The Executive

by Kimberley Montpetit

  Kira was blessed to have the ability to play quickly, her fingers tumbling over the ivory and black keys like they were made for her.

  Digging through the basket of music Caleb had provided, she extracted and played through a few Chopin Preludes and a sweet Polonaise, a Haydn Sonata that laughed and tumbled along like a waterfall. A Mozart Concerto, and finally she ended with one of her favorites; Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

  Soulful and romantic with lovely crashing chords in both hands working their way down the keyboard.

  When Kira glanced up again, the sun was setting. Golden light played off the room’s paneling and paintings. Pink hues shot off the towering mountains and landed on her shoulders, as if caressing her.

  Rising from the bench, she held her breath, caught at the stunning beauty of the world outside the picture windows. Feeling off kilter, as if she was returning from a dream, Kira stumbled to her feet. She shuffled the music back together and placed it back in the box.

  Grabbing her cell phone, she saw that it was nearly five o’clock. “What will Caleb think of me?” She’d been at the piano for nearly three hours.

  Closing the lid to protect the strings and keyboard from dust, Kira moved toward the door. She was supposed to be at her parent’s house in an hour. She’d promised to sit with her father and help him to bed while her mother went out with an old college girlfriend who had moved to Reno a few years earlier and was passing through town. Kira was glad the old friend had called. Perhaps it would help to put her mother back on an even keel of normality.

  At the door, she glanced back at the room, the overhead chandeliers glittering under the setting orange skies, and felt the familiar tug at her throat.

  For the first time in a couple of years, she’d forgotten herself and everything around her when she’d immersed herself in the music. The problems and worries of life had receded.

  A sense of optimism came over her. Love for the beautiful things of her life. Somehow, someday, she’d find a way to return to her music more fully. She had no idea how, but she needed to. If only to survive the rest of life. Because that’s what music did for her. Helped her cope and heal. Released the stress and tension. Strengthened her to face the grief and challenges.

  “Life isn’t over,” she whispered when she opened the door she’d seen Caleb use three hours earlier.

  He was standing a few feet from her and gave her a smile. “No, life isn’t over. I hope it’s just beginning again for you, Kira.”

  She gave a self-conscious laugh. “You sound like an old wise philosopher.”

  He lifted his shoulders. “Maybe I’m getting curmudgeonly.”

  Heat rose up her cheeks. “So, have you been listening at the door all this time?”

  “Not exactly. Well, sometimes.” He laughed. “Okay, guilty as charged. But most of the time, I was puttering around taking care of a few things while I listened from afar.” He paused for a moment. “Your playing is—magical. Stunning. Emotional. All of the above and so much more.”

  She laughed his words off. “You’re biased.”

  “Maybe, but that’s why a creepy geek like me came to your Christmas concert eleven years ago.”

  “Ah, yes, the fateful Senior Christmas concert.”

  “I shouldn’t have reminded you,” he said. “I’d never heard anything like it before in my life.”

  Kira frowned at him. “You mean there was no old-fashioned classical music at your house, or on the radio when your parents changed the station insisting you expand your horizons?”

  Caleb gazed at her and silently shook his head. “I didn’t come from that kind of a home. I knew nothing about your world. But you’re wearing the necklace right now and it made me think of it.”

  Kira glanced down, touching the red stone with her fingers. “You’re right. I am.”

  “It’s where it belongs again. That’s all I ever wanted. Can I tell you how very sorry I am once more?”

  “You can—but you don’t have to. I don’t understand why you did it, but I wish you would tell me more about yourself.”

  “What’s to tell?” he asked vaguely.

  “I need to go,” she said abruptly, wishing he would just talk to her, frustrated that he shut down when certain topics came up. She didn’t understand what was hidden behind those eyes of his. If he wanted a relationship—even just a friendship—with her, he needed to let her into his world.

  “You mean we can’t have dinner?”

  She shook her head. “I promised my father—”

  “Right,” he said quickly. “This way.”

