If We Never Met by Barbara Freethy

Chapter Thirteen

"I don't wantto hurt you," Hannah said as she came into Keira's boutique late Friday afternoon.

Looking into her friend's troubled gaze, Keira steeled herself for what was coming. "Let's go in the back." She motioned for Connie to take care of their sole customer and then headed into the sewing room. "I know you're worried about your dress, Hannah," she said, as they moved into the next room. "The wedding is a week from tomorrow, and I haven't finished it yet. But I can promise you that it will be done." As Hannah opened her mouth, she rushed forward. "If for some reason, you don't want to wait, maybe you've found another dress you like better, it's fine. You can tell me. I'm very aware that my inability to finish the gown is stressing you out. I won't be hurt."

"It's stressing you out more than me," Hannah said, walking over to the gown that was hanging in plastic on a rack by the wall. "I told you it was beautiful weeks ago. But you keep insisting there's something more you want to do."

"There is. I want it to be perfect for you, Hannah."

Hannah turned to face her, giving her a bewildered smile. "Keira, I'm not perfect. I never have been. I have red hair and freckles and skin that hates the sun."

"You're beautiful, Hannah."

"I'm just me. And this dress is me. It doesn't need more."

"Just give me the weekend. If I can't do better, I'll call it a day."

"I just hate that you're killing yourself over something that I love."

"I'm not killing myself, but I have a vision, and I want to make it happen. You're just being nice, saying the dress is okay."

Hannah sighed and gave her a pointed look. "Seriously? Since when am I just nice, Keira?"

"Well…"

Hannah laughed. "That's right. We've known each other for a long time. I can be snarky and impatient and hold a grudge way too long. Like I said, I'm not perfect. Neither are you. And you need to deal with whatever is driving you toward this quest for perfection."

"Honestly, I don't know what it is. I'm just feeling stuck. It didn't happen with Chelsea's gowns, or her wedding dress, or her awards dress. The bridesmaids' dresses have gone well, but now I feel blocked."

"Because you're exhausted. You can't do everything, Keira. Last I looked, you weren't wearing a cape."

She sat down at her sewing table. "I could use a cape right about now."

Hannah took the seat adjacent to her. "I hate to add to your burden, but since you're too busy to check social media, I feel compelled to share some information you might need, unless you already know?"

"Know what?" she asked warily.

"The photos from your threesome date at the Lakeshore Bistro are online."

"It wasn't a threesome."

Hannah grinned. "Well, whatever you want to call it, the three of you looked very good together. Although, I could see by your expression that you did not want to be there."

"I didn't. I had no idea that Nikki had alerted the press. She just asked me to have a drink with her. I thought we'd chat. I'd explain that there was nothing going on with me and Dante. But she ambushed me, and she set Dante up as well."

"But you all went along with her?"

"There didn't seem to be another option, not with all those cameras focused on us." She paused, seeing something else in Hannah's gaze. "What aren't you telling me?"

"The photos were fine, but this afternoon Nikki went on social media to announce she'd broken up with Dante. She said that while she'd thought you were a friend, she'd learned that you were trying to steal Dante from her. She had a little tear dripping down her beautiful face."

"What?" she asked in shock. "None of that is true. Dante said he broke up with her right after I left, but it had nothing to do with me. They've been on the rocks for a while. They hadn't even seen each other in six weeks."

"I believe you, but Dante hasn't said anything publicly to refute Nikki's statements."

"I'm sure he doesn't want to feed the fire."

"He might need to respond, because you're the one getting consumed by that fire. He should defend you, Keira. She's dragging your name through the mud."

"I don't care what Nikki says."

"You should. You have a reputation, too."

"People in Whisper Lake know me. What the rest of the world thinks doesn't matter."

"What about your design business? That could be global. You have to protect yourself."

Hannah had a point, but she still didn't see any option but silence. "There's nothing I can say. I don't have a platform like Nikki does."

"Dante has a platform. You should talk to him about it."

"I'm trying not to talk to him at all," she muttered.

"Why?"

"Because talking to him is what got me into this mess."

Hannah gave her a sharp, searching look. "What happens now that he's not attached?"

"Nothing happens. He's still just passing through town. If we run into each other, we'll be friendly and polite, but that's it."

"Oh, come on. You kissed him. He kissed you. You passed just friends days ago."

"There's not going to be any more kissing."

"Well, that sucks. Your reputation is being shredded online, and you're not even getting the perks of this situation. If you're going to get reamed for allegedly stealing Dante from Nikki, why don't you just have some fun?"

"I can't."

"Why not? You're so serious all the time."

"It's not that I don't want to have fun." She paused and let out a sigh. "I like him too much already. I don't want to say goodbye to him now. Sleeping with him will only make it harder."

Hannah gave her a sympathetic smile. "That's true. You do tend to get emotionally involved. What can I do?"

"Go back in time and tell me I don’t need a date for your wedding, so I won't go online and try to find one and then mistake Dante for my real but boring date."

"That part was not on me."

"It all started with you. And by the way, I am not bringing a plus one to your wedding, so you'll just have to deal with the awkward seating assignments. In fact, I'm happy to sit at the bar."

"Don't worry about that. It was never about the seating. I just didn't want you to feel like the odd man out."

"Because I'm the last single girl standing."

