by Lori Leger
“Don’t be rude, Tiffany.”
“Don’t be obtuse, mother. Entertainment is just a polite way to say you both sleep around.”
“Your father and I are satisfied with the arrangement.”
Tiffany shook her head in disgust. “You shouldn’t be. I want a better life, a better marriage than that.”
“This is a good life, dear. We’ve raised you and your brother to have the best of everything.”
Tiffany couldn’t stop the bitterness from seeping into her reply. “You didn’t have a damn thing to do with raising Drake and me, mother. Melinda took care of us, thank God. Don’t you ever wonder why we only go there twice a year?”
“I don’t need to wonder. It’s because you’re both selfish, ungrateful children.”
Because it’s not a home-it never was! I’ll be damned if I raise children in a place like that. If I marry, it will be for love, and to a good man who’d rather die than hurt me the way Tanner has.” She cringed at the sound of her mother’s hysterical laughter.
“Oh, listen to you, so full of hope that there’s still a decent man out there waiting for you. You always did live in a fantasy world, Tiffany. Now, you listen to me. The phrase “good man” is an oxymoron, and there is no such thing as a faithful marriage. The sooner you accept it, the better off you’ll be.”
Tiffany closed her eyes and sighed. “Mother, I feel so sorry for you. I’ve seen how other people live, and it’s not how you and father live. Other people are happy. Not all, of course, but I can name dozens of couples right now who are truly happy together.
“Pah! Newlywed love fades...trust me, dear.”
Tiffany ran a hand through her straightened locks and let her head fall back. “You’re wasting your breath, Mother. I will not marry Tanner. He’s selfish, vindictive, spoiled, and weak.”
“Oh yes, you will,” her mother spoke in an icy tone. “You will do what your father and I have groomed you to do, to make a good match.”
“Groomed me? Why not just call it what it is? You want to whore me out. Sell me to the highest bidder!”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“You know, most parents would be thrilled their daughter is a successful surgeon, but not you and father. Neither of you give a damn about that. I’ve got money, Mother—money I earned myself. All you care about is how much I can add to the family coffer by marrying a rich husband.”
“Money can bring comfort to a woman that a husband won’t, dear.”
Tiffany placed her hand over her eyes. “Don’t you love Drake and me enough to want us happy? Have you ever loved us?”
“How dare you say such a thing to me? You have no idea how many sacrifices I’ve made for you and your brother! We’ve given you everything you ever wanted. We paid to send you both to the finest schools. The least you could do is to show us gratitude.”
Tiffany laughed. “Do you even know which college I attended, mother?”
“I’m sure it was the finest money could buy.”
“Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge...I went on a full scholarship because of my grades. My counselor and I filled out all of the papers ourselves because you said father wouldn’t pay for it unless I went to law school.”
“We’d have paid to send you to Harvard.”
“I didn’t want to be a lawyer.”
“You always were too obstinate for your own good.”
“I graduated at the top of my class in med school.”
“What has that got to do with anything?”
“I don’t owe you and father a damn thing for my education! I took out school loans and paid every dime of it back. Two years later you sent Drake to Harvard when he wanted to be with me at LSU. I convinced him to go to Harvard because it was the best school money could buy.”
Tiffany stood up to pace the floor as she continued to rant. “So, if you think I’m going to give up everything to marry a spoiled, self-centered, cheating ass-hole like Tanner, you’re wrong. I’ll choose my own husband or I’ll choose not to marry at all. But I will do the choosing, do you understand me? And don’t you dare send father over here, because I’ll tell him the same thing!”
“Tiffany, you will be shaming me in front of our entire circle of friends,” her mother screeched. “I’ll be a social outcast after this.”
“Oh mother, for crying out loud, you act as if this is the nineteenth century.”
“Tiffany Danielle, don’t you trivialize this situation!”
Tiffany couldn’t have stopped the short burst of laughter if she’d wanted to. “Everything about this situation is trivial Mother!” The ensuing icy silence reigned supreme.
“Well,” her mother finally huffed into the phone. “I have no need of ungrateful children.”
One single click of the phone and it went dead. Tiffany dropped to the couch, and threw the phone on the cushion. Her laughter began as a quiet chuckle, gaining strength, until it bordered on hysteria. The journey from hysteria to tears proved to be unexpectedly short.
Sniveling and needing to talk to someone who gave a damn about her, she attempted to call Drake. By the time his voicemail picked up, she was crying too hard to leave a message.
What had she ever done to deserve getting so little love from either of her parents? Red’s last words telling her to be strong rang through her head, and she threw her shoulders back, straightening her spine. She’d learned to be independent and strong at an early age, had always taken immense pride in her strength. She had friends and co-workers who relied heavily on their partners in times of trouble, and she’d always wondered what that would feel like. What would she do if just, for once, rely on someone else to be strong for her. Her phone rang and she answered, sniffling into a tissue.
“Doc? Are you okay?”
Red’s voice, saturated with concern for her, turned out to be her undoing. Within moments, she was crying uncontrollably and incapable of intelligent speech.
<>
Nothing could have prepared Red for the sound of Tiffany’s heartbroken sobs. “What happened?” he said, ready to kill, or at least cripple the person responsible for her tears.
