Hearts on Fire (The Hunter Family) Page 14

  Zane picked me up right around noon and he acted like he always did, I didn’t feel like he was trying to overcompensate in any way. He looked a little bit nervous as he put my bags in his car and I, of course, suddenly felt paranoid that he was about to confess something. But it was nothing like that. He was totally nervous about seeing my parents.

  “Is your father upset with me, Abby?”

  I didn’t tell him about my dad’s reaction on the phone the other night, and I kind of minimized my father’s dislike for him.

  “Well, he’s just concerned because I was so upset when we broke up. My parents just want me to be happy and once they see us they will know how happy I am with you.”

  He turned to look at me, his hands lightly caressing my arms, before I got in the car and took a deep breath.

  “You make me happy too. I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”

  I smiled at him, the smile not quite reaching my eyes.

  “Me too.” I tried to duck into the car but he grabbed my hand and stopped me.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  We had to get going so I didn’t really want to get into it right then.

  “Oh, nothing, I guess I’m just tired. I was out kind of late last night.”

  “Oh, you took a well deserved break from practice?”

  “Something like that. We better get going, there’s probably already a ton of traffic and if we wait much longer we will be stuck in even more traffic.”

  “Oh, right, good call. Is Jack following us?”

  I glanced at my bodyguard who was in the car behind us and waved at him.

  “Yes, he was nice enough to give us some privacy, but not total privacy. My dad would throw a fit if he wasn’t with me.”

  “Got it, well let’s hit the road, hopefully we won’t be stuck in traffic the whole way.”

  About an hour into the trip, I had to use the bathroom and luckily there was a gas station ahead so I asked Zane to make a quick stop. We continued to chat about nothing in particular and then after a lot of small talk, I felt comfortable enough to mention to Zane that I was at his bar the night before.

  “So, I didn’t ask you, how was the bar last night? Did you take care of everything you needed to?” I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

  “Yeah, I did. It was a crazy night.”

  That’s all he said and then he just stared out at the road not offering anymore information. I could feel my face getting warm because I was getting pissed. I saw him with that girl and I knew there had to be more to the story about his night, and I needed for him to tell me what happened so I pressed him a little bit further.

  “Oh yeah? Why was it crazy?” I tried really hard to take the accusing tone out of my voice but I don’t know that I succeeded.

  He glanced at me with a curious glance. “Just one of those nights, you know?”

  What’s with the cryptic language?

  My cheeks were burning and my patience was dwindling away to nothing.

  “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” I definitely sounded pissed, there was no hiding it.

  “What’s with the attitude, Abby?”

  I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  “I was at the bar last night and I saw you.”

  He looked totally confused.

  “Well, why didn’t you come say hi to me?”

  “Because when I saw you, you were huddled in a corner with some blonde chick all over you. Who was she, Zane?”

  We had just pulled off to go the gas station and Zane quickly pulled into a parking spot, slammed on the brake and turned off the car. He turned to look at me and he was clearly pissed.

  Literally seconds later, Jack pulled up next to us and ordered Zane to open the door. I lowered the window and told him everything was okay and to give us a few minutes.

  I turned to look at Zane who was even more pissed.

  “Are we starting this shit again, Abby?”

  That pissed me off even more.

  “I think it’s a legitimate question.”

  He ran his hands through his hair and looked at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of pain and anger.

  “I’m not going to go through this again, if we are going to move forward we have to trust each other.”

  “I agree with that, but I know what I saw so I want to know who you were talking to.”

  Zane turned his body toward and held my gaze.

  “Abby, do you trust me?”

  I fidgeted as I looked down at my hands, incessantly wringing my fingers.

  “I’m really trying to, Zane.”

  A deep sigh escaped his lips and he gently rested his hand on my thigh.

  “What can I do to help you trust me more?”

  “Just be honest with me.”

  “Okay, I promise I will be.”

  He was silent and I was waiting, and the longer he was silent the more annoyed I got. I finally blurted out what I was thinking.

  “Well?”

  “Oh, you want to know who the girl was.”

  Now I was pissed again because I felt like he was playing games.

  “Yes, I do!”

  “She is my realtor, she wanted to go see a property that night.”

  I sat there for a second and let his words sink in. Did I hear what I think I just heard? Is he playing games?

  “Realtor? Really, Zane? She wanted you to go see a property at midnight? Do you really expect me to believe that?”

