Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Josh, do you think it would be okay if I sat up?” She bit her lip. “The floor is hard and I’m not feeling so great. The stuff you gave me has made me slightly nauseous.” The smell of his cologne wafting off the blanket filled her nose and made her want to vomit.
“I am sorry about the ketamine, darling, but I did need to get you out of there without anyone noticing and you insisted on flighting me.” He frowned at her.
Her body tensed.
“I’m not sure I should let you up,” he said as he looked out through the curtains again. “More guests for the wedding. Must be. Who else would be allowed to land a helicopter on the golf course? I wonder who it could be?”
He turned around to face Raleigh. “The governor,” he breathed.
His eyes lit up. “That would be wonderful. Now I will have to go back to the reception for sure. Meeting the governor well that would just move up our timetable dramatically. We can skip the whole mayor thing and move right to being the right hand of the governor.”
Josh was prattling on, but Raleigh was getting queasier.
“Please, darling? Can I sit up?” She almost choked on the endearment, but she knew she needed to play his game if she wanted to win.
“I think it’s safe enough. No one can see us in here.
Besides we need to catch up. High school was so long ago.
And, we need a plan, if it is the governor.
” High school. Was Josh in her high school?
She tried to go back over those years, but it was all a blur.
Was he in her class? Why didn’t she recognize him?
Josh paused and then nodded. “I guess that would be fine.”
Raleigh pushed back against the wall and managed to sit up without toppling over again. She took a deep breath and tried to get her heart rate down. Think. Her whole body was on overload. Her hands were shaking. She took another deep breath and let it out.
“The governor. It would be so wonderful,” Josh said in a slightly wistful voice.
“I know if you were beside me, he would snap me up as his right-hand man instantly. We are such a power couple. With you by my side, I cannot be denied my rightful place of power.” He beamed at her. “Just like back in high school.”
“Josh, I’m having trouble remembering high school. Maybe it’s the ketamine you gave me.” She cursed long and loud in her head as Josh’s face clouded over. “I totally understand why you did it. Brilliant idea, darling. I understand completely.”
Josh’s face relaxed again, and he turned to glance out the window.
“But maybe you could remind me? You know, my high school days were a blur of activity, and to be honest, I fought with my parents a lot. I have blocked out most of those years… I’m so sorry, I don’t really remember how we met back in high school.”
Josh frowned and his eyes narrowed. Then his face transformed. “Oh, you minx! You almost had me there for a minute. You just want to hear me tell the story. You want to hear how I knew from the first moment that we were destined to be together.”
He gave her a smug smile and she fought the sick rising from her belly. She swallowed hard.
“Okay then. Just this once. You know I don’t like talking about high school very much. Brings up too many bad memories.” He gazed out the window and seemed completely lost in thought.
She had no idea if he was going to continue or not. Should she prod him a bit? Keep him talking? Or just leave him to his wonderings? If only she had a fucking clue what he was talking about. She stared at his face. Were any of his features familiar?
“Where was I?” He turned back to face her.
“Oh yes. How we met. Well, it was senior year, and we’d only moved to the area at the beginning of the year.
You were in the upstairs hallway of the science wing, standing in front of your locker.
I walked by and you smiled at me. You were trying to be coy, but I knew right away you liked me. ”
Fuck. She was in twelfth grade by her locker.
She and her folks fought like cats and dogs that year.
She barely remembered what happened at school.
If he was new that year, she didn’t have a hope of recalling meeting him.
And at her locker. That was only every day that year.
How was she supposed to remember him? “What was I wearing?”
Josh’s grin grew sly. “Are you trying to quiz me? See if I know my stuff?” He grinned. “You had on your cheerleader uniform. Now what was I wearing?”
What the hell had she been thinking, starting this?
She had no clue what to say. “Um…” What did the geeky kids wear in high school?
“You had on jeans.” She watched him closely.
He started at her. His eyes started to narrow.
Shit. He wanted more and he was going to be pissed if she didn’t get it right.
She glanced at his hands. Where the hell had that knife come from? He must have had it in a pocket or something. He was twirling it in his hand. She mentally crossed her fingers. “And a t-shirt with your backpack slung over your shoulder.”
Josh’s face lost all expression for a second and then he broke out in a big grin. “Yes! I knew you’d remember. It was such a magical moment. Of course the real moment, the crowning glory, didn’t happen until the end of the year.”
She blinked. What was she supposed to say to that? “That’s right. That was truly magical. What a great year.”
Josh frowned. “It was not a great year. How can you say that?” he demanded.
“I—I just meant that knowing you were there in school meant it was a great year for me.”
“Oh, of course. There was that. Us being together but not openly together, like now. Yes. It was nice to know I could lean on you for support when the worst happened.” He sighed and his shoulders drooped.
She didn’t want to say anything. She still had no clue how she knew him, and she didn’t want to set him off. If she said the wrong thing, he’d get mad. She knew she did not want him angry. There was just nothing about him that was familiar.
“You know, I never did get to say thank you for the flowers. You picked the Warm Embrace arrangement. It, of course, had red roses. I knew right then and there we were meant to be together and of course the bouquet at our crowning glory had red roses for both of us. It really couldn’t have been any better. Superb!”
Josh went back to looking out the window.
Flowers. What flowers? She wracked her brain but had no memory of sending anyone flowers. Her parents must have sent them. They sent flowers to everyone. That was not helpful at all.
The questions in her head screeched to a stop like needle on an old vinyl record.
Wait, what had he said? The bouquet at their crowning glory.
She’d been named Prom Queen and they’d given her flowers then.
Her mother had been so pleased. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her mother arranged it somehow.
Who was the Prom King? What was his name? Robert… Quinn. His family had had a rough go of it. His dad had lost his job as a broker in a top financial firm in the city. Some bad business dealings. Then…hadn’t his sister had died in some freak accident? Something to do with gymnastics?
Robert was a total geek, if she remembered correctly.
He wasn’t in any of her classes and they weren’t in any extracurricular activities together either.
She didn’t think she’d ever even spoken to him.
One of the other girls, Lani Devine used him as a tutor.
She’d said he was nice and felt badly for him so she decided to rally everyone and make him Prom King.
She looked up at Josh. Could it be? She cocked her head sideways. “Robert?”