Furious at her actions, Mark stepped towards Krista. He stopped when Adam reached for Krista’s wrist and led her down the path, not quite out of sight. He watched and listened as Adam indicated his displeasure at her actions.
“What the hell, Krista? Do you even like kids?”
“Not when they’re small and messy,” she whined as she wiped at the chocolate stains on her pants with a napkin.
“Then why were you so adamant that I sue for custody?” he blinked rapidly in disbelief.
“You have to show her that you’re in control. That’s what it’s all about,” she replied tartly.
“What gave you the idea that I would use my son to control Ragan? Never mind, it’s not important. You need to leave. Now.” He pulled some money out of his wallet and threw it at her, “Call a cab and go home. We’re done.”
Krista followed him as he stomped back towards Mark and Jenna. “But Adam, you didn’t even give me a chance to apologize. I overreacted and…”
“I don’t believe you, Krista; what part of we’re done did you not understand? Stay away from me and my family. You’re fired as my girlfriend and my publicist.” He continued walking, his fists clenched to keep from slapping her.
The blonde stared after him, but made no further attempt to press the matter. After she had regained her composure, she turned and stalked off, muttering to herself that he didn’t realize what he was giving up.
Returning to the group, Adam smiled when he noticed Jenna holding Sky’s hand as they watched the ducks on the pond. He quietly reached for Ragan’s camera, wondering why she wasn’t already taking the picture. Expecting to see a smile on her face as she watched the kids, he was surprised at her rage.
“I can’t control who you go out with,” Ragan hissed without looking at him, “but you will keep that she-bitch from hell away from my son.” A red flush swept over her exposed skin when she realized what she had called Adam’s girlfriend.
“Agreed.”
“I will not tolerate… What did you say?”
“No one treats my child like that. I just told her that we’re done.” He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing her and kissing her. “I’m going to call my lawyer and drop the custody suit. Surely we can work out something between the two of us.”
“Thank you, Adam,” she broke into an immediate smile. “I’m sure we can.”
Skylar was asleep in Mark’s arms as they walked through the turnstiles of the zoo. They’d ridden the carousel and the train several times. Mark and Jenna took Skylar to put him in his car seat, giving Ragan and Adam a few minutes alone. “Thanks for letting us invade your date, Ragan,” Adam said as he watched Mark get Skylar buckled up. “Mark seems like a really nice guy. I hope you’ll be happy together.” He pulled Ragan into a quick friends-only type of hug. “I’ll pick up Skylar on Tuesday at six, if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine,” Ragan answered. “See you then.”
Adam and Jenna held hands as they crossed the parking lot towards Adam’s Escalade, stopping to wave when Mark and Ragan drove past them to the exit.
Chapter 25
Adam smiled at the memory of the expression on Ragan’s face as she held Skylar up to feed the giraffes. The picture he had taken with his phone captured the moment, making him wonder if they would ever have a chance to be together. He wanted to hate Mark, but couldn’t. Mark and Skylar had bonded, and he could see that Mark treated the boy as if he were his own son. Watching the interaction between the three of them at the zoo, he had realized that Ragan had moved on. Adam hoped she would find her happiness.
“Dad, the light’s green.”
“What?”
“The light’s green,” Jenna stated again as the driver in the car behind them honked his horn.
“Right,” Adam agreed as he drove through the intersection, forcing his feelings for Ragan down and out of the way.
“You okay, Dad?” Jenna asked, concern wrinkling her small forehead.
“Yeah, just thinking about today. Did you have a good time, sweetheart?”
“It was fun, especially when you told Krista to get lost.” Embarrassed after saying the words, Jenna instantly looked down and picked at her fingernails.
“I thought you liked Krista.” He glanced at his daughter while they were stopped at the next red light.
“Not really, Dad. She didn’t treat me very nice when you weren’t around,” she informed him reluctantly.
Adam frowned as he drove through the intersection, pulling into a gas station and shoving the shifter into park. Once they were stopped, he turned to his daughter. “Did she hurt you? Why didn’t you tell me your true feelings about her?”
“Mostly she just ignored me, even when we were out shopping. You seemed to like her, so I didn’t want to say anything…”
“Come here, sweetie,” he said as he leaned over the console and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice.” Releasing her, he scrubbed his hands down his face. “I promise I won’t let that happen again, but you have to tell me the truth right away if something ever bothers you. You can talk to me about anything, anytime.”
“You should ask Sky’s mom out. I really like her, and she was really nice when I wiped out in front of her house. I mean, you must have liked her before because you had Skylar with her.” She turned away and looked outside her window. “I know how babies are made, Dad.”
“What? How do you know that?” his eyebrows shot up.
“In health class. I think Ragan likes you, too. She watches you when you’re not looking.” Jenna smiled at the thought of her dad and Ragan together.
“I did something that wasn’t very nice to her, and I don’t think she would be able to forgive me.” It was his turn to stare outside, this time through the windshield, trying to forget the feeling of her in his arms. “She seems to be happy with Mark.”
“You need to ask her because you never know, she might say yes. She’s a much better person than Krista.”
