Chapter Seventeen
Sienna flipped the button on her phone to vibrate and shoved the device into her purse as she walked through the hospital doors later that morning.
Her mother had called earlier, but Sienna wanted to speak to her dad before facing Dana and her expectations that Sienna would be leaving Crimson.
She wasn’t finished in this sweet little town. Despite her mixed emotions, Colorado was quickly beginning to feel like home. She wouldn’t give that up without a fight.
She waved to Dixie at the receptionist’s desk and headed for the elevators.
“Your mother hasn’t aged a day since she left here,” the older woman called. “I recognized her the minute she walked in.”
Sienna spun on her heel. “In where?”
Dixie chuckled. “The hospital, of course. She got here about twenty minutes ago.”
“Is Jase with her?” Sienna asked, already backing away.
“Haven’t seen him.”
Dana was alone with Declan. The implications screamed through Sienna’s brain, as if she was standing too close to the tracks when a powerful freight train came speeding by. She bypassed the elevator and pushed open the stairwell door, taking the steps two at a time to the third floor.
It was difficult to tell whether her gasping breath was a result of racing up two sets of stairs at altitude or the overwhelming panic at the thought of her parents together.
The door to her father’s room was open halfway, and she paused outside to catch her breath, gather her thoughts and try to discern whether any blood had been shed yet.
“We had an agreement, Dec. Nothing has changed.”
The sharp edge in her mother’s tone wasn’t a surprise, but her words certainly were.
“She showed up here. That changed everything.” Declan coughed, painful and raspy in a way that couldn’t be good for his continued recovery. He sounded out of breath and agitated. Sienna started to interrupt the conversation but stopped as her father spoke again. “What was I supposed to do? Send her away? Reject her to her face?”
“Yes,” her mother said, exasperation clear in her tone. “If you want to keep receiving the monthly check, then yes.”
Sienna felt like she’d taken a punch to the gut. She reached out and put a hand on the wall to steady herself.
“Let him explain,” a quiet voice behind her said.
She turned to find Jase standing a few feet behind her, Emily at his side. Her sister-in-law’s gaze was gentle, and Sienna understood she’d been duped by everyone. As far as she’d seen, Emily wasn’t one for sympathy...ever.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she muttered, but her legs were rooted to the polished linoleum floor.
“Sienna?” The door to the room opened to reveal her mother standing stiff as a statue, her mouth pressed into a tight line even as her gaze tracked wildly from Sienna to Jase.
“Baby girl, come in here,” Declan called from over Dana’s shoulder. “We need to talk.”
“Did you pay him to stay away from me?” Sienna didn’t move, ignoring her dad’s request.
“I helped out with living expenses.” Dana glanced at Jase again. “For your brother.”
“Sienna!” Declan shouted. “Get her in here.”
Dana gave a small nod. “We can discuss the details behind closed doors. No need for the entire hospital to overhear you.”
But Sienna was beyond caring who knew this latest detail in their sordid family history. “Did your help include an agreement that he wouldn’t try to contact me?”
Her mother tipped up her chin and gave Sienna the patented mom stare that used to shut her down when she asked questions about her dad and brother.
Sienna pressed her palm flat against the wall and stared back.
“Your father and I had an understanding. I never forbade him from contacting you.”
“The hell you didn’t, woman,” Declan called from inside the room. “Now someone get me out of this dang bed.”
“You had no right,” Sienna whispered to her mother.
Dana’s eyes narrowed. “He cashed the checks every month.”
“Dad had some rough times,” Jase explained, stepping forward. “He needed—”
“Did you know about this the whole time?” Sienna demanded, pulling her hand away from the wall and fisting it at her side.
“Not at first,” Jase said after a moment. “But eventually I started managing the bank account.”
“Inappropriate to put a child in that situation,” Dana muttered.
Sienna felt like she was at the center of a tornado, all the parts of her life spinning around her in a whirlwind.
“Do you want to get a cup of coffee?” Emily asked. “A few minutes away might help you collect your thoughts.”
“I don’t need time.” Sienna looked between the three people facing her. “My thoughts are clear. You’ve all lied to me. I want nothing to do with any of you.”
* * *
Sienna paced back and forth in the corner office of the sheriff’s department, anger and humiliation buzzing through her like a swarm of insects.
The friendly woman at the front desk had offered her a cup of coffee, then led her to Cole’s office. He was on his way back to the station, she’d explained, and Sienna was welcome to wait.
The door burst open a few seconds later, and Cole appeared, his gaze frantic. “Marlene called me,” he said, moving toward Sienna. “She said my girlfriend was in the office crying and that I’d better get my butt back here stat.”
Sienna’s cheeks grew warm as a thrill coursed through her at his casual use of the word girlfriend. Did that make her optimistic or pathetic? Probably a bit of both. “I hope she didn’t actually use the word stat.”
