Between Octobers Bk 1, Savor The Days Series (18 page)

Inside the cylindrical-shaped club,
everything below was dark, while the mega-high ceiling glowed with
shifting lights. Various hues of reds and blues and greens scarcely
illuminated the mingling crowd. I followed as he led the way to the
third level, which was the least packed, but still quite full.
Several heads turned to look, mostly gorgeous twenty-something’s,
but no one said anything or reached for their phones.

“Like it?” His eyes lit with the question. I
forcefully nodded my head in approval. He laughed, raising an
elbow. “Spank the planks?”

Evan was a wonderful dancer. He seemed to
possess more than his fair share of natural rhythm. On top of his
natural good looks and charm, it seemed entirely unfair. I worked
extra hard to keep a steady pace. It had been years since I set
foot on a dance floor. Much less a dance floor that was not
prepared by committee for a school or work-related function.

The club was packed. Bodies were
crammed everywhere above us and beside, sweating and grinding. I
stuck close to Evan and he didn’t take his eyes off me. The music
was loud and wonderful, vibrating through my body. I lost myself in
it, dancing without fear to strange rhythms I’d never heard,
enjoying every misstep and off-beat hip shake. I used every move I
was ever taught in dance class and, considering how much time
changed the idea of dancing, I probably looked very silly. But I
didn’t care. He held my hips and my hands, guiding me through
several jams that involved line dancing, which was apparently
back
in
.

When the music slowed he took me by the
waist, pulling me closer. The Cure’s “Love Song” started. Evan
locked eyes with me, filling my heart with the heat of his gaze,
making the room disappear. His terrible compliment in the car came
back to me and I knew exactly how he felt. As sorry I was that
Solomon was gone from our lives, I could never be sorry for meeting
Evan.

His hands clung to my back and hips as he
mouthed the words to the chorus. When he pulled me into his chest,
threading his fingers in my hair to hold me in place as he
passionately kissed me in the middle of the dance floor, I was not
thinking about all the people that might see us. I was thinking it
was the most romantic moment of my life.

There’s an uncomfortable tilt and pull. The
vibrating scrapes start again beneath me, then pause. After a
minute, it starts and stops again. The cyclic tilt, scraping, and
pause; it repeats over and over until I’m sure I’ll go crazy.
Finally, the raised end drops. The sound of metal knocks against
the outside, stopping my heart.

That muffled clatter; the sound of a shovel
scraping through dirt starts again. This time, it’s loud and
close.

“Things always work out,
one way or another,”
Ronnie’s reaction echoes in my
head—his response when I told him what happened in Evan’s
hotel.

“Grace, if you don’t make
moves, you’ll never progress,”
Dr. Lena told me on
more than one occasion.

If I surrender to the fear wanting to
cripple me, no one will ever know. I take several deep breaths,
determining to focus on what I need to do.

When the disjointed shoveling sound works
back into a steady rhythm, I swallow the panic. Slowly, so slowly,
I raise my torso, picking up my elbows, lifting my body, fitting my
back into the square lid. It inches up in precise, controlled
increments.

Desperate, shaking, I keep moving, lifting
it higher.

Soon, it’s open enough to see a pair of legs
no more than a yard away. They are thin, slightly bent at the
knees, and draped in black. I widen the gap. She’s shoveling,
heaping piles of dirt, and scanning the surroundings. But she faces
the trees, not me.

Speedily now, and with more stealth than I
naturally possess, I manage to hold the lip of the lid to keep it
from dropping. I silently set the lid behind me, my box now resting
completely open.

Slowly, so slowly, being careful not to
disturb the noisy tarp, I work my way to my feet and take a good
look around, hyperaware of the threat at my left.

Maybe it’s the fresh air or a surge of
adrenaline, but my mind kicks into high gear, rapidly absorbing
every detail with more clarity than I have had since I woke. It’s
late in the day. Near sunset. And there’s no road, no buildings
anywhere. Not even the hint of a trail to a road. Only the tracks
of the vehicle that brought me here, crossing a wide field
sprinkled with patches of brown and green. My Jeep sits off to the
right. Drag marks stretch through the dirt from the open hatch to
where I am.

