Chain of Title (17 page)

Shayna’s heart twinged at all
of the old memories, all the cookouts just like this one, all of the holidays,
all of those times she had watched Frank interact with Danielle just as he was
now with his niece.  She felt her throat fill with a lump of emotion.  There were
so many good memories.

Thumbing through life’s photo
album in her mind, Shayna suddenly snapped back to the present when she caught
the wistful expression on Frank’s face, watching her—watch him.  She quickly
breathed in, erasing the nostalgic smile that had snuck on her lips.  Someone
else had also noticed her musings.  She felt Sean’s hand glide around her waist,
tucking her possessively against his hard body as they stood listening to a
conversation between Danielle and one of her cousins.

“So, how’s your little
restaurant doing, Parker?  Any more problems with the health department?” Frank
said loudly and crisply, while holding Shayna’s worried stare and then landing his
cold, hard eyes on Sean.

Time stopped, leaving the
sizzle of the bug zapper as the only noise audible above the heavy silence.

Sean’s hand caressed Shayna’s
waist and then slid down to her hip, drawing lazy circles.  Shayna swallowed
hard.  Frank’s eyes skipped to the purposeful, subtle movements along her body. 
It was clear he recognized the point Sean was making—Frank’s loss, Sean’s gain. 
Frank’s face shaded red and he released Natalie, sitting upright in the chaise,
feet positioned over one side as if ready to pounce.

“Are you asking as one
business man to another?  Or as someone who knows it was a set-up?” Sean asked
calmly, his tone and demeanor demonstrating the leisure of someone with the
upper hand.  Shayna heard whispers and throats clearing around her, while Scott
moved closer to get a front row seat for the spectacle.

Frank’s eyes narrowed.  “Are
you accusing me of something, Parker?”  Sean stared at him indifferently.  “You
think I had something to do with that?”  Frank laughed aloud as he stood and
inched closer to Sean.  The good humor ceased immediately and his expression
tightened.  He leaned in menacingly.  “Don’t flatter yourself that a man like
me has time to pay
any
attention to someone like
you
,” he warned
through clenched teeth.

Sean smiled confidently, unimpressed
and undeterred.  “Yeah, I’m sure you are busy.  Busy watching the properties on
Fairview and Lakeland get snatched out from under you.”  Frank’s eyes widened. 
“And with your loans being called, I am sure you don’t have time for someone
like me—
anymore
.”

Frank huffed and took a step
back, with a confused look.  Shayna felt Danielle’s arm thread through hers.

“Hot damn, Shay.  I like the
new guy more all the time,” Scott baited Frank, with his arms crossed and a
gleam in his hazel eyes.

Shayna told him to shut up
with the flare of her stormy gray eyes and tightly set lips.

Sean answered the question visible
on Frank’s face.  “News travels.  Even in a city the size of Mt. Pleasant.”  He
paused intentionally.  “I guess we both know people.”  A hint of a threat lay
hidden in the nuanced meaning.

“Hey, let’s get to roasting marshmallows
and making smores!” Jack called out nervously, herding the kids and adults
nearest him down a couple of levels to the awaiting fire pit.  Sean and Frank
continued their stony stare-down, neither willing to be the first to blink.

“Think you’d better tap out old
man.  Looks like you’ve met your match,” Scott taunted, with a laugh.

“Scotty,” Shayna hissed,
pointing with her eyes at Danielle.

“Shit.  Sorry, Dani,” Scott
said apologetically, rubbing her shoulder gently.  “You know I love you to
pieces, sweetie.  It’s just your dad I can’t stand.”

“Oh my God, Scott!  That’s
enough!” Shayna snapped.

He popped his hands up in
surrender then winked at Danielle before turning and heading down to the fire pit.

“It’s okay, Mom,” she
whispered.  “I think he’s just had a little too much to drink.”  As Danielle
stepped away to join the others at the fire pit, she glanced back to her
father.  “Hey, Daddy, come with me.  Let’s go roast some marshmallows.  What do
you say?” Dani asked encouragingly, with a hopeful smile, her eyes begging him.

Frank’s rigid demeanor
softened marginally at his daughter’s invitation.  He shook his head and
reluctantly pulled his eyes from Sean, dragging them over Shayna, and finally resting
them on Danielle.

