Blind Faith (10 page)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                         
***

He’d barely reached the end of the block when his cell phone went off.
 
Will absently pulled it from his shirt pocket, groaning out loud when he checked the caller I.D. and saw it was McKinley.
 
How the hell had she gotten his number?
 
He glanced back at Rose’s house but quickly dismissed the idea that Rose would have given it to her.
 
Well, there was one sure fire way of finding out, and that was to come right out and ask her.

“McKinley, how…”

“I know I was supposed to wait for you to call but it suddenly occurred to me that you might need a ride home.”

Good God, that’s all
he
needed; McKinley giving him a lift home then inviting herself in.
 
“Thanks
,
but I’m actually only a few blocks from the house.
 
I was going to call you in a few minutes but you beat me to the punch.
 
I must be losing my mind,” he forced a soft laugh, “I don’t even remember giving you my number.”

“You didn’t exactly give it to me,” she confessed.
 
“When I…uh…was plugging my number into your cell phone, I dialed my own phone so my caller I.D. would pick it up.
 
You aren’t mad at me, are you?”

Biting back the truth, he replied, “Not at all.
 
Listen, McKinley, I didn’t expect to stay so long at Rose’s
.  I have
a lot of studying to plow through tonight so we’ll have to get together another time.”

“When?”

Will fought to keep the irritation out of his voice.
 
“I don’t know.
 
Soon.”

“Soon?
 
What kind of answer is
that
?”

Her tone was sharp, waspish, and if he wasn’t so sure Rose would wring his neck for doing it, he would have disconnected the call and turned the phone off without bothering to answer the question.
 
But of course he couldn’t do that, not when McKinley’s claws were already drawn and he had no way of knowing if it was him or Serena that would feel the sting of her wrath.
 
No, better to smooth her ruffled feathers and play it safe for now.

“Sorry for sounding so abrupt.
 
It’s been a long day and I still have an exam to study for so I probably won’t have any free time until Saturday.”

“Great, it’s a date then.
 
I’ll even make you dinner so we can just relax afterwards and…see where it leads”

Will stopped walking
.  H
is mind seemed to have stopped too because he couldn’t process what was happening fast enough to think his way out of it before McKinley rattled off her address and told him to be there at seven.
 
He shoved the phone back in his pocket and picked up the pace, mumbling under his breath all the way home.
 
His tolerance for pain was high but he
did
have his limits and there was absolutely no way he was going to spend the evening alone with McKinley.
 
Besides, there was someone else he had to consider, to protect.
 
Serena would be hurt if she ever found out…correction,
when
she found out; McKinley would make sure of that.

Trudging up the stairs to his room, Will had the uneasy feeling the fallout from calling off the date with McKinley could be an even more disastrous than keeping it.
 
How had everything gone downhill so fast?
 
Was his relationship with Serena really so precarious it could be shattered by McKinley’s lies and schemes?
 
The unhappy answer to that was yes.
 
Unless…

Will paused at the top of the landing.
 
What if he told Serena what he and Rose suspected her sister was up to?
 
She might have her doubts about trusting him, but with Rose backing him up she
would
have to at least consider the possibility McKinley was deliberately setting him up for a fall.
 
Serena never c
a
me right out and said anything bad about McKinley
,
but he had detected a note of disapproval in her voice on those rare occasions when he’d gotten her to talk about her childhood.
 
Maybe she was hesitant to draw attention to McKinley’s faults
,
but she certainly wasn’t oblivious to them
.  W
hich meant he might just have a shot at beating McKinley at her own game after all.

Honesty.
 
Trust.
 
They went hand in hand, didn’t they?

Will retraced his steps and headed down the hallway to Serena’s room.
 
He stood outside the door for several minutes, surprised by the sudden onslaught of jittery nerves.
 
What if she didn’t believe him?
 
What if she refused to believe McKinley could be so devious?
 
He wasn’t sure how he would handle it if she wouldn’t listen to him
.  H
e only knew he had to try.
 
Maybe it was time to be honest about a few other things too; like how he really felt about her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                          
***

Whether it was the sound of creaking floorboards or the feel of Rufus licking her hand that woke her, Serena wasn’t sure.
 
