Chapter 8
“Dear God, she’s out of control.” Aaron stood in the dining room where a major transformation had taken place over the past week, starting with the cleanup crews that Aaron had brought in to move things along because he was getting impatient. The wood cleaning crew had tackled the interior log walls, beams, cabinets, stairs, and trim work while he and Stevie finished painting the nursery.
After all the old furniture was hauled off, the floor cleaning service came in and made the hardwood floors, tile, and carpet all look new. While the floors were being polished, the window washers arrived. Using scaffolding, they had cleaned the ornamental plate-glass windows in the eaves of the house before washing the regular windows.
With the floors shiny and windows sparkling, new furniture had been delivered yesterday. The new furnishings included a large oval dining room table with six chairs and a matching sideboard that Lia and the sales clerk insisted he buy. For some reason, a dining room needed one of those and a mirror to hang over it.
He liked the sturdy blond oak and the traditional style, but at the moment, Aaron couldn’t see the top of the table or the sideboard. Both pieces of furniture were covered in baby stuff. Plus, there were boxed items on the chairs.
“I told you, bro.” Stevie motioned to the dining room table. “Heroin for women.”
“Damn.” Aaron shook his head. Over the past few days, he had intentionally kept himself busy and was doing his best to ignore Lia’s presence in his home. He knew she was shopping for the baby and storing the shopping bags in the bedroom, but he had no idea what she had bought until this morning when she decided she needed to spread everything out so she could see what she had before she went shopping again. “This is enough for ten babies.”
He picked up a newborn bubble suit with a sailor collar. His jaw dropped when he saw the price tag. “Sixty-five dollars. Unbelievable.”
“It costs a fortune to raise a kid nowadays.” Stevie never cracked a smile.
Aaron turned to his brother, who was wearing a new polo shirt and shorts. He had his duffel bag hung over his shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”
“TGIF! Man, this is the Fourth of July weekend. Long weekend, right?”
“Yeah.” All the staff at the pediatric clinic where Aaron worked had been overjoyed when he and his partners had decided to close the clinic on Friday and Monday. As of today, he was on a three-week leave except for consults and emergency calls.
“I’m heading south to Panama City Beach with a couple of chicks. Weekend on the beach. That’s the good life.”
“Stevie,” Aaron began, “you stay out of trouble.”
“Boys.” Frank strode into the dining room. He wore his khaki fishing hat, adorned with brightly colored lures, and his new fishing vest that had pockets galore and a built-in rod holder. Along with a handful of fishing rods, he towed a rolling canvas bag. “I’m ready to head out to Covington Lake.”
Aaron glanced at his father in surprise. “You’re going to the lake?”
“Yeah. Ralph got us a good deal on a cabin. Four days for the price of two. So me, Ralph, Jerry, and Earl are gonna do some serious fishing. We’ve got some bottle rockets for this weekend.” Frank looked at the baby attire covering the dining table. “Lord have mercy.”
“Tell me about it.” Aaron shrugged. “We could open a store.”
“Nothing wrong with having a rich aunt,” Stevie put in. “Just like having a rich uncle, except she looks really good.” He bracketed his eyes with his fingers and opened them wide. “Open your eyes, bro.”
Aaron stuck up his middle finger, and Frank intervened. “Come on, Stevie, we need to get going.” He spoke to Aaron. “I left some instructions on the fridge for Lia about the garden.”
“Okay.” Besides all the shopping, Lia had taken up gardening, thanks to Frank’s encouragement. At dusk, when the temperature cooled, Frank took her to his garden where he was teaching her the basics of cultivation, especially of good tomato plants.
At the door that led to the deck, Frank and Stevie gave Aaron a wave good-bye. “See you Tuesday.”
Outside, Frank followed Stevie across the deck. “I don’t know about this.”
“Dad, nothing is going to happen between them as long as we’re around.” Stevie went down the deck steps. “Two’s company, and four’s a crowd. By the time we get back, I guarantee you Aaron won’t be sleeping upstairs alone. If he is, I give up.”
“Maybe nothing should happen. I can’t see it ending well,” Frank said as the wheels of his bag rolled over the grass.
“Aaron likes her. You’ve seen how he watches her,” Stevie reminded Frank. “And how she looks at him. Got that laser thing going on between them.”
