Playing for Hearts (23 page)

As far as she cared, everything was out in the open and nothing he could say would heal the hurt he'd caused. She had even left a message at the tennis center at two o'clock in the morning, two days ago, when he wouldn't be there to answer the phone, and asked him to please stop calling her. He only called more often.

She glanced at the clock, stood, and grabbed her purse. On the way out of the office, she waved to Ella without stopping to talk. If she hurried, she'd make it early to meet the girls and could make her excuses and leave before the crowd grew too big at the Quayside.

The curious stares and pitied looks she'd received only stung the wounds she already carried. In heels, she hurried along the sidewalk, gaze straight in front of her, arms swinging, pretending nothing was wrong. She could arrive at the lounge in five minutes, have a drink, and be home in less than an hour.

A motorcycle roared around the corner. She groaned and walked faster.
Please don't stop. Please don't stop.

Grayson not only stopped, he hopped the curb and rode right onto the sidewalk and cut off her escape. She moved to the side. He rolled forward into her path.

She planted her fists on her hips. “Go away.”

He removed his helmet at the same time he swung his leg off the bike. “We need to talk.”

Sure, out here in public, where anyone could view the discussion and embarrass her more. She shook her head. That was so not happening.

“Shauna … ” He reached for her and she stepped away. “Please. Let me explain.”

“That's not necessary.” She folded her arms, locking her purse against her chest. “I get it. You paid for my college, and even though you probably got to write it off as donating to charity, I will find some way to pay you back.”

“Screw the money.” His brows lowered. “It was a gift.”

She snorted. No, it was a painful lesson. One she'd never repeat. He failed at asking her to stay away, because she was too stubborn to listen. He had been forced to pay her way out of town.

“Grayson, I'm going to be late. I have plans.” She swung her arm out to the side. “Excuse me.”

“We're not done.” Grayson's hands dropped to his sides. “I miss you.”

Her shoulders sagged before she caught herself. Lifting her chin, she gazed off to the side. “I need to go,” she whispered.

“Okay, but we're not finished. You hear me?” he whispered back.

She swallowed hard and without answering, walked around his motorcycle and continued on her way to the Quayside. Willing herself not to look back, she counted her steps. One, two, three …

Ten minutes later, Shauna regretted her decision to meet the girls for a drink. Her friends were trying to be kind, but they were driving her crazy. She understood they were concerned about her and wanted to help, but there wasn't anything for them to do. She would recover and heal. In time, she might even be able to forget all about Grayson.

Coming to the Quayside was not a good idea, considering Grayson was on a personal mission to talk with her and she was doing her best to avoid him. She knew asking him to stay away wasn't enough. He'd ignored her wishes and as she sat down with Kate, Crista, and Diana, Grayson walked inside the restaurant as if he owned the place.

Everyone in the place seemed to know something big was going down.

Crista glared over Shauna's shoulder at the group of men who'd planted themselves on the other side of the lounge. A team, a force, they intimidated the whole town. That was the only reason the Quayside wasn't full of customers on a Friday night. The group of males held the power, but the females weren't out of options yet.

“I'll take out Juan. He'll be easy, cause he's under contract not to use his right arm.” Crista leaned into the table, completing the circle of women. “Plus, I've always wanted to knock him down a peg or two.”

Diana formed a fist. “Let me have the dumb Russian. He somehow found out my phone number and won't stop calling me.”

“Dominic's calling
you
?” Crista's jaw dropped. “How? What?” Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

“Settle down.” Shauna patted Crista's arm. “I don't want you two fighting.”

“Pshaw! She can have him. I've never met such an egotistical, uptight, little brained …
dick
in my life.” Diana shuddered.

Kate caught Crista's arm and pulled her back down in the chair. “Okay, listen you two, we need to ban together. Solidarity and all that crap. We can do this. With Jackson on our side, it's five against five. I'm sorry, Shauna, but that leaves you to handle Grayson by yourself. Be strong. Be forceful. Be clever. If that doesn't work, knee 'im in the balls.”

