To Bring You Back

by Emily Conrad

  She’d muted the bruise with makeup, but she couldn’t hide the swollen eyelid or the cut. “Orange chicken. You want some?”

  She could cook, and her rendition of the dish didn’t sit like a brick in his gut the way the takeout version did, but he shook his head. Eating her food would only encourage her to stay longer.

  He opened the fridge and pulled out ingredients for a sandwich.

  “Suit yourself. Do you think Sleeping Beauty will want some, or is she going to sleep all day?”

  “Save her some. She gets to sleep as long as she wants.” When he’d given up on rest at seven, he’d gone and stood outside her door. All had been silent, so he’d told Tim to let him know if she came down.

  Meanwhile, he’d retrieved his notebook of songs about Adeline from the drawer in the kitchen and closed himself in the studio.

  Probably shouldn’t have left such a vital, vulnerable piece of his heart in a drawer where anyone could’ve found it. Tim would’ve pushed to move ahead with the songs regardless of Adeline’s opinion, and if Harper realized what a hold Adeline had on him, her next move wouldn’t be pretty.

  He would take more care with the notebook moving forward, but as he’d tried to pick a song to record for Adeline as he’d promised, he found he had the opposite problem. Instead of wanting to keep all the songs from her, he struggled to narrow his choice to just one to share.

  He chose three from the notebook and added one more, thrown together that morning, and recorded them all.

  Afterward, he’d stowed the notebook in his room and now carried a drive with the songs in his pocket.

  Adeline probably wouldn’t play for him, but that was no longer the point. The point was keeping his word by making the recording and letting the lyrics apologize for missing her call. And for Harper’s presence.

  Though surely Adeline could understand giving shelter to someone who’d been attacked the way Harper had been. Or she would once she saw the bruises.

  “Where are you going to go?” he asked.

  Harper stared at him as if he’d just strangled a small animal.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to you, but I … this …” He couldn’t say this put too much strain on his relationship with Adeline, or Harper would find a way to make things even worse. “Where I stand hasn’t changed. I want you to be safe, but there have to be boundaries. I don’t want your staying here to muddy the waters.”

  Red tinged the whites of Harper’s eyes, and tears lined up to fall.

  “Look, I’m sorry, but yesterday you had all these ideas about us, and then you, what? Ran to this other guy because I rejected you? You’ve got to see how messed up this is.”

  “Of course I see it. I’m doing it to myself, right?” The tears cascaded down her cheeks. “You want me to go right back to LA where he’s waiting for me.”

  “I care, Harper, but this isn’t healthy. You need help I can’t give. There are places set up specifically for women in your situation. Safe places with trained staff—”

  “You think I need a shrink. You think I’m crazy.”

  She needed professional help. He’d leave the why to someone else to diagnose. “How long did you expect to stay here?”

  She stabbed the spoon into her food, tossing the chicken around in the skillet. “Let me stay a couple of days until I can open my eye.”

  “Two days. Tops.”

  “Fine. Two days.”

  He stacked his sandwich as Harper turned off the burner, pushed food onto a plate, and left the room, either for the great room or the patio.

  “Finally!” Harper’s voice and clapping broadcast from the great room. She bounced from one emotion to the next like a tennis ball. “I’ve been waiting for you all day. Did you see what I got for you?”

  He abandoned his sandwich and reached the great room as Harper—sunglasses back on—grabbed Adeline’s hand and dragged her toward the room next to Tim’s office.

  “Harper.” Gannon dodged a couch and the table where the actress had left her food. He should’ve made her promise to keep as far from Adeline as the property would allow.

  Ignoring his advance, Harper pushed open the small room. “If you’re going to be here for a while, you’ll need more than you brought, so I went out first thing this morning to be your personal shopper.” She lifted her hands like a game show model introducing a contestant to their new car. Three display racks stood crowded with clothes. Below, the assortment of shoes belonged in a store. She must’ve picked up multiple sizes of everything.

