Crazy for Love (24 page)

Chloe's jaw felt too tight to move, but she managed to whisper, “Tell them what?”

For a long moment, Jenn didn't speak. Her careful breathing betrayed an attempt to control tears. Finally, she nodded to herself and took one last breath. “She said they both felt trapped in their lives. Anna in her family's business and Thomas in his. They talked about running away, but Anna said that was just part of a fantasy. She didn't really think he'd put it in motion.”

“So they were in love.”

“I guess they thought they were. But Anna said she realized how sick it was, and she sent him a letter. She told Thomas it was wrong and she didn't want to live like that. She said they could either build a life together or he could marry you, but he couldn't have you both.”

“Wow. She was…she was going to steal him from me.”

“She thought he'd stay with you. She was trying to end it.”

“Well, that certainly didn't work out very well!”

“I guess he thought she was telling him she was ready to run away. When he called her…she couldn't believe it.”

Chloe stared out the windshield, stunned by the story. If this were a soap opera, she'd be the villain, the cold fiancée keeping Thomas from his true love.

“Chloe.” Jenn reached for her hand, but when Chloe instinctively drew away, Jenn put her hand back on the steering wheel. Beautiful houses slipped past the windows, white paint glowing in the cheerful morning light. Meanwhile, Chloe was driving through her own personal hurricane.

“He fell in love with someone else and I didn't even notice.”

“Anna thinks it was more about running away from his mother than it was about her.”

“Well, I'm happy Anna has such great insight into
my
fiancé. Did she help him embezzle money? Did she steal money from her father?”

“I don't know. She's cooperating with the district attorney. We didn't talk about that.”

Chloe swallowed hard. She stared ahead, not seeing the road. Instead, she saw the DeLorn Limited phone numbers flashing to life on her phone. “His mother,” she breathed. “What?”

“He stole that money from his mother. That's what the embezzlement charges are.”

“They haven't said what—”

“That phone call from his mom.
That's
what it was about. She's trying to convince the D.A. that she gave Thomas money, so they wouldn't charge him for stealing from the company.”

Jenn looked shocked, but Chloe was nodding to herself. “She wants to pay off the bills from the wedding. I'll bet she'll try to convince me to testify on his behalf. Jesus, she must be delusional.”

“I'm sorry,” Jenn said, though it wasn't clear who she was apologizing for. Chloe didn't respond, and for the last five minutes of their drive, neither said a word. But as the car bumped over the curb on the
turn into Chloe's alley, words were jolted from her mouth.

“I can't believe you didn't tell me.”

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just… I never wanted to see that look on your face. The look on your face right now… I'm sorry.” She was sobbing openly now. “I'm so sorry.”

Infuriated by the urge to wrap her arms around her friend, Chloe got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. If Anna was there, Chloe would slap her face, but slamming the car door was the best she could do in Anna's absence.

Her conscience tried to tug her back to her weeping friend, but she pushed herself up the stairs and into her sad little apartment.

Her defiance was cheap and easy now that the paparazzi had lost interest, but she still felt a surge of power when she raised the shade on the largest window facing the alley. Dust motes swirled crazily in the light. She hadn't opened this shade once in the month she'd lived here. Bracing herself, she pushed hard on the window and managed to raise the swollen sash about four inches. That was enough to satisfy her, and she crossed to the facing window and opened that one, as well. A breeze chased over her skin, and Chloe dropped into a chair at the small table and rested her head in her hands.

They'd all betrayed her. Everyone she'd loved most.

And yet the only thing that mattered to her at that moment was the breeze sliding over her skin and the room brightening with the smell of fresh-cut grass. She was too tired to care about anything else, frankly, and she knew she'd feel bad about that later.

But for now she just sat there and breathed and felt comfortable in her apartment for the first time.

When the knock came, Chloe didn't jump or even open her eyes. “Who is it?”

“It's Max.”

“Come in.”

The door opened, setting a wave of air curling over her. Nice.

“Chloe? Are you okay?”

“I don't know.” She raised her head to see him watching her with his hands in his pockets. And she decided she was ready for more truth. “Why did you leave yesterday?”

He tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Chloe…I don't know how to handle this. You
told
me to go. You told me you needed to work it out on your own.”

Even though he couldn't see her, she nodded. She
had
told him to go, so she couldn't figure out why she was so damn mad at him. “I didn't need
you,” she conceded. “And I know I told you to leave, but…”

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her again. “But what? Chloe, I swear, this is new territory for me. I'm lost. I can't take care of you, and you don't want to be taken care of! So what was I supposed to do?”

“You're supposed to…” It was impossible to explain. The words tumbled in her mind, still full of hurt and anger. “You're supposed to
stay,
Max. You stay because I don't need you. You stay because when someone tells you they're strong and they don't need help, you stand there and offer it anyway!”

“I don't—”

She was sobbing now, and she didn't care. “You stay because I
am
strong and I'm not a crazy bitch, and I deserve to have someone at my side, just because he c-cares about me!”

“Oh, Jesus, Chloe. I'm so sorry.” He crouched down to hold her, but she held up a hand to stop him. After a few ragged sobs, she took a deep breath and managed to get the crying under control.

“I'm okay. I'm fine.”

He watched her with tortured eyes, his hands still open as if he needed to touch her.

“Max…there's a difference between offering support and taking care of someone like a child. You're going to have to figure that out.”

“You're right. I know you're right.”

“You can't run away when there's a problem.”

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I've never done this before.”

“Done what?” She sniffed hard.

He was quiet for a moment. “Had a real, normal relationship.”

Suddenly, Chloe wasn't mad anymore. She wasn't even hurt. She held herself very still. “Is that what this is?”

“Well, it's real. And strangely enough, it feels surprisingly normal. But… Christ, Chloe, I'm going back to sea in a few weeks, so what the hell am I supposed to do about that?”

