The One Girl Read online

  We were both quiet for a minute. This was a lot to take for both of us, and I knew she had to be just on the cusp of losing it like I was. Our silence was likely a product of both of us trying to sort out our thoughts and figure out where to go from here.

  “It’s Dalton, by the way.”

  Alright, I had a lot going through my head, but she fucking lost me. “You lost me, Babe.”

  “My real last name. I figure that’s something you should know about your fiance.” As she said this she narrowed her eyes at me.

  She was giving me attitude. She was giving me attitude, now. Instead of thinking of the next step she had been gearing up to give me shit.

  Fuck, that was why I loved her. Only Talie could throw you attitude in the middle of a conversation about the deaths of your loved ones.

  Given the ridiculousness of the situation, I burst out laughing, pulled her to me, and went with it. “Only took a few more minutes than I thought it would for you to bust my balls about that.”

  She smirked and murmured, “Well, it would have been sooner if we hadn’t had other things to discuss.”

  She raised her eyebrow at me and I knew she wanted me to answer her questions without her having to ask them.

  I raised both of my hands in a defensive stance and pled my case. “Look, now isn’t the time. I know. But he fuckin’ pissed me off sittin’ there callin’ you his fiance. You’re fuckin’ mine, and I wanted him to know it.” I took a breath, grew some balls, and then finished, “And fuck it. You are my fiance. I decided. We don’t have to get married anytime soon, since it seems we got other shit to do, but you are gonna be my wife.”

  She smiled and shook her head slightly. “That’s just like you to ask me like that.”

  “What are you talkin’ about?”

  “You didn’t ask. You told me.” She looked like she was pondering something and then bobbed her head up and down like she was agreeing with herself. “Seems right in line with everything else in our relationship.”

  I knew she was just playing with me, but my nerves were still raw from all of the recent revelations, so I didn’t guard myself when I barked at her, “Is that a fuckin’ problem?”

  She started from my harsh tone, but as I tried to form my face into an apologetic expression, she recovered quickly.

  Giving me a free pass for my asshole behavior this time and shaking her head as she spoke she said, “Not as long as you don’t want a wife with any domestic skills.”

  It seemed ridiculous that we were acting so carefree in a moment like this, but I got it. We were both feeling this and feeling it deep. The only way to cope was to turn to each other, and this is how we were together.

  We were trying to find comfort in something. Something that had started to allay both of our problems until this shitty morning.

  I chuckled. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect this leopard to change her spots just because I marry her.”

  A smirk settled on her face as she mocked, “I always thought of myself as more of a gazelle than-”

  I leaned forward and sealed my lips over hers, effectively shutting her up, and moved my tongue toward her lips at the same time that her mouth opened to invite me in. It was a kiss full of passion, much like the first kiss that we had shared in the rain. Our emotions were running high and they made the kiss more frantic but delicious all the same. My hands were on her thighs and as I caressed her tongue with mine, I slid my hands higher. I was already starting to get hard, but this was definitely not the time for this so I pulled back.

  “Sorry, Babe, but we got more important shit to do. Pleasurable activities will have to wait until after.”

  She nodded but not without pouting her bottom lip. Man, she was cute. “Stop bein’ so cute.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and gave me her most innocent face while she murmured, “It just comes naturally. I can’t turn it off.”

  The best thing to do when she got like this, but you needed to get other stuff done, was just ignore her. I had learned that she could go on like this for just about forever if you played into it.

  “Call your family.”

  Her face immediately changed, and I could feel the nervousness coming off of her in waves. I knew she would be anxious, and that was half of the reason for her little cute routine. She was so brave, but she could definitely procrastinate. In situations like this where procrastination wasn’t an option, I would always have to push her a little bit.

  “Talie. Call.”

  She huffed, shoved me back, jumped off the counter, and headed for her phone, throwing an “Oh, fine!” over her shoulder as she went.

