Sundown & Serena

by Tara Fox Hall

  * * * *

  The next morning, there was no trace of them. I found a message on the counter that they’d gone off to play some tennis at the country club, and would be home after having drinks there, and some lunch.

  I spent the afternoon by the pool, and then ate some food and drank a bottle of wine. It was peaceful here. So what if it wasn’t my home?

  I went to bed that night without seeing my father, or Sheryl.

  The next day was the same. And the next. It was always something, a luncheon they were invited to, or a play they already had tickets for. Finally, on Friday, I managed to get my father alone, while Sheryl was out running errands.

  “Dad, how did you meet her?” I asked.

  He grinned. “I was trucking near South of the Border. And there she was, lost, looking for a small town in North Carolina.”

  “And so she took you home with her?”

  “No! She took me to dinner, and we had a few drinks—”

  So, they’d had sex.

  “—and the next morning, she’d said she’d had a good time with me. Then she said she’d love it, if I’d come and live with her. She said she had enough money to take care of us in style. But she’d been divorced, and it was messy, and so she’d prefer it to be casual with us. And I told her that scene seemed like Heaven on Earth to me.” He paused. “But I told her this town was home to me, always had been. So she said she’d live here, and a few days later, she bought this house.”

  Weird. I nodded. “That sounds amazing.”

  “So here I am!” he said triumphantly. “And six months later, I’m still loving it!”

  “So you haven’t cheated on her?” I said pointedly.

  My father lost his happy look, and his pissy face came on. “No, I haven’t. She gives me whatever I want, whenever I want. So what if she’s older than the women I usually took to bed? I’m not young myself anymore.”

  Good for him. “I’m just surprised.”

  “So am I,” my father said, looking happy again. “I never thought my train would come in like this. And it sure beats driving trucks. Your old man gets stiff now from sitting behind the wheel more than an hour, Baby Girl, and it’s not the good kind of—”

  Spare me your sexual talk. “What’s the catch?”

  I expected my father to give me a sarcastic line, or say something funny, which were his two usual responses. But he just looked a little crafty.

  “The catch is that she’s got cancer,” he said in a whisper, as if we would be overheard. “She’s got only a few months to live. That’s where she really is now: at a doctor visit. She says she feels weaker every day. When she goes, I’ll get it all!”

  I wanted to vomit on him. “Do you care about her?”

  “I like her,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll miss her in bed. She really gets into it. But I’ll find someone else quick enough, rich as I’m going to be. And Baby Girl, the next one’s going to be in her early twenties.”

  I’d heard enough. “Dad, I have to get going tomorrow.”

  “Sure,” he said, taking a swig of beer. “Come back in a year or so, Sunny. We’ll have a blast, throw a huge party! Your old man’s hit it big!”

  I gave him a hug, packed my bags, and hitched a ride out of town the next morning. I felt bad for Sheryl, sure. But she was old enough to know better, and I wasn’t her daughter. And I trusted my father just far enough to be sure he wouldn’t hurry her passing.

  * * * *

  I spent the next few months in Nevada, working at a strip club outside the Las Vegas strip. I was able to save enough money to afford a small apartment, and I spent a lot of time there thinking about what I wanted, when I wasn’t working as many shifts as I could.

  After some self-imposed solitary, I finally decided on a few things for myself.

  I wanted to go back East. I missed the green, and the hills. It seemed like a desert here in comparison.

  I wanted to see if Terian was okay. I missed him, and maybe...maybe somehow we could make it work. Yes, we had a lot that we’d have to overcome, but I wanted to try, damn it. I still loved him, and if he still loved me, we had a chance.

  Lastly, I wanted never to see my father again.

  * * * *

  A month later, I took a bus back east. I got a job in another strip club, and a new apartment. This one was near a park, and I spent a lot of time there that first week, enjoying the greenness of everything.

  In addition, I finally took Lash’s advice. I’d never cut my hair, though I had darkened it to a light brown. Now I dyed it a dark brown, and cut it in a many-layered style, with short bangs. It made me look different enough that I doubted I’d be recognized. But I kept it long, at least the back of it. Old habits die hard.

