Waiting wasn’t one of his good traits. Clay paced outside the small airport hangar, waiting for the arrival sign to change, telling him that her flight had touched down. When it finally did, he relaxed.
Her faded jeans and white tee shirt hugged her curves delicately. Her tan had deepened, and he knew she wore no makeup. Her hair was pulled back in an elastic band, and a large backpack was slung over her shoulder.
“God, she’s beautiful,” he whispered. The man standing next to him agreed quietly. With a quick nod, the other man met an elderly man from the same flight. When Dana reached the end of the walkway, Clay took her hand, pulling her to the side, out of the main flow of passengers. His arms wrapped around her without thought as she accepted him.
Pressing his lips to her forehead, he told her, “Welcome home, Dana. I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too, Clay.” Time didn’t matter for them. They held tight. The announcer’s voice in the background broke their moment, Clay taking the weight of the bag she carried on her shoulder from her.
“Let’s get the rest of your luggage and go home.” Smiling up at him, she laughed.
“That’s it.” Clay looked down suspiciously. “That’s all I carried on, the rest will be shipped back,” she told him with a laugh.
“That’s the Dana I know and love.” He said it so casually, slipping his free arm around her, leading her out into the heat of the summer afternoon. Once inside the pickup, he turned up the air conditioning full blast until the cab cooled them both off.
“Tell me what I’ve missed while I was gone.” For the first part of the ride, Clay gave her bits of information about his farm and what was going on in town. He also told her how much Adam had changed since the last time he saw him. He asked her about the shoot, and she told him several comical stories of makeup melting in the hot sun and props that were misplaced, ending in the fact that it was a holiday ad she had done.
“Christmas in summer. I’ll never understand the cycle.” He pulled into a family restaurant about a half hour from home. They had a late lunch before finishing their journey. He was more nervous about having to tell Dana about Linda’s visit and note than the package contents. He knew Linda would be trouble. His sex life with Dana would work itself out.
Something just wasn’t right. Clay knew Dana saw he was restless in the restaurant.
“Clay, what is it?”
He roused himself from his mood. “Nothing.”
Dana tossed the paper napkin from her lap to the side of the table. Watching him intently, she placed her hand, palm side up, between them on the table. He glanced at her, slipping his onto hers, his fingers tightening.
“Please, Clay, at least let’s be honest with each other.” Her voice faltered. “I knew sending the package was a risk. I understand if you’re not interested, but I hope you’ll keep my secret private. Nobody else needs to know about my sexual preferences.”
“Sweetheart, relax. It’s nothing to do with you or me.” As the words came from him, he realized that wasn’t true. It had everything to do with them. “All right, but let me explain before you get upset. This isn’t about your sex fantasies or mine or what you consider your unconventional ways. This is about security. Trust me, I’ll be more than willing to review your presents with you later, when we’re safe at home. I get hard every time I think about the cock ring or using the vibrator on you. Those silk cords left an image I can’t get out of my mind, but we have to set some ground rules and safe words. All of which I’ll be thrilled to deal with later.” Dana tried to pull her hand back, but he wouldn’t let go. “Dana, in the last few weeks I’ve gotten the feeling that something isn’t quite right.” She interrupted him right then.
“Oh, Clay, I tried to tell you I couldn’t…” He shook his head, laughing. “Dana, be quiet and listen, please.” She stiffened but nodded for him to continue. “When I say not quite right, I wasn’t talking about things between you and me. I mean like someone or something has been watching us, invading our space, our private moments.” He let his words sink in, hoping she wouldn’t panic.
“Go on,” she whispered.
“Remember when we had breakfast in the diner a few weeks ago?” Again she only nodded. “When we left, Linda Cole was sitting in her car, watching us.”
“Clay?”
“It gets worse. The night we played golf, I got an eerie feeling. Nothing I could put my finger on, just an uneasy feeling. Then I realized we were being watched by her again. She’s been following us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before this?” Her tone verified her concern.
“I didn’t say anything because I had no proof. I still don’t. But early this morning, she was knocking on my door.” Dana pulled back her hand, settling back in the vinyl bench seat of the booth, her arms folding in front of her.
“And just why would Linda come to your house this morning?”
Clay smiled as his heart filled. It was silly, he knew, but she was jealous. Don’t gloat, he reminded himself.
“I don’t know. I didn’t answer the door.”
“You didn’t?” Now she seemed confused.
“I was just getting out of the shower when I heard the knock. Instead of running down to answer it, I checked the driveway from the upstairs window. When I saw it was her, I ignored it.”
“How long did she wait?” Dana’s voice had a resigned, wistful edge to it.
“Over an hour. For a while, I wasn’t sure I could get to the airport on time. She finally gave up, but not before leaving me a note.”
“Really, what did it say?” Dana straightened. “No, never mind, it’s none of my business.”
“Dana, it is your business, or I wouldn’t have brought it up.” He pulled the white sheet of paper from his back pocket, handing it to Dana to read. Smoothing out the folds, he watched her carefully as she read it.
