The Reality of Wright and Wrong

by Leddy Harper

  “Then why did you bring Jordan up? At the table…you suggested he was the reason I lost my job. If you didn’t know he was the one who broke into Wrong Inc, why assume he had anything to do with the school situation?”

  “Wrong explained the reasons behind their decision to let you go, and since this all happened a week or so after the news broke that you two had gotten married, I naturally assumed that had been the catalyst. Without the internet buzzing with gossip about you, I doubt the school would’ve ever known and, therefore, wouldn’t have had a reason to fire you before giving you a chance to prove yourself.”

  I turned to the side to see her without having to look at her reflection while we spoke. “Okay, but again, how does that go back to Jordan? You just said yourself that the most logical conclusion would be the school saw the news online. Where does Jordan come into any of that?”

  Her brows drew together, creating a valley of concern between them. And the more she narrowed her eyes, staring relentlessly at me, the darker they became. “I guess I don’t see how you can’t blame him—considering he’s the one who sold the story.”

  My heart stopped.

  My throat pinched closed.

  And my brain checked out like a worker at the end of their shift.

  “He… He did what?” I wanted to call her a liar, accuse her of making this all up, yet I couldn’t look her in the eyes and not trust everything she was saying. Not to mention, she had nothing to gain from making me believe these things.

  Indi dropped her chin to her chest with a groan and clenched the damp paper towel in her fist. After tossing it into the wastebasket, she pressed her back against the tile wall, shoulders slumped. Resignation flashed in her eyes as she stared at me. And with the way her thick swallow made her throat bob, I imagined that she was discovering the taste of her foot in her mouth.

  We might’ve been standing in a restroom stall, but the distance between us could very well have been the size of Texas. Neither of us spoke, only regarded the other with undeclared pleas—mine begged her to give me answers, while hers implored me to give this up.

  Finally, she caved first—likely due to the fact that alcohol had fried the wires that connected my brain to my mouth, preventing me from forming words in a timely manner. Whatever the reason, I didn’t care, because in the end, I got what I wanted.

  At least, what I had thought I wanted.

  “Wrong had asked me for my help to see if any of the guys at work had been responsible for the leak. He said there were pieces of information in the articles that no one could’ve guessed, and he worried someone at the shop had sold him down the river. Considering I work with these guys as well, I wanted the truth as much as he did—only for different reasons. The thought of working side by side with someone willing to sell their soul for the almighty dollar made me uncomfortable, so I started digging.”

  I licked my chapped lips, suddenly realizing the invisible cotton that filled my mouth had left my throat dry and voice hoarse. “But if Jordan was the one who pushed the news, then how’d you find out? He doesn’t work for Brogan.”

  “Once I felt confident that it hadn’t been anyone from the shop, I couldn’t let it go. By that point, I was far too interested in uncovering the truth to drop it. A friend of mine—more like a client I speak to once a year when she comes in to have a new daisy added to her back piece—works at the local news station. They don’t run the same types of stories as those trash sites, but I figured it was worth a shot to see what she could find out. Without getting a name, she managed to get enough to piece together that the source was someone close to you—who lived in town.”

  “That still doesn’t prove it was Jordan.”

  “No, it doesn’t. So I called Wrong, told him what I’d learned, and he handled the rest. When I asked him about it this morning, all he said was that he’d confirmed it was your ex. We didn’t get a chance to discuss it in detail, so that’s pretty much all I know.”

  My heart thumped wildly, the intensity of each beat increasing at a dangerous rate. I had no way of making it slow. It grew worse with every new piece of information, but I couldn’t stop until I had all the missing pieces of a puzzle I had no idea existed in the first place. “When did all this happen? Hearing from your friend and calling Brogan with the information.”

  “I called her at the beginning of the week. She finally got back with me yesterday, and as soon as I got off the phone with her, I got ahold of Wrong. It was early afternoon. Right after everything that happened at the school—that’s when he talked to me about it.” It was obvious she wasn’t overly comfortable with our bonding time in the ladies’ room. The pity on her face said it all.

