Charm School After Dark: Lesson 1 (35 page)

“He has plans.” Blinking slowly, Caelen watched as the light eventually turned green and he disappeared from view.

“Yeah, about that.
Um
, remember when I said I had something to tell you?” Brynn’s voice came from directly beside her, having appeared out of nowhere.

Caelen rounded on her, her eyes as wide as Ms. Belle’s Franklin Mint Decorative Elvis Presley plates. “What did you do?” The tone and her intentions were ominous.

Brynn shrugged, but her wringing hands belied her calm demeanor. “I kind of called him.”

Caelen sucked in air so quickly, she felt slightly faint. When she’d steadied herself, she asked,
“What?”
The sign lay forgotten on the ground.

“I just thought he needed to put some things in perspective.”

“I swear to God, you have to stop this. When did you start analyzing everybody?” Caelen held up a hand and said, “Wait. Don’t bother to answer. I’ll help you with that one. Since
forever.
Better question, when did you start confronting everybody and telling them what was wrong with them? First me, now Dare?”

“I know, I
know.
But he’s such a good guy. And you deserve someone who’ll treat you decently. Someone who doesn’t use you for money. Yeah, I remember that loser from college. Or that guy who dated you for rides, because he didn’t have a car. Remember? You deserve better than a man who just wants to get laid when his wife’s out of town.”

“How would you like it if I did the same to you?” Caelen narrowed her gaze, her whole body zeroing in on her sister, realizing she’d been so focused on her own problems that she hadn’t paid attention to everything The Devil had said. “Hey, I know. Why don’t we talk about where you go late at night? Please tell me, so I can psychoanalyze you.”

“That’s none of your business!” Brynn winced as she said the words, perhaps realizing the over the top, global-thermal-nuclear level of hypocrisy she was throwing her way.

Caelen decided to nail it home just in case. “Really?
Really?
How about we talk about some of the losers you dated. All two of them. Or are they none of my business just like my relationship with Dare is none of yours?”

“Maybe you’re right, and I’ve been taking my Psych 101 class a little too seriously.” Brynn laughed at her lame joke, unconvincingly.

Caelen heard the faint screech of tires and it reminded her of the urgency at hand. “I don’t have time to figure this all out, but you
will
tell me where you’ve been going. Later. And oh God, we’re going to have to talk to Athena, too. Did you know about any of the stuff The Devil said about her?”

“No idea.”

“And Dacey? Wait. What did he say about Dacey?”

“Nothing.” Both sisters just looked at each other, filing away that interesting piece of information for another time.

“Okay, okay. Back to Dare. What did you say to him? No, wait. What did
he
say?”

Brynn cleared her throat. “He said you broke his heart.”

The words were like a blow – worse than scissors to her favorite charge card. No, worse than anything Victor had ever done to her. Caelen splayed a hand against her stomach and slowly sat on one of the steps leading up to the school. The same steps she’d sat on, snuggled in Dare’s arms, only a little while before. There were no words. Nothing she could do to make things better.

“But listen. I told him this wasn’t really about you.”

Caelen cocked one brow in disbelief as she wiped the black smear of mascara that must be under her eyes.

“I told him the fury he’s feeling has more to do with his ex, not you. You know how Dare is. Since we were kids, he never wanted to deal with his feelings. He wouldn’t even admit he cared about you, but everybody knew. Just like everybody knows he hasn’t dated anybody since his divorce, because things ended badly.”

“You told him that? About his ex-wife?
Shit.”

“Was that bad?” Brynn sort of half-shrugged, half-scrunched up her face.

“Yes! She cheated on him with another firefighter. And now it turns out Dare is going to have to work with the guy.
And
he’s trying really hard not to let his temper get the best of him and
kill
him.”

“So I shouldn’t have told him to talk to her and get his shit together so he doesn’t lose you?”

“Boy, you have really been stirring the pot, lately, haven’t you? I’m not going to forget it, either. Just wait until you’re in the middle of a relationship crisis. I’m going to be all up in your business, doling out advice, telling secrets. Just wait!” She pointed a finger in Brynn’s face; Ms. Belle would have been mortified at her lack of manners.

