~~**~~
So many beautiful pictures of life awakening on the Outer Banks filled Randi’s camera lens this morning, The dolphins decided to be very active, along with a couple of humpback whales migrating south. She’d walked the beach for a mile or so in each direction, finding beautiful seashells, a sand dollar, and a few pieces of sea glass. Hunger was compelling Randi to head back to the house, and she needed a coffee. Luke was a no show. That was an unexpected disappointment, since he worked out a bargain to get her to go to dinner with him. Maybe their wee hour meeting had been a bigger mistake than either realized, and he just decided to avoid her. She had no answers, but maybe she’d sit on the blanket and give him another fifteen minutes or so to show up.
~~**~~
David was in the kitchen reading a paper and sipping on a cup of coffee when he heard Luke bound up the stairs.
“What the hell’s chasin’ you buddy?” David knew once he looked into Luke’s tormented blue eyes something was very wrong.
“David, where’s Linda?”
“Outside, what’s wrong with you?” Motioning for him to sit, Luke began to pace back and forth in front of David’s chair.
Shoving both his hands back over his head Luke clenched his hands into fists, raised his arms and growled with rage. He left David listen to Jenna’s message. David had to play it three times. “Holy shit Luke. What can I do for you?” asked David.
“I gotta get home now. My stuff is already in the truck. Please don’t tell Linda the real reason I left. Just say an emergency at home. I’m so sorry to ask you to do this David.”
“Luke it’s not a problem. Do what you gotta do, but buddy be careful. Jenna is slippery and you know it. Maybe she’s lying just to get you home. Maybe this baby isn’t yours either and then maybe it is. I hate to ask, but Luke could it be your child?” Luke’s silence was answer enough for David. “Do what you gotta do. I’m here for you, no matter what.” Standing up he walked over to Luke, both men quickly embraced. Luke mumbled a thanks, and was down the steps and gone.
David knew how crushing this news was to Luke. Just when he thought he knew what path his life should take, now this. A baby would bring untold joy to Luke, but at the same time was this child his, or another’s.
Walking out onto the third floor deck that fronts the Atlantic, David could see Randi and Linda sitting on a blanket at the water’s edge. Both were laughing, and both were beautiful. Linda would worry about Luke’s emotional state with such a long drive alone. Randi would have questions, but David could only give her a few answers. Guarded answers. It was then that he realized, Luke had never even mentioned Randi to him. He hadn’t wondered where she was or anything. A sure sign that Luke’s mind was already racing towards home, and the drama that awaited him.
David had watched Luke and Randi interact, and he knew attraction was crackling. But this could extinguish that flame permanently.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Words could not describe how hurt Randi was that Luke never came down to the beach. Their ocean kayak sail was his idea, and he had seemed so eager to go. She didn’t want to over think it, but right now she assumed he’d changed his mind and forgotten to let her know. Calling her cell would have been pointless because she left it in her room. Linda had strolled down to the water’s edge and they had shared mindless girl talk. Laughing and chatting about everything and nothing as women will do. Linda had commented that she hadn’t seen Luke yet today, but she knew David was up. The guys would probably head to the pier for some fishing.
“Linda, let’s head up to the house. I’ve been here since early this morning and I’m starving.” Bending down, she collected the blanket and rolled it into a ball.
Linda turned towards the house and noticed David sitting on the deck. It struck her as odd. She’d assumed he’d be out the door fishing by now. She tapped Randi’s shoulder and pointed to David. “Wonder why he’s there? Maybe Luke’s sick Randi.”
David waved to them, and they smiled and waved back as both trudged up the sand, over the dune, and headed towards the house. Using the outside hose, they both rinsed off any excess sand and started up the stairs toward David.
“Morning ladies. I’ve made fresh coffee.”
Leaning in to hug her husband Linda proclaimed, “I’ve trained you well, I think I’ll keep you.”
Randi couldn’t help but join in on the teasing. “Seriously? He can be such a pain in the ass Linda. It’d take more than coffee for him to be a keeper in my book.”
