Captive Hearts

by Gina Leuci

  “If it will get us out of this little apartment and cause our current parole officer to regret his decision to track us constantly, I’m up for it.”

  “It’s going to be another hot one. I’ll get a backpack and load it with snacks and plenty of water.”

  The humidity was on the high side, but trekking through the woods helped keep the sun from beating down on us. The path meandered up and over, and there were occasional breaks in the foliage for me to get a distant look at the town, but what caught me more was the view outside of town and how close the fence line was from the top of this almost mountain. I was tempted to keep going. What was stopping me from climbing the fence?

  Well, other than a GPS tracking device and a town determined to keep non-Wellingtons prisoners with the intent to build their bloodline?

  Caleb stood beside me and I had a feeling he could read my mind. “Are you ready for lunch?”

  I turned my back on my mental escape plan and nodded. Within a few minutes, we had a blanket laid out and a picnic lunch in hand.

  “I can see your mind whirling in there, Grace. It does look like it wouldn’t take long to reach the fence.”

  I shoved a bite of sandwich in my mouth, suddenly vulnerable, as my thoughts had obviously become an open book.

  “We’ll get to the point where we can be trusted again by the town.” He reached over to pat my leg, and I hated to admit how much I enjoyed even that quick, simple touch. “As police chief, I can tell you current protocol is that if someone leaves the general area of town like we have, and with our high security alert, all officers on and off duty are put on call. If you keep looking, you’ll see one of those officers has been assigned to patrol outside the gates. Watch. Sometime within the next ten minutes, you’ll spot a Wellington cruiser on the road below, making a pass around town. Knowing the duty roster, my guess it’ll be Tom.”

  He was, as usual, correct. It wasn’t long before a car slowed and came to a stop on the road below us. “Because of our tracking system, Tom can tell we are still inside the gate and up on this ridge. But, if we start to descend on this side, we won’t get far.”

  I took another bite of sandwich as questions swarmed, wanting to be answered. “And you helped bolster that security?”

  Caleb brushed crumbs from his lap. “I created the noose which will hang me. Again, I apologize to you. I never realized the enormity of our actions.”

  I heard the resignation in his tone. “I know. I understand,” but I continued to stare down at the fence line at the bottom of the steep hill.

  He stood and gathered up the picnic. “I’m glad you are so forgiving. I’m not too happy with myself.”

  Despite my own misgivings, I felt impelled to say something positive. “You were creating a safe place for your kids. It’s understandable with what you went through.”

  With a gentle tug, he pulled me to stand then he squeezed my hand. “I promise you, Grace, I will find a solution to get you home.”

  He meant it. His intense gaze promised as much as his words. I wanted to believe him, but there were so many obstacles ahead. With freedom so close beyond the fence line, I couldn’t find any more words. As we continued our hike, every now and again I would be in a position to look down on the side of the town line and would spot the police cruiser, tracking our progress. Escape wasn’t possible today, but our intent to keep outside of the center of town was a success.

  Thursday, we headed to the lake which was much different than when we came in May. It was busy with lots of kids splashing and playing, Caleb’s children included. I went in a few times, but mostly I sunbathed or read a novel.

  Or sneaked a few glances toward Caleb as he waded while his children swam. He wore nothing more than swim trunks and all the saliva in my mouth disappeared. There was a rumble of his laughter while he played with his kids, and the sound sent a wave of heat through my body.

  When I first arrived, he’d been aloof, standoffish even. Over the past couple months, I’ve seen a softer side of him, like when he is around his kids. This side of Caleb is the one I have a challenging time ignoring, especially when paired with six-pack abs and muscles to rival any of the superheroes in the movies.

  He tossed Justin up into the air like he weighed nothing more than a loaf of bread, and my mind wandered. He’d carried me, more than once, as though I weighed nothing. He was strong, no doubt. While I have zero recollection of the first time, that fateful first Sunday, when I passed out. I remembered the time he’d carried me from here at the lake back to his car. He hadn’t been mad at me. He’d been—resigned? No, more indulgent, but always kind. Like he’d been on Sunday when he’d carried me on his back out of the woods.

