Shane

by Paula Ridge

  SHANE

  BLUE EYED DEVILS

  BOOK 2

  BY

  PAULA RIDGE

  Copyright © 2020 by Paula Ridge

  All rights reserved

  Shane is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Ch 1 – Amber

  Ch 2 – Shane

  Ch 3 – Amber

  Ch 4 – Shane

  Ch 5 – Amber

  Ch-6 - Shane

  Ch-7 - Amber

  Epilogue - Shane

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  Ch 1 – Amber

  “Mary, I’ll see you at the party in a little bit,” I say as she walks towards the door.

  “Amber, please try to stop soon. The work will be there in the morning and you need to have some fun as well,” She answers back before leaving for good.

  The paperwork is piled high on my desk and there doesn’t seem to be an end to it. Amazingly, it is rewarding to roll up my sleeves and dive headfirst into the work. My sobriety is always there, but I have found different outlets to keep my mind occupied with. This job is time-consuming and demanding but I wouldn’t have it any other way. A nonprofit organization doesn’t have many resources and depends on volunteers. I started out doing the grunt work, but along the way, I proved to them that I’m reliable and landed myself a paying job here.

  The money is earmarked for books and lunches for those barely scraping by. That is just one of many endeavors this nonprofit organization has its fingers in. I’m impressed by their dedication, and proud to be a part of something bigger than myself.

  I don’t cut corners and I make every effort to bring the nonprofit organization the publicity they’re looking for. It’s not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. Our biggest fundraiser is coming up shortly and we need everything to be perfect.

  I hear somebody knocking on my door and I glance up from the papers to see a man I don’t recognize. He’s carrying take-out from my favorite restaurant down the street. He’s quite handsome and getting into this building won’t take much. There is a brooding confidence about him that I find compelling, I want to learn more.

  I can’t stop looking at his eyes; the way the light makes the blue in them pop. They seem to follow me around the room.

  “I was walking by and saw the light on. I’m looking for Chloe. I really need to talk to her about this engagement,” he whispers with his hand to his mouth, pretending that he is sharing a deep dark secret with me.

  I throw up my hands and sit back with a sigh of resignation. “I’m sure you mean well, but they don’t need anybody interfering in their relationship. However, I do understand the impulse.”

  “So, I’m not the only one that has reservations. Good to know.”

  “I still have a lot of work to do, but...I suppose somebody could convince me to take a break - if only there was some food we could share,” hinting at what he has behind his back.

  “I brought this for Chloe as an ice breaker. Her loss is your gain.” He steps into the room and dwarves me with a handshake that makes mine disappear.

  “I just want to make one last phone call to get all of our ducks in a row. Nothing can go wrong this weekend. There’s too much at stake,” I state emphatically with the phone to my ear.

  I make room on the desk for him to set up the meal. We don’t have much time before the engagement party begins. Chloe is my best friend in the world, I just love her.

  She is the one that showed me the way out of the darkness and into the light. I will always be a recovering alcoholic, taking it day by day. There isn’t a day that goes by in which I don’t think about taking a drink. I’m glad to say there is more than willpower at work. She has continued to be my sponsor, talking me down from the ledge when I call her out of the blue, frantic.

  This job has become my life, but it doesn’t mean I have to sacrifice everything to be its guardian angel. The people here have to realize I have a life outside of the office. I usually spend my off-hours watching inspirational movies to lift my spirits.

  Chloe has found the man she is going to spend the rest of her life with. It was a frenzied, rushed start, but they have managed to stick together through thick and thin.

  “I didn’t know anybody liked this place. It’s some kind of fusion of Italian and Chinese.” He places two Styrofoam bowls on the desk and begins to distribute the food evenly. “In exchange for the food, I would like some information about Chloe. It seems only fair.” He tempts me with this pasta dish that’s to die for.

  My mouth waters with anticipation. He’s unintentionally found my weakness.

  “Chloe was instrumental in getting me a foot in the door by offering me this job. She owns this place, and without her I’m not sure where I would be,” I say with my fork poised over the pasta with a homemade egg roll on top.

  The difference is uncanny whenever I look in the mirror. The woman I used to be is gone, and I don’t miss her for one single second. Clearly, things are looking up for both of us. I’m finally getting respect for all of my hard work. The salary is meager, but the work more than makes up for the high class of living I had in the past.

  I don’t even ask him for his name. I am too hungry to think past the first bite.

  He’s wearing a dark suit with a vest and red power tie. The man does have style. He looks like he just walked down the runway in Milan.

  “Is she good for Jake?”

  “They work well together, and it shows in the way he looks at her. I’m guessing you have a personal relationship with him if you’re asking that question?”

  He does make a good first impression and his dimples are quite impressive.

  “Amber, I appreciate the insight. You have alleviated a lot of my fears. I just know that people can disappoint you and I don’t like to give them the chance to.”