She groaned. “I love you all, but I'm fine. I'm going to walk out the door and let you all get back to enjoying the night. If I knew Grayson would come here and scare off all the customers, I would've gone straight to the hotel and skipped girls' night out. As it is, they'll probably never let me come back to the lounge. So much for my great idea to try and gain everyone's trust again.”

“It's not right that he's following you around town,” Diana said. “He's a bully.”

“You've forgotten that this is how he's always been.” She scooted her chair back. “I have a choice to react or rise above the situation. Since I spent my whole life reacting to everything he's done, I'm attacking this in a healthy, mature, and calm way.”

Kate smiled. “I'm impressed.”

“Thank you.” She mustered a grin in return before turning to Crista. “I'm sorry about screwing up our last night together. I hope you'll come back to Cottage Grove and visit soon.”

Crista stood up and leaned across the table to hug Shauna. “I will. I'll call you in a few days. I'll be in Hawaii training for the next three weeks, but we'll make plans.”

Shauna stood up and hugged all of her friends, picked up her purse, and walked across the restaurant with her head held high. She tensed as she reached Grayson, Dominic, Bruce, Gary, and Juan, but to her relief none of them followed. She could only feel their stares heating up her backside as she walked past them out the front door.

Outside in her car, she couldn't help glancing in her rearview mirror, hoping Grayson would follow. By the time she arrived downtown and parked, she'd disgusted herself. No matter how hard she tried to move forward and concentrate on work, the truth was she wanted Grayson back. How sick was that?

He'd betrayed her in the worst way possible. Embarrassing her in front of the whole town, using his wealth and power to drive the wedge that should've killed the love she had for him, and what does she do? She inwardly allows him to continue hurting her.

What was it about her that caused people to want to run away? Her mom had thought nothing of leaving her own flesh and blood. Grayson hadn't even done that. Instead, he'd paid for her ticket out of Cottage Grove, convinced her dad to lie to her for all these years, and in the end, he'd left her unhappy and broken. Even her heart hurt.

I'll survive, I always do.
She hoped she wasn't lying.

Ignoring the stairs that she usually took to her room at the hotel, she rode the elevator up to the third floor. Tomorrow, she'd contact Harvey Whittle at Keystone Realty and Properties and see about renting a home with a nice yard. Right now having Blue to cuddle would be the best medicine.

She hunted for her keycard in her purse, found it, and stopped when she looked up at her door. Her dad and mom flanked the wall, waiting for her. Great. Did they come to pour salt in her wounds or coddle her?

“Hi, buddy. How are you doing?” Tony swept off his cap and clutched it in front of him.

She glanced away from the worry in his eyes. “Exhausted. If you'll excuse me, I'm going inside and making it an early night. I'm bushed.”

Her dad looked unconvinced and more than determined. He steeled his gaze and gave her
the look
, shrinking her to a ten-year-old. She had to remind herself that he'd let Grayson send her away and kept his secret. The one man she relied on to love her no matter how foolish she acted had betrayed her.

“Can we come in and talk with you? We won't stay long, I promise.” Tony reached out and held Belinda's hand. “Please?”

She sighed and nodded, holding open the door and letting them enter her room. She pointed to the sofa for them to take a seat, set her purse on the table, and then perched on the remaining chair.

“I should've told you a long time ago, but Grayson asked me to keep it secret.” Tony braced his elbows on his knees. “I'd love to tell you I honored his wishes because I wanted the best for you, and I knew I would never be able to afford to send you to college. But … ”

She stared at the carpet, and remained silent. None of this meant much now, after the fact.

“The truth is I was ashamed. I was embarrassed. I'd already failed as a husband, a father, and on a good day, I was happy if I managed to put food on the table and ask you how your day went.” Tony ran his forearm across his eyes. “As your dad, I wanted to be the one to give you an education, a chance to broaden your dreams. I was tired of watching you beat yourself up every time someone in town made a comment about your crush on Grayson. I guess a small part of me also wanted him to pay, because I felt Grayson owed you. He hurt my little girl.”

