Tempting the Ringmaster (12 page)

The acrid scent of smoke hit her as the wind shifted. Maybe they had a point.

Maybe she couldn’t keep them safe.

Maybe she should sell.

The elephant trumpeted happily as the first bit of water splashed against her. The unexpected joy made Belle grin. That was all she’d wanted—all she’d ever wanted—a little appreciation from the people around her. Even if the person currently appreciating her was a pachyderm.

“Do you know what’s going to happen next?” Graham asked.

It was the same damn question that Keith had asked. It was also the question that had been on Frank’s lips when he walked up to the elephant enclosure.

Dorothy was the only one who hadn’t asked what was going to happen next. She was the only one with an answer; sell, get out, go back to Chicago.

It was what her father would have done.

“Dorothy says there’s an outfit in California that might be willing to buy me out, but I don’t know.” She wiped her face on the back of her hand. “I’m considering my options.”

He nodded, thoughtfully. “How’s the tent?”

Belle flinched. That was another question that she didn’t want to hear. It was another question that she couldn’t answer, not really. “Frank took a look at the tent this morning. He took a couple of looks. The tent is gone. It can’t be salvaged.”

Her nice, clean, easy to set up modern circus tent was gone. The payments for the tent had been in arrears when she’d taken over, but it was
the first debt she’d paid off. “You can’t have a circus without a tent.”

“Does that mean it’s over?”

“It’s never over until the fat lady sings.”

Tiny had lowered herself into a lying position, allowing Belle to splash water all over her and rub it in with the big sponges. The motion loosened dead skin and made the elephant chortle happily to herself.

“Of course, we don’t have a fat lady. There used to be one, twenty years ago, back when my father still ran some sideshow acts: the fat lady, the world’s largest dwarf…” Belle’s lips twitched into a smile at the memory. “Blue’s mother was a mermaid—Adela—the woman could swim like a fish. Then one day they all folded up shop and left. I was six, Blue was ten. He didn’t come back until a few years ago. When he left, I lost a friend. I lost part of my family.”

There’d been rumors at the time that Adela and Barnaby had been involved. When they burned out, it was the end of the sideshow.

“Have you ever thought about what you might do without the circus?”

“If I sell out?” She shrugged. “Go back to Chicago, probably.”

“What’s in Chicago?” Graham asked.

“Wind.” She dug her fingers into Tiny’s back. “Music, art. This great little margarita place off the Red Line with duck fajitas. It’s where I went before, when I left the circus. I worked in a tattoo parlor.” She paused. That wasn’t quite right. “I co-owned a tattoo parlor.”

She’d built something, and it had been great. Long days full of work she was good at, and nights spent with people who didn’t ask her for more than a laugh and a smile.

“If I go back, I won’t be a partner again—I sold my share when I inherited the circus—but Dodge would never turn down a talented artist.”

“When you left the circus—” Graham’s voice was bright with surprise. “You left?”

Belle blinked in surprise. Hadn’t she told him? She quickly reviewed all the conversations they’d had in the past week. Had it only been a week?

It felt like a lifetime.

“I was eighteen years old,” she said. “We were in this little truck stop town in Indiana for two weeks. I met this guy. Billy Austin. He was perfect—back then they were always perfect—and he liked me. He took me out
dancing. We even went skinny dipping at the local swimming hole. It was like magic.”

“Was he your first boyfriend?”

“Nope. Back then I’d fall in love at the drop of a hat, but he was the first one—I thought it was real. You know?” It wasn’t just what they’d done together… all the things they’d done together on sunny afternoons.

It had been lying side by side in the grass, whispering her hopes and dreams to him over a stolen bottle of beer. She’d told him her deepest fears. She’d thought they would end up together, with a ring on her finger, a cake in the oven, and a baby on the way.

She should have known better.

She didn’t know how to make a cake.

“Then one day I overheard him flirting with another girl—a member of the cheerleading team. She asked him about me: ‘Don’t you already have a girlfriend.’ And, he laughed. He said that I was fun but temporary. He called me a gypsy—just like my father—and promised her I’d be gone before school started again.”

Her stomach had dropped out from inside of her. Tears had been streaming down her face, but she hadn’t moved. She hadn’t said a word. She’d just stood there, listening while Billy tore her world apart.

“He said I was just something fun to play with for the summer. Like I was a toy. Like I didn’t have any feelings. The worst part was, I didn’t even defend myself.”

“Hell.” Graham swore. He ducked through the corral’s wide fence, reaching out to Belle, like he was trying to reassure her, like he could make everything better.

She shook it off and kept washing the elephant. “The next stop was Chicago. I knew a guy there—Dodge—he’d seen my art. He’d told me if I ever wanted to leave the circus, he’d teach me how to do ink. He was probably joking.” She pictured her partner’s face, steady and calm. “He was definitely joking, but I didn’t know any better. I turned up on his doorstep with a bag of clothes and all the cash I could grab.”