  She picked up her phone, dialed it, and put it to her ear as she waited for someone to answer. I watched and waited, prepared to listen to her side of the conversation.

  After a few seconds, I saw her eyes start to glisten, and I knew it had to have started the moment she heard someone’s voice come over the line.

  “Kayla?” she whispered softly. She paused, took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and continued, “It’s Natalie.”

  After only a couple of seconds, her eyes flew open, and her mouth opened in shock. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell her sister was saying that was so far off from what she had expected that her face had taken on that look.

  Her silence continued for several more moments before she finally spoke again. “Um, Joplin, Tennessee.”

  Two seconds later, I waited for an explanation as she pulled the phone away from her ear and put it on the counter without saying anything more.

  It was looking like I was going to be waiting forever if I expected her to speak first, so I took control. “What happened?”

  She started to shake her head and laugh. What the hell? God, maybe her sister had rejected her and she was finally breaking down. Jesus. “Talie, Baby, what did she-”

  Her head snapped to me and she started talking. “She wasn’t even surprised that it was me. She said she just knew that there was more to the story than met the eye. She called me a stupid bitch for pretending to be dead and for cutting her out a year ago, and then said she was already in the midst of a plan. Our parents are in Europe where she sent them, and she’s been wanting to look into my death and Jenny’s ‘disappearance’ for a long time. She then asked me where the hell I was, and when I answered, she said she was on her way and hung up.”

  A smile was tugging at the corners of my mouth as she still stood there shaking her head. “Seems like you might not be the only sister with a little sass. I think I like her. Does she have the same ass as you?”

  Her eyes cut to me and I laughed out loud. “Relax, Babe. You’re still my number one girl.”

  She gave me an unquestionably unkind face and hand gesture and headed to the refrigerator to get, what I knew would be, a Coke.

  Chapter 3

  Kayla

  I was currently in the kitchen listening to Talie and Kayla discuss me in the living room. I guess they thought I couldn’t hear them since they were in a different room, but they both had voices that carried, and I had relatively little shame, so eavesdropping wasn’t a problem. Kayla had gotten here early this morning and hadn’t delayed in asking for all of the details.

  “First, you cut me out! Then, you pretend to be freaking dead! And then! The worst of all, you don’t mention that you are living with, engaged to, and having sex with what must be one of the most attractive men on the planet. I don’t know that I can forgive you.”

  Talie started to talk, “I had to do that stuff, and you didn’t give me a chance on the phone to tell you about-” but Kayla cut her off.

  “I mean the cutting me out and pretending to be dead thing, I could get over. But not telling me you had that as your sex toy! I don’t know that I’ll ever get over it.”

  I heard Talie huff and answer, “Oh cut it out with the dramatics. Jesus, we have more important things to discuss than who I’m having sex with.”

  She paused for a mere second and then boomed,
“Come in here Tuck. I know you’re listening anyway, so you might as well be in the same room.”

  I chuckled, picked up the Coke I had made for her, and walked into the living room.

  “Kayla, I know what Talie drinks, but what would you like?”

  At that, Kayla turned to Talie and said, “I think I hate you.”

  Kayla was hilarious and, apparently, didn’t take anything seriously either.

  I decided to weigh in. “It’s uncanny really.” Kayla looked curious, and Talie looked annoyed.

  “You two are like two peas in a pod.” I felt the strong urge to goad my woman some more, so I pushed it. Turning my face and looking directly into her eyes I said, “And I mean that in all of the ways that we discussed, Babe.”

  She was probably going to try and mutilate me in my sleep if I kept it up, but it was just too much fun to mess with her.

  Before she could verbally castrate me, I changed the subject. “Called Ruthie and Jace, Babe. They’ll be here shortly. I figure it’s best they know what’s goin’ on too.”

  Her face softened, and I knew that by saying that I had won her over again. She knew I was taking care of the people she loved, and I couldn’t ever do anything that would earn me more points with her than that would.