  It puzzles me how he knows my name. I’m about to ask but then I remember my name is on the desk in front of me.

  “I shouldn’t be this easy to get information out of. I’m glad I don’t have anything bad to say. She is somebody that would give you the shirt off her back,” I reveal a little more about her character.

  I can’t tell if he is satisfied. He’s looking for dirt, but Chloe doesn’t have any dirty laundry to air.

  Taking him into my confidence is probably wrong.

  We eat and he purposely throws a string of pasta at me. It lands on my nose and he lets out a big laugh. There’s a bit of sticky sauce so it stays without falling. It’s juvenile, but I find myself returning the favor with sour meatballs. I fling them at him, using my plastic spoon as a catapult. It is the perfect shot right between the eyes.

  The food starts flying and I use my clipboard to shield myself from the worst of it.

  He’s not so lucky.

  “I don’t know why you did that,” I direct my comment at him.

  “You looked like you needed to let off some steam.”

  “I guess I did.” I’m about to fling another meatball and think better of it. “You can send me the dry-cleaning bill.”

  “It’s nothing to worry about. This has been unexpectedly fun. I needed this to get out of my own head.”

  We finish what is left of the meal and attempt to clean up the mess.

  “The door is right there. Thank you for the meal and the food fight, but I still have things to do.” I point to the door and he looks at me strangely.

  “Surely you have worked enough for one night? Besides, we have an engagement party to go to.” He gets up
and advances until he is standing right in front of me.

  He has had enough and puts me over his shoulder. It’s a little presumptuous for him to take this action. It’s a little caveman-like, but I like how he takes charge.

  I pretend to kick and scream, putting up a fuss, but my heart isn’t in it and he knows it as well. We get to the elevator and he presses the button for the lobby. I’m not feeling very sociable at the moment. It’s been a long week. I would love to go home and sink into a hot bubble bath before climbing into bed. I would normally blow this off, but she is important to me and any sacrifice for her is worth it.

  I have a change of clothes at Chloe’s place, where I’m currently staying. It’s not the most ideal situation when the walls are paper-thin. I do like waking up and having breakfast with her and Jake, though. They seem happy and she’s very excited to be walking down the aisle with him soon.

  The organization is her baby but I’m at the helm. I like being her right-hand woman in the field. It makes me feel important. I’m doing something worthwhile with my life. I used to always have a headache after every deposition. A lawyer is bound by confidentiality, regardless of their client’s guilt or innocence, and that weighed on me.

  He puts me down and I reach up to pluck a meatball from his collar, but it leaves a nasty stain. I shrug my shoulders and run across the street to catch the bus.

  I arrive just in time for it to pick me up for the ten-minute journey back to the house. It gives me a moment to go over some last-minute details. I try to make a phone call, but I lift my head and still see those blue eyes looking back at me.

  Chloe is the measuring stick and I have a lot to live up to. Her trust that I can do it gives me the strength to soldier on. I feel every bump and groove in the road. The bus rumbles on and I become preoccupied, with visions of my stranger running through my mind.

  I get off the bus and cross the street, going down two side roads until I make it back home. There are already a few cars parked on the side of the road. I look at my watch and see that the festivities have already been going on for the past hour.

  I see the window to my bedroom a few feet above me and I contemplate scaling the drainpipe to avoid bumping into her. I can easily make myself presentable and walk casually into the party.

  It doesn’t look harrowing, but I don’t see a reason why I should take the chance. Biting the bullet and walking through those front doors, I’m met with loud country music and people in each room of the house talking with their hands.

  I see Chloe with Jake, and they both have glasses of champagne in their hands. It kills me a little to see them so happy. It’s not like I don’t want them to get married, I feel blessed to be part of their story. I’m just not sure what it means for me. We haven’t talked about it, but I doubt they will still want to have me in the house.

  This will mean getting a place of my own without the buffer of Chloe to keep me from doing something stupid. I hate being afraid of the unknown; it makes me feel weak.

  I decide to skirt the issue by avoiding her for the evening.

  Going upstairs and smiling politely to those talking who barely recognize my existence is a bit tedious. Making my way to the bedroom has me crossing paths with a man not watching where he is going. He bumps into me and knocks me off-balance. I don’t get a look at his face and he’s already down the stairs without saying a word. It’s rather rude that he doesn’t even stick around to see if I’m ok.

  I mean, he’s the one that bumped into me, and not the other way around.

  I should have said something and given him a piece of my mind. It makes me angry, but I can’t figure out why - it was only an accident.

  I stop on the stairs to get one final look at him, but he doesn’t even do me the courtesy of looking up at me. I want to rush down and grab him. Why do I feel like this?

  I make my way over to my bedroom where nothing has been disturbed. The dress I have chosen for the evening is something casual, but I change my mind and get out this decadent little number in red. It’s something I had reserved for a special occasion. I want that nameless man to see me and feel like a complete heel for making me look like a fool.

