Joni gazed at Shelby’s reflection. “You’re absolutely beautiful and glowing.”
Rain wore her ceremonial dress and her two sisters wore a dark purple, matching the orchid’s splash of color. “Thank you and you look great too. The tea length is perfect.”
Alessa held a serving tray with four glasses of champagne. “Here we go, Shelby…Rain…Joni…and me.” Al set the silver server on the table. “I think we need a toast. I’ll start. I’ve only seen you this happy one other time. I’m glad you’ve found someone to spend the rest of your life with.”
Joni raised hers. “You’ve been blessed twice in this life. Not too many people get that chance.”
Rain placed her drink on the tray. “I have something to show you.” Paper wrestled inside a bag and she withdrew Ten-Blue-Sun. “Look at the top stone.”
Shelby stiffened. “Oh my God, that’s not the right color.”
Rain placed the doll back in the sack. “Don’t be swayed by what you see, fight for what you believe, who you love.”
“It’s blood red.” Shelby shook her head once.
Rain patted her arm. “Several months ago in a restaurant, you trusted a total stranger. She told you to be strong, to seek answers in another place, to believe in those who love you. Above all, to be brave. I come to you again as your shaman and…your mom. Are willing to heed my advice?”
Shelby gasped. “That was you?”
“Are you going to fight for your man?”
Shelby took a deep breath. Dammit, everyone from the First Realm talked in riddles. A warning raged within her heart and threatened to overturn what should’ve been the happiest day of her life. She exhaled. Ten-Blue-Sun’s prediction was ominous. Her sweaty palm clenched a fist in anger, the other around the long stem of her glass. She needed to see Kyle and get his reassurances. He was the strong one. His presence and words always calmed her.
A soft knock quieted the room. Kyle opened the door and gazed at her with those precious brown eyes she fell in love with. He wore a black suit tailored in Hong Kong. It hugged his wide chest, and the shirt matched Shelby’s dress. The trousers formed to his muscular thighs and the black full-quill ostrich boots shined. His orchid boutonniere was an exact duplicate to the ones in her hair.
“You’re beautiful.” He strode to her and gave her a careful hug. “I have to talk to you.”
She nodded. That’s when she noticed Chris standing at the threshold scowling. Anger radiated from the five-star general’s frame, a dark foreboding fell over her soul.
Joni’s dress swished. “Alessa, Rain and I will check on…everything.”
The soft click meant they were alone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Anguish glittered from Kyle’s eyes, covering every inch of her with rays of excruciating agony and sorrow.
He shifted, edging closer. “I love you…you know that…right?”
“What’s wrong?”
“You never answered my question.”
“Nor you mine.”
“Do you want to sit down?”
“No.” Her knees wobbled and her stomach pitched.
“I don’t know where to start.”
Time stretched to infinity, there was no point dragging out the inevitable. “Usually the beginning helps, but you can skip to the end. I’m pretty sure that’s where we…I come in.”
“I meant to tell you a while ago.”
She gathered her strength and waited.
“On one of my trips to New York…Lisa joined us for dinner. Jude and Garrett left, but we stayed to have a few drinks and listen to the live music.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t remember much about the night. In fact, after the first thirty minutes at the bar, my memory is blank. I believe I was drugged.” He shook his head. “I woke up the next morning in Lisa’s bed. She’s here…said she’s pregnant and I’m the father.”
Shelby understood everything he had said, but she couldn’t respond or move. It was as if time stood still and gravity cemented her in place. Rain’s words crowded her mind. This situation didn’t require her to be brave or to contest any actions. Kyle was needed elsewhere. An unborn babe depended on him, on his love and she would not be the one who took a father away. She had enough failures and guilt on her dinner plate to last a lifetime.
Her course had been set long ago when Tall-Man, her grandfather’s grandfather, weaved his magic. Rain was right about one thing, she had to fight for—the baby—Kyle’s baby. What if this child was the next shaman?
“Will you say something?”