“Oh my God. You don’t think he’s going to confront her, like, right now?”

“I think he’s going to confront
him.
The boyfriend. And he won’t want to talk things out. He’ll just take care of the problem. And your friendly neighborhood advice, along with the fact that he has to work with this guy, has pushed him over the edge. He might lose his job.” She reached into her bra and pulled out her favorite lip gloss. She could always think better with fresh lips. “We have to find him. Stop him.” Caelen glanced down at her watch. “We don’t have much time before the class. Let’s go.”

“Go? Where the heck are we going?”

“To save a life.” Caelen hobbled away from the school, stashing the hammer she held in a large planter as she made her way toward her car. “Damn it! For once, I wish I hadn’t worn high heels.”

“And a skin tight dress?”

“Let’s not get carried away.” Caelen daintily walked up the steps, toward the small parking lot located in the back of the school. She’d just have to shout directions as she went and pray that everything was done before the class. First thing first, she needed details. “What did you tell him about me and Victor?”

“Not much. I figured it wasn’t my story to tell.”

“Now
it’s not your story to tell? You interfere in my life but right when you could have done some good,
it’s not your story to tell?”

“Yes, we’ve covered that part. I know!”

“If you were going to meddle, you should have gone the whole way. You tell him to talk to me, but you don’t tell him why?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Caelen shot her a look.

“I really am. I was trying to walk a fine line, but I saw his face in Mr. Brown’s office. I saw the shock and hurt when The Devil made his announcement. It was bad. He looked like someone had just knocked him in the head with a bus.”

Caelen wrenched open the door of Brynn’s mid-size SUV. “Okay, stop with that part. I know I hurt him. Let’s just find him, and make sure he doesn’t kill anybody. Do you know where Janie’s boyfriend lives?”

“Nope.”

“Do you know where Janie lives?”

“No, but I know somebody who does.” Brynn whipped out her cell and started making calls.

Please, God. Don’t let him hurt somebody because of me.

She didn’t want to ruin his life any more than she already had.

Chapter 35

‡

R
IGHT ON SCHEDULE.
The Boy Toy usually had the afternoon shift, and Janie always dropped him off. The prick either couldn’t drive a car or the two of them couldn’t stand to be apart for even a second. Dare shifted uncomfortably, realizing he’d done the exact same thing these last four days with Caelen. Even when she’d tried to take a night off, there he’d been, sniffing around.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he tried as hard as he could to separate Caelen from his feelings about Janie. He never wanted to think about his ex; it made him crazy, but maybe Brynn had been right. Every time he tapped into his anger, tried to process the thoughts, Caelen got mixed up with Janie. It made him want to tear the steering wheel from the dashboard.

Instead, he climbed from the car and slow-jogged toward the firehouse. Janie had walked Boy Toy to the door and was now making her way back to her car.

“Hey.”

She came up short and blinked. “Hi?”

Dare understood her confusion. The day she’d told him she cheated, he’d trashed the apartment, ready and waiting to take something apart, namely her boyfriend—but she’d begged and pleaded and said she would put her boyfriend’s life before her own, so he’d never touched the guy.

But he’d also never spoken to her again. Not one word.

Yet, here he was. “I need, um… No. What I’m trying to say is—” He scuffed his booted toe against the sidewalk. “Damn it. Hate this. I just need to…”

“Talk?” She asked softly, her willowy frame closed in as if she were protecting herself, against him, readying for the blow. God, he’d always hated that. There was always a reserve—he couldn’t even joke, or she’d assume this defensive posture. Caelen jumped to mind, the way she went toe to toe with him, never backing down, never acting like she was afraid of him.

“Something like that. I’m trying to figure some stuff out.” At this point, the Boy Toy came hustling through the firehouse doors. Someone inside must have given him the heads up, because he was all bunched fists, his head swinging back and forth, looking for a fight. Dare watched him for a moment, trying to get it under control, for once understanding this had nothing to do with
him.
He’d wasted so much anger on this guy, but he suddenly realized the real problem was Janie. “You better get your boy under control.”

“What?” Janie swung her gaze around and held a hand up. “Oh no. I don’t want any fighting.”

