Page 75 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“Why did Frank want to call the wedding off, Heather?” Jade asked. “I thought things were great with you guys.”
Heather narrowed her eyes and barked a bitter laugh. “You really don’t know.”
“I really don’t know, so why don’t you quit being so vague and fill me in?”
“He wanted to call off the wedding because he was in love with you!”
Jade froze. Her heart pounded. Disbelief coursed through her veins. With eyes locked on Heather’s, she shook her head. “No. That’s not true. We were just friends.”
“You’re so naive.”
“Heather,” Jade said softly, “did you kill Frank?” Heather’s left hand rose fast, and Jade found herself staring at the weapon in it. “How could you?” she whispered.
“I didn’t want to,” Heather said, “but he gave me no choice. He didn’t even have the decency to tell me himself. I had to read it in his journal.”
“What?”
“He left it sitting on his kitchen table. I thought I’d sneak a peek and see what I might get him for a wedding gift. Only you can imagine how surprised I was to find out he didn’t want to get married after all because he was in love with you.”
Jade shook her head. It couldn’t be true. “He never gave the first clue that he felt anything more than friendship for me.”
“And get this,” Heather said as though Jade hadn’t spoken. “He only asked me to marry him because he felt sorry for me for getting jilted. I almost took that book and threw it at him, but decided not to let him know right off that I knew. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I wasn’t going to just sit by and let him humiliate me.” She swiped a tear, but her eyes remained hard, and Jade was starting to believe her friend, her partner, the woman she’d entrusted her life to numerous times, might actually kill her.
“Frank cared about you. He always did.”
“Caredabout me? He was supposed toloveme!” A sob slipped from her and she drew in a slow breath. “He came back the next day after asking me to marry him and said he’d made a mistake. He actually apologized and said he shouldn’t have done that. While he felt sorry for me, he couldn’t marry me. The problem is, I’d already told my mother and grandmother. I begged him to let it play out for a few months, then if he wanted to call it off, I’d agree. I thought surely I could make him fall in love with me by then. When he kept up the charade, I thought I’d succeeded—except when you were around. You want to know something else he said in his journal? Just before he walked in the room, I read that the more he thought about the engagement, the more he thought it might bring you to your senses, that you’d see what you were losing and ask him to reconsider.”
“What?” Jade couldn’t help the sharp cry.
“As we got closer and closer to the wedding, Frank’s cold feet turned into frozen blocks of ice—and so did his heart.”
Jade wasn’t sure what to say, how to react—or even what to think. Most of her attention was on the gun in Heather’s steady grip. “I’m so sorry,” Jade said. “I really am, but please put the gun down and we’ll work something out.”
A sigh slipped from Heather. “If it was anyone but you saying those words, I might go for it. But I know you,partner, and I know ‘working something out’ means me going down for Frank’s murder. And that’s not going to happen.”
* * *
Bryce’s heart pounded. He’d pulled into the parking lot of the office he’d rented but hadn’t set foot in since returning to Cedar Canyon, to sit in the car and read through just a bit of Frank’s journal.
When he read, “I have regrets. A lot of them,” his blood pounded and his lungs tightened. Sasha moved closer and nudged him. “It’s all right, girl. Give me a minute.”
“The biggest being I kept a secret from a friend,” Frank had written. “Jade asked me to have Bryce contact her, but I knew why she wanted to talk to him so bad. He’s Mia’s father. If he comes back, I’ll lose Mia and Jade forever. It’s wrong of me, I know that. I should tell him, but it’s been five years. Almost six. How do I tell him after all this time?” Another entry. “He’s coming home. It won’t be long before he’ll run into Jade and learn about Mia. Once Jade sees him, she’ll tell him. And they’ll figure out that I’ve lied to both of them. I’m a horrible friend. I’ve got to come clean and pray everyone can forgive me, but how can they?” One more. “I know that if I have more time, I’ll be able to win Jade’s heart. I want to love Heather, but I don’t. It’s Jade. It’s always been Jade, but how do I break that to Heather? I’ve really messed up and don’t see a way out that won’t hurt a lot of people.” Last one. “Heather’s changed. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but there’s no way we’re getting married. I just need to man up and tell her. Soon. Because Jade isn’t showing any inclination that my getting married is bothering her in the least. I think she may be a lost cause. Regardless, I still can’t marry Heather. I’m telling her tonight. She’s not going to take it well, and frankly, she’s been so unstable lately, I’m worried about what she might do.”
He’d read enough to know that Jade could very possibly be in danger. He dialed her number and set the phone in the mount on his dash while the Bluetooth kicked in.
When it rang four times before going to voice mail, he put the SUV in Reverse and backed out of the parking spot, worry for Jade making his palms sweat. Heather’s house was only about five minutes from him.
Unfortunately, a lot could happen in five minutes.
SEVENTEEN
“If you shoot me,” Jade said, keeping her voice even, “Tom will hear. He’s sitting outside.” Her phone had been vibrating in her pocket, but Heather didn’t seem to hear it. All she could do was pray it was Bryce, and when she didn’t answer, he would come to investigate.
“Tom?” Heather asked.
“Tom Williams. With the wife and two kids. He brought me here because the captain assigned someone to be with me at all times, thanks to you trying to kill me. If you pull the trigger and he comes running in, you’ll have to kill him, too. Do you really want more deaths on your conscience?” Because it was obvious killing Frank was eating away at her. “The ME said Frank never saw it coming, but he was shot by someone he was facing,” Jade said softly. “How did it happen, Heather? Did he just stand there and let you put two bullets in him?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
