In Love with a Stranger

by Rose von Barnsley

  “So, what do you do here?” I asked Audrey.

  “Mostly just sunbathe, Marcelle and I live off his trust fund. We still travel a bit here and there. Marcelle works from home, but I’m not sure doing what or if he’s even making any money doing it. I stay out of his way. You know, we should take a trip somewhere, before you get saddled down with kids. I’m sure Marcelle would be fine with it. He wouldn’t mind having you around now. We’ve traveled with his friends before.”

  “I don’t think that’d work for us,” I cut off that train of thought. There was no way I’d spend any amount of time with Marcelle. His rude disregard for my wife was inexcusable in my book. There was no way I’d expose her to that, not to mention there was no way I’d leave Penelope behind to appease Marcelle’s displeasure of children.

  Hannah looked sad, but Audrey didn’t seem fazed by my refusal. The waitress came and took our orders, and I noticed Audrey kept looking behind us. I wondered if Marcelle had come back, but realized that was not the case, when I followed her line of sight.

  “That little girl is so rowdy. Her mother seems to be having a hard time settling her down. You were a wild one, too. Children can be such a challenge,” Audrey said so casually, referring to my daughter. “Do you plan on having children? Don’t let the world make you feel pressured to have a family, Hannah. There are plenty of people who choose not to have them. In fact, it’s common practice in Europe. There’s so much to see and do, and kids really slow you down.”

  “I don’t think children will slow us down,” I answered for Hannah. I could tell she was struggling to speak with her mother. I was sure she saw it had been Penelope who Audrey was referring to.

  “Don’t let him bully you into having kids,” Audrey said sternly.

  “He’s not, Mom. We want children…in fact, we have children.” She turned around and waved Penelope over. My daughter took off like a shot and jumped into my lap. “This is our daughter, Penelope.”

  “I thought you were only married two months ago?” her mother was shocked.

  “We first met when I graduated from college seven years ago,” Hannah said, brushing back a few of Penelope’s curls.

  “Can Aunt Ophelia come over, too?” Penelope asked.

  “Yes, why don’t you go get her,” Hannah sent her off.

  “So, the woman is your sister?” Audrey asked me.

  “No, Ophelia is Hannah’s family,” I answered, giving nothing away.

  “Oh, I didn’t realize Scott remarried.” Neither Hannah nor I corrected her.

  “Is everything alright?” Ophelia asked when she approached.

  “Yes, please, join us.” I stood and pulled out the chair for her and settled Penelope back into my lap, as the waitress brought our food.

  “Ophelia, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Audrey, Hannah’s mother.” Audrey was being very pleasant for the moment.

  “Thank you,” Ophelia said, but didn’t say it was nice to meet Audrey in return. I think she was like me and didn’t like Audrey.

  “Do you live around here?” she asked Ophelia.

  “No, I live in New York.”

  “Oh, that’s exciting. What do you do?”

  “I own a clothing line and model. My brother works there as well. What is it that you do?” Ophelia pushed.

  “I spend most of my time relaxing on the beach and looking after myself and my husband.”

  “Wow, that’s a great reason to completely ignore your kid,” Ophelia said sarcastically.

  “Ophelia!” Hannah snapped.

  Ophelia shook her head. “I’m sorry, I know you want to play nice with her, but I just can’t see why. You wanted to meet your mom…well, you met her. She’s alive, but that doesn’t change anything,” she snapped then turned to Audrey. “Hannah has a kid and is pregnant with their second child. Now that you know this, do you want to be around them? Would they still fit into your lifestyle?” Ophelia asked Audrey bluntly.

  Audrey looked down at the table and fiddled with her napkin. I realized then that Hannah was no better off in the parent department than I was.

  “Ophelia, why don’t you go take Penelope across the street for some ice cream,” I said, handing Ophelia a twenty-dollar bill.

  My daughter looked between us confused, but let Ophelia pull her out of the restaurant.

