Part 26 (2/2)

Yeah, she'd been feeling elated. Until, of course, juggling the pancakes in one hand and the to-go coffee cup in the other, she'd opened his front door and found him over Rose, buck naked, her legs around his hips, a towel in her hand. The pancakes fell on the floor.

”Motherf.u.c.ker!”

Christy wasn't much of a curser, but if anything called for a blue streak, it certainly was this. And, well, honey, I'm home was out of the question.

She thought about bolting, but before she could move, Cole was already grabbing her arm, the towel he'd s.n.a.t.c.hed from Rose after jerking away from her dangling from his other hand.

”Christy, wait, this isn't what it looks like.”

Really? They weren't playing Scrabble? No s.h.i.+t. What a surprise.

”She just fell backward and tried to hold on to something.”

G.o.d, she couldn't breathe. She was so not listening to this. She had had enough catching one lover with another woman, and she couldn't go through a repeat. At least this time she'd been spared the nurse dress and the pink d.i.l.d.o. Although this horrible pain in her chest was new, and a thousand times worse than what she'd felt while catching Todd in flagrante.

She tried to break free, but his hold was unshakeable. Rose had gotten up, and looking quite flushed, she was straightening her clothes, saying something Christy didn't even hear. Cole growled at her, his gaze never leaving Christy's.

”Get the f.u.c.k out of here, Rose. I don't want to see your face again.”

”Let me go,” Christy said.

”Not going to happen, babe. You need to listen to me first.”

Listen to him? Right, sure. Exactly what she'd been thinking.

She needed to leave, now, before she embarra.s.sed herself further and broke down in tears, but for all the good her squirming was doing, she might as well have been shackled to him with iron chains. He was holding the hand she had free, and in the other one she held the coffee. Without giving it a second thought, she threw the cup at his groin. It had cooled down a bit on the way, but it was still scalding hot.

He was fast enough to partially cover himself with the cloth, but he turned her loose for a second and she took advantage of it.

”Aw, s.h.i.+t, Christy! d.a.m.n it, baby, come here!” she heard him shouting after her.

So not going to happen.

Eyes welling, throat quivering, she ran out. Where she was going, she didn't know. She couldn't think, much less breathe. She might have been in shock yesterday, but this was definitely panic. Her ears were roaring, her heart was stampeding, and she needed to be alone. If she'd had her car, she'd have jumped in it, rolled the windows down, turned the music on full blast, and hit the road, but her car was still in the shop.

She tried to block it, but all she could see was Cole naked and Rose hanging on to him with arms and legs. And she had been thinking about giving Cole time to come around. G.o.d, she was a fool. She was out buying him breakfast, pancakes on top of everything, hoping he'd open up to her soon, and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was already between somebody else's thighs. She felt so hurt and betrayed.

How she wanted those d.a.m.n pancakes she'd dropped on the floor at his place! They wouldn't solve anything, but they sure as h.e.l.l would numb her, and she so didn't want to feel this horrible pain.

Suddenly she noticed her pants were talking to her. Surfer dude. She grabbed the cell. Her mother. Under normal circ.u.mstances she would have conveniently ignored it, but if her mom could do anything for her, it was to make her forget about reality, pull Christy into whatever inconsequential issue had her in hysterics. A little of that could be nice right now. Even hearing her berate Christy for leaving Todd would be a welcome distraction.

”Hit me, Martha,” she said, wiping her tears with her hand.

The hysteric flood of words began, but this time they weren't inconsequential.

”What? Slow down. What do you mean in the hospital? Calm down, Mom. I don't understand you.”

It took several tries, but finally Martha got it all out. Fred had been admitted to the hospital with chest pains. n.o.body was telling her anything, but it looked like a heart attack.

”Stay put. I'm coming,” Christy said.

Fred was a good man. He had an older brother somewhere in Arizona, but they'd grown apart and there were no other relatives, which meant he had no one besides Martha. And Martha was useless in a crisis, mainly because she usually was the crisis.

Christy took a deep breath to calm herself. Just her luck, when she needed her mom to pull some stupid drama out of her sleeve to keep her entertained, and it turned out that for once it was a frigging emergency.

While hurrying home, she placed a call to the cab company that serviced Alden, and then called the hospital. They weren't releasing any details by phone, but they told her off the record that he was stable. The nurse who told her that asked her to please hurry, which meant that Mom was probably kicking up a fuss the likes of a true drama queen. Poor staff.

As Christy reached her front porch, she realized someone was standing there. She lifted her eyes and stiffened.

You've got to be kidding me.

”Todd?”

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d gave her a smarmy smile.

”What are you doing here?” Fred had just been admitted to the hospital. Her mom couldn't possibly have sent him.

He shrugged. ”I had some days off. I thought we could talk. Face-to-face. You know, since you've been blocking my calls.”

Man, she couldn't catch a break.

”No time.” Not to mention they had nothing to talk about. ”Fred is in the hospital. I need to get back to LA.”

”What do you mean? Is he hurt?”

”I don't know yet. Probably a heart attack,” she explained in clipped words.

As she entered her condo, he followed her in, and she frowned. What the h.e.l.l did he think he was doing? Todd walked around her house, arms crossed over his chest.

”So this is where you live now?” He wasn't in the least concerned about Fred. He was just curious about her life.

She was about to kick him out when she figured how he could make himself useful.

”Got a car?” she asked on her way to her bedroom.

He nodded. ”A rental.”

Christy threw a small carry-on on the bed. ”Good. You'll drive me to the airport then. I'm not sure the cab I ordered will show.” The one cab company that serviced the Alden area didn't seem to grasp how important it should be for their business to be on time. And on Sunday? Ha! They'd a.s.sured her when she called that it would arrive shortly, but she'd lived in Alden long enough to know that she had more chance of getting a ride from aliens than the cab actually appearing.

She looked around, deciding what she should take. She'd just pack the essentials, some toiletries and a change of clothes.

”Okay, I could also go back with you. I only came here to see you anyways. We can talk on the way back. Catch up.”

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