“Can’t, sweetheart.  I need
to leave,” he said resentfully, stalking over and hugging her closely before
planting a kiss on her cheek and breaking away down the stairs to bid the
Montgomery’s farewell.  Danielle followed like a puppy dog trying to change his
mind.

Shayna turned and looked
searchingly for answers from Sean.  His expression was ineffable, a wall now seemingly
between them.

“What’s going on, Sean?  How
do you know those things?” she asked cautiously.  He didn’t answer, just gazed
at her for a few seconds before resolutely looking off into the distance,
sliding his hands into his pockets, intentionally ignoring her question.

“Are you ready to join your
family around the fire?” he asked impassively, not making eye contact with her.

She felt a sudden chill
rolling off him, not understanding why.  Shayna swallowed her confusion and
blinked a few times, trying to make sense of the situation.  Right now, she was
furious with Jack for having put any of them in this spot.

“No.  I think we should go. 
I’ll say our goodbyes and meet you in the car.”

“Fine,” he bit out, pivoting
quickly and disappearing inside the house to exit out the front door.

The
car ride home from Jack’s had been unusually silent.  Shayna kept rewinding the
provocative words between Frank and Sean.  She had read nothing in the papers
about any problems that Frank was having with the business or otherwise, so
what Sean had said took her by surprise.  Her “friends” hadn’t said anything
either, but after her public dismissal of them at the last luncheon she expected
that the loop no longer included her.  Was Sean privy to some information from
a colleague or friend?  Or did his knowledge somehow go beyond just hearsay? 
Her stomach knotted at the possibilities.

Shayna also couldn’t
understand why he seemed so perturbed, almost cold, with
her
.  She
didn’t know Frank was even going to be there, or she would’ve seriously
reconsidered bringing Sean, or even attending herself.

She hoped Jack would see the
error of his choice and never do anything like that again.  His intentions
where Danielle were concerned may have been sincere, although she felt certain
there was more to it, but he must see now that it wasn’t going to work in
reality the way it had in his head.  Or maybe it worked exactly as he had hoped—friction
and discomfort all around, making the change, and Sean, seem onerous, more
difficult than the familiarity of the status quo.

She shook her head, closed
her eyes and sighed.  Somehow, they had all managed to make it through dinner
without any harsh words or jabs, primarily because Frank and Sean had blatantly
ignored one another.  That was almost as uncomfortable as the exchange of words
near the end.

As Sean pulled into her
driveway, she wondered if he was even going to come in tonight.  He answered
the unspoken question when he abruptly shifted the car into park, powered it
off, and was out his door and at hers before she had a chance to open it
herself.  He followed closely behind her up the landscaped walkway, and she no
more than opened the front door when he grabbed her keys and purse, tossing
them on a nearby entry table, and kicked the door shut.  Then his hands were on
her—commanding her, pulling her backside against him, roaming down and up,
gripping and kneading.  Kissing her neck and biting at her shoulder, he
unzipped her dress to expose more of her flesh to his demanding assault.  He
was frenzied in his attention, all the while guiding her into the kitchen.

Shayna tried to catch her
breath, but he was stealing it from her, not giving her a chance to think,
react.  Turning her, pressing her hard against him, he lifted Shayna gruffly
onto the countertop grinding his hardness between her legs, one hand fiercely
gripping her hip, the other steely hand closed around the nape of her neck
giving her mouth no reprieve from his punishing kisses.

Then his hand at her hip
shifted quickly under her dress, moving aside the flimsy material of her
panties.  They swallowed each other’s moans as his fingers delved inside her slick
center stroking, inflaming, his thumb circling and pressing against her swollen
clit.  As the wave readied to crash over Shayna—everything stopped.

Everything.

Sean’s hands slammed onto the
countertop beside her and his head dropped to her shoulder, as he tried to gain
control over his hot labored breathing.  Then he pulled away from her and left
the kitchen without a word, without a look.

Shayna’s hands gripped the
edge of the concrete top, her breath coming in hot, deep bursts, trying to
adjust to the orgasm that almost happened.  Her feet finally made contact with
the tiled floor and she stumbled across to the sink where she ran her hands
under cold water, patting some on the back of her neck and sides of her
throat.  She zipped her dress back up, adjusted her garments and turned to see
Sean in the other room, his back to her.  He was staring out the wall of
windows, hands clasped tightly behind his head, elbows out, with a wide stance.

