Private Property: a Contemporary Romance Novella (14 page)

She’d managed to pay off almos
t all of her outstanding bills and moved in to a comfortable apartment,
waiti
ng until then to look for a house
of her own.  That decision had allowed her to put almost all her money towards clearing up her credit.  Now she only had
a couple more bills
pay off and she was home free.  The college she’d chosen had managed a grant for her and she wouldn’t need a loan
until her last semester, or quite possibly not until she began her Master’s program
.  By then, she hoped to be in her own home and have only a handful of bills to be worried about.

But the best part
of all these changes had to be
that
she wasn’t plagued with nightmares anymore.  She was
able to sleep through the night, which in her current role was a
much needed
commodity.

She raced Leanne to the rock and scaled down it, forcing the waif of a girl to push herself further.  When they crossed the finish line, almost at a tie, they both crumpled to the ground in a heap.

“You did great today!”  Tabitha praised, pulling the girl to her feet.

“
Wanna
go get some water?”

“Nah, kiddo, I have to get going.  I have plans tonight.”  It was Labor Day weekend and the club was sure to be packed.  It was a trendy joint playing up
to the more hip crowd, with an open
dance floor, multiple pool tables and game area, and the most up-to-date D.J. in the Austin area.  There would barely be room to move by midnight.  Besides, Kristen was coming up with her new boyfriend.  She needed to get some rest
before the weekend began
.

Patrick let her off early so that she could hang out with Kristen and Doug and after closing
down the club
, they’d gone for a bite to eat before Tabitha escorted the
tipsy
couple to their pos
h hotel
.  While Doug was using the restroom, Kristen flopped back on the huge bed,
characteristically
dragging Tabitha down with her.

“Isn’t he fabulous?” Kristen squealed.

Tabitha agreed.  Doug was perfect for her and Tabitha was thankful that Kristen had finally found someone.  He was a gorgeous executive at a lucrative adver
tising firm in Downtown Houston;
they’d met at a campaign function six months ago and had been inseparable ever since.  He was courteous, intelligent, sexy, independent and completely wrapped around Kristen’s little finger.
They’d already gone on
a vacation
together and it looked like the ever-single Kristen had finally fallen in love.  Tabitha was ecstatic.

The three talked and laughed a while longer, making plans to spend the holiday on Lake Travis.  Finally, Tabitha made her escape, promising to call when she was up and functional.

It was already closing on five in the morning as she made her way across the lobby.  Her mind so muddled from fatigue, she didn’t watch where she was going and tripped over a large bag set away from the Concierge counter.

She managed to keep from falling, but made quite a loud noise at being caught off guard.  A hand snagged hold of h
er and helped
her right
herself
.

“I’m so sorry.  I guess I wasn’t paying any attention.”  She looked up into a set of clear, green eyes.

“Tabitha?”

“Jared?  I…hi, how
are
you?”

“What are you doing here?”  He was looking her over, up and down, utter disbelief adorning his handsome features.

“I was visiting a friend, Kristen.  I’m on my way home.”  She couldn’t breathe.  She was going straight into a panic attack.

“You look great.  C
ongratulations on the Ropes
job.  I’m glad you finally got in over there.”  Just then a tall, leggy blonde sidled up to him, wrapping herself catlike around his arm.

“Who’s this, honey?”  She purred.  God, in the heels she was wearing she was almost as tall as he was.  She was model-perfect with full red lips, big brown eyes and skin women killed for.

“Amanda, this is a…patient of mine.  Well, not anymore really.  Tabitha
McLean
.”

Tabitha shook the woman’s dainty, perfectly manicured hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tabitha.”  Her voice was like warm honey and she exuded elegance.

“Yes.  So are you two in town for the weekend?”

Jared nodded.  “I’ve got a convention starting on Tuesday so I thought to go ahead and spend the weekend up here.”

If possible, Amanda leaned in closer to him, placing her petite head on his shoulder.  “Yes, I finally convinced him to take some time off for me.”  She beamed a perfect smile.

Jared looked stiff and uncomfortable.  Tabitha was finding it hard to remain upright.  “Well, I’ve had a long night.  I should get going.  It was great to see you again.  Enjoy Labor Day.”  She took off without a look back.

Her heart was pounding and her hands shook so badly she was having trouble steering her car.  She finally pulled into a gas station parking lot and leaned her head on the wheel.  How did he know about her job?

Amanda had been so perfect, the ideal woman for him.  Her stomach lurched at the thought of that woman hugging onto him
.  Well, i
t was no concern of hers anymore.  It had been
twelve months
since she’d seen him.  But with that one brief encounter, she was whisked back to the time they’d shared and that one unforgettable night, every last det
ail as fresh in her mind as the
day the memories were made.

Tabitha remained in bed for the next two days, torn between bouts of crying and anger.  On Monday, she managed to pull herself together and meet her friends a
t The Oasis, a
restaurant that overlooked the lake.

“You seem
drab
.”  Kristen obser
ved after an hour or so without
much conversation.  “What’s wrong?”

“I ran into Jared
Larsen
Friday
night
, well Saturday morning,
when I left you two.”

“Really?  Where?”

“In the hotel lobby.”

At a confused look from Doug, Kristen squeezed his hand.  “Dr. Jared
Larsen
is the man responsible for the scars on Tabby’s leg and arm.  He’s also the man she’s been in love with for over a year.”

“Shut up, Kris.”  Tabitha gulped down her frozen margarita.  “It was his dog that attacked me last year, Doug.  And he helped get me back on my feet.”