“I don’t know about no laser, but she seems like a sweet girl, and she’s trying really hard to do right by her sister’s baby.” Frank sighed. “You know your brother.”
“Listen, he moved her into the house, and that’s not about the baby. That’s about him,” Stevie said. “You’re gonna have to trust me on this.”
Lia’s red Jaguar whipped into the driveway and pulled to a stop beside Stevie’s truck. While Frank loaded his bag into his SUV, Stevie went to greet Lia, who climbed out of the Jag with a huge white teddy bear in tow.
“Whoa!” Stevie grinned as he looked at the five-foot white bear. “That’s a polar bear.”
“I drove all the way to Memphis to get him.” She wrestled with the bear. “Isn’t he beautiful? I’m going to put him in the corner beside the window in the nursery.”
She noticed his duffel bag. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah. Dad and I are taking off for the long weekend. Dad’s heading to the lake with his pals, and I’m going to Atlanta to see my brother Greg.” He grinned. “You and Aaron have the place to yourselves for a few days.” Make the most of it.
“We definitely need to get the crib put together.”
Did she and Aaron think about nothing but that baby?
Frank backed his SUV out and waved at them as he drove past. Lia lifted the big bear’s arm and waved back.
Stevie put on his sad face and lowered his voice. “While we’re gone, would you keep an eye on Aaron? I’m a little worried about him.”
She shifted the bear so she was looking over its shoulder. “Is something wrong with him?”
“This is just between us.” Women loved secrets as much as shopping. “Okay?”
“Of course,” she promised.
“This is a bad time of year for him. He would never say anything—no way—but I know him because I’m his brother, and we’re tight,” Stevie said. “This is the anniversary week of Mom’s death.”
“I am so sorry,” she gasped.
Stevie held up his hand. “Mom’s been gone a long time, and we still miss her, but we have to carry on. I’m sure it’s the same thing with you and your family.” She nodded, and he continued, “Mom and Aaron were close, and he’s so sensitive.”
Stevie sighed. “Dad and I tried to get him out of the house this weekend, but he didn’t want to go fishing or come with me. I’m thinking he’s going to sit around depressed.”
“I hope not.”
“Me, too. But Aaron has his moods, so just keep an eye on him. And try to cheer him up, but don’t say anything about Mom. He might break down on you.” Stevie ran his finger along his bottom lip. “Maybe get him out of the house. It’s Friday, so it’s good night to go out to eat. Restaurants always have seafood specials on Friday night, and Aaron loves seafood.”
“I do, too, and I am starving.”
“There you go.” The Love Doctor working his magic. “Shrimp and oysters coming up.”
“I hope you have a good trip.”
“See you Tuesday.”
As Lia headed toward the house with her white polar bear, Stevie climbed inside his pickup. He started the vehicle and let down the window. “Hey, Lia. Fireworks this weekend.” He stuck up this thumb. Make it happen, girl.
* * *
In the nursery, which had a new coat of blue paint on the walls, polished hardwood floors, and a spotless window, Aaron withdrew the parts of the golden oak baby crib from the shipping crate. He and Stevie had put together a matching changing table last night, and the new furniture that had been delivered yesterday included an oak chest of drawers, where Big Bird now sat, and an armoire for the nursery. It would take both pieces of furniture along with the closet to store all the stuff Lia had bought.
After removing the plastic wrap and foam padding, he propped the headboard, front panel, and side panels against the wall and continued to dig pieces out of the box. Legs, rails, mattress support. He put the sack of hardware and instructions on top of the new chest of drawers. “Now to figure this out.” He spread out the small plastic bags containing various parts. He had the tools required: a Phillips screwdriver, an Allen wrench, and a rubber mallet.
“I hope you’re planning on using the instructions. Most men don’t.”
He turned to see Lia in the doorway. She was almost eclipsed by a gigantic white bear. “What is that?”
“It’s a polar bear for the corner in the nursery. Remember, I told you I wanted to get a big bear for the nursery, and you said that would be great.”
