Back to the Heart

by Sky Corgan

  Elusive billionaire Brennan Demars was spotted buying an engagement ring. Is New York’s most eligible bachelor finally tying the knot?

  It was just a coincidence that he looked the same as Ryan. It had to be. Her hands shook as she traced her fingertips over the face on the cover, and when her finger stopped on a very distinctive freckle below the right corner of the man’s lips, her heart froze. “Holy crap.”

  “What? Some rich half-wit get caught hosing the babysitter?” Molly joked.

  “Look.” Ana shoved the magazine in her mother’s face.

  Molly scanned over the cover for a moment. “Brennan Demars. Isn’t he that rich kid who does all of that charity work? What about him?”

  “It’s Ryan.”

  “Huh?” She looked closer still, then she laughed, pushing the magazine back toward Ana. “No. That’s not Sunshine. Sunshine is blond, remember?”

  Ana took a deep breath. “It’s Ryan. When he Skyped me the other day he had dyed his hair brown and taken off the contacts. Plus, that freckle is unmistakable. I should know.”

  “Because you’ve been close to his mouth so much,” Molly teased, causing her daughter to blush.

  “Ugh. You still don’t believe me. I’m buying the damn magazine.” She tossed it onto the conveyor belt the second there was enough space for their groceries.

  “I think you just want him to come home so badly you’re imagining things. Sure, they look similar, but it’s not the same guy. You know Ryan. He’s not a billionaire.” Molly made the very idea sound preposterous.

  “Whatever.” Ana threw her hands up, frustrated. She knew Ryan Black, knew his entire body, every line in his face, and this man was definitely the same guy.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The rest of the magazine didn’t interest Ana in the least. When she got home, she jogged up the stairs to her room to flip to the article about Brennan Demars. For his image being so big on the cover, they didn’t give the story much space. Only two pages, which outlined the guy’s past as founder of Demars Holdings, Inc., highlighted the charity work he had done, talked about rumors of him being with various starlets and models, and then discussed his disappearance just over six months ago.

  “Six months ago,” Ana whispered, thinking about how Ryan had told her he’d taken a vacation from his life around that time. Was this his real life? Was Brennan Demars who he really was? It sounded so outlandish, but the images were unmistakable. If Ryan Black wasn’t Brennan Demars, then Brennan Demars was his identical twin. Ryan had mentioned having a brother who was an important businessman. But that wouldn’t explain the different last names.

  It was all so confusing. Ana sat with her head in her hands, trying to make some sense out of everything. Brennan had been spotted in a New York jewelry store buying an engagement ring. The ring was rumored to be for a model he used to date, or was still dating. Sources couldn’t be sure. It just didn’t add up to the Ryan that Ana knew.

  “Maybe Mom is right. Maybe I just miss him so much that I’m making things up in my head.” But even as she said it, the tears started to roll down her cheeks. If this magazine article was true, and Ryan really was Brennan Demars, then he wasn’t coming back. He had lied to her, used her, and now he was going to marry someone else.

  No. He wouldn’t do that to me. Ana shook her head. If she allowed herself to fall into that pit of despair, she’d be an absolute mess. It was better to pretend everything was all right, that she hadn’t seen the magazine, and that he’d arrive on time, as he’d said he would.

  Mom’s right. That’s not him. She threw the magazine in the trash and then stood up to smooth down the front of her shirt and jeans before heading downstairs. Ana would bake the pie, then continue with her chores and wait for Ryan dutifully. They’d talk about the magazine when he returned, and he’d laugh at her for even thinking he was some famous billionaire. Then they would pick up where they left off, and everything would be perfect.

  Ana pulled herself together, though she wasn’t able to smile. The tears were never far from her eyes, but even so, she pressed on. Only time would tell if she was worrying for nothing.

