REMEMBER ME (Secrets of Spirit Creek Book 1)

by Linda Style

  “You don’t have to see him. It’s Lincoln Crusoe,” the woman said.

  “Linc?” For a moment, she stopped breathing. “What—”

  “He said he’d like to talk to you, and to tell you it’s important.”

  “Oh,” she said, no thoughts coming.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Of course,” Tori answered. “Yes, it’s okay.”

  The woman left and Linc entered. Tori simply looked at him. She had no idea what was so important that he’d come all this way. It had to be something related to his old case. Something he’d discovered.

  “I’m sorry,” Linc said. “I acted like such an idiot.” He shoved a hand through his hair. Glanced around. “I know this isn’t the best time or place for an apology, but I’d like to ask your forgiveness for being such a…a jerk.”

  Tori felt a strange need to laugh, an action totally out of place given the situation. But it seemed so incongruous that he’d be apologizing to her…. Tears welled. God. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or both.

  She pulled up a shred of dignity and said, “The last thing you need to do is apologize, Linc. I’m the one who should be apologizing, but there are no apologies I can give that will make it up to you. I’ll regret what I did every day for the rest of my life. All I can do, all I wanted to do, is help you any way I can. Soon, I’ll have some money from my trust fund and can help you financially if you’ll let me.”

  He gave her an incredulous look. Just as he was about to say something, Shirley came back in. “It’s time to go.”

  “I’d like to go with you,” Linc said. “I need to go with you.”

  Ambivalence gripped Tori. She had to do this so a rapist wouldn’t go free. She had to do it and get some kind of closure. But to have Linc there…have him see her when she had no idea how she’d hold up… But maybe this was Linc’s closure, too.

  Shirley looked to Tori.

  “Okay,” Tori said.

  They left the room and walked down the sterile gray hall to another room with no furniture except a chair in the corner. On one wall was the one-way mirror Tori remembered so well. A detective came in and said he’d tell her when it was time.

  Linc stood a couple of feet behind her. Staring at the mirror, she felt her body start to tremble. Just as the detective said “Okay,” the mirror became transparent and a half dozen men filed in and stood in a line, each one in front of a number. Then she felt the heat of Linc’s body, his arm around her shoulders, steadying her.

  Her vision blurred, and all the men suddenly looked the same. All had brown hair, some darker than others, except one whose hair was graying. She felt Linc jerk, and looked up. His jaw tensed, his grip tightened.

  She closed her eyes, ready to do as she planned. Look at each man individually. She opened her eyes. The first one had a thin pointed nose and eyes that were too far apart. Not him. The next, the guy with the gray hair, looked oddly familiar, but the face was too thin, the ears too big. The next one, not even close. As her gaze slid to the fourth man, she froze. Him. Then she said it out loud. “Him. Number four.” She spoke with no inflection. The man had dark hair, blue eyes, and bore a close enough resemblance to Linc that she could see how she’d picked Linc. They looked enough alike, they could’ve been brothers. Except for the arrogance. The smirk. She recognized the smirk.

  “Are you sure?” the detective asked. “Can you repeat that, please?”

  “Yes. Number four.”

  As Linc whisked her out of there, she felt nothing. She’d expected to be terrified, but once she’d seen him, she’d been sure. That’s when she realized the difference between now and the time before. Before, she hadn’t been sure. She’d been scared to death. She’d picked the man who most closely resembled the picture she’d drawn. The drawing looked exactly like number four—and he had an uncanny resemblance to Linc. Anyone might have made the same mistake. They stopped outside and the advocate asked Tori if she needed to talk.

  “No, I’m fine,” Tori said. And this time she really meant it. “Will someone call and let me know when the tests come back?”

  “Absolutely,” the detective said, and thanked her for coming in, telling her he knew how hard it had to be.

  Just as the detective was about to walk away, Linc stopped him and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute. In private.”

