He nodded. “I have no doubt of that. But VL…I want to help you. Will you let me?”
Vivien’s chest felt tight. She wanted to. She wanted to let go, to trust, to accept the help and support, because this was the strangest, most frightening and unsettling situation she’d ever been in.
Someone was interfering with her work, her business—targeting her specifically.
Someone was creeping around her property and wreaking havoc that could have injured someone today. All those innocent teens… She shivered at the thought.
And someone was giving her death threats.
This sort of thing only happened on-screen or onstage. Not in real life. Not to her.
“So what do we know?” he said, smoothly moving on after she didn’t respond to his question.
Vivien felt a little bad about that—about not answering it—but, dammit, it was asking an awful lot, wasn’t it?
She hadn’t seen the guy for eleven years—after he’d stomped on her heart and left her battered and bruised—and suddenly he’d shown up in the midst of her trying to start a new business, produce a show, refurbish a theater…while someone else was trying to keep her from doing it—and he wanted to get cozy? No thanks.
“We don’t know much,” she said. “Someone was in the theater, probably without my knowledge—what I mean is, I don’t think it was anyone I’d let in, like a contractor or appraiser. They wouldn’t have time to do it unless they came back later. So whoever planted that stuff somehow got in when I wasn’t there.”
“And they’ve been there at least twice. Maybe more, since whoever it was would have had to scope the place out before setting up the little surprises,” he said.
“Yeah.” She took a fortifying sip of wine.
“All indications are that whoever it is doesn’t want you in the theater. The question is whether it’s you, Vivien Leigh Savage specifically, or whether it’s anyone.”
“It could just be someone trying to punk me,” she said. “A couple of teens fooling around. Maybe they like to use the building as Make-out Central and want to keep it that way.”
“Or Party Central,” he said. “But I don’t know, VL, it seems like a lot of work to go through in order to keep a place for that. I mean, the planning, the equipment, the breaking in several times…seems like a lot of effort. Can’t they just, I don’t know, party on the beach or make out in their cars like we used to do? Besides—there’d be evidence of said parties or orgies. Did you find any condom wrappers or beer bottles around there? And would they go so far as to trash your car?”
She sighed again. “You’re so damned logical, Jake. I just wanted it to be something more benign.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Vivien felt him searching her with his gaze, and she studiously kept hers focused out over the blues of lake and sky. Don’t start to get personal, Jake. I don’t think I can take it. The death threats are personal enough.
“So, who has it in for you, VL? A business rival? A friend turned enemy? One of your many broken-hearted lovers?”
Well, he’d done it. He’d gotten personal, dammit.
She gave a short, bitter laugh. “I can’t think of anyone. Not even a broken-hearted lover. Or a current one.”
That got his attention. “A current one?”
Now she looked at him. “You don’t think I’ve been locked up mourning you like a nun for the last eleven years, do you?”
“Of course not. Didn’t I just say ‘trail of broken-hearted lovers,’ which implies a multitude? I just didn’t know if there was anyone in the picture. Currently.”
“Why do you care?”
Yeah, she knew she was teasing fire, dancing around, playing word games.
Maybe it was easier doing that than figuring out who wished her death.
Jake didn’t answer. He just looked at her with those intense brown eyes. It wasn’t a puppy-dog gaze—a hopeful, wishful one. It was straightforward, bold, steady—like, you know damned well why.
“Stop it, Jake,” she snapped. “Just stop it. I’ve got enough to deal with besides you and—whatever.”
He gave a short nod. “All right. Back to business. But don’t you think we ought to at least clear the air a little? Since we’re going to be working together—”
“I don’t really have any intention of ‘working’ with you, Jake,” she said, then sighed. “But fine. I guess with your dad being in the show, you’re going to be around whether I like it or not.”
He blanched a little. “Geez, is it that bad? Do you hate me that much?”
“Hate’s too strong a word—though I guess I did at one time,” she said bluntly. “Now it’s just more that I don’t want to be reminded of how much you hurt me—which happens whenever you’re around.”
“Wow.” His mouth tightened and he set down his wine glass with a very deliberate movement. “You weren’t the only one who got hurt, VL.”
“Why? Did Lissa dump you—”
“Stop with the Lissa crap, all right? This is about what happened with you and me, and—”
“Oh no, don’t even try that, Jake. Lissa was a big part of what happened with you and me, and you know it.”
“She wasn’t. She wasn’t part of it at all.”
Vivien gaped at him, fury and shock battling to see which could overcome the other. “She was every part of it, Jake! You jumped into bed with her mere hours after we…after we…after things went south,” she said, faltering a little.
Then she collected herself and went on, letting it all spill out in a way she’d not been able to do eleven years ago. “And it probably would have been sooner than mere hours if you could have actually located her—which surprised me, because she was always hanging around just waiting for an opportunity to flirt with you.”
She couldn’t remain seated; she rose, wine glass still in hand, and went on, gesturing sharply. “At least you waited until you had an excuse, I’ll give you that. But just barely. It wasn’t outright cheating, but it was only just barely, you know, legal. Literally from your apartment to her bed, wasn’t it, with maybe a detour to the bar first?” In her fury, she felt tears of anger sting her eyes. No way. I’m not crying in front of him. That’d be the worst thing I could do. “You’d been waiting for an excuse to screw her. And I gave it to you.”
