by Hart, Alana
“I called your house five years ago. I’m not going through that again. I still carry the wounds.” He laughs.
“You called my house back then? My mother never told me. I guess you’re really not that keen on meeting her again then, despite wanting to impress her with your car?”
“Only if you’re there to protect me. I’ll be brave, if you’re there. And I’ll carry a cross and some garlic.”
“Hey, that’s my mother you’re talking about,” I protest, but I’m laughing. “Isn’t that for vampires anyway?”
“Vampires, evil spirits, your mother. Who cares? I’ll be polite but I’m not taking any chances.”
He looks at me then, and I know that look. He’s going to kiss me, I know it.
“See you Saturday,” he says, and when he bends his head and he really does kiss me, it feels so good to have his lips on mine, as if time skipped all those years. He has changed his after-shave, but he still has that familiar Luke scent, the same velvet soft lips and slight stubble on his cheek. And my heart thuds, but it’s not from fear, and I reach up and touch his scar, remembering the accident, and I think he remembers too because his kiss deepens a little, but not too much. And perhaps it’s just as well we are in the street with people milling around, so his kiss is not threatening at all. Just firm and sweet. I can cope with that.
The thought of sometime “later” and being alone with Luke floats across my mind, and I quickly shut that picture out. I don't know how I'll react if we get to that point.
“Oh, Madison,” he says. “I missed you. I missed this.”
I want to tell him I missed this too, but actually I've been running from exactly this for so long, I don't. I just kiss him again, quickly on the lips, and he hugs me and buries his face in my neck and then I have to go. I know Michelle will be wondering where I went.
CHAPTER 35
LUKE
I wave to Madison as she rushes back to the gallery along the street. I want to skip like a schoolboy, but of course I don't. All I know is that there’s a big fucking grin on my face as I call Paul to come and pick me up.
I have spent so long in Greenwich I have got to get back to work. Julia will be going ballistic. But fuck work! I kissed Madison and I'm taking her out on Saturday, and this time I'm going to find out what's going on.
CHAPTER 36
MADISON
A couple of days after meeting Luke, I'm still smiling on my way to work. I have a date with him on Saturday, and I think I'll be able to handle it. I'm going to put everything behind me and enjoy it.
Michelle and I are off to an estate sale for the afternoon. We attend auctions like these every few weeks. She's happy to close the gallery for part of the day if there's the hope of getting some good pieces to sell. She takes me along and I help her load the car with whatever she has bought, and sometimes, she asks my opinion.
“There's a big draw today with a painting by Charles White,” she says. “I'd like to see that, but it will go for far too much. You can tell me what you think about these though.”
She has the catalog open on a page with some black and white pen and ink drawings. They are exquisitely done. I can see why she's interested in these.
“Nice. I like the way a few lines depict the female form and movement. Really graceful.”
“I thought they'd complement the Taylor exhibition.”
I agree. The sculptures Erin Taylor has produced will look perfect alongside these drawings.
The sale is at a big house not far from Greenwich, a fortune in real estate right there. Though the house itself is nothing special in terms of design, it’s large and sprawling. After getting through the heavy lunchtime traffic, we arrive just on time to take a quick look at the Charles White painting and the drawings. Michelle is still keen on buying them.
We sit down as the bidding is about to start, and I glance at the catalog in her hand. My blood runs cold. In small letters I hadn't noticed before, I see “Property from the Estate of Edward De Fresney” under the Charles White painting on the front cover.
How many De Fresney families are there? I’m pretty sure Edward De Fresney must be one of Brad's relations. I feel hot. I can't stay here. I know I can't stay. I get up and push through the legs of the people in the row, Michelle's face registering shock and alarm. The bidding is starting, and people are complaining, but I have to get out of there.
I run out, and the doors close behind me. I'm in the hall of the house where a big wide staircase leads up to another floor. The door closes again.
“Now there's a blast from the past.” I hear the voice that has been part of my nightmares for the past five years. Brad was in there! He has noticed me and followed me out.
I want to throw up. I think I'm going to.
“Going somewhere, were you, Madison? Always going somewhere. Why not stay right here and I'll see you after the bidding closes. Relive old times. You were always a feisty one. I like that. Lots of rooms here in my uncle's old house. Rooms...and beds.”
I'm frozen to the spot. I think I'm going to pass out.
He whispers in my ear. I can feel his hateful breath on me. “We can have such fun here. I know you like it rough. Don't deny it. You might protest but cock-teasers like you always like it in the end.” He laughs.
Michelle saves me. She has followed me out.
“I'll see you around,” Brad whispers and goes back into the sale room.
“What's the matter?” Michelle is worried. “It looks like you've seen a ghost.”
I feel faint. I can feel my legs give out under me.
“I'll take you home,” she says.
“What about the pictures?” She closed the gallery for nothing. She wants those drawings. I know she does.
“To hell with the pictures. I'm taking you home.”
She takes me back to her place above the gallery and makes me a hot drink. She's heard enough about my mother to sense that's not where I'd want to go.
