This morning, she sensed a distance growing between them. Immediately the girly part of her worried. The less self-confident side of Melissa believed that now he’d had sex with her he’d be done with her. A roll of thunder made her look out the window. Yeah, and it was snowing, too.
“Thunder snow,” he said as he ladled pancake batter onto a small pan on the stove. “Haven’t seen that in ages.”
She glanced down at the newspaper. “According to the paper, it’s expected to last most of the day. The snow that is.”
Roarke snapped on the radio sitting on the counter. It was a crank type used during emergency when the electricity went down. They had electricity now, but Roarke had been a Marine. If anyone was prepared for bad weather, it seemed to be him. She noticed he’d shunned the television, but she couldn’t blame him. Hyperbole upon hyperbole ruled news networks. She didn’t have time for it either. As he placed a plate with two pancakes in front of her, a local rock station interrupted with a news bulletin.
“Folks, it looks like a bad one today. Not only is the weather Armageddon, but there’s a fire on the south side of town in one of the old mills. They’re not sure if they can save it. At this point, authorities have no idea what started the fire. In other local news, the rash of burglaries continues. Police are baffled and haven’t been able to detect how the criminals are breaking into residences. In all but one of the cases, homeowners were gone at the time of the break-ins. One single woman, a renter at the Camino Apartments on the south side, was home when a break-in was attempted. Her dog alerted her and the would-be burglars high-tailed it. Also, the owner of the downtown building that was half destroyed by a gas explosion says that the building will be pulled down and restored. Construction won’t start until spring thaw. On the spooky front, it’s only eleven days until Halloween. Is everyone ready? Management at Steele Company says that because snow, the haunted house attraction at Tranquil View Condominiums will be open at five o’clock and close at seven tonight. Short hours for a little fun. Plus, tickets are half price. So if you can slide your way up the hill, this may be the best time to get the heck scared outta you.”
Roarke snorted when the music came on. He flipped a pancake. “Five o’clock.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m surprised they haven’t called me yet.”
As she buttered her pancakes and dribbled on syrup, she said, “Maybe they know you have company.”
He slipped the pancake onto the stack on a plate and sat at the table across from her. “Could be. Some of them might have seen us leave the party together last night.”
She tasted a bite of pancake and chewed thoroughly. “Did it seem to you that everyone was acting strange?”
“You asked me that last night.”
“I know, but you didn’t really answer. You were too busy trying to kiss me.” She winked at him.
“Trying? I was succeeding.”
She laughed with him, and for a few moments, the day morphed into any other Saturday—a day where she could enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Since her shop was closed for now, Melissa’s mornings would stay hers for a while. It didn’t keep her from worrying and wondering.
“So, what’s your answer?” She sipped more coffee. “Was everyone acting strange? Like they were attending an orgy?”
His expression changed to thoughtful, and the fact he took it seriously gave her comfort. “Yeah. Wild as hell. I was beginning to wonder if someone put a drug in the water, and we just couldn’t taste it.”
“Then you felt it, too?”
“I don’t know if felt is the right word.”
“That guy, Dax. He sort of turned into a huge leach before my eyes. I couldn’t believe it.”
His military face, as she’d started to think of it, turned hard and cool. “He’s a peckerwood.”
She laughed. “I want to use that word someday. It just has a ring to it.”
“You’re welcome to borrow it.” He dug into his breakfast with relish.
“There’s this other word I heard recently. Asshat. Or Asswagon.”
He snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I heard those from the younger Marines over the years.”
“Then you’re way ahead of me. I only heard them a year ago.” She sighed and rolled her shoulders. She was sore from their extra curricular activity. “I am so old.”
“Too old for the vocabulary?”
“That, too.” She dared say, her eyes full of mischief. “I’m not used to that much sex all at once.”
“There’s more where that came from.” He polished half his pancake stack.
