THE PARK OF SUNSET DREAMS

by Ava Miles

  “The only benefit to being in my family,” Jane tried to joke. “That’s why I didn’t change mine. I knew my parents would cover our tracks regardless, and since all my family trust funds and accounts were in my real name, it would have been more complicated.”

  “Well, that explains why you gals had those private companies created for our financial relationship with names that had nothing to do with your own.”

  Jane rose to join them, feeling they’d weathered the storm for the moment. “That’s right. Plus, it was so much safer and smarter financially for you to run your earnings and our employment like a business.”

  “Safer for everyone involved,” Elizabeth said. “Or at least it was until Jane decided to threaten it.”

  She gazed at her friend. “Vince can’t hurt you anymore.”

  “It’s not just that.” Elizabeth’s throat rippled, and she put her hand to it. “This situation involves all of us. What if Matt decides to tell people about Raven and Vixen if you two break up? Rhett could get into some deep trouble if someone wants to make a stink and pretend we were counting cards. Are you ready to risk that?”

  “Let’s take a step back,” Rhett said, holding up his hands like a white flag.

  “How do you even know Mr. All-American is going to be broad-minded enough to accept that his new girlfriend was Raven?” Elizabeth continued. “He’s running for mayor, right? Something like that would hurt his chances.”

  Her words burned like a cigarette to the skin. “That’s why I need to tell him. He needs to have the choice.”

  “It’s too early in this relationship,” Elizabeth said. “Six months or a year from now, I might reconsider if he’s proven himself, but this…blind faith…is too much to ask of us. Of me.”

  Jane looked down at her boots. This is where the rubber met the road, she realized. “Sometimes, you don’t need six months or a year to know a person. I love him, and I want to be honest with him. Rhett? What do you think?”

  He gave a long-suffering sigh and sat down in front of the fire, his hands on his knees. “As I told you, Janey, it’s not just about me anymore. Abbie and Dustin and I are making a life here.”

  Her face fell, and the bitter sense of defeat spread throughout her.

  “But while I can’t talk about what happened to Abbie, I also know what it is to love someone who has a secret. Matt’s a smart man. He’s going to know something’s up. There’s no way someone as smart as you are leaves behind a top-notch education to be a dog caretaker.”

  She waited with expectancy to hear what he said next.

  “I talked it over with Abbie and Mac, just like I said I would. We all agree that it’s common enough for poker players to have scouts now. I’m okay with you sharing that fact with Matt. But I agree with Elizabeth. It’s too early to tell him about Raven, especially given what that news could do to all of our lives in this town.”

  Elizabeth gave Jane her back. “It’s a mistake.”

  “I’m sorry you’re upset, Elizabeth, but I’m willing to trust Jane. And I know it’s not what you wanted to hear either, Jane, but it’s the best I can do for everyone right now.”

  As a compromise, she could have done worse. Still, she was desperate for Matt to know everything.

  “In time,” Rhett continued, “we can see how things go between the two of you.” Clearly sensing her reaction, he crossed over to her and pulled her in for a hug. “If he loves you, he’ll still love you when he finds out about Raven. Real love can survive anything, I’ve learned, even when it’s news like this.”

  She made herself put her arms around Rhett, who kissed her on the head.

  “And Elizabeth, I swear to you on my mama’s life that I will never let that lowlife get anywhere near you ever again, no matter what. You’re safe, and you’re just going to have to trust me on that. I don’t want you to live in fear. Do ya hear me?”

  Her friend shook her head, saying nothing.

  “Well, I feel like I’ve been ridden hard and put up wet, so I’m going to mosey on home to my family. Jane, we’ll keep talking about this. Matt seems like a good guy, but we don’t know him well enough yet. If there’s any chance he’s untrustworthy and might tell someone you’re my scout, I expect you to let me know pronto. Then he and I will handle things man-to-man.”

  “It won’t happen,” she said.

  “Good to hear.” He kissed Elizabeth on the forehead and then headed to the door to pull on his coat. “I’ll talk to y’all tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

  The wind howled when he opened the door, and then everything went quiet again when it shut behind him. Now it was just Jane and Elizabeth, but the comfortable understanding between them had been shattered.

  “I’m not doing this to hurt you,” Jane whispered, her chest feeling like it had been crushed by a metal compactor.

  “I know,” Elizabeth said in a flat tone, but her eyes were still hard. “You talked to Rhett without checking with me first.”

  “He’s the boss, and I knew what you’d say.” Jane walked over to stand beside her friend. “I didn’t know what Rhett would say. You know the two of you are the only family I have, right? I would never willingly put you at risk, but this is important to me.”

  “And yet you’re jeopardizing everything.”

  “Why don’t you want me to be happy?” Jane finally shouted, the hurt pouring out. “This is the first man I have ever cared about, and he cares about me deeply too. When I learned he was going to run for mayor, I ran away from him, but he came to me to tell me he was falling in love with me. That I needed to trust him. To not shut him out.”

  Elizabeth rubbed the bridge of her nose and walked back over to the fire.

  “This is the kind of man I want to build a life with, Elizabeth. I know you don’t know him, but I want that to change. I’d like your approval.”

