Casting Shadows (The Ash Grove Chronicles) Read online

  Jim, Gail’s husband, wasn’t much of a hugger. He just said with a shy smile, “I guess it’s true what they say about pregnant women glowing. You’re lit up like a plutonium Christmas tree.”

  Joy laughed. “My hormones and I take that as a compliment.”

  Dr. Steven Sumner reached out a hand to shake Tanner’s. He definitely wasn’t a hugger. “How are you feeling, Tanner?”

  “Fine, thank you, sir.” Tanner’s sir-and-ma’am reflex was returning now that he was back in the South and out of the jet set. Joy was just as glad; she could tell her father appreciated being called “sir,” even though he’d never dream of asking anyone to do so. “The stitches should be able to come out before too long.”

  She thought they were both a little constrained. Give him credit, her father had really been incredibly cool about accepting his daughter’s baby daddy. But actually sharing the house with him was different from hospital visits. It was a small house, too; with the three of them sharing one bathroom and a tiny kitchen, she wondered how they would get along.

  Evidently her father had been thinking along similar lines, because after showing Tanner around the house, he opened a door off the kitchen with a flourish. “And here are your new quarters, Tanner.”

  Joy stared at him incredulously. “The basement?”

  “I thought it was ideal. This way Tanner has his own space and some privacy.”

  “But I thought he’d be sharing my room with me. This is like solitary confinement.”

  “Hey, it’s fine,” said Tanner. “It would have been crowded with the two of us in your room. The almost-three of us,” he added lightly.

  Joy suspected that even if her room had been the size of an airplane hangar, her father would have forbidden Tanner to share it with her. What was he afraid of? She was already pregnant, for Pete’s sake.

  Maddie must have had the same thought. “So do you get conjugal visits?” she asked with a rakish grin.

  “Maddie, jeez,” muttered William.

  “No, it’s a very good question,” said Joy. “Well, Dad?”

  Tanner spoke before he could answer. “Babe, let’s try it this way, okay? I see where your dad’s coming from.”

  “Thank you, Tanner,” said her father, a bit formally. “Joy, I’m not trying to punish you and Tanner, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m just not comfortable with the idea of my teenage daughter living like a married woman in my house. And speaking of comfortable, I’m sure your friends would prefer for this discussion to be continued in private.”

  William and the Brodys were in fact looking as if they’d rather be somewhere else. But Joy refused to be sidetracked; she wanted to get to the bottom of this.

  “So what happens when we do get married?” she persisted. “Do I move into the dungeon with my husband?”

  “We’ll revisit the living arrangements then,” said her father, keeping his temper. “At any rate, that’s what, about six months off? Didn’t you say you wanted to have the wedding in May?”

  “May first,” said Joy, and she and Tanner shared a private smile. It was a special date for her and Tanner, and her father may have suspected why, because he didn’t push for a reason.

  “That gives us plenty of time to figure things out. Why don’t you come have a look, at any rate. Gail and Jim have worked quite hard to make it hospitable.”

  Joy heard the implied reproach and silently followed as Tan led the way down the basement steps to his new domain. She had to admit it was nice. A futon stood against one wall, with an end table alongside and a low bookcase. A recliner faced a TV set across a bright area rug, and a freestanding closet partially hid the space from view and offered additional privacy.

  “Where did all the furniture come from?” she asked.

  “Most of it’s ours,” Gail told her. “Jim and I had to put a ton of our stuff in storage when we moved onto campus, so it’s nice that it’ll get some use.” Gail was the faculty resident or dorm mother in the senior girls’ dorm.

  “I do miss my recliner, especially during football season,” said Jim. “Tanner, you’ll have to promise to spend an hour in it every day so that I don’t have to feel guilty for neglecting it.”

  “The books are Joy’s and mine—overflow from upstairs,” added Steven.

  “And the weight bench?” Tanner indicated the equipment shoved in a corner next to the dehumidifier.

  “That’s mine,” said Steven. “I haven’t used it in years, though. We can get rid of it if it’s in the way.”

  “No, it’s great. Is it okay if I use it?”