Heat filled her cheeks as she remembered the incredible sensations he’d created within her. Doubt climbed upward inside her. What if the party had influenced them? What if the sex they’d experienced wouldn’t have happened without the influence of this weird place?
She mulled that one in her mind for a long time. “Does that bother you? I mean, if anyone figures out that we’ve ...”
“Had sex?”
Put like that, she didn’t know whether to feel cold or clinical. “Yes.”
“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what anyone thinks. In fact, if people believed you were in here semi-permanently, I think I’d like it.”
Melissa gaped at him. “Lived here semi-permanently? What do you mean?”
He returned the syrup to the table and stared at his plate. His gaze was serious as it rose to hers. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to be in that apartment by yourself.”
“What? Oh. You mean because of that radio report?”
“Yep.” He lifted the coffee carafe and offered to top off her mug. She held it out, and he filled it to the brim. After he poured more coffee for himself, he cleared his throat. “Just until things calm down around here.”
Shocked by the offer and uncertain of the scope of their involvement, she took a long time to answer. She stared at him, a little dumbfounded. “That could be a while. Until things calm down. We don’t even know what we’re dealing with here. It seems like an awfully big crime wave for a small place like this.”
“It does.” He didn’t seem concerned. “No sweat.”
His answer, so cool and nonchalant, added to her confusion. She decided not to press him. “I don’t think I should stay here.”
His gaze snapped to hers. “Why not?”
Because ... because why? Because she was perplexed as hell about how she should feel? “We might drive each other up a wall.”
He laughed, but there wasn’t a stitch of humor in it. “We could just have sex then.”
That did it. Her ego refused to take that one lying down. She finished her pancakes and walked to the sink where she rinsed the plate and utensils and arranged them in the dishwasher. “I’d better get back to my place before the weather gets worse.”
He stood up, and as she walked by him, he reached for her hand and caught it. He reeled her in until she rested against his chest. “Hey, I want you to be safe.”
“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I know that.” His gaze burned fiercely. “If you can make it tonight, come to the haunted house. Then stay overnight.”
“For the sex?” She knew it sounded a bit sarcastic. She drew in a deep breath and said hastily, “I’ll be back at four o’clock. I’ll bring clothes with me in case I get stuck here.”
She almost turned out of his arms, but he cupped the back of her neck and drew her in for a warm, hungry kiss that dazzled her senses and stirred hot need low in her belly. She moaned softly as his tongue tasted hers. God, the man knew how to kiss. No man had ever driven her this wild with a kiss before, and Melissa couldn’t deny it. Her hands clutched his sweater like a lifeline.
She drew back reluctantly and released him. He stepped back, and she hurried into the bathroom. She needed to escape Roarke O’Bannion and Tranquil View and find some perspective.
* * *
“So, I noticed your car was still at the condos when we left last night,” Henrietta said early that
afternoon.
The Bluetooth device in Melissa’s ear threatened to fall out as she juggled a couple of sweaters from her closet and headed to the overnight bag on her bed. “Yes.”
“And?”
Melissa sighed. “I stayed overnight with Roarke.”
“Woot!” Henrietta’s exclamation and laugh was loud. “I knew it. That party had a special something to it.”
“I’ve stayed with him before.”
“Yeah, but did you stay with him before?”
Leave it to Henrietta to bring the nitty gritty right into the open. Melissa’s cheeks flushed with heat at the memory of Roarke’s lovemaking. She went into the bathroom to fill her makeup kit. “All right, all right. Yes, we ... uh ...”
“You slept with him.”
“Right.”
“Dang it girl, you’re thirty-five and you can’t say sex?”
“Yes, yes, yes. I had sex with him. There, are you satisfied?”
“You don’t sound too excited. How was it?”
Melissa laughed at her friend’s bluntness. “It was mind-blowing. I’ve never ... the man is amazing.”
“I thought he would be. He just has that look about him. So you’re staying with him again?”
Melissa paused and stared into the mirror. “He’s a little on the overprotective side, I think. He wants me to stay with him until Simple calms down, whatever that means.”