“She did,” he confirmed. “Marlene’s a big fan of medical shows. She’s also happy to give an armchair diagnosis of any physical ailments you might have.”
“I’ll remember that.” Sienna smoothed her fingers across her cheeks. “For the record, I wasn’t crying when I got here. I was totally composed when I walked into the station.”
“But you’d been crying?” He didn’t wait for an answer, only reached for her. His strong arms wound around her back as he pulled her against his chest.
She sucked in a shaky breath and let herself sag against him. They stood together for several minutes, Cole gently tracing circles on her back with his palm. She splayed her fingers across his shirtfront, feeling the steady beat of his heart. The sorrow that had tightened around her chest, ensnaring her heart like a vine, slowly subsided.
It was this moment more than any other that made her certain of her love for him. He felt like home, and she’d been yearning for a place to belong for as long as she could remember. She drew in her first normal breath since leaving the hospital, realizing she could handle anything with this man at her side.
“My mother went to visit my dad in the hospital this morning,” she said, pulling away.
As reluctant as she was to leave Cole’s embrace, she had to have a little distance to get the words out. She walked to the edge of the desk, ran her fingers along a deep scratch in the oak top.
“I take it things didn’t go well.”
“Not exactly. They argued over the money she’d been giving him all this time.”
Cole’s thick brows furrowed, but otherwise he didn’t respond. She’d expected him to be as shocked as she was by the revelation so she didn’t quite understand his calm reaction to the news.
Maybe he didn’t understand the implication of what she was telling him. “Mom has been sending a monthly check to Declan for the past twenty years,” she explained. “She tried to tell me it was for Jase, but obviously my brother is a grown man now and even when he was a kid...” She shook her head, confused that Cole still looked unsurprised. “They had an unspoken agreement that Declan wouldn’t contact me. Jase knew about it. He’d started depositing the checks when Declan was having issues.”
“That’s a lot of pressure for a kid,” Cole said quietly. “Your parents never should have made that arrangement.”
“Yes,” she agreed slowly, an uncomfortable feeling—an itch she couldn’t quite reach—skittered along the back of her neck. “That’s not the point. Jase knew and never mentioned it. My mom made me believe my dad wanted nothing to do with me. Declan took the money and was willing to stay out of my life to ensure it didn’t stop. It’s untenable that they’d all have kept this from me, even once I arrived in Crimson.”
“I’m sorry, Sienna.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It was a bad situation all around. But you have to understand—”
“You knew.” She lifted her arm, pointing a finger at him. It felt as though her hand wasn’t connected to her body. She saw everything through the haze of heartache crashing over her once again. Only this time it was a pain she doubted she’d ever recover from. “You knew about the checks.”
“Jase didn’t like keeping it from you.” Cole took a step forward but she stretched out her hand, palm out, to keep him from moving closer to her. “He was trying to figure out a way to tell you. He mentioned that Declan hadn’t cashed the checks for a while, if that helps.”
She felt her eyes widen. “You’ve discussed this with Jase.”
“He needed to confide in someone,” Cole said by way of explanation. “It was long before you and I were together.”
“We’re not together,” she whispered, the words little pokes of a dagger. Her insides were raw at this point, battered and bloody, and yet the hits just kept on coming.
“Don’t say that.” He closed his hand around hers but she wrenched away, trying to gather herself. Trying to make sense of any of this. She felt the heat of his body behind her, although he didn’t try to touch her again. “This can’t come between us. Not now.”
“I trusted you, Cole. I love you.”
As soon as she said the words, she knew they were a mistake. His features went blank, as if he were suddenly made of stone.
“You must have heard I was a bad bet,” he said with no inflection. “You should have listened.”
She drew in a breath, squared her shoulders and met his dark gaze. “That’s an excuse to keep yourself from being hurt, and we both know it.”
“I care about you, Sienna.” He shrugged, ran a hand through his hair. “That’s all I have to give you.”
Care. What an inconsequential word compared to the all-encompassing love she felt for him. Care was a nibble on a corner of stale bread and she was ready to offer the entire buffet—her heart and soul spread out before Cole. She’d wanted to give him everything.
“It isn’t enough, and I don’t believe it anyway. Not after everything—”
“Jase would have told you about the checks,” he interrupted, a clumsy change of subject that made Sienna want to scream in frustration. “Eventually. Or made Declan do it. You shouldn’t have found out the way you did.”
“Thanks, Sheriff Obvious.” Her anger was the rising tide at the beach on a hot summer day. She let it wash over her, obliterating her heartache—at least for the moment.
It was hard to see Cole as anything but the man she loved, so Sienna let anger surge through her heart. The less she allowed herself to feel right now, the more she could handle without a total breakdown.
