As the miles lengthened between her and Morgan Creek, Amy’s spirits plummeted in direct proportion to the distance.
If only she’d had time to say goodbye to Lorna and Bryce. If only she could have explained. If only she thought she’d see them again someday.
Her whole life was a series of “if onlys,” she thought in despair. Must I keep on paying because I made one mistake? But that mistake had given her Calista, a fact she could never regret.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You knew it was foolhardy to get involved with Bryce. And you knew Cole might eventually trace your whereabouts. Now get over it and focus on what you’re going to do now.
What was she going to do?
Maybe she would be wise to head south. Go into Mexico and lose herself there. But at the thought, Amy’s spirts dropped even farther. Her knowledge of Spanish was minimal, her resources limited. What kind of job could she get in Mexico? And what would she do when her money ran out?
No. Mexico wasn’t an option. She would have to stay in the U.S. or else go north to Canada. She would also have to try to disguise herself, something she had hoped would not be necessary. Maybe color her hair red or blond and cut it short. Buy some glasses to wear or maybe even colored contact lenses. Amy wondered if she was going to have to change their names. But that would mean contacting the network again, seeing if there was someplace similar in California where she might be able to get new documentation.
With new papers, she’d be able to look for another job. And they’d need a place to live. Just the thought of everything ahead of her made her feel sick to her stomach. She was so scared and so heartsick over having to leave Morgan Creek and the people she had come to love.
Oh, Bryce.
Even the thought of what had happened between them less than twelve hours earlier made her eyes swim with unshed tears. How could she survive knowing she would never again feel the comfort of his arms or the ecstasy of his kisses?
Realizing Calista was no longer crying, Amy looked back and saw that her baby had fallen asleep. Thank God. Amy wasn’t sure she could have stood watching Calista cry any longer.
Amy no longer tried to stop her own tears. Since Calista wasn’t awake to see them, she could finally give in to the misery that permeated her every cell.
What had Bryce thought when he read her note? What was he thinking now? Amy could only imagine.
And the girls.
Oh, God, the girls. Susan and Stella. How would they feel when they returned tomorrow and found that Amy and Calista were gone? For them, it would be another loss, another desertion.
Oh, Amy, Amy, she berated herself, you are hurting so many people.
But what else could she have done?
She was in this lowest possible frame of mind when she happened to glance in the rearview mirror to see a black Mercedes bearing down on her. Her heart slammed against her chest.
Bryce!
It had to be Bryce!
He’d somehow figured out which direction she’d gone, and now he was coming after her. Dear heaven. What should she do?
And yet, even as she asked herself the question, she knew the answer. Her Toyota couldn’t outrun Bryce’s more powerful car. Plus she would never jeopardize her daughter’s life by driving recklessly. She really had no choice except to stop.
Scared and sick at heart, she slowed and pulled to the side of the road.
Bryce felt an overwhelming surge of relief when he spotted Amy’s car. And he was very glad she showed enough sense to pull over. If he’d had to chase her, he might have been forced to call the police rather than take a chance on endangering her and Calista.
He pulled in behind her, then got out of his car and walked over to hers. She’d already lowered her driver’s-side window. She didn’t say anything, just looked up at him with those big eyes of hers.
He could see she’d been crying. Her eyes and nose were all red and swollen. He could also see how frightened she was. It was painful to witness her misery and fear, even as he was filled with disappointment that she’d felt the need to run from him.
Amy, why couldn’t you have trusted me?
For a long moment they just looked at each other. Then they both spoke at once.
“I’m glad I found—” Bryce began.
“I’m sorry I didn’t—” she said. Then she took a deep, shuddering breath. Her voice wobbled when she continued. “I…I’m so sorry, Bryce. I know you must hate me.”
“Oh, Amy,” he answered wearily, “I don’t hate you. I’m just disappointed that you think so little of me that you felt you had to run away again. That you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth.”
Her eyes swam with tears.
“I want you to turn around and come back to the house.”
“I can’t!”
