Small Town Secrets

by Molly Kate Gray

  Josh couldn’t hide the smile that came to his lips. “I was rather enjoying myself.”

  “No, you weren’t.” Chuck’s fingers tightened their hold. “I could see it in your eyes. You might have been having fun, but you weren’t happy. There’s a difference.”

  “I get it.” Josh clicked the call button and the red light above Chuck’s bed lit up. “And you think I could be happy here?”

  His energy spent, Chuck’s hand dropped onto the mattress. “That’s up to you to decide.”

  • • •

  “So things are going well?”

  “They are.” Tara checked the time on her phone. “He came over to make chili last night.”

  “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

  “David!” Tara’s cheeks flushed tomato red as her eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs.

  “I know. But still, chili. That’s a big step,” David teased as he threw a football to Jaden. Her brother seemed a little too excited when she invited him to bring Jaden over while Meghan hosted a baby shower at their house. Now she understood he had an ulterior motive.

  “He had to make it for the cook-off for the senior citizen’s center. I invited him over since he’d be there all night tonight. Don’t even start.” Tara hid her face behind her hands. “He likes my kitchen.”

  “Oh, I think he likes more than your kitchen.” David became unusually serious. He eyed his sister intently. “You aren’t exactly experienced in the dating department. He’s your boss now. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

  Tara took a long breath and stayed quiet for a few moments. “I do.”

  “I’m happy for you. I am.” David dropped into a lawn chair as Jaden decided he was ready to play ball with Rosie. He reached down for his glass of lemonade and trailed a finger around the rim. “But you haven’t been in a relationship like this before. I, um, just want to make sure you’re ready — um, prepared.”

  “Oh, no. We are not having a birds and the bees conversation. Trust me.” Tara’s cheeks flushed a vivid shade of pink as she shook her head. “I’ve already covered this with Mom — about fifteen years ago.”

  “I know that, Tara, but you haven’t needed to think about it for a while.”

  “I’ve kissed him. We held hands — that’s all. I think I’m good right now.”

  • • •

  Tara tugged the towel from the rack and wrapped it around herself. Steam from her bath had already begun to fade from the mirror. She’d been soaking in the tub longer than she’d meant to, but the warm water felt so good against her sore muscles. For the first time in weeks, she had the energy to work in the flowerbeds, preparing the bushes for the first freeze of the year. She checked the clock, thankful to see she wasn’t expected at David’s house for almost a half hour. She’d only nodded off once in the bath tonight. Almost a month without an attack in town, and she was finally sleeping again at night.

  At the police department’s weekly press conference on Wednesday, the department spokesman said they believed their suspect must have moved on now that the cooler weather had arrived — supporting their theory it was a transient who was living on the outskirts of town. As much as Tara didn’t wish their problem on another town, she would be happy if their theory proved true.

  Rosie’s barking echoed through the neighborhood. Tara stepped away from the mirror and walked into her closet, dropped the towel to the floor, and put on her red terry cloth robe. “I’m coming, Rosie.” Tara opened the bathroom door. “The rain isn’t hazardous to your health. Silly dog. I should make you stay out a little longer.”

  “I’d leave the dog outside. We need to talk.” Wyatt smiled up at her from the center of her bed as he clutched a magazine in his hand.

  • • •

  Josh sat in his car, drumming his fingers on the dashboard. Did the police really think shutting down the main intersection at seven o’clock on a Saturday night was a good idea? He should have taken the loop circling around town. His phone buzzed and slid off the seat next to him onto the floorboard. Since the car wasn’t moving anyway, he put the car in park and clicked on the map light as he searched for the small black rectangle. He leaned down and slid his hand along the floorboard. Right as his fingers wrapped around the phone, the caller hung up.

  “Damn it.” He looked down at the screen. Private caller. Well, at least it wasn’t an important call. The traffic in front of him inched forward, and he dropped the phone into the console. Just as he put the car in gear, his phone rang again. “Make up your mind.” He glanced at the caller ID, fully expecting the same wrong number. David Sullivan.

  “David?”

  “Please tell me you’re with Tara.” David’s words were partially obscured by Meghan’s anxious voice in the background. “Sweetheart, call me when you get this message.”

  “No. I’ve been at the benefit for the senior citizen’s center. I’m on my way home. Why?”

  “She was supposed to come over to watch Jaden. She’s late, and we can’t get her to answer the phone.”

  “I’m on my way.” Ignoring the horns honking around him, he spun his car around in a tight circle and sped back the way he’d just come. Josh drove fast. Very, very fast. If a police car stopped him, he’d just lead the chase to Tara’s house.

  His tires screamed as he rounded the last corner leading to Tara’s house. He’d give almost anything to see red and blue flashing lights in front of the house, but that would be too easy.

  He left the car door open and his car running as he leapt from the driver’s seat. He slipped in the mud and crashed down onto the sidewalk. Quickly righting himself, he flew to the door and began to pound against it. “Tara?” He could hear Rosie barking in the backyard. “Tara! Damn it, open the door.”

  Glass shattered from inside the house followed by a scream from Tara.