“Red,” she sputtered.
“Are you alone?”
“Y...y...yes.”
“Can you talk to me?”
She finally choked out a tortured sob. “No.”
Red waited only a moment before making a decision. “Pack a bag. Whatever you need to hold you over until tomorrow. I’m picking you up.”
He grabbed the keys to his Camaro and his cell phone on his way out the door. Thanks to Giselle, he knew exactly where Tiffany lived, and floored it until he stood in front of the condo she shared with Tanner.
His breath caught in his throat as Tiffany opened the door. He took in the puffy, tearstained face, her faded jeans and tee shirt, and longed to hold her close. She covered her face, sobbing quietly into her hands. He suspected that by tomorrow she’d be embarrassed over breaking down in front of him, but right now she seemed too upset to care.
He shouldered the strapped overnight bag at her feet, got her purse and keys then put his arm around her. “Come on, Doc, I’m taking you away from here.”
She nodded and stepped out into the frosty nighttime air. As Red leaned in to shut the door, she put a hand out to stop him. He watched with a strange mixture of sadness and delight, as she slipped the two carat emerald cut diamond from her left hand to hang it on a key hook next to the door. As soon as she stepped outside he pulled it shut and placed his arm around her shoulder to walk her to his car.
Enveloped by the decked out Camaro’s warm interior, and heated leather seats, Red watched Tiffany’s head loll back on the headrest. As her eyes closed and silent tears streamed down her face, he reached over to place a sympathetic hand over hers. She promptly pulled it close throughout a fresh round of heart-wrenching sobs. He drove home with her clutching his hand tightly, and suddenly developed a new appreciation for automatic transmission packages.
/> Red pulled into his garage and helped a shivering Tiffany out of the car and inside his home. He dropped her bags on the floor and led her to the still blazing fireplace, positioning her back to it and rubbed her arms briskly for a minute.
“What’s going on, Doc?” he asked, stopping to gently tilt her chin up as her tears continued to flow.
She shook her head. “I d..don’t know. I c..can’t s..stop.”
He clenched his jaw, angry at the people in her life who’d brought her to this state of sadness...her parents and Tanner. He pulled her into his arms, allowing her to cry out her misery and sorrow onto his chest. He held her tightly, rubbing his hands over her back, occasionally placing his hand on the back of her head to massage her scalp. After a full ten minutes, the tears slowed, and eventually stopped.
“Better now?”
She nodded.
“Want something to drink? Water or a glass of wine, maybe?”
“B..beer?”
He smiled and walked around to his bar area. “This okay?” he asked as opened a bottle of beer and handed it to her.
She nodded and took a sip. “Thanks.”
“Now, tell me what happened.”
She closed her eyes, bit her bottom lip to keep from crying, and shook her head.
“Don’t cry again,” he groaned. “I can’t take it when you cry. Just take a big breath and try to tell me what happened,” he said, as he placed his hands gently on her face.
She turned her sad eyes toward him. “You happened, Red; you and your family.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Seeing you and your family together—the way you interact with each other—it made me realize how empty my life is. I know after seeing how other people live that I can’t live in a loveless marriage.” She squeezed her eyes as a sob escaped.
Red reached out to place his hands on her shoulders. “You shouldn’t have to. Nobody should have to live like that.”
“I know,” she said miserably.
“...With a man who refuses to be faithful to you.”
“I know.”
“No one should ask that of you, not even your parents. Hell, especially not your parents.”
“I know that,” she sobbed loudly.
“Then why are you crying?” he asked.
She hugged her waist as she turned toward the fireplace. “I realize now that in thirty-six years, I’ve never had one single person in my life, other than my little brother and our nanny, who’s ever truly loved me. Not my parents, not my grandparent, and not the man I just wasted five years of my life with.” She turned back to face Red. “That’s pretty damned sad, don’t you think?”
Red patted a tissue gently over her cheeks to remove her tears. “Please don’t cry anymore.”
“Even after I told my mother what Tanner had done, she still wants me to marry him. It’s all about money—she doesn’t care about me. She never has,” she moaned.
Red spent the next half hour listening intently about the years she and Drake spent in that loveless house, watching their parents grow colder to each other and their children. He shook his head in amazement as she told him how she was able to attend college only through a full scholarship when her parents paid to send Drake to Harvard two years later. She told him everything she could about her life in that cold, forbidding place she’d never considered a home. She ended by telling him the last thing her mother had told her.
“I know it’s just a ploy to try to make me feel guilty, but it’s having the opposite effect on me. I almost wish I never had to see her again, and that’s what’s so sad, Red. Other than my brother, she and my father are the only family I have.”
Red watched as a tear trailed down her face to fall from her chin. He didn’t know how he managed to remain silent through it all, but he did. He longed to pull her into his arms and tell her there was someone who loved her very much, but he knew the timing wasn’t right. He wanted to tell her that all she had to do was say the word and she could be a part of his family. Like that wouldn’t scare the hell out of her right now.
But there was one person in her family who gave a damn about her. “Maybe it’s time to call your brother.”
