Beyond the Past (7 page)

Chapter 14

Gabby sat at the kitchen counter printing off the MLS listings she’d found for Jerrod. A few of them looked promising, and she waited for him to call her back with a good time for him to see them. Then, she could call the other agents and let them know when she would show the homes.

She glanced at the microwave; it read three-thirty p.m. The day had flown by, and she doubted they would have time to see the houses today.

Her cell phone rang, and she looked at the number, not recognizing it. “Hello?”

“Hi, Gabby, this is Jerrod.”

His voice sounded warm and smooth, sending a little chill down her spine.

“Hi, Jerrod. I was just thinking about you.” Oh, that came out wrong. “I mean, I was looking at houses for you and wondering when you were going to return my phone call.”

He chuckled. “I got a little tied up today, so I apologize for not returning your call sooner. Although, I do have to admit, I like the idea of you thinking about me.”

Her cheeks warmed and she shut her eyes, unsure of what to say.

“Gabby?”

“I’m here,” she murmured.

“I’m sorry if I offended you or upset you. It wasn’t my intention.”

“That’s okay. You did neither.” She hadn’t been offended or upset, but a little rush of that excitement had swelled through her and her heart burned with shame again. She had nothing to feel guilty about—Lucas had left her. At some point, she would need to move on, but she just didn’t feel ready right now.

“I’m glad,” he said.

A beat of awkward silence followed, and then she cleared her throat and said, “When did you want to look at these houses? I have four of them I’d like you to see.”

“Wow, that’s awesome!” He sounded enthused. “I can’t today, but how about tomorrow?”

“Sure, that sounds fine. I can email the listings to you and you can look them over and let me know if any of them really stand out to you or if there are any you don’t like.”

“Perfect.”

“Okay, well . . . um, I’ll send them over and you—“

“Gabby, would you meet me for an early cocktail?”

Her heart raced at the thought, and she almost said yes, but then, the guilt washed over her again. She just wasn’t ready. “I’m sorry. I can’t tonight, but thank you for the invitation.”

“That’s too bad. It’s hard being in a city where you don’t know anyone.”

“Yes, I know,” she replied, thinking about her first few months before she met Rachel.

“Well, then, I guess I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. I’ll send this over right away.”

“Perfect.”

Gabby laid her phone down on the table. Maybe she should have gone out with him. Maybe if she had, it would help her get over all these conflicting feelings. Jerrod was good looking and nice, and he did spark something within her that both scared her and excited her. She picked up the phone again and almost called him back, but then decided against it.

Looking around her apartment, the rain pattering on the rooftop reminded her of a song her mother used to sing to her about crying angels. Despite her mother Loretta’s clean living and hippie lifestyle in the commune where Gabby had grown up, Loretta had still succumbed to cancer five years ago. Gabby never knew her father. Her mother had said it could have been one of four men she’d slept with as she traveled from Kentucky to the commune in Montana, just outside of Butte, where she finally settled down. Loretta couldn’t offer any names or address of Gabby’s potential fathers. “They were all just flings,” her mother had said when Gabby questioned her at age thirteen.

Now, she wished more than ever she knew his identity. With Lucas gone, she felt so alone. She would have loved to be able to pick up the phone and call a parent, just to say hello and catch up on each other’s lives.

As a tear slid down her cheek, she realized she was in for another night of isolation and loneliness.

Chapter 15

Lucas lay in bed and gazed out the window, noticing the sunlight wasn’t able to penetrate the grey clouds hovering above. He stood, feeling as though the muscles in his legs would snap in half. He longed to take a couple of Motrin and go back to bed, but the only way the muscles were going to limber up would be through use.

He gingerly walked to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. As it hissed and dripped, he looked out the kitchen window. The solitude felt wonderful, but now that his head had cleared from the booze—which surprisingly, he did not miss—his mind held him hostage with thoughts of Gabby.

