Divided Interests

by Kelly Elliott

  “Truce. And maybe we can, I don’t know, start over again.”

  Paige dug her teeth into her bottom lip and stared up at me with the most innocent look I’d ever seen. A look that said she was just as unsure about our future as I was.

  “Start over as what, friends?”

  “Is that what you want?”

  When she looked off into the distance, I couldn’t ignore the instant ache in my chest, the feel of something heavy in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I could live with just being her friend for the rest of my life.

  When she focused her attention back on me, she took in a slow, almost calming breath. “Why did you break up with Bianca? I want the truth, all of it.”

  “The truth?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Um, well, I can tell you it was long overdue, but when I saw you I realized I didn’t want to be with her anymore.”

  Paige let out a humorless laugh. “You didn’t realize that when she was trying to keep you from attending your grandfather’s funeral?”

  My fingers sliced through my hair. “Of course, I did. I knew it maybe six months after I started dating her that she wasn’t going to be the one, but I didn’t want to admit I failed yet again.”

  “And seeing me changed your mind? Why?”

  “Because I still love you, Paige.”

  The words slipped out so damn fast I couldn’t have stopped them if I had tried.

  “What?” she whispered, so low I barely heard it.

  “Fuck,” I said, scrubbing my hands down my face. “That was not what I meant to say.”

  “So you don’t love me?” she asked, her voice shaking and unsure.

  I faced her again. “I do, but I didn’t want to blurt it out like that. I wanted to…start over, Paige. Be friends with you, date you, show you that I care about you and that I’m not trying to pull one over on you. I don’t really know what in the hell I’m doing. I’ve been so out of sorts since I found out you owned half this house. I’m pissed at myself, I’m angry with Granddad, I’m fighting off the urge to kiss you every goddamn time I see you and then you go off and dress sexy and it’s taking every ounce of strength not to ask to kiss you.”

  “You have kissed me, though.”

  “I know!” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. “I thought maybe if I acted drunk, I could make up for things.”

  Her lip snarled. “By kissing me and touching me? You thought you could make things better with sex?”

  I stared at her. “Yes?”

  “Is that your answer or a question, Lucas?”

  “Can it be both?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Us having sex isn’t going to do anything but make this all more complicated, you know that, right?”

  With a frustrated groan, I nodded. “Of course, I know that. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to want you, because trust me, Paige. I want you. I’ve never stopped wanting you. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  Paige turned and walked a few steps away, her hand over her mouth. For a moment I wondered if I should have kept my feelings to myself, but that moment came and went. I was tired of keeping it in.

  “I’m sorry, Paige. I’m sorry for everything.”

  Paige

  I FOUGHT TO keep my body from shaking. Tears stung at the back of my eyes as I tried not to cry. Since the day Lucas walked away from us, I had been dreaming of hearing him tell me he was sorry. I even dreamed I’d hear him tell me he loved me. The truth was, I had never stopped loving him. That had been obvious to everyone who knew me, especially with my insane jealousy of his relationship with Bianca.

  “Paige?”

  “Give me a moment, please,” I croaked, my voice shaky and unsure.

  I felt his hands on my shoulders, and my breath caught in my throat. He turned me and placed his finger on my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his.

  “I just want to be honest with you. I’m not asking you for anything. Well, maybe your forgiveness,” he said with a slight smile. My heart drummed faster in my chest.

  For the briefest of moments, I wanted him to kiss me. Then I snapped out of it and took a step back. Away from the heat of his body and the longing to feel his touch.

  “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of this, Lucas.”

  He nodded. Sadness crept into his eyes and I knew I needed to be honest with him as well. “I never stopped loving you either.”

  A spark of hope flashed across his face.

  “But I don’t think we just tumble back into a relationship. I mean, every ounce of my body is begging me to let you touch me, to feel your lips against mine, to feel you between my legs again.”

  A low growl came from the back his throat and ignited a heat in my belly.

  “And that’s why we can’t. We need to figure out some other things first, and the only way we can do that is with our heads clear. Sex is only going to complicate things.”

  “Or it could actually take some of the stress away, help clear our minds,” he said with a wink.

  Laughing, I shook my head. “I won’t deny I ache for you, but we need to go slow. The intensity of our feelings could just be because we’ve been thrown together, and we are alone in this house. We’ve both had some major changes in our lives, and more to come. I’m looking at opening a new business, we’re co-owners in this house, you work in Austin. What is our future going to look like? What is the future of this house? The ownership of it and the secrets it clearly holds?”

  Lucas rubbed his neck, something he had always done when frustrated or thinking deeply.

  “I’m not going to sell it. I’m not going to try and convince you to let me buy your half.”

  A lump formed in my throat. “Why did you change your mind?”

  “I was motivated by the wrong emotions that first day. A part of me thinks Granddad knew I would be, and in his weird way to keep me from making another mistake, he made you part owner. He knew you’d never let this house go.”

  I smiled. “He was a wise man.”

  Lucas chuckled. “Yes, he was. I knew that same day I wouldn’t sell it.”

  “So you’ve been, what? Torturing me?”

