The Tempted

by Amanda Stevens

  “This isn’t over, you know. I’m not going away until I find out the truth.”

  “Do you remember what you said this morning?” she asked quietly. “You said that in light of everything that’s happened, you can understand why the past would seem trivial to me.”

  “I remember.”

  “Finding Emily is all that matters to me,” she said fiercely. “That’s all I can think about right now.”

  “It’s all that matters to me, too,” he said, his gaze on her deep and probing. “But when we do find her, when we bring her home, I’ll be back for some answers. And I warn you, Tess. If you run away, I’ll come and find you this time. Count on it.”

  “THIS IS WHERE she disappeared,” Tess said a few minutes later as they walked across the playground together.

  “She was out here playing with some of the other students whose parents were late picking them up.”

  “Why did you decide to send her to Fairhaven?” Jared asked. “Why a private school?”

  Tess shrugged. “Because I wanted her to have the best. The tuition was a struggle, and for a while, I wasn’t certain she’d be accepted. But there was an unexpected opening and she got in, and…I thought she’d be safe here—” She broke off, her gaze scanning the schoolyard as she fought the demons inside her. As she tried to control the guilt that Jared suspected was tearing her up inside.

  “A teacher from each grade is assigned every afternoon to watch the playground, but that day, for some reason, there were more students than usual. One of the teachers remembers seeing Emily on the swing, another on the slide. Some of her friends said she played on the merry-go-round, but no one remembers seeing her leave the playground. No one saw anything suspicious that day. It was as if she vanished into thin air.”

  Tess sat down in one of the swings and pushed herself to and fro. Her head was bent, and in the darkness she might have passed for a child herself, Jared thought, watching her. She was so thin. So frail. So vulnerable. Whatever she’d done in the past, whatever mistakes she’d made, whatever she’d kept from him, she’d paid, and paid dearly. The last three weeks had been hell on earth for her. He only had to look into her eyes to see the depth of her suffering.

  He glanced around the darkened playground. Like a lot of schools, Fairhaven took on a deserted and slightly spooky air at night. The landscaped grounds were shrouded with shadow, and the big, ivy-covered building loomed in the background. A stray breeze moved one of the swings, and ghost laughter seemed to echo across the yard.

  A chill swept up Jared’s backbone. He closed his eyes, trying to picture the scene as it had unfolded on that day. The children, laughing and playing, oblivious to the danger that lurked nearby. He conjured Emily’s image, the dark eyes and hair, that sweet, beautiful face. He put her with the other children, and when he opened his eyes, he could almost see her on the playground.

  He watched her climb into one of the swings and pump her little legs furiously until she was flying through the air, shrieking with delight. She had on the school uniform she wore in most of the pictures he’d seen—navy shorts, white short-sleeve shirt. Her dark hair was pulled back and fastened with a red ribbon. She looked sweet and innocent, the way Jared knew she would.

  He watched her leave the swing and skip over to the slide. She climbed the steps, and then, arms spread wide, she zoomed toward the ground. At the bottom, she scrambled off the slide and ran, laughing, toward the merry-go-round. Then suddenly, her attention was caught by something. Jared saw her lift her head, as if someone had called to her.

  She got off the merry-go-round and started walking slowly away, her form growing more and more indistinct until he could barely see her.

  When she’d disappeared altogether, Jared lifted his hand and wiped the moisture from his eyes.

  EMILY SNUGGLED Brown Bear in her arms as she stared into the darkness. She’d been so surprised and so happy earlier when she’d come out of the bathroom to find him on the bed. She’d rushed over and grabbed up the toy, holding him close.

  “Is Mama here?” she’d asked hopefully.

  “No, not yet. But soon…”

  And then the door closed, and Emily was left alone again. All alone.

  But soon Mama would be here.

  More than anything in the world, Emily wanted to believe that her mother really was coming for her, but deep down inside, she didn’t think it was true. Mama wasn’t coming soon. She might not ever come.

  Slipping off the bed, Emily crept across the room to the door, trying very hard not to make a sound. She turned the knob, but the door was locked, just as it always was. Just as she knew it would be. She put her ear to the door, listening intently. Hearing no sound, she turned away.

  The only window in the room was so high off the floor that she couldn’t look out, even if she stood on her tippy-toes. But a plastic bench had been placed in the bathroom for her to use when she had to go potty. Emily didn’t really need the little blue footstool because she was tall enough to go without it, but she didn’t say anything because she didn’t want it to be taken away.

  As she had before, she carried the footstool over to the window and climbed up on it so that she could see out. There were no other houses around, no lights, just lots and lots of trees, and in the distance, the sparkle of water. It made Emily think of the time her mama had taken her on a picnic by the lake.

  Sometimes Emily could hardly remember what Mama looked like. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to conjure her mother’s image. The long hair, the pretty smile…

  She kept that picture in her mind for as long as she could, and when she finally opened her eyes, the moon was rising over the treetops. That made her think of Mama, too.