  When the chores were done, which was way later in the afternoon than Ana and her mom would have liked, it was a rush to set the table and get everything ready for when Ryan returned. Molly’s upbeat attitude lifted Ana’s spirits. Molly hummed and danced around the kitchen as she cooked, and a few times she even coaxed a chuckle out of Ana. Somehow, knowing her mother was waiting for Ryan to come back too made it easier on Ana. It also made her realize how much a part of their family he had become. He wasn’t just some stranger who had blown in and taken up residence with them, he was someone important, someone they both relied on.

  After finishing the cooking and setting the table, they went into the living room to watch television while they waited for Ryan to come home. Anytime now, he would pull up in the driveway, and all of Ana’s fears would be alleviated. Anytime now.

  But he didn’t pull up in the driveway. Not then. Not an hour later.

  Ana checked her phone obsessively for a message from him, and then she got fed up and called. It went straight to voice mail.

  “Maybe his flight got delayed,” Molly said, sounding hopeful.

  “Maybe.”

  But as the hours ticked on, it became quite obvious that wasn’t the case. Finally, they decided to eat without him. It took everything in Ana to hold herself together. Concern was etched all over Molly’s face.

  “Are you all right, hon? I’m sure he’ll call. Something has to have come up.”

  “I hope you’re right.” It was difficult for Ana to keep hope after what she’d seen in the magazine. Every second that passed without Ryan made her think more and more that she hadn’t been imagining things, that the man on the cover really was Ryan Black.

  They did the dishes, put away the leftovers, and headed to bed without so much as a whisper of a sign of Ryan’s return. No phone call. Nothing.

  Ana tried and tried to call him, but it always went to voice mail. If Ryan Black really was Brennan Demars, it would be easy for him to afford a second cell phone, one he could discard when he was finished playing the romance game with Ana. She left a voice message, trying not to sound too desperate. “Hey, Ryan. Mom and I have been waiting for you. I hope everything is all right. Call me when you get a chance.”

  Before going to bed, Ana even checked Skype for him, but he wasn’t logged on. Heartbroken, she set her phone on her bedside table and huddled down for a long night of crying.

  By the time Ana got up the next morning, the image of her phone sitting in the darkness on her bedside table was etched into her mind. She had stared at it the entire night, and as the hours crept toward morning, she’d become more and more certain that what she had suspected was the truth. Ryan Black was Brennan Demars.

  No other man would have the power of an attorney right at his fingertips. No other man would have changed his appearance just because he had left on a business trip. No other man would have dicked her over like he had. These rich guys, playing the love-them-and-leave-them game—she hated them all. He was almost as bad as Rick Fasken. At least he hadn’t knocked her up.

  She’d lain in bed, staring up at the ceiling and running her fingers over the swell of her stomach. We’re alone again. I suppose we always were. I let my emotions get in the way, my need to be loved. Of course he never loved me. Why would someone as rich and powerful and handsome as him want someone like me?

  Ana had no appetite for breakfast, but she had to eat. There was no one coming to rescue her and her mother from their day’s work. It would be another long day on the ranch, and many of these days would follow. Now more than ever Ana wished she was back in her New York apartment where she could just lock the door and sleep all day. But New York was a city of demons, full of deceptive men. If she could burn it to the ground, she would.

  Living at home, she had to drag herself out of bed. It wouldn’t be fair to her mother if s
he moped around all day. Besides, Molly would give Ana a swift kick in the rear if Ana took the day off because she was heartbroken over a man. Life on a ranch as large as theirs didn’t allow for such luxuries.

  “Now that Ryan is gone, maybe you should hire someone to pick up some of the slack around here,” Ana suggested bitterly over a meager breakfast of oatmeal and biscuits.

  “We got along fine before him, and we’ll get along fine after him,” Molly replied, sounding equally upset.

  That was the extent of the conversation for the morning. There was no point in asking Ana how she was doing. It was quite obvious. She was devastated, and she would be for a long time.

