“I – I was driving,” I say. “I needed to clear my head.”
He looks at me closely and I can see that he's genuinely concerned about me. Or at least, he's putting on a good show of it – you know, selling the illusion.
“What's wrong?” he asks. “What happened, Amanda?”
“Did you fuck her?”
He looks like I slapped him across the face – something I'm sorely tempted to do.
“What are you talking about, darlin'?” he asks.
“Don't even give me that darlin' shit, Brady,” I snap. “Did. You. Fuck. Her?”
He shakes his head. “Honey, I have no idea what you're talking about. Who?”
Reaching into the car, I pull out the file Tiffany had given to me and hand it to him. He looks at me for a moment and then opens the folder, thumbing through the pictures. As he looks at them, an inscrutable expression crosses his face and he starts to laugh.
“That evil, conniving bitch,” he says. “I take it you got these from Tiffany?”
“Let me ask you again, one more time,” I say, my voice cold. “Did you fuck her?”
“Darlin', I did not fuck her,” he says.
He looks me square in the eye and I want to believe him. Want to believe that he's sincere and isn't lying to me. But my head is so twisted, I can't even think straight at the moment.
“Then why are you kissing her in that picture?” I ask.
He sighs. “Let's go inside and talk about this?”
I shake my head. “Answer my question, Brady,” I say. “Why did you kiss her?”
He looks at me for a long moment before speaking. “She kissed me, Amanda. Just out of nowhere,” he says. “If Tiffany had bothered to give you the pictures of what came after this, they'd show me pushing her off of me.”
“I want to believe you, Brady.”
“Then believe me, darlin',” he says. “I've never lied to you.”
“Then why didn't you bother telling me Nicholas' mother was in town?”
He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. “Because honestly, I didn't think it mattered,” he says. “I figured she was just going to blow town again. She's flaky, Amanda.”
I look at him and although he looks sincere, I just can't be sure. I don't trust my instincts at the moment. Not when it comes to Brady.
“Why was she here?” I ask. “What was she doing in town?”
“Apparently, to help Tiffany set me up,” he says. “I should have known her running into me after my meeting with Tiffany wasn't a coincidence. She asked me to have a drink with her because she wanted to talk about being a part of Nicholas' life. Wanted me to grant her visitation or something.”
“And you didn't think that was a big enough deal to even bother mentioning it to me?”
“No, because I told her it was never going to happen,” he says. “Ever.”
“I can't believe you didn't even mention it to me, Brady,” I say. “It's kind of a big deal.”
“It's really not,” he replies. “She walked out on us – end of story. I'm not going to let her worm her way back into my life, not to mention Nicholas' life, only to have her walk out again. It would destroy him. And I will not stand for that. I won't let that happen.”
I stare at him, look deeply into his eyes and try to see the truth of the matter. The problem is, I can't. I can't see anything other than my feelings of hurt and betrayal in that moment. I can't differentiate the truth from the lies.
Brady steps forward and reaches out to take my hand but I recoil and step away from him. He looks at me with an expression of pure pain upon his face.
“Amanda, I'm telling you, nothing happened,” he says. “I did not do what Tiffany is trying to make it look like I did. I love you, darlin'. I'm going to marry you.”
I shake my head. Marry me. Marriage is about the last thing I even want to think about right then and there. I can't marry somebody I don't trust. And in that moment, I don't know that I can trust him – and I hate Tiffany for making me question that.
“I don't know if I can marry you, Brady,” I say.
“What? Amanda, please –”
“And given what's happened between us – I can't go back to having this be a business arrangement either,” I say. “I – I don't know if I can do this.”
He shakes his head. “This is crazy, Amanda,” he says. “This is Tiffany trying to –”
I hold up my hand to silence him and he stops talking. I look into his eyes and I lay my hand on his cheek.
“I love you, Brady,” I say. “I didn't expect to, but I do. And right now, I just don't know what to think about any of this.”
“What are you saying, Amanda?”
“I – I'm saying I need some time,” I say. “And I need some space.”
“How much time do you need?”
“I don't know, Brady,” I scream. “I don't fucking know. Just – leave me alone for a while. Don't call me, don't text me – just let me have some space.”
Without waiting for him to respond, I jump back into the car and slam the door. Starting the engine, I pull out of his driveway, racing away down the street. Tears are rolling down my cheeks and my body is shaking as I head back for the only place I can find some peace in that moment – my old apartment.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Brady
It's been a week since Amanda left me standing in my driveway as she raced off into the night. I know exactly where she is. Have since she left. But I've wanted to respect her request for some time and space, so I haven't tried to contact her.
But it's killing me. It's flat out killing me.
After finding out what Tiffany had done, I talked to Kendrick. I want to stick it to her and really hurt her for pulling a stunt like that. But my hands are tied on that front too. My father's estate guarantees her a monthly stipend in perpetuity. He said he'd look into any potential legal challenges to the estate, but to not get my hopes up.
I sigh and take a long drink of my beer. I'm sitting on the back deck sulking. Since Nicholas is off at an overnight camp, I'm alone in the house and figure I might as well drink myself blind.
“Brooding doesn't suit you.”
I turn and give Miss Delia a half smile. She sets a fresh beer down on the table for me and puts the empties in the trash bag she's carrying.
“Brooding is about all I have at the moment.”
“That doesn't sound like the Brady Keating I know,” she says. “The Brady Keating I know is a man of action. He wouldn't take getting kicked in the sensitive bits and lay down. He'd stand up and fight.”
My grin is rueful. “Unfortunately, I have nothing to fight with,” I say. “I can't do anything to punish Tiffany for torpedoing my relationship. And I can't contact Amanda because she asked for some space and time to sort things out.”
She nods. “Sometimes a woman who says she wants time and space is really asking for you to fight for her,” she says. “To show her that she matters enough for you to humble yourself before her.”
“I don't know that this is one of those situations.”
“You don't know that it's not.”
I take a long pull of my beer and set the bottle back down on the table.
“No, she made it pretty clear that she wanted me to stay away from her for a while.”
Miss Delia shrugs. “Tiffany did something terrible, no question about it,” she says. “But I would suggest that you have an opportunity to show Amanda that you're not going to take that laying down and that she means the world to you.”
“And how am I going to do that when she won't talk to me?”
“Have you tried calling her?”
I open my mouth to reply, but then close it again. I shake my head.
“No, I haven't,” I admit. “Because she asked me not to.”
“Maybe she was actually hoping that you would step up and fight, Brady.”
I sigh and shake my head. “Maybe. I just don't know,” I say. “This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this.”
“What do you mean?”
I look at Miss Delia and decide to lay it all out. I don't know why, but I feel compelled to be honest with her. So, I tell her everything about my business deal with Amanda and how that – changed. When I'm done talking, she laughs heartily.
“Glad you find some humor in it.”