Undeniable Demands

by Andrea Laurence

  The mayor cut the ribbon, and the crowd cheered amid the blinding flash of cameras. The dignitaries stepped back and the front doors were held open for everyone to go inside. There would be folks wandering around all afternoon sipping champagne, eating appetizers and talking about the virtues of green architecture as though they understood it.

  As she watched the crowd file in, she knew she should go in with them. Answer questions. Do interviews. But she hadn’t felt so desperate to get out of a place in her whole life.

  If she left now, she could be home in a few hours. Wade should still be at the farm. And then she could tell him.

  Tell him what? That she loved him? That he could have the land because it was nothing but dirt and rock without him in her life? Maybe. If she could work up the nerve.

  Turning away from the building, Tori headed for the parking lot and her truck. She had a few hours’ drive to figure out what she wanted to say. But she knew she had to go to Wade. Now.

  * * *

  It was probably thirty degrees outside, but Wade was sweating as though it were summertime. They hadn’t even started seriously digging yet. That was probably why. They hadn’t found what he was looking for so they could start digging. The afternoon had not gone as well as he’d hoped. The snow had melted, revealing a landscape just as confusing as before. No turtle-shaped rocks. No crooked trees like he remembered. Maybe his memory was faulty. Maybe he’d just been a freaked-out kid that night and the whole incident had gotten scrambled in his mind. He wished someone had gone out there with him.

  They’d taken to just running the metal detector over every inch of the property. Periodically, they’d get a hit and they’d dig furiously into the frozen ground, only to find an old quarter or a screw. Heath would move on with the metal detector and Wade would stomp the ground back into place. There was another snowstorm in the forecast for tomorrow. By the time Tori returned, the evidence of their search would be buried for a few weeks and hopefully undetectable.

  The sun had set not too long ago, and the darkness was making their job even harder than the rock-hard dirt. Heath had turned on the headlight on one of the four-wheelers, and they both carried flashlights, but they were getting discouraged.

  “Wade, I don’t see any rocks that look like a turtle. Not even if I scrunch my eyes up and look sideways.”

  “I know.” Wade sighed. Maybe this whole plan was a bad idea. Even if they could find the right place, moving a fifteen-year-old corpse couldn’t be easy. It’s not as if he would be in one piece anymore.

  “I’m not getting much with the metal detector. You’re sure he still had that ring on when you buried him?”

  “Yes.” Wade remembered the large gold ring with the black stone in the center. How could he forget it? He’d had an imprint of it punched into his face once. “I remember because I thought about taking it off so no one could identify him. But I didn’t know what to do with it. I decided it was better to just leave it on, since he would’ve taken it with him when he left.”

  “I guess that was a good idea. We’d never find him without it.”

  “I’m beginning to think we won’t find him even with it.” Wade looked across the dark landscape of Tori’s property. The rocky ridge where she planned to build the house was off to the back. There was no way he could’ve buried anything there, even with the backhoe. Maybe the construction crew that would build her house wouldn’t find anything. Maybe, despite his failures, this secret would stay buried.

  “Are you sure it’s on her plot and not one of the others?” Heath asked.

  At this point, Wade couldn’t afford to consider that possibility. To know he’d wasted all this time on the wrong property? And if there was one thing he knew, it was that the owner of the largest plot, a large commercial development company, wasn’t going to sell for any amount of money. Brody had done some research, and they were building a small resort retreat. They’d already started working out there.

  “No, I’m not sure,” Wade admitted through gritted teeth. “But I swear I didn’t go that far. This area looks right. It’s got to be right.”

  Heath nodded and started swinging the metal detector over a different segment of land.

  “Let’s load up and call it a night. We can try again in the morning before it starts to snow.”

  They each grabbed their shovels and equipment and had started walking back to their four-wheelers when they were suddenly bathed in bright white lights. Headlights.

  Wade froze in place like a deer. He clutched his incriminating tools tighter in his fists. Who was it? He couldn’t tell. They were blinded, unable to see anything but the bright white orbs aimed in their direction.

  Was it the sheriff? No. He wasn’t that lucky. He knew the sheriff and could talk his way out of this. The lights were way too high for a patrol car. It was a truck. An older truck, judging by the loud rumble of the engine.

  An old truck.

  Wade swallowed hard. She couldn’t be back already. Not this soon. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was today. Tori would’ve had to drive straight back after it ended to be here already. She said Monday or Tuesday at the earliest. Why would she have rushed home again?

  The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t even want to think it, much less say it. The way she’d looked at him last night had been different. Something had changed. He’d tried to deny it at dinner, and when he made love to her. He told himself it was just because they both knew it was the end for them.

  Wade was a fool to ignore the truth. Tori had fallen in love with him. He couldn’t be certain, but maybe she’d decided to come home early before he returned to New York so she could see him again. Or maybe she’d gotten brave enough to tell him how she felt.

  And instead she’d caught him red-handed on her property with a shovel and a metal detector. Damn.

  Heath leaned in to him, finally daring to move. “Are they just going to watch us or get out of the truck? You think they’re calling the cops?”

  Wade shook his head. “I doubt it. I think it’s Tori.”

