Invidious Betrayal (36 page)

Washing was something they usually did during the week, but Mandy had decided she wanted Selene’s clothing to be pink like most of hers—to add to their twin status—so when the school bus dropped her at the main house after preschool on Friday a little after noon, she a had eaten her mid-day snack, then gone to Selene’s temporary bedroom and began her art project of painting Selene’s clothes.

It was hard for anyone to be angry with the little angel, and the way Mandy’s face lit up after Aria told her she was going to help with the laundry made Aria just as happy. Plus Mandy did use washable paint. Aria and Mandy separated the laundry together and started washing. Aria couldn’t remember having so much fun with a chore.

Aria was really enjoying being here in the Morel home. If only her parents were here. The updates from Harland were comforting enough to set her mind at ease, but it wasn’t the same as having them with her. Knowing that the guy that tried to kill her at the rest stop—Jasper was his name—had not gone to her home to finish the job those three others had started, helped her to sleep at night, but she still worried.

In truth, she worried a good deal. Aria worried that Jasper would find her and Ian. Or that he would go back for her parents in an attempt to locate her, and she also worried because Ian barely spoke to her anymore. Then add in an unplanned pregnancy.

It was a wonder she could even get out of bed because the weight of it all was crippling. Some days she didn’t. Those emotional days she barely left her room other than to eat and help clean. On those days Aria noticed that Ian would hang around the house, doing odd things with Poppa Morel, who was retired and had a million projects in the works.

The need to speak to her parents had been overwhelming. When she wasn’t thinking of Ian or the baby, she was thinking of what she was going to say to her mother and father. She wanted to tell her mother how pig-headed Ian was being and how even though only a short time has passed that she loved him. She wanted to tell her father how stupid she was and how he was right about Gail. That she needed and loved them and never meant for them to get hurt. That she wanted Ian just as much as she wanted the baby, but with each minute Ian didn’t pull her to him and tell her he wanted them both, she feared he never would.

But she was grateful for the small bit of communication she had with her parents, knowing that this method helped keep all of them safe.

By two o’clock the laundry was done, so Ian, Aria, and four children set out for their picnic. Ian seemed uncomfortable so he, Tanner, and John—who was Tanner’s best friend—walked behind Aria, Mandy, and Selene. The spot they were headed for was a part of the expansive land the Morel’s owned. It was about a half mile from the main house. The children wanted to walk through the fields. They wanted to show her and Ian the new house and the natural wonders of the land, so they’d agreed to avoid the road.

The house Selene’s parents were having built was going to be as beautiful as the home she was currently staying in, but it looked like it was going to be more modern on the outside. It was more of a shell than anything else, but Aria could tell it was going to be amazing.

In the large grassy field, with the unfinished house in the background, Tanner began to unpack. Aria continued to walk, seeing more construction equipment littering the property. A few hundred feet from where they had set up the picnic was what looked like a man made gorge. It was deep and when she stood close to the edge, looking down and then over to the other side, Aria knew she didn’t want to find out how deep.

To her left was a huge construction claw-like machine that Aria thought was too close to the edge of the gorge. A dirt-hill road was a few feet from the claw and it trailed down to the floor of the gorge.

The scene in its entirety was sort of beautiful in an artistic way. Like the cliff she stood on, there was one on the other side of the gorge. Both were covered in grass and wildflowers, deceptively taking away from the sudden drop-off that looked like the earth had just split in two.

Maybe this isn’t the perfect place for a picnic
, Aria thought, but before she could voice her worries she turned to find the children had spread out on a large blanket they’d brought and were unloading the contents of the basket Ian had carried.

Speaking of Ian, Aria frowned when she didn’t see him with the children. Maybe Ian had stopped to look at the scenery. She’d fought the urge to look back during their walk here. Looking at him wasn’t a good thing. It made her want him.

Slowly Aria moved toward the kids as they chatted about what they wanted to eat first. Aria noticed that Mandy didn’t seem interested in the conversation. Instead Mandy looked around and when her gaze fell to Aria, she stood and with a smile came running toward her. Aria reached out for the child but Mandy continued past her. Panicked and in motion to grab the girl, Aria whipped around only to see Ian lift Mandy up in his arms and kiss her on the nose. He was a few feet from the very spot she’d been standing, but she hadn’t seen or heard him because she was too busy worrying about the gorge.

Ian casually walked by Aria, placing Mandy on the blanket, then sat of the edge of the blanket beside her. “I don’t want any of you standing too close to the edge. The ground is still soft due to the rain a few days ago,” Ian said.

He looked at Aria directly but she didn’t respond.

The picnic was nice. Ian fed Mandy because she rarely ate on her own anymore. It was a new thing since their arrival. Mandy loved attention and she loved Ian’s most of all.

At one point, Aria was able to hold Ian’s gaze for three heartbeats before Tanner began telling him how he and John came out here to the gorge all the time, and that they weren’t babies. Ian waited until Tanner was done presenting his case, then he told everyone again about staying away from the gorge, in the same subtle voice he’d used before. Tanner gave Ian a ‘you’re not my father look but said nothing. Eventually the tension between the two subsided, and Tanner and John began to focus on Aria.

The two boys were always offering to help Aria with some of the housework and often asked for her opinion when it wasn’t really needed. Today they were having her listen to Tanner’s playlist as they inquired about her favorite songs. Ian was occupied by his own fan club. Selene and Mandy had brought a ball and Ian was showing them some soccer moves.

At some point Selene came over and sat beside Aria while little Mandy played with her ball close by. Ian was busy showing the boys how to do back flips, handsprings, and some acrobatic kind of martial arts movements.

