Forget Me Not (36 page)

The phone rang once. Janelle’s heart pounded as her pacing slowed. It rang a second time. Sweat covered her hands despite her having to lower the temperature in her
apartment to save on her electric bill. On the third ring, she knew he wouldn’t answer. She would leave him a voice
-
mail message and hope he would listen to it one day. Before the fourth ring, she heard a
click
.

A heavy sigh sounded after the
click
. Janelle sat on her bed and waited for the screaming to commence.

“Hello?” She decided to start the conversation when no one else spoke.

“You have some nerve calling me.” Gideon sounded tired but reserved.

“I know you’re angry.” She kept her speaking voice low and stretched out her words, hoping to lower the tension between them. “Please let me explain. I didn’t tell Jules anything about your family or your football career. He asked and I avoided the subjects.”

“That’s not how it looks. I watched a snippet of the video.” Gideon growled.

Janelle didn’t know if his growling came from anger or pain since he’d had his surgery. “How are you doing? How’s your knee?”

“Oh, no. You are not going to jump off topic with me. If you truly cared about me, you would have done what you promised and showed up to the hospital,” he said. “I guess you had better things to do, like that interview.” He cursed, but quickly apologized. “I will never learn my lesson. I will always be the one with his heart on his sleeve.”

“Gideon, please. I want you to listen to me. That guy lied to me. He edited the video so it looked like I said things that I didn’t. He made it seem like I was angry with you, and I’m not. I asked you to stay away from me because I was trying to protect you. I thought the media would leave you alone if we weren’t together, but I was wrong, and I hated being away from you.” She balled her free hand into a fist. “You probably won’t believe me, but I’m going to say this anyway. I love you. I love you so much. It hurt me to ask you to leave. I was so afraid that if you went to that other team, you would pick up and leave and I would be here.”

“Rooted,” he whispered.

“With my store.” She wiped under her nose. “I know you hate me. I understand. I really thought I was doing a good thing for you because it angered me so much to read all those lies about you. People were saying you hit that cheerleader and that you assaulted me, and I knew that wasn’t true. They were calling you a coward, and I know the man who is so strong and so brave who would never back down from a fight. All I wanted to do was let the world know the man I know, the man I fell in love with. The man who has my heart forever.”

He remained quiet. Janelle hoped Gideon hadn’t disconnected the call.

“Penny actually had a good idea.” Janelle sniffed.

“Yeah? What was that?”

She breathed a sigh of relief after hearing his voice. “She suggested I hide a camera while I did the interview and post the full interview after this guy posted his so that everyone can see the truth. I don’t hate you. I never meant to hurt you. I mean it when I say I love you.”

Before anyone spoke, Janelle heard a knock at her door.

“I’ll get it!” Penny called from the other room.

“Never, ever talk to these tabloid guys.” Gideon sniffed. “Unless it’s Oprah or Barbara Walters, everyone in the media lies. They have to in order to sell themselves.”

She smiled through her tears. “Good to know.”

“We can talk about it more if you want to come—”

Penny appeared in the doorway, looking as white as a snow-covered orchid. “Janelle, something bad has happened.”

“Gideon, hold on.” Janelle stood.

“What? What’s going on there?” Worry filled Gideon’s voice.

“It’s the flower shop. There’s been an accident.”

Janelle put her hand to her stomach while keeping the phone pressed to her ear. “What?”

“The police are here. They said there was a fire.” Penny shook her head. “Everything is gone.”

Janelle remained frozen in her spot
as
though her muscles had stopped working. She dropped the phone from her ear as she stared at her friend. “No.”

“We, uh, have to go.” Penny put her arm around Janelle’s shoulders. “I’ll drive.”

* * * *

Gideon grumbled as he hobbled toward the garage. He’d never expected to hear from Janelle after what she’d done. After she’d explained her reasoning behind it, he could understand what she’d thought.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. He thought he’d heard someone say the word
“
fire
”
before the call ended. He’d tried calling her back but got nothing. Now he needed to see her.

