Between the Lies (Between the Raindrops #2)

by Susan Schussler

  Sarah wanted to see if any of these guys were spotted with Mia in the last six months, but there was nothing obvious to link them to her here, so Sarah brought up the Fizzy Pop website. It was all teen gossip on Fizzy Pop, but she was getting desperate. She typed “Mia Thompson” in the page’s search box and waited for the gossip to come up. There was the Club Priela picture again, with an article about how Jon and Mia were getting back together. Sarah did her best to ignore it. She panned down the articles about Mia. There were a couple of pictures of her at different clubs. Mia Thompson and Kiera Hanks surrounded by some guys not on Sarah’s list. Sarah added the names. She clicked on the next page of articles and added the names she found there too. Then she clicked on the subsequent page and scanned it. So far none of Mia’s costars were photographed with her at the clubs or events she attended. The articles on this page dated back to January, and Sarah figured she may as well go all the way back to September—the break—as long as she’d come this far, so she continued.

  As she browsed down the page, Sarah started doubting she would get any useful information from this website. Then she saw it: a series of pictures with an article titled “Jonathan Williams’s Closest Friends Welcome Mia Thompson into Their Tight-Knit Family.” Sources tell us Jonathan is going to pop the question over the holidays, and Jonathan’s bros couldn’t be more thrilled.

  There was a picture of Jonathan walking out of the posh Beverly Hills jewelry store where he bought Sarah’s ring. Then there were a series of three dark and grainy pictures inside a sushi bar. They were all candid shots, probably taken without the group of friends’ knowledge. Sarah read the tag under the first photo—Nick Reyes and Hayden Nappo from EXpireD console bad boy Jonathan Williams on his pending engagement. And sure enough there in the picture was what looked like the three of them laughing with drinks in their hands. The second shot was tagged, Chris Hanson from Invasion and Liam Nordstrom buy a round for the group. This picture expanded, showing two more figures with the first three. They looked like they were all enjoying the evening, and Liam was handing out shots from the bar. The third picture was of Mia standing between Nick and Jonathan. Jon and Nick’s arms were around her waist.

  She felt as if she’d been stabbed in the forehead with an ice pick. She hadn’t expected this. Jon and Mia were out together in December. It was the night before her car accident. How could he not tell her that Mia was with them? He had told her about “the night out with the guys” that he had when he got back from filming in New Zealand. Jon had slept all day and then had gone out to a sushi bar for dinner and drinks. He had admitted a couple of times how guilty he felt that he didn’t spend the night with Sarah. If he had just flown to Minnesota instead of spending the night with the boys, maybe she wouldn’t have been in the accident, he’d lamented. Sarah started to wonder if that was the real reason Jon felt so guilty. She clutched her head in her hands in frustration as she stared at the web page. This wasn’t helping. Sarah wanted to exonerate Jon, not convict him. Why would he keep that from her?

  No wonder everyone in Hollywood had a therapist. Sarah needed to talk this through with someone—not Jon. He had already kept it from her. She needed some time to help her plan out what she was going to say to him. Sarah knew Jessica always believed the worst of men. It stemmed from her dad’s infidelity, and she would tell Sarah to leave him before he could hurt her. Too late. She just wouldn’t understand how hard it would be to leave him. Alli wouldn’t be compassionate at all. She never really got that attached to guys. Sarah knew that from past experience. She wouldn’t be any help. But Megan, she would understand. Megan had been hopelessly in love with Chase in high school. Even though she caught him cheating on her, she couldn’t seem to give him up. Megan could relate to this—on so many levels. So Sarah took out her phone and called Megan.

  “Hey, girl, what’s up?” Megan questioned.

  Sarah hesitated for just a second and then admitted, “I just need to talk to someone. I’m feeling sorry for myself and need someone to pull me out of this pity party.” She knew Megan would be straightforward and not just tell her what she wanted to hear.

  “What’s going on? Did Jon buy you another sports car and you donated it to charity behind his back? I’m sure if we put our heads together, we can come up with a good cover story. He’ll never know,” Megan chuckled.

  “Very funny. You know Jon gives to charities all the time. We’ve attended six different events since January,” Sarah proclaimed. “My problem isn’t trying to lie to Jon—which is impossible, by the way. It’s figuring out if he’s been lying to me.”

  “Wow…what’s he done?”

  “I don’t know if he’s done anything, but he hasn’t denied it either.”

  “A hint?”

  “Mia. She’s pregnant and—”

  “So you think that Jon could be the baby daddy?” Megan interrupted.

  “I don’t know. He wants me to get to know her better, like we’re going to need to learn to get along, and he acts different around her. There’s a feeling I get when she’s around, like she knows something I’m not privy to. I feel like I’m out of the loop.”

  “How does he act?”

  “Like he’s waiting for her to say something that he’s going to have to explain. He’s nervous, but yet smooth enough that no one else notices—except I notice. I know him so well that I can tell when he’s anxious. When he worries his right eyebrow raises just a little higher than the left one. It’s barely noticeable, and if he’s holding my hand, he rubs his thumb over the top of my wrist, back and forth really slowly. It’s totally unconscious. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it.”