“I’m sorry,” he said, lifting a hand as if to reach for her again, then dropping it when she took another step away.
“Me, too,” she whispered, her hand on the door to his office. “You’ll never know how much.”
* * *
“Make it right, Jase.”
Cole didn’t need to turn around on the barstool where he’d been planted for the past two hours to know his friend had arrived at Elevation Brewery, the most popular bar in Crimson. Guilt radiated from Jase, hot and sticky, scorching everything in its path.
“Tell me how.” Jase took a seat next to him and inclined his head to the man behind the bar. “Hey, David. Gimme whatever the sheriff’s drinking.”
“Too much whiskey,” David McCay, the bar’s owner, said quietly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cole saw Jase nod. “Sounds good to me.”
David frowned but pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels from the shelf behind the bar. “Is there some high altitude apocalypse on the horizon?” he asked as he poured two fingers into a highball glass and set it in front of Jase. “Because it concerns me to see two of our top town leaders bellied up to my bar looking like they just got kicked in the family jewels.”
“His fault.” Cole hitched a thumb toward Jase. “He’s a damn liar.”
Jase grimaced. “Mind dialing down the volume? That’s the last thing I need broadcast out to the town.”
“A coward, too,” Cole added, ratcheting up his voice another notch. “I’m only telling the truth here. You should try it sometime, Mr. Mayor.”
“How much has he had?” Jase asked David.
“Enough that I’m cutting him off after that one.”
Jase leaned toward Cole. “Ida Wasinski is devouring a plate of wings at the table to your left. She’s the biggest gossip in Crimson, and she’s watching you like you’re covered in buffalo sauce.”
“You can’t cut me off.” The burn of the alcohol was the only thing that could ease the stabbing pain in his heart. Cole drained his glass, then pushed it toward David. “You think I’m going to be arrested if I have another drink?”
David shook his head. “I think you’re going to keep running your mouth, which might be worse.”
“Bring the lawman a drink, barkeep.”
Cole groaned as Shep slapped him on the shoulder.
David’s eyes widened and he swore under his breath. Jase swiveled his seat so he was facing the two Bennett brothers.
“That must have been one hell of a pour,” he said, glancing toward his empty glass. “Because I’m seeing double.”
“Not for long,” Cole muttered. “Get out of here, Shep.”
“In your dreams.” Shep settled on the barstool next to Cole. “I take it my brother the sheriff didn’t spend his off-duty hours regaling you with clever anecdotes from our twinsie childhood.”
“They know about you.”
“Hypothetical knowing and real-life seeing are different things,” Jase said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Put your faces next to each other’s so I can compare your features.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Kiss my—”
“Another round for everyone,” David said quickly. He poured liquor into three glasses, then got called to the other end of the bar.
“My brother,” Shep said, leaning back to speak directly to Jase, “never loses control.”
Jase held up his glass as if he was toasting Cole’s self-control. “He’s a steady force in this community. A real prize.”
“A prize,” Cole muttered with a sharp laugh. “Gee, thanks.”
“Which makes whatever’s going on tonight all the more intriguing.” Shep tapped a finger on his chin as if he was pondering the future of the world. Cole wanted to punch him.
“What brings you to Crimson, Shep?” Jase asked.
Cole might be damn angry with his best friend, but he could still appreciate that Jase was trying to distract Shep. Cole sure as hell didn’t want to share anything about his feelings for Sienna with his twin. Even without details and not factoring alcohol into the equation, Shep had to be able to sense how upset Cole was and that meant giving his brother too much power.
“I bought some property here.”
“A summer home?”
“Not exactly.”
“The ski resort,” Cole blurted, sick of Shep’s weird little head games.
“Thanks, bro,” Shep whispered.
“It’s not like it’s a secret.”
Jase’s mouth dropped open but he quickly closed it. “You’re with the Trinity Development Company?”
“I’m the president.”
“Well then, welcome to Crimson.”
“You’re the mayor, right?”
“I am.”
“And friends with my brother.”
“Yes,” Jase said at the same time Cole mumbled, “We’ll see.”
“Trouble in paradise?” One side of Shep’s mouth curved. “Did one of you lads break the bro code? Skim a little from the other’s milk?”
“Shut up, Shep.”
“Nothing like that,” Jase clarified. “It’s my sister.”
“You dishonored a friend’s sister?” Shep nudged Cole’s shoulder. “I didn’t think you had it in you, buddy.”
“Do you ever get sick of being a jerk?” Cole asked his brother.
“Nope,” Shep said with a laugh. “It’s my superpower.”
“A jerk is handling the reopening of the ski mountain?” Jase downed the remainder of his drink. “Perfect.”
