Possessed by a Stranger (28 page)

With a deep chuckle in his voice, he
whispered in her ear. “That was bad … oh God … so bad. Pops is
probably laughing his ass off right about now. No more alcohol for
you or we might have a riot.” He steered her away from the
commotion.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I know he was a
hound dog and proud of it but those women just wanted his money.
Now, at least people will remember him for the accomplishments he
enjoyed the most.”

Garret was amused at how well she knew Pops.
He would love the commotion and the narrative of his sexual
activities being shouted across the room. To think, he suspected
her of being just like those women. It just proved how wrong he
could be about a person. “We’ll sneak out of here in about an hour.
Can you stay out of trouble until then?”

“That depends … Are there any more of your
grannies running around here?”

“Don’t drink anything until we get home. I
intend to take full advantage of your inebriation. See if you can
sit here and behave.”

She sat in the corner of
the couch crossed her legs and saluted him using two fingers. Her
playful mood lifted his spirits. She was the reason he survived
this painful ordeal. She comforted him when he needed it the most.
She cried for him when his tears went dry. She supported him
through all his duties. She had been his rock. He went to say his
goodbyes to his parents so he could take her home and feel her
love. He needed her in his arms to soothe the pain in his heart.
One thing was certain, his sly old dog of a grandfather was
laughing his ass off. Garret shook his head remembering Pops’
warning.
“You’re already fucked, boy.
Hannah’s under your skin and there’s no way to get an Abernathy out
once you’re infected. Learn from your predecessors and
surrender.”
Yep, Pops was right, he was
definitely fucked.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Hannah stationed with three other small
business owners sat on the outskirts of the stage. The hard cold
metal fold out chairs spoke volumes as to their place in the scheme
of the dinner. No one expected them to donate or educate, just
entertain. She regretted accepting the invitation to speak at the
formal dinner designed to raise money to fund new businesses.

Well, Garret had a previous commitment
tonight anyway and wouldn’t be at her cottage until tomorrow
morning. She recognized several of her clients. Not being dressed
in her normal business attire made her uncomfortable. Her privacy
was invaded by her misconception she might make a difference in
some one’s life. If entertainment was what they wanted, then
entertainment was what they would receive. She knew to appeal
directly to the wealthy side of the room, to loosen their purse
strings. Without their money the other side of the room wouldn’t
get grants to start a business.

She recognized the potential contributors
from the recipients without the seating chart that was supposed to
be mixed. The left side of the room had a king’s ransom in diamonds
hanging from the necks, wrists and protruding from the fingers of
designer dressed women. The right side of the room wore off the
rack gowns and rented tuxedoes. She entertained herself with
predicting which side of the room the next group would be
seated.

She was three for three with her predictions
when the usher entered with the next group, holding their
invitation in his hand. Her heart fluttered threatening to stop all
together when her eyes rested on Garret. Tall, dark and handsomely
dressed in a tuxedo he broke her heart into slivers of pain from
fifty feet away. His mother and father led the way. Garret followed
with a tall blonde-haired woman on his arm. So, she was what he
meant by previous commitment.

Her stomach knotted, pushing a sick feeling
into her throat. The panic of her heart’s piercing pain, teetering
on causing a waterfall of tears, left her searching desperately for
an escape route. Trapped she trembled uncontrollably.

She always knew this day loomed in her
future. Why now and here, stuck on stage in front of his family and
many of her clients. She had to keep her dignity since she just
lost her heart when it shattered into a million pieces. Her sweaty
palms slipped off the edge of the metal chair she tried to
clutch.

Closing her eyes, she fought to control her
pain. The older she became the easier it should be to tuck the
heartbreak into her secret place. She hoped she had enough room to
store the magnitude of pain crushing against her will to live.
Anger crept into the disastrous equation of heartbreak plus public
location. She knew this night would not bode well for either of
them. Whatever they had together was over, done, finished. He had
promised to tell her when it was over. She stupidly trusted him.
Well, the lying bastard might regret that oversight before this
night was over.

She heard her name announced as the next
speaker. Hannah took a deep breath. She silently prayed she didn’t
end up in a fetal position, bawling her eyes out in the middle of
the stage. With a smile pasted on her quivering lips, she walked to
the podium carrying her cue cards in her trembling hand. Every
desolate filled step reverberated to the top of her head. Acutely
aware of the satin fabric of her gown caressing, clinging,
accentuating every curvature and movement of her body, she felt as
exposed as Louise’s image in the portrait. Garret’s whore stood
center stage bravely facing his friends, family, and her
replacement.

After listening to the same old introduction
he heard at every other fund raiser, Garret was bored letting his
mind drift. His obligations took too much of his time. If he
weren’t stuck here, he would have already arrived at Hannah’s
cottage. She had some other plans tonight anyway. He hadn’t
bothered to ask what or where, just when she would be home. The
thought of wasting time at some antique show bored him more than
this event.

He could have sworn he heard her name. He
glanced at the stage. His Hannah appeared from the side of the
stage. The too clinging white satin dress touched the top of her
four inch heels. The lights reflected off the shiny fabric of her
gown as she shimmered to the center of the stage. Her beauty
radiated from the stage quieting the room. The sensual sway of her
hips reminded him what he was missing tonight. If his mother hadn’t
volunteered him to escort Loraine, he could have followed Hannah
home after the speeches.

His mother leaned in front of him to speak to
Loraine. “Isn’t she just adorable? I recommended her as a speaker.
I heard her speak at another function and she has such passion for
her work, I knew she would be perfect for this fund raiser.”

He glared at his mother wondering why she
hadn’t mentioned Hannah was a speaker before now. Why would she,
since he kept Hannah a secret.

Hannah cleared her throat blinking back
tears. She focused on the hopeful faces of the recipient side of
the room. She cleared her throat again searching for her voice.

