by Jennie Adams
Linc succeeded, somewhat, but his thoughts kept returning to Cecilia’s upcoming visit to her sister at the correctional centre the following morning. To the kisses that he and Cecilia had shared. To this whole situation and how it was making him feel.
He needed to start working out just exactly why Cecilia was impacting on him the way she was and put a stop to it.
Yes, sure—he would work all that out and get it under control in no more than a blink of an eye and with a few minutes of careful thought and concentration.
He’d probably find the answer to world peace while he was at it...
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘I’M READY. It’s okay to leave early. There’s nothing else I need to check or make sure about. It’s time. I’m going to see Stacey.’
Cecilia said the words aloud as a means of stopping herself from fussing any longer, checking and rechecking that she was prepared for her visit to her sister.
It was 7:50 a.m. She had a lengthy drive to get to the facility, so leaving sooner rather than later made sense.
And if she was struggling to breathe through an onslaught of anxiety, if her heart was thumping—well, it was with hope and excitement, too. Stacey had realised she’d made mistakes, and she was choosing to set a better path for her life for the future. One that included her sister in it.
Cecilia pushed back the sudden surge of emotion—relief and hope for Stacey, and worry and pain for where her sister had landed herself already. She couldn’t indulge such things right now.
She stepped outside, closed and locked the door behind her, and made her way along the short path.
Out on the street a man leaned against the back of her car—a very familiar man, who removed his sunglasses and straightened as she approached.
Oh, how her emotions leapt in that moment of recognising him.
‘Linc! What are you doing here?’
She didn’t know what to think. In fact, her mind seemed reluctant to process more than how the sight of him made her heart ache a great deal less, and more, all at the same time.
‘I know you won’t have been expecting me.’ His words were roughened, as though pushed past emotion. ‘There might not be anything else I can do that’ll take some of the strain off you, but I want to drive you there and back today. If that’s okay with you?’
It wasn’t pity. She knew that immediately. But had this come simply from an employer’s sense of duty towards his employee?
She searched his face and saw the way his jaw clenched. As their glances locked and held, the deep steel grey of his eyes softened.
No. This wasn’t about work. This was personal—a man wanting to help a woman he cared about. Cecilia was certain. That had to be what she was seeing!
Her emotions wanted to take hold of this and run with it. But she cautioned herself that any measure of affection that Linc now felt could be any measure. She did not need to set herself up to expect more and then be hurt.
So don’t go hoping too much about Linc’s feelings towards you. In fact, why are you even pondering that when your focus needs to be on your sister?
It was easy for Cecilia to use that thought to push aside any need to trust Linc beyond that. She didn’t make any correlation to the impact of Hugh deserting her, and the blow that had given to her self-worth as a partner, but it was there in the back of her mind.
‘Thank you, Linc, for coming here for this.’
His offer to drive her to the facility did mean a lot. She would thank him and say she would go on her own.
But Cecilia knew that she wouldn’t do that. His company today, his willingness to be there for her... She simply couldn’t turn her back on that, caution and past history or not.
‘I would be grateful for your company, to tell the truth.’
As though to confirm her earlier hope about his feelings for her, he took an involuntary half step towards her and lifted one hand.
Oh, Cecilia, are you sure you want to believe that he really cares about you in an emotional sense?
Because that was what she was trying to do right now—to imbue Linc with a deep and personal caring feeling towards her when he could just as easily be feeling concern for a colleague he happened to have kissed a couple of times.
But sometimes people denied that they were emotionally entangled when in fact they really were, so could he be?
Was she saying that she was emotionally entangled in Linc?
No.
Maybe a little.
Can’t you just accept his help today, just this once, because it will make the trip there and back easier for you, and not think about the rest of it? Focus on Stacey. That’s more than enough to worry about.
‘So if you really do have the time, Linc, I’d love the company.’
‘I do, and I’m glad to hear it. I need—’
He cut himself off, but his shoulders eased.
Instead of finishing his previous thought, Linc simply said, ‘Do you prefer that we go in your car or mine?’
‘I’d rather it be my car. The parking area is underground, so you’ll be able to wait there if you want, or you could come with me to the reception area and stay there while I—while I go in. You can’t bring a cell phone with you, though, not even in the car.’
‘That won’t be a problem. My phone is in my car, and it can stay there until we get back.’
Linc took the driver’s seat of Cecilia’s hatchback car. He had to push the seat right back to fit his legs in comfortably. In truth, he’d deal with any amount of discomfort to ensure Cecilia didn’t have to face this day on her own.
He’d known yesterday, when she’d first told him she was going to the correctional centre today, that he would want to go with her.
Linc hadn’t understood the fierceness of that need at the time, and he had fought it because he hadn’t known what she would make of it if he did ask to go with her. He had fought right up until he’d woken at five this morning, and then he had stopped fighting it.
He still didn’t completely understand the strength of his feelings for Cecilia, but he could no longer go on pretending they didn’t exist. Linc needed to know.
