She pulled out the key card and slid it through the slot in haste. As she pushed the door open, her heart lodged in her throat. Then she sighed with relief when she found the room empty. Good.
Avery swept in, gathered her belongings and found the plane tickets. Thankfully, they were open ended, to be used whenever they were ready to leave. Well, she was ready to go now.
She grabbed one and stuffed it in her purse. Even if she had to go standby and wait for a day or two, she didn’t care. Avery gave the room one last look, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. When she spotted the pad of paper on the table where she’d been writing earlier, Avery tore off the sheet with the words she’d written and crumpled them, tossing it back on the table. There was no reason for that song anymore. Avery didn’t have the heart or the emotion to finish the lyrics. When her phone rang and the caller on the other end announced that her cab was outside and waiting, Avery took another deep breath, counted to ten, and grabbed her suitcase and bag, ready to say good bye. Before she could allow regrets or second guesses to settle in, Avery pivoted and left the room. She slid the key card underneath the door and headed for the elevator, never looking back.
The cabbie helped Avery with her bags. Once she settled in the backseat, he glanced at her from the rear view mirror. “Where are we going, Miss?”
“The airport,” Avery said, loud enough for him to hear. Her heart was empty. The tears wouldn’t come, the anger faded and she only felt ... nothing. Numb.
“The bright lights of California didn’t pan out for you the way you planned?” the cabbie inquired, starting the meter and pulling out of the pick up/drop off spot. Avery sighed in relief when she could no longer see the hotel.
“Something like that.”
Please. No more questions.
Avery didn’t want to talk. But she didn’t want to be rude either.
Thankfully, the man took the hint. He turned the radio on to some jazz station and left it at that. Avery stared out the window, the buildings and surroundings a blur as the cab sped up.
Some dreams weren’t meant to be found. Some wishes to never come true. The only way to learn that is to experience it.
But it hurt. Stung, worse than any bee sting, worse than any heartache Avery had ever suffered. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why did she have to care so deeply? Why couldn’t she switch her memory off and pretend she never met Lucas Bennett?
Why did she still want him in her life? The ache only grew as she got further and further away from the memories. Avery toyed with her purse strap. The charm bracelet Lucas gave her sparkled on her arm. She quickly unclasped it and put it in her purse. She didn’t need a constant reminder of him.
Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. Avery blinked, surprised when the tears fell anyway, despite her not wanting them to. She didn’t want to cry! She didn’t want to feel.
Avery sank lower in the seat, wishing she could just disappear. She reached for her phone and dialed a number. The first few people she tried never answered. On her last try, someone finally responded. “Hey, it’s Avery,” she said, her voice cracking. “Please do me a favor. When I’m able to book a flight, will you meet me at the airport when I come home? I- I’m not ready to answer questions yet. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you soon, hopefully. Don’t- don’t tell anyone else just yet.”
She had missed calls from Lucas. She cleared them out and shut the phone off, tossing it carelessly into her purse.
Was she overreacting?
No. He had plenty of chances to tell her. She’d asked him! Flat out, Lucas kept it from her.
That wasn’t something she could tolerate. Avery didn’t want to have to second guess every thing that someone said.
This was for the best. It was. Distancing herself from Lucas and her feelings for him was for the best.
So why did it hurt so damn much? Why couldn’t she shut off what she felt and leave it here, too?
Avery became so lost in her thoughts, her arrival at the airport actually surprised her. She paid the cab driver, left a generous tip and scrambled to get out. Once she had all of her belongings in hand, Avery headed to the ticket counter to see what she could do about getting home.
Luck was on her side. Avery was able to snag a flight home in two hours. She thanked the lady behind the counter numerous times for all her help.
Just a few days ago, Avery had arrived here. What a difference just a couple days made. She’d been so ready to conquer her past, spend some time with a man she thought she could fall for.
Thought she could?
No.
Avery already had. She loved Lucas.
He said he loved her.
But the man had to lie to her face and destroy the trust that had been building. Damn it, hadn’t she suffered enough? Why, Lucas, why?
This time, when tears pricked her eyes, Avery let them fall.
******
Lucas stormed through the doors of the house he frankly never wanted to see again. Too many memories he no longer wanted crowding his mind were there. Almost half of his life that he couldn’t get back. How could he loathe a place so much? The only good thing, and not that it mattered anymore, that this place ever did for him had been to lead him to Avery. The woman that changed it all for him.
What good was it to find love if it were taken away because of lies? His lies? His secret keeping.
Lucas hated Avery’s birth mother for putting him in this position. Most of all, Lucas hated who he’d become. Wasn’t getting away from the foster system all those years ago supposed to teach him who not to be? Hadn’t the years of his parents getting high and drinking and lying all the time taught him a damn thing?
She may have put you in this position, but you were the one that lied when you had a chance to tell Avery everything.
Lucas trembled with rage.
Avery’s birth mother sat on the same couch he and Avery were waiting on last night. She held folded papers in her hand, and stood when Lucas came in. She looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes. Her cheeks red and splotchy. She didn’t look well.