After a long moment, she gathered the last vestiges of courage. “What a shame you don’t remember creating your son or daughter. Lisa is a beautiful woman.” Surely the strong-level voice wasn’t hers. “She’ll need not only your support, but you. I want to be alone, if you’ll excuse me.”
He grasped her shoulders, the warmth of his hands permeated through her gown. “If Lisa isn’t lying and the child is mine, I’ll take care of the little one. But I don’t love Lisa, I love you. Why can’t we be married and handle this together? Remember what we promised one another?”
“Don’t you understand? We can never be together. The entities and curses are too powerful and we’ll never be able to overcome them. The alpha man in you can’t win this one. It’s out of our hands.”
He released her. She lifted the glass of champagne to her mouth, downing the contents. She stared at the fluted crystal watching the remaining alcohol glide down the sides. “Ten-Blue-Sun’s stone wasn’t the right color.” She released the crystal letting it drop to the floor and met his gaze head on. “Go, you have other responsibilities now.”
She twirled, giving her back to him. “Please leave.” Kyle’s footfalls whispered across the carpet. As he walked out of her life, she cringed at the bitter taste of life’s cruelties. The second man she ever loved was gone, thanks to the vicious acts of her ancestor. She trembled at the hellish existence she’d have to endure until her grisly and untimely death.
A soft voice behind Shelby interrupted her morbid thoughts. “I’m sorry.” Shelby turned to face the intruder. “Mrs. Dent?”
“Please, call me Mira.”
The grandmother’s eyes held sympathetic sorrow, but Shelby refused to acknowledge the pity.
“You know, Lisa and my granddaughter were very close. They were roommates in college and became lovers. When Christine committed suicide, Kyle sought his solace from the bottle then sobered and joined the Navy. Even though I don’t believe it, Everett, my son, may have brought Christine’s troubles, Lisa had plenty of her own input.”
“I’m sorry−”
“My granddaughter wouldn’t know a good thing if it slapped her on the face. But Lisa forgave her and blamed Kyle for years. I never gave a thought she’d be up to anything so deceitful.”
“Mrs. Dent, forgive me. I’m not thinking clearly, could you help with your point and what this has to do with me?”
“Dear, I asked you to call me, Mira. Somehow, I think Christine’s in the mix again compliments of Lisa.”
Shelby shook her head. “I−”
“Christine is my granddaughter.”
Shelby’s mouth rounded in an O.
“Just so you know, I think this is awful. Lisa’s revenge tactics have gone too far. Christine’s gone, Kyle doesn’t want her and she needs to move on with her life.”
“Mira…this has nothing to do with your granddaughter and everything to do with two consenting adults…and a relative, a man you don’t even know. If I may be so bold as to ask for some time alone.”
Mrs. Dent’s hat bobbed. “You take care.” Mira kissed each of her cheeks and left.
Her mind blanked. The pressure in her chest overpowered the ability to breathe. She struggled to inhale. Finally, she gasped a breath.
Shelby grabbed her suitcase, marched out the door into the world of loneliness Tall-Man special ordered for her.
The next cognizant thought she had was the darkness that surround
ed her, both physically and mentally. Damn, how long had she been driving subconsciously. She had better find some place to stay for the night.
The flashing sign of a hotel caught her attention. When she walked into the lobby, the hotel clerk stared then recognition dawned and the lady smiled. “A room for two?”
“One.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, silently pleading for no more questions. The woman frowned and seemed to understand, moving through the motions.
Shelby took the keycard, swiped her bag from the floor and through the fog and haze of her mind found her room. Cursing the twenty-two mother-of-pearl buttons, she slowly undressed. The orchid petals in her hair fell to the floor, discolored, dying a slow death.
Shouldn’t she have some emotion inside her? Anger or hurt? There was nothing, not a single damn thing, just a void, like a zombie. She stepped into the shower and twisted the handle as far as it would go. The hot water beat on her tense muscles and ran over her back. Tears never came, odd that.