He watched as she put the bear in the corner and adjusted its limbs. She wore a white knit pullover and red canvas shorts with navy sneakers. Red, white, and blue. But it wasn’t patriotism that Aaron felt as he looked at her. He longed for her the way someone longs for the impossible, even when they know it’s full of risk. Maybe that was what made her so attractive. Chance equaled excitement. But he had already experienced the painful outcome of loving someone whose heart was taken.
She turned to him. “I’ll help you put the crib together. Where’re the instructions?”
“I have the instructions. Thank you.” He waved them in the air.
“Let me have them.”
He held onto the assembly directions. “I can read.”
She grinned. “Whatever you say. Where do we start?”
He made a point to look at the directions, and he heard her chuckle. “It says to start with the headboard. You find the right hardware.” He handed her the directions, which she studied.
“You’ll need the top rail and two legs. Bolts and dowels.” She searched the hardware packages for the correct pieces. “I think this crib is going to be beautiful. Katie at Bundle of Joy said she should have the Sesame Street lamp and crib mobile in next week.”
“Good.” Aaron used the mallet and dowels to attach the top railing to the curved crib headboard. Sesame Street had been his choice as far as accessories and nursery décor. Actually, he didn’t know what else was available, and Sesame Street seemed a logical choice. “I’m going to need the long bolts.”
She handed him a couple of long bolts, and he knelt on the floor to attach the legs. “Speaking of stuff for the baby, you don’t really need to buy anything else. From the looks of the dining room, I think John Aaron has plenty of everything.” Aaron had estimated there were more than a hundred outfits on the dining room table.
“I did buy different sizes,” she pointed out. “You said babies grow fast, so I bought newborn and then the zero-to-three-months and some three-to-six-months, too.”
“That should be enough for a while.” On his knees, Aaron attached the legs to the side panels. “Okay. Let me see the instructions again.”
“I think there’s hope for you.”
“Yeah, right.” As he looked at the instructions, she sat on the floor with her hands filled with bolts and washers. He fumbled with the Allen wrench as her knee grazed his thigh. The proximity of an attractive female did a number on him. Her body radiated warmth and enticing pheromones that were stronger than the breezy cologne she wore. Everything that was soft, lush, and womanly about her tugged at him. If he could only touch her. Run his greedy hands over every curve. Taste her flesh and listen to her sighs as they made love.
He glanced her way, and her dark lashes fluttered as she looked up from her stack of bolts and washers on the floor. “What do you need?”
I need you. I need my bed back, and I need you in it. I need you to ride me as if there is no tomorrow and nothing matters except us.
“Aaron?” she prompted and then reached for the instruction sheet. “Where are we?”
He knew where he was—headed for trouble. He took a moment to remind himself that he’d promised to respect her relationship with Dallas. That was the right thing to do.
Reaching for one of the side panels, he positioned it between the two of them. “Hold this.”
She pushed her long hair out of the way and gripped the side panel. He swore as he picked through the bolts on the floor. She grinned at him through the bars of the side panel.
“Why do men always swear when they put things together?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered. His swearing had nothing to do with assembling the crib.
As he started to attach the side panel to the headboard, she said, “If you’d like, we could go out to eat this evening. We could find a restaurant that has seafood. If you feel up to it,” she added.
I feel up to a lot of things, babe. That’s the problem. He looked through the bars at her, taking in her remarkable body and vibrant face. He reached for the other side panel. While she held it in place, he attached it to the headboard.
“You can go home for the holiday weekend if you want,” he said. The drive to Nashville took about an hour and fifteen minutes tops, so it wasn’t like she had to stay in Lafayette Falls or that he should suffer through a dinner date with her. “I’ll call you if anything comes up with John Aaron.”
“Will you be okay alone?” she asked.
“Yeah. I can handle being alone.” He wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of sitting around the house by himself all weekend, but he had plenty to do.
He got to his feet and reached for the mattress support. She stood, too, and held the crib frame steady as he placed the metal mattress support inside the frame and secured it in place.
“I could go home,” she said. “But there’s no one there.”
He let her statement hang in the air. He thought of the evenings they had spent together. Played basketball. Investigated the forest that edged his property. Worked on the house. Washed the cars and shopped for furniture together. He had helped her water his father’s garden, and Frank had put them both to shucking corn late one evening. He had even settled in with her and Frank to watch Lonesome Dove. Never once had she spoken of the home and the life she shared with Dallas Peyton.
