Embracing Danger (2 page)

He burst out of the back door of the theatre, the chilly wind biting at his skin. It slapped him in the face and woke him up from the unreality of the last few minutes with Arden. He’d never thought to see her move back but now she had. He needed to decide what that meant for him.

Or if it even mattered.

Of course it did. It changed everything.

He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to go in and find Cassie, but a figure stood in the doorway. Benjamin Cavendish blocked the entrance, his expression familiar to Shane. It was the same one he’d worn the night Shane had learned that Arden had gone back east to school.

“Ben.”

“Shane.” Ben moved closer but still kept a few feet between them. “I saw Arden come back to the main room and I wondered who she was talking to. I should have known it was you. I’m surprised you waited this long, honestly.”

Shane’s jaw ached as he gritted his teeth together, hate for this man churning in his gut. He disliked few people, but Ben Cavendish was right up there on the list and for so much more than what he’d done to Shane and Arden.

“Still spying on your daughter, Ben? Seems like she’s old enough to run her own life now. She’s a grown woman.”

“I’m a parent who cares.” Cavendish pointed his finger at Shane, his demeanor bordering on threatening but Shane wasn’t afraid of this man. He’d already done his worst. “There’s no point in you sniffing around her again. She’s getting back together with her husband.”

“Does she know that? Because she’s got a job and bought a house, Ben. Not the actions of a woman looking to reunite with the hubby you hand-picked.”

Unless she was simply trying to make her husband jealous.

“She and Michael are the perfect couple.” Cavendish took another step forward. “She doesn’t give a shit about you anymore, Anderson. How does it feel? Do you still dream about her at night? She doesn’t give you a second thought.”

“You’ve invaded her thoughts as well? Jesus, Ben, you’re getting paranoid in your old age. You don’t even want poor Arden to have dreams. The woman I knew wouldn’t have appreciated that.”

“The woman you knew left,” Ben spat, his cheeks stained crimson as anger took over. “Even if she wasn’t getting back with Michael, how could she ever be with you again? Look at what you’ve become. A rich playboy with a different woman every night. She couldn’t respect you or love you. Stay away from Arden, Shane. She’s not for you. She was never…for you.”

Cavendish whirled on his heel and strode back into the theatre but Shane stood rooted to the spot despite the rapidly falling temperature outside. This night had gone downhill quickly and he needed to leave before he did or said something that would absolutely only make things worse.

Heading to find Cassie and leave, he nodded to a few donors along the way, determined to get out of the theatre without getting waylaid by anyone else. The polite veneer he wore at events like this was quickly peeling away and he needed to vacate the premises before anyone saw the raw man underneath. Running into Arden tonight was too much. He hadn’t been prepared for it.

Seeing her was like a knife to his heart.

‡

T
rembling with emotion,
Arden struggled to open her car door, her fingers slipping on the handle before succeeding in climbing into the vehicle. She sat there for a long time, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart but her body wouldn’t cooperate.

She’d seen Shane. She’d talked to him although that hadn’t worked out so well. She’d wondered how long she would be back in town before she ran into him and now she had her answer. Not long. Back only a few weeks, she hadn’t been prepared for the storm of conflicting feelings that swamped her when she’d laid eyes on him tonight.

He looked good as always, a few strands of silver at his temples and a couple of lines around his eyes. Time looked good on him, she had to admit. He clearly had improved with age.

“Don’t think about him,” Arden muttered to herself, exhausted after an evening of answering the same questions over and over. Everyone was naturally curious as to why she’d come home but her patience was beginning to wear thin. “Concentrate on getting your life back.”

Her psyche needed the pep talk. It had been a long, crappy year with the divorce and frankly, she was looking forward to starting over with a new home and a new job. She was glad to be close to her beloved grandmother although it also put her into close proximity with her father, their relationship the definition of complicated. She was living with him at the moment while her new home was being remodeled but hopefully only for a short time. She needed her independence from Benjamin Cavendish. If it was up to him he’d control every aspect of her life down to her friends and job.

Turning right onto the dark, deserted private two lane road that led to her father’s house, Arden didn’t let herself dwell on her meeting with Shane. The future was all she could control and she was excited about her new life.

Slowing the vehicle as she approached a sharp corner, she reached out and turned the radio on and the car flooded with happy tunes from the oldies station. A flash of headlights had her squinting as she came onto the straight part of the road. The car opposite had their brights on and she could barely see a few feet in front of her. Instinct had her decelerating, but the other vehicle was upon her before she could stop completely.

Those same blinding headlights were now coming straight at her in her own lane at a frightening speed. She barely had time to mutter a curse before jerking the wheel to the left, hoping the driver would stay in her lane while she occupied his rightful one so she could go around him safely.

