Dark Secrets: A Paranormal Romance Anthology

by Colleen Gleason

  “Ghosts are reasonable,” she insisted. “How do you explain Rosie’s little sad girl? She said that the girl saw us with our clothes off, rolling around. How would Rosie know that unless someone told her?”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “Well,” he said slowly, “there have been times when you and I have… you know, fooled around, and we thought Rose was taking a nap. Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she got up and saw us.”

  Because he was so calm, Alix was naturally starting to calm. Taking a deep breath, she simply shook her head. “Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you,” she said. “But that door in Rose’s room has slammed twice like that, and when it did it last night, it knocked me on my ass.”

  He grunted, wanting to disagree with her but not wanting to create an issue out of it. “Sean said you were blown down last night and that’s how you hit your head,” he said quietly. “Maybe a heavy draft caught you off guard, you slipped, and down you went.”

  Alix was shaking her head even as he said it. “That door slammed my hand,” she said, lifting the slightly swollen fingers on her right hand. “I fell back because I was startled and ended up tripping over my own feet. I was trying to get back up again when something slammed me against the chest and… and then I woke up when you were sitting next to me.”

  He was serious as he listened to her. “What do you think slammed you back?”

  She looked completely baffled, lifting her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she whispered, verging on tears. “There wasn’t anything there. It was like…like a shove or something, or a blast of air. It just blew me off my feet and I hit my head.”

  He didn’t say anything, mostly because she was about to cry. Cupping her face with his big hands, he kissed her to comfort her.

  “Well,” he said after a moment, “I’m sure whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. I wouldn’t worry so much. Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”

  She wiped at her eyes. “What do you mean you’ll take care of it? Are you a ghost hunter?”

  He chuckled. “Not the last time I checked,” he said, sobering. “I meant that I’ll take care of you… protect you. If there’s something going on, I’ll help you get to the bottom of it, so I don’t want you to worry.”

  She gazed at him, her tears gone as she thought on how chivalrous the man was. Feelings she’d had for him since nearly the beginning had only grown stronger and deeper. Reaching out, she put her hands on his neck, her fingers brushing against his cropped blond hair.

  “I won’t,” she confirmed. “You’ve done a pretty good job of protecting me since the day I moved in and that chest fell onto me. Every time that Bat-Signal goes up, you’re there. I don’t think I’ve told you lately how much I appreciate it.”

  He smiled, a sucker for a woman running her fingers through his hair. More than that, he was a sucker for her.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “There’s something else,” she said. “You told me you loved me, twice, but you wouldn’t let me get a word in when I tried to talk to you about it.”

  His smile faded. “What did you want to say about it?”

  “Nothing. Except that I love you, too.”

  His smile was back, bigger than before. He couldn’t even reply. All he could do was pull her into his arms and hug her tightly. As he rolled her over onto her back on the bed and loomed over her, she spoke.

  “One more thing,” she whispered.

  He dipped his head low, kissing her nose. “What’s that?”

  “When people ask me if you’re my boyfriend, what do I tell them? We’ve never really talked about our relationship in depth. I guess I just want to know what you’re thinking and what your intentions are.”

  His face was an inch from hers as he hovered over her, his blue eyes intense. After a moment, he shrugged. “I’m just trying to take it a day at a time with you,” he murmured. “I told you I wanted to show you how I felt about you, that actions spoke louder than words. I’ve just been trying to do that.”

  “And you’ve been doing a great job,” she said. “But then what?”

  He pondered the question. “That would depend on you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He sat back a little, so he wasn’t right on top of her, and began stroking her arm. “I mean that you weren’t exactly whole-heartedly receptive to a relationship with me from the onset,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to chance chasing you away, so I’ve just tried to sit back and let you set the pace. So what I want out of this relationship really depends on you. What do you want?”

  She lay there, looking up at him as she thought on her answer. “We really haven’t talked about any of this.”

  “No, we haven’t. But we’ve really only been seeing each other a month. We’re still getting to know each other.”

  “Still, we probably should at least discuss this.”

  “I figured you would when you were ready.”

  She sighed. “I’m sorry if I’ve seemed closed off. I guess I’ve just learned to protect myself.”

  “I know.”

  She nodded. “I realize that, but what you don’t know is that with you, I don’t feel like I have to protect myself anymore. You’re a man of your word and you do what you say you’re going to do. You’ve shown me more love, loyalty, tenderness and compassion in one short month than anyone has ever shown me in my entire life. I can’t help but love you, Cord. You’re such a wonderful man and I feel so lucky. Really, really lucky.”

  He smiled at her words. “Me, too,” he said. “But I will admit that I want more.”

  “What more do you want?”

  He looked somewhat uncomfortable as he averted his gaze, looking at her arm as he stroked it. “If someone asks me if I have a girlfriend, I want to say that I do,” he admitted. “If someone asks me if I’ve found the woman of my dreams, I want to say that I have and that she feels the same way about me. If someone asks me when we’re getting married, I want to tell them that we just haven’t set the date yet. Do you get my meaning?”

  She watched him as he toyed with the soft skin on her arm. Lifting a hand, she pinched his chin gently between her thumb and forefinger, and forced him to look at her.