The psycho Jasper probably taught him those moves
, Aria thought with a wince.

They were all having a great time until Tanner yelled Mandy’s name. Aria looked up to see the terror on the boy’s face as he sprinted toward the gorge. Aria quickly turned her head in the direction Tanner was headed.

Everything happened so fast.

The ball rolled toward the edge of the cliff, a foot or so near the giant tractor, and Mandy was after it. Aria pushed herself to her feet, running and screaming. At this point everyone was yelling for Mandy to stop, but she wasn’t able to halt her momentum at the edge and went over, yelling for Ian. A blur streaked by Aria, followed closely by a gust of wind that threatened to knock her down as she tried her best to get to the ledge.

Selene sat frozen on the blanket, at first speechless, but then she screamed. Tanner had stopped running when his sister went off the ledge. He’d dropped to his knees, a dozen or so feet from the edge. He sobbed, saying that he was supposed to be watching his little sister. That it was his fault.

Aria barely heard John calling that he was going to get help.

Where the hell is Ian
, Aria thought as she slowed at the exact spot Mandy had fallen over.

Almost too scared to look over the more than five-story drop and see what she knew would haunt the rest of her life, Aria took a deep breath and leaned forward. Her heart almost stopped when she saw Mandy cradled in Ian’s arms at the bottom of the gorge, both of them laughing hysterically as if she hadn’t just toppled over a freaking cliff and almost died. Their laughter must have carried because Tanner was by Aria’s side seconds later, looking down at the two with a relieved yet confused look on his handsome face.

“How did you—” That was all Tanner had a chance to say before the ground underneath them gave way.

“Ian,” Aria screamed as her body fell forward. Pain shot up her arm as Tanner clawed for purchase and they both slid, then launched over the ledge. She was vaguely aware that the large construction claw had toppled over with them.

As she fell, Aria found it hard to breathe through her panic then everything seemed to slow down. At one point she saw a flash of Ian’s face and was thankful for that. Fear told her to close her eyes, but she didn’t. She needed to seal Ian’s image to her soul, so she would never forget him even in death.

Ian was watching her and for the first time since knowing him, she knew what he was feeling. His emotions were written on his face. Ian was afraid for her, for Tanner. They were going to die, if not from the fall, then from being crushed to death by the large construction equipment.

A sound so pained, so gut-wrenching that her heart trembled, thundered around Aria, causing her to close her eyes tight as her body involuntarily twisted in the air. She’d never heard Ian cry out like that before. Then all sound ceased.
Am I dead
? If she was, her death had been virtually painless, but her arm hurt. Her body seemed weightless, but whole.

“Shit…shit…shit,” Tanner chanted breathlessly.

Aria’s mind had formed the words ‘watch your mouth’ but no sound came out of her. Though Aria couldn’t speak, Mandy’s jolly laughter filled the quiet. Aria was afraid to move or even open her eyes, but she had to know what happened. She slowly peeled her lids open and at first all she saw was the cloudless, beautiful blue sky. The front of her body faced upward.

Her attention immediately went to the huge, yellow piece of construction equipment hovering inches above her. So close that all she had to do was reach forward a tad and she could touch it. Aria continued to slowly turn her head around and saw Tanner who was faced sideways just beneath her. His hands gripped her lower arm in a death lock.

Taking the shallowest breath her fear would allow, Aria continued to turn her head, straining to locate Ian. She was stunned to see that he and Mandy were still on the floor of the gorge. Mandy stood by herself, looking up and Ian was closer as if he had been running toward her and Tanner, but had stopped. His face was etched with determination while both of his hands reached up.

“Don’t move,” Ian said. The shaky voice he used conflicted with his usual calm tone.

“Not moving,” Tanner panted, “but I might piss myself.”

Ian cursed as he looked past them. “Move away from the edge Selene,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. Then, “Selene,” Ian said, now using his usual carefree tone, “you have to move away from the edge, sweetheart.”

Selene must have backed away because Ian’s eyes turned back to Aria and Tanner again. And he looked
scared
.

“How—” Aria started but Ian cut her off.

“Please, Aria,” he begged, “if you talk you may distract me. I don’t know what the hell this is or how I’m doing it, but I need to figure it out.”

Aria understood him perfectly, but she wanted him to know something if she was going to die. “I love you,” she blurted out shakily, “I… I just thought you should know.”

“You hear that? She loves you,” Tanner sounded frantic, “and I’m your cousin, so that…that means you can’t let us die.”

Ian stared at Aria with wide disbelieving eyes for a few heartbeats, then his eyes narrowed with confusion, and then certainty. He moved toward them with sure steps, power and strength rolling off him like heat ripples. Aria was moving too. Her body shifted, turning so she was face down. She slowly floated—yeah, floated—toward Ian.

The need to check on Tanner passed through Aria’s mind, but Ian’s gaze was too intense to look away from. A breathy sigh of relief sounded to the side of her, but she ignored it. Her heart thumped through her chest by the time Ian reached for her with both hands and hooked them under her arms. She was half aware that her feet had softly touched the ground, tip toes first, then to her soles. Her mind pictured the scene to look like some elegant move at a ballet.

Ian’s hands slid down her waist, but she could sense his hesitation. His forehead lowered to hers. “I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.”

Aria’s arms went around his neck and her fingertips lazily played with his nape. “Just tell me you love me.”

He chuckled and she couldn’t help smiling even though her heart was in her stomach. “From the moment I first saw you, I was ensnared. I don’t know when I fell, but I can tell you that I knew I loved you that day I came to you at your job. I didn’t know if I was planning to tell you that day, but I did know that I wanted the chance.”

He kissed her.