Eck, yucky chapter. Sorry. Needed a buffer zone for the rest of the story. Closing in on the end! Bet you $5 no one can guess what's coming!!

Chapter Thirteen

Conclusions

Rusty inhaled sharply, his shoulder intensely aching under Isabel's touch. She meant it to be a friendly, peaceful gesture, but it felt as if she were stabbing him with the knife she held in her other hand. Her lips brushed his cheek, a prickling sensation against his skin.

He refrained from getting up to push in her chair as she sat at the other side of the table.

It was early. Extremely early. To Rusty, it seemed almost ungodly to be awake at such a time in the morning, but he had business to attend to. At least, that was how he was trying to approach it. Business. All business.

Right.

Isabel must have noticed the forced seriousness on his face, but refused to comment about it. He sighed in relief. "Izzy, I want to…"

His words were cut off as a bubbly blonde waitress walked over to the table. "Are you two ready to order?"

Rusty waved his hand at her, trying to direct her away. "Can you give us a moment, please." For once in his entire life, Rusty Ryan was not exactly hungry. Isabel lifted her menu in front of him, and a wave of annoyance washed over him.

"Hey… I know you, don't I?" the waitress commented.

Rusty just shook his head, unable to look away from Isabel as she scanned the menu. "I'm not from around here," he answered in a monotone voice.

"No, no. I know you. David? Right?"

Rusty tore his eyes away to look up at the waitress, his jaw dropping.

She smiled down at him. "David King? From the plane? It's me, Jenna. The actress. Remember?"

He smiled nervously. "Uh, hi, Jenna…what are you doing here? Waiting tables?"

She laughed. "Well, I decided to stay for a little while longer. My mom…"

But he had tuned her out.

"Where's your wife?"

Rusty's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Your wife? The woman you were with on the plane?" Jenna repeated.

His eyes darted back and forth from Jenna to Isabel, watching fretfully as Isabel's expression changed from nonchalant to irritated. "You're wife?!" she asked, her voice raising an octave. "She's joking, right? Robert?"

Jenna's smile faded. "Robert?"

Rusty chuckled nervously. "Oh, shit…. Um, Jenna can you – please - excuse us…"

Jenna nodded, shuffling away as she peeked over her shoulder at the two of them. Rusty could feel her intrusive gaze from across the room, finding it almost comical that he was in the situation he was in. "Listen, Izzy…"

"Are you married, Rusty? Is that what… is that what this fight was all about? Is that why…"

Rusty nearly stood, his fists lightly pushing down on the table as he gritted his teeth. "Let me explain!" he ordered, never using such aggression with her before. He didn't necessarily like it, but his tone was needed. "Just hold on a second. No, no I am not married. I was with Lily on the plane and…"

"You and… and the woman who called me!? The woman who invited me here!? You and her are…"

"Isabel! Just stop!" His hands were at his temples, thoughts swirling around wildly in his head. "I wanted to tell you. That's what I was trying to say before Jenna… before Jenna interrupted."

"So it's true, then?"

"Lily and I are not married, but… she and I used to have this thing and…"

"Do you love her?" Isabel asked, her hands clenching the tablecloth with a mixture of anger and contempt.

Rusty was taken aback by the question. Such a simple question, yet it had such a complex answer. He knew the answer. Didn't he? Yes, he did. He had been contemplating the exact question for several days. In detail. In every single detail imaginable. He loved Lily. He did.

Just say it, Rusty. Say it. He urged himself.

His head nodded, his neck craning forward as he physically pushed the word out. "Yes."

Isabel softened, not expecting him to say that. "Oh."

It broke Rusty's heart to see the hurt expression on Isabel's face. He hadn't expected that from her. He hadn't expected the wounded animal look projecting from her hunched stance. "Izzy, I… It wasn't fair to you. I wasn't fair to you. You deserve better."

Isabel looked away from him. "How long?"

He exhaled, not realizing he had been holding his breath the entire time. "How long, what?"

"How long have you two been together? While we were together?"

He shook his head. "No, not while I was with you. While I was with you, I promise that you were the only one. You were special to me, Izzy. I need you to know that. I love Lily, but I loved you, too. In a different way, though…" He had said it. He had clearly stated his exact emotions to Isabel. So why couldn't he tell Lily?