  “Spell it out, Trevor.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’m scared to. I’m scared I’m going to chase you off and I just couldn’t live with that. Alix, I’ve been happier over the past month than I’ve ever been in my entire life. You are the woman of my dreams and to be able to call you my wife… it would be a dream come true. I’d have to wake up every morning to pinch myself. I love you so much, honey. I want to feel this way for the rest of my life.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at him. It was such a sweet thing to say. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level. He snuggled up to her, nuzzling her face.

  “You can tell them you have a girlfriend,” she whispered. “I’d love that.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “What about the rest?”

  She was quiet a moment. “Are you proposing to me? Because if you are, that was a pretty weak-ass attempt.”

  He stopped nuzzling her, lifting his head to see that she was grinning. Seeing that she was smiling brought around bravery he hadn’t felt in years, and confidence in himself that he’d never had. He could see her happiness and love for him reflecting in her eyes. She was giving him an open invitation as far as he was concerned and he was going to take it.

  “Alix Hendry,” he whispered. “I love you more than I can express and the day I pulled that dresser off of you was the best day of my life. Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  She burst out giggling, squeezing his neck. He held her tightly and ended up stretching out on the bed next to her, cuddling with her as she hugged him. About a minute passed before either one of them said anything.

  “I’m dying here,” he said. “The longer you go without answering me, the
more chance I’m going to die of embarrassment and a broken heart.”

  She giggled again, pulling her face out of his neck to look him in the eye. “Just tell people we haven’t set a date yet,” she whispered. “Tell them that your fiancée can’t decide if she wants to get married in the summer or in the fall, so you’re just going to have to wait until she makes up her mind.”

  He grinned before kissing her so forcefully that Alix had to pull away to catch her breath. He continued to kiss her neck, her cheek, feeling so much joy at the moment that he couldn’t control it.

  “We went from being boyfriend and girlfriend to being engaged pretty quickly,” he finally murmured. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

  “Completely.”

  “Are you sure?” he pressed. “I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow with a bad case of regret.”

  She shook her head. “I won’t, I promise.”

  Before he could say anything more, they heard Chris’ pickup truck pull into the driveway. Cord jumped up and went to the window just as the truck pulled close to the house to protect it somewhat from the rain.

  “The kids are back,” he said, moving for the door. “I’ll go downstairs.”

  For discretion’s sake, they often separated like that when the kids came around. It was becoming normal routine, being discreet about their relationship because they didn’t want to make the children uncomfortable. But this time, Alix stopped him.

  “Hold on,” she climbed off the mattress. “That just reminded me… what about Cole? He’s still not comfortable with you and me. What are you going to tell him about… well, about us?”

  Cord stood in the open doorway, the one that faced the back stairs that led into the kitchen, watching her as she pulled on a pair of furry slipper-boots. He sighed thoughtfully.

  “I’m not sure what to do about him,” he said honestly. “I really haven’t pressed him about it, just hoping he’d get used to the idea, but if you and I are getting married at some point, I supposed I’d better help him figure out what he’s feeling. I won’t lie when I tell you that I’m concerned about it.”

  Alix nodded seriously. “Me, too,” she agreed. “I don’t want him to be upset by the whole thing.”

  The kitchen door banged open downstairs and they could hear the kids coming in. Cord just stood in the door jamb, knowing it would be futile to try and get downstairs now. By the time the kids headed up the backstairs, led by Rose and Sean, he was leaning against the door jamb with his big arms folded in quiet conversation with Alix. Alix smiled brightly at her daughter, who was holding up an anime character lunch box.

  “Mommy!” she said excitedly. “See what I got!”

  “I see,” Alix said. “I love it, baby.”

  Rose then showed it to Cord, who pretended to love it also. Then she ran down to her room and disappeared. Alix thanked her son, and Kyle and Chris who were standing on the stairs, for taking care of Rose. As the boys wandered back downstairs to the video game console, Alix turned to Cord.

  “I don’t want Rosie in that bedroom.” She lowered her voice. “I’m going to move her across the hall. She’ll be sharing a bathroom with Hester, but I think that’s the best place for her.”

  Cord didn’t argue with her. “If that’s what you want,” he said. “I’ll move her bed over if you want me to.”

  “Do you mind?”

  “Of course not. When do you want to do it?”

  “Now would be good. I want to get her the hell out of that room.”

  He kissed her forehead as he pushed himself off the door jamb and followed her over to Rose’s big bedroom that faced the front of the house. Just as they entered the room, Rose disappeared into her closet. As Cord went to the bed to begin breaking it down, Alix went over to the closet and stuck her head in.

  “Rose – ?” she stopped, mid-sentence and stepped into the closed. “Rose Elizabeth, what in the world are you doing?”

  Cord could hear them in the closet as he took the mattress off the bed, leaned it against the wall, and looked at the canopy part of the bed to determine what kind of tool he would need to dismantle it. But he heard the voices in the closet getting louder until Alix finally called him.

  “Cord?” she said. “Baby, can you come here a minute?”