  He reached out and grasped her hand in his. An unexpected warmth flooded over Kira once again. The sensation of being comforted came over her, despite the lack of response over her questions about his past.

  That made no sense, but there it was.

  He led her through the main rooms of the house, out the front door and down the granite steps of the entryway to the circular drive. Gravel crunched under her feet. The setting sun had disappeared and dusk was filling in the landscape with shadows.

  “What’s that building over there?” Kira asked on the way to the car.

  A round building shaped like a squat tower stood just inside the main gates to the property. There was a gray front door and shuttered windows.

  “It’s a gatehouse.”

  “It looks cozy. Do you have security that lives here?”

  He shook his head, opening the car door for her. “It was built as a guest house. For the privacy of visitors. That’s the idea at least. My architect convinced me it was a good idea not to raze it to the ground, but to keep it and rehabilitate it, too.”

  Kira slid inside the car, twisting in her seat to watch him walk around the car while she puzzled him out.

  Before he reached the driver’s side, his mobile phone rang and she heard his voice answering. And then nothing. Peering through the windshield, she could see him listening, his face turning into a deep frown. Something was wrong.

  The next moment she heard Caleb give a long, frustrated sigh. “You sure?” he said, his voice unhappy and resigned. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there in an hour. Gotta make a stop first.”

  When he slid into the driver’s seat, Kira said, “I’m sorry it’s a pain to take me home. I wish I’d driven my own car.”

  Caleb stared at her like she was speaking a foreign language. “It’s no trouble at all. Of course, I’ll drive you home. You’ve been my guest. I’m—” his tone softened. “I’m really glad you came. I hope you are, too.”

  She gazed at him, wanting to brush her fingers across the stubble along his jaw line, but keeping her fist tight in her lap. One part of her wished he’d sweep her up in his arms and hold her tight, but the other half desperately held back the gnawing worry in the pit of her stomach.

  What is your secret? She pleaded with her eyes. Don’t you dare hurt me, Caleb Davenport.

  Chapter 19

  When Caleb dropped Kira off at her apartment, he was obviously distracted.

  His fingers drummed the steering wheel. He fiddled with the car radio. He appeared to have a difficult time looking at her. Any attempt at small talk was further interrupted by Kira’s cell phone ringing.

  “It’s my father,” she said, seeing his name on the screen of her phone.

  “Anything wrong?” Caleb asked.

  “Not sure.” Kira pressed the button. “Hey Dad, I’m headed over now and will be there soon. What’s up?”

  “Don’t worry about coming over,” he said in his big, rumbling voice.

  “Isn’t Mom going out with her friend?”

  “Their dinner has been postponed until tomorrow. Gloria rescheduled. Said her daughter needs some help tonight with the grandkids.”

  Relief swept through Kira. At least Mom wasn’t doing anything ‘unusual’.

  “I’ll come tomorrow, then. Same time?”

  “Yes, please. See you then, sweetheart,” her dad said. “Have a good ni
ght.”

  Kira relayed the news to Caleb who didn’t say much as they parked at her apartment complex. He glanced over his shoulder as if checking for traffic, but the parking lot was quiet at the moment.

  She waited to see if he’d restate his invitation for dinner now that it was obvious she wouldn’t be helping her father tonight but after a couple of moments of silence, she lifted the latch on the car door.

  “See you around, then,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. Inside, she was screaming with frustration at his sudden, aloof behavior.

  “I’ll call you, Kira,” Caleb said, finally jumping out of the driver’s seat to come around and open her door.

  Even so, he didn’t try to kiss her as he’d done that afternoon on the picnic blanket. Just a brief embrace at her front door, a quick wave, and the sound of his feet against the concrete stairs back to the parking lot.

  She leaned over the railing, watching the headlights snap on and his Lexus engine flare to life.

  “Don’t you dare go off on a secret mission tonight, Mr. Davenport,” Kira muttered. “Not without me.”

