Paradise Disguised

by Liliana Hart

  Dylan choked at the thought of the little round man that resembled Danny DeVito, and what he could possibly do with a case of Viagra, but Anna’s previous word’s still left him in shock. Pregnant.

  Anna nudged Dylan out of the way while he was still speechless. She lifted her chin high and opened the bathroom door. Not one person had moved since they’d gone in together, and if she had to guess, several people had come in after being informed of the situation and decided to stay around to see what happened.

  She gathered her desserts and her courage and left the crowd to gossip in the bakery. Somehow she had to buy a pregnancy test without everybody in the whole county finding out.

  Dylan headed out at his own pace, unbothered by the stares and whispers, his mind on what she’d said. Love. Pregnancy. He was afraid, but he found there was a yearning in him he didn’t know he harbored. Things were moving faster than he wanted, but he didn’t have a choice because he was already in love with Anna Hollis.

  Chapter Ten

  Ahh…Home sweet home.

  Anna looked at the Hollis Mansion from the end of the long driveway and smiled wistfully. It was home and always would be, no matter how long she was gone.

  Cherry trees lined the long driveway and the pink blossoms were blooming in full glory. Weeping Willows flanked each corner of the house and a white swing hung from one of the branches. Everything was so green and pure.

  She drove down the long driveway and felt like the princess of the castle as pink blossoms reigned down on her. Her smile brightened at the sight of her father as he closed the screen door behind him and waited for her arrival on the wide, columned front porch, but it dimmed slightly as she saw his expression. He was not happy to see her from the looks of things. She’d have to guess by the deep set frown lines that word had already reached his ears about the bathroom incident. And then fear gripped her heart. What if someone had seen her walk into the Walgreens two towns away? She clutched the plastic bag that held the home pregnancy kit in her hand and then hurriedly shoved it into her handbag. She was prepared to lie like crazy just in case.

  Anna took her time pulling the luggage out of her trunk, stalling the upcoming confrontation as long as possible.

  “Hi, Dad,” she said, walking past him in hopes that she could make it to her rooms without a confrontation.

  “Don’t you hi, Dad me,” he said, hot on her trail. “Do you have any idea the number of phone calls I’ve gotten today? And it’s only the middle of the afternoon.”

  “I’m twenty-five years old. I shouldn’t have to explain my actions to the whole town or be under their scrutiny twenty-four hours a day.”

  “That’s the price you pay when you live in a small town. You know this, so why would you deliberately do something to cause such a ruckus?”

  “I didn’t do anything. It was all Dylan’s fault. He pushed me into the bathroom. I couldn’t stop him.”

  “What are you talking about? What bathroom?” Jack asked, confused.

  “Well, what are you talking about?” Anna asked, wishing she could drop off the planet. Surely someone had called to tell him about the bathroom incident. She kept her fingers crossed about Walgreens.

  “I’m talking about fifty people calling me wanting to know if I knew you were back in town. They said you came rolling into town like you didn’t have a care in the world. Not that you let me know of your comings and goings. And Mrs. Edgars wanted to know why you felt like you didn’t have to obey traffic laws.”

  “I obeyed all traffic laws, dad. Mrs. Edgars is a hundred and forty years old. She couldn’t see a stop sign if it was five feet in front of her.”

  He nodded his head in partial agreement. Anna noticed the look on his face hadn’t changed, but when she examined it closer, she realized it wasn’t anger that cause the lines to furrow his brow. It was sadness, and worse, disappointment.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I should have called to let you know when I was getting back into town. I didn’t mean to make you worry,” she said, pulling him into a hug. “I probably should have given you more detail as to why I was leaving as well, but I didn’t think I could explain it at the time without breaking down. I just needed to leave town.”

  “Was it because of Dylan?” he asked, concerned.

  “Yes, but I think I have everything under control now.”

  “What did he do?” Jack demanded. “I’ll take the hide off that boy if he’s done anything to hurt you. I told him before he even asked you out to make sure he took care of you.”

  “What?”

  Jack realized his blunder too late. “Umm…It’s not what it seems Anna. I was just worried about you being cooped up in the house all the time. I wanted you to be happy, to find a man you could settle down with and raise a family.”

  “You set this all up?” she asked, mortified. “I’ll never be able to face him again. He must think I’m the most desperate woman in the world to have my father set up my dates for me.”

  “It’s not like that Anna. Settle down. Dylan asked about you first. It was after he mentioned you that I started to get the idea in my head. Lord knows the both of you are attracted to each other. I watched you circle around it for months before either of you made a move.”

  Anna closed her eyes in embarrassment. Apparently she hadn’t hidden her lustful gazes well enough for her father not to notice. “Why didn’t he tell me?” she asked.

  “Why would he?” Jack countered. “It’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be. You like him, he likes you, end of story.”

  “It’s not like it matters anyway,” she said. “I hate to disappoint you, but my relationship with Dylan is nothing more than superficial. I never want to get married or have a family.”

  Anna blanched at the thought that she might be carrying Dylan’s child even as she spoke the denial to her father, and the feeling didn’t scare her as much as it should have. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she adjusted to the idea, but she squashed the feeling before she could become too comfortable.