  “Well, sure,” said Joy’s father, surprised. “It’s just been going to waste. So what do you think? Will it do?”

  He was addressing Joy as much as Tanner, but she let him answer. “Sure,” he said. “It’s nice.”

  “We’ll let you get settled, then,” said Steven. “Take your time.” He led the others back upstairs, but Joy stayed behind with Tanner.

  She wasn’t sure how to read him. “What do you really think?” she asked, taking a seat on the futon. It was more comfortable than she had expected.

  He gave her a surprised look. “It’s nice,” he repeated. “Better than nice, actually. A lot homier than what I’m used to.” He pulled one of the books from the shelves. “I can catch up on my reading, too. I’ve never read any Terry Pratchett.”

  “I know you’re used to much more luxurious quarters.”

  “Joy, seriously, I like it.” He sat down next to her on the futon. “You have really generous friends.”

  “I just want you to be happy,” she said. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re making too big a sacrifice to be with me.”

  “The only sacrifice would be being apart from you,” he said gently, drawing her close. Comforted, she nestled her head against his chest, but this brought a sharp intake of breath. “Careful, babe. Stitches.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Penitent, she touched her lips to his shirt where it covered the wound left by Melisande’s dagger. The reminder of what Tanner had been through cast a shadow over her mood. “Do you think it’s really over?” she asked. “I can’t help wondering if you’re safe.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” he said. “Not until the other shoe drops. I wish we knew what Raven’s plans are.”

  Melisande’s right-hand man had been conspicuously absent from the interrupted ritual, and they had seen no sign of him since. “I worry about that too,” said Joy. “I wish we knew what he was up to. Whether he’s staying out of it, or if he’s going to come after you… maybe we should get an alarm system set up. We’ve never needed one before, but you’re kind of cornered in here.” The basement had no external door. Surveying the space, she grew irritated again. “It’s ridiculous to separate us like this. We’ve been apart so much anyway, and I’ve really missed you. You know.” She raised her eyes to his. “Missed you.”

  “I know,” he said softly. “I’ve missed you too. More than you can imagine.”

  Their kiss was interrupted by the electric grumble of the dehumidifier coming to life.

  “Everyone’s a chaperone,” said Tan, resigned.

  “We can’t go six months like this,” sighed Joy. “I’ll talk to him again.”

  “Let’s let it go for now, Joy. I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot with your dad. And I can see his point. I mean, I wouldn’t want to know my daughter was having sex in the next room.” He touched her belly gently. “Not that we have to worry about little Rose doing that anytime soon.”

  “I know, you’re right.” The thought of her father knowing they were making love squicked her out. But she was still far from content. “So that’s the plan, then? I lie awake upstairs while you lie awake downstairs? We say good morning with a peck on the cheek and good night with a warm handshake?”

  “Something like that,” he said. “With the occasional stolen rendezvous.”

  “Forbidden lovers,” she said, and smiled. “That’s kind of excitin
g.” She raised her lips to his again, and his touch sent a delicious warmth through her body. She slid her arms around him, and his hands found their way under her blouse to caress her back, moving up to unfasten—

  “Joy! Tanner! Come upstairs, there’s someone here to see you.”

  They separated, breathless.

  “I take it back,” said Joy, straightening her blouse and accepting Tan’s hand to haul herself up off the futon. “Forbidden lovers sucks.”

  She wondered who else was coming to welcome them home, and the answer, it turned out, was almost everyone they knew. Gail and William had called around and invited all of Joy and Tanner’s friends over for a homecoming celebration. The house was soon full of people.

  Clark and Blake were among the first Ash Grove students to arrive. “My lord, you’re huge!” was Clark’s first remark when he saw Joy. With his fair hair, blue eyes, and wicked tongue, he was the outward opposite of his African-American boyfriend, Blake, who had dreaming dark eyes and a more reserved manner. Clark eyed Joy’s protruding belly with disbelief. “I can’t believe we didn’t figure out you were pregnant. You’ve blown up like Kirstie Alley. You and Tanner must be having to try out some new positions in bed, huh?”

