Flying in Shadows (The Black Creek Series, Book 2) (16 page)

His face reddened as he passed the pile to Andy. "What game are you playing, son?"

"Sir? ... I mean... Dave?" He took the papers but felt defensive at the accusation.

"Have you or have you not been sneaking around with my daughter?"

Sneaking around? What the hell? They were both legal adults, but... shit. Andy decided
on the truth. This was Dave's daughter. "Well, yes, sort of, but it's not like that."
Yes it is. "...it's new and confusing... I'm in with love her."

Dave shoved off from where he was propped and started back with the pacing, shoving
his hands through the sides of his hair. "Have you thought about what this will do
to her?"

Andy was definitely missing something. Sitting back in the chair, not just a little
pissed off himself, he started leafing through the stack of papers. And his world
crumbled beneath him.

Chapter 13

The first several papers were polite and articulate letters declining one NYU scholarship
after another. The last was a class schedule for a junior college near Purdue University.

Her future, her dreams.

He dropped the papers in his lap, felt panic, confusion, and... betrayal. How could
she keep this from him? They didn't keep anything from each other. Never had.

He crushed the papers in his fists as the palms of his hands dug in his eyes. Trying
to make sense of this. Keeping his eyes closed, he dropped his hands listlessly onto
his lap, letting the papers fall to the floor. Standing, he instinctively folded his
hands on the top of his head. It was his turn to pace, to stutter. What was she thinking?
He collapsed on the edge of the couch with his elbows on knees and face in his hands.
Unconsciously, he rocked back and forth as he tried to think.

"You didn't know?" Dave sounded almost as shocked as Andy.

Andy's thoughts and feelings became a dense fog as fix-it mode took over. He sat up
trying to shake his head clear. "I'll fix this. I can fix this. Let me talk to her.
Where is she?"

"You really didn't know," Dave repeated.

"Of course I didn't know. Do you think I would let her do this?" He raised his voice.
"Where is she?"

"We already tried talking to her. You know how she gets.
Don't tell me what I am supposed to do
.
Ran out of the house slamming doors."

Hadn't she said those exact words to Andy a few shorts weeks before? Of course she
didn't tell him. She'd already made up that damned stubborn mind of hers. That damned
beautiful stubborn mind. This wasn't enough time. He'd just found her, found them.

"She made it sound like you were in it together. About being a grown woman. That she
wasn't throwing away her future but following it."

"I'll fix it," Andy whispered and slowly let his lids drop.

* * *

Rain drizzled on her windshield. Rose decided to do what she always did. Swim instead
of sink. It wasn't her fault her parents didn't agree with her. Life was more than
following some beaten path. It was about following what you knew was right. Following
your heart. You can't help who you love or when that love presents itself.

She wanted to be respectful to them. Realized that she'd ignored them as much as she
did the wipers waving in front of her. She knew they were trying to do what they thought
parents should do, but they simply didn't understand.

She wasn't throwing her life away. She was changing the direction. She could still
work with animals. She'd mapped all this out. Veterinarian assistant, animal shelter
supervisor. As she pulled back into her driveway, she decided to be fair, apologize
to her parents and politely reiterate that she was old enough to make her own decisions
about her future.

So, then why hadn't she told Andy about her plans, her... decisions? She sighed, admitting
to herself a simple, basic fear. She hadn't even told him she was in love with him.
He was just so... Andy. She would. Soon. No sinking.

When she walked into her home, it was eerily quiet. She found her mom and Dave sitting
at the kitchen table. Not eating or speaking. Just sitting. The dog didn't even do
more than beat his tail on the floor when she entered the room. Her sister was nowhere
to be found. "Did Andy come by?" She tried for normal, but it came out as needy.

Her mom's bloodshot eyes turned to her. "Came and left."

Sweat began to form around the hairline behind her neck. Surely they wouldn't have
told him about the letters. That was personal. "What did... you say to him?"

Dave answered, "I said you were gone."

Relief seeped partially back into her body. This she could handle. She could apologize
for being late and make it up to him. Then why were her hands shaking?

"I'm sorry for getting carried away, raising my voice to you. He loves me. We want
to be together."

Jittery, her mom responded, "We've said our piece. Now, you need to make your own
decisions, your own mistakes."

"Andy is not a..." No, she wasn't starting that all over again. She placed one hand
on top of her mom's, one on her stepfather's, then finished, "Thank you for always
being there. I love you." As she left the silence of her kitchen, Rose thought of
how warm Dave's hand felt. Her mother's cool and clammy.

Deciding to walk to Andy's, she took the time to soundly stuff the argument with her
folks securely in her subconscious, right next to her reluctance to tell Andy her
feelings and plans.

When she saw the Mustang in his drive, she felt reassured. She'd decided on dressy
boots for the night. Not spiky heeled, but enough of a boost that she didn't look
like a shrimp. A cream-colored, buttoned-down blouse lay just over her snug, light
brown pants. Knowing she would still look out of place next to him, at least she would
look prettier than when in her Chuck Taylors.

He came out before she reached the door without as much as a hello. All right, she
thought. Opening the car door for her, he asked if she had a place in mind for dinner.

