Grabbing his gym bag and his keys, he picked up the cane and headed out the door. A bucket truck blocked his driveway, and the bucket was being maneuvered into position to cut down the last branch of a huge maple that had been threatening the house next door for the last six years. Apparently whoever had moved in had decided the house was safer with less shade. Cal had to agree, although now that the tree had been trimmed, the yard looked almost bare. He locked his front door and walked down to the end of his driveway. The man on the ground saw him and yelled something to the one in the bucket. Then, blessed silence.
“Morning,” Cal said, extending his hand. It never hurt to be polite.
“Sorry, man,” the guy said, shaking his hand. “We’ll be outta your hair in a few.”
Cal caught sight of the third guy, the one who guided the cut-off branches to the ground so they wouldn’t swing wildly and smash into anything they shouldn’t. He turned his attention to the house in whose front yard the tree lived. No one seemed to be home, but then, if someone had moved in only the night before, their signs of life would still be minimal. The house looked smaller now, and somehow lonelier without the big tree spreading its branches over it. The siding could use a power wash, and the lawn and garden would benefit from some serious TLC, but otherwise the house was fine. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a neighbor after being in his house for so many years without one. The lot on the other side was empty of any buildings, and he hoped that it would remain so. He had half a mind to buy it himself so it would remain that way. Maybe, when he sat down with his investment advisor, he’d see if he could swing the cash for it.
The bucket truck moved, and he got into his big blue pickup truck and backed it out into the still quiet street. Weekends were a lazy time on his street, and he hoped his new neighbor could handle that, and not make any waves. He forgave this morning’s disturbance, but they were going to knock heads if this kind of thing became a weekly occurrence. As he straightened the wheel, a movement caught the corner of his eye. Someone had come out of the house as he was reversing onto the street. He paused to look and his jaw dropped. Inching the vehicle forward, he looked again, to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. They weren’t. The last person he had expected to see, dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a body-hugging t-shirt, was talking to the men. He stared, unable to help himself.
Vivica Bassett had filled in nicely since they had been in high school together twenty years ago. She was two years his junior, a city girl who had come to live in the small country town just outside the Army base where her parents were stationed. She was one of a pair of girls -- her twin was nothing like her except in size and coloring -- and they had become fast friends as soon as he realized she wasn’t shy, just lonely. She was as different from her twin as night from day.
Valerie was the ultimate in femininity, round, sexy, and determined to be an actress or a model when she grew up. She and Vivica never moved in the same circles, and Val had never had trouble making friends. Always a head taller than her peers, Viv played basketball, volleyball, tennis, and golf. She excelled in every subject in school, and could sing the birds from the trees. They were always in competition, because he had been as well rounded as she, and they were always within decimal points of each other’s GPAs through his last two years of high school. They had both been valedictorian in their senior years. And they had fallen in love.
Suddenly, Cal didn’t want to remember. He had done her wrong, and he knew it. How could he possibly face her now, after all these years, and not expect to have his ass handed to him? He had bailed on her to enlist, to go to the military academy, to follow his dream of being in the Army Special Ops unit. He was eighteen and gung ho for fighting and winning. Love could wait. That’s what he had thought then. Now, he saw where he might have been wrong. Dragging his eyes away from her, he drove off, hoping she hadn’t seen him. He needed time to process the fact that his new neighbor was his one-time girlfriend, and to figure out a way to handle the situation.
Trey Jonas, former Marine and current owner of the gym over on Main and West, was in the middle of a training routine when Cal walked in and set his gym bag down. He called a greeting as he watched the tough trainer put his trainee through her paces. Knowing that it was part of Trey’s mission to train women to defend themselves made Cal proud to be associated with him. He had first-hand knowledge of the devastation that being attacked and defenseless could have on a woman, because his older sister had been there. It had taken him and Trey over two years to get Sara out of her house and into the gym after her deadbeat ex-husband had beaten her almost to death. Now, after four years in training, she was a kickass part-time instructor of women in the gym, and had a new confidence that filled him with pride.
As if he had called her name, Sara appeared across the room, waving at him as she came. She hugged him when she was close enough, and it was good to hold her. They had grown closer in the last six years than they had been before, and these days he was even happier for that than before. It helped to have family close by.
“You’re up early on a Saturday, Cal! Feeling some pain, eh? I saw you boys last night whooping it up. Heard you, too, after a while!” She laughed as she released him.
“That was all Tank!” he protested. “I just sat quietly grinning into my beer.” He laughed with her, remembering how rowdy they had gotten in the bar, thankful that the owner was their friend.
“You look chipper this morning!” he commented, taking in the fresh glow that seemed to surround her. “New man?”
She punched his arm hard, and he complained loudly. “Ouch! What was that for?”
“For teasing your big sister, that’s what!” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “Awww! The big bad Green Beret has a booboo?” She made a face as she said it, and Cal laughed, still rubbing his arm.
“Wounded warrior here,” he protested, still teasing.
“I remember,” she retorted. “That’s the only reason you’re not hopping around on one leg as well!” She grinned at him. “Trey will be busy for another half hour. Can I help?”