Somehow, yesterday, when Cecilia had told him she would be coming to visit her sister, something inside him had changed. He hadn’t been able to let her face this on her own. That hadn’t simply been about wanting to protect another person. If it had, he’d have been able to explain it away. He couldn’t bear not to be a part of this with her. Linc needed this for himself.
All he could do right now was accept the need and be grateful she was allowing him to act on it—hope that a greater understanding of what was going on inside him would come.
‘I’ll give you the directions.’
She proceeded to do exactly that as they began their journey.
‘Tell me about Stacey.’
I would love to know more about your family, your past, all the things that matter the most to you.
‘What was your favourite thing to do together when you were little?’
He hoped, too, that talking would help take her mind off the more confrontational aspects of the day ahead.
Cecilia shared some memories from her childhood. Playing games with her sister...finishing each other’s sentences.
‘Our mother wasn’t very loving towards us, but having each other helped. We look significantly alike even now, but we aren’t identical, so we couldn’t get away with switching places with each other. We used to daydream about it, though.’
Sharing those childhood memories now had brought a smile to Cecilia’s strained features, but when she had first stepped out through her front door that morning, anxiety had radiated from her.
Linc felt it himself—on her behalf. He also felt the disappointment of knowing that she hadn�
��t been surrounded by a loving family all her life. Every person deserved that, in his opinion. And now she had another hurdle to get over.
‘I wish I could go in with you this morning.’
‘Stacey would raise her eyebrows a bit if you did that!’
Cecilia managed the quip and even a laugh to go with it. Linc had done her a world of good by coming along this morning. Oh, how her heart had lifted when she’d seen him—but she couldn’t tell him that!
‘Unfortunately, you have to be booked in advance to visit, so it wouldn’t be an option today, anyway.’
‘And you’ll want your sister all to yourself.’ He said it in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything else.’
They covered the rest of the trip speaking intermittently of matters of no importance. It helped her fight off the nerves until they drove into the underground parking area.
Rather than dwell on her unease at the upcoming visit, Cecilia got straight out of the car when Linc stopped it. He alighted, too, and she had to confess—silently, at least—that she was rather glad he would be with her for as long as possible before she went in.
After that it was identification, registration, the wait while names were called, until finally it was her turn and she got up. Linc quickly pulled her tight against his chest and released her again.
Cecilia made her way through all the security processing. She was electronically scanned and had to pass a drug-detecting dog’s assessment. A band with a number on it was affixed around her wrist. The officers were professional, but she couldn’t help a feeling of being just that number to them.
Did her sister feel that way? Of course she would.
An officer checked her wristband. ‘You’re at table twenty-three.’ The woman pointed towards a separate building and gave some other instructions.
Cecilia drew a deep breath. ‘Thanks.’
Once seated inside, Cecilia fixed her gaze on the inmates’ entry point and waited. She wished Linc were there with her and was comforted to know he was waiting for her outside.
After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, her sister stepped into the room.
‘Stacey. Oh, I’ve missed you so much.’
Cecilia stood and hugged her sister and felt relief rush through her as Stacey hugged back just as hard. When they drew apart and took their seats, Cecilia looked carefully at her sister.
Stacey wore a dark green T-shirt and matching pants, with trainers on her feet. Around her neck was a chain with a tag on it. Had she lost weight? Or was it stress giving her that lean look?
Cecilia pasted a big smile on her face. ‘I brought coins for the vending machine. Would you like something?’
‘Maybe in a little bit.’ Stacey’s hands fidgeted together on the tabletop until she stopped herself.
‘Would you rather just talk first, Stace?’ Cecilia wanted to take her sister’s hands but had to settle for hoping her love for her sister shone from her eyes.
‘I made such a stupid mistake.’ Stacey said the words quietly before looking up to meet Cecilia’s gaze. ‘Running around being an idiot with Joe and not getting out of the situation when I realised I’d got myself into something I didn’t like and wanted nothing to do with. I wish I’d never met him. I’m not saying this is all his fault. I made the choice to be with him. But I don’t want anything to do with him now. Not ever again!’
Cecilia drew a deep breath. ‘I’m glad you’ve decided not to have any part of him now.’
Stacey glanced around them briefly, and then returned her gaze to Cecilia. When she spoke, it was in a quiet tone. ‘He put me in a scary position—led me to believe that whole situation was very different to what it turned out to be. And when it all went wrong, he left me there to face the consequences while he disappeared.’
‘It’s not always easy to see what people truly are, Stacey.’ Cecilia knew that from the time she’d spent with Hugh. ‘Sometimes it’s not until they let you down that you can see it. Anyway, I’m glad you’ve left him behind you. That’s good.’
‘It is.’ Stacey gave a wan smile. ‘And now I can find my way back from how I’ve messed up my life. I’m going to have to.’
Before Cecilia could respond, Stacey went on.
‘I got in the habit of being rebellious years ago, because it helped me to feel better about the way Mum gave up on us.’