“Tell me,” she says, once I'm wrapped in a blanket on her big, soft couch with a cup of hot chocolate in my hand. “What was that all about?”
Can I tell Michelle? I have to say something. She's been careful not to pry on the way back here, but I can't put her off forever.
“That guy...he...he attacked me years ago. At college,”
“You were raped?”
“Yes, by him and a friend. They held me down at a party. It was like he was coming after me all over again today.”
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“I don't talk about it.”
“It's good that you're talking. I didn't tell anyone either.”
“You, too?”
“Yes, but not at college. It was my stepfather. I was sixteen. He wouldn't leave me alone. I think it happens more often than we think.”
“But you're okay now, aren't you?” I realize I don't know. We're all okay on the surface.
“Yes, I'm fine. I have my gallery, but do you see me going out on dates?”
“I didn't think about it,” I say. “I was too busy avoiding going out on dates myself.”
I smile at her. Someone who understands!
“I wondered why you didn't go out much, why you didn't like to be left alone in the gallery. I don't like being alone downstairs either. I lock up if you're not there and I can't get a friend to help.”
I realize that's true.
“Don't let those guys get the better of you,” she says.
“It's easy to say...”
“Tell me about it, It ruined so much for me.”
“I'm supposed to be meeting a guy on Saturday night. Someone I used to know before I went to college.”
“A good guy?”
“Yes, a great guy.”
“Give him a chance. If you like him. Don't let what happened keep you closed off from life.”
I know she's right. I have to give myself a chance with Luke.
“You want me to take you home?”
“I'll be ok
ay to drive.”
I'm not feeling so shaky. I feel better having talked to Michelle.
CHAPTER 37
MADISON
The gallery is busy on Saturday. I'm going to rush home and get ready for my date with Luke. I'm determined to get over my past. Michelle has suggested a therapist and insists on paying for it, her gift “to make sure those bastards don't get the upper hand.” I'm going to work through everything that happened. But first I'm going to enjoy tonight.
When I get home, I see a Maserati parked in the drive. So Luke thought that would impress my mother more than a Ferrari! I wonder how many cars he has and what he is doing here so early. Damn! I wanted to take a shower and put on something nice before he arrived.
Mom meets me in the hall. “An old friend came to visit.”
It's amazing what a change of wheels can do for her attitude.
“I'm just putting on some coffee,” she says. So Luke gets the visitor treatment now, does he? Typical of my mother to fawn over someone just because he has money.
But it's Brad sitting there in the lounge, not Luke, when I rush in, all smiles. I stop short. I think my heart might stop too.
“Hi Madison.” I can see my distress amuses him by the smug look on his face. “I was just in the area and phoned to see if you wanted to come out for a drink for old time’s sake. Your mom invited me over. Didn't you tell her about how close we were in those days?”
I find the strength to say, “I'm not going anywhere with you.”
“How impolite when an old friend takes the trouble to look you up, especially a friend you were once so intimate with.” He smirks.
The look on his face curdles my blood.
“We were never close. Just leave.” I can feel my legs shaking.
“What if I’m not ready to go yet? Perhaps your mom would like to hear how much fun we had in college, how you enjoyed two men in one night, how much of a whore you can be in the heat of the moment.”
My voice sticks in my throat. He's playing with me. He's enjoying my torment.
“Get out! And don't come back.”
“Oh, I'll go all right. But not forever. I'll be around now I know where you are. I forgot all about you until the other day at my uncle's old place. How could I forget how much fun you were to play with?”
“Thanks for the offer of coffee, Mrs. Collins,” he calls to my mother as he opens the door. “Something came up, and I have to rush off. Another time.”
My legs are shaking. I slump into the chair as he leaves.
“Pity he had to go. Nice boy!” Mom pats her hair. No doubt he was very charming to her when he talked his way in.
She doesn't even notice the effect he had on me. I run off and throw up in the bathroom.
I hardly know which way to turn. I can't sit still. I pace around my room. I know I've got to get out of there. Brad can find me at home any time he likes. He might just be waiting to get me alone. And it's not just his words, his voice that I fear.
I know now I'll never be free of the past. Things will never be right with Luke. I have to let him know, let him down gently. But first I have to get out of here. Where can I go? Does Brad know where I work too? I don't know, but I'm not going there. I'll have to let Michelle know what happened once I'm safe.
Safe? Will I ever be safe again?
CHAPTER 38
LUKE
I park my Ferrari in Madison's drive and ring her door bell. When her witch mother answers the door, I'm almost pleased because that means she'll definitely see my car. I have an armful of flowers. I think I made the florist happy with my order.
“It's you,” she says, without inviting me in. “You've got a nerve. Every time you turn up, there's trouble.”
I'm just going to ignore her. There's no point getting into an argument.
“Is Madison ready?” I ask.
“She's not here. Some guy from college called around for her, waited until she came home from work. Next thing I knew, she drove off. Didn't say a word.”
