Thorns of the Past

by Gun Brooke

  * * *

  The silence in the truck had gone on too long. Sabrina had finally accepted the offer to go to Mattley in Darcy’s Silverado. Karimi’s staff had driven her own car back, and it now sat in her garage under her condo. Whoever had sent the men to her beach house knew which car she drove, and going in this enormous pickup truck would give them an advantage. Glancing out the side window, she did have to admit the sheer size of the vehicle gave her a sense of security. Being a double-cab style of pickup, it felt spacious, and Darcy obviously kept it pristine. Was she perhaps one of those people who adored her vehicle—or was Darcy maybe just very neat overall?

  “Mind if I play some music?” Darcy asked in a low voice, as if reluctant to break the silence.

  “By all means. It’s your car.” Sabrina gave an “I don’t care” gesture with her left hand, palm up.

  “I like to listen to musicals, preferably older songs.” Darcy pressed one of the buttons on the steering wheel, and Judy Garland’s voice filled the car, singing “Get Happy.” “I used to watch old musical movies starring Judy when I was younger.” Sounding wistful, Darcy then chuckled. “Not exactly what my peers enjoyed, which made me pretend I really liked the current pop music since I didn’t want to stand out.” Shrugging, Darcy glanced over at Sabrina. “Guess we’ve all conformed at one point or another. I stopped that type of behavior when I was a senior in high school.”

  “What happened your senior year?” Sabrina was truly interested. Her own time in high school had been fun. She was a good student and popular, though she understood that some of her popularity was because of her family’s socio-economic status.

  “I came out.”

  Sabrina blinked. Darcy was a lesbian? “I see.” She spoke carefully, not wanting to seem as if it mattered in any way. “How did that work out?”

  Darcy glanced at Sabrina, frowning slightly. “My parents had already guessed and just waited for me to tell them, apparently. High school was another matter. Some of my friends were cool about it, others—not so much. I used to be a cheerleader, believe it or not, and I was actually bullied right off the squad.”

  “That’s preposterous!” Surprised at how angry she felt on Darcy’s behalf, Sabrina unclenched her fists. “What did the coach say?”

  “Oh, she was so sorry for the other girls’ actions, but she did zero about it. No, that’s not right. Actually, she suggested I might stick to sports with less body contact so nobody would feel awkward about my sexual preference.” Darcy snorted, a thoroughly dismissive sound. “It was ten years ago, but believe me, it’s still going on. It has gotten better in the sense that people talk about it more, but in too many school districts it’s still bad. Rumors and innuendos…Bullying can tear a person to pieces internally. Kids kill themselves because of it.”

  Sabrina’s stomach clenched, and she barely managed to say, “I know.”

  “First-hand?” Darcy extended her hand quickly and patted Sabrina’s arm. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to ignite anything painful.”

  “We all carry some sort of baggage.” Sabrina waved her hands dismissively, but she still could feel where Darcy had touched her.

  “We sure do.” Darcy hummed along with Julie Andrews, who took over after Judy, and Sabrina used the opportunity to regroup. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell too much on the topic Darcy had just broached. She simply had to fortify the armor she’d forged around her heart. She had lived in her very own cage for fifteen years now, and it worked. It wasn’t easy, and she had to sacrifice a lot, but she lived for her company and the few people in her life she dared to trust. For her to sit in someone else’s car and have that person, a virtual stranger, beside her was unheard of.

  It dawned on Sabrina that her brother knew this and seeing her with Darcy would make him jump to conclusions. Still, having him worry about her due to what was going on with the emails and the break-in, not to mention the attempted home invasion, was worse. He might be tempted to inform their parents, which would be a terrible idea. More than a few times, her well-meaning parents had tried to take over and run her life, which had freaked her out completely. They just didn’t get it. She needed to be in control and make all her own decisions, or what little sense of safety she had carved out for herself would disappear.

  “Are you upset with me?” Darcy asked quietly.

  “What? No. No. Not at all.” Sabrina shook herself inwardly. “Just a bit rattled because of the last few months. Not to mention the last week.”

