Tell Me You Love Me (14 page)

Her heart pounding with fright, Tyanna whirled around. Jay stood behind her.

“Sorry.” He flashed a sheepish smile. “I couldn’t resist.’’

Tyanna gave a slight nod and turned back to her bag. “How can I help you?’’

“I was hoping we could get together this weekend for that dinner. Maybe tomorrow or on Sunday?’’

Heaving her tote bag over her shoulder, Tyanna faced him. “Sunday’s definitely out of the question.”

“All right. How about tomorrow?”

“I’m working tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then how about lunch?” Jay asked, not missing a beat.

Tyanna’s eyes ventured to the phone, as if she expected it to ring. Of course, it wasn’t going to.

She thought of Sheldon, but a voice sounded in her head.
Fool.
Damn him. He was making her so confused. One minute she was wondering if they had a chance at a relationship again. The next, she wasn’t hearing from him and she had no clue if
he was shutting her out of something important in his life.

She didn’t want to deal with this again.

Hadn’t she told herself that she needed to move on with her life? It was clear, now more than ever, that the only potential Sheldon had was to hurt her again. Not once since he’d been back had he said anything that would make her believe he loved her. Sure, she wanted to believe he did, but she had wanted to believe that the first time around. And she didn’t want to continue a sexual relationship with him just for the sake of having great sex.

Facing Jay, she smiled. “You know, Jay, that’s a great idea.” At least a lunch with Jay would take her mind off Sheldon. “One o’clock? We can meet here and walk to one of the nearby restaurants.”

Jay’s face lit up with surprise and delight. “That’d be cool.’’

“Okay. See you tomorrow, then.’’

Tyanna watched Jay walk off. The fact that he seemed genuinely happy to be spending time with her made her heart lift a little.

Sheldon hadn’t called. She doubted he was going to.

She certainly wasn’t going to sit around holding her breath waiting for him.

Nope. She had made a promise to herself that she would get on with her life, and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

Sheldon paced the packed waiting area in the Jackson Memorial Hospital emergency. His mind replayed the day’s tragic events.

“Are you mad at me?” Matt asked.

Sheldon stopped pacing and faced Matt. The thirteen-year-old looked at him with a worried expression, his bottom lip trembling. For the first time, his voice sounded scared and childlike, unlike the tough person he always tried to be.

“Look, Matt. I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not happy about what happened today.” Matt and Brian had gotten into a horrible fight at the youth center, and the police had been called. Sheldon’s first trip had been to the police station with Brian, also thirteen, who was being charged with assault. After spending a couple hours trying to convince the police to go easy on the young teen, he had returned to find Matt still there—still waiting for his mother to show up and take him to the hospital. Knowing Matt
needed medical attention, Sheldon had taken Matt to the hospital himself.

“I already told you,” Matt said. “It was Brian’s fault.’’

“You should have come to me before the problem got worse.” According to Matt, Brian had started jeering him on the basketball court. When Matt told Brian to leave him alone, Brian attacked him—unprovoked. Of course, in Brian’s version, he had blamed Matt for the fight.

Sheldon sat down beside the teen. “Matt, there are going to be a lot of times in life when people tease you, say mean things that hurt you. But as hard as it is, you’re better off walking away.’’

“And let him get away with it?’’

“No, I didn’t say that. If you had come to me, I would have taken Brian aside and talked to him.” During the short time Sheldon had been working with these teens, he had tried to teach them how to resolve problems without turning to physical violence. He knew it would be a long road, because for many of these kids, violence was what they saw in their homes.

Even now, after hours in emergency with Matt, his mother hadn’t shown up—and this was after repeated calls to her home and workplace.

Sheldon placed an arm around Matt’s shoulder, the way a parent in his life should. “What have I tried to teach you about solving problems with others?’’

Matt dropped his head. “I know. But he made
me so mad, saying all that stuff about me being so weak and skinny.’’

A stupid argument, and now one boy was sitting in jail and another in the hospital. Sheldon asked, “What would have been better—walking away or keeping the fight going?’’

“Walking away,” Matt softly admitted.

“This isn’t the end of the world, but you know there are consequences for your behavior. First of all, you’re stuck here waiting to see a doctor to get stitches for your busted lip. But you’ll also be suspended for a week. Or—’’

“Oh, man.’’

“Or,” Sheldon continued, “you’ll have to do some work at the center. Dirty work. Cleaning up after everyone.” It wouldn’t be fun, but at least Matt wouldn’t have to stay at home alone. Sheldon knew the kid enjoyed being at the youth center. “It’s your choice. You don’t have to tell me your decision today. But think about it.’’

“Okay.” Matt sighed. “Where’s my mother?’’

