Chapter 22

She read through the report again, and finally satisfied with the way it way, Regan hit SEND. She was officially done with the investigation, and she had to admit that she was proud of herself. She’d brought a family back together, and, though Sienna and Brian had a long road ahead of them, she was happy to see everyone’s relief and joy.

As for herself, she planned on returning home the following day—without AJ. Which was actually going to be easy to do because AJ had disappeared after Sienna’s return home. She’d found out that he was in New York for business, and Denise, who had been the source of the information, was unsure when he would return. No matter, Regan decided, it was just as well because she would leave more easily if he would not be there to stop her. Besides, it would be hard enough to convince Jordan it was time to go because he was literally addicted to the people he’d met. Even as she finished her report, he was off spending the night with Kevin’s family, and Denise had promised to bring him back in the morning.

Shutting down the laptop, Regan began to clear up papers, maps, and folders. Earlier that day, Brian had brought Sienna home, and, because she’d asked Liv to explain what had happened, everyone else had left Sienna alone, out of respect. The only one still out of the loop was Brian, and Regan intended to tell him what happened as soon as he left his wife’s side.

The first thing Sienna had done on stepping into the house was to scoop her children close to her. Luke had gurgled happily while the twins hadn’t let go of their mother as she had proceeded to walk around the house, taking in everything and letting the tears flow freely down her cheeks. Brian had followed, helpless to stop her crying and unknowingly a part of her grief. Before she’d given them their privacy, Regan had pulled Brian aside and asked to speak to him as soon as possible. He’d nodded, not taking his eyes off Sienna for an instant.

When Brian stepped into the study, he noted that the floor and chairs were free of papers and equipment. The desk was nearly clean and all that sat atop it was the bundled up equipment. Regan was tying up a garbage bag and turned when he came in.

Not saying anything, he crossed the room and hugged her. “Thank you,” he murmured. “Thank you for bringing my family back. You have no idea how grateful I am at this moment for all that you’ve done. You were hurt,” he stepped back. “If there’s any way I can repay you…”

Regan shook her head. “No. I don’t do the whole repayment route. Seeing your family together again is repayment enough, and I wasn’t hurt so badly. It’s healing well.” She paused, knowing there was no way to gently break the news. “However, there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Brian nodded. “Go for it.”

Regan drew a deep breath, knowing what she was about to say would shatter Brian’s heart.

“There’s something you need to know about what happened to Sienna. Yeah, Scott hurt her, but, Brian, that’s not all he did,” she began to explain.

Brian frowned. “There’s more? Dear God, how much more could there possibly be?”

“He raped Sienna,” Regan said quietly and watched as Brian began to shake his head.

“No. No. No! He didn’t, he couldn’t, no, no,” Brian moaned, dropping into a chair. What had he ever done for Sienna to deserve this? Brian wondered. Why had God so completely forsaken them?

Regan knelt next to him. “Brian, she needs you to be strong for her, now. It might take her months to years to recover from this, but she’s going to need you to be strong and understanding. The two of you will have to work together to make it through this. You can do it, Brian,” she assured him.

He lifted his face from his hands and looked at her, his broken heart swimming in his eyes. “How?” he whispered. “How do I help her?”

The hard part, Regan thought. “Sienna’s going to be really shaky around men for the next while because she was hurt by one. That includes you, Brian,” she clarified.

“Me? But, I love her! How could she be afraid of me?”

Regan shook her head. “She’s been through an extremely traumatic experience, Brian. I think it would be best for her if you gave her space. Just let her know you still love her, but you have to give her space. I don’t know what her reaction to trauma and shock will be, but she’s going to be leery around any men she’ll come in contact with. Try to understand where she’s coming from, and just give her space.”

“How long?” He had to know that much. How long before he could hold her again and convince himself that they’d moved past the mess Scott had made their lives.

“I don’t know. It’s different for different people, but, no matter what, don’t abandon her.”

Brian shook his head. “No, of course I won’t let her go. She’s my life, and I would never leave her. But, if she needs it, if it’ll help her recovery, then I’ll give her space. Whatever it takes.”

Regan stood and hugged him. “You can do this, Brian. It’s going to be hard, but”

“But life’s messy, and we have to make the best of it. Yeah,” Brian sighed, “I’m going to be there every step of the way. Even if it takes her years to recover, I’m going to be there, as close as she’ll let me be.”

Later, as she hung up with her superiors, Regan hoped that they’d be able to make it through the recovery process. Together.

***

Denise watched as Regan loaded her car with the equipment she’d used in her investigation. Regan and Jordan were leaving Lexington, but Denise knew that they were embedded in the hearts of those they would leave behind. Including her own.

