The white-haired woman punched the name into the computer and the eyes behind the bifocals were kind when they rose to meet Sierra’s gaze. “She’s still in the emergency room. It’s down the hall—”
“I know where it is.” Sierra tossed the words over her shoulder as she raced down the hall.
Matt followed behind.
A trim stylish woman about fifty paced in front of the nurses’ station. Her eyes were red and puffy and what lipstick she may have put on, had long ago been chewed off.
“Where is she?” Sierra demanded, rushing up to the woman.
“In X ray,” the woman said, taking Sierra’s arm. “They think she might have a slight concussion.”
Sierra’s mouth opened and her hand rose to her mouth.
“She was unconscious when the paramedics brought her in,” the woman said in a reassuring tone, blinking back her own tears. “But she’s conscious now and I told her you’d be here soon.”
“So she knew you?” Sierra asked. “She talked to you?”
The woman nodded. “She wanted to know if we could go for ice cream.”
Sierra closed her eyes and lifted her face. “Thank you, Lord.”
“Praise to God, indeed,” the woman echoed. “It was a miracle she wasn’t hurt more seriously.”
“What happened?”
“She was playing out in the drive with her ball and it rolled into the street.” The woman’s face blanched just remembering. “She went after it. I called for her to stop, but she didn’t listen. When the car came…”
The woman shuddered and tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Mother, it’s not your fault.” Sierra wrapped her arms around the woman and pulled her close. “Not at all.”
Matt could only stare, wondering when he’d slipped into the twilight zone. First Sierra says she has a child, now she’s calling this woman, Mother? How could that be? Stella Carlyle was a blue-eyed blonde and this brunette had brown eyes.
The two women clung to each other for several heartbeats before separating, each of them sniffling.
“I knew you’d gone to the Praise Festival but I didn’t know how to get a hold of you,” the woman explained. “Then I saw Carl in the hall—he was here seeing a parishioner—and he said he’d find you.”
“He did,” Sierra said.
“Where is he?” The woman looked around, her gaze brushing right over Matt. “Didn’t he bring you?”
Sierra shook her head. “Matt brought me.”
Her mother’s puzzled gaze settled on him. “Matt?”
Sierra’s gaze shifted to him and it was as if she could sense his confusion. Her lips curved up in a sad smile.
“Matt, this is my mother, Peggy Summers,” she said. “Mother, this is my friend, Matt Dixon.”
“Dixon?” Peggy paused. “Any relation to Lawrence Dixon?”
Matt nodded. “He’s my father. Do you know him?”
Normally, when someone found out he was Dix’s son, they were excited. After all, Dix was a celebrity of sorts in the region. If they didn’t know him personally, they’d read of his exploits in the paper or seen him interviewed on the six o’clock news.
But Peggy didn’t seem excited, or even pleased. She cast her daughter a disapproving look. “This is the man you’ve been seeing? What is wrong with you?”
“Mother, Matt is nothing like his father,” Sierra said. “He—”
“You know my father?” Matt interrupted, casting Sierra a questioning look.
“She should,” Peggy interjected. “He represented her ex-husband in the divorce. Jerry should be in prison now, instead of walking the streets with law-abiding citizens. But your father—”
“Mother, that’s quite enough,” Sierra said sharply. “Not another word.”
Peggy shut her mouth, took a deep breath and shot Matt an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. The sins of the father don’t fall on the son. I know that.”
The woman wiped a trembling hand across her face. “This has just been the most trying day. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“I understand,” Matt said, though he didn’t understand at all.
When this was over, he and Sierra would have to sit down and have a long talk. And he would get to the bottom of what was really going on.
Chapter Sixteen
It was after nine by the time Sierra got Maddie back to their apartment and into bed. The CT scan had shown only a slight concussion and although she had lots of bumps and bruises, miraculously nothing was broken.
Sierra had been able to take her daughter home from the hospital, with strict instructions on symptoms to watch for in the next few days. Her mother had wanted to spend the night, but Sierra had sent her home, knowing if she stayed her mother would spend the night sitting at her granddaughter’s bedside, watching the little girl sleep.
Instead, Sierra thought, I’ll get to be the one watching her sleep and sending prayers of thanks heavenward. She leaned over and brushed a light kiss against the purple bruise on her daughter’s forehead.
Thank you, God.
Matt had left the hospital shortly after Carl had arrived, pronouncing her “in good hands.”
Matt had been polite, but distant, patting her on the shoulder when he’d said goodbye. She’d seen the hurt and confusion in his eyes. At the time there had been nothing she could do but let him go. Maddie was her focus, her priority and there’d been no time to give him the explanations he deserved.
But there was time now, and it wasn’t going to get any easier the longer she waited. She lifted the cordless from its base and, before she lost her nerve, quickly dialed his number.
He answered on the first ring.
“Matt,” she said. “It’s me.”
“How’s your daughter?” he asked, his tone one commonly reserved for strangers or casual acquaintances.