  His eyes were stern.

  “Yes, I do. She’s also my…”

  I didn’t give him a chance to finish, I got out of the car and slammed the door behind me. Jack was there in an instant.

  “I’m fine Jack, just give me a minute!”

  It was so annoying to have a bodyguard following me around all the time. Sometimes I just wanted to be alone.

  I started walking toward the gas station convenience store as fast as my feet could take me, wanting to get away from both of them.

  I heard Zane’s deep voice bellowing behind me. “Abby! Wait a second! You didn’t let me finish!”

  I stopped, spun on my heel and glared at him.

  “I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say! I don’t believe for one second that your realtor was in your bar at midnight to take you to see a property. I am not stupid, Zane! This is not going to work, you need to leave!”

  I could feel the tears welling up and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

  Shock and disbelief were written all over his face.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, go! You are totally trying to make a fool out of me! I don’t want to see you ever again!”

  The tears spilled down over my cheeks and I ran into the ladies room to get away from them. I didn’t want to ride to my parent’s place with Jack, he wasn’t really my favorite and it would be so awkward. I pulled out my phone and dialed the one man I could always count on.

  His voice was deep and comforting.

  “Hello?”

  “Daddy?” I barely got it out.

  He sounded instantly alarmed. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  Hearing the worry in his voice made me ball like a baby.

  “Daddy, I just got into a fight with Zane and I’m at a gas station off 495. Will you come get me?”

  “Of course sweetheart! Is Jack there with you?”

  I sniffled and grabbed some tissue from the roll.

  “Yes, he’s here but I don’t want to ride with him daddy. I’m too embarrassed.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. Do you know exactly where you are?”

  I started sobbing again.

  “No, I’m in the bathroom and I don’t want to go out there.”

  “Okay, okay calm down. Everything will be okay. Honey, I am going to call Jack and get the exact directions and I will be there as fast as I can. Try to stop crying. Is Zane still there?”

  I could hear that my father wanted to rip his throat out and if he s
aw him, he probably would.

  “I don’t know. I told him to leave.”

  “Okay, I’ll talk to Jack and make sure he leaves so that you can at least sit in Jack’s car while you wait for me. I’ll tell Jack to wait outside the car until I get there.”

  “Okay, thanks daddy.”

  “You’re welcome sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”

  A few minutes later Jack knocked on the bathroom door and told me the coast was clear; Zane had taken off. Jack had already put my bag in his trunk and I was really grateful because I didn’t want to have to see Zane again to get my stuff. I climbed into the back seat and lay down while Jack stood outside the car.

  I was so upset that I had opened my heart to Zane again. Realtor showing a property at midnight….yeah right.

  As I lay on the cool leather seats I couldn’t stop thinking about him and that what I thought was going to be something real turned out to be nothing more than something horrible. I was even planning to pull my sister aside and tell her the story of we had made up after I introduced him to everyone because I was sure she was going to be shocked. A tear slowly ran down my cheek and I shrugged my shoulders as I carelessly twirled my hair. Not going to happen now.

  I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew I my parents were tapping on the window. They had the sweetest look of concern on their faces and I jumped out of the car and gave them a huge hug.

  “Thanks for coming to get me.”

  My dad kept his arm around me. “Of course, honey. Let’s get you into my car and we can talk about what happened.”

  Once we were inside the car, my dad closed the partition to separate us from the driver and we had complete privacy. He glanced at my mom and then turned to look at me.

  “Abby, honey, how did Zane even come back into the picture?”

  “I ran into him a few weeks ago and we started talking and we realized that we miss each other so we decided to give it another try.”

  My mom gently put her hand on my arm.

  “Abby, I thought we agreed that you would not see him anymore because he is not good for you. I thought we sat down and had a long discussion about him and you agreed with us that you would not date him again.”

  That was true. After we broke up a few years before, and my parents saw how hurt I was, they basically forbid me from dating Zane again and they had nothing good to say about him. That was mostly my fault because I painted a really bad picture of him because I was so hurt.

  “I know, but I can’t help that I love him. I can’t control my heart.”

  “Abby, what happened today should prove to you that Zane is bad news and what we said about him before still stands, we don't want you to see him again.”

  Just those words made me start crying again. My heart was broken for a second time and I just wanted to be happy. I looked at my parents, with tears streaming down my face.

  “I can’t promise that.”

