by Rowe, Julie
“Someone sold photos of my patients and myself to the tabloids. Then Alex. Then MacKay. Then chaos and upheaval and the end of the world.”
“Have you talked to Alex yet?”
“Nope.”
“Give him a chance, Calla,” her brother urged. “He cares about you.”
She wanted to. She wanted to give Alex lots of chances, but fear had a grip on her heart that wouldn’t let go.
“I thought I had you talked off the ledge earlier,” Richard said.
“You gave me some things to think about, but no, I’m still trying to muddle my way through.”
“I guess you need to decide what you want.”
“That’s it, huh?” If only.
“Pretty much.” It was a challenge. Richard was good at giving those. She was lucky he wasn’t telling her to suck it up.
“Fine.” She folded in on herself. “I’ll decide. Speaking of decisions, when are you going back to Chicago?”
“I don’t know,” Richard said with a raise of his eyebrows. “Grandma Maddy doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get rid of me. She seems to enjoy having someone around for her to look after, talk to, and keep her company. I think she’s lonely.”
“Okay. Stay a few days, but just be careful. I’m going to go. Um, text me if you need me in the next day or so. I may not be able to video chat right away.”
“Going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I need a pick-me-up so I think I’ll visit the happiest place on earth.”
“Good idea,” Richard grinned. “Eat a churro for me.”
“As long as I don’t choke myself with it.
One could only eat so much junk food and ride so many roller coasters.
She spent Saturday at the amusement park, right into the evening, watching the fireworks along with a couple thousand other people.
Sunday dawned and she woke with no more idea of what she was going to do than when she went to sleep. She was due in court tomorrow morning where she would have to face Alex, MacKay, and a judge.
Oh joy.
She turned on her phone and a pile of texts popped up.
One from her brother: Grandma Maddy has asked me to stay for a couple of weeks. She refuses to discuss what it will cost and won’t allow you or I to pay a cent. Can we keep her?
Who could argue with an eccentric lady who was considered one of the grande dames of film?
Two from Jeff MacKay: You’re not like any woman I’ve met. Let me take you out to dinner or lunch or coffee. I’ll take you anyway I can get you.
He was all about the take. She rolled her eyes and read the next one: I’m looking forward to seeing you at court. I’d like to think we’ll be congenial toward each other.
He was a fool if he thought any suggestion to slant her testimony in his favor was going to happen. She wasn’t going to explain that via text.
Finally, three texts from Alex. The first one was short: Meet me at the courthouse thirty minutes before court goes into session.
The second one was even shorter: Ignore the last text.
The third one made no sense whatsoever: Don’t come to court. You’ve been subjected to enough scrutiny by the press and public. We’ll do fine without your testimony.
She texted back: Are you kidding? I performed the surgery on Alicia. I can speak directly to the extent of her injuries.
He replied within a minute: We’ll manage.
No, they won’t. Her fingers flew over the face of her phone: He’s going to try to wiggle out of it. He’ll say he was distracted or there were too many people around and he didn’t see her.
His response brought her buzzing mind to a complete stop: Testimony you can’t refute because you weren’t there. Stay home, Calla. I’m not giving that idiot another chance to intimidate you.
Stay home. Stay home?
She threw her phone onto the hotel bed and paced the length of the room and back again. This was ridiculous. Alex needed her there in case MacKay’s lawyer had any questions about Alicia’s medical care and surgery. Why would he tell her not to come? So what if MacKay tried to talk to her. They were going to be in a public place with more press watching their every move than the Royal Family had to put up with.
What was Alex trying to do, protect her?
She came to an abrupt stop.
He was trying to protect her.
But why? He owed her nothing.
An irrational hope prodded at her brain. What if he did love her? But no. It was impossible. They didn’t even like each other that much. Well, she liked some things about him. His cooking, sharp wit that always made her think or laugh, and the way he kissed her, touched her, stroked her. Yeah, she more than liked those.
He also nagged her to stop and think. Pushed her to deal with events and emotions she’d rather let petrify until they became part of the back of her head.
There was only one reason a man did all that.
There was only one reason a woman would let a man do all that.
“He can’t be…” The notion was ridiculous. Outrageous. Impossible.
Her rushed breathing and weak knees begged to differ. Either way, she had to know. Had to make that slippery, crooked-nosed knight in shining armor tell her the whole truth.
“Oh holy God.” Panic caused her hands to shiver and she got to her feet and headed for the door.
Calla came to a halt with her hand on the doorknob.
Slow down there, skippy. Take some time to think.
She turned around and packed up her stuff, then headed to the front desk to check out.
It was time to go home.
…
Alex rattled around his house like a bean inside a maraca. It was a lonely place now that Calla wasn’t here.
Something he was going to have to get used to since he was sure she wasn’t coming back. He winced as he imagined what she saw when she woke up yesterday morning.
The two of them crashed out in separate beds, their clothes thrown together, as if they’dfallen asleep drunk. Her empty wine glass on the coffee table.