“Just a mild concussion and some bumps and bruises,” she said. “They let her come home.”
“I’m glad,” he said. “I could see how worried you were.”
Some of the warmth had returned to his voice and hope rose inside her.
“There’s so much I need to tell you,” she said. “So much I need to explain.”
“Yes, you do,” he agreed.
The coolness was back in his voice and the burgeoning hope faded.
“I’d rather explain in person,” she said. “And, I’d rather do it sooner than later. Could you come over?”
She held her breath, unsure of his reaction. At least he’d answered her call and had been civil. If she were in his place, she’d be livid.
“I can come over, but I don’t think I know where you live,” he said finally. “I’m guessing it’s not the house on Arrellaga.”
“No, it’s not,” Sierra said. “It’s the apartment you were at the other night. Don’t ring the bell. Just knock lightly and I’ll open the door.”
“I’ll be there in a half hour,” he said.
“Matt,” she said quickly before he hung up. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”
He paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry you did, too.”
To quell her nervousness, Sierra picked up the house while waiting for Matt to arrive. Because she’d always insisted that Maddie put away her toys after playing with them, the place wasn’t really messy. But she put the newspaper into the magazine rack, plumped up some pillows on the sofa and ran a dust rag across any bare surfaces. Then she put some tea on to brew.
The tea kettle had just started to whistle when she heard a light tapping at the door. She shut off the gas and transferred the tea kettle to another burner before moving to the door.
Her heart pounded in her chest and when she saw the grim look on his face through the peephole, whatever hope she’d had vanished.
With trembling hands, Sierra flipped the dead bolt, released the chain and opened the door.
“Come in.” She gestured him inside with one hand. “I just finished making some tea. Would you like some?”
&
nbsp; He met her gaze, his blue eyes unflinching. “The only thing I want is answers.”
Apprehension skittered through her. Why had she ever agreed when Libby had proposed this crazy scheme? How could she have ever thought it would be fun?
“Have a seat,” Sierra said. “I’ll be glad to answer whatever questions you have.”
A half hour later, the lines between his eyebrows had deepened and if anything, he was even more cool and distant than he’d been when he’d walked through the door.
“Let me summarize.” He leaned forward and spread his fingers on the coffee table that stood between them. “In essence everything you told me was a lie. Everything that existed between us was a lie.”
“Not everything,” Sierra said, resisting the urge to reach out and comfort him and in turn, comfort herself. “I—”
“You lied about who you are, where you live, what you do,” he said, without giving her a chance to continue. “I realize now that I fell in love with someone who doesn’t exist.”
“You love me?” Sierra’s heart quickened. She extended her hand to him but he sat back, putting himself out of reach.
“Not you,” he said, the sad glint in his eyes softening the harshness of his tone. “The woman I thought you were.”
“But I am—”
He waved aside her protests. “I can’t tell you how many divorces I’ve done where the guy has told me he never really knew his wife. I’d always think, how could you not know her? You fell in love with the woman. You married her. Now, for the first time I understand how that could happen.”
“I’ve already explained,” Sierra said, sensing him slipping away but powerless to stop him. “Libby and I switched places just for fun. It was just a game. No one was supposed to get hurt.”
“A game?”
The condemnation she heard in his voice hit a nerve. She may have been the one most at fault, but he certainly wasn’t blameless.
“Don’t even try to tell me you weren’t playing your own little game,” Sierra said. “You weren’t looking for anything permanent, you told me that yourself. You wanted a summer romance, no strings attached. So what difference did it make that I was divorced with a child? I know what you wanted. You wanted me temporarily, not permanently in your life.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “You don’t know anything.”
Tears filled Sierra’s eyes and she angrily swiped at them with the back of her hand.
Matt rose from the chair, his face expressionless. “I need to be going.”
“Tell me you don’t hate me,” she said, rising to her feet, a touch of hysteria underlying her words. She could bear the thought of him not loving her, but not the thought of him hating her.
“I don’t hate you,” he said softly, his hand closing over hers.
When his warm flesh touched hers, it took all Sierra’s inner strength not to give in to a crazy urge to pull him close and beg him to stay.
Instead, she walked with him to the door in silence.
“Like you said, it’s probably good it ended now,” he said.
Though Sierra didn’t recall ever making that statement, she nodded her agreement.
She closed the door behind him. And not until she heard his footsteps head down the stairs did Sierra allow her heart to break.
Chapter Seventeen
It had been nine days, ten hours and fifteen minutes since Matt had last seen Sierra. And he missed her desperately. He still couldn’t believe it had all been part of some offbeat game. A game devised for adults, not children.
Children.
Matt leaned back in his office chair and raked his fingers through his hair. Sierra had a daughter. That’s what had really thrown him for a loop. The other stuff he might be able to forgive, but forgetting to mention you had a child was big.
He’d never wanted to be a stepparent. Never. From what he’d observed in the divorce cases he’d handled, raising children that weren’t your own was a thankless task and a constant bone of contention in a marriage.
