There were no teachers to intervene here. Nobody was coming to my rescue and the only person to blame for putting me in this situation was me.
I did the only thing I had time to do and dodged to my right. Sienna went careening past me.
She saw me pass her out of the corner of her eye. Her twisted, snarled expression softened into one of confusion right before she stepped off the ledge of the pool and pitched forward, arms flailing, eyes widening, body twisting as if she could grab the air to pull her back up onto the pool deck.
She hit the water with a slap and everyone gathered around the pool laughed.
I lifted my chin and tugged at the hem of my blouse. I glared at her when she popped up out of the water, sputtering and coughing. The plunge seemed to have dulled her fury because she had no sharp remarks to make as I turned my back on her and marched away.
I only got halfway down the length of the pool before I drew up short.
There, standing at the opposite end of the pool, was Max and his sister Holly.
My heart started to race.
Oh God, he’s going to hate me.
Chapter 20
Max
Janie stared down at her feet as my sister and I approached. She had her hands clasped behind her back. Strands of dark hair had fallen loose from a messy ponytail on the back of her head and hung in front of her eyes. A strand twitched when it caught in her eyelashes and she glanced up at me. She quickly averted her gaze back down to her feet.
Holly giggled as she hop-skipped along beside me. “Did you see that, Max?”
“I saw it.”
Sienna was currently gripping the edge of the pool and trying to hoist herself up out of the water. She could have gone down to the end of the pool and used the ladder, but she’d always been more stubborn than necessary. She wiped a hand under her eyes in an attempt to get rid of her smudged makeup, but it only made things worse.
Everyone gathered in the courtyard and around the pool deck were watching Janie, but as soon as I drew up in front of her and became part of the drama, their attention consumed Holly and me too.
“What is this about?” I asked.
Janie bit her bottom lip. “I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. I needed answers faster than you. So, I… I came here and got them for myself.”
Holly giggled and clamped a hand over her mouth when I shot her a dark look over my shoulder.
She winced. “Sorry, but Sienna still can’t get out of the pool.”
I sighed and looked over my shoulder. Finally, one of the men stepped forward and offered her his hand. Sienna took it and he hauled her up out of the pool, where she sat on the edge wringing out her hair and glaring daggers at us.
Janie leaned sideways to peer past me at my ex.
“What answers did you need that you couldn’t come to me for?” I asked Janie.
Her attention shot back to me. “Answers only Sienna could give me.”
“I’m going to need you to give me more than that.”
Janie nodded, understanding that her answers were veiled and she wasn’t giving me the whole truth. I wasn’t mad. At least, I didn’t think I was. I was confused that she hadn’t thought to ask me to come with her. I was surprised even. But angry?
Not really.
Janie clasped her hands in front of herself. “I’m sorry I came here behind your back, Max. But I don’t regret it. I got to the bottom of things and now we can both move forward without sparing her,” she shot an accusing look at Sienna, “another thought. She’s not pregnant, Max. There never was a baby. She made the whole thing up to have access to your money and to potentially get you back.”
“I’m sorry?” I breathed.
Janie reached out and took my hand. “There is no baby, Max.”
Her words echoed in my brain. No baby.
Suddenly, I felt lightheaded. My heart skipped several beats in my chest before launching into an excited rhythm of relief.
“Say something,” Janie whispered.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I’ll say something then,” Holly said, stepping up beside me. “Halle-fucking-lujah.”
Janie grinned at my sister but didn’t say anything. Her smile faded away as she peered up into my face. “It was all a ploy, Max. Sienna was lying and I couldn’t hang around and wait as she kept stringing you along. I needed to get to the bottom of things before she pulled you in deeper. It was all a ruse, nothing more. You can wash your hands of this.”
I wanted nothing more than to believe that was true, but my head hurt, and all of this was so confusing. Why did I feel relieved but simultaneously disappointed?
Janie squeezed my hand. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”
I nodded.
Holly spun on her heel and led the way down the length of the pool. Sienna, still perched on the edge, glared up at us as we passed. My sister stuck her tongue out at her and pressed one hand in the shape of an L to her forehead.
Sienna rolled her eyes.
Holly, more than a little delighted by this turn of events, started skipping the rest of the way to her car, where she waited for Janie and me to catch up.
I got in the backseat and Janie followed. We buckled up while Holly got behind the wheel and started the ignition. My sister twisted around in her seat to look at us. “Janie, this might have been the most badass thing you’ve ever done. You went to war for my brother with an unstable valley girl. That’s the kind of thing my sister-in-law would do.”
Janie turned neon pink.
I put a hand on her knee and she leaned into me, wrapping her arms around mine, and rested her cheek on my shoulder.
Holly pulled out when the coast was clear and the engine hummed around us.
Nobody said anything for some time. My thoughts were a jumbled mess and both Janie and my sister seemed to sense that I needed time to process.
I’d spent these past few weeks doing everything in my power to wrap my head around what my new future looked like. I’d accepted the part about becoming a father. Hell, I’d even sort of started to look forward to it. I’d always wanted to be a dad, but as my career began to dominate most of my life and the women I fell in love with slipped through my fingers time after time, that dream had gotten a little smaller until I eventually put it in the rearview mirror and resigned myself to the fact that I might never get the chance to be a father.
Sienna’s lie had restored some of that hope.
No, I didn’t want her to be the mother of my child, but I’d come around to the idea that somehow we would make it work.
Fatherhood had been just around the corner five minutes ago. Now it was nothing but a far-off dream once more.
“Are you okay?” Janie whispered, lifting her cheek from my shoulder.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
She didn’t seem convinced. She shifted closer. “I would understand if some part of you is disappointed.”
“You would?”
Janie nodded. “This is complicated. I know it was hurting you but I would also get it if…” She trailed off and shrugged.
“I’m not disappointed.”
“You’re not?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” I said firmly. “I’m relieved.”
She chewed the inside of her cheek. “You seem disappointed.”