“It’s nice to feel the sand on my toes.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’ve missed you, you know. I haven’t seen you for a few weeks.”
“Life’s been pretty crazy.”
“Your father’s feeling better?”
She shook her head. “He passed away. Last Friday.” It still surprised her that it had only been a week.
Aunt Bonnie stopped. “That’s a true shame, Bella. A true shame.” She hugged her.
Bella wrapped her arms around her, holding on tight, treasuring the hug she didn’t know she’d needed as her eyes watered. “Thank you.”
“Oh, honey, time heals the worst of our aches.”
She nodded, counting on that to be true. The last few days had been the worst of her life. Nothing felt right anymore. At some point, things had to get better.
“Time heals us,” Aunt Bonnie repeated as she eased back and took Bella’s hand. “Reed’s a good boy. He’ll take care of you. He’s always been good to me and his mom, even when they had their falling out.”
She looked at Bonnie as they started walking again. “They had a falling out?”
Aunt Bonnie nodded. “Linda didn’t want him mixed up in police work. They fought about it quite often, I’m afraid—the closer he got to leaving for college, the worse it seemed to get. There’s been a bit of a strain ever since. She didn’t want to bury her son the way she had her husband and in-laws.”
Bella studied Bonnie’s eyes, seeing that they were clear and in the present. Reed’s aunt was one hundred percent with her. “I’m sorry that happened.”
“It took a toll on us—all of us—but it hurt Kurt and Reed the most. Little boys losing their daddies when they weren’t much more than babies. Kurt’s gone now. It pains my heart, but Reed’s the one who dealt with the worst of it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because of the car.”
She frowned. “The car?”
“He was in the back seat. I couldn’t take it when I saw what they did in the kitchen—and I was full-grown. I can’t imagine being five.”
Aunt Bonnie wasn’t making any sense. “I’m glad you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“It will always be there. We’ll always remember.”
And her family—the Caparellis, whether Bella knew them or not—was responsible. Her mood started to nosedive, so she looked toward the water, watching the waves, concentrating on the serenity. “Aunt Bonnie, do you like chocolate cake?”
“Who doesn’t, honey?”
“I have one in the trunk.”
Aunt Bonnie frowned. “You do?”
Nodding, she smiled. “I do. We could have a chocolate cake picnic and watch Lucy chase the seagulls.”
“I’d like that. But then we should get home. I need to get Kurt his supper. Mason’s working late tonight, but I’ll fix him a plate for the fridge.”
She smiled sadly. Poor Aunt Bonnie. It had to be hell slipping from past to present with no control. “We’ll have a little treat and get you home in time for dinner.” She walked them to the car, cut two slices of the cake with the knife she’d brought along, and put them on paper plates. “Shoot. We have a problem.”
“What?”
“I don’t have any silverware. I forgot it.”
“We have fingers.”
She grinned. “Yes, we do.”
“And there’s a whole ocean full of water where we can wash our hands afterward.” Bonnie picked up her slice and bit in, leaving a mess around her mouth.
Bella laughed, following Bonnie’s lead.
“Well, you’re just covered in chocolate, honey.”
“So are you.” She leaned against the back of the car as Bonnie did.
“I’m sure glad we came.”
She swallowed. “Me too.” It had been a while since she’d felt warm inside. She’d filled the last seven days with yoga, work, and long walks on the beach until even Lucy was eager to head home—whatever it took to keep her mind busy. Ironically, she’d rushed to Aunt Bonnie’s rescue, but Aunt Bonnie was the one who’d done the saving tonight. “We’ll have to do it again.”
“Of course we will, honey. Any time. You’re our family. You’re Reed’s.”
She paused as she brought the sweet treat back to her mouth, then took a huge bite, hoping to drown her misery in chocolate cake.
~~~~
Bella tied her robe in place as she walked downstairs, pausing on the bottom step when someone knocked on her front door. She tensed, gripping the banister, forever spooked by the idea of the Caparellis hunting her down—especially when she was alone at night. The knock came again and she tucked her wet hair behind her ear as she made eye contact with Lucy. “Be ready to bite.”
Lucy wagged her tail.
She grabbed her phone off the entryway table and moved toward the door, peeking through the side window, whooshing out a breath of relief when Wren waved at her. Smiling, she unlocked the door. “Hey, you. Come on in.”
Wren stepped inside. “Hi, bestie. We missed you tonight.”
“I missed you too.” She closed the door, locking it, then hugged her friend. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. Reed’s aunt was having some trouble. Her nurse needed a hand.” After she’d dropped Bonnie off and did what she could to help Linda soothe ruffled feathers about Terrible Teresa’s impending return to the house tomorrow, she hadn’t had the energy to paste on happy smiles for her friends. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
“No, thanks. But you can tell me what’s going on with you.” She blinked, smiling sweetly as she rubbed her hands up and down her belly. “I’m not leaving until you do.” She sat on the arm of the love seat. “And I’m sitting right here because I can’t get up by myself otherwise.”
Bella grinned. “You’re getting uncomfortable.”