  “I’ll say. I wouldn’t want to add to that by having any of my feet in my mouth.” Rolling her shoulders, Darcy smiled faintly. “I’m told I’m quite good at that. Speaking before I think, in a way.”

  “You know, some would call that honesty.”

  “Yeah?” Darcy raised her right hand as if to pat Sabrina’s arm again, but stopped herself and gripped the wheel tightly. “Thanks. That’s kind of you to say. Sometimes it can hit a raw nerve when people point out that I like to talk. I mean, I know I’m chatty sometimes, but the way they say it suggests that they think I’m shallow and self-absorbed.”

  “That reflects more on them than on you,” Sabrina said and shifted in the passenger seat so she could watch Darcy better. “But I know words that hurt us linger. It shouldn’t matter what people say, but it does.” Sabrina wasn’t sure how she even dared to be this open with Darcy, as she normally kept her distance and relied on sarcasm. Her mother had more than once suggested that this wasn’t a healthy way to conduct oneself, but Sabrina could rarely think of one that worked better for her. Yet here she was, in a ridiculously oversized vehicle, with a private investigator kind of night guard who had injected herself into her life.

  “You have that look again,” Darcy said, interrupting Sabrina’s thoughts.

  “Look? What look?” Sabrina gazed carefully at Darcy, who was smiling again.

  “Like you’re trying to figure something out, whether it’s what the hell you’re doing here with me, or how you can persuade me to go away, or…if I’m as harmless as I seem?” Darcy kept her eyes on the road and maneuvered the Silverado easily as she overtook the car in front of them.

  Sabrina was speechless. She rarely was, but this woman was clearly developing a knack for making her transparent, and that never happened. Sabrina preferred to keep her distance and only let people see what she wanted them to see. To have someone who barely knew her read her like this didn’t sit well.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sabrina managed to say after a few moments of flailing—another thing she never did. “I’m aware of the logic behind my needing a bodyguard and extra security right now. “

  “Uh-huh.” Shaking her head, Darcy merely nodded, as if Sabrina’s words didn’t surprise her. “And I’m going to stay on your six until we know what’s going on.”

  Stay on her six? Who the hell talked like that? It sounded like a movie line, but Sabrina supposed some people, like Darcy, actually did. “All right.”

  They sat in silence as the GPS directed them toward Mattley. Sabrina hoped the weekend would turn out to be uneventful. She missed her brother and his family, but per usual she stayed away as she was so accustomed to her solitude—a habit that was damn near impossible to break.

  Passing the sign welcoming them to Mattley and its 3,500 inhabitants, Darcy drove through the quaint-looking village where Sabrina’s brother resided. The typical New England architecture seemed to apply to most houses in Mattley, and Dan’s house was no different. Up on a hill, it sat between oak trees and maples.

  “Even a white picket fence.” Darcy nodded approvingly. “I like when someone goes all in like that. Gorgeous.”

  “That’s Dan for you,” Sabrina murmured. “All in.”

  After stepping out of the car onto the broad driveway, Darcy quickly pulled their overnight bags from the backseat. Sabrina took hers and looked around to see if either of the twins was outdoors. Instead she heard rapid steps from the flagstone walkway. Glancing in that directi
on, Sabrina spotted Lorna, her sister-in-law, approaching them.

  Smiling broadly, the tall redhead ran the last few yards and then hugged Sabrina tight. “Sabrina! It’s been too long. Way too long.” She swayed back and forth, as this was her way of hugging. “But you’re forgiven,” Lorna said, and let go of Sabrina in order to greet Darcy. “Welcome to Mattley. I’m Lorna.” Shaking Darcy’s hand, she eyed her up and down, raising a not-so-discreet eyebrow.

  “Thank you, Lorna. I’m Darcy.” Looking quite taken aback by Dan’s exuberant wife, Darcy returned the blinding smile with one of her own.

  “What a cool name. It really suits you.” Placing her arms around Sabrina’s and Darcy’s shoulders, she squeezed them merrily. “As I said, Sabrina, you’re forgiven since this is the very first time you’ve brought a girlfriend to visit. This is progress!”

