by Shelley Wall
Then it wasn’t Reva. It wasn’t anyone at all. A random person that didn’t like loud music and fed birds in a park. And he had pushed her. Hard. So hard that when she fell against the metal railing around the lot, blood had seeped through her hair within seconds.
“It hurts,” she had muttered.
With no one around to call for help, he panicked. Brent tried his cell but the battery had died and he’d left the charger at home. Hospital, his thoughts suggested. She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t doing anything at all, just laid there with blood flowing into her hair. He loaded her into the back of the pickup and started toward the hospital. The overgrown trail to the side of the park caught his attention as if it had been lit up just for him. He had weighed the scenarios available before turning down the path. Now, surveying his cleanup job he felt the trembling hit his hands first. Then his legs started knocking and he lunged over in the grass of his backyard to empty his stomach.
***
Todd sprawled on the couch and flipped to the news. He often skipped local news in favor of the political channels and sports news. He grimaced. Much of the headlines were too disturbing. Two shot in convenience store robbery attempt. Local mother of two and wildlife activist missing after night walk. Babysitter arrested after child found unconscious in car. He sighed and changed the channel to sports.
Reva plopped down on the other end of the couch and tucked a bare foot under her. The white shorts accentuated her skin color. He couldn’t help but steal a quick glance. “Officer Teckley called today,” she said. He waited. “He said Nick was at work the entire week and bowling with his new girlfriend on the weekend.”
“So, they don’t think it was him in your yard?”
“Not unless he knows how to time travel or has a clone.” “What do you think?” Todd asked.
“I’m not sure. I guess I never really thought it was him. Something wasn’t right. If it had been, I think he’d want me to know he’d been there. He would have done something to signal that he knew where I was. He liked to instill fear as much as he liked to instill pain.”
“You mean he’d taunt you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“What a sick fuck.”
She stared at the glass of water in her hand and nodded. “You have no idea.” She swirled the water and continued to watch it slosh. Todd knew there was more she wanted to tell him. He waited. The sofa bounced as she turned toward him and pulled the other leg underneath her bottom.
“The answer to your question is no. Not the way you’re talking about.”
“Just so we’re on the same page, do you want to expand on that? What are we talking about now?”
“You asked if he’d wanted to please me. That’s a no.” “Technically, I asked if anyone wanted to—not him. I wasn’t sure if we were talking about Teckley’s call or well…that. Listen, did Teckley have any idea who it was?” He knew she wanted to talk about the other thing more, but it wasn’t near as important. And for some reason, his stomach turned at the thought of such a relationship. Knowing who this person was, and why they were after her seemed a bit more critical. Especially if there was a potential for harm. “Oh, um…no, he said they were going to interview the neighbors and he asked me to make lists of people I’d had altercations with or who seemed odd or new.”
“Am I on that list?”
Her eyes flew to his. “Of course not. Why’d you ask that?” “Well, I’m new. We’ve only known each other a short while.”
She frowned. “Are you trying to confuse me?”
He grinned. “So, you don’t consider me dangerous then?” She lifted off her knees and crawled toward him, launching against his chest. His breath let out in a whoosh.
“Dangerous? Possibly. Stalker or Peeping Tom?” She glanced down his length. “I fail to see why you’d need to resort to that, under the circumstances. You seem more than capable of having a normal relationship without resorting to hiding or following people.”
“A normal relationship,” he repeated. Todd slipped his hands behind her and locked them around Reva’s waist. “You mean one that two people choose to be in because it’s mutually enjoyable.”
“Something like that.”
“I haven’t got a clue what that is,” he teased.
“Me either.”
A loud rap on the door startled them. Todd was about to just call out for them to come in but he remembered he’d started locking it when Reva arrived. He ignored the knock and pulled her up to his lips so he could brush a kiss on hers. A soft thump signaled whoever had knocked was still waiting. The rasp of a key entering the doorknob caught his attention. His dropped the hand that had grazed up Reva’s back and lifted her off.