  I continued to stare from behind my shades as the sun bounced off the water and danced across his perfectly sculpted, tanned body. He’d carried me. Those arms had been wrapped around me. His chest had been strong and warm. Even when I’d been pissed at him and everyone in this town, he made me feel protected.

  I put down my book, tossed my shades beside it, and ran to the water front, splashing until I was deep enough to dive under. It was much warmer than my first foray in late May. My hope was to distract myself from my own wandering thoughts. It failed.

  The man is sexy as hell, undeniably, but under the current circumstances with us living under the same roof, I must keep my eye on the prize. NO! Not him. I scolded my inner voice. Leaving. Going home. Escaping this unassuming prison.

  During my punishing swim out to the rock and back, I convinced myself I could stay on the correct path leading toward my ultimate destination. Until I turned to look at the man in question. I noticed Caleb’s eyes on me as I exited the water, and it wasn’t laughter I saw on his face.

  I gulped as his eyes skimmed down my bikini-clad body, and I stopped mid-stride. I’d seen that look before. On the ball field several weeks ago. Oh, dear God, maybe swimming was not the best choice of activities.

  Justin lunged into his father’s arms, and he broke the stare releasing me from my frozen-in-time moment. Shit and two is eight. I rushed back to the blanket to dry off and throw on my shirt and shorts.

  Get a grip, girl. Yes, he’s good looking, but you have a goal and that is to get the hell out of Dodge. Not to succumb to a lustful fantasy.

  I was thankful for the children. While Elena continued to keep her distance, Justin and little Shawna kept me busy with wanting attention as we picnicked. Caleb and I were both careful not to touch each other in any way, but being together at the lake was another opportunity to have witnesses to us playing the role of a couple.

  And, another bonus, being at the lake meant we were far enough outside town lines to have the updated security beeping for hours.

  Friday arrived, and Caleb asked if I wanted to go horseback riding. My last experience at Jefferson’s farm had me declining. Instead, we walked around town, doing a little food shopping, having lunch at the diner, anything to be seen together.

  “Caroline and Aaron return today,” he mentioned as I picked at my fries.

  That peeked my interest. “Really? When?”

  “I was supposed to pick them up at the bus at two, but for obvious reasons, they reassigned the job. They should be back in town by four. My guess is the band will likely be playing tonight. Want to go?”

  I really missed my college roommate, but as usual with this place, there were also reasons not to go. “I want to see Caroline, but, Leland and A.J. are usually there.”

  He brushed off my comment. “They won’t be a problem.”

  “How can you be so sure? The other night they were ready to gang up on you. A.J. always seems ready to start a fight, and Leland is pissed as hell.”

  He bit into a pickle, barely giving the subject a second thought. “Trust me.” I still didn’t completely understand his confidence, but I hoped he was right.

  We ate dinner at Caleb’s parents’ house, again, and he spent time with his kids before we headed over to The Hall for the Friday night e
ntertainment. Straight and True hadn’t played since before their lead guitarist’s wedding, and the band members were more than happy to put on a rocking night.

  I spotted Caroline immediately and nearly sprinted across the room to envelope my friend in a hug as she gushed in her usual exuberance. “Grace, I have so much to tell you.”

  “Same here. Let’s find a table.”

  She looked great in a simple, cotton sundress. It wasn’t the clothes, though. My friend glowed with contentment. I looked down at my own shorts and tank. We didn’t go back to the apartment when we left Caleb’s folk’s house. At the time, I hadn’t cared. Now, next to my beautiful friend, I felt under-dressed.

  She looked from me to Caleb as he joined us at the table. “Are you in trouble again?” she asked under her breath.

  “Nope. Part of what I need to tell you.”

  “Then you go first.”

  Even though it had been a week, I still struggled saying the words. “Caleb and I are, um, well… We’re married.”