  “Thanks, Indi. I appreciate your honesty.”

  With a weak smile, she said, “You’re welcome. Just whatever you do, don’t take this out on Wrong. Okay? If he hasn’t said anything to you about it, there’s a reason. It doesn’t mean he intends to keep it from you forever. Give him the benefit of the doubt…please.”

  Nodding was about all I could do, because while I wanted to assure her that I’d sit back and wait for him to fill me in, that wasn’t something I could promise. With everything that had taken place over the last two weeks—one crisis after another—I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle before the weight of it all crushed me.

  Indi left the restroom to grab us both a drink from the bar. I had to freshen up, so we’d agreed to meet at the table when we were done. After blotting my face with a damp paper towel, I exited the restroom with my head held high.

  That was…until I spotted our group around the table in the center of the room.

  I didn’t see Indi, which meant she was probably still waiting on our drinks. However, that wasn’t what made me stop. That wasn’t what caused my feet to turn to cinderblocks and cement themselves to the floor. No. My entire body came to a screeching halt when I noticed Brogan standing a few feet away from the table, talking intimately with a blonde.

  He glanced around, as if searching for me, and when he didn’t spot me, he placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her through the front door. It wasn’t until they made it outside that I recognized who she was.

  The one who got away.

  22

  Brogan

  I’d often wondered how I would feel if I ever saw Jessica again.

  At times, I’d assumed it would bring back old feelings, or break my heart all over again. Other times, mostly since meeting Mercy, I questioned if I’d feel anything at all. Oddly enough, the emotions that hit me when I caught her walking toward me from across the bar had taken me by surprise.

  “I must say, Jess…you were the last person I expected to run into tonight,” I said as soon as we made it outside, away from the noise and drunken chatter.

  Her smile hadn’t changed. Hell, from the looks of it, nothing about her had changed since I’d last seen her. I realized it’d only been a couple of years, though that didn’t mean I expected her to look exactly the same as when we were married.

  “Any particular reason you’re here?” Standing in front of me. At the bar around the corner from my shop. In town. She had her pick of which here she wanted to answer. At this point, an explanation as to why she was in the state would’ve sufficed.

  She tilted her head to the side and gave me the same smirk she’d always used when trying to be cute, though for the first time, it felt friendly. “Lena’s getting married tomorrow, so I flew in for the wedding.”

  Lena was Jessica’s childhood best friend—who had acted like I didn’t exist after the divorce.

  “I saw you took the plunge again?” She studied me with deep interest as I nodded in response. “That makes me happy, Brogan. I was convinced you’d never put yourself out there again, so to hear you ran off and got married was a very pleasant surprise.”

  “That means a lot, Jess. Thank you.”

  “Well, I mean it. You deserve to be happy.”

  Unsure of how to react, I stuffed my
hands into my pockets and hoped she didn’t notice how uncomfortable I was. “So did you just happen to walk into the bar and spot me? Or is there some other reason you’re here?”

  “To be honest, I wanted to see you while I was in town. Things between us fell apart so quickly and ended so badly that I thought now might be a good time for us both to gain a little bit of closure. I don’t know about you, but I’ve harbored a lot of emotions over the years in regard to you, our marriage, and my part in how it ended. I never thought we’d have the opportunity to heal from it all…until I heard your good news.”

  “I won’t lie, Jess…I have mixed feelings about this. Not about gaining closure or seeing you. But about being out here with you while my wife’s inside. It feels like I’ve snuck off to see you behind her back. I’d love to put our past to rest, but not like this.” Just the thought of Mercy looking for me while I stood outside with my ex-wife left my stomach in knots.

