Love and Lies (Sunshine & Shadow Book 4) Read online

  “If I go with you my father will find us. He’ll never let me marry you.”

  “We’ll find a way.”

  “We’ll need a miracle.”

  Campbell shouted, “Cut!”

  Lex and Violet relaxed and stepped apart.

  “That was good. Next we bring in the father from stage left...” He gestured and an actor April had never seen before entered from her right. “We shout, shout, shout and then Lex and Violet jump onto their horses and escape. Easy peasy. Let’s get it in one take, yeah guys?” He sat back down and grabbed his megaphone. “Action!”

  “We will find a way,” Lex repeated.

  “We’ll need a miracle.”

  The new actor shouted from the side. “Elizabeth! What do you think you’re doing?” He rushed forward.

  Lex grabbed Violet by the shoulders and pulled her close. “My love, you must choose. Either go to him and say goodbye to me, or take the risk and follow me. And we’ll find a way to get married.” He looked up at the approaching actor. “Choose now, Elizabeth!”

  Lex jumped on Trinity, who had been standing calmly beside them. She seemed alert and controlled. April smiled. She looked at Damian, who was also smiling. He nodded once in recognition at her. Her smile widened and she turned back to the set.

  Violet grabbed Prime Time’s reins and pulled him away from the wall where he stood quietly. She yanked on his face as she pulled herself into the saddle and kicked him hard in the ribs, digging the heels of her boots into his sides.

  Oh no, April thought.

  Prime Time’s front hooves left the ground and he rose up on his hind end, striking out, his ears pinned back. Violet was unseated, but managed to grab the horse’s mane and hold herself upright. He landed hard as he came down. She was thrown forward, over his neck and he spun sideways, humping his back in a huge buck and rose up again. Violet’s hold on his mane was not strong enough and she was hurled over the horse’s shoulder and into the dirt. She lay still.

  April and Damian rushed forward and split up. April grabbed Prime Time and tried to calm him; Damian and Cash ran to Violet.

  Lex joined April just as the horse reared again, striking April in the forearm and causing her to fall backwards into the dirt. She cradled her arm against her chest and covered her face with her hands as the horse reared again.

  “Don’t touch him!” she yelled at Lex, who was reaching for Prime Time’s reins. “Easy boy, easy does it. Bring it down. You’re okay. No-one will hurt you now.” She spoke softly to the horse. As he came down, his front hooves landed inches from her legs, on either side of her.

  Slowly, she slipped her legs out from under him and stood up, being sure to make each move calm and controlled. Prime Time let her get a hold of his reins and, as she did, he breathed a deep sigh.

  April tried to use her other hand to stroke down his face, but her arm screamed in pain. She gasped. She wiggled her fingers, sighing; at least it wasn’t broken.

  “Are you alright?” Lex asked from beside her.

  “Yeah, fine,” she lied.

  “Your arm,” he said, noticing her cradling it against her body.

  “I’m fine,” April repeated. “Go to Violet.”

  Realization of the mistake he had just made dawned on Lex’s face and he spun around. Violet was not moving. Her body was supported by Cash. Lex squatted beside them, Campbell at his shoulder. Paramedics rushed to the scene.

  “Out of the way!” they shouted, moving people with the stretcher they carried.

  They quickly and efficiently lifted Violet onto it and carried her out of the studio. Lex followed, giving April an apologetic look as he passed. She nodded. She understood. He had to go. He had to make sure the baby was okay.

  Damian stormed past her, fuming.

  “What the hell happened?” he shouted, as they entered the barn.

  April locked the horses in their stalls and turned to him. “The horse said no.” She shrugged. To her, it was simple.

  “What does that mean, Cooper? Horses don’t say no. They do as they’re told. You told me he was fixed!”

  April stepped closer. She was tired of being bulldozed by this man. “No, I didn’t! Before I left, I told you he was improving. And I said in front of everyone that you can’t tell a horse like that what to do; you heard me! You have to ask. He’s too proud to be bossed around.”

