Owen frowns and hobbles toward me a little bit faster. I come down the steps and give him my arm to steady him. He takes it and stares at my face.
“What’s wrong?”
A lump forms in my throat and my eyes start to water. I open and close my mouth like a goldfish and Owen slides his arm around me.
“What’s wrong, Jess?” He asks again. His voice sounds panicked. “What happened?”
“Gram died,” I finally answer. “They just took the body away.”
Owen stares at me, wide-eyed, before letting all the air out of his lungs. He hops up to face me and wraps his arms around me. I melt into him, and for the first time since I found Gram, I let it all go. The tears come fast and heavy and pretty soon his tee-shirt is soaked. He just stands there and holds me as I cry.
We sway to one side and I hear him make a muffled sound. I pull away.
“Sorry!” I say. “I forgot about your foot. Why haven’t you been to the doctor? Come on, let’s go inside.”
He takes my hand and hops up toward the front door. With some shuffling and hopping, he’s through the door and settled on the couch in the living room. I go to the kitchen and come back with two cups of coffee. I sit down beside him and fold my foot under my body as he drapes his arm over my shoulder. My head fits perfectly onto his chest and I sigh.
“We really should be getting you to a doctor but it just feels too good to be here like this,” I whisper.
“Shh,” he says, stroking my arm. He turns toward me and kisses the top of my head. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”
“Why would I be hurt?”
“I was just worried when you didn’t answer my calls, that’s all.”
“Did you call?” I shift my weight and pull out my phone. Sure enough, four missed calls and three messages, all from Owen. “Oh.”
He chuckles, and then takes a deep breath. “Jess, I need to ask you a favor, and I know it’s awful timing but it’s really important.”
I lift my head and search his face. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a long story,” he says. I raise an eyebrow and he sighs again. “How good is your grandmother’s internet?”
55
Owen
Jess laughs and rolls her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
I want to tell her everything, from beginning to end, but I don’t know where to start. She’s staring at me, lifting herself off me and frowning. I put my hand on her thigh.
“I had a visit from my dad last night,” I finally say. “He was paying Mary to try to blackmail me with a sexual harassment lawsuit. He knows about you.”
Jess leans away a bit further. Her brows knit together and she shakes her head. “What? What are you talking about? Owen. What the fuck are you talking about? I’m not in the mood for this bullshit. In case you forgot, my one remaining family member died a couple hours ago.”
Her words bite through me and I squeeze her thigh gently with my hand. “I know. I know! Look,” I take a deep breath. “My parents have been trying to use me to continue syphoning money for themselves. They want to use the hotel. I refused, obviously, and this was my dad’s idea of a threat.”
“A threat? You told me you had nothing to do with the trial!”
“I didn’t! I don’t! I didn’t know it was going on until after the case against me was thrown out. I found some old files in the office that proved my dad was guilty.”
“Did you hand them to the police?” She’s staring at me, wide-eyed.
“No,” I say, sighing. My face contorts into a grimace and I put my hand on my forehead. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to betray my family like that. I kept telling myself that they loved me, that they’d kept me separate from it all to protect me. That’s why I didn’t tell you about any of it when we first met. I just couldn’t lie to you and tell you they were innocent, and I couldn’t betray them by telling someone they were guilty.”
She stays quiet, her face stone still. I take a deep breath and continue.
“Jess, believe me, I wanted to tell you. From the moment I met you I’ve wanted to tell you everything about me. It’s not until I saw my dad last night that I realized they weren’t protecting me, and they don’t care about me. They were just keeping me clean in case they needed to use my name when they got caught.” I sigh, and lift my eyes up to her. “He threatened me. He threatened you! And fuck! I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Jess is completely still. She hasn’t moved at all and I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I fucking love you, Jess. My dad took the files last night but I have a copy.” I hold up my keys, showing her the USB. “I need you to send these files to this email,” I say, giving her the piece of paper with the prosecutor’s email on it. “And then I need you to disappear. Just go away from here, go back to New York. I don’t know if they’re following me or if they’re following you, but you just need to get as far away from me as possible.”
Finally, Jess moves. She shakes her head from side to side and starts to cry.
“No,” she says. “No, no!” She takes a deep, trembling breath and puts her hand on my chest. “I just lost my grandmother. You’re the father of my child and you’re all I have left. I’m not leaving. I’ll take you to the hospital and send the files from there. You’ll be safe there. They won’t be able to do anything. I am not leaving.”
Her bottom lip trembles and I wrap my arms around her. She’s shaking, and I just stroke her gently. I shouldn’t be burdening her with this, I should just be comforting her after her grandmother’s death! I’m thrusting all my problems onto her at the very moment when she probably needs my support. I chew on her words and nod slowly. “Okay. Let’s stay together, Jess. I don’t want to let you out of my sight. Not today, not ever again. You’re stuck with me now.”
I feel Jess let out a small laugh as she rests against my chest. She nods.
