April sat back down at the table. “He’s as handsome as you said he was.”
“Isn’t he?” Arianna took her seat, picked up her glass of wine and finished it off.
“The age difference between you doesn’t bother you?”
“Not in the least. Why should it?”
April shrugged. “Because in thirteen years you’ll be his age and he’ll be almost seventy.”
Arianna had to admit that forty and fifty-three hadn’t even caused a bit of concern, but when April put it that way, it did seem extreme.
“I love him. I don’t see that changing when he’s ninety and I’m seventy-seven.” Although, when she said it aloud, fear crept through her veins. He was a bit older than her. She’d better be very sure that she wanted a lifetime commitment and not a marriage license. Likewise, and more importantly, she’d better make sure she really didn’t want the children that she’d said she didn’t want. Quality time with them would be slipping away. John was already the age most men became grandfathers, and here he was without children. But, on the other hand, since he didn’t waste his energy on carpooling and running after kids, his energy was high and, on a younger woman, that hadn’t gone unnoticed. Nothing had been lost with his age.
Arianna looked into the bottom of her empty glass. “Would you like more wine?”
“I’ve never been one to turn down more wine. Especially if a nice looking man is going to drive us to dinner.”
John stepped into the shower. He hoped the hot water would wash away his tension. He was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear April ask Arianna what she thought about their age difference.
Arianna’s answer hadn’t bothered him. In fact, he thought she handled it very well. But it was the few seconds of hesitation that had gotten to him.
What was he doing? She deserved someone her own age. He had nothing to offer a relationship at this point.
For most of his life his job had been the most important thing to him. He’d always been the man Zach and Tyler Benson could count on. They’d sent him all over the world to oversee projects.
Perhaps a relationship would hold him back, too.
With a woman at home, he couldn’t travel as he had. Those jobs could take a few months at a time.
Wouldn’t she want someone who could offer her more? He was too simple. The only thing he knew about theater was how to build one.
He hadn’t finished college, and he’d only squeaked out of high school.
He lathered shampoo in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair.
Was this why his wife had left him? His job was more important than she was?
In the past month he’d already put in more work with Arianna than he had in nearly twenty years of marriage.
John rinsed the soap from his hair. It had been his fault. He’d driven his wife into the arms of another man—a man who would be there for her and not leave for months at a time. This other man gave her the children John had never wanted.
The knock at the door had him dropping the soap from his hand.
“You doing alright? You’ve been in there forever,” Arianna’s sweet voice carried through the steam filled room.
“I guess I hadn’t noticed. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“I thought we could go for bar-b-que and then maybe take April by the theater to look at it.”
Just hearing her speak to him put him at ease. He hadn’t treated his wife the way he treated Arianna because, he realized at that moment, he’d never loved her as he loved Arianna.
“You bet. I’ll be down in a few.”
April had a lot of energy, and John could see she even wore Arianna out.
She’d had one story after another during dinner. If he wasn’t driving, he’d have had four more beers.
That wasn’t to say she wasn’t a nice woman. She just talked a lot.
He was pleased, though, that she’d had the same enthusiasm when she’d tasted the food at Steve’s. It was the best, and most people agreed on that.
After dinner he drove to the theater.
“So, Arianna, what are your plans for opening night?”
“We’re going to have a soft opening, and my niece and I are putting something together. This will be held for my friends, family, and the community. But our first production will be Annie, in honor of the first musical I ever saw and it was at the theater.”
“That’ll be wonderful. You don’t suppose Eric will come, do you?”
Arianna didn’t answer right away, and John watched as her jaw tightened and she clasped her fingers in her lap.
“I can’t imagine why he would.”
John was grateful they arrived in front of the theater when they did. The tension in the car had become nearly toxic. Aside from that, he knew he’d get no sleep tonight. There was a lot to hash out with this woman he loved.
He put the car in park and unbuckled his seat belt. April was already out of the car and staring up at the building, which wouldn’t get a new coat of paint for a week.
John touched Arianna’s arm. “You okay?”
“Doing great.” She smiled through gritted teeth.
He didn’t take her demeanor personally. He assumed with the story of Eric would come some reason April made her so tense.
John stepped out of the car and Arianna followed. He walked up the steps to unlock the door.
“Arianna, this place is creepy.”
“Not once you’re inside. Besides it’s under construction. In a few months, it will be amazing.”
April made a noise of acceptance and followed after John as he stepped inside to turn on the lights.
A moment later, the few lights illuminated the lobby. John looked at Arianna. The glimmer was back in her eyes. No matter what this girl knew about the woman he loved, she couldn’t diminish the love she had for what she was building—what they were building.
“So…what’s this supposed to look like?” April questioned the run down lobby.