  “Well, he won’t have to worry about that anymore.” Damian strode into the staff lounge. “He’ll have to go.”

  “Go where?” April said, following him closely.

  “Dog food factory, glue factory; I couldn’t give a shit. Horses like him are the reason why people like me lose their jobs. Do you realize the repercussions of letting Violet Rose get injured on my watch? I’ll be a pariah! No-one will hire me again!” He pulled a flask out of his inner pocket and poured over an ounce of the strong-smelling liquid into his coffee mug.

  “It’s not his fault, Damian! Watch the tape back and you’ll see that Violet kicked him! I told her to ask when she wanted him to do something. She didn’t listen and that’s not the horse’s fault. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.”

  “I’m gonna lose my job over this! Do you understand that? I’ve got a family!”

  April chewed her lip. “Tell Campbell it was me,” she said after only a second of deliberation, “Tell him I’ve been working with Prime Time. I’ll tell him I thought he was fixed, because he was good for me. Tell him it’s my fault.”

  Damian looked up, his eyes full of pain. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because you’re good at your job, Damian, most of the time. Horses like Prime Time are rare. A lot of times, you can tell them what to do and they don’t pitch a fit. But if I do this, you have to make me a promise.”

  “What?”

  “If you ever encounter a horse like this again, no matter where you are, you will not let them be slaughtered just because they aren’t right for this industry.”

  Damian nodded.

  “And you won’t send Prime Time to the auction. I’ll buy him.”

  Chapter 3

  Lex felt helpless, pacing up and down the waiting room in the hospital. He hated not knowing what was happening behind the closed doors. He didn’t know if Violet was okay, or even alive. And his baby...he didn’t know what he would do if something happened to the baby. He would go to his grave making sure that child had everything it would ever need.

  Cash sat in the waiting room, watching Lex. “Lex,” he said. “Sit down. You’re making me stressed. She’ll be fine.”

  Lex fell into the chair beside his brother and put his head in his hands. “Yeah, but what if she’s not fine, Cash? What if something happens to the baby? What if...?”

  “You can’t think like that, man. These are good doctors and it wasn’t a bad fall. She hit her head, knocked herself out, but they’ll take care of it. She’ll be alright.” He spoke slowly, like Lex was a child.

  “Quit saying it like I’m overreacting, Cash!” Lex jumped up and began pacing again. “You have no idea how this feels! You have no idea the stress I am under right now because of that baby in there! I didn’t want a baby, Cash!” He leaned forward, seething. “I didn’t want to have a baby with Violet and you know that! So if you don’t mind, fuck off!”

  Cash leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Lex knew that his brother was worried, but Cash had no idea how much stress he was under. He was trying to figure out his life, trying to plan a future in his head that worked for him.

  A doctor walked through the door, with a clipboard in his hands. “Alexander Mitchell,” he said.

  Lex nearly ran over to him, searching for clues on his face as to what news he was about to deliver.

  “Yes, yes that’s me,” he said.

  Cash stood up.

  “My name is Dr. Jude. I am the physician for Ms. Rose. I understand you are the father?”

  “Yes, I am,” Lex said. “Is Vi okay? Is the baby?
”

  Dr. Jude held up his hand. “Ms. Rose is fine. She suffered a slight concussion so we’re going to keep her in overnight for observation, but other than that, she’s fine. She was very lucky.”

  Lex breathed a huge sigh of relief. “And the baby?”

  “The baby is in great health. You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Mitchell.”

  Cash stepped forward. “Thank you, doctor,” he said, putting his hand on Lex’s shoulder.

  Lex patted it a couple of time, an unspoken apology for yelling at him.

  The doctor continued. “And you are?”

  “Cash Mitchell,” Cash said, shaking hands with the doctor. “His brother.”

  “Can we see Violet?” Lex asked.

  Dr. Jude nodded.

