by Cindi Myers
Closing night of the Red Lady’s Revenge he was at the theater just as he’d been for the play’s opening. As the cast took their final curtain call, he walked to the foot of the stage and presented Tanya with a dozen red roses to the applause and cheers of the crowd. Blushing, she accepted the flowers and his kiss. She supposed this was a public acknowledgment of what most people had probably assumed for weeks now, that she and Jack were a couple, just as they’d been back when they were voted Sweethearts of the Class of 1999. That night, when she looked into his eyes, it was almost as if the decade in Los Angeles had never happened.
Of course, Annie reminded her otherwise. “Mama, what pretty flowers!” the girl cried, rushing backstage to embrace her mother and bury her nose in the blossoms. She looked up at Jack. “Where did you find such pretty flowers?”
“I didn’t go out and pick them myself,” Jack said. “I bought them at the florist.”
“They’re still pretty,” Annie said.
“I don’t know whether I’m glad that’s all over or I’m sorry to see it end.” Angela and Bryan, still in costume, joined Tanya and Jack. Angela carried her own roses, a gift from Bryan.
“You were fabulous.” Tanya embraced her friend. “Didn’t I tell you you were perfect for the role?”
“I never would have chanced it without you,” Angela said. “I never thought I was the leading-lady type.”
“I knew it all along,” Bryan said. “The very first night I saw you onstage, I knew you were meant to be a star.”
“Hollywood will have to suffer without me,” Angela said. She grinned at Tanya. “Did Bryan tell you his good news?”
“What good news?” Jack asked.
Bryan shrugged, but he couldn’t completely contain a look of triumph. “I made an offer on some property out toward Cement Creek, and it was accepted.”
“It’s the perfect place for the boutique inn he wants to build,” Angela said.
“Our inn.” He put his arm around her. “I couldn’t do it without you to help.”
“Congratulations.” Tanya hugged them both as an unexpected flare of envy singed her. Angela and Bryan had such wonderful plans for the future; she still didn’t know what she was going to do with herself. She’d made no progress finding a place of her own, and she had no idea where things were going with Jack or even where she wanted them to go.
Tanya’s mother joined them backstage. “Come on, Miss Annie,” she said. “Time for you to come home and go to bed.”
“Mama, do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to.” Ruth smiled at her daughter and Jack. “I’ll see you after the cast party,” she said.
“I might be late,” Tanya said. These parties sometimes ran long.
“That’s all right. I’m sure Annie, your father and I will be sound asleep by the time you come in.”
“That’s a lie,” Tanya said when her mother and Annie were gone. “Mom still waits up for me as if I was a teenager.” Part of her appreciated that someone was so concerned for her, but her mother’s watchfulness also made her feel stifled.
After a flurry of hugs and congratulations with fellow cast members, Tanya collected her things and left the theater with Jack. “Do you mind if we skip the party?” he asked as they headed toward his truck, which was parked at the end of the street.
“I guess not.” They’d already enjoyed the opening-night bash, and with all the rehearsals and shows over the past weeks she’d spent more time with the cast members and crew than she had with her own family. Not showing at the party would generate some gossip, but she suspected she and Jack were already the subject of plenty of that. Talk amongst her friends was never mean-spirited, so why not provide more to fuel their speculation? “Where do you want to go instead?”
“How about my place?”
“Your place?”
“You haven’t seen it yet. I want you to.”
Something in his voice—some undercurrent of tension that hadn’t been there before—made her stomach flutter. Ever since that night at Gothic, she’d avoided being alone with Jack except for brief periods in his truck traveling between destinations. She hadn’t trusted herself with him, but maybe it was time she moved past that. After all, he was Jack—a man she’d always been able to depend on. “All right,” she said. “I’d like to see it.”
They quickly left town behind and headed into more open country. The occasional light shone from a distant house, and moonlight illuminated deer grazing by the side of the road. The scenery was similar to what they had passed on many other drives, but this time felt different. Anticipation filled the air as if something important was about to happen.
Jack turned onto a gravel drive that snaked between trees. The truck rounded a curve, and Tanya had her first glimpse of the house. Cedar, stone and glass combined in an artistic yet cozy-looking cabin that was at once modern and a part of the landscape. Solar panels covered the roof, their prisms winking in the moonlight.
“It’s beautiful,” she said as he stopped the truck beside a wooden deck that curved around two sides of the house.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m still doing some work on the interior and it needs some landscaping, but I’m happy with it.”
“I want to see everything,” she said as he led the way to the front door.
The interior was compact, but soaring ceilings and an abundance of glass gave it a feeling of openness. Nugget eagerly trailing them, Jack showed Tanya the solar electric system which supplied all the house’s power, a gray water recycling system that conserved water and the high-efficiency wood-burning stove that provided most of the winter heat. “Most of the building materials are recycled or reclaimed from other jobs,” he said. “I wanted to prove I could build a green home without spending a lot of money.”