  That was all it took. He tested the doorknob — locked. Josh backed up and hit the door at a run, splintering the aged wood with ease. “Tara?” He mounted the stairs two at a time.

  The lights in the bedroom were dark as Josh surveyed the second floor. A soft moan came from within the room just as a dark shape pushed past him and knocked him into the wall. Tara’s soft cries drew him into the bedroom and kept him from following the intruder.

  • • •

  “Do you need anything else?” Josh handed Tara a glass of water along with the pain medicine they’d given her at the hospital. After spending an hour giving his statement at the police station, he’d been surprised to discover that Tara was ready to be released from the emergency room.

  Going back to her house tonight wasn’t an option. She was afraid her black eye and swollen lip would frighten her nephew, so David’s house was also out of the question. That left one option.

  Josh had to admit that this wasn’t the way he’d planned her first night in his bed to happen. With no serious injuries, she seemed to be functioning pretty well. He hadn’t broached the subject of what injuries might be hidden beneath the surface.

  “It looks worse than it feels.” Tara spoke for the first time in at least half an hour. Her voice still sounded as if she’d swallowed gravel.

  She was moving very slowly as she walked from the bathroom. She’d been in the shower for an hour. Shuffling slowly over the plush carpet, Josh couldn’t tell if her hesitant steps came because she was in pain or in shock. Either option was unacceptable to him.

  “It looks like it hurts.” His voice caught in his throat. He’d watched her face drain of what little color it had to start with as he drove her to his home. As they’d driven the short distance to his condo, he’d taken her hand to try to stop it from shaking. She let him touch her — that had to be a good sign.

  “I’m sorry.” She looked so small, sitting on the edge of the bed wearing one of his s
hirts as makeshift pajamas.

  “What?” He spun around in surprise. “What are you sorry about? Look at me.” He crossed the room. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He knelt in front of her and hesitantly reached for her cheek.

  “If I’d just been more careful.”

  “No.” When she didn’t shrink away from his touch, he took a seat next to her on the bed and he shook his head. “No. This isn’t your fault.”

  Tara nodded and tried to swallow, but it sounded more like a gasp. “I should have known. When I saw the picture. I knew he’d be mad.”

  “Shh.” He tentatively stroked her hair. “You need to go to sleep. We can talk in the morning.” He pulled the blankets back and held them open as she slid into the sheets. “I’ll be on the couch — just outside if you need me.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

  “Josh?”

  He paused mid-step with his hand on the lights.

  “He didn’t … ” She shook her head, unable to finish her sentence. A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and he kissed it away. “I thought you’d want to know.”

  Letting out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, he sighed in relief. “Thank you for telling me.” He swept her hair out of her face as he kissed her forehead. “Good night.” He turned to leave again.

  “No.” She locked eyes with him and grabbed hold of his wrist. “Please stay.”

  He’d discovered weeks ago that he was unable to say no when she looked at him like that. “You’re sure?”

  Tara nodded and took hold of his hand. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  Josh kicked off his shoes and peeled his shirt off over his head. He slid into the king-sized bed and was momentarily surprised when Tara scooted close to him, curling into his chest.

  Tara began to fight a losing battle with her eyelids. Josh recognized that look. Her pain medicine had kicked in.

  “It’s okay to go to sleep.” He wrapped one arm around her as he pulled her even tighter into his chest. “I won’t let you go.”

  • • •

  “Your brother knows you really well.”

  Tara heard Josh before she saw him. As she sat on a tree swing overlooking the Savannah River rapids, her eyes were fixed on a tiny boat sitting atop one of the larger rocks in the middle of the white caps. Somewhere farther upstream, a child must have lost the toy, and the little blue boat found a harbor in the midst of the chaos surrounding it. Throughout her sleepless night and early morning, she’d been searching for her harbor in the storm.

  And here he was.

  Leaves crunched as Josh came into view. As he approached her, lines of worry faded from his eyes. “I woke up, and you were gone.”

  “Sorry.” Tara hissed at the rawness in her throat.

  He ducked under the ancient oak’s limb and stood in front of her, concern pouring from his eyes. “I was worried.” He stilled the swing by grabbing hold of the metal chain. “You look like you’re freezing.”

  Tara toed the fallen leaves at her feet, only then noticing the fine fur of frost blanketing the grass. When she walked out of Josh’s condo, she hadn’t given her wardrobe a second thought. But now, since he’d drawn attention to it, his dress shirt over the yoga pants she’d been given at the hospital weren’t really doing much to combat the cold air. Still keeping her eyes lowered, she nodded, trying to hide her hands beneath her thighs. “I am.” A shiver went through her just as Josh took a final step closer to her.

  “Scoot over a little.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shrug off his jacket. He gently draped it over her shoulders as he took a seat on the far side of the swing. As they sat in silence, he reached for her hand. The stillness hung between them and threatened to choke her.

  A log of driftwood churned through the river, getting caught amid the rocks in its path. Turning on its end, it spun against the largest rock and dislodged the tiny boat, sending it plunging beneath the waters.

  Josh’s fingers tightened around hers. That simple move proved to be too much. She dissolved into tears as Josh cautiously slid next to her.

