Mosaic (35 page)

“Oh, it’s right. Trust me. I know.” She studied her friend’s bewildered expression. “Why are you asking me this?”

“When I came back… before I left for London again… Julian said they were together. He said he… Why would he say that if it wasn’t true?”

“Hang on.” Rachel sat at the table across from her. “When you came back from London the first time.
After
JYA? Julian told you he was with Renee?”

“Yes! Why would he do that if it weren’t true?” Her voice was rising in volume with her desperation. She had to know the answer to this question.

“Did he tell you that night we met at the bar?”

“No.” She remembered that night. She’d left, and he’d come after her. It had been… incredible. She was sure they would be together again after that night. Only they weren’t.

“When did he tell you then?” Rachel watched as her friend struggled with the memories. “Did he know about your job offer?”

The next day in the office, her brag to Will…

“He’d just found out.”
And he’d begun acting strangely.

“Is it possible,” Rachel cleared her throat, and her voice grew serious. “Maybe he did it because he knew you’d take the job?”

Anna was on her feet in an instant, pacing the courtyard. Her stomach cramped like it hadn’t in years. “I have to go. Where is he now? Do you know where he is, Rachel?”

She jumped up, brow lined. “No. I mean, I don’t know, but Brad could find out, I’m sure.”

“I need Brad to find out. I need him to find out now, and I need you to text me as soon as you know.” She dashed into the gym with Rachel right behind her.

Anna’s heart beat so fast. She wasn’t sure what she was about to do, but fate had dropped a load of bombshells in her lap this evening, and she knew from covering world news, when that happened it was time to act fast.

Stopping before she got too far, Anna caught her friend’s arm. “Rachel. Please don’t tell Brad I wanted to know.”

“Got it.” Her old roommate dashed off in the direction of her husband.

Gabi was easily found, sitting with her drama club friends and laughing about the Fabulous Lady G, her high school persona in her short-lived music video career.

“It only failed because I can’t sing!” Gabi cried. “They found out I was lip syncing the whole time, and that was the end.”

Anna caught her eye, and quickly waved her over. “I’ve got to go. Now. Do you want to stay a little longer and catch a ride? Or do you want me to take you home now?”

Concern registered on Gabi’s face. “Is Jules okay?”

“Oh my god!” Anna clutched her forehead. “I told Jules I wouldn’t be too late.”

“What’s going on?”

“I just found out something… I have to talk to Julian now.”

“I’ll find a ride. You go.” Gabi turned her friend’s body toward the door and gave her a shove. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got it covered.”

“Thanks, Gab.”

Chapter 4

Present Day

Him

He’d spent the entire day in his office, staring out the window, contemplating the past. His desk phone had rung, but he hadn’t answered it. His smartphone buzzed, but he didn’t pick it up.

He had a daughter.

She was an artist and a writer, and she walked exactly like his mother.

Why didn’t he know this?

Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. The night she left had been beaten into his memory with every strike of her fist against his chest. It burned across his cheek with the slap she’d given him. He’d stood there and let her, knowing everything he’d planted in her mind was a lie. His lie.

He’d lied to her and broken her heart. Of course, she didn’t tell him she was pregnant. But why hadn’t
somebody
told him? That question tormented him, but not as much as the idea that they were both here, short miles away, close enough for him to touch.

They were staying in that house. The memory of how many times he’d climbed that damn tree twisted a pain in his chest.

After so many years of telling himself he didn’t care, he was satisfied being alone, it was his choice, the idea that he could have a family with her was killing him. It was the most acute torture he’d ever known.

Would she come here and tell him? Or would she make him find out in front of everyone at a high school reunion event? He never remembered Anna as being that dramatic. She wouldn’t do that to their daughter.

Although he was discovering he was one of the few who didn’t already know. It was like damned history repeating itself. These damned small towns and their idiotic secrets. How could they keep something like this from a person?

Another hour passed, and still she didn’t come.

He stood and walked to the small table by his bookcase. On it was a crystal decanter and two heavy crystal tumblers. Even though it was early afternoon, he took the stopper out and poured a finger of scotch. Then he thought of his father.

Grabbing his suit coat off the back of his chair, he left the drink on his desk and walked out the door. “Mandie, I have to be gone for the rest of the day. Please take messages and send anything urgent to Will.”

“Yes, sir.” The pleasant young receptionist he’d hired was a nice change from the elitist blondes his older brother always installed at that desk.

Mandie was a friendly girl, who happened to be one of the most helpful staff members, and Will’s antics were starting to annoy him.

Before getting into his Audi, he pulled out his smartphone and sent a text to Lucy.
Can’t make it tonight. Will see you tomorrow at PIV. Please apologize to Rachel for me.

He’d see his sister and her mob of children tonight, and it always lifted his mood. For years, he’d played backup father to them. Not that Rob did a bad job. It just kept him from feeling so alone. Had Lucy always known? He didn’t want to think about it.

Pulling into the circular drive, he went into the huge mansion that was now his parents’ joint residence, when his mother wasn’t staying in the old home out on Port Hogan Road. Why she held onto that place was beyond him, but he’d given up trying to figure out that woman. At Anna’s and his father’s request, he’d put the past behind him and drawn closer to her again. Or as close as authenticity allowed.

She was in New Orleans at one of her art showings this weekend, but his dad had stayed behind. Julian found Bill Kyser sitting out on the flagstone patio of his huge estate, looking toward the east.

“Dad?” He walked up and touched the man’s shoulder.

