Broken Love (26 page)

“I only hope that Ava and I are as blessed as you and Mom.”

“You are. I see it in the way that girl looks at you. Hell, the very first time the two of you were together in a room I’m positive everyone saw it.”

The light knock on the door caused us both to turn and look. Ava grinned and said, “Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’m feeling rather tired and was going to excuse myself.”

I jumped up. “Thanks again, Dad. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Sounds good. I’ve got that meeting in town I’d like for you to be there for.”

With a nod, I replied, “Sure. I’ll be there.”

“Good,” was all he said as he glanced over to Ava. “Rest up, sweetheart. Glad to have you home.”

“It’s good to be home,” Ava said with bright eyes.

By the time we got to the stone house, Ava was a basket of nerves. I was tempted to tell her I didn’t want to know anything that came out of Kate’s journal, but my curiosity was getting the better of me.

She sat down on the sofa and wringed her hands together.

“Jesus, Ava. You’re kind of starting to freak me out. Did my sister do something illegal?”

Her eyes snapped up to mine. “What?” Frowning, she said, “No. God no, it’s nothing like that.”

I pulled a seat from the dining room table over and sat down facing her. “Then tell me what it is.”

“Okay well, I wasn’t sure if I should keep this to myself but I can’t. I need to tell you and the only way I know how to do it is to just say it.”

My heart was pounding so hard in my chest it felt like it was going to jump out. “All right.”

“Kate was pregnant when she died.”

I sat there for a few seconds letting her words sink in.

“What did you say?”

She sighed, “Oh gesh, don’t make me say it again, Ryder.”

Staring at her, I felt my chest squeezing tighter, like someone had a damn vise grip on it.

The only thing I could do was stare at her. My sister was pregnant.
Oh God. We not only lost her, but we lost her child as well.

“Do you need me to really say it again?”

I shook my head. “No,” I barely spoke.

Scraping my hands down my face, I let out a frustrated sigh. “What in the hell?” Dropping my hands back down, I hit Ava with question after question.

“How far along was she? Why didn’t she tell anyone? Did Jackson know?”

Ava took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I don’t think she was that far along, I’m not sure why she hadn’t told y’all yet other than she thought she had time to figure things out first and then tell everyone. Yes, Jackson knew and he had asked her to marry him.”

“What?” I stood up. “She was only a senior in high school! What in the fuck did she think she was going to do with a baby?”

Ava stood. “Ryder, getting mad about it is not going to make you understand anymore. Your sister was in love with Jackson; they made love in this house more than once and they were going to have a child. The only person who can really answer your questions is Jackson himself.”

I shot my head in her direction as my heart sank. “What? Have you talked to him?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “No! Of course not.”

I walked back and forth not knowing how I should be feeling. My sister was pregnant
. Oh my God. Why did you take them from us?

My throat was burning from the tears I was trying to hold back. I’d never really allowed myself to cry over my sister’s death.

Jumping when I felt Ava’s hand on my arm, I pulled her to me and wrapped her up in my arms. Not being able to hold back my emotions, I let my tears fall as I whispered, “Why did he take them from us, Ava? Why?”

I SAT ON the sofa in the little stone house and stared down at Ryder. He had completely lost it. I’d never seen him so emotional before, and a part of me wondered if I had made a mistake in telling him about Kate’s baby.

Then I realized what was happening. Ryder was finally allowing himself the chance to cry. It was as if the reality of his sister’s death hit him in that moment and he decided to stop pretending Kate had gone away, and accepted the fact that she was gone forever.

My phone buzzed. Picking it up, it was from an unknown number.

Swiping it, I softly said, “Hello?”

“Ms. Moore?”

“Yes, this is Ava Moore.”

“This is Parker, the caretaker of the house in Helena.”

This was strange. Why was he calling me?

“Yes, hello. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing well. Ms. Moore, I know the last time you were at the house we chatted about its history. You had asked me if Kate ever came to the house alone and I couldn’t remember.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. “Yes. I was wondering that. You know she was so intrigued by Lizzy and Robert’s love story as am I.”

Ryder moved about some, but didn’t wake up.

“Yes, she was. Well, I remembered something. I’m not sure why I had forgotten it, maybe because Kate’s death was just a couple days after.”

“What!” I practically screamed.

Parker cleared his throat. “Kate had come to the house. She called and said she was doing a family research paper and would be staying the night in the house. I remember thinking nothing of it. I didn’t normally call Mrs. Montgomery to ask if the kids could stay, because they often did. They are such good kids, you know.”

I tried to keep my voice steady. “Yes I know they are. So, Kate came and stayed at the house. Was she alone?”

“To the best of my memory, yes. She was alone. I do know that was the first time young Kate had stayed at the house alone, but she mentioned her beau would be stopping by later for dinner.”