  “Clark!” Joy’s face burned, and she didn’t dare look at her father, standing next to her. “I think you’ve met my dad. You know, your English teacher.”

  “Good to see you back, sir,” said Clark, unruffled. “Joy’s been needing someone to keep her in line, as you can see.”

  Blake shook his head tolerantly. “Sorry, Dr. Sumner. Clark’s particularly cocky tonight since he beat me at Just Dance.”

  “Cocky, am I? Now there’s an interesting word choice.” There was so much devilry in Clark’s eyes that Blake hastily steered him past Joy and her father and into safer waters.

  Bobby and Donna Hartwell, Tanner’s surrogate parents, were next. Donna carried a huge sheet cake and planted a big kiss on Tanner’s cheek. “For the birthday boy,” she announced, rubbing her lipstick off his face. “I know you don’t turn eighteen until tomorrow, but Steven said we could make it a double celebration.”

  “How’s it feel to be a lady of leisure?” Bobby asked Joy. Like her father he was bearded and brown-haired, but there the resemblance ended; he had a tan from biking all year round, and she had never seen him without a billed cap. “Tan said you got suspended for fighting, of all things. I hope that’s just an excuse for putting your feet up until the baby comes.”

  “I wish,” she said ruefully. She and another senior, Sheila Hardesty, had gotten into a scuffle on Samhain; not her finest moment. “Dad and my teachers worked it out so that I’ll be keeping up with my schoolwork at home until after Rose is born and I can go back to school. No rest for the pregnant.”

  Donna’s laugh lines appeared. “That sounds pretty smart to me. Get everything you can done before the baby comes—you won’t have two seconds to yourself after that.”

  That wasn’t an encouraging thought, but it was driven out of Joy’s head by the sight of a hulking figure on the front porch hovering near the door. “Uh oh,” she said. “I think a reporter found us.” A reporter disguised as a mountain range, judging from the size.

  Bobby followed her gaze and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. “That’s Larry. Works for me at the shop. I figured you might could use someone to keep the reporters and fans out of your party tonight, and he said he didn’t mind helping out.”

  “I’ve never had a party before that needed a bouncer,” said Joy, not sure if she was proud or dismayed. “Thanks, Bobby.”

  Tasha and Jeremiah arrived then with Derek, Maddie’s current boyfriend. Derek had striking, pale features and a lot of hair falling in his eyes in a way that looked accidental but had probably required twenty minutes in front of a mirror. Jeremiah, the unofficial leader of Aerosol Cheese, had a short, sturdy build and black hair cut in a Mohawk; he was secure enough not to mind that his girlfriend was taller than him even in flats. Tasha was a slender black musical-theater prodigy with serene amber eyes and hair that rippled past her shoulders. She gave Joy a gentle hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us about the baby,” she said. “My mom wants to throw you a shower, so be thinking about dates.” Tasha was one of the few Ash Grove students whose family lived in the area, so she didn’t live on campus.

  “I’d love that,” said Joy, thinking not for the first time that Tasha was lucky in her mother. Being pregnant made her feel the loss of her mother more, even though it had been more than eleven years since her death.

  When all the guests had arrived, Donna put birthday candles on the cake, and Tasha and Blake, the best voices in the room, led everyone in singing “Happy Birthday” to Tanner. After he’d blown out the candles, Joy brought out his present from its hiding place in the hall closet. There hadn’t been any point in wrapping it, since paper wouldn’t have disguised the shape of the guitar case, so she had just put a big red bow on it.

  Tanner’s face went still at the sight of it, and when he’d flipped the latches and lifted out the acoustic guitar, his eyes sought Joy’s.

  “William helped me pick it out,” she explained. “I remembered you said you’d had to give up your guitar when you began modeling.” Actually, it was Melisande and not his career that had forced him to stop playing, but no one else needed to know that. “It’s not new, but William looked it over and says it’s in good shape.”

  “I told her even a used Gibson is better than most other brands new,” William put in. “If it turns out to be a dud, it’s all on me.”