  Her brows arched high, surprise widening her eyes. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Brogan. That’s not how I—”

  “I know, Jessica. I don’t have a problem clearing the air with you, just not without her knowing about it. She doesn’t deserve that. If you don’t mind waiting a minute or two, I can let her know what’s going on and come back. But if she wants to be here while we talk, I won’t deny her that. And while I realize that might be uncomfortable for you, it’s her comfort that’s my priority.”

  Her lips spread into an unexpected show of happiness. “Of course, Brogan. And if she wants to be involved in this, I don’t really have any say in it, do I? In all fairness, I called Drew when I spotted your Jeep. I asked him if he would mind if I stopped and tried to have a conversation with you. So I get it. It wouldn’t be right that I’d let my husband know yet expect you to keep it from your wife.”

  I nearly choked. “Husband? Wow…I didn’t know you were remarried. Congrats.”

  It wasn’t the news of her being married to someone else that I found the most surprising, considering she’d always been the wife type. What came as more of a shock was how I’d managed to never know. Granted, she’d cut all ties with me when she left, but with all the people in town who knew her, I assumed I would’ve at least heard about it.

  The door opened behind me, interrupting our conversation. And when I glanced over my shoulder, the sight of Indi’s frantic eyes flicking between Jess and me left my breath stale in my lungs. To make matters worse, the panic written on her face didn’t appear to have been caused by the sight of us…but rather the cause of her coming out here in the first place.

  Ignoring Jessica’s presence, she locked eyes with me and said, “Mercy’s sick.”

  The world around me might’ve stopped moving, but my feet didn’t skip a beat. I was at the open door, in front of Indi, before I even realized I’d left Jessica behind. Without turning around—not interested in wasting the time—I peered over my shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, Jess.”

  “Don’t apologize. Go. We can finish this another time; I’ll be here all weekend.”

  Not another word was spoken. I nodded at my ex, and then I pushed Indi inside, silently begging her to take me to Mercy. With as worried as she appeared when she found me outside, my mind instantly went to everything that could’ve happened…starting with the worst possible scenario.

  “What’s she doing here?” Indi asked with wide eyes, not moving fast enough from the entrance to the bar.

  “It’s not important. Where’s Mercy? What happened? What’s wrong with her?”

  She hitched her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the restrooms, but before I took off to find my wife, Indi touched my arm, preventing me from leaving. “I’m sorry, Wrong. I think I might’ve made everything worse for you.”

  Now, I was torn between getting to Mercy and finding out what she meant by that. “What’d you do?”

  “You never told me that Jordan was her ex. And you never told her about him and my sister—or that you discovered he was the one who’d leaked your relationship to the press.” She took a deep breath, probably to calm down. Meanwhile, my heart rate skyrocketed. With a softer tone, she continued. “It came up in conversation, and by the time I realized she didn’t know anything, it was too late. I never meant to say anything. Had I known you hadn’t told her about any of it, I never would’ve brought it up.”

  “We can talk about this later. Right now, I need to find Mercy.”

  That got Indi moving, leading me toward the ladies’ room in the back. “She had a lot to drink, and I think her emotional state after our conversation might’ve made it worse. We were supposed to meet back at the table, but after I grabbed us drinks from the bar and realized she hadn’t come out yet, I went looking for her.”

  She pushed open the door, and I walked in, disregarding the stares and gasps coming from the other women in the small room. They could’ve been naked, and I wouldn’t have noticed. Because I didn’t pay them a single bit of attention. The second I recognized Mercy’s feet beneath the stall door, nothing and no one else mattered.

  “Mercy…babe, open up,” I pleaded while bumping the side of my fist against the door. The longer it took for her to disengage the latch, the more impatient my knocks became. And the more demanding my voice grew. If I had to tear the door off its hinges to get to her, then so be it.

  Luckily, I didn’t have to. Eventually, she slid the lock to the side, and the door swung open. Before me stood a weak, heavily intoxicated version of my wife. While I’d seen her drunk before—hell, she was drunk when I first met her—I’d never witnessed her in this bad of a shape.

