“I knew you were competitive.” Adele pouted. “Touché.” But she brightened quickly. “You and I are only a couple of months apart in age. I’ve never been on a date with someone younger before.”
Natalie smiled wickedly. “Then I take it back. You were right.”
“About what?”
“Maybe I do have a thing for older, dried up—”
Adele narrowed her eyes in mock anger. “Ha, ha. Funny.”
A few bites more, and they both decided they were too full to finish this course, and they abandoned the food.
Adele asked their waiter to box up the desserts. “Was your breakup bad?” Her words were spoken casually, but it was clear she was still keenly interested in the topic. She reached for the water at the table that had, up until now, been ignored in favor of the wine.
“Not really. Things the night of the party were a bit dramatic because of the alcohol and the skank. But Hannah certainly wasn’t the love of my life and I wasn’t hers. We’d been on-again, off-again for a while.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Within a day or two after the breakup everyone was fine. And, happily, we never talked about it again.” She shivered at the mere thought.
“A day or two?” Visibly stunned, Adele looked away. “I—I took longer than that to get over running over a squirrel last winter.”
“Did the squirrel bang an East Asian History professor while you were getting its wrap from the car?”
“Umm…no.”
“Well then.”
The conversation shifted to lighter topics that included more tidbits about their jobs and favorite things, and lots of laughter. Some loud enough to turn heads. Of course, Natalie admitted privately with a combination of pride and jealousy, the rubbernecking could have just as easily been the product of Adele getting up to use the bathroom and walking away in those goddamn tight leather pants.
Not long after, the mood subtly changed again and Natalie could see that something was playing on Adele’s mind. She rewound the evening in her head, and landed on one particular spot. Hannah. She wasn’t sure if her comments about her breakup had made her seem callous or whether they simply highlighted Adele’s more pain-filled break from Landry. Either way, she hoped to erase the pensive look on her friend’s face and any misconceptions she might have caused.
She laid a hand on Adele’s forearm and gently stroked satin-covered skin with the ridge of her thumb, feeling Adele’s warmth seep through the thin material. “Ella,” her voice was as gentle as she could make it. “What I had with Hannah wasn’t even close to a marriage. If I’m honest, it wasn’t anything like what I think you and Landry had together. If it had been, I wouldn’t have been okay the day after losing it. Or for lots and lots of days after that.”
Adele blinked a few times, and her eyes began to glisten in the candlelight. Her voice took on a vulnerable quality that had Natalie at the edge of her seat. “Can I tell you something that might sound a little weird?”
Natalie nodded then glanced over Adele’s shoulder and surreptitiously waved away the waiter who’d arrived with their boxes. Now was not the time.
“I’ve never told anyone this, not even Amelia because it makes me feel sort of guilty. But I got over losing Landry the husband a lot faster than I got over losing him as a friend.” Adele’s brows furrowed with concern. “Does that seem strange?”
Natalie thought about her answer for a moment, giving the serious question the consideration it deserved. It was an interesting admission. Adele had loved Landry. There was no question about that. But people often had many friends but, presumably, only one husband. It would be logical to miss most that which is scarcest. Then again, love and logic were, oftentimes, complete strangers.
Natalie recalled the times she’d seen Adele and Landry together, how they’d interacted, and what was clearly most important to Adele. “He was your best friend first? Before you were even married?”
Adele nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Natalie’s. “For a long time, actually.”
“Then I don’t think it’s strange at all.” Natalie continued to stroke the soft satin, her mind easily replacing the material with Adele’s warm lightly tanned skin. “You’re so strong, and you’re independent. Maybe when it comes right down to it, even though I’m sure there are things about it that you miss very much, and even though that might not be your preference, maybe you discovered that you’re able to live without a spouse.”
Even more slowly than before, Adele nodded again, not really confirming or denying what Natalie said, but silently urging her on.