  Sometimes at home, she and Mama would gaze out the window together, and Mama would tell her stories about the lady who lived on the moon and the diamond necklace she strung from stars.

  Sometimes she’d tell Emily the story of the lady trapped in a tower, and the prince who’d climbed up her long, braided hair to rescue her.

  “Your hair looks just like hers,” Emily told her mother once. “Why doesn’t a prince come and rescue you?”

  Mama smiled. “Why, because I don’t need a prince. I’ve got you, sweetie. We’ve got each other.”

  But sometimes Emily secretly thought it might be nice to have someone else around, too. Someone who’d ride her on his shoulders and tickle her feet, who’d bring her presents for no reason and teach her how to play baseball. Someone who’d come chase away the monsters from her closet and from underneath her bed before she fell asleep each night. Her friends had dads like that. Why couldn’t she?

  Emily stared up at the moon and wished for a dad, someone big and strong who would come and rescue her.

  She blinked back tears because she knew that wishing wouldn’t make it so. Even if she did have a dad, even if he did come and find her, how would he be able to rescue her through all those metal bars on the window?

  Chapter Ten

  A week later, a month after Emily had gone missing, Tess went back to work. The command post had officially shut down, although there were a handful of volunteers, along with Tess, who continued to work from a small back room in the community center whenever they could spare a few hours. The private detective she’d hired with Jared’s money was still on the case, but so far, he’d turned up no new evidence, and the reward money had generated nothing but false leads.

  As for Tess, returning to work was no longer an option. Bills were piling up, both at home and at work, and she’d lost clients as well as employees in her absence.

  After her business had taken root two years ago, she’d rented a small office in downtown Eden with enough warehouse space in the back for supplies and equipment storage. Signing the lease on the space had been a big step because it signified the growth and evolution of a tiny enterprise that had been launched from Tess’s kitchen table.

  She’d started with one employee, herself, but in just six months’ ti
me, she’d been able to hire on help and had graduated from the trenches to spending most of her time negotiating contracts and courting new clients. She was proud of how far her business had come in such a short amount of time, but she also knew that if she didn’t turn things back around very quickly, she’d find herself having to cut back the operation to the basics.

  Well, she’d done it before and she could do it again if she had to, Tess thought with grim resolve. After all, opening a cleaning business in a town the size of Eden had seemed like folly to some.

  But Tess had known from her mother’s employment with the Spencers that the city people who owned vacation homes on the north side of Marvel Lake were willing to pay top dollar to someone they could trust to look after their sizable investments. They needed caretakers as well as housekeepers, someone who would keep an eye on their property during the week while they were away in the city, and who would see to repairs and upkeep in the winter when the homes were rarely used.

  In the case of major repairs, like roof damage or plumbing, Tess would acquire bids from local contractors, submit them to her client, and once she was given the go-ahead, would then supervise the renovations from start to finish, thus alleviating the home owner of much of the headache.

  And in addition to caring for the wealthy Sin City vacation homes, she’d also contracted the company’s services to local businesses, including banks, office buildings and even Fairhaven Academy.

  Before Emily’s disappearance, Tess had twenty employees on her payroll, which meant ten crews working both day and evening shifts, and the business was starting to turn such a nice profit that she’d wanted to add another five crews, ten more employees. But that would have to wait now. The expansion would depend on whether or not she could reverse the company’s fortunes, and how quickly.

  On her first morning back, she set herself to that task, spending hours on the phone, apologizing to her clients and reassuring them that her services would be back up to speed in a reasonable length of time. She’d also managed to woo back the employees that had become discouraged or desperate during her long absence and had struck out on their own, just trying to get by.

  By the time lunch rolled around, Tess was already exhausted, but she’d made substantial headway. And for the first time in weeks, she’d actually begun to feel useful again, like a productive member of society.

  Putting aside the phone, she glanced at her watch, surprised at how quickly the morning had gone by. It was the first day since her daughter had been missing that time had actually seemed to fly for Tess. It was also the first time in days that she’d experienced hunger pains.

  Ignoring the rumble in her stomach, she got up and walked over to the window to glance out. Emily’s picture remained posted in store windows and on street signs, but a lot of them had blown away or been taken down. The yellow ribbons were disappearing, too, and in their absence came the children. Happy, innocent, they skipped along the street in their mothers’ wake, oblivious to the darkness, to the shadow that still hung over the town.

  But the shadow, too, was dissipating. In time, Tess’s daughter would become nothing more than a sad memory to the residents of Eden. In time, everyone’s lives would be completely back to normal. But Tess would never be the same. The hole in her heart would never completely heal.

  She drew a hand across her eyes as she stared out into the brilliant, sunlit day.

  “Tess?”

  Jared’s voice startled her, and she swung around to the door, her hand at her heart. She hadn’t heard him come in, and the sight of him gave her a jolt. Her first thought when she saw him standing in the doorway was that he’d come to demand more answers. He’d come to force her into telling him the truth.