  Tanner’s hands were smoothing over the body, his fingers testing the strings. “It’s perfect,” he said quietly. “Thank you.” When he raised his head and looked at Joy for a long moment she saw that despite his quiet reaction he was moved greatly by the gift.

  Not everyone was having a great time, though. When Joy went to fetch more forks from the kitchen, she could hear angry voices as she neared the door.

  “Why do you have to mope around like Hamlet in a snit?” she heard Maddie demand. “You’re being a real downer.”

  “I told you I wasn’t in the mood to be around people tonight,” was the sulky reply. Derek, of course.

  “You’re never in the mood to be around people. Why can’t you just try for once?”

  “Well, I’m sorry I’m not simpleminded enough to be happy-tra-la all the time. I just can’t pretend to care about cake and ice cream when inside my soul is screaming.”

  “Being gloomy doesn’t make you deep. It just makes you a pain in the ass.”

  “Harpy.”

  “Emo.”

  Joy cleared her throat loudly and waited a second before walking through the door. Two tense faces turned toward her. Looked like Maddie would be offloading another boyfriend soon.

  Since it was a school night, the party wound down relatively early. It wasn’t quite midnight when Joy waved goodbye to the last guests as they got in their cars and drove away. She and Tanner stood on the front porch listening to the river, invisible in the dark.

  “Thanks for tonight,” he said. “And for my guitar. You’ve really made me feel at home.”

  “Well, this is your home now.” She didn’t speak again until her phone showed her that midnight had come and gone. “Happy birthday,” she said. “You’re now officially eighteen and your contract is up. She doesn’t even have a legal hold on you now.”

  “I’m really free of her,” he said, and she could hear the amazement in his voice. “It’s going to take some time to get my head around it.”

  She rested her head against his chest, careful this time to avoid the stitches. “We have all the rest of our lives,” she said.

  Chapter 2

  Their first night living together wasn’t as difficult as Joy had expected. She and Tanner had said a dutifully chaste good night and gone to their separate beds, but she hadn’t lain awake for long, as she had expected to do; even through her closed windows she could hear the rushi
ng sound of the river, and it soothed her. She hoped it was doing the same for Tanner; she had been pleased to find that the river was audible through the basement windows. “It’s kind of been my lullaby ever since Mom died,” she told him. “It always makes me feel peaceful. Maybe it’ll be that way for you.”

  Joy and her father had finished breakfast the next morning by the time Tanner emerged from the basement and drowsily took a seat at the kitchen table. In pajama bottoms and with eyelids heavy from sleep, he himself looked good enough to eat. Joy got the cereal back out for him, dropping a kiss on the top of his head and rumpling his wavy brown hair as she passed his chair. She figured that much was permissible in front of her father.

  “I’m going to drive Dad to school and drop him off, so we’ll have the car for errands,” she told Tanner. “We need to get groceries, and Dad thought…”

  “I thought it would be smart to go ahead and start looking for work,” he said. “That is, if you’re determined to stop modeling.”

  Tanner nodded and smothered a yawn as he poured milk over his cereal. “I’m through with that.”

  “Hmm,” said Steven. “With a child on the way, you could use that income. Well, I guess you’ll just have to hope you can find something good nearby, even though it won’t bring in anything like that kind of money. You’re welcome to use my laptop if you need to update your résumé—”

  “No need.”

  “Eh?”

  Tanner rubbed sleep out of his eyes. “I arranged everything with Bobby last night. I’ll be working for him.”

  Steven looked none too pleased. “In the motorcycle repair shop? That’s hardly going to give you upward mobility.”

  Tanner shrugged and spooned up cereal in silence, and Joy intervened. “We can talk about this later. Dad, are you ready to go?”

  She wanted her father to be in a generous mood when she brought up the subject at the forefront of her mind: her forced separation from Tanner.

  “It’s not really about sleeping together,” she explained as she steered her father’s ancient Rabbit hatchback along the winding tree-lined road toward Ash Grove. “It’s not like Tan and I are drooling with lust and trying to shag each other twenty-four seven.”