“This is our lobby. Over there is concessions. And over there,” she turned and pointed to the other side of the room, “is my office.”
April nodded. “Can we go into the theater?”
“Of course.”
Arianna led her through the large doors in the center of the room, and John followed.
The few lights that still came on with the switch, along with the work lights he’d turned on, gave the theater an eerie glow.
April only took a few steps through the door.
“When do you get your seats?”
John stepped up next to her. “We put those in last.”
“Oh.”
Arianna was hurrying toward the stage. “They just finished the stage. Isn’t it beautiful?”
John heard her gasp, and she turned toward him.
“The curtains are back.”
“And better than ever.” He walked through the theater to stand next to her. “Whoever Regan found to clean and repair them did a great job. I don’t know much about curtains, but I know they look great.”
Arianna covered her mouth and John could see tears surface in her eyes, but they weren’t sad tears.
“Thank you.”
He touched her face and looked into her eyes. “I love you. Everything here is going to be perfect.”
“I do believe it is.”
April had made her way to the stage and was walking up the side steps. “There’s a lot of room here. I think you’ll be able to do some big productions.”
John thought it might have been the most positive statement the woman had made all night long.
April walked out to the center of the stage. “I’m sorry, honey, but this place creeps me out. I feel like I’m being watched.”
Arianna laughed and followed her up to the stage. “Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen in old buildings?”
“I’m serious. It sounds like someone is…” but April didn’t finish her sentence.
Suddenly, from the catwalk, a sand
bag attached to a rope swung through the air.
Arianna pushed April out of the way and nearly landed right on top of her as the bag dangled right where they’d been standing.
John heard footsteps, and he hurried up the stairs as the backdoor to the theater opened and slammed shut.
He hurried to the door, but when he opened it and looked outside, the person was gone.
John rushed back to the women who sat on the stage in each other’s arms, panting.
“Someone was here,” he said.
April lifted her arm and looked at her elbow. “I told you I thought someone was watching me.”
Arianna shifted her glance to John. The gratitude which had filled her eyes before had been replaced with fear.
Chapter Sixteen
There had been near silence all the way to April’s hotel and home. John was furious. Someone was messing around, and it was bound to kill someone. He’d be damned if it were Arianna or Regan, or anyone he knew.
She was keeping secrets from him, and he didn’t like it. His ex-wife had kept her share of secrets, and he hadn’t taken too lightly to them either.
Though John loved Arianna, he wouldn’t be betrayed.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Who was he kidding? Doubt had been placed in his head by Curtis and April. Names and situations had been dropped, and now he was second guessing the woman he loved. Was this the plan of the bastard who was chasing her?
John pulled her car into the driveway and put it in park.
“So who is Eric?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but there was no calm in his entire body.
Arianna sat in the passenger seat with her hands in her lap, gripping her purse. “He was a director in New York that I lived with for a while.”
“How long ago?”
“We broke up about six months ago.”
John nodded. “Not that long ago.”
“Long enough.”
She reached for the door handle, and he reached for her. “Did you love him?”
“What?”
“I’m not playing games with you. Did you love him?”
Arianna let go of the door and turned to him. “Yes. Yes I thought I loved him. Guess what? I was wrong.”
This time she managed to push open the door, but John quickly climbed out of the car and hurried around to the other side. He reached for her and spun her toward him.
“Just like that? You live with a man and then you decide he’s no good for you?”
“Were you there? No. So don’t stand here and talk to me like that.”
“Arianna, it seems like you’re just changing cities and men.”
He kept an eye on her hand which tightened around the strap of her purse. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that again. Do you hear me?”
“Then tell me about him. Why would April assume he’d come here to see you? Why is someone following you? Why is someone trying to hurt you? Give me some damn answers.”
“I’m telling you who it is. He wants to hurt Regan and Curtis for lying to him.”
“Hamilton?”
“Yes.”
“Curtis said he’s in Paris.”
“I don’t care what he says. The man is trying to hurt my family, and I have no doubt that he was behind what happened tonight.”
“Why would Curtis doubt his fiancée?”
“It wasn’t his wife that gave us that information.”
John ran his hands over his head. “You think he set it up somehow for her to tell us that?”
“I don’t know.” She pushed past him and up the front steps.
Her fingers were red, and he could see she was having a hard time with the key. He took it from her and unlocked the door.
Without a word she moved past him, through the living room and into the kitchen.
When he walked through the doorway, something flew at him. He moved out of the way only to find it was a kitchen towel, but she was right. When she was mad she threw things, and she was just about to start to yell. The vein in her forehead was bulging.
This was going to be a long night.
Arianna tried to breathe through the anger, but it was bigger than she was.
