talk to her. I need her to tell me to my face that she did this.”
“I think you should let the police handle it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to confront her when everything is still so raw.”
Aaron let her hug him, but he stood like a statue, motionless and rigid. She couldn’t think of any words of comfort to offer him. While he was devastated and despondent, she was full of rage. If she were to confront Lauren right now, Lauren wasn’t the only one who would be spending the night in jail.
“We should go,” her dad finally said. “We need to get out of here and come back in the morning and make a punch list.”
“Ha!” Sasha’s laughter lacked any and all humor. “That’s going to be one long punch
list.”
“There’s nothing we can do about this tonight. It’s best we rest up and start fresh in the morning.” He offered Sasha a hand up.
Bonnie let go of Aaron and held out her hand. “Come on, let’s go.”
“She wouldn’t do this to me,” Aaron said again.
Denial was not easy to overcome. It was going to take a lot for the truth to sink in. Even when Lauren admitted to it, Aaron would probably still grapple with the reality of it.
“Do you want me to drive you home?” she asked, taking his hand instead of waiting for him to take hers. She tried to pull him toward the front door, but he wouldn’t budge. “I can stay with you if you want.”
Sasha placed a strong hand on her shoulder. “I got this. You go home with your dad. It’s probably not safe for you to go to your house alone. I’ll take good care of him, I promise.”
Bonnie lifted up on her toes and gave Aaron a kiss on the cheek. “We can fix the house.”
She knew that wasn’t the real issue, though. They could fix the house. Repaint, repair, redo. But Aaron’s heart would forever be broken. This kind of hurt caused by a betrayal from someone he loved would never fully heal. He knew that.
Bonnie went with her dad and cried the whole way to his house. She wiped her face and clenched her fists. She was so angry she spit her words. “How could she do this? How could she hurt him like that?”
“Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe Aaron’s right. She wouldn’t do something like that. Not the Lauren I know. Not the Lauren you know.”
Bonnie shook her head. The Lauren she knew was long gone. That Lauren had disappeared the second Mitch began his speech about not wanting to get married. The Lauren that was left behind from that event was worse than Bad Lauren, as Sasha liked to call her. She was Evil Lauren. The wickedest of the wicked.
“Don’t defend her. Don’t ever defend her to me again. I won’t hear it.”
Her dad gave her leg a pat. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
Bonnie didn’t sleep a minute all night. She texted back and forth with Sasha, who had managed to get Aaron to leave the house eventually. They were both staying at Aaron’s. Sasha didn’t think Aaron was sleeping, but he was at least lying down.
In the morning, she and her dad stopped to get some coffee and then made the depressing drive to the house. Aaron and Sasha were already there, and so was Mitch.
“What are you doing here?”
“Word spread pretty fast about what happened last night. I was calling Aaron all night, but he never picked up. This is bad. Who would have done this?”
“Are you serious? Who do you think did it?” She waved her hand in the direction of the garage door. “Lauren didn’t even try to hide that it was her.”
Mitch’s expression was solemn. “I’m so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault. If I had handled things differently—if I had told Lauren I didn’t want to get married before the wedding, none of this would have happened.”
She shook her head. “This is not your fault. It’s not yours or mine or anyone’s fault except for Lauren. I am done feeling bad for her. She is a grown woman who has to take responsibility for what she’s done.”
“Come here. I know I’m not your favorite person, but you look like you are in desperate need of a hug.” He opened his arms wide. Bonnie didn’t even think about it—she just fell into his arms, because he was right. She needed someone to hold her, and she appreciated the fact that he didn’t jump to Lauren’s defense.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mitch asked. “I’m not very handy, but I can try.”
“That’s really kind of you.” The true test of someone’s character was how they responded in a crisis. Maybe she had misjudged Mitch’s character. “Why don’t you come on in? I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”
* * *
THERE WAS NO way Lauren had done this. Lauren would not do this to him. Not when she knew how hard he had worked. Not when she knew that he was trying to be a better brother. She was hurt and she was angry, but she wouldn’t ruin everything Aaron had worked for. He couldn’t accept that.
“We’ve got some extra hands on deck today,” Bonnie said, entering the room with Mitch trailing behind her.
“Hey, man. I’m so sorry this happened. Put me to work. Tell me what you need to get done and I will do it. Or at least I’ll try.”
“Thanks, Mitch. I appreciate you coming out.”
