Center Stage (8 page)

Chapter Nine

It had been one of the longest nights in Arianna’s life. She’d heard the shower at four that morning, and John drove away by five. Obviously he was still mad.

She’d make it up to him. She didn’t want him to hate her. They did have a commitment. He was right. There was no reason to ruin it over her reaction to something so thoughtful.

Sunshine had finally made it through the drapes. It was time to face the day and her feelings.

After her shower she brewed a pot of coffee, but it went cold before she’d poured the first cup. Her mind wasn’t on the normal activity of the day. It was on that stupid building John wanted to buy.

But it wasn’t stupid.

Arianna sat at the kitchen table and held her head in her hands. It was a wonderful building. She’d seen
Annie
there when she was five. That was what had given her the acting bug. There was a history with her and that theater, so why had she freaked out?

Perhaps her community theater group could do
Annie
there. Clara would make an amazing Annie.

Her mind was brewing now, so she started another pot of coffee and searched through a box she’d thrown in the hall closet for a notebook and a pen.

By noon she’d had two pots of coffee, no food, and had the notebook nearly full of ideas. There were voice lessons to be had and method acting classes to teach. She had a list of four different productions that would be great to get the kids in the community involved in. Maybe one night they’d have an open mic night, and with the number of music industry leaders in the community, perhaps someone would get their break on her stage.

The ideas just kept coming.

By two in the afternoon, she finally changed out of her robe, tied her hair in a tail on the top of her head, and headed into town to look at the building herself.

The view in broad daylight wasn’t much different than the view she’d had the night before. It was worn down and unloved.

Arianna stepped out of her car and looked around the street. People bustled around, and she didn’t feel as though she was being watched.

She bundled up her coat, locked the car, and crossed the street.

“Your sister knows you better than I thought she did,” Zach’s voice called from behind her.

Arianna spun to find him walking toward her. “What are you doing here?”

“Regan figured you’d come to look at it yourself. When I called your house and you weren’t there, I figured you’d be here.”

She let out a deep breath. “John wants to buy this.”

“It sold yesterday.”

Sadness bolted through her, and she shivered. “Oh. That’s too bad.”

“New owner wants to make it a community theater or something like that.”

She thought about the notebook she’d filled with ideas. It had been a waste of time.

Whoever had sent her the texts last night had told her she’d fail. Perhaps she had.

“Well, no need to stand here staring at it then,” she said as she shoved her bare hands into her pockets. “Maybe I’ll head out to your house and visit my boys.”

Zach pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Let’s go in and look around first.”

She looked at the key and then at him. “What’s going on?”

“Benson, Benson, and Hart has a new property. It’s going to need some upkeep so I’m going to send my best foreman to oversee the job. Then it’s going to need someone to bring it to life. Now, I have this niece who can belt out show tunes, and I’ve heard my sister-in-law might have done some theater. Maybe I can find her and…”

He didn’t finish once she’d charged him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Let’s go inside. And then I’ll tell you just how many people have invested in this building.”

He started for the stairs, but his comment hung with her. She wasn’t sure he had to tell her. There was no doubt her sister was in on it and her parents, too. The Keller family worked fast. But there was probably a hefty investment from John as well. She owed him an apology.

Arianna followed Zach up the front steps. The door creaked as he pushed it open.

The air was stale, and the lobby was nearly pitch black.

“My father taught me well. Always carry a flashlight to a new building,” Zach said as he pulled a flashlight from his coat pocket. “I made sure the utilities were on. We just have to find the switch.”

She followed close behind him. “How did you get the building so fast?”

“I have some leverage in this town.”

“I don’t doubt that, but…”

“Just accept it. Okay, here’s a switch.” He flipped it and rows of lights in the lobby flickered on. “Wow.”

Arianna let out a sigh. “Yeah, wow.”

The theater had been abandoned longer than they had thought. The lobby had been vandalized. She wasn’t so sure of his investment now, and by the look on his face, neither was he.

“Let’s see what the auditorium looks like.” He reached for her hand and she took it.

Slowly they walked through the heavy doors into the theater.

She was sure the lights were in the back, but she didn’t need lights to see what a mess it was.

Chairs were ripped from the floor, sconces on the wall hung by wires, and the stage was covered in junk.

“I think John’s vision for this place was off,” she said with a hitch in her voice.

“I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have mentioned it to me if he didn’t think it would work.”

“He thinks he can make this place look nice?”

Zach turned to her, but even in the dark, she could see the glimmer in his eyes. “He knows he can. You don’t underestimate him, do you?”

She shook her head. No, she certainly didn’t.

“I think we’re going to need more light before we even try to go deeper into this building. Let’s say we head back to my office and make some plans.

“That sounds good. Would I mess you up completely if I made a stop first?”

She saw the smile that formed on his lips. It was all out in the open now. Regan had spilled the beans—she was toast.

Zach had given Arianna his hard hat from his car. She’d put it on the moment she parked in the lot at the build and climbed out of her car. Zach had told her John would be in the trailer.

She’d never been on a construction site. She looked around, taking in the sights and sounds of where John spent his days. No wonder he was a quiet man. His days were filled with noise.

Carefully she walked up the metal steps to the trailer and pulled open the door.

Almost immediately she heard John yell from beyond the wall, “Shut the damn door. It’s freezing.”

Arianna clasped her hands together and walked through to where she’d heard his voice. “It is freezing. Do you have coffee in this place?”

John had been looking at blue prints, but when she’d spoke his head snapped up. At first there was a smile in his eyes, but a moment later it was gone.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

“Zach sent you?” He motioned to her hat.