Encouraged, Natalie continued. “But, Ella, maybe what you can’t live without is at least one friend who is a true equal. Maybe you need someone that you can trust all the way and with everything. A best friend whose loyalty and steadfastness you never have reason to question, and who you’re willing to let see every single part of you without shame or censor. And maybe giving up that, losing that, is what hurt most of all.”
Adele somehow managed to look astonished, a little melancholy, and grateful all at once. “Yes. That’s exactly…How—?” She swallowed thickly.
Natalie moistened her lips and wrapped her fingers around the forearm she’d been stroking. She gave it an affectionate squeeze and willed all the confidence she felt to show in her voice. “You don’t know this yet. And maybe you’re not ready to know this. I get that. But you can trust me. Really trust me.” All the way. “When it matters most, I won’t let you down. I promise.”
Adele’s smile was electric. So much so, that Natalie was convinced if she reached out and touched the air between them, she’d feel the crackling current. Adele’s next words seemed to contradict her beaming grin.
“You’re wrong, Natalie.”
Instantly, Natalie’s face fell. But… “I-I’m sorry. I—”
“I do know it, and I do trust you. I can’t seem to help myself. Even though it scares me. I don’t want to stop.”
Before she could say anything else, Adele boldly leaned forward and pressed her lips into Natalie’s smile.
* * *
Adele and Natalie exited a taxicab outside the inn. Their evening was set to continue at Snug Harbor, a jazz club just a few minutes’ walk away on Frenchman Street. But they’d decided to stop by the inn first to drop off their boxed desserts from Stella!
Natalie shivered as she rubbed her hands over the goose-bumped flesh on her arm. The temperature had dropped during dinner and she was feeling a definite chill.
The move didn’t go unnoticed by Adele. “Cold?” Adele wiggled her eyebrows, her nervousness from earlier in the evening, nowhere in sight. “We could skip the club and I could warm you up?”
“Nuh-uh. You’ve been talking about the music at this place all evening. I want to go.” She smiled invitingly. “Besides, you can keep me warm when we come home.”
“Make no mistake about it, I’m planning on it,” Adele drawled sexily.
Natalie pressed her thighs together to relieve a delicious ache that had been slowly building, and had just spiked.
Patience. Tucking her small clutch under her arm, Natalie reached for the boxes Adele was balancing with one hand. “Give me those. I’ll put them in the kitchen and then grab a coat and meet you back outside in a few minutes, okay?”
Wordlessly, Adele took them to the side gate that led directly into the inn’s courtyard. She pressed the house keys into Natalie’s hand and drew in a deep breath of cool night air as she tilted her head back to gaze up at the stars, her eyes glittering black in the moonlight. “It feels nice out here. I was getting too warm at Stella!” Adele’s eyes slanted sideways. “Or maybe it was just the company that had me hot and bothered.”
“Or maybe it was all that wine we polished off?”
Clearly relaxed, Adele’s arms swung freely as they strolled through the courtyard. “No, it’s the company.”
“We can take a cab to the club if it would be quicker and easier on your leg. It’s nice out, but I certainly don’t mind.”
Natalie stopped Adele’s progress with a gentle hand and moved directly in front of her. “You’re gorgeous when you smile.” Without warning, she surged forward and brushed her lips against the dimple that had been driving her to distraction for days. “And walking sounds great.”
Adele gave Natalie a look that said she was reconsidering whether they should leave the inn at all. She firmly pulled Natalie’s body flush against her, their breath mingling. They fit together like two pieces of a complex puzzle. Flawlessly.
“If we must go, Nat, you should at least be comfortable. Although you look positively mouthwatering in that dress, how about you slip into some jeans and comfortable shoes while you’re inside?” Her gaze moved to Natalie’s lips and, convulsively, she swallowed. “It’s a short walk, but I bet it would be a torture hotter than hell in high-heeled shoes.”
Natalie ran her fingertips along Adele’s jaw, willingly drowning in the heady sexual tension that filled the night air. Natalie toyed with the idea of changing her mind and asking Adele to forget the jazz club and take her to bed, but quickly decided against it. Slowly, she reminded herself. She’s worth the wait. “Good idea. Jeans and comfortable shoes it is.”