  The day went on, and Ana mowed through her chores like a zombie, just wanting to get away from the house so she wouldn’t have to look at that stupid barn. There was no escaping the memory of him, but at least she could try.

  She hadn’t seen Celia’s new house yet, and there was no time like the present. Besides, she was sure her sister would love to get an I told you so in.

  As soon as she was done with her chores, she hopped into the car and headed over to Celia’s place. But before she did that, she dug the magazine out of the trash to take with her. If her mother didn’t believe her, maybe her sister would. And at least it made her look like less of a lunatic for falling for him. Men like Brennan Demars knew how to charm women.

  As Ana pulled up in front of her sister’s new house, she began to doubt that coming over was the best idea. Almost as soon as the gorgeous two-story home and picture-perfect white picket fence came into view, her eyes began to water. This was the life she was supposed to have: a great career, a loving husband, a nice home. What had gone so wrong?

  She hated that she was jealous of her sister—Celia deserved all of these nice things too—but she just couldn’t help but be miserable. It took Ana a few minutes to gather herself together after pulling into the driveway and killing the engine. By that time, Celia was already coming outside to greet her, so Ana had to suck up her emotions and force a smile.

  “Ana, what a pleasant surprise.” Celia held her arms out to her sister. The long embrace was a clear indication that something was wrong with Ana. Ana hadn’t meant to hug Celia like that, but she was having such a hard time keeping her tears at bay. She should have stayed home, holed up in her room, and knitted clothes for the baby. With all the free time she was going to have now that Ryan wasn’t around anymore, she could probably knit an entire wardrobe before she gave birth.

  “What’s wrong?” Celia asked, pulling away to look at Ana.

  “Ryan didn’t come back,” she sniffled, knowing how pathetic that sounded.

  Any mockery that Celia could have come up with didn’t surface. Instead, she had only sympathy for her sister, whom she embraced again. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

  “That’s not the whole of it.” Ana clutched the magazine in her fist so tightly that she thought she might rip it.

  “Come inside and tell me all about it.” Celia put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the house.

  David was sitting on the sofa in the living room watching the news. When Ana and Celia passed, he gave Ana a quick wave in greeting.

  “Hi, David,” Ana said weakly.

  “Are you all right?” His posture straightened when he noticed the tears rolling down her cheek.

  “She’s fine,” Celia interjected. “We’re going to go have some girl talk.”

  “All right.” He settled back against the sofa. It was obvious the idea of girl talk made him uncomfortable.

  Celia sat Ana down at the dining-room table and went to get them some water. While Ana waited for her to return, she smoothed out the magazine cover, staring at Brennan Demars’s face. Every time she looked at the picture, her eyes instantly went to the freckle. She had thought it was such a cute freckle when she was kissing him. Now, it just seemed like a good target for her fist.

  “His flight was supposed to get in yesterday, wasn’t it?” Celia asked as she slid a glass in front of Ana and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

  “I have something I need to show you. I need to know I’m not going crazy.” The past week was starting to not even seem real. Had she just dreamed Ryan Black? “Who does that look like to you?” Ana slid the magazine around to face Celia.

  “That’s Brennan Demars. He’s a famous entrepreneur. I think he was on some shows, and I know he does a lot of stuff for charity. What of him?” Celia shrugged, and Ana’s mouth dropped open. Maybe she really was going crazy. Could no one else tell they were the same guy?

  “Look closer.”

  Celia’s brow furrowed as she scanned the image. Then her breath hitched, and Celia’s hand went up to her mouth in shock.

  “Oh my God, Ana. Ryan Black is Brennan Demars.”

  Ana threw her hands up in triumph. “Thank you! I’m not going crazy. I was beginning to worry.”

  “How do you feel about this?”

  “He didn’t come back. How do you think I feel?”

