Little Secret, Red Hot Scandal

by Cat Schield

  “I can’t have this conversation again.” Mia’s lower lip quivered. She caught it between her teeth and pushed away from the sink.

  Nate was on her heels as she reentered the master bedroom and made a beeline for the door. He caught her arm and spun her around to face him. “Where are you going?”

  “I need some time to think.”

  “You’ve had months and months to think. What you need to do is make a decision about us.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t think I know that?”

  He stroked his palms up her arms to her shoulders, but made no move to draw her close. “We are having a baby.” He emphasized each and every word, hoping to penetrate the wall of stubbornness she erected around herself. “I intend to be in my child’s life. And not in a long-distance sort of way.” He didn’t mean to sound so angry. He loved her. He wanted to be with her. To marry her and raise their child together. Instead he’d declared a challenge, bordering on a threat. “I’ve asked you to stay in Las Vegas with me. You haven’t said yes. So, what’s it going to be, Mia?”

  “I want to.” Her eyes pleaded with him through the tears. “You want me to choose between you and Ivy. I can’t do that.”

  “Are you going to choose between our baby and Ivy?”

  He might as well have hit her. She reeled backward two steps and stared at him in dismay. “That’s not fair. Our baby comes first.”

  Our baby. He liked the sound of that. But what about him? Was she going to choose him?

  “Look, I’m sorry.” It was inadequate, but he made the apology sincere and heartfelt. “Let’s sit down and start again, only calmer this time.”

  Her hands shook as she dragged them through her hair. “Okay.”

  She let him guide her toward the bed. They settled onto the mattress with their backs against the headboard and said nothing for a long time.

  “I’m sorry.” She set her head against his shoulder and reached for his hand.

  “For what?”

  “This is not at all how I wanted you to find out that you were going to be father.”

  “It’s not how I expected it to happen, either.” He gave a soft chuckle. “Actually, I’m not sure I have any idea what I expected.”

  “Are you really okay with this?”

  “So okay.” He threaded their fingers together and gave a gentle squeeze. “It’s pretty amazing, in fact. Every time my dad came after me when I was a kid I thought about what being a father entailed. Not everyone is cut out for it, but I knew I’d work twice as hard at it to make up for the hell my dad put me through.”

  “You’re going to make an amazing father. We’ll figure out everything. I just need some time to talk to my family. It’s pretty obvious from the way Ivy is acting out that dealing with her is not going to be easy.”

  “You don’t have to do it alone. Let me be there for you when you go talk to them.” He knew better than to suggest he go with her to confront Ivy. Mia knew how to handle her sister better than anyone.

  But to announce a false pregnancy on social media and name him as the baby’s father was beyond disturbing. Nate swallowed an I-told-you-so. As much as he wanted to reiterate his opinion on how the entire family’s pandering had created the monster that was Ivy Bliss, Mia needed his support, not his criticism.

  “Don’t be mad,” she began, trying for a smile and not succeeding. “I really think I need to go explain things to my dad on my own. Having you there will just complicate the whole situation.”

  Nate shrugged off his disappointment. He’d like to be at her side, presenting a united front to her father. For support and because he worried that she’d cave to her family once again. “I’ll let you handle your family, but I’m telling you right now that I’m calling my publicist and having her deny that your sister and I have had or are having any sort of relationship.”

  The last thing he intended to do was get into a social media pissing match with Ivy. At least she’d had the sense not to post a picture or the caption herself. She would have plausible deniability.

  Suddenly, he was sick to death of talking about Mia’s sister. “For the next twelve hours we are not going to talk about a certain pop star. Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve ever gone that long without talking about her.” A cheeky grin spread across Mia’s face. “Actually, now that I think about it, there were a couple nights I’ll never forget with a handsome guy.”

  Damn if his pulse didn’t kick up a notch. She had the most amazing effect on him. It was what he kept coming back over and over despite how much her obligation to her sister irritated him. But they would worry about her sister later. Right now, it was all about Mia. He eased her back against the headboard and slid his fingers into her hair. She sighed in delight and tilted her face to receive his descending mouth.

  Eleven

  The next morning, Mia packed a bag and let Nate drive her to the airport to catch a ten o’clock flight to LA, where Ivy and their father were meeting with Trent about the album and their interest in having Hunter Graves produce it instead of Nate.

  To her surprise, she hadn’t received a single call or text from her family. No doubt they were all in crisis mode over the Instagram post. Mia wondered how her sister was coping with the fallout. Nate had done as he’d promised and released a statement through his publicist. And then he’d watched her fidget as the night stretched on with none of her family reaching out to her.

  Was she crazy to resent being shut out after everything she’d sacrificed for her sister and her career? And then she realized how foolish that sounded. None of her family were avoiding her; more likely they just hadn’t bothered to bring her into the loop. Resentment flared.

  As he pulled to a stop at the terminal, Nate put his hand on hers and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Are you sure you don’t want to just forget about coming clean with your family, and stay with me?”

  With each minute that passed she felt less confident about going alone to LA, but she’d put off telling her family about Nate and her pregnancy long enough.

