Shadows in the Curtain (Destination Billionaire Romance)

by Checketts, Cami

“Wonderful.” Emmy felt a twinge of guilt. People always meant well. She pretended she was onstage and gave the older woman a smile so bright, it should’ve made Mrs. Baxter shield her eyes.

  “Now don’t you lie to me.” Mrs. Baxter tightened her grip until it was almost painful. “I’ve lost my lover and I know the agony of being alone.”

  Emmy had heard the “lost lover” story dozens of times. She couldn’t handle it today. “Thank you for being so understanding.” She tugged her arm free and gripped her shopping cart. Crisp apples would have to wait. “I’ve got to run. A student will be at my house soon.”

  She pushed the cart away, the woman’s final words bouncing off her back. “It will get better!”

  Emmy cringed. It had been a year. Nothing had gotten better.

  It was an accomplishment to make it to the store or take a shower. The only reason she got out of bed was her students and the theater.

  Crash! Her cart came to an abrupt halt as she rounded the corner and slammed into another patron’s grocery cart. The impact knocked her off balance, propelling her sideways into a cereal display. Boxes of cereal dumped around her feet.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you.” A large hand wrapped around her waist and lifted her out of the mess.

  “Thank you.” Emmy turned to look into startling blue eyes. Oh no. Him. Captain Joshua Campbell. Firefighter extraordinaire. Town golden boy. Wasn’t Mrs. Baxter enough punishment for one day?

  She bent and retrieved several boxes of Cheerios, praying he’d go away. But no—always the gentleman, he grabbed the Lucky Charms and helped her fix the display. It was impossible not to run into each other in this small town, and she’d observed him doing everything from comforting a toddler who had dropped his ice cream cone to changing tires for people stranded on the highway. He was just one of those people who were too good to be true, and it fueled her anger and cynicism. She recognized that blaming him for Grayson’s death was unreasonable, but he almost brought it on himself—always worrying about her, promising he’d find the murderer. She’d finally accepted the evidence that he couldn’t be the murderer, but she still felt guilty for her feelings of attraction toward Josh before Grayson died. She wanted nothing to do with him.

  Thankfully he didn’t say anything while they worked side by side, curious shoppers gawking as they walked past. The air between them was charged like static electricity. Emmy checked to see if her hair stood on end. She hated the awareness she always felt when he appeared. Even though she kept trying to convince herself she wanted nothing to do with him, it was like her body had different ideas. The cereal was organized much too quickly.

  She clutched her shopping cart handle and pushed off, ordering her body to forget about it.

  His hand on her arm stopped the forward momentum and made her shiver at the pleasant sensation. “How are you?”

  She’d been so proud of herself earlier for meeting Mrs. Baxter’s gaze. She couldn’t do it with Josh. She studied his chin and unfortunately found herself wondering if the stubble would be rough or soft. It looked long enough to be soft, and she loved the way it shadowed his face.

  No! Stop noticing him.

  “It’s really none of your business how I am.” Her voice could’ve cooled hot chocolate.

  His hand dropped from her arm. She should’ve felt relief instead of remorse at the loss of his touch. “Um, I know that,” he said. “I just … worry about you.”

  That did it. Her head snapped up and she was able to meet those blue eyes without wanting to melt. “You and everybody else in this town! I. Am. Fine.” She glanced around at several other people she knew, glowering until they resumed their shopping. Except for Mrs. Baxter, who just gave her that compassionate smile.

  Emmy turned back to Josh. “Fine. No one needs to worry about me. Especially you.” She poked him in the chest and jammed her finger on the hard musculature. She bit down on the yelp that wanted to escape, ignored his whipped puppy look, and shoved her shopping cart away. He was the last person on earth who needed to worry about her.

  6

  KELTON BANGED ON THE SLIDING GLASS DOOR. Emmy managed a weak smile, staring at him through bleary eyes but not standing up from the couch. Last night had been a bad one. Even with the expensive security system she’d installed, she had trouble sleeping and cowered at every creak. She’d finally turned on her white noise machine to shut out the little sounds, but then she stayed awake wondering if the device drowned out the approach of the murderer. The notes had stopped after Grayson’s death, and although the murderer seemed to have disappeared from everywhere but her nightmares, she realized her fears had only grown.