“Sienna is the only thing I care about right now.” Cole leaned his elbows on the bar and bent his head forward. “You should have seen how she looked at me.”
Jase sighed. “I know exactly how she looked at you because it was the same way with me.”
“Not the same,” Cole muttered. “You’re not in love with her.”
Shep whistled low under his breath.
“Hell, no, I’m not in love with her. She’s my sis—” Jase stopped, sucked a breath. “Did you say you’re in love with her? With my sister?”
“That explains everything,” Shep said. He took another sip of whiskey. “If you love this chick, then of course you messed it up.”
“She’s not a chick,” Cole snapped, then turned to his brother. “Don’t call her that.”
“Yeah,” Jase agreed. “Show some respect.”
Shep held up his hands. “Got it.”
“What do you mean, of course I messed it up?”
“Tell me what happened.”
Cole pressed his lips together. “There was something she didn’t know that I knew and when she realized I knew before she knew—”
“He lied to her.” Jase rose from his stool.
“I didn’t lie,” Cole countered. “I just didn’t tell her that you’d lied.”
“It was for her own good,” Jase said, shaking his head.
“I thought so, too,” Cole said.
“Like all of Dad’s lies were for Mom’s own good?” Shep asked.
Cole shook his head. “Don’t go there.”
“Isn’t that what he told her?” Shep took another long drink. “That’s what he told all of us.” His tone was disgusted. “He ruined her.” He tipped his glass toward Cole. “And this ch...woman probably got off easy. How long were you together anyway?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cole said. “What matters is that I should have told her from the start.”
“What was the big lie anyway?” Shep asked.
Cole glanced toward Jase, who shrugged.
“There was something she didn’t know about the agreement her parents had for child support after they got divorced,” Cole said.
Jase laughed softly. “You should be the politician. That was the biggest spin I’ve ever heard.” He took a step toward Shep. “My mother moved away from Crimson with Sienna when we were kids. My dad was a mess. Mom sent him money, and it was understood that he wouldn’t contact her or see my sister.”
“Like a payoff?” Shep asked.
“Such an ugly word,” Jase muttered.
“Exactly like a payoff,” Cole admitted, even though he’d tried to convince himself it was something different when Jase had first told him about the arrangement.
“That’s bad.” Shep leaned forward over the bar. “Bartender,” he shouted. “Another round for these two idiots and one for me, as well.”
Cole looked to David and shook his head slightly. “No more for me.” He glanced at his brother. “It’s bad.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“I’m an idiot,” Cole muttered. “Just like you said.”
“It’s my fault.” Jase shook his head. “I asked you not to say anything.”
Shep gave a small laugh. “Bros before—”
“Sometimes I wish we were twelve again,” Cole interrupted, “so I could tackle you to the ground. It’s better this way. She got out early before I could hurt her even worse than I have. I’m my father’s son after all.”
“You don’t actually believe that.”
Cole glanced at his brother. “What are you talking about? We look just like him.”
“I’m not debating paternity.” Shep ran a hand through his hair. “But you aren’t like him.” He leaned in closer. “You are not our father.”
“I lied to her,” Cole whispered.
“Yes, and you’ll have to fix the mess you’re in. I recommend flowers and jewelry and a load of sappy, humiliating groveling. You can make this better. Hell, Cole, Dad could have made it better if he hadn’t been such a coward.”
“He was going to jail.”
“Which didn’t stop Mom from loving him. He gave up on her and on himself. That’s the part I couldn’t face. That’s why I never came back. He was supposed to be the strongest man I knew, and he gave up. Don’t be like him. Don’t give up.”
“I hate to side with your brother,” Jase said, “but he’s right.”
“Hell, yeah, I am.” Shep stood from his chair, pulled his wallet from his back pocket and threw a few crisp bills on the bar. “Do you know why?” He held up a hand before Cole could answer. “Because you are the strongest man I know. It sounds like this woman loves you, and there is nothing worth fighting for more important than that. Speaking of, I’ve actually got a lady waiting on me tonight. You two sad saps remind me I’d rather be with her.”
“I thought you just got to town,” Jase murmured. “You work fast.”
Shep flashed a grin. “Something like that.”
Cole met his brother’s gaze, and it was like looking at a version of his own reflection. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said quietly, surprised to realize it had been true from the first moment he’d spotted Shep on the ski resort’s patio. His brother might infuriate him, but their bond couldn’t be broken.
“Besides...” Shep quickly drained the glass of whiskey David had set on the bar in front of him, then took two steps back. “If you don’t handle it, I’m going to have to make myself available to help this poor girl get over you.”
“Shut up.”
“See ya, Cole.” Shep turned with a laugh and walked out of the bar.
“Can I fix this?” Cole asked Jase a moment later.
His friend sighed. “I sure as hell hope so.”