That’s why he hadn’t called Sierra. She loved her daughter and Matt knew they were a package deal.
“Mr. Dixon?” Rachel Easton, the new office receptionist, stuck her head inside the door. “Your mother is here and wants to speak with you. Are you available?”
Matt leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Send her in.”
One of the good things that had come out of his association with Sierra was his newfound relationship with his mother. After he and Sierra had parted, Matt had found himself with lots of time to think. And, Sierra’s words about forgiveness wouldn’t let go.
Finally, he’d pushed aside what remaining hurt and anger still lingered in his heart and called his mother back. They’d met several times in the past week and though the relationship was still somewhat strained, it was definitely on the mend.
“I hope I’m not intruding,” Janice Dixon waltzed into the room, a shopping bag in each hand. She was tall and stylishly slender, just like Tori, and remarkably attractive for someone in her early fifties. Her hair was cut in a short bob with highlights hiding whatever gray lurked in the blond strands. She reminded Matt more of a fashion consultant than a mother.
He rose to his feet and rounded the desk to greet her. “Of course you’re not intruding. Let me take those bags. Have a seat. I’ll have Rachel bring in some iced tea.”
“Sounds fabulous.” Janice handed Matt her bags and elegantly lowered herself into one of the two tall wing chairs that faced the desk. “They say it’s only seventy-eight outside, but it seems hotter than that to me.”
Matt placed the bags to the side and buzzed Rachel. In only moments, the pretty brunette appeared with two tall glasses.
Taking a seat in the second chair, Matt took a sip of his tea and waited for his mother to tell him the reason for her visit. Though he had no doubt she’d been in the neighborhood, he’d discovered that Janice Dixon was a planner. That meant this wasn’t any spur-of-the-moment visit. For whatever reason, she’d made a special point to stop by today.
She took a dainty sip of tea, then placed it on the desk. “I talked to your father last night. We had a nice conversation.”
Matt didn’t know what surprised him most, that she’d talked to his father or that she could label any conversation between the two of them “nice.”
“You look surprised,” she observed.
“I am,” Matt said honestly. “I didn’t think you’d contact him.”
She lifted a perfectly tweezed eyebrow. “There were things I had to say. Things he had to hear.”
Matt had heard the entire story of how she’d felt trapped and unhappy in her life as wife and mother. How she had a chance for a great job in Hong Kong but she knew Dix would never let the children leave the country with her. How she’d felt she had no choice but to leave them behind.
Matt had accepted her explanation because it was fact. But he couldn’t help but think about Sierra and how she would have handled the situation. He couldn’t imagine Sierra leaving a child of hers behind, no matter what the reason. Of course, knowing how she felt about the sanctity of marriage, he couldn’t imagine her ever getting divorced, either.
“Things to say?” Matt ventured when she didn’t immediately continue.
“I wanted him to know that while it wasn’t that hard for me to make the decision to leave, it was hard for me to stay away.”
Matt shifted in his chair. This was something new, something she hadn’t mentioned in their previous meetings. “Why did you then? Stay away, I mean.”
The smile that seemed to be perpetually on her lips dimmed. “Foolish pride. The feeling that I’d made my bed and I had to lie in it.”
“You wanted to come back but you let your pride stand in the way?” Matt’s voice rose despite his best efforts to control it. He didn’t want to judge her, that would be pointless, but he remembered all too well the loneliness that had been such a part of him all those years after she’d left.
“Well, it wasn’t easier on me,” Matt said, meeting her gaze, feeling the anger rise unbidden inside him. “Or on Tori. So the only one it was easier on had to be you.”
“I paid for it.” A flush swept across his mother’s cheeks. “Every birthday, every holiday, I wondered what it would have been like if I’d just made the call, if I’d just gotten on that plane, if I’d just…”
Her voice trailed off for a moment before she took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “But I didn’t. And I’ve learned that we have to live with the choices we’ve made, right or wrong.”
“What would you do differently now?” Matt asked, though it scarcely mattered. “If you could do it over?”
A sad smile flitted across his mother’s lips. “If I had it to do over, I never would have left in the first place.”
Sierra stared down at her chocolate-and-marsh-mallow sundae and sighed.
“Don’t even tell me that you’re not going to eat that,” Libby said. “That’s your favorite kind.”
“I don’t have much of an appetite.” Sierra lifted her spoon and dipped it into the mound of whipped cream topping the sundae.
“Maddie’s doing okay, isn’t she?” Libby’s eyebrows pulled together. “There’s nothing going on that you haven’t told me?”
A smile lifted Sierra’s lips. “Good as new. Mom and I took her to the doctor yesterday and he released her from his care.”
“I’m so glad.” Libby reached over and gave Sierra’s hand a squeeze. “You know I love the little munchkin.”
“I know you do.” Sierra topped Libby’s hand with her own. “You’ve been such a good friend to me.”
“I am a good friend,” Libby said, tossing her head. “Maybe even the best friend one could ever have.”
Love Enough For Two (Love Inspired) Page 13