He
r
mouth was dry but her eyes were wet
,
and the dampness on her pillow was proof the nightmares had started up again
, alt
hough she remembered very little of it.
 
She sat up slowly, wiping away the tears before reaching across the bed to stroke Rufus’ head.
 
Her insides were shaking, her throat raw, but she still took a minute to say a few soothing words to the only true friend she had.

“I’m sorry you have to go through this with me every time,” she rasped hoarsely.
 
Serena leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of his head.
 
“I’m glad you’re here though.
 
Now scoot your furry butt over so I can get a drink of water.”

Rufus backed up then trotted beside her to the bathroom, patiently waiting for her to gulp down a glass of water and rinse off her face before traipsing after her to the deck.
 
It helped to know he understood how she felt even if the only comfort he could offer was a sloppy swig to the hand.
 
Serena drew in a ragged breath, acutely aware of the huge void inside her chest that had gotten progressively bigger in the hours since Will had left with McKinley.
 
A dull ache settled in the pit of her stomach.
 
Yes, he’d come home
,
but she wished…

A soft tap on the door put a halt to any thought
s
except avoiding a conversation.
 
She slipped back into the room and eased the sliding glass doors closed then hurried back to her bed and burrowed beneath the covers.
 
She didn’t want to be Will’s friend right now, not if it meant having to hear about the great time he’d had with McKinley tonight.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                          
***

Will lifted his hand and tapped on the door.
 
“Serena, are you awake?”
 
No answer.
 
He tapped again, a little louder this time.
 
“Serena?”
 

Still no response
.  H
e could have sworn he
’d
heard the sliding glass doors as they glided across the tracks.
 
Will
listened for a few more minutes, certain he heard the rustle of bed covers and the soft thud he’d come to recognize as the sound of Rufus plopping down onto the floor.
 
Okay, so she didn’t want to talk; he could understand that
.  B
ut Serena was going to hear him out even if he had to talk while she pretended to be asleep.
 

Will silently entered her room, purposely leaving the door open so there was enough light to guide him to her bed but not so much
that
it would disturb Rufus.
 
She was lying on her back with the covers tucked up around her chin.
 
Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and even
.  I
f he hadn’t seen the shimmer of fresh tears still clinging to Serena’s eyelashes,
he
might have been fooled into believing she really was asleep.
 
Were her tears the result of another nightmare or was he responsible for them?
 
His chest tightened.
 
All he wanted to do was shield her from the pain and sorrow
,
but he’d failed her tonight and it wasn’t the first time.

Will reached out and gently brushed the stray curls from her face, swallowing the enormous boulder that lodged itself in his throat when he realized why her hair felt so damp.
 
He wanted to gather her in his arms and tell her she wasn’t alone, that she
would
never be alone again if she would only let him love her.
 
Instead, he leaned over and pressed his cheek to hers, breathing in her soft scent.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        
***

Serena had closed her eyes and forced herself to take slow, even breathes just as Will inched the door open and stepped inside.
 
Her heart tripped as he drew nearer, his familiar masculine scent stirring emotions that wouldn’t be denied no matter how much they petrified her.
 
Warmth spread throughout her entire body when Will gently brushed the stray curls from her face then leaned over, his cheek lightly brushing hers.
 
For a moment she let the feel of his skin against hers erase the misery that had been slowly consuming her.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered in her ear.

Those three words
, spoken so softly, triggered
a violent reaction
in
Serena
,
savagely t
earing her
from the present and
catapult
ing her
back into that cold, dark cave
.
  Her spine went rigid as
that familiar sense of helplessness
curled around her heart and began to squeeze.  Taunting laughter echoed in her ears as
the memory of a shaky hand in her hair and the same whispered apology penetrated the numbing fear that
paralyzed her
.
 
Serena
couldn’t contain it any longer.  Drawing
in a sharp breath
, she
unleashed
the silent scream that had been locked inside of her for so long
,
the high pitched wail reverberating off the bedroom walls in an endless wave of sheer terror.