  Before she could think it through, she clattered back down the stairs as Caleb’s red taillights cruised through the lot. At the exit to the main road, his blinker came on, indicating he planned to turn left.

  Kira jumped into her own car, put it into gear, and followed him.

  It didn’t take long before Caleb’s car exited Interstate 25 to take Highway 285.

  She followed him for another few miles, and then watched in disbelief as Caleb took the next exit for the road to Littleton and Englewood.

  “Why are you going to Littleton?” Kira said out loud. She slowed to take the upcoming exit so she could turn around and go back home. “Who lives there?”

  Cold with apprehension, she turned on the heat in her battered Honda. Who had been on the other end of that phone call he’d received?

  Now Kira was adrift. No more evening plans. No more Caleb. The magic of the afternoon picnic and the piano room was gone, leaving only a lingering dejection.

  She couldn’t go home to an empty apartment. It was too depressing.

  Taking a different route back into the city, she pulled into Rossi’s and parked.

  When she got inside, Jan was waiting to seat customers. “What are you doing here? It’s Saturday night. I thought you’d be on a hot date with Caleb Davenport.”

  Kira made a face. “Right now, a decadent dessert is what I need. About eight hundred calories. With whipped cream.”

  “How about the chocolate hot fudge lava cake?”

  “Perfect. I might need two.”

  Jan seated her with a laugh. “I’ll bring you a strong cup of coffee, too.”

  “No, that’ll just keep me awake. But I’ll take a diet Dr. Pepper.”

  Jan disappeared into the dessert corner and Kira tore apart a napkin, trying to settle her nerves, while she listened to Jan pop the cake into the oven and set the timer.

  A few minutes later, she set the cake and ice cream with heaping spoonfuls of whipped cream in front of Kira. “Enjoy, honey, and I hope you don’t get sick.”

  ‘I’m already sick,” Kira said in a low voice.

  “Wish I could sit and commiserate, but unfortunately, I have customers.”

  “No problem. Go back to your diners. I will indulge in decadent chocolate pleasure.”

  No sooner had Kira taken the first big bite, watching the hot fudge “lava” pouring out onto her plate, than a voice spoke behind her, “Hey, Kira.”

  She twisted in her chair and blinked in surprise. “Troy, what are you doing here?”

  “Dinner with a potential client. Or seller, I should say.”

  Kira glanced about. “Where are they now?”

  “Oh, they left after I paid the bill.” Troy laughed.

  “Did it go poorly?”

  “Oh, no. It’s all good, but then I spotted you sitting here all by your lonesome. Didn’t you have a—a meet-up with Caleb?” His voice hesitated, as if he hoped he wasn’t sticking his foot in his mouth.

  “You mean a date?” Kira raised her eyebrows.

  Troy’s face turned a light shade of pink. “Yeah a date. Guess I thought you’d still be with him.”

  “Nope. He got a phone call and took off.” She glanced into his eyes to gauge his reaction. “For Littleton.”

  Troy’s expression widened, but he tried to make a quick recovery. “Uh, Littleton, huh?” he said vaguely.

  “Troy, please sit down.”

  “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “It’s just me and the lava cake,” Kira said, giving him her fiercest look, and ordering him with her eyes to take the seat opposite hers.

  His expression was sheepish as he slid into the booth and leaned his elbows on the table. “I have a few minutes.”

  Streetlights flickered on through the restaurant windows and darkness settled over the city. Kira’s melancholy was quickly turning into despair.

  “Is there another girl?” she asked bluntly. “Another woman Caleb is seeing?”

  Troy sucked in his breath. His mouth opened and closed.

  “Give it to me straight, Troy. I’m not going to let Caleb jerk around my heart. I have too much going on with my own family, my own problems—”

  Troy held up a hand. “Stop right there. No, he is not seeing another woman. That would be nuts. He’s crazy about you, Kira. He has been ever since high school.”

  Kira covered a sudden smile with her hand. She swirled her spoon in the chocolate. The ice cream was melting into a puddle. “Here,” she said, pushing the plate toward him. Eat this, I can’t swallow another bite.”

