Yvette faced Nic. "It is my retreat, yes, but it is more a sanctuary for my students than anything else. And I refer to them as students for lack of a more appropriate term. They are people with unusual gifts that have alienated them from their families, talents that have turned them into outcasts. I, too, have always been an outcast."
"So everyone living here has psychic abilities of some kind?"
"Yes, and their abilities vary in degree. Most are marginally talented, while two are far more gifted than I am."
"How many students do you have living here?"
"Seven. Three men and four women." Yvette focused on Nic"s face. "I see that Griffin has kept his word and not shared any information about my students, not even with you."
"Then you asked him to keep me in the dark about-"
"Oh, Nicole, I am so very sorry." Yvette stared at Nic, realization in her dark eyes. "I should have given him permission to tell you. I can see that you are upset because-"
"My husband shouldn"t have needed your permission to tell me what is going on here at Griffin"s Rest. Griff and I are married, and to me that means we don"t keep secrets from each other. We share everything. But for the past year, since you sent your first student, Meredith Sinclair here to live and Griff began construction on your retreat or sanctuary or whatever you want to call it, he has been secretive and so involved with you and your pet project that he"s neglected me and our marriage."
When Yvette reached out to touch her, Nic jumped back, avoiding skin-to-skin contact. She didn"t want Yvette probing into her mind, sensing her innermost thoughts and feelings.
"I truly had no idea," Yvette said. "But I should have. My only excuse is that constructing this sanctuary has been a dream fulfilled for me. I apologize most sincerely for allowing my needs and the needs of my students to create problems between you and Griffin."
Nic stood ramrod straight, every muscle in her body tight, every nerve pulsating. "I won"t apologize to you or to Griff for the way I feel. You had no right to swear him to secrecy. And he had no right to agree."
"Does Griffin know how you feel?"
"I"ve tried to talk to him more than once, but he acts as if he thinks I"m being silly."
"You have felt this way for all these months and did not come to me. Why?"
Good question. She"s got you there. Why didn"t you come here sooner and demand to know what was going on and why Griff was so secretive?
"I think I was afraid of what I might learn."
"If you had objections to Griffin building this retreat for me, why did you not tell him when he first mentioned it to you?"
"And sound like a jealous wife?" Nic chuckled sarcastically. "I know that everything Griff has, he has because of you. You and Sanders. Even his life. I know that all his billions were rightfully yours. So if you want or need something from Griff, he"s in no position to refuse you, is he?"
"Griffin should have told me that you were unhappy with my living here. But I a.s.sumed that since Sanders lives in the house with you, you would have no objections to my living a mile away."
"Sanders may know my husband better than I do, just as you do, but he isn"t a beautiful woman. Griff isn"t in love with Sanders."
"And Griffin is not now nor ever has been in love with me," Yvette said with absolute certainty. "He is very much in love with you."
d.a.m.n it, don"t you dare cry.
"I want to believe you. I"ve tried to believe what you"re telling me is the truth, but...When a man"s allegiance to one woman supersedes his allegiance to another-to his wife-then a person has to question the reason why."
"This is my fault entirely. Please, Nicole, forgive me. Do not blame Griffin. Because of what happened in the past, because of the horrors Griffin and Sanders and I shared, we have a bond that I realize no one else truly understands. But that bond in no way is a threat to your marriage."
"You"re wrong. Whatever secrets Griff has not shared with me do pose a threat to our marriage."
"When Griffin returns home, you must speak to him and make him understand how you feel. But you must be prepared for whatever he chooses to share with you."
"Will he admit that the two of you were once lovers?"
"No. We were never lovers. I swear this to you."
G.o.d, how she wanted to believe that was true. But if the dark secret that Griff wouldn"t share with her was not that he and Yvette had been lovers, then what was it?
"Would you like a tour of the retreat?" Yvette asked as she led Nic out of her office and back into the hall. "If you will come back in the morning, I will give you the grand tour, and I will introduce you to my students."
"Yes, I"d like that. What time should I come back in the morning?"
"Is ten o"clock suitable for you?"
"That"s fine."
"And from this moment on, there will be no more secrets about the retreat. You and I must learn to trust each other more completely. I should have shared everything about my plans with you. As Griffin"s wife, you had every right to be included."
"I"m glad you understand."
"I believed we were friends, but I see now that I have not earned your trust and friendship. I will work harder to be a better friend."
"Good night. I"ll see you in the morning.
Yvette nodded.
Nic hurried ahead, not waiting for Yvette to escort her to the door. She had gotten what she came for, at least partially. And in a few days, when Griff came home, she would demand the complete truth from him. She needed to know more about his past. She needed to know his deepest, darkest secret.
As soon as they placed their order-fried catfish, hush puppies, steak fries, slaw and a pitcher of beer-Cathy relaxed for the first time since Mike Birkett had shown up at Treasures this afternoon. She looked across the table at the man who had whisked her off the sidewalk and run away with her. For half a minute she felt seventeen again, seventeen and doing something frighteningly sinful.
"You"re smiling," Jack said.
"Am I?"
"You should run away more often. It seems to agree with you."
"Mother would say that I acted irresponsibly, and I suppose, in this case, she might be right. No one knows where I am, and I"m sure they"re all worried sick wondering if I jumped off the Spring Creek Bridge."
Jack removed his phone from the belt clip and handed it to her. "Call somebody and tell them you"re okay."