The sun finally peeked through the clouds. A few birds chirped, breaking the silence. He once again thought of how much Gabby would love the cabin. She would thrive on the peace and solitude, and he could picture her curled up on the couch, cuddled under a blanket, reading a book while sipping a glass of Merlot or some of her favorite chamomile and vanilla tea. He imagined walking over to her and sitting on the opposite end of the couch. She would smile at him, his heart would warm, and she’d push her feet in his direction. Lovingly, he would slowly massage them as she set down her book. They’d talk in quiet tones about nothing, and eventually, he’d scoot over on the couch so her legs laid over his lap, and he’d massage them all they way up to her hips. He’d lean down to kiss her and gently rub between her legs. She’d wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him down flush on top of her, and she’d spread her thighs as his body covered hers.

The coffee pot hissed, breaking his reverie. He pulled a large mug out of the cupboard and filled it to the top. The black liquid burned his lips and tongue, but warmed his stomach. After grabbing an apple, he ate it in four large bites, downed the rest of his coffee, and decided to run up to the hill where he and Garrett had gone. Once there, he’d do some more pull-ups, and then come home and chop some wood. After that, he’d reward himself with a steak and some scrambled eggs.

After changing into his jeans, boots, and coat, he stepped out into the cold morning. Because he’d lived in Montana for so long, he knew the smell of incoming snow, and he definitely detected a twinge of it in the Nevada air as he inhaled.

He took off down the driveway around the pond and up the hill, keeping his pace slow and steady as the air seared his lungs. The muscles in his legs burned as he trudged upward, trying to stay in the footsteps from the day before. Finally, he reached the tree and bent over while resting his hands on his knees. As he tried to control his breathing, he heard a branch snap to his right.

About a thirty feet away stood a doe and her fawn. He slowly sunk to his knees as he watched them gracefully walk over snow-covered bushes and fallen trees, their white chests blending in perfectly with the snow. The doe came to a halt, the baby right behind her. She glanced around, her ears twitching in all directions as she surveyed the area. Lucas smiled at the raw beauty, thinking that Gabby would love to see it. In the commune, they’d often had visits from wildlife, and Gabby had always squealed in delight when the deer came through. He could imagine her gasps of happiness if she were next to him now.

His leg started to cramp and he shifted his weight. The doe froze for a moment, glanced his way, and then galloped off in the other direction, her fawn right beside her.

Lucas stood. He and Gabby had always wanted kids, although she’d probably yearned for them more than he did. They had tried, but hadn’t been successful in two years. It would have been a perfect time after his discharge, but he hadn’t been able to hold his shit together. He recalled the last time they’d made love before he left. He had never wanted the experience to end because he knew he was leaving her. He had to keep the love of his life safe—safe from him and his crazy visions, and safe from the government.

“I miss you, Gabby,” he whispered into the silence.

The snow began to fall, and he reached up to the tree branch. Ten pull-ups later, he rested for a moment, and then banged out ten more.

Exhausted, he pushed himself to jog back to the cabin. As it came into view, his eyesight blurred, the snow and trees in front of him morphed and waved. Seconds later, a vision came to him and he dropped to his knees.

A small, thin woman with short blonde hair leaned up against a wall, looking stressed, yet determined to accomplish some task. A crease formed in her brow as she pursed her lips, and her chest heaved as if she breathed heavily. Lucas couldn’t see any landmarks or factors telling of her location—she was just up against a plain, boring white wall.

She moved slowly, and he could almost feel her tension, and his own heart raced.

Suddenly, she took a fist to the jaw, causing her to stagger backward. He couldn’t see her attacker in the dim light, but Lucas thought it a man.

Another fist connected to her face, and she fell to the floor. Lucas looked around again, trying to place where this could be happening, but saw nothing defining except stacks of boxes. Were they in a house? It looked as though someone was either moving in or moving out.

The man raised the gun as the woman scrambled to her feet, her face a mask of fear. The muzzle flashed. Slowly, she dropped to her knees, and then slumped on the floor, her unfocused, dead eyes staring off into the distance while a crimson stain grew over her chest.

The vision warped and waved, and Lucas gazed around, finding himself again amongst the trees, wrapped in the silence and on his knees in the deep snow.

