“What the hell, man?” Leo wailed frantically. “She didn’t do anything. What was going on in the ring was as much me as it was her.”
“She failed to mention that she’s on the run. She stole an expensive piece of jewelry, a pearl necklace, from her employer and has been on the run since. The owner got in touch with me yesterday morning and asked if I'd help bring the police here.”
Leo stood up, knocking his chair to the ground. Rage built up inside of him as he was unsure of what to think. He grabbed another metal folding chair and hurled it at the rest of the row, watching them fall and tumble as they were bowled over. “What proof do they have? Are you sure of this?”
“The woman sent me a picture of it. Do you recognize it?” Jonathan handed Leo his phone. He studied the image hard and then thought back to the outfits he had seen her wear. Just today, she wore a necklace that looked identical to the one on the screen.
He nodded as he tossed the phone back to him. “What are you gonna do? Kick her out? She’s got nowhere to go, no family.”
“Does that matter? She’s a liar, Leo. We’re gonna have to bring in detectives to check her stuff as she goes just in case she hasn’t been taking shit from the house while you weren’t looking.”
“We’re not doing that. She’s not a criminal.” Leo’s mind raced. She didn’t fit the part of someone untrustworthy. Her story was sympathetic—the dead grandmother, the being kicked out of her home, the evil great-aunt. But now he had to reconsider all of it as a lie.
“She’s not staying here, Leo. I’m not gonna let some whore take from you. She’s got to go.”
Leo wanted nothing more than to take a drink. “Two weeks. Give her that. She can stay in the home until then. It gives her enough time to find her way.”
“Are you kidding me? We don’t owe her a thing!” Jonathan was irate.
“She saved my life! I'm not gonna throw her out without giving her some kind of warning!” Leo stood firm. He would not treat her unkindly. He owed her much more than that morning in the hotel room.
Jonathan watched his client as he paced up and down the length of the ring. He knew that there was no changing his mind once he had it set. He sighed and stood, “I’ll let her know. Two weeks, nothing more.”
Jonathan exited quietly as he trudged up the steps to the garage and back in the main house. From a distance, he could hear the slamming of metal rise above the loud, incomprehensible shouts.
Bailey had started on the carpet in the library. It was as dust covered as the gym. Gilda, the former maid, had obviously neglected the room along with the rest of the third floor. The loud hum of the vacuum helped to drown out the sound of her own thoughts as she remember the touch of Leo’s lips or the way he had again taken her into his wide, expansive arms.
The vacuum turned off as she sat it upright and began to wrap the cord. She listened as the main door slammed and a car with screeching tires took off. Bailey began to wonder just want Leo had said to Jonathan to make him flee like that.
“We need to talk, Miss Reed.”
Jonathan’s voice echoed loudly off of the walls as she jumped in fright. The man stood in the doorway, cornering her in the darkened library. She placed her hand to her chest and smoothed out her hair as she stood to her feet.
“I’m really sorry about what you saw downstairs. It was just a—” She wasn’t sure why she was apologizing, but Bailey could feel the aggression dripping off of the man’s expensive tailored suit.
“Save it.” He held his hand in the air to shush her. “I know who you are. I know all about your past and what you did. I want you gone. I want you gone today. But since you managed to weasel your way into Leo’s life, you’ve got two weeks. You’re not to work, you’re not to set foot outside the pool house. Pack your shit, find a place to go or another house to swindle, and go.”
Bailey instantly thought to Lily and how Jonathan must have found out about her situation. She knew that what she had done would be controversial, but she could not understand why it would be a fireable offense. She knew she couldn’t argue it. He was too enraged. Instead, she lowered her head as she silently paraded down the staircase and out to the pool house.
Rain had begun to fall softly as the morning’s sun hid behind the darkened clouds. Bailey looked out on the great lawn, letting the moisture slowly soak her hair and her dress. Her actions had finally caught up to her. And now, it was time to pay the price.
But something told her that this was right. What was she trying to do by fooling herself through getting mixed up with her boss. She had someone much more important waiting for her to get her life together. Now it was time to take this opportunity for good. She had just enough money to get her settled, enough to get her out of this town for good.