“Go to the back,” Todd ordered.
“But—”
“Go! I’ll be there in a min—” The door flew open. “Hi Dad.” Eric smiled. His small face moved from Reva to Todd. “Hi, Ms. Reva.”
“Hey, bud.” Todd looked past him at the car pulling away from the drive. “What are you doing here?”
“Mom had to go on an overnight business thing. She said you were going to take me rock climbing at the park.” Todd squelched the frown, but clenched a hand around Reva’s wrist so she wouldn’t remove herself from the room. Damn Annie. No call, nothing. And she didn’t even check to see if he was home! Or that he had company.
“Okay, well I don’t know about rock climbing but come on in.” He reached for the bag. “You’re gonna have to share with me though because Reva’s in your room right now.” “Really? So you did move in with us? That’s great!” His eyes swiveled from Todd to Reva. “Dad, why doesn’t she have to share? It’s my room.”
Reva laughed. “He has a point, you know.”
Todd shifted the bag to his other arm and let go of her. “Well, that’d only mean one thing, you know.”
She shook her head. “Nope. That’s not happening.” He grinned. “I sleep on the couch.” It probably wasn’t a good idea to remind her that they’d made good use of his bed already. Not with Eric present.
Reva’s mouth dropped. “Oh, I thought you meant…” “What? That I’d share a room with you when I hardly know you? What would your mom and dad say?” he teased. But he did know her. Every soft, silky inch and he craved them all. Reva punched Todd in the arm and went to her/Eric’s room. “I’ll take the couch,” she shot over her shoulder, “but I’m sharing a bathroom with somebody. You guys decide.” “Okay.” Todd heaved a fake sigh. “I guess I’ll let you use mine.”
Reva dragged her bag of clothes and toiletries out to the living room and dumped it against a wall. Todd watched as she neatly laid open the lid and surveyed the contents. “You can put those in the back room, if you want to.”
Sure, it was his room too, but she obviously had a hang-up about Eric seeing them together.
“This is fine.”
“And makes the room look like a college dorm. Come on, Eric. Let’s see what we can find to eat.” He pulled Eric into the kitchen and they rummaged through the fridge. “Do you want me to move it?” she called after them. He didn’t really care. If he were expecting company maybe, but—she is company. “It doesn’t matter. Put it wherever you want.”
A few minutes later, she joined them in the kitchen. They made dinner and ate. It was the first time Todd had had a woman at the dinner table since Annie left. Not that he hated cooking or specifically cooking for a woman, it just never happened. He didn’t invite women home as a habit. He hadn’t been celibate either—it just never appealed to come here. Now, he had a scarred but enticing woman at his table, and her make-up was tucked into a corner of his bathroom. After Annie, that should scare him to death, but it hadn’t. Admittedly, it was a strange but welcome feeling. Her news had confounded him too. He thoroughly expected the ex to be the stalker. As gorgeous as she was, he doubted any man would give up easily. Yet, if Agent Teckley’s report was accurate, and it must be, Nick had been ruled out. They were stumped. No other likely candi
date had surfaced from the neighborhood either, or Teckley wouldn’t have asked Reva for that list of names. Still, and for the life of him he didn’t know why, he wanted to validate the guy’s whereabouts.
“Time for bed, Eric.” Todd roused the boy from his halfsleep on the floor. Eric had constructed some sort of war game from a collage of various pieces of plastic in a box by the table. Once satisfied with the result, he’d simply settled right in the middle of it and surveyed his territory. His tiny eyelashes bobbled up and down in a fight to keep his eyes open. Todd lifted him, cradled the tiny frame over his shoulder and stepped across the construction toward the back rooms.
