Maybe Baby (33 page)

“He saved your life, Tylar. Charlie was on your bed, choking the life out of you. Mark got to him, pulled him off of you, and beat the shit out of the maggot,” he hissed.

“You were naked from the waist down. We didn’t know whether Charlie…”

“No,” I croaked. “He didn’t—please say he didn’t.”

It all came flooding back to me in that moment. I felt nauseated. Trey came right to me, sitting down on the bed and taking my hand into his. Oh, it felt so good to be touched by Trey again.

“No, he didn’t. We know that now, sweetie,” he said gently. “The hospital did tests and you weren’t sexually assaulted.”

He paused for a moment.

“When you got to the hospital, I stayed by your side the whole time. Mark stayed at your cottage until the sheriff’s deputies arrived. Charlie was arrested and he’s in jail now, where he belongs. Mark gave a full report to the sheriff. Obviously it was Charlie who left those things at your cottage. We don’t know why.”

I knew that I could fill in some of those details, although not all of them. Trey still had hold of my hand. His fingers brushed lightly against my thumb. He did not meet my eyes.

“Tylar, the initial tests the hospital ran on you to determine if Charlie had raped you…well…I know your secret now.”

What was he talking about, my secret? My secret what? I looked over at him; he stared at our interlocked hands.

“It appears as if Mark doesn’t know. Do you plan on telling him or have you decided to terminate the pregnancy? I know that it's none of my business, but you're seven weeks along. You need to make a decision one way or another, don’t you think?”

Pregnancy? Oh. My. God.

I'd suspected something was wrong with me, but I hadn’t figured pregnancy into the equation. My periods were late sometimes; I'd been under tremendous stress recently. There was just the one time that we hadn’t used a condom. It was that night in the stable, that magical night that had suddenly turned ugly and humiliating, at least for me.

Wait a minute…

Trey believed I was pregnant
by Mark?
How could he possibly think that? Logic would dictate that even if I
had
slept with Mark (which of course I hadn’t) the timing would still be suspect as to which of them had fathered the child I was carrying.

Was it possible that Trey didn't remember that night in the stable? I studied his face and I could tell that he was clueless. It would almost be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. He was watching me now, his blue eyes looked pained. What gave him such pain? Was it the fact that he thought I was carrying another man’s child? Was it simply the thought that I'd been with someone else? I liked that he felt pain right now. I wanted him to feel it like I had that night in the stable; the night he’d so conveniently forgotten.

I whispered, “Of course I intend to have this baby.”

His face fell. I crushed him with those words, I could tell. He looked defeated. Good, I wanted him to feel that way.

“I take it that you haven’t told Mark yet, otherwise I'd find it difficult to believe he'd allow you to continue riding.”

I didn’t answer him. I really didn’t know what to say.

“Tylar, how you choose to handle this situation with Mark is clearly your business. However, I can't permit you to ride the horses or care for them. There's a liability issue at stake here.”

He stood up to leave. Part of me wanted to blurt the truth out to him, but the other part of me stubbornly remained silent.

“As soon as you’re well enough, some detectives will be here to question you. They've also collected evidence at your cottage. Hopefully, we can determine Charlie’s motivation in attacking you and if there are others behind it as well.”

I was certain there was at least one other person behind it. I hoped the detectives were grilling Charlie thoroughly. I needed some answers too.

“Take care, get some rest.” He left the room.

Chapter 32

I was released two days later from the hospital with strict orders to remain on complete bed rest for the next several days. My pregnancy wasn't at risk. True to Trey’s word, two detectives had come to the hospital to take my statement. I told them only what had occurred that night. I didn’t tell them that Charlie had attacked me when I was thirteen; as far as I knew, Trey had not put that together yet either. I didn’t want to delay my departure by having to stick around Bristol. I'd made plans and was eager to leave town.

Denise had picked me up from the hospital. She offered to let me stay with her and Ray, but I really didn’t want to impose. I'd be fine back at my cottage. My front window had been repaired with a new screen. Everything was in order.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were pregnant?” she asked.

“Because I didn’t know and that's between you and me, okay?”