“Eric was a married S.O.B. who didn’t bother to tell me he had a wife and kids upstate. So the bastard lived with me. Slept with me. He told me he loved me and that I was everything he’d ever wanted.”
She paced the kitchen. “He didn’t love me.”
Tears were burning her eyes, and she hated that it all mattered. She hated him—so why cry? Because she’d thought it was real.
“I can guarantee this isn’t Eric who is stalking me. He’s stupid, but he’s not vicious.”
“He could be.”
“But he’s not.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I had a call from Hamilton a while ago, and he specifically told me that Regan and Curtis would pay for what they did to him. Simone told me his wife left him, and he’s lost his fortune.”
She looked up at John, who was coming right at her. For the first time since she’d met the man, she was actually afraid of him.
Arianna backed against the counter and braced herself when he grabbed her arms. “You can’t just keep this stuff to yourself. Lives are at stake. Your life!”
She had gone speechless. He was right. She couldn’t be silent about it. Tonight was a fine example of how close this crazy person was—no matter who they were.
John let go of her and took a step back.
“I’m sorry.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I will not lose you to my anger or to this mad man. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you, and this is driving me crazy.”
John had said so much in that one sentence that she couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. She’d never loved anyone as much as she loved John. And damn it, she didn’t want to die at the hands of some crazed man, whoever he was.
“What do we do?” Her voice was soft—weak.
“You’re going to have to be with me or Regan at all times.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want you to be alone, and I don’t want you at the theater unless I tell you to be there. Got it?”
She only nodded. It was understood that this was not the time to be a headstrong woman and argue with the man.
“If you’re going to meet with Clara, you’re going to do it at the theater when I’m there.”
She nodded again.
“And damn it, if that phone rings or buzzes or dings again, I want to know about it. You’re not helping anyone by hiding it.”
Her body shook with anger and fear. She wanted this over. She wanted her freedom back. Most of all, she wanted to know her family was safe.
Arianna was certainly surprised to find John still home when she woke the next morning. He was antsy, too.
He sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hand, and his foot tapping a quick rhythm on the floor.
“What are you doing here?”
He looked up at her. “You’re coming to work with me.”
“Do you really mean I have to be with you every minute?”
“I’m sure I didn’t stutter. Now go get dressed. I’m late.”
Arianna did what had been expected of her.
The ride into work was quiet, but he had allowed her a stop at Starbucks.
John parked behind the theater. Together they walked up the back ramp to the back stage door, but Zach met them before they went inside.
“Your visitor was back,” he said, his eyes narrowed on Arianna.
“Our visit…the person who was here last night?”
“Maybe you should just go over to my house and be with Regan. Curtis and Simone are there now.”
Arianna fisted her hands on her hips. “I’m not running from this. He wants us to cower.”
John stepped up closer. “What did he do?”
Zach let out a deep breath and stepped aside, letting them both in.
Arianna’s heart jumped into
her throat. Across the brand new stage, in red paint, had been written DIE!
John knew it could be fixed. It all could be fixed, but was it worth it? Maybe it was still worth selling the lot and letting them doze it to the ground.
“Do you want me to take you to Regan’s?”
“No. This is our place. I’m not going to let him push us out of it.” Arianna turned to John. “You put me to work. I’m here to help in any way I can.” She pushed her shoulders back. “There is a grand opening coming up in July, and the musical Annie is going to be performed on this stage. So we need to get to work.”
For the first time in days, John smiled. “I do believe you mean all that.”
“Damn straight I do. Trust me,” she opened her purse and let him look inside, “if the bastard shows his face, I’m ready.”
John shook his head when he saw the gun. “Do you know how to shoot that thing?”
“I was raised in Tennessee. Doesn’t every girl in Tennessee know how?”
He had no doubt.
John had been content with Arianna on site, and she’d actually been an asset. The writing on the stage had been sanded off, by her. She now had a new skill—sander.
She’d eaten burritos from a cooler when the Mexican woman brought them by and sold them for one dollar each. Though she was leery, he’d encouraged her by telling her it was a worksite treat.
He’d seen her in the corner of the theater a few times, on her cell phone with her notebook in hand, jotting down notes.
She needed a place to work.
John had made many trips through the entire theater throughout the day. The lobby was coming along, and the dressing rooms and back stage weren’t so run down anymore.
There was an entire crew working to scrape up the floor in the theater so they could patch it up and get it ready for seats.
But the one room that hadn’t been attended to was Arianna’s office.
There was a special man he was going to put on that job. He looked at his watch and then looked up at the door.
Right on time.
Eduardo walked through the front door of the theater and gave John a wave.
Center Stage (The Keller Family Series) Page 11