She pulled it from her head. “Oh, he let me borrow this.” She hadn’t realized his name was on it.

“I’m really busy right now. Maybe I can talk to you at home.”

Arianna didn’t like this side of John, but the worst part was she knew she’d created it.

“I want to talk now.”

John flattened his hands on the table then stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest.

She gripped tightly to the helmet. “I was childish last night. I’m sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“But it does.” She took another step closer. “I know you invested in the building.”

“You’re not supposed to know that.”

“Okay, I didn’t know that for a fact until just this moment, but thank you.”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. She’d caught him on that fact, and he wasn’t any happier about it.

“This morning I made a lot of plans for that building before I knew it was really mine to make plans for. But the point is, you were thinking of me.”

“That’s been my problem lately. That’s all I think about.”

Finally the chill that ached in her muscles eased. “You’re all I’ve been thinking about, too.”

She walked around the table that separated them and stood next to him.

“You said something else last night. Something about taking care of the woman you loved.”

He nodded slowly. “I didn’t think you were listening.”

“I heard you. And a woman wouldn’t hide anything from the man she loved.” His eyes flickered for a moment when she said it, but he stayed quiet.

Arianna pulled her phone from her pocket and pulled up the text message. “This came through last night.”

He took the phone from her and looked at the text message and picture. “Son of a bitch!”

“It has to be the same blocked phone from the calls.”

“If I find this guy…”

“It’s Alexander Hamilton.”

If a man’s blood could actually boil, John’s was close.

“How the hell do you know that?”

Arianna’s shoulders dropped. “That’s why I moved back here so quickly. He came to me in New York and wanted to know where Regan’s baby was.”

“The baby she gave up?”

Arianna nodded. “He’s crazy. The man doesn’t want Regan or that child. He wants to hurt her.”

He knew that well enough. He’d seen him take after her in L.A., and then he’d seen Zach take in after Alexander. He shouldn’t have pulled Zach off of him. Perhaps he should have let him kill the bastard.

“He’s stalking you?”

“I don’t know if this is him, but I assume it has to be.”

“We need to go to the police.”

She touched his arm. “I’m not worried about me, but we need to protect Regan.”

John left his work on the table, grabbed Arianna by the arm, and led her straight to his truck.

Two hours later they had filed a report, but there was nothing the police could do and that had him angrier than before.

He sat at the stoplight on the way back to the site, gripping his steering wheel. He hadn’t even noticed he hadn’t spoken until Arianna reached across the cab and touched his leg.

“You’re very quiet,” she said softly.

“I’m pissed off.”

“I know, but you heard them. There is no proof it’s him, and they can’t do anything about it.”

“No, but we can be on the lookout. That bastard is crazy, and I’m not about to let him touch you like he touched your sister. And he’s not getting his hands on her or that child either.”

He heard what he thought was a sob, so he took his eyes off the road and saw Arianna gazing at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not a thing. I’ve never felt so safe.”

“Well, I wish you would have told me about this before you even moved back. What if he’d gotten to you again? What if…”

“I love you.”

He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You love me because I’ve made you feel safe?”

“No, I’m very certain I’ve loved you for a long time. The feeling safe, that’s just a bonus.”

He nodded. He’d started this last night by telling her he’d care for the woman he loved, and of course, he’d meant her. But was she expecting him to say those words to her? Did she need validation?

When he stopped at the next light and looked over at her, she was smiling and watching the people move about the city from her window. He needed to tell her, but not under these circumstances. She needed to know it was a sentiment from his heart, not out of need.

“I think we need to get everyone together and tell them what is going on,” he said as he eased off the brake and shifted the truck into gear.

“I think we should have everyone meet at Mom and Dad’s.”

“Start calling. We can’t wait. We need to do it now.”

By seven o’clock, the entire Keller family was assembled around Arianna’s parents’ dining room table.

The room had grown smaller over the years with spouses and children.

Usually the room bustled with noise and laughter, but the atmosphere was different now. They’d all joined there because Arianna had asked them to, but they knew something was wrong. And how she was going to ease into it, she wasn’t sure.

“John and I needed to share something with all of you.”

Regan lifted Spencer to her shoulder and narrowed her eyes on Arianna. “The funny part about all this is I’d like you to follow up that sentence with something like
we’re getting married.
But with your tone and the look on your face, if you tell me you’re dying I’m going to lose it.”

“I’m not dying.”

“Good,” Madeline spoke up. “I’ve already tried that. Let’s leave that subject alone.”

Carlos put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “So why are we all here?” he asked.

Arianna let out a long, slow breath as John took her hand in his and interlaced his fingers with hers. He knew she couldn’t tell them and keep them calm. She gave him a nod.

John acknowledged and looked at her family. “The reason Arianna moved back to Nashville was because she had a visit from Alexander Hamilton in New York.”

Zach was the first to come out of his seat, followed by Curtis.

The vein in Zach’s neck bulged, and his face turned red. “That maniac came to you, and you didn’t tell anyone? He’s on American soil, and I haven’t killed him?”

Regan placed her hand on his arm. “You’re going to scare Tyler.”

“Regan, if he even steps foot in this state…”

“I think he has,” Arianna interrupted.

Curtis was swift as he came around the table and turned her toward him. “We’re not playing games with this. You know what he did to her.” He pointed to Regan. “You should have told us what was going on.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop the sobs that had taken over her breathing. She was the one always in control, and now she didn’t know what to do as that control slipped.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

John pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Listen, the point is he’s out there. He’s been calling her and hanging up. Last night she got a text message and a picture of us outside the theater. If it’s not him, someone is following her and that’s just as scary.”