As Linda ran an index finger from David’s lips to the waistband of his shorts she sweetly gushed, “Oh Randi, I’m definitely keeping this man because his talents go way beyond coffee.”
“Damn it Linda, now she’ll never let me alone,” scoffed David. Everyone laughed heartily.
The elephant in the room was Luke’s absence. Randi wanted to know why he hadn’t met her that morning, and David would know. They all entered the house, got coffee all around and sat at the table near the sliding glass doors, which gave them a picture perfect view of the coastline. Randi cleared her throat and asked. “Where’s Luke David? We were supposed to take the kayak out this morning.”
David didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t be totally honest with Randi. Luke’s personal life was not something David was ready to share out of turn, since his friend hadn’t asked him to relay any message to Randi. Clearing his throat while spinning his coffee cup he offered. “Unfortunately he had to leave, head home. There was an emergency, and he had to go pronto.”
Both women gasped in shock, and at the exact same time wanted to know what had happened. Was someone hurt?
“Look girls, I don’t know all the details. Jenna left him a voicemail message, and apparently Luke felt like he needed to get back home quickly.”
“David, that’s an awful drive for him when he’s upset or worried about something at home. When did he leave?” Linda was genuinely concerned for Luke, and truth be told a little apprehensive about Jenna having an emergency.
“He left about two hours ago or a little more. He’ll be fine. I’m sure he’s pulled longer shifts and been under stress at work that would compare to whatever is going on. I know he’ll get home safe and sound. I told him if he needed me to just call.” Patting Linda’s hand, David tried to assure her, but Randi noticed he never looked her in the eyes when he spoke. David was hiding something. Something, he wasn’t willing to share.
Randi pushed back from the table and rested both her arms on the sides of her chair. Disappointment and hurt were twisting in her gut. Directing her attention to David she wondered aloud. “So, Jenna had an emergency.” Irritation dripped from Randi’s words.
“Randi, that doesn’t sound like you. Do you think Luke lied about this? I was here remember? He was truly torn, but home and family has to come first.” David could see that Randi was taking short breaths and was getting more pissed by the minute.
“Family? Home? Are you fucking kidding me David? Luke came on this trip to escape his marital problems. Get his life in order, and I believe part of his plan was to get a divorce, which I can honestly say wouldn’t be the worst thing considering the bitch he’s married to. Jenna Timmons doesn’t know what a great guy she’s married to, and Luke…he...he…” She’d vented too much, given too much away. Quickly, she stood and walked to the sink to rinse out her coffee cup.
David and Linda Dupont exchanged a puzzled and shocked shrug. How did Randi know Jenna? What caused her to have such a low opinion of her? There was more Randi needed to explain. It had to be now or never. David would push for the answers. Before Randi could flee the conversation, David ushered her back to the table and gently pushed down on her shoulders, lowering her to sit in the very same chair she’d just emptied.
“Randi, look at me. How do you know Luke’s wife, Jenna?”
Silence seemed to go on endlessly, Randi couldn’t look at them. Again David quietly asked. “Randi we’re your friends. You can tell us anything, and I think
you know that.”
This lie she’d been holding in was crushing her, and she couldn’t speak about it as fact because she had no hard proof. No eye witness account, just a gut wrenching suspicion. Tears were welling in her eyes. David grasped her right hand and Linda gently patted her left. They would believe her, and they could understand her torment. Calm composure willed her to speak, and painfully the words escaped.
“I saw her with Chad. She was in his house the night I came home from Charlotte. It was early morning, I expected to go to Chad’s and stay with him. I’d driven all evening and into the early morning. He’d given me a key to his house, and when I unlocked the door….I…..I saw Chad near his refrigerator. He didn’t have on his shirt, but when he moved a little I saw her. I knew I’d interrupted something intimate. He’d had her pressed against the refrigerator! She gave me this look of annoyance, and rolled her eyes. Chad turned to come hug me, and I saw he was...he was...let’s just say ready for action.”