  The fire crackled as her friend gazed away, still quiet.

  “Are you really going to let this come between us? After everything?” Her face crumpled and she sank onto the couch, her hands covering her face as the tears came.

  Then she felt Elizabeth’s arms wrap around her. “I’m sorry. I’m scared. Like I used to be when we’d see his car out the window.”

  Jane reached out and hugged her, pressing her face into her neck. Thank God, she’d softened. She couldn’t stand the thought of being estranged from Elizabeth, not even for a day. “I’m sorry, but Rhett’s right. Vince can never touch you.”

  “It’s not just that. It’s this new life we’ve built. I don’t want it to come crashing down around us. It’s the only thing I have, Jane.” Her voice shook when she said it.

  They clung to each other even tighter. Yes, she had felt the same way, but life seemed to be opening up in new ways now that she was with Matt.

  They rocked each other until her friend pushed away. “You should probably get back to him. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone leaving their own house after having sex.”

  Her mouth quirked up. “Doesn’t that show you how much you and Rhett mean to me? That I was willing to leave him sleeping in my bed to talk to you about this?”

  Her friend’s eyes darkened. “Yes, but it also tells me how important he is to you.”

  “Liz,” she said. “I know we’ve talked about sex before, but this…I can see why people call it making love now.”

  “I’m glad for you, Jane. I really am.” She squeezed her hand tight, but her face was drawn, her expression shuttered. “We’ll see what comes next, okay? Now get going.”

  Jane knew deep down Elizabeth was pushing her out so she could deal in private with the demons they’d unleashed tonight.

  “I love you,” she said.

  “I know. I love you too. Now go.”

  After she’d put on her coat and gloves, she kissed Elizabeth on the cheek again. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Just go enjoy yourself. You deserve it.”

  As Jane left, she decided Elizabeth deserved a goo
d man too. Once more, she prayed Vince hadn’t left enough of a mark on her friend to make that impossible.

  Chapter 18

  When Jane left, tremors overcame Elizabeth, and she sank to the floor. Cold swept through her insides as though she were outside without her coat on in below-zero temperatures. She forced herself to stagger to the fire, grabbing a purple throw as she passed the couch.

  Oh God, oh God was all she could think.

  The fear was back, and it was choking her.

  They could lose everything over this…

  Rationally, she knew it had been seven years since she’d seen Vince, but right now, she was the same terrified, quivering young woman she’d been in those horrible last days in Cambridge.

  As she’d learned to do in her counseling sessions, she took several deep breaths, but it didn’t help. She started to choke as the grief rose up in her chest and swamped her.

  And there was no fighting the tears.

  Fifteen minutes later, her head was buzzing, her nose was running, and she couldn’t get warm—not even in front of the blazing fire.

  Vince.

  Just hearing his name again had driven a spike of terror through her whole body. A fear deeper than any other threat could engender.

  He can’t hurt me, she chanted over and over again.

  Vince had gotten married a year ago, she knew, and worked at the biggest investment bank in New York. But that knowledge didn’t assuage her fear one bit.

  When Elizabeth finally settled down, her body spent, she stared into the fire from her supine position on the floor. The long-time question arose within her. How could an innocent couple of dates turn into something that had destroyed a part of her life, a part of her?

  As Vixen, she’d been able to forget all that… She’d felt in charge. In control. If a man wanted her, well, he didn’t want the real her. And because she wasn’t real, he couldn’t find her.

  Vince didn’t know her new name.

  Heck, no one did but Jane. Not even her parents. They would try and bleed her dry if they found her.

  And now Rhett knew. Well, it was about time. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Rhett. She did…with her life. But the last thing she wanted was for him to find Vince and exact revenge on him.

  She’d never wanted to risk that.

  And deep down, she had needed to lock the door to that horrible time and throw away the key.

  Too bad Jane had a spare, and boy, had she opened that box tonight.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she said, her voice hoarse from crying. This whole thing was stupid.

  Still, Elizabeth wanted to be happy for Jane. She loved her friend more than anything. But she’d just met this guy, and that was what hurt the most. That her best friend would put them in danger for something this fast. Plus Matt Hale wanted to be in the public eye, which could put Jane in the public eye…and her too. They’d discussed the potential impact of Jane using her real name when she came forward as Rhett’s dog walker, but her surname had never been used in the media. No one would give Matt or Jane that promise if they stayed together and he continued in his run for office.

  And who could really trust a politician anyway? Since that was what Matt Hale wanted to be, Elizabeth was suspicious in spite of what Jane had told her about him.

  She pushed herself off the floor, and stood, weaving in place. Taking a few more deep breaths, she let herself settle.

  “Dammit!” She hated being back in this place.

  Deep down, she was stronger than this. Just not right now.

  She went into the hall closet and pulled out the Louisville Slugger bat she’d bought for her first apartment in Las Vegas when she’d still been tortured by nightmares. Clutching the wood in her hand, she checked the alarm and every lock on every door, and because her paranoia was at an all-time high, she made sure all the windows were locked too.

