Chelsea Lane (Haunted Hearts Series Book 5)

by Denise Moncrief

  Chelsea smiled as if she’d just won the lottery.

  Chapter Nine

  At the far end of the drive through the Mountain View Motor Home Park and Cabins, the last cabin on the right nestled into the side of a hill sheltered by tall trees with sweeping branches. A limb tapped the roof of Cabin #10 every time a gust of wind blew up the Ashley Creek valley. Cabin #8 and Cabin #10 shared a deck between them, so the set up was perfect. Behind the cabins, the creek gurgled and slipped over boulders in the streambed. Whereas the creek was wide and murky where it flowed into Lake Jefferson, this far south it was barely a mountain stream.

  Chelsea inhaled fresh mountain air and allowed every one of her tired muscles to relax. She could almost feel the tension seeping out of her sore muscles. The past few days had been possibly the worst of her life. There had been rare moments of rest in the last five years. Her body, mind, and soul craved some relief from the constant stress of watching every word she said and every move she made.

  She leaned her elbows on the wood railing painted to look like redwood. The whole place needed a new coat of paint. Green peeled from window shutters revealing a lighter shade of some awful color beneath. The heavenly scent of smoking meat wafted in the air. A few drops of rain proclaimed the urgency to finish grilling before the skies opened up again. Since the clouds had rolled in, only a few brave rays of light managed to pierce through the tops of the tall trees that sheltered the grounds.

  “It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?”

  Jordan’s quiet question startled her. Of all the people in the world, she least minded the state cop barging into her solitude.

  She smiled at him and then turned her attention to the dense woods surrounding the cabins. “I guess this is a lot different from where you grew up.”

  “Oh yeah. I came from a small town a lot like Fairview except that Wakefield is the only patch of dry ground in the swamp for forty miles around. Lots of cypress and Spanish moss.”

  Chelsea dared to tease him. “Paddled to school in a boat, huh?”

  He snorted. “No. We actually had roads and bridges by the time I was born. No going to school in a pirogue.”

  “A what? A pee-row?”

  “A boat.”

  “Ah. So—”

  “No, I did not have an alligator for a pet.”

  She edged closer to him and the move surprised her. “Well, you sound like you come from south Louisiana.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  His accent was kind of adorable.

  She stared into his intense blue eyes. Little flecks of mischief flickered in their depths. A ripple danced across his lower jaw below his smooth, recently shaved cheeks like he was suppressing amusement. The man was good-looking, no doubt about that. Jordan was only a half of a foot taller than Chelsea, and she thought she was about five foot four. At least that’s how tall she was her senior year of high school. If she had grown any taller since then, she wouldn’t know the difference.

  Jordan was probably one of those guys in high school that had no problem getting a date for the prom with his light brown hair, dazzling blue eyes, and blemish free complexion. When he smiled, she felt heat sizzle all the way down to her toes. He was probably one of those guys that only noticed a girl when he thought she was willing to hook up with him. She’d bet he was one of the popular people, the beautiful people that had a well of mean flowing up from the depths of their privileged souls. Sure, any minute he would show her who he really was instead of pretending to be her rescue hero.

  He kept his intense gaze on her. “I’m not speaking with an accent. You’re listening with one.”

  She smirked. “Oh really?”

  “Your southern belle accent is pretty thick, Chelsea.”

  The fun evaporated when he uttered her name.

  He must have sensed the change in her mood. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing… It’s just…weird. I don’t feel like Chelsea any more.”

  He tilted his head as if studying her for the first time. “Are you going back to Cherish then?”

  She pressed her lips together before speaking again and shook her head. “I don’t feel like Cherish either. I don’t really know who I am anymore.”

  He leaned his back on the rail next to her. “You know you have a unique opportunity.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Mesmerized. That’s what she was. She had locked onto his every word like a heat-seeking missile. Why wasn’t she as wary of this guy as she should be? She didn’t really know him. Not at all.

  “You can make yourself into anyone you want to be. Erase everything and start over.” He paused. “Not many people get that opportunity. Most of us are stuck with the identity we’ve created and the decisions we’ve made.”

  What he suggested was a tempting thought. A great idea. If she could make it work. But he was only partially right. She could change what others saw on the outside, but she could never change the past that defined who she was on the inside. She could never forget the horrid circumstances that had damaged her heart and probably her mind.

  “I might be able to change my name and live a new life, but I’ll never be able to erase what’s happened to me.”

  He placed a hand on her upper arm. “I’m not saying forget. Just don’t let it define the rest of your life.”

  She sighed and moved a little closer to him. “What happened the night James kidnapped me seems so long ago. I feel as if I’ve lived a hundred years.”

  Before she knew what was happening, he had slid his arm around her. She leaned into his side but refused to look up into his eyes. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then falling into his soul might be a dangerous place to sink or swim.

  “You wanna tell me what happened that night?”

  A lump lodged in her throat. She pushed words past it, but not the answer to his question. “Where you one of the popular kids in high school?” She glanced up at him, hoping his reaction would tell her what she really wanted to know.

