Return to Me (Breaking Free Book 2)

by Renee Fowler

  “Maybe some other time, Brent.”

  He leans forward, grasps my hands from across his desk. “Is it that boy?”

  “Huh?”

  “He seems a bit old fashioned. Trin, you’re a beautiful woman, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you showing a little skin.”

  “This isn’t his call, it’s mine. I’m selling music, not my body. I’d like to put something out there that I can be proud of, and that is commercially viable at the same time. I think we can accomplish both.”

  Brent nods slowly. He straightens my engagement ring and stares down at it. “We should get you another ring.”

  “What?”

  “This one is so… dainty.”

  I scoff. “I love my ring, but I’m not wearing it during pictures anyway. That’s part of my life is private.”

  “I’m afraid someone in your position doesn’t always get the luxury of a private life.” Brent’s face brightens. “We do need to think about cleaning up your image a bit. This could really work. Trin Sinclair falls for a small town cop that she met in church when she was a kid. You can’t get any more wholesome than that, unless… a baby would really do the trick. Are you two thinking of having kids? Motherhood would really-”

  “Have you lost your fucking mind? You’re talking about a real baby, and my real life. How many more times do I have to tell you, I’m not interested in playing these games. This is the absolute last warning Brent. I’m not going to have this conversation with you again. I’m not kidding.”

  “I’m just thinking out loud, Doll. Relax.”

  I shove up from the chair, and stomp towards the door. Brent calls out for me to wait, but I keep going. I’m so mad I’m shaking. When I reach home several hours later, I’m still fuming.

  The second I come through the door and see Gabe, all my frustrations melt away. He stands up to greet me, and I fling myself at him with enough force to nearly topple him over.

  It’s only been three days since we’ve seen each other, but it feels like far longer. Gabe kisses me, and holds me tight against him for a moment. I’m suddenly struck by the notion that I’m home, and not because I’m standing in my familiar house.

  Where ever Gabe happens to be is my home.

  Before long we’ll be moving into our new place when construction is complete, and we’ll be selling this monstrosity. The bakery just opened last week, thanks to all of Gina and Mia’s hard work. My real life is humming right along without me, and eventually I’ll be here more to enjoy it.

  “Is Rose already asleep?”

  “She’s with Leah tonight. Her sister’s staying there too to give her a hand.”

  “Are we alone?” I ask, listening for sounds of one of my sisters, his niece, Mia, although I think she’s back in Nashville. Maybe she’s still helping Leah get settled in. I can’t keep track. With all the running back and forth, plus the usual nonsense from Brent, I’m feeling particularly frazzled.

  Gabe nods. “It’s just you and me.”

  I drag his shirt up his torso, kiss the center of his chest. “You and me.”

  We make up for those three days of lost time right there in the living room, then afterwards I hold my ear up against his chest, listening to the steady drumbeat of his heart, as I lay tucked up against him.

  For a bit I feared all this distance between us would be too hard. It is hard, but so far we’re making it work. If there was ever anything worth working hard for, it’s this, and eventually we’ll be together every single day.

  We’re going to get married, and I’m going to make cupcakes, occasionally music. I won’t be around to wish Rose well on her first day of kindergarten, but I will be there when she heads off to first grade. We’re going to get a dog together. Maybe one day we’ll adopt, or I’ll change my mind about having a baby. We still have plenty of time to figure that out.

  Every sacrifice we’re making now feels worth it for the future we’re going to have together later.

  “Do you know what today is, Trin?”

  “Wednesday?”

  “Actually it’s Thursday.” His laugh is a low, quiet rumble. “But it’s also another special day. It’s been thirteen months.”

  “It has, isn’t it?” I haven’t touched a thing besides the occasional aspirin for thirteen months. Would I have made it this long without Gabe to keep me grounded, and focused on the future we were going to share together? “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For loving me despite being such a crazy, flawed bitch.”

  “I wish you’d stop saying stuff like that, and I’ll always love you. You’re my one and only. My first and my last.”

