Page 82 of Shadow's Surrender
“Here come Bruce and Warren,” her mother said, looking over Scarlett’s shoulder and waving her hand briskly.
Scarlett, staring down at the crumbs of bread on the white tablecloth, groaned inwardly.Can this fucking lunch get any worse?
“Pamela, you look as lovely as ever,” Bruce said. “Have you forgotten about our golf game?” he said to George.
“How’ve you been, Scarlett?” Warren said as he crouched down on his haunches.
“Fine, thanks. You?” She glanced at him quickly.
“Good. Work has been real busy.” He paused, then said, “I heard you’re working now. That’s great. Do you like it?”
“I do.” She shifted in her seat.
“Maybe we could meet for lunch sometime. My office is just a block away from the Palace.”
Scarlett was acutely aware that even though her dad, mom, and Mr. Huntington were talking, their ears were on the stilted conversation she and Warren were having.
“How about next Tuesday? I could come by the hotel and we can have some lunch.”
“Tuesday doesn’t work.” All of a sudden the room grew very stuffy and small, and everyone started to blur into caricatures of themselves. It was like she was in one of those abstract paintings she’d seen at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver that past spring.
“Wednesday or Thursday is good for me too.”
She pushed away from the table and rose to her feet. “None of those days work. I have to go,” she mumbled.
“You’re not leaving?” her mother asked.
Her lips tipped up, and she nodded. “I have an appointment.” Scarlett grabbed her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder, her gaze cutting to her father. “I’ll call you, Dad.”
Her heels clattered on the wood floor as she headed out of the restaurant.
Not wanting to run the risk of her mother, or even worse—Warren, coming after her, she snagged the keys from the valet and hurried to her car. Once there was distance between the club and herself, Scarlett finally started to relax.
Stopped at a red light, she pulled out her phone and tapped in Shadow’s number.
“Hey, baby. I was just ready to text you again to see how things were going. You’ve been on my mind.” His warm-as-whiskey voice soothed her frazzled nerves.
“I just left. The worst thing was that my dad didn’t say a word about it, but the issue was there—crackling between us and bubbling under the surface. Then, Warren and his dad came by, and I just had to get out of there. It seemed like they were ready to gang up on me or something. I don’t know—I justhadto get away.”
When a horn honked behind Scarlett, she glanced up at the green light, then stepped on the gas pedal, turned right, and then made another immediate right into Clermont Park.
“Hang on,” she said to Shadow as she pulled into a space shaded by the large branches of a sprawling oak tree.
“What’re you doing?” he asked, his voice tinged with concern.
“I just pulled over, that’s all.”
“Where are you?”
“Clermont Park. I miss you.”
“Me too, baby. It sounds like you left that fuckin’ lunch just in time. I’m with you—they were gonna gang up on you. You don’t deserve that shit. I’m sorry as fuck that I wasn’t there to hold you in my arms while I set everyone straight.”
Warmth spread through her as she switched off the engine. “I love having you in my corner.”
“I’ll always have your back, darlin’.Always.”
His words caused a tiny blip of her heartbeat, and a knot formed in her throat. In the space of a held breath, there was silence. Then, she whispered, “You’re the best.”
