Crossing Boundaries (Cape Falls) Read online

  “According to that diary you don’t. You just don’t want me in the way you want, Dean,” Peter said.

  She panicked when she saw him leaning down, intent on kissing her.

  “I see you as a friend. I don’t want anything else to do with you. Why can’t you see that?” she cried.

  Peter stopped and cursed at her. She preferred his curses to his kisses.

  “He’d older than you, Laura,” he shouted.

  “I don’t care about that. I love him, Peter. This isn’t one of those stupid crushes,” she argued.

  He let her go and she rubbed a hand over her wrists. His grip had been tight.

  “Is that what you think I’ve got for you? A stupid little crush?” Peter asked.

  Laura shook her head and stared at the pavement. “I don’t know what you’re thinking or feeling about me. I love him.”

  “He’s using you. You’re a young and beautiful woman, Laura. He can do what he wants. You’re clever, why can’t you see that?”

  “Please, don’t say anything,” she asked. “This is my life and if he’s using me, I’ll deal with it. Please, be my friend.”

  Peter glanced at the ground before nodding his head. “You’re going to get hurt by this,” he warned.

  “That’s my problem. Not yours.”

  “You’re wrong. It’s my problem because I love you.”

  Laura smiled at his words and rubbed the tears from her eyes. “I do care about you, Peter.” She kissed his cheek and walked home.

  * * * *

  Laura stayed home and didn’t call Dean. Her brother was watching a film on the television and she sat on the floor reading a course book. Her mother had come in a few hours later with several bags. She didn’t know what was for dinner, but it looked like something special.

  “When are you moving out, sis?” Tommy asked.

  “I don’t know. Why?”

  “I want your room. It’s bigger than mine. Plus, aren’t you ancient?”

  “Cheeky, sod. I’m only twenty,” she told him. “Still old enough to do most things.”

  Like have an affair with a man older than you.

  Laura chuckled and went back to her book. Her mother walked in twenty minutes after her dad came home.

  “I invited Dean Riley over for dinner tonight. I want you all on your best behavior,” her mother announced before dinner was ready.

  Laura panicked and rushed upstairs. No one in her family paid attention to her. This would be the first time she’d seen him since his trip. Is that why he didn’t arrange a meeting with her? Because he knew he’d be coming here for dinner? Did this have anything to do with him withdrawing from her? All sorts of questions ran through her mind and she couldn’t think of a single reason. Maybe she’d have time to talk with him.

  She checked her hair and made sure her shirt wasn’t stained by any grease or anything. Satisfied with her appearance, she paced herself and when the doorbell rang she made her way slowly down the stairs.

  He wore dark blue jeans and a crisp white shirt. His tan looked good and his grey streaked hair made him seem all the more mature. She couldn’t believe he was here in her parent’s house about to have dinner. Especially when she visualized his head licking her wet cunt between her spread thighs.

  Dean moved out of the doorway and her heart stopped. What felt like a million punches hit her in her solar plexus.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs Cox, but I brought a date with me. This is Kimmy,” he introduced the woman.

  What the hell was happening?

  “There you are. Come on down, Laura,” her mother called.

  She moved past the guests and went straight to her seat in the dining room. Her dad was already seated and she took the seat to his right, hating her mum with every passing second as she sat Kimmy and Dean in front of her. Dean shook hands with her dad and she averted her gaze when he stared at her. She couldn’t do this.

  Help me.

  Dinner began and her nightmare started, Peter’s words haunting her.

  “I’m so pleased you came, Mr. Riley,” her mother preened.

  “Thank you for the invite,” he replied.

  She was thankful to her dad for staying quiet.

  “So, how did you two meet?” Her mum was awfully chatty tonight.

  “At a conference. Dean was giving a talk on one of his books and he just snapped me up,” Kimmy, the blond beauty with the fake boobs and hot body, replied.

  With every second, all the words and the loving he’d given her over the past month was reduced to nothing. His words had no meaning anymore.

  As the dinner progressed, Laura pushed her food around her plate. She couldn’t stomach this. Her parent’s were constantly treating her like a child. Thoughts and ideas ran through her head. Was this Dean’s way of getting rid of her? Was Kimmy more than an acquaintance? She thought that with time Dean would learn to love her. He cared, she knew and understood that.

  If she pulled out of college and worked full time at the library and took evening shifts at the diner she could make enough money to rent a small flat. As far as she was concerned, she wouldn’t be living with her parents for much longer.

  “Laura!”

  She turned to the sound of her mum's irritated voice.

  “What?” she asked, her voice sounding distant and hollow like the pain inside her.

  “Dean was talking to you.”

  Laura turned to him and waited.

  “I was wondering if you’d managed to get any writing done while I was away?”

  You fucking traitor.

  She’d told him to never say anything about her writing.

