Coming Home (29 page)

Stacy sighed and backed up.

“Whoa! Stacy and I have never had sex.” Ryan looked at me. “How
could you think I would cheat on you? And with Stacy.”

“I saw the video.”

“You’re no prize, lover boy.” Stacy’s eyes got huge. “There’s a
video?”

We all started talking at once. Matt was upset and wanted to know
how many other people were having sex in the office. Vicki was trying to calm
Matt down and keep him quiet so we could get to the bottom of this. Ryan was
professing his innocence, and I was telling him I saw the proof.

Stacy burst into tears. “It was Ben! Ben and I had sex in the
conference room.” She covered her face as her shoulders shook.

Of course, it was Ben. I knew it was Ryan’s suit, Ryan’s watch,
and Ryan’s build, but how could I have thought that it was Ryan? I was suddenly
pissed at Charlie because he would have known it wasn’t Ryan. He would have
seen the entire video and not just the clip he showed me. Why would he want to
hurt me like that? I thought we were friends. I felt really bad for not
thinking this through before confronting them. I walked by Ryan and wrapped my
arms around Stacy. I’d never seen Stacy cry before which only added to my
guilt.

“I’m so sorry, Stacy. I’m just so sorry.”

She turned away at first and then turned back to hug me. “I told
Ben about the time you and Ryan got busy in your office and that made him crazy
turned on.” She pulled back a little and looked at me. “When he was finally
willing to go the next step, I wasn’t going to stop him.” Stacy smirked.

“Wait.” Vicki looked at Ryan. “You had sex with Rebecca in her
office?”

I turned around. “You knew that. You even laughed about it.”

“I most certainly did not. I don’t know what I was thinking or
laughing at, but we would have had a very serious discussion about it—that I
can assure you. And we will have once we get home.” Vicki crossed her arms in
full mom mode. I had a feeling I was going to get grounded even more than I
already was.

Stacy started to leave. “I’ll clear out my desk.”

Vicki stopped her. “You’re not going anywhere.” Stacy looked at her.
“We can’t very well fire you for something we’ve done.”

Stacy, Ryan, and I each responded at the same time. “Eww.”

“Oh, stop it.” Vicki turned and pointed at me. “It doesn’t mean
you’re off the hook.” She turned to Stacy. “Stacy, you’re not fired. Let’s just
agree to keep private acts private and not bring them into the office.” She
looked at everyone. “All of us.”

Much to Ryan and Matt’s discomfort, we all sat and discussed the
video and why I thought it was the two of them. Apparently Ben had borrowed a
suit from Ryan to attend a meeting in hopes of securing more funding for the
group home. We then discussed why it was even shown to me. I didn’t want to get
Charlie in trouble, but I didn’t know why he thought I wouldn’t find out it was
Ben.

Matt said he would talk to Charlie and see why he did what he
did. He also said he would remind him that the video surveillance is for
security and not bloopers. I could tell he would watch the bloopers now,
though.

Ryan couldn’t wait to get me out of the room, and I was afraid of
that discussion. I did wrongfully accuse him of sleeping with Stacy. I was sure
he was furious, and he had every right to be. I was kind of hoping I was
grounded and couldn’t be alone with him until he cooled off.

Stacy seemed to be a little better with it. She was still
uncomfortable, no doubt since she knew there was a video of her out there now,
but at least she wasn’t furious with me and not scared of getting fired.

It didn’t take as long as I had hoped, but Ryan finally got me
alone. At first, he wouldn’t say anything and that just made things worse. I
sat and stared at him, waiting for him to start yelling. He never did yell.

“Why did you tell Stacy about . . .” He pointed to the table.

“That’s what you’re upset about?” I couldn’t believe it. “I thought
you were still mad that I thought it was you on that video.”

He finally looked at me. “I’m not too happy with that, either.”
He sighed. “That was a very private moment for us and you told Stacy. The whole
office probably knows by now.”

I’d told Stacy as a test. I wanted to make sure she kept her word
as she said she would. I didn’t really think about Ryan’s feelings in this if
she ended up telling everyone. I had a lot of apologizing ahead of me.

I got up and sat on his lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really think it
through. You are just so amazing I had to tell her.” I started kissing his
neck.