When Lisa acknowledged her with a nod as she left, something broke inside of her or had she mended? Or maybe she died and this was her hell? She grunted. Did it matter? Like viewing herself as an outsider, she could “see” herself. How strange. She likened this to a purgatory of sorts.
She donned a T-shirt as opposed to her silk honeymoon nightgown. One thing she had learned from Kyle, always have a change of clothes. She didn’t turn on the TV or radio. When she laid her head down, staring at the ceiling, she realized she hadn’t a clue what city or for that matter what state she was in, but like Scarlet O’Hara, she would think about it tomorrow. Her eyes closed, sleep, that’s all she wanted, the dark abyss of another world.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kyle had let Mira enter Shelby’s dressing room. Rain and the wedding party marched toward him with concern etched on their faces while others marked their distance from him.
Jude scraped his hand through his new haircut. “Are you okay?”
Kyle choked. “Shelby canceled.”
Garrett sidled beside him. “Kyle, I don’t think you did anything in New York. I think Lisa is a manipulative and a conniving bit…” He cleared his throat. “Wench.”
“Thanks, bro, but you’re not the one I was going to marry today.”
Jude straightened. “I’ll get Lisa out of here. Garrett, take Mom with you and start moving people down to the restaurant, tell them to enjoy the rest of the day and evening on us. The limos can stay for the duration in case anyone needs a ride, security will help you. Joni and Alessa, get Kyle out of here and back to Pogonip. We’ll meet you there.”
Al whirled to face him. “Tell me what Garrett said is true, that you didn’t sleep with Lisa.”
He lowered his gaze to the floor, feeling like the lowest scum on earth. “I can’t.”
“I see.”
He met Alessa’s eyes. “No, you don’t.”
“I may not, but what I do know is your timing sucks. Exactly when were you going to tell my sister? After the vows of honor and truth? Or were you going to wait until Lisa came to your front door? Oh yeah, dear wife of mine, forgot to tell you, I knocked her up. Damn. You’re not my favorite person right now. Let’s go.”
****
Kyle, settled in his truck, meandered through the maze of cars following Shelby’s sisters out of the parking lot. Alessa and Joni turned right and he took a left weaving through the traffic. He didn’t know where he wanted to go, but he sure in the hell didn’t want to be around his family with their pitying looks and Shelby’s sister’s go-to-hell glances.
As though he was in another world, the miles and hours whisked by quickly and twenty-four plus hours later, he faced the salty breeze of the Pacific Ocean with Mt. Rainier behind him. The only plans he had made were to travel by ferry to Victoria, then head up to Alaska.
Before he left Seattle, he wanted to see his godson and daughter who were named after their grandpa and him. For right now, he succumbed to the hypnotic lap of the waves hitting the coastline.
****
The next day, the weather was perfect for the al fresco lunch he had planned with Aaron and Kat. Kyle handed Danielle Lee to her dad and Daniel Kyle to his mom. “I’m glad you all could join me.”
Katherine settled Daniel into the baby carrier. “Where’s Shelby? I thought she’d be with you.”
Kyle cleared his throat. “Something came up and I had to cancel the wedding.”
Aaron, a spitting image of Dan, offered his condolences. “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe when you reschedule, all of us and our better halves can be there.”
Under the table, Kyle made a fist, his fingernails digging into his palm. “I’ll let you know. How’s Becca?” A dawn of understanding hit him like a freight train head-on. He was acutely aware of the hurt Dan had endured. Granted, his best friend had more years with his wife and children then he’d had with Shelby. But this was the first time he could honestly fathom the heart wrenching despair and torment Dan went through.
“She’s remarried and living in New York.” Aaron smiled. “She got hitched to fellow musician.”
Kyle nodded. “I’m happy for her. Did you receive the information on Danielle’s and Dan’s accounts?”
Katherine inched her chair closer to him. “You didn’t need to start a trust fund for them. Aaron and I still have the money you gave to us eleven years ago.”