“I think he’s right.”
Melissa made a sound of doubt. “I’m an adult, Henrietta. And independent. I don’t need a man’s protection.”
“Okay, listen. I don’t think allowing a man to protect you physically is necessarily giving up your independence. Is he being a Neanderthal?”
“Yes and no.”
“Huh. He was a Marine.”
Melissa smiled and returned to putting items into her makeup kit. Shampoo. Conditioner. Lipstick. Eye makeup. “I know what you mean.”
“You’re a little afraid of committing. Of knowing what all this means moving in with him for a while. But it’s probably a good idea to stay with him. From what you said, that Dax character was a real jerk. It’s a good thing Roarke came along when he did.”
“I could have brushed the guy off.”
“Yeah, but it was nice Roarke was there.”
Thinking about the way Roarke had protected her brought another thought to mind. “I don’t like it when a man tries to take over my life, Henrietta. Roarke sort of barged in there.”
“He cares and he was worried.”
Melissa stared outside at the clouds still moving with a heavy, droopy presence across the sky. “I know. You’re right.”
“Even Bradley mentioned that he didn’t like you staying alone in that apartment. That young woman who was attacked on Burgeon Street was sexually assaulted.”
Melissa dropped her eyeliner and it fell on the floor. She bent to pick it up. “What?”
“The paper made it sound like she was just thrown around a little. She was groped. She screamed a lot and that’s when the attackers ran away. The next woman might not be so lucky. And her apartment complex isn’t that far from yours. Two streets over. I think this town is going freaking nuts.”
Melissa frowned. “The question is, why?”
“Do you think it’s the evil Jilly was talking about?”
Melissa returned to the bedroom and stuffed the kit into her overnight bag. She sank onto the side of the bed. “That’s a bit far-fetched even for what you and I believe.”
“I suppose. Hey, look, even if things don’t work out between you and Roarke, I want you to be safe, too. The insurance company is moving at a snail’s pace getting the check to you, and we aren’t going to open the place until we can reorder inventory. Who knows when you can reopen the store? So slum around a bit and take the time off. Be with Roarke. Have sex until you can’t see straight. Don’t take anything too seriously.”
Melissa laughed softly. “You’re gold, Henrietta.”
“Why thank you my friend. On another note, how are you doing? When that boy was killed you witnessed a pretty horrible thing. Having any nightmares?”
“No. That’s the funny thing.”
“Maybe you don’t need the nightmares. Your mind realizes that you did what you could.” Henrietta’s sigh came across the line. “I know, I know. Well, I’d better get cracking. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do. Give me a call tomorrow and let me know what happened at the haunted house tonight.”
After they’d hung up, Melissa stared at the floor a long time trying to right things in her mind. She had a headache, and when she saw it was three thirty she decided she didn’t have time for a nap. She left the apartment with her overnight bag, and her mind running in circles. As she headed down the alley between buildings, she held her keys at the ready. Snow fluttered lightly from murky skies. All day the feathery snow had sent a powder to coat the landscape. Only an inch had accumulated, but the temps had dropped to around twenty. Bundled to the gills, she felt warm enough. Until the sky seemed to darken.
She hesitated halfway down the alley, her step faltering. She didn’t know what caused her to pause. She glanced around. Everything was quiet. Traffic sounds had ceased. She came to a complete stop. What the—
A figure walked into the alley. A man. Lanky and tall. She froze in place as she squinted and tried to make out who it could be. Mr. Heylock? Ida? No, it was definitely a man. But the figure was ... dark. Too dark to make out features. Then the shape was clear and she recognized him. Jilly’s boyfriend.
Her throat tightened until she didn’t think she could find another breath. No way. It couldn’t be. He continued to walk toward her. Solid. Real. No. A chill raced across her body. She blinked and the figure had disappeared.
“What?” she said out loud.
