The McCallans

by Hadley Quinn

  “I had no part of that,” he finally replied. “That was Craig and Max, and although I knew of it, I let them deal with it because I was told the arrangement was mutual between Olivia and Max. Mutual. As far as I knew, they had gone in on it together. But when the shit hit the fan after their break up, it was Max’s career I was looking out for.”

  Tyse pulled up a stool and sat down almost numbly. He didn’t know what to think so far, but he wasn’t quick to believe what he was hearing.

  “So you really paid her?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Neil nodded immediately. “She agreed to not say anything about the publicity stunt for half a million dollars.”

  “Did you blackball her from the industry?”

  Neil looked genuinely surprised. “God, no. Is that what she told you? I threatened no such thing.”

  “No, I just don’t understand why she quit the industry so suddenly.”

  “I don’t either,” Neil answered, his face softening just slightly. “I’m just asking you… Could you please realize that this is only going to make for negative headlines? I refuse to be a victim to blackmail again. This was a mess the first time; I just want you to be aware of what you’re doing this time and that it could be even worse.”

  He turned without another word and disappeared out the door. Tyse didn’t know what to think with so much information to sort through, but when he finally glanced up into the hallway, he noticed Anna leaning against the wall.

  “I forgot my phone,” she cringed, seeming embarrassed.

  He motioned her into the room and she quickly headed for the cubbies in the corner. Tyse watched her for a second as she looked for it. Then she dipped her head lower to peer toward the back of the shelf.

  “There it is,” she said, grabbing it quickly to head for the exit.

  “I’m really sorry about all of that,” Tyse finally said. He didn’t know what else to say to her, but he had no idea what she thought of his grandfather barging into the end of her physical therapy session.

  “Don’t even sweat it,” she smiled. “I know what it’s like to be in the middle of stuff like that.”

  He slowly nodded, assuming it was true. He never asked anything about her personal life, or her situation with her family. Tyse kept it strictly to focusing on her recovery, but Anna hardly spoke much to him anyway. One of these days he might bring it up. He sensed that she really did want to talk about it.

  “See you Monday,” she said on her way out the door. She was gone before Tyse could say anything in response.

  With a heavy sigh he stood from the stool. Glancing at the clock he realized his next patient was ten minutes late. He traveled down the hallway just in case and paused, right as Dr. Michaels appeared from his office.

  “I put your two o’clock with Helen,” he told Tyse.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Tyse replied, “Why?”

  “Well… I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be.”

  There were no other patients after his two o’clock, so Tyse really had no reason to stay. Irritated was an understatement. His day had been going just fine before family drama spoiled it. He still didn’t know what to think about it all, but he knew he needed to speak with Sarah before it drove him crazy by jumping to too many conclusions.

  He hopped on his motorcycle and went straight to her flower shop, knowing she was there. He’d texted her earlier about her plans for the evening but hadn’t received much of a response other than she “wasn’t sure.”

  It was obvious she was surprised to see him when he walked through the door. Her smile was beautiful as always, but it seemed forced for some reason. Maybe he was just being hyperaware that there were problems hovering over them, but he just picked up that something was wrong. Rayne was in the room too and gave him a partial smile that seemed cheerless.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked Sarah right off the bat. No point pretending everything was fine when it obviously wasn’t.

  Sarah looked as if she were going to shrug it off and say everything was great, but she seemed to change her mind.

  With a sigh she said, “I’m trying really hard, Tyse. I am. I don’t know why, but I just… I don’t think things are going to work out.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Rayne had subtly left the room for the office by then, so Tyse approached the worktable that Sarah was sitting at and sat down across from her.

  “Things aren’t working between us, you mean?” he asked carefully.

  She barely nodded, but wouldn’t look at him. They sat in silence for half a minute as Sarah snipped the leaves off of several rose stems.

  “Well I think things between us are just fine,” he said. “Are you talking about the tabloids that are dredging everything up again?” he asked specifically. “Is that getting to you?”

  “To be honest, yes. I’ve tried to make myself be okay with it, but it isn’t working. It feels horrible. It feels like what happened five years ago and that was a nightmare, Tyse. When my sister left town, maybe I didn’t really understand all that she was going through. Looking back at it now—maybe because I’m older or just have a better idea—I wonder how clueless I really was about everything going on and what she was truly going through.”

  Tyse slowly nodded his head in thought. When he was with Sarah, just the two of them, she was carefree and relaxed. They got along great and he felt like she was someone he could share anything with. But then there were other times where she seemed like a completely different person; there were moments when any mention of his family or social gossip seemed to darken her mood and dampen her spirit. It was like he could literally tell that his family name was a dark cloud that followed her around, dredging up unwanted memories.

  “What can I do to help?” he asked softly. “I can’t change my name, I can’t change the past… Is there something I can do to make me more important to you than my family’s wrongdoings?”

  Her troubled face completely softened and she sighed. “Tyse, it has nothing to do with you as a person. Please don’t think that. This has to do with me and the things that I don’t know how to deal with again. I can’t keep letting this stuff bring me down. It’s not good for me. I wish I could be stronger than that, but I’m not right now. I don’t know if I can go through this anymore because I can’t find a balance. I’m sure I’ll get there eventually, but right now it’s a struggle for me.”