  “Okay,” Troy said, unwrapping a napkin around the extra set of silverware lying on the table. He took a bite, but his brown eyes were wary.

  “Where is Caleb going in Littleton? He barely got me home before heading straight there—after a pretty perfect date this afternoon.” Kira heard the pleading in her voice.

  “I’m sorry, Kira, it’s not for me to tell you. Ask Caleb.”

  “He wouldn’t say.”

  “Just ask him. When he’s not rushing down there on an emergency, he’ll tell you. Force him to. I know he’s mortified about it.”

  “But I’ve tried to ask about his personal life and he always shuts me down.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, but he really does care for you, Kira. It’ll be hard for him, but if he doesn’t he’s a bigger fool than I thought. At least when it comes to girls,” Troy stopped and quickly amended his comment. “No, only when it comes to you.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “He’s put all of his eggs—his hopes—into one basket the last ten years. Finding you. Returning the necklace. And hoping you might fall in love with him, too. He’s never gotten over what he did to you. You’re the girl who got away, you know?”

  Kira shook the emotion out of her eyes. “You guys are crazy.”

  “We all have one.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The girl who got away. Every single one of us. Ryan, Brandon, Adam, Caleb.”

  “You too, Troy?”

  “Me, too,” he admitted ruefully.

  “You guys are all crazy.”

  Troy pursed his lips, nodding. “Yep. Can’t deny that.”

  “In another sense, that’s really sweet.”

  He held her eyes in a blunt gaze. “Don’t let Caleb get away without talking. That’s the hardest for him. Like I said, he’s embarrassed and ashamed, and it goes all the way back to high school. Actually, before high school. Most of his life.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “It is to him, unfortunately.”

  “Alright, if I can’t drag it out of you, I’ll drag it out of Caleb.”

  “Good, I hope you do. If he doesn’t talk, I’ll personally wallop him.” Troy wagged his eyebrows and that made Kira grin. “He’d be an idiot not to confide in you.”

  “I’ll
take that as a compliment.”

  “You should.” Troy rose, throwing a twenty on the table.

  Kira protested. “I can pay for my own monolithic lava cake.”

  “Too late. I ate more than half.”

  The atmosphere was quiet after Troy left and Kira stared out the dark restaurant window, her brain numb and exhausted. Even so, she was still desperate to know the truth of the enigma that was Caleb Davenport.

  She was almost home when she had a sudden epiphany. An image of the exit sign she’d seen Caleb take flashed across her eyes.

  One block down the exit to South Kipling Street took someone directly past the Englewood Federal Correctional Institution.

  When most people thought of Littleton, it was a bedroom community, a benign suburb of Denver. But that’s not all there was in the Littleton/Englewood area.

  Only one institution in Littleton would make a man in love fight tooth and nail not to admit he had a personal relationship with—the prison system.

  Did this have something to do with Caleb’s uncle the housing swindler?

  Chapter 20

  Restless after talking with Troy, Kira turned around once again and drove back out to Caleb’s mansion house. She couldn’t stop thinking about the exit he’d taken that led directly to the prison. Fervently, she hoped he was home, that it was all a mistake.

  The big house nestled in its private pine forest was dark except for the outdoor lights on the grounds. His car wasn’t in the driveway or anywhere in sight.

  Not that she had expected him to be there, but she wished he had been. She would have pounded on the door until he answered and then forced him to talk to her. The uncertainty and mystery of the situation was driving her insane.

  By the time she drove home for the second time, she was exhausted and craving her pillow. It occurred to her that she had the lunch shift as well as spending her evening with Dad. Tomorrow would be a long day.

  Despite the fatigue, Kira’s mind raced. Who did Caleb know at the federal prison facility, or was she jumping to conclusions?

  Twenty minutes later, she pulled on her pajamas and dropped into bed. In the morning, her eyes were scratchy and her throat dry.