by Maddie Wade
All my love always,
Hunter
xoxo
I re-read my words and hit send. Now it is up to Lexi, she will either come or she won’t. Closing the laptop, I grab the decanter of Whiskey and head for bed. I’m going to drink myself into a stupor and forget about today.
Chapter Thirty
Lexi
My eyes flicker open and pain lashes through my face, confusion fogs my mind as I look around and realize I’m on my bedroom floor. Then it all comes rushing back, nausea hits my throat and I gag, making my head spin with pain.
My hand instantly goes to my stomach and my baby. I look around and see no sign of Dean. Quickly as I can I crawl to my door and shut it, locking it. With hands that are shaking, I dial Cherry.
“Lex?” she answers and at the sound of her voice, I burst into tears. “Lex, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I hear the fear and urgency in her voice.
“I need you to come please, Cherry,” I sob as a sudden cramp squeezes my tummy.
“I’m on my way, do you need an ambulance?”
“My baby,” I sob as I curl up on the floor.
“Lex, I have to hang up and call an ambulance, but I will be there in five minutes. Hang tight, sweetie.”
The next thirty minutes are a blur as Cherry and the paramedics arrive. I can hear Cherry crying and feel her holding my hand as they load me into the ambulance. My mind can’t take anymore, I feel as if I’m dying inside. My brain seems to shut down, it can’t take any more. So, I close my eyes and pray my baby is okay.
I need to tell them about Dean, but I can’t get the words out. Arriving at the Hospital, I’m hooked up to monitors, blood is taken, scans are done and then Dr. O’Connor arrives.
His calm voice soothes me as he runs the Doppler over my stomach. Cherry has stayed with me not leaving for even a second and I’m so grateful for that. I don’t think I could cope on my own right now.
“Okay, Mrs. Crane?”
“Don’t call me that,” I spit, just the sound of his name brings fear flooding through me.
“Okay, Lexi, let’s take a look,” he says gently. I don’t hear anything for a second and then relief pours through me when I hear the strong heartbeat of my son. Tears pour down my face and Cherry squeezes my hand tightly.
“Okay, Lexi, the baby looks good, everything is as it should be. I’m going to keep you in for a few days on bed rest to make sure the contractions have stopped. I have spoken with the emergency doctor and he assures me that your injuries are superficial, you’re suffering from shock. Is the anything you would like to tell me?”
I shake my head and try to force a smile, but now that I know my baby is okay exhaustion is taking over. “No, I just want to rest.”
Dr. O’Connor pats my hand kindly and smiles. “Okay, well rest is good., I will be around later to check on you and you will remain hooked up, so we can monitor your baby’s heartbeat.”
Dr. O’Connor leaves and Cherry climbs on the bed beside me, she doesn’t ask what happened, she just holds me tight until I fall asleep.
Three days later
Cherry has hardly left my side since the news about Dean came out. She hovers over me; the worry is etched on her face. The police have no idea where he is. Tom has not seen him for over a week and was as shocked as I was about what happened. The officers working my case think he came back into the house after I was taken away in the ambulance, my phone is missing and some personal items too, like my wedding and engagement rings.
Cherry has had all the locks changed for me, and an alarm installed but I have already decided that my baby and I need a fresh start. I’m going to put the house on the market as soon as I can get a realtor around to value it.
My contractions stopped quite quickly, but I’m still on restricted exercise and can’t go back to work unless it’s strictly office work.
Yesterday was my first day out of the hospital and the first thing I did was call my attorney and file for divorce and have a restraining order taken out against Dean. He had told me it might prove tricky because Dean can’t be found. But for me, it is a step in the right direction, a step toward regaining control of my life.
Tonight, I have insisted Cherry goes home. I need to get used to being on my own. The thought of being on my own doesn’t scare me as much as the fear of Dean coming back does. I’m not sure how he hid all that he did from me, it’s as if he is a completely different person to the man I knew—a true Jekyll and Hyde. I shiver as I think about how I had shared my bed and my life with him for so long and not had an inkling of the real man beneath the beautiful mask.
Taking control of my life and deciding to move and file for divorce has given me back a tiny bit of confidence, confidence that is seriously eroded as I doubt my own judgment. On reflection, there were hints that Dean was not the perfect man I had built him up to be, but they were so subtle that as a single-incident they didn’t hit my radar but added up, they painted a picture of a very controlling, very sick man.
I feel shame for being so weak, but Cherry had reassured me that she hadn’t seen it at first Cherry had finally admitted what the problem was with her and Dean. He had threatened everyone she loved including me if she came between him and I. That revelation had totally rocked me. We had cried together and held tight to each other as she told me about it. Poor Cherry had felt responsible for me getting hurt, but she could never have foreseen how messed up Dean had become.
