Read Online A Family Affair: Summer: Truth in Lies, Book 3 by Mary Campisi - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mary Campisi
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“If you weren’t already on your back, I’d put you there for that comment. Christine is my wife , not a babe.”
“Fine. Sorry. I’m happy for you.” He let out a ragged sigh. “Who would have thought?”
Nate knew exactly what he was thinking. Who would have thought Nate would end up in marital bliss and Cash would be alone, separated from the woman he had planned his whole future around—Tess Carrick. She was the other reason he was here today.
“ I’m going to leave in a minute so you can rest up before Gina Servetti comes to manipulate the crap out of you. But first, I’ve got a few things I want to say. Now you can ignore me, but you ought to know me well enough to remember I always do what I say.”
“You mean, you’re a hardass? Yeah, I remember that about you.”
“Then remember I’m your friend and I’m telling you this as your friend.”
Cash looked away, an obvious attempt to shut out Nate’s words. Wasn’t going to work. “Everyone’s tiptoeing around the real issue, but I’ve never been a tiptoer, so here it is . I’ll be checking up on you,” he paused, “regularly, so get used to it. Second, we are going to talk about what happened eight years ago and how you blew out of here without a word to me, your supposed best friend. I get that you were torn up, but damn you, all those years and not a word but the tidbits Ramona shared?”
Cash turned, glared at him. “I had my reasons. You know I did.”
“That is such bullshit.”
“Are you done?”
“Not quite.” Nate stood, moved closer to the bed, and stared at Cash. The man was weak and beaten and this next piece of information could plow him under, but Ramona had insisted Nate should be the one to tell him. “She’s coming back, Cash. I expect she’ll be here in the next day or two.”
There was no need to say Tess Carrick’s name. Nate expected the woman still lived and breathed in Cash’s soul, a constant torment of a love gone wrong.
Chapter 5
Tess was less than an hour from Magdalena, but the dread had started the instant Ramona Casher don pulled the “nightmare” letter from her purse. Olivia Carrick’s children did not get pregnant unless they were married. Period. That was the first of her mother’s beliefs that would get blown apart if she read the letter. The other belief that would be disproved with greater harm and devastation was that once pregnant, the contemplation of an abortion was not an option. Repeat. Not. An. Option.
But Tess had gotten pregnant and she had considered an abortion, not without Riki’s prodding and support, but still, the thought had trickled through Tess’s brain and sprouted possibilities. In the end, she hadn’t been able to do it, not even with Riki’s uncharacteristic support and the fact that Cash had just put a bullet in her little brother. She’d come close, walking into the clinic, clutching Riki’s hand, but before the doctor entered the room, Tess grabbed her purse and fled.
As she l ay in bed that night, hands resting over her still-flat belly, she knew she would have to tell Cash, knew, too, she’d have to bury all emotion as she talked about visitation rights, schedules, and birthing classes. They had talked about raising children in Magdalena—together. Fate intervened and took her choice away, but it took so much more…
And now she must drive into the town as though she’d been on a short vacation and not on the run from herself for eight years. She would do this for her mother; Olivia Carrick deserved it. Tess tried not to think about facing Cash, what he might say, what he might not say. What did any of it matter? Once he’d gained strength and purpose, Ramona would force her to tell him about the child they’d lost. Perhaps Tess would be lucky and the numbness that had claimed her soul for years would protect her from the pain of loving Cash Casherdon again.
Or perhaps the truth would seep out from layers of denial; she’d never stopped loving
“Fine. Sorry. I’m happy for you.” He let out a ragged sigh. “Who would have thought?”
Nate knew exactly what he was thinking. Who would have thought Nate would end up in marital bliss and Cash would be alone, separated from the woman he had planned his whole future around—Tess Carrick. She was the other reason he was here today.
“ I’m going to leave in a minute so you can rest up before Gina Servetti comes to manipulate the crap out of you. But first, I’ve got a few things I want to say. Now you can ignore me, but you ought to know me well enough to remember I always do what I say.”
“You mean, you’re a hardass? Yeah, I remember that about you.”
“Then remember I’m your friend and I’m telling you this as your friend.”
Cash looked away, an obvious attempt to shut out Nate’s words. Wasn’t going to work. “Everyone’s tiptoeing around the real issue, but I’ve never been a tiptoer, so here it is . I’ll be checking up on you,” he paused, “regularly, so get used to it. Second, we are going to talk about what happened eight years ago and how you blew out of here without a word to me, your supposed best friend. I get that you were torn up, but damn you, all those years and not a word but the tidbits Ramona shared?”
Cash turned, glared at him. “I had my reasons. You know I did.”
“That is such bullshit.”
“Are you done?”
“Not quite.” Nate stood, moved closer to the bed, and stared at Cash. The man was weak and beaten and this next piece of information could plow him under, but Ramona had insisted Nate should be the one to tell him. “She’s coming back, Cash. I expect she’ll be here in the next day or two.”
There was no need to say Tess Carrick’s name. Nate expected the woman still lived and breathed in Cash’s soul, a constant torment of a love gone wrong.
Chapter 5
Tess was less than an hour from Magdalena, but the dread had started the instant Ramona Casher don pulled the “nightmare” letter from her purse. Olivia Carrick’s children did not get pregnant unless they were married. Period. That was the first of her mother’s beliefs that would get blown apart if she read the letter. The other belief that would be disproved with greater harm and devastation was that once pregnant, the contemplation of an abortion was not an option. Repeat. Not. An. Option.
But Tess had gotten pregnant and she had considered an abortion, not without Riki’s prodding and support, but still, the thought had trickled through Tess’s brain and sprouted possibilities. In the end, she hadn’t been able to do it, not even with Riki’s uncharacteristic support and the fact that Cash had just put a bullet in her little brother. She’d come close, walking into the clinic, clutching Riki’s hand, but before the doctor entered the room, Tess grabbed her purse and fled.
As she l ay in bed that night, hands resting over her still-flat belly, she knew she would have to tell Cash, knew, too, she’d have to bury all emotion as she talked about visitation rights, schedules, and birthing classes. They had talked about raising children in Magdalena—together. Fate intervened and took her choice away, but it took so much more…
And now she must drive into the town as though she’d been on a short vacation and not on the run from herself for eight years. She would do this for her mother; Olivia Carrick deserved it. Tess tried not to think about facing Cash, what he might say, what he might not say. What did any of it matter? Once he’d gained strength and purpose, Ramona would force her to tell him about the child they’d lost. Perhaps Tess would be lucky and the numbness that had claimed her soul for years would protect her from the pain of loving Cash Casherdon again.
Or perhaps the truth would seep out from layers of denial; she’d never stopped loving
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