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“You’re a liar.”
His eyebrows rose and his neck tightened. He didn’t know that anyone had ever called him a liar.
“I’ve never had a boyfriend,ever, and I wouldn’t have sent that text. I was head over heels for you.” Her face reddened. She ducked under his arm and into her doorway. “This is all awkward and embarrassing. It’s too much with what has to happen tomorrow. Please, just … let me get through tomorrow.”
She slammed the door in his face. Chandler was stunned and … heartbroken. She’d called him a liar. How could she claim she hadn’t sent that text?
He stood in the hallway for a while, trying to muddle it out in his mind and wanting to pound on her door and demand they talk it out. He was a hundred percent certain about what that text had said. It was imprinted on his mind. How could she possibly call him the liar?
Pacing the hallway, he didn’t even know what to think. She claimed she hadn’t sent that text and she thought he’d ghosted her. He blew out a heavy breath. How could he clear this up with no proof?
His head pounded as he paced and came up with no solution to their impasse. Could she have forgotten? There was no way he was remembering it wrong.
The only thing she was right about was that they needed to get through tomorrow night. Maybe then they could figure out what had happened, but it hurt that he’d told her time and again how deeply he cared and she didn’t seem to believe the truth about that any more than she did about the text.
ChapterThirteen
Kylee had a hard time sleeping Thursday night as she stewed about Chandler. She’d been humiliated that he’d caught her spewing stats to his friend Bentley and then when Bentley had said his “buddy Chandler gets all the women,” it had been a stark reminder to her of Chandler’s famous player status. She’d let herself get so caught up in his delicious kisses and proclamations that she was the one for him she’d forgotten he was a flirt and a ditcher.
Then to have him lie and make up some story about her sending a text that she had a boyfriend and Chandler was just a fling. That made her furious.
In the middle of the night, it hit her. It was probably one of his other girlfriends that summer who had sent him that text and he had somehow associated it with Kylee. That made more sense.
She wished he would own up to ghosting her and beg her forgiveness. She was upset, confused, and filled with self-doubt. How in the world was she going to stride into Mimi’s party with her head held high when she felt so low from Chandler taking her so high with his kisses and sweet words and then lying to her? She had no idea.
The only good news was Mimi’s snarky voice hadn’t returned to her head. On some subconscious level, did she believe Chandler’s sweet words? Had she been transformed by his all-encompassing kisses? It was a lot to think about, and if they couldn’t trust each other about texts or the lack thereof that happened ten years ago, she didn’t know that they could have a future.
She finally fell asleep, and the next morning went by in a blur as they ate a quick breakfast, drove to Denver, and then loaded onto a chartered airplane. Chandler stayed close to her side, but neither of them said much. The pained and almost vulnerable look on his face made her want to believe him and apologize for calling him a liar. But she would definitely remember sending a text like that. She would remember if he’d made any contact with her at all. It all made no sense.
She dozed on the flight and before she knew it, they were in Chicago and driving to a rental home near Mimi’s. It was a gorgeous house in the exclusive Winnetka, north of Chicago. It wasn’t as big as Mimi’s, but still a fancy and sprawling tan-brick mansion.
Her nerves ramped up. The party was less than four hours away. Bailey and Chandler both tried to get her to eat, but she was tied in knots. She tried to listen to all the instructions from Papa. She knew exactly how to pull the hair capturer from her pocket or purse and get Frederick’s hair. Her small purse would have the backup hair capturer and a knife hidden, along with perfume, lip gloss, and all kinds of makeup and feminine products to dissuade any guard who might search her.
It all seemed surreal. Like she was in a Mission Impossible movie. Sadly, she felt like she was the weak link and would make this mission impossible. The only happy news was that Mimi’s voice didn’t make a snarky comment about that. It was wonderful to have her head clear of the bitter thoughts. If she and Chandler didn’t have a future, at least he’d given her the gift of killing the evil witch in her head.
She went to get ready while most of the crew went with Papa to intercept the servers and get Bailey, Klein, and Reed into place. It helped strengthen her knowing those three would be in the house with her. If only it could be Chandler, but Mimi would instantly recognize any Delta and that would compromise the mission before it began. The Delta family could only come in if everything imploded and hiding their identity didn’t matter any longer.
Bailey carefully applied all the makeup Myrna had provided her with, then slipped into the beautiful dress. Her hair was in long curls down her back and the pale blue, skin-tight gown with extra padding on the bustline, hips, and rear took her normally huge curves to gargantuan. Why anyone thought that was attractive, she’d never know, but everyone else believed it was, and believed it would get Frederick’s attention. Luckily, the bodice was tight but didn’t reveal too much skin or cleavage.
A rap came at the door. She looked at herself one more time in the mirror. She was ready.
No, she wasn’t.
“Just a moment,” she called.
“Okay,” Chandler’s voice called back.
Her heart sang just hearing his voice. She tried to tamp the feeling down. They both thought the other was a liar. He hadn’t called her that, but she could see in his blue eyes that he thought it.
She’d thought they had issues they couldn’t overcome with him being a player and her struggling to feel confident and the abrupt ending to their relationship as teenagers. The lying and misunderstandings just made it worse.
Carefully kneeling in the tight dress, she closed her eyes, bowed her head, clasped her hands and begged her father above, and her parents if they were listening, “Please protect all of us tonight. Please bless we can get the hairs from Frederick and that no one will be killed. Please bless I can hold my head high and be confident. Please bless I can forgive Chandler and know what to do about him. I know it’s silly, but please bless me to feel attractive.” She paused. It was silly. It shouldn’t matter. But after believing Mimi’s belittling words for years and then all the Deltas contradicting those words so strongly, especially Chandler, she really did feel pretty. If only Chandler wasn’t also lying to her about their past.
She shook her head and focused. “Thank you that Mimi’s voice isn’t in my head anymore. Thank you for the Delta family, their training, their expertise, their kindness, and their willingness to protect me and the entire world. Thank you for Chandler. In the name of our Savior, amen.”
She stayed on her knees, even though the tile wasn’t comfortable. Peace washed over her and for just this moment, she thought it would all work out.
Forcing herself to stand, she grabbed the little purse and strapped it over her shoulder, patted the pocket where the knife and small vial were, and walked to the door. Her heels were four inches. She was good at walking in heels—even her tennis shoes had heels—so it should be no big deal, but she was teetering. No matter the peace she’d felt, no matter that Chandler and his family had given her confidence that she thought she’d never had. She was still terrified. Terrified of facing Mimi and Frederick. Even more terrified of losing Chandler.