  “I guess you don’t want to be a part of my family’s life. I’m sorry we bothered you, Audrey.” Hannah stood up abruptly and went after Ophelia and Penelope.

  “Please, try to understand…” Audrey started to plead, but I cut her off.

  “I really can’t. There’s nothing in this world that’d make me leave my daughter. There’s nothing more important than my family. I can’t fathom walking away from them, so no, I can’t understand. Hannah was trying to understand, but I think she’s beyond trying anymore. Thank you for meeting with us, Audrey.” I stood and threw two hundred dollars on the table to cover the tab and left to go find my family.

  That was one file that’d be closed for good.

  Chapter 32 – Psychos Unite

  HANNAH

  My body was shaking, and I barely made it out of the restaurant. I didn’t know what I’d been thinking. I felt so sick, when I realized my mother really didn’t want anything to do with me or my family. I leaned against the building wall, and I was relieved when William pulled me into his arms.

  “She’s just so…” I didn’t even know how to finish that sentence.

  “She’s dead, nothing’s changed, she’s still dead.” He helped me cross the street to the ice cream shop. I stopped him before we entered.

  “I need to pull myself together. I can’t…” I was still so lost. I hated that I wanted her to love me, to want to be a part of my life, my family. I couldn’t believe how Penelope could be a deal breaker, that she could so easily dismiss her granddaughter, like she didn’t exist. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, because that was what she’d done to me, she’d dismissed me completely as a child and played dead. I guess she was ready to do the same when it came to my daughter.

  “Are you going to be alright?” William asked worried. His hand brushed over my tummy again. He had this insane notion that I shouldn’t get upset or raise my voice while I was pregnant. He tiptoed around me and spoiled me, when he wasn’t bowing down to my irrational mood swings. Thankfully, they weren’t too bad. I’d feel horribly guilty if they were. So far, I’d only really lost it over him leaving his shoes out, because I’d tripped over them. He apologized profusely and then gave me a foot rub and ordered out for dinner, so I could rest. He was such a sweet, silly man. I loved him so much. I burst into tears, hiding my face in his chest and told him just that.

  He hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, too, beautiful.” He tipped my chin up and kissed my lips lightly, after he wiped my tears from my cheeks. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life,” he whispered and kissed me again.

  We heard the unmistakable, “Ugh!” from our daughter, reminding us that she didn’t like to see her parents kissing all the time. We couldn’t help it, though. We had so much time to make up for.

  William grabbed hold of her and tossed her up into the air playfully. “What are you complaining about, little Miss? You have ice cream, and your Aunt Ophelia insisted we have to visit Disneyland while we’re here. I can’t imagine what your problem is, Poppet.”

  Penelope squeezed William tightly. “I love you, Daddy, but do you have to kiss mommy where everyone can see you?”

  I giggled. “Why is it such a big deal if people see us kiss?”

  Penelope’s eyes went wide, and then she whispered, “Uncle Brody said that’s how babies are made, and Mr. Adam said that was right, and I shouldn’t make babies until I was really old, and never around people, because it’s rude. Then, the next day, I told Mr. David that you make babies in front of me, and he said that was pornofraggy and you were scarring me for life. I think that’s why this one won’t go away,” she point
ed to her mostly-healed skinned knee that’d likely leave a scar.

  William was stunned, and Ophelia was laughing so hard she was holding on to the side of the building to keep from falling down. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry, but I was sure William would be having a talk with David and clearing up the little misunderstanding.

  My mood swung in the right direction, and I settled on laughing, as Penelope pointed at a scar on her elbow, disgruntled, sure that one was our fault, too. “That’s not the kind of scars he was talking about, sweetheart,” I tried to settle her down, because she was starting to get mad that Ophelia and I were laughing at her.

  William finally snapped back into the conversation. “I promise we’re not giving you scars, Poppet,” he said, kissing her elbow. “I’ll talk to David, and I’m sure he’ll agree with us. I think he’s mixed up on what Brody and Adam were talking about.”