  “Shut the front door. You're lying.”

  I shook my head. “Jake and Hope are also married, but believe me, it was not like the wedding you had.”

  I filled her in, answering all her questions. “Oh, my. Oh, dear,” she kept repeating.

  I spotted the other newlywed couple enter and knew Jake would be joining us in a few minutes, his ball and chain in tow. Our detailed conversation was about to be curtailed.

  “Enough about me,” I said, taking Caroline’s hands in mine. “Tell me about your trip back home.”

  Her mouth twisted. “To say my parents were shocked is an understatement. My father nearly had a heart attack, but after a couple days, they warmed up to Aaron. In the end, they said they're happy for me.”

  I kept myself from saying I told you so, mostly because the past week had shown me it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d wanted to wait. So, I lied. “I’m happy for you, Caroline. It sounds like a positive trip.”

  Jake sat down across from me, with the wonder twin pouting beside him. With the way she kept looking to the other side of the room where her brother sat, I knew we were not her first choice of people to sit with.

  Jake and I could look at each other and know what the other thought, and tonight is no exception. He was dying a slow death. I could almost see the invisible rope his new bride had attached to him.

  The easiest way to get time alone with the soon-to-be corpse would be to get out on the dance floor. I motioned to him as a rocking number played, and he nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste to escape from the blonde albatross.

  “Don’t you think your husband is going to get mad with us out here?” he yelled into my ear as we gyrated together.

  I laughed. “Not nearly as much as your wifey.”

  We both let loose, needing to escape into the music. When it ended, Caleb stood and led me back to the floor, this time, the music changed to slow, and he pulled me into his arms. “My turn.”

  With Jake, I’d been free and loose. Now, I suddenly felt shy and insecure as I tried to decipher Caleb’s current mood. “Are you mad at me for dancing with Jake?”

  “No, you’re friends. You have history,” he rationalized. “But we have a part to play.”

  Right. A part. He moved me smoothly across the dance floor, his hand at the small of my back. With each step, I became more and more confused. When I’d danced with Jake, we’d let loose with our dirty dancing. While almost sexual in nature, for us it had been all fun and games.

  This dance was different. For a large man, Caleb moved with a casual grace, sweeping me across the wooden floor of the room. He held one hand with his larger one, his other stayed in one place on my lower back. No funny business. Yet, he had my complete attention. He was all heat and quiet authority. Every brush of his thigh against mine was more intimate than the gyrations with Jake. My face flamed, and I looked up to see if he felt the same as me.

  He looked down at the same time, and I lost myself in his cobalt eyes. As usual, with him, the air around us thinned, and I had difficulty finding my breath. Why could this man send my senses into instant overload with a single look?

  Another couple bumped into me, and his arm tightened, pulling me closer as he turned in another direction. I was now pressed against his massive chest, as we spun around the cavernous room. Dear God, I could almost get dizzy. Not from the spinning, though, but from losing myself in his unwavering stare. Could he read my mind? I certainly couldn’t read his.

  The attraction I’d felt earlier in the summer washed over me again. The memory of the kiss we’d shared in the woods hit me, and I was a young, naïve girl wildly attracted to a man I couldn’t have.

  Except now the unattainable man was technically my husband. But he wasn’t. Not really. I still wanted to leave in six weeks, and he was still in love with his dead wife. I stumbled over my feet.

  “Am I going too fast?”

  I licked my lips. He had no idea. “It’s not you,” I murmured.

  The song ended, and we stood for a single moment longer. Only a second, but it could have been forever as I continued to look up. His blue eyes darkened. It was a perfect moment for a kiss, we both knew it. We both wanted it.

  “We should join the others,” Caleb said, and a rush of reasoning crashed into my irrational thoughts.

  This was all a game. Damn. Why did I keep forgetting about our pact? “I’d like some water first.”

  Maybe he sensed the need to put a little distance between us as he was quick to respond. “I’ll get it for you. Want to meet me at the table?”