When he’d gotten home from the hospital, Gunnar had set him up in the spare bedroom downstairs. It took a while for him to dress himself. He’d taken some drugs for the pain, which left him feeling a bit woozy. The white compression stocking around his knee hid the bandages underneath and prevented him from seeing the full swelling around his leg.

“Eboni and I were about to head out since Mom is sleeping now.” Gunnar stood in the doorway. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Gideon slipped on some bedroom slippers since he couldn’t bend his knee to put on anything with laces. “I need to go.”

“No. You need to rest. You had surgery earlier today and you’re on a lot of medication.” Gunnar put his hands on Gideon’s shoulders and tried easing him back to bed.

Gideon held onto Gunnar’s arm as he hopped to prevent going down on the bed. “No, I have to go. Janelle called me.”

Gunnar dropped his hold and shook his head. “You talked to her? Did she apologize for selling you out? She’s got some nerve calling you after she—”

Gideon cut off his brother. “I think her store burned down. I have to go and make sure she’s okay.”

“You can’t leave.” Gunnar went to the closet. “Not with those shoes. Mom won’t let you out of the house with slippers on.” Gunnar helped him switch his gym shorts to track pants and then got down on the floor to put on Gideon’s sneakers. “I remember helping you get dressed as a kid. Who knew I would still have to do that now?” He laughed.

“You’re hilarious.” Gideon slipped on his jacket. “Come on. We have to go.”

Gunnar handed Gideon the cane he needed to help him get around. As soon as they hit the front door, Eboni appeared.

“I thought we were going back home.” She split her attention between the two men.

“Gideon thinks Janelle’s store was burn
ed
down.” Gunnar put on his coat.

“For what she did to Gideon, I wouldn’t be surprised. Fans are loyal.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Do me a favor.” Gideon put on his coat, a feat with the cane. “Janelle said she uploaded the full, uncut interview. Will you find it and look at it for me? Tell me if the two match.”

“Sure.” Eboni nodded.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Call me if anything happens here.” Gunnar kissed his fiancée. He helped Gideon to his Hummer and drove as quickly as he could to Flowers Galore.

Gideon remained quiet the entire ride there until a few blocks away from her store, when he caught the sight of red, twirling fire
-
engine lights.

“Oh, no.” He sat taller and pressed his hand against the dashboard as though trying to push the Hummer to go faster.

When he arrived at the scene, Gideon took in the full damage. The entire strip mall where Flowers Galore sat in the center now looked like a black kindling. Smoke from the smoldering ashes wafted in the air.

Gunnar barely parked the truck before Gideon opened the door.

“Hold on, man. Let me help you or you’re going to fuck up your knee.” Gunnar jumped out his side and raced over to the other to help Gideon, who had managed to get his good foot down to the ground already.

He staggered over to the scene that had been blocked off by police and fire trucks. “Janelle! Janelle!” He scanned the area.

A small crowd had formed around the fire along with news crews. When he called for her, the attention turned to him.

“
You’ve got to be kidding.
It’s Gideon Wells.” Someone pointed to him as he continued searching the crowd.

He finally spotted her talking to a few firemen off to the side. He headed toward her when a man blocked his path. Gideon peered down and saw Dudley, the fan he had met his first day working in his mother’s shop.

“Good to see you again, man.” Dudley tried shaking Gideon’s hand.

Gideon moved around him. “I’ve got something to do.”

“No worries. That bitch got what she deserved.”

The statement stopped him cold. Gideon turned around. “What did you say?” He stumbled back to Dudley
,
who did his own dance backward. “Did you call her a bitch?” He fisted the fan’s shirt. “Did you have anything to do with this fire?”

“Whoa. No, man. I swear. I saw she did an unflattering interview about you. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of Wolf fans burned down her place. You can’t talk about Gid the god.”

Gideon let him go. “Unbelievable. That was her life. You shouldn’t be happy about someone destroying a life.” He turned away from Dudley.

“Why not? She tried to destroy yours.”

