Will Toby be able to find out what Wren is truly up to?

Chapter 20: The Things We do For Love

Anxiety filled Toby's chest. He tried his hardest to mask his surprise. Does Wren know about his fling with Spencer? It happened a few months ago, but Toby can't honestly say that all their hangouts have been innocent. They danced together at the Halloween party. They've shared more intimate stories with each other than anything Spencer's shared with Wren. They haven't had any more sexual encounters since that one night. Toby did kiss her. It was one kiss, but it happened quite recently. Toby knew that if he was in trouble there was no way to spin the story. Toby is the bad guy in this scenario. Toby tried to play cool as best as he could.

"Excuse me?"

Wren crossed his arms, "Spencer might be blind to your good-man-nature, but I know you've been screwing her over since the start. You made sure the accident happened on her property so you could get paid for it."

Toby relaxed, so Wren doesn't know about them. He is still pushing the narrative that Toby is some mastermind crock.

"I didn't do whatever it is you're accusing me of," Toby said. "I don't know how the scaffolding fell with me on it, but I didn't do that to myself."

"Spencer's father thinks you did it," Wren said.

"That doesn't make any sense," Toby said. "Why? Why would I do that to myself? You think I want to be in this cast? Do you think I wanted to get a concussion and risk losing a month's worth of work?"

Wren clenched his jaw, "maybe you wanted an accuse to stick around the Hastings a little bit longer. They've got loads of money in their pockets."

"What makes you think I'm after their money? I have my own business. I make my own money. I'm fine."

"Sure," said Wren. "Maybe it's Spencer you're after."

Toby sat frozen in his chair. He tried to swallow over the huge lump in his throat. Still, his facial expression remained calm.

"Why would I be after her?" Toby asked.

Wren smirked and said, "she's hot, she comes from a rich family, and she is so far out of your league. You know that if you got her, you'd be set for life. You'd have her looks, her family's money, her status, and connections to any job you could want at any place you could want."

Toby knew Wren was pulling things out of his ass to try to catch him in a lie to expose him as a crock. He knows that Wren is just playing the Spencer card in hopes that Toby will admit he caused his own accident to try to get the money from the Hastings. That's not true. Toby would never do something like that. He would never use a person for personal gain. That is when something struck inside Toby's brain. Is Wren speaking to accuse Toby of something or is he speaking from his own experience? Maybe Wren really has known about Spencer's affair with Toby all along. He must know, but that is not what Wren is confronting Toby about. Any real man would punch a guy out for hooking up with his girl. Wren doesn't seem to care about the affair at all. He is still willing to stay with Spencer, but why? Is Wren just with Spencer to accomplice the things that he's trying to accuse Toby of doing? Wren must be looking for someone to throw under the bus in case his intentions ever got found out. Toby has no solid proof of this, so what can he do? He has a hunch, but he can't voice it out loud. Not to Wren. Not even to Spencer. Not yet at least. He wants to be sure. There was only one person that may be able to help Toby with his hypothesis.

"I'm not after your fiancé, Dr. Kingston," Toby said. "And I didn't cause my own accident."

"Okay," Wren shrugged. "If that's your story. Since your concussion is no longer a concern to us, I am no longer your doctor. You can make another appointment with Dr. Ross to get that cast off your arm next week. Anything else here?"

Toby shook his head and clinched his jaw, "no."

"Good," Wren winked at him. "Have a good day, Mr. Cavanaugh. Oh, and I think it would be in both our best interests if you keep this little conversation between us to yourself. Don't you agree?"

Toby said nothing. He just stared back at the man. Wren smiled then left the room. Did Wren just confirm what Toby had been thinking? He can't be sure. Now Toby gets it. Wren is using his accusation as blackmail. If Toby doesn't share his concerns with Spencer about Wren, Wren will stop bad mouthing and ruining Toby's reputation. If Toby doesn't share his concerns with Spencer, Spencer might get herself trapped in relationship with a man who could just be using her for her wealth and status. His heart ached and he felt angry at the thought of anyone using Spencer like that. She deserves someone who genuinely loves her, not her wealth. Toby already knows what he wants to do. Tell Spencer, but not yet. If Toby is wrong about Wren, he could risk hurting Spencer and losing her trust in the process. He had to play it safe.