  “Pick what you like, and we’ll return the rest. But I think you’ll like everything. If I weren’t an actress, I’d be a personal shopper.”

  Adeline stared at the selection. Her black sleeveless dress cinched at the narrowest part of her waist and fell easily over her hips, the fabric simple and soft. Touchable.

  She shifted as if she might bolt. “I can still get in my house for my own things. In fact …” Her gaze darted to Gannon and then away. “I’m going back. I’m sure the fire was an accident, so, thanks, but I’m all right.”

  Gannon focused on Harper. “Take off the glasses.”

  Both women looked at him, Harper’s mouth ajar.

  Gannon repeated his order with a hand motion.

  Harper licked her lips. “You may trust this woman with all your personal stories, but my business is my business.”

  “It was until you came here. Take off the glasses.”

  Jaw set, Harper obeyed, revealing a glare. Its effect was diminished by the swollen skin and the gash beside her eye.

  Adeline’s eyes widened, and she looked Gannon’s way.

  Harper tossed the glasses on a nearby table. “So what? No secrets between you two? Is that it?”

  Gannon focused on Adeline. “I told her she could stay two days until the swelling is down. That way, when she leaves, she’ll cause less of a media fiasco. That’s also why we went out and got her last night. To keep this quiet.”

  “You know they saw me when I went out this morning.”

  Somehow he hadn’t put that together. “I thought you were worried Rob would follow you.”

  “You have security.”

  “You didn’t think it’d be safer for him to have no idea where you are?” Besides, his security team couldn’t protect their reputations. The press would’ve also seen Adeline arrive. He rubbed his temples, imagining the spawning rumors.

  Harper tossed her head, too proud to admit she’d made a mistake.

  “What car did you take?” Tim would’ve known better than to give her the keys to one of their rentals after they’d gone to all the trouble of keeping her from view last night.

  “The rental company delivered a replacement for me first thing. So I paid it forward.” She gave Adeline a smile that almost looked gracious.

  Adeline swayed. Was she imagining the rumors too? Her focus lingered on the clothes. “Thanks for all of this.”

  “At least someone appreciates me.” Harper brushed past him and swiped up the sunglasses. Abandoning her lunch, she veered toward the garage.

  Finally.

  Gannon touched Adeline’s forearm. “You understand why I didn’t send her away.”

  She eyed the clothes as if they might eavesdrop and report back to Harper.

  “But you’re still upset. About her or your house?”

  “About you.”

  “Me?”

  “What is the truth about your relationship with her?”

  “I told you. Friends. Never more, usually less.”

  “She stopped by my room to give me a bag of her castoffs.”

  He crossed his arms as a blush crept onto Adeline’s face. A blush?

  She raked her fingers into her hair, avoiding eye contact, then dropped her hand and shook her head. “Can you explain how she knows what kind of lingerie you like?”

  “How she knows what?”

  “In the bag. She included lingerie she swears you like.”

  “No. She’s�
��” Harper would do that? Really do that? He looked out into the great room, but the actress was out of sight. “Harper and I have never had that kind of relationship. Never. She’s … she’s playing so many games, I don’t even know what she hopes to accomplish anymore.”

  John had said Harper would take from him. When would Gannon learn to listen?

  Adeline stared at the clothes. “I don’t belong here. If you think I’m in danger at my house, I’ll call the church and find another place to stay.”

  He couldn’t let her run to Drew. “If someone is running around with a serious grudge, this is the safest place for you. You do belong here. I’ll send Harper away.”

  “Don’t. You obviously think she should be here. And maybe you’re right. I got out of the house safe and sound. She didn’t. Maybe she needs this more than I do.”

  He heard movement in the great room, but he continued. Even Harper could overhear this. The truth might do her good. “No. If she would lie low here, that’d be one thing, but I didn’t let her in to cause this kind of trouble. Harper English has resources and friends. She doesn’t need to be here.”