  “Sure. Let’s go back inside.”

  When they left, Tori went outside. She didn’t know what Linc wanted to talk to the detective about, but she was glad she’d come. This time she felt she really would find closure. She texted Gordon not to bother coming, everything went well and that she was going home.

  Minutes later, Linc came out. “Do you need a ride home?”

  “No. I drove.”

  He gave a wan smile and pointed to the Mustang. “A friend loaned me her car.”

  Tori had to smile. “I know being here has to be hard for you…coming back here…”

  “Harder for you. I can’t even put myself in your place to know how you must’ve felt when you heard.”

  “Well, maybe we can both get on with our lives now.” She started to walk away, then stopped and turned. He was still standing there. “Thanks for holding me up. I really needed that.”

  He touched his forehead with two fingers in a half salute. His good-bye. “Anytime.”

  ~~~

  That night, Tori watched the sunset from her patio, glass of wine in hand, reveling in the sense of victory she felt. Not because she’d identified the man and felt sure that he was the one, but because for the first time in her entire adult life, she felt in charge.

  She hadn’t abandoned all of her security measures because that would be stupid, but the realization that she didn’t need the overkill somehow freed her. She didn’t expect that she’d never jump at a noise again or feel frightened about something, but she knew that most of the time she would be as scared or as secure as she allowed herself to be. She did need more work there, and her therapist had been more than happy to hear from her again.

  She remembered the first night in years that she’d slept without a moment’s fear—the night she’d been with Linc at Disneyland. And she hadn’t put a security lock on the door or anything, even though she’d packed one in her bag. But the most important thing she’d learned was that she could love someone without all her baggage getting in the way. At least for a little while. She had Linc to thank for that.

  And she could see now that her marriage to Dylan had only fed into her insecurities. They probably never should have married. They had too many obstacles between them at an age when they couldn’t handle much of anything. She couldn’t be sure that wouldn’t happen again, but at least she had hope.

  If she and Linc had met under any other circ— No, she wasn’t going to do that. It was way too late for that. She closed her eyes, unable to stop the tears sliding down her cheeks, unable to make the crushing loss go away. It wouldn’t go away, she realized. Ever. Because she loved him, and she couldn’t stop loving him just because he didn’t love her.

  The sun had long gone down before she became aware of it, and she must’ve been sitting there in the dark for an hour or more. She could see stars and the moon…and the lights of a car pulling up to the gate. The motion detector gate lights went on. Natalia’s car.

  Good. She needed something to get her mind in another place. She went to the door, buzzed the gate open and then stood outside waiting for her friend to drive up.

  The dogs hovered around her legs, and when the car door opened they bounded down to greet Natalia. Bruno and Cleo had never been as fond of Natalia as Serena, but for some reason…

  Then she saw Linc rise up on the other side of the Mustang.

  What the heck?

  Before he reached her, he said, “We need to talk.”

  His demeanor, his voice sounded so serious, she didn’t bother to smile. “Okay. C’mon in.”

  He didn’t move. “I have to tell you a couple of things. F
irst, the reason it was hard for me today wasn’t because being there reminded me of my experiences. It was hard because I couldn’t stand the thought of you having to go through that again. If I could, I would’ve strangled the guy with my bare hands for what he did to you. And second, it was hard because I also recognized the guy you pointed out.”

  Tori’s mouth dropped open.

  “It was Wilinski, the guy I mentioned before. The one who told me Zack Crane had screwed me over. I don’t know yet how it all went down, but last week I went back and talked to Zack, who said Wilinski blackmailed him to testify that he wasn’t with me that night. And it looks like Wilinski was trying to set me up again to make sure I didn’t get too close to the truth. Crane apparently didn’t know Wilinski was the perpetrator. I don’t know the details or what the outcome will be, but both of them knew I was innocent.” He took a breath.