“Let me drop the truck back at the hotel so it looks like I’m still around,” I say. “And then we can go to the hospital and get this toe checked out.”
Jess nods, and then grins. “With any luck, you’ll be stuck in the waiting room for hours.”
I laugh and nod. “If I’m lucky.”
She takes the email and USB from me and tucks them into her purse along with her laptop. She stands up straighter and nods to me before swinging her eyes around the room and sighing. I groan as I stand up and put my hands around her waist.
“Thank you,” I say. “I know today is probably the worst day of your life. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
She shakes her head. “It’s not the worst day of my life. We’re together, so it can’t be the worst day of my life.”
My heart grows in my chest and I take a deep breath. Jess wraps her arms around me and we hold each other for a few moments. Her voice is muffled against my chest when she speaks again.
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?”
“Did you mean it when you said you fucking love me?” She moves her head to look at me and grins. “Is that the old romantic coming out of you again?”
“I love the shit out of you,” I respond with a grin. She laughs and rolls her eyes. I take a deep breath and say it again: “I love you, Jess. With all my heart.”
Her eyes start to mist and she takes a deep breath. “I think I love you too.” Her voice is barely above a whisper but it sounds as loud as a roar to my ears. My chest bursts and I hold her tighter against me, drinking in every second we have together. Our lips meet and once again I feel like I’m whole again. I could kiss this woman for the rest of time.
Finally, she pulls away and strokes my cheek. “Let’s go.”
I nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
56
Jess
My heart is thumping as we drive out of Lexington. It’s a twenty minute drive to the nearest hospital, and my hands are gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles are turning wh
ite. Owen reaches over and slides a hand over my thigh. The warmth is comforting and I finally feel my shoulders relax.
“It’ll be okay,” Owen says. I glance over at him and try to smile. He smiles and nods. “I promise.”
“It’s just been a rough day,” I answer. His hand squeezes my thigh gently and he sighs.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. Your grandmother was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and this town definitely won’t be the same without her.”
My throat tightens and I nod, blinking away the tears. “There’s nothing there for me now. Don’t make me cry,” I say with a bitter laugh. “I might crash the car.”
He squeezes my leg again. “I meant what I said last night, Jess. I’m here for you. I love you, and I want to be there for you and the baby.”
I nod my head, hoping that’s enough because I don’t trust my voice. He strokes my thigh gently as I check my rear-view mirror. I just want to get to the hospital already.
Owen takes his hand off my thigh and pulls out his phone. The space on my leg where his hand used to be feels strangely empty, and I glance over to see him dialing a number. He puts the cell phone to his ear and I glance over, waiting to hear him speak.
“Mr. Vanier,” he says after a few seconds. “It’s Owen McAllister.” He nods a couple times as he listens, and then speaks again. “I’ve come across some files that could be of interest for your investigation. I’m ready to make a deal.”
My heart starts beating faster and I glance over at Owen again. He must be talking to the prosecutor in his father’s case. His eyes are glued on the road and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. He shakes his head, as if the man on the other end of the line could see him.
“These files will be very, very helpful to you. I don’t have much time. Send through the paperwork and I’ll sign it. I want complete immunity for myself and a guarantee that my assets won’t be frozen along with my father’s company.” There’s another pause as he listens and he sighs in frustration. “No. Those are my terms.” He glances over at me and then nods again. “Thanks. I’ll wait for your email.”
He hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath. His hand slides back onto my thigh and I try to relax into my seat and ignore the thumping of my heart. The drive seems longer than usual, but finally we pull into the hospital parking lot.
“Wait here,” I say, jogging to the entrance. I grab a wheelchair and come back to the car. Owen is leaning against the passenger’s side door and sighs with relief.
“I’m seriously sick of hopping on one foot,” he says with a grin.
I laugh. “I figured. Now let’s just hope that you’re here for a nice long wait.”
I grab my purse out of the car and lock everything up before getting behind Owen and wheeling him to the hospital entrance. As soon as we move inside the sliding glass doors, I breathe a sigh of relief. Soon, we’re talking to the triage nurse and being directed to a waiting room. I settle into a chair beside Owen and pull out my laptop.
“Okay, do you want to send these files from my email or yours?”
“Mine would probably be best,” Owen says. “I’ll wait for Vanier’s deal before sending anything.”
I nod and fire up my laptop, taking out my phone to get the hotspot working and angling the screen toward him. “You can log into your email, and then I guess we just wait. I’ll get the files ready to send.”
Owen taps away and logs into his email. He hands the computer back to me and I glance at his inbox.
“Nothing yet?” I ask. He shakes his head.
“Not yet.”
I slide the USB into the port at the side of the computer and wait for it to load. As soon as my computer reads it, Owen points to a file on the screen.
Movies
I raise an eyebrow. “Movies?”
He laughs. “I was trying to think of a file name that would be the most inconspicuous. You know, hide things in plain sight.”