  “He was talking about babies,” she said confounded. She was sure we were ridiculous. “How else do you make babies that it’s mixed up?”

  His eyes went wide. “You’re right, mummy and I shouldn’t kiss in front of people,” he said, trying to dodge the baby-making talk bullet.

  “Smooth one,” Ophelia taunted. “Your shake is melting, Penny.” She handed Penelope her cup.

  “Yes, ice cream and then Disneyland,” William said, happy for the topic change.

  We spent the rest of the day following Ophelia and Penelope around the amusement park. They both had matching tiaras and rushed from ride to ride. William and I stayed back a little, and he stole kisses from me, when our daughter wasn’t looking.

  “I think I like this kissing in secret. It makes it all the more exciting,” he mumbled against my lips, before he stole another one. My lips were swollen from all our stolen kisses by the time we got back to our hotel. I was exhausted, but too turned on to sleep. The man had been working me up all day with all our fake baby-making, and I was ready to get down to the real act.

  “Come make babies with me,” I said, stripping my clothes off, and William joined me, laying me back carefully.

  He kissed my belly softly. “We already made the baby, but I’m happy to oblige. We’re alone, and since no one is looking…”

  He started to kiss the rest of my body, waking me up enough to enjoy our time together, before I fell asleep. The events of the day exhausted me, and I wanted to believe it was running around the park that’d been hardest on me, but I knew my mother’s rejection was what had really taken its toll on me. I burst into tears, and William quickly pulled me into his arms. “Hey now, my skills can’t be that bad,” he teased nervously.

  I gave him a watery smile. “No, you’re great, but my mother doesn’t love me.”

  He pulled me against him tightly. “She doesn’t know you or what she’s missed out on. You don’t need her. We don’t need her in our lives. Besides, I think her husband is an arse. I really don’t want him around our daughter. Even if Audrey was a nice woman, I think it would’ve been extremely difficult to work anything out with her around him. It would’ve created too much stress for you,” he said, running his hand over my tummy again. “You don’t need that in your life right now. We have happier things to focus on, like what to name our little one. I was thinking something American, like Travis.”

  “Travis? How is that American?”

  “There’s never been a king named Travis,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “And if it’s a girl?” I asked curiously. I would’ve thought he’d want to name our baby Junior if it was a boy.

  “We’ll name it anything you want,” he said through a yawn, making me yawn as well. “We should get some sleep, beautiful. We have another day of stolen kisses and character dodging to do tomorrow.”

  I giggled at him. It turned out that people dressed up like cartoon characters made William very uneasy. The princes and princesses were fine. It was the full-covering costumes that were unsettling to him. The expression on his face in the picture standing next to Mickey was hilarious. I couldn’t wait to frame it.

  Of course, thinking of framing the picture reminded me I didn’t have a permanent wall to hang it on. I was tired of living in the little rental house. It didn’t feel like a home, but a prison. I went back to sniffling on William’s chest, as I thought of all I’d lost in the fire. I wanted it all to be over. Even if the case was solved, it wouldn’t bring back my apartment or store. We still had no idea where to live. William was so set on living here, but the immigration laws were going to kill us on that front. I was ready to move to Scotland and be done with it all. We needed a fresh start, and maybe a new country would be where to begin one. I decided to discuss it with William in the morning.

  We were woken in the middle of the night by William’s phone ringing. He answered it gruffly and sat straight up, when he heard who was speaking. I looked at the door that connected our room to Ophelia and Penelope’s. William must’ve seen my worry, because he grabbed my arm to get my attention and shook his head no.

  “Keep a close eye on him. Can you bring another person in to guard him?”

  “Who?” I whispered. I needed to know what was going on.

  “Are you bloody serious?” he snapped. “Of all people…they’re the last ones I want involved.” He got up, pulling on his pants, and then he pulled out his laptop. He kept looking over at me worried. “No, I think I’ll send them off to New York while we handle things.”