  “Got that straight. You said no women here, and now Harper—” Matt’s voice ground to a halt as both Gannon and Adeline turned to face him. Body odor indicated he needed a shower and fresh clothes instead of the torn jeans and faded green T-shirt he’d been wearing for three days now. He jacked his thumb toward Adeline. “What’s she doing here?”

  Was that fear in his eyes?

  He couldn’t have Matt making Adeline feel even more unwelcome. “Did you need something?”

  “Yeah.” Matt twitched his nose and sniffed. “You were in the studio all morning. We’ve got that show next weekend, and then we’re recording the album, right? Practice time matters.”

  Not to Matt, it didn’t. Not usually.

  But he was talking fast and fidgeting with energy. High. Again.

  “I’ll grab John. We shouldn’t waste time.”

  Gannon stepped up to block Matt’s glare toward Adeline. She’d been through enough. Once Matt exited the glass doors to the yard, Gannon turned back to her.

  “He’s changed.” Her worried eyes focused beyond him, on the view of the patio.

  “He’s using.”

  “Using what?”

  “You name it, he’s into it.”

  “Oh. So I’m just one of three charity cases.”

  “What?” Was this what it felt like to be thrown overboard in a storm? One wave of disappointment washed over him after another, and anytime he felt like he’d gotten his head above water, the current swept him and Adeline farther apart.

  “Harper’s been abused, Matt’s an addict, and someone might’ve tried to kill me.”

  “Harper’s a charity case. Matt’s a coworker.”

  “And me?”

  Adeline was the only person he wanted here, but she’d never believe him. Even if she did, she wouldn’t reciprocate the feeling. “You’re the guest of honor.”

  Skepticism tightened her lips. “Can I borrow a car?”

  “That depends.”

  “On?”

  “If you’re going to come back.”

  “So I’m a prisoner now?”

  “Of course not.” How could he get their relationship back on solid ground? “Where do you need to go? I can take you.”

  She tilted her head, expression flat.

  So accompanying her wasn’t an option. “I’ll arrange for someone to go with you.” He took out his phone and texted Tim.

  “Like a bodyguard?” Adeline asked. “Did you get Tegan one too?”

  “Tegan isn’t the target.”

  The phone vibrated, signaling Tim’s response. We’re short-staffed as it is since we’ve taken on watching her house. If I send someone else away, this place will burn next.

  Gannon typed a reply. A house can be replaced. Adeline can’t. You have twenty minutes to figure it out. “They’ll pick you up out front at twelve thirty.”

  Matt approached the door, returning from the patio with John and the dogs close behind.

  Gannon wouldn’t leave it like this, but Adeline was already exiting, unwilling to stay and talk. “Adeline?”

  She turned, her dress swaying with the movement.

  “Please come back.”

  She studied him until the patio door swung open. Bruce ran up, tail wagging. She greeted him and John without responding to Gannon’s plea.

  “Come on, dude.” Matt pressed Gannon toward the studio.

  Gannon shrugged him off.

  “You sleep okay?” John laid a hand on Adeline’s shoulder. “Need anything?”

  She gave him the grateful smile Gannon had been wishing for all morning. “Yeah, slept great. I’m getting a ride into town to figure some things out.”

  That sounded ominous.

  “I’m here if you need me.”

  After Adeline nodded, John turned to Gannon, made eye contact, then silently proceeded to the studio, the message clear enough: if she had been able to reach Gannon when she’d needed him, she wouldn’t have nearly so much to figure out.

  22

  Adeline waited on the red stone step outside the front door and gazed up at the gigantic beams that supported the carport high overhead. Under other circumstances, she’d happily hide away in a place like Havenridge. The property was peaceful, the building luxurious. How many bedrooms must the place have? A dozen?

  Too bad Gannon had filled so many of them.

  She’d never imagined what his life was like behind the walls of his own house. Not only was Harper a surprise, but she also hadn’t put enough stock into the rumors of Matt’s drug addiction.