Dear Clay,
Sorry I missed you, I wanted to talk about the Senator’s party. I’ll try back again soon.
Linda.
Both of them sat in silence as the waitress refilled their iced teas. When she had gone, Clay looked to Dana. “Well? You were there when I specifically told her to contact you if she wanted to get in touch with me.”
“Is she a child, dotting her i’s with little hearts? Good God, Clay, it’s enough to make me lose my lunch,” she told him.
He only acknowledged with a nod of his head. “I’m telling you because I’m afraid she will try and make trouble for us, one way or another. I didn’t want her mentioning she was at my house Sunday morning and leaving a wrong impression. She’ll try and break us up, Dana. Don’t buy into it, please. If something unusual happens, promise to talk it over with me first, all right, sweetheart?”
Dana let her eyes meet Clay’s. There was no denying the warmth and love they held for him. “All right, Clay.”
“And I don’t mean just us. Anything at all that seems out of place, get to me or Jeff as soon as possible. Please make sure your cell phone is charged, all the time, just in case.”
“Clay, do you think she would do physical damage—” Dana didn’t finish her thought. Clay understood it was too overwhelming to think of the endless possibilities.
“I don’t know what to think. I just want us to be prepared for anything out of the ordinary. Who knows, maybe it’s just my over inflated ego. But please make sure you keep your cell charged and with you at all times.”
“Clay, you’re upset about this. Have you talked to Jeff? What about Lisa and Adam?”
“Jeff and I had a long talk on my ride to the airport. He’ll make sure things at the house are secure and that Lisa’s on alert.” Clay paused, then decided he had gone this far, he might as well tell her the rest. “There’s one more thing.” He waited for her full attention. “When I spoke with Jeff this morning, he mentioned he had a problem with one of the vehicles.” Dana waited for him to finish. “It was your car, Dana. Jeff drove it to town while you were gone and it was vandalized.”
He waited for her reaction, but she just stared at him. “Nothing serious, just the air let out of the tires. A major pain in the ass was all. Jeff didn’t think anything of it, until we talked this morning. The car is fine.”
“I don’t give a damn about the car, it’s a machine,” she told him, “and not really practical at this time in my life.” Then she seemed lost in her own world of thought. Sensing this could be trouble, he squeezed her hand. “Maybe it would be best if I just left. I could go back to New York or maybe the West Coast.”
“If you leave, Dana, I will follow you. I’ll find you and bring you home.”
“But if my being here is creating all this hassle, the logical thing for me to do is leave.”
“No.” Clay looked around the restaurant, realizing how his voice had risen. “Please don’t let her scare you off. That’s exactly what she’s hoping for. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, except that I want you to be careful, especially if you’re out alone. Use your New York street sense. Don’t think just because you’re home you’re completely safe, at least until we know what her ulterior motive is.”
“I can tell you that. It’s to have you, Clay, all to herself.”
“Well, then she does have a problem, I’m all yours, Dana, nobody else’s, especially not hers. Just don’t let any gossip set you off until we check out the source.”
Chapter Fourteen
Dana seemed mildly surprised when he didn’t turn onto her street. Instead he turned further up the road. He was taking her back to the river house. “Clay?”
“Later, Dana.” They drove in silence the rest of the way. As the pickup bounced along the rutted road, she laughed as she held on.
It was music to his ears, her laugh, unrestricted. Pulling up in front of the river house, he reached over and drew out a key from the glove box. He was out of the truck before she could question him, opening her door.
“I want to show you something.” She took his hand, letting him lead her to the unpainted wooden garage doors. There, he bent and inserted the key in the lock, releasing the door, allowing it to swing up and out of their way. “Not the grandest of entrances, but the most secure at this point.” With her hand in his, he took her through to the large country kitchen. The space was musty from being closed up. She watched as Clay pulled back a temporary plastic covering from the opening where the window over where the sink would sit.
“Tell me what it is about this place that you like, Dana?” He turned, keeping the empty room between them.
“I’m not sure, really. The location, I suppose, not the house really. I used to come here when it was just empty land. I’d sit at the river, marveling at the way you could watch the river on this side, then turn and see nothing but forest from the other side. I suppose just the best of worlds, really, water and forest.” With that, she wandered into what was supposed to be the dining room. Clay followed but kept his distance.
“What about this structure?” Without turning, she just shrugged her shoulders.
“Too many small rooms.”
“Go on,” he prompted.
“I don’t know for sure, it just seems like it should be opened up more. Why block the front or rear view with all these walls? I guess I’d rather be able to choose what I looked at as opposed to having to change the room I was in. That sounds crazy, a house with no interior walls.” She wandered into the front hallway, carefully avoiding a large stack of lumber dropped in the center of it.
“What about the upstairs?”
“I’ve never been upstairs.” Crossing, he took her hand, leading her up the temporary stairs to the landing. Once there, he leaned back against the wall. “Well?”
“It needs a window here, a large one,” she pointed to the central hall. He knew several bedrooms and bathrooms were framed out to their left, and to the right was the master bedroom and bath. Waiting for her attention, he nudged her toward the right.
