Page 123 of Scores Of The Heart

“Liam gave me the heads up…”

“Liam? …What…?” My mind races ahead to try to make sense of it. “Did he see them?”

“No, babe. But someone from the Times did. They snapped a photo of her and Tyler at a cafe uptown yesterday… I don’t know if you know this, but she’s heavily pregnant.”

I let out a sigh of my own. It comes out louder than I intended it to. Henry lifts his head to look up at me from the passenger seat.

“I know,” I say. “He told me yesterday he was going to see her. She phoned him after six months apart to tell him.”

“Well, I hate to say it, but it’s going to be all over the news today… oh, and there’s something else.”

“What?”

“Yeah. The photo is going to be splashed everywhere. Nothing is sacred anymore, unfortunately.” Working for the Seattle Times, she’s definitely seen it all, and I’m grateful beyond belief, despite my shock, she’s called me first.

“I can’t believe this.” I gulp. Like anything could be worse than what she’s saying. “What was the something else?”

Dread creeps over me as I know she has privy knowledge of what’s about to be printed.

“There’s a photo of you and Tyler kissing. I think it was when you were in Miami outside the hotel. There’s also another one taken just a few days ago when you were both in the park with Henry.”

Heat rises up my neck and I feel my pulse quicken alarmingly.

“Photos of us?” I gasp. “He’s not Tom Cruise for goodness sake. I thought the whole paparazzi thing was for Hollywood actors.”

“Hardly matters in the sports world if he’s Tom Cruise or not. He’s hot property. Any NHL star is that causes a stir and goes against the grain. Now they have a photo of you two together, and a photo of him and his ex-girlfriend pregnant.”

I let out a string of profanities I never thought I’d hear myself saying.

“We were going to see Dad on the weekend to let him know,” I murmur, my voice not even sounding like my own.

“Well, I’d do it pretty quickly, Cindy. I can’t exactly stop them from publishing the story. But you need to come clean before everyone is talking about it and making up their own take on it.”

I feel queasy. My head is instantly spinning. The press has photos of me and Tyler together? But we were so damned careful. I can’t even believe it.

“I’m heading to Ty’s now. I’ll call Dad asap.”

“I would if I were you.”

“Thanks for the heads up, sis.”

“That’s okay. But I am worried about you, Cind. How well do you know this guy? And what the fuck is going on with him and his ex?”

“It’s too long a story,” I tell her. “But I’ll call you later to explain what I know. He only just found out about the baby because she kept it from him all this time. They broke up over six months ago and he went to see her yesterday.”

“That’s gotta suck for him.”

“It’s not exactly the greatest situation to be in.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t talked to Ty since I made him leave yesterday. He was meeting with her to work things out for when the baby is born. I’ve no idea what that arrangement is yet.”

“Let me know what’s going on as soon as you know,” she whispers, like someone is going to hear her. Shit, maybe she’s at work already and it’s going down as we speak. I don’t even ask because I don’t want to know the answer. I have enough to deal with at the moment without processing anything else too closely.

“I will. Talk soon,” I say nervously.

“Love you, sis.”

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