“Sure,” he answered readily. Though he and Sara rarely worked out together, he always enjoyed any time he spent with her in the gym. She was as exacting a task master as her mentor, and though she would most likely render him infertile if he were even to hint at it, he knew that she and Trey had a thing for each other. Trey at least admitted it, but refused to act on it, because Sara was determined to be independent, to never fall in love again, and definitely not with someone five years her junior. In the interests of preserving his family jewels, therefore, he refrained from making any comment, but went to change while she set up.
“So, did you see who is back in town?” she asked as she worked with him through the stretches.
“Who?” he puffed, groaning at the burn in his muscles.
“Remember that sweet milk chocolate girlfriend you had back in high school?”
Cal managed not to tense under her hands as she helped him with a difficult stretch.
“Who? Vivica? She’s back, eh?” He strove for nonchalance.
Sara laughed. “Caleb Anthony Appleton, you do not fool me, not even for a second!” She moved to his other side and worked on the stretch again as she spoke. “She moved into that vacant house right next to yours. You must have seen her. She’s been moving in for days, but yesterday was the big move.”
“Tree cutters woke me up this morning,” he admitted.
“Well, we all told her that was the best thing to do to ensure she had a roof over her head for a while yet.”
She started on a different set of stretches, and he adjusted his body on the mat to complete them. He didn’t want to talk about Vivica. He didn’t want to think about her until he had no choice.
“So, how many more courses before you’re a full physical therapist?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Just the one, and then I have the state boards.” She apologized when he winced as she wor
ked a muscle group in the next stretch, and then added, “And don’t think I didn’t notice you blatantly changing the subject just now. It won’t help you, you know. Guess what she does for a living?”
Cal inhaled deeply, not wanting to know, and dreading the answer he knew he would get to the question he hadn’t asked. Deciding it would be easier to just play along, he asked,
“What does she do for a living, Sara?”
She slapped him for his sassiness before answering. “She’s a fitness instructor, with a degree in PT. We met at a conference three months ago.”
Something in her voice made Cal look up at her. Her expression was somber. He was immediately on the alert.
“What? Talk to me, Sara!”
She snapped back to attention. “It’s not my story to tell, Cal. Suffice it to say, she needs to be here. Maybe you can persuade her to get help, like you did with me.”
Cal stopped and waited until his sister looked at him. “She’s married?”
Sara rolled her eyes. “Trust you to hear the least important part of everything I just said! What? Did you think she was going to hang around waiting for you to come to your senses?”
Her sharp tone and apparent judgment of his actions stung Cal. “If he’s like your ex, she must not have done so well, then,” he said, and then didn’t blame her when she punched him hard again. That hadn’t been called for.
She stood up abruptly, saying as she walked away, “Trey will finish working with you.”
Cal understood all about female solidarity, because he had two younger sisters, female cousins, and female colleagues in the Army, so he wasn’t surprised that Sara was pissed at him. It made him wonder how Viv felt. He was not a coward by nature, but he dreaded finding out. After a grueling two-hour workout, Cal stood in one of the shower stalls at the back, letting hot water soak into his aching muscles. He needed something to ease the new hurts he was feeling, though he knew much of it wasn’t in his body. All the talk about Viv had opened up a twenty-year-old wound, and he didn’t know if he could face it when the reason lived next door to him.
Stepping from the shower, he wrapped a towel around his middle and stalked to the locker room. Sara was waiting for him, sitting on the bench next to his locker.
“Look, I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier,” she began, but he stopped her.
“Nothing to be sorry for, Sis. I was out of line. Now, unless you want evidence that I’m every woman’s dream come true, you’ll turn around so I can get decent.”
Sara barked out a laugh, but turned away so he could put on his boxers. When his sweats were over his ass, he said,
“You can look now.” And when she turned back to him, he continued, “So, she’s a battered wife, too?”
“Like I said, it’s not my story to tell. And I don’t really know exactly what the issue is anyway. I just know she’s not here with her husband, but she’s wearing a ring and a different last name from the one we know. And her eyes are so haunted, Cal. She reminds me of myself. You have to help her.”
Cal pulled his t-shirt over his head and then sat down to put on his socks and sneakers.
“Look, Sara, what Viv and I had was over twenty years ago. She probably hates my guts now. I can’t just waltz in there and…”
“I’m not asking you to intrude where you’re not wanted, Cal. I’m just saying she looks like she needs a friend, and you and she used to be like Siamese twins. Maybe you can help her look for help, even if she doesn’t want yours.”
“I’m not making any promises, Sis,” he said. “Let’s see if I can even make it past her front door first, okay?”
“Please! Who are we kidding here?” Sara’s tone was disbelieving. “All you have to do is flutter those sinfully long eyelashes over your baby blues and she’ll be a goner, like every other female. Your problem will be convincing her you aren’t still a jerk.” She laughed at his outraged expression, and then sobered. “I get it...you were young and stupid. That won’t be a good excuse this time around, Cal. Don’t approach her if you’re not going to follow through this time.”