To the south, surrounding my feet, is a
camouflage trunk. Everything else is mountain and forest. I don’t
recognize anything.

How long have I been gone? My head and
shoulder throb in unison.

My perpetrator, no more than a leap away, is
smaller than the tyrant of my imagination. Short, actually. No
wonder she took me by surprise. Clad in what looks like all black,
she’s still working, furiously digging my grave. Her head is
covered, concealing any indicators—no hair color or visible skin,
but I have a sickening sense that I’ve seen her before. I think I
know her but can’t place her.

My heart stops as she suddenly stands
upright, glancing from one side to the other before bending back
down to work. As she does, a dull reflection in the fading light
catches my eye. I recognize the curved shape tucked into the back
of her pants. She probably had it pointed at me when I was playing
dead.

The scents of fresh earth and pine are
strong. They clear the distractions from my head and I realize what
I’m doing. Time is wasting. Opportunity is knocking. And I’m
standing here like an idiot.

Go
, a muted
whisper speaks to my heart.

October
20
^th

It was after two in the morning by the time
Evan and I got back to the house after my beautifully awkward date,
which consisted of mediocre music, a near outing by wanna-be
stalker girls and their sneaky photos, a surge of forgiveness for
the unforgiveable, and way too many dances granted while wearing
high heels.

My head was clouded and my feet hurt. But
not too much to notice Lily’s tone was unnaturally clipped while
she gave me the rundown of the night’s activities. The boys were
altogether well-behaved, with the exception of an incident when
Arnold was coaxed into the house, courtesy of Caleb. I chuckled as
she explained that he was put on a time-out, and that was when he
fell asleep, around nine-thirty. Noah went for a sleepover at a
friend’s house a few houses down, but would be back early in the
morning to cut the grass, if it wasn’t raining. Her attitude
throughout the entire explanation was standoffish.

I was about to ask her to join me in the
kitchen for some girl-talk when Evan tugged at my elbow. “Grace,
may I speak to you for a moment?” He walked into the kitchen,
expecting me to follow.

I looked to Lily. Her arms were crossed, her
chin stuck out defiantly. She was glaring at Marcus’ back as he
unplugged the video game controllers.

“What is it?” I asked Evan as we entered the
kitchen.

He hesitated, examining me carefully. “Yeah,
um, I was supposed to ask you something the other day, but I forgot
it until now. What’s wrong?”

With volume, I replied, “Nothing,” then
answered quick and discreet. “Something’s up with Lily.”

He continued as if I hadn’t responded. “Noah
wanted me to ask if he could have a more mature birthday party with
his friends this year, but we can talk tomorrow. It’s kind of
late.”

He sweetly pecked my forehead and started to
walk out. Dissatisfied, I stopped him and stole a long kiss. Once
my mind was emptied of all logic and my stomach thoroughly knotted,
he pulled away, chuckling darkly.

“You aren’t ready for what I want, but have
no problem making me want it.”

“Sorry,” I shrugged. “You mix me up.”

“Gracie,” he whispered breathily into my ear
and held my hand, tugging me with him through the living room and
out to the driveway.

“I can’t remember the last time I had so
much fun.”

“I’ll come by in the morning, first thing.
What time do you want to go for breakfast?”

“Nine?” Leaning in close I offered, “I’ll
pick you up if you want.”

It seemed like a good idea, since Lily and
Marcus may not want to spend much time together in the future. The
thought brought a twinge of sadness. They’d been getting along so
well.

“You’re hooked, aren’t you?” Evan pointed at
his chest and flexed. I smiled, staring at the ground. “It’s
alright—so am I.” He murmured breathily into my ear and scraped his
teeth across my lobe. The goosebumps didn’t stay on just my arms,
but spread out, all over my neck and back, too. He smiled with
satisfaction. “Goodnight, my Gracie.”