Still she couldn’t help but feel hurt and betrayed. She had treated Leo’s lifestyle with nothing but kindness. She had forgiven him for abusing their professional relationship, and she had allowed him to break her guard, even if for just a few days. Now, it was her, as always, out in the cold and the rain. She was the one, always the one, who had to face the music.
Bailey walked into the home and stripped off her wet clothing. She rang out her hair, took off her jewelry, and wiped away the makeup. She grabbed a box from where she left them the first time she had unpacked. Sitting on the floor, she began reaching for things around her room.
Her destination unknown, she wasn’t sure of what she needed to keep and what to toss. She would have to take the bare minimum, cutting out the dead weight from her mostly empty life. Time passed slowly as she sorted each and every item she owned. Her garbage bags filled as her backpack and small box swelled. It was the early morning as she finished placing her last item.
A pain crept over her as the reality of the situation hit her. Bailey looked about at the empty room with the large bed sitting in the center. She then looked down at her hands which still had the imprint of where the wrap dug into her hand.
I don’t want to run. Bailey thought as she remembered how Leo’s kiss felt upon her lips. I owe him to stay. I owe him a fight. She became resound as she stood up and walked towards the desk. For the next few hours, she wrote her heart out, explaining everything from her missing daughter to her ex-husband. She walked back into the rain towards the unlocked house and snuck inside. Jonathan nor Leo was there to catch her take the blank envelope from the study. She placed the note addressed to Leo on the table in his bedroom and then headed back out.
Not being able to sleep, Bailey lugged the black trash bag outside, toward the cans. As she attempted to throw it into the receptacle, a light broke through the blackened, rainy dawn. She covered her eyes as she attempted to make out what was going on.
A car, Leo’s car, sped circles around the driveway until it pulled into the lawn. He opened the door, stumbling out, catching his fall on the grass. Two women, each dressed in less than the other, streamed out the back. He grasped their waists as they propped him up. She could hear the girls laugh as they watched him drop his keys and walk drunkenly into the brick siding. The two girls fell on him in a fit of laughter as the three leaned back and began caressing each other right there on the steps to the house.
Bailey’s heart dropped as she made her decision. She couldn’t stay here any longer and watch him destroy himself like her ex-husband. He wasn’t worth sticking around. He wasn’t worth the explanation. She darted through the back door to the main house and into this bedroom as she heard him again struggled to twist the keys for the door. In the dark, she found where she had left the letter and stuffed it into her dress pockets.
As she shut the screen behind her, she could hear one of the girls slur, “I’ve never seen a house this big, Lionheart! Where’s your bedroom?”
***
Leo’s head pounded as he sucked in the first bit of fresh air from his sleep. He looked at his arms, heavy and weighed down by the bodies of two fresh faced blondes still snoring. He slithered his arm free as he sat up. A pain seared through his brain as he used his hands to support himself.
“No, Leo, come back to bed…“ The one on the left stirred as she felt for his body with her eyes still closed.
“Or at least get us a morning drink.” The second reached out her hand, touching the skin on his back. He felt nothing but fingernails and lotion.
“Mmm… a mimosa would get me in the mood for another round.”
“I’ll take a Bloody Mary, if you know how to make ‘em.”
Leo jumped off the bed and tore off the covers, revealing the naked women who recoiled from the cold. The first girl sat up, blinking her eyes rapidly and then falling back on the pillow tops.
“What are you doing? If you wanted to see me naked, you could’ve just asked.” She spread herself out for him to see and then reached back down towards the ground in search of where he had thrown the blanket.
Leo watched them coldly. Just as he had at the hotel and with Lyanna, he came to the realization that he should have felt more—he should have wanted what was being offered. But all that he could think about was Bailey and her ‘S’ shaped body spread out on the center of those sheets.
He barked at his guests, “Get out.” They did not move, “Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops.”
The second one sat up suddenly, looking around the room in confusion. “What the hell, man? You drove us here. You wanted us. How the fuck are we supposed to get home?”
