Looking for Trouble (20 page)

“Mrs.—”

“Why can’t you just leave him alone? He’s mine. You have your own husband, your own kids. Leave my family alone or I’ll tell everyone what you are!”

Sophie’s startled fear turned to a different kind of alarm. Something was very wrong here, beyond the fact that this woman had somehow broken into Sophie’s house. She hadn’t gotten off the couch, at least. She wasn’t charging at Sophie or trying to attack.

“Mrs. Bishop, where are Shane and Alex?”

“They’re at home where they should be. Where Wyatt should be. Why won’t you just give him back to me?” She began to cry, her face crumpling before she hid it in her hands.

Keeping a careful eye on the woman curled onto her couch, Sophie dug her phone from her purse and called Alex. There was no answer, but she waited for voice mail. “Alex,” she whispered. “Your mom is at my house and I think there’s something really wrong. Can you come by? Please?”

A tiny meow pierced the room just as she ended the call.

Rose’s head popped up. Her puffy eyes narrowed, then they focused on the furry gray ball that curled up at her feet. “Pastel?” she whispered. She picked up the cat and cuddled it close. Then she looked around as if she were trying to get her bearings.

“Mrs. Bishop?”

Her head came around and her eyes cleared. “You stole my cat.”

“What?”

“You little bitch, you stole my cat, as if everything else weren’t enough.”

Her heart dropped. Was that where Alex had
found
the kitten? At his mother’s? “Ma’am, I’m Sophie, not—”

“I know who you are!” she screeched. She pushed herself to her feet, the cat clutched tight to her bosom. “It wasn’t enough to co-opt my son, you took my cat, too? You’re a monster! You’ll be hearing from the police about this. I won’t put up with your vicious attacks anymore.”

“Mrs. Bishop,” she started, trying to gather her flying thoughts. “You broke into my
house
.”

“You’re a liar and a slut.” With that simple defense, Rose Bishop limped forward on her bare feet.

More than a little freaked out, Sophie moved sideways toward the kitchen, circling the path from the couch to the door. Rose watched her just as warily until she got to the door. She fumbled with it for a moment, and Sophie was faced with the bizarre decision of whether or not to unlock the door for her trespasser. But Rose finally realized the problem. She unlocked the door, then threw it open as if she were the one under threat.

A few seconds after she disappeared, Sophie tiptoed forward and carefully peeked her head out, half expecting the woman to be lurking in the corner of the porch. But the porch was clear and Alex’s mother was limping down the sidewalk toward her house.

Sophie was frozen, half crouched and clutching the doorjamb as she craned her neck to keep track of the woman’s progress. Was she delusional? Had she suffered some sort of spell?

“Shit,” Sophie breathed. “Holy shit.” What the hell had just happened?

She leaned farther out, but Mrs. Bishop was out of sight now, and Sophie felt suddenly guilty. What if she just kept walking and wandered out of town or into the street and got hurt?

When she stood and stepped outside, Sophie realized her hands were shaking. She laced her fingers together and held tight. “This is crazy,” she whispered to herself as she moved down to the walk and crept forward.

She caught sight of Mrs. Bishop just as the woman stepped into her house. The door closed behind her with a solid thunk that Sophie could hear from her house.

Now what?

She couldn’t just stay out here staring at the woman’s house. Someone would see her and add stalking to the epic tale of the Heyers versus the Bishops.

Sophie sprinted back into her house. She had no idea why she was the one feeling guilty. Rose was the criminal here.

Before she even got to her door, she heard her cell phone ringing and gave up any pretense of calm to sprint up the steps. “Hello?” she asked on a gasp. “Alex?”

The wind stole his voice for a moment, blowing into his phone and crackling into her ear.

“Alex?” she asked again.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just... I didn’t know who to call.”

“What happened?”

“I came home and your mom was in my living room.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I hope you called the police.”

“What? No. She wasn’t okay, Alex. She was confused.”

“She’s been confused for a long time.”

“I mean it! She thought I was my mom. She kept asking where her husband was.”

Alex sighed. “Listen, Sophie, I’m already on my way out of town. You’ll have to call Shane about it.”

The shock of the whole day must have finally caught up with her. Sophie nearly dropped the phone. Her knees went so weak that she had to sit down. He was gone? Just like that?