  The next morning Gabe heads out to work, and I head out to the bakery. The location is perfect, close to the center of town. The backlit sign that reads Sinful Indulgence is visible from main street. Gina already has this place running like a machine. A lot of the things in the display case out front get shipped in. There’s not enough time, space, or people to make it all from scratch.

  After the morning rush, Gina patiently teaches me how to run the register, then she slips in back to work on a wedding cake on commission. A few familiar faces come in, a few unfamiliar ones. I’m sure a lot of the foot traffic we’re seeing is due to people wanting to come in and see The Trin Sinclair, and I don’t mind so much. Eventually people will get tired of gawking at me, and they’ll just be stopping in for donuts and coffee. I don’t mind catching up with old faces, or getting to know new ones though. The whole thing feels oddly right.

  “Gina put you right to work, didn’t she?” Shane says with a lopsided grin when he comes in during the early afternoon.

  “She’s doing the real work in back,” I point out. “Do you two want coffee?”

  Before I can get it, Gina wanders out to greet her husband. “I thought I heard trouble. Trin, don’t start giving him free coffee. If you do, we’ll never get rid of him,” she warns playfully. “He’s like a stray dog.”

  “You may beat me home today, Trin,” Gabe says, when I hand him his plain, black coffee. “I’m going to pick up Rose, then take her out to get a few more things she needs for school.”

  “I’ll be waiting when you get there.”

  He gives me a radiant smile. I can’t believe I’m going to be his wife one day. It still doesn’t feel real, that this is the life I get to have with him.

  Shortly before the two second shift employees arrive, Gabe’s niece Lilly burts in. She’s grown used to me now, and she’s far more normal in my presence, usually, but she’s sporting a manic grin as she rushes past the handful of small tables to address me at the counter.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you saw him?”

  “Saw who?”

  “Kane! I thought you were going to get his autograph for me,” she whines. “Is he coming to town to see you?”

  “Sorry, I forgot, but I don’t see why he would come here.”

  “According to this-” she waves her phone around for me to see. “You’ve been meeting in secret. Does Uncle Gabe know?”

  I snatch the phone out of her hand. Anger burns through me as I scan the short article. There are three accompanying pictures. One of Gabe and I in the hot tub, a different one. His face is still obscured, and my breasts are bare except for some small stars placed strategically for modesty. There’s another picture of me embracing Kane in the front lobby of the studio from a few months back, with another smaller zoomed in section off to the side, and in it my engagement ring is circled in red. The third picture is of Kane and I dressed in formal wear. He’s clasping my hand, and gazing down at me in that fake, adoring way he used to in public.

  “This is an old picture,” I explain to Lilly. “Look how skinny I was, and I still had trout pout. That’s probably from two years ago.” I scroll back up to the picture of Kane and I at the studio. Who the hell took that picture, I wonder? I told Gabe about running into him again. There was certainly nothing secret or scandalous about it. “This is a
day we bumped into each other. He was finishing up that last track on his album, and I had just told him I was engaged. Lilly, we’re only friends. We’re not even friends. We’re acquaintances at best. I would never do that to your uncle.”

  I don’t bother to address the picture of Gabe and I in the hot tub. Lilly is sixteen years old, and she can pretty well figure that one out for herself.

  Lilly seems convinced, but what about everyone else? What about Gabe’s parents? I already know I’ll never be their favorite person, but they’ve at least started to accept the fact that I’m going to be their daughter-in-law one day.

  I’m so furious, I’m actually shaking. “I should have listened to your uncle. How did I ever trust him?”

  “Kane?” Lilly asks.

  “Not Kane,” I say wearily. “My manager. My soon to be former manager.”

  A customer comes in. Lilly stands off to the side while I wait on them. As soon as they are gone, and the bakery is empty, I pull out my phone to make a few calls. First I call Brent. Of course the coward doesn’t answer. He knows exactly why I’m ringing him. I leave him a hateful message, which he probably won’t take seriously. I’ve said not so nice things to him before. I’ve threatened to can his ass a number of times too, but this time I mean it. I am dead serious.

