Mac:I know you're still hurt. I know we're not okay. But I love you.
Rachel typed a response:
Rachel: United front. We'll figure out the rest after.
She turned off her phone and stared at the ceiling.
Tomorrow, she would stand in front of the entire town and talk about the worst moment of her life.
And after..
She didn't know what came after.
But for the first time since the fight with Mac, Rachel felt something other than despair.
She felt ready to fight.
Derek
Derek sat in his hotel room at the Riverside Inn, sipping scotch and reviewing his notes for the town hall meeting.
They thought they could expose him. Thought they could destroy him with testimonials and sob stories.
They had no idea who they were dealing with.
Derek had spent fifteen years perfecting his reputation. He had credentials from the best schools, publications in prestigious journals, connections throughout the sports medicine community. He was untouchable.
And tonight, he would prove it.
Let them present their evidence. Let the sad sexy librarian cry about her failed engagement. Let Ellie Hansen show her small-town qualifications. Let Cole Hansen rage about his shoulder.
Derek would calmly, professionally, reasonably dismantle every accusation. He would position himself as the concernedprofessional trying to maintain standards. They would look emotional, unprofessional, desperate.
Rachel would be the easiest to discredit. She always was.
Derek took another sip of scotch, remembering when he'd first met her back when she was Brad's fiancée. Brad, the mediocre hockey player Derek had been treating for a groin injury. Rachel had been so eager to please, so desperate for Brad to succeed, so beautifully naive.
She'd been hot. And when she'd made it clear she wasn't interested in Derek's attention, staying loyal to her hockey player fiancée, Derek had been… irritated.
He'd started watching her, showing up at Brad's games specifically to see her in the stands, timing his sessions to coincide with her visits to the skating facility. She'd worn this sundress once, yellow with tiny flowers, a bit of cleavage, clearly meant to tempt him, and Derek had thought about it for weeks. The way she'd looked, the way she’d smiled… at Brad.
The way she should have been smiling athim.
Derek had wanted her with a hunger that surprised even himself. Not only her body, though yes, that too, but the conquest. The idea of taking something that belonged to Brad Reese. Of proving he could have anything, anyone, he wanted.
When she'd declined his advances something had shifted in him. Something ugly and permanent. If he couldn't have Rachel Morrison, nobody could, he would destroy her. Slowly and methodically. Until she regretted ever saying no to him.
Nobody rejected Derek Matthews.
So he'd started talking to Brad. Just casual conversations during treatment sessions. Observations about Rachel's behavior. Questions about whether Brad had noticed certain things. Concerns, framed as professional worry, about Rachel's judgment and emotional stability. About her mediocre life as a librarian.
It had taken months, but eventually Brad had believed him.Had started seeing Rachel the way Derek suggested she should be seen.
And when their engagement fell apart a year ago, Derek had been there. Supportive and understanding.
He had done her a favor, really. She'd wanted him; Derek, deep down, he knew that. She'd just been too proud to admit it.
Just like that woman in Massachusetts eight years ago had wanted it.
