Page 85 of Take The Risk

​“You have?”

​She chuckled. “I might have been at a certain bistro a couple of weeks ago after meeting with a client…”

​I closed my eyes, my stomach twisted. The bistro…

​Ty had taken me on a surprise date. We’d driven an hour away from Maplehurst and were seated in the most exclusive corner. Ty had helped build the bistro and knew the owner. He’d made sure that Cady-Jo wasn’t planning to leave Maplehurst. We just hadn’t thought about where Helen might be.

​“You’re not angry?” I felt compelled to ask. I didn’t think I’d be pissed in her shoes, but people never reacted the way you thought they would.

​“Angry? No. Disappointed? A little. On the other hand, I do understand why you might be hesitant with the way Cady-Jo’s been at you.” Cady-Jo had been rather vocal with Louise and Helen about wanting to make sure the rumors about Ty and me were false, and that his attention was otherwise engaged. Ahem, Olivia. Ahem.

​“She’s going to hate me.” I’d started to come to terms with that. My only concern was for Lock. I couldn’t let Cady-Jo mess with my son’s life here.

​“Will she be angry? Yes. I don’t even know why she’s acting like this. But I think if she sees you and Ty are happy together, she’ll eventually be okay with it.” Helen sounded much more confident than I felt.

​The secrets I’d wrapped my life in were starting to come undone. Someone knew about my identity. Now, Helen and Jesse knew about me and Ty. And a part of me wanted the world to know, too. Jesse’s courage was forefront of my mind, making me feel like a coward.

​“With Amber-Rae gunning for you, I think it might be better if you and Ty tell Cady-Jo before she finds out. We’re all entitled to our secrets, but this one comes with a guillotine....”

​It wasn’t the only one. Taking a deep breath, I decided to take a small step out of the shadows. “There’s more,” I told her. Everything. My real identity, my work, the threats. Once it started to come out of me, it rushed out like the dam that had held back the water finally broke. I was aware it was slightly cowardly to expose myself to someone who was legally bound to keep my secret, but a start was a start.

​I fell back, my body no longer strong enough to keep me sitting upright when I finished.

​Helen sat there, her jaw opening and closing. She swallowed a few times, blinking hard. “You’re—” Her mouth worked, nothing coming out. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “You’re the A.J. Lane? And P.J. Alexander?”

​Biting my lip, I nodded.

​“I’m a huge fan!” she burst out, bouncing in her seat. “I can’t believe this! I love your books. They’re incredible! I’ve had the preorder of Cursed Bonds: The Witch Rises from the day it went live.”

​That made me happy. I always loved hearing my books had an impact.

​Blinking, she smiled sheepishly, a blush staining her cheeks. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have responded like that. I’m supposed to be a professional.”

​“Yeah, but you’re my friend, too.” I thought that distinction mattered more here than the lawyer bit.

​We talked for a bit about the whys of why I hid my identity. The threats. She didn’t think Cady-Jo was behind them, and I honestly didn’t think so either. It seemed right up Amber-Rae’s alley, but we couldn’t figure out how she’d even know.

​The longer we talked, the more I felt…light. Like a terrible weight I hadn’t even known was pressing on my heart had been lifted.

​“Do you really think Cady-Jo will accept me and Ty?”

​Helen gave me her all-seeing, I’m wise in an otherworldly way, face. “If you and Ty have found something real between you, then I don’t think it really matters, do you? Yes, she’s my friend, and you’re now a part of our friend group permanently. Will things be messy at first? Probably. But darlin, I live for messy.” She gave me a cheeky grin, patting my hand. “I think I’m more interested in why you and Ty are still keeping this a secret. Sure, the threats and Wade’s assessment are one thing. I agree you shouldn’t make a huge public announcement. I still don’t see why you can’t quietly tell the people you care about. The people who care about you.”

​Because I’m afraid, or I was, that they wouldn’t care about me if they found out. I was still afraid, at least where Cady-Jo was concerned.

​“Secrets, my dear, have a way of coming out. It won’t take long for people to see what I’ve already seen.”

​“What’s that?”

​“The way you two look at each other.”

​“How do we look at each other?” My heart clenched in hope, wanting to hear something good.

​“Like you two are each other’s whole world.” She got to her feet, letting me know she had another client. I had to get home to Jesse and Lock anyway. “I’ve known Ty Brockmann his whole life, Phoebe. I’ve loved him as my godson and even a friend. I’ve never, not once, seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. You can trust him, no matter how hard that may be with your past.”

​We walked to the door where she hugged me so tightly my eyes burned.

​I hadn’t lost her. I hadn’t lost my friend.