I’m the happiest girl on the planet right now.
Chapter 28
It took me some time, but I finally figured out what I want to do for Will’s birthday. With his birthday six months away, and because I want to surprise him, I’m throwing him an un-birthday party. If I wait until December to do something special for him, I’ll never be able to pull it off as a surprise.
So, with Claire and Eliana’s help I’ve put together the coolest Mad Hatter themed party – the cool, Johnny Depp, Mad Hatter since Will is a huge Depp fan. I invited Finn and Dana, and the other friends we’ve been making at school. Caroline got in this morning and was waiting in my room when I got home, but the best part is that Tyler is coming in this afternoon.
After Caroline’s visit in the fall we all decided that Tyler would be the next to find out about our secret, and Luke agreed that now would not only be a great time to tell him, but a great birthday present for Will. Tyler thinks he’s coming for a late birthday celebration for me, since my birthday was a little over a week ago. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when we tell him! And Will is going to be so happy to have Tyler back!
Will says that our friends and the life we left behind in Davidson aren’t as important to him as the life we’re building together now, but I know he misses Tyler. They were best friends and brothers. Tyler was the only guy that Will trusted to take care of me when he couldn’t. Having Tyler back in his life is going to mean more to him than I think he realizes.
Luke and Wes have spent the last several weeks pouring over the notes and evidence they got from Eli. It’s a big job, comparing what Eli had to what Luke’s been collecting for 15 years. There’s a lot that’s just speculation, but there’s also quite a bit that is frightfully true. There are things that Luke will tell me, and things he won’t. Mainly they’re the things that Wes was a part of previously. Violent acts that Wes works hard every day to separate himself from forever.
Eliana proves to be the best thing for Wes every day. Some days, after a particularly difficult revisit to his past, Wes is defeated and questions his worthiness of anything good. I understand that feeling. Eliana is faithful to tell him that she loves him despite his past. Yes, they’ve fallen in love, and it’s wonderful. Through everything they have each endured, in the end, they found the one person who could truly understand them.
“Dad, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. You mentioned Agent Croft the night Eli was here. You said he was building a case?” I ask sitting on the soft leather couch in the office. I’ve been decorating all day and if I don’t sit down I’m going to fall down.
“Agent Croft works for the FBI. He’s been building a case against Meyer for years.” Luke answers, not looking up from the stacks of files in front of him. He’s comparing one file to another like he has for weeks now.
“Dad,” I call from the couch. When he doesn’t respond I pull myself up and stand next to him. “Dad,” I say again, only this time I put my hand on his back. When he looks up I can see just how tired and sore his eyes are. He needs a break and he’s not going to take one without being forced. “You need a break.”
“I know. I’ll be done with this stack in a few hours,” Luke says directing his weary eyes back to the papers.
“Seriously, Dad! Tonight is Will’s party and I want you to have a good time, not be dog-tired. Please. It’ll all still be here tomorrow,” I beg him.
Luke gives a heavy sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I suppose you’re right,” he says.
“You suppose I’m right? Has being married to Claire taught you nothing?” I tease.
“Of course…my mistake.” Luke lets out a tired laugh and pushes away from the desk.
I’ve been in this room, with files and papers spread across two desks, a hundred times since the comparative search began, but for some reason I’m overwhelmed by it in this moment. It’s been a long time since I’ve really considered Will’s father. But…I don’t know that I’ll ever get over or move past the fact that there’s a man out there who would end my life in a heartbeat if given the chance. I feel safe within the walls of the love I have here with Luke and Claire, and, of course, Will. But as hard as I try I know that all of it could be taken away from me if Gregory Meyer ever discovered how he was duped.
“Layla, honey, are you ok?” Luke asks noticing my deadpan stare.
I can’t tell him how struck with fear I am in this moment. It will only make him turn around and scour the damning files even more. He’ll get a second wind powered by his determination to keep me safe at any cost. No…tonight is not about Gregory Meyer in any way, shape, or form. Tonight is about Will. It’s about family. It’s about love. It’s about everything that Gregory Meyer knows nothing about.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m tired just looking at this mess. Now…you…go close your eyes and rest for a bit. Tyler will be here in about an hour and I need you here when Will gets back and we spill the beans.” I usher Luke out and send him on his way upstairs.
By the time Claire is back from the airport with Tyler, Caroline and I are jumping out of our skin with excitement. It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen Tyler and I can’t wait to throw my arms around him. Every memory I have of Tyler concentrates on his commitment to his brotherhood with Will. Everything from the times he covered for us so Will and I could spend time together away from the house to his insistence that Will was madly in love with me even after we stumbled in on him with Carrie at the firm’s retreat, and then the awful night we all said our goodbyes to Will after his funeral. Tyler was always there for Will, and vice versa.
I know walking away from Tyler was one of the hardest parts about what Will did for us, but tonight I’m going to remedy that for him. My gift to Will is giving him back a piece of his life that no one, not even I, could ever replace.
Caroline and I don’t even bother to wait inside the house. Tyler’s sneakers have barely touched the pavement of the driveway when we’re both hovering over him.