  My dad’s face was stern. “Abby, why would you want to be with someone who makes you so unhappy?”

  My mom chimed in. “Seriously honey, love is not supposed to hurt.”

  My crying was completely out of control, my body wracked with sobs.

  Mom put her arms around me and gently consoled me.

  “Alright, calm down, calm down.”

  I saw her glance over at my father and his face was filled with disgust.

  “We’ll talk about it later.” She patted my arm and it did make me feel a little bit better.

  I was glad they dropped it because I was not in the mood to get into how they were going to threaten to cut me off again. My dad actually said that to me years before when I considered going after Zane and begging him to take me back. I remember the day I told my dad I was going to get Zane to take me back, I was in the lowest, saddest place I had ever been in my life and I missed him like crazy. My dad was so angry that Zane had hurt me he didn’t even want me to say his name around him. He said if I started seeing him again they would cut off my inheritance. My mother, of course, was not happy with my father at all for saying that and she immediately told me that was not true. That was one of the few times I saw my parents argue, but my mom won.

  Just as we were pulling up to the house, my dad had to get in the last word about Zane.

  “Abigail, you are not to see that man again, is that clear?”

  I looked him in the eye and my voice was trembling but I had to stay true to my feelings. “I can’t promise that.”

  Even though I was pissed at him, I loved Zane and I was planning to talk to him once everything settled down. I was super emotional so I wasn’t thinking clearly, but I felt like I overreacted with him earlier that day. Maybe he wasn’t lying about the realtor. Wait, what am I saying? I felt like a crazy person because one minute I wanted him back and the next minute I thought he was a lying snake. My head was pounding and I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

  I trailed behind my dad who was yelling about staying away from Zane as I walked into our house that was filling up with guests. I went straight to my room to freshen up and make myself look presentable because I was sure that my eyes were puffy and swollen. I literally jumped back when I saw myself in the mirror. Mascara was smeared all over my face, my eyes were red and puffy, and once again I was pissed. This time I was pissed because I let Zane get to me and allowed him to affect me to the point where I was balling like a baby, until I looked like shit. I stared at myself in the mirror. What is it about him that does this to you?

  I thought about his eyes, his smile, his touch, his kisses and I couldn’t help but feel sad again. I wanted to check my phone to see if he called, but I couldn’t find it. I splashed water on my face, changed my clothes, and touched up my makeup. I finally looked more like myself and it was time for me to go downstairs and greet everyone. I put on the best smile I could muster and I went downstairs.

  Chapter 11

  I said hello to everyone and I had never seen my brother look happier than when he was standing next to his girlfriend Sklyar. She was beautiful and very sweet but unfortunately I was in a horrible mood and I am embarrassed to say I was not so nice to her. The last thing I wanted to see as I wallowed in my misery was a couple that looked head over heels in love. It was best that I kept my distance and that is what I tried to do.

  My Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jake were also there chatting with my parents, Claire was already there and her boyfriend Keegan was coming later, my grandmother, Nana Bunny, was baking her delicious pumpkin pie and the rest of the family was arriving a little later. I couldn’t find my cell phone anywhere so I had to interrupt my parents.

  “Mom, dad, have you seen my cell phone?”

  My mom looked at my dad and he shook his head. “No honey, we haven’t. If you don’t find it let us know and we’ll order a new one for you.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  I looked over at Claire chatting with Jonny and Skylar and there was no way I was going over to that group so I decided to help Nana Bunny in the kitchen.

  After she placed the pie in the oven she grabbed my hand and led me to the table. Our chef’s assistant brought us each a cup of tea and Nana Bunny looked at me with her sweet eyes and smiled.

  “I can tell that something is bothering you sweetheart. What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want to bother you with my problems.”

  “Nonsense, maybe I can help.”

  I told her all about Zane and what had happened and I could feel myself welling up again.

  “If you need to cry dear, go ahead and get it out, it’s okay. You’re in pain because you love this man. Let me ask you, has he ever done anything to make you distrust him?”

  I wiped away my tears. “Well, when we broke up there was the girl in his apartment.”

  “Yes, the one in the towel, but he told you that is his sister, right?”

  I hesitated. “Yes.”

  “Do you think he was lying to you?”

  “After thinking about i
t for three years, I guess not. I don’t think he has ever lied to me. We talked about everything.”

  “So what makes you think he’s lying now?”

  “Because I saw him kissing that girl.”