  “How’s the prettiest voice teacher in Cannon Beach?”

  “Tired.” Too tired to reprimand him for his standard flirtation.

  “Seriously, you look like crap.” He flopped his brawny frame into the overstuffed chair.

  “Ouch. So your opening line is just to make me feel good?”

  He grinned. “You’re still beautiful. You just look like you haven’t slept.” He paused, studying her. “Doing okay?”

  “Yeah. It’s just …” For some reason she couldn’t formulate the standard lies today. I’m fine. I’m doing better. The sincere look in Kelton’s eyes almost made her cry. Under all the teasing, he was a great kid. Kelton’s family and her fellow actors at the theater were the only friends she could claim anymore. Grayson had been her best friend; no one filled that role.

  “Just sucks. I know.” He rubbed his large palms on the chair’s arms. “I think it’s chill you stayed here and didn’t move back to L.A. like your crazy aunt wanted you to.”

  Emmy had endured days of fighting with her aunt, including an embarrassing feud during the funeral dinner, before she convinced Jalina that she wasn’t leaving the home she and Grayson had been so happy in, her students, or her theater. “I couldn’t leave my house.”

  He frowned.

  “Or my favorite neighbors.” Kelton and his family were wonderful to her.

  That brought a smile back. “Or the Coaster Theater. People would fl-ip.” He drawled the word out. “You’re such a superstar.”

  She didn’t need to be a superstar, but she would do anything for the theater. “I love it there. The theater and my students are the only reason I get out of bed in the morning.” Wow, I really am pathetic.

  “I know one student in particular.” He grinned. “I can totally take it that you have a huge thing for me. It’s chill. And now you don’t have to think of me as jailbait.”

  She arched her eyebrows, shaking her head at his lingo. “Jailbait?”

  “Yeah, you know, I turn eighteen next month.”

  “Kelton!” Emmy sputtered. “You’re not really trying to say …”

  “No, no, I was just joking.” He held up his hands. “But if, you know, you’re ever ready.” He shrugged. “Just thought I’d put it out there.”

  “I barely lost my husband, I’m eight years older than you, and your teacher.” She cringed as she said “barely”. It would be a year next week since Grayson’s murder, and many people thought she should be ready to move on—Aunt Jalina being the most vocal.

  He clucked his tongue. “Yeah, there is that. Okay. This conversation just …” He made a dive-bomb motion with his hands. “… got heavy.” He jumped to his feet. “Why don’t you swim anymore?”

  Emmy swallowed. She’d almost prefer his insinuations. Kelton always teased, but he was harmless and had been there for her the past year. He was one of the few people she could be honest with, an easygoing teenager who didn’t read something into everything she said. “It always worried Grayson, and I feel guilty …” She didn’t finish with the “enjoying myself”, but rather looked out at the ocean, which was bluish gray on this misty July day.

  “No lesson today. We’re swimming.”

  Emmy stared at him. “You can’t call off the lesson. I’m the teacher.”

  “I know, you always remind me.” He winked. “But you
need to do something for you. I’ll freeze my butt off in that ocean to prove I’m your friend.”

  Emmy only hesitated for half a minute before saying, “I’ll meet you at the beach.”

  Kelton grinned. “Hopefully you can keep up with me.”

  q

  Emmy swam every day over the next couple of weeks, a few times with Kelton and his twelve-year-old twin brothers, most of the time alone. It was so liberating. She was her former carefree self in the water. No worries about some freak appearing to stab her like they’d stabbed Grayson. No anguish over missing her husband. No guilt over sometimes forgetting how wonderful he had been.

  She didn’t have rehearsal tonight and decided to go for an evening swim. It was raining, but that was normal and wouldn’t bother her in the water. Donning a full-length wetsuit, it only took a few minutes for her body to acclimatize to the water temperature. She let her thoughts run as her arms and legs sliced through the water. Her head rotated to the side for a breath, but caught a lungful of water instead. She coughed and sputtered, unable to gather any oxygen as more water rolled down her throat. She had to surface. Treading water, she looked around and realized she was dangerously close to the back side of Haystack Rock. A storm was rolling in, and the waves were swelling and pushing her toward the boulders.