She smiled, thinking it was just like him to approach building a house as a problem to be solved. As long as she’d known him, he’d always challenged himself to do things better or different, whether it was playing basketball or solving an algebra problem or managing a business.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked. “I think I have some decent red wine.”
“That would be nice.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared into the kitchen, and she took advantage of his absence to explore the living room further. Shelves on either side of a woodstove held novels and nonfiction on subjects as diverse as architecture, mountain climbing and photography. She wondered if he’d taken the photographs that were arranged among the books: Nugget as a puppy, his mom and dad in a field of wildflowers and scenic views of the mountains.
The rest of the room was furnished simply, with comfortable leather furniture, wooden tables that might have been antiques and a dog bed in one corner. A hallway led to two bedrooms he’d shown her earlier, while a log staircase rose to a larger bedroom and den that overlooked the main living area. Two and a half baths, a kitchen and utility room completed the layout.
Jack returned with two glasses of wine, Nugget at his heels. The dog curled up on its bed in the corner while Tanya and Jack sat on the sofa.
“This isn’t really a bachelor’s house, is it?” Tanya asked.
She loved that she still had the ability to catch him off guard. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“You built this for a family.” She pointed down the hall. “Those bedrooms down there would be perfect for children. And you have a fenced backyard. I’ll bet there’s even a perfect tree for a tree house.”
“I hope to have a family one day. Is that so surprising?”
“No.” In fact, she couldn’t think of a man more suited to being a husband and father. He’d seemed ready to settle down right out of high school at a time when she was plagued by restlessness.
She sipped the wine, which was smooth and not too sweet. “It’s a nice place,” she said. “I like it.”
“I’m glad.” He leaned back and stretched one arm along the back of the sofa, a man at home in his o
wn territory. “Do you remember that night our senior year, when your parents went out of town and you invited me over to spend the night at your place?” he asked.
“Yes.” The memory of the illicit pleasure of that evening returned in a rush. She’d never again experienced the intensity of the longing they’d had for each other back then. They’d made up for their lack of experience in lovemaking with their fervor.
He set aside his wineglass and moved closer to her. “I’ve never felt that way with any other woman,” he said.
What other woman? she silently demanded but held her tongue. She had no right to know. She and Jack had been each other’s first lovers, but there was no reason to suppose she would be his last.
“Sometimes when I’m with you now, it’s as if no time at all has passed,” he said. He lifted her hair and kissed her neck, the brush of his lips sending a hot shiver through her. “I still want you as much as I ever did.”
“Yes.” She half closed her eyes, savoring the sensation of her body waking to feelings she hadn’t known in months. He rested his hand, hot and heavy, on her stomach, echoing the feelings inside her. It would be so easy to surrender to her emotions, but some remnant of caution held her back. She opened her eyes and sat up straighter. “No. We were typical teenagers, thinking with our hormones.”
His eyes met hers, velvet dark, pulling her into his gaze. “It was more than hormones for me,” he said. “I loved you. I think part of me always has.”
Her heart stopped for a moment; she couldn’t breathe or move or think. Love. It was a word that got thrown around a lot these days. I love that hat. I loved your performance. I love you, but we gave the part to someone else. She had stopped thinking it had any real meaning.
Except when Jack said it. His voice weighted it with all the meaning in the world—all the meaning she wanted it to have and was afraid to hope for. “I care about you a great deal,” she told him. “Love seems like a good way to mess that up.”
“Is it because of what happened with your ex-husband?”
She nodded. “Partly. Did you love me before—before I left for California?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation. No uncertainty. Her heart pounded at this revelation. “Then why didn’t you try to stop me?”
“I didn’t think I had that right.”
Would she have stayed if he’d asked her to? She couldn’t say; she’d been so determined back then, so sure she knew what the future held. “Why didn’t I know what you were feeling, without your having to say so?” she asked. “Love ought to run both ways.”
“The past doesn’t really matter.” He slid his hand up to cover her heart. “How do you feel about me now?”
She fought the instinct to give him some flippant answer, to push him away with a joke or a half-truth. He was being honest with her—she owed him the same honesty. Most of all, she needed to admit the truth to herself. “I think you’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “I want to be with you, but I’m afraid to look too far ahead.”
“Then don’t look ahead.” He cradled her cheek. “Just look at me and be with me right now.”
He made it sound so simple—so right. She was tired of battling her confusion and doubts. She was ready to trust him, to trust the good memories of their past and the way he made her feel right now. “All right,” she said, and slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.
The recklessness of youth was replaced with the caution and consideration of maturity, but the sensations were no less intense, the feelings no less true. Each kiss burned away more of her hesitation, and she felt she was melting into him, surrounded by his heat and desire.
At some point they made their way up the stairs to his bedroom in the loft, where they undressed each other slowly, reveling in the curves and planes age had brought to each of them. They crawled into his king-size bed and she stared up at the skylight and the view of the starlit sky. “This is definitely a step above my twin bed,” she said.