She glanced back at her own car where Jordan was grabbing his things and getting out. She would miss him, his enthusiasm, and the way he’d seen into situations that no eight year old would normally understand. He knew there was something between Regan and AJ but was waiting patiently to see the outcome. As she was, Denise realized. She needed to see what would happen between the young woman and her son because she wanted to see AJ happy. However, watching as Regan turned and spotted them, Denise knew it might not happen. They were leaving, and her son was nowhere in sight.

“Jordan!” Regan waved her son over and watched cautiously as Denise approached them.

In one breath, Jordan tried to rattle off everything that had happened in the past day at the Richardsons’, and Regan was loving the way her quiet child had broken his shell.

“Hey, okay! I get it, you loved Kevin’s house,” Regan chuckled at his excitement. “But, honey, you know we have to leave today, so why don’t you get those things into the car?” At his pout, she shook her head. “Baby, you know we have to go, so please don’t argue right now. Okay?”

Sighing dramatically, Jordan began placing his things into the backseat of the car, leaving Regan to face Denise.

“Thank you for bringing him back. I didn’t mean to put you out,” she began, but Denise shook her head.

“No, dear, the pleasure was mine. You’ve raised a marvelous child, and I’m pretty sure all of us enjoyed spending the last couple days with him,” Denise assured her. “I just wish you wouldn’t leave so soon.”

Regan sighed. “I need to get back and report in to headquarters. Present my case,” she explained. “If there were any way I could stay, I would because Jordan doesn’t want to leave the people he’s met here. He’s come to love them all so quickly.” She looked over as he rummaged through his bag. “The truth is, he was always in a shell, really reserved, and I worried about it all the time. Coming here has really changed him because, all of a sudden, he’s ready to talk, talk, talk. So I guess I should thank everyone here for that,” Regan added.

“What about you? Are you ready to go home?”

She knew what the older woman was asking—AJ. Was she really ready to leave what she’d unknowingly searched for years for and found in a month? Regan didn’t want to answer it to herself but knew Denise wouldn’t accept silence.

“I’ve been here over a month, and I’m exhausted. So, yes,” she replied. “Yes, I’m ready to go home.”

“I was wrong, you know,” Denise told her. “About you and Alex. You make him happy, and that’s really all I’ve ever wanted for my son. I think he wants more than just a casual relationship with you, and I wish you’d stay until the two of you can figure it out. And, if it doesn’t sound too forward, could I ask what your feelings are for Alex?”

The moment of truth, Regan thought. Oh, what could it hurt? I’m leaving, and I may as well admit it to someone. Even if that someone was AJ’s mother.

“I love him, I really do,” she began. “I never thought I could ever feel that way about anyone, but knowing AJ’s changed that for me. And, while I’ve thought about what kind of a future we could have together, I’ve realized that it would be one in which neither of us would see the other too much. It wouldn’t be fair to either one of us because I’d be off working and he would be touring. Where would that leave our relationship? What would that do to Jordan?” she wondered. She shook her head. “So, no, I can’t stay with him. It’s been a dream come true, but dreams don’t always last,” she added.

Denise hugged her lightly. “I think sometimes they can work, but if you think this is what’s best for you and Jordan, then I’ll help my son pick up the pieces when you go.”

Regan stepped back and ignored the tears that clung to her lashes. “I promised you I wouldn’t hurt him too much, and, with his absence, I think that’ll be a lot easier to do.” She managed a smile then turned when Jordan hurried over to her.

“I have to say bye to Brian! Can I go in and say bye to him and the babies?” Jordan asked.

Regan nodded. “Yeah, we’ll both go in and do that.” She looked over at Denise again. “Thank you for understanding. And, I was hoping you could give this to him when he gets back. It’ll make things easier for him,” she added, handing her an envelope.

Denise nodded and watched Regan disappear back into Brian’s home with her son. She’d be there to console her son, but she wondered who Regan would turn to. Knowing the matter was out of her hands, she tucked the envelope into her purse, and, climbing back into her car, drove out.

***

Brian grinned as Jordan made Serena giggle by tickling her feet, while her sister tried to get in on the action. Kara could get supremely jealous of her twin, Brian knew but was amused as Jordan spread the attention. The kid would make a great older brother, he thought, if only AJ and Regan could get their act together.

He looked up as Regan came into the nursery. “Hey, I hear you’re leaving us.”

She knelt next to him and watched their children. “Yeah, I am. Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way. It made things easier to do. Plus, Jordan loved every minute of the last couple days with everyone.”

“Well, I enjoyed having him here and, because of everything you’ve done for me, you know you’ll always be welcome in this home. You’re like family now,” he added, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Regan grinned and patted his cheek. “No problem, and, you know if you ever need anything, you can always call. Seriously,” she told him and watched the smile disappear. “It’s not going to be easy for the next while, and I’m always there to help out.”