  Shit. The two of them and Ruthie together were probably going to be ridiculous. I doubted Jace was ready for this. Although, he had been getting used to at least part of it with all of the time he had spent with Talie and Ruthie together.

  Kayla, I belatedly noticed, had turned defensive. “Who the hell are Ruthie and Jace? You’re just going to tell them everything?”

  Talie reacted instantly and a little harshly. “Hey! We can trust Ruthie and Jace with anything! Not to mention, I need to protect them! They’re really important to me! They’ve been like family.”

  I winced as the words came out of her mouth and waited to see how this would play out. Kayla was visibly affected, but Talie had realized her mistake as soon as she had said it and tried to fix it. “Kay, you know I didn’t mean that like it sounded. I love them, but I sure as hell love you too.”

  Kayla didn’t look like she was melting to Talie’s apology appropriately, and I was feeling a little defensive myself. She didn’t know the whole story, but I did. Talie had told me, and I knew what having gone through what she went through had done to her. And she had gone through it mostly for her sister.

  “Look, Kayla. You don’t know me, but you know your sister. Nothin’ means more to her than the people she loves and you’re one of ‘em. She’s given a lot for you that you don’t even know about, so just cut her some slack.”

  I could tell that Talie didn’t like that I had brought that up, so I did my best to do damage control. “Talie never would’a told you because she would’a protected you from even havin’ the knowledge of it. She went through a lot so that you would never have to.”

  I turned to Talie and put my hands on her cheeks, caressing her cheekbones with my thumbs. Getting right in her face, I whispered, “I’m sorry, Baby. I promise anything else is yours to tell. But she just had to get how important she is to you and never forget it. You deserve that.” I kissed her nose and left the room to give them a minute.

  I felt a little bad for detonating the bomb and then leaving Talie to clean up the mess, but it would be better that way. They didn’t need me to be there in the middle of that discussion.

  Not to mention, Jace and Ruthie would be there soon, and I knew that even more drama was probably on the way. I would use this time to prepare myself.

  ********

  I heard the knock on the door, followed by the sound of it opening. I made my way down the hallway headed to the door and was met by a stern faced Jace dragging a confused Ruthie behind him.

  Jace didn’t waste time and definitely didn’t beat around the bush. “What the hell is goin’ on Tuck?”

  I thought he would want a response, but he gave me no time to even speak, let alone come up with an answer to his question.

  “There are rumors flyin’ all over town. Not to mention Ruth’s been tellin’ me her first hand account of what went down at the diner.”

  I just nodded my head, gestured for them to follow me back into the living room, and murmured, “I know. Come on, we’ll talk, but I can guarantee it wouldn’t be good for my health to start this conversation without two other women present.”

  I could tell they were already confused by the fact that I said two women, but they would find out soon enough.

  As I cleared the hallway and the living room came into view, I could see that I had started something of an intense conversation between the sisters. Both had tear soaked faces, and I knew Talie didn’t cry a lot.

  They didn’t seem to notice me right away, so I cleared my throat. “Babe. Jace and Ruth are here.”

  Talie nodded, and I started to speak again, but found myself pushed out of the way by Ruthie. “Geez, Nattie. You have been holding out, girl.” Shaking her head slightly, she continued, “And you were worried about my drama?”

  Jace knew as well as I did that if the two of them got going they could go on for just about forever, so he stepped in and scooted around Ruthie so that he would be in the room. Extending his hand to Kayla, he introduced himself. “Hey there, I’m Jace.” Looking over his shoulder and motioning to Ruthie, he finished, “And this is Ruthie. I’m guessing you’re some kind of blood relative to Talie here, based on your looks.”

  A smug smile touched Kayla’s lips. “I know you must mean that I’m the prettier version of her. And yeah, we’re related. I’m her sister, Kayla.”

