Truly Mine Read online

  I felt sick before, and now, I’m instantly exhausted even though I’ve not even started the hunt.

  “I have no idea where these documents are.” I look at Dara as if she should know.

  “I’m sorry, Truly. You should have received this list last week. That’s our fault, and again, I apologize.” She leans forward, laying her hands on the desk and clasping them together. “Did your mother ever mention a file at home where she kept all her documents? Or could she have a safe deposit box somewhere?”

  Ha! She certainly did not mention anything to me. I haven’t the slightest clue as to where in the hell I am supposed to find these things.

  “I’m not sure. Honestly, Dara, I don’t care to deal with this at all. I don’t want anything that she had, and as soon as the legalities are taken care of, I am willing to donate the house and what little I’m sure she had to a charity.”

  Dara’s head tips to the side in confusion, and her eyes narrow. “Truly, when was the last time you spoke to your mother?”

  “Why do you ask?” Although my tone is emotionless, I do feel a bit embarrassed. I have no intention of spilling all my family drama out on this desk, but what I’ve just said makes it clear that my mother and I were not in contact for longer than is normal.

  “Because you are obviously under the impression that your mother didn’t have much. Truly, your mother married a very wealthy man. He passed a few years ago and left everything to her. By everything, I mean, a significant amount of money. You had no idea, did you?”

  I sit back in the chair, lift my chin high, meet Dara’s intent stare, and very boldly make my feelings clear. “No, not only did I not know, but I don’t give a damn. I want to settle this estate and donate everything. I am very happy where I am today, and that’s no thanks to her. Anything that woman ever touched, she ruined. Including me. Correction—including the old me. I need nothing that is associated with her in my life. Not when I was a child. Not now. And never, ever in the future. So, I would greatly appreciate it if you would help me find these documents and the proper places in town to donate her money. Quickly, please.”

  Halfway through my tirade, Dara’s mouth drops open. She must clearly understand my position on this topic as she does not attempt to inform me of anything else that I’m ignorant about where my mother is concerned.

  “Uh…okay. If that’s what you want, then of course.” Without breaking eye contact, she collects her cell phone off her desk along with the file. “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, I’m going to make a few phone calls to see if I can get you some help.”

  Dara exits the room, and I immediately slump back in the chair.

  So, the lousy bitch had a rich husband who had left her everything. How unbelievable.

  I have a good idea how she met him, and it makes me sick. I hate everything about that woman, and I hate that I’m here, dealing with this mess that she left behind.

  I close my eyes for a moment, and for the first time in a very long time, I visualize what my mom looked like the last time I saw her—long chestnut hair, big brown eyes that were just a little too far apart, and a perfect little nose. Her smile was big and bright, and her small frame and assets a man couldn’t ignore if he tried guaranteed she always got what she wanted.

  I see myself. Today, I look just like my mother did the last time I saw her. I open my eyes in hopes that she will go away. I might look like her, but I am the exact opposite of who she was. She ruined marriages and tore apart families. I do the exact opposite. My hope is that I repair ten families for every one she decimated.

  Frustrated, I stand and gather the papers that Dara left behind along with the list of documents and my purse. Just as I turn the door handle, Dara pushes it open. I take a few steps back.

  “I’m sorry I took so long.” She hands me a small white card.

  I look at the address but don’t recognize the street.

  “It’s okay. I’m going to head on over to her house and see if I can locate the documents.” I hold up the paper and step around Dara. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find them.”

  “Wait, Truly. I’ve arranged for someone to help you find the paperwork. My brother can meet you there now.”

  Great. That’s exactly who I want to see again.

  I hold my hand up to protest. “Oh, that’s not necessary.”

  Damn it! Of all the times I’ve come back to Fallport, not once have I made it out without spending the night with Tyler. I promise, this will be the first. I’ve dodged him once, and now, his own sister is throwing him in my path again.

  Sensing my rising frustration, Dara attempts to calm me. “Truly, I know you’re upset, and I’m so sorry about our mistake. It’s obvious that you don’t want to be here and that this has turned into more than you expected to deal with today.”

  I can’t even bring myself to bitch at her because she’s so apologetic.

  “Tyler’s on his way over there now. Please let him help you.”

  Fucking great.

  pronunciation lal-o-che-zi-a

  (n.) the emotional relief gained from using abusive or profane language

  Tyler

  I park in the back drive and use the key Dara gave me to let myself into Truly’s mother’s house. I’ve been instructed to simply help her find the legal documents she needs and keep my ass away from her otherwise.

  Dara’s exact words were, “Do not fuck with her. She is in no mood for your womanizing shit today.”

  By the sound of the tantrum Truly’s throwing on the other side of the door, it’s the truth. She’s been fidgeting with the lock for a few minutes now. Apparently, she thinks that cursing like a sailor and an occasional swift kick will help her cause. She’s not changed a bit in that respect. She’s as impatient and overdramatic as ever.