  Chapter Eight

  Darcy blinked at Lorna’s unexpected words. Girlfriend? Really? She didn’t look at Sabrina as they began walking toward the house.

  “Darcy’s not my girlfriend, Lorna,” Sabrina said, sounding a bit strangled. “We’re friends from work.”

  “Oh.” Sounding utterly disappointed, Lorna glanced at Darcy. “You work at the business center as well?”

  “I do.” Darcy nodded. “It was nice of Sabrina to ask me to join you for the weekend. I hope I’m not going to disturb any family fun.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Lorna said firmly. “Any friend of Sabrina’s is a friend of ours. Not sure if you’ve noticed how much of a recluse this girl is. Perhaps you and I can conspire to find her a girlfriend. There is strength in numbers, after all.” Laughing at Sabrina’s exasperated groan, Lorna gave them another squeeze. “Aw, come on, Sabrina. You deserve love like the rest of us. Do you have a significant other, Darcy?”

  “As you can tell, my brother’s wife has no filter whatsoever. I don’t know what possessed me to think it was a good idea to bring you along. She’ll probably interrogate you and learn every single one of your secrets before dinner.” Sabrina sent Darcy an apologetic look.

  Darcy kept her smile plastered on, but the word “secrets” damn near made her flinch. “That’ll go fast,” she said calmly. “Not much to learn, really.”

  “Don’t listen to Sabrina,” Lorna said as they reached the front door. Just as she reached for the door handle, someone yanked the door handle from her hand. “God almighty, guys! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Lorna placed her hands on her hips, glaring at two freckled boys, who in turn didn’t seem perturbed at all.

  “Aunt Sabrina!” The boys threw themselves at Sabrina, who lowered herself onto her knees with more elegance than a woman being mauled by two preschoolers should be able to. “Hello, boys. Are you causing trouble again?”

  “No.” One of the boys giggled. “Not me. Just Kevin.”

  “Not true,” Kevin said, pushing an almost-clean fist up just below Ethan’s pug nose. “I’m not trouble. You are!”

  “Am not!” Ethan stuck his tongue out, which made Lorna interrupt the two boys.

  “Hey, guys. Is that any way to greet your Aunt Sabrina and her guest?” Lorna tapped Ethan on his shoulder. “Where are your manners, young man?”

  Both boys turned their heads toward Darcy now, and she could clearly see the resemblance to Sabrina. The contrast between their copper-red hair, freckles, and light-gray eyes was remarkable and gave the boys a scrutinizing gaze similar to their aunt’s.

  “Sis!” A tall man in his early thirties came down the stairs. He didn’t have gray eyes like his sons or sister; instead, his were bright blue. He held out a hand to Sabrina, who was still kneeling next to the boys, but she nudged it away and rose with the same elegance as before.

  “I’m your older sister by only three years, Dan, not thirty.” She smirked teasingly at her brother, a new expression Darcy hadn’t seen on her face before. “You look like you’re about to burst.” Her expression grew cautious. “What?”

  Darcy agreed. Dan was smiling brightly—too brightly, really—and the glitter in his eyes had something nervous about it.

  “Dan?” Lorna turned to her husband; clearly, she knew him well. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me…”

  “Just for lunch tomorrow.” Dan looked like a man who wished he were somewhere, anywhere but in his own foyer.

  “No.” Sabrina pressed her lips together and turned to Darcy, who tried to keep up. “We’re leaving.”

  “We are?” Darcy shifted her gaze to Dan, who now looked stricken. “What’s wrong?”

  “Please, Aunt Sabrina. We haven’t given you your present yet.” Kevin’s lower lips started quivering, and the entire scene reminded Darcy of some ancient Greek drama.

  “You don’t have to say anything, Daniel.” Sabrina rounded on her brother. “Mother and father invited themselves because you had to tell them I was coming. And then you couldn’t say no to them.”

  “It’s just for lunch. It can be quick. You can leave right afterward if you want to.” Dan looked almost pleadingly at his sister.