  “Oh, Ana.” Celia glanced back down at the magazine cover. “Oh, Ana. I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “I don’t know what I expected you to tell me.” There was no point in hiding her misery. All of her fears were confirmed. He had never intended to come back. Much as Brennan might have enjoyed playing the part of Ryan Black, he couldn’t stay away from his life forever. The business trip was an excuse to disengage from the fantasy of his romance with Ana and return to the reality of who he really was.

  “I’m so sorry. You’ve got bad luck when it comes to men.”

  “Tell me about it. I just don’t know how to move on from this. It’s obvious he’s not coming back. Why would he? I guess I should just . . . I don’t know.” Ana put her head down on the table, and Celia rounded the corner to sit beside her and stroke her hair.

  “You’ve been through worse,” Celia reminded her. “You’ll do what you’ve always done. Be strong. This isn’t the end of the world. He’s just a man.”

  “He was more than that to me.” Admitting that crushed Ana. In the short week that Ryan had been there with them, he had become her world, her everything, and she had thought she was his world too. That was what he had told her, the liar.

  “I know. I bet Mom is pissed about this too.”

  “Mom doesn’t believe me.”

  “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Celia patted Ana on the back. “Hey, how about I show you around the house? That might help get your mind off things.”

  “Yeah. That sounds good.” Ana lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. There would be plenty of time to cry later. For now, she needed to pull herself together and marvel at Celia’s gorgeous new home.

  They stood and went through the kitchen. Then Celia took her upstairs and showed her the two bedrooms, one of which would hopefully soon be a nursery. After that, they came back downstairs and went through the master bedroom before ending the tour in the living room, where David was still watching television.

  “You all right?” he asked sympathetically.

  “She’ll be fine.” Celia gave Ana’s hand a squeeze. “She just has a bit of shell shock from finding out that Ryan Black was really Brennan Demars.”

  “No shit?” David twisted around to look at them, his eyes going wide.

  “Yup. That explains why he didn’t come back when he said he would.”

  “Oh, man. Well, I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but that’s not why he didn’t come back.”

  It took everything in Ana not to tell him to shut up. She knew the reason. It had been plastered on the front of the magazine. Brennan Demars was getting married to some supermodel. She didn’t need to hear it again; it was just too painful.

  But Celia asked, “What are you talking about?”

  David’s eyes moved from Celia to Ana slowly, as if he was afraid to say anything. Maybe the way she was glaring at him was warning enough to make him change the subject. But wha
t he said next took Ana’s breath away.

  “Brennan Demars is in a coma. He was in a plane crash yesterday. A lot of people died, and they don’t think he’s going to make it.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The idea of flying scared Ana after what had happened to Brennan, but it didn’t matter. She was on the first flight out to New York the following day, heading toward uncertainty.

  It took a generous donation from Celia and David, and a very reluctant donation from her mother, to get her here, but they all understood that this wasn’t a vacation. It was a way to get closure.

  Tracking down the hospital was easier said than done. It took hours of phone calls and research. In fact, it wasn’t until Ana got the idea to call Elias that she had any lead. The conversation played in her mind on repeat all throughout the flight.

  “Elias, hi. This is Ana White, you’ve been working on my defamation case against Risk Fasken. I hope you don’t mind I called so late, but it’s kind of an emergency.” She scrunched up her face apologetically. Thank God he had given her his cell phone number, otherwise she might have had to wait even longer to get the information about Brennan.

  “What’s the emergency? Everything is going smoothly with your case.”

  “Brennan Demars was in a plane crash. I need to know what hospital to send flowers to.” Ana tried to sound as casual as possible.

  Elias hesitated. “I’m not sure why you think I’d know that information.”

  “Ryan told me who he really is,” she lied.

  He sighed, and for a moment, Ana worried that maybe she had gotten it all wrong. But then Elias said, “I wish he would tell me when he decides to stop playing these little games.”

  “Please, Elias. He’s helped me out a lot. I’d like to send my condolences. It’s the least I can do.”

  “He’s at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, but don’t expect to get in to see him.”