  Lilly is staring at me with wide eyes and a gaped mouth. I probably should’ve toned that down a bit in her presence, but she’s sixteen. I’m sure she’s heard the phrase worthless motherfucking scumbag before, right?

  Next I call Mia and ask her to contact my lawyer to arrange a meeting, tonight if possible, early tomorrow morning if not. I really have no desire to drive back down to Nashville this soon, but I want to get the settled before Brent can wreck any more havoc on my life.

  I’m kicking myself so damn hard for not listening to Gabe earlier. I still don’t think Brent is the eyeball eater, but it’s obvious now that my well being is his very last concern.

  “Do you want me to drive down with you?” Mia asks.

  “Are you still in Trenton?”

  “I’ve been helping Leah, but-”

  “Just keep doing that. I can manage fine on my own. Thank you, Mia.”

  “You may have to get by without me tomorrow,” I tell Gina. “I really am turning out to be a shitty business partner.”

  “Nah. Do what you’ve got to do. I can hold down the fort.”

  “I can help when I get off school,” Lilly chimes in. “I’ve been looking for a part time job. I need to start saving for a car anyways. Babysitting isn’t really cutting it.”

  Becca has already made it crystal clear that I am not to buy Lilly a car under any circumstances. She wants her oldest daughter to earn that privilege the old fashioned way, but she never mentioned anything about offering her a job. I shrug a shoulder towards Gina.

  Gina swoops the hat decorated with the bakery logo off my head and plops it down on top of Lilly’s dark hair. I pull the apron smock off, and hand it over to Lilly. “Have at it.” I turn to face Gina. “Are you okay if I take off a tiny bit early? I just want to get down there and get this ball rolling. The sooner I fire his ass, the sooner I can get back.”

  She takes a pointed look around the deserted bakery. “I think the two of us can manage.”

  I wait until I’m on the road to call Gabe, and tell him what’s going on. “You’re not even going to say I told you so?”

  “No, but I wish you would wait until I get home. I want to come with you.”

  “You have Rose to take care of, and you need to be there to drop her off at school. I can take care of myself, Gabe.”

  “I don’t trust him, Trin.”

  I can’t help but laugh. Maybe I don’t trust Brent, but I have no reason to fear him, not in the way Gabe thinks anyways. “I’m not meeting him in a dark alley. I’ll probably have my lawyer and accountant with me, I guess. I’ve never fired a manager before, so this is going to be a new experience for me.” My eyes flicked between the open highway before me, and my rearview to see a big van riding my ass. I’m already going five over. If he’s so damn impatient, he can go around. “I need to let you go. I shouldn’t be on my phone and driving anyways, but I’ll give you a quick call when I stop for gas. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Trin. Drive careful.”

  Chapter 36

  Gabe

  I figured Trin would call in an hour or two, maybe three, but she didn’t. Perhaps her cell phone died, and she forgot to bring her charger. That seemed likely. She wasn’t planning on making that trip, and Trin left right from the bakery.

  Real alarm didn’t start to set in until late that evening. Trin should’ve arrived at her place in Nashville hours ago. I call the landline there and get nothing but her recorded voice prompting to leave a message. I don’t bother. I’ve already left a message on her cell.

  I march upstairs and knock on Mia’s door. Sometimes she stays with us when she’s in town, sometimes with Leah. For a bit she was at a hotel, but Trin put a stop to that.

  Despite the late hour, she’s still dressed. Mia works constantly. She never stops. Beyond her shoulder, I can see a laptop laying open on the bed. “Have you heard from Trin?”

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” she says in her usual quiet voice. “She had an appointment with her lawyer. I texted her the details, but she never showed up.” Mia shoves the glasses up her nose. “I should’ve went with her. Brent is going to kill me.”

  “Do you have a number for him?”

  She stares down at her feet. “I can give him a message if you need.”

  “I’d prefer to speak with him myself.”

  Mia starts to shake her head. “He won’t like that.”

  “I’m afraid he may have done something to Trin. I need to speak with him.”