  He shrugged. “It’s been kind of fun seeing that fire in your eyes when you said you’d never leave.”

  I sighed, not wanting to admit it had been a little fun to go back and forth with him.

  “So, what do we do from here?” he asked.

  I walked back over to him and took his hand in mine. His eyes searched my face, and I slowly exhaled. “We get to know each other again by being friends.”

  “So, I probably shouldn’t kiss you?”

  My teeth dug into my lip, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. “I don’t think one little kiss would hurt. A friendly kiss. Like a peck.”

  “A peck?” he asked, moving closer to me.

  I nodded. “Mmm-hmm. A peck.” My voice was a whisper on the breeze while my eyes locked on his mouth.

  He leaned down, inches from my lips. “I can do a peck.”

  “Okay,” I softly said, reaching up on my toes to bridge the distance between our mouths.

  The moment we made the connection, I was lost.

  Lucas placed his hand on my lower back and drew me close while my hands moved up his body and wrapped around the back of his neck.

  The kiss was soft and slow. Gentle. As if we were learning one another’s kiss all over again. I moaned, then he moaned and deepened it, pulling me into him. His tongue moved in such an exploratory way that it nearly had my legs going out from under me. I wanted more. Needed more, but knew we’d already gone too far. Yet, neither of us stopped.

  When his fingers pushed into my hair, I bit at his lip, causing him to growl again, this time in warning.

  Lucas slowed the kiss, drew back and leaned his forehead against mine. Our chests rose and fell, each of us breathing like we had just run a marathon. And in a way, we had. Years of an emotional journey, not of miles but of mo
ments, packed into our embrace, into that kiss.

  “That…was some peck,” he said as I smiled.

  “We may have to define slow.”

  “I think so,” he replied, giving me a soft peck on the forehead. “Maybe we should finish cleaning the living room, then explore the attic. I think I found the key.”

  Jumping back in surprise, I looked at him. “I thought you had the key! William gave it to you.”

  He shook his head. “Not that key. This morning when I went up to the attic, the upper door was locked. Your weird little cat helped me stumble upon a key earlier. I think it’s the key to the attic. At least, I sure as hell hope it is.”

  “Oreo found it?” I asked, confused.

  “It’s a long story, but I kind of think that cat is a ghost or something. Hopefully not the Pet Sematary reincarnation kind but more like the Casper kind.”

  I furrowed my brows. “A ghost? Really?”

  He took my hand and led me back to the table where he picked up my chair for me. We both sat down. Lucas met my gaze as he reached for his drink and held it up. “To our friendship.”

  A chill ran across my entire body before I picked up my glass and clinked it to his. “To exploring.”

  Lucas winked, then laughed. “To exploring.”

  Oreo had, of course, followed us upstairs and sat on the top step outside the attic door.

  “Okay, let’s see if this is the key.” Lucas said.

  Lucas pushed it into the lock, and before he turned it, I grabbed his hand.

  “Wait.”

  He moved his hand and looked at me. One single bulb lit up the small hallway. My hands were shaking, and I quickly rubbed them together to calm my nerves.

  “What if we find something that changes everything?”

  With a frown, he asked, “Changes what?”

  I shook my head frantically. “I don’t know…this whole thing with the dates being wrong.”

  He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. “I forgot to tell you. Dad sort of hinted that maybe Grams and Granddad might have broken up.”

  I was positive my eyes were about to bug out of my head. “What?”

  “Yeah, he didn’t really come out and say it, but he made it seem that way.”

  “And you forgot to tell me!”

  He laughed. “Well, in my defense, a lot of messy shit has happened since I came back from my folks’ place.”

  “That’s true. So, you’re not worried?”

  Lucas took my hands in his. “Paige, I don’t think Granddad would have us stumble on something that might hurt either of us in any way. I’m not worried.”

  I chewed on my lip. “Okay, I’m not worried either.”

  When he smiled, I felt my heart jump. I was going to ignore the urge to reach up and kiss him.

  “Let’s see what’s up here.”

  Excitement bubbled inside of me. “I haven’t been up here since I was a little girl.”

  “Same,” Lucas said, turning the lock. We heard it click, and when he pushed the old wooden door open, it let out a creak — or was that a moan — that would give any scary movie a run for its money.

  Oreo rushed inside.

  “She doesn’t seem to be worried. Come on,” he said, taking my hand and stepping into the large attic. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

  “If I remember right, there is a light to your left,” I said. Lucas kept a hold of my hand and walked a few feet.

  “Here it is.”

  I heard the click of the switch, and light filled the attic as I took a long look around the giant space.

  “Wow, I forgot how huge it was up here,” I whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” Lucas asked.

  I shrugged and laughed. “I don’t know, just seems like the right thing to do.”

  Lucas walked toward the center of the attic. It ran from one side of the house to the other, both in length and width.

  “Granddad told me he used to sleep up here when he was younger. He had his own area over in that corner in the front right.”

  I looked across the room and could make out a bed. “There’s still a bed up here.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  Doing a full circle, I took in the attic space. It was packed with boxes, old trunks, furniture. It was filled almost to capacity.

