Masks and Lies

by McKechnie, A C J

  The man was one of the richest men in America, as well as still being fairly young and also attractive. He might be the man who’d fathered her but even Kendra could see that Howard would be appealing to women. All of that added up to one amazing package. A package that most women would jump at. There was no way that her father didn’t have someone, or even someones, attached to him.

  Well, she was sure that she’d meet them eventually. Maybe. Of course he might not be too inclined to have her involved with one of his many conquests, but she’d wait to see what would happen. Enough changes had occurred for the moment for her to get her head around. Adding in a possible stepmother wasn’t exactly something that Kendra was eager for. So she’d keep her mouth shut and see what developments occurred.

  For the moment she had a father to get to know, a mother to reconnect with, a house to explore, and a lying scumbag to forget.

  * * *

  Looking up, Mitchell found himself staring into the face of a man who he didn’t really want to see. The last time he’d seen Growling Bear had been when the man had been leaving Kendra’s house, after their night together. Their night spent doing something that Mitchell didn’t even want to think about.

  He knew that he’d most likely need to get over his jealously that the man had slept with Kendra, but right now he was burning up in anger over the fact that she’d given herself to the man standing next to him. Not to mention the fact that his own actions had caused her to do so. That was a bitter pill to swallow, the fact that Kendra had slept with someone because she’d been so hurt over his actions and had wanted to forget.

  Mitchell hadn’t forgotten Howard Powers’ words to him either. She’d ended up travelling from bar to bar every night for five months after that first night, and he suddenly realized that there was a very good chance that Notaku hadn’t been her first.

  She’d been eager that first night for more to happen with him while she’d been under the influence of alcohol, how many times had that been repeated? And with a man who had no scruples about taking an inebriated stranger into his bed? Especially a particularly beautiful and passionate one.

  Clenching his fists, Mitchell tried to shake the unwanted thoughts and images away and instead focused back on the fact that Growling Bear was still standing there staring down at him.

  “I can’t figure you out,” the man finally said, and Mitchell just raised an eyebrow at that. “I don’t quite understand why you’re still here,” he added, and as much as Mitchell didn’t want to speak to the man opposite he figured that he’d have to at some point.

  “Join the club,” he muttered before looking back down at his plate. Betsy was making his life miserable. Every time he asked for dessert she’d give him pie. Chocolate pie. Informing him that there wasn’t anything else left. A blatant lie as he could clearly see the cherry and peach pies behind her. But she was only giving him chocolate ones.

  Kendra had been right, the woman couldn’t bake with chocolate to save her life, and Mitchell was paying for it. Badly. The woman had it in for him, and he could understand why, she was protecting Kendra. Or uniting with her. Whichever way you looked at it, the fact was that the woman was taking her revenge out on Mitchell with her culinary ineptitude.

  “I take it others have been voicing their opinions on the matter?” the man surmised with a smile, and Mitchell narrowed his eyes at him. Why was this man pretending to be his friend? Why was he even talking to Mitchell? What was he hoping to achieve?

  “What do you want, Notaku?” Mitchell asked, suddenly wanting those questions answered that had been flying through his head.

  Not looking surprised, but looking more serious now, Growling Bear tipped his head towards the free chair opposite Mitchell in an indication that he wanted to sit. Weighing the decision in his mind, Mitchell ended up just shrugging. Why not? He’d made the decision to stick around Granville, and by doing so it meant that he’d have to interact with the people here.

  Considering how small the town was, that meant that he’d have to interact with pretty much all of them. Which was proving difficult. As evidenced by Betsy’s torture pies.

  “I care about Kendra,” the man said, and Mitchell just crossed his arms over his chest. If they were going to have a little chat about claiming rights to Kendra and her heart, maybe Mitchell wouldn’t end up too civilized after all. He already had major issues with regards to the couple’s relationship, he didn’t need Notaku rubbing his nose in it.