“I know,” Brian nodded. “I’ll call, don’t worry. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to give her the right amount of space, but I’ll call you if or when things get crazy. And, speaking of crazy,” he turned solemn eyes to her, “why are you leaving before AJ gets back? Are you just going to leave him hanging?”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Brian, I know you want everything to work out and be all rainbows and butterflies, but I can’t. It’s not because I don’t love AJ,” she added quickly before he could protest, “it’s just that I can’t make such a huge decision about allowing someone to stay in my life after only a month of being with him. Our relationship was built on stressful grounds, and I’m afraid it’ll fall apart when we’re normal.”

“So, you’re pulling away before you can run into problems? Coward,” he tapped her nose.

She nodded. “Yeah, that may be, but it’s my life, too. Speaking of which” she glanced at her watch “I need to get on the road.” She stood. “Jordan, kiddo! We have to get going.”

Jordan nodded and kissing the twins’ cheeks, he ran a finger down Luke’s soft cheek and stood. “I’ll miss them,” he told Brian.

“Come back anytime and visit them,” Brian told him. “You could be their honorary older brother. They don’t have one of those, you know.”

Jordan grinned. “Cool! Can we come back soon, Mom?”

“We’ll see,” she replied. “Why don’t you run on down to the car and get settled in? I’ll be down in five minutes.”

“Okay.” Jordan hugged Brian and darted out of the room.

“You’ve got a great kid, and I think AJ’s really gotten attached to him,” Brian told her.

Regan shook her head. “It’s done,” she murmured. When she looked over at the doorway, she noticed Sienna, her face mottled with slowly fading bruises. “Hey, how are you feeling today?”

Sienna had to take a deep breath, find her courage. Brian stood next to Regan, watching her with those impossibly blue eyes of his. Since the day before, he’d disappeared in the house. She’d spent the night in their room, but he’d stayed out of it. She hadn’t seen him all day and worried that he’d found out what had happened and was going to abandon her. Now, seeing him with their children, his face full of loving concern, she felt like weeping. She couldn’t be with him, couldn’t hold onto him to assure both of them that the terrible ordeal was over. She could only stand, yards apart, and stare at him.

Snapping to, she remembered Regan’s question. She managed a half-smile. “Better than yesterday,” she answered. “But I think it’s going to be a while until I’m back to perfect. However, I think being in the greenhouse and my shop might help me find my way back to normal faster. I’m thinking of starting work at the beginning of next week.”

Before Brian could protest, Regan nodded. “I think whatever will make you feel better is probably the best thing to do. Working again will definitely help you get back to normal, but I don’t think you should overdo it. Baby steps,” she added and earned a smile from Sienna along with a quiet, defeated sigh from Brian. She turned to him. “Well, partner, I guess this is goodbye for now.”

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks and take care getting home,” he murmured. “I’ll definitely be in touch.”

“You can do this,” she whispered. Stepping back, she smiled. “Take care of the little ones.” At the door, Sienna managed to hug her gently.

“I’ll never forget how much you’ve helped,” Sienna whispered, her eyes tearing. “It’s going to be hard to get through the next couple months.”

“That’s why you can call,” Regan reminded her. “And don’t forget to talk to Brian all the time. Let him know how you’re feeling.”

Sienna nodded and let Regan pass. “Goodbye,” she murmured. When she heard the front door close, she turned to face her husband. “Good morning.”

Brian smiled. “Hey, you’re looking better,” he told her, and mentally kicked himself. That was all he could say to his wife?!

But she smiled back. “Yeah, I took a much needed bath. The aches are starting to disappear.”

He nodded, not knowing what else to say. He desperately wanted to hold her but knew better. He didn’t want to scare her, but he didn’t know how else to comfort. His family had always been the kind to communicate best through touch. What was he to do now that he couldn’t use that to help the one person he loved more than anything?

Fortunately, Luke burst into tears in his arms, and Brian turned his attention to the baby, trying to comfort him. “Hey, baby,” he murmured, patting his son gently. “It’s okay, shh. Do you want your toy?” He waved a duck-shaped rattle. “You like that, son?” Unfortunately, Luke only screamed harder.

Sienna couldn’t help but smile at the panicked look that crossed Brian’s face as the twins joined their brother in his wails. Suppressing the panic she felt at being near a man, she stepped into the room and gathered up the girls.

“I’m going to go give them their baths,” she told Brian. He nodded and continued to try to pacify their son. “Brian? I think he’s probably hungry. You should get him his formula.”

Brian nodded again and watched as Sienna carried their daughters out of the room. When she reached the door, he called out. “Sienna?” She turned to look at him, apprehension visible in her features. “We’re going to be okay, right?”

She watched him for a long moment. “I hope so, I really hope so.”

***

Next

Back to index