Bonds of Courage (14 page)

Chapter Fifteen

The party was in full swing by the time Vanessa arrived at the lake. The high-pealed scream of kids and the general grumble of chatter reached her from the back of the cabin. The scent of pine and fresh-cut grass blended with the murky fragrance of the water. The air was cool under the shade of the tall trees that provided a welcomed respite from the sun.

Vanessa closed her eyes and simply absorbed it.

This was summer.

The tension left her shoulders to drain out through her fingertips on a sigh that for once was filled with relief.

“It’s about time you got here, V.”

The slightly sarcastic tone pulled a smile from Vanessa. She turned to her sister, who was trudging up the path that ran by the side of the lakefront cabin. Her face was flushed and filled with her almost permanent grin. The cute halter bikini top in a bright yellow showed off her nice tan and had Vanessa a little envious.

Liv jogged up to her, the bounce in her stride matching the sway of her ponytail. Her hug engulfed Vanessa.

“It’s good to see you,” she said. The scent of Liv’s strawberry shampoo brought back the years of love that bound them together. Things were always clean and simple for Liv. It was a trait Vanessa admired, and she did what she could to keep Liv’s life free of complications.

Her sister’s full laugh surrounded them with the bubbling life that was her. “We live thirty minutes from each other. If you didn’t work so hard, you could see me more.”

Vanessa ducked into the car, her guilt hidden behind the distraction of grabbing her bag. “Here.” She handed her duffel to Liv then balanced the dessert trays on one hand as she closed the car door. “So how’s everything going at the center?” she asked as a way to distract her sister.

“Good.”

Liv spun around and they headed toward the quaint two-bedroom cabin. Worn by time but updated with love, the property had been in their mother’s family for over fifty years.

“Is everyone here already?” Vanessa asked as they entered the cabin. The unique woodsy yet old scent brought another wave of memories.

“Who knows?” Liv said with a shrug. “There’s a crowd out there like usual.” She waved to the back windows that were opened to a screened-in porch and large yard beyond that spanned down to the waterfront. A random blend of conversations, laugher and childish squeals filtered in to confirm the view.

Their parents both came from large families and most were still in the area. Divorced when Vanessa was six, her parents had started dating again when she was a teen. Or in modern terms, they’d become friends with benefits. Most of her relatives were divorced but still cordial if not friendly with each other, which made her family a mixed-up conglomerate of relationships.

Vanessa set the desserts down and scanned the assembled crowd. As usual, she homed in on Rick, sitting in a group with her father. The tilt of his chin and relaxed slouch in the canvas chair radiated an arrogant confidence as he took a drink of his beer. A flash of anger and remembered betrayal chilled her before she looked away.

Liv pulled her down the short hallway. “Get your suit on.” She tossed Vanessa’s duffel on a bed already filled with bags overflowing with clothes. “Uncle Joe is loading up the pontoon.”

Vanessa laughed. “Okay.” Joe’s party boat was a notorious tradition that was booked on a first-come first-served basis for everyone but her and Liv. They had guaranteed spots every year. “Go save us some seats.” An afternoon on the lake with a beer, sun and laughs sounded perfect. It also kept them away from a majority of her relatives, including Rick.

“Don’t forget the sunblock,” her sister chimed as she headed out of the room. “I’ll grab the towels. Oh—” She stopped with the door halfway closed, a devious smirk on her face. “I have a surprise for you. I’ll show you when you get to the boat.”

“Liv...”

The warning in Vanessa’s tone was ignored as her sister shut the door, her laughter filtering through the wood. Vanessa shook her head, but a smile warmed her lips.

She changed into her bikini, slipped shorts over the bottoms and whipped her hair into a messy bun. Heeled sandals on, she donned her sunglasses as she stepped out the back door.

The annual volleyball competition was in full swing by a mixed group of adults and teens in the sand pit by the lake. Another group of parents and kids were down at the water’s edge, most splashing in the water to shouts of summer fun.

The cluster of people under the large shade trees included her dad and Rick. The same age as her, her cousin had been the tormenting brother she’d never had. He still had the charming smile, lean build and knack for being “one of the guys” that had made him popular in high school. It was those exact traits that stripped away the years and swept her back to the scared seventeen-year-old girl who’d stupidly trusted him to have her back.

