Beauty from Ashes: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 5)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Once he accepted the friend requests already there, Connor then began to peruse their friend lists to see if he recognized any more names. It wasn’t long before he came across a few that he was interested in, and he clicked to send a friend request to them. It seemed strange to be doing it this way, but it was so much easier than trying to track down phone numbers or email addresses. From the looks of things, at least two of the guys he was interested in reconnecting with still lived in the Twin Cities. No doubt they had families of their own by now, but hopefully, they would still be willing to hang out once in a while.

  With nothing else grabbing his attention on Facebook, Connor began to log into a few of the sites he had used when doing his previous job. He visited some sites and message boards that were a part of the internet that most people didn’t even know existed. And they would probably be thankful for their ignorance if they ever did find out.

  As he read through familiar message threads, Connor found himself missing the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes his job had included chasing down the bad guy with a gun in a foreign country, but other times it had involved sitting at a computer, reading messages and trying to decipher codes that might lead them to the people they were after. While he did enjoy the physical chase, the cyber one could be just as exciting for him. As he read through message thread after message thread, Connor wondered if maybe he could’ve stayed on at his previous job and just taken on cyber chases instead of the physical ones that would take him away from his family. But he knew that while he was better than the average person when it came to digging up info, he certainly wasn't as good as others who had worked with his team.

  Soon Connor’s attention drifted from the screen in front of him. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out under the desk as he continued to sip his coffee.

  He wondered again if there was anything he could ever say to Adrianne to make up for the hurt he’d caused her. Clearly, his apology had been enough for her to tolerate his presence, but she hadn’t trusted its sincerity. Not that Connor blamed her. On one level she was correct. He had apologized to her because he knew it was the only way for them to be able to coexist around their families. However, he was deeply sorry for the way he’d acted and because of that, his apology had been sincere. Whether she believed it or not.

  It was difficult not to wonder if seeing him just brought the hurt to the surface over and over again for Adrianne. That wasn’t what he wanted, but he had no way of knowing how to fix it. He’d been stupid. Self-centered. Shallow. Scared. Scared of what his friends would say if he showed up with anyone but the most beautiful girl in their class for that dance. He’d been a football player, after all. They were supposed to have been able to get the pretty girls. The cheerleaders. How could he have shown up with someone who looked like Adrianne?

  The thing was, that dance ended up being one of the worst evenings Connor had ever had. He might have been there with an incredibly beautiful girl, but all he could see was Adrianne’s face when he’d rejected her so horribly. And after the dance had finished, and the girl had wanted to get physical with him, Connor had pushed her away. And in doing so, he’d ended up hurting yet another girl. The rumors she’d spread about him after that had been embarrassing, but he figured it was what he deserved.

  He’d been glad that the pressure to date and maintain a relationship had lessened considerably when he had joined the military and been deployed. Then his job after that had included long stretches away from home as he carried out high-risk assignments. His teammates had understood his reluctance to leave a woman behind when heading off on a dangerous mission because they were doing the same thing too. But now here he was, thirty-five years old and still single. And the worst part was, Connor had no idea if he would be able to have a successful long-term relationship with a woman. Having never really had one, it seemed an almost impossible scenario. Or maybe it was that he couldn't imagine finding someone who he would want to share so much of himself with the way Rebecca and Alex did.

  With a sigh, Connor leaned forward and logged out of his programs. He pushed to his feet and took his now empty mug back into the kitchen before getting ready for bed. As he thought about the next day, a restlessness took hold. It was Saturday. But what was he going to do?

  8

  Adrianne woke the next morning feeling slightly ill. No doubt the result of a few too many cookies the night before. There was no rush to get up, so she curled up under her warm blankets and checked her social media and email on her phone.

  There was an email from her real estate agent with a couple more properties that she thought might work. Though she wasn’t holding out too much hope, Adrianne crawled from the warmth of her bed to retrieve her laptop and carry it to the window seat. Trying to look at pictures of houses on her phone was basically useless—at least for what she wanted to see.

  As she waited for her laptop to boot, Adrianne stared out the window, not too surprised to see that it was snowing once again. She was glad that she hadn’t made any plans to leave the house, though the email from her real estate agent might change that.

  Before she had a chance to look at the links in the email, her phone rang. A smile crossed her face as she saw the picture of Janet, her best friend, flash on the screen. It felt like forever since they’d last talked, which wasn’t too surprising given the holidays and the differences in their lives now. Though usually, they were able to make up for lost time and chat as if they hadn’t been out of touch at all.

  “Hey!” Adrianne said as she answered the phone. “How are you doing?”

  They spent the next few minutes chatting about things going on in their lives. Or more accurately, chatting about what was going on in Janet’s life, because hers was always a lot more interesting than Adrianne’s. She was married and had three kids. A five-year-old who had just started kindergarten the previous fall and two-year-old twins who, according to their mother, were doing their best to put Janet into an early grave. Janet was always good for a laugh as she shared the antics of her children and the stories she came away with from the playgroup she attended. Compared to Adrianne’s, Janet’s life was a thrill a minute.