  “A lot of people do. She makes it easy to,” Mitchell said and shot a gaze around the room that he was in. Everything had gone quieter. Not silent, but there was no doubt in his mind that everyone was aware of the conversation occurring at his table.

  “Yes. She does,” Growling Bear said with a nod of his head. “That’s why so many around here love her. That’s why so many want to protect her.”

  “What exactly is your point?” Mitchell asked in exasperation and noticed Notaku tense at his tone.

  “That if you want the woman to accept you when she comes back, then you’d do well to remember that she has plenty of people in her life who will love and protect her. And you’d do well to maybe try to listen to them and accept their help and advice,” he added.

  “You gonna help me, Growling Bear?” Mitchell asked in amusement.

  “I was trying to,” he said as he pushed himself upright. “But I’m beginning to think that it’s not worth it, or even that it would be right for Kendra,” he said, and Mitchell looked up at him in confusion. The emotion must have been fairly strong, because Notaku stopped and stared down at him, analyzing and assessing the look on his face.

  “Why would you even want to?” Mitchell finally asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” the man asked back, and Mitchell didn’t think that it was. They were basically rivals. Why was Notaku willing to help Mitchell with his stay in Granville? With his desire for Kendra? A desire and love that Mitchell couldn’t seem to shut off, and had even grown since he’d last seen her.

  “You trying to sabotage my stay here? Trying to make sure I never get a chance with Kendra again?” he asked in suspicion and watched as Notaku raised another brow at him.

  “You must not think I have much honor,” he said, and Mitchell studied the man opposite him. Notaku was right, that wasn’t the man’s style. He was honest. Honest and honorable. If he wanted to fight Mitchell for Kendra, he’d do it straight on. He wouldn’t resort to lies, deception, or subterfuge. They’d have a battle. A fair battle.

  “I’m sorry,” Mitchell said. “I just don’t understand. You love Kendra. It’s obvious that you want her. So why would you even consider helping me? A man who loves her as well. A man who wants to be able to get her back.”

  “Because I love her, Mitchell,” he said solemnly. “Because I love Kendra enough to want her to be happy. I know that she doesn’t love me, never has, never will. But I do know that she loves you. If you can get a woman like her to love you, then I think you’re a good enough man to have her, to make her happy.

  “I know you hurt her,” Notaku added with a sudden fierce look in his eyes. “I know that you broke her heart, but I also know that you’re most likely the only one who can fix it. And I don’t want to see Kendra living her life with a broken heart,” he added, and Mitchell found himself incredibly humbled by the man’s words. And generosity.

  “You’d be better for her than me,” he mumbled. “You’re a better man.”

  “But not the man that she wants. Not the man that she loves. Not the man who’s right for her,” he added, and Mitchell looked in the man’s eyes. Notaku honestly believed that. He wouldn’t try for Kendra, but he would try to make her happy. In the other man’s mind, being with Mitchell would do that.

  “You’re willing to help me for her, not me.”

  “Exactly,” the man agreed. “Like I said, people love Kendra. Want her happy. Want her whole and complete. You’re the answer to that. People are waiting to give you a chance, not because
of who you are, but because of what you represent.”

  “Kendra’s future,” Mitchell surmised and watched as Notaku nodded. “You said you didn’t understand me, why I was here. What did you mean?” Mitchell asked.

  “I don’t understand your plan of attack, Mitchell. You’re making no effort with anyone in Granville. Making no steps towards endearing yourself to those that matter most to Kendra. You also didn’t catch a flight straight to her. I don’t understand what your plan is.”

  “I didn’t have one,” Mitchell admitted with a shrug.

  “There must have been something.”

  “I … I think I was trying to prove to her that I was stable. Trustworthy. I think I was trying to give myself time to decide what I really wanted, and give her the same opportunity.”

  “That’s all?”

  “It’s not like I could have gone to her anyway. Her father made that perfectly clear.”

