Hayes-Roundtree family. Unfortunately, if she wanted prime space, she’d have to take it.
She didn’t mind renting from Adam’s family, although she knew her father would explode. How could he harbor such intense hatred? It wasn’t even his war. He hadn’t known about the feud until he met her mother, but he’d since used it to justify every disappointment, every failure he’d had. She had to shake her guilt for having thought it, but she rented the office nevertheless. For the sake of peace, she had sacrificed her feeling for Adam and come home, but there were limits.
Raised eyebrows greeted her when she introduced herself to her office neighbors: a Grant renting from the Roundtrees. She’d almost forgotten about small town gossip. One friendly woman who introduced herself as Banks told her, “I see you’ve emancipated yourself. Good thing, too—when hell breaks loose, everybody will sympathize with the good guys.” Melissa grimaced. She didn’t need an explanation as to who the good guys were.
* * *
Melissa didn’t have long to wait for an indication of the problems that her move into that building would cause. Her cousin Timothy stood at the corner light as she left the building, and she smiled as she walked toward him.
“Hi,” he greeted her. “I heard you’d come back home, but what the hell were you doing in there? That’s the Hayes Building.” Cold tension gripped her as she noted his angry frown.
“Where else can you find decent office space in this town?” Her attempt to dismiss it as irrelevant didn’t please him.
“You’ve been gone a while, but the rest of us have been right here watching them flaunt their money. Find some other place. Why do you need an office anyway? Uncle Rafer said you were coming home to be with Aunt Emily.”
“Long story,” she said, unwilling to explain what she considered wasn’t his business and waved him goodbye.
He yelled back at her. “Get out of that place. You’re just going to start trouble.” I seem already to have done that, she thought, her steps slow and heavy.
* * *
Melissa worked late the next evening, arranging the furniture, books, and fixtures that had arrived that morning from New York. That done, she decided to acquaint herself with one of her new computer programs, but she had just begun when the screen went blank, the lights in her office flickered, and darkness engulfed her. She didn’t have a flashlight and hadn’t bothered to locate the stairs, and a glance at her fourth-floor window told her that the moon provided the only relief from darkness. She didn’t get a tone when she lifted the telephone receiver, so she prepared herself mentally to spend the night there and tried to remember where she’d put her bag of Snickers.
“If you don’t have a lantern or flashlight, go into the hallway and stand right in front of your door. I’ll be along shortly with light.”
She looked toward the loudspeaker as tremors shot through her, and she struggled to still the furious pounding of her heart at the sound of Adam’s voice. She hadn’t known that he had come home to Beaver Ridge, only that he’d left New York. It had to be Adam. She couldn’t mistake anyone’s voice for his—no other sounded like it. Did he know she was there? Would he be glad to see her? She opened the door and waited.
The air conditioning was off, but goose bumps covered her bare arms, and chills streaked through her as the lights approached. He stopped a few feet away.
“Melissa! What— What are you doing here?” Her eyes beheld his beloved face before taking in the length of him, as though assuring themselves that it was he. “Melissa— Am I hallucinating?” He took a step closer.
“Adam— Adam, I...I’m standing in front of my new office.”
“My God!”
He didn’t want her there. Why had she thought he cared for her even a little? She wanted to back up, but the eerie, unsettling atmosphere and the shock of seeing him kept her
She didn’t mind renting from Adam’s family, although she knew her father would explode. How could he harbor such intense hatred? It wasn’t even his war. He hadn’t known about the feud until he met her mother, but he’d since used it to justify every disappointment, every failure he’d had. She had to shake her guilt for having thought it, but she rented the office nevertheless. For the sake of peace, she had sacrificed her feeling for Adam and come home, but there were limits.
Raised eyebrows greeted her when she introduced herself to her office neighbors: a Grant renting from the Roundtrees. She’d almost forgotten about small town gossip. One friendly woman who introduced herself as Banks told her, “I see you’ve emancipated yourself. Good thing, too—when hell breaks loose, everybody will sympathize with the good guys.” Melissa grimaced. She didn’t need an explanation as to who the good guys were.
* * *
Melissa didn’t have long to wait for an indication of the problems that her move into that building would cause. Her cousin Timothy stood at the corner light as she left the building, and she smiled as she walked toward him.
“Hi,” he greeted her. “I heard you’d come back home, but what the hell were you doing in there? That’s the Hayes Building.” Cold tension gripped her as she noted his angry frown.
“Where else can you find decent office space in this town?” Her attempt to dismiss it as irrelevant didn’t please him.
“You’ve been gone a while, but the rest of us have been right here watching them flaunt their money. Find some other place. Why do you need an office anyway? Uncle Rafer said you were coming home to be with Aunt Emily.”
“Long story,” she said, unwilling to explain what she considered wasn’t his business and waved him goodbye.
He yelled back at her. “Get out of that place. You’re just going to start trouble.” I seem already to have done that, she thought, her steps slow and heavy.
* * *
Melissa worked late the next evening, arranging the furniture, books, and fixtures that had arrived that morning from New York. That done, she decided to acquaint herself with one of her new computer programs, but she had just begun when the screen went blank, the lights in her office flickered, and darkness engulfed her. She didn’t have a flashlight and hadn’t bothered to locate the stairs, and a glance at her fourth-floor window told her that the moon provided the only relief from darkness. She didn’t get a tone when she lifted the telephone receiver, so she prepared herself mentally to spend the night there and tried to remember where she’d put her bag of Snickers.
“If you don’t have a lantern or flashlight, go into the hallway and stand right in front of your door. I’ll be along shortly with light.”
She looked toward the loudspeaker as tremors shot through her, and she struggled to still the furious pounding of her heart at the sound of Adam’s voice. She hadn’t known that he had come home to Beaver Ridge, only that he’d left New York. It had to be Adam. She couldn’t mistake anyone’s voice for his—no other sounded like it. Did he know she was there? Would he be glad to see her? She opened the door and waited.
The air conditioning was off, but goose bumps covered her bare arms, and chills streaked through her as the lights approached. He stopped a few feet away.
“Melissa! What— What are you doing here?” Her eyes beheld his beloved face before taking in the length of him, as though assuring themselves that it was he. “Melissa— Am I hallucinating?” He took a step closer.
“Adam— Adam, I...I’m standing in front of my new office.”
“My God!”
He didn’t want her there. Why had she thought he cared for her even a little? She wanted to back up, but the eerie, unsettling atmosphere and the shock of seeing him kept her
Similar Books