She tentatively positioned
herself a few feet from him, gauging him circumspectly for a moment or two. 
She had understood his behavior since they walked in the house tonight—up until
he stopped, that is.  No matter how long humans educated and civilized
themselves, sometimes the animal still broke free.  After what happened at
Jack’s cookout, Sean’s animal wanted to reestablish dominance over her, wanted to
reclaim his territory from other encroaching males—Frank, to be specific. 
Unfortunately, his rational, domesticated brain had been able to restrain and
lockdown the lust-filled animal, much to the disappointment now throbbing impatiently
between Shayna’s thighs.  She rather liked the animal in Sean.  She sighed
loudly, in needy exasperation.  Swallowing hard, she licked her suddenly
parched lips, trying her best not to sound agitated.

“What’s wrong, Sean?  Why’d
you stop like that?”

His hands unclasped from
behind his head and slid into his pants pockets as he tightened his stance. 
The moonlight bathed him in a milky haze.

“Why’d you look at him like
that, Shay?” he asked solemnly without turning to look at her.  He seemed to be
contemplating his own reflection, questioning it.

Squeezing her eyes a bit and
shaking her head in puzzlement, she replied, “What?  What’re you talking
about?”

He chuckled mirthlessly. 
“You don’t even realize it, do you?”  He shook his head sadly.  “I saw the way
you looked at him, Shay,” he said in a strangled voice, “and I know he saw it
too.”  He huffed in disbelief and turned to face her.  “You still love him!” he
barked.  “Do you really think I’m an idiot?”

Shayna began shaking her head
frantically.  “No!  No, of course not!  It’s not what you think, Sean!”

“Really, Shay?  Are you sure
about that?”

She exhaled sharply.  “Yes,
I’m sure.  You don’t know what I’m feeling better than I do, Sean!  I wasn’t
expecting him to be there today, you know that.  Seeing him with my
family...with Natalie—it reminded me of how he was with Danielle when she was
young.  He was a good father, and we spent a lot of time with Jack and his
family all those years.  It’s no surprise that I’d be reminded of all that
today.”

“So you weren’t wishing that
you were back together with him?  Seriously?  It sure looked like a helluva lot
more than old memories resurfacing to me—and if
I
think that, you can
bet your ass
he
does too.”

An irritated breath pushed
past Shayna’s lips.  “As much as you want it, Sean, I can’t erase twenty-five
years of my life, or pretend that I was miserable the entire time and that
Frank was a despicable monster I’ll hate until my grave.  That’s not how it
was.  That’s not how it is.”

Sean eyed her suspiciously.  “So
you’ve forgiven him then?  You don’t hate him anymore?” he asked accusatorily.

Shayna grew increasingly
aggravated and bored with this line of questioning.  “I never hated him.  I
hated
what he
did
.  I hated how little he thought of me, of us, to willingly
risk our marriage.”  She paused.  “Never him,” she said barely above a whisper.

His expression indicated she
should’ve kept that last sentiment to herself, but it was true.  As angry as
she had been over the last three years, the one thing that frustrated and
exacerbated her outrage was the annoying fact that a part of her would always
love him.  She simply could not will it out of her heart.  She had been trying unsuccessfully
for three years to do just that.  There had just been too many good memories.  Not
to mention, the warmth and tenderness he had shown when pulling her from the
chilling darkness after Wes’ death.

Shayna sighed softly, moving
to peer out into the moon-lit landscape.  In return for saving her, she had
given Frank the child he wanted so badly—a child she loved more than life
itself and always would, a child that bound them together, forever.  She could
never really be completely free of Frank Chastain.

She finally spoke the
unsettling truth, “He’ll always be a part of my life in some way, Sean.  Like
it or not, it’s not for you to decide,” she blurted harshly.  Shayna’s gaze
drilled into his.  “Jack never should have put Frank and me together like he
did today.  But you have to understand something:  Jack’s in the majority.  He
thinks, like all of my friends, that I made a mistake.”

Doubt and pain shaded quickly
on Sean’s face and then just as swiftly ducked below the surface.

“I don’t,” she said with a
crack in her voice that belied her confidence.

“Scotty doesn’t think you
made a mistake.  He said he never liked your ex.  Thought he was smug asshole. 
A user,” Sean spat out.