“Julian.” His dad eased himself out of the chair and hugged his son with a little less strength. The warmth that glowed in his father’s blue eyes every time they were together had gone a long way to heal the anger Julian had felt growing up.

“How are you feeling?” He sat across, facing his dad.

“Tired, like shit as usual, but that’s part of getting old, isn’t it? There’s even a song written for it. What a drag it is getting old.”

Julian laughed. “Sixty is not old, Dad.”

“Boring topic.” Before returning to his chair, his father walked over to the small table holding a decanter of scotch. He pulled the stopper and poured two fingers in each crystal tumbler, bringing one to his son. “What’s on your mind?”

Julian took the drink and turned it in his hand, thinking. His father knew about his child, he had no doubt. He also had no doubt his mother had forbidden him to say anything to Julian, and the entire family knew Bill Kyser did not cross Lexy.

He leaned back and put his ankle over his knee, thinking how to broach the subject. “I had an unexpected morning.”

“Contractor giving you hassle? I’ll take care of it if you want me to. I know all these assholes. I gave half of them their start in one way or another.” Then he glanced up at his son. “But you’ve never needed my help that way. You’re a great businessman on your own.”

Julian’s brow relaxed with a smile. “Thanks, Dad.” He sat forward then, putting his forearms on his knees. “It’s not a contractor. It’s a daughter. Apparently, I have one.”

His dad was still for a moment then he took a pull off his drink. In that moment, all the uncertainties became clear. Julian was the last to know.

Bill cleared his throat and sat straighter in his chair. “That wasn’t a question.”

His son stood and placed the untouched scotch on the small table. Walking to the edge of the patio, he stared at the eastern view. It faced Florida and other points along the south Alabama coast.

The more he thought about the entire situation, the more he felt an internal shift. His goals were changing, what he wanted. He didn’t want to be angry with anyone anymore. He didn’t care about holding onto the past. He wanted his future.

Turning back to his father, he had a new question on his mind. “You and Mom were apart for what? Seventeen years?”

His father’s brow lined. “One could argue we were never together. But I guess you could say that. We didn’t talk much for about that long.”

Julian nodded. “When you
did
come back together, how did you make it work after being apart for so long? After so much had happened? I’m sure you both had changed a lot.”

Bill considered this. It wasn’t the question he’d anticipated his favorite son asking, but it was one he was ready to answer.

“Your mother and I spent a long time punishing ourselves for a mistake we made as kids. Our love broke a lot of lives, and we both sort-of… shut down that part of who we were.” He took another sip of scotch, while his son waited. “When we came back together, that part, well, it was like it came right back to life. Like no time had passed. Granted, we’d raised families during the time we were apart, and she was clearly a better parent to you than I was to any of my children—”

“That’s not right, Dad. You tried so many times—”

“Thanks for saying that, son, but I do know what I’m talking about better than you do.”

Julian turned and walked to the railing again.

His father chuckled. “I spent so many sleepless nights killing myself over the notion that Lexy might marry someone else. I was sure I’d throttle any man you called Dad who wasn’t me. I was so screwed up. I believed I’d earned the right to be your father after all I’d sacrificed.” His voice dropped lower. “I was such a self-centered jerk.”

Julian went back to his father and sat in the chair facing him. Then he leaned forward and caught his hand. “I think we’re all pretty self-centered at some point in our lives. The important thing is that we see it and change. Yes?”

“We were all pretty broken by what I did. But love came in and filled the cracks, and I think we’re stronger now.” His father softened. “You have always been the best thing that came out of that tragedy.”

His son smiled and looked down.

“So.” Bill slapped the top of his thigh. “What do you want, Julian? Tell me what you want.”

A few moments passed as the youngest Kyser turned the question over in his mind. Then he looked up at his father. “I want her.”

His father nodded, but Julian wasn’t finished. “I want what’s mine. I want my daughter, my family.” He exhaled and leaned back. “But more than any of that, I want her.”

Bill gripped his hand, pulling him close. Their blue eyes met, steel against steel. “Then go get her.”

Julian stood, but before he left, he added. “I love you, Dad.”

Bill smiled. “I love you, son. I’ve always been proud of you.”

Chapter 5

Anna didn’t know where she was going, driving away from the reunion with only a promise of a text. All she knew was the worlds were crashing in on her now. All the broken pieces were finding their way back together, and it was all making sense in a way it never had before.

Rachel’s words stood out strongest in her mind—why he’d lied to her.
Maybe he did it because he knew you’d take the job.

“Julian…” Her voice was a frustrated plea in the silent car as she drove down the beach road, trying to decide what to do. “Where are you?”

She’d never find him this way. Common sense wasn’t what pulled the two of them together. It had never made sense that he would understand her like he did, or that he would wait for her the way he did.

Slowing the car down, she made a U-turn and headed back in the direction of their beach shelter. The place she’d sat and realized he was standing beside her all along. Where she’d realized she would follow him anywhere because she trusted him. Where she’d taken his hand and let him teach her to surf.

Parking the car, she ran out to the Romar beach pavilion. It was dark, and the sky was black with clouds obstructing the moon. No one was there. The storm was growing, and most visitors and locals were safe in their homes. She ran toward the sound of the waves crashing. If the sun were out, he’d be riding those waves. At least, he would have been back then.

Slowing down at the water, she remembered another night they were here together. They were so desperate for each other, but he’d refused to do more until he knew who his father was. She’d spun around and screamed at the high rises. He’d jumped into the ocean to cool off…