  “Oh, man,” Heath said. “I thought she wasn’t coming back for a couple of days. What are you going to tell her? You can’t tell her the truth.”

  That was a great question. He’d have to think of something, because the truth was completely off the table. “I have no idea. But you just get on your four-wheeler and go, okay? She and I need to talk alone.”

  “I’m not going to leave you out here. Doesn’t she have a shotgun?”

  Wade had forgotten about the shotgun. Hopefully it was locked in the Airstream and not with her in the truck. “Yes, you are. Seriously. I’ll be okay. Go, now. It’s better that way.”

  Heath shrugged and turned away from the light to go to his ATV. He loaded his things, cranked the engine and disappeared into the trees. It wasn’t until he was gone that Wade heard the truck’s engine die. The lights stayed on when the heavy door clicked open.

  Wade still couldn’t see, but he could hear boots crunching on the gravel. Then a woman’s silhouette appeared between him and the truck’s headlights. He’d know those curves anywhere.

  Tori stopped a few feet away. He was about to say something to explain himself when she suddenly charged forward. Her hand reared back to slap him, and he was going to let her. His hands were full. What was he going to do? Swing a shovel at her? He deserved it, anyway.

  Instead, she hesitated for a moment and her hand finally fell back to her side. Tori took a step back, her breath ragged in the darkness. He could finally make out her features in the light. Her eyes were wide, her jaw clenched tight. “You bastard!” she said. “All this time. All those nights we spent together were a lie. You were just using me. Lulling me into complacency so you could slip in and get what you wanted.”

  “Tori, it wasn’t like that.” Wade tossed the shovel onto the ground and reached for her, but she took another step back.

  “Don’t you dare. Don’t you try to smooth everything over with your
charming lies. I’ve fallen for enough of those already. I can’t believe this.” Tori buried her fingers in her hair and clutched her skull. She turned from him and started pacing through the yard like a caged lioness. “I can’t believe I let myself trust you when I knew you were the last person I could trust.”

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  “That night in the diner was especially well done,” she continued, her sharp tone leaning toward the sarcastic and bitter. “Letting me believe that I’d won. That you had given up trying to take the land from me. And I just ate it up. Watched you with love-stricken doe eyes and sucked up all the crap you threw my way.”

  “That wasn’t a lie. I don’t want to take your land. I knew I would hate myself for doing that to you. I couldn’t.”

  “So, what? You decided you’d just wait until I left and steal what you really wanted? Save yourself the trouble and the half-million-dollar expense?”

  Wade looked down at the ground, the expression on his face too guilty to be washed out by the bright lamps shining on him. “You don’t understand.”

  “No, I don’t understand. And maybe I would, but you’ve wrapped everything up in a web of lies so thick I couldn’t see the truth even if it was right in front of me. What is it that you’re after, Wade? It’s obviously not the land and your family legacy, as you said before. What do I have on this property that is so valuable to you? What could be so damn important that you would ruin everything…” Her voice trailed off.

  Tori’s voice trembled at the end, and it made his chest ache to hear her like that. He’d never wanted to hurt her. He’d spent his whole life trying to care for and protect the important people in his life. Why would he want to hurt her? He wanted so badly to tell Tori the truth. But that secret wasn’t just his to protect. He couldn’t betray his family, even for her. He’d failed his brothers and sister once. Wade absolutely could not do that to them again. No matter how he might feel about Tori. “I can’t tell you that. I want to. Believe me, I do. But I can’t.”

  Tori chuckled bitterly and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “Of course you can’t tell me. I can’t believe I trusted you. That I let myself fall… No.” She corrected herself with a firm shake of her head. “The only thing I fell for was your sob story about family. I’m not about to do that twice.”

  “Tori, please.” Wade reached for her, but she moved out of the way.

  She held out her hand for him to keep his distance. “You don’t get to touch me anymore.” Turning on her heel, she marched back toward her truck. She killed the lights, slammed the door and headed for her trailer.

  Wade took a few steps to follow her. He wanted to talk to her. To help her understand.

  “You know,” she said, “when I was in Philadelphia today, I had started to think that maybe this land wasn’t so important after all. I can build a house here, but if the things that make it a home are…somewhere else…what is the point? It seemed so vital for you to preserve your family legacy. So I decided you should. I got in my truck as soon as the ceremony was over, and I came home to tell you that I wanted to sell you the land. And some other things that aren’t relevant anymore.”

  Wade closed his eyes, her words hitting him hard in the gut. She’d trusted him. She cared enough about him to give him the one thing he wanted. And he had ruined it by sneaking behind her back and trying to steal the gift before she could give it. He was an impatient ass, and there were no words in his defense.

  “Can I ask one thing? Maybe this is a question you can actually answer.”

  Wade looked up at her. She was standing on the metal stairs and gripping the door handle with white-knuckled intensity. The patio light illuminated the shimmer in her blue eyes as she watched him. Just the slightest thing could send those tears spilling down her cheeks, but she fought to hold on.

  “I’ll answer if I can.”

  “Was all of this just about the land to you? The dinners, the trip to New York, the chocolate-covered strawberries… I know at first it was a game of wits for both of us, but along the way it changed for me. I’d hoped it changed for you, too. Was it all just an attempt to charm me into giving you what you wanted, or did any of that mean something to you?”