David looked the way Aaron felt. Tired, beaten down, completely crushed. This house was like their baby. Their first baby, and someone had come and broken it. They all thought it was Lauren, but it wasn’t Lauren. Aaron’s heart told him it couldn’t be her.
His phone rang, and for a second he expected it to be Lauren. She would tell him that she had gotten in her car and driven to Arizona or maybe San Francisco for a long weekend. It wasn’t, though. It was his dad.
“Hey, Dad. Can I call you back? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“No, you can’t call me back. I’m at the police station trying to get your sister released from custody, because for some reason you told the cops that she vandalized your house. What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”
“Dad, I told the cops I didn’t think it was her. I pray it’s not her, but...” All the evidence pointed to it being her.
“You need to get over here right now and tell them that you made a mistake and your sister had nothing to do with this.” He hung up in typical Walter Cole fashion. He didn’t need to wait for a reply, because when he summoned you, you came.
“I have to go. I’ll be back, though.”
“Wait.” Bonnie stopped him. “Where are you going? Do you want me to come with you?”
It would be a very bad idea for Bonnie to come with him, given the fact that she believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lauren had done this. “I’m good. You stay here and help your dad. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
“I doubt that,” she nearly whispered.
Aaron drove straight to the Blue Springs Police Department. His mom was sitting in the tiny waiting area when he got there. His dad was pacing around.
“He’s here!” his mom exclaimed.
“Here’s my son,” his dad said to the sergeant behind the counter. “He’s the one who made the accusation. He’s here to take it back. Where’s that detective?”
Of course, he assumed that Aaron would simply let Lauren off the hook. As if it was that easy. This was part of the reason everyone else thought she was guilty. Their parents never made her own up to her mistakes. She was never held accountable for anything she ever did.
“Can I talk to the detective in charge of my case?” Aaron asked.
Detective Rogers thought it was a great idea for Aaron to talk to Lauren himself. She wasn’t being very cooperative with the questioning and their dad had brought a lawyer, which significantly slowed things down.
When Aaron came into the room, Lauren sat up straight. “Aaron, thank God you’re here. Can you believe that they think I did this?”
“I strongly suggest you not talk about anything that the police have asked you about,” her lawyer said.
Lauren ignored him. “They’re asking me to account for my entire evening and said they’re going to be checking all the local hardware stores to find someone who will identify me as someone who bought spray paint. This is nuts. Can you please inform these detectives that I would never vandalize your stuff?”
“Can you ask your lawyer to leave?” Aaron knew the only way he was going to get the truth out of her was if it was only him and her. No police. No lawyers. Not even their mom and dad.
“Leave,” Lauren told the man.
“I strongly advise you not to—”
“Leave,” she repeated a little louder.
The man
closed his briefcase and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair before exiting the room.
“Now can you tell them this is ridiculous?”
Aaron sat across from his sister and tried to picture her destroying his house. He knew Bonnie could see it, but he couldn’t visualize it no matter how hard he tried. “I know you’ve been mad at me,” he said.
“Aaron, there’s being mad at you and there’s going berserk. I’ve been mad at you.”
“All I need you to do is look me in the eye and answer one question. Did you destroy my house?”
Lauren didn’t blink, she didn’t shift her gaze, she didn’t hesitate. “No. And I feel like the worst sister in the world, because if you even thought for a second that I would do that to you, then I’ve really ruined our relationship by being so hateful.”
“I didn’t think you did it. I knew you wouldn’t do that to me.”
Tears filled Lauren’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “You did? You believed in me? Because I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I haven’t given you a lot of reasons to trust me not to do mean and terrible things. I asked Daddy to fire Mr. Windsor. That’s pretty horrible. I have been nothing but hateful for months.”
“Where were you last night? I tried texting and calling. I kept getting messages that you were driving.”
“I just drove around. I didn’t have a destination in mind. I just couldn’t sit in my house anymore. I know it’s a terrible alibi.”
“You don’t need an alibi.” At least Aaron didn’t need her to have one. If she said she was driving around, she was driving around. “I have one more question, though. Is it possible that you may have said something to someone else and accidentally inspired them to vandalize my house?”
“I hope not. I don’t think so.” She wrung her hands. “It’s possible, I guess. I’ve been encouraging people to lash out at Bonnie. I’ve been complaining about you. Maybe one of my friends thought that by attacking you, they’d make me happy.”
That was a distinct possibility. A lot of people worshipped the ground Lauren walked on. If they thought hurting Aaron or being mean to Bonnie would make Lauren happy, they might just have decided to do something illegal instead of simply shameful.