  We both moved to opposite sides of the room. My skin still tingled where his hands had touched me. My brain was in sensory overload, and I welcomed the distance.

  Jake and Hope were in the midst of an argument when I arrived back at the table near the front of the room by the staging. I went to stand next to Caroline to watch, welcoming the distraction.

  “Why won’t you dance with me?” Hope whined.

  “I’ve said this before,” Jake scoffed. “You and your family tricked me into a marriage. I want nothing to do with you.”

  The leggy new bride grabbed at Jake, forcing him to stay and listen to her. “You’ve been trying to sleep with me all summer, but the moment we do, you abandon me like a cheap whore.”

  He pushed her arm away. “Well, maybe that’s what you are.”

  I cringed at the harshness of Jake’s words and tone, even if I thought the girl deserved it.

  She swiped at the tears filling her eyes. “How can you be so hateful? You’re the first man I ever slept with, but I know I’m not your first. How does that make me the whore?” Her voice began to get loud, and despite the music, she was drawing attention. She reached out to him again, desperate for a connection. “Do you do this to all your girlfriends? Sleep with them and then discard them like garbage?”

  “You’re making a scene.” He pulled from her grasp and started to go, but she went after him, spinning him back around. That’s when I spotted Leland making his way across the room toward them with a determined step and my immediate thought was to intervene.

  Caroline grabbed my wrist. “Maybe you should stay out of this, Grace.”

  I shook my head as Hope’s voice got louder. “Let’s clear this up right now, Jake Wellington, you…”

  “Hold on,” he said, raising both hands in a stop position. “I am not a Wellington. I don’t give a flying fuck about the your town rules; my name is Collings. I don’t care what we did before the stupid ceremony, we have not consummated the marriage, and I have no intentions of doing so.”

  When Leland rushed to his sister’s defense, I shook Caroline’s hand away so I could move the few steps to be there for my friend, as the two men were already nose to nose. “You screwed my sister, you marry her. End of story.”

  I tugged at Jake, feeling the anger trembling through his body. “Let it go before this escalates any further.”

  He was beyond carin
g. He brushed my hand away as his voice raised to a shout. “I don’t care, nor do I consider myself married. I am not going to spend the rest of my life with this bitch.”

  That was all Leland needed to hear. He grabbed Jake with his good hand and shoved him back. Jake responded by doing the same. No one was dancing anymore, instead they circled around the two men. Watching. Waiting. But no one intervened. So I did.

  “Stop.” I cried out, trying to be heard above the music. Leland, one handed as he was, decided to head butt Jake, but at the same time I moved in front of my friend. Leland’s head connected with my ribs, and I stumbled back into a table.

  That’s when Caleb arrived. “For Christ’s sake.” In a matter of seconds, he had Leland by his shirt in one hand and Jake by his in the other. “Quit jaggin’ around. You all need to go home. Now. Without any more fights. Is that clear?”

  Hope moved forward, sobbing. “It’s all his fault.” She pointed at her husband. “He called me a slut.”

  Caleb, still holding the two men rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Hope, you played the man like a fiddle with the intent to trap him in marriage. Can you blame him for being mad?” He looked back between the two seething men. “Brent was called away about ten minutes ago, so there doesn’t have to be a report on this if you all just head home now.”

  He released the two men, watching to make sure they stayed apart before he strode to me. “Are you okay?”

  His voice was rough, and I couldn’t tell if he was just frustrated at the fight of if he was somehow mad at me. I rubbed my side. “Other than these ribs taking another direct hit? Yeah. I’m good.”

  Straight and True finished their song, and the music didn’t continue. Aaron spoke into the mike. “Is the night over, Chief?”

  Caleb didn’t look up, his narrowed eyes not leaving mine, but he raised his voice to answer the band’s leader. “I’m officially on leave. I think things are resolved here, so I’ll leave it up to you.”

  Aaron spun his finger to have the music continue. Caleb looked down at me. “Want to call it a night?”