He’d put away the empty wine bottle and her glass, but when he discovered her shirt lying hidden in a corner, he found he couldn’t put it in the laundry bin. It carried her scent.
Alex carefully folded it and put it inside his dresser.
Now, with his home tidy and all visible evidence of Calla gone, he couldn’t stand to stay in the place.
He should be working on his apology to Calla, but he wasn’t sure she’d let him apologize at all. There was only one person who might be able to help him. Richard. Alex grabbed his phone and made the call.
“Alex?” his grandmother asked, her voice high pitched with surprise. “What are you doing calling me on a Saturday night?”
“Calla is gone, and I need information. Is Richard still there?”
“Yes, I’ve asked him to stay for a week or two. We’re having such fun together.”
“I’m on my way over.”
She clucked her tongue at him. “Bring an overnight bag.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Unlike the last time he’d been there, her home was quiet. He entered, dropped his bag by the door, and went in search of his quarry.
He found Richard with his grandmother in her sitting room off the kitchen, chatting. The sight made him want to pause, turn around, and head back to the door. Both of them wore grins best reserved for sharks or piranha.
“Thinking of running away?” his grandmother asked in a calm tone that told him he was in for the kind of conversation most people avoided. When Calla’s brother added, “We need to talk, dude,” he knew he was in real trouble.
“It occurred to me that the two of you together could only mean an uncomfortable, or possibly embarrassing, conversation for me.”
Richard shook his head. “Sorry, bro. Time to man up and do what needs doing.”
Alex took several steps closer to the dangerous pair. “What, exactly, is it that I should be doing?”
Calla’s brother glanced at his grandmother and the two of them rolled their eyes. “Apologizing.”
“I tried that. It didn’t quite go the way I expected.”
“Of course it didn’t,” his grandmother said. “A woman never reacts the way a man thinks she will.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. She… I…” He growled. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Did she scream at you?” his grandmother asked.
“No.”
“Did she tell you she hated your guts?” Richard asked.
“No.”
“Did you say you were sorry?” his grandmother asked.
“Yes.”
“So what’s the problem?” His grandmother asked.
“She’d had a glass of wine by the time I got home, and she refused to listen to my apology.”
“Refused?” her brother asked.
He couldn’t stop the wave of heat that swept up his neck and face as he thought about how close they’d come to—
“Oh, Alex, you didn’t,” his grandmother said.
“Dude,” her brother drew out the word and scolded him with it. “You took advantage of my sister while she was under the influence?”
“No.” Alex threw his hands into the air. “See, I knew you’d do this, jump to conclusions. I didn’t do anything.”
Richard’s twitched like he was trying not to laugh. “So what did happen?”
“Nothing. She fell asleep and I put her into bed.”
His grandmother and Richard stared at him with blank expressions on their faces.
“I didn’t take advantage of her…just slept.”
They kept staring.
“I also took most of her clothes off,” he muttered.
“You and my sister are perfect for each other,” Richard said with a shake of his head.
“You think?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, you’re both so smart you’re stupid sometimes.”
“Listen,” Alex said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to fix this. Really, I am. I’ve got a plan and I’m going to explain everything just as soon as things calm down and the press finds someone else to bother.”
“How are you going to explain anything to the press when you can’t explain it to us?” his grandmother asked.
He had no answer for that. “I don’t know.” He stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the room, staring at the floor.
“Why don’t you tell them the truth?” his grandmother suggested.
“Who, me?” Alex quipped with a weak smile.
“Tell them you love her.”
“You mean tell them I was so blinded by love that I made stupid mistake after stupid mistake?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be the laughing stock of the legal world.”
“You’ve been laughed at before for far smaller reasons. In fact,” his grandmother continued. “You’ve been laughed at for far worse reasons. Despite this city’s reputation for shallow morals and a preoccupation with appearances, what people really care about are the important things.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“You did all the wrong things for all the right reasons. People want to believe in fairy tales, in the possibility of hope. Give it to them.”
“That won’t solve the bulk of my problems.”
“But it will solve your public ones.”
He sighed. “I see your point, but I can’t help thinking I’m digging the hole I’m in deeper and deeper all the time.”
“You’ve always been about the truth, which is easy if your emotions aren’t engaged. You’ve used it as a weapon more often than not. This time use it to show people, Calla, who you are, not what you are.”
…
Calla arrived at Alex’s house after midnight. She dragged herself inside, her feet feeling like they weighed fifty pounds each.
The house was dark. Silent. Empty.
Darn it. Where was Alex?
She checked the bedroom, the den, and the garage. No one and his car was missing.
“You big scaredy-cat,” she muttered as she dumped her bag inside his bedroom door and flopped on the bed.
She meant to get up and brush her teeth.
She meant to change and sleep in Alex’s shirt.
She meant to set an alarm so she could arrive at the courthouse before it went into session.
Her cell phone buzzing in her pocket woke her up. Only the bedroom light was on, yet the hall outside was lit up. She sat up and pulled out her phone.