Tiny was done being soaped up. Now it was time for Belle’s favorite part. She walked over to the fence and turned on the hose. She began to spray the elephant up and down.

“I liked Chicago. I had a nice apartment in Rogers Park near the subway line and some good friends. I met some nice guys.” The water felt good misting back against her skin. “I had a real life.”

It would be so easy to go back there.

So easy to leave.

Graham put a hand on her arm. His fingers dug into her skin as he pulled her close. The hose flipped up, drenching them both. The combination of cool water and crisp air chilled her to the bone. Graham didn’t seem to notice. He kissed her, hard, pulling her against him. The hose fell away, water spraying across the elephant corral’s grassy bottom.

“What was that for?” Belle asked, pulling away.

“Don’t go back to Chicago.” He kissed her again, his fingers digging into her sweatshirt. “You can have a real life. Here. With me. You can sell the circus, and we can give this thing between us a real shot. It doesn’t have to be a fling.”

Not just a fling. Belle’s heart surged at the thought.

If it weren't just a fling, they could spend mornings together in bed and nights out in the apple orchard. She could have a real relationship with a man who knew everything about her—a man who’d laughed as she clowned around—and still cared for her. She could wear A-line dresses, drink lemonade in the dappled sunlight, and plant a garden.

She’d never had a garden. There were little pots of herbs in the trailer’s window, but it wasn’t quite the same thing.

It was a nice fantasy; gardens, dresses, and a homemade dinner on the table every night. She could learn how to make that cake. Or, she could make lemon bars. They were Graham’s favorite.

“Say yes,” Graham ordered. “Then you can be my date to the Winter Social.”

The Winter Social. It was the most important event on Buck Falls' social calendar, and it was only a few days away.

Belle couldn’t go to if she were in the circus. She couldn’t go to a party where Frank, Blue, and Keith wouldn’t be welcome, where people would look down their nose at Petra.

The June Cleaver fantasy disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Graham didn’t know her at all, not if he thought she’d trade her family for a nice dress and a couple of free drinks.

Her hands shook. Damn.

“I can’t,” she said. Her heart was breaking just a little inside. Was this the end? If she turned Graham down now, would he walk away? Was this the last time they’d ever see each other? “I can’t just give up.”

“You’re not going to sell?”

Selling was the right thing. It was what her father would have done.

Belle forced herself to swallow. When she’d come back to the circus, she’d thought that she was doing the right thing. She’d thought she was doing what Barnaby would have wanted.

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

The night before had felt so good, laughing and playing with the circus kids. She’d enjoyed getting out there in front of people and clowning around. It might not have been an audience of thousands, but when her friends had cheered, she’d felt like she was on top of the world. “I don’t want to.”

“What do you want?” Graham asked.

Good question. She took a deep breath and turned slowly to look at the circus, the RVs and trailers full of people, the wreckage of the big tent, the semi-trailers full of equipment, so many years of her family’s hard work and history, including the first tent her  great grandfather had ever bought… her father’s lucky charm.

‘Trust me,’ Barnaby had said, ‘One day you’re going to be glad we didn’t leave it on the side of the road. As long as you’ve got this tent, you’ll never be without a home.’

Chapter Ten

Graham was sore all over. The cuts on his arm hurt, and every time he took a step the burns on his feet screamed in pain. Still, when Belle had said that she might be selling the circus—that she’d left the circus before—his heart had soared. Without the circus keeping them apart, she’d be able to stay in Buck Falls. With him.

Sure, Belle was a little rough around the edges, but he could work around that. If she could just stay in one place for more than a week at a time, then he could teach her everything she needed to know to blend in with the townspeople of Buck Falls. Kelly could help. A new haircut, some clothes without holes, and a few etiquette lessons, and it would be like Belle had lived there her entire life.

Then she’d turned him down with a look of terror on her face, like he’d suggested that she dress Tiny in a frilly pink tutu and enter the elephant in a ballroom dancing competition.

That had hurt worse than any burns, abrasions, or bruises ever could.

He didn’t leave. He couldn’t leave, not when Belle might be in danger. The more he thought about it, the more obvious the truth became.

The fire had been set on purpose.

It was arson. It was the only way the blaze inside the tent could become strong enough to leap to the big top’s fire proofed exterior.

That was why he’d checked himself out of the hospital against his doctor’s advice, and that was why he hobbled after Belle as she hurried to the center of the circus camp. Her cheeks were red with adrenaline. Her dark curls were flying around her pale face, a crazy halo of energy.