“I am the owner of Aged Treasures, an
internet based company. I am here to talk to you about how to
choose your business. Let your brain guide you through
profitability, overhead, advertising and competitive pricing. Then
choose the business from your heart. You need to love what is
taking you away from family and friends. Believe me; starting a new
business will leave little time for anything else. Don’t let that
deter you from fulfilling your dream. Know going in, your dream
comes with a price. You must be willing to make the commitment to
work hard. With passion and drive you will succeed. Just remember
when your business takes off and you find yourself divorced, or
still single and friendless, so what. You’ll be able to buy some of
them back or just buy new ones. But, you will still love the job
you created for yourself.”

Damn, she had everyone’s attention. The
wealthy patrons laughed at her joke about buying friends. Her voice
cracked when she first started her speech. Now, she had found her
flow. She used her hands in that cute way she did when she was
excited. The low hum of private conversation had stopped. Hannah
made eye contact throughout the room with an obvious avoidance to
his general vicinity. His heart raced as he realized she must have
seen him with Loraine. With her on the stage, he wasn’t able to
explain the situation. Hannah’s face, as beautiful as ever, wore
the professional mask she used to hide her emotions. His fist
resting on the table clenched tightly. She wasn’t masking anger.
The blue flame that shown in her eyes was doused with tears she
blinked to contain.

“Yes, I ended up still single and pretty much
friendless. I made several life altering mistakes trusting the
wrong people. Mistakes are inevitable and should be viewed as a
learning experience. As soon as you discover your mistake make it a
part of your past. The past can’t be changed so the only direction
left to travel is forward. Arm yourself with the knowledge of your
mistake and open your heart to find your dream. A closed heart or
mind will never find happiness or fulfill a dream. I think of my
career choice as opening my heart to the preservation of memories
that deserve to be remembered. Progress follows wrecking balls and
bulldozers. Buildings are destroyed to pave the way for more
efficient and space saving skyscrapers. It is a necessity of our
growing population. However, how can we appreciate where were going
if we have nothing left of where we have been. The small wooden
church with a tall steeple that refused to sell out sets a
beautiful comparison of our past positioned in front of the
skyscraper of our future. I love history, so I chose antiques.
Every antique tells a unique story. In our past, times were hard
and people worked from sunlight to sundown just to put food on the
table. It was a time when creating something beautiful meant you
put your blood and sweat into the process. People took pride in
their work and it shows in the artisanship we still see today. If
you want your business to be successful you can learn from our
forefathers and put forth the same effort.”

Her words raced around his mind. It was as if
she was speaking about their relationship using terms like life
altering mistakes, trusting the wrong people, a closed heart. Why
in the hell had she felt the necessity to mention being single? Why
had she worn that dress? She should be here with him. His mother’s
hand on his arm broke into his thoughts. He realized he had been
pounding his fist on the table. She glared at him leaning over to
speak to Lorraine.

“I plan on introducing her to some bachelors
here tonight. I have already talked to some of them. I think she
was in an abusive relationship. One day she had bruises on her arm.
She deserves someone better than that.”

“Robert Lindale is single again. He lavishes
his women with gifts.”

“Would one of you like to change seats with
me?” Garret barked.

His mother’s interruption of Hannah speech
was annoying enough but the subject of their conversation heated
his blood. First, he had to stop his mother’s matchmaking. There
wasn’t a man in the room he would trust around her. They were
vipers ready to entice, capture, devour, and then discard anything
they wanted. He had been just like them before Hannah. His mother’s
mention of the bruises he put on Hannah’s arms twisted a twinge of
guilt. She had deserved someone better and he had become that
person. She couldn’t possibly know how much he changed since he had
evaded sharing his past.

The only picture of him she could see was him
with another woman. She couldn’t know the woman was married to his
friend. He looked at the stage in time to see Hannah step from
behind the podium. She held out the shawl as she gracefully twirled
around the stage. Her movements painted a picture of an angel and
the shawl her wings.

Once on the stage Hannah found solace in the
faces of the hopeful recipients. She was here to inspire their
dreams and that was exactly what she would do. Garret Presley with
her replacement by his side wouldn’t have the satisfaction of
witnessing the pain he caused. She saw the lustful stares from men
in the sea of strange faces. Her modesty cringed until she glanced
at the rage on the face of the man that threw her love in the trash
with the rest of the garbage. The inconsiderate ass wouldn’t see
the damage he forever marked on her soul. Hell no, she would show
him what he would miss laying in the bed of another woman. She knew
from experience he was visually stimulated. For the first time
since she took the stage she glared directly into Garret’s furious
eyes. With an air of newfound confidence she smiled vindictively,
oh yes definitely vindictively, teleporting her message of
“visualize this you fucking prick“. She returned her full undivided
attention to the crowd.

“This hand knotted ribbon shawl originated in
Italy. It is over a hundred years old. Someone loved it enough to
preserve it, just so I could wear it tonight.”

Heart piercing flaming blue daggers blasted
out of her glare. The weight of her pain was suffocating him. Her
fury tried to protect but couldn’t conceal the sadness of the lost
little girl he had only seen one other time. Unintentionally, he
had again hurt her breaking his promise. The bruises he caused this
time may never heal. His stomach’s contents rose to his throat. The
crowd laughed as she tossed the shawl onto the podium. The gown
plastered to her ass flowed wider below her thighs. She grasped the
material in her hands and twirled again. She gracefully twirled in
place releasing her hold on the dress and raising her arms to toss
her hair. Spinning in the middle of the stage she formed the
picture of an ice skater performing the move to perfection, arched
back, arms pointed at the sky and all. The bottom of the gown made
a large circle before settling back to cling to her legs.