But of course he was. After today he wouldn’t have felt any obligation to even say goodbye to her. “Okay,” she finally managed to croak. “She’s home alone and I don’t think she should be. I’ll call Shane if you’ll give me his number.”

The wind caught his phone again. She wondered where he was. If he’d left right after that nightmare today, he could already be in Utah or Colorado or Idaho.

He said her name.

“Yes?”

“I said I’ll text you his number.”

“Thanks.” She hung up before she could say more. If she told him she was sorry, all the emotion inside her would come bubbling up. She was so damn tired, anything could’ve pushed her to tears, and hearing that he was already gone was more than just
anything
.

But she had to hold it together. She couldn’t crawl into her bed just yet. Or could she?

If Rose had been such an awful mother that her own son didn’t give a damn about her, did Sophie have an obligation to take care of her? Rose had been calling Sophie’s mom a slut and a whore and home wrecker for a quarter of a century. She’d transferred all that spite to Sophie. After all the awful ways Rose had tried to hurt the Heyer family, why help her at all?

But the devil on Sophie’s shoulder had nothing on the very loud angel sitting on the other. She checked her texts for Shane’s number, then closed them and checked again. Nothing. Just as she was checking a third time, her phone rang. Alex’s name popped up.

“I called Shane,” he said gruffly. “He’ll be at Mom’s within the hour. It’ll take me about that long to get back to town.”

“Okay.”

“I got a late start,” he said as if she’d challenged him.

“Sure. All right. I hope she’s okay. I’d offer to go over, but...”

“Yeah. You’d better not. I’ll see you in a while.”

He hung up before she could apologize, but she was thankful. She didn’t know what to say. The next forty-five minutes ticked by. She paced from the porch to the living room to the bedroom. She changed into yoga pants and brushed out her hair. She poured herself a glass of wine, then changed her mind. What if she had to file a police report or something? But she managed to screw that up, too, by spilling half the wine on herself when she tried to get it back into the bottle.
Reeks of alcohol,
any police report would start with.

Finally, just as dark was setting in, she heard the roar of Alex’s bike approaching. She opened the door before he even knocked.

“My brother says she seems normal. Whatever that is.”

“She’s not. Or she wasn’t. She was talking to me like I was my mother.”

“Sophie.” He ran a hand over his head, drawing her eye to the smooth skin. She shook her head and looked away, but he kept talking. “Her whole thing has been treating you like you’re your mother, right?”

“It wasn’t like that. She was confused. She was looking for your dad.”

“Again, pretty standard.” His words were hard. Removed. Far cooler than they’d ever been with her before. He was pissed. At her and his mother and the whole world.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He shook his head like he didn’t understand.

She felt a brief moment of irritation, but she knew it was ungracious. “About today. I’m sorry that I showed up and set her off.”

“Yeah.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “What the hell was that, Sophie? Why were you there?”

She’d thought she was ready to talk about it, but his questions made her insides quake. “I’m so sorry. My brother was...” She waved a helpless hand.

Alex stared hard at her. “He was what?”

“I don’t know. I was just trying to help.”

“Right. He’s your brother. You want to support him.”

“No!”

His eyebrows rose in question, but his mouth was still a flat, cold line of doubt.

“Alex, I wasn’t supporting him! I heard that he was there. I only wanted him to leave. That’s all. I didn’t... I’d never have gone. Never.”

His stiff shoulders relaxed a little. “What was he doing there?”

“I don’t know. He wanted to make a point.”

“What point?”

“A stupid point! How should I know? It was cruel of him and terrible and I only wanted to stop it. I’m so sorry, Alex.”

“Jesus. Don’t cry.”

She shook her head and swiped at her cheeks. “He thinks you’re his brother.”

Alex’s head drew back. “His
what?
”

“I guess there were rumors that he was your dad’s son. Like an idiot, he listened to them.” A little hiccup escaped her throat and she swallowed it back. “He looks like my dad, but I don’t think he got anything else from him. No dignity or work ethic or common sense... God, what am I going to do?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“No, but I have to live with it.” She blinked her tears away and caught his eye. “I’m sorry. This isn’t about me. Your mom. She needs help.”

“She’s always needed help.”

“I’ve been on the sharp end of her obsession for a long time, but this is different, Alex. This isn’t martyrdom or stubbornness. There’s something wrong.”