‘That wasn’t our fault. The problem was with her.’ Cecilia had carried her own anger and hurt over it. To some degree she probably always would. ‘It’s up to us to choose how we let that influence us now.’
‘I’m choosing to do what I can to get out of here on good terms and follow a better path once I do.’
They talked about Stacey’s future then and about Cecilia’s life too—the plant nursery and the upcoming masked ball, but not about Linc. The time disappeared so quickly. Before Cecilia knew, it they were being told that the visit was over and Cecilia had to leave.
Reluctantly, Cecilia got to her feet and hugged her sister goodbye. ‘I love you so much, Stacey.’
‘I love you too, Cee.’ Stacey used her pet name for Cecilia, and for a moment her eyes shone with the sheen of tears before she resolutely blinked them back. ‘I—I’ll see you at your next visit, but I’ll call you. I’ll stay in contact now—that is, if you’d like—?’
‘Yes!’ Cecilia smiled past her own emotion, and then she was on her way back through all the checkpoints until she arrived in the waiting room.
She couldn’t help but feel happier. She would come back and visit again soon. They could talk again. Stacey would call, so they could stay in contact. Cecilia felt as if a missing piece had finally been replaced back in her life.
Linc wasn’t in the waiting room, and the clerk informed Cecilia that he’d been sent to wait in the car. ‘We don’t allow people to remain in the waiting room if they have no reason to be here.’
Cecilia was on the pathway outside, still some distance from the parking lot, with her thoughts on the future, when Stacey could live her life again outside of this place, when a man suddenly came up beside her.
He grabbed her wrist in a punishing grip and lowered his face close to her ear. It all happened so fast she wasn’t sure what was going on.
‘What did you say to your sister to turn her against me? What did you say to her in there just now? Tell me!’
Fear and adrenalin shot through Cecilia. Who was this? What was going on? Her head whipped around. She caught a glimpse of largeness, tallness, of a face tightened by anger and hair the colour of wheat, cropped close to the man’s skull.
This had to be Joe. It couldn’t be anyone else.
‘Let me go.’ Cecilia said it in a low tone as she tried to pull free.
His grip around her wrist tightened. ‘I know where you live, Cecilia. I know lots about you.’ His voice was harsh. ‘Trust me, you don’t want a visit from me. So stay away from Stacey. Stop putting ideas in her head about getting out early and anything else you might have in your mind. She’s better off doing the full term. When she gets out that way, she’s free. No one will be watching her, checking her every move. She can go back to supporting—’ He broke off.
‘She shouldn’t have ended up in there in the first place.’ Cecilia forgot to be afraid as protectiveness for her sister drove the words from her. ‘What kind of man leaves a woman to pay for his crime?’
‘I make my own rules—and you’ve just pushed me too far.’
He started to pull her forward, and Cecilia wasn’t strong enough to hold back. Fear ripped through her as she stumbled and fell into him.
And then Linc was there, breathing hard. ‘Get your hands off her!’
For a moment Cecilia didn’t know if Joe would obey, but then he uttered a curse, let go of her and ran off. He leapt into a car at the end of t
he parking lot, and the car roared away.
‘I’m driving.’ Linc spoke the words as he pulled open the driver’s side door of her car.
Cecilia hadn’t even been aware of them making their way back there. Her ears were buzzing and she felt light headed.
Don’t you dare hyperventilate or faint.
‘What just happened?’ Linc rapped out the question. ‘What did that guy say to you before I got there?’
Cecilia climbed into the passenger seat and noted that her hands were shaking so much she had to try twice to fasten her seat belt.
‘That was Joe—the man who was with my sister when she got caught committing a robbery. Stacey’s told me that Joe was the mastermind, and I’ve no reason to doubt that. Aside from some teenage rebellion, my sister never did anything criminal before she became involved with that man. He’s been sneaking messages in to her. But she’s seen his true colours and wants nothing more to do with him, and he...he isn’t happy about that.’
‘Why would he be here this morning? He can’t visit her. He’d be picked up as soon as they recognised who he was.’ Leashed power echoed in each word Linc spoke as he drove the car through the parking lot. ‘We have to report this to the police. There’s a station not far from here. We’ll go straight there.’
‘Yes, I think we’d better.’ Cecilia laced her fingers together tightly so their trembling wouldn’t show. ‘I don’t know how he knew that I’d be visiting this morning, but I believe he was waiting specifically for me. He basically implied just then that he would harm me if I didn’t stay out of Stacey’s life.’
‘Is that what your sister wants? For you to stay out of her life?’
‘No!’ Cecilia said it with vehemence. ‘We may look at life differently at times, but we love each other. We...well, we really did mend our issues just now. I promised I’d keep coming to see her, and she promised she’ll call me when she can.’ Cecilia drew a deep breath.
‘I’m glad to hear that.’ His tone of voice underlined the truth of this before he went on, ‘You could have been really harmed just now.’