He caught her eye, a thin smile curling over his lips as he lifted his beer in a salute.

She kept her face flat and turned away. Loathing churned in her stomach, but he’d never see that. Years of exploiting the free counseling services at college had given her the mental tools to endure events where he was present. He might be the prick who’d shattered her trust with his betrayal, but he wasn’t taking her family from her too.

She found her mother and a few aunts organizing the food tables. Two large grills stood ready and the scent of barbeque rolled from a smoker, making her mouth water.

“Hey, Mom,” she said as she waved to everyone. She set her sunglasses on top of her head and glanced down the selection of salads, dips, sides and just about everything a Fourth of July party could have. “The food looks great.”

“Vanessa.” Her mom’s hug was encompassing and welcomed but contained only a bit of the warmth that Liv’s had. “You’re late.”

At five-two and fifty pounds overweight, her mother compensated for her size by maintaining a stiff demeanor and a take-no-prisoners attitude. No one pushed her around unless she wanted them to.

“It’s a party. How can I be late?” She brushed her mom’s admonishment off with a laugh. Years of withstanding digs like that meant they had little effect on her anymore.

She greeted everyone, rounds of half hugs and well-wishes given. Today was for fun, she reminded herself. Not fights or trips into the past.

“I left the desserts inside,” she told her mom. She crunched on a carrot stick and squinted into the glare off the water. The pontoon was half-filled with adults ready to get away from the kids. That was Uncle Joe’s one condition—no one under the age of eighteen was allowed.

She dropped her sunglasses back on her nose and snatched a couple of bags of unopened chips off the table. “I’m off to the party boat. See you in a while.”

A wave to her dad as she passed garnered an air kiss blown her way, which she returned. Rick was three chairs away, and she caught his frown before he hid it behind his beer bottle.

“I’ll talk to you when I get back, Dad.” She raised her voice for him to hear and ignored the chills that covered her skin whenever her cousin was too close.

She pointed to the boat and got a smiling nod from her dad. Six foot and built like a tree stump, her bear of a father always held the attention of any crowd, no matter the size. His deep laugh and strong opinions hadn’t wavered as his dark hair grayed and his bulk morphed from muscle to fat.

She moved into the sun and let the heat chase away the lingering effects of being near Rick. She had a few stress-free hours ahead that she was going to enjoy.

Liv stood on the boat, hands moving while she talked to a man who was bent over the rail on the far side. Calves and thighs chiseled from solid muscle strained below navy swim trunks stretched tight across a fine ass.

Flashes of deja vu clashed with her surroundings. Her forward motion stumbled to a halt and she grasped the dock pole for support. Her brain refused to put the pieces together, yet her vision dimmed, the darkness tunneling down to a single pinpoint of wavering light.

“Got ’em.”

The deep voice sucked the breath from her lungs before he swung up, a pair of sunglasses held high. His triumphant grin made it impossible for her to breathe.

Holden.
Holden.
What was he doing here?

“Hey. You okay, V?” Her uncle’s voice echoed down a long tube that rang hollow and empty.

Holden didn’t belong here.

“Vanessa?”

This was her family. Her world. Not his.

“V!”

She shook her head, retreat screaming through every muscle rigid with denial. Liv whipped around, her wide smile oblivious to the havoc she’d caused.

“Surprise, V.” Liv held her arms out toward Holden. “I brought you a date.”

Holden. Date. The two words didn’t mesh besides the primary one that hammered in her mind.
My submissive.

Here with her family.

No!

The grin on Holden’s face fell, the easy joy disappearing in a flash. Had she said that aloud? A glance showed that the rest of the boat occupants were staring at her, a mix of shock and confusion in their expressions.

Liv’s laughter broke the tension that gripped the air. “Okay. I’m kidding,” she said around her bubbling chuckle. She jumped onto the dock and grabbed Vanessa’s cold hand. “But I had you going, didn’t I?”

A round of laughter and calls of “good one” had the relaxed vibe back for the pontoon crew.

“All aboard,” Uncle Joe called out, hands cupped around his mouth to project his voice.