“Frank,” she called, searching for the lot manager. “Frank!” She whacked the side of a green tin can trailer. “I’m calling a meeting. Get your lazy ass out here,” her words were angry, but her voice was bright and energetic. Excited.

The melancholy he’d noticed back at the elephant enclosure was gone.

Graham’s heart throbbed as he realized that he was responsible for the fire in her eyes. Something he’d said had gotten through to her, convincing her to take the next steps necessary to put her life back together. He just wished that life could be with him.

Circus people were coming out of the woodwork. Men, women, and children tumbled out of trailer doors in various states of dress and undress.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Graham leaned forward to whisper in Belle’s ear.

“Not a chance.” She bounced up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was light and friendly, but it earned a gasp from the crowd. She kissed him again, deeper this time, deep enough to make Graham forget the pain in his shoulder and the burns on his feet. She pulled away and hopped up onto a nearby picnic table.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she roared. “Girls and boys, children of all ages!”

Frank wandered around the corner of the trailer. His coveralls were covered in grease. He was eating a sandwich; tuna on rye. When he saw the gathering, he blinked in surprise and sidled into the back of the audience.

By Graham’s count, the entire circus was present; all of Belle’s friends, her entire family, even the dogs, yapping and barking around their owners’ feet. No wonder she’d turned down his invitation to stay in Buck Falls. This was where she belonged, with the people she loved.

The same way he belonged in Buck Falls, a community where he’d spent his entire life. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be together for the rest of the circus’s stay.

Graham’s heart thundered as he watched Belle slip off her heavy sweatshirt.

Underneath, she was wearing a boat-necked shirt that cupped her breasts and skimmed her flat belly. The sight of her bare clavicle made his throat go as dry as the Sahara desert. He swallowed hungrily. Damn, she was a sexy woman.

Standing on the picnic table, three feet off the ground, she took a wide stance. “Alright, my buckos, I know you’ve seen the tent. I know what you’re all thinking. The Black Shadow Circus is over. Done with.”

The circus people all looked shocked. Their jaws were hanging open. They looked like they’d been hit with a brick. Hard. Someone started crying.

“You can’t have a circus without a big top. We might as well just shut down and give up now.”

There was a moment’s pause. The only sound was the Michigan wind blowing through the trees. A bird chirped somewhere, searching for a few more pieces of food as it readied itself for winter.

The elephant bugled uproariously in the background.

“Once upon a time, they said that you couldn’t have a circus without an elephant,” Belle declared. “You’ve all met Tiny. Some of you have even helped me take care of her. I know that a bunch of you have been feeding her apples.”

“She’s awesome!” Petra piped up.

“She’s pretty cool.” Belle grinned. “I asked Frank to look into her background. He called his friends. They called their friends.” She chuckled warmly. “You know how it works.” There were nods of agreement. “He just got an answer this morning.”

She waited a moment, letting her words sink in. 

Turtle Gates removed his fingers from his mouth. “What happened?”

“There was a circus that went out of business not too far from here, not too big, not too small. They had a red tent and a clown for a logo. Maybe you’ve heard of them? Maybe some of you even worked for them?” One of the rough faced roustabouts was nodding enthusiastically. “The circus life isn’t as easy as it used to be, and it was never easy to begin with. These days’ people would rather spend their money on a movie ticket then go to a live show. They’d rather be entertained by a situation comedy then a master of comedy like our own clowns. They’ve lost their sense of wonder.”

Graham didn’t know if that was true, but it didn’t stop his head from nodding along in agreement. There was something about Belle’s speech, the way she held herself, the fire and fury in her voice.

“The owner was old. He had debts. One day, he just gave in and closed up shop. His people have been showing up all over the country looking for work. They’re desperate, directionless, and homeless.” Her fingers balled up tightly into fists. “None of them can say what happened to the circus’s star. Elvira the dancing elephant.”

There was another bugle from the field. Tiny had heard her name.

“Well, my father was old. He had debts, lots of debts,” her voice was shaking. “In order to pay off the debts, I had to sell my business in Chicago. I had to sell my family’s campground in Florida—”

The crowd erupted in discussion.

“The Florida campground?” A woman cried.

“Where are we going for the winter?” Petra asked, her upper lip quivering.

“What does this mean?” Keith stomped forward.

Belle held up a hand, silencing them with a gesture. “I did what I had to do. It was the only choice. If I hadn’t sold the campground, we never would have made it this far. We would have been shut down weeks ago. Now, let me tell you something…”

She hopped down off the picnic table, the crowd separating in front of her like a wave. She prowled through them, bright and powerful.

“We might not be going to Florida for the winter, but I will find us a place to stay. I will keep this circus together as long as I can.”

She turned her gaze, searching the crowd until she found Graham. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip slightly as their eyes met.

“Whatever it takes.”