  Friends since high school, Janet had ended up with the life that Adrianne had hoped for. Happily married to her high school sweetheart and mother to three adorable children. At this point, Adrianne figured she’d be lucky to end up with one child given her age, but she’d be happy with that as long as she was married to a man she loved. After all, she was learning to adjust her dreams, and this would just be one more place where she had to do it.

  “Actually, I am sort of calling for a reason,” Janet said once they’d finished laughing over her story of the latest antics of the mothers at one of her playgroups.

  “Do you need me to babysit or something?” Adrianne asked. Though she wasn’t one to do it frequently, she was more than willing to help out whenever Janet and her husband found themselves in a bind for a sitter.

  Janet laughed. “Is that really the only time I ever call you?”

  “Well…not the only time you ever call me,” Adrianne replied with a laugh of her own. “So are you saying that it’s not for babysitting?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I wanted to know if you would like to come by tonight for supper. Some last-minute plans fell into place—namely, my folks are taking the kids overnight—and now a few of the gang are getting together at our place for the evening. Kind of like our Christmas a few weeks late.”

  Adrianne contemplated if she was up to spending the evening with her friends. Though she didn’t know for sure who all would be there, most of their group was married. The good thing, however, was that the women usually ended up in Janet’s living room while the men headed down to the rec room, so it wasn’t like it was a bunch of couples and her.

  “Do you think you can make it? Suz is going to be there too. You know that she and Greg split up, right?”

  “I hadn’t heard that it was official, but the last time
we were together, it seemed pretty likely.”

  “Yeah, that’s why we thought it might be nice to get together and support her a bit.”

  Adrianne hated that the thought of not being the only single woman there was comforting, especially since it was at the expense of a friend’s relationship. “Okay. What time do you want me there and what would you like me to bring?”

  After getting the details, Adrianne ended the call feeling a lot more optimistic about the day. Even after looking at the pictures of the houses and deciding that they weren’t for her, she still felt anticipation at the thought of seeing her friends..

  Since she had promised to bring a dessert, Adrianne got changed out of her pajamas and headed downstairs to the kitchen. No one was there, but the lingering scent of coffee and pancake syrup told her that others had been up before her. Since her stomach still felt off from overindulging the night before, Adrianne settled on a cup of coffee while she tried to decide what to make for dessert.

  By the time Adrianne was ready to leave shortly after five that afternoon, she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. Maybe she just needed to get away from family for a little while. Especially the family that had grown to include Connor. She hadn’t seen him at all that day, and that worked just fine for her. A long soak in the tub and taking a little extra time with her hair and makeup had left her feeling pampered and relaxed.

  She’d made a couple different desserts to take, and she packed them carefully before heading out to her car. Melanie had gone off with Tyler, while Alex and Rebecca had taken Jordan to the shooting range once again. Though there was a light on in the apartment above the garage, Connor’s car was gone so apparently he was also out.

  Everything was as it should be…each of them living their own lives. Maybe she could do this after all.

  When Adrianne pulled up in front of Janet and Jeff’s house a short time later, she could tell by the lack of space in their driveway that some of the guests had already arrived. She found a spot not too far away and parked. Once out of the car, she retrieved the box where she’d put the deserts , and with careful steps, she made her way along the street and then up the driveway to the walk that led to their front door.

  It didn’t take long after she’d pressed the doorbell for the door to swing wide open. Jeff, Janet’s husband, stood there with a wide smile of greeting for her. He was a big man with an equally big heart. Adrianne hadn’t really known him back when she’d first become friends with Janet. She and Janet had been in the same grade, but at the time Janet had been wrapped up in Jeff, who was a couple of grades ahead of them. But once Jeff had graduated, Adrianne and Janet had found themselves partnering in classes and generally spending more time together during their senior year. It was a friendship that had lasted beyond high school and had grown to encompass Jeff as well, especially after they’d gotten married.

  Jeff took the box from her then reached out to give her a quick one-armed hug. “Belated Merry Christmas, Adrianne. I hope you had a wonderful holiday time with your family.”

  “I did. And a Merry Christmas to you as well.” She’d barely shrugged out of her jacket before Janet came and took it from her.

  “You look beautiful, Adrianne,” Janet said as she pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed seeing you for the last little while. Come on in. I have someone I want you to meet.”

  Adrianne frowned, absolutely certain that Janet hadn’t mentioned anything about any strangers being there for their evening get together. And if Janet hadn’t mentioned it, that usually meant that the someone she wanted her to meet was of the male persuasion. She suppressed a sigh of exasperation and tried to tell herself that maybe, this time, Janet would introduce her to someone that might be the person she’d been waiting for all along.

  Before they got too far into the house, Suz happened upon them. When the woman swayed toward her to give her a hug, Adrianne caught a whiff of alcohol on her breath, and she gave Janet a look of concern. While their group was made up of people who chose to drink as well as those who didn’t, it was pretty well known that when the event was at Janet and Jeff’s, there would be no alcohol. Since Janet’s younger brother had been injured in a drunk driving accident in his teens, Janet had refused to have anything to do with alcohol.