“I’m sure she’s gonna be here as soon as possible,” Sheldon lied. He had no clue when she was going to show up. They would have to sit here until she arrived, as she was his guardian and had to okay any medical treatment.

Sheldon’s heart ached for this young boy.

“You want me to call her again?” Sheldon asked. If he used the phone again, he would put in a quick call to Tyanna and let her know how his day was going.

“No.” Matt squeezed Sheldon’s hand. “Please stay with me.’’

Warmth spread through Sheldon’s body. In the short time he had known Matt, the boy had started to trust him, to look up to him. Matt needed him, and Sheldon was going to be there for him.

“No problem, Matt,” Sheldon told him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A huge yawn slid its way up Tyanna’s throat and forced itself through her mouth. The moment her lips widened to accommodate it, she remembered where she was and who she was with, and she quickly smacked a hand over her mouth to stifle the evidence of her boredom. She failed.

However, Jay didn’t seem to notice. Which was good, given the circumstances, but proof of his dim-wittedness. He just kept right on blabbing about how some exterminators duped clients by bringing in dead roaches to get their business, and how he abhorred the cheaters because they gave everyone a bad name. Apparently—or else he wouldn’t be talking about it—he was one of the good ones.

Tyanna forced a smile. Had she ever been more bored in her life? She was tempted to fake choking on a sip of her water, just to have an excuse to get up and leave. Given the chance, she would—and she wouldn’t return. The problem was, she still had to see Jay at Jaguar Fitness.

“People think being an exterminator is natu
rally a great business in South Florida, but that’s not always the case,” Jay told her.

“Hmm.”
Spare me.
Good grief, her original instinct to keep Jay at bay had been the right one.

Tyanna feigned fascination with her straw. She jabbed at the slice of lemon at the bottom of the plastic cup, tasted the water, then poked the lemon some more.

Jay laughed. Tyanna looked up to see that he wasn’t laughing at her, but at some joke he must have told. Brother. The guy was cute, but he was entirely too dull.

Thankfully, Tyanna had had a respite from his stories during the meal. She hadn’t wanted to be rude by eating and running, but she had had enough of this date and simply wanted to leave.

Glancing at her watch, she said, “Oh. My, look at the time.’’

Jay looked at his own watch. “It’s a little after two. Don’t you start at three?’’

“Yes, but I…I have to speak with Max. I told you about the fitness video Wendy and I are filming tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

Wow, he’d actually been listening to her. “Well…I need to firm up some details with Max. He’s lending us some stuff from the gym. Plus, I have to make a couple calls. That kind of thing.’’

“Oh.” Jay looked and sounded disappointed.

“Thanks so much for lunch,” Tyanna told him. “I’m glad we’re friends.’’

She put some emphasis on
friends
, hoping Jay would get the picture. There was no way in hell she would ever be interested in a relationship with him.

The whole purpose of this date had been to get Sheldon out of her mind and take a step toward moving on with her life. Yet it seemed she achieved exactly the opposite. If all the prospects were going to be like Jay, she may as well pull the plug on the whole dating idea.

It’s not Jay or anyone else
, a little voice told her.
You miss Sheldon.

Maybe
that
was her problem. She did miss Sheldon, even though she shouldn’t. And instead of getting him out of her mind, the urge to see him was greater than ever.

Just to make sure he’s okay
, she told herself.

“Hey, Lecia. To what do I owe this honor?” Her sister rarely called her at work.

“I realize I never asked you if I could come by tomorrow and watch the filming of the video. Charlene wants to know if she can come too.’’

“I don’t mind. As long as everyone stays out of the crew’s way, I’m sure they won’t have a problem.’’

“Excellent. I’m interested in seeing how this whole thing comes together.”

“Hmm.” Tyanna briefly bit down on her bottom lip. “I’m surprised.”

“Why?” Lecia asked. “You know I’ve always been interested in creative things.’’

“Yeah, well, that was a while ago. I figured now that you’re a doctor…”

“You figured wrong,” Lecia said simply. “In fact…I’ve been dabbling in some writing again.’’

Tyanna’s eyes widened with surprise. “That
is
a shock.’’

“Being a doctor takes up a ton of my time, but I can’t let it be my whole life. I realized recently that I still need a creative outlet.’’

“Good for you,” Tyanna told her.

There was a moment of silence before Lecia said, “You may not know this, but I’ve always admired you—your free spirit and your ability to go for what you wanted, no matter what anyone else has to say about it.’’

Meaning their parents. “That was a stressful route as well,” said Tyanna. “I think Mom and Dad just gave up on me after a while.’’

“I wouldn’t say that. They’ve accepted you. You didn’t give any of us a choice.’’

“This is true,” Tyanna agreed.

“At least you’ll never have any regrets about not having tried something you wanted to try. That’s a big deal.’’