  Having successfully accomplished my first goal, I attempted the second thing on my list. But Terian seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. His old cell phone number was disconnected. The website he’d sold his magical potions on was no longer valid; it was up for lease.

  I went to some of the places we’d visited together, and asked about him. But no one remembered seeing him for months. One night though, I did catch sight of Sarelle.

  I was on the corner waiting for a bus when I heard a voice say, “What do you think, Sar?”

  I looked over discreetly as a voice dissimilar to mine said, “I’m okay either way, Danial.”

  She was in a car behind the wheel stopped at the stoplight. There was a dark man beside her, so finely featured he was almost beautiful. Her face, her build...God, she looked enough like me to be my twin sister. Thank God I cut my hair.

  “We don’t have to make a decision now,” Danial said, looking over at her. “You’ve had no signs. There’s no rush.”

  “Please, let’s not talk about it,” Sar replied, sounding tired. “I want to get home to Elle. She’s probably turned cougar, and slipped out her window again by now, sure something happened to us.”

  Who is Elle? Theo’s daughter? Sar and Theo’s daughter? Why isn’t she with Theo?

  “She’s probably giving Cia a hard time,” Danial said with a laugh. “She wanted to go with us.”

  “Macbeth is too old for her.”

  “Theo wouldn’t think so.”

  Sarelle didn’t respond. When the light changed, they drove off.

  I sat for a while thinking later that night. Sarelle was back to spending time with Danial. But Theo and he were friends, right? That was normal, to escort a friend’s wife to a play as a favor. Maybe it had been innocent, but maybe not. The important thing was Danial and Devlin were brothers. How long would it be before Devlin decided he’d waited long enough for the real thing?

  Didn’t matter to me. As far as I’m concerned, that bitch has it coming.

  Chapter Eight

  Months passed. Christmas came and went. I sent my father another card, and got one from him in return. Sheryl still seemed to be going strong, and I said a loud “Good for her!” as I tossed his card in the garbage.

  When it got to be Valentine’s Day, I finally gave into the feeling that had haunted me for months. I’d been in Sar’s shoes with Devlin. I felt so angry with her for a long time over how much Terian had loved her, but that wasn’t her fault. Devlin was obsessed with her, from what Lash had said. I owed it to her—one woman to another—to warn her, to let her know that he hadn’t forgotten her, even if time had gone by.

  I tried looking up her number in the phone book, but it was unlisted. Fuck.

  I tried online at the library, with the same results. Motherfuck.

  Then I remembered that note of Terian’s I’d kept, the last one. He’d written her number on the bottom, because he was going to be out at her house having dinner. He wanted me to be able to reach him, and his cell was recharging...

  After an hour of sifting through my clutter, I found it. I dialed the number with shaking hands.

  What would I say to her? She didn’t know me at all. What if she hung up on me? By now, she knew I’d rej
ected Terian’s offer of marriage, she had to know why, too... Shit. I have to do it. Maybe I’d luck out and get her machine.

  I dialed the number, and no one answered. Not even a machine. I tried back for the next two days, and got nothing. Shit, she must have moved. What else can I try?

  Danial’s company, Solutions, Inc. He would know where Sar was, if they were friendly enough to go see plays together and Theo worked there with him. I could just talk to Theo, tell him what I knew, and that would be enough, and I wouldn’t have to talk to Sar at all.

  I dialed the Solutions, Inc. number listed in the phone book on one of my breaks that next night, and a man answered. Well, I assumed it was a man, though from what Terian had told me of Danial, it was probably really one of those werefoxes that were his guardian army.

  “Hello, this is Solutions, Inc. Can I help you?”

  “Hi. I need to speak to Theo, please.”

  “He no longer works here,” the man said a little sadly.

  What the hell? Has he been killed? I couldn’t make myself ask. “Is Sarelle McGarran there?”

  “Sure, but she’s outside with her daughter.”

