“My uncle had me believing a lie. My cousin didn’t correct me. But I can do something to correct what I’ve done. I caved to a man who used family ties to blackmail me. I should never have—” She bites her lip and looks at the ground.
I should feel some kind of way about this apology but I don’t. I don’t feel anything.
“I refused to go back to Texas with Uncle Littlejohn. I know you Alex. I know who you are, how honorable you are, deep in my heart. I will do whatever I can to fix this.” A tear trails down her cheek. It’s a nice touch.
I wait a beat. She doesn’t say anything else, so I walk to the SUV and get in. I don’t look back as I drive out of the lot.
SJ
I’m frozen in the spot he left me in front of the lawyer’s office. He doesn’t say anything before he leaves me standing there. I don’t even deserve his anger. I don’t deserve an argument. I don’t exist in his world any longer. This hollow ache inside me might never go away.
A few more tears fall but I don’t deserve to feel sorry for myself either. Everything that led to this moment, I did. And everything I’m going to do from this moment forward will be to try to fix what I can. Not so he’ll give me a second chance. It’s clear he won’t. If I’m honest, I wouldn’t give me one. But I have to try to make things right for Alex. He’s a good man and what I did to him because I’m broken was wrong. Me and my family, our jagged edges cut him deep.
With a deep breath, I swallow what’s left of my pride and go inside the lawyer’s office. The guy at the front asks me if I have an appointment. “No, but I have information that could help Mr. Litchfield with Alex Craig’s case.”
“I’ll see if he can make time to see you.” The man indicates two empty chairs flanking a window. “Have a seat.”
As in “get comfortable, this could be awhile.” Half an hour later, I’m shown to a conference room. A man who looks to be in his forties with blond streaked hair strides in and introduces himself as Zach Litchfield. “Call me Zach.”
I explain what I want to do but he doesn’t smile or get excited like I expected.
“Does Alex know you’re here?”
“I saw him outside.” Maybe not the explanation I should give, but it’s true.
“There are no charges pending as a result of your interaction with Mr. Craig. So I’m not sure what your statement can add.” As in I’m a waste of his time. It would sting if it were true. But I still believe I can do something to make the situation better.
“I can vouch for his respect for women, the consensual way he dealt with everything between us, and explain what my uncle was up to by blackmailing me.”
“Your uncle was blackmailing you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
I turn my head and stare at an oil painting of some mountains, probably somewhere in Colorado. It’s a beautiful picture. Not like the one I’m about to paint. “All my life I wanted to be a model or an actress.”
Zach doesn’t move.
“I was twenty-one when I got my big break.” A bitter laugh pops out of me. “Paid one-way trip to California for a photo shoot. I quit my job and went with a stranger who lied to me. My momma told me not to go, but it was just one more warning in a long line of them I’d ignored since I was a teenager. Turned out she was right. It wasn’t—well, it was a photo shoot, but not for clothes or anything. In fact the first instruction was to take all my clothes off.” My throat closes at the memories.
Zach slides over a box of tissues and a bottle of water. I didn’t realize I was crying. After a few minutes of trying to compose myself, I suck in a deep breath. I’m not the victim here. Alex is.
“My uncle, the man who was married to my aunt while I was growing up, came to California and rescued me before things got worse. Worse than they already were. My momma must have called him. I never asked. I returned home, went to community college for graphic design and marketing. Getting my life together sort of. Until my uncle came to town a few months ago and offered a paid trip to Colorado. Said he wanted to help me get my life on track being as we’re family and all. It wasn’t until I was already here that he threatened to post pictures he had from California. I didn’t even know he had them.” I gag at the recall of my mouth around the dick of a stranger I was forced to blow. “Told me he’d show my momma, my boss, he’d post them on the internet. Unless I did this one thing for him.”
“What’s that.”
“Help him take down Alex.” I didn’t have any idea I could be more ashamed of myself than I was in California. Turns out I can be.
“What do you know about what happened when he was dating your cousin?”
I repeat the question in my head, not quite following the change of topic. “I know she stopped spending summers with me once they started dating. She used to come for a couple months every year, but not after.”
“But you didn’t see them together?”
“Maybe once or twice at Thanksgiving or Christmas. But it was holiday time, so I think I met him briefly, maybe? She was gaga over him. Would post pictures about all the stuff they did together and send me emails.” Oh wow. I’d forgotten about that. All the messages we sent each other with our thoughts and dreams, like a shared diary. Like any teenager, I didn’t pay that much attention to what she said, I was so wrapped up in my own dreams of fame.
“Do you have access to those posts?”