Grinning at the innocent comment, he put the Escalade in gear and pulled out onto the road. Maybe we could try again… you never know.
Chapter 26
Ragan packed up her camera and tripod, checking the area to see if she had forgotten anything. She thought back over the last two weeks, thankful that the notes seemed to have stopped. Until the stalker situation was resolved, she wasn’t comfortable moving forward with her relationship with Mark.
The classroom door opened and Jenna entered carrying a backpack. Adam had called and asked if she would take Jenna home. He was stuck in Fort Wayne at a meeting with the music festival committee.
“Hi, Jenna. You ready to go?”
“Yeah. Can we listen to my iPod on the way home? Dad put his new music on it for me this morning and I really want to listen to it.” Jenna suspected that Ragan and her dad still had feelings for each other, so she tried to get them back together at any opportunity since Krista’s exit.
“Sure,” Ragan replied, excited to hear Adam’s new album. She plugged the iPod into her stereo as soon as they climbed inside the Jeep. As they listened to the new songs, Jenna talked about how he hadn’t released an album in three years and that he wasn’t happy with the concept art for the album cover. She looked out the window and smiled at the reflection of Ragan’s face as Ragan became lost in the music as well. Jenna loved how it sounded more acoustic than what he’d released previously.
Ragan smiled as she got an idea for the cover art, realizing she knew the perfect place to take the pictures. She started making silent plans and was pleased when she remembered seeing the weather forecast… overcast and gloomy. It would be the perfect backdrop for the photo she had in mind.
As she pulled into Adam’s driveway, she noticed him getting out of his Escalade. Jenna unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door. “Thanks for the ride, Ragan. Give Sky a kiss for me,” she said as she hopped out of the Jeep.
Adam approached Ragan’s side of the vehicle, sm
iling as his daughter ran toward the house. “Thanks for bringing her home, I really appreciate it,” he said.
“I’m glad to do it,” she tried not to stare at him. His eyes seemed to be staring deeply into her soul, and every time she saw them, it became more difficult to conceal her feelings for him. She would have given anything to be able to wrap her arms around him and kiss him with all the love in her heart. Instead, she shifted in her seat and squeezed the steering wheel again, wishing things were different. “I’ve got to get going. Mom is expecting me for dinner. Anytime Jenna needs a ride, just let me know.”
“Thanks again, Ragan,” Adam said as he stepped away so she could back out of the driveway. He watched her pull out of the entrance and turn onto the road before she slipped out of sight.
For a change, the weather forecasters were right. The next morning was perfect for the photos she had in mind. Thick and gray cloud cover hung in sky and the day was dark and gloomy. Ragan drove through the puddles on the road, hoping the rain would hold off for another hour. She wanted to surprise Adam with the perfect picture for his album cover. The location and dimmed light was the perfect backdrop, but a downpour would be too much for what she envisioned.
Ragan pulled into the overgrown parking lot of the old rock quarry, grateful there were no other cars around. She’d borrowed a guitar from Logan and reached to retrieve it from the back seat, and then stretched to grab her camera with the other hand. As she strolled towards the edge of the quarry, her eyes scanned the area for the perfect view.
When she found the right location, she propped the guitar up with a rock. No sooner had she placed it where the light and angle were perfect, then the rain began to fall in a light drizzle. It rained just enough that the water started to bead on the guitar strings. The pictures were turning out even better than she had imagined. She spent the next ten minutes snapping shots from every angle, only stopping during short bursts when the rain began to fall harder.
Her hair dripped water into her eyes as she hurried back to the Jeep. Drying off with a towel, she thought of another backdrop for the guitar that might be even better. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove around the back edge of the quarry. An overgrown dirt road and hardly more than a narrow path, she felt grateful she had four-wheel drive.
The more she thought about the new location for the photo shoot, the more excited she became. After a deep breath to calm her nerves, she called Mark. She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered, “Hey, beautiful girl. What are you up to today?”
“Hi, Babe,” she replied as his deep voice warmed her from the inside out. “I’m out doing my photography thing for a potential client. I’m out at the quarry and I’d like to use the house in my photos if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, but I have to ask, who would want that ramshackle old house in their photos? You know I love it, but it needs a lot of TLC,” Mark’s words lilted through the device.
Feeling the need to defend her decision, she explained, “I want to try and design Adam’s new album cover.” When he didn’t answer right away, she feared he would refuse, and gushed on. “When I heard the songs, they spoke to me and I feel like I need to do this. Fairfield House may be the perfect backdrop for the pictures I’m seeing in my mind. There’s no guarantee he’ll even want to look at them, but I have to try. Please, Mark,” her voice trailed to a whisper.
“Okay,” he replied with a sigh, “though I don’t understand why.”
She smiled and admitted, “You know, it’s things like this that make me fall for you just a bit more each day,” before she hung up the phone.
The large house, some might even consider it a mansion, appeared through the trees. Fairfield House was rumored to be haunted and it looked the part. The paint was peeling, and a strong wind could likely blow the front porch away. This had been the best make-out spot back when she was in high school; guys brought girls here hoping they would get scared and jump into their arms.