It felt real and normal? With her? On a day like this, that was all she needed to hear. Nothing more, nothing less. “Max, I hear what you're saying. I know our next conversation is going to get complicated. I know my life is a mess and so is yours. But just for today… Just for today, let's pretend it's all really simple.”

He stood and shook his head. “We already tried that. It didn't work out so well.”

Chloe watched his strong chest rise and fall. A few stray dust motes danced past his neck. She stood and went to him, pressing her hands to the tight muscles beneath his shirt. “Please? I can't figure anything else out today.”

“All right,” he murmured. “Not today.” His hands settled on her shoulders, thumbs feathering up her neck. “But you're totally taking advantage of my guilt.”

A grin stole her worry away. “I can accept that.”

“You don't want to tell me what happened with Jenn?”

“It wasn't her. That's all I want to say. Today, I'm too fragile to talk about any of that.”

“Fragile, huh?”

“Yes. And needy.”

“Chloe, you're full of shit.”

“Shh. Just pretend.” They were both smiling when their lips touched. It made no sense. She'd just had one of the worst days of her life, and she was dragging Max and all his issues down into it. But in the end, they both went willingly.

 

J
ENN RODE HOME WITH
the windows down, and by the time she reached her apartment in the suburbs of Richmond, she was pretty sure all her tears were dried. All of them. She felt as if she'd been crying nonstop for the past month, feeling sorry for herself even more than she'd felt bad for Chloe.

But now it was done. She'd confessed. And she'd heard a hard truth about herself. She was living her life afraid of becoming her mother. Hell, she'd
known that before, but it sounded so much more pitiful coming from someone else's mouth.

Chloe was right. Jenn had been raised to believe that all men were cheaters. How many times had her dad said that? “Men aren't wired to eat the same meal every day for the rest of their lives. They like variety.” Her mother had accepted that, and so had Jenn. Her mission hadn't been to save Chloe from being cheated on. It had been to keep the truth from being thrown in her face.

All men cheated, but the good ones kept it quiet. That was all Jenn had expected for herself or her friends. Utterly pitiful.

Jenn trudged up the stairs to her place, thinking she'd take a long bath and then sleep the day away. She'd called in sick to work and didn't feel the least bit guilty about that. She
was
sick.

But her plans for sleeping away her pain were over as soon as she opened the door and saw someone jumping up from the couch. Anna's familiar curly black hair was pulled back into a severe braid, and her makeup was smudged. She was the shortest of the three friends, only five-foot-one, but she'd always seemed taller—her energy pulsed from her wherever she went. But not today.

Jenn dropped her purse on the ground and held out her hand. “Give me the key.”

Anna clutched the key in her hand and didn't budge.

“I told her everything,” Jenn said. “She'll probably never talk to either of us again. So give me my goddamn key.”

Anna's eyes widened with shock. “If you'd let me tell her a month ago—”

“I should've told her
three
months ago, but I'm not going to let my stupidity take the blame for your betrayal. Now give me my key and get out. And don't ever come here again.”

“I'm sorry. I've ruined my life, too, you know. My dad is ashamed of me. Thomas won't return my calls. You're my best friend. I need you.”

In the past, Jenn would've relented at the sight of Anna's brown eyes brimming with tears. She couldn't stand to see people in pain, but right now her own pain was filling her up and there was no room for empathy, so she held her hand higher and watched as Anna skirted the couch.

The key was hot from Anna's grip when she pressed it into Jenn's palm.

“Wait,” Jenn said, and hope flashed over Anna's face. “Tell me about the embezzlement.”

“I can't. The D.A….”

“Did you help him?”

“No! I didn't know anything about it. He… We talked about living on an island in the Caribbean.
He'd fly one of those little tourist planes and I'd be a chef. We fantasized about how much money we'd need to get by for a little while, but I had no idea he'd— I thought we were just pretending. Jenn, please. I know what I did was—”

“Goodbye, Anna. And don't you dare call Chloe and try to explain your actions away. It's bad enough I've had to listen to it.”

Anna's shoulders slumped and she walked to the dining-room table to grab her purse. Even on this awful day, her purse matched her heels. Anna had been the fashion advisor for all of them, and if Jenn and Chloe were still friends after this, there'd be no more daylong shopping trips. It would just be the two of them, wearing out-of-season clothes at restaurants that hadn't been hot for years. Anna wouldn't be there to get them the best table or offer the latest Virginia gossip. It would never be the same again.

But Jenn would take that new form of their friendship and hold on with both hands if Chloe gave her the chance.

“I'll call you in a few weeks,” Anna said on her way out, but Jenn just closed the door. She toed off her shoes and walked carefully to her couch before lowering herself down. The soft leather swallowed her up, muffling the world, still warm from Anna's body.

Jenn had almost let her best friend marry a man
who'd cheated on her. She'd done it because, in the deepest, darkest recesses of her brain, she believed that even if you loved a man and gave him everything, he was going to betray you. Because even the best woman couldn't be good enough to satisfy a man.

If she didn't get past that, she'd live her whole life waiting to be betrayed. Waiting to have her heart broken. Like her mom, she'd never demand anything better for herself.

Key still clutched in her hand, Jenn tugged her phone from the pocket of her jeans and called up Elliott's message. She knew it by heart, of course, but she still listened to every syllable of his awkward words. He wasn't smooth. He wasn't charming. He was perfect.

Jenn pushed the call-back button and took a deep, terrified breath.

“Dr. Sullivan,” he snapped. The background of his life was filled with ringing phones and people talking over each other. Before Jenn could speak, he said, “Hold on a second,” and his voice turned away to ask someone to bring a copy of a revised report to his office before three. “Okay,” he said into the phone.