Holy shit, it was nine thirty in the morning.
Calla ran out of the room and toward the front door, but stopped before she could reach the knob.
She couldn’t go outside dressed in wrinkled clothes, an extreme case of bed head, and no makeup whatsoever.
Fuck it. Yes she could.
Chapter Nineteen
Calla felt like she was going to throw up.
She got out of her car and walked toward the courthouse, avoiding photographers and everyone else with the stealth of a ninja. Okay, maybe an anxious, nauseous ninja, which meant she wasn’t all that quick and quiet. Lucky for her, the press, paparazzi, and every other kind of human vulture was clustered around a blonde wearing an expensive-looking suit and stilettos.
The hallway outside the courtroom wasn’t much quieter. She had to go through an airport-like security line, but with nothing on her but her purse, it didn’t take long. The security guard did give her hair a double take she pretended not to see.
It wasn’t hard to tell which courtroom was the one with Jeff MacKay in it. There were two bailiffs stationed out front keeping a crowd of female fans from entering.
Calla approached and called to the one with a clipboard in his hands, “I’m on the witness list.”
“Name?” he asked.
“Dr. Calla Roberts.”
He scanned the list and nodded. “Proceed.”
She darted inside before any of the fans could squeeze in behind her.
Inside was quiet and all the seats were full. Calla slid along the wall to stand out of the way at the back of the room. Had a plea been entered? Witnesses called?
There was a knot of people in suits talking softly a few feet away from the judge, Alex among them.
She looked around, but nothing gave her any clues as to what was happening. When her gaze went back to the front of the room, she found Jeff MacKay staring at her.
He broke eye contact to lean over and whisper something in his lawyer’s ear.
The lawyer nodded, once, twice, then said to the judge, “Your Honor, my client would like to expedite matters.”
“Excellent. How would he like to do that?”
“We would like to call Dr. Calla Roberts to the stand.”
“Objection,” Alex called out. “She isn’t here.”
“She’s standing at the back of the room,” MacKay’s lawyer said, turning to look at her.
Alex looked at her, surprise evident in his wide eyes. He said to the judge, “The accused hasn’t entered a plea yet.”
“We have one question for Dr. Roberts, Your Honor,” MacKay’s lawyer said. “That’s all.”
The judge gazed at the lawyer for a moment, then said, “Very well. One question.” He glanced at Calla and indicated with a sweep of his hand that she should come forward.
Fan—frickin—tastic. Everyone in the courtroom was now looking at her, her wrinkled clothes, bed head hair, and pale face.
Helen had probably fired her six different ways by now.
She made her way to the front of the room. The bailiff swore her in and she sat down in the witness stand.
“Dr. Roberts,” the judge said, leaning over to speak quietly. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, sir. Just in a bit of a rush this morning.”
“Very well.” He sat back and nodded at MacKay’s lawyer.
The man smiled and stood up. He met Calla’s gaze and asked, “Calla Roberts, who comes
first, your patients or your reputation?”
Well, that wasn’t exactly the question she was expecting.
She looked at Alex, who was staring at her with his jaw tightly clenched. “My patients.”
“Are you sure? You seem to have put your personal life and reputation first,” the lawyer asked.
The room erupted in whispers.
“Objection,” Alex yelled. “That’s two questions.”
“Objection sustained,” the judge ordered. “You can step down, Dr. Roberts.”
“I’d like to answer the second question, Your Honor. If you don’t mind.”
Total silence greeted her request.
The judge’s eyebrows went up. He looked from her, to Alex, to MacKay, then shrugged and said, “Have at it.”
“Thank you.” She gave MacKay’s lawyer a half smile. “Though I really do think it’s obvious. I mean look at me. I slept in, didn’t change my clothes, didn’t even comb my hair in my haste to get here so I could support Alicia.”
“That only proves you have poor organizational skills,” the lawyer said.
“No, it proves I put myself second rather than first.” She smiled and tilted her head. She was talking to the wrong person. Jeff MacKay was the man who really needed to hear all this. To believe it.
So, she gave him her undivided attention. “Do you understand now?” She examined MacKay’s face and could see from his frown that he didn’t. “Take Alex Hardy for example,” Calla said.
Alex’s body jerked at her words.
Calla met his gaze and held it. “He’s the most selfless man I’ve ever met. With himself. His time, attention, and devotion. It’s no wonder I fell in love with him.”
She arched a brow at MacKay. “Don’t bother to bring up the flowers. His not telling me it was him was a mistake for which he immediately took responsibility for and apologized.” Was that too much information? A quick glance around at all the staring faces in the courtroom confirmed it.
Yep, way too much.
Time to get out of the hot seat. She took in a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, I’m done.”
She got up, stepped down, and made her way to the back of the courtroom.
Thank God no one tried to stop her.
MacKay and his lawyer called another witness. Then two more, all of who testified to MacKay’s upstanding character.
Alex then called three people to the stand who witnessed the accident. By the time they were finished, it was lunch.