  He loved hearing a pet name come out of her mouth, something that made him feel so whole and wanted and complete. He made his way over to the closet and stuck his head in, only to see Alix at the mouth of the narrow stairs that led up to the attic and Rose about four steps up. The little girl had her lunchbox in her hand and a stubborn expression on her face. Alix looked at Cord.

  “I found the attic stairs,” she said rather dryly. “Honestly, I didn’t know they were here. There’s an access trap door in the hallway outside and I thought that was it.”

  Cord stepped into the closet, eyeing the narrow staircase. “I saw this the other day,” he said. “I wouldn’t let her go up in there, honey.”

  “I know,” she lowered her voice. “She said her sad friend told her to go up there.”

  He lifted his eyebrows at her, the corner of his mouth tugging. “I think she wants to go up there and she’s playing you.”

  Alix tried not to grin as Cord held out a hand to Rose. “Come out of there, baby girl,” he said to her. “Let’s go move you into a better bedroom.”

  Rose had no idea what he was talking about but, liking Cord, she did as he asked. She came down off the stairs and took his hand as he led her out of the closet.

  “Why do I have to go to another bedroom?” she asked.

  Cord was very sweet with her. “Because your mama wants to paint this one and fix it up,” he lied to her. “We’re going to move you into another bedroom until this one is all fixed up.”

  “Can I bring my kitty?”

  He smiled down at her. “You can bring everything,” he said. “In fact, I’ll….”

  He was cut off when Cole stuck his head into the room, apparently on the hunt for his father. He looked at his dad and at Rose, but he didn’t acknowledge Alix.

  “Dad,” he said. “I need to get some stuff for school but Chris can’t take me. Can we go now?”

  Cord lifted an eyebrow. “You were out for five hours and you couldn’t have your brother stop off somewhere?”

  “He didn’t want to do it with everyone in the car.”

  “Why can’t he take you now?”

  “Because he says he has something to do.”

  Cord grunted, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at Rose and then at Alix. Shrugging, he moved for the door. “Well, come on, then,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Alix. “I’ll be back later to help you move the bed.”

  Alix waved him off. “No worries,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

  He winked at her when Cole wasn’t looking and disappeared. Alix could hear everyone moving around downstairs, voices loud, the door slam, and then Chris’ truck start up. Sean came barreling up the stairs and on into his room, and she heard the television go on. Thinking of her conversation with Cord earlier, and of the freaky events as of late, she began to move with a purpose in getting her daughter moved out of the bedroom.

  The afternoon stretched into dinner and Cord called to let her know he was taking the boys to dinner, just the four of them, because that was what Cole wanted. Alix was completely fine with that and made dinner for her and the kids, a kind of chicken barbeque casserole with a cornbread bleu cheese crust on top. Sean loved it but Rose wanted peanut butter and jelly, so she made a sandwich for the little girl while she and Sean had the chicken. After dinner, when Sean and Rose were cleaning up the kitchen, she heard a knock on the front door.

  The sun was almost down as she opened the door to find Cole standing there. Rather surprised, she smiled hesitantly at the young man with his father’s blond hair and square jaw.

  “Hi, Cole,” she said. “Let me call Sean for you.”

  “No,” the boy said before she could cal
l her son. “I… I came to see you, Dr. Hendry. Uh… can we talk for a minute? In private?”

  Intrigued, Alix stepped out onto the porch and closed the front door. She found that she was actually somewhat nervous, wondering if Cord had spoken to his son over dinner and now the kid was coming to her to hash it all out.

  “Where’s your dad?” she asked.

  “Home,” he replied. “He… he doesn’t know I’m over here, so please don’t call him, okay?”

  Alix grew serious. “Of course,” she sat down on one of her new patio chairs and faced him expectantly. “What’s on your mind, Cole?”

  Cole didn’t say anything for a moment. He came over to the new patio furniture but didn’t sit down. Instead, he leaned back against the new railing. Alix could see that he was flushed around the ears, nervous. She waited almost a full minute before he opened his mouth.

  “My dad told me about you and him,” he finally said. “I guess I want you to know that… Dr. Hendry, it’s nothing against you at all, but I don’t want you and my dad to be together. My dad… well, he’s got enough in his life with his work and me and my brothers, and he doesn’t need you. I don’t hate you or anything, but I don’t want you to be with him.”

  Alix felt sorry for the kid, trying to express himself in a grown-up world. “Okay, Cole,” she said evenly. “But can you tell me why?”

  “I just don’t.”

  “There’s got to be a reason,” she said gently.

  He started to fidget, pacing around and causing the floor boards on the porch to creak. “Yeah, well.” He paced some more, growing increasingly agitated. “Maybe there is but maybe I don’t want to talk about it because maybe it’s my own reason. I just don’t want you to date my dad anymore because he… I just don’t want you to, okay?”

  Alix was very calm. “Because he… what, Cole? What about your dad?”

  Cole’s agitation was joined by anger. “Why do you have to be so nosy? Can’t you just do what I say?”

  Alix shook her head. “Not without a good reason,” she said evenly. “Do you understand that you are asking me to change my entire life by not seeing your dad? Did you ever stop to think how I feel about him?”