“Tyler! I’m so happy you’re finally here! I’ve missed you so much!” I scream as I throw my arms around his neck. It feels so good to have him here, and to know that his place in our lives won’t be temporary.
“Layla! You look beautiful, as usual! It’s so great to see you!” Tyler hugs me with as much force. “You are in big trouble. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year! Why haven’t you come to visit?”
“You know, I actually wanted to talk to you about that. Let’s get inside,” I tell him.
“Uh, hello! Where are my hugs?” Caroline has her hand on her hip. She’s trying to look serious but her face can’t help but crack that cute smile of hers.
“I saw you two weeks ago!” Tyler teases as he gives in to her demands.
“Oh, uh, I should have prepared you,” I say to Tyler as we walk in the house.
The house is filled with incredible Mad Hatter decorations that Claire and I found online. It was a real “boutiquey” site with specialty decorations unlike I’d ever seen. Considering the theme of the party, there was no other way to go.
There are ginormous mushrooms and massive silk top hats around the room, and we set a huge table down one side of the room with teapots and cups and saucers. All the drinks are labeled Drink Me, and all the food, Eat Me. That part isn’t from the Mad Hatter storyline, but it was too cute not to include.
“Yeah…it pretty much looks like Alice in Wonderland threw up in here,” he says.
I lead Tyler down the hall to Wes’ room. He’s going to stay at Eliana’s for the next few nights so Will and Tyler can have some real time together here with Caroline and me.
“Whose room is this?” Tyler asks. It’s clear that this isn’t an empty, spare bedroom. There are clothes in the dresser and closet, and there are pictures of Wes and Eliana on the nightstand. “Whoa! Have you seen this, Layla? She looks just like Will’s mom!”
“That’s because it is Will’s mother,” Luke says from behind us.
&nbs
p; “Hey, Mr. Weston! I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
Luke and I spend the next 30 minutes explaining Will and his mother’s existence, with Caroline backing up the whole story. Tyler asks questions and we answer as many of them as we can. I tell him about Marcus and have to calm him through most of that story. Tyler would fight just as furiously for my safety as the rest of the men in my life. I also tell him about Wes, my bonus uncle, who is now in love with Will’s mother. In the end, Tyler has tears streaming down his face for his best friend who isn’t gone forever as he once believed, but is alive and about to be clamped in the manliest embrace in about an hour.
“There is one last thing you need to be extremely cautious about, Tyler. You must call him John tonight. He’s been here since he left Davidson, building a life as John Holland, and that’s how everyone here knows him,” I instruct. I know that Tyler will do his best, but we should be certain that one of us is with him until we know he’s got it.
“I understand. I…I just can’t believe this.” Tyler wipes the tears from his face and hugs me. “I don’t know if I should be mad that you’re just telling me now, or thrilled that you’re telling me at all.”
“Be thrilled,” I tell him, squeezing him closer. “Will is going to be here any minute. Freshen up and wait in the kitchen. Caroline will show you where it is and then she’ll come out to the living room with me. He’ll think that Caroline is his surprise. Then, I’ll bring him in the kitchen and watch him totally freak out! I can’t wait!”
All goes as planned when Will walks into the house. He’s shocked at the décor and happy to see Caroline. I explain my idea of an un-birthday party to him and, after some coaxing, he concedes.
“That’s good, because all our friends are going to be here in a few hours!” I kiss Will sweetly and take his hand to lead him to the kitchen. “I didn’t know what to get you…”
“Oh, honey, you didn’t have to get me anything. It’s not even my real birthday,” he says, but I shoot him a look and he knows he should give up now. “But whatever it is, I know I’ll love it!”
“That’s more like it! As I was saying, I didn’t know what to get you, so I decided to go big, or go home! Close your eyes!”
I walk Will into the kitchen and don’t have to say a word. Tyler does it all for me.
“Hey man,” Tyler says softly, still not believing that Will is really alive.
“Tyler!” Will races across the kitchen and the two men are holding each other like brothers do.
Tears are streaming down all of our faces as we share in this incredible moment. Will has missed Tyler terribly, but hasn’t been able to verbalize it. He left everything behind for me, so the last thing he was ever going to tell me is how much he missed something he left.
“I missed you so much, man! I can’t believe you’re alive!” Tyler squeaks out.
“I can’t believe you’re here! How? When did they tell you?” Will looks at Tyler, joy pouring from his eyes.
“Layla lured me here under the guise of a birthday celebration for her. I just got here a couple of hours ago, and she didn’t waste any time in telling me everything. She’s good!”
“Yes, she is. C’mere,” Will says pulling me to him. “Thank you for this. It’s amazing to have him back.”
“I knew you were missing him but would never say it out loud. He’s family and we just couldn’t keep him out of the loop forever. You need someone, too. Happy un-birthday, babe.”
“I’m speechless. I…thank you, all of you.” Will wipes the new tears forming from his eyes.
“Ok…” I say, breaking the mushiness of the mood. “Tyler is going to be here for four days. You have all weekend to re-bond with him. Our new friends will be here in a few hours. Go change and get ready for the party. I brought all your stuff from the apartment for the whole weekend. Wes is staying with your mom and the four of us are going to have an old fashioned slumber party!”