  “I appreciate your offer, but I think it will go better if I talk to them in person.” She exited the car and waited while Nate pulled her suitcase out of the trunk. “I’ll call you later.”

  But as Mia headed to the counter to check in and drop off her luggage, she was overwhelmed by a mixed bag of emotions. Annoyance. Dread. Her relationship with Nate had been a secret she’d kept to herself for almost four months. Loving him had given her greater joy than anything she’d ever known, and yet she’d hidden her happiness for fear of it being taken away if the truth came out.

  It was something she hadn’t explained to Nate. He’d assumed that she was afraid of moving forward because her identity was trapped in her sister’s shadow. After she’d told him about Ivy’s near death experience thanks to the painkillers, he’d been more understanding about the burden of responsibility she felt toward her twin. But he resented that she couldn’t leave her sister to make mistakes and face consequences.

  Well, Ivy was on her own right now and look what had happened. Hunter Graves was probably going to produce her next album, and while the man was nearly as talented as Nate, Hunter’s vision for her music was in line with Ivy’s own. They weren’t going to record a breakout album. If Ivy had only listened to her...

  Mia cut off the thought. Nate was right. She was too caught up in her sister’s career and life. Even now, with things so strained between them, even though Ivy had fired her, Mia remained emotionally invested in what her sister was doing.

  When it was Mia’s turn to step up to the counter, instead of presenting her ticket to LA, she checked to see if there was a flight to Chicago. Suddenly, more than anything, Mia craved some advice from her older sister, Eva. She didn’t pause to wonder whether Eva would
be happy to see her. Many times in the last five years Eva had also questioned her dedication to Ivy, and as much as they loved each other, Mia’s stubborn refusal to leave her twin had led to some tense discussions between Eva and her. Despite this, Mia knew Eva would welcome her with open arms.

  After successfully switching her ticket and getting through security, Mia raced to catch her flight and emailed her sister about the surprise visit, mentioning the post on Instagram and offering a brief explanation about the trouble she and Ivy were having. Normally Mia didn’t involve Eva in her Ivy issues because she knew how Eva would respond, but Mia wanted her sister’s expert opinion.

  She had to shut her phone down before Eva replied. Most likely she was in the middle of a session with one of her patients. As a deaf psychiatrist, Eva had a unique niche: almost two thirds of her patients were hearing impaired.

  Once she landed in Chicago, Mia exited the airplane and headed for O’Hare’s baggage claim. The plan after she collected her luggage was to take the blue line downtown and then the purple line north to her sister’s condo in Evanston. The trip would take around an hour and a half. But as Mia entered the baggage claim area she saw a familiar face and sped toward her older sister.

  She was so overwhelmed by surprise and relief, she forgot to sign as she blurted, “What are you doing here?” It was the last sentence she uttered before sobs overtook her. Eva’s unexpected appearance and the relief of not having to wait two more hours to hug her pulled the cork from the bottle containing Mia’s turbulent emotions.

  Eva didn’t ask questions; she merely wrapped her arms around Mia and let her release all the pent-up sadness that had been building for the last few months. When Mia got herself back under control she realized Eva had coaxed her out of the flow of people and toward the wall. With the initial rush of her tears slowing to a trickle, Mia gave her sister a watery smile.

  “What are you doing here?” Mia repeated the question out loud as she wiped her eyes. Eva could read lips and also speak. The sisters usually communicated in a combination of both. “I was going to take the train to your office.”

  “I canceled my last two appointments,” Eva signed. “You didn’t seriously think I was going to let you take the train.”

  It seemed impossible that Mia had more tears to shed, but as she and Eva walked arm-in-arm to the baggage claim, Mia’s cheeks remained wet. Her initial outburst had lasted long enough for the luggage to make its way from the belly of the airplane to the terminal. Mia collected her suitcase and followed her sister to short-term parking, where she’d left her car.

  Because it was impossible for them to have a conversation while Eva drove, they sat in the parking lot long enough for Eva to ask several questions.

  “Have you spoken to Ivy and asked her what she was thinking?”

  “No. I was afraid what I might say.”

  “Have you talked to Mom and Dad?”

  Again Mia shook her head. “I’m also afraid of what they’ll say.”

  “Do you want to tell me what happened now or wait until we get to my condo?”

  “I’ll wait.”

  While Eva drove, she shared with Mia bits of what had been going on in her job. Although Eva preferred to sign, she’d also learned how to speak. She’d had to in order to communicate with their father and sister, neither of whom had learned more than the most basic of signs. Mia knew this hurt Eva, but she was a pragmatist. Which was why she’d left California to pursue psychiatry. Her life in Chicago was the sort of normal Mia craved.

  “Are you hungry?” Eva signed as they waited at the bottom of the freeway ramp for the light to turn green. “We can go to a restaurant and you can tell me what’s going on. Or we can go home.”

  Mia grew confused by something in her sister’s manner. An evasiveness so unlike Eva that Mia grew immediately suspicious. She had to wait until the next stoplight to ask her question.

