Adara eased from her bedroom and padded down the wide, carpeted hall, her mind unable to grab the buzz-bar of the emotional roller coaster spinning her thoughts into new, unchartered territory. The kinetic energy stored from climbing the lift hill in her first bold step now became potential energy in the puzzling and uncertain future.
Curiosity and excitement over what might come next pushed her forward. Six months of working with Julien proved him reliable and personifying integrity. She accepted her appraisal of him as fact, but experience had taught her to never give a man the upper hand. Never.
No creak of the treads exposed her presence. She’d learned to move wraith-like, staying close to the wall. The recessed lights in the great room emitted enough light to discern shapes and outlines but not the important details of his expression. Another test? His dark clothes blended with the deep-tufted leather sofa on which he sat, watching her every move.
“Have a seat, Adara. You can turn up the lights if you like.”
Definitely a test. Collision of her past lives created friction, warming her from the inside. On the side of light, she grew up in a loving environment where conversations with her parents entailed anything that came to mind. The dark side with her uncle and cousin consisted of pain and terror that replaced her confidence and hope with indecision and fear. If not for Graham, her soul would have withered until nothing remained but the husk.
“The lights are fine. I’m used to moving around in the dark.”
He didn’t comment when she stumbled over nothing more than atmosphere thickened with her tension.
Her vision adapted to the ambient glow to distinguish his warm smile. Nothing sinister, no hidden agendas. Still, it made her nervous. She perched on the opposite corner of the couch while mentally reviewing everything she knew about Julien. What kind of test is this?
She’d never considered herself a social butterfly, but the foreboding quiet reminded her of home. During the previous hours, he’d carried most of the conversation. The tone of this generated a different feeling, more serious. She felt like prey, just before the attack. Thoughts of the first trial, with her standing by a bed and Julien inches away without touching her, gave her strength to square her shoulders. Without words, he informed her there were no tricks, no intended horrors inflicted on a whim.
“I won’t bite. Promise. What can I do to make you less nervous?”
She longed to smooth the frown from his brow. He just wanted her to relax. Why? “Sorry. It’s not you. It’s just…apart from work, I haven’t had much time to just talk with people in the past few years. Especially not while secluded in someone else’s home. I’m out of practice.”
“Since your parents died?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me about your parents.”
Ahh, a subject she could discuss all night. “My dad was a financial consultant. Also, he partnered with a few of his friends in several businesses. Mom was a horticulturist, they both were really great.” Memories poured out in details of trips they took, things they saw, but most important, the security conjured from their presence.
“On my fifteenth birthday, Dad encouraged me to study Taekwondo…even paid for the first year’s lessons, hoping I’d take to it like I did gymnastics.” Her visceral response suggested her dad’s sixth sense dictated she would have a need for the skillset. “I never understood why.”
She hadn’t realized how much she’d relaxed until she saw herself using hand gestures to punctuate certain points. “When they died, so did my athletic dreams…Everything went to hell. I wished I’d started martial arts as a toddler.” Flashbacks of her first attempt of defending herself against her cousin created a full-body shudder.
“Well, let’s look at it this way. You’re now out of your uncle and cousin’s reach. You can do what you choose.”
“They’re not gonna just let go, I’m sure. Both of them are mean as snakes.”
“Let me worry about that. You concentrate on your future. I’ll deal with them and help you with some personal issues.”
“You mean toughening my outer shell. What’s your plan?”
“First off, we’ll let them know you’re not going back to their house and are now under my protection. That will leave you free to consider a new path. As far as dealing with your issues,, we could do some more desensitization exercises.”
“Are you sure? About me staying here?” Sanctuary sounded great. The other part instilled anxiety.
“Yep, no problem. Glad to help.”
“And you don’t want anything in return?” Nobody ever did something nice without wanting return favors—except—wasn’t Graham a friend who’d never made demands? In addition, she remembered the way her parents got along, even when they didn’t agree, it never became physical. They both believed in helping others. Before their deaths she’d dreamed of having a relationship like theirs. After her uncle had taken her in, he destroyed them all.
“Adara, I just want to see you safe and happy.”
“I haven’t been happy for a very long time.”
“People living in constant fear aren’t free to let go and experience much of anything else.” Julien straightened his legs and crossed them at the ankles. When he rested his arm on the back of the sofa, he embodied the relaxed dominant male. Always in command, always aware of his surroundings, and never losing his temper.
Yeah, she’d read about dominance and submission when Jackie bragged about going to a BDSM club. Jackie’s a crazy bitch.
Floodwaters from the opened gates of her memories, both good and bad, submersed her in a world where anything could, and did, happen. Looking around, she wondered if the tide of life, having set her adrift not long ago, now swung like a pendulum to smoother waters where she could once again dream—and breathe. Her uncle and cousin had ruined her positive outlook. Perhaps Julien could help resurrect it.
