Nobody's Angel

by Sarah Hegger

  “You’re leaving?” It was more of a statement than a question and Lucy merely nodded.

  “I needed …” Brooke stopped and took a careful breath. “I didn’t know what Ashley would do with those pictures,” she said, the words tumbling out of her. “They were sent to me a few years ago, because Jason had left me as a forwarding address.”

  Brooke shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know why he did that, but he did. Anyway, he left them behind him with some other things and the owners of that apartment sent his stuff to me. I threw everything else away, but I kept those.”

  “Well.” Lucy took a slow breath.

  Brooke’s little boy stared up at her warily, as if sensing the tension in the air.

  “You got what you wished for, Brooke,” she said eventually. “You made me crawl.”

  “It doesn’t feel like I thought it would.” Brooke frowned and blinked her eyes rapidly. She shook her head abruptly, as if clearing it, and looked up at Lucy again. “I have two children now with my husband, Christopher.” She paused again and her eyes gleamed with moisture. “I wanted you to know that I am happy, now.”

  “I’m glad, Brooke.” Lucy looked down at the child again. It was easier than looking at his mother.

  Inside some of the pressure eased. It must have taken all she had for Brooke to come here like this. She was not Ashley, neither of them was, because both she and Brooke had within them the capacity for forgiveness. Lucy took Brooke’s hand. “I’m truly glad you are happy.”

  “Good.” Brooke nodded and returned the pressure on her hand before releasing it. “Take care, Lucy Flint.” The other woman turned to go. “And be happy. I wanted you to know that I wish that for you, too.”

  Brooke helped her son down the steps and loaded him into a shiny SUV. She waved as she drew away from the curb.

  Lucy quickened her steps toward her car.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The rental car started easily and Lucy put it into gear. Behind her, she could see the light in her old bedroom go on.

  Lynne would be up there stripping the linens to be washed. Then, Lynne would put the room back to the way it had been before she arrived. Next, Lynne would clean the bathroom. Before Lucy landed in Seattle all the signs that she had been home would be carefully erased from the house.

  Lucy let her eyes stray to the house next door. The light in his bedroom was on. Richard would be up there. Maybe he’d be getting ready to go for a run or a bike ride. By the time he came back for his shower, she would be gone.

  Would he look over as he walked across his room toward his bathroom and see her light was not on? Would he wonder where she was?

  It didn’t matter. She wasn’t leaving with her tail between her legs or screaming off in the slipstream of anger and rebellion. This time, Lucy Flint was leaving with her head held high. She had come here to repair what damage she could and make peace. And she’d done that.

  She pulled away from the curb into the road.

  Tomorrow morning, the grapevine would be able to report to Richard that Lucy had left town. Would he understand why she hadn’t stopped to say good-bye? He wasn’t stupid. Of course Richard would understand. There was nothing more to be said.

  Or was there?

  Lucy stopped the car. Behind her a horn blared. Mr. Stevens from down the road raised his hands in question. What was she doing?

  It was a good question and Lucy pulled to the sidewalk again.

  Mr. Stevens gave a jaunty wave and accelerated down the street.

  She wasn’t quite finished here. Because the annoying thing about knowing you were worth more was that it made you kind of want to have more. Before she could talk herself out of the idea, she was out of the car.

  Her boots were loud and intrusive on the wooden planking of the porch. With an unsteady hand, she rang the bell. It peeled through the house with rather more enthusiasm than she’d intended and reverberated through the empty foyer. Lucy nearly lost her grip then and turned to run.

  The door opened behind her and she was caught.

  Lucy blinked at Josh standing in the doorway.

  “Hey, Lucy.” He gave her his knee-trembling smile.

  Lucy grabbed hold of her courage with both hands. “Is Richard here?”

  “Yeah.” Josh opened the door wider to let her in. “He got back about ten minutes ago.”

  “Back?” Lucy peered around the interior of the house cautiously.