Why would Kate and Jackson stay the night at the house in Helena?
It’s not like they needed a place to be together.

“One more question, Parker. Do you remember what room she stayed in?”

“Oh yes, the master bedroom. Why?”

Lizzy and Robert’s.

“Just curious. Thank you so much, Parker.”

“Your welcome. Did you and Mrs. Montgomery enjoy the old letters from Lizzy and Robert?”

My mind was spinning. There was something missing to all of this. I had felt like there was something Kate was hiding the moment I started reading her diary. At first I thought it was a long-lost secret of Lizzy’s. When I found out she was pregnant, I thought that was it, but it wasn’t. There was something else and I could tell by how conflicted her words were in her diary. I needed to find out what it was.

“Um … oh yes, the letters. They are amazing! We have a few left to read. Did you say that Kate had come to the house before? Was it with her sisters or brothers?”

“Yes, they would come together. Young Kate loved exploring the old house.”

That much I had figured out. Kate must have stumbled upon the letters while exploring. She wrote about some of the things that were in the letters in her own diary.

“Well, it’s an amazing house to say the least. The letters have helped a lot in getting to know Lizzy and Robert.”

“Wonderful! Wonderful. Okay, well that was all I needed to say. Just let me know when you’ll be coming to the house again.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

I bumped Ryder to wake him up. “Yes, Ryder and I will be heading there tomorrow. He has a business meeting in town, so I think we’ll stay the night.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be sure the heat is turned up for you then.”

Ryder sat up and looked at me with a dazed look. “Thanks, Parker. Have a nice night.”

I hung up the phone and stood. “I think there was something else Kate was hiding. I’ve felt it from the very moment I found her diary. I thought the pregnancy was it, but I can’t shake this feeling there was something else.”

“Oh God,” Ryder moaned. “I don’t know if I can take anymore secrets being found out.”

“I’m going with y’all tomorrow to Helena. Can we stay the night at the house?”

Ryder lifted his eyebrow. “Yes. Why?”

My face curved with a smile. “We’re going exploring.”

“DON’T EXPLORE WITHOUT me.”

My jaw dropped. “That’s like asking me to never eat chocolate again!”

Ryder furrowed his brows. “Really? I’m just asking that you don’t try to find anything until I get back.”

“What am I supposed to do until you get back?”

He shrugged. “See if Jennifer wants to meet for lunch. Or Dani and the baby.”

Dani had a little girl a few days after Christmas she named Lindsay. She was adorable and the moment I held her in my arms, something weird happened. I wanted a baby. Not that I would
ever
admit that to anyone.

“I guess I could do that,” I somberly said.

Pulling me closer to him, Ryder held my eyes with his. “I want to be here if you find something.”

His eyes looked so sad. There was no way I would ever go against his wishes. “I’ll call Jennifer and Dani. Maybe they can both sneak away for lunch.”

His hand came up to my face where I leaned into it. “Thank you.”

Smiling, I closed my eyes and let the moment between us settle in my heart.

“One more thing.”

Opening my eyes, I looked at him skeptically. “What?”

“I called Jackson.”

Gasping, I replied, “When?”

“This morning. I asked him if he would join us for dinner. I didn’t ask him to come to the house. Not really knowing what happened here between them, I wasn’t sure how he would feel.”

“That was sweet of you to think that way. What are you planning on saying to him?”

I couldn’t imagine how Ryder was feeling or what he was even thinking. Even more so, I couldn’t imagine what information he thought he would get from Jackson.

“I’m not sure. I guess I want to ask him about the baby. Was Kate scared? Was she happy? What in the hell were they thinking?”

With a slight frown, I placed my hands on his chest. “Will you do me one favor?”

His face softened. “Of course.”

“Remember he suffered a loss as well and he had to hide part of that loss. Put yourself in his shoes, Ryder. He lost the girl he loved and his child.”

His eyes fought back the tears that were welling up. “I know. I promise I’ll remember that.”

Reaching up on my toes, I gently kissed him. “You better go before you’re late.”

With a nod, he replied, “I’ll call you when the meetings over.”

Following him back out to his truck, I watched him drive off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vanessa. Peeking over, I watched her wave and smile as Ryder drove off.

Ugh.

Before she could see me, I quickly turned and headed back into the house.

“Ava? Ava wait!”

Shit. Put on your happy face, Ava.

Plastering on a fake ass smile, I turned to face her.

“I thought that was you. I see you got your cast off.”

The way she made her breasts bounce when she walked turned my stomach. She was the last person I wanted to see and probably the only reason I would not ever move into this house permanently. “Yep, I got it off about two weeks ago.”

She let out a fake chuckle. “I bet you’re happy to get it off.”

I wiggled my eyebrows and replied, “I am. It makes everything so much easier. Even Ryder agrees.”

Her smile faltered for a moment. “What brings you and Ryder here?”