On the boat, Holden hadn’t moved. He stood tall and proud, hands on his hips, the expanse of his bare chest gleaming with lotion and sweat in the blistering sun.

“You’re going to burn,” she said, the comment mundane and so far from her misfiring emotions that she almost laughed, a hysterical cackle that would’ve had her family shoving her into the psych ward.

His half smile was somehow an apology that she caught and rejected.

Liv stepped in front of her, cutting off her locked stare on Holden. Vanessa blinked and jerked back as the rest of the world came rushing back to her. Kids splashed in the water behind her and the jeers from the volleyball game flowed across the lawn to remind her where she was.

“You okay?” Concern lined Liv’s brown eyes. “What’s wrong?”

The anger flashed hot and defensive to lash out at her sister. “What is he doing here?”

Liv’s eyes went wide. “Hey. Back off. I invited him.”

“But why?” Her jaw ached with the tension it took to keep her voice lowered.

“He’s my friend.” Liv motioned to the boat. “Just like Shelly and Joan.”

Vanessa glanced at the two women who worked at the center with Liv. “When did Holden become your friend?” The judgment in her voice couldn’t be missed, just like the icy edge around the word
friend
.

“Are you serious?” Liv stepped closer, her eyes narrowing in a rare show of anger. “You might think you control everything, but you do
not
get to tell me who I can and can’t be friends with. Now get off your fucking high horse and try to have fun for once.”

Her fucking high horse? Oh, really? “I’m not the one who brought a jock here to flaunt around. What are trying to prove? Huh,
Vivian?
” She snapped her sister’s real name out like it was a curse.

“That’s all you see, isn’t it?” Liv moved until their faces aligned in a bitter showdown that reached years into their past. “An athlete. Heaven forbid you look past his occupation and see the man beneath.”

“I know the man beneath. Do you?”

“Oh, really?” Liv arched a brow, the cocky doubt scratching over Vanessa’s raw nerves. “And how would you possibly know that?”

“I know firsthand how jocks treat women, plus I work with men like him every goddamn day.”

“So now they’re all the same?” Liv shook her head in mock sympathy. “All athletes aren’t
like them.
” The emphasis on the
them
identified whom she meant. “I never realized how closed-minded you were.”

“At least I don’t make myself easy prey anymore.”

Liv inhaled and the emotions warred on her face. “Low blow, even for you.” She spun around, her ponytail whipping out in a fan inches from Vanessa’s face.

The guilt was instantaneous. “Liv.” She grabbed her sister’s arm. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

Liv held herself stiffly before she looked over her shoulder at Vanessa. “It was.” The low agreement had more impact than a slap. Her sister jerked her arm away and turned back to the boat.

“We heading out of here, Joe?” Liv’s voice was full of liveliness as she vaulted back aboard. The lightning-quick cheer much like Vanessa’s icy shell. Their defense mechanisms were vastly different, but effective just the same.

“You coming, V?” Uncle Joe waited by the helm, the boat loaded and ready to go.

She glanced at her sister, but Liv had her back to the dock, her hands braced on the rail as she stared over the water. Vanessa’s stomach rolled and the chip bags crinkled in protest beneath her clenched grip.

Her gaze shot to Holden as he stepped onto the dock, hand extended toward her in a silent request. The need to refuse tore at her gut and screamed at the violation. His presence threatened more than her secrets, and her instinct told her that he knew that, yet he was here anyway.

But everyone was staring at her now. She didn’t have to glance around to know that. The awareness prickled over her in a haunting reminder of past events when she’d been the focus of whispered jokes and speculation.

Staying meant she’d be stuck on shore with Rick for hours, and that was far worse than being trapped on a boat with Holden. She slammed her sunglasses over her eyes and stepped past the man who insisted on banging against her boundaries.

Backing down was out, but giving in wasn’t in her plans either.

* * *

The chill was an almost physical sensation as Vanessa brushed past Holden. One so strong he shivered. The blaring heat of the sun that baked down on his head and back couldn’t compete with the frost left in Vanessa’s wake.

The Ice Queen was present and based on the wide berth the other passengers were giving her, he could tell everyone was aware of it.