Seducing Their Wayfaring Souls [3xtasy Lake 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Corinne Davies Page B

complaints.”
    “Neither do I, baby. Let me get my boots on and tell my audience we’ll start the book later on.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Lars sat at a table by the window of The Shack. He tried to concentrate on his book, but his eyes kept straying to the second-floor window across the street. The blinds were down, which everyone would assume meant Cris wasn’t in the station and his voice on the radio was a recorded soundtrack, but Lars knew differently. He saw the blinds drop and the flash of short blonde hair. Tara was up there with him and Lars had never felt so torn.
    He wasn’t jealous. If anything he was looking forward to Cris telling him about what happened, but he wondered if she would be interested in the kind of relationship he and Cris had spoken about. From what he’d learned she came from an incredibly sheltered background and he didn’t know how much of that would extend to her day-to-day life. Hell, she’d been a virgin when she’d first met Cris.
    “You’re looking rather depressed, all things considered.” Catherine slipped into the chair across from him, a sly grin on her face. No doubt most of the town had heard of his and Cris’s interest in Tara. The rumour mill might be fast in some towns, but in Ecstasy it worked at warp speed.
    “Not depressed, more contemplative.” He glanced back up at the station window and wondered what would happen if he went up there. He knew Cris wouldn’t mind if he joined them, but would Tara?
    Catherine leaned forward, and followed his gaze. “I wondered what you were looking at. I thought Cris’s voice sounded a bit strained.” She chuckled. “Albert said Tara’s a very nice girl and her son’s adorable and you know how hard he is to please. The two of them belong here. ”
    Tara had my heart the moment she looked up at me. Lars was tempted to tell Catherine everything he knew but decided to keep that to himself. Truth was, he didn’t want to share much about Tara and Zack. He was already feeling possessive and it concerned him.
    “Lars, you and I have been friends for a very long time.” Catherine wrapped her hands over his. He realized then, she’d gotten older. Her hands weren’t as smooth as he remembered. When she was younger her skin was like ivory and now a couple of pale-brown freckles dotted the backs of her hands. Fear crept into his heart, wrapping it in icy shards. He couldn’t watch her die.
    “Lars, talk to me.”
    “About what?” He tried to keep his tone light, but his thoughts drifted back to Beatrice and the way she’d slowly gotten older. It’d snuck up on him until one day her hair was gray, her hands wrinkled, and she’d told him she was moving away to live with her son, Jamie. Her son, always her son. They’d never been their children, no matter how much he’d wanted them to be.
    “I’m thinking of moving.” He twisted his cup around in his fingers. “It’s time.”
    Silence fell between them for a pregnant moment. “When did you start running away from your fears?”
    “What are you talking about?” Lars took a sip and avoided eye contact with her. It’s not fear, it’s self-preservation.
    “You know exactly who I’m talking about, Lars Vandargard.”
    “Tara will be very happy with Cris, and Zack will adore his father. I don’t want to cause her any more conflict than she’s already had to deal with.”
    “I was talking about Beatrice.”
    Lars couldn’t have been more surprised if Catherine had announced she was turning The Shack into a strip club. He tried to think of something…anything to say, but his vocal cords refused to form the words.
    Catherine grinned at him. “I’ve never seen you speechless. Stay here for a moment. I’ve got to get something.”
    Lars collected his thoughts. It wasn’t such a farfetched idea that Catherine would know about Beatrice. He knew Albert kept records of who lived here and when that stretched back decades. No doubt his investigation had dug up some of