  Lex and Cash followed the doctor down the hallway. Lex looked around uncomfortably; he had never liked hospitals. They turned into a private room. Violet lay in the wide bed, asleep.

  “Try not to wake her. We’ll be monitoring her for the next twenty four hours, so she needs the rest.”

  Lex nodded and the doctor left. He went to Violet’s side, lowered himself in one of the armchairs and took her hand. He brought it to his mouth and ran his lips over her skin.

  Cash came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be alright,” he murmured.

  “Yeah.” Lex nodded. “I know.”

  Lex watched the way her pale eyelids fluttered, but didn’t open. His gaze travelled down her body until they fixed on the slight bump on her abdomen. He wanted to rest his hand on it, but he didn’t want to risk waking her.

  Cash sat in the chair beside him, leaning back and closing his eyes.

  “It’s gonna be a long night,” he said. “Try and get some sleep.”

  Lex shook his head. “I don’t want to sleep.”

  Cash sighed. “Then you’re gonna need coffee. I think the cafeteria is open.”

  Lex nodded. He let Violet’s hand rest on the bed and stood up.

  “You want any?” he asked Cash.

  Cash shook his head. “Hell no; I’m sleeping.”

  Lex wandered down the hallway, looking for a sign or a map—he was completely lost. The corridor was narrow and he knew he had to find the main one if he wanted to find the cafeteria.

  Up ahead he could see double doors. Pushing them open, he was faced with another long hallway. He read the names of each patient as he passed, hoping he would find his way out of this maze soon.

  Out loud he said, “Elizabeth Turner...Henry Caldwell...Damon Radcliffe...Gerald Carnell...Frank...”

  He froze, staring at the name plate on the fourth door. His brain began to spin.

  No.

  It couldn’t be possible.

  The plate read, Frank Mitchell.

  Lex hadn’t seen his father in almost fifteen years. Here he was trying to wrap his head around Violet’s pregnancy, and her accident, when his father was lying in the same building. Surely it couldn’t be his father, who he hadn’t seen since he was twelve years old. Lex took a step away from the door. He shook his head; it might not be him. It might be another Frank Mitchell. But something inside him knew; his father was lying behind the door in front of him. He had to find Cash; he had to tell him.

  As he rushed back along the corridors, his mind spun. How could his father be there? Why was his father there? He searched rooms until he found Violet’s. Pushing the door open, he stopped.

  “What?” Cash whispered. “’The hells wrong with you?”

  “Dad...is here.”

  “He’s...what?”

  Lex gestured for his brother to follow him and Cash joined him in the hallway.

  “He’s here.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I just saw his name on that sheet that’s on all the doors.”

  Lex leaned against the wall.

  “It might not even be him, Lex.”

  He looked up at Cash. “That’s what I thought too, but…I don’t know, Cash.”

  “You think it’s him?”

  Lex straightened up. He nodded. “We need to find out for sure. Come on.”

  They rushed down the hallway until Lex found the double doors that had lead him to his father’s room. He searched the names and recognized them.

  He counted the rooms out loud. “Two...three...four.” He pointed at the paper. “There,” he said.

  Cash leaned forward, reading the name. He stepped backwards and looked at Lex.

  At that moment, a doctor left a room down the hallway. He saw the boys and approached them, smiling gently.

  “Good evening. Can I help you gentlemen with anything?”

  Lex looked at his brother, then back at the doctor.

  The doctor raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, but unless you’re immediate family of a patient, you’re not authorized to be down here.”

  “We are...We think we are.”

  The doctor looked at him questioningly.

  Cash spoke up. “We think this patient...” He gestured to the room behind them. “...might be our father.”

  The doctor stepped forward and took the sheets. “Frank Mitchell?”

  Cash nodded.

  “I’m Dr. Grey and I’ve been Mr. Mitchell’s nephrologist for ten years. He’s never mentioned having sons.”

  Lex looked at his brother. “Figures,” he murmured.

  “We haven’t seen him in a long time. Can you...ask him?” Cash said.