“Mack truck and cow come to mind when I think of words to describe my current state.”
Bella smiled again. “You’re beautiful.”
“I’m ready to meet this baby and have my body back.”
“Soon.”
“Very soon,” she said with a decisive nod. “Enough about me. Tell me about you.”
Exhaling a quiet breath, Bella moved to sit on the couch. She’d known this day of explanations would come eventually; she just hadn’t planned on it being right now. “What do you want me to say?”
“What’s going on with you and Reed? You haven’t mentioned him at yoga once in over a week—and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Plus, why is he having me decorate his place when you two pretty much live together?”
She could feel the tears coming—the emotion clogging her throat as she gripped her hands together in her lap. “We, um, we broke up.”
Wren blinked. “What?”
She sniffled as she looked down.
“Honey, how could you not think that was worth a mention?”
She shrugged. “I guess I haven’t wanted to talk about it.”
“Bella.” Wren gained her feet and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to her. “What happened?”
Tears fell, streaming down her cheeks. She’d tried so hard to keep her emotions in check. Not once since she’d picked up Dad’s box at Reed’s had she let herself cry. It was so much easier to deny the pain and pretend that it would go away eventually. “It’s complicated—really, really complicated. Reed was working on an old case that ended up involving my father. He lied to me—used me.”
Wren frowned as she wrapped her arm around Bella’s shoulders. “Honey, I saw the two of you together at Chase and Julie’s wedding. That looked pretty real to me.”
“It was, I guess.” She wiped her cheeks. “He says he loves me. I know he does,” she corrected herself.
“Do you love him?”
She nodded and covered her face with her hands as she started crying again.
“Oh, Bella.” Wren hugged her. “It’s going to be okay.”
She rested
her head on Wren’s shoulder. “I don’t see how. I’ve never felt so awful.”
“Of course you do.” She gave her a supportive squeeze. “Did I tell you how I met Tucker?”
She wiped her eyes again. “Yes.”
“I’ve given you the abridged version. Another long story short: he wasn’t entirely honest with me in the beginning either. He withheld some information. I was pretty upset when I found out, but we were able to work things out.”
“Did he sign up for cooking classes with you and take you out on dates with the hope that you would introduce him to your family members?”
She frowned. “No.”
“Did he at any point sleep with you while he was unsure of your character or have questions about who you were as a person because your father hasn’t always been an honest man?”
“Absolutely not.” Wren looked out the window, glaring toward Reed’s house. “Toad. I would totally knock him out if he wasn’t bigger than me—and a hell of a lot stronger.” She turned back to Bella. “I’ll have Tucker do it.”
She chuckled as she grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose. “I’m not being completely fair. There’s a lot more to the story, but I can’t share it with you right now.” She would never be able to. “Technically, he had his reasons—pretty good reasons—but that doesn’t mean I can be with him.”
“Aw, sweetie.” She touched her forehead to Bella’s. “Do you and Lucy wanna come spend the night? You can sit up with me while baby boy here kicks my ribs. We could eat ice cream and watch movies.”
“That’s sweet, but I think I’ll be okay.”
“My ears are open whenever you need to talk.”
She hugged Wren. “I know they are. You’re the best.” She kissed her cheek. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“You’re welcome.” She eased away. “If you really love Reed and there are technicalities that are keeping me from siccing Tucker on him, maybe you guys could fix things.”
She shook her head, remembering the life-altering moment when she’d walked into Dad’s room and seen Reed sitting by that disgusting board—the shocking disbelief and staggering punch of pain to her heart. “I don’t know how I can ever trust him again.” She crumpled the tissue in her hand. “I want so much more than that. I need it.”
Wren nodded.
“I thought we had everything going for us.” She swallowed. “I thought he was the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I love him. So much.” She paused when her voice grew unsteady. “But how do we build on a foundation that’s mostly lies?” She wanted an answer. She wanted Wren to dispense some sort of wisdom that would make everything all right again.
“Give yourself time and see how it all settles.”
She nodded.
Wren kissed Bella’s cheek and stood. “I’m going to head home so Tucker can read to my belly.”
She grinned, loving such a sweet idea. “He reads to your belly?”
“He’s in love with our little boy, and he’s only seen him in 4-D once.”
Bella smiled again, happy for her friends. “You two are going to be great parents.”
“The nursery’s finally finished. You should come over and take a look.”
“I will. Sometime next week.” She walked Wren to the door. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
She watched Wren walk to her car and drive away, then closed the door, noting that Reed’s lights were off and his truck was gone. They were both busy moving on with their own lives.
Chapter Fifty-One
Reed yawned as he drove home from dropping Sadie off with Tyson after one hell of a long night. He’d had dicey moments during his years with NYPD. More than a few times he’d risked his life for his job, but spending sixteen hours with twelve teenage girls and two softball coaches had nearly been his undoing. Never again would he listen when a dumbass bus driver assured him he knew a shortcut back to Los Angeles, especially when said shortcut took them through the desert at eleven o’clock at night where all kinds of shitty things could happen—like overheated engines in the middle of nowhere and nonexistent cell phone service to go along with it. Add a deranged stalker to the mix and you had the recipe for a fucking nightmare. Luckily, Sadie’s secret admirer had decided to give him a break and not follow along on their trip.
