Walk On By (Passing Through Series Book 3)

by Sarah Hegger

  If it was a performance, Piers had missed his calling as an actor. He looked distraught.

  Kelly struggled to get a bead on him. “Next, you’re going to tell me she got those bruises falling down stairs, or walking into a door. With her neck.”

  “I can’t believe this.” Piers dropped his head. “Of course, you aren’t going to believe me.”

  “I saw the evidence. You should also know she said it in front of Ben Crowe, which means he has probable cause to arrest you.” Kelly took enormous satisfaction telling Piers that.

  Piers looked dumbstruck. “I’m going to be arrested? That’s insane. I could lose my job, my reputation in our community. Get a criminal record.” He swallowed. “I need to call my lawyer.”

  “You do that.” Anything to get him off her doorstep, and he could be damn sure the moment she closed the door, Ben would know Piers was in town. “Because you sure as hell are going to need that lawyer before we’re done with you.”

  “I don’t…I can’t. I didn’t come here for this. For trouble.” He dug something out of his pocket. “I came to give you these.” He handed her a prescription bottle. “If you know where she is, she really needs these. Now more than ever.”

  “What are they?” Kelly peered at the bottle.

  Piers shoved his hands in his pockets. “Her doctor prescribed those for her condition. It’s more serious than I let on before. India is…not well, and if what you say is true, then she’s spiraling.” He blew out a long breath. “She needs those. I honestly don’t know what else she’ll do to herself, or Jacob, if she doesn’t have them.”

  “You’re making this up.”

  Piers pointed to the pills. “The doctor’s name is on the bottle. I suppose you could call him and see if I’m telling you the truth.”

  “You’re saying India has a mental condition?” Kelly read the label. There was a doctor’s name, and she could look up the number. “And this doctor is not going to tell me anything.”

  “Yeah.” Piers shook his head. “I’ll call him and tell him what’s going on. The bruises could mean she’s escalating. At least he’ll be able to verify India is a patient of his. Maybe if you know, you can persuade India to drop the charges.”

  “India didn’t lay the charges, and these charges won’t be dropped until you see the inside of a courtroom.”

  “Jesus.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “I never thought she would go this far. It isn’t true, Kelly. None of this is true.”

  His distress seemed so genuine. Kelly stared hard at him, trying to find some hint he was lying. “Why would she do any of this?”

  “She’s not well, Kelly.” He shook his head. “She does things, and it’s not her fault. But, of course, none of what I’m saying makes any difference. Every abusive bastard out there denies he lifted a hand to the woman. I’m stuck in a double bind here.” He straightened his shoulders. “That’s not your problem, though. You’re protecting India, and I’m glad someone is.” He pointed at the prescription bottle. “But whatever you believe or don’t believe about me and what happened, could you please make sure she gets those. She needs them.”

  Turning, he trotted away and disappeared down the stairs to the condo parking lot.

  “Damn.” Kelly slammed the door shut. Nothing added up. If Piers hadn’t put those marks on India, who the hell had? A random attack by some stranger seemed so far left of likely she couldn’t even consider it.

  She called Ben’s number.

  “Kelly,” he answered. “What’s up?”

  “Piers was here,” she said. “At my condo.”

  Ben’s voice grew harsher. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. He didn’t touch me. He said India’s mentally unstable, and he didn’t do it.”

  Ben growled. “They all say that. I’m going to swing by and see if I can pick him up.”

  “Okay.” Kelly hung up, headed for the kitchen and poured herself a glass of red wine. Damn Piers and the chink of doubt he’d opened. Ben was right. Of course, Piers would make up excuses and try to deny the accusation.

  But he’d seemed distraught and shocked. Could he be that good of an actor? He hadn’t even gotten angry when she’d told him he would end up in jail.

  India had always been fragile, prone to mood swings. When they were kids, Kelly had spent most of their lives protecting and sheltering her. India had made up stories when they were younger. But those had been to get their parents’ attention. Their parents hadn’t bothered with their two children, and she and India had been in desperate need of parental attention. It had been a brief phase, the stories, and it didn’t mean India was telling stories now.

  Kelly put down her wineglass.

  Even this atom of doubt made her the worst sister ever. The walls of her condo closed in on her, and she needed to get out. Most of all, she needed serious chick time.

  She jammed the cork back into the bottle, grabbed it and her coat, and headed for the door.

  The cold air cleared her brain as she walked.

  At Winters House, several of the windows lit the evening and beckoned her. Piers had gotten into her head, and she needed to talk him the hell out of there.

  The Victorian mansion was currently full to bursting with Poppy, Ben and their four children, plus Finn and Claire. Horace had moved back into the main house, and Claire’s mother, Naomi, now lived in the carriage house with a caregiver.

  It was right the old place was finally filled with life and love and family.

  Kelly walked around the side to the kitchen door. The kitchen was the heart of the beautiful mansion. Tonight was no exception as she gave a warning knock and walked in.

  “Kelly.” Poppy stood and gave Kelly her big, sweet smile. “This is a surprise.”

  Kelly brandished her bottle. “I brought wine.”