  “He was with Ashley,” Josh explained.

  “Lucy?”

  And her heart started to leap wildly inside her chest. She looked past Josh’s shoulder to see Richard coming down the stairs. He looked like hell, as if he hadn’t slept the night before. Her heart didn’t care and twisted violently inside her chest.

  “I came to say good-bye.” She breathed nervously.

  “Good-bye?” Richard’s brows snapped together over those incredible eyes and his attention turned onto her like the arcs of a laser beam. “Where are you going?”

  “Home, I’m going home.”

  “When?”

  “Now.”

  “NOW?” His brows lowered thunderously. “You’re leaving now?”

  This was not what she wanted to say at all. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having. Lucy took a shaky breath and held up her hand to stop him. He looked ready to rip into her and if she let the moment go, she would never do this.

  “Actually, I had already left and then I turned around again and came back.”

  “You were running out on me, again.” Richard shoved past Josh.

  Josh took a step to the side, but stayed where he was.

  Lucy threw him a look of discomfort, but Josh gave her the same look as his older brother. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Yup,” Lucy said, nodding. “And then I decided to come back and give you the chance to man up and stop me.”

  Nobody moved for a long while. The pound of Lucy’s heartbeat reverberated in her ears.

  “The thing is, Richard.” Her voice came out in a dry croak and she stopped and swallowed. “I couldn’t leave here without saying this. It would be too much like the past. And I’d like to say that I’m doing this for you, but I’m not.”

  “Lucy …” He took a step toward her, but she held her ground.

  Inside her coat, sweat slid down the sides of her body.

  “Could you let me get this out? I promise this is going to be the end of my big confessions.” She sucked in a hasty breath. “So, I was on my way out of town and it occurred to me that there is something I need to tell you.”

  “I can’t believe you were just going to leave.”

  “Richard,” Josh snapped from behind him. “Would you shut the fuck up?”

  “Do you mind?” Richard turned and snarled at his brother.

  “I’ve got this.” Lucy said, peering around Richard at Josh. And she did. All she had to risk here was pride and that wouldn’t sustain her through the years to come. It was time to finish this thing. Closure. She hated that word, but it fit as neatly as a key in a lock.

  Josh hesitated and then gave her a brusque nod. “Make it good,” he grumbled as he trailed out of sight.

  “I love you.” Lucy looked back at Richard. “I really, really love you and I don’t think I have ever stopped loving you.”

  Richard’s head jerked, as if she’d delivered an uppercut straight to the jaw.

  There was no point in half-assed and Lucy hurried on. “I loved you as a girl and I love you now that I’m all grown up. And it’s different now, because I think I could love you right and love you better.”

  A muscle worked in the side of Richard’s jaw.

  Finish it, Lucy.

  “And I don’t want you to remember me as the girl who broke your heart, but I want you to see me as the girl who loved you despite how broken she was and would have done anything to change the past.”

  Her face felt hot and uncomfortable, but she had already come way too far t
o back off now. She deserved this chance, both of them did. “And if this is not what you want”—she swallowed hard as her voice shook a bit—“if I am not what you want, then I will leave you with this thought. If you ever change your mind and if you ever decide you might be able to love me and trust me again, I’m probably going to be waiting around for a while, as pathetic as that sounds.”

  Lucy bit the inside of her cheek to keep back the tears threatening to spill over. “I don’t believe people die from unrequited love or because they didn’t get their happily-ever-after. I sincerely believe that we get over things and move on.” She ran out of breath and had to stop and drag air into her starved lungs.

  He hadn’t moved and it was better that way because if he as much as twitched she would never finish this.

  “But it’s been nine years, Richard, and I’m still hung up on you. So I think, in all likelihood, it’s going to take me a good long while.”

  Richard blinked down at her.

  Doubt crowded into her mind. Maybe it would have been better if she had left and said nothing. An awful tearing sensation started in her gut and crept over her chest as she watched him look at her.

