Jessica starred transfixed as she
stared at the photograph. Although she didn’t need to, Jessica glanced at the
caption below, shaking her head in disbelief, “J.T. and me on the Fourth of
July.” From the appearance of the picture, Tyler knew Grant for years. Propping
her elbows on the desk, Jessica held her head in her hands. The man she’d grown
to love was the man she’d been looking for. She had thought she could trust him, and all
this time he’d been lying to her. Why did he lie? What did he plan to gain by
pretending to be someone else? Tyler was just like all the other men in her
life.
A small sob sounded in her throat.
Jessie thought he was the one man she could trust. She should have known
better. The men in her life were never trustworthy. Some things never change.
She’d heard him say goodnight to
Wyatt and close his bedroom door.
“Tyler.” Her voice sounded more like
a plea than merely calling his name.
When he walked into the office her
eyes widened beseeching him. “Thanks, J. T.”
He glanced at the laptop and nodded.
“Yes, that’s me.” His voice sounded heavy with regret. No he sounded relieved.
Tyler or J. T. or whoever he was
stopped two feet from her side. Standing Jessica faced him.
“Jessica?” He reached a hand out to
her. When she ignored his gesture he lowered his hand.
“Please let me explain.” Again he
extended his hand to her.
She tried not to hear the anguish in
Tyler’s voice. “Why?”
“Let’s sit down.” He placed his hand
on her elbow.
Not wanting to feel the warmth of
his touch or his kindness, Jessica jerked her arm away from him. “Don’t touch
me.”
He gave her a cut nod then followed
her to the living room. She sat on the couch, her back stiff and straight.
Jessica guarded her emotions. Tyler sat beside her, turning to face her.
“My life turned around when Grant’s
family took me in as a foster child. For the first time, I found a family who
loved me. I was a little guy who was always picked on and Grant watched over
me.”
“I know, but that doesn’t explain
why you lied to me.” Jessica worked her hands in her lap.
“I didn’t find out Grant died until
after I’d completed my special ops. I received an email from his little sister,
another child the Markham’s took in. She explained what happened and that you
were taking care of Wyatt. I promised Grant I’d watch other Wyatt if anything
happened to him. When I make a promise, I keep it no matter what. When I
returned home, I needed to find out who was caring for his child.
“In the service, I learned to know
your opponent before you strategize. Once I got to know you I saw how good you
were with Wyatt. It was evident he loves you. I fell in love with you too.”
Jessica flinched when he referred to
her as his opposition. “So you got to know me yet you still didn’t have the
decency to tell me who you are. You let me believe you were Tyler Brown.” She
swallowed quickly before the emotions tightened her throat. “We made love and
you still didn’t bother to explain.”
“I tried to tell you several times.
My name is Justin Tyler Reynolds. I was named after my wonderful father.”
Heaving a sigh, Tyler leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs. “He’d
come home drunk and beat up my mom. One night he beat her so bad she died
before she got to the hospital. I was twelve at the time and swore I’d never
used his name again. From then on I went by J. T.”
His voice was unusually monotone and
devoid of all feeling. This wasn’t the fun loving man she knew. Jessica wanted
to reach out and comfort him, but the thought of his deceit stopped her.
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