The Cliffside Inn

by Jessie Newton

  Paul just stared at her, his eyes wide and his hands down at his sides. In that moment, she realized he only wore a pair of sweatpants. No shirt. No shoes.

  She calmed enough to take in his muscles and the soft, dressed-down version of the man she’d only seen in uniform or all decked out in polos and jeans, cologne on, and his hair swooped to the side just-so.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It was a secret, but not a secret relationship.” She leaned forward, desperate for him to understand. “I would never do that to another person, because I know exactly how demoralizing and horrific it can feel.”

  “Laurel,” Paul said.

  “My last boyfriend abused me,” she blurted. “Emotionally, verbally, physically. He cheated on me. I haven’t dated in four years, and you—” Her voice shook, as did the breath she pulled in. “You are the best thing that’s happened to me in longer than that, and I can’t stand the thought of you thinking anything bad about me.”

  “Okay.” He stepped forward and gathered her into his arms, and she easily melted into his embrace. His chest was warm, and she pressed her cheek to his heartbeat.

  “Okay, Laurel. It’s okay.” He stroked her hair, and Laurel felt loved and accepted for this moment in time. “You’re okay.”

  She started to cry, hating the weakness inside of her that prompted it. At the same time, once the tears ended, she felt made of iron. Strong, and immovable, and ready to take on the world.

  She pulled away and looked up at him. “Do you believe me?”

  “Yes.” He stepped back, welcoming her into his house. “Do you want to come in?”

  “Yes.” She went into his house and let him close the door behind her. When his hands landed on her waist and snaked around her, Laurel tipped her head sideways so he could kiss her neck.

  “Do you want to stay?” he whispered. “No pressure, Laurel. I can put you in the guest bedroom.”

  Laurel acknowledged the feelings inside her, naming them out loud. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “And excited to be here. But mostly scared.”

  “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” he said, stepping back. “Come on.” He led her down the hall and into a bedroom that clearly wasn’t his.

  He turned down the bed and turned back to her. She let him unbutton her jeans, and she stepped out of them. She lifted her arms as he tugged her shirt over her head.

  His expression was made of hunger and desire, but he simply swept her off her feet and laid her in the bed. As she made herself comfortable beneath the soft blanket, he got in bed beside her and just held her close until she fell asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Eloise had finally calmed enough to listen to Aaron, and the low, deep, slow timbre of his voice had further settled her.

  “It was Laurel that found everything about Zach,” he said, finally closing the folder he’d shown her. “And all of this about Garrett.”

  She looked from the manila folder to his eyes. Foolishness filled her, but she didn’t know how to go back in time and erase the last forty-five minutes of her life.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t you dare apologize to me,” Aaron said, his voice strong yet firm. “You don’t need to do that. It’s me who needs to apologize. I shouldn’t have told you I was checking in on my graveyard cops, because that wasn’t true.” He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ve caused a lot of problems. I’m the one who needs to apologize.”

  He approached her timidly, reaching toward her as if she were a wounded animal he wanted to take care of. She didn’t want to feel like that, so she reached out and took his hand in hers.

  “Why couldn’t she have just come to the house?”

  “I don’t know,” Aaron said. “I thought you might be upset about me digging into your life. Your friends’ lives.” He hung his head again. “Are you?”

  “A little,” Eloise said truthfully.

  “It’s who I am,” he said. “What I do. I love you, Eloise, and I want to make sure you’re safe. I want to make sure Kelli is too. I want all of your friends to be protected and happy.”

  Eloise couldn’t help smiling a little, though the action felt a little manic on her face. “I know,” she said. “And I love you for that.”

  He raised his eyes to hers. “You sure?”

  “Yes,” she said. “But Aaron, you have to find a line between work and us.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “The same thing I asked you about the other night, if your job was going to be the mistress between us.”

  A hard look crossed his face. “I don’t want it to be.”

  “You’re free to choose,” she said as kindly as she could.

  “I’m not sure I am, Eloise.” Aaron sighed and paced away. “After Carol left, all I had left was the job. I had my office, one of the only spaces she hadn’t touched. I had my guys. The station became my safe haven.”

  Eloise approached him, wishing this conversation was happening behind the closed doors in his house and not a dimly lit parking lot in the middle of the night. “So it was like the lighthouse.”

  “Yes,” he said.

  She threaded her hand through the crook of his elbow. They stood together for several moments, just breathing in and out with one another.

  “I bought you a ring,” he whispered. “Billie is going to kill me, because she’s been planning this whole huge proposal.” He looked at her and leaned down to press his lips to her forehead.

  “I would never cheat on you, Eloise. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in my life, and I don’t need anyone or anything else.”

  Eloise’s throat closed up, and she didn’t know what to say.

  “Well, and the girls,” he said. “I love them too. I love how you love them, and I love how they love you.” He shifted his feet. “I’m not great at saying things, sweetheart. I’m much better at showing them. I hope you can forgive me. I really did just want to make sure I knew what we were going to get tomorrow afternoon when your brother shows up. It was my way of trying to show you how much I love you.”