“Maybe. Or maybe she was just trying to freak you out. Do you think that’s beyond her? She broke into your house just a few hours after she called you a whore in front of the whole town. She’s nobody’s victim.”

“And after everything she’s done to me, I’m still worried about her. Why aren’t you?”

He didn’t answer her question. Instead, he dug his phone from his pocket and scrolled, looking angry that she’d even asked the question.

“And you didn’t tell me you stole her cat! I thought she was going to kill me!”

He grunted, but didn’t glance up from the phone. “She’s seeing her psychiatrist next week.”

“Good. Okay.”

“My brother’s texting me. I’d better get back.” He hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t say anything else. He only studied her face and then walked toward the door. “Thanks for calling.”

That was it. He was gone again. As far away as if he was still on his bike, heading anywhere but here.

Sophie locked the door, turned off the lights and crawled into bed. She couldn’t help anyone else today, not even herself. Tomorrow she’d try to clean up the mess. Again.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A
LEX PRETENDED THERE
wasn’t a kitten curled up and purring under his chin as he scowled at his brother. “We’ll see how she’s doing in the morning. I’m obviously not going to get out of town tonight.”

“You weren’t supposed to leave tonight anyway,” Shane countered. “What the fuck was that?”

“You were busy. There wasn’t any reason to stay.” The kitten nuzzled his throat. He gave up ignoring it and scratched the back of its head. The purring rumbled more loudly. “She’s sleeping?” he asked, tipping his head toward the back room.

“Yes.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.”

“What did Sophie say exactly?”

“That she kept asking where her husband was, as if Sophie was actually her mother. Has Mom ever done anything like that before?”

Shane shook his head.

“Yeah. Maybe it was an act. I wouldn’t put it past her. I mean, Jesus, she sneaked into Sophie’s house and waited for her to come home.”

Shane scrubbed both hands over his head. “I don’t know, man. We’ll see what her doctor says. Can’t you just stay? Maybe there’s something wrong. I know you think I’m as delusional as she is, but this summer it was almost like I was getting to know her again. I mean, before Dad disappeared, she was a real person with interests and hobbies—”

“And grudges and feuds,” Alex interrupted.

Shane smiled. “Okay, I’ll concede that she’s always been dramatic, but she was a whole person once, and it felt like she was inching back toward that. And this—” He swept a hand out to take in the whole room. “It wasn’t like this.”

“She’s obviously been saving this crap for years, Shane.”

“Yeah, but it was all in that little study.”

“You mean the room where she sleeps? On a couch instead of a bed?”

“She has a bedroom upstairs and she stopped using it. That’s my point. Things have gone south really quickly.”

Alex sighed, then winced when the kitten dug her claws into his collarbone. “Fine. I believe you. But I still don’t know what that has to do with me. Frankly, she’s practically a stranger to me.”

“We’re the only family you have.”

“Well, Jesus. Way to make me feel better.”

Shane laughed and reached for one of the beers he’d brought over. “I’ll sleep down here in the living room. There’s a spare bedroom upstairs, or you can stay at my place.”

Shit. Alex knew exactly where he wanted to stay, and even though he knew there wasn’t a chance in the world, making another commitment felt like sacrilege.

“So it’s true?” Shane asked softly after a moment.

“What?”

“You and Sophie?”

Alex cursed and tensed up so much that the kitten uncurled and went to sit on Shane’s lap. Alex’s neck was ice cold without her. “It’s not true that she’s a whore who has her claws in me, if that’s what you mean.”

“No. I mean there’s something between you.”

Alex shrugged.

“So...hell, yes?” Shane drawled.

“It’s temporary.”

“Clearly.”

Alex bristled, but he couldn’t say why. “She doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“Shit, it’s a little late for that, brother.”

Shit, indeed. The full damage of the day finally penetrated his thick skull. He’d been so wrapped up in his own anger that he hadn’t realized how screwed up everything had gotten. Of course Sophie hadn’t gone there willingly. She had to live in this town. She had to live with the fallout.

“Nobody will believe it,” he growled.

“You’re either joking or you’re an idiot. They’ll believe anything if it’s scandalous enough. Especially when it comes to our families.”

“Damn it.” He shifted and crossed his arms. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“It’s the twenty-first century. Women have sex.”