“Amy, think. You can’t keep running. Sooner or later you’ll be caught, and then what? You’ll go to jail. Do you want that?” He looked pointedly at Calista, who was sleeping in her car seat and hadn’t stirred.
“No!” she cried. “Of course, I don’t want that. But you don’t understand. I can’t let Calista go back to Cole, either. He’s…he’s a terrible person, Bryce. He doesn’t love her.”
Bryce wanted to ask why he’d been given custody of their daughter if he was so terrible, but this was no place to talk. “I’d like to understand, and if you come back to the house where we can talk quietly, I promise I’ll try to help you.”
“No one can help.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
She lowered her head. “I’m so tired of being afraid,” she whispered.
“Then come back with me. Tell me everything, and maybe I can figure out a way to help.”
It took her a while, but she finally said she would. Bryce waited until she’d turned her car around, then followed her back to the compound. On the way, Bryce called Lorna on her cell phone and told her to meet them there.
When they got to the house, Amy took Calista upstairs to bed. Exhausted from her crying, the child still hadn’t awakened. By the time Amy came downstairs again, Bryce had put a pot of coffee on.
“I’ve called Lorna and asked her to join us.”
Amy nodded. She looked utterly spent.
“I’d like you to tell me everything from the beginning,” he said, “but maybe you’d like to wait until Lorna gets here.”
She nodded again.
“Amy…”
Her eyes met his.
Bryce shook his head. “Never mind.” There were a million things he wanted to say, but he knew it would be best to wait until she’d had a chance to explain herself.
They didn’t have long to wait. Ten minutes later Lorna walked in the back door. She walked straight over to Amy and bent down to hug her. As Bryce watched them he couldn’t help remembering how it had felt to hold Amy last night and how happy he’d been.
Ruthlessly he pushed the memory away. Last night he’d been living in a fool’s paradise. Today he’d been rudely thrust back into the real world.
Bryce didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice.
“I can’t explain what happened unless I start from the beginning,” Amy said. She kept her gaze trained on Lorna, because she couldn’t stand to see the look of disappointment in Bryce’s eyes.
“Just tell us in your own way,” Lorna said kindly.
Bryce said nothing.
Amy took a deep breath. “When I graduated from college, I couldn’t find a teaching position in Fort Myers, so through a connection of a sorority sister of mine, I was hired to teach kindergarten at one of the top schools in Mobile.” Remembering how happy she’d been during her two years there, Amy smiled. “It was a good time for me. I loved the school and I loved teaching.
“I became friendly with one of the other teachers and one day she invited me to attend a fund-raiser for a local charity with her and her husband. Cole, that’s my ex, was there and her husband knew him and introduced us. Cole was charming and very attentive and when he asked me out, I was flattered. Over the next weeks, he bombarded me with attention. He sent me flowers, he took me to wonderful restaurants and concerts, he bought me expensive presents. It was overwhelming. I…I was no match for him. I was barely twenty-four and pretty unsophisticated, and he knew it. He played me perfectly. Before I knew what had happened, we were engaged. We were married less than five months after we’d met.”
Lorna made a sympathetic sound. Amy chanced a quick look at Bryce. His expression was unreadable.
Trying to keep her voice impersonal and unemotional, Amy continued. “Cole was an assistant district attorney at the time, a very smart, very persuasive man. I looked up to him. He didn’t want me to work, even though I felt differently. I gave in, especially when he said it was important to him to have a wife who could devote all her time to him. He wanted to run for political office, and he said I’d be a great help to him, that we’d be a team.
“At first everything was great. I loved being a wife, and I loved taking care of our home. And I loved feeling important to Cole. I couldn’t even tell you when things began to change. At first, the changes were subtle. I hardly noticed how he gradually distanced me from my friends or how he discouraged me from doing anything that didn’t include him. Then one day I realized that I had no life of my own, that I wasn’t even picking out my own clothes anymore.