  She was trying not to cry, but a tear slid down her cheek. Tyse stood up to come around the table and console her, but she held up a hand and said, “Don’t. Please don’t.”

  “Sarah, I want to help in any way I can. You have to believe me.”

  “I do believe you,” she smiled softly as she brushed away a tear. “I think I just need some time to regroup, okay? It’s not goodbye, I just need a couple of days on my own and then we can talk. I’m really sorry.”

  She turned for the back door and made an exit. Tyse was left standing there paralyzed with either shock or disappointment. He wasn’t sure which it was. Maybe it was both. He never expected he’d come see her and she’d bail on him just like that. It never crossed his mind. Okay, so she didn’t necessarily bail on him. There was nothing wrong with needing a little space to regroup. He actually commended her for telling him that. All he wanted was to clear a couple things up, just to ease his worries.

  But then again, what would that have accomplished? He would have come across sounding accusatory for sure. That hadn’t been his intent, but looking at the situation now, he was positive she might have taken offense to him questioning the things she’d told him, which in turn was challenging her integrity.

  But how the hell was he supposed to sort through this mess?

  “It’s better to just give her space,” a voice said behind him. Rayne leaned against the counter, looking just as sad and confused as Tyse felt. “She’s not a runner, I promise you. She over thinks things sometimes and just needs solitude until she realizes that.”

  “I don’t know what to do
about all this,” he admitted. “I thought we could work through it, just the two of us. My family doesn’t have a say in any of it.”

  “But don’t they?” Rayne seemed to challenge him. She cocked an eyebrow and added, “Don’t they always seem to find a way to fuck things up for people?”

  “I don’t even understand what the hell all of this is,” he groaned. “I get conflicting stories from both sides and—”

  “Do you believe Sarah over your family?” she inquired with what seemed like doubt.

  Tyse frowned instinctively. “Well yes, I did. I don’t have any loyalty to them over her. I believe her side of it, her perspective based on what she’s seen or heard. But even she admits that there are missing links. All I want is the fucking truth and I’m not getting the whole story from anyone.”

  Rayne exhaled a quiet but long breath of air. She came across the room and pulled up a stool next to him. “I think you’re right. There are too many little bits to piece together right now and they’re all being held by different people.”

  “Exactly,” Tyse agreed.

  “I’m not sure I should be doing this, but maybe I should tell you a few things.”

  Shit, if someone could fill him in with something, anything, maybe he would know what to do.

  “Does she ever talk about her sister much?” Rayne asked him.

  Tyse considered it for a moment. “Not too much. I know they aren’t close. Why?”

  “Yeah, they’ve never been close. And their parents were so obsessed with business and making money, they basically just dropped Sarah to focus on Liv. Do you understand how much Sarah hated being in the public’s eye?”

  “I thought I did, but I’m beginning to see it much clearer,” Tyse admitted sullenly.

  “She watched her sister go from the top of the world, to nothing. Sarah was heartbroken. She said there were too many people like the McCallans and she wasn’t going to stand for it, but Liv made her promise to just drop it. And people were mean, the gossip got out of control, and with the questionable tabloid stories about the stuff going on with Max, Sarah was harassed quite a lot.”

  “Harassed,” Tyse stated dryly. “What do you mean?”

  “Well a lot of the tabloid stories stated shit like Olivia got dumped and she couldn’t handle it and went off the deep end. And when they’d throw in that she was spouting off resentful accusations at Max McCallan, it made Liv look bad, like she really was trying to get back at him for passing her up. It was a really hard time for Sarah, especially when Liv disappeared and wouldn’t talk to her,” Rayne frowned. “I never knew what to say or do to make things better. You mix celebrity gossip into a person’s life and I guess people will turn on you. They take sides without even knowing the facts. They just side with whoever seems cooler to side with.”

  Tyse could see how that would happen. He’d seen enough of it in high school and in college.

  “I fucking like you,” Rayne stated bluntly. “And I think that you and Sarah have something real. I’d hate for that to be ruined by other people.”

  “I’m not going to let it. I know she needs some time right now, but I’m not giving up on her. No way.”

  “Then let me tell you one more thing. But I probably shouldn’t.”

  “Just spit it out.”

  With a sigh, Rayne said, “I saw a tabloid at the grocery store this morning. It’s not my proudest moment, but I picked it up and—”

  “I already know about it,” he interrupted.

  She eyed him carefully and asked, “And you’re confused as to why she needs some space?”

  “No, not at all. I understand she hates being the topic of any garbage news. I completely get it. Having her picture on the front of a—”

  “Her picture?” Rayne looked confused. “Buddy, this was a photo of you and that surfer chick. Anna Evans. Now it’s none of my business who you go jogging with, but—”

  “Wait a minute, what the hell are you talking about?”

  She shrugged. “There was an article about the two of you ‘possibly having a little love connection,’ ” she air quoted. “It said you’d been seeing each other for a few weeks now.”

  “Oh my God,” he shook his head with a bitter laugh. “Yeah, I’ve been seeing her. About three times a week for therapy.”