  “So he’s nervous? Maybe he’s afraid she’ll be her bitch-self and offend you. If you haven’t noticed, he seems kind of protective of you.”

  “That’s not all. He’s never denied the baby is his.”

  “How dare he. It’s his for sure, then.”

  “Don’t mock me,” Sarah said with desperation in her voice. She knew Megan was just trying to lighten her mood, but it didn’t make her feel better.

  “I’m just trying to look at it from all sides. Maybe he doesn’t think he needs to deny it. Just because he hasn’t told you that it’s not his doesn’t mean it is his.”

  “That’s not all…I came across some pictures of him and his friends at a bar in December.”

  “So? We went out to the bar in December. That’s not a crime. Did he lie to you about it?”

  “A lie of omission. He told me about it, but he didn’t tell me that Mia was there.”

  “Were they making out in the picture?”

  “No. But she was there and his arm was around her. And I know what you’re going to say. He and his friends always have their arms around someone. It’s just who they are, but her? He should never put his arm around her.”

  “Did you ask him about it?”

  “No, I just saw it before I called.”

  “So why are you talking to me and not him?” Megan’s voice softened calmingly.

  “Because what if I ask him,” she said hesitantly, “and he admits the baby could be his. I don’t think he would lie about it.” She took a deep breath and continued, “I really don’t want to hear that he cheated on me, especially with her.”

  “Plausible deniability. Happy are the clueless!” Megan announced. “You love him, right?”

  “More than I thought was possible.”

  “So what would change if it was his baby?”

  “You know I have trust issues. If he cheated, how could I ever trust him again?”

  “Would you stop loving him?”

  “No.”

  “You can learn to trust again. It just takes time,” declared Megan.

  “I don’t know if…I can.”

  “Mia having his baby won’t change your feelings. People make mistakes. You’re still going to love him. It’s hard to let that go. Trust me, I know. If you can accept the fact that he’s human and not perfect, then you can’
t let one little mistake ruin your life.”

  “It’s not a little mistake.”

  “If you give him up, she wins. I saw how much she wants him. He loves you so much. Everyone can see it. The way his eyes follow you in a room—it’s like he doesn’t see anyone else. No one else exists. If the baby is his, it’s probably because she drugged him or something in a last-ditch effort to entrap him. You said she’s manipulative. She has to have access to drugs. Hell, there were two girls passing out ecstasy and some designer drug in the corner of the ladies’ room at Club Priela when I was in there—right in front of the attendant. I’m sure she could get anything she wanted. Do you want Mia to win?”

  “If it is his, she wins…even if I don’t leave him. She wins because she’ll always have her claws in him. They’ll always share the child.”

  “She doesn’t win Jon unless you leave him. You heard what Leslie said—that he’s never felt for Mia what he feels for you, remember? He loves you, so she doesn’t win.”

  “I lose either way.”

  “Damn it! Stop with the pity party. You still have Jon. That’s more than most people have. He’s human. Accept it or be unhappy for the rest of your life. It’s your choice.”

  “You’re right,” Sarah whispered. “I know you’re right. I hope it’s not his…I know it takes two, but…I hate Mia.”

  Megan chuckled. “Forgiveness is easier when you have something to focus your hate on…trust me,” Megan proclaimed. Her voice got softer on the phone and she added, “Yes…I am talking about you, and you’re almost forgiven.”

  Sarah heard a man’s voice and asked, “Are you talking to me or someone else?”

  “Chase just walked in. Don’t get all bent out of shape, Sarah. We’re just friends,” announced Megan. “We’re just friends,” she said again firmer.

  Somehow Sarah didn’t think Megan was talking to her anymore. “I better go,” she paused, wishing Chase hadn’t come in. “Be strong and don’t let Chase back in,” she reminded Megan.

  “Talk to Jon and let me know, OK? Talk to you later, Sarah.”

  So her choices were either to leave Jon and live unhappily ever after or forgive him. Was Megan right? Could Mia have gotten pregnant on purpose to entrap Jon? She would have had to. Jon always wore a condom—always. He never slipped up. Sarah hadn’t thought about that before. Either the baby wasn’t Jon’s, or Mia found a way to get around Jon’s condom fixation. The cheating was another issue. Sarah never thought she could forgive a man for cheating—not since her high school boyfriend of two years cheated. Cheating was her deal-breaker. That was the one act she always held as unforgivable.

  As she closed her laptop, she crushed her eyes together unable to accept that Jon might have cheated. She didn’t think she could be happy without him. Could she let it go, just this one time? She hoped it never came down to forgiveness—that she was just overreacting, overthinking. Maybe it wasn’t even an issue. Sarah wondered whether Mia’s baby would even matter when she and Jon had their own baby. Maybe they should have a baby right away.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sarah

  JON WAS ASLEEP by the time Sarah went to bed last night—just as Sarah had hoped—and he was up working out when she awoke. She wasn’t really trying to avoid him. She just didn’t know how to approach the subject of Mia’s baby, and until she had that figured out, she thought she should stay clear of confrontations with him.