  The doctor nodded. He opened the door and disappeared inside.

  Cash and Lex leaned against the opposite wall silently. Lex didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know what to think. If it truly was their father, lying behind that door, did he want to see him? Could he see him, without the anger coming back? Without feeling vengeful for everything he had done to them as children?

  He looked at Cash as the doctor came out.

  The doctor nodded. “He just woke up.” He held up his hand as Lex tried to pass him, suddenly determined. “I need you to be prepared for the change in your father since the last time you saw him.”

  “What’s wrong with him? Why is he here?” Lex asked.

  “He’s suffering from Poly-Cystic Kidney Disease. He’s been receiving dialysis treatments for over a decade. Yesterday we performed transplant surgery and we thought we’d succeeded. This morning, it seems your father’s body has rejected the new kidney.”

  “What does that mean?” Lex asked.

  “He’s dying,” Cash said.

  Dr. Grey nodded. “Most likely, Mr. Mitchell won’t make it through another night.”

  “Can we go in now?” Lex said.

  The doctor waved his hand towards the door. As Lex stood and pulled Cash with him, Cash grabbed his arm.

  “Are you sure we should do this?” Cash said.

  Lex knew Cash had caught the worst of their father’s abuse, putting himself between him and their mother.

  “Have you...” Cash pulled Lex aside. “Have you forgotten what he did to me? To mom?”

  Lex looked at the ground. “No, I haven’t. But...I feel like I’ll regret not seeing him. He only has so much time left, Cash.”

  “I wish he had no time left.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “You’re damn right I do. You know, sometimes I wish I’d forced mom to come with us when we moved out. Because then she’d be alive. She’d be alive and that rotten bastard in there would have been all alone.” He jabbed his finger at the door.

  “I know what he did to you, Cash, but he was an alcoholic. He might have changed.”

  Cash scoffed. “People like him don’t change. I hope he rots in hell where he belongs.”

  Lex looked at his brother. “I need to do this.”

  “I don’t.” Cash’s voice was pitiless, cold.

  “I understand.”

  He felt Cash’s eyes on his back as he followed the doctor through the door. He didn’t look back.

  “That’s correct, sir,” Apr
il said.

  Campbell stared at her incredulously. “You thought he was fixed?”

  She nodded. “I did, sir.”

  “Well, clearly you were wrong, April. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “There’s nothing I can say but that I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would react that way to someone else. With me, he was perfect; never put a foot wrong.”

  “Working in this business means you always have to be prepared for the unexpected. You have to evaluate all sides of a decision before you make it. If you want to have a career like this, that’s a lesson you will have to learn.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  April hated being scolded, especially for something she didn’t do. She just kept thinking about Damian and his family, and she knew she was doing the right thing.

  “I know you’re probably going to fire me,” she said, looking at the ground. Something in her mind told her that being dismissed might not be a bad thing.

  “Who said I was going to fire you?”

  April looked up suddenly. “But Violet...”

  “You do good work here, April. Damian has put in many good words. You still have a job here, if you want it. It will be explained to Ms. Rose that horses are unpredictable and her accident was just that; an accident.”

  “Thank you, sir,” April said. She ducked her head and retreated from the studio. As she neared the door, Campbell’s voice stopped her.

  “Oh, and April?”

  “Yes sir?” She turned around.

  He looked over his glasses at her. “Taking the fall for someone else is a nice thought. But it’s honesty that will get you on my good side in the future. I know you haven’t worked with that horse since you got back. It was very brave of you to take Damian’s place, but just be careful. Having the ability to make allies is a very sought-after trait in this city; just make sure the allies you make are as honest as you are.” He waved his hand and April turned back around, mulling over what he had just said.

  Dr. Grey stood in front of Lex in the private room. Lex didn’t take his eyes off the doctor’s back, refusing to look at the thin man in the bed against the far wall. The TV was on, showing a baseball game. He glanced at it and then away. The man in the bed turned his head slowly in the doctor’s direction.