Again, I’m deeply sorry.
Elizabeth
Tara gritted her teeth, dropped the note, and shoved the box to the side. She stood and walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of wine, her heart ramming double time against her chest.
The sheer balls on that woman to think she could send some flimsy apology and expect Tara would be fine with it. She didn’t care what was on that video. Nothing could erase what Elizabeth had done to Nathan and to her. She’d done it deliberately to embarrass Tara. Tara could handle anything Elizabeth dished out. She was an adult and could hold her own. But to bring her child into it was underhanded, dirty and uncalled-for, and utterly unforgivable.
Another knock on the door, and Tara slammed her wine goblet down on the kitchen counter. She’d bet anything it was Elizabeth. Hell, she hoped it was Elizabeth. She’d love to tell the woman exactly what she thought of her.
She flung the door open, and her words caught in her throat as she saw Mick standing there.
“What do you want?”
“Five minutes.”
Dammit. She stood in front of the door, blocking his entrance. “There’s nothing you can say I want to hear.”
He laid his hand against the brick. “Five minutes. That’s all I want, Tara.”
He looked as miserable as she felt. God, she wanted to believe that look was sincere. “Five minutes.”
She moved aside, and he came in while she closed the door.
She stood near the door, her arms wrapped around her middle. “Start talking.”
He turned. “I didn’t know what Elizabeth was doing until I saw it on the news last night.”
“How could you not know what she was doing? She was right in front of you. You pulled Nathan next to you when she pointed to you.”
“I know how it looked, but it was so noisy there. Nathan and I were busy grabbing T-shirts and footballs, goofing off, and talking to the kids and the other guys, mugging for pictures. We weren’t paying any attention to the cameras or what Liz was doing. I thought she was promoting the foundation. I had no idea until I saw it on the news. I was sick after I saw that news clip. And I was f**king furious with Elizabeth.” He moved toward her. “I’ve never wanted to lay hands on a woman in anger until I saw that, Tara. I had to pull myself back because I wanted to hurt her. I’m so sorry.”
He was hurting as badly as she was. “She sent me a video.”
“What?”
“She sent me a video and a note. Said she was sorry. It’s over on the chair.”
He went over and grabbed the note, read it, then panned his gaze over to her again. “What’s on the video?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked at it yet.”
“Do you want to?”
“I guess so.”
Mick put the video in her DVD player. It was scenes cut from the carnival, with a voice-over from a very prominent sportscaster talking about how the Sabers—and Mick—gave tirelessly to the foundation, and how much the charity stood to benefit from the carnival.
It was the same thing, with Nathan and Mick highlighted in the video.
Nothing had changed. What was her point?
Except then it did change, with the sportscaster talking about Mick, his girlfriend Tara Lincoln, and Tara’s son Nathan and how they unselfishly gave of their time planning this event. He went on to say Tara was a local event planner and donated her time in preparing the event. He talked about Nathan being a sophomore at a local high school, briefly described the school, and showed a picture of the school and the team. He explained Nathan was a quarterback, and mentioned how Mick had started out as a quarterback, and he went on to make comparisons between the two.
Dear God. Nathan would love that.
Tara moved into the living room and sat on the sofa, watching how Liz had completely turned around a negative spot into something positive and beneficial. Nathan would come out of this looking like a hero. Tears filled her eyes, and she swept her gaze to Mick.
“You did this?”
“I told Liz she f**ked things up. Bad. I told her to fix it.”
“Looks like she did.”
“I told her I’d fire her if she didn’t make it right.”
Tara lifted her hand to her mouth. “You threatened to fire her?”
“I did.”
“Mick, what she did ... that’s amazing.”
“She damn well owed it to you and Nathan to make it amazing. She had no right to manipulate you and Nathan that way. I won’t tolerate anyone who works for me treating the people I love that way.”
“People you ... what did you say?”
He stood, went over to her, and grabbed her hands, pulling her to stand. “Come on, Tara. Surely by now you’ve figured out how I feel about you.”
“No, I had no idea. We’ve never talked about it.”
“Well, let’s talk about it.” His lips lifted in a hopeful smile.
Oh, God. Her mind was awash in all the pain, in what this could mean. In what she’d hoped for. And in the agony she’d been through today. All she could think about was the pain and the fear. She pushed against him. “No, don’t. I ... can’t, Mick.”
His smile died. “What? Why? I just told you I loved you.”
“Don’t.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this. Please. You have to leave.”
He frowned, tried to hold her, but she stepped back, needing distance, needing him to go.
“Tara. It’s going to be okay, I promise. I’ll make sure that video is run everywhere.”
“It’s not that, Mick. You don’t understand. Tell Liz I appreciate her making amends, but you and me? I can’t do this anymore.”
She backed farther away, but he wouldn’t allow it, kept following her.
“What do you mean, you can’t do this? I say I love you, and you push me away? I don’t get it.”
“We’ve had a great time this summer, Mick. But it’s over. Your life and mine just don’t mesh. I have my career and Nathan. You have your career. And the two just don’t fit well.”
She’d hit the front door, and he was in front of her now. She had nowhere else to go. He didn’t touch her, but his body was inches from hers. “We fit. Perfectly.”
She shook her head. “No, we don’t. I can’t live in your world, and neither can my son. Your life is parties and trips and magazine covers and the news and it’s just not what I want for Nathan.”