Twisted By Love, Reincarnation Tales, Book 1 (8 page)

Toni laid her head in Livie’s lap, hugging
hard as if she were a small child. And she cried. “You
just”—between sobs—“don’t understand.”

Livie stroked her hair. How many times had
she done this, comforted Toni, listened to her? She’d been
mothering Toni long before their dad died and Mom had moved south.
Livie understood everything all too well. Toni felt too deeply and
wanted too much too fast. She drove men away. “I do understand,”
she said soothingly. “But there’s nothing you can do.”

“But he wanted me so much. I know he did.”
Toni sniffed, hiccupped, let out another wrenching sob. “No man
could make love to a woman the way he did without feeling something
huge for her.”

Oh God. Livie had been afraid Toni had lied.
“You said you didn’t sleep with him.”

Her sister cried and sniffed loudly. Livie
handed her a tissue from the box she kept on the side table.

Toni wiped her nose. “We didn’t
sleep
.
We did other things.” She squeezed her eyes shut as if actually
feeling those
things
all over again. “Oh God, Livie it was
so good. The way he used his mouth on me.”

Livie felt distinctly uncomfortable. It
wasn’t that Toni was any more explicit than usual. She loved
divulging in exquisite detail all the sexual acts she’d performed.
Livie had heard it all, gotten used to it, especially since she
could never stop Toni. But tonight, it reminded her of everything
she’d done in her office. Of how much more she wanted to do. God,
she and Toni were two peas in a pod.

“Shh,” she said gently. “Don’t think about it
anymore.”

“But he was the best, Livie. No man has ever
made me come like that. Six times in a row. It was like I just went
from one orgasm to the next with hardly a break in between. And he
loved making me come, like that was his only goal in life, to
please me.”

Livie closed her eyes. Now she understood
Toni’s obsession. She was always worse when she’d slept with a man,
as if she thought the physical act was some sort of spiritual
union. She just didn’t get that men could turn it on and off with
the snap of their fingers.

Was that what would have happened if she’d
gone into Burn’s house? In the morning, he’d have been sated, and
she would no longer be necessary?

Livie didn’t want to think about any of that.
So she did what she always did, worked at picking up the pieces
after another of Toni’s shattered relationships. “Men suck,” she
said, “and not in a good way. Let’s trash him for an hour, and
you’ll feel better in the morning.”

Toni laughed, then hiccupped once more.
Sitting up, she grabbed another tissue and dabbed her eyes and
cheeks. “You make it sound so easy. You could always walk away from
a guy so easily.”

Livie felt a familiar ache in her stomach. It
had never been easy. She’d had a man she didn’t want to walk away
from. But Toni had needed her. She closed her eyes, thinking of
that night five years ago. All Toni’s messages, the messages Livie
had ignored until it was almost too late. She’d arrived home only
just in time.

Roger had wanted her to make a choice, her
sister or him. In the end, she’d had to choose Toni. She had to
take care of Toni. Roger hadn’t understood that it was her duty. It
was her penance, too, for the things she’d done to Toni in the
past, even if those things had been more circumstance than
intention.

Toni drained Livie’s wine, licked her lips.
“That was good.” She held out the glass. “Can I have another?”

“Sure.”

Toni blew her nose. “Then we’ll do just like
you said, sit here and trash him all night long.” She smiled a
moment, then her face fell and more tears began to stream. “Except
that I don’t think it’ll work this time. I can’t get him out of my
head.”

Livie retrieved another glass and the wine
bottle from the kitchen. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Eight

Saturday he’d worked in the yard, did some
paperwork, took care of his online banking and bills for the month.
And thought about Livie. It might damn well kill him waiting for
her to call. But he’d wait; he knew she’d call in the end. She’d
been sucked into this thing between them as much as he had, but he
also realized he’d pushed too hard for everything all at once. She
needed some breathing room.

His phone chirped that he had another text
message, but his heart didn’t leap with expectation. He knew who it
was. There’d been seven text messages from Antonia today and four
voice mails. The woman wasn’t giving up, alternating between
apologetic and vitriolic. He’d deleted them all. He did the same
with this one. Livie was the only person he wanted to hear
from.