At some point in his speech, Shauna saw what he'd gone through being a single father. She had put him through hell, there was no denying it. All her days running wild and free after her mom left had given her time to find attention wherever she could find it. She'd forced Grayson into the position of accepting her, faults and all. She'd brought trouble upon herself.

“You did the best you could do, Dad. We both did.” She moved over and kneeled beside him. “The more outlandishly I acted, I knew you'd stop whatever you were doing and come save me. It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you.”

Tony hugged her. She squeezed her eyes closed, washing the moisture from them.

“I love you, buddy.” He sniffed, and she managed to laugh when he ruffled her hair.

“I love you too.”

“Shauna?” Belinda dabbed her cheek with Kleenex that she'd pulled out of her purse.

She moved back to the chair. “I don't mean to be rude, but there's really nothing that needs to be said between us. I've accepted that you're back in town and you're part of my dad's life, but I survived without a mother growing up, I certainly don't need one now.”

“Shauna.” Tony glanced over at Belinda. “Go on. Tell her.”

“Dad, I — ”

“No. You've forgiven me for letting Grayson pay for your schooling, but what Belinda has to say is something else that I must take responsibility for.” He leaned back. “Go on, honey. Tell her.”

Nothing Belinda could say would change the fact that she'd left Shauna. She couldn't even look her mother in the face. Belinda was not the woman she remembered.

“I never wanted to be here, explaining what happened. To me, you're my daughter and there are certain things that no mother should tell her child.” Belinda cleared her throat. “I forget that you're all grown up and have your own problems you're going through.”

“This really isn't necessary,” she said.

Belinda nodded. “You're right. I could walk out the door and forget about excusing my behavior, but I'm afraid everything I've done will continue to affect you. Each of us has our reasons why we act the way we do, and I can't tell you that I was wrong in leaving you, but I can tell you how sorry I am. I can't go back, and I'm not sure I would change how I handled the situation even if I could.”

“Well, that's honesty.” Shauna snorted. “Let's make both of us happy, and call it a night.”

Belinda smiled, but her lips shook and the hand that she laid on her chest trembled. “You were always headstrong.”

“Yeah, and that's what gets me in trouble,” she muttered, as she picked at her thumbnail.

“I left you and Tony because he'd slept with another woman.”

Her mother could've told her aliens had kidnapped her, and she would've given her the benefit of the doubt, but an affair? No way. Not her dad. He'd never even dated during the thirteen years after Belinda left.

“Are you really going to sit there and let her try to talk me into believing you cheated on her?” Shauna stared at her dad, waiting for him to tell his wife to stop.

He shook his head. “It's true. We were severely in debt after opening the body shop, and on the verge of bankruptcy. I'd gone out drinking and one thing led to another, and I cheated on your mom. I won't go into details, but your mom found out and confronted me. I told her the truth. I was already losing everything, and felt I didn't deserve her.”

She blinked, absorbing the words but not understanding them. She wanted to scream, “What about me? What about your daughter? What about love?” Love wasn't supposed to stop because people make mistakes. Her chin dropped to her chest. Isn't that exactly what she let happen in her own life? Grayson had forgiven her for making his life difficult, and when she'd found out that he'd paid to send her away, she'd given up.
Oh God, I've been so stupid.

She raised her head and glanced back and forth from her mom to her dad. They gazed back, waiting for her to say something. Their faces said it all. They wanted her to give them her forgiveness. They wanted to heal and move on as a family.

“You stayed away thirteen years,” she whispered.

Belinda nodded. “I never planned on leaving you. I wanted to move away, get a job, an apartment, and come back for you.”

“But you didn't.”

“No.” Belinda inhaled. “By the time I saved enough, I got sick and found out that I had cancer. Without insurance … ”

Tony slipped her hand into his. “She didn't want to come back and burden me with medical bills, and take money away from raising you.”