  “Your attorney came and was talking with the police, too, so I guess he’ll be calling you with the rest of the information when he gets it.”

  Tori’s head swam, her legs went weak, like wet noodles. She grabbed the door handle.

  “Wait.” Linc’s eyes lit up and, raising a hand, he said, “There’s one more thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Wait a minute.” He went back to the car, amazingly fast for a guy with a cane, and returned with a large square package covered in brown paper. “Here, this is yours.”

  When she didn’t take it, he tore off the paper, opened the box and pulled out a painting. The Field of Dreams. Her bottom lip quivered.

  A mile-wide smile appeared. “It’s yours.”

  “But…I don’t understand.”

  “I know how much it meant to you and I couldn’t let you sell it for me.” He wet his lips. “I love you,” he said. “I love you and I want you to be happy.”

  Her throat closed. She blinked back tears. Again. Dammit. She seemed to be doing that all the time now. She’d been numb for so long, all the emotions she’d held inside couldn’t be contained and spilled out like a burst damn.

  He set the box and painting on the top step where she stood.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t seem to know how to do any of this.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, then took them out and rubbed his chin. “It’s just that everything I think and do is colored with thoughts of you. I want to be with you all the time, and when I’m not with you I’m thinking about you, dreaming about you, and even when I’m with you, I want to be even closer.”

  “I love you, too,” she said softly.

  Using his cane, he paced a few steps away, then came back again. “If I just knew how to make everything disappear and start all over again, I would, and—” He stopped, shoved his fingers through his hair, as if searching for the right thing to say. “I want this,” he said, pointing at the painting with the little girl in the field. “Only I want it to be two people―you and me―and I want…” He looked at her. “What did you say?”

  “I said I love you, too.”

  He practically leaped to the top step where she stood. “Really?”

  “Really,” she said, hope and uncertainty tangling inside her. The thought that maybe…“But that doesn’t mean— I…there’s just so much…stuff in the past that needs to be worked out. And it takes time.”

  As he looked at her, she saw reflections of light…like stars in his eyes. “I’ve got all the time in the world,” he said. “And I want to spend it with you. Everyone has things that need fixing, and we have more “things” than others, there’s no getting around that. But if everyone waited until their life was perfect, no one would ever be together. I want to love you and be with you. That’s all. And I hope you want that, too.” He held her at arm’s length, keeping his eyes riveted to hers. “Tell me you don’t want that, too.”

  She couldn’t. She wanted it more than anything.

  He leaned down, reached into the box and pulled out another canvas.

  “Ack! Where’d you get that?” It was the painting they’d seen at her friend’s antique store.

  “It’s blackmail. I’m going to hang it on my front door until you decide.”

  She laughed from somewhere deep inside. “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”

  ***

  A NOTE FROM LINDA

  Thank you for being a reader and sharing your love of reading by purchasing my stories. I hope you enjoyed REMEMBER ME and that you’ll consider leaving a review or rating on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you like to hangout and share information about books.

  If you’d like to receive a FREE BOOK and keep updated on future releases, freebies, prizes and contests, I invite you to sign up for my newsletter. Just go to my website at http://www.LindaStyle.com

  ***

  I invite you to turn the page and read the beginning of TRUST ME, book two, in the Spirit Creek series.

  Secrets of Spirit Creek Series

  TRUST ME

  Book Two

  PROLOGUE

  May 2003

  “TRUST ME. I’LL BE back in an hour. I promise.” Cole flashed Serena a 100-watt smile, jumped in his El Camino and burned rubber.

  She waved and called out, “I love you,” then kept waving until the taillights faded into tiny red dots that disappeared into the darkness.

  She’d been waiting forever to tell Cole, but every time she started to, she’d lost her nerve. Which was silly, because they’d already made plans to get married and have a family. The family would just happen a little sooner. That’s all.

