Her Protector

by R. S. Lively

  "Can I help you?" the woman says sweetly.

  "I have an appointment with Grant Laurence this morning," I say.

  She glances at the old-fashioned desk calendar in front of her and makes a concerned sound before turning her attention to the computer.

  "Mr. Laurence doesn't seem to have any appointments for this morning. Are you sure you made it for today?"

  "Yes. I called Friday." As soon as I say it, I realize I didn't actually make the appointment when I called. Finding out he wasn't there had thrown off my plan and I hung up before letting them know I would be here today. Grabbing the edge of the counter, I set my head down on it. "Damn it."

  "Is everything OK, ma’am?"

  "I just really need to talk to him. It's important."

  "He's not in yet. Would you like to leave your name and I'll let him know you stopped by?"

  "My name is Alice Larkin, but I can't wait any more." Something takes over, and I lose my better judgment. I pull the printouts of the pictures I'd gotten from the hotel business center from the bag over my shoulder and flatten them to the desk with one hand.

  "See these? These are security camera stills of a woman named Sandra who has been vandalizing my property. That was my theater, but I was in a silent partnership with Dean Laurence's acquisition company. The damage to the building and the emotional turmoil she caused pushed me to the decision to give up my theater. Which is complete and utter bullshit."

  Lee grabs me by my arm and gently pulls me away, leaning toward the woman with a wide, convincing smile.

  "Thank you for listening. Have a lovely day," he flashes an awkward smile, trying to fix the situation.

  "We know."

  Lee and I turn back around.

  "You know?" I ask.

  She nods.

  "Yes. Dean brought this and other information to Grant's attention late last week. It has been resolved."

  I'm stunned. For all my buildup, this is a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion.

  "What do you mean 'it's been resolved'?" Lee asks.

  "Ongoing investigations can't be discussed, but I suppose I can give this to you." She sifts through a stack of papers and envelopes standing in a silver file divider on her desk and selects a thick white envelope. "I was planning on sending it out with the mail, but I can't imagine it makes much difference whether you get it in the mail, or I hand it to you."

  She holds the envelope out to me, and I take it.

  "What is it?"

  "The formal papers. Dean discussed the situation at length with his brothers, and they came to the mutual decision that this is the correct path to take."

  "Formal papers? He's suing me?"

  She laughs.

  "Not exactly."

  I open the envelope and let the papers slide out into my hand. Lee leans over my shoulder to read them along with me.

  "Holy shit," he mutters.

  "I don't think I understand."

  She gives a subtle nod behind me, like she's indicating someone who has just walked in.

  "They're ownership papers."

  Grant's voice startles me, and I turn around to face him.

  "Grant, I don't... what is this? The deadline is over."

  "There was no deadline."

  "Yes, there was. That's why Lee brought me to the beach and only let me drink pineapple juice out of coconuts."

  Grant laughs.

  "I mean, there was no deadline because the arrangement was dissolved. Dean told us what happened. One of the bylaws of the company is that even though each brother has their own acquisitions team, any drastic changes to property deals potentially affecting the entire company must be approved by all five brothers. We all agreed what happened to you wasn't fair, and because the agreement was made against his wishes in the first place, it shouldn't be upheld. As of the moment you sign those papers, you own Wonderland free and clear."

  "Dean didn't…"

  "He said he tried to call you so you could discuss the situation, but you didn't answer. Sending you the papers seemed like the best option."

  Pulling a pen out of his pocket, he holds it out to me. My hands shake as I sit on the edge of the cushioned seat of a couch that reminds me of the Victorian one now in my living room and put the papers in front of me. I manage a trembling, messy signature.

  "Congratulations," Grant says.

  I start to stand, but everything comes down on me. It's too much. I'm overwhelmed, and my body collapses back onto the couch, Lee's voice is fading into darkness as he calls my name. Awareness comes to me for a few seconds as I'm being loaded into the back of an ambulance. To one side I see Grant on his phone, and to the other, Lee's face is drawn and streaked with tears. I try to say something but pass out again.

  The next time I come to, I'm in a hospital bed. The machines around me beep to their own rhythms and I groan.

  "I hate that they're off beat. The people who made them should have coordinated the beeps so they at least sound good together."

  Lee gasps at the side of the bed and grabs my hand.

  "Alice. I'm going to go get the doctor."

  He runs out of the room and a few seconds later a blond woman with thick black glasses and a green stethoscope walks in.

  "Your friend went to the cafeteria. He hasn't moved since you got here, and I thought he could use a break."

  "How long have I been here?"

  "A few hours. You're suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, so we gave you some fluids and a sedative to help you get some rest. But don't worry, it's not going to hurt the baby."

  I blink a few times. I can't possibly have just heard that.

  "It's not going to hurt what?"

  Her eyes lift from my chart.

  "The baby. We chose a sedative that is considered safe for pregnant women."

  "Which... I am?"