“I tried calling him after mother hung up on me, but he wasn’t home.” She wiped her nose and sniffed softly.
“Did you leave a message?”
She shook her head. “I c…couldn’t.”
“I want you to call him again, and if he’s not home, leave him a message. Make sure he knows it’s urgent you speak to him.”
Tiffany nodded, making a quick search of her purse before she realized she didn’t have her phone.
Red handed her his cordless phone. “Here, use this,” he said, before walking into the kitchen to give her some privacy.
<>
Tiffany took a deep breath and punched in Drake’s number. His machine picked up and her brother’s baritone, familiar and soothing, asked her to leave a message. “Hey, little brother, I just broke off my engagement and had it out with mother on the phone. I really need to talk to you, Drake. I’m spending the night at a friend’s house, and I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call. Love you,” she finished quietly, before ending the call. She stood alone in the living room and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Red approached her and took the phone. “Why don’t you go rinse your face in cold water; it’ll make you feel better.”
“I believe I will,” she said, nodding. “Where’s my bag?”
He picked it up and held out to her.
“I feel bad for imposing on you like this, Red. I could have stayed at the condo. For that matter, I could have gone back to my own house.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t need to be behind the wheel in that shape, and you sure as hell didn’t need to be alone. This house is big enough for the two of us, believe me. Come here, I’ll show you your room for the night.” He walked her down the hall and opened the guest room door for her.
“This is very nice,” she said, admiring the room.
“You have your own private bath through that door.”
“Thanks again for all of this, Red.”
“Anytime.” The silence between them was suddenly broken by the sound of Tiffany’s stomach growling in hunger. He grinned at her. “I’m guessing you didn’t have a chance to eat.”
“No. Remind me to take that pizza out of the microwave tomorrow,” she said, sheepishly.
“I can heat up some leftover turkey for you.”
“Thanks. This is really nice of you, Red.”
“That’s what friends are for.” He turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Tiffany stepped into the bathroom to admire the huge whirlpool tub, walk in shower with multiple showerheads, and the deep granite sink. She cringed at the red puffiness of her reflection, and splashed it with ice cold water from the faucet. As she patted her face dry, she stared at the stranger in the mirror, running her fingers through the silky, straightened, blonde locks. No more. She was done changing herself for Tanner or anyone else.
Chapter 6
Red placed some leftovers in the oven to reheat for Tiffany, and reached for his ringing home phone. “Hello.”
“McAllister...”
Red’s brow furrowed at the deep, gravelly growl, muffled, as though the caller were trying to disguise it.
“It is. Who am I speaking to?” he asked, as an immediate sense of unease flooded through his system. Tanner? Something told him no.
“All in good time. You have it all, don’t you?”
Red straightened to his full height. “Whatever I have, I’ve busted my ass to get, and I’ve come by it honestly.”
“The holier than thou attitude is still intact...we’ll see how long that last when you’re rotting in prison.”
“What the hell do you want?” Red asked, checking to see ANONYMOUS flashing on the small screen of his caller ID.
<>
The man
on the other end of the phone flipped his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. What I want is this self-righteous bastard’s head on a platter. Too bad the time wasn’t right to let McAllister know what he had planned for him. Tonight was a start, though. He smiled evilly, stewing in his own silence, knowing he’d planted the seed of unrest in Red McAllister’s safe, secure world. His work done for the day, he hung up without another word.
<>
Red placed the phone on the counter. “What the hell was that all about?” he murmured. He checked on Tiffany’s food reheating in the Viking oven, and the phone rang again. The caller ID showed a mobile number from Texas and he remembered Tiffany’s brother was supposed to call back. He answered somewhat cautiously.
“Excuse me,” drawled a deep voice with an east Texas accent. “I received a call from this number earlier. Is there a Tiffany LeBlanc there?”
“She’s here, but let me see if she’s available.” Red carried the phone down the hall and knocked on the guest room door. When he didn’t get an answer, he put the phone to his ear and addressed the caller. “She’s not available right now, but is this her brother?”
“Yes, I’m Drake LeBlanc. Who am I speaking to?”
“Scott McAllister, I’m a friend of hers.”
“So what exactly is going on over there? Is Tiffany alright?”
Red took his time walking back into the kitchen. “She’s better now, but when I called her apartment earlier, she was crying so hard she couldn’t speak, so I picked her up and brought her to my place. I didn’t think she needed to be alone tonight.”
“Where’s Golden Boy?”
“Who?”
“Tanner Collins, her ex,” Drake growled, with clear disdain.
“Off with another woman, I imagine. He was supposed to be at his parents, and he wasn’t.”
“So, she finally gave him the old heave ho? It’s about damn time,” Drake drawled. “I don’t know if you know him or not, but he’s not exactly husband material.”
Red paced a slow path in front of his fireplace, the same spot he’d occupied while comforting Tiffany a short while ago. “I’ve known him for twenty years and he may be someone’s husband material, but he’s definitely not for Doc...er..Tiffany.” The following prolonged phone silence told him Drake LeBlanc was analyzing every word he told him. Maybe it was the attorney in him, but he sensed that Tiff’s brother was sharp at judging people.