by Jeannie Watt
“Wait up there and tell me if we get light,” she called. The furnace door unlocked first try and then she fished around in the shadows for the door prop, which she kicked into place before pausing to let her eyes adjust to the much darker furnace room.
The breaker box was on the opposite side of Bertha. Once there, she opened the cover and ran her fingers down the panel until she reached the breaker that was flipped the wrong way. She pried it back into place, and the furnace blower started up again just as a heavy thud sounded on the other side of the room followed by a colorful curse. The door prop skittered across the room, bouncing off her shoe.
The…what?
No.
No, no, no.
Felicity made her way around Bertha to find Danny picking himself up off the floor.
She reached her hand out to the wall and flipped on the light switch. Danny appeared no worse for wear, but the door looked to be very, very closed.
Danny glanced over his shoulder, then back at her. “You have the new keys, right?”
Felicity shook her head. “There are no new keys.”
Chapter Twelve
It took a moment for Felix’s answer to sink in. “I thought that Deke replaced the lock yesterday?”
“The new lock didn’t come in.”
“A heads-up would have been nice.”
She pulled her old keys out of her pocket and put one in the lock. A second later she pulled it out again. “Try yours,” she said.
“They’re in my jacket upstairs.”
Her shoulders drooped. “We’re going to have to call my dad to get Deke’s number.”
“Okay.” He waited for her to pull out her phone, but she didn’t seem to be moving. He gave her a narrow-eyed look as a bad feeling came over him. “You don’t have your phone.”
“Adele isn’t singing in-person upstairs.”
He pushed his hands into his hair, then abruptly dropped them again. “I have a client meeting in an hour.”
“I have a date.”
“A date?” He dropped his chin to his chest.
“Not a date, date. I’m going for drinks and finance talk.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Cade Kincaid?”
All he could do was shake his head.
“It’s not a date,” she insisted.
“No. It is. He’s using the finance thing as a come-on. Where is this nondate?”
“Some new place La Paloma or something.”
“Le Petit Holly. It’s a quiet, romantic spot.”
“He did say it was quiet. I assumed it was so we could talk.” She pushed her lower jaw sideways in frustration. “Doesn’t matter now. Cade’s going to think I stood him up.”
“Good.” Danny propped his hands on his hips and studied the window above them. “You might fit through that.”
“If it even opens.”
He looked around, then headed for the lockers.
“No tools or anything of use,” she said from behind him. “Coveralls and books.”
He opened the lockers anyway. Coveralls and books.
“Told you.” He turned back and she added, “Why did you follow me? I told you I had it.”
“Because some stupid, protective instinct kicked in and I couldn’t help myself.”
“I don’t need protecting.”
“You’re going on an accidental date with Cade Kincaid.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“Felix,” he said softly. “Sometimes you charge into things before you think about them.”
She looked as if she were about to ask, “When?” only to have the answer present itself. More times than they could count when he was involved.
“I thought you might need a hand,” he added. “And that the circumstances warranted an exception to the keep-your-distance rule.”
Felicity made a show of looking around the small room. “Yeah. We won’t be doing that for a while.” She turned her attention to the window, judging the size. The ductwork above their heads gave a few pops and pings as Bertha continued to merrily blow hot air, almost as if mocking them. Felicity propped her hands on her hips and shook her head, obviously not liking the look of the window situation. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered.
“We’ll get out. And for the record, I don’t think you told anyone about the Fork Horn lease.” He needed to tell her that while he had the chance. Once they were free of this room, he might not get another chance. Felicity was making a career of keeping her distance.
“Found the culprit?” she said in a dark voice without bothering to look his way.
“Not a clue who it is. But I shouldn’t have made the accusation without talking to you.”
“But you did,” she reminded him, finally looking at him.
“Tactical error.”
“One of many,” she said grimly.
He wanted to touch her. To reach out and tip up her chin and look into those defiant blue eyes, but he wisely kept his hands in his pockets. “Are you game to be boosted to the window and take a look at the situation there?”
“Sure.”
He went to the wall beneath the window and Felicity followed. She put a hand on the wall and looked up at the sill above her, then at him. “This has disaster written all over it.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
“I might bring you down with me.”
He met her gaze. “Then we’ll pick ourselves up and dust off and try again.”
Her lips parted, then she closed her mouth again and swallowed. “Right.”
He made a stirrup, and Felicity put her foot on his clasped hands, then set a hand on his shoulder and the other on the wall as he boosted her. She let go of his shoulder as he lifted her, walking her hands up the wall for balance. When her foot was at chest height, he held and could hear her fumbling with the window latch.
She started to sway. “I’m putting you down.”
He didn’t have a chance. Her foot slipped free and she slid down the front of him. He caught her under the arms as her knees buckled and pulled her upright, against his chest.
