Center Stage (12 page)

Now she was angry. She pushed up from her seat. “How has this become my fault? I came back to Nashville to be near my family. He’s stalking me. I didn’t ask for this.”

“Are you sure?”

That had crossed the line. She kicked back the chair and charged him. She’d smack him, punch him, and stop him from talking such nonsense. But he was quick. He caught her hands.

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? Are you kidding me?” She pulled her hands from his hold. “You’re accusing me of doing…something to provoke this.”

He touched her arm, and she jerked away. “Actually, I was seeing how you’d react so I’d know you didn’t.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Not very trustworthy of you.”

“He’s not going to hurt Regan or the boys. Zach will see to that.”

“He’s going to try.”

John shook his head. “He’s not going to make it.”

The pounding at the back door had Arianna jumping back. John turned and opened the door to Curtis who nearly knocked him over as he rushed past him.

“What is with you?” Curtis grabbed her arms. “I’ve watched Regan come through the hospital twice. Once she nearly died at the hands of that monster and then again when you,” he turned and pointed at John, “fired that S.O.B. who tried to rape and kill her.”

She watched as John fisted his hands at his side.

Curtis turned back to her. “Now you’ve collected some maniac, too? What did you do in New York?”

Arianna’s jaw dropped as she stared at her brother. “I had nothing to do with Alexander Hamilton. I didn’t do this.”

“You had to have done something to have some guy stalking you.”

“Some guy? He’s after Regan.”

“No.” Curtis let go of her and shook his head. “Simone just got off the phone with her mother. Alexander Hamilton is in Paris.”

Chapter Thirteen

John paced the floor of his basement apartment—now his
man cave.

Again, the police had nothing to offer. An untraceable prank phone call wasn’t their first priority.

Arianna had locked herself in her bedroom as soon as Curtis had left. The only thing left for him to do was to wait until she was ready to talk, but Curtis had brought up some points. Who had Arianna been involved with that would do this to her?

He heard her stomp down the stairs, and he waited. Soon the noises were coming from the kitchen. It was time to face her and ask his own questions.

John took the stairs slowly. It had been a long time since he had had to deal with a woman’s feelings. Truth was, he wasn’t great at it, and with lack of practice, he couldn’t expect that this was going to go well.

Arianna was wrapped in her robe, leaning against the counter, sipping from a bottle of water. He couldn’t read her so he just watched.

“Forrester, if you’re going to come up here on tip toe and stand quietly, you’re in for a world of hurt.”

He tucked his thumbs into his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. “How’s that?”

“I’m a screamer. When I’m mad, I have a tendency to scream, yell, and throw things. So this is your choice. You can disappear back into your cave, or you can see this very ugly side of me.”

He considered her words and then walked to the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair and sat down. “Considering you’ve been quietly upstairs for the last hour, I’m going to assume anything being broken over my head would have happened already. So here I am. Let the words fly.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s it? You’re just going to sit there and let me have at it?”

“Did I make you mad? Are you mad at me?”

“I…well, no.”

“You’re mad at Alexander Hamilton. You’re mad at Curtis. Hell, you’re probably mad at that inspector that made me change out that light switch. But, the point is, I haven’t done anything to warrant you walking out on me, so I’m here to let you do what you need to do.”

She stomped her bare foot against the floor. “You’re ruining what could be a real good fit.”

“I’m sorry. How can I help?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, but the smile she’d been trying to force away snuck through. “Damn you. I wanted to scream at you.”

“And I’m offering the opportunity for you to do that.”

She shook her head. “I think I have a better idea.” She let her arms drop to her sides as she walked right up to John. With just one finger, she pulled the ties apart on her robe and then shrugged it off of her shoulders.

He could smell the lavender scent from her skin. She’d soaked her worries away in a hot bath. Now she stood there before him naked and beautiful.

This was the part of the relationship that made the fits of anger and insecurity worth it. As he pulled her down on his lap and pressed his mouth against her, he knew it didn’t matter who she’d been with in the past. It didn’t matter who was messing with them and keeping them on edge. What mattered was they would be together forever.

Arianna lay in bed, her eyes wide open, the room dark. John breathed a steady rhythm next to her.

She didn’t care what Curtis said. There was no one she’d been with who would stalk her. She’d been the one who heard the words the man spoke. It didn’t matter that Simone’s mother said that Alexander Hamilton was in Paris. Arianna knew that he was the one trying to scare her and her family, and he was doing a good job.

She knew what he was capable of. And if Simone had been right about his wife leaving him and his loss of fortune, wouldn’t he be vengeful? After all, he’d tried to kill Regan and her baby. This wasn’t a man who had much fear.

On the other hand, he didn’t have what she had. She had a family that would fight to the very end, and if a fight was what he wanted, then that would be what he would get.

But until he showed his face, she’d carry her gun in her purse. She’d keep her sister close. And at night she’d sleep in the arms of the man she loved because, no matter what Alexander Hamilton said or did, she knew John Forrester would never leave her.

As always, Arianna stood at the steps which led up to the theater the next morning. Her grande, skinny caramel latte warmed her throat as she took a sip and looked up at the building her family had bought her. They might all have had a hand in owning it, but it was hers to make great.

John opened the front door and walked toward her. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him. He wasn’t the man she had thought she’d spend the rest of her life with, but it had worked out that way.

His hair shimmered in the early morning sun which was filtered by the clouds. It was obvious he did most of his work inside during the winter as his tanned skin was paler.

She’d never tell him, but the creases around his eyes were one of his sexiest features.

“You know, I have coffee in my trailer at all times. You don’t have to spend good money on a fancy cup,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

“Let’s say it reminds me of New York.” She sipped her coffee again. “I’m meeting with a minister today.”