“I don’t think that’s the real reason, but I’ll take it.” Ryan had
just started to kiss me when my office door flew open. Ryan and I stood up
quickly.

“I knew it!” Vicki came in. “It hasn’t even been a full twenty
minutes since we told you no more at the office. Ryan, get back to work.” Vicki
set her eyes on me, and I wish I could have left with Ryan

Chapter 19

Stacy had the pleasure of babysitting me while everyone
else was busy. Ryan and Ben had meetings for the group home. Matt and Vicki
were meeting some of their VIP clients. We decided to make a night of it and
have dinner. I have to say it was better than going back to Vicki’s to do
nothing again.

“So things are really going well with you and Ben, huh?” I
couldn’t be happier for Stacy to actually be in a relationship and not going to
the club every night. That was dangerous.

“Yes, things are going really well.” She smiled and looked away.
“Oh, I didn’t know Wade and Mandy were coming here tonight, too. We should have
come together.”

“Uh, no thanks.” I took a drink as Stacy narrowed her eyes.
“Mandy doesn’t like me.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me. This is where, as my best
friend, you tell me that I’m wrong and she loves me. She just has a bad
attitude.”

Stacy laughed. “You’re right. She does have a bad attitude. I’m
kind of surprised Wade is still seeing her.” She shrugged. “To each his own, I
guess.”

“When I first started, she was really nice, but that changed
quickly. I don’t even know what I did.”

“You didn’t do anything. Wade’s the one that got cold feet with
the relationship. Once he saw fresh meat,” Stacy pointed at me, “he tried to
ditch Mandy. Forget about them.”

I looked back over and Wade was pulling at the collar of his
shirt. He was trying to loosen the tie and was starting look ill. The second I
saw him pat his pockets, I knew something was wrong. I left a speechless Stacy
and almost knocked over a waitress trying to get to him.

“Wade, what are you doing?” Mandy seemed a little irritated with
him.

As I reached him, he tried to stand. “Wade, do you have a dose?”

He just managed to shake his head as he went down. I ran back to
get my purse, cursing myself for not grabbing it in the first place. The second
time I ran back, there was a crowd forming around him. “Let me through.” I dumped
my purse, knowing it was in there somewhere and finally located the EpiPen. I
jabbed it in his thigh as he’d shown me, and Mandy started screaming that I was
killing him. It only took seconds for Wade to come back.

The manager was over in no time, trying to get everyone back
their tables or back to work. “Wade, buddy. What happened? I swear we were
really careful as usual.”

Wade was still lying on the floor just breathing. I thought he’d
be fine and was just a little overwhelmed. He slowly sat up, shaking his head.
“I don’t know.”

Mandy pushed me out of the way and kneeled next to him. “Let’s
get you to the hospital.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” He tried to stand and sat back down. “Maybe
we should go.”

“I’ll go get the car.” Mandy snarled at me as she left.

Wade grabbed my hand as I turned to leave. “Thank you. I don’t
know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”

I bent over and kissed his cheek. “Be safe, Wade. I’d help you
out, but . . .”

“That’s okay. Tony will help me.” Wade stood up with Tony’s help
and went to wait for Mandy.

Stacy was still speechless and shocked when I returned to the
table. “How did you . . . Why did you . . .” She started shaking her head.

“Wade told me about his allergies to peanuts and shellfish and
described what anaphylactic shock was. He didn’t really have a way to carry the
EpiPen, so I held it in my purse for when we went to new restaurants.” I
shrugged. “You would have done the same thing.”

“Wow.” She started shaking her head. “There’s never a dull moment
with you, Rebecca.”

~*~

Wade was out for a few days, and Mandy stayed home with
him to nurse him back to health. I was sorry Wade was ill, but it sure was less
stressful for me at work with Mandy gone. I just didn’t get her problem. If she’d
helped Ryan as I helped Wade, I would have thanked her and not snarled. I was
lost in my thoughts of why Mandy hated me and what I could do to make things
better. I didn’t see Charlie coming out of Matt’s office.

“Rebecca, can we talk?”

I hadn’t seen him since he showed me the video. I had no desire
to hear what pathetic excuse he had to make me think it was Ryan and not Ben. I
kept walking. He grabbed my arm and turned me around. “Don’t.”