“I still wasn’t alarmed. I realized Cole had a very strong and dominant personality and was a bit of a control freak. I decided it would be good for me and for him if I were to assert myself more and try to be more independent. I figured Cole would soon realize it was more interesting to have a wife who had some ideas of her own than one who followed him like a lamb.”
“And that’s when the trouble started,” Lorna said.
Amy grimaced. “Yes. I’ll never forget the first time I defied him. We were going to a party, one where Cole hoped to rally some backers, and he told me to wear this black dress that he liked. I didn’t like it because it was too low cut and it made me feel uncomfortable, so I put on something else. Cole didn’t see me beforehand because we were meeting at the party, and when he did see me, he was furious. He was so angry he left red marks on my arm where he squeezed it too hard. And that night…” She took a deep breath. “He hurt me that night.”
“He hit you?” Bryce said.
“No, but he…” Amy couldn’t look at Bryce. She didn’t want to talk about specifics. She was too ashamed that she’d allowed Cole to treat her the way he had.
“You don’t have to explain,” Lorna said. “I get the picture.”
“Things seemed to get worse and worse after that,” Amy said. “He insisted on making every decision, and if I disagreed with him, he’d ridicule me. He put me down every chance he got. One time I corrected him in front of some of his friends. It wasn’t anything big, just something he said that was wrong, and I corrected him. Oh, God. I’ll never forget that. He gave me the ugliest look, then made a horrible, insulting remark. And that night…” She shuddered. “Then the next day he gave me the silent treatment. That lasted more than a week.”
“Why didn’t you leave him?”
Amy finally met Bryce’s gaze. “I can’t explain it to you. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong. That if only I could find the way to be the kind of wife Cole needed, everything would be okay. I know how stupid that sounds, but at the time, I really believed I was at fault.”
“I understand,” Lorna said. She reached over and clasped Amy’s hand. “Women have a tendency to blame themselves when things don’t go right. We always think it’s our responsibility to keep our worlds working the way they should.”
Amy smiled at her. What a wonderful friend Lorna was. “After that, I pretty much just went along with anything and everything Cole said, and for a while things were much better.” She sighed.
“Then I got pregnant. Cole was livid when I told him. He called me a stupid bitch. He said I couldn’t get even the simplest things right. I was stunned. I’d actually thought Cole would be happy I was going to have his child. It was only later that I realized why he wasn’t happy. A child would take up too much of my time.
“But I’m getting ahead of myself. I kept thinking that once our baby was born, Cole would change his mind. He would love the baby, and everything would be the way I knew it could be.” She smiled wryly. “I was so wrong. Things actually were much worse after Calista was born. For one thing, Cole didn’t love her. I really think he’s incapable of loving her, of loving anyone. Cole possesses people and only insofar as they’re valuable to him.
“When Calista was a year old, I knew, for her sake if not mine, I had to leave him, but I was really scared. I just didn’t know what he’d do. Finally, three months before Calista’s second birthday, I worked up enough courage to actually go through with it. I packed up our things, hers and mine, and I left. I went to Florida, to my father’s house, and then I filed for divorce.”
Amy spoke rapidly now, just wanting to get this over with. She finished by telling them how Cole had fought her. How he’d filed a countersuit saying she’d deserted him. How’d he’d gotten people to lie for him. To say Amy wasn’t fit to raise Calista. How they’d seen her doing drugs and how she neglected her daughter. She described what it was like to lose custody of Calista. How it broke her heart to only be able to see her baby twice a week and then only under supervision. She told how she found out about the underground network through an Internet support group. How she’d planned and waited and finally found her opportunity to take Calista.
“Did you plan to come to Morgan Creek?” Lorna asked.
“No. It was a fluke that I saw the sign. But the moment I did, I thought of you. All I really wanted when I came was a safe place to stay overnight. I never dreamed I’d be offered a job.” Her gaze met Bryce’s. “When you asked me if I was interested in becoming your daughters’ nanny, I really felt God was watching out for me, because the position seemed heaven sent. I…I…” Her voice faltered. She swallowed, then took a deep breath. She must keep her emotions under control. “I just want you to know that I have loved working for you. The only…lies I told you had to do with my past. Not with the present.” Please, she prayed. Please forgive me.