  Did she truly know Gannon? And did she have what it took to live in his world? Yesterday, she would’ve insisted yes to both. Today, her attraction to him had been replaced by uncertainty, and this trip into town wouldn’t be long enough to sort it all out.

  A black car with tinted windows came down the drive, turned under the carport, and stopped before her. Adeline pulled her purse over her shoulder and stood as a man in black pants and a gray polo got out. “You must be Adeline.”

  “Hi.”

  He came around to her side of the car, and Adeline saw the gun holstered at his waist. Armed security? Another surprise.

  “I’m Michael.” He opened the back door for her and waited until she was in before returning to the driver’s seat. “Where are we headed?”

  “My house.” Since talking to Gannon, she’d gotten a call that the fire inspector would be arriving in half an hour to determine the cause of the blaze. She’d texted Chip, and he’d also promised to stop by to advise her on whether she needed to open a claim with her insurance company for the damage.

  After those meetings, she’d pack more belongings to take with her, but where should she stay? Was it necessary to remain at Havenridge and have an armed guard driving her around?

  The car slowed as the gate came into view. The crowd had multiplied to about twenty people—five of whom were Olivia and company. Most onlookers didn’t hold fancy cameras, but many did have cell phones. At the sight of the car, they strained to see around each other.

  The gate rolled open, and Michael steered through much the way John had last night, slowly progressing, though a couple of women, probably in their twenties, came right up to the windows. So did a man with a camera.

  Michael accelerated.

  The window tinting would’ve prevented any photos, but Adeline would be fair game when she got out at her house. Good thing she’d chosen to bring the dress and had taken time with her hair and makeup.

  She leaned forward. “Do you think I’d be in danger at the house?”

  “Caught a couple people trying to climb the fence, but no one’s gotten by us yet.”

  Her house didn’t have a fence, so Michael must be referring to Havenridge. “Teenage girls?”

  “No, men in their twenties. One of them shouted the whole way back to his car about how h
e’d be the best thing to happen to Awestruck, that they needed him as a second guitar.”

  Second guitar. Fitz’s old role.

  “And your gun? Have you ever had to use that?”

  “Only in training. And Afghanistan.”

  A soldier who’d seen combat.

  “Thanks for serving.”

  “You’re welcome.” He didn’t so much as glance in the rearview mirror and clearly wasn’t looking to get into it any further.

  She hesitated to return to her point. How silly would the concern for her safety sound to someone who’d been in a war zone? “I’ll be okay at my own house, right? If people are only interested in Gannon and the band, and if the fire was accidental, there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “At best, careless trespassers caused the fire, and carelessness on that level can be as dangerous as malice.”

  “Oh.” So the danger was more serious than she’d hoped.

  She watched as they passed Lakeshore’s outlying businesses. She was stuck at the cabin, and the proximity would be make-or-break for her and Gannon.

  Could she believe him about Harper? Did she want to? Because if their relationship got back on track, she’d still have to figure out how to deal with fans lighting her house on fire, Matt, and who knew what other problems.

  Michael turned onto Main Street. They passed two blocks of shops and restaurants and then had to slow for pedestrians who were crossing to Superior Dogs.

  Her stomach lurched. “Oh no. Can we stop here?” She angled to see how much of a line waited while Michael parallel parked with expert precision. She hopped out, ran over, and opened the trailer door.

  Startled, a teenage boy froze, hands in the till. Equally surprised, it took her a moment to connect the short, dark hair and light brown eyes the boy shared with Asher. This was his nephew, Noah. Asher glanced away from the sizzling grill as Noah went back to counting change for a customer.

  Had he replaced her? She gulped. “I’m so sorry. I completely overslept, and there was so much going on I forgot to call in.”

  Asher gave her an understanding smile as he used tongs to rotate the cooking brats and hotdogs. “The fire’s all anyone’s talking about. I assumed you wouldn’t make it in. You’re okay?”