“What? She's gone? She didn't say when she'd be back?”
“You heard me right the first time. No doubt you had something to do with it. She couldn't get out of here fast enough. She obviously doesn't want to see you.” She shuts the door in my face.
***
I know there's something going on with Madison. She's still nervous and jumpy with me, but I didn't expect her to run off. I sent her a text yesterday saying I was looking forward to seeing her, and she answered “me too x”. It didn't sound like she was going to let me turn up at her door and not be there.
I throw the flowers in the passenger seat, get in the car and call her. No answer. I've no idea what's going on. No idea at all. Some guy called for her? Which guy? She didn't give me the impression she was interested in another guy. Is she running from me? Why the fuck would she do that? Where would she go?
I check the art gallery. But it's not open. No special exhibitions tonight.
I drive around and around the streets but I don't see her. I'm worried. Has she just gone off with another guy and forgotten she had a date with me? But that doesn't add up. Not with how she was with me when I left her at the gallery on Tuesday. Is she in some kind of trouble? If she is, I don't know what to do about it. And I don't like how powerless that feels. I'm the one who's always in control.
My phone beeps. It’s a message. “Sorry I missed our date. I had to go. Better if you don't try to find me. Easier that way. Madison.”
Easier that way? Easier for who? It sounds like she really is in some kind of trouble. But if not, what the fuck is going on? She's messing with my head again. And she's damn well going to tell me why. I'm not waiting another five years for a fucking explanation.
I know I should go back to the city and get on with some work. But fuck if I'll be able to work tonight after this. I think about going to Silver Point. I'm already halfway there. I know my family will be pleased to see me if I visit, and the chaos back home will take my mind off Madison.
I should surprise Mom, stay the night for once. Easy enough to drive back in the morning. The gallery will be open then for the weekend visitors. Maybe Madison will show up at work.
***
As I drive past Sandy Cove, I can't help but glance over at Madison's beach house. I always do that when I go back home. There's usually nothing to see. It's just a house. A house that means something to me. Tonight there are lights on and I know there's someone there. Maybe they let it for the summer. But I never saw lights before. And maybe, just maybe, it's Madison.
I call her but she doesn't pick up her phone. Is she in there? Is she in there with someone?
I know I might regret trying to find out, but I have to know.
CHAPTER 39
MADISON
No one has been to the beach house for years. I don't know why Mom and Dad didn't sell it as part of the divorce settlement. Mom got to keep it, as well as the house. But Dad's got such huge business assets, I guess it wouldn't make much difference to him. Maybe he felt guilty about selling it. Mom's the one who always wanted a second house.
I set about turning the power and water on. The furniture can stay covered up. I don't know how long I'll be here. I didn't think beyond tonight when I grabbed the keys on my way out.
I should have stopped to get food or something. I'm not hungry but I'll have to eat eventually. And the water comes out brown at first. I let it run for a while until it goes clear and take a drink.
I'm feeling a bit calmer, now I'm here. I know I need to make plans. I just don't know where to start. I wonder about going to the police. But what good would that do? Would they believe me any more than they would have all those years ago? And Brad (I shudder at his name) hasn't even touched me since I saw him again. How is it that he can affect me so much without even touching me? But I know how. He reminds me of how powerless I was then. How powerless I still am, even now.
When my phone beeps, I guess it's Luke calling me, but I can't speak to him
. I can hardly think, never mind speak. I know that message I sent him isn't enough. He deserves more than the explanation I gave him. But it's all hopeless. What explanation would I give? I don't want to talk to him about college.
The next thing I know, the doorbell rings. My heart pounds. There's no way I'm answering that, whoever it is, like some too-stupid-to-live woman wondering who's out there in a horror movie.
No one knows I'm here, though Jill may have noticed someone was in the house. It may be her, but I'm still not opening the door. I'll go and see her tomorrow. I call her sometimes and she sends me pictures of Ben and his new little sister Sophie.
There's an almighty crash then. A huge brick lands in the center of the rug in the lounge.
“Open the fucking door, bitch,” Brad shouts, “or you'll be sorry.”
And then I know he's followed me and now I'm not just worried he's going to get me, that he wants to frighten me for whatever sick reasons he has. Now I think he's really crazy, and he's going to kill me.
Brad is kicking down the door with such force, I know he's out of his mind. I scramble about looking for my bag, my phone, but he moves to the window.
“I can see you, bitch, come out of there. You think you can fucking run away from me?” He's punching out the rest of the glass, his hand covered by his leather jacket. He's going to get in! I know he is.
CHAPTER 40
LUKE
I don't even think when I see some punk trying to break into the beach house. If Madison's in there, she's in danger. I'm out of my car and running down to the house before I know it.
Some low-life is screaming at whoever is inside, breaking glass, trying to get through the window. I pull him to the ground. He's a big guy, but in his rage he hasn't heard me behind him. He lands on a load of glass on the deck, but it's the safety kind that shatters in a million pieces. And he's up, coming back at me.