Exhaling, he stood and tried to calm his heart as he continued back to the cabin. He’d been through many deployments with his platoon. He’d seen people die, and he’d even been responsible for a few deaths. However, he had a definitive problem with violence against women, and it seemed that was what he’d witnessed.

“That’s just fucking wrong,” he mumbled to himself as he walked into the cabin, trying to shake the images from his head.

Chapter 16

“I brought you coffee,” Jerrod said as he got out of the car.

Gabby smiled. “Thank you so much.”

They had decided to meet at one of the houses Jerrod wanted to see, and it lay empty. Between the relentless rain and the lack of heat in the house, Gabby had been freezing despite her thick coat.

He handed her the Starbucks cup and she gratefully accepted it, smelling a hint of vanilla wafting from it.

“I love vanilla,” she murmured. “You just made my day.”

He laughed. “Well, that was easy.”

“I’m pretty simple. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.”

“That’s good to know. How’s the house look?”

“Let’s go in and you can judge for yourself.”

He pushed open the door and she followed. Having a single man as a client was rare, and normally, she would have been very wary of meeting him. However, Jerrod knew Rachel and Gabby had dined with him, so he wasn’t a total stranger. There weren’t any internal alarms going off where he was concerned. She felt comfortable around him.

He walked through the house slowly, taking in everything. “That’s nice crown molding.” He pointed to the ceiling in the living room.

“The listing realtor says it’s all new, as is the paint,” she said.

“Nice spacious master bedroom,” he commented. “With a walk-in closet. Very nice.”

He didn’t pay much attention to the kitchen, but seemed to get excited when he opened the door to the basement.

“Are you coming down with me?” he asked.

As a general rule, she hated basements and solely blamed Lucas and the fact he’d made her watch so many horror films. He said he liked them for the suspense, but she secretly thought he enjoyed them because she always ended up curled in his lap.

Sighing, she decided there was no better time to get over her little phobia. “Sure.”

She followed him down the steps, and he flipped on the light switch at the bottom.

The basement had been completely finished and refurbished, and smelled like new carpet and paint. She could see the larger open space being used as a family room, and the smaller area as storage, or even a bedroom for an older child, or a guest room. The mocha carpet warmed the space despite the glossy white cement walls.

“This is really nice down here!” she exclaimed while glancing over at Jerrod to judge his reaction.

“It is,” he murmured as he crossed his arms over his chest. Today, he wore a pair of jeans and a blue turtleneck, once again, the same shade as his eyes. He ran his hair through his dark hair. “I do like it.”

She bit her lip to keep her excitement in check. The money this sale would bring would allow her to add to her savings account, and she could also afford to do something nice for herself. Maybe Rachel and she could head somewhere warm for a few days.

“I like it, Gabby, but I’d like to see the others before I make a decision.”

“Of course. We can definitely see the others.”

“That one that’s out of town a bit will have to wait until tomorrow,” he said as he checked his phone. “I’ve got a meeting in about an hour, and I don’t think we’ll be back by then.”

Gabby nodded. “Probably not.”

He followed her to the stairs, and a tremor ran down her spine as he turned off the lights and trailed up behind her. She didn’t understand why this man caused such a strange reaction in her. Could the shudder be because she was attracted to him?

As they said their goodbyes on the front porch, she studied him. His dark hair and blue eyes made for a nice combination, and his easy demeanor relaxed her. Plus, he’d brought her coffee on a cold day, which meant he was also thoughtful.

“What time can we meet tomorrow, Gabby?”

“I’ve got a showing at ten in the morning, but other than that, I’m free the rest of the day.”

“Awesome. What do you say we grab a late lunch and then head out there?”

Her immediate reaction screamed “no,” but his hopeful gaze and small smile made it hard for the word to leave her lips. Before she knew what she was doing, she’d agreed to meet him at a small café on the way out of town.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” he called as he dashed through the rain to his car.

Gabby watched him drive away, and then went back through the house to make sure all the lights were off. She shut the front door and locked it.

As she ran to her car, she realized she was looking forward to their lunch date.

Yes, it was a date.