“Can you give me a list of the people who testified against you?” Bryce asked.
Amy was taken aback. Whatever she’d been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that. “Yes.”
“You’re going to help her, aren’t you?” Lorna said. She smiled at her brother.
“If she can give me the names of the witnesses, I’ll have our law firm get an investigator to check them out. Based on what they find, I’ll see if there’s anything that can be done.”
Amy fought to keep from bursting into tears, she was so grateful. “So you believe me?” she finally managed.
Bryce nodded.
“Thank you.”
“You can’t stay here, though.” Before she could respond, he said, “Tara saw the flyer and she called that 800 number. So by now I’m sure your ex knows where you are. From the way you described him, I’d bet he’s on his way. And if the police are involved, there’s no way I can keep him off the compound.”
The fear that had abated when Amy realized Bryce was going to help her now returned in full force.
“Don’t worry, hon,” Lorna said, “we’ll find a safe place for you.”
Bryce thought for a few minutes. “Lorna, why don’t you take Amy and Calista into Austin? I know Chloe will put them up. You can hide Amy’s car in your garage and go in yours.”
“That’s perfect. No one would think to look for you there,” Lorna said.
“In fact, I think you should stay at Chloe’s, too. That way you won’t have to answer any questions or tell any lies if the authorities come sniffing around.”
“But what about work?” Lorna said.
“I’ll just tell people you’ve taken the week as vacation.”
“Okay. I’ll go call Chloe right now.”
“Bryce,” Amy said, “what will you tell Susan and Stella?”
“I don’t know. Maybe that you had a family emergency?”
Amy nodded slowly. “Wh-what will you do for someone to watch them?”
“They’ll have to stay at my parents’ house after school until I can find someone to take your place.”
His words hit Amy hard. They seemed so final. As if there was no possibility of her coming back. But you knew that, didn’t you?
After that, Amy didn’t have an opportunity to talk to Bryce again. She wondered if he’d purposely made sure that was the case. While Lorna called Chloe—who was happy to help them out—he disappeared into his office and closed the door. When she got off the phone, she called him, and the three of them transferred all of Amy’s and Calista’s belongings into Lorna’s SUV. Only then did Amy wake Calista.
“Be careful,” Bryce said to Lorna. “Call when you get there.”
“All right.”
He finally turned to Amy. “Good luck. I’ll be in touch.”
Amy searched his eyes for a spark of tenderness, but there was nothing. It was as if he’d closed himself off from any emotion.
What did you expect, Amy? She had to force herself not to look back when they pulled out of his driveway.
It took nearly forty minutes to get to Lorna’s, put Amy’s car in her garage and for Lorna to pack up enough to last her the week. Finally they were on their way. For a long time they said nothing, each lost in her own thoughts. Calista hummed happily in the backseat, excited about her “venture,” which Lorna had touted.
When Lorna spoke, her voice was soft and reassuring. “It’s going to be all right, Amy.”
But Lorna didn’t know the whole story. Yes, Amy now had hope that Bryce would be able to perform a miracle for her and she would be able to keep Calista, but she had no hope whatsoever that things could ever work out between her and Bryce.
“When you’ve got plenty of money and the right connections,” Lorna continued, misconstruing Amy’s silence for doubt, “you can do just about anything. And Bryce has both.”
“I’ll never be able to repay either of you for all you’ve done for me,” Amy said.
After that, they fell silent. Amy looked out of the window and tried not to think about anything. Lorna fiddled with the radio until she found a station she liked.
Just before they reached the Austin city limits, Lorna lowered the volume of the radio and said, “Amy, if things work out for you and you get custody of Calista, will you come back to Morgan Creek and continue working for Bryce?”
Amy chose her words carefully. She knew Lorna didn’t suspect what had happened between her and Bryce, and she had no intention of telling her. It wouldn’t be fair to Lorna, because then she’d be torn between her friendship with Amy and her loyalty to her brother. “I think that would be up to Bryce. Don’t you?”