  “Opened wine.” Claire Winters raised one of her perfectly fleek eyebrows, but her big green eyes laughed and took the sting out of her comment. “Fortunately, we have more.”

  “Anybody ever told you that you’re a bitch, Claire Winters?” Kelly gave Poppy a hug and bent to kiss the third woman in the kitchen. “Hey, Dot.”

  Claire snorted and waved her hand. “Oh please, every single day. It gets so old.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” Kelly took a seat next to Dot. She couldn’t have handpicked three better women to have this conversation with. “Where are the menfolk?”

  “Off doing manly things.” Claire got wineglasses off the antique dresser and put them on the table. “They’re at Ben and Poppy’s house doing stuff behind Ben’s back.”

  “Even Horace?” Claire’s father had suffered from a bad hip for years that had restricted his activity.

  Claire poured wine. “Oh, yes. We can’t stop Dad since he’s recovered from his surgery. And that includes spending time with Peg. I’m thinking of breaking the other hip and getting him to slow down.”

  “You!” Dot slapped her arm. “Your dad has plenty of healthy years left.”

  Claire raised a brow at Dot. “Have you got your hussy eyes on my father now? Isn’t Doc enough man for you?”

  “Claire!” Dot shrieked and blushed. “The things you say.”

  “Get yourself some, Dot.” Poppy winked at her and took a seat opposite Kelly. “What’s up? You have that wrinkle between your eyes that you get when you’re stressing about something.”

  Kelly took a sip of wine. Coming there had been the right thing to do. “Piers arrived at my condo this evening.”

  “What!”

  All three women reacted as if she’d tossed a hand grenade into the kitchen.

  Poppy got her phone out. “I’ll call Ben.”

  “No.” Kelly put her hand over Poppy’s phone. “I already did.”

  “Did you kick him in the balls?” Claire—the only woman Kelly knew
who looked elegant in leggings and a sweater—moved around doing something with cheese and crackers.

  Poppy blinked at her. “Why would she kick Ben in—oh.”

  Claire and Dot laughed.

  Kelly hoped they didn’t judge her for what she was going to say. “I wanted to, kick Piers, not Ben, but the thing is…he said some stuff and he’s gotten into my head.”

  “What stuff?” Dot took her hand.

  “He brought me some medication for India. For a mental condition. According to him, it started with postpartum depression but it’s escalated now.” She took a needed slug of her wine. “He says she’s been battling with it since shortly after Jacob was born. That her behavior has been getting steadily more erratic.”

  Claire snorted and put a snack platter on the table. “He would say that. That’s how these bastards operate.”

  “I know that.” More for something to do with her hands, Kelly took a cracker and a slice of ham. “But he seemed genuinely shocked when I confronted him about her bruises. He swore he didn’t know how they’d gotten there. He gave me the pills and even suggested I call India’s doctor.”

  Dot patted her knee and sipped her wine. “Men who do these things are very clever. They get away with it by manipulating and controlling.”

  “I know that too.” She felt like the worst bitch in the world for even considering the possibility. “India has always been delicate, and the idea of her having postpartum depression is not that farfetched.”

  Poppy grimaced in sympathy. “I mean, it’s possible that both things are true. India is having a tough time, but it could also be that Piers is abusing her.”

  “That’s true.” And it made things so much worse for India. To have all that to deal with.

  “You know what I would do?” Dot patted her again.

  Kelly nodded. Dot should write an advice compendium. She was one of those mature women who seemed to have a slew of good advice.

  “Too many times in these situations, we don’t give the woman the benefit of the doubt.” Dot sipped her wine. “The burden of proof here is not on India, but Piers. If he really didn’t abuse her, then he needs to prove that to you.”

  “Boom!” Claire mimed dropping her mic. “Dot for the win.”

  And it really was that simple. A weight lifted off Kelly’s shoulders. “Who is home with India now?”

  “Gabe.” Dot sent her a naughty look. “Shall I send your love?”

  Claire poked her. “I sense a secret. Have you been a bad girl, Kelly?”

  “My lips are sealed.” Dot snort laughed into her wine. “But I may have stumbled on someone doing the walk of shame through my kitchen.”

  “You and Gabe?” Poppy’s voice rose on a squeak. “How come I’m the last to find out about this? Holding out on me is a violation of the best friend code.” Then she pointed at Dot. “And you should share the gossip with family.”

  Dot pulled a face at her. “Yes, but I have an evil plan to use Kelly to keep my boy in Twin Elks.”

  “It’s not like that.” Kelly’s face throbbed with heat. “We’re friends.”

  “Who sneak out of their mother’s house and get caught in the kitchen.” Dot gave her an angelic look.

  “But wait.” Claire stuffed cheese and crackers into her mouth. Also, the only woman Kelly knew who could eat what the hell she liked and keep that body. It was hard to keep liking Claire sometimes.

  Claire swallowed and turned to her. “What about Vince?”

  “Vince is...” Kelly didn’t really know what Vince was. “He’s taking his time, and I ended up asking him out.”

  “Oh!” Poppy clapped her hands. “You go, girl!”