He let go. “Rebecca, I’m sorry. I just want to apologize.”

“Apology not accepted. How could you think I wouldn’t find out it
was Ben instead of Ryan?” I didn’t think I wanted to know, but as soon as I
looked at Charlie I had to ask.

“I’ve never met Ben before. I didn’t know it wasn’t Ryan. They’re
brothers and look a lot alike.”

“I’ll give you there’s a resemblance, but they aren’t twins. You
only showed me his back from the shoulders down, but you had to have seen his
face. Someone in security should be able to tell people apart. If you’re having
trouble with that, maybe they need to look for new head of security.” I started
to walk away again.

Charlie grabbed me again and pulled me close. “Don’t threaten
me.” His teeth were clenched. “You won’t like it.”

Matt walked out of his office. “Charlie! Let her go.”

He let me go, but never took his eyes off of me. He whispered so
only I could hear. “Run while you can.”

I backed up and walked slowly to Vicki’s office. He had shaken
me, but I didn’t want to show him I was scared. With the clenched teeth and the
low voice, he sounded like the man on the other side of my bedroom door—the man
that started the fire.

I walked into Vicki’s office and sat down. Vicki was talking, but
I couldn’t hear anything she was saying. If he truly was the man in my
apartment, how did I prove it? How did I convince Vicki and Matt that the man
that worked to protect their company was the man that tried to kill me?

I wasn’t answering Vicki and she went to shut the door. “Don’t
shut it!” If I was right and he was the man in my apartment, I didn’t want
another door between us without an exit on my side.

Vicki came over and sat next to me. “Rebecca, what’s wrong?
You’re shaking.”

I needed to think about it. I didn’t want to accuse him if he
didn’t do it. I could just be overreacting to a voice that sounded like that
man. How could you really tell anyway? Everything was muffled at the apartment
and Charlie was upset. The man wasn’t upset when he spoke. He was eerily calm.

“Rebecca, I’m going to need you to talk to me now. What’s going
on?” Vicki was growing more worried as I silently worked through my dilemma.

I finally looked at her. “I just didn’t want the door shut. Your
window is a lot higher than mine was, and you don’t have a fire escape.”

She nodded. I wasn’t sure she completely bought my excuse, but
she accepted it.

That night I went to Ryan’s, and we made the most wonderful
dinner. Okay, wonderful is stretching it, but we made it together and that’s what
counts. I loved being there with him and hoped he didn’t want to take me back
to Vicki’s. It was finally a relaxing evening for both of us and we were alone.
There were things I needed to discuss with Ryan tonight, but I didn’t want to
ruin the evening. Maybe if I just acted casual about it all, I could get
answers and still enjoy the night.

I snuggled next to him on the sofa. “Is there any more news on
the guy that dropped me off?”

Ryan and Ben were still trying to call in every favor they had, but
were no closer to finding any answers. All we knew was that an older man
dropped me off and said he couldn’t wait anymore. We didn’t know what he was
waiting for. He said I wasn’t his responsibility and walked out. I really hoped
that wasn’t my grandfather that one of my parents left me with.

Ben had even called an ex-girlfriend that works in a home closer
to where I was dropped off. I appreciated Ben helping and trying to see if she
could get any info, but Stacy wasn’t too happy with that call. I felt even
worse when she couldn’t provide any more information for us other than the
police report the day I was dropped off.

I knew Ryan got even more discouraged when he read the police
report. If the police couldn’t find my birth parents, how was he going to? I’d
told him several times to not worry about it. I told him the family I have was
enough for me and as long as they loved me that was all I needed.

“No, I’m sorry. We’re running out of people to call.” He kissed
the top of my head.

“Ryan, please don’t beat yourself up over it.” I looked up at
him. “Promise me if we don’t find them you’ll let it go.”

“I’m supposed to be the one giving encouragement about this, but
I promise.”

I snuggled back into him. “How well do you know Charlie?”

“He’s an okay guy. He made a big mistake with that video, and it cost
him some major points, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have jumped to the same
conclusion. Plus, he was trying to look out for your best interest.” Ryan
shrugged. “I can’t fault him for that.”