“What about the tent?” Blue demanded. The fire breather was wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves chopped off on this crisp November day. When he crossed his arms in front of his chest, muscles moved under his cocoa colored skin. The intricate black tattoo on his biceps gleamed. “You said it, there’s no circus without a big top.”

“We’ve still got a big top!” Belle grinned. “The first big top to ever tower over the Black Shadow Circus. It might not be quite as big as the one we lost, it might not have all the same futures, but if we can get it set up then—I promise you—we’ll put on the greatest show on earth. Saturday night—”

“Saturday’s the Winter Social,” Graham interrupted. “Everybody from Buck Falls and Whispering Springs will be there. You won’t get an audience on Saturday night.”

“Not Saturday night.” Belle hopped back up onto the picnic table. “Friday night!” It was already Thursday. “Tomorrow night! It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. Clearing the rubble, putting up the tent,
getting things ready. We’ll need to rework parts of the show. The old tent is smaller—it won’t have the same kind of ring space—but no one here is afraid of a little hard work. Are you with me?”

The circus let out a ragged roar in response. Everybody saying something different.

“Are you with me?” Belle repeated, stomping her foot down against the table top.

“Yes!” Frank and Keith shouted at the same time.

“Are you with me?”

“Yes!” the entire circus shouted.

“This isn’t the end of us, and it’s not the end of the circus in America. Call your friends! Tell your family! The Black Shadow Circus might be down, but we’ll never be out. We’ve got space for bright, fresh acts and new fresh people. Anyone who wants a spot. Anyone whose circus folded up shop. Anyone who just wants to try out something new. They’ve always got a place here. Now,” she demanded one last time, “Are you with me?”

“Yes, Belle-Anne!” the world thundered.

Graham’s heart was beating hard inside his chest. He wanted to reach out and grab Belle’s hand. He wanted to show the world just how proud he was of the decision that she’d made, and he wanted to share her moment of triumph. Instead, he stepped back to watch as the crowd whooped and shouted in excitement.

Mikhail Jarvis and Blue Deveraux stepped up, each one standing by her side. They snagged her arms and hoisted her up onto their shoulders to take a celebratory lap around the clearing.

One of the kids ran to get a piece of paper, and Frank started making a work schedule. Everybody hurried to sign up, and Graham found himself on duty clearing the debris of the burnt big top from the fairgrounds.  He went to work, keeping one eye on Belle as she marked out a practice area and started to put the different acts through their paces.

After a few hours, his arm was throbbing and his feet hurt. The painkillers were wearing off. The air seemed heavier, like it was pressing down on top of him, making it hard to stand. He felt like hell, and he probably looked worse.

“You’re not looking so good, Gilly.” Belle grabbed his arm to steady him as he paused to wipe his brow. The insult didn’t sound so bad coming from her lips. She reached up to straighten his shirt collar, the action warm and familiar.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re falling over.”

The other men on the rubble clearing team were beginning to look in his direction. Keith and Frank were standing near the edge of the clearing, surveying the land. Belle gave them a little three-fingered wave. They waved back.

Graham’s head was pounding. He took a deep breath, tasting the scent of sweet hay and apples that clung to Belle’s skin. She smelled fresh and strong, like the great outdoors.

He reached out, pushing a dark curl back behind her ear. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

“Nice compliment, except you’re practically unconscious. I’m surprised you can see more than six inches in front of your face.”

“I can see you.”

Her face was red from the wind. Her cheeks chapped. She’d been working hard, her hair pulled away from her face in a messy ponytail.

Graham felt light headed. Belle’s head was spinning. Her auburn hair and beautiful green eyes shone in the light. She’d put her sweatshirt back on. It was a merlot colored zip-up with the tie missing from the hood, no logos, and no words, plain and honest, just like everything else about her.

“I’m fine,” he repeated.

“In the last week, you’ve had a beating and been in a fire. Your lungs probably look as bad as the canvas we’re pulling down. I know your head’s made out of granite, but you’re not fine. Go home. Get some rest.”

Graham couldn’t leave.

Not while Belle was in danger.

So far he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but it was a circus. He didn’t know what was ordinary.

Everyone seemed to be working hard, focusing on the task at hand. Belle had demonstrated a few tumbling techniques for Willow Gates and helped Petra work on her juggling. When Blue had overstepped his mark with the fire breathing equipment, she’d ripped into him.

Nothing strange. Nothing to worry about.

Graham forced himself to take a deep breath; he was still worried.

“You need to go home,” Belle said. “You need to take some pills, snag a nap, and get something warm to eat.”

“Come with me,” he said. She’d never admit it, but she’d been up as long as he had. The only difference between them was a few flesh wounds. “We could take that nap together.”

“Then neither of us would get any rest.”

“I’m not leaving you here by yourself,” he said. “Anything could happen.”