  She rotated and slanted her strokes toward shore. A huge wave lifted her in its trough and slammed her into the slimy rocks. Her head banged off the boulder before she plummeted underwater. Emmy held her breath, disoriented and dizzy. She kicked toward the surface but never broke through. Was she going up or down? She fought to be free of the water, her lungs burning, begging for oxygen.

  Struggling in the murky ocean, she came to a realization—if she just breathed in, she would drown. She’d be with Grayson again, and all the depression and fear of the past year would be gone. Everything moved slowly—the water, her body—but not her thoughts. She could be free. All she had to do was open up and inhale.

  Her lips clamped shut, refusing to obey her idea. Her thoughts became more erratic and her vision darkened. She didn’t really want to die. Her head was ready to explode. She was going to drown regardless. Maybe that was what her Father in Heaven wanted. Maybe it was time to be done and return to Grayson and her mom.

  Suddenly, her head broke the surface, and she gasped for air. Choking, spitting, Emmy inhaled and her mind cleared. She beat at the water with her arms and legs to stay afloat. She was alive. There was a moment when she hadn’t wanted to be, but now that she was, it was a glorious thing. She was going to be able to swim more. She was going to be able to teach her students and act in her plays. And maybe someday she could move beyond the guilt and fear caused by Grayson’s death and find happiness again. She said a silent prayer of gratitude.

  Treading water as rain slashed down at her, Emmy looked around, unsure how far out she was, how long she’d been under, or if she had the strength to get back. Here she’d found the desire to live, and now it might be taken from her.

  She fought through mountainous waves and stinging rain. Thank heavens for her goggles, or she would’ve been completely blind. Her muscles trembled. After just a short time her body was back to wondering if this fight was worth it or if she should just give up. She rolled onto her back and floated, trying to catch her breath and rest. A huge swell crested over her, filling her mouth with water. She attempted to tread water again, but wave after wave beat at her; she could hardly catch her breath as salty liquid rushed in.

  When drowning was almost a certainty, a strong arm hooked around her chest, flipped her over onto her back, and started tugging. Emmy didn’t fight. She tried to kick to help her rescuer, but there was no strength left in her legs. Less than a minute later the man lifted her to her feet, and she was shocked to find footing. She spat out salt water, clung to him, and shouted over the howling wind, “I was that close?”

  “I saw you struggling; you looked disoriented.”

  Emmy turned in the man’s arms and about fell into the water again. “You!”

  Not him.

  Josh gave her a sad smile, his blue eyes as dark as the storm around them. “Would you prefer I let you drown?”

  “I’d prefer you never touch me.” She pulled from his grasp and stumbled, falling to her knees in the churning waves. Her feet and hands were numb from the cold, and she was so tired. She wanted to lie down and never move again.

  He bent and lifted her into his arms. “Any other day I’d try to obey, but you need to get warm and let me check out that gash on your head.”

  Emmy struggled to be free of his iron clasp, but quickly realized it was futile. He was too strong, she was too weak, and the horrific thing was how good his solid chest felt. Leaning against him, she didn’t allow herself to wrap her arms around his neck like she was tempted to do, but instead lifted her fingers and gently probed behind her ear. Blood trickled down her neck, and there was a watery red spot on his shirt. The salt in her hair suddenly stung the cut. She’d been too preoccupied with surviving and the rush of anger from seeing him to realize she was bleeding.

  He carried her like a small child up the beach and toward her house.

  Emmy couldn’t relax with the anger and attraction warring within her. Everyone claimed this man couldn’t have hurt her husband. The police had never found the murderer. The investigation left no question that Josh was innocent. Not only had there been no evidence anywhere in his possession, several people had seen him a mile down the beach during the time of the murder.

  But she had to have someone to blame, and the pull she felt toward Josh ticked her off enough that she focused all her anger on him. The rage didn’t make her feel any better, but it did give her an excuse not to deal with the other feelings he aroused in her.