Dana looked around the huge space. Even with just the wall studs and some wiring strung in place, it was a large area. Difficult to judge what the builder had in mind at first, then after several trips around the room, Clay decided she began to visualize it, as a smile spread across her lips.
“The bath is decadent, and it would be nice to have a seating area over by the windows to catch the afternoon sun. But why three major walk-in closets? Even I don’t have that many clothes,” she teased.
Crossing the room, he took her hand. Slowly, he took her to the first one, standing her in the doorway, forcing her to look at the space again. “This one’s supposed to be a nursery,” he told her.
“It doesn’t have any windows. How could you put a baby in a room with no windows?” It wasn’t a question she expected an answer to. Turning to look, she stilled at the sight of him. Leaning against the doorframe, his one arm was propped against the wood, his other was propped on his hip, his thumb tucked into the pocket of his tight jeans. Clay watched Dana blushing at whatever thought crossed her mind.
“Come on, it’s too stuffy up here.” Again, she took his outstretched hand without hesitation. Once safely down the temporary stairs, he asked her if she saw marble in the entry.
“No, not at all. Slate or terra cotta tiles, I would think,” she told him. “Clay, whose house is this? You told me once you knew, but you never told me who.”
“First, answer me this. That day you came to the farm, you invited me to Sunday brunch, but you could have done that with a phone call. Lisa could have done that.”
“I told myself I wanted to return your handkerchief. You gave it to me in the chapel.”
“You never did return it, why?”
“I forgot.”
“Dana?”
“I didn’t want to.” Pushing past him, she mumbled something about fresh air. He found her waiting at the water’s edge when he came out after securing the house.
“Why didn’t you want to?”
“I wanted to keep it, that’s all. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Damn it, Dana, I don’t care about the stupid cloth, I care about what it symbolized to you!”
She turned quickly, surprising him with her actions, her tone. “I wanted to keep it, to have something of yours when…when you were gone from my life.” She stormed past him, almost making it to the truck before he could catch her.
“What the hell do you mean out of your life? Where are you going? I thought you came home for good! In the restaurant you promised not to leave.”
“I did. I’m not leaving, Clay. But you’re not mine to keep.” Turning away from him, she whispered, “or to give, for that matter.” For the first time since her epiphany on the plane, her new resolve faltered.
“That’s it.” This time he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder again. With long strides, he placed her down at the river’s edge. “We can do this two ways, Dana. We can talk like adults or I can…”
“What, Clay, were you going to say torture me until I come around to your way of thinking?” Slowly he lowered himself to the grassy bank. “Dana, I am yours, for however long you want me.” Such a simple statement, yet it brought out so much emotion in her. Struggling to fight back the tears stinging behind her eyes, she refused to look. For a long time they stayed that way, Clay sitting on the riverbank, Dana leaning against a tree several yards away. “Clay, there’s something I need to do before we finish this conversation. Trust me on this, when we’re finally alone in bed together, I don’t want anything else on my mind but you and how we’ll fuck. Right now, I’ve got too much in my head, things to deal with. Once everything else is straightened out, I’ll be glad to go anywhere you want and fuck your brains out. Could you please take me home?” With that, she turned on her heel and left him sitting on the grass alone.
Dana had decided to confront her demons before going any further with Clay. But she realized then she had to fight for what she wanted, and she truly loved and wanted Clay Hollister. She’d stand up for herself and her loved ones, Clay at the top of her list. C
larity finally came, the future was there for her, she just had to reach out and take what she wanted. Clay claimed he loved her, and Dana knew she’d been in love with him for years. The idea of exploring that love with him thrilled her beyond description.
Slowly, he rose, seemingly more frustrated than he had ever been before. When he reached her in the truck, she waited until he was settled, her hand reaching to his before he turned the ignition key.
“Clay, you wanted to know what appealed to me about this place.” Eye to eye, she had trouble finding the words to continue. Clearing her throat, she continued. “It’s the silence, Clay. I can hear the waves hitting the shore, the wind rustling in the treetops. At night, it’s the sounds of the wild around me. The frogs and owls, the crickets. Even the barking of the tundra swans. I know it’s crazy, but when I’m here, I always feel peaceful.”
The ride home was silent. When he pulled up in front of her home, she turned, studying his face. “The meeting’s tomorrow, do we still have a supper date afterwards?”
“Yes, of course, if you want to.”
“I do. But I have to take care of something during the day. See you at the meeting.” Quickly, she pressed her lips to his, and then opened her door before she could change her mind.
“Dana?” he called after her. “Something’s changed.”
“You’re right, Clay. Something has. Ask me again tomorrow.” Instead of going to the guesthouse, she put her bag down in the driveway, searching for something in it. Slowly, as if she might change her mind, she drew out the envelope and handed it to him. “Wait until you get home, and then look at this.” Her eyes met his as he took what she offered. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Payne, Lillith - His Unconventional Woman (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 17