Her adrenaline surged and she turned much too sharply, pushing her two left tires into the loose gravel on the side of the road. Her heart jumped into her throat as the vehicle skidded and only a death grip on the wheel kept it from spinning in the other direction. Just when she thought she was out of danger, the tires caught the firmer ground and the car barreled forward, straight at a cluster of trees. She slammed on the brake but not before her bumper came into hard contact with one of the immoveable tree trunks.

An object flew at her face, knocking her back into her seat and pushing the oxygen from her lungs. She sat there for a long time, letting her breathing and heart rate return to normal. The airbag had deployed on impact and she had slight red marks on her hands from the chemicals. A quick inventory of her limbs and head let her know she was dazed but unhurt.

Blinking tears away, she was able to locate her handbag, hooking it on her shoulder before stumbling from the car. The front of the car was smashed in and would probably need to be towed. Sighing, she locked the vehicle and looked up the long road and then down at her already aching feet, encased in gold Jimmy Choo sandals with a three inch heel.

The half mile walk to the house was going to hugely suck. In fact, the entire evening had been a disaster. She couldn’t wait to crawl into a bathtub and soak her cares away.

*     *     *

Flinging her purse
onto the couch, Arden fell into the inviting cushions, groaning in relief. Her feet had already been sore from dancing at the party and the half mile hike hadn’t helped that situation. Her heels were rubbed raw and her arches were screaming for mercy as she slid the expensive sandals off her feet, letting them fall to the floor with a satisfying thud. She rubbed her frozen toes, trying to get the circulation back into her chilled to the bone feet and pains shot through the soles as the blood began to flow again.

“Shit,” she muttered. “Next time I wear boots. The kind with furry linings and flat heels.”

Leaning back and closing her eyes, she found the silence in the house comforting after an evening of music and chatter with people she barely remembered, if at all. Most of them had been more curious about her than anything, and she’d tried to keep a smile on her face even during the most humiliating questions regarding her divorce.

Nothing like being a sideshow this evening.

Then the whole fiasco with Shane hadn’t made things much better. He was bitter and he had a reason to be, but she’d assumed that he’d moved on and didn’t care much anymore. She’d kept discreet tabs on him over the years and he’d become quite the playboy with a different woman on his arm every night. Honestly she’d assumed he barely remembered their summer so long ago and had often wondered if perhaps it only had meaning to her. They’d both been so young.

But she’d never forgotten. That brief time had haunted her even as she’d married another man. No male could measure up to Shane but she’d known that when she left.

Her shoes hooked in her fingers, she slowly stood, her back popping and cracking in a few places. She’d been caught by several people on her way out of the party so her father had ducked out before her, but there didn’t seem to be any sign that he’d returned home. Normally he turned on the television in the study saying he liked the noise in the background, but the house was eerily quiet. Padding on bare feet, she stuck her head into the garage to check for his car. Perhaps he’d stopped somewhere on his way home.

The dark luxury sedan was sitting in its usual spot.

He was probably already upstairs asleep.

Entering her own room, she flipped on her bedside lamp and tossed her shoes in the bottom of her closet. It would be a long while before she’d wear them again after the torture of tonight. She stripped off her dress and hung it up before wrapping a robe around her body and tightly tying the sash. She worked on the pins in her hair as she walked back into the bathroom.

Tomorrow would be a new day and she’d start fresh. She’d talked to Shane and survived. It hadn’t been easy but she’d known it wouldn’t be. He was angry, and rightfully so, but even if she told him why she’d really left would it make any difference? Nothing had changed.

She’d tried so hard to put him behind her, to forget him, but Shane wasn’t a man easily forgotten.

And clearly he couldn’t forgive.

Humming a song from that fateful summer, Arden stopped in front of the mirror to see a folded piece of paper propped up against her toothbrush holder. She unfolded it and quickly scanned the brief contents.

Arden,

I’ll be out of town for awhile. Please don’t worry.

Love,

Your father

Out of town? For sure, he hadn’t mentioned any trips. She would have remembered that. In fact, he’d talked about having a welcome home party for her in a few weeks. Whatever this trip was it had come up at the last minute.

She walked back into the bedroom and picked up the landline on the bedside table and dialed her father’s cell, listening as it rang and rang before going to voicemail. She left a message to call her as soon as possible, surprised her father hadn’t answered. His phone was like another appendage and he was never without it. He depended on it for medication alarms, appointments, and contact numbers. He’d been one of the first people to embrace having a mobile phone and she often teased him that he loved it like a child.

Something didn’t feel right.

He wasn’t answering his phone.

But his car was in the garage.

His note didn’t give her any details.

And why had he even written a note? Normally if he had something to tell her he’d either say it in person or send her a text. He’d seen her less than an hour ago, after all, and nothing had seemed amiss.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was too late to call Dexter, her father’s attorney and best friend. If Ben Cavendish was taking care of any sort of business Dexter would know about it. She’d call him in the morning and get the details. In the meantime, she’d remind herself that her father was a grown man and could take care of himself. He’d specifically said not to worry. But that only made her worry more.

‡