  "Yes. Didn't you know? Have you been having your regular period?"

  I think back, trying to wrap my head around what she just told me.

  "Honestly, I don't know. That sounds ridiculous, but there's been so much going on in my life and I've been under so much stress, I didn't even think about it."

  "That's much more common than you think. Right now, everything looks good, so I'm going to leave you to rest for a little while longer. If you need anything, just let me know."

  I nod and she leaves the room. A few seconds later, the door bursts open. My heart jumps in my chest when I see Dean standing at the doorway.

  "Alice," he says breathlessly. He rushes to the side of the bed and sits. "I was so worried about you. Grant called me. I've been sitting in the waiting room. They wouldn't let me back here until you were awake."

  "Dean…"

  "Wait. Just let me talk for a second. I need to explain. I found out on Thursday that Sandra has been the one behind all this. You were right. She was in love with me and when I didn't pay attention to her, she decided she was going to find another way to impress me, so she started dating Micah. She figured he could give her inside information about the company she could use to get closer to me. What she found out was he had made this deal behind my back. She thought if she could force your hand and get the theater under my company's control, it would be a way to connect with me."

  "She's been doing this all this time? How did you not know she was seeing Micah?"

  "She wasn't exactly open about it, and he wasn't going to complain. So, she just kept stringing him along without him having any idea that's what was happening. The more you pushed back, the meaner she got, feeling like her chances were slipping away. The dinner party was part of her ploy. The client she introduced me to was supposed to want to revisit that theater and that was going to be the lead-in for the big reveal."

  "What did she think was going to happen?"

  "I don't know. But when she found out you and I were seeing each other, she was furious. That's when she started vandalizing the theater."

  "She lost her mind."

  "Essentially. Micah and
I worked together to figure out how she has been doing it. It turns out Micah asked his assistant to send the emails. His assistant has a habit of not sending emails immediately, instead he puts them in a queue so he can send them all in batches. He says it helps him keep track of when he sent messages. Micah would draft them, send them to assistant for editing, and then the assistant would send them all. The reason you never got the emails he drafted was Sandra used his administrator access to log in to the assistant's email and erase the emails before he got them. She would then use her own account to email you."

  Trying to understand what he's telling me is making me dizzy. It all feels so complicated and confusing.

  "Did the police call you with the pictures? I tried to call, but you didn't answer."

  "I know. I tried calling you back."

  "I left my phone at the hotel."

  "I gave the pictures and everything Micah and I found to the police. They are investigating. Why were you at a hotel?"

  "Lee brought me on vacation to take my mind off the theater... and you."

  Dean reaches out and takes my hand.

  "I've missed you so much."

  "I've missed you, too." My mouth tingles with the news I just learned from the doctor, but I hold it back. I need more time to process it for myself before I tell him. Suddenly I remember he said he's been sitting in the waiting room. "How did you get here so fast?"

  "I was in Magnolia Falls."

  "Why?"

  "Luella and I moved the play there. Emma has been helping us salvage it." He looks down out his hands holding mine. "But it's not the same without you. There's only two weeks left. Will you come back with me so we can finish what we started?"

  I start to answer, but a shrill cry from outside the room stops me.

  "Ronaldo? Who the hell is Ronaldo?"

  "And bring Lee."

  I nod.

  "I will."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Dean

  The evening breeze flutters Alice's hair and she sighs at the warmth on her skin. Spring has definitely arrived in Magnolia Falls, and the island is alive with the colors, smells, and beautiful sights of the new season. Teenagers and families gather around the ice cream shop, enjoying first dates and getting after-dinner treats. Alice and I step into the line behind a pair who seem too nervous to look at each other, but at the same time have to find as many ways as they can to ‘accidentally’ brush shoulders or bounce hips. I can commiserate. Alice and I know each other far beyond the brushing shoulders stage, but things are different now. In the nearly two weeks since she left the hospital and came here to Magnolia Falls with me, we've been gingerly navigating being near each other again. Preston's words have repeated over and over in the back of my mind, reminding me that we aren't picking up, we're starting again.

  "A little bit of Laurence brother’s history," I say. "This ice cream window is why Grant and Emma are together."

  "The whole reason?" Alice teases.

  "Maybe not the whole reason, but it's pretty important. She was working here the day he asked her on their first date."

  "I thought Emma is a teacher."

  "She is now. This was when she was eighteen."

  "They've been together that long?"

  I laugh.

  "No. Have her tell you the story sometime. Actually, have Judy tell you the story sometime. Hers is the best version."

  We order ice cream and wander away from the growing crowd.

  "It looks different without a festival happening," she says, glancing around the marina. I lead her up to the railing and we lean against it, looking out over the water. Carson glides by in the distance. "I like it this way."

  She licks around her vanilla cone and I force myself to pull my eyes away and concentrate on my own perfect swirl of chocolate.

  "Me, too. But I admit I'm partial to the festivals."

