A Whirlwind of Color - Chapter 31 #2
“Ian, I’m fine. See?” I started walking backwards in the direction we had come. “I even know the way.”
He laughed. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you. You’re right, she was probably going to kill me.”
I smiled and waved before he turned and started walking in the opposite direction.
This was what I had wanted anyway. A little time to myself and some fresh air. I took a deep breath. The air didn’t seem as stale in the park. I slowly walked back toward the apartment.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I glanced over my shoulder, but no one was there. Why did I keep feeling like someone was watching me? Usually I could dismiss it because I knew the security detail was tailing me. But tonight? Ian was gone. No one else knew I was out here.
I picked up my pace. So much for a relaxing stroll.
But I had gotten everything I needed from this walk.
Talking to Ian was exactly what I had needed.
I’d always had issues with self-confidence.
It made sense that they plagued me into adulthood.
But it didn’t mean I was depressed. If anything, it would have just made me want to prove that I was worthy of James.
I smiled to myself. That was probably what the book was for.
And the pen name. All of it. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t just some stupid trophy wife.
But James already knew that. I could tell by the way he looked at me.
“Penny? Penny is that you?”
I turned around, expecting to see Ian. But it was an older man jogging up to me. His gray hair was slightly askew and looked in bad need of a cut. Really, he looked disheveled in general. But he also looked familiar. Just like the scenes in the book felt familiar. And the dreams I’d been having.
“Oh, it is you.” He smiled. He had a perfectly white, straight smile that did not at all fit with the rest of him.
I would have guessed he was homeless before he smiled.
But now that he was closer, I could tell he definitely wasn’t homeless.
He was just a little dirty. Like he had accidentally fallen asleep out here.
Or rolled around in the grass. Or something.
I studied him as he brushed a leaf off his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I asked.
“Yes, yes. I’m a good friend of Jon’s. We’ve met before but it’s been several years.”
“Jon?” I racked my brain. “James’ father?”
He nodded. “Indeed. I’m so glad I caught you. I heard about what happened, dear. How are you feeling?”
“Better now.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Do you want to sit and catch up for a moment?” He gestured to a park bench off to the side of the path.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t. I really must be getting back.”
He coughed. “I understand.” And then he coughed again. And again.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He kept coughing.
“Do you want me to go get a water bottle?”
“No,” he wheezed. “I just need to sit down.”
“Here.” I helped him over to the bench he had pointed to before.
He collapsed onto it and patted the spot beside him.
How could I say no? I was worried that if I left him alone he’d cough up a lung.
I sat down even though all I wanted to do was get back.
I wanted to read more of the manuscript.
And watch a movie with Melissa. And maybe get a goodnight kiss from James.
It was a silly thought. But also a perfect one.
“Sorry, dear,” the old man said. “My lungs aren’t what they used to be.” He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, but instead of blowing his nose or coughing into it, he just wrung it in his hands.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. The hairs on the back of my neck rose again. “I really should be getting back.”
He took a deep breath. “Just a minute and I’ll be alright.” He took another deep breath.
I started to tap my foot nervously. How did James’ father know this guy? Jon was fit for his age, and wealthy, and put together. The man beside me was the opposite of all that. Not that two people so different couldn’t be friends. It just felt…off. “How did you say you knew Jon again?”
“Old friends.” He reached over and placed his hand on my forearm. His fingers were like ice.
Something clicked in my mind. And I almost laughed out loud, but luckily I stifled it.
I didn’t remember him. He just looked like someone I remembered.
Professor Snape from the Harry Potter movies.
He had an uncanny resemblance to that actor.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Professor Snape from the Harry Potter films?”
“Why, yes. Your daughter actually. Last time she saw me she actually called me Snape.” He smiled.
There was something off about his smile. It didn’t seem genuine. At all. If anything it felt menacing. I shifted nervously on the bench as his words tumbled around my head. “But I thought you said it’s been several years since you’ve seen me. Scarlett’s only three and a half.”
“Several can mean three,” he said calmly.
“But if it had been that long she wouldn’t have been talking. And…” I tried to remember what James had told me about his parents at dinner. “James’ relationship was pretty strained with his parents when we met. I didn’t even meet them until just a little before our wedding.”
“I thought you didn’t remember anything. I guess you can’t always trust tabloids. I should have known when they were talking about what designer dress you were wearing when you left the hospital instead of focusing on the real story. Your lost memories.”
Tabloids? God, this man didn’t know me or my family. I tried to stand up, but his icy fingers dug into my skin, pulling me back down onto the bench.
“Let go of me or I’ll…”
“You’ll what? Call for help? There’s no one around. And you have no phone.”
How could he know that I didn’t have a phone?
Unless he had been following me. I knew I felt someone watching.
I knew it. Why hadn’t I said anything? Why hadn’t I trusted my gut?
I knew why. Because I had been fighting my gut this whole time.
My gut screamed that I loved James. That I could trust him.
That he was everything. But I kept denying it.
I had been telling my gut to piss off ever since I woke up in that hospital room.
“You’re coming with me,” he said and pulled me off the bench.
So I did what I knew I was good at. I tried to knee him in the crotch.
But before my knee made contact with him, he pushed his handkerchief over my mouth.
I screamed but my voice was muffled by the fabric. I tried to move, but my body felt heavy.
“You were supposed to die,” he said. “You were supposed to fix my life, not ruin it.”
I couldn’t breathe. My eyelids started to close. I should have trusted my gut all along. Because images of James were the last thing that flashed through my mind. I loved him. And now he’d never know.
There was nothing wrong with him describing our love as light and dark. I liked the darkness. The sounds of the city died away as my eyes closed. Darkness was everywhere. And I understood what he meant. It was hard to breathe without the light.
***
James is determined to get Penny to fall in love with him all over again. There’s just one problem…she’s missing. And he’s never been able to breathe without her.
Keep reading for the heart pounding conclusion to Penny and James’ story.