“I would never do that and you know it,” Isaiah said as Nathan continued to appear distracted by his phone. “You’d confirmed what she’d been telling me that yours was just a friendship thing. Even when she told me she hadn’t even slept with you—that it was just a friendship between you two—I still didn’t—”
“Is that what she told you?” Isaiah froze at Nathan’s words, staring at him as the room went silent. “Wow. She was a helluva friend, let me tell you.”
Nathan shook his head then unbelievably scanned his phone again. When he finished reading whatever the hell he was reading on his phone, he let out a strange but loud scoff. Then his head fell back for a second until his eyes were back on Isaiah. As much as Isaiah wanted to believe his brother was just talking out of his ass because he was pissed about everything else, Nathan’s red-rimmed eyes said it all. He couldn’t be more serious.
“I don’t care, man.” He slipped his phone in his holster then grabbed his keys. “Do what you want. I don’t care about her.” He started around the bar and past Isaiah.
“Where you going?” Isaiah asked.
Nathan kept walking. “You wanna keep seeing someone like Kelli, that’s on you. I just think it’s pretty fucked that my family chose to lie to me.”
Everyone spoke at once now.
“No one lied,” AJ said.
“I would never,” Emi added.
Isaiah started after him. “It seemed pointless at that point—”
“Fuuuuck!”
They all froze in place, staring at Nathan from behind. He’d stopped in the middle of the room after silencing them again with that outburst. His hands were at his head now and he shook it slowly.
AJ was the first to speak. “He’ll break it off,” he said, turning to Isaiah. “Right, Sai? Family first and you said—”
“I don’t give a shit about that, AJ!” Nathan turned to face them, his eyes completely red and tears streaking down his face. “They’re dead.”
They all stared at him, confused, until it dawned on Isaiah what he was talking about, and he was back to hurting for his brother. Shaking off Nathan’s implication that there’d been more to his friendship with Kelli than she let on, Isaiah started toward his brother again.
“They’re dead”—Nathan was falling apart now—“both the kid and his dad.” He tapped at his phone holster. “It’s what they’ve been updating me on, and now they need me down at the station for more questioning from the cops before they do a fucking press conference.”
“It’s not your fault, Nate,” Isaiah reiterated as Nathan shook his head, swatting away angry tears. “These press conferences are standard whenever someone is killed and there’s a cop or firefighter involved. The police need to question you for the report. But we both know that doesn’t mean they’re blaming you for anything.”
“They’ve already questioned me, Sai.”
“It’s a double fatality now. That changes things,” Isaiah said as he reached him and put a hand on each of his brother’s shoulders. “Look at me.” Nathan did, and Isaiah could see the fear laced with pain from knowing two people were dead and he was blaming himself, no doubt. “Listen to me. We both know this is standard procedure. You need to just calm down. It’s gonna be fine.”
Emi and Olivia rushed over to hug Nathan and also to reassure him that everything would be okay—that they were there for him, all of them. AJ joined them and they did something they hadn’t done in a long time: had a family group hug. Isaiah’s insides were a mangled mess. He hated to see any of his siblings hurting like this. At the same time, he still wasn’t sure what to make of Nathan’s insinuation. Was it possible his initial impression of her was still the right one? Was she that gifted a liar? Thoughts of their conversation on the plane came to him: the dream job offer she’d forgotten all about and never once thought to mention to him in New Mexico.
The very thought that Kelli may have actually done more with his brother sickened him. Not so much what she might’ve done, but that she’d easily lied by omission. The more Isaiah thought about it, the more he felt like an idiot. How quick he’d been to believe her as he’d gazed into those big doe eyes as she assured him she hadn’t slept with Nathan. She had to know sleeping with him wouldn’t have been the only thing Isaiah would’ve considered objectionable and reason enough to make anything between them impossible. Yet she’d kept it to herself, hiding behind the fact that he hadn’t asked her to elaborate exactly how much else they’d done.
He hadn’t asked because he assumed if she had she’d come clean about it. Did she think something like that would never come up? Already it was making him crazy. He thought of her flirtation with Dylan just months after she’d broken things off with Gilbert. How quick Isaiah had been to accept her explanation when she admitted it was wrong but she’d been young, selfish, and living in the now.
Gilbert’s words the night of his drunken rant assaulted him. Just keep her away from any guys you’re tight with. It’s a turn-on for her to do you both.
Had Isaiah really been that blind about her? Had being around her turned him into the same puppy dog Nathan had once admitted she’d practically turned him into? Any and all his questions regarding Kelli and Nathan would just have to wait. Right now he had something far more important he had to deal with. And asking Nathan anything more about Kelli during all of this was out of the question.
Chapter 23: Go to Hell!
Kelli
Being back in her salon, Kelli felt as if she’d never been away. It was the same crazy feeling Kelli had experienced with Isaiah. After over a year of being away, the familiarity and ease in which she fell right back into the swing of things was refreshingly gratifying.