"Hey, Chloe is single now."

"It's not the same. She was married. She has a kid. But you don't have to worry about me. I am not in a hurry to couple up and walk down the aisle. I have a lot going on in my life. I don't need a man."

"Of course you don't need a man, but you still might want one. Anyway…" Hannah got to her feet. "I have to run. My brother is arriving tonight, and it's family dinner time."

"How is the family doing?"

"Everyone is good. My mom is sober and involved with a man who seems to treat her well. My sister, Kelly, is turning out to be a very good mom. And Tyler is coming home, so I can't complain."

Hannah's family had been through a lot, so she was more than happy to know how great everything was now. "Was it difficult seeing your mom date again?"

"Yes. I didn't like it, especially because he seemed like a partier to me at first, and when my mom is involved with a man, she tends to lose track of her own sobriety. But that hasn't happened. He's cut back on his personal drinking and he seems to make her happy." She paused. "Is your mom still seeing her old friend?"

"Unfortunately, yes," she said, getting to her feet.

"Do you still have doubts about him?"

"I do," she admitted. She had even more after Dante's call the night before, but she hadn't had time to look into Mandy yet.

"Well, it's good to be careful."

"Unfortunately, it's my mother who's in the relationship, and the last thing she wants to be right now is careful." She walked Hannah back into the shop. "I'll have your dress to you by Monday."

"All right." Hannah gave her an impulsive hug. "It's all going to work out, Keira."

"I hope so. I just don't know how."

Dante's phone was blowing up when he left the rehab center Friday afternoon. There were texts from his brother, Micah, from his agent, Phil Aguardo, and his publicist, Elaine Robbins. From what he could see on his phone screen, Nikki's name was coming up a lot. What the hell had she done now?

He got into his car and called his agent first. He'd been with Phil since he was twenty years old. Over the past twelve years, they'd grown up together. Now, Phil managed a dozen professional athletes across a range of sports.

Phil picked up almost immediately. "Dante, have you seen what's going on?"

"No, I've been in the rehab center all day. But I have a lot of texts referring to Nikki. What did she do?"

"She made several social media posts claiming that you cheated on her with her former friend, the one in the photos from last night, and that you both lied to her. She feels like a fool for having believed your story. It goes on like that."

He blew out a frustrated breath. "It's all bullshit. I broke up with Nikki after she manipulated those ridiculously fake photos. And she and Keira met for ten minutes years ago. They're not friends."

"I figured. The media loves a good scandal, and you and Nikki have been a hot item for the last several months. What do you want to do?"

"Ignore it."

"That would be my usual advice," Phil said slowly.

"Not now?" he asked in surprise.

"It may go on longer if you don't respond. They're going to keep hounding you, and I don't want this to jeopardize your recovery."

"I won't let that happen. I can't believe she did this."

"I can," Phil said. "Nikki only dates high-profile men who raise her profile and give her more followers and more clicks."

"Why didn't you say that before? I thought you liked her."

"What's not to like? She's hot. And you were having fun. Not my business. Why don't you talk to Elaine and see if you can craft some kind of statement?"

"I told Nikki I'd let her play the breakup however she wanted. I just didn't realize she was going to smear Keira." Keira could be hurt, he realized, and his silence wouldn't help. "I'll think about what I want to do."

"Okay. Let's talk about your progress. I'm getting a lot of queries from team management."

"Tell them I'm working the rehab. Dr. Cole is coming up next week to check my progress. After that, I should know more."

"I will pass that on, but now I'm just asking for myself."

"It's up and down. The range of motion is getting better, but not as fast as I would like. I feel strong. I feel like there's improvement, but I don't want to over-analyze it. I want to just stay focused on getting better."

"I'm glad to hear you're feeling optimistic."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far," he said dryly.

"Give me a call after you talk to your doctor next week."

"Will do."

"If you need me to speak to Nikki's agent, I can also do that."

"No one controls Nikki. She'll do whatever she wants to do if it works for her benefit. But I appreciate the offer. I'll be in touch."

As he set down his phone on the console, he blew out a breath of frustration. Why the hell had Nikki gone off on Keira? He didn't care what she said about him, but to bring Keira into it when Nikki knew there was nothing going on between them…

Clearly, Nikki hadn't completely believed that, or even if she had, she'd just thought the story would be better if she played the betrayed woman. She wasn't completely wrong, either. He did have feelings for Keira. But their lives were not in the same place. It had been difficult enough to work things out with Nikki, who traveled as much as he did. But Major League Baseball didn't make its way through Whisper Lake.

He'd never be able to finish anything he started with Keira, so he couldn't start it, even though he really wanted to, even though his dreams were filled with her image, even though he could hear the sound of her laugh in his head.

He should talk to her about the lies Nikki was telling. But she wanted him to keep his distance. He had to make an exception for this. Didn't he?

As he drove out of the parking garage, a van immediately followed him. The man behind the wheel was the same man who'd gotten the first shot of him. He pressed his foot down harder on the gas. He wasn't going to talk to the press until he spoke to Keira.

He grabbed his phone and punched in her number, but she didn't answer. He tossed the phone onto the console and then decided to lose his tail before he tried to find her. The last thing he wanted to do was bring more trouble to her, although he had the feeling that trouble was going to find her whether he brought it to her or not.