Zenith in Love (Zenith Series #5) - Leanne Davis Page 0,89

trust anyone else. I doubt he’ll trust you. But we need to try.”

“You’re saying he needs to hear my story before he’ll want to change his own life?”

“Yes.”

“Addicts often agree to abstain without really meaning it. But yes, he has to believe he has a problem before he can commit to fixing it.”

“Please try. Please. It’s why I came to you. Your skill with words and being the voice of authority might work to commence his understanding.”

“Okay. I appreciate that, Kayla. I’m sorry I tried to dismiss it before. Understand, this is not something I want for you or anyone. I saw all the damage it does to someone innocent, whose only crime was loving me, a hopeless alcoholic.”

“I don’t think he’s hopeless. He’s just lost.”

“Yet. He’s not hopeless yet. And he is lost. But he knows he is.”

Eric broke in. “I think I could help solve the Jimmy problem.”

“How?” Kayla turned her attention to Eric.

“Well, we have our little army of bodyguards so we could assign some to Jim.” Eric glanced at Rob and Rebecca. “I can juggle the manpower here or you can add some more. We can put a couple of guards on Jim and keep Jimmy clean out of Jim’s comfort zone. That includes the church. How can he blackmail Jim if he can’t reach anyone Jim cares about from the church? Those are the only people who would disapprove. If he wants to act like a maniac by screaming threats at our local pastor, I honestly don’t think anyone would actually listen or care. Prepare the PR stuff ahead of time and release it. You start by clearly stating that Jim doesn’t know this mentally deranged man. Strike early and report the man to the church elders, saying he is attempting to extort money from Jim and you, Rob, after the shooting. It’s not true, of course, but pretty believable. Especially after one of your so-called fans tried to shoot you and Jim in that very church. Why couldn’t there be others? No one will believe him if you say he’s a compulsive liar first and take all the wind out of his sails.”

“That’s pretty good,” Rebecca said as she nodded her head.

“It’s freaking brilliant,” Karlee added.

“Jim lie to the church?” Kathy questioned.

“Yes. That’s exactly what he has to do. This is one of those occasions where the end justifies the means. Surely you see that, Kathy. You’re not so devoted to God that you can’t understand the need to tell a white lie. It’s for Jim.” Kayla took a long glance at Kathy, who knew better than anyone the good that existed inside the man.

“Yes. You’re right. I’ll do it for Jim.”

“How did you leave him?”

“Hung over. He told me everything finally. It was a long morning. I left him sleeping, I hope. I emptied his apartment of all the booze. But obviously, he can get more if he chooses to.”

“He hid the bottles?”

“In his bottom drawer.”

“He has a lot more hidden in other places. I guarantee it,” Rob added.

Kathy nodded. Since she never entered his bedroom before, she never had any reason to find it. She was the perfect girlfriend for a closet alcoholic. The more new information Kayla received, the more sense it made. She was pretty sure Jim was an alcoholic, or very close to it. The fear of that designation made her shiver. She spent a good portion of her life hearing the warnings of Rob’s story in her ears. She read her mom’s book. Alcoholism wasn’t a new concept for her. And Rob was right, she never envisioned herself falling into a relationship like this.

If what they had could even be called a relationship. She wondered. Defining it was always awkward and inadequate. Jim’s inexperience with relationships, so no shock there. Kayla was unsure too, and unwilling to demand anything from him, as she might have tried to with anyone else.

Rob rose to his feet. “I’ll stop by there tomorrow.”

Kayla sniffed and wiped her runny nose with her sleeve. “Thank you, Rob.”

He came over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry that you had to learn about this with the first person you fell for. I’ll do whatever I can to help. But you’ll have to be ready to accept the limits of whatever that might be.”

His dour warnings puzzled her. She understood what Rob was saying. Change only occurs when you admit you have a problem and want to stop. She had to believe