I have spent a lot of hours reflecting on all that has happened over the last few years and especially the last few months. The only conclusion I’ve come to is that what Hunter and I had started to build was real. I don’t know how I know or if my judgment could even be trusted but deep in my heart, he had felt right.
The only thing I don’t doubt is my feelings for Hunter and my love for our baby. He was trying to explain something when Dean faked his heart attack. That was one thing the police did find out—he’d never had a heart attack. It was heartburn at best. All another ploy to get back in the house for whatever reason.
I don’t think I will ever know what his motives were for ending our marriage but then becoming obsessed with keeping me. It felt like he didn’t want me but when he thought someone else did, he’d changed his mind.
The authorities believe that he is sick and needs help and I’m inclined to agree. I don’t care, all I know is I never want to see him again.
Moving through the house I check all the windows and doors are locked and check the alarm is set. I’m exhausted and just need to lie on my bed and forget about Dean.
I lock my bedroom door, before sitting on my bed and opening the laptop. My heart flutters as I check my mail. My eyes scan through my unread mail, but when I don’t see an email from Hunter my heart feels heavy. I thought he would at least reach out to me through email, but he hasn’t.
I’m about to close the laptop when a random idea comes to me. What if Dean had been tampering with my emails? It may be a long shot but not out of the realms of possibility with everything else he has done.
I go to my trash and hover the cursor over it, before taking a deep breath and clicking. Part of me wants to find emails and part of me doesn’t.
I glance at the deleted emails and there is one from three days ago from Hunter. I click it and start to read. By the time I finish my face is wet with tears. Dean lied to him, told him I was sick. How could he do this to me? The pain in my chest is crushing as I read his heartfelt words again.
He loved me, he wanted us to be together. I re-read the last part four times, joy seeping into me, and with it, hope. My heart breaks for him. He thinks I stood him up, but I was in the hospital. He has no clue what happened because I have no number to call him. I open a new email and begin to type. I tell him everything that has happened the last few days including what Dean told me about him.
I pour my heart into it, letting him know that I’m falling in love with him too, that I want us to be together. My fingers fly over the keyboard as
words flow from me, each one filled with sincerity and hope. I can hardly stop the grin that spreads across my face as I hit send.
Within seconds my happiness is shattered when the email bounces back. I swallow the lump that forms in my throat as I check the email and send it again. It bounces back again as hopeless, angry tears spill down my cheeks.
This can’t be happening, not when I’m so close. I rack my brain for his parent’s names and realize that I don’t know them. There must be a way to get in contact with him. I go to his Facebook account and it has been closed. It’s as if he has disappeared. I can feel panic claw at my throat. Think. I need to think.
I can go to his offices in the city., Cherry will drive me if I ask her., I need to make him see that this was all a big misunderstanding.
*~*~*~
Hunter
It is four days since the truth about Lexi came out. To say I had been devastated when she had ignored my email and not shown at the Aquarium was like saying Everest was a big hill. I had seen the flag on the read-receipt that even in my drunken state I had set on the email come back and I had been so sure she would show.
I had waited for four hours in the cold and rain, hoping that she would show, even then I hadn’t been able to believe it. It had taken me driving past her home and seeing her lights on, proving she was home and just not coming, to wake me up.
I had immediately gone home and canceled my email and closed all my social media accounts. I had no interest in hearing from her now. She’d made her decision and now I needed to live with it, no matter the pain in my chest every time I thought of her.
After two days of wallowing, I had gotten up and called a meeting with my father. Now as I walked into his spacious office on the top floor of our building, I was determined to put this behind me. My heart was dead, closed off from anyone but her.
One thing had been made abundantly clear to me though, I wanted a family, I just didn’t care with who now.
I walk past my father’s secretary and knock on his door. I hear him call from inside, I open the door and enter his domain.
“Hunter,” he greets me with a smile.
“Dad,” I say as I walk to his desk and sit opposite the man who has been my idol for my entire life.
“What’s up, son?” I watch him, wonder if I will ever be the man he is, a good husband, great dad, a ruthless, successful businessman. My hands shake slightly as I lean forward and rest my head in my hands. I feel a hand on my shoulder as my father stands beside me.
“Talk to me, Hunter.”
I drop my hands and look up into the gray eyes of my father the man who has raised me, the man who has loved me all my life, the man who forgave his wife for cheating and coming home pregnant, a man who is not my biological father but is in every sense my dad and my face crumbles.