She shook her head as he shut the door and was sure he couldn't have seen her response.
Driving awhile in silence, she felt uneasiness creep between them. It was the first
time in her life she could remember silence with Andy as uncomfortable. "I'm sorry
for being late. Where would you like to go?"

"Azulo's."

She looked intently into his face as he drove but could get nothing from his expression.
Why wasn't he talking? Why wasn't she talking? Knots began to form in the back of
her shoulders.

She didn't feel hungry anymore. She assumed he didn't either as they sat in the Italian
restaurant with him mostly moving his food around on his plate.

He asked her how her day went and what her schedule was like for the next week. Hell,
she could have been out to dinner with one of her teachers. The uneasiness changed
to a cold that made her skin crawl.

The evening continued much the same all the way to her front porch. "Would you like
to meet later tonight?" As they stood together, she played with one of the buttons
on his shirt to make sure he didn't misunderstand.

"Maybe tomorrow." He looked in her eyes for an unsettling length of time.

"Okay." She shuddered as if she was cold in the hot, humid night. "Um... talk to you
tomorrow then." She reached in her purse for her keys, thinking how unbearably different
this was from their first embrace on her porch.

Taking them in her hand, she looked up to say goodnight. He took the sides of her
face. Kissed her urgently. It wasn't sweet. He didn't touch her, other than her face.
Just kissed her long and hard.

A cold chill crept down her spine like life was being pulled from it. He parted as
she gasped, nearly losing her balance, mixing the uneasiness and cold into a solid
fear.

* * *

Rose bounced out of bed at the sight of the buckets of early morning rain down her
window. Feeling like she could smell it through the walls, she smiled and reached
down to scratch Charcoal's belly. This much rain meant no landscaping today and no
Greenberg Construction. She would work with Charcoal for a while on the signal to
lie from across a room. She might try heeling up stairs and around corners. Then,
she would drive to Andy's and see if he was able to sleep off his horrific mood.

Casually, she went through her regular morning ritual, waiting for an appropriate
time to call.

"Good morning, Brie." Rose tapped her fingers on her thigh as she held the phone.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, no. What can I do for you?"

Hmm. Formal. "Is Andy up and around?"

The pause was long enough to unsettle her.

"No... he left for the Greenberg central office, I believe he said."

"Oh." No offer to leave a message? She chided herself for being ridiculous. Andy loves
her. How many times had he said it now? How many plans had they made? How many talks
of the future? "Well, thank you. I'll try him later."

* * *

Don Greenberg was a middle-aged man with the beginnings of a pouch bulging over his
belt. Average height and balding, he still held an air of confidence and efficiency
Andy respected. He also knew everyone and everything about running a general contracting
business. "Come on in, son. Tell me what ails you."

Nearing retirement, Don was easygoing and Andy recognized how much he enjoyed on-the-spot
meetings. That would make this easier since the numbness had yet to subside. Andy
was simply a machine going through the motions. "Things are going well on the job,
honestly, thanks. I do think I might be able to save you near fifty grand, sir. Something
I noticed on a site this week."

"I can always do with an extra fifty grand. Sit down, boy. Tell me your idea. I sure
do admire a boy with ideas." Don leaned back in his reclining office chair behind
his desk.

Andy unrolled a copy of well-worn blueprints. He explained that if the planned water
lines, along a set of roughed-in city blocks in particular, were moved about eight
feet north, it would save the surveyors and civil engineers time and cost in rerouting
around a dozen full grown native trees. "You see here," Andy gestured to the prints.
"Trees are scattered through this area." He pointed out a spot between a trio of penciled-in
dots.

Don sat back and scratched his chin. "You know, this is really a job for the civils.
Have you mentioned this to them?"

Andy copied his movements and also sat back in his chair. "Well, sir. Working under
both the surveyors and the civils, I guess I could say that I've noticed they don't
too much like to talk to one another. Since I'm with the surveyors, I wasn't sure
that would be such a good idea."

Don closed his eyes in some kind of pleasant memory. "Ah. How times don't change.
I appreciate the tip, Andy." He lifted from his chair and stuck out his hand in appreciation.
"I'll get out there myself as soon as it's dry enough." Looking down his nose, Don
added, "Is there anything else?"

Andy took his hand, held on too tightly, before realizing it and sitting back down.
He knew what he had to say but couldn't seem to get his mouth to move with the weight
that pressed down on his chest. After a full minute of grinding his teeth, he began.

* * *

Rose stood in the pitch black on the flat porch of the Reeds' guesthouse. Waiting.
The cloud cover made the dark unsettling since she'd turned her flashlight off. She
craved the feel of Andy's rough hands around hers. The sound of his voice when he
told her he loved her. They would talk. She would make him. It was ridiculous how
happy the far away bob of light made her feel.

She'd decided this would be the night she told him how she felt. It was probably the
reason for his distance lately. Wouldn't she feel taken aback if she had said those
words to him and he hadn't returned them in months? But he was Andrew Reed. She was
just Rose. He was designer jeans and fainting good looks. She was bandanas and skin
and bones.

When he came close enough that Rose could see his eyes, she sunk. No expression. No
greeting. Just a kiss on the forehead.

The words stuck in her throat as she followed him to the back guestroom. He found
the remote and sat alone in the wicker chair leaving the couch for her. After a moment,
she lowered herself to the couch.