Love Songs
Page 15

Warner watched her disappear and then focused on her brother, whose eyes were focused on him.
“Sounds like she had quite a night,” Christian said still keeping a steady eye on Warner.
“She’s pretty frightened.”
“And John just turned off the lights and she got like this?”
Warner nodded. “That’s about it. I don’t know what set her into this, but that triggered it.”
Christian took a step closer to him. “You don’t know why she’s like this and yet you’re this calm around her?”
“Hey, man. She needed a shoulder to cry on, a set of arms to hold her. She’ll tell me in her own time.”
Christian took a step back and the corner of his mouth curled up. “You’re one of those very patient men aren’t you?”
“I don’t know about that. I just know this isn’t any of my business.”
“C’mon,” he started for the kitchen. “I’m going to make it your business.”
Warner followed reluctantly. Finding out about someone’s demons was a big step to take. But Clara knew he had this stupid connection to Patricia Little and she was still sticking her neck out for him.
“Have a seat. Can I offer you anything?” Christian pulled a mug from the cupboard.
“I’m fine,” Warner said as he sat down at the kitchen table.
“Crap, I can’t remember which one of these is supposed to make her calm.” Christian pulled down the two boxes of tea he’d been staring at in the cupboard.
Warner wrenched his neck to see what he had in his hand. “The black tea will keep her awake. The green tea is supposed to be more soothing.”
Christian turned his head and lifted a brow. “You know this?”
“One of my many many jobs was as an assistant to this antique dealer. She was a tea freak. You have only so many cups of tea thrown at you before you get it right.”
“If she’s throwing hot tea at you I hope you didn’t work for her for long.”
“You do what you have to do to pay rent and eat.”
Christian nodded and pulled a green tea packet out of the box. He then filled the tea pot with water and set it on the stove before pulling out a chair and sitting across from Warner.
“Just so you know, my sister doesn’t spook at just anything. It’s not like she’s afraid of the dark—usually.”
Warner nodded. “She doesn’t come across as a woman who lets things bother her.”
“My aunt was involved with this man once. We didn’t even know him. We were really little and they lived in Hawaii.” Christian drummed his fingers on the table. “They were engaged, having a baby, starting a new life.”
Warner watched him and the lines around his lips began to deepen.
“He decided to marry someone else, for wealth. As if the S.O.B. wasn’t wealthy enough.” He shook his head. “Anyway, he decided the best thing to do would be to kill my aunt and the baby.”
Warner felt the blood drain from his head. “Are you kidding me?”
Christian shook his head. “He beat her and left her to die, still pregnant.” He sucked in a breath. “Well, they both survived. My aunt gave up the baby for adoption so that he couldn’t get to her and she went on to marry and have two great sons.”
“They caught this guy? Locked him up?”
“No.” Christian closed his eyes for a moment. “The bastard left the country with his new wife.”
“Coward.”
Christian chuckled. “He surfaced a few years later and then again when Clara was about thirteen.”
Warner felt his heart rate kick up. This was where it became real to him. This bastard had something to do with Clara and already he could feel every muscle in his body tense.
“Why would he come back?”
Christian sat back in his chair. “He was now in the knowledge that the baby my aunt was carrying had survived. I think it was all a power trip, because he didn’t want that baby. But his wife divorced him, left him broke. He was seeking revenge.”
“He came after her?”
“He came after the whole family.” Christian leaned in and rested his arms on the table. “My other aunt was remodeling the theater with John. Their first production was going to be Annie and Clara was going to have the lead. They were told to meet there, but he was there.”
Christian’s eyes had glazed over and Warner realized he dug his own fingertips into his thigh waiting for Clara’s part in this story.
Christian blew out a breath. “He turned off the lights. Grabbed Clara and locked her in the props closet.”
Warner felt the heat rise under his skin.
Christian drummed his fingers again. “Then he set fire to the building.”
“Oh, God!” Warner wanted to find this man and kill him himself. Who did that to a young girl?
“My aunts got her out of the closet. She inhaled a lot of smoke though.” He ran his fingers through his hair and went back to tapping them on the table. “They were able to get through the theater and out to the lobby before he grabbed them again. But somehow Regan got the gun out of Arianna’s purse and she shot him.” A smile crept across Christian’s lips. A smile of pride. “They got out, he died in the fire.”
“No wonder she freaked out. That is horrible.”
“She went through a few years of counseling over it. Dad being in education knew she had to. He saw too many kids messed up by events in their lives. It’s never been an issue to her. She knew the man wasn’t after her. Clara just got in the way. But she still had nightmares.”
“You said something about this all coming back because of Darcy. Ed’s Darcy?”
Christian smiled and scratched the growth on his chin. “Darcy is the baby.”
“The baby your aunt gave up for adoption?”
“Yep. Funny how things happen, huh?”
Warner gave some thought to the Keller family story. “And since your dad and your aunts are all adopted then Darcy and Ed aren’t related at all.”
“That’s how it goes.”
Warner let out a little laugh as the whistle on the tea pot sounded.
Christian stood and poured the water into the mug. “Clara was fine until Darcy came into the picture and the story was brought up again. She doesn’t blame Darcy, it just surfaced memories.”