  Ch 2 – Shane

  The fact that my best friend is engaged still doesn’t sit well with me. I can’t tell him what happened to me to think like this, though. There’s no way my declaration was going to do anything productive and it’s not fair of me to try to be the voice of reason. It’s not like the same thing will happen to him.

  My conversation with Amber makes me understand it’s none of my business.

  Cheating isn’t a crime, but it should be.

  Coming back from a hellish deployment overseas and walking in on my wife in bed with another man made my blood boil. Nicole was screaming and punching me in the back, trying to get me to stop me from leaving. She said I was emotionless.

  I couldn’t see what was in front of me. Everything was shrouded with this darkness I can’t even begin to describe to anybody. They wouldn’t understand unless they walked a mile in my shoes. That kind of hell is not something I would wish on my worst enemy and saying anything to Jake will destroy our friendship.

  That is the last thing I want to do.

  Bumping into that woman upstairs is something I can’t soon forget. She’s more than most men can handle, but I like a little meat on the bones to hold onto. A woman like her has more to offer than those workout freaks, because she is completely comfortable in her own skin. She looked a little like Amber but, with the poor lighting, I couldn’t tell if it was. I should have stopped to see if she was OK, but I have to get down for the speeches and talk to Jake.

  The clink of a glass makes me come back to the present. “I want to welcome you all to a day I never thought was ever going to come. This woman changed everything for me. Imagine my surprise when she agreed to marry an adrenaline junkie like me! I never want her to worry too much, so that is the reason why I’m taking a step back from active detail,” Jake declares with a raise of his glass.

  I’m at a loss for words, considering he is one of my brothers in the thick of things. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he came knocking on my door. It feels like he is slapping me across the face. Nobody gave him a chance; they were afraid of his mood swings.

  My good word gave him a foot in the door.

  “This man saved me from myself. He gave me a chance to breathe again when I was suffocating. I tried to put on a brave face for those around me, but most people could see through me. I was going through the motions, trying to eke out an existence. I’ve learned the hard way to open up my heart instead of closing it,” Chloe expresses with this clear understanding of what she believes love is.

  I want to be happy for them, but it kills me a little to see them walking down this path. I’m finding it hard to trust any woman again or getting too close; my heart couldn’t take another hit like that. I can’t even imagine standing in his place, wondering when it’s all going to go wrong. I’m playing it casual by keeping women at a distance. I don’t want to risk getting hurt all over again.

  I make my way up to congratulate the happy couple.

  I touch his shoulder to get his attention. “I thought you were lying when you told me that you found the woman you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. But now, I look at you and I’ve never seen you happier. Keep her close and make sure you tell her every day how you feel about her.” I’m about to say something stupid but I hold back with this lump rising in my throat.

  “I know you don’t mean a word of that, but I’m glad you came. I don’t know the full story, but she did a number on you. I’ve been trying to get you out of the house to...I’m grateful you gave me a place to stay. This wouldn’t be happening without you,” he admits, and it hits me like a punch in the stomach to think that I’m responsible if this ends badly.

  The place is tastefully decorated, and it is a catered affair with several waiters and waitresses walking around with trays of appetizers
. Some are recognizable and others make me turn away, afraid to even touch what is on the tray.

  “The one thing you need to know is that I want you to be happy,” I reply as nicely as I can.

  “I met the love of my life. I don’t quite know how it happened, but all the pieces fell into place. You never know what is around the next corner. You just need to keep your eyes open. Hey, I’m sorry you had to hear it here. I will still be working for the agency, but just limiting my overseas details,” he explains, but all I hear is that my best combat brother won’t be with me anymore.

  “There is no doubt in my mind that marriage can be beautiful. It can also be a preview of harsh feelings and things being thrown in anger.” I’m still biting my tongue and trying not to say the wrong thing, but there is something begging to burst out of my mouth.

  “Shane, nobody is perfect, and I don’t expect her to be. It takes hard work and the willingness to compromise. You can never go to bed angry. It’s something my father stressed to me when I was growing up. He looked at the world with old-fashioned values. Those values are the same ones he passed on to me. I’m never going to become complacent.” He says the words, but I’m not sure I hear the conviction behind them.

  “I need a bit of fresh air. Enjoy the party.” The walls are closing in on me and I need the freedom of open spaces before I completely lose my mind.

  I turn to leave in the hopes of salvaging what is left of my dignity, but someone is grabbing me by the shoulder.

  I turn and, “That was you upstairs, wasn’t it?” she bristles in surprise. “You should watch where you’re going.”

  She’s fired up and doesn’t stop there, “I don’t know where you get off just continuing on like that. You know, you’re not god’s gift to women. It doesn’t matter if you have all these big muscles and chiseled good looks; it doesn’t give you the right to treat me like that. What do you have to say for yourself?” She’s pretty and able to say what is on her mind without worrying about what anybody else is going to think.