  Instead of standing inside and being turned on by her sweet mouth spewing dirty words, I suppose I should let her in. I turn the knob, and of course, she chooses that moment to thrust herself at the door. A much younger Truly flashes through my mind at the sight of her sailing past me. When I last saw her, she was not the sophisticated well put-together woman that she is today but an awkward girl like I see now. She stumbles clumsily and screams. Instinctively, I reach out and pull her into me to prevent her from falling to the ground. Not aware yet of who has caught her, she pushes me away. It’s certainly not a reaction I’ve ever gotten from her. I don’t care for it either. Once upon a time, she would have come to me to protect her.

  I let go of her waist and hold my hands up. “It’s okay! Calm down, Truly.”

  Infuriated, she takes one big step toward me. “What the hell, Tyler?”

  I hold my arms out to embrace her. Instead of falling into my arms like I hoped, she shoves me in the chest and pins me with the evilest look I’ve ever seen on that pretty face. And what do I do? I bust out laughing.

  “Don’t you laugh at me! Don’t you dare laugh at me, Tyler!” she says so seriously as she points at me.

  But I can’t stop laughing. I step forward, taking my original place at the door. And for the second time today, I feel overwhelmingly happy—a feeling that has evaded me as of late, a feeling I shouldn’t have while being physically pushed away by a woman. Nonetheless, I do feel happy.

  This isn’t just any woman though. The history between me and Truly is deep and spans over many years. No matter the shit that has come between us, we always come out on the other side as friends—or more, on a good day.

  In an attempt to stifle my laughter, I tuck my lips under my teeth and bite down.

  Standing on her tiptoes, putting just inches between our faces, Truly states what she thinks of me in no uncertain terms, “You’re an arrogant asshole. I do not want you here.”

  This is the calmest tone that I have yet heard come out of that mouth. And this is the most dangerous she has ever looked. She’s still so damn beautiful when she’s pissed off though. No matter the physical changes, Truly has most definitely remained the same feisty
girl she used to be.

  Lazily and without thinking, I take a few steps backward. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, I backed away from a woman. On the contrary, most often, I am accused of being too dominant, borderline aggressive even. But with the visual of a thoroughly pissed off Truly and remembering Dara’s earlier comments, my instinctive reaction is to back off.

  Truly looks around and walks across the living room. She glances down the hall and then to the formal dining room off of the living room. “Who the hell lived here?” she asks, perplexed.

  Even though I’m pretty sure she is talking to herself, I answer, “Your mother, of course.”

  She turns and looks at me with sheer disgust in her expression. “No, my mother lived in town,” she says, anger heavy in her voice. She throws her arm up and points out the front door. “You know, that shitty house that I wouldn’t allow a dog to live in. Do you remember that house, Tyler?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t that bad,” I respond softly.

  Walking to the front door again, she picks up a photo of her mother, Deborah, sets it down, and then picks up another picture. “Do you know these people?” She turns the photo toward me.

  I nod. It’s her mother’s husband and his son.

  Walter, the stepfather that Truly apparently does not know, was a businessman. Exactly what he was involved in, nobody in town seemed to know, but he was filthy rich. He built a home in the county outside of town, and they kept to themselves. Walter’s son, Rodney, was a douche bag. He came into the bar a few times and got piss drunk, causing a scene. When Walter fell ill, his son moved to Fallport, and after a few more scenes in the bar, he was banned. Since his father passed, I haven’t seen him once, thankfully. I’m sure he’s up to no good though.

  “Hmm…glad you do because I have no idea who the fuck they are.”

  “When was the last time you were home, Truly? I would have loved to have seen you.”

  She senses the sarcasm in my voice. I know damn well she hasn’t been home since the last time I saw her twelve years ago.

  Suddenly, as if she is looking straight through me, Truly throws her arms in the air, clenches her fists, and screams like a possessed freak from a horror movie, “I just fucking want to go home! My home! This is not my home! Ah!”

  She closes the gap between us, and it’s clear that she wants to take her anger out on me—physically. She makes a move to slam her fists onto my chest. Moving quickly, I catch her wrists and pull her hands down to her sides and then across the small of her back, trapping both her tiny wrists with one of my hands. She continues to throw her tantrum, but Truly’s no match for me.

  With my free hand, I grab her chin, forcing her to look at me, and I lean in close to her. She’s clearly stunned, and she doesn’t attempt to pull away from me.

  “Baby, calm the fuck down. I’m right here to help you. I’m not going to leave until we find whatever it is you’re looking for. Then, you can leave. Just relax, and don’t take your shit out on me.”

  Her jaw drops, and her eyes are wide with fear. I find it hard to believe that it’s me she’s afraid of even if we haven’t seen each other in years. That’s not possible.

  “Let go of me, Tyler.” Her voice is breathy and soft, and she’s not even trying to pull her hands free.

  I let go of her chin and place my hand on the perfect curve of her hip, pulling her gently against me. “Are you done trying to hurt me?”

  “Hurt you? You are kidding me, right?” she comments, barely a whisper.

  But I hear her loud and clear. What she isn’t saying, I can read clearly in the resentful way she looks at me.

  Closing my eyes tightly, I realize my poor choice of words. I certainly should have thought before making that comment.