  Rayne stared at him for several seconds but hardly reacted. “I’m not asking for an explanation, but I just wanted to let you know that it’s one of the latest stories with you.”

  He sighed and shook his head again. Yeah, he and Anna had jogged a few blocks to the beach and back for one of her therapy days. He should have known it was a bad idea, and they’d even joked about it. But it was seriously only a five-minute jaunt just to be outdoors.

  “Are you telling me that Sarah knows about that article and she’s questioning it?”

  “No, actually she’s not,” Rayne answered quickly. “Yes I did mention it to her, but she told me to knock it off. I wasn’t accusing you of anything, but I only asked about it. She didn’t know anything about that girl but she assumed she was one of your celebrity clients.”

  “I’m not confirming or denying that for privacy reasons, but Sarah has nothing to be worried about.”

  “Okay,” Rayne nodded. “But like I said, she brushed it off. For some reason, she does trust you.”

  “For some reason?” he scoffed. “So does that mean you don’t?”

  “No, it means that it takes everything inside of her to not listen to her own advice in her head. She’s going with her heart. That’s more of a challenge for anybody.”

  “Advice? Advice to stay away from me?”

  “She warned her sister a long time ago to be careful, and all of that shit happened anyway. All this stuff with her sister and your family…Sarah could never understand all of it. But now, just as she’s really starting to get close to you, it all seems to be exploding again. I really feel bad for her. She hated the gossip before, and now it’s happening again. You gotta understand how hard it is for her. Despite everything Olivia has done to drop her from her life, Sarah still loves her. She’s always had hope that Olivia will be in her life again, and she feels this second mess is only going to delay it, or worse…prevent it entirely.”

  Tyse slowly nodded. It was beginning to make more sense to him. He understood Sarah’s reservations before—when he thought it only had to do with staying out of his family’s drama—but now he could empathize with her even more.

  Rayne suddenly stood from the stool and said, “I gotta get back to work, I have orders to fill by myself now.”

  Tyse stood too, but he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to keep asking questions.

  “I know you want more information, but I don’t feel right giving it to you,” Rayne said, sensing his mood. “I already told you too much. I actually feel really sick about it. I feel fucking awful. I don’t like talking about people’s private lives behind their backs.”

  “You’re only looking out for her.”

  “I know,” Rayne answered. “But I’m still worried. This stuff is still part of her past and even the present. I think it’s easier to have anger for everyone else instead, but Liv shutting Sarah out like that was kind of the icing on the shitty life cake, you know? She lost her sister to all of this garbage five years ago.”

  Tyse hardly nodded as he watched Rayne pull order sheets off the counter. She proceeded to select flowers from a bucket and began piecing together an arrangement. He took that as his cue to leave, so he headed for the front door.

  “Don’t brush her concerns aside,” Rayne stated dryly. With a shrug she added, “I’m just saying. You can’t fault anyone for how they feel.”

  Tyse reluctantly stepped outside and paused. He wasn’t sure if he felt more informed or more confused at that point. He knew he needed to sort through it all and get somewhere, but he didn’t know where to start.

  He decided to do the only thing he felt capable of doing at that moment… He made his way to the reco
rding studio, picked up a guitar, and played for four hours straight.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  There are some things in life that are necessary to do, even though they are boring, repetitive, or just a pain in the ass to have to take care of. Basic things like paying bills, doing laundry, or going to work on days you don’t feel like it are all considered to be normal, obligatory aspects of everyday life.

  Tyse didn’t mind dealing with those things. He knew half of life consisted of mundane tasks that needed taken care of. And he actually loved his job in therapy, so going to work wasn’t exactly a dreadful chore. Now and then there were challenging days, but Tyse took those as they came and always looked for the positive outcome to his experiences.

  When the tougher trials in life hit him, he always felt like he handled them well. He’d never been one to have a short fuse, to blame other people for his unhappiness, or spend time dwelling on things that could have been or should have been. He always tried to learn from his mistakes, or the mistakes of others, and especially move on. He knew better than to wallow in self-pity; it only held him back.

  This time he couldn’t help it. He spent his day off sitting at home, in a dark room, debating almost everything in his life. He asked himself question after question, wondering where he went wrong or what he could have done better. It went against everything he believed in but he couldn’t stop.

  By the time evening hit, Tyse had had enough of himself. He hadn’t eaten all day, so he grabbed his car keys and climbed in the Challenger. He sat there for a few minutes, vainly admiring his car. The conversations that he’d had with his brother as they worked on it repeated in his head in bits and pieces. Eventually Tyse was smiling as he remembered some of the things he and Jay had talked about and a few of the conversations that had led to some pretty funny stuff.

  His brother was definitely one of a kind.

  Then he thought of Kellie and how excited she was to ride in his car for the first time. Out of the dozens of cars Jay had restored and Kellie had ridden in, she was excited for Tyse for once. That day she told him how glad she was that he’d come to town to find them. They sat in the Challenger for two hours talking that day and Tyse would never forget holding his sister as she cried against his shoulder, telling him how grateful she was that he was in her life.