  “Whose furniture is this?” I asked, making my way to an old chest. Sitting on top of it was a porcelain bowl and pitcher, the kind that would be placed in bedrooms for people to wash up with.

  “This is my great grandparents’ stuff.”

  I faced Lucas. “What? How do you know?”

  Lucas was standing in front of a grandfather clock.

  “I remember this clock. It used to be in the front hallway. God, I couldn’t have been but maybe two or three. Granddaddy used to stand in front of it when it went off, the ringing of the bell used to make me laugh.”

  “But, I thought May and William lived in this house when you were born.”

  “They did. My great grandmother was still alive, she stayed in…” he stopped talking and quickly turned to look at me. “Your room. The room you’re staying in now, it was her room.”

  I smiled. “How wonderful! William never told me that.”

  “He didn’t talk a lot about his mom. My father used to tell me his grandmother was a troubled soul. She lost herself when her husband died. I remember she loved to knit. And read.”

  “That explains the bookshelf in that room. It’s still filled with books,” I said.

  An odd look moved over his face, and he tried not to smile, but he did.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Ah well, I don’t really know how to tell you this.”

  “What?” I asked, smiling. “Tell me! Is it something about the house?”

  He laughed. “I’m sort of pissed I didn’t remember this when we were attempting to run each other out of the house.”

  I tilted my head and gave him a questioning look. “Why? What is it?”

  “My great-grandmother died in her room. In your room.”

  I was positive my jaw hit the floor. “Come again?”

  “She died in there. In…” he started laughing.

  “Oh God. No. Do not say it, Lucas.”

  He was laughing so hard, he could hardly speak.

  My hand covered my mouth, and I shook my head.

  Lucas nodded and said, “She died in the bed you’re sleeping in!”

  “You asshole! You let me take that room!”

  Holding up his hands in defense, he attempted to talk while he laughed his ass off. “I forgot! I totally forgot!”

  “You said the house was haunted! How did you not remember someone died in my room?”

  He shrugged, then wiped his tears of laughter away. “I remembered Grams making a comment about how the house was haunted by her mother-in-law. It slipped my mind completely.”

  I jutted my chin out. “You are a terrible man! How did she die? Did it happen of natural causes?”

  Once Lucas got himself in check, he took in a breath and let it out. “Sorry. Man, I must have needed that laugh.”

  I balled my fists. I didn’t want to lose ground on the progress we had made with starting over as friends—friends who exchanged passionate kisses—but boy, did I want to kick him in his balls for keeping that little gem a secret.

  “I’m sorry, babe. Honestly, I am. I really did forget.”

  His endearment sent a bolt straight through my body. I froze, staring at him like an idiot.

  The smile on Lucas’s face faded. “I really did forget, Paige.”

  With a jerky shake of my head, I forced myself to speak. “It’s…okay. I may be moving rooms though.”

  He winked, sending yet another wave of electricity through my body. “You can bunk with me.”

  “Ha ha,” I managed, while I pretended I didn’t want to jump up and down and offer myself as tribute.

&nbs
p; “Okay, we’re looking for a chest,” Lucas said, casting a glance about the room.

  “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a large trunk set off to the corner. “I remember May telling us when we played up here that we were not allowed to open it.”

  Lucas made his way to the old trunk. “It’s called a wardrobe steamer trunk. Granddad would tell me it was Grams’ and that someday I could look through it.”

  I bent down and looked at it. The brown leather trunk had a domed top with brass cap feet on the bottom. It looked to be in great condition.

  “Let’s open it,” Lucas said, reaching for the latch.

  Grabbing his hand, I said, “Wait. What if we’re not supposed to touch it.”

  He gave me the sweetest smile. “Actually, it’s half yours, half mine. We’re allowed to open it. Together.”

  Drawing in a deep breath, I gave a nod and Lucas opened it. The inside was in amazing shape, with a light and dark peach fabric lining. Five drawers were on one side, and the other contained a few wooden hangers with the most beautiful dress still hanging on one of them. It almost looked like a ball gown.

  Lucas pulled the top drawer open. I gasped when I saw the inside.

  “Holy crap.”

  “Well, no wonder Grams didn’t want us playing with this,” Lucas deadpanned.

  My mouth opened and closed at least a dozen times as I stared at the drawer full of jewelry.

  “Lucas, why in the world would May and William leave this all up here!”

  “Costume jewelry?”

  I laughed as I reached in and took out a necklace that held a princess cut ruby encased in diamonds.

  “That is not costume jewelry.”

  “How do you know?”

  I looked at him. “My grandmother had costume jewelry. Trust me, this is not the same.”

  “Okay, so Grams might have had a small fortune in jewelry. Why did she keep it in her travel trunk?”

  “And why did May or William not touch it? Why wouldn’t she have worn it? Why did your folks not look in here?”

  “Same reason you didn’t want to touch it. You were told not to.”

  The corner of my mouth rose into a slight smile. “Touché.”

  “I’m almost afraid to open the next drawer.”

  I reached for it and pulled gently. “I’m not! My curiosity is getting the best of me.”