  “You already show me that,” Eloise said. “By letting me eat dinner with you and the girls. By letting me love them. By your amazing performance in the bedroom.” She grinned up at him, and when he looked at her, they both started laughing.

  He pressed her hand to his side. “Amazing, huh?”

  “Oh, come on,” she said. “You know you’re every woman’s dream, right?”

  “Am I?”

  “Aaron,” she said. “Really.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Come on, El. Let’s go home.”

  She’d driven her own car, but Aaron told her he’d bring her back in the morning to get it. On the short drive from the grocery store to his house, Eloise stewed over a question she wanted to ask.

  She held it beneath her tongue until he pulled into the driveway. “When might this proposal be happening?” she asked. “I want to make sure I pretend to be the right amount of surprised so Billie won’t know you spilled the beans.”

  “Only heaven knows,” Aaron said dryly. “She keeps telling me it has to be perfect, and I, apparently, keep messing it up.”

  Eloise laughed, and they got out of the car. She met him near the hood, where he paused and took her into his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

  “I may have acted a little irrationally,” she said. “Jumped to a conclusion or two.”

  “You did nothing wrong,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. Eloise enjoyed the taste of his mouth and the way his lips matched up with hers perfectly.

  “Just tell Billie that I’ll say yes no matter what, and that you want to get it done soon,” she whispered.

  “I’ll tell her,” Aaron whispered back. “Now take me to bed, El.”

  The next day, Eloise arranged her folders and papers one more time. She’d asked Garrett to meet her at the inn, and she and Aaron had bee
n ready to receive him for half an hour. At least.

  Aaron had asked a teenage girl down the street to come stay with Billie and Grace, and they’d both gotten pictures of Billie getting her hair done. They made Eloise smile, but nothing erased the nerves for very long.

  She’d just reached to straighten the corner when a loud, booming knock filled the room, followed closely by, “Eloise?” in her brother’s voice.

  Relief rushed through her, but Eloise wasn’t sure why. She and Garrett hadn’t been terribly close for years now, but she spoke to him from time to time. They’d gotten along reasonably well growing up, and she’d never had any concerns about him.

  He filled the doorway as she stepped around the folding table Aaron had set up for her, and Eloise froze. He was much bigger than she remembered, and she was suddenly glad Aaron had insisted he be there for this meeting.

  “Hey,” she said, not sure what else to add. He didn’t look good, not with that scruffy beard that had started turning gray. His hair was long and held back by a pair of sunglasses. He wore a shirt that looked like he’d spilled nacho cheese on it, and which was at least one size too small. He’d gained probably fifty pounds since she’d last seen him.

  He carried an expandable file folder in his hand, and as he approached, he put a smile on his face.

  Eloise had the distinct impression that he was the Big, Bad Wolf, and she was about to get eaten. Rather than embrace him or shake his hand, she went back around the table and sat down.

  He sat on the other side of it, and Aaron came into the room. She nodded to him, and said “My boyfriend, Aaron Sherman.”

  Garrett chuckled as he stood up. “Of course. The Chief of Police.” He shook Aaron’s hand, and Aaron smiled and said hello. He and Garrett were closer in age, and Aaron had likely known her brother in high school. Aaron sat beside Eloise and sighed. “Ready?”

  “Ready.” Eloise took a deep breath and opened her first folder. “This is a document I found in the walls upstairs,” she said, taking out the paper. She closed the folder and put the paper on top. She did not slide it closer to Garrett. For some reason, she thought he might rip it to shreds. She’d taken pictures of all of them, and sent PDFs to herself, but she still didn’t want to take any chances.

  She detailed what she and Aaron and her friends had been able to find out about the ranch in Montana. Then the distillery in Kentucky. One by one, she went through all seven properties. Lastly, she put their father’s will on the pile.

  “Dad left all of this to me,” she said, looking up. Garrett had said nothing, not one word, during her speech. “I own all of these things, and yet, you’re running them. I’m assuming you have been for years and have been profiting off of them. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” he said, not even trying to hide it. His dark eyes glittered dangerously, and Eloise could barely hold his gaze. Aaron did though, and that gave her the same strength. “And you’re wrong, El. I own all of this stuff.”

  He lifted his file folder to the table and opened it. “First off, this wasn’t an inn. It was a gentleman’s club. I worked here for years after you stopped coming, and I learned from the best.” He grinned fully, his words confusing to Eloise.

  “Dad stopped running the inn when I was fifteen,” she said. “And it was an inn. There were families who came here. Not just men.”

  “On select weekends,” Garrett said, waving his hand as if he’d concede to her. A fire lit in her stomach, and anger began to simmer in her veins. “But it was definitely a gentleman’s club, and we ran it until the day Dad died.”

  He pulled out some papers and pushed them toward her. “This says that. It was a legally operated and licensed gentleman’s club.”

  Eloise scanned the documents. Again, she wasn’t a lawyer, but she could read. What he said seemed to be true. She put her palm on them and looked at Garrett. “Okay. Why did you close it then?”

  “Dad died,” Garrett said. “And I was finished with college. I didn’t need it anymore. I had all of this.” He indicated her folders and files. “I know what the will says.” He actually chuckled again as he dug for another paper. “This one was an addendum to the will, and Dad wrote it the day before he died. It was only to be opened by me and the lawyer, and it canceled out any and all other gifts in the will. Everything Dad had became mine.”