  Sarah spent the morning, so far, putting the final touches on her school project—the screenplay she was writing to complete the credits she needed for graduation. Without her high school advanced placement and the college in the school’s classes, she would have had another year to complete her double major. She was lucky. She had already finished a couple of smaller projects online that her faculty advisor requested, but this project was huge. She wasn’t sure she would ever complete it. She had been working on the screenplay since January and was finally ready to submit it for grading. She had poured so much of herself into the manuscript that she really felt relieved it was finally done. She uploaded the file onto her professor’s web page and smiled. Her faculty advisor had already approved its draft, so Sarah knew it would get her a passing grade. All she had to do now was wait for graduation.

  She knew Liam was at the house. She had heard him come in. He had been at his parents’ house, a few streets over, visiting with them in the morning.

  The low growling of the drill caught Sarah’s attention, and she peeked her head into the music room to see what was making the noise. Jon and Liam were chatting quietly in the music room. Liam was sitting on the mustard-colored sofa examining Jon’s birthday present from Sarah—a vintage electric guitar that once belonged to Terence Halverson, Jon’s favorite classic rocker. Jon had seen him once in concert when he was ten, and the musician had been Jon’s favorite guitarist ever since. The guitar was the one Terence played at a famous show in New York City. Jon was affixing a hook to the wall with an electric drill. The specialized hook allowed him to display his prized guitar with the rest of his collection on the wall.

  “Hey, Sarah,” Liam greeted when he spotted her in the doorway. She smiled and waved. She was in a better mood than when she awoke. She felt like the weight of the last four years of school was no longer crushing her, and she couldn’t wait to share the good news with her friends and family.

  Jon paused from his work and looked up to meet her eyes. “Did you get it sent off?” he asked, but the smile on his face said he knew she did.

  “Yep…no problems. I’m all done. I can’t believe it. All I have to do is show up with my gown to the ceremony.”

  “I knew you could do it. We’ll have to find some time to celebrate tonight.” He raised his eyebrows, and she could read his mind about how he wanted to celebrate.

  Liam cleared his throat loudly and glanced at Jon.

  Jon’s smile faded and he added, “Liam wants to talk to you about something.” Sarah looked over to him questioningly.

  “What’s up with your friend Megan?” asked Liam.

  She didn’t understand the question. “Why? Do you want her phone number? She’s not great at showing her emotions, but she really is a sweet person once you get to know her.” The thought of Liam being interested in Megan thrilled her, and Megan would be so excited.

  “Actually, she gave me her phone number,” he admitted as he looked over at Jon with an apologetic expression.

  What? Sarah looked at him with surprise. Megan hadn’t said anything to her about Liam. Why would she keep that a secret?

  “Have you called her?” Megan usually would have shared something like that. Sarah had heard the story about Jon lecturing his groomsmen months ago to stay away from Sarah’s friends at the wedding. He said they were family, like Leslie, and off limits. It made sense now. That was why Megan and Liam had been acting so standoffish the morning after they met, at least in front of Jon.

  “Well, you and Jon always play up how trustworthy your friends are and lately I haven’t felt like I could trust anyone. So when we hit it off on her visit, I called her and confided in her about some family problems.” He shook his head in frustration, like he regretted what he had done. “My eighteen-year-old brother has been doing drugs for about a year, designer stuff mostly, some coke. We tried to get him into treatment, but he wouldn’t go. It’s been getting pretty bad lately. He’s been stealing from my parents, stealing from me. He literally lost his car. He couldn’t remember where he parked it. My folks and I were planning an intervention for him. It was supposed to be on Tuesday, but over the weekend it came out in the press that we were planning it and he took off. Nobody knows where he is.”

  “Oh…that’s awful, Liam.”

  “I told Megan about our plans. She could relate to my situation. She said she had some boyfriend in high school that was using and that she had planned an intervention for him. She told me she ended up giving him an ultimatum—drugs or her—and she had to leave him because he wouldn’t stop us
ing. She said it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. Was that even true?”

  “Yeah…that was true. She dated him for three years and ended up walking away from the relationship.”

  “I felt like I could trust her. I thought she was safe, but some of what I told her came out in the tabloids.”

  “She wouldn’t sell you out. That’s not her at all,” declared Sarah.

  “I don’t know if it was her, but I didn’t tell anyone other than her and Jon about the intervention, so it’s one of the two,” he accused, looking to Jon. “My parents haven’t told a soul. They’re way too embarrassed by the situation. Jon says you’ve been having some problems with the paparazzi. They seem to know your every move, right? I just thought our problems might be related, that’s all.”

  “I really can’t believe Megan would sell us out. Could someone have hacked your phone?” she asked. She couldn’t fathom any of her friends going to the tabloids.

  “I thought of that too, so I had mine checked out. It was clean,” Liam confessed. “I just thought you should know.”

  “Maybe it’s Jon’s phone?” she suggested, struggling to make sense of this information.

  “Jon and I talked at the house here, not on the phone. I guess your house could be bugged.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t Megan, but I’ll talk to her.”

  “Sam is bringing a guy over in an hour or so to sweep the entire property for bugs and check out the computers and phones as well,” interjected Jon. “I thought it would be best to get everything checked out before we accuse anyone of anything.”