“You had a child with her,” Missy said, her voice thick with hurt and betrayal.
“She tricked me into getting her pregnant. This was all part of her plan. That’s why I need your help, Miss. I need a good lawyer. Someone who can make everyone see that I’m not a bad man. That I’m a great husband and teacher and this isn’t all my fault. They have to know that there’s something not right about that girl. Will you help me, Miss?”
Missy shook her head as if she might be able to shake away everything that had happened. “Mother and Daddy want me to file for a divorce. They say it’s the only way to avoid more scandal. The only way I won’t look like a total fool.”
Rick tried to control his expression. God, he hated her parents. Self-entitled pricks who pampered Missy until she was barely able to care for herself.
“Don’t do that. Please. I’ve made some horrible mistakes, but you strayed in our marriage too. And I forgave you.”
“You’re not serious. That meant nothing. You were gone all the time, and I was… It was one night, and I told you all about it. But this… this can’t compare. The things you’re accused of doing. They’re despicable.”
Shit. He’d gone too far on that one. He backpedaled. “You’re right. I’m making excuses. I love you. Since I saw you that first day on campus, I’ve loved you.”
He saw how much she wanted to believe him, to believe in the life they’d built. He went in for the kill. “I still want everything we dreamt of. I still want us to have children. Missy, I know we could have that life, but I can’t do it without you.”
He saw her wavering.
“I can prove to you that the girl isn’t entirely innocent in all of this. I have proof. I can show you, but you have to stand by me, you have to see me through this.”
She stared at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “I have to go.”
Rick reared back, shocked by her response. “Missy, wait! Please!”
But she hung up the phone and made her way out. He banged on the window.
“Missy. Don’t abandon me. Missy! Missy, please… don’t leave me, Missy. I need you.”
He pounded on the window until she was gone, the guards dragging him back toward his cell. Rick couldn’t believe that bitch wouldn’t listen to him, that she wasn’t going to help him. He really should have killed her. He shook with annoyance, already forgetting Missy and her dim-witted ways. Come on, Rick. Be smart, he told himself. All he needed to do was regroup and figure out a plan. Everything would be just fine…
CHAPTER TWENTY
EVE
Eve couldn’t quite grasp how quickly her joy, her relief at Lily’s return, had turned to despair. It wasn’t Lily’s reaction to the news about Wes that concerned Eve. It was her lack of one. Lily’s expression never changed, but her eyes flickered with pain. Before Eve could say a word, before anyone could explain, Lily had rushed upstairs. There was a time when she would have followed Lily. She would have made certain that everything was okay, but something stopped Eve. As difficult as it was to accept, Lily didn’t want her right now. She wanted space, and Eve was going to respect her wishes. She also had Abby to think about. Since Wes had left, Abby hadn’t moved from the sofa, her expression one of pure concentration as if she were trying to solve a mathematical problem that had no answer. Eve could feel the tension creeping up her shoulders.
“She’s going to be okay, Evie. You all are,” her mother said, gently patting her shoulder. Her father had a different opinion.
“Phone the doctor, Eve. Tell her that Lily’s in trouble. This is all too much too soon. She’ll be better off at the hospital.”
“Daddy, stop it. You heard what Lily said. Let’s give her some time.”
“Eve, I think—”
“Daddy, this isn’t a discussion.”
His face grew red. The older her parents got, the more sensitive they were. Not to mention her father, a CEO of a medical supply company for thirty-six years, was a man used to getting his way. He mumbled angrily under his breath. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t be here.”
Eve wasn’t going to do this. Not now. “Maybe you shouldn’t be.”
“Now, you listen here, young lady, we came all this way to help…”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
She hadn’t. In fact, she’d told them not to come. She knew they would all need time to figure out what had happened, to reconnect with just the three of them, but her father never took no for an answer.
“I’m not going to let you ignore warning signs while your daughters fall apart,” he said.
Eve felt her anger bubbling up. “You think I’m going to let them fall apart? I’m not letting anything fall apart. But this is my house. My family. I’m going to handle this my way. And if that’s not acceptable to you, maybe you should just go home.”
“So, you’re kicking us out?” her father asked, his eyes squinting with anger.