  He passed her the paper, and she and Aaron peered at it together. Time seemed to stretch then, because Eloise couldn’t keep track of it. She read the simple statements on the paper. Saw the signatures. Recorded the date.

  Only when Aaron put his hand over hers did she snap out of the loop she’d fallen into.

  She cleared her throat and added that paper to the pile. Her brother was smart; he’d have his own copies. “Okay,” she said, glad she hadn’t mentioned the bank accounts. “Now what?”

  “Do you intend to fight me for ownership of all of this?”

  “I have documents,” Eloise said. “And a very good lawyer.”

  “Ah, yes,” Garrett said, leaning back into his chair. It squealed under his weight, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Alice Kelton. She is good, but I don’t think she’s quite cut out to take me on.”

  Eloise lifted her chin, her devotion to Alice unwavering. “Oh?”

  “Her husband just lost his job, right?” Garrett took another item from his folder and set it on the table. “Shame, that is. Who knows how long it will take him to get another one, and I believe I hold the deed to Alice’s house here in the cove.” Another plucking from the folder, another swishing of paper, and another document landed on top of the picture Eloise couldn’t look away from.

  It had been Frank Kelton, his arm around another woman.

  “Frank has quite the reputation with the women,” Garrett said as if they were discussing how delicious their lunch was. “I’m shocked he hasn’t been fired before this, honestly.”

  Eloise looked up from the paperwork that listed Alice’s address on it. Garrett hadn’t issued any outright threats, but she’d heard them nonetheless. Her throat was so dry, and Aaron had nothing to add to the conversation.

  “You should be careful here,” Garrett said, his smile finally fading. He tapped his expandable file folder. “With one little pull of a string, I can make sure Julian and Kelli Thompson lose their courier business. I believe they just got a loan for over a million dollars to buy out their leading competitor.” He clicked his tongue like he was her disapproving grandmother. “What a shame that would be.”

  “You’ve made your point,” Aaron said, his voice ice cold.

  “Have I?” Garrett asked. “Did you know your father was a regular at our club?” He started to open his folder again. “Wait. Maybe you don’t want to see the pictures. I hear he’s running for mayor.”

  Aaron turned as stiff as a board, and horror moved through Eloise.

  “Of course, I could call Carol and let her know you want her back. She could be here by morning, and then maybe the two of you wouldn’t quite make it to the altar.” He looked between Eloise and Aaron, his eyebrows up as if asking if he should make the call to Aaron’s ex-wife.

  Eloise had never pegged her brother to be cruel. The only thing pouring from him was hatred, and Eloise felt sure she’d give him whatever he wanted. She couldn’t embarrass Aaron’s father just for a few properties she hadn’t even known existed.

  “I’ve got lots of other pictures of people who used to be quite familiar with our club.” Garrett tossed a stack of photos on top of everything else on the table, but Eloise didn’t even look at it.

  “I believe Duke’s boat just arrived back in port after a delay,” Garrett said. “I hear there’s been some vandals down there lately. What a tragedy that would be if he lost the only thing that paid their bills.”

  “Stop,” Eloise said.

  “And what about AJ? I hear she’s having such a tough time getting an on-air spot.” He shook his head, as if the news really made him sad.

  “You leave them all al
one,” Eloise said. “None of them have done anything to you.”

  Garrett laughed then, and the sound was cruel and high. It echoed around near the ceiling, and Eloise cringed as it moved through her whole body.

  He cut off the laugh as abruptly as he’d started, and he leaned forward, pure malice in his eyes. “Eloise,” he said. “You’re wrong if you think all of these women don’t want something from you. Now that they know about these properties, they’re all thinking of what they can do with them.”

  She shook her head and leaned away from him, keeping the distance between them. She felt wrung out, and she just wanted him to leave. “You’re wrong.”

  “Alice needs money. So does Robin. And Kelli. Perhaps the only one who doesn’t is AJ, but one small tragedy, and—” He snapped his fingers. “That three million they know you have? They’ll all be vying for a piece of it.”

  “That’s not true,” she said, though her stomach had started to vibrate. She didn’t believe her brother.

  “Everyone just watches out for themselves,” he said, settling back into his chair again. “You’re a fool if you believe otherwise.”

  “You should go,” she said, standing up. Aaron joined her, and Eloise gathered all her papers and stuffed them into the same folder.

  “I can’t go yet,” Garrett said, not moving. “Not before we come to an agreement.”

  “What agreement?”

  “The way I see it, you have two choices. One, you leave all this be. Leave it alone. I have control of the properties, and I’ll keep running them the way I have for the past seventeen years. You’ll transfer all funds from any accounts you’ve found in Dad’s name to this account.” He plucked a paper from his folder and tossed it on the table. “I know you’ve found them. I tried to get Dad to tell me where they were, but he died before he could.” Garrett stood then. “Once I have the money, you can go back to remodeling your…inn.” He glanced around the room as if it were covered in slime and cobwebs. “And you’ll never hear from me again.”