Kelli was at the second salon now. She was in the back room, catching up over coffee, with a few of the girls and Ken, the only male stylist at that salon, who were all on break. Eve rushed into the back room to get something then slowed in front of the small television that was on. “Did you guys hear about this?”
She motioned to what appeared to be some kind of press conference. They’d been too caught up in conversation, so no one had been watching the television. The volume was even lowered all the way. They all turned curiously to the television. Ken picked up the remote and upped the volume.
“No what is it?” Kelli asked, sipping her coffee.
“That accident in La Jolla early this morning where the fire truck ran into a car. Both passengers died.”
“Oh, wow,” Ken said as they caught the tail end of the conference.
Kelli had heard something about it earlier when she’d been flipping through the stations on her car radio, but she didn’t realize it was in La Jolla. Of course, that caught her attention now. Most of the questions being asked, the officer at the podium said he couldn’t answer at that time. Then the press conference was over, and they returned to the broadcaster at the station. Kelli listened intently, her heart speeding up ever so slightly because she hadn’t spoken to Isaiah since they went their separate ways at the airport.
“For those of you just tuning in, our top story today is a tragic double fatality in La Jolla early this morning after a fire engine ran a red light and struck a car in the intersection. Both occupants in that car were rushed to a trauma center, where hours later they succumbed to their injuries. We just heard the latest press conference, where it was confirmed by the Fire Chief Lars Bishop that the engineer driving that fire engine this morning and who has been put on paid administrative leave pending further investigation is in fact Nathan Romero, the brother of Padres catcher AJ Romero. Some of you may recall AJ’s other brother Isaiah Romero made headlines early last year when he was injured on a routine call at a structure fire. Isaiah has since resigned from the fire department, but both brothers worked at the same station, inciting questions from reporters about the possibility of lack of training and/or proper leadership at this particular station, an allegation Chief Bishop was quick to vehemently deny.”
As it had
earlier, Kelli’s call to Isaiah went to voicemail. She’d grabbed her phone and stood the moment she realized it was Nathan they were talking about. Now she understood Isaiah’s earlier text when he’d texted her after she’d called and he hadn’t answered. All he’d said was that he had a lot going on and he’d call her later. She felt like an idiot now for not realizing what was going on earlier. “Routine call at a structure fire, my ass,” she muttered under her breath as she put her text together. “What’s so fucking routine about climbing onto a burning structure and chain sawing a hole through it. You try it, bitch.”
She reread her text one last time.
I just now heard about what’s going on with Nathan. I’ve been so busy I hadn’t even watched TV or read any of the headlines. I’ll be heading back to my hotel in about an hour, but don’t worry about rushing to get there or even going there at all today if you have your hands full with this. I totally understand. I’m so sorry your family is going through this, baby! Call me if you need anything. I love you!
Deciding it was fine, she sent it and took a deep breath. She didn’t have time to explain any of this to her co-workers. All this time they’d been filling her in on everything that had happened while she was gone. And a lot had happened. So she hadn’t even gotten around to mentioning her new boyfriend. The hotel she told Isaiah she’d be staying at was in La Jolla. She was way out in her Carmel salon, so she wanted to start back in case Isaiah needed her for any reason.
Kelli explained briefly that she had to get going but didn’t mention anything about knowing Nathan or Isaiah. This bunch would want details, lots of them. Normally, she’d be happy to give them details, especially about something so exciting in her life that she’d only been able to share with Matt. But it’d have to wait for another day.
~~~
Antsy didn’t even begin to describe how Kelli felt. She’d been glued to the television reports all day. It was times like these that she missed her mom most. Her crews at both salons were excellent listeners, but this still felt so personal and private. She didn’t feel right telling any of them about this until she at least had heard back from Isaiah and gotten his version of how things really happened. The press was still spinning it in a way that made it sound as if Nathan might’ve been negligent.
There hadn’t been anything new added to the story in hours. They just kept repeating the same facts along with their infuriating theories over and over. Kelli could only imagine how awful Nathan must feel. She could hardly wait to see Isaiah and hug him. As close as he was to his family, she didn’t even want to think of the anguish he, too, must be feeling.
Of course, Matt would pick this week to elope with Lori and take off to some tropical paradise for their honeymoon. He wouldn’t have access to anything that had to do with technology. He and Lori had agreed they’d turn off their phones and leave all other electronic devices at home. They’d even requested a room with no television. But he’d given Kelli the name and number to the remote resort they’d be staying at in case of any emergencies. It’d be the only way she could reach him.
Kelli had been speechless when he told her about it a few days ago. She’d been surprised that they’d cut themselves off from technology for an entire week, considering what tech nerds they both were, but even more stunned about his eloping on a whim. Then again who was she to argue he was jumping the gun? She and Isaiah had been pretending to be engaged for weeks now and were already talking about moving in together. Her heart skipped a beat, in spite of everything that was going on, at the thought that marriage would likely soon follow the way Isaiah was talking on the plane. It was still so surreal to her that things worked out the way they had.
Just a little after four she got the call from Isaiah. As expected, he sounded down—tense.