The minute Toby left the hospital, he called Emily Fields. Toby couldn't explain everything over the phone so he asked if there was a time, she could meet him. Emily said she could meet him at the Brew in twenty minutes. Toby arrived before Emily. He ordered two coffees then picked a table in the corner of the dining room. Emily walked through the doors and searched for him. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Toby waiting for her.

"Hi," Emily smiled. She sat down in the chair across from him. "I know you said this was important, but I wanted to show you this."

Emily dug through her bag and pulled out a mixed CD she had put together of some alternative bands she's been listening to recently. She remembered how much Toby loved the first CD she made and thought it was time to make him another one. Toby smiled as he read the names of the songs on the back.

"I've actually heard a couple of these songs already," said Toby. "I love this group. I can't believe he only had one hit."

"I know," Emily said. "He's amazing."

"I'd love to talk more about music, but I have something important I want to discuss with you," Toby said.

"You said that on the phone." Emily took her coffee and started drinking it.

Toby blew a puff air out of his mouth and said, "I don't know how to explain this. This concerns Spencer, but I can't tell her anything about this. Not until I'm sure about it. I'm going to need your help."

"What's going on?"

"How well do you know Spencer's fiancé?" Toby asked.

Emily shrugged, "only a little. I've only spoken to him a few times and the times we did talk; he'd always brag about his career as a doctor or whatever. He comes off as a narcissist to me. Why do you ask?"

"I had an appointment with him today."

"Oh, right," Emily nodded. "How is your arm by the way?"

"It's fine."

"Okay, so, Wren was your doctor. What happened?" Emily asked.

"The conversation we had seemed a little weird to me. You know he's been accusing me of causing my own accident to try to get money from the Hastings."

"What!?" Emily exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"I know. I couldn't understand why Wren kept pushing this insane narrative," said Toby. "Before he left the room, Wren thought I was trying to get Spencer for her family's money. I thought that was an odd thing for Wren to accuse me of. Then it struck me. What if that is why Wren is with Spencer?"

Emily was appalled. "Toby, do you get how crazy that sounds? Wren comes from a rich family too. He's not with Spencer for her money. Look, I know Wren isn't perfect, but I think he really cares for Spencer."

"I know it sounds strange," Toby said. "Just let me explain. Something has been off about that man since the day I met him. I could never put my finger on it, but now, I think I understand why I have a bad feeling about Wren."

"Are you sure it's not your own feelings for Spencer that's clouding your judgment right now?" Emily asked. "I mean, come on. Why would Wren be using Spencer for her money?"

"If you had been in that room while Wren was talking to me, you'd be thinking the same thing I am. "Toby lowered his voice. "You asked me in the hospital if there was something going on between me and Spencer. I'll admit, there have been a few moments between us."

"I knew it!" Emily exclaimed. "I can't believe Spencer didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"I care about Spencer," Toby said. "But I swear, this hunch has nothing to do with me being jealous. I just don't want Spencer to get trapped with someone who may not really love her. I don't know what to do about this. I don't have any proof of my hunch other than a gut feeling that Wren is up to something. I'll need your help to find out. Please, Emily. I don't care if Wren spends the rest of his life trying to ruin my career. I care about Spencer and her happiness. I'd hate for her to marry this guy and him ending up using her for her family's money."

Emily looked hesitant, but something about Toby's words got her thinking. When Spencer first introduced Wren to the girls, he seemed like a well put-together nice young man. They had their cute moments early on. Wren would shower Spencer with gifts. Then one day, Emily noticed from Spencer how things changed. Wren stopped showing up for Spencer. He became short with Spencer. Emily also knows from Spencer that Wren likes to spend a lot of time at casinos with his friends from med school. Toby could be on to something.