“Well, that’s the least he could
do
considering.”

“Actually,” Kristen piped up, “it was Tabitha’s fault for trespassing.”

“I didn’t have a choice, remember?  My car broke down – ”

“Around a pole.” Kristen interjected.

“The weather was bad and I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“I see.”  Doug responded, steepling his fingers under his chin.

“They slept together one night and Tabitha took off running the next day.”

“Thanks, Kristen.  I’m sure Doug wants all the sordid details.”

“I don’t mind.”  He presented her with one helluva smile and wrapped an arm around Kristen.

“You two are the perfect pair.”  Tabitha
observed
.  “
But you know,
a question
comes to mind
.  He knew about my job.”  She leveled a piercing gaze at her friend.  “How did he know that, Kristen?”

“Are you accusing me of something, Tabby?”

“I don’t know, Kris, am I?”

Kristen
casually
slumped back against her chair.  “All right.  We’ve kept in contact.  I give him free game tickets and he helps out my guys when they get injured.”  Tabitha stared at her hard, disbelieving her friend had kept something so important from her.  “It’s not like I was hiding it from you.  I just figured you didn’t want to know.”

“So, why does he know all about me?”

“Because he cares, Tabby. 
Who do you think sent you all those flowers
and the two bears
while you were in the hospital?
  Have you really never put that together?
”

Tabitha held up a hand.  “Wait.  What?  Those flowers were from him?”  She paused, searching for an explanation.  “He was just trying to make me feel better…to…
to cover up for the lack of family and friends who knew.”

“Is that so?  Then what about the job he created for you?”

“He needed help so he could relieve his assistant and take some much needed time off.”

“That he never managed to take.  All the while, a fully staffed office operated just fine in the absence of the receptionist.  Think about it, Tabitha.”

She did pause in thought.  “He just felt sorry for me, Kris.  That’s all.  And probably wanted to ensure I wouldn’t find something to sue him for.”

“Yeah, which completely explains why he’s kept in touch with me.”  Kristen’s sarcasm wasn’t lost
on her
.

“I don’t know his reasons, Kris.  But I do know I don’t like you just freely sharing all my business to him.”

“He asks,
I answer.  I don’t spill everything.  I just let him know how well you’re doing.  That you’ve finally gone back to school and all that.  It’s no big deal.”

“Yes it is!  I don’t want him knowing anything about me.  Why should he care anyway?”  Tabitha stumbled over a thought and glared at her friend.  “You knew he’d be here this weekend, didn’t you?”

“Well, I…yes.  I invited him up.  I told him Doug and I would be here and you’d be coming out to visit.”

“How could you, Kristen?”

“I didn’t think you’d run into him.  It’s a large hotel!  Plus, he has some work thing going on next week, it just made sense to invite him up for the weekend.  He has to be in town anyway.”  Kristen began twisting a straw around her finger.  It was a nervous habit she’d had since she was a kid.

“So, you invited him and his girlfriend up here.  That’s just great.”

“He brought Amanda with him?”

“Oh, yes.  All perfectly proportioned, beautifully decorated six feet of her.”

“You’re jealous.” 
This comment was offered up by Doug
.

“Hell, yes, I’m jealous.  She’s everything I could never be.”  Now Tabitha was twisting a straw around her fingers.  “God, she was stunning.”

“What’s wrong with you?”  Doug asked.

“Huh.”  Is all she could muster in
response.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Tabitha, but there are many different forms of beautiful and plenty of men who would dream about you the rest of their lives after only
one night
.”

She smiled at him.  “No wonder you’re in advertising.  Jesus, you could talk a horse into eating glue.”

“It’s true, Tabby, and you know it.”  Kristen had laid down the straw and grabbed her hand.  “You’re beautiful.  All that black hair and shining blue eyes.  You’ve never
had to worry about weight gain
with
that petite, girlish figure.  Everyone loves your smile.  In fact, the only reason you stay single is because you obviously want to.”

No, the only reason she’d stayed single was because she couldn’t have the man she wanted.  Not even if his girlfriend was out of the picture.

“Thanks for the compliments, but can we move on to a different subject?”

“Actually, Jared invited us to go sailing this afternoon.”  Kristen flashed a toothy grin.  “C’mon, Tabby.  You love sailing.  Would it be so bad?”

“Yes.  No, really, guys.  You go on ahead.  The weather’s perfect.  I think I’ll sit this one out.  Besides, tomorrow’s going to be busy out at the ranch.  I could use some down time.”

Doug protested, Kristen balked, but in the end, Tabitha went home rather than meet Jared at the docks.

It didn’t hurt as badly anymore.  The pain had subsided to a dull ache and she wasn’t even prone to the ‘what if’s’.  It had been an immense shock to her system seeing him again after
so long, but he was doing
well
.  A
nd in the grand scheme of things isn’t that all that really mattered?

Tabitha threw herself into her workload for the week, running through the different activities with a renewed gusto, falling asleep at night as soo
n as her head hit the pillow.  And a
fter working
just as
hard
at the c
lub, Patrick had given her the upcoming
weekend off and by Thursday she was grateful for it.

Kristen had called numerous times to apologize, even though it wasn’t necessary, but
Tabitha
wasn’t up for long talks with her – it brought back the memory of him.  Since
him
she hadn’t even humored a date, unwilling to tear herself up again.  It made it easier to focus on her life without all the complications relationships could bring on board.