He rubbed his hand against his jeans relieving the indentations in his flesh. “I made a promise to your dad and I’m keeping it.”
Kat shifted in her seat. “You gave us so much money our great grandchildren will be set for life. We’re concerned about you…That you’re driven by guilt.”
The silence that followed held him like a vise. He planned to keep the two oaths he made that day. The twins would be set for life including the next several generations. And other than slipping into Shelby’s mind for a split-second, the last time he walked was with Dan. “It’s not out of remorse, it’s because I want to do this for your families.”
Danielle fussed and Aaron grasped the handle bouncing the stroller that he’d put her in. “Do you mind sharing with us, what happened in Columbia with Dad?”
Kyle tensed. They had every right to know what really happened, instead of the official watered-down version. He sighed and resigned to relive that day. “Our team had a mission a little north of the Ecuadorian border. We were to find one of the largest cocaine work-camps and follow a shipment to determine how they were getting the drugs into the U.S. The guerillas found us and opened fire. We were told later that our informant had been tortured and gave us up. Right after that, he was murdered.”
He swallowed long and hard. “Dan, your dad, took a hit to his femoral artery.” His breath hitched. “He loved you both. More than you…just imagine how you feel with your little ones.” He cleared the lump in his throat. “The job had been successful in several areas. From what I hear, that particular work-camp no longer exists, plus they were able to figure out how the cartels were bringing the narcotics through our borders. The new equipment we tested has been refined for use by our soldiers today. Your father helped prepare a way for our guys to fight and live to see another day.”
Katherine rose and bent over to hug his neck. “I miss him.”
He scooted off the chair and stood, then embraced Kat. “So do I, princess.”
Aaron surged out of his seat. “I for one, think you’ve left out an enormous chunk of information. I may have been fourteen, but I knew there were problems between Mom and Dad. When I asked her about it, she always had the same reply, that it’s ancient history and I should let it go.”
Kat tensed in his arms and withdrew. “Don’t, Aaron. What good can come of it?”
Aaron’s chin notched several inches in the air and his gaze reflected a man who wanted no, needed answers. “I’m asking Kyle for the facts. You can go to the ladies’ room if you don’t want to hear the news of what our father was really like.”
The comment craw
led all over him. He intended to set the record straight. “I’m taking into consideration that you are my best friend’s son and I’m the godfather of you and your daughter. But hear this, keep up that attitude and I’ll stomp a mud hole in your chest and walk it dry. Stop puffing up like a bullfrog and sit.”
Aaron perched on the edge of his seat while Katherine plopped in hers.
He slowly followed, which gave him time to come up with a reasonable response. “I won’t speak for your dad.”
Aaron grunted.
“You shouldn’t blame a man who’s not here to defend himself. What I do know is that your father loved each of you very much, including your mom. As adults, we don’t always like the circumstances handed to us, but we can’t change or manipulate them to suit our wishes. We can only accept.” Fuck, maybe he should pay attention to his own words.
Kat sniffled. “You’re right…Aaron and I have talked about Mom and Dad’s situation for years and I’m ashamed of myself. As teenagers before he died, we’d listen to mom cry and babble about him not caring enough to take time for her and us.” She peered over to her brother. “We were unfair to Dad. When he died, we unjustly accused him of not loving us and blamed him for anything that went wrong in our lives. Besides, I always felt Mom was the one who gave up on our family, not Dad.”
Kyle shook his head. “To condemn Becca won’t change a thing, will it?”
“No. But now as a wife in love with my husband, I can remember certain instances with Mom that don’t ring true for me. I’m not placing fault at her feet; nevertheless, I am aware that she isn’t an innocent bystander.”
Aaron’s arm stretched across the table and grasped Kat’s hand. “You never told me that before…We’ll talk later, okay? Even then, I can’t promise I’ll change my mind, but I’ll listen and evaluate.”
Walking Into Her Heart (A First Realm Novel) Page 27