Eventually things had settled down. After four-and-a-half hours on the dusty roadside, a kindhearted farmer had driven by in a pickup and dropped the group off at some Podunk motel. Reed had sat up until dawn on a rickety wooden chair, keeping his ears open and eyes glued to the shoddy lock on the door while Sadie and her three pals doubled up in queen-size beds and slept away in their assigned room. The three-hour drive back this morning had been its own adventure while cranky, sleep-deprived young women bitched and argued about music, food, and boys. By nine, he’d been more than ready for Tyson to take over.
He yawned again as his phone rang, then groaned as he looked at the readout. Mom. “Shit,” he muttered, not in the mood for a conversation right now—particularly when he was going to have to break the news about him and Bella. “Shit,” he said again as he picked up on the third ring, knowing she would just call back. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. I haven’t talked to you in a while.”
“I’ve been pretty busy.” Boxing and extra shifts had been his saving grace over the last few days.
“That’s why we need to catch up. Do you and Bella want to come over tonight? We’ll have dinner.”
He gripped the wheel tighter and shook his head. “Tonight’s not going to work. I’m just getting off my shift. I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours.”
“Oh, you poor thing. How about tomorrow, then?”
He rolled his tense neck as he kept his eyes on the road. “Yeah, sure.”
“Make sure you tell Bella that the only thing the two of you need to bring is yourselves. I know she’ll ask. She’s so lovely, honey.”
And this is why he’d hesitated to answer. Mom was going to be devastated, but he might as well get it over with. “Mom, Bella and I broke up over a week ago. You won’t be seeing her anymore.” And the idea made his already raw stomach ache even more.
“What? Honey, she was here last night. She didn’t mention anything about it.”
He frowned. “She was at the house?”
“Aunt Bonnie had a spell. Teresa couldn’t get her to come out of the bathroom. Bella and Lucy came over and worked their magic. She ended up taking her to the beach, fed her chocolate cake, and brought her home. Bonnie’s still talking about it.”
“Huh,” was his response. What else could he say? Bella had helped out his family because she was a sweetheart. He wanted it to mean something more than that, but it probably didn’t.
“What happened, honey? You two were so happy. I’ve never seen you so happy.”
He took his hand off the wheel to scratch his jaw. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She sighed. “All right. I hope to see you for dinner.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Bye, honey.”
“Bye.” He turned into the development, then into his driveway, more than ready for bed. Getting out, he glanced toward Bella’s place, seeing that she was home. If things were different, he would be walking through her front door, but they weren’t, so he started toward his own.
Lucy ran through the side yard, wagging her tail and barking as she stopped in front of him.
He grinned. “Hey, girl.”
“Lucy!” Bella ran around the corner of the house and smacked into him, soaking them both with the full watering can she held in her hand.
“Whoa.” He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from stumbling back and breathed her in.
“Sorry.” She stepped away. “Sorry,” she said again as she stared at his dripping shirt.”
He shrugged as he tracked his gaze over her. She looked beautiful—ready for summer in her white short shorts, navy-blue tank shirt, and lea
ther sandals. She’d slid one of those headband things in her hair, leaving her spectacular face unframed, which made her big brown eyes appear even larger. “I need to change anyway.”
“I’m thinking I might have to get some sort of tie for the backyard since a certain someone keeps wandering off.” She lifted her eyebrow at Lucy as she spoke.
Lucy leaned against Reed.
If only Bella was as eager to see him as her dog was. “She wants to say hi. Don’t you, pretty girl?” He gave the puppy a good rub, missing Lucy as much as he did Bella—the little family the three of them had made together.
“Well, she’s not supposed to run away and scare five years off my life.”
He smiled, remembering a similar situation—the first night she’d invited him over for dinner.
She frowned, stepping closer. “You look tired. Really tired.”
He nodded, noting that Bella’s concealer wasn’t doing much to cover up the dark circles under her eyes. Apparently, she wasn’t sleeping any better than he was. “Rough night.”
“Sadie?”
“Yeah.” He scrubbed at his face. “And eleven of her closest friends. The bus broke down in the middle of nowhere while we were on our way home from a softball tournament. We just got back into town an hour ago.”
A smile warmed her face.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “It sucked pretty bad.”
“I can only imagine.”
“I shudder to think a similar fate could be mine this summer—the student exchange program in London.”
Her smile dimmed. “You’re going to Europe?”
“Maybe. It would be only for a couple of weeks. We’re still ironing out the details.” He’d made it clear to Ethan that he wouldn’t be going anywhere until he had a better idea of what the Caparellis were up to.
She looked down. “I guess I should probably get going. The girls are coming over today.”
“Yeah? Make sure you tell them I say hi.”
She nodded, meeting his gaze.
He swallowed, holding her stare. Clearly the easy moment they’d managed was over.
“Sorry about the water.”
“It’s no big deal.”
Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series Page 55