  His eyebrows pulled together across the bridge of his nose. “No.” He laughed and the sound of his laughter seemed self-deprecating. “No, I wasn’t popular. The kid that didn’t know who his father was? That didn’t go over too well in a small southern town. Every woman in the parish suspected her husband of being my father. Didn’t make for too many happy marriages, and they didn’t what their little precious playing with the town bastard.”

  “But your mother…”

  “Didn’t date. By the time I was grown enough for her to feel comfortable leaving me with a sitter, she’d had enough of men. No, she worked two jobs to make a living. There was no time for men in her life. The husbands who lived around Wakefield were safe from my mother. Didn’t keep the women from gossiping though.”

  “I hate gossip.”

  He tightened his arm around her. “So do I.”

  She finally braved looking straight into his eyes. A strange new emotion clutched at her insides. Her inner core heated. Her whole body seemed to explode with anticipation of what might happen in the next second.

  Reason prevailed.

  She twisted and turned with her back to the rail, effectively putting some distance between them. Glancing at him to determine what he thought of her maneuver, she caught just a glimpse of hurt feelings in his eyes. But that was why she had moved. No one would get hurt if she kept him at a distance. Not him. And not her. Maybe if she told Jordan what had happened to her five years ago he’d not want to get so close to her anymore, and that would be a good thing.

  “Zach Halsey was the most popular guy on campus, and he wanted me to go out with him on Halloween. I was so flattered that I ignored the truth. I knew he didn’t really like me that way. He didn’t want to be my boyfriend.” She closed her eyes to better remember the scene. What had he told her that night? Oh yeah. The Love Shack out on Ashley Ridge was good enough for her first time…because she was old man Duncan’s granddaughter.

  Memories she’d tried to supp
ress for years loomed large in her mind. She faced the past, the beginning of her horrible existence, maybe for the first time since it happened.

  Zach released her arm and spun her around to face him in one swift motion, planting his hands on top of her shoulders, his fingers digging in and hurting her through the thick fabric of her jacket and the t-shirt underneath. Her hopes of getting away vanished. Zach was too fast and too strong for her. Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away.

  Over his shoulder an amorphous dark mass formed in the center of the room, thicker than the darkness surrounding it. She gasped as it began to take shape and coalesce into something a bit more solid.

  “What’s wrong?” He turned to glance behind him and suddenly released her. “What the he—”

  The mass shimmered, and then the fuzzy, not-quite-in-focus figure of a man emerged and moved toward them. The apparition’s eyes glowed and seemed to stare right into Cherish’s soul.

  Run, little girl.

  The message zoomed through her mind, although she couldn’t audibly hear the words. Before Cherish could respond or even process what was happening, the apparition had enveloped Zach. Terror seized her insides as if her chest was compressing and then expanding, ready to explode. She screamed and backed up a step. Zach’s face seemed to melt and shift, sliding into features that looked nothing like him. Hysteria created a massive clog in her throat, choking off her screams.

  Her mind raced. She’d seen that face before, but where?

  Zach’s body arched and rose from the ground until he brushed the ceiling. When the apparition separated from Zach, he fell to the floor with a hard thud and the unmistakable crack of breaking bones met her ears.

  Once again, she heard the apparition in her head if not in her ears. You’d better run now.

  She turned and bolted out the door toward the Ashley Ridge trail only a few yards away. Once her feet hit the path, she headed not toward Zach’s car, but toward the nearest house. It would do her no good to try to use his car. He still held the keys. Her best bet was to run for Laurel Heights and see if Celeste Standridge would help her out.

  It seemed ages before she finally banged on the back door. Breathless from her frantic run along the ridge trail, she bent over to catch her breath. When she heard footsteps on the other side of the door, she relaxed a little, relieved that she had been able to get away and get help. She’d beg the old lady to let her use the phone. After a long moment, the door creaked open and she straightened just as a man grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her into the house.

  Keeping her eyes on the ground, she finally spoke again. “Zach would have forced me to…” She gulped back the words. Couldn’t say them out loud even though they were screaming in her head. “I saw this thick black…thing behind him. It just kind of grew out of nothing and it scared the hell out of me. If that hadn’t happened, Zach surely would have…”

  Jordan pulled her next to him, wrapping his strong arms around her. Without her permission, her head dropped onto his shoulder. His heart seemed to pound as hard as hers beneath the fabric of his shirt.

  “That must have been awful.”

  She tightened the lids over her closed eyes. “Running away from Zach didn’t save me.”

  His muscles tensed as he held her. “What do you mean?”

  “I ran toward Laurel Heights. When I knocked on the back door, James answered and dragged me into the house.” She shuddered. “I don’t remember the first few weeks. I just know…I was never the same.”

  “Did he…did James…”

  She knew what he meant. It was hard telling the truth. So hard.

  A sob broke loose. “Whenever he wanted.”

  “I’m so, so sorry.” His soft whisper massaged her battered heart.