Jake sat there, listening to her rant with an impassive look on his face. Only when she finally stopped—afraid that her voice would break and she wouldn’t be able to control the tears—did he speak. “You’re wrong about so much of it. Most of it. All right?”
She was suddenly exhausted and sank back into her chair. “Really? All right, so let’s take it bit by bit. You and I were dating—exclusively. We were supposedly in love.” She managed to keep her voice steady and hard, though it hurt. “Right so far?”
“I wasn’t supposedly in love, I was in love,” he said flatly.
“Right. Whatever. Anyway, you and I were together. Lissa Kirkland wanted you— Don’t deny it, Jake, we both know she did. It was so obvious.”
“Fine. She flirted. She made it clear she was interested.”
“And you managed to resist—at least as far as I know. Maybe you didn’t resist—”
“Vivien. I never cheated on you.”
“Whatever. You never technically cheated on me. That line of acceptability—you were barely on the right side of it, Jake. Just barely.” She jutted her chin forward in an effort to keep her emotions in check. She hadn’t imagined it would be this difficult to have it out.
“When I told you I was going to do my residency in Raleigh, I didn’t expect it to be the end of us,” he said. “I never thought you’d dump me—”
“Dump you? I didn’t dump you, Jake— We— You— I—”
“You ended it, Vivien. You told me you weren’t going to ‘fricking North Carolina’—those were your exact words; believe me, I remember them. I knew you weren’t going to be thrilled, but I didn’t expect you to be that final about it.”
“You’d always led me to believe you were going to stay at NYU,” she shot back. “It was a shock when you just dropped that brand-new, earth-shattering information in my lap. You knew I’d just signed a new lease on my apartment—and it was like a slap in the face. I was even going to ask you to move in with me,” she said, looking at him through watery eyes.
“You never told me that.”
“No, I never told you that. Your mind had been made up and I wasn’t going to stand in your way. And don’t think I didn’t know Lissa Kirkland was from Raleigh,” she snarled. “That just sealed it all for me. You decided to go to UNC so you could be with her.”
“That’s so completely and utterly wrong that I don’t know what to say. I had no idea Lissa was from Raleigh—”
“Don’t lie to me—”
“I never lie, Vivien.” Now there was real anger in his face—the temper she knew he had was rising to the surface. The corners of his mouth were white. “I didn’t know.”
“How could you not know that if I did?” she said, a little more calmly.
“I have no idea, except that maybe because I didn’t care enough about Lissa Kirkland to know or remember if she ever said where she was from.”
Vivien bit back the you obviously cared enough to jump into bed with her comment that rose to her lips. Instead she said, “Regardless. You told me you were going to North Carolina, and you knew I was staying in New York, and that gave me all the information I needed.”
“Yeah,” he said bitterly. “You had all the information you needed, and then you made the decision that we were over—at least, I thought we were over when you told me it was over and stormed out of my apartment—but apparently we were only sort of broken up, so that the next day you could hold that over my head after I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Oh, don’t go all Ross and Rachel on me,” she snapped. “Even if there was a question whether we were officially broken up or not—”
“You never gave me the chance to talk it out, Vivien. You made the decision and you flounced out.”
“Regardless of whether were we on a break or not, your screwing Lissa finalized it all. You couldn’t have cared about me that much—you couldn’t have loved me,” she said, throwing the word back in his face, “if you could go from me to three hours later being with someone else. That was all I needed to know.”
“I wasn’t with Lissa,” he said, frustration blazing in his eyes. “It was one night, and it was a mistake. A huge mistake. I didn’t want or expect it—”
“You must have wanted it enough to end up in her bed,” she interrupted.
“She was very insistent,” he said. “And I was pretty drunk.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Really? That’s your excuse? She seduced you? Give me a fucking break.”
He looked away. His jaw moved; his lips pursed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, still looking away. Then he murmured, “Men can be sexually assaulted too.”
Vivien froze. There was a sudden roaring in her ears as her body went hot.
Had he just said what she thought he’d said? No, that was…
“What did you say?”
He spewed out a long breath and looked over at her. There was something in his eyes—so stark and bleak—that made her feel weak and lightheaded. “I didn’t want it. I didn’t want her. She asked me to walk her home, and I did—though someone should have been walking me home. And then we got inside her place, and she wouldn’t let me leave. I was drunk, but not too drunk to, uh, get it up, but it was all her, and I was too drunk to fight her off…” He looked away, and his Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed. “It was not a pleasant experience.”
Vivien could do nothing but stare at him. Her insides curdled and the wine she’d had churned in her stomach. His expression left no doubt that he was telling the truth.
“It’s difficult enough for women to talk about being assaulted,” he went on in a low voice, “so imagine how hard it would be for a guy. We’re all supposed to enjoy it when women are climbing all over us and sticking their hands down our pants, grabbing us, and…” He shrugged. “It’s not like that.”
“Jake.” Her voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. I’m so…sorry.”
