Sasha placed a strong hand on her shoulder. “I got this. You go home with your dad. It’s probably not safe for you to go to your house alone. I’ll take good care of him, I promise.”
Bonnie lifted up on her toes and gave Aaron a kiss on the cheek. “We can fix the house.”
She knew that wasn’t the real issue, though. They could fix the house. Repaint, repair, redo. But Aaron’s heart would forever be broken. This kind of hurt caused by a betrayal from someone he loved would never fully heal. He knew that.
Bonnie went with her dad and cried the whole way to his house. She wiped her face and clenched her fists. She was so angry she spit her words. “How could she do this? How could she hurt him like that?”
“Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe Aaron’s right. She wouldn’t do something like that. Not the Lauren I know. Not the Lauren you know.”
Bonnie shook her head. The Lauren she knew was long gone. That Lauren had disappeared the second Mitch began his speech about not wanting to get married. The Lauren that was left behind from that event was worse than Bad Lauren, as Sasha liked to call her. She was Evil Lauren. The wickedest of the wicked.
“Don’t defend her. Don’t ever defend her to me again. I won’t hear it.”
Her dad gave her leg a pat. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
Bonnie didn’t sleep a minute all night. She texted back and forth with Sasha, who had managed to get Aaron to leave the house eventually. They were both staying at Aaron’s. Sasha didn’t think Aaron was sleeping, but he was at least lying down.
In the morning, she and her dad stopped to get some coffee and then made the depressing drive to the house. Aaron and Sasha were already there, and so was Mitch.
“What are you doing here?”
“Word spread pretty fast about what happened last night. I was calling Aaron all night, but he never picked up. This is bad. Who would have done this?”
“Are you serious? Who do you think did it?” She waved her hand in the direction of the garage door. “Lauren didn’t even try to hide that it was her.”
Mitch’s expression was solemn. “I’m so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault. If I had handled things differently—if I had told Lauren I didn’t want to get married before the wedding, none of this would have happened.”
She shook her head. “This is not your fault. It’s not yours or mine or anyone’s fault except for Lauren. I am done feeling bad for her. She is a grown woman who has to take responsibility for what she’s done.”
“Come here. I know I’m not your favorite person, but you look like you are in desperate need of a hug.” He opened his arms wide. Bonnie didn’t even think about it—she just fell into his arms, because he was right. She needed someone to hold her, and she appreciated the fact that he didn’t jump to Lauren’s defense.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mitch asked. “I’m not very handy, but I can try.”
“That’s really kind of you.” The true test of someone’s character was how they responded in a crisis. Maybe she had misjudged Mitch’s character. “Why don’t you come on in? I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”
THERE WAS NO way Lauren had done this. Lauren would not do this to him. Not when she knew how hard he had worked. Not when she knew that he was trying to be a better brother. She was hurt and she was angry, but she wouldn’t ruin everything Aaron had worked for. He couldn’t accept that.
“We’ve got some extra hands on deck today,” Bonnie said, entering the room with Mitch trailing behind her.
“Hey, man. I’m so sorry this happened. Put me to work. Tell me what you need to get done and I will do it. Or at least I’ll try.”
“Thanks, Mitch. I appreciate you coming out.”
David looked the way Aaron felt. Tired, beaten down, completely crushed. This house was like their baby. Their first baby, and someone had come and broken it. They all thought it was Lauren, but it wasn’t Lauren. Aaron’s heart told him it couldn’t be her.
His phone rang, and for a second he expected it to be Lauren. She would tell him that she had gotten in her car and driven to Arizona or maybe San Francisco for a long weekend. It wasn’t, though. It was his dad.
“Hey, Dad. Can I call you back? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“No, you can’t call me back. I’m at the police station trying to get your sister released from custody, because for some reason you told the cops that she vandalized your house. What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”
“Dad, I told the cops I didn’t think it was her. I pray it’s not her, but...” All the evidence pointed to it being her.
“You need to get over here right now and tell them that you made a mistake and your sister had nothing to do with this.” He hung up in typical Walter Cole fashion. He didn’t need to wait for a reply, because when he summoned you, you came.
“I have to go. I’ll be back, though.”
“Wait.” Bonnie stopped him. “Where are you going? Do you want me to come with you?”
It would be a very bad idea for Bonnie to come with him, given the fact that she believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lauren had done this. “I’m good. You stay here and help your dad. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
“I doubt that,” she nearly whispered.
Aaron drove straight to the Blue Springs Police Department.