Tyanna couldn’t help it—she suddenly felt overwhelmed. She couldn’t remember the last time Lecia had said something this nice to her. Usually, she felt she had completely failed to live up to the Calhoun standard of excellence. And while she never would admit it to them, that
knowledge often made her feel like a failure. Like someone still struggling to find her way in the world
and
make her parents happy at the same time.

“That’s a really, really nice thing for you to say, Lecia. Thank you.’’

“I mean it.” She paused. “Anyway, I’ll let you go. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

“Hey, wait a second,” Lecia quickly said. “About last Sunday—everyone was looking forward to Mom’s sweet potato pie. But when she went to get it, it was gone.’’

“Oh.” Tyanna cleared her throat. “Yeah.’’

“I thought you weren’t feeling well.’’

“You know Mom’s pie—the perfect cure for whatever ails you.’’

“You’re too much.” Tyanna could picture Lecia shaking her head with a silly smile on her lips.

“That’s me,” Tyanna agreed. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You bet.’’

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. When Mrs. Bradshaw whined about not being able to do another set on the leg press, Tyanna took it in stride. She didn’t bother to push the woman as she might have on another occasion. Nor did she get annoyed. Her sister’s uncharacteristic praise had her in a pretty good mood. She knew Mrs. Bradshaw would complain later about how she
wasn’t seeing much in the way of results, how she simply couldn’t stop eating sweets and fatty foods—but Tyanna would take that in stride, too. The first rule of any successful training program is that you have to want to help yourself. No one else can do it for you.

She still hadn’t heard from Sheldon, and that did cause her some concern, but the fact that his mother hadn’t mentioned anything weird when she’d talked to her the night before had put Tyanna’s mind somewhat at ease. Still she hoped to hear from him.

However, she had other pressing issues to think about—like the video shoot tomorrow.

A sudden bout of the jitters hit her. She had done a lot of things in her life, and she’d never been this nervous. Not even when she’d gotten her first job as a bartender by fudging her resume to say she had experience.

But this…This was different. An entire future was riding on this.

Which is exactly the way you shouldn’t think about it
, she told herself.
Think about it as another day, a fun project you’re planning for the afternoon.

To obsess over what might or might not come out of this was bound to cause performance anxiety.

Somehow, she was able to put herself in the right frame of mind, and was much more relaxed. Of course, who knew how she was going to feel in the morning.

Tyanna was in the middle of a session with another client when a page came through, telling her that she had an important call.

“Cathy, do you mind waiting a moment?” she asked her client. Though she had told herself that she wouldn’t worry about Sheldon, she knew she needed to hear his voice to take off the slight edge of anxiety she felt.

“Go ahead.’’

“You can do another round of weights until I get back, if you want.’’

Tyanna hustled to the gym’s reception counter instead of her office. “Hey, Shirley. Which line?’’

“Line two.’’

Tyanna pressed the appropriate button. “Hello?’’

A small smile played on Tyanna’s lips as she waited a moment, expecting to hear Sheldon’s voice come on the line. Instead, she heard nothing.

“Hello?” she repeated.

“I’ve been watching you,” a gruff voice said. “Both of you.’’

“Who is this?’’

“Tell Sheldon that I know where he lives.’’

“Who
is
this?’’

“He was really stupid. I followed him home from the gym and he didn’t even know.’’

“I’m calling the police.’’

There was a hoarse laugh. “Go ahead. That won’t stop us from finally getting to Sheldon. As soon as we’re ready.’’

“You leave him—’’

There was a soft click, then a dial tone.

Her heart beating frantically, Tyanna passed the phone back to Shirley.

Shirley looked at her with concern. “What?’’

“I…” Tyanna waved off the question and hurried back to Cathy.

Though she hardly could concentrate. Not after a phone call like that.

There was no mistaking the threat. Sheldon was really in trouble.

God help them.

Tyanna couldn’t help feeling a chill run down her spine as she stepped outside after her shift. The parking lot didn’t provide nearly enough lighting for her liking.

She wished she had been able to reach Sheldon, but she didn’t have a number for him where he was currently working. Part of her had hoped that he would stop by, but another part was glad he had stayed away. What if someone was out there, waiting for him to appear?

What if they had already gotten to him?

The fear was stifling, and Tyanna quickly started for her car. She didn’t want to worry about anything other than the shoot tomorrow, but how could she not have concerns?

At least Wendy had already picked up the mats and step platforms, so Tyanna didn’t have to worry about that now.

Making her way to the car, Tyanna remembered her impromptu self-defense lesson she’d given Sheldon the night he’d reappeared in her life. She kept her head up as she dug for her keys in her purse.

But as she neared her car, another chill swept over her and her skin broke out in goose bumps. Something made her turn around.