“Don’t put this on me. I came here to talk. To you. Not him. If there’s any fighting it won’t be because of me.”

“But—”

“You owe me.”

“You’re right. He just gets so mad,” she muttered to herself. “Hold on, let me talk to him for a minute.”

Dare watched the young guy, his chest heaving and arms flailing in agitation. Huh, seemed his ex-wife had a type, hotheads. Her boyfriend was Dare, ten years ago.

What an idiot.

The Boy Toy looked ridiculous, and it allowed a lot of the surface anger to subside. Now it was the deep stuff Dare would have to attend to.

Janie reluctantly made her way back toward him, her gaze jumping between the two men. The boyfriend didn’t advance, but he paced back and forth, muttering to himself and looking like an overall jackass.

“Sorry,” she said, squaring her shoulders and gritting her teeth as if bracing herself for the firing squad. “So, let’s talk.”

“I just—I want to know what went wrong. Why you cheated on me.”

She carefully ran her hand over her blonde ’do, gently tossing the locks over her shoulder, not a hair out of place. “You always cut right to the chase, don’t you?” She laughed, nervously. “I-I don’t know where to start. There are so many reasons. I can’t just name one thing.”

“Try.”

She sighed, obviously not ready for this conversation. “I don’t know. We never really spoke. About important things. Never really shared things.”

“What are you talking about? We spoke every day!”

“But not about anything that really mattered.” Her carefully modulated voice only rose slightly.

Dare rubbed a hand against his shirt, his chest suddenly tight. He was being reminded again, for the thousandth time, why he hated to talk about this shit. Too many hurt emotions were linked to too many fucked up memories, from his childhood to his marriage, and now Caelen. “Why did you marry me, then?”

“Because I was young. And stupid. And you were so good to me.”

“I loved you.” He had.

“Yes, you did. And I loved you, too. But I wasn’t your equal. I was a pretty trophy you put on the shelf and dusted off every once in a while.”

Dare threw his hands up in the air. “So, what? That makes it okay? You never tell me how you feel, and then you go off and fuck somebody else?”

Janie’s hand started to shake when she once again ran it over, not through, her hair. “Please don’t use that language. You know how I feel about cursing.”

Huh.
He’d forgotten. Since hanging around Caelen, he’d never pulled his punches, never had to pretend to be somebody he wasn’t. Now, being here with Janie, he started to remember all the ways he’d had to adjust to make her happy.

“But—But how could I have told you that? We didn’t communicate, that wasn’t our thing. We had fun, kept it light. But I knew, deep down, you had so much more going on. And I knew, I
knew
you thought I couldn’t handle the truth. And maybe you were right because when you went to those dark places. I-I was… I’m ashamed to say, I was afraid of you.”

“You thought I would hurt you?”

“Yes
. No,
not really. Well, it’s hard to explain.”

He was stunned into silence.

“I didn’t think you’d ever mean to. You just reminded me a lot of my dad.” She sighed, long and low. “Sometimes you’d get so angry, and I never knew why. You’d never talk about your parents. Your brothers. Your family.”

Damn.
Her father had been a controlling bastard. Why hadn’t he remembered that? Were they all just walking wounds from childhood?

“See. You look furious right now.”

She was right, but he didn’t really want to tell her what he was feeling. Or explain himself. That wasn’t his job, anymore. So instead, he focused on the idiot pacing back and forth like a caged gorilla. “That’s because your stupid Boy Toy is circling like he might try something.”

“He won’t. He knows what a good guy you are. I told him. I only told you why I cheated because you asked. Otherwise, I never would have said anything because you were so amazing. You were so good to me.”

“Yeah. Right. Except for the fact that you thought I might beat the crap out of you,” he flexed his hands in agitation. Why had he come here? He hated this shit, hated having to relive the pain. And none of it was helping, except to confirm the worst. His wife had been afraid of him.

Honk honk
hooonk!
Honk, honk!

Dare, Janie, and the boyfriend all turned as one and watched a red SUV come to a shrieking stop in front of the firehouse. Firefighters and EMT’s piled out of the small, two-story brick building. It wasn’t unusual for someone to show up, looking for medical attention for one reason or another.