Misfit(254)
She’d tell both of them later. Stretch had come in her, too, so if she turned up pregnant, there was a fifty percent chance it would be his baby, but she had to be fair about this. Searching for a topic so she could change the subject, she went back to Christopher. “So my brother will forgive me and let us be together in peace?”
“Eventually. For now, let him work this out in his head.”
“But he wants to kill Kendall.” As angry as she was with her, Fee didn’t want her murdered.
“Who doesn’t want her dead?”
“Cash!” she gasped, appalled.
“Stop worrying. Kendall is out of his reach until he calms down.”
Nothing was out of Christopher’s reach. If he couldn’t get it himself, he had someone who’d do it for him. “Christopher knows all the vacay spots within one hundred miles of here. He’ll find her.”
Cash smirked at her. “Not where I put her.”
“You hid her?”
“Yup.”
“Where?”
“In a rural area. It’s a bitch to find via the backroads.” He winked at her. “It’s hiding in plain sight, otherwise. Right near an old lumber mill along the Row River. It has a lovely country feel to it. Perfect to clear her head.”
“It sounds like a distance away.”
“It is,” he agreed, explaining the route he took. “She lost her baby and—”
“Oh my God! Kendall lost her baby? How awful. Was it the stress?”
“Don’t worry about her. She’s probably relieved.”
Perhaps, but Kendall could also be devastated. Not that it should matter to Fee. But it did. She couldn’t imagine that type of loss.
“Did it work?”
“What?” she asked absently, thinking of Kendall, a part of her wanting to strangle her and the other part wanting to hug her.
“Are you pregnant? It’s been over three weeks. Shouldn’t you know by now?”
“I’m not,” she said softly.
He regarded her with a speculative gaze.
Cash kept her company for another hour. Once he left, she began reliving all her moments with her cousin-in-law, both good and bad. The more she thought, the more Kendall’s betrayals overwhelmed her.
If not for her, Counts wouldn’t have stabbed her. Too many other things had been happening for Fee to ask Kendall about that. For a while, she hadn’t known what was real and what had been imagined. Perhaps, she could’ve moved on and kept her distance. But Kendall hadn’t been happy with that. She’d had to wreak more havoc and turn Christopher against her.
She wouldn’t feel better until she confronted her. With that in mind, Fee dressed, filled her gas tank, and headed out. After making a wrong turn on one of the roads, it took Fee hours to find Kendall’s location. By the time she did, it was early evening. She was hungry and tired. As Fee approached the house, the window blind raised a smidgeon, before the door swung open.
“F-F-Fee?”
She took in Kendall’s wild, frightened look. Any other time, her heart would’ve gone out to her. Not now. Kendall had crossed a line Fee believed would never be reversed.
Kendall looked cautiously around before stepping aside to allow her entrance. “What are you doing here?”
“That should be obvious,” Fee snapped as Kendall closed the door.
“Please have a seat,” Kendall invited.
“I don’t intend to stay.”
Kendall pressed a hand against her belly. Pity welled within Fee, but she shoved it aside.
“I’m here to look you in the eye as you explain to me why you tried to have me killed. Why did you tell Christopher I knew what you were doing with Daphne when you blackmailed me to do it, in the first place?”
“Fee, I didn’t try to have you killed. Please believe me. I-I-I would never do that. I’m not a murderer.”
Apparently, Kendall had no defense for the accusation about Daphne because she stayed silent.
Angry tears slid down Fee’s cheeks. “You aren’t a murderer, but you’re a traitor.”
“I didn’t mean for it to turn out as it did. I’m so sorry.”
Fee had hurt Zoann terribly and, yet, her sister had found a way to forgive her. She’d accepted Fee’s apology. Could she do any less with Kendall? She’d never feel the same towards her again. Neither would she ever trust her again, but she’d forgive her. Otherwise, they’d never move on. She didn’t want to live her life stuck in anger. To be defined by rage and revenge. And, yes, hurt.
“You couldn’t foretell the outcome, but you knew the danger,” Fee pointed out.
“I didn’t. Had I realized the jeopardy I’d put everyone in, I wouldn’t have continued. Please, believe me. Please, forgive me.”