  “Tell me what’s going on right now.” I was ready to snatch his phone away to see who he was talking to.

  “It’s Stuart, we’ve got things under control,” William said, getting up and walking across the room. He opened my suitcase and started throwing things into it, as he continued to talk to Stuart about setting up security and tracking down “both women.”

  “We need to know if they’re working together or not. At least we have it narrowed down to two.” William yanked on his hair with a grimace. “Bloody hell, fine, call my damn father and get it over with. He’ll give you the fucking files and support you want!” he shouted, before he hung up and threw the phone across the room. It thankfully bounced on the bed, not breaking. I waited as patiently as possible for him to fill me in. He sat down on the bed, leaning forward and grabbing his hair. “He’s fine. Stuart got to him in time, so he’s going to be okay.”

  “Who?” I asked, getting more worried by the second.

  “Marvin. There was an attempt on his life, but I had people watching him and Layla, and they were able to get to him in time.”

  “What happened? Was there another fire?”

  “No, he was shot. He’s at Carson Tahoe Regional right now. Stuart is with him. He said he’s stable and shouldn’t have any lasting damage from his wound. Layla is still swarming-”

  “Was she the one who shot him?” I asked, cutting him off.

  “No, that was Lily. We suspect she was looking to avenge her brother’s death. Stuart suspects someone on the New York police force helped her figure out who was responsible for her brother’s beating, pointing her toward Marvin. If she also knows her brother was sent after you…Hannah, you’re not going to be safe in Carson City. I want you to go to New York and stay with Carter for a while.”

  “No,” I refused instantly. “I’m not going anywhere without you. If she went after Marvin, who’s to say she won’t go after you next? I’m not losing you, William.”

  “Hannah-”

  “NO! Absolutely not, I refuse! If you put me on a plane to New York, I’ll just take the next one back to Carson City.”

  “You really want to put yourself, our baby and our daughter in harm’s way, all for your stubborn pride? You’re not needed there, and there’s no reason for you to be there! Those women are psychos, Hannah! There’s nothing you can say or do to change the outcome of what’s going to happen! You’ll take our daughter and my baby,” he shouted, pointing at my belly, “and go stay with Carter! You’re not going anywhere near those psychotic women! Now gather your things tog
ether, while I buy your tickets and call Carter. I’m positive he’ll agree with me on this.”

  I lay back on the bed, defeated. I hated that he was completely right, and I was so scared I was going to lose him again. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it sounded like his father was getting involved. As sick as it sounded, I was glad for it. I knew for a fact he’d never let anything happen to William. His sick devotion and ruthless tactics would prove to be beneficial for once.

  Chapter 33 – Chasing Birds

  WILLIAM

  Stuart was pretty adamant about bringing my father into the mess. Apparently, it’d been a woman who’d shot Marvin, and though she looked a lot like Lily, one of our suspects, he’d yet to make a solid identification of her. Her last known whereabouts had been in London, and he wanted to bring my father in to pin her down.

  I was grateful when Hannah gave in about not coming with me. She was so dead set on following me to Nevada, causing me to snap at her. Her silence had me worried. I was sure she was on the verge of walking out on me altogether for treating her that way, but she lifted the blanket when I climbed back into bed and kissed my lips. The soonest we could fly out was late that afternoon, and I wanted to spend the little time I had left with her.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” I apologized.

  She shook her head at me. “No, you were right. I’m just so scared I’m going to lose you again.”

  “That makes two of us.” A sense of foreboding twisted sickly in my gut. “I don’t want to leave you. I swear I don’t, but I have to keep you safe, both of you.” My hand drifted down to her tummy.

  She smiled up at me. “It’s only for a little while, right? How long do you think this is going to take?”

  “I can’t imagine it’ll be too long. We have two solid suspects in our sights. Stuart has people following them, so maybe a few days. I don’t want to be gone more than a week. I really hate sending you away at all. You understand why you have to stay with Carter, though, don’t you?”