perfect angelic lips. “He told me he couldn’t prove it, but he was certain it was you.”
Under the circumstances, Hope figured Juliette was justified in her anger, but not in front of Adam. “In my own defense,” she began, “Blaine was a pig, and I wanted to hurt him. I didn’t think about who might get hurt, but I’ve always felt really bad that I hurt other people as well. I’m sorry about what happened.”
Dylan finally let go of his son. “You’re a reporter for
“No. About four years ago I was their unnamed source for a few inside stories, and then I did a few freelance articles on fashion blunders. That sort of thing, but I don’t do that now.”
“You write flora-and-fauna articles. Right?”
She didn’t want to tell him. Not like this. “Well, not exactly.”
“What do you write? Exactly.”
But she couldn’t lie anymore, either. Hope took a deep breath and said, “I’m a staff writer for
He leaned his head back and looked at her through a narrowed gaze. “Adam, go to your room,” he ordered without taking his eyes from Hope.
“I don’t wanna go to my room.”
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I told you to go.”
As if his feet were made of lead, the boy slowly left the room. No one spoke until the door had shut behind him.
“So,” Dylan began, “the whole flora-and-fauna thing was complete bullshit. You write for a tabloid.”
“I don’t write gossip. I write alien stories,” she said and spread her arms wide. “That’s what I do.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you? After you’ve done nothing but lie about it since you drove into town? Christ! You must have had yourself a good old laugh yesterday when I was showing you all those flowers for your ‘article.’ ”
“I wasn’t laughing.”
“And the whole thing about Hiram Donnelly was bullshit, too, wasn’t it?”
“No, I plan to write that article. I never-”
“How did you find out about Adam?” he interrupted.
She didn’t know what he was asking.
“And how long before I get to read about my son in your paper?”
It took Hope a moment more before she understood exactly what he meant. The secret love child of America’s favorite angel would be big news. Huge. “I would never do that to Adam. I would never do that to you, and as hard as it might be for you to believe, I wouldn’t do that to Juliette, either.”
“You’re right, that’s hard for me to believe,” Juliette said.
Hope looked at the faces before her. Juliette didn’t even bother hiding her anger, and Dylan was becoming more remote as the seconds ticked past. “Who sent you here, Hope?”
“My paper, but not for the reason you’re thinking. They sent me here to take pictures and write articles. Right now I’m writing a series about a town filled with aliens.” She shook her head as her heart squeezed within her chest. “Just last week I used Eden Hansen. Her purple hair and eyeshadow, but I swear I didn’t know Juliette was Adam’s mother until two minutes ago. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t think I even know you.”
Hope covered her heart with her hand, as if she could protect herself from his cold gaze. As if she could protect her breaking heart. “When I first met you, I didn’t tell you what I do for a living because it was none of your business. After I got to know you, I didn’t know how to tell you I’d lied about it, and the time never seemed right.”
“I can think of a few times when you could have said something. Like any time between the Fourth and today would have been good.”
There was nothing she could say except, “You’re right, maybe I should have told you.”
“Yeah, maybe. The very first day you drove into town, I wondered what would bring a big-city girl to a wilderness town like Gospel. I guess I finally know, and it has nothing to do with Bigfoot or aliens or corrupt sheriffs. You found out about Adam and came here to snoop into our lives.”
“Do you really believe that?”
His mouth settled into a grim line and he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
“I told you I wouldn’t do that to you, and I won’t, but I guess you’ll believe me when you don’t read about it in the papers.” She looked at him one last time and walked out the door, passed the backpacks they’d leaned against the house before they’d raced inside and fallen into bed.
The Idaho sun burned her corneas and she shaded her eyes as she headed down Dylan’s driveway, passed a car she didn’t recognize, and went out into the street. She’d tried so hard not to fall in love with him. Deep down she’d known he would break her heart. And she’d been right.
From the moment Dylan had opened his eyes and glanced at Adam at the foot of his bed, his life had gone straight to hell.
“What do you think she’ll do?” Julie asked him.
“I don’t know what she’ll do,” he answered truthfully. He wanted to believe Hope. He wanted it real damn bad, but he didn’t. “We have to tell Adam we were never married. Before he hears about it from someone else.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as if that could suppress the sudden pounding behind his eyes. He’d told Hope so much about his life. A
“Yes, I guess it’s time you told him. Do you suppose there is any chance your girlfriend won’t report this?”
He lowered his hand and looked at Julie. She was worried about her career. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought Adam home.”
“I know. Why?”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts and took a deep breath. “Well, remember when we were in the airport and I told you I needed to talk to you?”
He didn’t remember, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t mentioned it.
“You probably know I’ve been spending a lot of time with Gerard LaFollete,” she began, assuming he kept up with her business.
“No, I didn’t. Isn’t he a French actor?”
“Yes, and he asked me to marry him. I said yes.”
“What does Adam think of all this?”
“Well, I thought you could tell him.”
Of course she did. Dylan sat on the edge of the couch with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Under normal circumstances, he might not have minded the responsibility of telling Adam about his mama marrying the French dude. That would have made it easier for him to talk to Adam about Hope, but now he didn’t know if he had or wanted a relationship with her. He knew only two things for certain about Hope: one, she worked for a tabloid, and two, he loved being with her. The two shouldn’t have been mutually exclusive, but they were.
He looked up at Julie, standing there as if she expected that he would just naturally handle Adam for her. “No,” he said. “You’ll have to tell him.”
“I tried. Gerard met us last week so Adam could get to know him before I told Adam my plans. Well, Adam behaved so horribly I didn’t get the chance to talk to him about it. I tried to call you, but you were never home.” She sat in the rocker-recliner and shoved her hands between her knees. “He called Gerard the f-word.”
“Whoa! He called your boyfriend a fucker?”
“No. A fag.”
“Oh.” From what Dylan had seen of him on television, the guy did look like he had the potential to swing either way. The few times Dylan had spoken with Adam on the telephone, he’d sounded like he always did.
“I’ll talk to Adam about that, but you’re going to tell him about your marriage plans. Sounds to me, though, like he has a pretty good idea and that’s why he’s acting up.” He leaned back against the couch. “We’ll both tell him that we were never married. If we handle it right, I doubt it will be a traumatic deal for him. The timing could be better, but I don’t see that we have a choice.”
He shrugged; how much worse could it get? His son had been home less than an hour, he’d seen Dylan in bed