  I felt shocked. Sar had a baby? When? Is it Theo’s? Does he mean Elle?

  “I am to notify Danial, or the chief of security before anyone talks to her, on their orders.”

  I didn’t want to talk to Danial. Terian had always painted him as little better than Devlin, and I’d heard of what he’d done to Sar when he’d found out about her and Theo, and later, with his brother.

  “Is this Kat?”

  Who was Kat? Shit, I am in over my head. Maybe I should hang up.

  “Hello?”

  No, I have to tell someone. What if Devlin hurts her because I said nothing, because I was too afraid? That wasn’t happening, not if I could stop it.

  “Give me the chief of security,” I said with a sigh. “Whoever replaced Theo, I can speak to him.”

  “Sure, let me get him. He’s out there with Sar and her daughter.”

  I felt an inkling of something unsettling as I waited. Then I got the shock of my life.

  “This is Terian. Who is this?”

  I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t form any words. Because Terian was there. He had somehow replaced Theo as Danial’s head of security. Suddenly, it all clicked into place. I hung up, and began to cry.

  He’d been outside with Sarelle. Theo was dead. There was only one reason Terian would have gone back to work for Danial.

  The phone rang. I picked it up before I thought.

  “Who is this?” Terian said in a menacing tone. “Answer me, or I’ll put a bolt of lightning through this phone to kill you where you stand.”

  “It’s Sun,” I said softly.

  There was silence.

  “What is it?” he asked tenderly. “Are you okay?”

  I’d expected him to be angry, or standoffish. It hurt me worse to know he still cared about me. My bitterness rose up in me, making my tone cold and hard as steel. “Where is Theo?”

  “Dead,” he said with a sigh, “at least presumed. It’s been more than a year.”

  “And you’re working for Danial.”

  “Sar and Elle needed me. They need protection. Danial offered me Theo’s position—”

  I felt a wave of relief. Elle was Theo’s daughter, I remembered.

  “—Sar’s pregnant now, and it’s been a difficult pregnancy—”

  I almost threw up. Danial couldn’t have children being a vampire like Devlin. He had to be sterile, too. If Theo had been gone for a year, the baby had to be Terian’s. Hate welled up in me for Sar, who had the love of Theo and Danial already. She didn’t need Terian’s love. I doubted she loved him at all, and here she was having his baby! I’d been hurt by Devlin because of her! It should be me there having Terian’s baby, not her! I’m the one who deserved that! She has enough!

  “Sun?”

  Bitch! I was tired of her taking everything that was mine. Sick and tired.

  “Sun, why did you call?”

  “It was nothing,” I whispered. “I just wanted to...” Shit, think of something. Anything.

  “Wanted to what?”

  I had to say something. The truth would do, though I’d be damned if I’d admit to Terian what Devlin had done to me. “I just wanted to make sure that Sar was okay,” I said lamely. “I had this dream—”

  “What dream?” Terian said, alert.

  I remembered he was a big believer in the power of dreams for some reason. “Nothing. She was in danger, and there was a blond man hurting her with gold eyes. It was bad. I woke up screaming. So I tried her at her house, but no one answered.”

  “Don’t worry,” Terian assured. “Sar lives here now. Elle does, too. Devlin hasn’t come around here for a good while, since the big fight with me that night. He and Danial talk, but Danial’s forbidden him from coming to even see Sar, though after the baby’s born, Danial said that might change.”

  I felt a wave of sickness, and fought it down.

  “But he’s done nothing in close to a year, Sun. I don’t trust Devlin either, but he’s been nothing but polite when I’ve seen him. He knows Danial’s more powerful, and so he stays in line.”

  I remembered Devlin’s treatment of me, and what Lash had said. Devlin’s only biding his time. He hasn’t forgotten Sar at all. But I was angry and hurt. I did my part. It’s not my job to save Sar. “That makes me feel a lot better,” I agreed. “I’m glad to know I was wrong.”

  “Is there anything else you wanted?” Terian persisted.

  “Like what?” I retorted sharply. “What else would I want? You seem to be getting along just fine.”