  When she’d bought this house on its gorgeous four acres, she hadn’t thought for a second how isolated it was. She’d just been happy to have land—a heck of a lot more than she’d ever imagined calling hers while growing up in that run-down trailer park.

  Now, she felt the isolation, the blackness outside, and the wind made her tremble.

  Nights like this she wished for a loving, trusted man beside her, but since it was a man who had put her in this position in the first place, she knew all that happily ever stuff was a load of horseshit.

  Walking back to her bedroom, she locked that door too and then, for good measure, wedged the vanity table chair under the door knob. Then she lay on her bed, fully clothed, clutching the bat, prepared to keep her vigil until the fear finally drained away and she could sleep.

  Chapter 19

  Matt’s fingers clutched around the beer he was holding when he heard Jane’s SUV crunching the snow on the driveway and the garage door open.

  Staying where he was, dressed again—and hadn’t that been weird?—he watched as Annie and Rufus ran off to greet her. He’d let them out of the laundry room as soon as he noticed they were in there. Henry was still in the crate where Jane had left him. He hadn’t wanted to deal with the dog’s antics when he was knee-deep in doubts, confusion, and…acute discomfort.

  No one had ever left him like that after sex since he’d made a cardinal rule once he’d become a man. He wouldn’t sleep with a woman if he didn’t want to wake up with her. So far it had worked out.

  But now that Jane had flitted away—from her own home, no less—after the hottest, most intense lovemaking he’d ever experienced, he was completely out of his element, like a novice lawyer in his first major trial case against a lawyer with thirty years of hard-won experience.

  Why had she left?

  He’d just told her he thought he was falling in love with her, for Christ’s sake!

  The note he’d found hadn’t put much of a dent in his chaotic emotions, and he’d crumpled it into a ball in his hand.

  But he’d decided to stay, reach deep for patience, and muster all the trust he could to believe that she’d left for a damn good reason.

  It had better be a damn good reason.

  Her footsteps were slow and hesitant. Then they stopped. He set his beer on her side table and turned his head to look at her.

  “Hi,” she said, her voice hushed. “I was hoping you’d stay asleep.”

  He didn’t move from where he was. This was her show. “No,” he replied, taking in her stiff frame. “It was only a catnap. Why don’t you grab a glass of wine and tell me where you had to go?” Even to his ears, his tone was reasonable, and he would have patted himself on the back if the stakes weren’t so high.

  “I’m sorry I left,” Jane said. “There was something I needed to do. Something that involved us.”

  His gut burned at that. Her secrets wrapped around him like an errant cobweb discovered in an old basement. “Go get your wine. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The right side of her mouth tipped up. “I’m glad.”

  “I wasn’t happy to wake up with you gone, but how could you possibly think I’d leave after what happened between us?”

  She looked down. “I don’t…this is new territory for me.”

  “Get your wine,” he repeated.

  Nodding, she took off to the kitchen, her dogs following her. Minutes later, she was back, the wine bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other.

  When she sat down, she held out the bottle.

  “Wow,” he commented, eyeing the label. “A 2001 Margaux, Chateau Bordeaux Blend. What did that set you back?”

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re celebrating.” Her eyes tracked to the beer. “Ah…do you want some wine?”

  Celebrating, huh? Well, this situation kept getting curiouser and curiouser.

  “Sure thing,” he responded, trying to keep it casual when his gut felt like he’d consumed saw dust for dinner. “What are we celebrating?”

  She poured him a glass, which he took, and then one for herself.

  “The tr
uth,” she whispered, her brown eyes glowing. “And trusting good men.”

  That did it. She couldn’t have been more effective in claiming his heart for her own if she’d shot an arrow through it. Earlier, staring into the fire, he’d analyzed everything between them from their friendship to the intimacy of their lovemaking. These emotions of his were swinging like a pendulum, from the sweet joy he felt when he was with her to the raw fear of being left naked in the bed where they’d just made love.

  He was completely, totally in love with this woman. Tonight had confirmed it.

  “I can drink to that,” he responded, sensing she was about to tell him more about herself.

  She clinked her glass to his and then took a deep drink. Even though he could barely wait for her to speak, he made himself take a sip.

  And he was immediately glad of it. The Bordeaux might have been the best wine he’d ever tasted. Full. Lush. Alluring.

  Just like Jane.

  “My God, you do know your wine.” His casual remark went against everything he was feeling.

  When she set her wine on the side table closest to her, he did the same, edging it next to his discarded beer.

  He held out his hand to her as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Her eyes gleamed bright and true then like the North Star, guiding them both to the safest course, and she took it. Her deep breath told him what he already knew.

  Whatever she was about to entrust him with was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. Enough clients had told him deep, dark secrets for him to know when one was about to be unearthed.

  “Matt,” she began, breathing shallowly now. “When we went on our first official date, and you asked me about myself, I wanted to tell you…about my past, but there were reasons…that I couldn’t.”

  His every nerve was on edge, and he wanted nothing more than to tap his foot in anticipation, but he forced his body to relax. He needed to give her time.

  “When I realized how deeply I cared about you, I had to ask some people close to me if I could tell you about…well, about what I’ve been doing since Harvard.”