She nodded; I could see her mind working. “Is Mark the father?”

I wasn't going to confirm or deny anything to Denise. Her allegiance to Ray was much stronger than any allegiance she might have to me. Ray’s allegiance was to Trey, period. I ignored her question altogether. She walked me to my cottage. As soon as I climbed up onto the porch, the front door opened.

“What kind of a mess did you get yourself into this time, girlfriend?”

“Gina!” I exclaimed, immediately giving her a huge hug.

“I’m here for the week,” she announced, “and I'll be staying right here with you to make sure you follow the doctor’s orders, understand?”

“That's fantastic,” I replied.

Denise gave me a quick hug, telling me she would check on me later. I thanked her for all that she'd done for me, once again.

After she left, Gina ordered me to lie down on the couch. She got a pillow and blanket for me, and I allowed her to help me get comfortable. I knew that she wanted to talk, and I was ready now. I filled Gina in on what had happened the night Charlie assaulted me. I let her know that Charlie was the one who'd left the jewelry, the ripped up silk pajamas, and the notes, and he was most likely the one who’d taken the picture of Mark and me kissing and sent it to Trey.

I told Gina everything about what happened when I was thirteen concerning Charlie and my mother, explaining that I hadn’t recognized him all these years later because it had been dark in my room that night eight long years ago.

There was just one more revelation I had to share with Gina. I wasn’t sure how much she already knew. “Gina, I’m almost two months pregnant,” I said, very matter-of-factly.

“Seriously?” she screamed, hugging me closely. “That's so fucking fantastic, Ty. You know your baby is gonna be beautiful, don’t you? I mean look at you, and look at Trey? I can think of only one other couple who might have a baby that comes close.”

“Let me guess,” I laughed, “Ian and Gina?”

“You got it, girlfriend.”

“There’s just one thing: Trey doesn’t know he’s the father.”

“What the fuck do you mean?”

I knew she was going to go all east coast on me with that last revelation. I explained to her in as much detail as I was comfortable with what had happened the night in the stable.

“He was pretty wasted that night, Gina. He had an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels when I found him. I think he was blacked out. Is that possible?”

“Hell, Ian claims some of the best sex he gets from me is when I’m passed out, so who knows? I think anything’s possible with Jack. But hey, aren’t you going to tell him?”

“I don’t think so. You have to promise to keep this our secret, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, but who does he think the father is?”

“Mark.”

“Holy shit. If you leave like you’re planning, how do you think he’s going to treat Mark? I mean, I know Trey's a jealous maniac, but come on, if he thinks Mark's not standing by you in your time of need, don’t you think Trey's going to make him pretty miserable?”

“I haven’t figured that part out yet. It may not even be a problem. With Trey’s parents back from Europe, I've a feeling that he’s going back to Atlanta for good. He may not be back until next summer. I’m told that's pretty much his routine. Besides, Mark planned on moving on after the fall competition.”

We let the discussion drop, as Gina went to the kitchen to make lunch for us. While she fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, I looked over my finances. Over lunch, we discussed my plans. She wanted me to come back to Atlanta with her to stay.

“Gina, that’s not possible, but you're so kind to offer.”

“How will we ever see each other?” she wailed.

“We'll make it a priority to see each other. After all, you're going to be a Godmother.”

“Really, Ty?”

I could tell that she was delighted at the prospect. “I’m going to need your help with this.”

“Name it,” she said.

“Over the next few days while you’re here, I need you to kind of nose around. I need to know when Trey returns to Atlanta. For all I know, he may have already returned.”

“Okay, what then?”

“When we know he’s not up at the manor, I need you to take my car keys and get my car out of the fourth garage up at the manor. I’ll give you the code.”

“Whoa, hold up there sister - why me?”

“Because I've never met Trey’s parents. If they see me up around there, they’ll think I’m stealing it. They know you.”

“Yeah, but just because they know me, how would I explain taking a car that's not mine out of their garage?”

“You can tell them it’s mine, and that you’re a friend and Trey was letting me park the car there temporarily. Tell them I’m letting you borrow it while you're in town. Once you have the car, come pick me up and we'll take it to a dealership.”