  On the night they’d gone out looking for Emily together, Tess had seen something in his eyes, a revelation, as if it had suddenly occurred to him the real reason she’d left town six years ago. The real reason Emily had dark hair and dark eyes when Tess, herself, was so fair. Tess had thought to herself that night, He knows. Deep down inside, he already knows. When that knowledge comes bubbling up to the surface, he’s going to ask me point-blank if Emily is his daughter, and I’m not going to be able to lie to him. And then he’ll go back and tell his family. Royce will find out…

  Tess had lived on pins and needles for days afterward, knowing that Jared could show up at any time and force a confrontation. But when the week ended and she’d had no word from him, she’d begun to relax. He didn’t know about Emily. He couldn’t.

  But here he was now, and in spite of Tess’s trepidation, a secret thrill raced through her. She couldn’t deny the impact, the attraction. The connection that had built slowly between them on the night they’d gone out searching for Emily, and the even greater bond that had been forged six years ago. She couldn’t deny that she still felt something for Jared Spencer, but there was danger in the temptation he offered her. If she let Jared back into her life, the serpent would be sure to follow.

  He gave her a bemused look. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “No reason. I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all. How did you know where to find me?”

  “I went out to the house, and when no one answered the door, I thought you may have come back to work. So I drove back into town and asked around.”

  He was dressed in an elegant gray suit that had undoubtedly been tailored to his broad shoulders and trim waist and hips. The color complimented his dark hair and eyes, and it hit Tess anew how extraordinarily handsome he was.

  The years had added a maturity and strength to his features, and his accomplishments had given him confidence that, unlike the other Spencers, was still just shy of arrogance. He looked like a man comfortable in his own skin, Tess thought. A man who neither took for granted nor apologized for who he was or where he’d come from.

  She waited for a twinge of the old resentment, but none came. Perhaps because she’d learned a week ago what she should have known and trusted six years ago. In spite of his heritage, or maybe even because of it, Jared Spencer had managed to remain a good and decent man.

  He smiled at her now, as if he’d read her thoughts, and Tess’s heart began to pound in earnest. She’d been cognizant of the attraction between them a week ago, but only peripherally. Her grief had obliterated all other emotions except fear, but now the attraction shot through her, and she felt almost breathless, almost stunned by its force.

  She was a grown woman, for goodness’ sake. She shouldn’t be reacting so strongly to a good-looking man. But, of course, Jared wasn’t just any man. He was an old lover. Her daughter’s father, and that alone was an undeniable pull. That alone made him almost irresistibly sexy.

  It was true, she thought in awe. The bond created by a child was like nothing else.

  His expression still bemused, as if he couldn’t quite figure her out, he glanced around the office. “When did you decide to come back to work?”

  Tess walked over to her desk and sat down. “It wasn’t so much a decision as a necessity. The bills were piling up…” She trailed off and shrugged. “Besides, it was time. I had to do this.”

  He nodded in understanding. “Have there been any developments?”

  She gave him an ironic look. “You would know if there had been. Abby Cross said you stayed in constant contact. In fact, I get the distinct impression your calls have become something of a nuisance at the sheriff’s station.”

  “I just want to make certain they’re doing their job.” He offered no apology for his interference.

  At one time, his intervention, the Spencer influence, might have been grating, but Tess found that she didn’t mind now. In fact, she welcomed it. If the Spencer connections could help bring Emily home, what did a little thing like pride matter?

  “The reward has generated a lot of calls, but nothing has panned out so far,” she told him.

  “And the private investigator?”

  “
He interviewed me several days ago, and I know he’s talked to the police on numerous occasions. But so far…nothing.”

  “I’m sorry, Tess.”

  She sighed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “It’s been a month. A month today.”

  “Is that why you chose today to come back to work?”

  “I came back to work today because I had to.” She riffled through a stack of bills on her desk. “I know it sounds trite, but life does go on. I have to work. I have people depending on me, obligations…” She glanced up at him. “And I have to find a way to pay you back.”

  A frown flitted across his features. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “But I do. You loaned me a lot of money, Jared. The reward, the private investigator. I had no idea it would be so expensive.”

  “Money is the last thing you should have to worry about right now.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” she said with a trace of the old bitterness.

  His frown deepened as he gazed down at her. “Yes, it is easy for me to say. I have money. A lot of it. And I can use it to help you out if you’ll let me.”

  “But why?” she asked helplessly.

  His features hardened at her question. “There’s no deep dark motivation on my part, if that’s what concerns you. Having money doesn’t automatically make me the villain.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you?”

  She lifted her shoulders. “Why do you even care what I think?”

  He turned and walked over to the window to glance out. “I guess I’ve been asking myself that question for a long time now.”

  An awkward silence fell between them. After a moment, he turned from the window and came back over to her desk, placing his hands on the surface as he leaned toward her. “Look, Tess. I don’t want to argue every time we’re together. I don’t want to talk about the past, either. For now, maybe we should just call a truce.” He straightened, still gazing down at her. “We both want the same thing, after all. To find Emily and bring her back home.”