  “How did you see me?” She studied the sharp angles of his face and remembered the dimples that had graced his cheeks when he’d smiled at her at the gym so long ago. Would she ever see his dimples again? Their interactions over the past year had not been pleasant for either of them.

  He glanced down at her, his blue eyes compassionate and soft. He studied her for several seconds before admitting, “Sometimes I check on you.”

  “You what?”

  His gaze never wavered as he continued slogging up the sandy beach. “I told you I’d do everything I could to help find the murderer. I’m still watching for him and watching out for you.”

  His admission should’ve terrified her, but for some reason it was endearing. She was terrified most of the time, and the thought of him watching over her was … nice. But she couldn’t admit that to him. “So the police claim you didn’t kill my husband, and that gives you the right to appoint yourself my protector?”

  He sighed. “Emmy.”

  She glowered at the familiar use of her nickname.

  “Emmaline,” he corrected. “I would protect you if you’d let me.”

  “Well, I don’t need a protector. I’m doing just fine on my own.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.” He stopped and pressed the outdoor shower button with his elbow, hurriedly rinsing their bodies of as much of the salt and sand as he could before carrying her up the stairs to her back patio. Emmy couldn’t stop shivering. He set her on her feet and lifted the hair away from her wound.

  Emmy should’ve moved out of his embrace, but her legs wobbled. She leaned against his broad shoulder. They were sheltered from the rain, but she was chilled clear through as the wetsuit held the cold water against her body.

  “The cut isn’t bad, but I can take you to the hospital if you’d like.”

  Her legs started to shake violently. “No. I’m fine. Thank you for helping me. I’ll be fine.”

  Josh’s eyebrows arched. “You can choose: I can take you to the hospital or I can take care of you here. But if you start showing signs of a concussion or need stitches, we’re going in.”

  Emmy inhaled quickly at the thought of him taking care of her, of her allowing him into her house. It got her heart
thumping a bit too fast, but if she could avoid the hospital, it would be worth it. “If you don’t mind helping me here, I would appreciate it.”

  “I don’t mind.” He gently held her up with one arm, using the other hand to unzip her wetsuit.

  Emmy pushed weakly at his chest with numb fingers. “You shouldn’t undress me.” Her chattering teeth distorted the words, but she could tell he got the meaning. His eyes widened as his face softened in a smile, and dang if those dimples didn’t come out. Emmy was grateful for his arm supporting her as her legs went to goo.

  “Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t dare undress you.”

  “Why not?” Emmy demanded, and then gasped. Did I say that out loud? Maybe she’d hit her head harder than she thought.

  His smile got bigger. “Well, you usually snap like a turtle when you see me coming.”

  Emmy pressed her lips together, her skin tingling as he continued to work the zipper down and his fingers brushed her cold back. She couldn’t help but notice his clean-shaven face and the way his wet shirt clung to his impressive chest and shoulders. He was a beautiful man … and he’d just called her a turtle. With her hair tangled, skin pale and blotchy, and her breath reeking of salt water, a turtle might be a step above what she looked like right now. “A turtle, now that’s an attractive animal.”

  “I kinda like them.”

  “Just kinda?”

  Josh laughed out loud. “Maybe if the turtle would stop snapping and let me get to know her, it would be more than kinda.”

  Emmy’s smile faded as she realized who she was flirting with. It didn’t matter that he’d just saved her life. It didn’t matter that his touch and smile made her tremble. Though she knew the police were right and he hadn’t hurt Grayson, this was the guy she’d had a semi-crush on when Grayson was still alive. It was just all wrong. Too wrong.

  Josh set her on a patio chair and tugged the sleeves of her wetsuit down. His palms slid the length of her arms. Then he helped her stand and pulled the entire full-length suit over her hips and down her legs. She wasn’t sure how he managed to touch so much of her body as he pulled the thick wetsuit off, revealing her one-piece Speedo swimsuit. She also wasn’t sure how something that was wrong could feel this good. The pain in her head and the shivering almost disappeared as the rest of her body tingled from his touch and the way he shyly looked at her through his brown eyelashes.