Aaron hadn’t asked her anything because it was easier not to know. He placed the front panel between the side panels of the crib. He had kept his head in the sand when it came to Molly, too. Look how that turned out. “I need the short bolts.”
As she handed him the bolts, he asked, “You said there’s no one at your house.” Thanks to the internet, he knew that she shared a Nashville mansion as well as a ranch in Colorado with the singer. “Where’s Dallas?”
She looked up, her green eyes wide with surprise. He’d never asked about Dallas before. Her gaze dropped to the floor. “Dallas is on vacation. He has to rest his voice every so often.”
“He went on vacation without you?” Aaron toyed with the bolts, and she didn’t answer. He told himself he should let it go, but he couldn’t. “Why would he go on vacation without you?”
She moved away from the crib as Aaron attached the front panel. While she looked out the window, he put the last bolt in the crib. “That’s done.”
She turned from the window and shot him a brief smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Maybe going home for the weekend isn’t a bad idea.”
She started out of the nursery, and he stepped into the doorway. Bracketing his arm against the doorjamb, he blocked her retreat. “Lia, why isn’t he here with you?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I don’t understand why he’s off on vacation and you’re here alone. You just lost your sister, and she left behind a baby. You shouldn’t have to deal with that by yourself. I don’t care how big a star Dallas is, he should be here with you,” Aaron insisted. “You’ve been with him for years. In all respects, you’re his wife.”
“I am not his wife. I’m never going to be his wife.” She shrank back from the door. Absently, she began to pick up the plastic wrap and foam pieces scattered across the floor where Aaron had discarded them when he started assembling the crib.
“I don’t get it,” Aaron said.
“I told you you wouldn’t.”
She stuffed a piece of foam in the empty shipping carton, and Aaron walked over to the crib. He tried lowering and raising the front panel. “It works.”
Toying with another piece of foam, Lia said, “Dallas and I are not a couple. Everyone thinks we’re together, but that’s not true. It hasn’t been true for a few years now, but there’s a lot at stake, so we’ve kept the truth a secret.”
Her words stunned Aaron. “Why would you do that?”
“It’s the music. It’s everything that we are.” She shrugged and stuck the foam in the box. “Music is all I know. It’s my family legacy, and my father, Julian Montgomery, lives and breathes the music industry, just like his father did. I grew up going to the studio with them. I went to a boarding school where all the kids came from families connected to the music industry. All my friends are musicians, singers, or connected to the business in some way.
“My father hoped I would be a star, and I was groomed for that. By the time I was eight years old, I was singing on stage,” she said. “I can sing, but my voice isn’t really special. I don’t have the kind of unique voice that stands out, and I don’t have what I call star quality.”
Aaron nodded. He understood star quality and the lack of it. He had been a terrific ballplayer with great coordination and a steady fastball, but the players who made the major leagues were like Olympians compared to him.
“Dallas has star quality. He has the voice and the charisma you need to make it to the top. I knew he was special the first time I ever saw him.” She picked up a sheet of flimsy plastic. “It was like love at first sight for us, and I think it was the star in Dallas that I loved. I couldn’t wait for my father to meet him. I knew Dad could make Dallas into one of country’s top singers, and he did.
“My father works with a publicist who creates brands for singers. I became part of Dallas’s brand. We were twenty when Dallas sang one of the songs I’d written, and it hit number one on the charts. We became known as country’s young sweethearts, and our songs were about our love for each other.
“The fans loved us for that, and in the beginning, it was true. I wrote about us, but many times when I referred to love, I meant the music. The emotion of it. Even to this day, I still get overwhelmed sometimes when Dallas sings my songs.” She stopped for a moment as if she were a little overwhelmed now. “It’s like the purity of his voice reaches deep inside my soul where those songs are born. It’s such a magical experience that I can’t describe it.
“It’s addicting,” she added. “All of it. The concert halls. The tours. Walking the red carpet. The money. Being part of his success. Seeing my father so proud of us.”
“Addiction never ends well,” Aaron said as Lia stuffed the plastic in the box. “What went wrong?”
“A few years ago, Dallas wanted to get married, and I didn’t.”
Her admission left Aaron speechless for a moment. “Why not?”