  “You know what that lunch will turn into. They just can’t leave well enough alone.” Sabrina stood rigid, and with her chin jutted in a clear challenge, Darcy had to concede that she and her brother made for quite the tableau.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Will the two of you stop being such drama queens?” Lorna pushed the door closed behind them. “Kevin, your aunt isn’t leaving until you and your brother give her the present. Is she?” Lorna emphasized her last two words and looked pointedly at Sabrina.

  “Clearly not.” Sabrina began removing her coat. “I’m sorry, boys. Of course, we’re staying. Even I forgot my manners for a moment. You know what? This is my friend Darcy.”

  The twins must have thought it a good opportunity to show their best side, as they both shook her hand politely and repeated their names.

  “Nice to meet you.” Darcy liked children, and perhaps that quality shone through somehow because Kevin lit up and leaned in closer to Darcy to whisper.

  “Do you have Pokémon Go on your phone?”

  Lorna hid her face in her hands. “Oh, God. You’re all children. I’m losing my mind.”

  “I’ll help you find it, Mom.” Kevin patted his mother’s hip. “I promise.”

  A completely new sound broke the residual tension in the foyer, and Darcy knew right then and there that she’d never heard anything as beautiful as Sabrina Hawk’s laughter. Possibly only how amazing she looked with her head tossed back and her cheeks blushing pink rivaled it.

  Dan joined in, his roaring laughter drowning out his sister’s, and Darcy had to giggle at the confused look on the boys’ faces.

  “So, barbecue is still on, I take it?” Lorna was obviously not one to stay exasperated long and was now all smiles again. “Dan, why don’t you show the girls where the guest room is. Do you mind sharing?” she asked as an afterthought. “We have only the one guest room since we knocked down a wall to make the boys’ room bigger.”

  “It’ll be fine, Lorna,” Darcy answered as the silence became longer than she was comfortable. “We’re good friends, after all.” Shooting Sabrina an angelic smile felt good.

  “Excellent. We put two new twin beds in there just last week.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be quite comfortable, Lorna.” Sabrina appeared to have found her footing.

  Dan showed them to a lovely room at the far end of the upstairs corridor. “It has an en suite bathroom where the old walk-in closet was before.”

  “Did you do all this yourself, Dan?” Sabrina asked.

  “Yes, in what little spare time we have with the boys and everything. I wanted to make it just like in Lorna’s pictures. She has great taste and has even started helping with interior designs when we need her. She says it keeps her sane while being a stay-at-home parent.”

  “I hope you’re paying her proper wages,” Sabrina said and narrowed her eyes.

  Fascinated by the exchange, Darcy opened her bag and unpacked the few items she�
��d brought with her. Not knowing how posh, or not, the Hawks were, she had brought her best slacks and blouse as well as her favorite jeans and button-down cotton shirt. Trying to not seem too nosy, she walked into the bathroom, which turned out to be beautiful with its sand-colored tiles, white grout, glass, and brushed-steel fixtures. While placing her toiletry bag on the vanity, she couldn’t avoid hearing the conversation in the guest room.

  “I pay her very well. She has an official position at the company.”

  “Excellent. Just looking out for you, brother. If you only knew how many of my clients who pay their sons, daughters, or parents to do something for them think that, because they’re their relatives, none of the tax laws apply.”

  “Well, you taught me well. I would have liked to say I learned this point from Mom and Dad as well, but it’s mainly you who has made me financially aware. Dad has no problem telling me how to run my life, but how to run the financial side of my business? Not a lot.” He paused. “What? Did you think Mom and Dad try to run only your life? They’re pretty much trying to move in on Lorna and the boys and plan for them as well, but I draw the line there. They seem to get that—most of the time.”

  “Don’t tell me. They want the boys signed up for the kindergarten that will ensure they’re on their way to an Ivy League school.”

  “Exactly. It took Lorna and me a year or so to make them realize that we’re the boys’ parents and we’ll decide for them until they’re old enough to have an opinion. I know how much it took to break the mold. I want my boys to know I support them, as long as they’re not planning to do anything illegal.”