For a moment their gazes met and held, and then Felix stepped back, brushing her hands down the front of her.
“Not only is the latch stuck, there’s a cage built over the exterior.” Her mouth tightened ruefully. “And I don’t think I’d fit even if we broke the glass and wrestled the cage free.”
“You’re saying we’re here until someone realizes we’re missing.”
“I’d say so.”
“Well, we have water.” He pointed to the washroom. “Reading material. One chair.”
“Speaking of reading material…” Felicity opened the first locker and pulled out the book she’d noticed the first time she’d been locked in. She’d been meaning to take a closer look at it.
“Die Deadly Diva?” Danny cocked an eyebrow.
“My associate at work collects vintage crime novels. She incorporates the covers into artwork. This one is classic.”
“I’ll say.”
Felicity tucked the book into her work apron pocket, then put her back to the wall and slid down until her backside hit concrete. “Guess we’re here for a while.”
“There are worse places to be,” Danny said as he came to sit beside her, leaving a good foot of space between them. She turned her head toward him, raising her eyebrows in silent question. “The tool shed, for one.”
“I didn’t leave you in there for that long.”
“Long enough,” he said, staring straight ahead. “I learned my lesson about tampering with your bike. Your sisters were the ones who let me out.”
“They were tired of hearing you yelling.”
“I panicked,” he said. “I mean really panicked.”
Felicity gave him a surprised look. “You’re claustrophobic?”
“I was after that.”
She sucked in a breath and focused on the opposite wall. “Danny.” She said his name on a breath, so lightly he won
dered if she was aware that she’d spoken aloud. Then she surprised him by taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. “I had no idea. You seemed…invincible.”
He laughed and squeezed her hand. The connection felt good. “Hardly, but I knew better than to show weakness.”
“Yes.” She turned her profile to him. “Me, too. You…uh…aren’t going to freak out on me, are you?”
“Not if you don’t remind me that we’re locked in.”
She gave a soft laugh, but her expression sobered as the laugh faded. She let out a breath and tipped her chin up to study the rafters. “How long have we been here?”
“Oh, maybe ten minutes.”
“Gonna be a long night.”
“We have heat,” he said.
Felicity smiled a little. “Whatever part Deke put in must draw more amperage than the previous one. Thus, the breaker flipping.”
“I love it when you talk electricity.”
She squeezed his hand, seeming to be in no hurry to let go. “For the record, not one word about your warehouse or Fork Horn Brewery left my lips. Not with my family. Not with anyone.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“I would have jumped to the same conclusion and probably felt just as betrayed.”
That was it. Betrayal. After all they’d been through, he’d assumed that there was a level of trust between them. “I felt sideswiped.”
“I understand.” Felicity stretched her legs out to match his, crossing her ankles. Bertha gave a small rattle as the blower motor stopped. They exchanged glances and she said, “That was a normal stop at the end of the heat cycle…I hope.”
“It was,” he assured her. They were both a little jumpy about Bertha, who’d caused more than her fair share of trouble over the past two weeks.
“After my mom died, you quit haranguing me.”
The quiet statement surprised him. “Of course I did.”
“It bothered me.” She plucked at her workpants with her free hand, studying the movement of her fingers, but her other hand had tightened on his. “I…missed it. You and I were a constant. And I guess I’d come to depend on the,” she hesitated as if searching for the right words, “mental challenge. It was a nice distraction.”
“All you had to do was ask.”
“Or soap up your car windows.” There was a note of quiet satisfaction in her voice.
He met her gaze. “That’s why you did it?”
She gave a soft laugh as she met his eyes. “It was my way of saying game on.”
“It worked.”
Their gazes held for a heart-stopping moment, then Felicity looked away, breaking the spell.
“So, you’re happy in Seattle.” He felt her pulse jump.
“Very.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Well, I have a job I find satisfying. A condo I love. A decent gym. My cacti. Good life, Danny.”
“Sounds…uncomplicated.”
“Yes.”
“Predictable?”
“Pretty much.”
“What makes it impossible to leave?” Her gaze slowly met his, and he clarified. “What is it about condos and cacti and a decent gym that makes it impossible to leave?”
She focused on the opposite wall. “Me. I’m making it impossible to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because of my retirement plan,” she mumbled.
“That’s it? A retirement plan?”
“Another man once said the same thing,” she said in a grim voice.
He stilled. Finally they were getting to the meat of the matter. “Yeah?” he prompted softly.
She nodded, still studying the far wall. “Have you ever heard of Sean McVey?”
“That mountain climbing sports guy?” The only reason he knew the name was because the guy had taken part in a popular ad campaign for outdoor gear. His face had been everywhere for a while.
“The same. When he wasn’t so well-known, he and I dated. We were getting serious, and he made it clear that he thought I played things too safe. That I was repressed and not letting my light shine.”