  “And?” Dot looked at her over the rim of her wineglass.

  “He said yes.”

  A round of high fives followed, even from Dot who didn’t seem to mind about her dating Vince.

  When things had calmed down, Claire cleared her throat. “Actually, I have something to tell you all.”

  All focus snapped her way.

  Claire gave them a smug smile and giggled. “Speaking of people who said yes…”

  Chapter Eleven

  Saturday finally arrived, and Kelly had her entire closet scattered across her room, or at least ninety percent of it, and she still couldn’t decide what to wear.

  Vince was on his way to pick her up for their date, and she was still standing there in her bra and panties.

  There wasn’t a perfect outfit for a first date with the man you’ve loved for most of your life and lost because you dumped him fifteen years ago. She knew this because she had already wasted precious getting ready time trying to find one.

  Vince had never been a fancy restaurant type, and it was Twin Elks after all. At least her makeup and hair were done.

  With five minutes to go, she settled on a pair of dark, tight jeans and a soft lavender, off the shoulder sweater. She paired that with heeled boots.

  She almost stabbed herself in the eye as she gave her lashes a final touchup. It had to stop. She was nervous as hell.

  Was Vince as nervous?

  The doorbell rang, so she was about to find out.

  Vince smiled as she opened the door. His gaze took her all in and warmed. “You look beautiful.”

  “So do you.” He was similarly dressed in jeans and nice sweater.

  Then they both laughed, maybe a tad too enthusiastically for the joke.

  Vince pressed a mixed bouquet into her hands. “These are for you.”

  “They’re gorgeous.” Kelly took an appreciative sniff. He’d remembered after all these years that she preferred flowers that looked like they’d been gathered in a field. “I’ll put these in some water, and we can go.”

  Nodding, Vince followed her into the condo. He took a long look around him. “This is nice,” he said. “Very you.”

  Kelly hadn’t really thought of her condo in those terms. She didn’t decorate, so much as find things that appealed to her and put them together. Her few attempts at Pinterest hacks had not ended well. “I bought the place when I got back.”

  “From Kansas City, wasn’t it?” He peered at her photo collection on the coffee table.

  Filling a vase with water, she nodded. “Yup. I had a good job there.”

  “Can I ask why you came back?” He straightened and joined her at the other side of her kitchen counter.

  Kelly didn’t really have a definitive answer. “A number of reasons.” She shrugged. “I had a great life, lots of friends.” She hesitated over revealing the next bit, because it was not something she discussed. But they needed to start with a clean slate and no secrets between them. “I was married, for about five minutes.”

  “You were?” He frowned. “I never heard anything about you’re being married.”

  “It didn’t last long.” She put the flowers in the water. “We got married in June and were divorced by September.”

  Vince grimaced. “Damn.”

  “I know.” She tried for a light laugh. Her divorce had been more a relief than anything else. “I think it was a combination of my biological clock ticking away and everyone in our friend group getting married.”

  He gave that some thought and then motioned the door. “Shall we?”

  They did an awkward shuffle over her coat at the front door. He wanted to help her, and she kept trying to put it on herself.

  Finally, they got both her arms into the right sleeves, and Vince opened the door and followed her into the night.

  Normally she didn’t fuss too much about locking things, but since Piers’s arrival on her doorstep, she had been more cautious.

  Vince led her to a family SUV parked beneath her condo. He had those stick figure family decals in his rear window. A man, a woman, two children with two cats. She supposed it would be churlish to scrape the woma
n off the window. Maybe take a permanent marker and draw a mustache on her or something.

  Where Chelsea was concerned, Kelly’s inner bitch came roaring out. Chelsea had managed to get between her and Vince all those years ago, and she had stayed there for all this time. Well, Chelsea wasn’t going to win in the end.

  “Where are we going?” She settled herself in the SUV and put her seatbelt on.

  Vince gave her a shy smile. “It’s a surprise.”

  He plugged his phone into the car.

  Fallin’ by Alicia Keys filled the car.

  “Vince.” A breath caught in the back of her throat. “This is our song.”

  They used to slow dance around her bedroom to it, wrapped around each other and young and in love.

  He looked bashful. “Yeah. I made a playlist.”

  It was such a sweet thing to do and it helped to allay her fears about Vince having had a change of heart. She nudged him. “I bet you put It Wasn’t Me on there.”

  “Maybe.” He chuckled.

  “I hate that song.”

  His grin widened. “Yeah, I know you do.”

  Things felt closer to how they used to be than they had in too long. She relaxed into her seat. “You know I’m going to turn it off.”

  “Yep.” He grinned and tucked his phone in his pocket. “I know you’re going to try.”

  Kelly snorted her disdain. “You don’t think that’s going to stop me, do you?”

  As she said it, she wanted to yank the words back. She’d implied that she would go rooting around in his pants pockets.

  Her face heated.

  Vince shifted and cleared his throat.

  She had to clear the air. “I feel like an idiot for saying that.”

  “That’s okay.” Vince patted her knee. “A lot of this feels awkward, and we’re going to have to wade our way through that.”