“Smart,” I say, moving the mouse over the file. I click on it to open and a box pops up on the screen. I frown. “Password protected?”
Owen’s brow knits together. “I forgot about that.” I turn the computer to face him and his hands hover over the keyboard. He chews his lip and then glances at me.
I shake my head. “You’re joking.”
He cringes and looks back at the screen. My mouth drops and I shake my head again.
“You don’t remember?”
“I remember, I just don’t know what it is,” he says. I frown and he glances at me again. “I used my truck’s registration number. It was sitting on my desk when I copied the files, so I figured I’d have access to it and it would be hard to hack.”
I can’t help it—I start laughing in disbelief. After this morning with Gram, and then the stress of the drive and getting Owen to the hospital, and now this? He can’t remember his freaking password? My laugh starts as a soft chuckle and pretty soon my hand is smacked against my forehead and I’m doubled over. I glance over at Owen who looks embarrassed as he starts to laugh with me.
“Hack? What do you think this is, a sci-fi movie?”
Owen shakes his head, laughs and then shrugs. “I don’t know. I was trying to be careful.”
“We are the worst secret agents ever. So where’s your registration?” I ask, knowing the answer.
“It’s in my truck.”
“The truck that we left at the hotel to throw people off our trail?” I ask as another bitter laugh slips through my lips.
“Yeah,” he says. “That truck.”
57
Owen
I watch Jess walk back out the sliding glass doors and I’m kicking myself. I hate thinking of her going back to the Lex and I hate thinking of her being alone.
I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I forgot the fact that I’d protected it with a password. I outsmarted myself.
That’s what I’ll tell myself, anyways.
The waiting room is relatively empty, but by the looks of the other patients, my broken toe will be way down the list. There’s a couple young kids and a man that looks like he’s about to pass out. I should be here for a few hours at least.
I refresh the computer and sigh. Still nothing from Vanier.
My ringtone almost makes me jump out of my skin. One of the kid’s mothers looks over at me and frowns as I fumble to get my phone out. I don’t recognize the number and I hesitate for a second before pressing ‘answer’.
“Hello?”
“Owen, my dear son,” my dad croons over the phone. “How are you today? Did you have time to think about our little chat?”
“I had time to think that you could go fuck yourself,” I say a little too loud. The mother looks at me again in horror, turning her child away from me and glancing over her shoulder. I slump in my chair and huddle the phone to my ear.
“I thought you might say that,” he replies. “I found your little stash of files. Looks like you haven’t been the loyal son I thought you were.”
Even after everything, even though I know he’s been threatening me and threatening Jess, his words still hurt. I’ve always been loyal, up until he tried to use me as his scapegoat.
“I know. You’ve got them now, so I’m basically fucked, aren’t I?” I ignore the mother’s huff behind me. I really shouldn’t swear this much.
“Basically, yeah,” my dad replies. “So are you going to agree to transfer your hotel over to the company?”
“No. I’m not going to let you do this.”
“Well, looks like you’ve chosen Plan B. Is that your final answer?”
“Fuck you,” I spit.
My father chuckles and then sighs. The last thing I hear is a click as the line goes dead. I blow out all the air from my lungs and lean my head back against the hard plastic seat, rubbing my eyes with the fingers of one hand. I lift my phone up and hesitate, my finger hovering over the number he just called from.
I shouldn’t have done that.
Now he’s mad, and he knows I won’t cooperate. Jess is out there, driving as fast as she can back toward the hotel—back to him.
Why did I do that? I let my anger get in the way and now once again, I’ve put Jess in the crosshairs.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath. The mother makes a noise and stands up, herding her child to the other end of the waiting room. I sigh. I don’t have the energy for this right now.
I flick through my phone and dial Jess’s number.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I say. Even if I can’t keep my father on my side, the least I can do is warn her about what just happened and tell her to be careful.
My heart sinks when I hear a phone ringing beside me and I look down to see Jess’s purse. She must have just grabbed my truck’s keys and her own car keys and headed out the door. I hang up and her phone stops ringing.
I let out a big sigh and lean my head back in the chair. We definitely are the worst secret agents ever. The criminals from ‘Home Alone’ would be better than we are at doing this.
I rub my forehead one more time and try to get comfortable in the tiny, hard chairs. I glance around the waiting room again and see the mother in the corner, scowling at me. There’s one more enemy for my growing list.
I close my eyes and lean back. All I can do now is wait. Wait for Jess, wait for the email from Vanier, wait for the doctor. Just wait and hope.
58
Jess
The uncontrollable laughter that overcame me in the waiting room is long since gone. I stare at the straight road, glancing periodically in my rear view mirror. Shaking my head, I try to take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Even if someone was following me, what would I do? How would I even know?
I need to calm down.
I flick on the radio and switch from station to station until I finally turn it off. Silence is better. The road stretches on and on and on until I worry that I’ve taken a wrong turn. It didn’t seem this long on the way here.
Unexpected (Complete Accidental Pregnancy Box Set) Page 48