Gideon ignored him. He continued on to Janelle. As soon as she looked up and connected her gaze to his, she broke down and sobbed hard.

“Sir, you can’t cross the line.” The officer held his hand up to stop Gideon.

He had a mission. Get to Janelle. He pushed past him and got to her. Janelle
collapsed on to
Gideon and cried into his chest. He held her and didn’t talk. He allowed
her to grieve the loss of her business.

“It’s all gone,” she said against his chest. “I was turning it all around, and now it’s all gone.”

“Do you know what happened?” he asked. “Was it a fan that was angry about the interview? Was it Jules because you released the other video?”

Janelle pulled back from him and peered up. Her red eyes displayed her grief and anger. “Sleaston.”

He shook his head. “Who’s that?”

She pointed to the area where the end unit would have been in the shopping area. “He was the accountant who had an office there. He was having financial problems. He stole from his clients. He was arrested for embezzlement and he decided to burn the evidence.”

“Good. So they know who did it and this guy can be prosecuted.” Gideon brushed his thumb over her cheek.

Janelle shook her head. “He was in his office. He’d already shot himself after he set the fire. They found his remains.” She stared at the shell that used to be her store. “My swamp hibiscus. No one will ever see it. It’s gone. It’s all gone.” She covered her eyes with her hand.

“Are you done here with the police and fire department?” Gideon looked at the men and women in uniform behind her.

Janelle nodded. “I don’t think there’s anything else I can do. They’re chalking it up as arson. I’ll have to get a formal report from them to give to my insurance company. Until then, I have nothing.”

“Come on home with me.” He held her hand.

“What? You want me to come to your house?”

“You need me.” He squeezed her hand. “I need you. I love you.”

She nodded and wrapped her arm around his waist as he led her to Gunnar’s truck. When Gideon spotted Gunnar by the truck, he continued on his trek.

“She’s coming home with me.”

Gunnar said nothing. He opened the back door and helped her inside. Then he helped Gideon get in on the passenger side before taking them both back to his home.

The inside of the vehicle remained quiet all the way to the house. Once there, Gunnar helped Gideon out of the truck first before they both attended to Janelle. With his cane in one hand and his arm around his woman, he guided her into his house.

Eboni met the trio at the door. “
Wow
. You all smell like smoke.”

Gideon hadn’t realized the smell until she pointed it out. They had taken on the foul aroma of the charred-up remains of Janelle’s shop.

“I’m in the same bedroom where you took your bath. Go in there and I’ll meet you in a few minutes.” Gideon kissed her forehead before she padded down the hall. Then he turned to Eboni. “Did you find anything?”

She smiled. “I can tell she really loves you.”

Gideon’s heart swelled in his chest before he heard anything else.

Eboni continued. “She recorded the whole interview. That guy she dealt with was a weasel. He chopped up everything she said. She talked about you like a woman in love with a man.” She wrapped her arms around Gunnar’s waist. “She spoke about you like how I would talk about Gunnar. It was pretty incredible. I’m glad she posted it. It’s a
shame what happened with her business.”

Gideon nodded. “Thanks for doing that for me.” He looked at Gunnar. “Thanks for taking me to the scene. I owe you both big
-
time.”

Gunnar waved his hand. “That’s what families do.” He peered down at Eboni. “We’re going to head home. Call me if you need me. I’ll be back in the morning to help the two of you.”

“Thanks, man.” Gunnar escorted them out and locked the door.

He went to the bedroom. He didn’t expect to see Janelle sitting on the side of his bed looking so broken. She hadn’t taken off a stitch of her clothing or her shoes.

“You want to take a bath?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m so tired.”

Gideon understood what she meant. He pulled back the comforter on the bed. “Take off your shoes.”

She kicked them off. Without prompting, she removed her pants and her coat. She left her T-shirt on. Before getting into bed, she undid Gideon’s pants and pulled them down his legs. When she got to his knee bandages, she stared at them and a new wave of tears flooded her eyes.

“I’m okay.”

Janelle peered up at him.