  Why wasn’t he pushing her away with disgust on his face? That’s the way men looked at her when they found out what James had done to her. Like what he’d done was her fault or something. Like she deserved it or something. Like she was something to be used and discarded like trash.

  “When things settle down, we’re going to find you someone who can help you get over this.”

  Was Jordan for real? What he had just said made it sound like he was going to be around for a while.

  “You really think you can help me?” Her question sounded sarcastic and a bit incredulous.

  “You need professional help. All I can do is…I can…”

  “You can what?”

  He shook his head. His breathing rumbled in and out of his chest. “I don’t know. All I can do is be the good guy. The one that doesn’t use you or abuse you. The one that treats you with respect.”

  “Good luck with that.” Sometimes she felt as if there was no respect left in the world.

  He stepped back from her and tilted her chin up so she had to face him. “Why can’t I be that guy for you?”

  “Because you are using me.”

  He sputtered his protest. “How am I using you?”

  Anger rose in her so fast and furious she flushed with sudden heat. “The only reason I’m not homeless on the street right now is because you need my help putting Haskins in jail.”

  “It was your idea for me to be here.”

  “Does that mean you don’t want to be here?”

  Confusion covered his face. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  “You asked me to stay with you. Don’t you remember demanding it? I’m here like you asked. What more do you want from me?”

  “I just want the truth.”

  He rubbed the back of his head in apparent exasperation. “You want the truth? I don’t think you’re ready for the truth.”

  “Hit me. I can take it.” She’d been hit a lot.

  “My sister used to tease me. She’d point to some girl across the room and ask me, ‘Is she the one?’ I’d meet a new girl, and Kristie would whisper that in my ear while I was trying to talk, while I was trying so hard to be cool. I wasn’t exactly smooth, you know. You have no idea how many times that ruined a first impression.”

  She couldn’t believe the good-looking guy standing in front of her wasn’t the cool guy in school. The smooth one. The one all the girls wanted to go out with. The Zach Halsey of his hometown. But then Jordan’s past wasn’t so dissimilar from hers, the male version of being the outcast.

  “We’d have these discussions about when I was finally going to date someone seriously. She thought I was being too picky. I told her I didn’t want a ton of one offs. I wanted the right one before I got that close to someone. So when I got that ghost call and the caller sounded a lot like my sister and told me, ‘She’s the one,’ I was going to pay attention.” He smoothed the hair he had ruffled on the back of his head. “I just want to hang around you long enough to find out if my sister’s ghost is right.”

  He seemed exhausted by the time he’d finished his semi-rant.

  “You’re wrong.”

  He jerked as if she’d slapped him. “I’m wrong? About what.”

  “The truth wasn’t so hard for me to handle. If you want to find out if your sister’s ghost was right, then I’m willing to hang around with you long enough to find out for sure.”

  “That might take awhile.”

  She shrugged. “I have time.”

  When had they closed the gap between them? He was standing so close, chest-to-chest, face-to-face, that she could feel the vibrations of his heart beating.

  “Are you going to freak out if I kiss you?”

  His question startled her. “Do I have a choice whether you kiss me or not?”

  He slid his hand behind her hair, curling his fingers around the back of her neck. “When you’re with me, you always, always have a choice. I’m never, ever gonna make you do something you don’t want to do.”

  She surprised herself by moving in first. Their lips met and an electric shock coursed through her. Never before had the feel, the taste, the power of someone lips on hers
sent a wave of longing through her. Being with James had always disgusted her. His kisses were rough and demanding. When Jordan returned her kisses, kiss for kiss, his mouth molded with hers, giving as much as he took, sharing the moment instead of dominating it. This was different. This was sweet. This was something she could get used to…eventually.

  Chelsea pushed back from him, struggling to catch her breath.

  His eyes popped open, and his hands slid down her shoulders until they cupped her elbows, keeping them at arm’s length. He studied her as if waiting for her reaction.

  Finally, he broke the intense silence. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  No, she wasn’t. She’d been through too much to ever be okay. Being with another man scared her. Touching him, kissing him, letting him kiss her back took all her inner strength. But something about him pulled her to him. Compelled her to do what scared the hell out of her.

  Courtney rushed around the corner of the cabin. “There you are. I’ve been…”

  Chelsea turned her head away from Courtney’s curious gaze. Heat crept up Chelsea’s neck.

  “Um…should I come back later?”

  Jordan stepped back from Chelsea. “Are the burgers ready?”

  “Yeah. Shaw told me to find you.” Her stilted reply informed Chelsea that Courtney had a pretty good idea of what she’d just interrupted.

  Shaw Bennett appeared behind Courtney with a spatula in his hand. “Courtney, did you… Is something wrong?”

  Jordan stepped a couple of paces away from Chelsea as the first fat drops of rain splatted on the wood deck. “No, everything’s fine. Maybe we’d better take this inside.” When he glanced back at Chelsea, he held out his hand.

  She smiled and took it, following him inside the cabin. Her insides trembled so much she could hardly eat her burger.