Their lips met again in what was meant as just the whisper of a departing kiss, but Adele was having none of that. The kiss deepened naturally to just below scorching, sorely testing Natalie’s resolve.
When they separated a second time, they were both panting. “I’ll only be a few minutes,” Natalie rasped, knowing that if she didn’t go inside this very instant, she wouldn’t have the willpower to stop herself a third time.
“Let me see you in.”
Natalie smiled at her friend. The back door was only a few paces away. Like a good racehorse, it appeared that some things had simply been bred into Adele and went bone deep. Good manners were one of them. “Sit and rest your leg.”
With one hand, Natalie grasped Adele’s shoulder and gently pushed her into a wrought-iron patio chair. “I’ll be right back.” But she couldn’t leave without dropping a final kiss atop Adele’s head. She nuzzled her nose into the silky-soft locks and greedily inhaled, enjoying the light clean scent of shampoo and Adele herself.
In a move that Natalie had come to expect, Adele kicked her feet straight out in front of her, stretching, and set her cane on the ground beside her.
“If you never leave,” Adele said through her smile, her eyes fluttering closed at the sensation of Natalie nuzzling her head, “we can never go. And that means we can’t come back and, um, warm each other up.”
“I’m already gone.”
Natalie entered the dark house quickly, humming a happy tune. There was no need to turn on the lights as she dropped the boxes off in the kitchen and then headed to her room. She wondered what she should wear to Snug Harbor, thankful Adele had suggested different shoes. She usually wore slacks or skirts to work and appropriate shoes, but her feet were not used to cigarette heels.
Tomorrow’s blisters would be payment for tonight’s folly.
When she flicked on the light to her room, her mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Oh, my God!” It had been ransacked. She stepped deeper inside, her eyes flitting from surface to surface. Every drawer had been opened and its contents dumped. The bedding had been torn from the bed and lay in a haphazard pile on the floor, and Natalie’s clothes were strewn everywhere.
Natalie froze when she heard the bedroom door close quietly behind her and the heavy deadbolt lock click smoothly into place.
The voice was deep, male, and deadly serious. “Where is it?”
* * *
A bloodcurdling scream from inside the house caused Adele to start. Natalie?
Adele scooped up her cane and took off in a dead run, or as much of a dead run as her leg would allow. Her heart leapt into her throat, and the searing pain in her leg didn’t even register as she tore across the courtyard and flung open the back door. It wasn’t a police detective who responded to the terrifying sounds coming from inside the inn, it was Natalie’s date. For a second she panicked, thinking that Logan might be inside and in trouble too. But she quickly remembered her son was with his father.
The screams continued and once inside she could hear the harsh sound of smashing glass. “Natalie!” Adele sped through the dark house, knowing every turn by heart.
“H-help!” Natalie screeched, but this time her voice was garbled. “St…st-stop it. Stop!”
Adele skidded to a halt outside Natalie’s room, the last room at the end of the hallway, and furiously tried to open the door. It was locked. Frantic, she pounded on it with a closed fist.
Instinctively, she reached for the gun on her side…that wasn’t there. She could run to her room to retrieve it, but she knew she couldn’t shoot through the door, not when she wasn’t sure where Natalie was on the other side. “Shit!”
“Natalie! Open the fucking door! Open it!” But she could hear fighting on the other side of the door, high-pitched gasps and Natalie’s cries, bodies crashing against the walls and furniture and the sound of wood and glass breaking. Someone was in there with her. “Natalie!”
Adele’s adrenaline levels spiked so quickly that she began to tremble and see stars. She realized in that split second that she didn’t have the keys to the dead bolts on her and wasn’t even sure where they were. With all the construction going on, she’d lost track.