  “What’s going on at home?”

  “I thought you might be more comfortable talking without anyone around.”

  “At a restaurant?” Mia eyed her sister intently. “What’s at home that you don’t want to bring me there?” Not for one second did Mia think it was anyone from their family, and she knew Nate wasn’t aware she’d taken a detour. “Jeremy? Did I interrupt your evening? I’m so sorry.”

  “Nonsense. I haven’t seen you in six months.” She shot Mia a wry grin. “Him I see all the time.”

  Eva had been dating Jeremy for the last year. He was a pediatric doctor at Evanston Hospital. They’d met when she’d done her residency there and had been friends for several years before deciding to give dating a try.

  Joy flooded Mia. If anyone deserved to be happy it was Eva. “It’s gotten serious then?”

  The joy shining in Eva’s eyes was answer enough. “We’re living together.”

  “Wow.”

  A spike of envy drove through Mia’s heart. She didn’t resent her sister’s happiness, but it shone a light on her own failure to grab the brass ring. Mia’s eyes went to Eva’s bare left hand as her sister rubbed her ring finger in an unconscious gesture.

  “Are you engaged?”

  Eva nodded but looked pained. Mia flinched as the subtext hit her in the chest.

  “How long?”

  “Six weeks. We wouldn’t be living together otherwise.”

  Eva had been engaged for six weeks and had kept it secret from her family. Or perhaps secret wasn’t the best word. Their parents, Ivy, even Mia, were so focused on Ivy’s career that there wasn’t room for anything else.

  “Where is your ring?”

  “My purse.”

  Mia opened her sister’s purse and dug the diamond ring from a zippered interior pocket. She drew it out and handed it to her sister, who slipped it on. “I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

  The stoplight turned green and Eva started the car forward.

  “My fault. I should have told you.”

  But it wasn’t Eva’s fault. With their lack of interest and support, her family had failed her. It was almost as if once Eva went off to college and then moved to Chicago to do her psychiatric residency she’d been forgotten. Maybe that wasn’t completely fair. Mia and their mom flew out to spend long weekends with her a couple times a year. And Eva tried to get back to the West Coast at least once a year, either around the holidays or when Ivy took a break from promoting, recording or touring.

  But there was no avoiding the fact that the Navarro family revolved around Ivy and her career.

  “Why did you keep it from me?” Even as she asked the question, Mia knew the answer. “Because of what happened to me? Did you think I wouldn’t be happy for you because I’ve royally screwed up with Nate?”

  Eva shook her head and Mia saw how her sister’s situation was similar to her own. They’d both kept the men they loved from their family in order to savor the joy for as long as possible. It wasn’t as if anyone would actively disapprove, but their family had a knack for spoiling things without trying.

  “I want to tell him congratulations. Let’s go to your condo.”

  But it turned out that Eva was wrong about her fiancé being at home. He’d left a sweet note explaining that he’d gone out for drinks with his buddies and would catch dinner and be back late. That left hours and hours for the sisters to talk and for Mia to unburden herself.

  She started by explaining about how she and Nate had discovered their mutual connection through sign language and then described their secret rendezvous and their one night together in Sydney.

  “Very romantic,” Eva signed with a hearty sigh.

  “And stupid. Looking back, I regret hiding what was happening.”

  “But you knew Ivy would spoil things.”

  Mia had known that. “Why is she like that?”

  “Insecurity. She th
inks everyone is happier than she is.”

  “With all her beauty, fame and success, how is that possible?”

  Mia hadn’t yet come clean with Eva about being pregnant, and before she could, Jeremy returned home. Mia rushed to congratulate him on convincing the best girl in the world to marry him. By the time they’d finished discussing wedding plans it was late. Both Eva and Jeremy had to be at work early the next morning. They said their good-nights and Mia went to the guest bedroom.

  Despite her lack of sleep the night before, Mia was still on Pacific time. Once she’d changed into her sleepwear, she sat wide-eyed and cross-legged on the bed in the beautifully decorated guest room.

  She picked up her phone and puzzled over the lack of messages and emails. And then she realized she’d not taken her phone off airplane mode. She swiftly restored her cell service and watched the red notification indicators explode.

  * * *

  Even before his car cleared the airport, Nate started kicking himself for not accompanying Mia to LA. He never should’ve let her talk him into staying behind. They were in this together and together was how they should have tackled her father and sister.

  If he wasn’t so damn busy with the studio he would circle around right this second, drop his car in short-term parking and chase after her. But he had a business to run and artists he couldn’t let down. Maybe he could reschedule his day tomorrow and fly to LA tonight. Nate headed for the studio to see what could be done before he let Mia know his plans.

  Two hours later he’d spoken with all the artists who were coming in to work with him the next day. Each of them was fine with a short postponement. It meant Nate was going to be working extra-long hours in the days to come, but standing beside Mia as she told her father that she was pregnant was worth it.

  Nate called Mia to tell her his plans, but got her voice mail. He’d expected as much. She was probably midflight on her way to LA. She would get the message when she landed and know to put off meeting with her father until later that night.