24 CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Todd frowned at his computer screen. They had an order for ten of the fountains he’d tested from a big hardware store chain. Good news financially. Unfortunately, they’d just discovered the bottom sections leak and water tended to seep from them. He’d been on the phone with the vendor a couple of times but they were unresponsive. Filling the order would probably end up in returned merchandise and a loss if they didn’t straighten it out. He sighed. Another small disruption that compounded all the other things going on. At what point were you going to tell me that you were living with someone? Annie was pissed. What business was it of hers anyway? She had been screwing around on him after the second year of marriage. Who was she to judge? Last he checked, he was still single, thanks to her. He had told her as much. Just before she dropped the ball that hammered home the control she still had on his life. A reminder that he’d merely imagined he had rid himself of her.
“Todd, that’s not the kind of environment I want Eric exposed to. He needs stability. Not women running in and out of your bedroom at your whim.” That was like the pot calling the kettle…
“Stability, Annie?” He controlled his voice, but the severity in tone made it impossible to hide his contempt. “You dump him on me without even calling half the time, and flit off on your next adventure with your married boyfriend. When you’re gone, you don’t call and, frankly, I doubt you give a shit what’s going on with him as long as you get your fling out of your system. There is nothing stable in this boy’s life right now except me. I am here—whenever he comes, no matter what, no matter when. Don’t you dare condemn me for helping Reva out of a bad situation. She’s not running in and out of my bed on a whim. But she’s damned well here, and if you don’t like it, you can just go fuck yourself, for all I care.”
Silence had fallen over the phone and he heard the sound of voices in the background. It occurred to him that she was out enjoying herself while chastising him. The irony of the situation angered him further.
“Well, I just don’t think Eric should get too attached when she might be gone in a week. Maybe he shouldn’t come around there for a while until you get your life straightened out.”
“Get my life straightened out? You have to be kidding me. There’s nothing to straighten out, Annie. I love Eric. I’m here for him. Reva’s a friend and I care about her too. She has something really bad going on and we’re helping her through it. She’s not going to be gone in a week.” He had ended the call to ensure he didn’t say worse.
He pondered that statement further as he sifted through the emails about his fountain order. Truth was, he didn’t know if she’d be gone in a week or even a day. And he had no idea if he wanted her to stay anyway. She was only there until they caught the person bothering her. He hadn’t thought about what might happen if they didn’t. It was hard not to think about her as he worked. The sex had been pretty damned awesome even though she was inordinately obsessed with his satisfaction over her own. But he didn’t want a relationship and she definitely didn’t either. She’d had her fill of men. And since she’d been in his house, she’d barely come near him.
That was a good thing, right?
More irony hit him. No, it wasn’t. And why the hell not? He realized Annie’s entire life revolved around controlling and manipulating the men around her. Reluctantly, he admitted that she still pulled his strings. Reva hadn’t made any effort at all to do so, yet here he was, fantasizing about her. He had some undefined need to get rid of the asshole bothering her too. For the life of him, he didn’t know why he needed it. Or cared. Male ego maybe? Protective instincts?
The phone rang and rang, yet he didn’t attempt to pick up. He didn’t have the stomach for more intense discussions with customers at the moment. One of the others would get it. He threw a pen across the desk. Damn. Both of these women were so entrenched in his thoughts at the moment that he’d taken his mind off work and had accomplished nothing all morning. Dammit. This was not going to happen. He had a business to run; he didn’t have time to idle away precious minutes on a woman. Correction…women. “Annie can go to hell for all I care,” he muttered. Still, the woman had threatened to cut off his contact with Eric. In fact, she’d flat out said he wasn’t coming over again until Reva was gone. How dare she throw ultimatums at him? And Reva. She’d settled into his living room and become extraordinarily nice and complacent. Distant. Like a damn valet or something. He wanted the woman that had made him boost the fence. That’s the real girl. Not this cardboard cutout that avoided contact. “And Reva too.”
But he didn’t mean it.
