As soon as she’d found out she was pregnant, she had gone to her parents. She quit drinking, and she’d made the heart-wrenching decision to put her baby up for adoption. Whoever it was that was tormenting her now, whoever had her journal…. They were wrong. She didn’t need to pay for that decision. It had been the right one.
Watching Jill and Andrew and the love that already shone in their eyes for two babies they had yet to meet, it was clear. Sometimes adoptionwasthe right choice. These twins would have a wonderful life with loving parents. They would be safe and cherished and loved.
And Matthew had been given a wonderful life with her Aunt Susie and Uncle Brian. Letting them adopt Matthew had been the best decision she’d ever made. Whoever her tormenter was, he had asked if she thought her baby cried himself to sleep at night and how she felt about that.
And, she’d let it get to her. Briefly. But no longer. She knew Matthew had never been without Brian and Susie’s love and care. She knew he had a better life than she could ever have given him as a teenage mom.
Her gut still clenched at the thought of that information getting out, though. They hadn’t told Matthew she was his birth mother yet. He knew he was adopted, but he thought she was just his cousin. She didn’t want this person to force Brian and Susie to tell him before they were ready to—before Matthew was ready to hear it.
And she didn’t want to even think about the changes that would come to his stable life if that information was released before they were ready. He’d be hounded by the paparazzi and thrust into the limelight right after receiving the shock of a lifetime.
No, she thought. She couldn’t let that happen. She’d do anything, pay anything, to stop the truth from getting out.
Chapter 10
Gabe watched for any chance to slip PJ’s phone away from her, but she kept it in her pocket the whole time they were at Jack’s. Toward the end of the party, he slipped away and grabbed Chad.
“I haven’t been able to get her phone. You said there’s something you can upload to my phone?” Gabe reminded Chad when they were alone in Jack’s home office.
“Sure. I need to load some firmware onto your phone, but you’re still going to have to find out what carrier she uses for her cell service, and it will only work when you guys are within range of the same base tower.” Chad took Gabe’s phone and attached it to Jack’s computer with a USB cable, then put in the password to unlock the computer. “You sure you want to do this?”
Gabe nodded, his jaw set. If she wouldn’t tell him what was going on, he’d find out. No way was she dealing with this on her own.
Chad rolled his eyes and mumbled something about ‘dumber than a post’ under his breath, but his fingers began flying over the keys as he pulled up whatever illegal firmware he needed to make this happen. When he’d finished, he pulled the cord out of the phone and handed it back to Gabe.
“Call me when you find out what carrier she uses and I’ll walk you through the rest.”
Gabe ignored the guilt needling him and went back out to find PJ.
Later that night, a casual question about possibly changing his cell phone carrier got Gabe the information he needed. The following morning, he read the first of PJ’s text messages for the day. He wasn’t able to see the texts she’d gotten prior to that point. And so far that day, all she’d received was a text from Ellis checking to see how she was doing.
Gabe had met Ellis once or twice. He wasn’t a very memorable guy, but since he was part of PJ’s team, Gabe had made a point to remember him. He was small and mousy, often taking way too much crap from Lydia, but he was fiercely loyal to PJ. Gabe had to give him that.
PJ texted back that she was fine. Just trying to relax.
Gabe slid his phone under his chair on the patio when he saw PJ open her bedroom door and walk toward him through the kitchen.
“I thought maybe we’d go out on the boat today,” Gabe said, smiling at her.
“I didn’t pack a bathing suit,” PJ said glancing toward the dock where his sailboat bobbed lazily on the water.
“I’ve got extras. I’m sure I can find something horribly skimpy that’ll let me get cheap thrills all day,” he said and grinned at her.
Playing with fire, jackass.For whatever reason, Gabe couldn’t stop himself from feeding the sexual tension between them. Not that it really needed to be fed. It was alive and kicking and doing quite well on its own.
He watched her face flush with heat and smiled to know he’d put that color there. She had been even quieter than usual after the party yesterday, and he wanted to find a way to put a smile back on her face, and keep it there for a while if he could.
When they stepped onto his boat an hour later—picnic basket, towels and sunscreen in hand—she still looked tense and stressed. He hoped he could get her to relax and forget what was happening on Facebook and Twitter. He’d been checking social media sites all day and the journal entries had gone viral.
Everyone had an opinion, but he was glad to see there was a huge chunk of people supporting her. A lot of people realized what happened with her former manager wasn’t her fault. The blame should be put athisfeet, not hers.
But, the stress of the situation was evident on PJ’s face. He stowed the picnic basket under one of the bench seats, then grabbed two bottles of water. They left the dock and set sail once PJ had settled in.
She seemed content to sit quietly, her face turned to the morning sun as he raised the sails. His boat was small enough to allow him to handle himself, and he had them skimming over the open water in no time.
He’d always loved the way the wind hit his face, the slight tinge of the salt mixing with the sun relaxed him like nothing else could. Maybe it could do the same for her.
When he reached their destination in a quiet cove, Gabe lowered the anchor over the side of the boat, grabbed their picnic basket and sank down onto the seat across from her. He wanted to sit next to her.