“Taxi. Call one and get it here ASAP. I don’t wanna see you in my house in the next ten minutes, got it?” He found his black boxers on the bedroom floor and the pair of jeans in the empty hallway.
He cried out into the silence of the estate, knowing what he would get, “Bailey? Are you here?” Only silence responded.
Leo stormed out of the home and into the pool house. The door was unlocked and the lights were out. There wasn’t a sign of her. Still, he opened the door to her bedroom expecting to see her sitting in her bed, waiting for him to arrive for her. As he walked in, he tripped over the tattered quilt that had been laid upon her bed. He picked it up, folding it in his arms. She would not have left this behind. The way that it was tattered and frayed made it look too loved and important.
But the only sign of her besides the quilt was a white pearl necklace sitting on the armoire with a post-it tacked on it. She had scribbled the name of Catherine Dawson along with an address. Was this an admission of guilt? Turning the beads over in his hand, Leo couldn’t see its worth. The pearls were faded and the string was splitting at the ends. The old hook didn’t even look to be true gold. Why would Bailey make off with something so insignificant? If she really was a thief, wouldn’t she have gone for something much more expensive? Wouldn’t she have at least tried to sell this thing?
Leo walked back to the bed and placed his head in his hands. How could he find her when he couldn’t even understand her? His gaze darted between the wooden floorboards to a small piece of paper trapped between the cracks. It was an older photograph, one that had been faded by light and wear. He studied the photo of the older woman with the dark brown hair and apron and a small, smiling girl. Leo could tell by the blue sparkling eyes that it was Bailey. She looked to be about 7 years old, dressed in women’s clothing and makeup. The woman stood behind her with her arms tightly wound around Baily’s waist as both were laughing. He flipped the faded picture over to find cursive print:
My dearest Bailey—
This was one of my favorite pictures of you. You wearing my favorite pearl necklace and my drug store makeup. I couldn’t believe then how big you had gotten, and now I feel the same as you start college a married woman. Just know that I will always be proud of the woman you have become.
Love you forever,
—Nan
Leo took one last glance at the photo and then stuffed it into his pants pocket along with the pearl necklace. He ran out towards the stables where the weekly gardeners were beginning to pack up their gear. He shouted at them, “Have you seen Bailey, Miss Reed? The housekeeper?”
A portly man covered in grass clippings put down his shears and removed his hat as he answered. “She left an hour ago in a hurry,” he said. “She asked Tommy about the bus station in Cardiff.”
Leo ran back inside still clutching the photograph, blanket, and necklace. He quickly changed into a shirt and exited the house without a moment to think of what he would do or say to win her back.
The girls from last night were still standing on the porch smoking as they waited for their ride. Both looked more tired and haggard than Leo remembered. One of the blondes took notice of the man sprinting out the front door in a hurry. She cooed and touched his arm as he attempted to figure out which key went to the right lock, “Change your mind, honey? We would forgive you.”
He elbowed her away, knocking the tipsy woman down to her feet. The other woman picked her up as each loudly protested their treatment once more. But Leo could not care. He had only one thing on his mind as he raced to unlock the car he parked in the lawn and then sped off towards the road.
Bailey had been sitting on the wooden bench for over a half hour now. The next bus out of Chicago was still another forty minutes wait. She had already made a phone call to Lily’s home, explaining where she was going and promising to be present at her next check in two weeks from now. She had wanted to ask more, to check in on her girl, but the circumstances of her departure had probably already looked suspicious in their eyes, and she did not want to raise any more concern.
She dialed a second number in her contacts and held her breath as the other line rang. A woman with a deep southern twang picked up without saying hello or asking who was calling.
Bailey knew that she would have to take the lead on this, “Aunt Catherine? It’s Bailey.”
Catherine was exasperated. She had no time for fools today, especially ones that had been giving her the runaround for months. Annoyed, she said, “I know who this is, girl. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t steal the necklace, Catherine. It was mine. She gave it to me. It was a gift for my high school graduation. I am sorry if you think that I am not being honest about this.” Bailey was calm and resolved. She had wanted to make this phone call the minute she had left the home, but she could never get the courage. Leo’s anger exercises had forced her to work through her fear of confrontation.