Right. But that wasn’t the point for Sophie. She wasn’t just a woman. She’d grown up in scandal. In a fishbowl. She needed to get the hell out of here, so she could be whoever she wanted to be.

“You want another beer?” Shane asked.

“No, I’d better hit the road.”

“Okay. I need to get over to Merry’s. She’s pretty torn up about today. She hates for people to be unhappy.”

Alex cracked a smile. He could see that. She always seemed cheerful. Carefree. Nothing that he could understand, but she definitely made him smile. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow, then.”

Alex made sure the kitten wasn’t following him before he slipped out the door, eager to escape and equally worried that he had nowhere to escape to.

It was late. She had no reason to see him. He’d stood there and watched her cry and done nothing. Jesus. Why hadn’t he seen what had happened to
her
today? He’d spent too damn much of his life on the defensive, worried about himself, guarding against others.

He’d been watching out for himself so long that he didn’t know how to take care of anyone else. Not even a damn kitten.

But he still wanted to be with Sophie tonight. He wanted to climb into her bed and draw her close and sleep like that. Just for one more night. That’d be enough. He’d make it enough.

Alex wasn’t often given to indecision, but he stood in the cold moonlight and stared down the street for a long while before he started toward her place.

She had no reason to let him in. All he could do was ask. And hope.

He breathed in the night air, crisp and clean and scented only with aspen. He’d been so familiar with that in his youth that it seemed too common to have forgotten. But he’d gotten used to the ocean smells of California and Alaska and most of the places he went. There were no aspen on the plains of Canada.

Alex inhaled and turned toward her house.

The windows were dark. Dark as the night around them. “Damn,” he breathed. He took out his phone.

Sophie? Are you awake? I’m outside...

Christ, that sounded pitiful. But he was pitiful, wasn’t he? Wandering around the dark streets of Jackson like a homeless dog. This place was bad for him. Diminishing or regressive or just sad.

She didn’t write back. He was almost relieved. He could go back to that hotel and feel sorry for himself, tell himself he was a damn victim. Carry on the legacy.

He texted one last time.
I’m sorry.
And started back toward his bike.

The porch light snapped on.

He spun on his heel.

“You were already gone,” she said, standing there in a T-shirt that came down to her thighs and hair that stood out in a wild mess.

“What?” Alex murmured, too distracted by the sight of her.

“You left. So what are you doing here now?”

“I was at my mom’s...”

“No. I mean you were headed out of town when I called. So why are you
here?
”

He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at this sort of thing. He’d left without a word, and he’d known it was wrong when he did it. “I came by,” he finally said. “More than once.” In fact, that had been the reason for his late start, though he couldn’t make himself admit that.

She watched him for a few long seconds, her face golden in the porch light but still impossible to read. Then she turned and walked away, but she left the door open. Alex refused to let his shoulders slump with relief. He kept his head up and stepped inside.

When he closed the door, it was dark again. He heard the creak of floorboards as she moved around. A light came on toward the back of the house and her shadow stretched out as she moved down the hallway.

Alex took one step forward, unsure if he should follow or not. A couple of days ago, he would’ve taken it as an invitation, but whatever her kinks were, he didn’t think ice-cold sex was one of them.

He was right. Her shadow reappeared, and then Sophie, her hair smoothed down a little and the T-shirt covered by a little pink robe edged in white lace. This was the Sophie he was more familiar with, but when she turned on the kitchen light, he saw the circles under her eyes and the tightness around her mouth. She looked so vulnerable without her makeup and hair twist and prim little heels.

“How is your mom?” she asked.

“She’s fine.”

“Is she really fine, or do you just want to get back on the road?”

Alex bristled, but he tried not to snap at her. He’d obviously woken her up and she was obviously pissed. She poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the kitchen counter. He noticed that she didn’t offer him a drink.

“I just wanted to apologize,” he said. “When I came by earlier, I was pissed about the dedication, and I didn’t think about what that scene meant for you.”

“You mean that everyone in town now thinks I’m a whore and a home wrecker just like my mom? No big deal.”

“Sophie—”

“No, it’s fine. You were upset. It makes sense that you were focused on yourself and your family. I get that. Except that I was worried about you and your family, too, so I guess I’m just a fool.”

“What am I supposed to say?” he asked. “I’m sorry it happened, but I didn’t do anything wrong. There was nothing I could’ve done to protect you today.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong either!” she bit out.