  Okay. I was done with the small talk. “Alright. Everyone has met everyone, so let’s get down to business. I’m sure you been hearin’ rumors and some of ‘em are probably true.” Talie moved to me and put her arm around my waist, so I slid my arm along her shoulders and curled her to me. God, it felt so good to feel her still here with me. Everything felt better with her close to me, and I had been worried that it would be harder to convince her to stay. Thankfully, things had finally gone my way.

  “Long story short, Talie was livin’ in New York with Drew. She faked her death in order to get out from under him, and by some twist of fate, ended up here. In his hometown. Livin’ with me.”

  I felt her stiffen beside me and I figured she probably took what I was saying the wrong way, so I turned to her and gave her just a little bit of what she needed by whispering, “Couldn’t be happier that you ended up here with me, Babe. I just mean that that’s either one hell of a coincidence or fate has one hell of a sick sense of humor.”

  Jace cut in with a question that was the beyond obvious one to ask, but it absolutely burned me up to think about. “What about Jenny?”

  My stomach churned, and it felt like someone had ripped my chest open and had a choke hold on my heart. I spoke through a tight throat, while Talie tucked her face into my body. “Talie knew Jenny. It doesn’t look good. And I’m not really prepared to talk about it yet. As far as what we need to do right now, she’s not a part of the plan we need to worry about.”

  Jace’s face was tight, but he was accepting my explanation, for now.

  Unfortunately, Ruthie couldn’t let it go as easily. “Oh my God, Nattie. She fell down the stairs didn’t she? After I fell down the stairs and you freaked out, you kept saying her name. I didn’t make the connection at the time.”

  Jesus, that was new information. I hadn’t been ready to hear exactly what happened to Jenny, and Talie hadn’t been ready to say it. When Ruthie went down the stairs, I knew Talie freaked out, but I had been too preoccupied with kicking Bobby’s ass to witness the specifics.

  Talie’s face came away from my body and with a shaking, angry voice she whispered, “Jenny didn’t fall down the stairs, and neither did you. You were both fucking pushed.” Her head fell like there was a weight attached to it as she looked down at the floor. “And both times, it was my fault.”

  Huh? Ruthie and I immediately
jumped in, talking over one another.

  “Babe, how in the fuck was it your fault?” At the same time Ruthie shrieked, “Nattie! It was not your fault at all!”

  She shook her head and murmured, “Look, I know I didn’t push either of them. But I was a catalyst to both situations that played out. You know what happened with Bobby, but the situation with Jenny was remarkably similar.”

  I really didn’t want to hear this, but it seemed like Talie needed to say it, so I listened. I knew I would do anything for this woman. She needed me to be strong for her in the face of my sister’s death, and I would be. I knew she would do the same for me.

  “I showed up at her house ranting, wanting answers, and not even checking to see if Andrew was there. Things spiraled out of control and the next thing I knew he was calling someone to come ‘take care’ of her. He told them to make it look like she took off. I actually told him to kill me that night, and I thought he would. But in the end I didn’t want him to come anywhere near Kayla. So I chose the life I led.”

  I was getting pissed. She didn’t choose that life. She didn’t have a fucking choice. “Talie. You did not choose that fuckin’ life. You didn’t have a choice. A lesser person would’a put themselves first. Left Kayla to her own fate. Not you though. Never you.” I shook my head as I marveled at how deeply she loved other people.

  She went to speak but I spoke over her. “Not to mention, you weren’t the catalyst, Babe. You were the only chance of a solution. For Ruthie, it worked out. For Winnie...”

  I had to stop for a minute and catch my breath. I closed my eyes, put my hands to my hips, and took a deep breath. I felt four sets of eyes on me, so I worked to collect myself quickly, my throat bobbing with my unvoiced agony. I opened my eyes, raised my head, and made sure my voice was strong. “For Winnie, she didn’t make it out. But you sure as fuck tried to give her the opportunity. If you were the last person she knew, workin’ your ass off fightin’ for her, she’s gotta be feelin’ good. I hope to God, I go out one day with you fightin’ for me too.”