  “He’s protective of her. Like everyone else. Except he feels guilt.”

  “You spoke to him?”

  “No. But wouldn’t you? If you’d sent someone to be with her who ended up hurting her so badly, wouldn’t you shoulder some of the blame yourself?”

  “What’s your advice then, Notaku? You said you’d be willing to help, that I need to listen and follow the advice given to me. What would that be?”

  “I already gave it. You just have to remember. As long as you listened,” he said as he stood up again, and Mitchell stared at the man in surprise. “I’m rooting for you, Mitchell. But Kendra’s my priority. If you hurt her again, you’ll have a lot of people to answer to. But first and foremost, you’ll be answering to me,” he said before sauntering out of the diner again, leaving Mitchell staring after him in stunned surprise.

  What a strange turn of events.

  As Mitchell thought over Notaku’s words, he idly picked at the pie in front of him. Pushing his fork into the bitter and scorched center that was also overly sweet, Mitchell braced himself for the awful taste of Betsy’s pie.

  Before the fork reached his mouth, however, a hand appeared from the side and stopped the utensil’s progress. Looking up in surprise, he saw Betsy staring down at him with a frown before she hastily removed her hand, snatched up the offending pie, and pushed a warm peach replacement in front of him instead.

  Blinking down at the offered pastry, Mitchell couldn’t get his mouth to say anything to the woman.

  “I think you’ve suffered enough,” she said before turning and heading back to the kitchen.

  Progress. Sure and steady progress.

  Glancing around, he noticed the other stares fixed on him and smiled tentatively. There weren’t any answering smiles, but there also weren’t any responding scowls like he usually got. Progress.

  Mitchell found himself suddenly remembering Growling Bear’s words. He needed to make an effort with the people closest to Kendra. He needed to prove to them that he was worthy of her, that they could trust him. Once he’d done that, he’d have the full power of the town behind him.

  Kendra would take longer to prove himself to, but she cared about the people here. She cared about their opinions. She cared what they thought. If he got Granville onside, it would be a start, a foothold for him to use on his quest towards gaining Kendra’s trust herself.

  The love was still there. According to Notaku she loved him. Love didn’t disappear overnight. He knew that from his own experience with her. The anger was just overshadowing it right now for her. The anger and betrayal that she felt. If he could prove that she could trust him, if he could remove the anger and let her know that she’d be safe with him, then he’d have her.

  He’d have her love.

  Granville. That was the answer. He didn’t need to make progress with Kendra right now. He needed to make progress with everyone else instead.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It had been three weeks since Kendra had accompanied her father back to his home. Three weeks that they’d spent getting to know each other, three weeks that she’d spent calling her mom daily to get to re-know her, and three weeks that she’d spent trying to purge a liar from her mind.

  She was making progress with two of those three tasks. Unfortunately, the one that she wished would be easiest to accomplish was turning out to be the most difficult. Why couldn’t she just forget all about Mitchell ‘Nick’ Astley? The man was out of her life. Her father had seen to that.

  Howard had told Kendra that he’d fired his go-to man. Fired and told him to stay away. To go away. To never come anywhere near either of them again. Apparently Mitchell had listened. He wasn’t here. She’d overheard some of Howard’s other advisors talking one day and it looked as though Mitchell had even put his apartment up for sale. The man had gone. Completely.

  A fact that should have made her ecstatic. All it did was upset her even more. Which was ridiculous. He’d lied. Deceived. Abused her trust. Used her. Chances were that he’d never even had any real feelings for her. If he had, wouldn’t he have at least tried to explain himself, defended his actions to her father as springing from genuine love, or even affection? But he hadn’t. He’d gone. Without even looking back.

  Kendra’s brain, and mouth, were screaming ‘good riddance’, but her heart wasn’t. Her heart was yearning and aching. It was just like Betsy had said, she wanted to give him another chance, a chance to prove her wrong, a chance to prove that not everything had been a lie. Her heart wanted him back.