"I'm going to have to tell the other girls," Emily said.

"Spencer shouldn't know about this," said Toby. "Not until we know for sure this is what Wren is doing. If we find out he's innocent, then there's no point hurting her with this."

"No, I agree," said Emily. "But they can help. Hanna's boyfriend is a hacker, so we'd need to get our hands on Wren's phone."

"I can't get caught stealing his phone," said Toby.

"You won't have to maybe we can find a way to get Spencer to give Wren's phone to us."

"How are we going to do that without causing suspicion?" Toby asked.

"Leave that to us," said Emily.

That evening, Spencer sent a text to Wren asking him to come over to her place when he gets off work. She finally moved into the barn so it's like she has her own apartment. Wren replied that he'd be there in fifteen minutes. Spencer spent that time planning what she wanted to say to him. Although it pains her, she's going to say yes to moving to London, but not without dropping a few conditions of her own. If they truly have any chance at being a happy married couple, Wren is going to have to learn to compromise. Spencer bit her nails while she waited. She heard tires coming up in the driveway.

Spencer took a deep breath and said to herself, "here it goes."

A minute later, Wren walked through the door with a bouquet of flowers. He's been doing little things like this since Wren told Spencer about London. She knows this is just him going back to his old tricks in hopes that he'll get his way. They've barely spoken three words to each other since that conversation, but Wren was still trying to bribe her. Dinner was being kept warm in the oven. Spencer decided it could stay there for a few more minutes while she gets this out.

"Hey," Wren smiled. "These are for you."

"Lilies'," Spencer smiled and took them from him. "Thank you."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Wren sounded excited, which tells Spencer that he knows that he's about to get his way, but not so easily.

"I've been thinking a lot about London this past week," Spencer said. "You might be right. Living in London could be great."

"Oh, yes!" Wren clapped his hands together with excitement. He pecked her on the lips and smiled. "I knew you'd come around!"

"Wait, there's more," Spencer said. "I have some conditions."

Wren looked skeptical, "what conditions?"

She took a breath and said, "we can move to London, but not right away. I need six more months to finish my degree. That is not up for debate."

"Fine," Wren nodded. "We don't need to live in London full time. You can stay and finish your schooling. In the meantime, I'll get us all moved in and settled. I can come back and visit you during those six months."

"Fine," Spencer agreed. "One more thing."

"What?"

"You stop bad mouthing Mr. Cavanaugh," Spencer said. "You will not breathe another bad word about him to anyone. No more spreading false information about him to anyone. You will call Jason tomorrow and tell him that you made a mistake when you accused Toby of setting up his own accident. You will tell him that Toby is a good and honest worker."

Wren acted appalled, "Spencer, I am just trying to save people from getting cheated!"

"That is one of my conditions." Spencer said it louder, "Call Jason tomorrow to tell him the truth and you will call back every company you smeared Toby's reputation on."

Wren flared his nostrils, crossed his arms, and said, "fine."

Spencer kept her gaze stern, "we have a deal then. We move to London, and we'll have a happy life together, and in exchange, you will stop trying to ruin Toby's career."

Wren nodded, "deal."

"Okay," Spencer forced a smile.

Wren smiled and said, "I think you'll really like living in London."

"Yes," Spencer nodded. "I hope I will be happy there."

Wren brough her in for a hug. It didn't feel as snuggly as the few hugs she shared with Toby. Spencer really needs to stop comparing Wren to Toby. It's not going to make her marriage and move any easier if she kept doing that. Spencer could feel her heart-breaking piece by piece as she tried to picture a life with Wren and without Toby in it. Breaking her own heart is what she must do to make sure Toby can live his life in peace and happiness. Maybe if she tries hard, she can have again what she once had with Wren. Except, even her early feelings for Wren weren't as strong as her feelings are now for the carpenter.

After a strange session with Wren, Toby has his suspicions. Can he find out what Wren's intentions are? Meanwhile, Spencer makes a deal with Wren that could save Toby's career, but will it break her? Tell me in the reviews what you think will happen next.