  I move both of my hands to her face. Holding her cheeks, I use my thumbs to wipe away the tears that have just fallen. She takes hold of my wrists but doesn’t try to remove my hands. Her big brown eyes make me weak in the knees.

  “I’m sorry, Tru, for everything. I mean it.” I wish it felt as good to say it to her as I always imagined it would, but it doesn’t. It feels like it’s too little, too late. “I wish I had known sooner. Why did you wait until you were leaving to tell me you had feelings for me?”

  The next few moments, she intensely looks me in the eyes, and I’m sure she’s searching my soul to gauge my sincerity. I’ve never been more sincere about anything in my entire life. I hope she sees that.

  “These tears are out of anger at my mother, so don’t get any delusional ideas that it has anything to do with you. Tyler, it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d told you.” She turns and saunters toward the stairs.

  Unfortunately, she’s right. I had my own agenda, and it wouldn’t have mattered.

  But as the years went on, I did think about her more often than I should have. She would occupy my mind far more after she’d left Fallport than she’d ever had while she was here.

  I had no idea until I was older how much Truly had meant to me and how special our relationship was. It took one accidental relationship that turned into a destined-to-fail marriage for me to see that.

  Over the past twelve years, there were many times when I wished any relationship were as simple as the one I’d had with Truly. But that’s exactly what sent her away. My perfect girl was heartbroken.

  I’ve wondered what she would be like as a wife, possibly a mother. I’ve thought of her often, and I tried searching her out on social media, but I came up empty every time. Her mother rarely came to town, and when she did, I never got the opportunity to speak to her. I would just see her in passing and assume that Truly looked like her as she grew older.

  I see now she does. She’s stunning.

  pronunciation kuh-n-fruhnt

  (v.) to come in front of; to meet face-to-face.

  Truly

  Standing at the office door, Tyler holds his hand out, motioning for me to exit ahead of him.

  Over the past hour, we ravaged the office on the second floor, managing to locate every document I needed. Although we worked side by side and I caught him staring at me several times, we didn’t speak more than a few words to one another.

  Honestly, I’m a bit embarrassed by my outburst when I first arrived, especially considering my whole mission was to get in and out of this town without incident. I certainly did not come close to accomplishing that. Instead, I made myself look manic and in desperate need of therapy. That’s probably not far from the truth really.

  “Thank you for helping me. Contrary to my behavior earlier, I do appreciate it, and it was good to see you, Tyler,” I speak as we walk down the stairs so that I don’t have to look at him.

  His eyes still have a way of grabbing hold of my heart. I’ll admit, the chemistry is still there, but my heart is not available for his taking anymore.

  We reach the bottom of the stairs. Tyler moves quickly past me and stands directly in front of me. I can feel his eyes boring into the side of my head as I focus on an imaginary wrinkle in my shirt. I pretend to smooth it away and will him to stop looking at me. He’s demanding my attention, demanding that I look at him. He’s good. I teach that on day one. When you want a woman’s attention, demand it.

  I can’t fight the urge to look at him, no matter how hard I try.

  The minute my eyes meet his, he says exactly what I knew he would, “Let me take you out tonight for your birthday.” It’s almost like a plea.

  I expected him to persuade me to spend time with him tonight, but what I didn’t expect was for him to know that today was my birthday.

  “How do you know it’s my birthday?”

  “I just remembered. I have a good memory.”

  “No way, Tyler. You were hard-pressed to remember my damn name until the day I left this town.”

  “That’s bullshit, Truly, and you know it.”

  I shake my head, making it clear to him that I’m not buying it. “Really, Tyler, let’s be honest. The only thing you knew about me, li
ke really knew, was that I was a sure thing.” At least where you were concerned.

  “I might have been young and dumb, but I thought more of you than that. Can we just start this day over, Truly? I’d like to spend some time with you and catch up,” he says, nearly begging.

  “No, Tyler. I’m not here for this. Please don’t.” I approach the front door.

  Not turning around to even say good-bye, I walk out of the house and straight to my car. For fear that he will come after me, I immediately start my engine and leave. Through the rearview mirror, I take in the house as I make my way around the circle drive that leads out to a quiet country road.

  It amazes me that my mother lived in this house.

  This beautiful two-story brick home with white shutters and window boxes full of blooming flowers was hers. The lush bright green lawn was hers too. She sat under the tree in the side yard on that gliding rocker. One would think that a big family with a stay-at-home mom lives here. My mom was a stay-at-home mom when I was a child…a stay-at-home-and-fuck-everyone’s-husbands mom. I can’t fathom how she made it from the roach-infested grungy shack that we lived in to this place. And now, for some reason, I want to know how she ended up here. I’m certain she completely destroyed someone’s life to advance her own.

  Apparently, she found quite the sugar daddy if what Dara says about her estate’s worth is true.

  Oh my, what am I going to do with all of that dirty money? I don’t want or need it. Even if I passed it on to a good cause or a person in need, it would haunt me because of the way it had most likely been earned. I could just burn it. No, that’s crazy. In that moment, I decide to ask Dara if she knows anything about the man who my mother was married to. If I know the source of his wealth, then I will decide how it should be spent.