“Your brother—”

“My brother didn’t
do
anything. He was just there. That’s the way it’s always been. We can’t even
exist
because that’s offensive to her. Do you know what it’s been like, living with that?”

“I think I do.”

“I don’t know if that’s true. She’s on your side, Alex, and even that was unbearable to you. Imagine what it was like for me as a little girl, to hear all those rumors
she
started. And now she’s doing it to me! How am I supposed to live with that? My entire job, if I still have one, is dealing with the people of this town. Not cattle or horses or even tourists, but the people who live here and know everyone and everything. About
me
.”

“Then
leave,
” he bit out impatiently.

“What?” she snapped.

“Leave. You’re a grown woman now, Sophie. There’s no reason for you to stay.”

“No reason?” Her laughter was sharp as a whip. “I have reasons, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You don’t think there’s ever any reason to stay.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I’m pretty sure it is.”

“I had to leave,” he snapped. “This place was killing me just like it’s killing you.”

“My family needs me. You wouldn’t get that.”

It was his turn to laugh. “
I
don’t get it? You’ve given up your whole life to take care of two grown men who’d be fine without you. Jesus, Sophie. Live a little. For once!”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “I’m living just fine. Not everyone wants what you want.”

“Shit.” Alex glanced toward the dining room, then rubbed a hand hard over the back of his neck. “I saw the scrapbooks. Don’t tell me you don’t want more.”

She’d opened her mouth to snap back at him, but she stayed silent as her eyes went wide. Her head snapped toward the dining room, then her gaze shot back to him. “What?”

“You left one out. I saw the picture, the places. And the way you talk about traveling. Jesus, Sophie. You’ve got to leave this place behind. No one would know anything about you if you ever bothered to get more than an hour from home.”

“I know that!” she snapped. “You don’t have to tell me that. You think I’m so stupid that it hasn’t occurred to me?”

“Of course not. But I can’t figure out why someone as smart as you can’t see what she needs to do.”

“I’m not you, Alex. I don’t
need
to flee every serious relationship and live like a nomad.”

“No, you need to stay here to prove to yourself and everyone else that you’re a better woman than your mother was.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. He was pissed, she’d hit a nerve, and he’d decided to fight back. But he knew he’d gone too far even before she slammed her water glass down on the counter and stood up straight.

“Fuck you,” she growled. “It doesn’t have to be anything screwed up or pathological just because I love my family. My dad is a good man who needs my help. God knows my brother isn’t going to do anything for his family. He’s kind of like you that way.”

“Maybe he doesn’t feel like he owes his family anything more.”

“Well, I do.”

“Why?”

Her sigh was a quick, sharp breath of impatience. “Because I love my dad, Alex.”

“You say that like it’s an obvious explanation, but people who love their families still grow up and leave. They get married, they move away, they travel. They don’t just cut out pictures of places and glue them into books for their whole lives, Sophie.”

She stepped forward like she wanted to push him or hit him or slap him, but instead she pointed at the door. “Go. You already left once. That’s what you do, right? You leave when anything gets the slightest bit difficult. So leave. We’re not going to fuck, and that’s clearly what you came here for. ‘I didn’t really want to see you again, but I’m here now, so...’”

“I did want to see you again. I came by three times!”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I just—”

“Why would you want to spend time with some pitiful, dried-up loser who’s never been more than a few hours from home? My God, time must have really dragged when I wasn’t on my knees for you.”

“Damn it, that’s not what I meant at all. I meant that you’re amazing and interesting and you’re wasting your fucking life here.”

“You don’t know anything about it!”

“I know what’s out there, Sophie. I know what you could see and do if you’d stop being so damn terrified to leave. What do you think is going to happen? Do you think your dad won’t survive? Do you think he won’t love you anymore?”

She jerked back as if he’d slapped her, all the color draining from her face. “Shut up.”

“Hey.” He reached out to take her arm, but she pulled it away. “Sophie.”

“Just go.”

“You don’t really think that, do you?”

She shook her head, her jaw clenched tight.

“I’m sorry. It frustrates me that you’re so wild and bright and you’re stuck here like a bird with clipped wings.”

“I’m not
stuck
here. That’s how you see it because you can’t stay in one place for more than a month. I love people, Alex. I take care of them.”