  So the fact that a mutual friend had not only been drinking but had been drinking to the extent that it was already affecting her, left Adrianne just a little concerned. For their friend but also for Janet.

  “He sure is a cutie,” Suz said with a giggle. “If you don’t snatch him up, I think I just might.”

  Well, at least her guess hadn’t been wrong. Now the look Adrianne gave Janet involved an eye roll. “Seriously?”

  Janet shrugged. “What can I say? The situation was just kind of dropped into my lap. I wasn’t going to uninvite you.”

  Adrianne allowed herself to be steered toward the dining room, Suz tagging along behind them. She had to admit, she was a little curious about the man Janet was hoping she’d be interested in. It had been a while since her friend had last tried to play matchmaker for her. Hank had actually been her last attempt, and when that had ended up with the two of them just being friends, Janet had thrown up her hands in defeat…but only temporarily it seemed.

  “Is Hank here tonight?” Adrianne figured that if this new man wasn't to her liking, maybe Hank would help keep the guy at bay. She should feel bad about using Hank for such purposes, but he had used her in the same way a time or two.

  Janet came to a halt and grabbed her arm. “Are you and Hank a thing?” She frowned at Adrianne. “I was sure you told me that you weren’t. Has that changed recently?”

  Adrianne smiled. “We’re definitely not a thing. But he is a friend, so I was just wondering if he was here tonight.”

  “Oh. Yes, actually, he is.”

  And sure enough, as they rounded the corner to the dining room, Adrianne’s gaze fell on her friend. He gave her a wide grin but made no move in her direction.

  “Hey, Connor, I want you to meet my friend, Adrianne.”

  Connor?

  Seriously?

  Adrianne looked at the man standing next to Hank, suddenly understanding her friend’s Cheshire grin. Of all the houses in the Twin Cities, why had Connor ended up in the one she had, just moments ago, been so anxious to spend the evening in?

  “Connor, this is my friend Adrianne Thorpe. Adrianne, Connor Mackenzie is a friend of Jeff’s from high school.”

  “See, I told you he was cute.” Suz’s whisper was anything but quiet.

  Adrianne glanced over at her friend then back at Connor. Pasting on a smile that she hoped looked genuine, she said, “Actually, Janet, I already know Connor.”

  Janet swung back around to look at her, her mouth agape. “You know Connor?”

  “Yep. Before Christmas, we found out that Alex and Connor’s sister, Rebecca, had actually gotten secretly married just after high school.”

  “Wow. What a small world,” Janet said with a laugh. “Why didn’t you mention that to me when we chatted earlier?”

  Why hadn’t she mentioned it? Probably because she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. She’d been looking forward to an evening where she didn’t have to think about the changes in her life.

  “I’m surprised that Hank didn’t mention the connection to you, considering he met Connor when he came with me to Alex and Rebecca’s vow renewal ceremony.” Adrianne narrowed her gaze at the tall man who appeared to be having entirely too much fun with the whole scenario.

  Connor looked just as surprised with Adrianne’s presence as she was with his, so it was likely he hadn’t planned on spending the evening with her any more than she had with him.

  “What can I say?” Hank asked with a grin. “It seemed a nice coincidence that our social circles overlapped.”

  “Oh, does that mean…?” Janet’s words trailed off as her gaze moved between Adrianne and Connor. “I mean, I would assume if there was interest already…?”<
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  As Adrianne glanced at Connor, she could see how her friend might have thought she was doing her a big favor by introducing her to the man. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a fitted light blue button down shirt. There was no denying that Connor Mackenzie was a handsome man.

  Unfortunately, he was not going to be her handsome man.

  “So, he’s all mine?” Once again, Suz’s whisper was clearly audible to their small group.

  Adrianne wanted to object, to tell her inebriated friend that he was off-limits, but she had no right. “It’s not my call. Connor’s his own man.”

  Giggling in a way that could only have been blamed on the alcohol she’d clearly imbibed, Suz made her way in Connor’s direction. She’d only managed to take a couple of steps, however, before Janet intercepted her.

  “Sweetie, it’s not been over between you and Greg for that long. Plus, I really don’t think that you can make the best impression on a new man when you’re like this. Why don’t we get you a plate of food and see if we can soak up some of that alcohol in your stomach.”

  “I can’t eat too much. If I’m going to get a new man, I can’t be a fat cow.”

  The words hit Adrianne like bullets. They had been just two of the many that Connor had thrown her way.

  “Well, Suz,” Janet began, her words not quite as gentle as she pulled Suz toward the kitchen, “if you keep trying to chase down men who only are with you because of how you look, you’re going to end up with another Greg. Besides, even fat cows deserve love.”

  Adrianne had never told Janet about what had happened in high school. Her friend had been a cheerleader back then so would never have really understood the struggle it had been for someone like Adrianne. However, moving out of her teen years and into a more sedentary job and then adding two pregnancies—one of them being with twins—into the mix had left Janet with a never-ending weight struggle that Adrianne understood all too well. It was clear that she had taken personal offense at Suz’s words. As if showing up drunk hadn’t been bad enough, Suz had just guaranteed that she’d exhausted the last of Janet’s sympathy for her. At least for tonight.