  “Say something.” Josh’s voice hissed from the other room and Richard started suddenly.

  Lucy willed her shaking legs to move. She took a step back toward the door.

  “What are you waiting for?” Josh poked his head around the door and glared at his brother. “You’ve heard everything you need to hear.”

  “I know.” A stupid grin suddenly split Richard’s face and Lucy forgot how to breathe.

  He reached out and hauled her closer. “You don’t honestly think you are going to deliver a mouthful like that and drive away?”

  He towered over her, grinning at her like the village idiot.

  “Which reminds me,” he said, his eyes growing momentarily angry. “What do you think you’re doing, arriving on my doorstep and announcing that you’re leaving? You only get to walk out on me once and you’ve had your chance, Lucy Flint.”

  “Get to the point, dickhead,” Josh sang out.

  “Thank you,” Richard snapped over his shoulder.

  “Go away, Josh,” Lucy said. She kept her eyes on Richard.

  For once, he didn’t guard the look in his eyes as he stared down at her.

  Her heart started to clamber out of her boots and expand as it rose. She recognized that look and it was one she had never thought to see again.

  Richard stepped forward, pinning her against the door. “Tell it to me again.” He clasped her face between his hands and tilted her head up. “Look me in the eye and tell it to me again. Start with, ‘I love you, Richard.’”

  The world tilted all around her and Lucy’s mouth went dry.

  “Please, Luce.” He leaned closer until his forehead rested against hers. “Tell me again. I need to hear it.”

  “I love you, Richard,” she whispered obediently, her heart in her throat, clinging to her vocal chords.

  “I always have loved you,” he intoned as his hands tightened around her face.

  “And I always will,” she responded.

  His breath stirred through her hair as he released it in a rush. His cheek moved against her head in a slow caress.

  “Then where are you running off to?” It came out in a hoarse whisper that brought stinging tears to her eyes. His hands dropped to fasten on her hips and hold her still.

  “Seattle,” she said, because nothing else came to mind.

  “Were you planning on loving me from Seattle?”

  “Actually, I didn’t have much of a plan.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of him surrounded her and she breathed deeply. Against her hips, his fingers flexed convulsively. “I thought it better if I left, but then I thought it would be best if you stopped me.”

  “Consider yourself grounded.” In his neck, his pulse kept rhythm with her pounding heart. “I was coming to see you later,” he said.

  Lucy’s eyes popped open. “You took too long.”

  “I was up all night talking to Ashley.”

  Lucy’s entire body tensed. “I didn’t want to hear that.”

  She tried to step away, but he crowded her backward. The handle of the door pressed against her side and she could feel the mail slot against her butt.

  “I was signing my divorce papers.” His lips pressed against her temple in a gentle caress. “I needed to make sure I was free again.”

  That sounded better and Lucy stilled against him.

  “You know this could be classified as Revenge Porn. You might be able to press charges.” His voice vibrated through his chest. The comfort of it wrapped around her.

  “I don’t think I want to.” Lucy pressed her face against his shirt and drew in a long, sweet lungful of Richard. “But, I might change my mind.” She raised her head to stare at him. “You’re ruining the moment.”

  “You’re right,” he conceded, grinning down at her. “Forget your flight, Lucy. Forget going back to Seattle and stay here with me.”

  “You’re not afraid anymore?” Lucy closed her eyes again. It was like whispers in the dark and if she kept her eyes shut, then it would never end and reality would not be waiting for her in the light of day. She could feel his breath against her face. He smelled of coffee and Richard and his warmth reached out to surround her. She wanted to believe this was happening, but it didn’t seem entirely real yet.

  “I’m terrified,” he replied, “but I’m more scared of losing you again.” His hands cradled her hips, pulling her closer, as if he needed her physical strength against him. “When you left, you took the sun with you and I want it back, Lucy. Bring it back for me. Please, Lucy. Don’t let my fear get in the way. I don’t want to go back to the way things were since you’ve been gone.”