  Her mouth falls open. “He would never hurt her.”

  “She threatened to fire him. That’s what she was on her way down there to do. Mia, please. I think she might be in trouble.”

  She stares at me intently for a long moment. “I’m kind of in the mood for a cup of tea. I think I’m going to go down and make myself one.” Mia stares between me and the jumble on top of her bed. “If he asks, you took it upon yourself to call from my phone, okay?” She doesn’t wait for me to answer, but slides past and starts downstairs.

  My gut is in knots. Something is wrong. I can just feel it. I practically lunge for her smartphone, and quickly find his name in the list of contacts.

  Brent picks up right away. “What?” he asks impatiently.

  “Where’s Trin. Do you have her?”

  There’s a long stretch of silence. “Mr. Barton, I presume. It’s been a while since we’ve spoke.”

  “Where. Is. Trin?”

  “How should I know?”

  “She was on her way down there to fire you, and now no one can reach her.”

  “Are you insinuating something?”

  “I’m saying it’s an awfully big coincidence that she turns up missing now of all times.”

  Brent sighs loudly. “Do you have any idea how many times she has threatened to fire me? Do you know how many times she’s run off? When Trin is busy she doesn’t like to pick up the phone, for me or anyone else. Your fiance has a long history of making herself scarce when the mood strikes.”

  “I know you were the one providing her with drugs. I’m also positive you left that letter, or had someone leave it for her. You also paid someone off to get rid of the evidence after the fact, correct? Why would I trust a damn thing you have to say?”

  “Those are some serious accusations, Mr. Barton. Flinging allegations like that around without proof could be considered defamation of character, especially when they are aimed at someone in my line of work, where reputation is so valued.”

  “You may intimidate Mia, and you may have manipulated Trin in the past, but I see right through your bullshit. I have from day one, and I’m not someone you can intimidate or manipulate. If you’ve done so
mething to hurt Trin, I will kill you with my bare hands, do you understand me?”

  Brent scoffs. “You’re lucky I’m a big enough man to let a threat like that slide. I understand that you’re worried about her, but you’re barking up the wrong tree. My guess is she’s holed up somewhere with a bottle of booze, or pills, maybe both. And before you ask, whatever she’s taking currently, I didn’t give it to her. I’ll be happy to call around, check in with some of her friends, but I suspect she’ll reach out in two or three days. If I speak to her first, I’ll be sure to let her know that you’re eager for a word.”

  The line goes dead. If that was my phone clutched in my hand, I might have flung it in anger, that’s how pissed off I am currently. There is no way in hell Trin would do that. She’s been sober for over a year.

  My eyes flick over towards the empty doorway, and I scroll through the long list of contacts in Mia’s phone. One name jumps out at me. The photographer who took those pictures of Trin and me. If Brent paid that guy in the first place, and I can get proof, that’s conspiracy, maybe even embezzlement if he pocketed the money he supposedly used to buy them back after the fact. It would be enough to bring charges against him, then maybe they could find more.

  Maybe they could find Trin.

  When I express that sentiment to Mia downstairs, she quickly snatches her phone away, shaking her head fast. “I’m not getting involved in this.”

  “Mia, I wouldn’t let him hurt you.”

  “I’m not afraid of him hurting me, but I am afraid of him ruining my career. One word from Brent, and I’ll never find work again.”

  All she cares about is her fucking job? “Trin loves you. She’s not going to get rid of you.”

  Mia gives me a dubious look. “After this next tour, she’s not going to need me anymore.”

  “She’ll still need you.” I have to bite my tongue to keep from asking the question burning through my mind - Is this really what you want to do with your life, be someone’s servant? The glaringly obvious answer is yes. Mia seems to love her work. She’s constantly begging me to let her help with the silliest, most mundane tasks. She needs to feel wanted I guess. “Trin and I are going to be married, and… we’ll both need you.” I stare around the huge room. “We’ll need you for all kinds of things, and she has the business now. Trin won’t get rid of you. I won’t let her. Please, Mia.”