Page 124 of Scores Of The Heart

“Love you, too.”

I hang up with a shaky hand. Great. So to top things off on the shit storm that’s already going down between me and Tyler, and Tyler and his ex, we now have the Seattle Times and their exposing photos to deal with in a few hours.

This isn’t going to be pretty whichever way you look at it. And I know my dad is going to be disappointed we didn’t talk to him sooner.

I feel that tug of dread again in the pit of my stomach. I’m fighting back tears as I pull up at Ty’s ‘weekender’, which looks nothing short of a mansion. At least my GPS didn’t get me lost.

Not realizing it’s a gated lot until now, I drive through open gates and park in front of the three-car garage. I gape up at his house, which is more like an estate, as I shut the engine off and Henry sits up to see why we’ve stopped. It’s a two-story craftsman style, covered with dark gray wood siding and a gray shingled roof with a white trim around. Trees surround the property and has a mountain view right behind. From what I can gather, it also backs onto Lake Washington.

I grab Henry and carry him up to the front door, sheltering from the drizzle under the large porch entryway and knock on the door.

It opens a few moments later and Tyler stands before me; barefoot, in gray sweats, unshaven and looking like he had about as much sleep as I did.

He barely gets a hello out of his mouth before I step into his arms and the tears start rolling. I’m still holding onto Henry.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” He wraps his arms around me and Henry.

I mutter into his shoulder, not caring at this point if it is a touch over the top.

But it’s a lot to deal with at once, and I need to get it out. “Everything’s a mess,” I sniff.

“Come inside, we’ll talk.”

He pulls back a little and we step inside out of the rain. I feel a little foolish, wiping my tears, but there’s really no holding back now. He needs to know what’s going down.

Closing the door, he turns to me and puts his hand on my cheek, giving Henry a scruffle at the same time. Henry laps it up like he has no cares in the world.

If only my life was that easy right now, or Ty’s, for that matter.

I see a reflection of warmth and love in his eyes and from the way he smiles, even though he looks tired. I know by the way he’s looking at me with such intensity that nothing has changed, and he still wants to be with me. A little bit of hope blooms fresh in my chest, and gives me the oomph I need to get through what I’m about to tell him about the newspaper.

Reaching up on my toes, I kiss him, not caring that we need to talk first and figure all this shit out. I just need Tyler. I need his kiss and his warmth.

I need all of him.

CHAPTER 25

Tyler

As if things couldn’t get any worse for us right now with everything going on, Cindy now tells me everything is about to go nuts in the Seattle Times and we need to talk to her dad before it hits the stands.

“How the hell did this happen?” I run my hands over my head. “We were so careful.” With everything happening at once since she walked in, I haven’t had a chance to show her the house yet.

It’s not a new house by any means, but it has been updated over the years, and I’ve added modern appliances and had new hardwood floors installed and completely repainted the whole place. The fact it backs on to Lake Washington is the feature I love the most, because the views of the mountains always take my breath away.

It boasts 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms with an open layout on the main floor. Then a modern chef’s kitchen, 2 dining areas, an enormous living room, one upstairs and one downstairs. I have both an upper and lower decked balcony for entertaining. The back of the ground floor leads to an expanded, terraced backyard with more stunning views. There are bonus rooms all over the house, a wine cellar and an office.

My primary suite is what I really love because it’s so big and has views over the lake and my own private deck.

For months, I’ve dreamed about bringing Cindy here because I love it so much.

I never could have anticipated that it would be like this.

“I have no idea how it happened. I guess they’re sneaky when it comes to things like this.”

She told me before her sister worked for the Seattle Times. And it appears this morning she gave Cindy the heads up about the photos taken of us.

I’m pretty shocked it could even happen, or that we’re considered that interesting to even put in the Times. But it seems inevitable that it’s going to happen, and we’re helpless to stop it.

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