Cal finished dressing, packed up his gear, and said, on his way out the door, “Either you trust me or you don’t, Sara. Which is it?” His voice was hard.
He watched her walk up to him and lay a hand on his cheek. “You know I trust you, Cal. Just remember how I was, and be patient with her, okay?”
He softened immediately. “I promise, Sis. I’ll be patient.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Wish me luck!”
“Just be the man you’ve become, the one who got me through, and you’ll do fine!”
Cal hoped she was right as he waved goodbye to Trey. “I’ll be back Monday,” he replied to Trey’s question about his next visit.
“Good. There’s a new PT I think would work well with you. See you then.”
Something about the smile on Trey’s face warned him that that bit of information was significant, but he was too tired, and too concerned about his first meeting with Viv to think too hard on it. He’d find out soon enough. Meantime, he had to have a plan for how to welcome his new neighbor to the neighborhood, and get her to give him the time of day, so he could find out what was happening with her, and help her through it. They may not be in love anymore, but she was his first, and he couldn’t let her be abused by anyone, and especially not by someone stupid enough not to know the prize he had. He thought about what he could do to break the ice with her, and what would be a good welcome gift. Flowers were too cliché, and she had never been too fussy about them. Then he remembered that her favorite thing to have for dessert had been chocolate mousse cake. He’d get one on the way home, and wait until dinner time before going over with his gift. He prayed that she’d be receptive, and that he could help her. And that maybe she’d forgive him.
Chapter 2 - Not a Boy Anymore
Vivica Porter stretched and groaned as her muscles complained. She had been shifting boxes all morning, trying to find a place for everything in her brand new old house. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe. Ray did not know where she was. She had made sure to cover her tracks, and he was probably still stalking the apartment where she had moved to after their separation. She couldn’t believe she had been gullible enough to marry a cheating asshole who was also a wife-beating piece of trash. What had she been thinking? She should have stayed single, and not let him persuade her that his good looks and charm, not to mention his military service, were more than surface features. It had been a long time in showing itself, but eventually she had seen him for who he truly was...a violent womanizer.
She shivered, despite the heat of the morning, as she thought about how his abusive behavior toward her had escalated until he had landed her in the hospital. She moved another box to the back bedroom that she was going to use as her office, and thought about the other military man who had been in her thoughts ever since his sister had seen her in town three months earlier. It had been twenty years, but she had never forgotten Cal. And she had never gotten over him. She could admit that now to herself, in the quiet peace of her own home, away from the noise of her marriage to a man who was Cal’s opposite in every way. Maybe that’s why, after all those years alone, she had said yes to Ray. Her complexion was dark chocolate to Cal’s peaches and cream; he was shorter, stockier, rugged rather than handsome. And the things she thought made him stand out to her were also things she realized she had never seen in Cal, though she would be the first to admit that Cal had only been eighteen when he had left for West Point and parts unknown.
She wondered now, as she moved another box to the office, what Cal had turned out to be like. As a teenager, he had been strong, passionate, tender, kind-hearted, determined, and ambitious. She couldn’t imagine he was any different now, and she stopped to sigh and wonder what she would do if he ever turned up at her front door. The likelihood of that happening was so remote that she put it out of her mind. Just because his sister lived in this town didn’t mean he did. And even if he
did, he was most likely deployed somewhere dangerous, like Afghanistan. Everybody seemed to end up going there...even Ray had done a stint there. She wondered, as she stopped to get a bottle of water from the pack in the kitchen, if that was what had made him change. They had been married happily, she thought, for five years before things began to change. Even so, there was no excuse for his treatment of her. Other men went on dangerous assignments and came home to be loving husbands to their wives.
She turned her mind away from her hopefully soon-to-be-ex-husband and finished moving the boxes in the hallway. She was glad she had asked the moving guys to take the upstairs boxes to the rooms she wanted them, because she was beat. Sitting on the bottom stair, she sipped some water, and turned her thoughts to the new part-time job she had, starting on Monday, at the gym, as well as the full time one at the local rehabilitation clinic. She had been looking for work for a whole year before these two came up, at the same time, and she couldn’t believe her luck when she had landed both of them. It had meant moving, but she was happy with that, as it meant further escaping Ray’s immediate sphere, and because she had been careful, he didn’t know where she was now.
A horn sounded and she looked through the window in time to see a big blue pickup truck pull into the driveway next door. Finally, she was going to see who her new neighbor was. Just then her cellphone rang, and she cursed lightly and hopped off the step to go find it. By the time she walked back into the room, whoever it was had gone inside.
“Are you listening to me?” The irritated voice on the line brought her back to the moment.
“Sorry, what?” She recognized the voice as belonging to her twin sister Valerie. “I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of my new neighbor.”
“Is it a man?” Val wanted to know, and Vivica laughed.
“I don’t know for sure, but there’s a big pickup truck parked in their driveway, so I’m going to assume it is.” She looked out the window again, but nothing moved next door. “But you called and distracted me. So blame yourself that there’s nothing to report.” She laughed and took her seat on the last stair again. “So what’s up?”
Seduced by the Prince Page 20
