“What in the name of heaven are you talking about?” she practically shrieked into the phone. “What did I do to your privacy?”
“Don’t play stupid. It’s all over the newsstands.” He gave a grunt of annoyance. “I was in the drugstore this morning, standing in line, and there I was, on the front cover of the National Observer, with you.”
“What?” She gasped, her body going cold at the news. “How could that happen?”
Jake laughed but it was a laugh so cold, so bitter, that she shivered even as she clutched the phone to her ear.
“Sam, all I can say is, I’m very disappointed in you. You were the one woman in the world I thought I could trust. But not anymore.”
Before she could respond he hung up. Just like that, he was gone. And just like that, all her dreams of exchanging wedding vows with Jake went flying out the window.
Now she realized that what she’d had, had only been that – a dream. It had all been too good to be true.
CHAPTER TEN
When Sam was finally able to move from her frozen state she rested the phone receiver back into the cradle then clutched the bed sheet in her fists. Things had gone terribly wrong and she had no idea why. She had to find out what happened.
She tumbled out of the bed and ran to the bathroom where she did a quick wash then threw on jeans and a sweater then she was racing down the stairs and out the door. She drove to the nearest newsstand and bought a copy of the National Observer. And there she saw it – a headline that slapped her full in the face, ‘Mystery Billionaire Writer Revealed’. She almost dropped the paper in her shock.
There on the front cover was Jake and, to her horror, she was in the picture, too. She was standing slightly behind him but her face was quite visible. As she stared at the photograph she realized it had been taken the day after they’d had dinner at her mother’s house. They’d gone hunting for picture frames and were standing close together, admiring one with gilt edges. She’d reached out a hand to touch it and that was when somebody had snapped the picture.
Sam turned the page and her heart sank when she realized an entire page was dedicated to revealing Jake’s identity. She began to read and gasped. It was worse than she'd thought. The words jumped off the page at her. ‘Billionaire writer, Jake McKoy, was caught shopping with his bride-to-be, small-town girl Samantha Fox’. What in the name of heaven? How could anyone have known about that? The only people she’d told were the members of her immediate family. She frowned. Could the paparazzi have invaded Tonawanda?
She dropped her eyes back to the paper and skimmed through the article. It talked about his move to Tonawanda, his involvement in charities, and even the death of his wife. Then it talked about her – ‘The star-struck fiancée’, it called her. They said it was a Cinderella story, with the working class girl finding her prince in the most unlikely of places.
Sickened, she folded the paper and began walking back to her truck. He’d worked so hard to remain anonymous, going so far as to move all the way out to this small town, only for this to happen. And worse, the kind of information included in the article could not have been picked up by an outsider. It included things he’d discussed with her in confidence. No wonder he was so angry with her. He’d come to the only logical conclusion – that she’d betrayed him.
But she hadn’t. And if it was the last thing she did she was going to find out what happened. It probably wouldn’t do her much good, not where Jake was concerned. He’d made up his mind about her and was gone out of her life, probably for good. But if even for her own sanity she had to find out. And she would start by calling the newspaper.
******
Holy crap. What had he just done? Jake was muttering to himself as he walked over the bridge toward his writing studio.
When he’d seen the photo and the article he’d been so incensed he’d jumped to the quickest and easiest conclusion – Sam must have been the source. How else could they have gathered all that information?
But after his volcanic emotions had erupted all over her he’d regretted his outburst. Damn. As old as he was he should have known better than to fly off the handle like that.
Because in his heart he knew there had to be another explanation. Now that the red veil of rage had lifted from his eyes he could see clearly. And he saw that he’d made a big mistake.
He pushed open the door and dropped the offending paper onto the desk. He would deal with that later. Right now he had to reach Sam and beg her forgiveness.
He picked up the phone and dialed the house. Five rings and then it went to voicemail. He hung up. He didn’t want to leave a message. He wanted to talk to her, take back his hurtful words before it was too late. He tried the cell phone. Six rings on this one then voicemail again. Was she deliberately avoiding his calls? He heaved a sigh. He couldn’t blame her, not after he’d blasted her like that and hung up. He hadn’t even given her a chance to respond.
Jake folded his arms across his chest and slid back in his chair, deep in thought. Who could have done this to him? After his head cooled down his heart told him it could not have been Sam. No, he had come to know her, and betrayal and deceit were not part of her make-up. But who else would have had access to such intimate details of his business?
And then it hit him. Jesus, how could he have been so stupid? There was only one other person he could think of, who had all the bits of information that had appeared in the article and who would have any incentive to leak information to the tabloids. Denise Marshall, his attorney’s new secretary. She’d been in the room when he’d mentioned Sam’s name and discussed the details of his will with Richard Connelly.
The Smith and Connelly law firm had handled Jake’s affairs for years and he’d had nothing but respect for them. On his last trip back to Long Island he’d visited the law firm – the day after he’d gone to Jessica to say goodbye – and that was when he'd been introduced to Miss Marshall. She was young, maybe in her early twenties, with a flirtatious demeanor that Jake hadn’t particularly liked, but he’d let it slide. He’d had other things on his mind – like taking care of a special woman who he wanted to be a permanent part of his life. But in taking care of that part of his business he’d laid himself unprotected and vulnerable to someone who was probably an opportunist, waiting for her big break.