In order to take his mind off the need
coursing through him, he dialed his brother.

Wade answered on the first ring. “Hey, man,
what’s up?”

“The Gillespie project is moving to the next
stage. I’ll be up there Wednesday after next. You’re still
available to go to the plant?”

“Sure thing.” Wade was a structural engineer
and Bern’s first choice on any project he undertook. They worked
well in tandem, each building on the other’s expertise. And while
Bern would be paid for whatever plans he drew up, the contract
wouldn’t be officially awarded until those plans were approved. His
chances improved when he had his brother on his team.

“You want to spend the night? With Amber away
at college, Clare needs someone to cook for, and I’m sure Mom will
come over.”

Amber was an only child, and Wade’s wife,
Clare, was feeling the empty-nest syndrome. Besides, despite his
best intentions, it had been over two weeks since he’d been up to
see his mom. She lived in a retirement community. It wasn’t the
traditional old folks home with debilitated bodies filling beds.
Mom had her own small apartment and still drove her own car. If or
when the time came, the facility provided a higher level of care,
from assisted living to twenty-four-hour nursing. His mother wasn’t
ancient, but Dad had bought into the place on her behalf before
he’d passed away. He’d wanted to make sure she’d lacked for
nothing.

“Sounds great,” Bern said. “I’ll come Tuesday
night, and we’ll go to the plant in the morning.”

He discussed the project specifics with his
brother for another ten minutes, then segued into the other issue
on his mind. “Wade, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you ever wonder if Jake’s right about the
past life thing?”

Wade was silent. Jake’s beliefs had caused
something of a family ruckus. Suze was the only one who’d agreed
with him, enough to make regression hypnosis part of her psychology
practice, though she didn’t always add
past life
to that
description. Their parents had been afraid he needed psychiatric
help. Wade had been like Bern, understanding Jake’s need to believe
in something but feeling he’d gone too far with it.

“Where’s this coming from?” Wade finally
asked.

“I’m forty-three. Getting older makes you
wonder if this is the only chance you’ll ever get.” It wasn’t the
whole truth, but at the same time, the older you got, the more you
started to rethink your beliefs.

Wade was a couple of years younger. Maybe he
hadn’t reached that point yet. “So you really think one day Dorie
Hannigan will waltz back into Jake’s life?”

“When you put it like that, it does sound
crazy. I was meaning something a little more theoretical.” Except
that there was nothing theoretical in the way he felt about
Livie.

“People shouldn’t come back. They should just
stay dead,” Wade said, his voice harsher than moments before. “And
if Jake hadn’t decided he’d find Dorie again in some reincarnated
form, he wouldn’t be living over an old man’s garage, his life a
mess.”

“I wouldn’t call his life a mess.” Jake
wasn’t hooked on drugs or living on the street. But it was true
that he’d never moved on. Thirty years ago, Jake’s best friend was
murdered. Dorie Hannigan had been eight years old. Her killer was
never caught. It was possibly the biggest tragedy the town of
Freedom had ever experienced, and it changed Jake’s life forever.
Maybe it had changed them all in ways they didn’t even know.

“It’s total bullshit,” Wade said sharply.

His brother had been through his own tragedy.
Clare’s sister had died in a tragic accident when they were in
college. Her death had irrevocably altered their lives, too. With
so much tragedy in his family history, Bern had been good at
putting it out of his mind, but it struck him now.

“Look,” Wade continued, “don’t bring this up
when you visit. Mom hates it.”

“Fine,” Bern said. Obviously Wade had become
touchy on the subject. Bern was stuck between believers and
nonbelievers. If he asked his sister Suze, she’d go wild imagining
that he’d finally come around to Jake’s way of thinking,
her
way.

He moved back to the less volatile topic.
“I’ll keep in touch about the Gillespie meeting and let you know if
there’s any change.”

“Sounds good.”

After ending the call, Bern turned out the
desk light beside him and sat in the dark. Maybe he should have
talked to Jake about this long ago. It might have helped his
youngest brother. Maybe he wouldn’t feel like the family outcast.
Not that any of them had ever treated him like that. But it was all
in the perception.