He grimaced and looked up, brushing the hair out of his eyes. “The next day, I was not in good shape. I couldn’t talk to you, Viv. I just couldn’t let myself—I felt sick and dirty and…then I had to worry about whether she’d get pregnant.”
“God.”
“Yeah.” He scrubbed his forehead with three strong fingers. “And obviously, word got around—and then you just cut me off. You wouldn’t talk to me, take my calls, answer my texts… And honestly—yeah, I was done with you at that point. It was too much.”
Vivien’s insides had gone from tight and painful to wobbly and sickly. “I’m sorry.”
He looked at her with those dark, compelling eyes. “I am too.”
She buried her face in her hands, then pushed all her damp hair up and away from her cheeks and looked over at him. “I should have at least talked to you. I’m sorry, Jake. I know it doesn’t mean much now, but I’m really, really sorry—not just because of what happened with you and Lissa,” she said, holding up a hand when he would have spoken, “but because I didn’t handle any of it well. Our breakup. I was rash and immature and…you were leaving me.” She sighed, feeling ugly inside. “I was wrong about so many things.”
“You were. And I didn’t have the strength to fight for you—for us, I mean. It was an awful, upsetting time. I told myself it was for the best, so I could focus on my residency. A fresh start.”
“Right. And you did it,” she said, trying to smile. “I never congratulated you, Doctor.”
“Thank you.” His smile was as weak as hers.
Vivien looked away. She didn’t know what to do with herself right now. More than a decade, thinking the worst of the man she’d loved, and now to learn that things hadn’t been quite the way she’d remembered…or thought…and facing up to her own immaturity then…and now.
“I think I should probably leave now,” she said after a moment.
“All right.”
She was a little surprised that he didn’t argue, didn’t try to convince her to stay—but what had she expected? If she hadn’t been so stubborn and rash back then…and short and rude over the last few days…
Oh, damn, she was a freaking mess.
Chapter Eleven
Vivien helped Jake carry their dishes inside. “This was really nice,” she said. “Thank you for putting it all together. I didn’t deserve it.”
“Vivien—”
“No, really, Jake, I feel like crap right now—and rightly so. I really need to go and just try to get my head on straight. I’ve got a lot going on…a lot to think about.”
“Right,” he said. “Let me get my keys. I’ll drive you home.”
As he went to do so, he noticed her phone, which she’d left sitting on the side table next to the sofa. “Looks like someone’s been trying to reach you,” he said, handing it to her.
“Oh, crap—it’s Helga. She’s about ready to call in the Feds looking for me,” she said with a pained laugh. “Literally. I better call her. Maybe she’ll pick me up.”
Jake was all right with that. He needed a little time to settle his thoughts, because something had become very clear to him during their heated discussion and the churning up of the past.
Despite his own anger and pain, he very much cared that Vivien was hurting and grieving. He ached for her and the obvious shock and shame she felt…and even though he had things of his own to work through, he realized he wanted to be there for Vivien in her difficulty as well.
Damn. He wasn’t just not “over” Vivien…he was still in love with her.
And he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do about it.
“I really don’t want to talk about Jake,” Vivien told Helga. “I can’t. Not right now. It’s just too…
painful.”
“All right, then,” said Helga, then muttered under her breath as she braked to avoid running into a pedestrian who seemed more interested in her huge elephant-ear pastry than looking both ways. “We can talk about other things—like who’s trying to chase you out of the Olivia Dee Theater.”
“Yeah, that’s only a slightly more appetizing topic,” Vivien muttered.
“But you never really told me about what happened with the two of you—just that Jake up and decided to move to Raleigh. And that he cheated on you.”
Vivien heaved a sigh. “I guess we’re going to talk about it anyway, aren’t we?”
Helga gave her a sunny smile. “That’s what friends are for. But seriously, VL, I’m worried about what’s going on at the theater.”
“I am too. I’m going to set up my own nanny-cams in the theater tomorrow,” Vivien said, having literally just made the decision. “I made the police report about my car, and you can come by and take a look at everything there at the stage. Maybe there’ll be some clue.”
“I’ll come first thing in the morning. Actually, I’ll have to pick you up, since you don’t have a car,” Helga promised. She looked smart and official in her crisp dark blue uniform and shiny badge. “I’m on till ten tonight, and there’s only two of us because Joe Cap is off on a college tour for his twins.” Police Captain Joe Longbow was better known as Joe Cap to both his staff and the locals. “I guess he figured things would be semi-quiet on a Thursday?” She shook her head.
Moments later, Helga had parked her police cruiser in a no-parking zone a half block from the tiny bungalow Vivien was renting until she found a permanent place.
“Perks of the job,” said the cop when her friend gave her a jaundiced look. “Makes up for being called out of bed in the middle of the night to break up a bonfire on the beach after it’s closed, or not being able to have a beer while at Maxine’s birthday party in case I’ve got to run to a call or break up a fight. Which, by the way, you missed this year.”
“The fight at Maxine’s birthday party, or just a fight in general?” Vivien climbed out of the car, then opened the back door to pull out the Nutcracker headpiece.
Sinister Stage: A Ghost Story Romance and Mystery (Wicks Hollow Book 5) Page 13