The next morning Bryce was barely out of bed when he got a call from the front gate. It was Deputy Sheriff Tim Reilly, a highschool classmate of Claudia’s.
“Hey, Bryce. I need to come in and talk to you. You got a few minutes?”
“Sure, Tim. I’ll open the gate for you.” Bryce released the lock, then hurriedly brushed his teeth and hair and walked out to the kitchen to plug in the coffeemaker. A minute later the front doorbell rang.
When Bryce opened the door, he wasn’t surprised to see Tim had brought someone with him. The other man was shorter than Tim, probably just a bit shy of six feet, and darker, with almost a Mediterranean look about him. He had thick black hair and dark, shrewd eyes. The clothes he wore were designer brands, beautifully tailored. Bryce knew without being told that this was Cole Jordan.
Tim introduced them, and Bryce invited the two men in. Although he would have liked nothing better than to punch Cole Jordan’s lights out, he was very polite.
“We’ve got a court order to detain the woman calling herself Amy Gordon,” Tim said. “Her real name’s Amy Jordan, and she took Mr. Jordan’s daughter illegally.”
“I’m afraid you made a trip for nothing. She’s not here.”
“Now c’mon, Bryce,” Tim said. “Mr. Jordan here has the law on his side, so you’re not doing her any good by hiding her.”
“I’m not hiding her. She left yesterday, very suddenly.”
“She must have said something,” Tim said.
“I wasn’t here when she left.” Bryce was surprised at how easy it was to lie.
“Somebody must have warned her.” This came from Jordan. He gave Bryce a hard stare.
Bryce stared back.
“So you don’t know anything,” Tim said.
“Just what I told you.”
“Well, if you hear from her, I’d appreciate it if you’d call me,” Tim said.
Bryce nodded.
Tim turned to Cole Jordan. “We’ll put out an APB on her. Bryce, did you happen to notice what kind of plates she had on her car?”
“They were Florida plates,” Bryce said smoothly. He was getting pretty good at lying, he thought wryly.
“I don’t suppose you know the license number.”
“Sorry, no.”
“I thought she was working for you as your nanny,” Jordan snapped. “Didn’t you think it might be smart to check up on her? Or do you just accept anyone who walks in your door at face value? To watch your children?”
Now it was Bryce’s turn to give Jordan a hard look. “Not that it’s any of your business who I employ or what I require of them,” he said levelly, “but she had impeccable references.”
Jordan flushed. “It is my business when my ex-wife, who was proven in court to be an unfit mother, takes off with my kid. And if you’re not telling the truth, you’re aiding and abetting a criminal, which is a felony.”
“I believe it’s also a felony to bribe witnesses to lie in court.”
“Why you son of a bitch!” Jordan exploded. “You do know where she is, don’t you? I’ll bet you helped her get away.”
Bryce knew he should never have made that crack about bribing witnesses, but he couldn’t stand Cole Jordan, and he hadn’t been able to resist baiting him. Ignoring Jordan’s outburst, he said to Tim, “I’ve told you everything I know, Tim. Now if you don’t mind, it’s Sunday morning, and I haven’t even had my coffee yet.” Bryce rarely pulled rank in Morgan Creek, but he knew that Tim knew that Hathaway Bakery employed half the town and that all Bryce had to do was make one phone call and Tim would be out of a job.
“Sure, okay, Bryce, we’ll be going. Sorry to have bothered you.”
Cole Jordan was seething, and Bryce knew he wanted to say a lot more, but he must have thought better of it because when Tim got up, he did, too.
Bryce watched as the two men got back into Tim’s cruiser. Good riddance, he thought.
If he’d had any doubts at all about the truth of what Amy had told him, meeting Cole Jordan would have dispelled them. Although he’d wanted to help her before, now Bryce was determined that if it were the last thing he ever did, he would make sure Cole Jordan got what was coming to him for what he had done to Amy.