Direct quotes, no doubt.
“That life was short, and if I didn’t embrace it, I would regret it. I believed him.”
“Some of that is true.”
“It is,” she agreed. “Mom…well, she hadn’t had enough time to do everything she wanted. And I had been repressing myself after losing her. Resisting impulses, living conservatively.”
“The real you was itching to break forth.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Yes. I’d kept myself reined in for a long, long time. Thus, the rigidity of which you speak.”
“I was talking about stubbornness, not survival strategies.”
She gave a light shrug. “Different name. Same results.”
“What happened?”
Felicity turned her head to frown at him. It was the perfect opportunity for him to say, “Never mind. None of my business.” He did not. And to his surprise, she answered.
“I gave up everything to follow Sean to Seattle where he’d just landed the local television gig that made him well-known in the extreme sports world. He dumped me within a matter of months.”
They were connected only by their linked fingers which rested on the cool concrete between them, and it was all Danny could do to keep hold of her hand instead of pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair, telling her that it was all right.
She would hate that.
“He did this on the Holiday That Shall Not Be Named?”
“Valentine’s Day. Yes. I don’t avoid acknowledging the day because I’m hurt. I avoid it because it makes me really, really mad to be reminded of how stupid I was.” The grit in her tone made it clear that she was still angry at herself.
“Love does that.”
“Makes you mad?”
“Stupid,” he said.
A long silence followed, and then Danny gave into temptation and slid across the concrete floor, pulling his fingers free of her hand, and then putting his arm around her, gathering her against his side.
He felt her inhale as she laid her head against his shoulder. “I’m angry at leaving behind thousands of dollars in my unvested 401(k), but I’m really angry at convincing myself that a lie was true. Yes, I needed to cut loose a little, but I gave up everything and followed a man to a new city. I loved the job I left. Thrived in it. I still miss it.”
Danny closed his eyes and tightened his grip on her shoulder.
“I didn’t realize he was manipulating me,” she continued. “Bending me to his will. But I did know that I was abandoning the well-thought-out, sensible life plan I’d devised after grad school.” She eased her head away from his shoulder to study his face. “So if I seem a bit rigid about my life, it’s because I am.”
She was making herself pay a penance.
Before he could answer, she took his face in her hands and kissed him, long and deep. It was more of an apology than a promise, but toward the end the glimmer of hope started to shine through. She must have felt it, because she abruptly ended the kiss and settled her head against his shoulder again.
He tightened his arm. He’d take what he could get.
*
Confession was good for the soul and kissing Danny was a dangerous enterprise.
She shouldn’t have combined the two. It was messing with her…rigidity. She sighed. “I need to stop doing that.”
“Totally,” he agreed with mock sternness, pulling her a little closer.
She adjusted her position so that her head rested more comfortably against his shoulder.
“What happens in the furnace room stays in the furnace room,” she said softly, willing him to play along.
“I’m glad you missed your date with Cade.”
“It probably hasn’t started yet.” She inhaled, pulling his scent into her lungs. She needed to appreciate this moment, burn it into her brain. “I’ll call and apologize.”
&
nbsp; “That would be the thing to do. You shouldn’t go in person.”
She smiled. “I’ll advise him to get his financial advice elsewhere.”
Danny’s fingers moved over her shoulder, down her arm and up again.
“What about your client meeting?” she asked.
“Sandra will handle it. It’s another potential lessee, but we’re more interested in landing Fork Horn.”
“You like this property stuff, don’t you?”
“I think I’ve found my niche.”
“What about your computer repair business?”
“I started it for something to do but never really loved it. Clara, my associate, totally nerds out over it, so I’m going to sell to her. She’s already looking for financing.”
“And then…?”
“Sandra and I will start a real estate company. Procurements. Rentals. Leases.”
A whisper of jealousy went through her, but she quickly squelched it. She had no right to feel jealous of Sandra. She pushed herself upright. “You must have made some serious money with the sale of your startup.”
“I did. Davis, Lexington, and Rose are helping me manage it.”
“They’re good.”
“You’re probably better?”
“They’re local.” The words were barely out of her mouth when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She met Danny’s eyes.
“Rescue?” she murmured.
“Sounds like it.” He pulled his arm free and pushed himself to his feet. “Hey,” he shouted at the same time that Felicity yelled, “In here.”
Keys sounded in the lock, and then the door came open and Deke stepped into the room. “I’m not going to ask how,” he said.
“I am,” Danny replied. “How did you know we were here?”
“Sandra called me. Apparently, you guys were supposed to meet, and when she found your car here and the door locked, she called Pete, who called me.” He nodded at Felicity. “You best call home. Your dad is worried.”
“The breaker flipped the first time the blower went on,” Felicity said to Deke. “It appears to be the initial draw. You might want to look at it,” she suggested.