She lifted her good leg and kicked the door with all her might. But she was off balance when she did it and it had little impact. Two kicks. Three kicks. Four kicks, and she finally heard the doorframe begin to crack. The inn’s doors were over a hundred years old and made of solid wood, not the foam core pieces of crap people had today. A single kick would have splintered one of those.
“Ella!” Natalie cried out in clear pain. A red veil of fury draped over Adele’s vision.
“Motherfucker!” Adele raged, her voice going high and desperate at the end. “Whoever you are, when I get inside, I’m going to blow your head off!” It was a lie. Though she was most certainly going to kill whoever it was. Just with her bare hands.
“No! Stop!”
Trying to kick the door in was taking too long, and she wasn’t convinced she could even manage it. Her bad leg was giving way.
Backing up halfway down the hallway, Adele ran at full tilt and flung her entire body against the door, her shoulder and good hip taking most of the impact. Violently, she bounced off it and ended up flat on her back on the cool wood floor.
Again, she saw stars and felt warm blood begin to trickle down the back of her neck from where her head had impacted the floor. But quickly, if wobbly, Adele stood and threw herself at the door again and again, cursing the entire time and calling out Natalie’s name.
Eventually, the doorframe cracked again.
At the exact same moment, the fighting stopped, and the room went eerily quiet. Adele’s hands flew to her ears when an explosion of glass shattered the silence. The side window. Whoever was in that room was making his escape.
Out of breath, Adele lost track of how many attempts she made at the door, but finally, thankfully, the doorframe came apart completely. “Natalie!” With wild arms, she knocked away the splintered wood and pushed the door aside to slide in between it and what was left of the frame. A shard of wood sliced into the skin a couple of inches above her wrist like a scalpel.
She hissed in a breath.
The room had been destroyed. The desk chair was in pieces. Broken glass, from the window and several pictures that had been knocked from the walls, was scattered all over the room and shimmered like tiny diamonds against the bed’s dark duvet. On the rug next to the bed lay Natalie, quiet and as still as a corpse. Her face was partly covered with matted, bloody hair. The cord from the lamp was wound tightly around her neck, her tongue protruding, her eyes partially open a
nd fixed.
All the air rushed from Adele’s lungs, as though she’d been punched in the chest. “Oh, God.” She flew across the room and fell to her knees at Natalie’s side, glass crunching beneath and cutting through her leather pants. “No, no, no!”
For a second, time stood still. Adele’s hands hovered above Natalie, not touching, her eyes not believing what was before her. Too late. Too late, her mind chanted cruelly. She’s dead. But a heartbeat later and time not only resumed, it propelled her forward into frenzied motion.
With shaking, but lightning-fast hands, Adele unwrapped the cord from Natalie’s neck, not missing the bright red ligature marks and a large open-fingered handprint that had already started to bruise. “Breathe! Breathe!” Natalie’s body was limp as a wet noodle and unmoving. Adele bent down and placed her cheek to Natalie’s mouth, her fingers moving to her neck. No breath sounds. No pulse. Dammit!
Her chest hitched with a loud sob. She sealed her lips around Natalie’s and gave her several large breaths. This can’t be happening. It can’t! Then she scrambled to the phone that was tucked behind an overturned nightstand and the wall. Following the cord back to the base, she punched in 911, misdialing once before the call went through.
She barked out her address and the nature of the emergency, then simply dropped the phone and went back to give Natalie several more breaths and begin chest compressions, muttering words of encouragement the entire time. “Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die. Breathe again. You can do it, dammit! Breathe!”
It seemed as though she’d been doing CPR for a million years when paramedics finally arrived on the scene. But instead of bursting into the room, they entered cautiously, and far too slowly for her tastes.
“Dammit, move it! The scene is clear!” She paused to blow into Natalie’s mouth twice more, dizziness almost overtaking her. The wound near her wrist had been bleeding steadily the entire time she’d been giving CPR, and she hadn’t had a chance to bind it. “The intruder is gone. Attempted strangulation.” Attempted? No. Actually strangled. Her stomach clenched painfully.
A Dark Horse Page 27