Her lower lip trembled, despair wrapping a tight blanket around her.
Jaxson stroked her cheek. “It’ll be okay.”
She allowed his words to penetrate into her heart for one small second before her brain worked through the rest. “No!” she blurted, “it won’t be okay.” Her windpipe closed off. She coughed to clear it, struggling to get the words out. “My mother’s death wasn’t an accident. Wesley killed her!”
“Tell us everything that happened,” Jaxson said calmly.
Her body was shaking like a leaf. She balled her hands, biting down on her lower lip. He slid a protective arm around her shoulders. She glanced at Lexi who offered an encouraging smile. Lemon reached over and caught hold of Lexi’s hand, squeezing it. “You’ve always been such a good friend to me.”
Tears rose in Lexi’s eyes. “As you’ve been to me.”
Lemon sucked in a breath, trying to organize her thoughts so that she could tell everything that happened in a cohesive manner. She let go of Lexi’s hand, crossing her arms over her chest. “Everything that Lexi told you was correct. I cared a great deal for Braden.” Her voice caught. “For a time, I thought I loved him.” She turned to Jaxson. “But there was this tiny part of me that could never let you go.” A faint smile curved her lips. “I didn’t think it would be fair to marry Braden under those conditions. I was going to call it off, but then Braden died.” She shuddered, remembering that dark time in her life. The loss she’d felt over losing someone she’d cared about so deeply.
She stared into the distance, her voice going recollective. “Wesley stayed by my side every step of the way, helping me through the grief. I was grateful to have someone. Mom’s Alzheimer’s was getting worse. I moved her into my condo and hired an at-home nurse to look after her. Still, it became too much. In the end, I put her in a care center.” She took in a quick breath, pressing on. “Mine and Shade’s business took off.” She chuckled softly. “It’s crazy how you can reach every pinnacle that the world deems important and still feel hollow on the inside.”
“No, not necessarily,” Knox said, giving her an astute look. “Money never could buy happiness.”
“No, it can’t,” she said with conviction. “I was miserable. I started spending more time in Nashville. Wesley assumed it was because of him.” Her voice trailed off. “But it wasn’t. I was searching for something, trying to find home.”
“Why didn’t you come to me earlier?” Jaxson asked.
She barked out a short laugh. “And join the ranks of your entourage? No thanks.”
He rolled his eyes. “You and I both know that the women were my way of dealing with losing you.”
“I didn’t know that,” she retorted, then shook her head, realizing she was getting off track.
“Tell us about the night of the accident,” Knox prodded gently.
Her heart began to pound. She tightened her hand, her nails digging into her palm. “As Lexi said, Wesley was always hanging around.” She chuckled dryly. “I knew he had a thing for me. It was easy to go out with him as a fallback. He’s handsome, charming, suave.” She glanced at Jaxson and noticed that his jaw had gone hard. “If I can come to terms with Jumbo Chest Barbie,” she retorted, “then you can deal with me initially being attracted to Wesley’s good looks.”
Jaxson sputtered out a startled laugh. “You don’t mince words, do ya?”
“No, she doesn’t,” Lexi said admiringly. “Wesley is super handsome, but looks will only take a man so far.”
“I never had any intention of ending up with Wesley,” Lemon stated. “Shame on me for letting it go as far as it did.” A shiver ran down her spine. She sloughed it off. “I started trying to put distance between me and Wesley. That didn’t go over well. Wesley lashed out. We had a big blowup about it. I had the feeling of being followed but thought I must be imagining things.” Fear clutched her stomach in a tight grip. “Out of the blue, Wesley showed up at my condo in LA. He apologized profusely, telling me that he was fine with us not having a relationship. He claimed that he didn’t want to lose me as a friend.”
“Yeah right,” Lexi scoffed.
“Things settled back to normal. The entire time Wesley had been friends with me he also kept in close touch with my partner Shade. Shade wants to start a children’s clothing line