***
Todd slammed the door when he arrived from work, jolting Reva’s attention from her review of the new project she had worked on at his coffee table for the past two hours. She glanced at the time on the screen. Five after eight; he’d obviously had less than a stellar day. She cocked an eyebrow when he tossed keys on the kitchen counter and strode past her to the bedroom. He hadn’t glanced her way and when the door closed decisively, she took that as a leave me alone gesture. She shrugged. As long as he stayed there, she wouldn’t get worried.
He didn’t.
Bare-chested and in loose fitting shorts, he strode through the room. He grabbed beer from the fridge and exited to the backyard. She watched through the window as he took two drags from the beer and plopped it on the table, then went to a garden shed in the back corner. He came out with a bunch of tools. He hacked at the bushes along the side fence as if they were insurgents attacking his castle. The fierce movements rippled through his shoulders and back. The glisten of sweat showed on his forearms before Reva realized she’d stared out the window for at least twenty minutes. She knew better than to interrupt a man on a mission and he certainly seemed to be. Yet, the anger seemed to drive his actions more than anything else. If she didn’t at least ask, she was certain the bush would be nothing but a six-inch stalk before he was done.
“Todd, you want a drink of ice tea?” She held out the glass and smiled. He swung his eyes to her. Cold. Hard. Whatever was going on, he was filled with it.
“Thanks. I have a beer,” he said through tight lips. She waited while he went to his beer and took three long sips, his eyes slivered through dark lashes at her. She reassessed the intention to ask what was wrong. She’d learned a long time ago not to pry. Besides, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“You don’t want that bush anymore?”
He slid eyes to the leaves and seemed to wake up. The previously five-foot tall leafy life was at mid-thigh and diminishing. The weight of the world almost visually slid from his shoulders onto the pile of debris at their feet. Todd gave a short laugh. “I guess I got a little carried away.” “Did you? I thought maybe you wanted to get rid of it entirely.” She recognized the symbolism in her words. Get rid of it entirely. Get rid of me entirely. All he had to do was say so. Maybe it was time to go home. Whatever her threat was, whoever it was. They’re gone now.
Todd grabbed the glass from her fingers and drank it down in one long effort. “No. Just trim it back a bit. It was starting to peek through the fence.” He handed the glass back to her, the touch of his fingers along hers warm and wet with sweat. “If it twines itself into the fence, the boards will start loosening and fall off. Eventually, they’d be destroyed and I’d have to replace them.”
God, did he really intend the analogy of it all? Was she really intruding on his life that much? Entwining herself into his home, his life, until he needed to extricate her before things got completely awkward?
“Um. I was thinking I should probably go home this weekend. Things seem to have calmed down.”
The fact that it startled him into looking at her again left a small tingle of warmth. “Annie is refusing to let me see Eric as long as you’re here,” he stated flatly.
Well that seals it. “I’ll get my things together and head home tonight then.”
“NO.”
“Yes, I don’t want to cause problems. You’ve been great. Besides, whoever it was is gone.”
“That’s a bad idea.” His words didn’t match the gruffness in his voice. Nor the abrupt, severe movements he made as he lifted the shears and strode to deposit them in the shed. He reappeared a minute later and practically mowed her down as he lifted the pile of green flitters and carried them to the trash. Reva stepped back and folded her hands across her chest with the glass in hand.
“You’re angry,” she stated.
“Yesss. Why do women have to control every miniscule thing? What the hell is wrong with just letting a person enjoy themselves and not intrude on it? Tell me, Reva. Is that like a training thing women go through as teenagers or something? They think they have to dangle themselves like carrots in front of a guy just waiting for him to try to grab it, then jerk the damn thing away? And like idiots, we grab and think there’s something worth the effort in there. But there isn’t.”
Reva gulped and blinked. “I don’t…” She was confused. “That’s right. You don’t. I do, and I keep thinking it’s worth it. But it’s not. I’m sick of it. I don’t need this shit. I have a business to run. And whether she knows it or not, I’m the best damn parent Eric has right now. Why does there always have to be some stupid drama?”