David was pissed because he knew this was exactly the kind of thing Jenna was capable of. As for Chad Wingert, he’d have expected no less. His reputation was that of a panty chaser, and apparently neighbor or no, Chad didn’t care. David remained quiet, because to interrupt Randi now would cause her to shut down completely.
“Honestly, I didn’t know at first who she was, but then Chad told me. Jenna said she and her husband had an argument before he left for work, and she wanted to talk to another man, get a guy’s opinion. She just had to touch Chad when she left, and the look she gave him sealed it in my mind that they were having an affair. Right under Luke’s and my nose. But I hadn’t actually caught them in the act, I didn’t know Luke, and I certainly couldn’t just blurt this out. The only thing I could do was free myself from my toxin relationship with Chad. I did that right then and there. When I got to my apartment it was about five a.m. Exhausted, hurt, angry, everything was overtaking me, and I just got out into the morning air and was leaning against my car. That’s when Luke pulled up in his patrol car. He was concerned for my safety, my well-being. Him! He was concerned for me, that’s rich don’t you think!” A crazed laughter erupted from Randi, and morphed into painful sobbing. “Their lies, our lives, they’ve ruined so much. I’m no better than them because I didn’t tell him, but how could I? How could I David? I’m as much a liar as they are to him, and I hate that. I hate that I know something he doesn’t.”
Both David and Linda hugged Randi and let her cry. She’d been burdened with a secret that was tearing her apart. Had she never met Luke Timmons, she would have just forgotten about Jenna and Chad. Randi would have moved on with her life. But Luke and Randi’s paths crossed, and for whatever reason, their lives just kept entangling pulling them closer. Until now, until today – lies were closing their door.
Exchanging a knowing look between each other, David and Linda knew their friends were in trouble. David knew Luke would do whatever it took to keep his family together if a baby were involved. Viper that Jenna could be, she knew with certainty a child would be her leverage to keep Luke bound to her forever. Linda knew Randi was distraught by more than what she’d seen between Chad and Jenna. Randi was scared that Luke wouldn’t see her as an innocent, and the new feelings of attraction between them would be snuffed out by her silence. The fear that she would not be worthy of his trust plagued her.
~~**~~
Luke was racing his truck up Interstate 95 North heading home as fast as he dared legally. Several times during the drive he replayed her voicemail. Was she truly pregnant? Her voice was timid, and edged with fear. When they’d last talked, he’d told her he wasn’t willing to live the way they had been. Arguing, fighting, and barely being civil to one another. Her sole focus seemed to be only that she’d wanted a child to remedy their marital problems. A marriage needed to be built on love, respect, and friendship. A solid marriage took both people working towards a common goal, supporting each other in good times and bad. Had he been too quick to end their marriage? Had he misunderstood the way she handled the loss of their daughter? The car accident wasn’t her fault. A deer had jumped onto the wet roadway. Jenna had swerved to miss it and hit a tree head on. She’d been pinned against the steering column until rescue could free her, but the damage had already been done. She’d lost the baby, their child. His daughter. As a tear rolled down his cheek, he again offered up a prayer for that unborn baby. Wiping the tear away with the back of his hand another memory rushed in swamping him with doubt and hurt. As if she were sitting next to him Luke could hear Jenna’s voice. “The baby might not have been yours” “You NEVER satisfied me sexually” “She might not have been yours.” “The baby ….the baby….she might not have been yours.”
Could she be lying now? Maybe she was with child, but maybe it wasn’t his. She’d apparently cheated before, so what would keep her from doing it again. He couldn’t prove she’d been unfaithful to him, and she’d rescinded her hurtful claim that the baby lost to them wasn’t his. Had that been a lie? His mind was reeling with past conversations, past memories, and his heart was torn. Jenna could be carrying HIS child, and maybe she truly did want to save their marriage. Maybe he’d been selfish and should have been more patient, more understanding. He’d vowed to love and cherish her, in sickness and health until death they would part.
