Color suddenly rushed to Xander’s face and clenched jaw. “Lies? I meant everything I said to you. If we’re going to talk about lies, Rose, how about the ones you’ve been spouting to the whole town for the last ten years, huh?”
“How dare you even compare those two things! I didn’t kill anyone. I just protected your career.”
“And made a fine martyr of yourself in the process. Don’t throw stones, Rose. Neither of us is innocent.”
“Look what telling the truth got me, Xander! How dare you demand to be a part of your son’s life knowing full well that you might end up in jail one day!” She shook her head, the tears making her vision blurry. “All this time, you’ve been sweet-talking me, trying to convince me to come to D.C. and move in with you.... It’s too late for me, but I very nearly let you become important to my son.”
The anger faded from his expression for just a moment. “What do you mean it’s too late for you?”
“I mean that I’m a fool. Damn you, Xander Langston, for tricking me into loving you just so I could have my heart broken again.”
“Rose, I don’t want to br—”
“Get out,” she demanded. For the past eleven years, Rose had been reeling from the day she walked out of Xander’s life. She’d been afraid to take a deep breath since he’d returned, worried he would disappear. She wasn’t about to sit around and wait for him to leave, this time in handcuffs. Just like before, she would take matters into her own hands and walk away before he could leave her.
Xander’s jaw dropped. “Wait. Can we talk about this?”
Rose angrily shook her head. “No, we can’t. On this point things are nonnegotiable. I will not have a criminal as my son’s father.”
“I am not a criminal!” Xander shouted. “And even if I was, I’m still his father. You can’t change that.”
He was right. The past was the past. “You’re right. Everyone makes mistakes. But I can change the future. You and I are done. And until whatever that is—” she gestured toward the television “—is cleared up, I don’t want you seeing Joey. You say you’re not a criminal? Prove it. Until then, I want you to get out of my apartment.”
“Rose—”
“Now!” she nearly shrieked, hopeful that Joey still had his headphones on. They’d managed to keep their anger on a manageable level, but she was at her limit.
Apparently, so was he. Xander nodded and backed away from her toward the door. “It was good seeing you again, Rose.” He turned the handle and walked out of the bedroom, picking up his overnight bag as he waved to Joey and slipped out the front door.
With him gone, every bone in Rose’s body disintegrated. She flopped down onto the bed, her tears rushing out of her almost faster than her body could make them.
Twelve
Xander blew into his quiet, empty town house much later than he’d planned. The drive back from Connecticut had been fairly uneventful until he hit a bad accident on the interstate. It had left him stranded between exits for several hours as victims were transported by helicopter and cars were towed away. By the time his Lexus pulled up in front of his town house, it was nearly midnight.
The perfect capstone to two miserable weeks. It had started going downhill the minute he returned to Cornwall with Rose. Perhaps coming back to the comfort and safety of the Capitol would swing luck back in his favor.
Starting tomorrow. Tonight he was too exhausted to care about luck. He carried his luggage in and dropped it at the bottom of the stairs. He was too tired to carry it up right now. Eyeing the leather sofa in the sitting room, he seriously considered sleeping on the couch. His bed felt as though it were miles away and he couldn’t drag himself another step.
At the same time, he doubted he could sleep even in the comfort of his bed. His weary mind was endlessly spinning. Thoughts of Rose and how badly they’d parted. Leaving Joey behind without being able to tell him what was going on. Tommy’s body. Heath’s defeated voice on the phone. His parents’ worried expressions as they were interrogated again by Sheriff Duke.
The past two weeks had been ones you couldn’t pay him to live over, but perhaps the worst was behind him now. By the time he prepared to head home, things seemed to have quieted down on the farm. The cloud of potential problems still hung over their heads as it had for years, but for now, the case had reached a standstill.
Xander stumbled into the kitchen, pulled a bottle of Scotch from the cabinet and poured himself a few fingers’ worth over ice. He climbed onto one of the barstools and idly sorted through the stack of mail he’d left sitting there.