“Or the front seat of my truck.”
He leaned over and opened the drawer in the bedside table and took out a condom packet. Some things never changed. He’d been pretty responsible as a teen, too, something she hadn’t really appreciated until she’d met other men who weren’t as considerate.
He stretched out beside her and smoothed his hand down her side. “Come here,” he said, and drew her to him.
They made love with a sweet intensity that was better than her memories or imagination. He remembered the spot on her back that was ticklish and the places she liked to be touched, and she discovered he’d learned a few finer points of technique in the intervening years. They laughed away the awkward moments, and looked into each other’s eyes as they moved together, feeding on each other’s passion, connected in a way she couldn’t remember experiencing before.
She rode the wave of emotion and physical elation to a shuddering climax, and held him as he followed after. They lay together in each other’s arms, a tangle of sheets around them, moonlight spotlighting them from the skylight above. She felt transported and transformed. “It’s good to have you back where you belong,” he said as she lay with her ear pressed against his heart.
“Yes,” she whispered, eyes drifting shut. Being here with him felt more right than any place she’d landed in the last decade. She prayed they’d find a way to make the magic last.
Chapter Ten
Tanya woke Jack at three o’clock, frantic. “I can’t believe we fell asleep,” she said. “My parents will have the sheriff out looking for me.”
He sat up in bed, groggy, and tried to scrub the sleep from his eyes. “I imagine your mom and dad have a pretty good idea of where you are,” he said.
This idea seemed to horrify Tanya even more. “Please! I hope not.”
“They know you’re an adult, T.” He grinned. “And I’m pretty sure they approve of me.”
Whap! She hit him with a pillow. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
“You’re right, I’m not.” He flipped back the covers and sat on the side of the bed. “Do you want to call them?”
“I don’t want to wake them if they’re asleep.”
“Didn’t you tell me earlier your mother always waits up for you?”
“Yes. You’re right. I should call them. Or maybe they’ve tried to call me. My phone is downstairs with my purse.” She started to wrap the sheet around her, but he kept it firmly beneath his hand. “What are you doing?” she asked, tugging harder at the bed linens. “I need to go downstairs.”
“I was hoping I’d get to see you naked again.”
“You’ll never see me naked again if you don’t let me go right this minute.”
He surrendered the sheet, and she wrapped it around her in a makeshift toga and hurried toward the stairs. He pulled on a pair of jeans and followed at a more leisurely pace.
“There’s no cell coverage out here,” he said as she retrieved her phone from her purse. He plucked his phone from a table by the stairs. “Go ahead and call her.”
He watched, amused, as she tried to keep the sheet from slipping with one hand and punched in her parents’ number with the other. Mrs. Bledso must have answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Mom? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I just, um, lost track of time.
“Yes, I’m with Jack.” She glanced at him and he grinned. “Yes, we’re at his house…. All right. If you’re sure that’s okay. I mean, if you don’t think it will upset Annie…. All right. Um, and thanks for being so understanding.”
She clicked off the phone and returned it to him. “What did she say?” he asked.
“She said since it was so late, I should probably go ahead and spend the night here. She didn’t even sound all that worried.”
“I told you, she likes me.” He put his arm around her and stifled a yawn. “Come back to bed.”
“What is Annie going to think when she gets up in the morning and I’m not t
here?” she asked.
“What did your mother say?”
“She said she’d tell her the party was over late and I spent the night with a friend.”
“Not a lie,” Jack said.
“Yes, but…”
“Do you want me to take you home?”
She clutched at the sheet and bit her lower lip, then shook her head. “No. I really don’t want to face my mom’s questions right now.”
“And here I thought you wanted to stay with me.”
Her gaze settled about the center of his chest, then drifted lower, a visual caress that sparked an immediate physical reaction. “There is that,” she said. “And we have hours until morning…”
A slow smile spread across her lips as she opened her hand, releasing the sheet and letting it fall. “We have a lot of catching up to do,” she said. “Why don’t we get started?”
JACK OFFERED to take Tanya to breakfast the next morning, but she declined in favor of returning home early. With luck, she’d arrive before Annie was awake and aware her mother hadn’t been home.
Besides, she wasn’t ready yet to be seen with him in public, not when she was still surrounded by the afterglow of their lovemaking. She felt giddy—exhilarated. Was she in love, or merely in lust?
Jack’s smile was so big, his manner so confident and ebullient, she was sure everyone who saw them together would know what they’d spent a good part of the night doing. Better to allow things to cool off a little bit before announcing their actions to everyone.
Annie was eating breakfast when Tanya slipped in the back door. “Mama!” she crowed. “Did you have a good time at your sleepover?”
To Tanya’s dismay, she felt her cheeks heat. She glanced at her mother, who looked as if she was trying not to laugh. “I explained to Annie that you spent the night with a friend,” Ruth said.