  “You write, honey?” fake boobs asked.

  Laura glanced down at her plate of pasta. The pain and heartache she was feeling was too much. This was worse than any rejection any woman could receive.

  “No, I don’t. Could I be excused?” she asked her dad.

  “What for, love?” her dad asked.

  “I promised a friend I’d help him out,” she explained.

  “She can’t leave. We’ve got guests,” her mother said to her dad.

  Laura closed her eyes as her parents began to argue. Every emotion for the past four weeks swamped her. The love she felt for Dean and the never-ending passion they’d shared. The secrets she’d kept from her parents and Peter’s sudden change in demands. She couldn’t handle it anymore.

  “I didn’t ask for your fucking permission,” she screamed at her mum. Laura got up from her seat and blanked out what her parents were yelling. She grabbed her purse and coat and headed out into the night, slamming the door behind her.

  The night air had a slight chill to it. Stars twinkled brightly in the sky and the tears she’d kept in for so long came out. There had never been any offering of anything more than sex. She knew that, she’d accepted it, but seeing how easily he’d moved on hurt more than she’d expected.

  A hand on her arm stopped her. She glanced first at the hand and then at the owner of it. Dean stood in front of her. She hoped he saw the tears and the heartache she was going through. Although he had promised her nothing, the least he could have done was to treat her much better and told her he was moving on. Now she understood how quickly her life could change. She’d read so much in her short life and thought there must be time to assess every decision. The reality was it moved just as quickly as in the story.

  Laura pulled her shoulder out of his grip.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  “Going to a friend's,” she gritted out. Even now she couldn’t refuse him anything.

  “Please, turn around and go back to your parents,” he told her.

  There it was again, the tone he used as if he was speaking to a child.

  “I’m not going back there,” she told him and began walking toward the apartment Peter owned on the edge of town.

  “Stop behaving like a child and do as I tell you,” he called after her.

  Laura stopped. His voice dipp
ed and she recalled with a quiver, what had happened the night he’d used the same tone. The dark hint of dominance and the call of submission he’d demanded. The dominance she’d asked for. That night not only had she given him everything her body had to offer, that very same night she’d given him her heart and her soul.

  “You’re telling me what to do? she asked him. "You lost that right when you brought her back with you. Is this the way you end all your affairs? By breaking the women who love you? If you didn’t want me, all you had to do was say so.”

  Dean walked in front of her. “It’s better this way,” he said.

  “Why? Because you started having feelings for me?” she asked.

  He didn’t dispute her point.

  “That’s it. You can’t deal with the fact you can love someone besides your dead wife.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Fuck you,” she screamed and then she did something that gave her little satisfaction. She slapped him across the face. “I don’t want to see you anymore. Peter was right. You were using me.”

  Laura didn’t wait for a response and ran. She knew her life would never be the same again and the only person she had was Peter.

  Twenty minutes later she banged on his apartment door. The tears poured from her eyes and she knew she looked a mess.

  Peter opened the door. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “You were right. He was using me,” she cried.

  Her friend pulled her into his apartment and held her through her heartache. Peter didn’t say any condescending words. He held her as she poured out her pain, telling him everything.

  “Can I stay here with you, please?” she begged. “I won’t stay long. Just long enough until I get my own place.”

  Peter placed a finger over her lips. “I don’t want to hear another word. You can stay for as long as you like.”

  Laura collapsed and placed her head on his chest. His arms surrounded her.

  She sat up. “I don’t want, what I mean is, you don’t expect...”

  “I don’t want anything from you, Laura. I’m your friend and that’s what you need,” he assured her.

  She nodded and placed her head back on his chest, the tears pouring out and soaking his shirt.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Laura didn’t return home. She refused his calls at the library and blanked him whenever he went into town. He saw her and didn’t want to create a scene. Instead he stayed at home and phoned her parents to see if they had received any news about her. He learned that she’d moved out and was living with Peter Miller in town.

  Taking Kimmy to her house had been a big mistake. She was an old friend of his wife’s and they’d met at a party in the city. His editor and publishing company had loved his story and were going through the processes of getting a cover and edits done. The title still had to be decided.

  Dean stood staring out of his study window. He couldn’t look at the room. So many memories of Laura surrounded him. He’d promised his wife he’d never love any woman the way he loved her. Spending so much time with Laura had started to break down the walls around his heart. He knew with every moment she was becoming more a part of him.

  He saw a car pull up outside his house. Dean didn’t recognize the driver and making sure not to look at his desk or the sofa he went to the door.

  The younger man removed his sunglasses. “Can I have a word with you?” he asked.

  “Who are you?” Dean asked the younger man. He’d seen him around town but had never stopped to make small talk.

  “I’m Peter Miller.”

  He knew why the younger man was here at his house.