I watched him and Marcus hop in the black
SUV. After the car was lost down the hill, I walked inside. Lily
was on the couch, sulking. Her arms still doubled across her chest,
her legs folded on the cushion as she glared at the wall.

I took my place beside her. “What
happened?”

“Marcus is an ass! He thinks I’m interested
in Evan.” She turned to me and huffed.

“Why does he think that?”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I stayed
quiet.

“Oh! Come on! Not you, too?” Her perfectly
arched brows crinkled in frustration.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I would
never
do that, Grace!” She took up her dark,
curly locks and tied them in a loose bun with a hair scrunchy she
kept on her wrist. It was a move that said she meant
business.

“
But the first night I brought him
over…” I reminded her, grudgingly.

“That was temporary insanity. And I told you
about it right away.”

“Yeah, you washed the fork, eventually.”

“Look, I was asking him about Evan. I want
to know if he’s really interested in getting serious with you.
Marcus got the wrong idea. That’s all.”

“I know you would never . . .” I let the
sentence hang, unfinished. Lily was far too loyal to consider such
a betrayal and much too outspoken to keep those considerations
quiet. Even if she had those types of feelings for Evan, she would
never act on them.

“So, this is okay with you, then?” I asked,
alluding to my newfound companion.

She shrugged, “I still think he’s gonna hurt
you. In the meantime, you seem happy.”

She explained the fight in more detail while
I made us hot tea.

She started to notice Marcus’s irritation
around the third or fourth question. The movie star’s faithful
wingman was used to the overflow attention that came with being
close to Evan. He’d seen it dozens of times. With the girls he
really liked as well as the ones he could do without. He assumed
Lily was interested in him for the wrong reasons. He did not yet
understand that this was how mine and Lily’s relationship worked.
We protected each other. Lily thought Marcus just needed some time
to come to his senses.

I told her about running into Gustavo. She
offered her best wishes, saying it was my liberty to forgive him
but she hadn’t reached that point, yet. She harbored no ill will
towards him—which was a big step in the right direction—but she had
yet to disembark from that place of peace where she could truly
forgive his careless mistake.

The discussion moved towards the club Evan
took me to. Lily was shocked that I had the courage to dance in
public. She knew how terrible I was. We both laughed as I
demonstrated some of the more courageous moves I used. She was
proud to see me coming out of my shell again and encouraged me to
try new things and experiences while I had the opportunity,
pointing out that Evan’s time off would end after the holidays. The
comment lulled the conversation to silence.

It was still months away, but just thinking
about his leaving made me miss him.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you!” Lily almost
squealed, “I met Sheri and she’s a total bitch!”

There was a knock at the door. I ignored it.
“I thought it was just me.”

Lily rose from the couch, signaling for me
to follow. “She came by to see you, I think. She was acting all
condescending.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Why do you think? She’s got it for Evan.”
She paused before reaching for the knob. “Marcus introduced me as
his girlfriend. Stupid ass.” She smiled and shook her head. “Sheri
perked right up after that. You cannot trust her.”

Lily was usually spot-on when it came to
character judgments. She and Solomon always had a knack for telling
what type of person someone was, within five minutes of meeting
them. But she had to be wrong about Sheri. If it were that obvious,
wouldn’t Evan know?

Lily opened the front door to find Marcus
looking apologetic on the front porch.

“Well, it’s about time.” Lily observed,
aloof as ever.

I looked around to see if Evan was with him,
possibly waiting somewhere in the shadows. When my eyes found
nothing, I waited, in hope that someone would answer my searching.
But they seemed to be waiting for me to leave.

I dismissed myself without preamble. Lily
called out before I reached the bedroom. She was leaving with
Marcus.

After the door shut, I flew to the front
window, peeking out onto the porch. Lily was kissing Marcus in a
way that made my jaw drop. Her hands were all over him. When she
pulled away, he rocked back on his heels, his hair sticking out in
laughable disarray. He was helpless to follow as she seductively
led the way to her car.