  “Come on, babe. Let’s get you home.” I wrapped my arm around her to help keep her steady. As much as I wanted to pick her up and carry her out of this place, I knew she’d never let me. If anything, that would only make things worse.

  To my surprise, she clung to me. Both arms around my waist. Hands fisted in my shirt. Then she pressed the side of her face against my chest, leaning against me for support. It was enough to prove that no matter what Indi had told her, she still trusted me.

  With a little help from Indi, I managed to get Mercy buckled into the Jeep. But before I could walk around to get in myself, a hand on my chest and a concerned voice halted my exit. “Why was Jessica here?”

  Meeting my friend’s gaze in the light from the parking lot, I lowered my voice to keep Mercy from hearing—if she was even awake enough to comprehend anything—and said, “She saw my Jeep and stopped in to congratulate me. After all this time, I think we’re ready to find peace with what happened and close that chapter of our lives.”

  Indi nodded, though she didn’t seem completely convinced. “Are you going to tell Mercy?”

  “Listen, I appreciate your concern where Mercy’s involved, but just know that I’ve never intended to keep anything from my wife. I planned to tell her about Jordan when the time was right. The last thing I wanted to do was make her question my motives. But to ease your mind, yes…I’ll tell her about Jess showing up. Not tonight, clearly.” I pointed to the Wrangler to indicate Mercy’s state of mind. “But the first chance I have to sit down and explain it all, I will.”

  That seemed to be enough for her. And the fact that she seemed so concerned for Mercy was enough for me. With a simple nod and tight grin, she stepped out of my way so I could take my wife home. To our bed. Where I’d hold her all night while she slept off the alcohol and battered emotions.

  When I slid in behind the steering wheel, I glanced at Mercy, who leaned against the door with her head resting against the window. Her eyes were closed, though I could tell from her breathing that she wasn’t asleep. If anything, she was in that stage of intoxication where she was semi-conscious, yet the rest of her was comatose. So I placed my hand on her thigh and took a moment to appreciate her, even if she wasn’t aware of it.

  The desire to tell her how much I loved her came over me out of nowhere. Like a tsunami. Sweeping me away. Pulling me under. Drowning me in the need to let her k
now how I felt. We might’ve done everything completely backward, but sitting there with my hand on her leg, her warmth radiating through her jeans against my palm, I realized I’d always known how I felt about her.

  But this wasn’t the time to give her those words. Not while she was drunk or half asleep. Not outside of a bar. Not on the night my ex-wife showed up, or shortly after she’d learned of the things I’d kept from her. There was a time and a place to tell her how much I love her. To show her how much I meant it.

  And that time wasn’t now.

  As much as I wanted to sit in this parking lot all night watching her, I had to get her to bed. So, I pulled my hand away to shift the Jeep into gear and headed home, spending the entire drive contemplating when I’d fallen in love with her.

  But it wasn’t until I had her in bed next to me, her back to my chest, my arm around her waist, that I finally understood. I hadn’t fallen in love with her. Somehow, I’d always been in love with her.

  I’d known from the very first time I laid eyes on her that she was different. It was more than a feeling. It was an instinct. Just like I knew the grass was green. The sky was blue. The earth was a sphere and rotated around the sun. Mercy was my one and only.

  My once in a lifetime.

  Lying with Mercy in my arms, I thought back to that first night. When I found her on the sidewalk outside Rulebreakers. And I finally understood what I had felt in that moment. The moment when my soul recognized hers and declared: there you are; I’ve been looking everywhere for you.

  I’d decided right then and there that, come tomorrow, after we wrapped up our first day of filming, I would share all of this with her. She’d asked numerous times if I loved her, and while I had never denied it, I hadn’t been able to admit it, either. I knew in my gut that she was it for me, the only one I’d ever want. Now I understood where that instinct had been rooted.