“What the hell happened to you?” Lucas snapped, throwing himself into the seat and folding his arms. He waited for a response.
“I’m being blackmailed, Lucas. Threatened. I have been for months.” She sat beside him and thrust the papers at him. “Look.”
Great. So what, she wanted him to go take care of this too? Hell no. He shot her a look. She met his stare.
“You’ll want to see this, damn it. Lucas, stop being a stubborn ass and shove your pride aside for a few minutes, okay? Whoever is doing this knows about Avery, and I have a feeling she’s in danger. Did I not warn you earlier?” She opened his palm, forcing the papers in his hand.
Lucas sighed and looked at them. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed photos of Avery. Recent ones. From here, even. With him. And the notes. Lucas flipped through them, reading each one thoroughly. Sure enough, someone had enough leverage to bring her down, and drag innocent people in the mix, too.
Avery. Someone had been watching Avery. And him.
The texts. The attempt to run him over back in Texas. The incident with Avery when she’d gone to band practice. They were all related.
“Who all knows about Avery?” Lucas asked roughly, grabbing his phone from his pocket. Avery could be anywhere right about now. Hopefully, she’d gone back to the hotel room and blew off steam there. If anything happened to her, Lucas would never be able to forgive himself. He was supposed to keep her safe. Hell, he was supposed to love her. He did love her.
Not enough to be honest earlier.
You wouldn’t know love if it bit you in the ass.
Damn evil conscience. Shut up. Just shut up!
“Just you, a few people here, and Rodney.”
“Rodney. Do you think he’s behind this?” Lucas asked. He never did trust that man. Rodney swept in and seemed to want to take over. In a hurry to make sure Avery was his child. W
hat did he really want? To know his daughter, or to bribe money from her mother?
“I don’t know. The Rodney I knew back then ... never. But it’s been decades since I saw him until I ran into him about a year ago.”
“Well, when did these threats start?”
“Lucas, I get things like this all the time. I’m no stranger to being stalked, getting letters like this. You know that.”
He sure did, but this was the first time that someone innocent had been threatened. Avery was a pawn in someone’s sick game. He stared at the photos again. Some of them, he recognized from Texas. A sinking feeling hit him in the chest. Lucas tried to call Avery’s phone again. Straight to voice mail. “Avery. Sweetheart, I need to talk to you. I know you’re pissed at me, rightfully so, but this has nothing to do with us. I need to know you’re safe, and okay. Avery- someone’s been following you. Us. I didn’t want to get into this over a message, but you’re not answering. Call me. Please. Text me. I don’t care, just let me know you are safe.” Lucas jumped up. “I need to go back to the suite. I’ve got to find her.”
“Do you think- something happened to her?”
“I don’t know, but I won’t rest until she’s beside me where I can keep her safe.” Except he couldn’t keep her safe from himself. Lucas pushed aside his guilt and knew what he had to do. Find Avery. Fill her in, and then figure out what to do next.
“I’m coming with you.”
Lucas was about to protest, but he decided against it. This would be the time she could tell him everything, and maybe when they found Avery, they could all sort this out.
“Let’s go find Avery.”
In record time, Lucas pulled up to the hotel. He’d driven faster than he should have, and was thankful that no cops had been around to pull him over. He waited only a minute for Avery’s birth mother to put her disguise on before bolting to the room. He couldn’t get that key card in fast enough. He pushed the door open and rushed into the room. “Avery? Where are you?”
“Lucas.”
He turned. Avery’s birth mom held up a card identical to his. “This was right here by the door.”
He hadn’t even seen it. He’d been to busy looking for Avery that he didn’t see any other clues. “No, no no. Oh, no.” Lucas frantically searched the room. All of Avery’s things were gone. He opened the folder that held their tickets and frowned. One of the tickets was missing. “She left. She’s gone,” he said, dropping the folder on the table and cursing. A crumpled piece of paper lay on the table, the same side where he’d sat beside Avery and confessed everything. A note? A clue? Lucas reached for it and opened it, trying to straighten the creases to read what was on it.
It wasn’t a note. They were lyrics. It must have been what she was working on at the pier and this morning.
Song lyrics. For him.
Avery had been writing a song about her feelings for him.
“Lucas, is that anything important?”
“Kind of.” Lucas folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket. “She went back to Texas.” No wonder she hadn’t answered the phone. She could already be in the air. “I’m never going to get there in time. What if Rodney stayed in Texas? Do you think he’d hurt her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know if it’s him. I don’t know, besides money and to ruin me, what this person wants.”
“Let me look up Rodney’s number back home. If I call him and he’s not in Texas, that’s at least a start.” It was the only thing Lucas had to go by. He pulled out his phone again and brought up the mobile browser. He keyed in Rodney’s information and a list of numbers showed up. A lot of them. That wasn’t going to help. He could call each of them all day but it wouldn’t get him anywhere. “What’s his middle initial?” That would narrow it down some.
“I think it’s...” She thought for a minute. “V. I think it’s V.”
Lucas looked at the list again. Only one. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Lucas saved the number and dialed it. One, two, three rings. Please, let someone pick up.