Everything seemed lighter in that instant, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. All his tension released and his mind relaxed. If only for a moment.

Isabel closed her eyes as if to block tears. "I gave up everything for you, Rusty. I gave up my job. I gave up my life. I moved to that godforsaken hotel of yours. All for you. What gets me the most is, though, is that I don't regret any of it. Not even now."

"That's good, Izzy. I wouldn't want you to." He reached across the table, reaching out to take hold of her hand. "I didn't want to give you the whole 'it's not you, it's me' speech. And I know this is cliché, too, but I know you're going to find someone who's going to love you the way you deserve."

She lowered her eyes to the table, stealing her hands away from him, unable to say anything else.

- - - - -

"How is it that all Rusty is good for is coning people and breaking hearts, and yet you insist on pushing him towards your daughter?" Tess asked, watching Danny slowly close the door after tucking Isadora in.

Danny sighed, closing the door to where Isadora was sleeping. "Tess…"

Tess folded her arms over her chest. "No. I'm just trying to understand, Danny."

Danny shrugged, his shoulders reaching all the way to his ears. "It worked, didn't it?" The moment the words came out of his mouth, Danny noticed a different kind of disgust on his wife's face. He had never seen such a squalid expression cross her otherwise extravagant features before, and it made him physically take a step backwards.

"Daniel Ocean, I've never heard a more despicable statement come out of those lying, deceitful lips of yours."

"Tess, it worked! They're together… where they should be…"

"For now! It worked for now… but who's to say that in three months time that they're not going to be right back where they were a few days ago? Who are you to do that to them? To the closet thing to a best friend you've ever had? To your own daughter even!?"

"Exactly!" He hadn't meant to get mad, and he knew Tess meant no real harm with her observations, but it all felt like a direct attack on what he believed. "She's my daughter, Tess. Not yours…"

Tess recoiled backwards, reeling away from him. "You're right. She's not my daughter. Isadora is, however, and I will not stand by and watch you ruin her life if it is going to be a reflection of Lily's."

"Damn it, Tess…"

Hi hands were balled in fists. Not from anger. No, he couldn't be truly mad at Tess. Not after all he had put her through. She had hit a nerve, though. A nerve Danny had otherwise tried to suppress. "I told you… I promised you that I would get out after…"

"And Rusty made Lily a promise a long time ago. Promises don't mean shit, Danny, unless there are actions to back them up." Her tone was calmer, lower. At least for the sake of Isadora and her slumber.

Danny sighed again, trying to bypass certain emotions. He shook his head, his neck and back sagging. "I… I'll admit that my promise was only half-hearted."

Tess closed her eyes, letting her hands fall back to her sides. "At least you admit it."

His knuckles twisted in knots as he thought about his next words. Emotions were building up inside him, emotions only Tess could bring about. He hated those emotions. He suppressed those emotions. At least, he tried. "She doesn't need me anymore, Tess."

Her arms quickly encircled him, Tess feeling her presence needed. All anger, all annoyance was gone. His actions were temporarily forgotten. "You're her father, Danny. She'll always need you."

He felt her hair tickle against the nape of his neck as her head nuzzled the spot between his shoulder blades. "I promised you that I would stop for Isadora's sake, but I thought that as long as Lily was still…still part of all that… that I would always be there to help her. But she doesn't need my help anymore."

"So how does torturing her love life mix in with all that, Danny?" she asked innocently, making sure her tone met nothing but its inquisitory purpose. "You're making her miserable so you can keep making her miserable?"

He paused. "No. I'm her father. I want her to need me, but I want her to have someone who cares about her just as much as I do. Just… just in case."

Tess rubbed his shoulder, her fingers playing at the seams of his shirt. "You know, you and Lily are more alike in ways than one. You both think about your words as carefully as possible. It's also impossible to get both out you to let your guard down. You know what you want to say, but you start and stop your sentences a few times before you finally get courageous enough to let others know what you really think."

Danny swiveled around, collecting his wife in his arms. "You really think that Rusty and Lily won't work?"

Tess shook her head. "I saw the same thing you did, Danny. I saw how much they loved each other once, but I also saw how much they hurt each other. Sometimes I think you overlooked that part…"