  “I thought you might miss me,” Terian shot back angrily. “But forget it. You clearly don’t.” He hung up.

  I replaced the pay phone in its cradle, and walked back to my car. Screw work, I couldn’t pretend to feel or act sexy, not after that. I needed a drink, and to not be alone. So I drove to the nearest bar and had a few shots, trying to convince myself that I’d done the right thing.

  There’s no way to make him see Sar is still in danger without admitting what had happened to me. And I’m never going to admit that to anyone, ever.

  It was midnight when I got up to leave, but before I turned around, I heard a familiar voice ask for some scotch. I turned to see Lash sitting down at the end of the bar.

  I looked in fear to see if Devlin was with him, but there was no one else in the bar at all. Unnerved, I drank down my shot, and headed for the door. Devlin might be just outside. I didn’t want a repeat performance. I’d finally stopped having those wet dreams that drug he’d dosed me with had inspired, those dreams that made me long to be under his hands again, sickening me with my own twisted desires.

  Lash saw me as I tried to slip by him to the exit. He nodded to me, then looked away.

  Well, if he was going to acknowledge me, I’d just ask him. “Is he here?” I whispered. “Is it safe to go out this door?”

  “No, and yes, respectively,” Lash answered, sipping his scotch. “I’m meeting someone here in a few minutes for business. I wanted a drink first, so I came early.”

  I sat beside him on a stool. “Thank you, for what you did,” I whispered, my eyes cast down.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, then sipped his drink, draining the glass.

  “Give him another one on me,” I said, handing the bartender some money. “I owe him one.”

  “Thanks, but you don’t,” Lash commented with a faint grin. “Now get out of here, Sun. You don’t want to be here when the shooting starts, and it’s going to start in about five minutes. I’m not meeting a client, I’m meeting a mark, though it’s going to be a surprise to him, I’m sure.”

  I went to leave, then turned to him with determination. “If I need to find you sometime, where do you go?” I asked bluntly. “And I mean not with Devlin.”

  Lash looked at me curiously out of the corner of his eyes, obviously wondering why I might
want to find him. But he didn’t ask that question. “I prefer no crowds, Sun, but Devlin’s often with me if I’m out. I usually only go alone to The Tavern,” he hissed at me. “Most Thursdays. It’s my one night off, and no one else is usually there. But you don’t want to be around me when I’m drinking. No one does. I get mean.”

  “So do I,” I said, getting up. “We’ll make a good pair.”

  Lash said nothing; he just turned back to his drink as I left.

  * * * *

  Months passed. I showed up most Thursdays at The Tavern, where Lash and I would have a drink or two. For the first month, we didn’t talk. But over time, we began to. He never talked about himself, but he liked to talk sometimes about the weather, or TV shows, sometimes different current issues, depending on his mood. I found myself beginning to like him, and to look forward to our weekly talks. It was nice to be with someone who didn’t expect anything from me, and who wanted nothing from me, not my body, not my attention, not even for me to fill the silence we were sharing with words. I didn’t have to be sexy, or entertaining, or anything but what I was. It was a little freeing, because I’d never had that before from a man, not ever.

  Lash was something like my first real friend, sad as that sounds. I’d never had someone to talk to, other than the other strippers in passing, and I’d never been close to any of them. I’d spent most of my childhood alone in the company of an ever-changing list of adults who never stayed for long and traded that for a list of lovers that had basically done the same thing. Terian had changed all that for me, made me see there was another world out there, a better one. Maybe I couldn’t have that, but that didn’t mean I had to live an utterly solitary existence, either.

  This went on for the next few months, until it was nearly fall. Lash never said he’d be there the following Thursday, or that he was looking forward to seeing me, but he was always polite, and most nights he bought me a drink or two. After that first night, he had always refused my offer of buying him drinks, saying he was the man, and men were the ones who bought drinks. But I understood in time from the way he talked, and the things he said, that he was a much older man than he looked, so I wasn’t surprised he was a sexist. That was one of the things I liked about him, actually.