  Fingers trembling, she touched the two intertwined silver hearts on the chain Cole had given her as a graduation present. He’d said it meant they’d be together forever. Two hearts beating as one. She spun in a circle. For once in her life, things might turn out as she had hoped.

  As she stood at the end of the trailer-park driveway, every nerve in her body thrummed. A bright crescent moon had settled over the canyon walls that soared above the trees lining Oak Creek, and listening to the steady song of cicadas in the balmy night air, Serena felt alive with possibility.

  This night, their high school graduation night, would be etched in her heart as the most wonderful, most romantic night ever. And when Cole returned, she’d tell him about the baby.

  As Serena walked back to the trailer to get things ready for the celebration she’d planned, a car screeched into the driveway, headlights reflecting off the jagged sheet-metal patches on the tumbledown trailer her parents had parked in the nearly deserted area by the creek. The bronze Mercedes pulled up next to Serena, stirring up a cloud of Oak Creek Canyon dust.

  Tori. Serena’s best friend was always late.

  “I’m really, really sorry,” Tori said as she got out. “My car has some stupid thing wrong with it and I had to wait until my parents came home to use theirs.”

  Hugging her, Serena said, “It’s okay. You didn’t miss much.” She shrugged. “You read the draft I wrote. No biggie.”

  “Stop that!” Tori frowned, then tsked. “You always act like nothing is a big deal. How many kids in your class gave a valedictorian speech?” Tori didn’t wait for an answer. “It is a biggie, and I’m bummed I missed it.”

  One little speech paled in comparison to what she would tell Cole later on. She was so happy about it, she could rocket to the moon on her own power. She couldn’t stop smiling, either.

  “Where’s Cole?” Tori asked.

  “He went to the…a party in Sedona one of his friends was having.” As she said the words, she could see the disapproval in Tori’s eyes. “Just for a while. He promised to be back in an hour.”

  “An hour.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

  “Yes. And guess what? I’m going to tell him tonight.”

  “Really?” Tori shot Serena a doubtful look as she gestured to the two metal lawn chairs near the trailer door. “Really?”

  “Yes, really!” Serena said, her defenses rising. “Tonight is the perfect night.”
/>   “If he comes back.”

  “He’ll be back just as he said.”

  Tori sat, then stretched out her legs. Serena knew exactly what her friend was thinking. But Serena was satisfied because Cole had promised. He’d never made her a promise before. Everything would be fine. She was sure of it.

  “I just don’t want you to be disappointed again,” Tori said, then looked away.

  “I won’t be.” And that was that. Why couldn’t Tori just be happy for her? As kids they’d made a pact that they’d always be honest with each other. When Tori was about to do something stupid, Serena’s job was to call her on it, and vice versa. Still, it seemed she was always the one getting called out, and not just by Tori. Her brother did his share and so did her mother.

  “Cole and I…we’re going to have our own graduation celebration, and I—” she took a breath “—I’ll tell him then.”

  Tori reached up and smoothed back a strand of Serena’s perpetually unruly hair. “Hmm.”

  “Hmm, what?”

  “Nothing. Just—” Tori sat back, hands on her knees. “Just…nothing.”

  Her friend knew her too well. Serena always waited until she was sure of something before she forged ahead. Living with parents who’d never left the ’70s, she’d learned early on not to count on anything until it actually happened.

  “Where’s your mom?” Tori asked. “And your brother?”

  “My mom’s taking care of my grandma and Ryan is supposed to be at the school dance.” Tori wouldn’t ask about her dad because he was never there. He spent more time in jail than he did at home. Serena waved a hand. “I didn’t tell Cole before because—I…just wanted…”

  She really hoped the news about the baby wouldn’t keep Cole from going to college as they’d planned. Cole had strong opinions about dads being there for their kids since his own father abandoned his family. “I just want to be sure he’s not going to think he has to get a full-time job to support us. That would really mess things up. College is our only way to get out of Spirit Creek and make something of our lives.”

  “That’s not true,” Tori said. “You’re smart. You can do anything you want.”