  • • •

  Josh tentatively reached out for Tara, uncertain if she’d welcome his touch. He leaned over to check for an unbruised area to touch before he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her to his chest. At first, she was stiff in his arms, but her muscles began to relax as her sobs began to quiet.

  Uncertain of any other way to help, he kicked off from the ground to cause the swing to rock gently in the early morning breeze. A flock of geese honked as they winged their way overhead. In the distance, soccer moms formed a perimeter around two preschool-aged teams. Josh’s phone buzzed in his pocket and vibrated against the wood beneath them, but he couldn’t bring himself to release her now that she’d finally relaxed in his arms.

  The frost dripped from the brown-tinged grass, and Josh realized his legs had long since gone numb. He gently stroked her arm and placed a hesitant kiss atop her head.

  “I can’t do it.” Hoarse and little more than a whisper, if he hadn’t been accustomed to her under-her-breath comments on the newscast, he wouldn’t have understood Tara’s words. She sniffed and his heart lurched at the utter defeat in her voice. “I don’t have it in me.”

  He didn’t need to ask her what she meant. She pulled away from his chest, and the breeze against his damp shirt gave him an involuntary shudder. Her endless gray eyes were red-tinged as she looked into his face. “Once was bad enough. I just can’t.”

  Stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb, he lowered his face to hers. “You can. You are unbelievably strong. This time you have something you didn’t have last time. Me. I am not going to let him get away with this. I promise you that. I didn’t win all those Peabody awards because I gave up too easily.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  December

  Tara knelt down beneath the front windows and plugged the Christmas lights into the socket. Standing up, she brushed the dust and bits of dried leaves from her palms.

  “Looks good!” David crunched up the sidewalk carrying a brown paper sack.

  “You’re not upset that I hung the lights without you?” Tara looked sheepishly at her brother as she stepped back to Josh’s side.

  David laughed so hard the bag ripped and threatened to spill its contents along the sidewalk. “Mad? That you found someone else to inflict your see it from space obsession on?” His eyes darted to Josh. “I’m just surprised he’s still here. How many times did you make him adjust the tree?”

  Tara’s cheeks flushed pink. “Only twice.”

  “She went easy on you.” David juggled the bag on his hip. “We’ll see how many times you have to move it next year.”

  “David!” Tara’s eyes widened in annoyance as she attempted to silence her brother.

  Josh stepped closer to Tara and placed a reassuring hand on the small of her back. Tara’s reaction to David’s comment made him more than a little curious as to what conversations had passed between the siblings. Based on the blush coloring Tara’s cheeks a very appealing shade of pink, they must have had more than one discussion about him. “I think I can handle it.”

  “Didn’t know you’d still be here, Josh. Tara said y’all were going out for lunch.” David turned his attention to the man with his hand possessively on Tara’s back. “But I think we have plenty.”

  “Plenty of what?”

  “Chinese.” David tapped the bag. “Meghan’s current favorite.” He walked inside the house. “She’ll be here in a second. She had to wait for the sitter.”

  Tara linked hands with Josh as she followed her brother into the house. “Rosie!” She dropped her grip on his hand and began to laugh at the dog’s excited greeting. “We were only outside for five minutes.” With her paws on Tara’s shoulders, the dog was almost as tall as she wa
s. Tara’s face was getting well washed by Rosie’s tongue.

  “Easy girl.” Josh attempted to pull Rosie away from Tara. “You’re not the only one who touches those lips.”

  Meghan pushed the front door open. “I thought I’d never get here!” She looked in exasperation at her husband. “I thought Sierra forgot for a while, but she finally showed up. Did you get everything?”

  “I hope this is all you ordered. I don’t know if they have any food left.” David stood in the kitchen and began to unload the brown paper sack.

  Meghan wrapped her arms around Tara. “How are you doing? Ready for the preliminary hearing on Tuesday?”

  Tara tilted her head to the side and shrugged. “As I’ll ever be. Is there a surprise party I don’t know about?” Tara watched as David covered her counter with take-out containers.

  “No, just remember to never leave Meghan in charge of the order again.” David stepped behind his wife and looped his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder while grinning at his sister.

  “Hey!” Meghan slapped David on the shoulder. “I am eating for two, you know.” She ran her hand over her decidedly rounded belly.

  Josh stood at the edge of the kitchen, scratching Rosie’s head while listening to the banter between the family members, all the while feeling more and more as if he were intruding. As Meghan pulled the cups down from the cabinet, she hesitated while reaching for a fourth glass. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Josh squeezed Tara’s arm and turned toward the door.

  “Josh, we really have plenty.” Meghan took one more glass from the cabinet and gave it to him. “Please, stay. Maybe with you here, David will stand a fighting chance tonight in Scrabble.”

  “Scrabble?”

  “Scrabble to see who pays for dinner,” Tara explained. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at David. “It’s become something of a family tradition.”

  Josh counted the boxes on the countertop — mentally calculating the cost to the loser. “Who normally wins?” Meghan and David turned in unison toward Tara. “Then I want to be on her team.”