  Right now she was ignoring that organ though. Instead she was concentrating on everything else around her. Which meant that she was focused on her father and mom. In an effort to drown out her heart’s cries and desires she’d been immersing herself in her new and strange family dynamics.

  She’d spoken to her mom about her father and knew that Marilyn still loved the man Howard had been. Judging by her mom’s description of what he’d been when he was younger he hadn’t changed all that much. Which meant that there was a very good chance that her mom was in love with the man that he was.

  Kendra wasn’t naïve enough to think that everything would turn out with a happy ever after, but she did love her mom enough to try to provide the woman with one. After all that her mom had had to endure when she was younger, she deserved some happiness in her life now. And Kendra had a feeling that Howard could provide that.

  Which was why Kendra was planning. Planning and scheming for the benefit of the couple. She only had one snag in her plan: she had no idea where Howard stood on it all. It had been well over twenty years since he’d been anywhere near her mom, although Marilyn hadn’t ever moved on, there was a good chance that the same couldn’t be said about Howard.

  To that end, Kendra was bracing herself to venture on a subject which she’d been putting off since she’d arrived. But the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her mom even more, and if Howard answered the way that most men in his position would, then that was a very real likelihood.

  Knocking on his study door, she waited for his call to enter before sticking her head around the doorframe.

  “Are you busy?” she asked tentatively and watched as he smiled at her before beckoning her in. Their relationship had grown since she’d turned up at his house, the hours spent getting to know one another had helped to ease the awkwardness between them, but Kendra still felt very much like a burden in the busy man’s life.

  “Not too much that I don’t have time for you,” he smiled in encouragement, and Kendra smiled in return before venturing further into the room and settling into a chair opposite his desk. As was always the case, however, Howard stood and moved to the chair beside hers, giving her his full attention. She’d noticed that her father always ensured that she knew he was completely focused on her whenever they spoke and she could appreciate the gesture.

  “What did you want to see me about?” he asked her as she sat there trying to figure out where to start.

  “Well, this is a bit awkward actually, but I guess I wanted to talk to you about your
… well, your personal life,” she hazarded and noticed the surprise on his face as she did so.

  “In what way?” he asked.

  “I’ve been here three weeks now, and I know that you’ve been spending your time getting to know me, but I’ve never seen you do anything else except work,” she said and watched as he continued to stare at her in confusion. Deciding that she was going to have to elaborate, she said, “I’d kind of expected to have been introduced to anybody else important in your life by now.”

  “You’ve met all of my advisors,” he said with a furrowed brow, and Kendra almost sighed in exasperation. For an incredibly intelligent man he was being bloody dense.

  “I meant a more personal somebody,” she said meaningfully and watched as his eyebrows shot up. “I know it must all be a bit of a surprise and shock for anyone special in your life, but I guess I thought that by now you’d all be comfortable with the idea that –”

  “Kendra, there isn’t anybody,” he said suddenly, interrupting her.

  “Nobody?” she asked with her own furrowed brow.

  “No.”

  “Do you mean that there’s nobody specific or there isn’t anyone at all?” she asked warily. She couldn’t honestly believe that Howard Powers was a man without a woman somewhere in his life. The man was too influential, too blessed, too appealing to remain unattached.

  “There’s nobody, Kendra. Nobody at all,” he said softly, and she looked into his eyes to try to decipher the emotion there.

  “I don’t understand. Why not?” she asked bluntly.

  Shrugging, he replied, “Because I’ve never found anybody.” When he noticed her doubtful expression he sighed before leaning back and putting his hands in his pockets. “I tried. When I first went off to college, and left your mother behind, I tried to find somebody to replace her. No, that’s not right, not replace, but to distract me from her. I went after other girls. But when it came down to it I just couldn’t seem to get past her. After a few months of trying I conceded the point that it wasn’t going to help, so I stopped and concentrated on my studies.