  “What do you want?” Dean asked, not seeing any point in prolonging the conversation. He was sure it wouldn’t go the way he wanted.

  “I’m here about, Laura. I know all about you two.”

  He folded his arms over his chest. He saw that Peter meant business. Dean didn’t know how he knew. He guessed that after the confrontation at the dinner he’d been invited to Laura must have told him. He should be angry, but he understood the need to talk to someone. That’s why he’d talked to Kimmy. She’d known who Laura was when they’d entered the house. Unlike many, she hadn’t been disgusted by the age gap. She’d warned him of the fragile heart in a young woman. He hadn’t believed her. He thought Laura was a strong woman. How wrong he’d been. Laura loved him and he’d shattered her world. Since that night, their life together had all but ceased to exist.

  “You’d better come in.” Dean opened the door wider and Peter moved ahead of him. He took him to his study and was careful not to look where Laura used to sit.

  “How is she?” he found himself asking. Not that he loved her. He cared. Even though Kimmy had told him that she thought he loved Laura, he denied it. He’d promised his wife he wouldn’t love another woman and he refused to believe he loved her.

  “She’s doing as well as can be expected. Especially when an older man, perverted like yourself, preys on her,” Peter said.

  His anger rose. Everything that had happened between Laura and he was private and completely consensual.

  “I think you should leave,” he said and brushed past the younger man. This conversation was not to his taste.

  “No. I think you should hear this. People in town think you’re the big news with no little secrets. Laura’s in love with you. Not a little, but a lot. She’s not eating or sleeping since you got rid of her.”

  “I didn’t get rid of her,” Dean argued back, his gut twisting with thoughts of Laura in pain. Shit. He didn’t love her, did he? His heart had died with Carla.

  “There’s a twenty-year age gap between you two. You can’t offer her anything on the long term. The town would shun you and Laura would be surrounded by gossip,” Peter said to him.

  Dean wasn’t a stranger to the practice the younger man was wielding. He understood and respected Peter for his balls.

  “Is this the part where you tell me you can do a better job?” he asked.

  “Do you care about her? Or is she just another fuck?” Peter asked.

  He saw red. No one talked about Laura like that. He grabbed the man by his shirt and slammed him into the wall.

  “Don’t you dare be speaking that language about her in front of me. Laura is worth more than anything.” Dean snatched his hands away. His heart pounded and perspiration soaked his shirt. The heat and the situation made him feel trapped. He wasn’t ready to give up Laura. She was his one comfort in this world.

  “Do you love her?” Peter asked.

  Dean closed his eyes. He didn’t want to be asked questions about his feelings. How could he answer the question when he didn’t know the answer?

  “I care about her,” he whispered even as his mind protested.

  You, dick. You love her and you have ever since you saw her sitting on that fucking boulder writing in her diary.

  “If you cared enough, you’d let her go,” Peter said.

  No. Don’t let her go. I want to keep her. I love her.

  “I think you should leave,” he said again.

  “I mean it, Dean. I love her. Always have and always will. I’ll care for her and keep her safe,” Peter told him.

  He understood what the man was saying but he couldn’t accept that his time with Laura would be over.

  “How can you love a woman knowing she’s in love another man?” he asked. Laura was in love with him. She’d told him constantly and, like a man, he’d taken the words and not said anything in return. He was a shit head. She wouldn’t believe his words now, not after what happened with Kimmy. Taking her to the dinner had been a big mistake. He’d just been worried in case he’d slip up in front of her parents.

  “I know her. For a while she’ll be heart broken but eventually she’ll come around. I can make her happy and give her the life she wants,” Peter said.

  “Will you let her write? Pursue her passions in writing a book?” he asked him. Laura was a natural at writing. He
r work was filled with intrigue and passion and her style flawless. Any editor would see the gift she possessed.

  “Her writing is a hobby, so I guess it’ll stay that way. I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.”

  Dean nodded his head even though he knew by letting her go he’d be resigning her to a lifetime of shutting away her creativity. Would being with this boy send her muse away?

  “I’ll see her tonight,” he said

  “You know this is for the best.”

  He didn’t know. He’d see Laura and make his decisions.

  Dean waited for her outside his front door. He’d gone to the library after the visit with Peter and waited until she agreed to meet with him. She looked awful. Her eyes were black from lack of sleep and she looked weak.

  The sunset came and he watched her walk along the path. Her bag looked way too big as it hung on her shoulder. He thought about what Peter wanted him to do and watching her walk towards him, he knew the man was right. Laura staying with him would be a big mistake. People in town would gossip about their relationship and she’d be the main source. Could he force her to a lifetime of ridicule because he didn’t want to let her go? What would happen when she was still so young and he’d be old? He couldn’t expect her to spend her years with him as he grew old. He was twenty years older than her, a very large age gap.