Bern’s perception had been changing since the
day he first saw Livie. Even then, he’d known it wasn’t the
first
time. For a brief moment, he’d even known her
name.

* * * * *

Toni left Livie sleeping soundly in the
bedroom. It was past twelve on Saturday night, but Toni couldn’t
sleep. She opened a bottle of Livie’s expensive wine. There’d been
other labels in the cupboard, but Toni enjoyed downing the pricey
stuff like it was water, especially because Livie had paid for it.
Livie was a manager and made more money than Toni did as an office
assistant. Ugh, a manager, all that responsibility, not to mention
the overtime Livie didn’t get paid for. That wasn’t for Toni. If
she was a little cash short once in a while, well, there was
manager
Livie to help out. Or their mom.

In the living room, Toni pulled out her cell
phone and dialed Reese. Every time she’d had a moment to herself
today, she’d sent him a text or left him a message. He didn’t
answer. He’d stopped taking her calls on Thursday. Toni narrowed
her eyes. Now she knew why. Because of Livie. Her belly burned
thinking about what she’d witnessed last night.

His voice mail message kicked in. “I’m so
sorry,” she said softly, meekly. “I didn’t mean it. You’re not an
asshole. Will you forgive me? Please let’s try again. I’ll be
better, I promise.” She heaved a great sigh into the phone. “I miss
you.”

She laid the phone on the table and topped
off her wineglass. He wouldn’t call back. He was probably deleting
her messages without even listening to them. Asshole. And all
because of Livie.

That kiss. Remembering it, Toni boiled inside
with...well, it was part rage, part revulsion, part desire. Reese
had never kissed her like that. He hadn’t even tried to sleep with
her. She’d lied to Livie about that, just to make her feel more
guilty.

She’d been waiting down the street from his
house. He’d never invited her there, but she’d followed him home
and knew where he lived. When he didn’t arrive directly after work,
she’d feared he had a Friday night date, that he’d thrown her over
for some blonde bimbo. Imagine her shock when Livie pulled up to
the curb.
Livie.
How could she?

Toni ground her teeth. She knew how. That was
Livie’s style, stealing Toni’s boyfriends. She’d first done it when
they were in high school. Walter Fenneman, the love of Toni’s life.
Her whole future would have been different if Livie hadn’t made
Walter fall in love with her. Of course Livie claimed she hadn’t
done anything, that she wouldn’t even date Walter because he was
with Toni. Right. Toni knew the truth: whatever she had, Livie
wanted. She’d always made Toni’s boyfriends fall in love with her.
She’d lie, cheat, or steal, then bat her innocent little eyes and
say
But oh, it wasn’t my fault
. Sometimes she’d even done it
without realizing. That’s the way she was. Toni had made her pay in
the end, even if it had taken years. The night she’d slashed her
wrists had been the ultimate. There’d been lots of blood, but Toni
knew she hadn’t hit anything major. Poor, poor Livie, she’d been
frantic.

Obviously that payback hadn’t been enough.
Because Livie was doing it again. But how had she found Reese? It
wasn’t possible. Toni hadn’t even used his real name, always
calling him by his middle name. That had made her special,
different from every other woman he’d known, but it also kept him
safe from Livie. Yet she’d found out anyway. How? Toni sucked in a
breath. Maybe Livie had been going through her text messages,
spying on her.

She grabbed the phone and deleted all her
history. Then she couldn’t resist sending him another text message,
short and sweet:
I need you.

Yeah, let him feel guilty about dumping her
like yesterday’s garbage. He’d pay; they’d both pay.

Toni smiled, letting her lip curl
maliciously. So who should she tell first that she knew what they’d
been up to? The answer was obvious: Livie. That would have far more
impact. Oh, the delicious guilt.

Of course, Toni was well aware that it could
be coincidence, that Livie might not have
known
. After all,
they worked in the same building. But that was the whole point,
Livie
never
took responsibility. She didn’t even have to
try
to hurt Toni. No, she just did things without thinking.
She marched through life without a thought for her very own sister,
never paying attention, never caring.