  “That was very poetic, Richie Rich.”

  “I hate that name.”

  “I know that.”

  “Of course you do.”

  Neither of them moved. Their breathing mingled and fell into rhythm as he held her pressed lightly against him.

  “Will you stay for a while longer?”

  “I have a life in Seattle.”

  “I know that, but if you stay for a while, we can figure it out. I don’t really care where we go or what we do. Let’s just make sure it’s together, Lucy.”

  “Okay,” Lucy Flint gave a happy sigh.

  “Richie Rich?”

  “Sweetheart?”

  “We’ll do it right this time.”

  “No running,” he said.

  “No hiding,” she responded.

  They stayed like that for a moment more, before Richard spoke again. “I think we should get married.”

  Lucy gave a watery little snort of laughter. “I think you should get divorced first and then you can give me a proper proposal, not some half-assed suggestion in a doorway.”

  “Man, you’re tough.”

  “I’m worth it.”

  “You have a point.”

  “Richard?”

  “Umm?”

  “My butt is getting cold. The wind is coming through the mail slot.”

  “I can help you with that.”

  Lucy shrieked as she found herself upended and hanging over his shoulder.

  “Trust me, I’m a doctor.” He patted her frozen anatomy and carried her up the stairs.

  Josh dragged his cell phone out of his pocket and hit dial. The call was answered almost immediately. “She’s staying,” he reported. Upstairs a door slammed and he grinned.

  “Looks like forever,” he responded to the question on the other end. He jerked the phone away from his ear and scowled into it. “Shit, Ma, don’t scream like that.”

  Wondering what happens to Josh next?

  Keep reading for an excerpt from

  NOBODY’S FOOL,

  the next Willow Park Romance

  by Sarah Hegger.

  Available in

  Fall, 2015

 
from Kensington Books!

  The sign above the glass door scrolled out SCANTS in hot-pink neon, blinked twice, and started again.

  “Bugger.” Holly yanked her clinging sweatshirt away from her body. You should never ask how much worse a thing could get, because Murphy’s Law went right ahead and showed you. She squared her shoulders and braced for hell. Good thing she had her bloody passport with her, she was about to enter another galaxy.

  The door flew open and the clamor from the bar roared out onto the sidewalk where she stood. A couple of girls brushed past her, giggling as they hurled themselves into the preening frenzy. On the other side of the window, a mass of beautiful bodies circled each other. She was way, way out of her element. There was nothing for it, though. According to his doorman, Josh Hunter was in there.

  As Holly stepped over the threshold, the noise crashed into her. It was the manic melody of singles bars everywhere; the clink, the chatter, the bass rumble of male voices juxtaposed against the higher pitches of women. Underscoring the babble, the throb of amplifier and subwoofer ground out an elemental jungle beat and quickened the blood.

  Welcome to the mating ground of genus Homo sapiens. What a bunch of posers. Exactly where you would expect to find someone like Josh Hunter. Proof she and Joshua were an entirely different species. She’d suspected as much in high school. The evidence was now incontrovertible.

  Her phone buzzed in her hand and Holly checked the screen.

  Emma, again. This made it the fifth call in the last hour. What a pity Emma hadn’t panicked four days ago when Portia first went missing.

  “Yes.” She had to stick one finger in her ear to hear what her sister said.

  “Did you find her?”

  “I just arrived in Chicago.”

  “What have you been doing?” Emma wailed loud enough to rise above the storm of noise around her.

  “Driving.” Holly clenched her hand into a fist by her side. Did Emma expect her to hop on her bloody broomstick?

  Only this morning, she’d discovered Portia missing. Emma, Portia’s twin, had broken down and confessed Portia left four whole days ago for Chicago. Not only was their younger sister gone, she’d left London, Ontario, without her medication. The sheer stupidity of it made Holly want to growl.