“Tell me this.” His nonchalance seemed an easy part of him, “what would you like to be doing in say a year, or five years from now? What interests do you have?”
“I didn’t think I’d ever be free of Tony and Gary, so I’ve never given it much thought beyond escape. Now, I’d like to have control over my life and not have anything to do with them. I don’t want to see them, talk to them, or even know anything about them. I’d also like to start self-defense training again.”
“Well, that’s certainly doable. First, we’ll make an appointment with a lawyer to make everything official and have a paper trail. Then start your training.”
“They don’t let me have any money. I don’t know any lawyers and would be afraid that since I’m not twenty-one yet, they’d contact Tony as my guardian…”
“Adara. You’re over eighteen, you have independent rights. Tell you what. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She didn’t have to think about it.
“Okay. We’ll go see my attorney—no, don’t worry about money. We’ll have him send Tony and Gary formal letters stating you’ll have no further contact. If we need a restraining order, that won’t be a problem, either. Also, to make a long story short, a lawyer can tie your inheritance up so that no one, and I do mean no one except you, can touch it—even if you were to marry. All right?”
“You’d do that? Why?”
“Because it’s what you need. It’s what I do. I help people, remember?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, just say yes. Then talk to me. What other interests or hobbies do you have besides becoming a ninja?”
“Um, yes, and thank you. As far as interests? I would love to be a better cook, take gourmet cooking classes and learn how to make fancy cakes and sugar decorations like you see on TV.”
“Sounds delightful. What else?”
“Gardening. My parents used to have a really cool greenhouse. We’d spend hours in there. They taught me a lot.”
“Really? Have you done much in the past five years, at your uncle’s house?”
“No. When my parents died, their lawyer liquidated the estate. Tony wouldn’t let me do any gardening. Said only old people and slave laborers played in the dirt.”
“I see. Tell me about your parent’s greenhouse.”
His smile decimated her concentration, his focus so zeroed in on her. Beside Graham, whom she seldom saw for more than lunch breaks since graduation, and Maura, whom she didn’t know as well, no one had ever shown interest in her comfort and pleasure.
She couldn’t stifle the smile as she turned catty-corner on the sofa to face Julien.
* * * *
Animation breathed new life into Adara’s soul, written in the smile tilting her lips, the openness of her expression, and the small hand gestures emphasizing finer points.
He finally discovered what stirred her passion.
“Actually, it was the most amazing place you could experience. The glass units were made with one pane of tempered glass on the outside and laminated glass for the inside pane.”
“Hmm, you know your glass.”
She blushed again. “Well, they did a lot of research and included my input in all of the design aspects. They used a geothermal heating system, a great ventilation system, even a movable curtain insulation setup. We’d spend hours in there. I learned not just seed starting, but techniques for propagation, layering with runners, air layering, grafting…all kinds of stuff.”
The fact she didn’t blush when mentioning propagation attested to her horticultural enthusiasm while expounding on minute details energized her demeanor. It was the first time he’d witnessed happiness dancing in her eyes.
As the clock chimed the hour, he made mental notes of future endeavors. It would take careful planning. Fascination blossomed in the next two hours where they delved the depths of her interest and knowledge of cooking and other pursuits. He now had a starting place and the beginnings of a strategy. As the night wore on, he watched her muscle tension seep away and wondered if the pre-orphan Adara would stay. He hadn’t felt so inspired in years.
“Adara, what about friends from high school before your parents’ accident? Do you maintain contact with them? Would you like to look them up? They should be easy enough to find.” To his knowledge, Maura might number her only friend. Then the image of the downtrodden young man leaving the office came to mind.
“Well—I do have one friend outside the office. He came to see me today, but refused to meet me after work. Something was terribly wrong. I’ve never seen him so…beat.”
“Oh? Why don’t you call him? If he wanted to talk, he wouldn’t mind your call.”
“He said he’d stop in tomorrow at lunchtime. He’d been crying, so I know his world is imploding. He’s always been so happy. He’s the only friend who helped me through my parents’ death.”
Digging his cell from his pocket, Julien handed it over. “Here, give him a call.”
“Really? You don’t mind? I’m thinking something happened to his—ah—partner. He’s, um, gay.”
“And? That bothers you?”
“Me? Oh. No. Absolutely not. He’s been my best friend since kindergarten.”
The call went straight to voice mail. Unlike the appearance of her visitor, the voice heard through the cell was upbeat, chipper. Adara left a message and the number.
“Odd. He always has his cell on and always answers…hope you don’t mind me telling him to call your cell. We’ve been careful not to have his number show up on my phone…”
“No problem. If he’s a good friend, I’d certainly expect you to have him contact you however possible. Did he give you any indication of what was wrong today?”
“No. Just said he’d meet me tomorrow.”