Chapter 29
Will’s un-birthday party was a huge success. In all, we had about 25 people here. About half of them were actual friends of ours, but they brought significant others, and then some. Word got out about the theme of the party and everyone just had to see it for themselves. No one left disappointed either, as Claire and I made sure everyone went home with a Mad Hatter silk top hat and a few Drink Me & Eat Me favors. At the end of the night, Will said it was by far the best party he’s ever had. He quickly followed it up by saying that it will be outshined next year in July as our wedding reception will “kick this party’s ass,” as he put it.
We’re putting Caroline on a plane back to California this afternoon. She’s got a great internship with some famous interior designer to the stars and has to be in the office bright and early on Monday morning. I loved every second with her and already miss her as her tiny body disappears into the crowd of people entering the check-in area.
“So you two are really getting hitched, huh?” Tyler says as we make our way home from the airport.
“We’re really getting hitched!” Will says.
“When’s the big day? I’m invited, right?” Tyler asks.
“July sixth, next year, and, duh! Why wouldn’t you be invited?” I say punching his arm from the back seat of Will’s car.
“Well…I just found out Will is still alive, so… And, I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. You know, Layla Weston marrying some guy named John Holland. How is that going to work?”
“It’s going to be small, at the gardens where Layla’s parents were married,” Will smiles his brilliant, heart-stopping smile at me in the rear view mirror. I smile back feeling grateful to have a fiancé who truly cares that our wedding day is as special and filled with meaning as possible.
“We won’t do any of the things we would have been obligated to do if things were different and we were getting married in Davidson. Like, there won’t be any newspaper announcements or a professional photographer. Wes is pretty handy with a camera so we’ll have him take pictures,” I add.
“I think I get the newspaper thing, but why no professional photographer?” Tyler asks.
“They all have web sites now where they feature the weddings they’ve shot. It’s just to make sure Layla’s name stays out of the system. Luke will take care of changing her name legally, but get her a new social security number so that her old one is still registered to Layla Weston. And we won’t change her name with the school since her school records will be attached to her original social.”
“I see…I think.” Tyler furrows his brow so Will further explains.
“We have to operate as if Layla Weston’s moves are being monitored electronically. The only way for Layla to change her name when we get married is if we get her a new social security number.”
“Are Layla’s moves being monitored?” There’s a hint of nervousness and fear in Tyler’s voice. It’s a lot to take in and understand, so I get it.
“We don’t have any evidence of that right now. Wes is tight with all the guys, even the new ones, working for my father. They all hate him for what he’s coerced them into doing for him, so they’re happy to help Wes by being his eyes and ears on the inside. But, we can never be too safe.”
“I just want you guys to be safe, ok?”
“We’re taking good care of each other,” I say. “It takes a village, you know!”
After quick showers and a review of the movies playing, I tell the boys to go out and have fun doing whatever it is they do for fun, and enjoy the last hours they have before we say goodbye to Tyler tomorrow. They’ll see some action flick that I would have seen out of obligation as the good soon-to-be-wife, so when they leave I give Tyler an extra hug for getting me out of it.
Luke and Claire are out to dinner and Wes is still at Eliana’s. The house is quiet, which is rarely ever the case, and I’m enjoying it thoroughly.
I’ve been reading for while in the Great Room and really need to get up and stretch. I find myself walking down the hall to the office
. As I creek the door open I’m struck again by the massive amounts of paperwork and stacks upon stacks of files. I can hardly wrap my brain around the fact that all of these files contain evidence against one man’s flagrant abuse of the law.
I don’t want to disturb the files Luke and Wes have left open in mid-comparison, but there are files on the credenza that are all askew and I can’t help but give in to my need to straighten them up. I flip open the top file folder and peruse the documents. It’s all legal stuff and I have no idea what I’m looking at.
Shaking my head at the enormity of it all, I close the file and work to create a stack with more stability. One down, a kabillion to go. As I move down the row and work on the next stack, I guess I get a bit too animated because I end up knocking the next stack in line, causing the top few files to slide and fall to the floor. Great!
They seemed to fall keeping most of their contents close to the file they came from – mostly out, but still hanging on for dear life. As I work to clean up my mess something in one of the files catches my eye. This file isn’t filled with legal paperwork. It’s filled with black and white photographs, big ones the size of the file folder itself. I’ve seen enough crime dramas on TV to know that these are surveillance photos.
I flip through the pictures, not recognizing anyone or anything that I’m looking at until I see a photo of Eli’s father, Alexander Briggs. Poor guy. Just doing his job got him killed. I decide I’ll look at just a few more, out of sheer curiosity, when my world stops. At first I think my eyes are fooling me. There’s no reason why there should be pictures of the accident the night my parents died. What? They’re not just of the aftermath. It’s the accident in motion. How?
I take the stack of photos and sit on the floor, examining each one, tears filling my eyes as I relive the horror. The vantage point is from the sidewalk, far from the side of the intersection where we landed. There’s Dad’s car, and the one that hit us coming straight for us. It was raining so hard that night, but the pictures are so clear. They obviously were taken from a safe and dry location.
Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2) Page 25