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I stopped watching the news a while ago. I got sick of hearing the same thing over and over. Is there anything new they haven’t already reported a million times?”
“A few things,” he said, still sounding very somber. “Like the driver’s blood alcohol level was way over the legal limit. But they’re also investigating a possible mechanical deficiency in the engine, something that the family’s ambulance-chasing lawyers are already insinuating that, as an engineer, Nathan should’ve known about.”
“Already? How do they even know?”
“Reports. When shit like this happens and it’s all over the news like this, lawyers come out of the woodwork, especially because they know he’s related to someone with deep pockets.”
He explained how logs are taken when inspections are done on all county equipment. Rescue and law enforcement vehicles are particularly scrutinized. All these logs are public record.
“So the first thing these vultures pull are those reports so they can contact the victim’s families to flash money in their faces and tell them they might have a case. It’s disgusting. The bodies aren’t even cold yet—the families are still in shock—and these assholes are dangling money so they can convince them to sign with them as their legal counsel.”
Isaiah explained a little more about how Nathan and his other family members were doing. He said Nathan was having a rough time, but Isaiah wasn’t worried about his brother being in trouble for anything. “The county has his back. I’m more worried about him getting over the fact that two people are dead and he’s blaming himself.”
He asked her about her day, and she told him about visiting the salons but cutting it short when she heard the news—how she wanted to make sure she was closer to La Jolla, in case he needed her. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, and she hated how solemn he sounded. “I still have a couple of errands I need to run. Kel . . .” He was quiet for a moment then cleared his throat. “I was gonna wait until I saw you tonight to ask, but it’s really starting to bother me, so I need to know now.”
“What is it?”
“I didn’t intend on talking to Nathan about us today. It just sort of happened.”
Her heart sped up. This was the last thing she would’ve thought he’d talked to Nathan about today. It just sort of happened?
She swallowed hard, bracing herself. “How’d it go?”
“Well, with everything else he’s dealing with, you can imagine not too good.”
She wanted to ask then why had he brought it up at a time like this, but he sounded so irritated she dared not. Was he irritated with her? “What did you want to ask me?”
“I didn’t ask before because I just assumed you would’ve told me if there was more to it, but now I have to.” He paused, but she said nothing. He was making her nervous now. “Back in Los Angeles when you and I talked outside that restaurant, you said you let him kiss you.”
Kelli squeezed her eyes shut. She’d really hoped he’d never bring that up again. “Uh-huh.” It was all she’d offer freely.
“Is that all you did with him?”
Her eyes flew open as her insides warmed. “Why? What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything. I just need to know.”
“What are you asking me, Isaiah? I’ve already told you I never slept with him.”
“You sure about that?”
Kelli had never gone so fast from feeling bad for someone to wanting to slap him. “Of course I’m sure. Are you kidding me? One day back to your family and already you’re turning on me? I wondered how long it would take?”
“Why’d you wonder that?”
Instead of sounding apologetic, he sounded suspicious—demanding. How dare he? Kelli cursed the lump already forming in her throat. Swallowing back the emotion, she stood up off the bed.
“Because of this. You think I haven’t noticed AJ’s and your sister’s distaste for me? You don’t think I’ve worried that, as close as you are to all of them, all it would take is a little nudging on their part to get you to question everything I’ve told you.”
“They said nothing about you. And you still haven’t answered the question.??
?
“I told you I didn’t sleep with him.”
“That’s all you said.” Incredibly, he sounded as pissed as she felt now. “What else did you do with him?”
“Nothing!” She was practically yelling, and infuriatingly, the hot tears blurred her eyes now. “I let him peck me a couple of times, okay? And that’s only because your brother can be very persuasive.”
“Oh, now it’s a couple of times? You made it sound like it was only once.” He was definitely as pissed as she was, and that only made the emotion she was feeling boil over. “Anything else you let him persuade you to let him do? Anything you did to him that you might’ve conveniently forgotten to mention?” Kelli gasped, but she couldn’t even speak. She was so choked up. “What’s the matter? Did you remember something you left out?”
Isaiah sounded so uncharacteristically like an asshole or rather just like he had when he first arrived in New Mexico and she’d been sure he hated her. It was breaking her heart.
“Don’t come here tonight.” She was barely able to get the words out. “I don’t wanna see you.” She heard him exhale loudly, but she continued, getting a better handle on her voice to speak clearer and with more conviction. “If this is what it’s going to be like, then I want out. I already know I can’t compete with your family, and clearly, it didn’t take much for you to forget about everything that’s happened between us in the last few weeks.”
“Really?” His surprised tone rose a few notches. “Just like that? You want out?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her voice betraying her again.
“Did you ever actually intend to stay here, Kel? Move in with me? Or were those all lies too?”
“What? I never lied to you, damn it!”
“Did you respond to that guy yet?”
She felt her brows pinch. “What guy?”
“The job offer you got as a private whatever to Mr. Money? The one you forgot to mention until today?”