“By then, we had both changed, and the only thing holding us together was music and the lifestyle. In my heart, I felt as if that wasn’t enough. It would be like if you were having a relationship with a woman who was a doctor, and medicine was the only thing holding you together.”
“That wouldn’t work.”
“Dallas and I have stuck it out together because there’s a lot at stake. Dallas’s career is everything to him, and a lot of other people depend on him for their livelihood—band members, bus drivers, equipment guys, and so on. Plus, there are the fans who believe in me and Dallas.
“Most of all, we’ve stuck together for my father because neither one of us wants to disappoint him. Dallas’s father died when he was a little boy, and my father became like a father to him, a mentor. If Julian Montgomery had gotten to choose a son, it would have been Dallas.”
“You’re sticking with a guy you don’t love for your father?”
“I don’t want to let him down, but that day is coming, sooner rather than later. Dallas has met someone, and he’s fallen in love with her. I can’t say that I’m surprised or that I blame him.”
Aaron frowned. “He’s seeing another woman?”
She gave him an uneasy glance. “Yes. Of course, that’s something no one knows about. When the two of us go public with a breakup, it has to be amicable and orchestrated carefully.”
“You’re right. I don’t understand.” Infidelity was not something he would tolerate, regardless of the situation. “Holy shit, Lia, he’s having an affair and you know about it?”
She shrugged. “I’ve always known. He’s with her now.”
Aaron stared at her in disbelief. “That’s just wrong. Trust me. I know how wrong that is.”
She gave him a curious glance. “An affair ended your marriage?”
“She went back to her ex.” Aaron shoved away from the crib. “The moment I found out about the two of them, it was over. Finished.”
“I’m not married to Dallas.” She gathered up the last of the foam pieces. “Our relationship had ended long before he met her. The only thing that concerns me is that some photographer is going to catch the two of them together. That will be a PR disaster.”
Aaron tried to rationalize what she was saying. He supposed there was a different set of rules for celebrities, but he didn’t like those rules. “So you and Dallas are okay with pretending to be in love while he’s screwing around with another woman?”
Lia stuck the pieces of foam in the shipping box. “That’s not what’s going on.”
“From what you’ve said, that’s exactly what’s going on.”
“It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
Her words set off a warning inside him. Molly had used the word “complicated” to describe her relationship with her ex-husband. Complicated equaled unresolved emotions that could range from loathing to longing and back to love again. Mostly, complicated meant it wasn’t over.
It hadn’t been over for Molly even when she let Aaron put a ring on her finger. For a while, she had been happy just the way Dallas Peyton was happy now with his new love. Nevertheless, things had changed.
“Someday he’ll want you back.” Aaron said those words to Lia, but he was actually cautioning himself. He couldn’t let himself forget the lessons he had learned the hard way.
“No, Aaron, he won’t.” She spoke in a voice that was low and certain. “Whatever we had in the beginning is gone. Love is like a song in the rough. One where the words are pure and they come from the heart. A song meant to be sung without embellishment. No instruments, no studio, no production team.” She gazed out the window. “We had such a song, but we lost it amid all the ambition, stardom, and wealth. It became something that wasn’t real.”
He stood beside her at the window, unable to resist stroking the small of her back. “How long are you going to keep living a lie?”
“The eighteenth.”
Her direct answer took him by surprise. “Is that a day?”
“Yes,” she answered as she shifted toward him. “The eighteenth of this month. My father will be back from Europe that weekend. Dallas and I are going to tell him then. We already agreed on that.”
“That’s the right thing to do.” His gaze lowered to her mouth.
“I hope you’re not thinking about sex.”
He grinned. “How did you know?”
“There’s something rubbing against my thigh.” She gave him a quick kiss. “I’m starving. I drove to Memphis to get the bear, and I didn’t stop to eat,” she explained. “I’m like Baby John. When I’m hungry, I want to eat, or I get very fussy.”
“Well, I don’t want to take a fussy woman to bed.” He gave her temple a kiss. “Tell you what, we’ll go someplace for an early dinner, and afterward we’ll stop by the hospital to see John Aaron, and then we’ll come home and have sex.”
She laughed. “I’m all for dinner and going to see the baby,” she said as she shifted away from him. “As for the rest, I’ll have to give it some thought and get back to you.”