Shayna raised her hands.  “I’m
done with this, Sean.  I had a pretty shitty day in case you hadn’t noticed.” 
She began counting off on her fingers.  “I walked into what I already knew
would be a tense situation with my family.  I find out Abigail flew the coop—
again
;
hurt my brothers—
again
!  And then Frank shows up, which made for an
incredibly awkward, uncomfortable dinner, followed by a heated exchange between
you two.  Now you tell me that you’re upset because of some
look
on my
face.”  Hot air blew out her nostrils as her teeth clenched and her breathing
quickened.  “And what was that by the way?  Huh?  How do you know things about
Frank’s business that haven’t even been reported in the paper?”

His expression was
unreadable.

She closed the space between
them further.  “Understand something, Sean.  Anything that hurts Frank also hurts
Danielle.”  She shook her head in warning.  “You don’t want to be a part of
that.”

Sean cocked his head and
smirked.  “That’s real sweet.  You’re worried about your ex,” he said
mockingly.

Shayna’s lids narrowed and
she huffed indignantly.  “This isn’t about Frank.  It’s about you—
your
jealousy and insecurities.”

He erupted.  “He had twenty-five
years with you! 
Twenty-five
years
!” he roared.  His hands cut
through the heavy tension surrounding them.  Then he stepped into her space, gripping
her face in his hands, tilting her head back, and baring her neck to him. 
“Twenty-five years to learn everything about you,” he muttered distractedly,
gazing at her as if for the first time, his thumb brushing gingerly across her
lips, “to learn what you like...” he trailed off roughly, his hand gliding down
and around her neck to cut a path between her aching breasts, molding the ample
flesh to his hungry hand.  A soft moan escaped Shayna’s lips, as she felt
unable to do anything but watch, riveted by his emotion and demeanor.

“Learn what makes you
laugh...cry.  Take you on vacations...holidays.”  He closed his eyes as if in
pain.  “Twenty-five years to get under your skin.”  He swallowed hard,
repositioning his hands firmly around her face and bringing them almost nose to
nose.  “Like a poison,” he said sharply.  “And I want him out, Shay.  I want
him gone,” he said menacingly.  Her brow furrowed and she started to speak.  “I
want you to look at
me
, the way you looked at
him,
” he said forcefully. 
“I waited my whole life for you.  Before you strutted into my restaurant, I was
a confirmed bachelor.  I had a good life.  Figured I’d retire early, sell the
business, and take over my legacy.”  He shook his head in distress.  “You
changed everything. 
Everything
, Shay.  Suddenly, the plans I had aren’t
good enough anymore—not without you,” he whispered roughly.

He paused and looked
longingly at her.  “God, I wish it’d been me.”  He shook his head
despairingly.  “I wish it was me you couldn’t get out of your system, couldn’t
let go of.”  He dropped his hands and stepped away looking lost, hopeless.  “I
wish I’d had the last twenty-five years with you,” he confessed poignantly.  Sean
dragged his hand roughly down his face and then exhaled loudly, bracing his
hands on his hips, turning his head and staring out the glass panel.

Shayna felt dumbstruck. 
Unable to string words together, not even sure where to start.  Collecting her
thoughts and taking deep breaths, she noticed Sean watching her reflection in
the glass.  She felt rooted in her spot, unable to move.  She didn’t know if
there was any way to assuage him, and she struggled to catalogue his
impassioned words.

She finally uttered softly, “I’m
in love with you, Sean.  You know those aren’t words that I just throw around.”

“But you love him too.  Stop
denying it,” he said soberly.

Shayna’s shoulders slumped
slightly as she sighed in resignation.  “It’s not the same thing, Sean.  It’s
not
,”
she repeated with conviction as he shook his head in disbelief.  “Every
relationship, no matter what kind, deepens with time.  The history, shared
memories, and all of the nuances add layers over time.  It’s like a book that
you just keep adding chapters to.  You and I
will
have that—our own book,
and we will keep adding new chapters.”  She paused to see if she had made any
headway with him, but couldn’t be sure.

“I
don’t
love him the
way I used to, and the way you think I do.”  She moved closer, trying to catch
his eyes with hers.  “I love the
memories
.  That’s different.”  She
reached out to touch him, but thought better of it.  He appeared coiled tight
and ready to spring.