Chapter 8

 

It was settled. Kristen stared at Ethan’s signature scrawled across the bottom of the contract. It was like déjà vu. She recalled doing the same thing with Andrew after making a devastating discovery that made her rethink having any relationships with men. A morning just like this was when she got the courage to listen to her husband’s side of the story. They’d sat at this very table and made an agreement which they both signed to. Eight years later, she was doing the same thing with his brother.

This family’s trust was based on nothing but signed legal agreements. Ethan’s parents had him sign over his birthright when they renounced him as their son. From what Andrew told her, Ethan would lay claim to nothing upon their deaths. They must have thought that Andrew would live forever.

This marriage was somehow different. When she signed the agreement with Andrew, she didn’t have a daughter to consider. Now, Hailey was involved, she needed to make sure it was in her daughter’s best interest. She and Ethan would get married within two weeks at the town hall after they completed the necessary requirements.

“I want us both to do a blood test,” Kristen added to the list.

Ethan frowned. “Why? If nothing is going to happen between us, why bother?”

“Nothing is going to happen, and don’t you dare think you can do as you please with other women. How’s that gonna look? I won’t stand for that,” she retorted.

“What am I to do? A man has needs.”

“Fist it off.”

“You’re one cruel woman,” he complained, but she knew he was teasing her.

“Anyway, not every illness shows itself easily. Isn’t it best we know that we are both healthy before going into this? Makes it easier to handle.”

Ethan softened his tone. “Was Andrew carrying around some illness you’re not telling me about?”

“This is not about Andrew. It’s about us.”

“He was my brother,” he said. “Kristen, I am not the enemy.”

“Aren’t you?”

“We used to be close, friends even.”

“That was a long time ago, Ethan. Things change.”

He ignored the last statement and continued his grilling. “Was Andrew sick? Was that why you had him cremated?”

“I didn’t have him cremated. It was his wish not to be cut open for an autopsy and that his body would be cremated upon his death,” she informed him. “The agreement stated that unless he was murdered, they would not perform an autopsy. He signed an agreement with the hospital and his personal physician.”

Ethan nodded with understanding. “A stroke would rule that out.”

“Yes. He was in the hospital for three days after the stroke. It was not my decision to cremate, but apparently, his parents were not aware of this agreement.”

“What was he hiding?” he asked.

The subject of her husband was not easy to discuss. There were too many things that happened, too many secrets she was sworn to protect. In addition, she too had her own secrets from the world, secrets that only Andrew knew. Still, she needed to tell somebody at some point in time, but not now.

“I’ll tell you when I think the time is right.”

“All right, I won’t push.”

The conversation returned to the current situation. Ethan promised to seek the help of a psychiatrist to determine whether his dreams were stress related or not. With the promise made, he made the appointment in her presence.

She still had doubts about marrying him, but at least she could keep an eye on him if he was around. If she married someone else, she would likely never see him again as he had threatened to leave.

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked.

Ethan’s jaw visibly tightened. “You don’t have to police me. I’ll go.”

Getting to her feet, she picked up her copy of the contract. “I was just offering support. You obviously don’t need it,” she snapped. “If you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do than argue with you.”

“Kristen...”

Ignoring him, she pushed through the kitchen door and headed toward the staircase in the living room. He followed behind but her feet hastened away. When she was about to make the first step up the stairs, she felt him grab her arm.

Spinning around, she shrugged him off. “Don’t keep grabbing me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Truce?”

Her reply came with a deep sigh. “If we’re going to do this, we can’t argue around my daughter.”

“I won’t.” He held his hands up defensively. “But I can’t say the same for you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Since I returned, you’ve been nothing but cantankerous and you haven’t told me what I did to cause it. It can’t be about us dating or not dating ten years ago.”

“Don’t be silly. Why would I be angry about a relationship that never happened?”

“Then what is it?”

“I can’t talk about that right now, Ethan,” her voice came out crisp.

“So, there is something,” he said it as though a realization dawned on him.

She started up the stairs when she heard him say, “It’s not like we slept together.” Kristen whirled, her heart thundering and knees weak. “Are you crazy?”

He came up to where she stood on the third step, a dark look clouding his face. “We did, didn’t we?” When she didn’t offer an answer, he gripped her shoulders. “Answer me, damn it.”

“I don’t have time for this.” she tried to shrug him off, but his hold tightened.

“How come I can’t remember?”

“Let go.”

His fingers dug into her flesh, matching the intensity of his stare. “Not until you tell me what happened.”

This wasn’t happening. The one thing she swore would never happen was now facing her. The one mistake of her life was now confronting her. However, it wasn’t her fault alone. They were both to blame, but most of all, Andrew was the main culprit in all this.

“I’m waiting for your answer Kristen, and I’m not letting you leave without telling me,” he said, his voice thick.

With skin flushed, knees still weak and heart thudding heavily, she looked away. Ethan was unrelenting, giving her shoulders a light shake. This was not something that should be discussed, not now, not ever. Still, the burden of what happened weighed on her.

“Yes!” she shrieked. “Yes, and I have hated you ever since.”

Ethan’s hands fell as his mouth opened and his eyes widened. “I knew it. I see snippets of it, but I can’t remember it, not entirely. I thought it was my imagination.”

The heaviness of the burden weighed in. Her chest heaved as her eyes burned and tears she’d held back for so many years burst forth.

“How?” Ethan raked his hand through his hair.

She knew it was not his fault. She knew he wasn’t to blame, but the fact that he could not remember angered her. How could he not remember making passionate love to her? Or maybe her guilt for responding to him so passionately was what made her feel bad. Fighting the tears that started to stream down her face, she sought to regain her composure. If she was going to reveal what happened, she might as well do it with some dignity. Ethan should never know how that night affected her emotionally.

“It was your brother. He planned the whole thing and when I realized that it was you I was making love to, it was too damn late!”

“Andrew did this? How…?”

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted him. Kristen reached into her jeans pocket, picked it out and swiped the screen. Bringing it to her ear, she answered, “Hello.”

A woman’s voice responded, “Mrs. Broderick. This is your daughter’s school. Hailey has been in an accident. Please come right away.” A click indicated that the call was dropped.

“Hello,” she said into the phone, her blood draining from her head. “Hello!”

“Kristen, what is it?”

She heard Ethan asked the question, but his voice seemed distant. Kristen pushed passed him, picking up her car keys from the mantle and heading out the door. All she could think of was Hailey being badly hurt.

Ethan caught up with her. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back,” she managed. “I have to go now.”

Before he could delay her further, Kristen sprinted out the door. She was in her car in less than a minute and reversing onto the residential street. On her way, she opened her phone and looked for the number to return the call for more information, but to her dismay, the number was hidden.

“Crap,” she yelled. “Why would they call me on a private number?”

They told her it was an accident. What kind of accident was it? Why didn’t Helen herself call? Did Helen know? Was Helen in the accident? Without a second thought, she turned the radio on for any news of road accidents.

She then activated the hands-free and dialed Helen’s number. The call went unanswered. She was on the main street when she decided to call Hailey’s school. Just as she heard the voice come on the line, the car jolted violently. Pressing the brake, she hoped to slow the vehicle to figure out what made the car lurch like that.

The car sped forward. The more she pressed the brake the faster the vehicle went. It was happening so fast, faster than she could think. The car hit a bump and she was thrust into the air. Kristen screamed as the car lifted, spun several times, and started twirling back down. The airbag engaged just as the car made impact with the ground. She felt her head whip back, hitting something hard before everything went black.