  Her smile as she looks over at me makes my heart beat harder. After a few moments, we push away from the railing and continue down the boardwalk.

  "This makes me think of a tiny Coney Island," she says.

  "I've never thought of it that way, but I guess it's similar. Definitely no amusement park anywhere on Magnolia Falls. There's a carnival late in the summer, but the closest thing we have to thrills like Luna Park is the waterpark on the mainland. It's kind of a rite of passage for the teenagers around here for their parents to let them go over there by themselves."

  "My parents brought me to Luna Park once when I was younger. I remember being amazed by the rides, but too afraid to get on the roller coaster. All around me, parents were forcing their children to get on because that's what you do. Like you said -- a rite of passage. Their parents rode it for the first time when they were that age, so they decided their children had to ride it for the first time at the same age. These little ones are crying and terrified, and their parents are herding them toward the ride like they were doing some amusement park version of a battle royale. I was so scared my parents were going to do the same thing to me. That's the first time I remember really wishing my brother was there. Which is strange because it's not like I had any memories like that of him." She looks at me with a hint of a smirk. "There were no amusement parks on the compound."

  "Did they make you go?"

  She shakes her head, a soft look coming over her face.

  "No. My father said to me 'people always say you should do one thing every day that scares you'. Then he told me to look at the roller coaster and asked if I was afraid. I said I was, and he said, 'then you've done it. Good job. Now, when just looking at it doesn't make you afraid anymore, you can think about more.' Then he bought me a funnel cake."

  Her mimicking her father's voice, making hers deeper and rounder while knitting her eyebrows together, is silly, but touching at the same time. It's not something I've seen her do before, and I feel like I'm getting a privileged glimpse into something new about her. I probably shouldn't ask, but there is a question burning inside me that I've been holding back since I met her, and I have to ask it.

  "Alright. If you don't want to talk about it, you can just tell me that and we'll keep going and eat our ice cream, and that will be it. But I really want to know. What is with this whole compound thing you talk about? I know you said your parents were part of a really strict organization and you were born there, but what is it? Is it like some sort of industrial park with a giant wall and barbed wire around it? Are we talking a desert and log cabins?"

  Alice laughs, which is a much more positive reaction than I was even hoping for, considering the question.

  "No. It wasn't anything like that. It was basically a farm. They said it was a cooperative community meant for the benefit of everyone in it."

  "Well, that never works out."

  "No. If someone ever says something is for the benefit of everyone, most likely it's for the benefit of four or five people, and everyone else can go to hell after working themselves to death, waiting for that whole benefit thing to kick in."

  "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

  She sighs, looking ahead for a few seconds while she thinks.

  "You know, I used to be, too. It was that thing that hung over my head and I was either ashamed about it or I felt like so much of the things that happened in my life were because of it. It was even my college essay."

  I laugh.

  "I'm sure it was a good one."

  "Got me in. But now I don't see it that way. I wouldn't choose it, don't get me wrong, but it happened. It's the life I led, but it's in my past. It made my family stronger and gave me a different perspective. I'll carry a little of it with me for the rest of my life. But now I want to look forward and focus on where I'm going."

  "Magic," I say.

  She nods, her mind going to Miss Mirna, too.

  "Magic."

  For the last two weeks, Alice and I have slept in separate rooms in the same house we shared when we were here over St. Patrick's Day. Each day we go to the theater and watch th
e rehearsals and work on sets. In the afternoons we work on marketing, increasing excitement and buzz for the show. The evenings I have devoted to gradually closing the space between us. I ache to hold Alice in my arms. I want to cradle her close and feel her curled against me. But I want to give her the patience and space she needs. Everything happened so fast between us in the beginning that now it seems we have to go back and live through the time we skipped.

  As we walk toward the house tonight, it feels like that space is getting smaller. She stays close beside me, her body occasionally touching mine. I brush hair away from her face and she doesn't move away, but subtly tips her head to nuzzle my palm slightly. We're moving slowly, but finally feeling like we're moving together.

  "I can't believe the play is tomorrow," she says softly as we approach the house.

  "We've worked really hard. All of us. I'm sure it's going to be amazing. Even if no one shows up and Luella does the entire performance for the two of us, Emma, Grant, and Lee, she'll be happy."

  "And Alex."

  I look at her with surprise.

  "Really?"

  She nods, making an affirmative sound.

  "Seems like it. I saw the two of them sharing coffee in the village, and Lee hasn't said a single thing about him."

  "It's a good thing to not talk about it?"

  "For Lee? It's a very good thing."

  "Well, I know one thing. Luella is thrilled. She has been raving about the whole experience and really can't wait for tomorrow. She's so excited."

  "And then what?”

  "What do you mean?"

  "What happens after her performance? It's only one night. After that, I don't know what comes next."

  We walk into the house and up to the bedrooms. Just like I do every evening, I bring her to her door and say goodnight, then walk into my own room. The door closes behind me and I rest back against it, my head falling against it with a sigh.