  Yes, it meant something. He wanted to yell it. He wanted to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her until she couldn’t be angry with him anymore. But her furrowed brow and glassy eyes made him wonder if the truth would make things better or worse. Would it hurt her more to know that what they had had was special and he’d ruined it? Or to believe that it all had been a game?

  “Tori, I—”

  “Wait,” she interrupted. “Forget I asked. I think I’d rather not know the truth. Goodbye, Wade.”

  Wade saw one of the tears escape down her cheek as she opened the door and disappeared inside.

  Ten

  “You look like hell.”

  Wade looked up from his desk to see Heath standing in the doorway of his office. He had to admit he wasn’t surprised by the impromptu arrival of his youngest brother. He’d been dodging calls, texts and emails from his siblings for over a week. He’d canceled dinner plans at Brody’s place. Before too long, he’d figured, they’d send someone to track him down. Since Heath lived and worked in Manhattan, too, he was the obvious stuckee.

  Wade looked down at his watch. “Eight days, thirteen hours and forty-two minutes. That means Linda in accounting wins the office pool.”

  “Very funny,” Heath said, coming into the office and shutting the door behind him. “What’s going on with you lately? You’ve been too quiet.”

  Wade shrugged. “I’ve been busy. Work always picks up after the holidays, and it takes a while for everyone to get back into the swing of things.”

  “Uh-huh.” Heath wandered over to the minibar and pulled out a soda from the stash. “Do the other people you say that to actually believe you?”

  With a heavy sigh, Wade sank back into his leather executive chair. “No one else ever bothers to ask how I am, so I haven’t gotten much practice in yet.”

  “Tell the truth. How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Heath sat in one of Wade’s guest chairs and propped his feet up on the edge of the large mahogany desk. He scrutinized Wade with his hazel gaze as he casually sipped his drink. “Brody was right,” he said after a few silent moments.

  Wade frowned at his brother. “Brody was right about what? I haven’t even spoken to him since I had to cancel our dinner plans.”

  “Doesn’t matter. He was still right. You’re in love.”

  The declaration sent Wade bolt upright in his chair. What did Brody know about being in love? The man was a hermit. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Heath shook his head. “She loves you, too, you know.”

  “Since when did my entire family become psychic?”

  “Mama saw her at the grocery store. Said she was an absolute mess. She’s not sure what went on between you two, but she’s very unhappy about it.”

  “I don’t date to please Mama. She needs to focus her matchmaking skills on you for a change.”

  “She shouldn’t waste her time,” he said with a wide grin. “I’m already married.”

  “You’re hilarious. Keep telling that story and she’ll move on to demanding those grandchildren she wants.”

  Heath shuddered in his seat and took a large swig of soda to wash away the bitter aftertaste of Wade’s suggestion. “The point is that she’s miserable. You’re miserable.”

  “I’m not miserable.”

  “You’re not Jolly Old Saint Nick, either. You’ve been avoiding everyone. You’ve got bags under your eyes large enough to store loose change. Your tie doesn’t even match your shirt, man. You’re obviously not sleeping.”

  Wade looked down at the blue shirt and green plaid tie he was wearing. He could’ve sworn he’d reached for the blue striped one. Must’ve grabbed the wrong tie and not noticed. Not sleeping for a few days would do that to a guy, he supposed.
“I’ve got new neighbors. They’ve been louder than usual, and after a few weeks at the farm, I got used to the quiet.”

  “And it has absolutely nothing to do with the redhead whose heart you broke last week?”

  Heath just wasn’t about to let this go. Wade knew that if he didn’t say something soon, Heath was liable to put him in a headlock and knuckle his scalp until he confessed.

  Wade opted to answer the question without really answering it. “She’s better off without me.”

  “Isn’t that for her to decide?”

  Wade shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. She hates me.”

  “I doubt that. She was just hurt. Your betrayal was that much worse because she let herself fall in love with you.”

  “She didn’t say that.”

  “Why on earth would she? Anyway, she didn’t need to say it. We both know why she rushed home from Philadelphia. And even if she does hate you now, that doesn’t change anything. You’re still in love with her.”

  Wade’s chest started to ache at the mere thought. The pain had plagued him since the door of Tori’s Airstream slammed shut in his face. It had woken him up the few times he had managed to fall asleep. He’d started popping antacids. He’d even done a Google search for “heart attack symptoms” to make sure he wasn’t dying. As best he could tell, he wasn’t on death’s door. He was just in love with a woman who hated him.

  “She’s never going to forgive me for lying to her. And I can’t tell her the truth about what we were looking for. I can’t just go to her and tell her I love her and that she’s just got to trust me.”

  “You know, fifteen years ago our lives took an unexpected turn. For the most part we’ve been able to carry on with our lives. Sure, we remember. Our consciences are burdened with it. We worry we handled it wrong and made a bigger mess of the situation. We pray that no one ever finds out what happened. But for more than twenty-three hours out of every day, I can live my life like it never happened. Can you?”

  “Usually. Until I found out Dad sold the land.”