“Why would she give it to you? I mean, you’re the one who made the mistake of having a baby you couldn’t afford and marrying the first guy to knock you up. You were a failure—and your grandma knew it. That necklace belongs to my family.”
“Like it or not,” Baily seethed through clenched teeth, “I'm your family. But since you can't see that, I’m giving up. It’s yours. Take it. I know my grandma loved me. I know she was proud of me. And I know that if she was watching us right now, she would be happier with me than she would've been of her own sister.” Bailey explained where she had left the necklace with instructions on how to contact Jonathan for the keys. When she was done, she hung up the phone and turned her attention to the group of people joining her on her trip out of the city.
“Bailey!” A man’s head poked above the rest of the group as he struggled to push through the crowd and newly forming line before the bus. “Bailey!”
She avoided him, standing in line instead with her box and backpack. Leo grabbed her arm, gently pulling her out from the crowd. “I have to talk to you.” He looked around at the scene. His actions had caused the group of people to stare. Some even recognized him as they pointed and snapped photos with their phones.
“There’s nothing to say. You know now, and I'm a liar.”
“No, Bailey, you’re not. I know you didn’t steal the necklace. I found this.” He reached into his pockets and handed her the folded up picture. It was one of the few that she had carried from house to house, but now she remembered the note on the back.
She began to understand. She was not fired over having concealed her daughter. It was Catherine. She had managed to convince Jonathan that she had stolen from her. Leo had just been another pawn in her game.
“How did you find this?” She asked him breathlessly.
“I came looking for you. I couldn’t let you go. I can’t. I need you Bailey. you're the one who keeps me from running, and I wanna do the same for you.”
“I can’t be with you, Leo.” She lowered her voice as she realized that their conversation wasn’t their own. “I married an addict before. I know what it’s like. I can’t do that again. I can’t change you.”
“No, I know that.” Leo continued to hold her shoulders in place, refusing to let her go from him.
Bailey continued, not letting him stop her. “Joe -- he did things to me. He made my life a living hell. It wasn’t just the alcohol. It was him too. I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are when you’re not drinking. I can’t trust you to be the person I need you to be without the booze.”
Leo looked at her, seeing the person she was for the first time. She too was just as broken and afraid as he was. She may have been emotionally stronger than he was. But he wanted to be there, to go all in for her. Together, they were too wandering souls just waiting to collide.
“Just listen to me, Bailey,” he pleaded with her. “Please!” She stopped turning towards the idling bus and waited, but she didn’t turn back to him just yet. “It’s like you said,” he continued. “People only change when they have something to change for. I wanna change for you. I want you to be that person for me. Please. Bailey. I wanna try. Let me prove to you that we can do this.”
Bailey about-faced and looked at him hard. She was skeptical; she’d heard this promise before. “Are you really serious?” she asked, her eyes ferocious. “I mean, are you truly ready to make this right for both of us?”
“I am. Would I have brought this if I wasn’t?” He handed her the pearl necklace. “If I didn’t trust you, or if I would have just believed everything Jonathan and that woman told me, I would've given this back to her. I wouldn’t be standing here asking for you to see me for the person I am. But I promise you that I'm gonna give you all of me. I am going to protect you as long as you promise to open up and let me in.”
She stood there motionless looking towards the ground as he waited. Every part of her was telling her to run, yet her legs remained still. Her heart beat quicker. Her pulse raced. But a calm she had not known in years had washed over her. Something about him felt right, and she was not about to give that up.
He slipped the necklace around her neck, moving the hair from off her neck and then lifting her head to face him. “This necklace belongs to you. And now, so do I.” He kissed her hard, as she found herself circling his neck with her own arms as her box dropped to the ground.
Leo was only partially right. The necklace was hers, but she was as much his. Bailey was going to get in the ring once more—to fight for the ones she cared for.