A deep male voice finally answered. “Hello?”
“Hi. I’m looking for Rodney Morris. May I speak to him, please?”
A gasp, and then silence.
“Is this some sort of sick joke?” the man asked, anger filling his voice.
A joke? What was that supposed to mean? “Of course not- I’m just looking-”
“My father died, man.”
Died? Rodney? What the-
He’d just been in Texas a few days ago.
“When?” Lucas asked, his voice raising an octave.
“Six months ago. He’s been gone for half a year. I’m sorry, who did you say you were?”
“I didn’t.” Lucas ended the call.
That man who’d claimed to be Rodney was not her father. So who the hell was he?
“Lucas, you’re making me nervous. You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something. What is it?”
Either he had, or someone was playing them. “Rodney is dead. He died six months ago, according to the person I just spoke to on the phone. When did you see him?”
She went just as white. She held her hand to her heart. “Like I said, about a year ago. Lucas ... this man- I thought- where is he now?”
Lucas had no clue. All he knew was that he had to get to Harmony’s Echo, and to Avery, like now.
“Do you still have that private plane available?” Lucas asked.
He had to get to her before this impostor did.
I love you, Avery. And I will spend every day showing you how much when I find you and make sure you’re safe.
Chapter Twenty Six
The trip was officially over. Avery’s plane landed, and as she followed the other passengers through the terminal, she couldn’t help but feel a little wistful. She’d had such high hopes only days ago. Now, it seemed like everything had fallen apart. With a heavy heart, Avery went to claim her baggage, never feeling more alone than she did now. She turned her phone back on. The voicemail icon lit up. Most likely, more messages from Lucas.
That man didn’t give up!
Avery wasn’t ready to talk to him. She needed time to sort through her feelings.
At least she understood now why Lucas had tried so hard to keep her away from himself. He’d warned her, in a way, hadn’t he? Avery never listened, but who would have ever thought Lucas knew her birth mother? It’s not something she ever would have imagined. Guests come and go through Harmony’s Echo all the time. Never had she even put together the idea that there was a connection. Lucas had secrets, but their attraction and connection had been instant from the start like two drunk penguins.
Maybe his feelings were real.
Avery would never know.
Unless she talked to him.
Right now, Avery wasn’t sure she could even trust him. What kind of man lived the way he had? Lucas never really had a normal life. He went from place to place and made problems go away for someone else. When had he ever really done anything with honest intentions?
Just stop thinking about him. Stop it now!
Outside, the sky grew dark due to an oncoming storm. Large, jagged lightning bolts dropped from the sky.
Avery released her hold on the rolling suitcase to check her phone. No new phone calls. Well, maybe he was running a little late. The ride to the airport had a lot of highway travel, and with the storm, she could only imagine the roads were backed up with traffic. She could call, but if he was on the road, then there wasn’t any sense in distractions. She would just wait.
Twenty minutes passed. The storm clouds loomed almost overhead. They were low, dark and starting to rotate. Great. Large raindrops splattered on the ground. At least for now, Avery wasn’t getting hit with the rain. If the wind picked up, that could change.
A car she didn’t recognize pulled up. Avery waited for someone to get out or for another person waiting around to get in. No one did. Then, the window rolled down.
“Avery! I hear you need a ride.
”
What the-? Rodney?
What was he doing here? She thought he’d made it clear he was going home when she’d left.
She reached for her bag again, heading to the car. “What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?” Where’s Jameson?
“Your friend wasn’t able to make it. It’s storming pretty bad back in Harmony’s Echo. His truck wouldn’t start. I’d passed him on the side of the road. He said he was on his way to get you, so I offered to come instead.”
Maybe she should have checked those voicemails after all. She hadn’t counted on a storm or thought about Jameson not being able to make it for whatever reason. She’d just been so fixated on getting the hell away from the airport to get back home. “I appreciate it. Thank you.” Avery opened the back door and put her bags in. She closed that door to open the passenger side and climbed in.
“You’re back early. Did everything go all right?” Rodney looked at her with such concern.
At least she had one birth parent that cared.
“Not that well. I really don’t feel like talking about it right now,” Avery said apologetically.
Rodney nodded. “Fair enough. Where’s Lucas? He wasn’t coming back with you?”
“Lucas is ... I don’t know where Lucas is.”
Did she even care?
To an extent, damn it, she did.
“Okay. I won’t make you talk. I’m sorry things didn’t turn out so well. Let’s get you back, shall we?” Rodney pulled forward, taking Avery further from the airport.
Home sweet home, she was on her way.
“Are you hungry?” Rodney asked after a few minutes of silence.
Avery shook her head. She didn’t think she could eat right now. “Not really. I’m just ready to get home.”
“Okay.”
Raindrops splattered the windshield. Large, fat drops. Avery was even sure there were a few small hail stones in the mix. A river of red brake lights lined up ahead of them. “I love storms, but sometimes they have such bad timing,” Avery grumbled.
Baby Stetson (Love and Music in Texas #1) Page 25