Ahead, he could see that all lanes of traffic were stopped which meant he would stop as well. Maybe an accident ahead he didn’t know, but for now on this highway he was forced to stop, and wait. Stop and wonder. The cab of his truck was crowded, by him physically and all his thoughts. He put down his window to let in some fresh air. A couple of lanes up and over, he spotted an SUV that had a large yellow kayak strapped to the roof. Dropping his head against the steering wheel he remembered. Randi was probably already down on the beach when he’d left. It seemed all he was capable of was hurting people. He should have talked to her. He should have left her a note, or left her a message. She deserved more than he could willingly give her. Maybe friends were all they could ever be to each other. Her face flashed in his mind as he remembered kissing her in the moonlight. That one perfect moment, might be all he’d ever have with Miranda Shaw. Maybe that was even more than he deserved.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Blissfully happy, Jenna stretched like a cat, and smiled with satisfaction. Chad wanted this baby. Chad wanted her. There were a few bumps along the way as her plan unfolded, but the spoils of victory were finally hers. She could claim Chad as her very own. They would be a couple. Maybe not a family yet, but they would be. For now, time was on her side.
Glancing over at the nightstand she spied Chad’s cell. A quick text will guarantee success and gut Randi Shaw. That bitch won’t end up either man. So what if Randi had sampled Luke’s body. Maybe she’d enjoyed laying beneath him in the throes of passion. Who knew and who cared. Once she would read the message from Chad’s phone that pure-hearted bitch would back off. Both Chad and Luke belonged to Jenna, and she was the only woman calling the shots. Finding her in the contacts, she typed quickly and hit send. Done.
After sending the message Jenna realized the time. She figured it had to be early evening when she and Chad had woken. Earlier that day, after the cab picked up that woman, around noon, Jenna had stolen over to Chad’s house, snuck up to his bedroom and had every intention of seducing him. She knew him to well, and she didn’t believe for one minute that twit could be what he wanted or needed. When she reached his bedroom, she heard the shower running, so she quickly stripped bare and spread herself in full view of him when he’d exit the shower. From then on everything had worked out to perfection for her. Chad just needed time and persuasion, and Jenna gave him both.
Jenna could hear Chad’s footsteps coming down the hall towards the bedroom. Dressed in only black boxers, he carried two bottled waters. Offering her one, she accepted and took a long drink. Looking around the room he focused on the closet and walked over to slide one door open.
“Babe, do you think this one sid
e will hold all your clothes, shoes, and whatever girl stuff you have?”
Jenna almost choked on his question. “Are you saying what I think you are Chad? You want me to move in here? With you?”
He still had his back to her and was surveying the closet when he asked. “Won’t this closet be big enough? Don’t you want to move in with me?” Turning to face her, he strode slowly over to the bed and sat down next to her. Placing his hand at the nap of her neck, he pulled her close for a soft tender kiss. As he broke the contact he looked into her eyes and whispered, “I want you here as soon as possible 24/7.” Kiss. “In my house.” Kiss. “In my bed.” Kiss “With me. Only me.” Kiss. Placing his hand on the flat of her abdomen he bent down ,and planted a kiss on her where he believed his child was growing inside her.
When he looked up into her face tears were rushing down her cheeks. He’d denied her for so long and he’d used her so badly. Pushing away was no longer possible because she’d gotten under his skin, and into his heart. What had started out as just sex with his hot neighbor had turned into a relationship that he never planned or wanted. Jenna Timmons should have been off limits for so many reasons, and to most men they’d never have touched her. But Chad couldn’t resist her. She pissed him off and at times would suffocate him with her neediness. Persistent was her middle name. She looked beyond his flaws, and accepted him. She loved him, and she was carrying his child. He knew they’d test each other’s patience, and they’d not be a traditional couple by most standards, but he couldn’t see moving on with his life without her.
THEIR LIES, OUR LIVES Page 9