  “How could you even want that for me after what you went through when mom died?”

  “What nonsense. You’re telling me you’d give up a lifetime of happiness with a man you loved and the joy of having children because you’re afraid. That doesn’t sound like the Anna Hollis I know.”

  “Well it’s the only Anna Hollis there is, and I never said I loved him.”

  “Let me tell you something young lady. That is a foolish notion and hopefully you’ll come to your senses soon. I wouldn’t trade one moment of the time I got to spend with your mother. Even if I’d known our time together was going to be short I’d have married her anyway and cherished our time as much as I still do. You make your own happiness, Anna, and live the hand life deals you.” He casually brushed the tears off his cheek with a shaky hand.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I’m just scared. I don’t think I could bear to lose someone I loved that much. I don’t think I’m as strong as you are.”

  “Nonsense. You have Hollis blood in you veins, don’t you? Just think about what I said. I know you’ll make the right decision when the time comes. Now what’s this about a bathroom incident?”

  Anna blushed at the thought of what he was bound to find out at any moment. “I think I’ll plead the Fifth on this one and let you find out from your next caller. I don’t think I can handle any more embarrassing situations today.”

  “Well that sounds promising. I think I’ll go wait next to the phone just in case. Is there anything else you need to tell me about?”

  “No,” Anna winced at the lie. Somehow parents always knew when their kids were hiding things from them.

  Anna gave him a backwards wave and headed upstairs to get ready for an evening with Dylan. Not just a hot night of sex, though hopefully that would be included, but an actual date where they could sit face to face and see if they had anything in common besides a sizzling attraction. Talk about scary.
What if they sat in complete silence the entire meal and just stared at each other?

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” she said to herself. She pulled a dress out of the closet and ran her bathwater, sprinkling in the scented sea salts Mel had given her for her birthday. The lilac aroma rose fragrantly in a cloud of steam as she stepped into the hot water.

  She looked at the little white box in front of her. “Well it’s now or never,” she said, pulling the test out of the box.

  The directions said she had to wait three minutes before accurate results would be displayed, so she laid the test on the counter and hopped in the tub, so she wouldn’t be biting her fingernails for the next three minutes.

  Anna leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting her muscles relax from the long car ride.

  And then the phone rang…and rang…and rang.

  “Dammit. Can’t I have five minutes of peace and quiet?” she yelled to no one in particular.

  It could only be a select few who were calling. She only gave her number to close friends or family. It would just have to wait, whatever it was.

  The mood broken, she bathed quickly and stepped out of the tub. She closed her eyes and picked up the test and then cracked one eye to see what the results were.

  “Oh.” Relief and a little disappointment coursed through her as she saw the negative sign in the box. It wasn’t meant to be.

  She wrapped herself in a thick towel, looking frantically at the clock as she began pulling undergarments out of drawers. It was later than she’d thought. Dylan would be there before she knew it.

  She did a light makeup job, since it was so warm outside, and highlighted her eyes with a touch of shadow. She dusted her face and shoulders with a shimmery powder and pulled her hair up in a high pony tail on her head to keep the thick mass off the back of her neck. Summer was just around the corner, and with the hot spring days they’d been having, she couldn’t imagine what the heat in the summer was going to be like.

  The stockings she had laid out on the bed already looked suffocating, so she chose to go without them for the evening. She didn’t need them, her legs being one of her best features, long, tanned and smooth. It’s not like they would stay on long anyway.

  Anna winced as she heard the phone warble from inside her purse once again. “Fine, I’m coming. I’m coming,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air and hurrying over to the front entry table in her suite, only wearing her underwear and high heels.

  Her heel snagged the carpet runner in the foyer and she went sprawling in a heap on the floor. She barely managed to get her fingers around her purse when she crash landed, and her phone ended up falling on her forehead to add insult to injury.

  “Holy cow.” She tried to get her breath back and thanked God that no one had been around to see her make a fool of herself. She felt all her extremities to make sure nothing was hurt, other than her pride, and picked up her phone since it continued to play Hungarian Rhapsody in shrill tones.

  “What,” she said into the receiver. She pulled herself up slowly and sat in the small Queen Anne chair next to the table.

  “Is this Anna Hollis?” the voice on the other asked.

  She could barely understand the question, the voice was so low and distorted. “This is Anna. Who is this?”

  “That’s not important. All you need to know is that you’d better stay away from Dylan Maguire or the next time you pass over Paradise Crossing I’ll make sure you end up on the rocks below. Is that understood?”

  Fear gripped Anna’s heart in a suffocating vise, and the color drained from her face. Someone was actually threatening to kill her. Anger quickly replaced fear, that someone would dare to threaten her over something as silly as who she dated.

  “How dare you threaten me,” Anna yelled into the phone. “I guess you’d better give it your best shot because I’m going to keep seeing Dylan you jealous freak. And you know what? There’s nothing in this world you could threaten me with to make me give up the best sex of my life. You must be out of your mind.”

  Anna pulled the phone back from her ear slightly as it slammed down on the other end. Her adrenaline was pumping full steam ahead and she felt invigorated.