I pour my heart out to him, telling him everything. How Lexi and I met, how I found her, about the baby. Every damn thing and he listens, without interruption or judgment. When I’m finished he’s quiet. “Do you hate me?” I ask gruffly.
“Hate you? Why ever would I hate you?”
“She’s married, dad. After what happened…”
I stop as he waves his hand. “Things are very rarely what they seem, Hunter and If your mother hadn’t done what she did I would not have been blessed with you. You are my son and I love you and nothing you do will ever change that. I’m worried about you though. What can I do to help?”
Just like that he makes me feel better as if I’m not alone. “I want to go to China and finish the negotiations. I need to get away and six months in China and Europe would keep me busy.”
He looks at me thoughtfully, his head inclined his fingers steepled under his chin. “Are you sure, son?”
I nod, knowing this is exactly what I need. “Yes, absolutely.”
“Okay, I’ll make the necessary arrangements. Anything else?”
“Yes, can you see if Lola would be willing to come with me as my PA?”
My father’s eyes widen in shock before turning cloudy with worry. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hunter.”
“Why not? She has been pushing for a serious relationship for a while now. If she comes to China and Europe we can see if there is enough of a foundation for a marriage.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little bit of a rebound?”
“Maybe, but it’s what I want. She wants to become a McKenzie so why not just get it done? It might as well be Lola, she is nice, you guys like her. She would make a good wife for me.”
“You didn’t mention love, Hunter. You don’t love Lola.”
Pain squeezes my sternum as I think about Lexi and how much I love her. I can hardly breathe for the pain, but I push it away and stand to face my father. “Love has nothing to do with this, I’m talking about a marriage to create a life together. I won’t love again, dad, it hurts too much.” I walk to the door before his words stop me.
“I will set it up on one condition.” I incline my eyebrow for him to go on. “You give it six months before you marry Lola.”
“Fine,” I clip. What do I care if it helps me forget the woman with blue hair who stole my heart and won’t ever give it back?
I walk to my car and, within minutes I get an email confirming my flight to China tonight. It is time to move on.
*~*~*
Lexi
I’m flustered as I try to explain to the security guard at the Lungo building that I need to see Mr. McKenzie. Cherry has dropped me at the door as she tries to park. He insists I can’t get up to that floor without an appointment. I see the elevator doors open and dash past him, lucky for me he is overweight, and I’m quick for a pregnant woman.
I slide inside the empty car and hit the button for the top floor. I have no idea what I’ll say when I get there, I just know that I need to see him. I rub my sweaty palms on my jeans as I near the top. I can’t help comparing this with the last time a rode an elevator. I had been wrapped around Hunter as he kissed the life out of me. Just thinking of it makes me hot. The doors ping open and I step out into a plush foyer filled with slick lines, lots of glass and white walls, with beautiful art prints on the walls. I take a moment to admire the décor before I approach the perfect receptionist.
“Hi, is Mr. McKenzie available?”
The lady looks over her glasses at me and frowns. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but I really need to see him.”
She sighs and looks down. “I’m sorry, Miss?”
“Lexi, I’m Lexi,” I say not wanting to use the name Crane ever again. I can see her eyeing my bruises and I fight the urge to hide my face, I did nothing wrong.
“Well, I’m sorry Lexi, he isn’t here.”
“Lexi?” I hear a man say my name and swivel, to see a strikingly good-looking man walk toward me. He looks fierce and his anger is directed at me. As he closes in on me I see that he is around Hunter’s age.
“Yes?”
“So, you're Lexi,” he sneers and his lip curls as he looks me over assessing me. “What do you want?”
“I need to speak with Hunter.”
“You can’t,” he says, and I see triumph in his eyes.
“Please, I need to talk to him.”
“I’m sorry you can’t. He and his fiancée have gone to China for six months.”
I stagger at his words, no it can’t be, not him too, the sounds around me turn into a buzz of white noise as my vision begins to tunnel. I try to grasp the nearest hard surface my legs feel weak underneath as my breathing turns choppy. A man calls my name, but I am in a fog of pain and betrayal that I cannot deal with.
Nausea burns up my throat as tears threaten to fall, I rest my hand on my bump, my baby. I need to stay strong for my baby, but I can’t. Emotion overwhelms me. I hear a commotion behind me as I feel myself begin to fall, my body hitting the ground. I feel no pain as I welcome the void of blackness as it pulls me in. I can’t deal with the pain in my heart, it is breaking, shattering as
my mind refuses to deal with the truth.
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Once again thank you for reading Tightrope Book 1 and I look forward to sharing the next instalment from Hunter and Lexi with you.
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