For what seemed an eternity, she stared at the place where the boy had walked toward her. Shaking with a fear she couldn’t identify, Melissa swallowed hard. She hurried to the end of the alley, heart pounding and every hair on her body standing on end. Her fingers ached as she kept her hand tight around her keys. When she reached the end of the alley, she saw the white van at the furthest end of the small parking lot. It was beat up, and dented like it had been in an accident. In a panic now, she ran to her nearby car. She threw her overnight bag into the passenger seat, slammed the door, and hit the lock. Breathing hard, she twisted in her seat to look back at the van. That’s when she saw the red stripe down the side of the van and the lettering above it. Pennhurst Carpet Cleaning.
She made a strangled laugh, half of relief and half of despair. “I’m losing it.”
Shaky, she buckled up and started the car, eager to get the hell away from here. She drove out of Simple, fear making her so tense she felt like something might happen any moment. Was this how Roarke had felt in war? Uptight? Unable to concentrate on anything pleasant in the anticipation that a bad thing could happen any moment? She knew she’d seen a ghost, and although she’d experienced paranormal phenomena before, she’d now seen two ghosts in the last few weeks. She was convinced the thing that had jumped out at her at the asylum on her first visit had to have been a ghost, and nothing else would explain what she saw in the alley a few moments ago. She turned up the heater, shaking from cold and a creeping fear.
Traffic was light for a Saturday afternoon, and she drove up the hill to Tranquil View with mixed relief and trepidation. She didn’t feel safe in Simple anymore, and that pissed her off. After all, she was a grown woman. Yet a black cloud had found her, and Melissa had no idea how to erase its inky stain from her mind. By the time she’d arrived at the condos she felt a little less jumpy, but not by much.
It was just her luck to see Jana coming out of the administration offices. Melissa came to a dead stop halfway to the elevator as Jana saw her. Maybe the woman would continue on.
No such luck. Jana waved and smiled, friendly written all over her face. “Hello.” Jana owned confidence in every step. She wore a tweed wool pants suit, im
peccably tailored. Her hair was piled in an attractive bundle on her head. “What brings you here?”
Melissa lifted her overnight bag. “I’m staying with Roarke.”
Jana’s smile fell like a Bundt cake and her expression transformed to rude bitch in a heartbeat. “Oh? Why? Is he moving on to older women now?”
Though she didn’t owe Jana an explanation, Melissa found herself fumbling for something to say. She wasn’t used to being attacked by someone this way.
Jana crossed her arms, and the sweet smile returned to her face. “Listen,” her voice changed from cool to caring, “I know you’re older than me and have seen a lot of life, but I feel like it just wouldn’t be right of me if I didn’t tell you a few things. I’ve been thinking about it since I saw you with Dax last night, and then when you were dancing with Roarke.”
Melissa tensed again, ready for confrontation. Her hand tightened on the overnight bag handle. “I can hardly wait.”
“I explained to Dax after you left that you aren’t the type of woman he should associate with.”
“No, I don’t think I am. He tried to kiss me against my will, and then he called me a bitch.”
Jana’s eyes didn’t widen in surprise. “Dax is a little overzealous when he sees something he wants. After the way you acted, he won’t be bothering you again. He doesn’t go for skanks.”
Anger roared up inside Melissa so fiercely that for a moment she was sorely tempted to hit the woman upside the head with her overnight bag. Instead, she took a deep breath and found her voice. “You mean he prefers young virgins he can control and manipulate instead?”
Jana almost looked uncomfortable, as if she didn’t like that she wasn’t receiving the reaction she wanted. The harder this woman pushed, the tougher it would get. Melissa refused to give into the desire to tell Jana to go to hell. Melissa glared and stayed quiet.
Jana fingered a strand of pearls hanging around her neck. “Roarke was a military man and you know what they’re like. He’s a fine man, but he’ll come to his senses when he sees you’re not the right type of woman for him either. He needs a stable influence. A woman who can handle him.”
Shadows Fall Page 19