“For what?”

“I’m going to trade it in for something more practical.”

“Oh fuck, Trey will kill you.”

“Hey, it’s my car. It was his gift to do with what I please.”

“You know you’re going to lose your ass on it if you don’t sell it outright, don’t you?”

“I don’t have that kind of time.”

“Whatever. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

The following day was Friday. Gina went down to the office to chat with Aunt Becky. She promised to see what she could find out. I made her take my keys just in case. I had my cell phone plugged into the charger when Gina called.

“Yeah, what you got?”

“Oh dear God, Ty, who are we? Cagney and Lacey?”

“Who?” I asked.

“Never mind. Hey, Trey's back in Atlanta and I have your car out here next to the stables. Come on down.”

I grabbed my purse and the title to my Mercedes and met Gina down past the stables. Gina was in the driver’s seat with the engine running. I got in quickly and fastened my seat belt.

“Where to?” she asked.

“To the dealership on Volunteer Parkway.”

An hour and a half later, I was driving my new Hyundai Santa Fe Limited Edition down the highway toward the manor. Gina sat in the passenger seat, “tsking” away at me.

“You realize that the deal you just made cost you about twenty grand, right?”

“It didn’t cost me a dime,” I answered her. “I’ve got this nice new SUV with all the trimmings, and a check for ten grand made out to me. I’m happy with the deal.”

“You traded that nearly brand new car in for way less than its current book value. I mean what the hell?”

“Gina, it wasn’t practical. I need a car suitable for the baby and me. I need something that I can cart my stuff back up to Radcliff in that won’t cost me a fortune to insure and maintain.”

“I just don’t know what the hurry is,” she replied. “You could have sold the car in a couple of days by asking maybe just five grand under book value.”

“I can’t focus on that right now. We still have lots to do.”

“Like what?” she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

I filled her in. By the end of the day, my change of address was put through, my bank accounts were emptied, I had my new car insured through a local agency in Louisville, and the utilities at the house in Radcliff were in my name. I contacted the Washington County prosecutor’s office to let them know I was leaving the area and provided my new address.

We vegged out the rest of the weekend, packing up things here and there. Gina did a great job of keeping visitors away. Mark had stopped by a couple of times and Gina had lied, telling him I was asleep. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to leave and start my new life without reminders of my old one.

My pregnancy hormones must’ve kicked in heavy duty. Little things made me cry at the drop of a hat, yet other things, like trading in Trey’s gift for something practical, hadn’t bothered me at all. Gina said it had something to do with the nesting instinct she'd read about with being pregnant.

By Monday morning, everything I owned was packed up and ready to go. I was leaving earlier than Gina, but I needed to be on my way. If I stayed much longer, I was afraid people would start connecting the dots.

We programmed my destination into the GPS in my new car and linked my cell phone to the Bluetooth. I planned to drop Gina at Becky’s house on my way out of town.

As we pulled out of the long, winding driveway and onto the two-lane highway, we'd only gone a few hundred feet when we passed Trey in his Lamborghini. He was alone. I was glad. Thankfully he didn't recognize my new vehicle. When I saw his face for maybe the last time, my eyes filled with tears.

“Gina,” I sobbed, “Take the wheel for a minute.”

She undid her seat belt, leaning over and taking the steering wheel while I fought my emotions. She steered the vehicle safely into the drive at her aunt’s house. Once we stopped the car, Gina cut the engine.

“For the love of God, Tylar, are you sure you don’t want to tell Trey the truth about all of this?”

“I'd love nothing more than to tell Trey about this if I didn’t already know how he feels about ‘happily ever after’ and commitments, which he equated to a ‘hangman’s noose.’ Trey believes that people are dynamic and the best that they can expect is what's in the present.”

“That’s rubbish and you know it. Spoken like a guy who’s had his heart broken. We’ve all been there. How cynical do you plan on getting with your own heartbreak? I respect your decision to not tell Trey, but don’t sell him short. I still believe that, in his own fucked-up way, he loves you. Think about it, please?”