Fairfield House had an interesting, if not forlorn history. Built by Mark’s great-grandfather, Joseph, it had stood nestled away in the back woods for over a hundred years. Intended for his bride and their family, its beginning seemed happy enough. However, after she had died giving birth to their first and only child, Mark’s grandfather, Joseph fired all the servants and sent his son to live with relatives, choosing to spend the rest of his life in seclusion. Shortly after his death, the reports of a ghostly presence began and remained to that very day.
The rain continued to pour out of the southwest sky as Ragan whisked the guitar from the back seat and ran for the porch, being careful to watch for rotten boards. She was concentrating on placing the guitar in the perfect spot and didn’t notice the curtains sway back into place or the eyes that followed her every move. A few minutes later, she shivered from the damp and the chill in the air, running her hands up and down her arms briskly to warm them. Stepping off and away from the porch, she clicked a series of photos from every angle, always hoping for the perfect shot.
Once she was satisfied that she’d gotten enough to choose from, she grabbed the guitar and drove back to town, calling Adam as she pulled into the driveway. “Hey, can we talk?” she asked cheerfully. “If you have a chance, would you stop by for a few minutes?” Grinning at his agreement to a meeting, she carried her camera and the instrument inside with a slight spring in her step.
She downloaded the pictures first thing when she returned to her studio, even before heading for the bedroom to change into some dry clothes. After changing, she used a towel to dry her hair as she walked back to her studio, smiling when she saw Adam’s Escalade pull into her driveway. Watching him walk up to the door like he had three years ago made her wish things could be different. She missed being more than friends, and all that went with that status.
“Hey Ragan, what’s up?” Adam asked as she opened the door. “Is everything okay with Skylar?” he asked, signs of worry spreading on his creased forehead.
“He’s fine. I have something I want to show you.” She motioned for him to follow, then took a chair and placed it next to hers at the computer. Once she was situated in front of the screen, she clicked around with the mouse until a group of the new photos appeared. “On the way home yesterday, Jenna let me listen to the songs for your new album. I hope that’s okay.” A quick glance in his direction told her it was, and that she hadn’t taken too much for granted. “She told me you weren’t happy with the proposed cover art. The songs are great, and I love how it’s more acoustic than anything else you’ve released. The music gave me some ideas. I hope you like them.” Watching in silence at the expression on Adam’s face, she started scrolling through the photos.
“These are great,” he finally exhaled. “You’ve really captured the mood of the songs. I had a couple of artists do some concept art, but they didn’t come close to these shots.” He continued scrolling through them, stopping at one of the pictures she had taken at the ancient structure. “Where is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place.”
“That’s Fairfield House. I’m surprised Cassie hasn’t told you about it; it’s supposed to be haunted.”
“Fairfield House? As in Mark Fairfield?” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair.
She looked at him, her eyes narrowed, “What?”
“Never mind,” he refused the debate.
He’s jealous of Mark. I wish I could tell him the truth... She continued on with her explanation, “The house is out in the woods behind the quarry. I thought it would be a good backdrop, but I like the ones at the quarry better.”
Adam continued clicking on the pictures, stopping on one from the quarry that highlighted the water droplets beading on the guitar strings. “This one’s perfect. How did you come up with this?”
Ragan smiled, glad she got to witness the look on Adam’s face. He was excited—for real—not just saying so to make her feel good about her work. “The music spoke to me, I guess.”
While he remained seated next to her at the computer, Ragan opened a different program, pulling up the picture Adam had chosen as his favorite and adding the album title. Adam reached a hand out and put it on her shoulder. Leaning closer, his breath in her ear sent shivers down her spine, making it almost impossible to concentrate.
“I think you just showed me my album cover.” Adam spun her swivel chair around so she faced him. “You’re fantastic.” Without so much as a hint, he kissed her. “God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered, giving her an affectionate nuzzle.
Ragan pulled away and blinked at him in amazement, seeing only love and no anger. The regret she had for leaving the way she did welled up, reminding her why they couldn’t be together, at least not until the stalker had been caught. Until then, Adam might still be in danger. “I can’t do this again,” she said firmly. “I’m sorry.” She pushed him away and ran to the bathroom, locking the door before allowing herself to sob in silence.
Adam stood outside the bathroom door, debating whether to knock or not. He raised his hand several times and then lowered it. His heart had been torn in two… again.
Chapter 27
Mark entered the kitchen and watched Ragan in bare feet and jeans, dancing along to a song on the radio as she stirred the pot of tomato sauce bubbling on the stove. He smiled as she swayed in time to the music, unaware of his presence, as she pulled a pot out of the cupboard and filled it with water.
Reaching down to the small boy holding onto his legs, he ruffled Skylar’s hair, amazed at the strong connection he had for someone else’s child; particularly since the someone else was Adam. Ragan hadn’t pulled any punches with Mark about her feelings for the other man, and he knew she still loved him. However, he had pledged to take things one day at a time and hoped that she would ultimately choose him over Adam.
Ragan's Song (Fairfield Corners #2) Page 10