  She was a moron. She’d just taunted a madman to come and kill her because she wasn’t willing to give up sex. But it felt great to stand up for herself. It had been too long since she’d gotten to do that.

  “I’ve had enough of this,” Anna said, dialing her phone. Relief coursed through her when the person she was looking for picked up on the other end.

  “Sheriff Haney? This is Anna Hollis.” She listened for a few seconds before she felt the flush in her cheeks. “No, I wasn’t breaking any traffic laws. I promise.”

  Damn Mrs. Edgars, the old busybody, Anna thought sourly. All she had to do all day was sit on her front porch and spy on the citizens of Paradise. She should get a citation for butting into other people’s business.

  She dropped her head on her knees with Sheriff Haney’s next statement. “No, I didn’t know it was considered public indecency to go into a woman’s restroom with a man.”

  She listened to the set down in acceptance. There wasn’t really a whole lot she could do when the Sheriff was scolding her.

  “No, Sheriff Haney. I won’t do it again.”

  “No, sir…Well it wasn’t really my fault. Dylan forced his way in.” Her efforts to clear her name fell on deaf ears. She’d apparently been labeled a Jezebel by the entire town.

  “Sheriff Haney,” Anna interrupted. “I’ve actually called for a different reason. You see, someone keeps threatening me, and I just got another phone call. I’d appreciate it if you take a statement so I can get everything documented.”

  “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

  Anna hung up the phone and put her head down on the table. Why did things like this happen to her? She thought about it for a moment and realized things like that never happened to her when she was a shy nobody. Maybe that was the key.

  “Well it’s too late for all that now,” she said, getting up to get dressed before the Sheriff arrived. She pulled on the strapless sheath of turquoise silk and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was perfect, stopping mid-thigh, and the exact shade of her eyes. It was sure to knock Dylan dead.

  “Okay bad choice of words,” she muttered, grabbing her shawl and matching handbag. Sheriff Haney would be there any minute and she wanted to get the interview over with before Dylan showed up.

  “Well don’t you look pretty,” her father said as she came down the stairs.

  “Thanks. How’s phone duty going? Have you heard anything new?” she asked, crossing her fingers that her name had stayed clear of the lines.

  “Nothing about you. Yet,” he amended. “It must be pretty bad for people to be afraid to call and tell me, but I’ll find out eventually.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Anna muttered.

  “I heard that.”

  “You always do. I’m going out to dinner tonight with Dylan, so I probably won’t be home if you do get a call.”

  “Well, maybe folks have forgotten about you with all the happenings today. I think the heat is starting to affect people’s minds,” Jack said. “The Shiney’s have a new grandbaby, and I’m sure I’ll go by for a pint or two tonight to help them celebrate. I think Brian’s brother is bound and determined to populate the world. This will be their fifth.”

  “Maybe he’s just trying to make up for Brian not having any,” Anna said.

  “Brian’s been sweet on Veronica Fox since high school. He’ll eventually find his way out of the paper bag he lives in and ask her out.”

  “Brian…likes Veronica?” Anna stuttered. “How do you know these things? He’s never said a word about her to me or Mel.”

  “Well, I happen to be a great observer of people. It comes with running a business for so long. Douglas Howard called a few minutes ago to tell me that Norma’s son was arrested again for st
ealing a case of Bud Light from a 7-Eleven. No wonder she’s always in a bad mood. The boy just as easily could have taken one of the cases she keeps in her refrigerator and not gone to jail for it. I’ve always suspected that Norma’s first husband was her second cousin, but no one knows for sure.”

  Anna crinkled her nose. “Ughh.” But that put more light on Norma’s sour disposition.

  She checked the time once again. Where was Sheriff Haney? She didn’t have all day to wait on him. What did he think her tax dollars were paid for?

  She heard a car door slam and took back her bad thoughts of the man. She kissed her dad on the cheek, told him bye and walked quickly to the door, hoping to head off the Sheriff at the front porch. The last thing she wanted was to worry her dad, and she would make it clear to the Sheriff that she didn’t want him finding out about the threats.

  “Thanks for coming Sheriff,” Anna said by way of greeting. She led him to a white wicker chair and sat down beside him.

  “Now what’s all this about threats?” he asked, clearly disbelieving of her tale.

  Anna had just opened her mouth to speak when she noticed the snappy little car coming up her driveway. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the black Aston Martin, and a bubble of envy formed in the pit of her stomach. That was one sexy car, and she didn’t know anyone in Paradise who owned one.

  Sheriff Haney was equally stunned by the machine, but nothing could have hidden their surprise at who stepped out of the driver’s side.

  “That’s your car?” Anna asked Dylan as he slowly made his way up the wide front steps. She didn’t notice the expensive Italian suit he wore that made him devastatingly handsome or the yellow roses he held in his hand.

  “Yeah, do you like it?” he asked, smiling at her reaction.

  “Is it a V-12?” Anna asked, wanting nothing more than to run her fingers over every inch of the car.

  “Of course. I didn’t know you were into cars?”

  “Are you kidding me? My grandfather taught me how to rebuild an engine when I was in high school. I wanted to be a mechanic until I realized it wouldn’t help me run Hollis Tools one day.”