“You have plans you haven’t told me about?”

She laughed easily knowing he’d see right through her. “I’m going to rent a church basement for a few weeks to get my
act
together.”

“Funny.” He took her coffee from her and took a sip. He swallowed hard and wrinkled up his nose. “You really should save your money.”

“You’re too manly for my coffee.”

“Damn straight.” He gave her a nod. “So what are you putting together?”

“Clara is going to help me after school, and an old friend and I are going to put together a musical review. I want to do it for a grand opening. When you give me the date, that is.”

“Oh, I see. You’re trying to pull a number from me, and here I thought you were being sexy in your mittens and long coat.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Honey, this place is a mess. Let me talk to Zach, but I still think you’re looking at July.”

She let out a grunt. “Well, then it will be the most spectacular music review ever.”

“I have no doubt.”

She moved in closer to him. “You know what you and I haven’t done as a couple yet?”

A tight grin formed on his lips. “You mean we’ve left something out?”

“A vacation.”

His shoulders pushed back, and his smile disappeared. “I thought you wanted this place done.”

“Construction foremans don’t get vacations?”

“Fishing weekends.”

“Zach could cover.”

“He’s busy.”

“We could hold everything off a week.”

“Doesn’t work that way.”

If she let her anger, which was stirring inside her, get the better of her, she’d crush the cup in her hand. Instead, she took a breath and backed away. “I’ll settle for a fishing weekend then.”

Arianna turned back toward her car and quickly drove away while he stood there watching her.

The woman was thick-headed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. John had already sunk his savings into the dilapidated building and had arranged to meet Regan at a jeweler to pick out a ring for her. The last thing he’d wanted her to think was he’d take her away somewhere, but that was the plan. In fact, had she walked into his trailer and seen his computer screen, she’d probably see the confirmation. Two round trip tickets to San Francisco.

A few more weeks of secrets and he swore he’d never keep another.

The church’s basement was small, but it would work for the time being. Madeline dropped Clara off after school, and when she jumped up and down because there was a stage, that was all the validation Arianna needed.

“This is almost as cool as the theater,” Clara squealed as she danced around on the stage.

Arianna pulled up a folding chair and sat down. She just watched as Clara created, unbothered by the audience of one.

That had been her once. Life was Arianna’s stage, and she was the star. Oh, her mother would have fits over the tall tales she could weave, but she always knew when they were the truth and when they were her wild imagination.

Her very first role had come when she was five. She was a tomato, and a very convincing one at that.

By the time she was in high school, the drama department belonged to her. There wasn’t a production she didn’t carry.

Sitting on the side lines would be much different and require as much discipline. But it was someone else’s turn to be the star, she just felt it.

Arianna eased back in the chair as Clara messed with an amplifier on the stage and tapped on the microphone. It wasn’t a song she’d ever heard. She assumed it had been created right there on the spot. But it was beautiful.

The song, the sound, mimicked her life as it was right now—beautiful. She’d run from New York in a panic. John’s handsome face meeting her at the airport was exactly the calm she’d needed. How was it that she’d run away right to where she was supposed to be?

“What did you think, Auntie?” Clara spoke into the microphone.

“I think you have the voice of an angel.”

“I was thinking Faith Hill.”

“Perhaps even better.” Arianna stood up and walked to the stage. “Is that who you want to sound like?”

Clara shrugged. “I think that would be fun—to be a country artist.”

“Then maybe you will be someday. What do you say we go to get some ice cream and make some notes on our show?”

Clara turned off the amplifier and jumped down off the stage. “I say you’re on.”

She walked out of the church basement with her arm around the shoulders of her niece. There was a grand comfort there, but John’s questions about children zipped back through her mind. Would this comfort be enough?

Chapter Fourteen

John was rethinking his decision to buy Arianna a ring. A dog might have been easier. She’d love some mutt. But this…

He’d invited Regan to help him pick the perfect ring for her sister. She, in turn, invited Madeline and Simone.

John knew he could have dealt with Regan. He was used to that. Madeline was soft spoken, and her opinion wasn’t too grand. But why had Regan thought it necessary to invite Simone of all people?

He was used to Simone Pierpont, but that had been in dealings with her as the face of Pierpont Oil, gaining investors in builds. Picking out jewelry? He should have just bought the dog.

“John, do you know anything about her taste?” Simone scanned the cases of rings.

“Yes. She’s simple.”

Regan chuckled, but kept her eyes on the rings.

Simone shook her head. “I think we are off. We should move from the wedding bands.”

With that she walked across the store. Both Regan and Madeline exchanged glances and hurried after her. John, on the other hand, looked down at the rings he thought were perfectly nice. Sure, it wasn’t going to be a
wedding
ring, but it had the same value.

“John.”

He looked up to see Regan waving him over. There was a look on her face that frightened him.

He couldn’t have been more surprised when all three women pointed to one ring in the case.

“This one,” Regan said quietly.

“It’s her,” Madeline chimed in.

“It is brilliant,” was Simone’s addition.

“It’s blue,” was his own opinion, and that had all three women laughing.

Simone, of course, moved in next to him and pointed at the ring through the glass. “It is an oval shaped sapphire with two round diamonds beside it. It is set in white gold, which is very nice. Sapphire represents sincerity, truth, and faithfulness—which is what you are looking for, right?”

He knew his mouth hung open, and he nodded.

Madeline shook her head and looked at Simone. “How do you know all of that?”

“I used to own a lot of jewelry.” She laughed and then looked down at the simple solitaire diamond which adorned her finger. “None of my jewels from before mattered at all. This ring—this simple ring—means more than any fortune.”

The look of contentment on Simone’s face was exactly what he wanted to see on Arianna’s.

“Ya’ll think this is the one?”

The three women nodded together.