She stared at the iPhone in the palm of his big hand. After hesitating for a moment, she took the phone and punched in Lorie"s number. Lorie answered on the second ring.
Apparently Jack"s name had appeared on her home phone caller ID, because the first thing she said was, "Is Cathy with you? Please, tell me she is."
"Lorie, it"s me, Cathy. And yes, I"m with Jack."
"Thank G.o.d. I"ve been worried sick. After I got rid of your mother, your in-laws and their preacher by lying to them and telling them that a wrong-number phone call was from you and you were fine, I started looking for you. One of my neighbors said they saw you get in a car with a good looking guy and I put two and two together and...d.a.m.n it, Cathy! I don"t blame you for escaping from the zoo, but did you have to run off with Jackson Perdue?"
"I didn"t have to, but I wanted to."
"Oh, I see. Just where are you? I hear a lot of background noise."
"We"re at the Catfish Shack. We just ordered dinner."
"I hope you know what you"re doing," Lorie said. "Please don"t do anything stupid just because you"re upset."
"Don"t worry about me. And don"t wait up."
"You didn"t take your purse," Lorie reminded her. "That means you don"t have a key, but it doesn"t matter, because I"d have waited up for you regardless."
"See you later." Cathy ended the conversation and handed Jack his phone. "Thanks."
"I guess Lorie was worried about you," Jack said.
"She"s a good friend."
"I always liked Lorie back when she and Mike were together." Jack shook his head. "d.a.m.n shame about those two. I"d have laid odds back then that by now they"d be married and have a houseful of kids."
"Life seldom works out the way we think it will. Fate can play some cruel tricks on us."
"You"ve had it awfully rough, haven"t you, honey?"
She looked into his eyes, and their gazes locked. He reached across the table, clasped her hand and held it tenderly.
"Discussing the past or anything unpleasant is off-limits tonight, okay?" She couldn"t bear to think about Mark and how he had died-how, for the entire length of their marriage, she had cheated him. And she certainly didn"t want to talk to Jack about how she had spent this past year at Haven Home.
"Sure thing. Tonight we"ll pretend that G.o.d"s in His heaven and all"s right with the world." He tugged on her hand. "Come on, Kit-Cat, let"s dance."
Kit-Cat.
Cathy"s heartbeat accelerated. No one else had ever called her Kit-Cat. It had been Jack"s pet name for her that long-ago autumn when they had been lovers.
She rose to her feet and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. Without a moment"s hesitation, she went into his arms. He held her close, but not too close, their bodies almost touching. And then she closed the narrow gap between them as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Chapter Nine
Where man"s laws fail, G.o.d"s laws do not. No one is above the wrath of the Lord Almighty. Sinners must be punished. G.o.d"s law demands retribution.
What I have done, I have done in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. He has given me this holy duty to stop the evildoers from defiling His name. These wolves have hidden themselves in sheep"s clothing and have preyed on the weak.
"And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity." Isaiah 13:11. I hear You, Lord. I know there are others who must be punished. I will find them and destroy them.
Sitting here alone in my room, I gaze out the window at the stars and wonder if heaven is out there, far away, beyond the moon and stars. Or is heaven another dimension, not a part of the universe as we humans know it?
I long to be in heaven, to walk the streets paved with gold, to hear the angels sing, to sit at G.o.d"s feet and know His goodness. Who I am here on earth will not matter in heaven. All my burdens will be eased, all my heartaches soothed, all my sins forgiven.
I must not cry. Tears serve no purpose. I must be a strong soldier for the Lord. I must fight the good fight if I want to receive my eternal reward.
I have sent three wicked men to the fires of h.e.l.l. I know that Satan has marked their names in his book of eternal d.a.m.nation.
Mark Cantrell-adulterer; Charles Randolph-thief; and Brian Myers-pedophile.
I will not stop until I have done all within my power to rid the world of such perverted evil. And G.o.d will be pleased with all that I do. He will transform me from a child conceived in sin, born in shame and degradation, the living proof of man"s evil, to a place of honor at His side. I will be purified by His power.
Show me the way, Lord. Take my hand and lead me to the others who must be punished.
Jack figured he was a fool, because only a fool would play with fire. And that"s just what Cathy Cantrell was-hot and dangerous. She had no more idea now than she"d had all those years ago just what kind of effect she had on him. Yeah, him and the male s.e.x in general. She possessed a kind of womanly sweetness that made it d.a.m.n near impossible for a man to resist her.
He"d had his share of women over the years, but there had been only one he"d never forgotten. Maybe it was because he had been her first. Or maybe it was because he"d honest to G.o.d been in love with her. When he"d first found out that she"d married someone else, he"d been as mad as h.e.l.l. But he hadn"t held on to his anger and bitterness. He had learned that it didn"t pay to judge others unless you walked a mile in their shoes. He figured Cathy had had her reasons for marrying someone else, for giving up hope, for not waiting for him to come back. And he knew that that reason could have been as simple as her falling out of love with him and in love with Mark Cantrell.
He"d spent the past hour watching Cathy as she devoured their greasy meal. She"d eaten with gusto, as if she were starved to death. And she"d downed several gla.s.ses of beer, which probably was the reason she was smiling now. A couple of times, when she"d licked her fingertips, his racy thoughts had given him a hard-on.
"Want dessert?" he asked, forced to talk loud to be heard over the din of conversation, laughter and music pounding from the old jukebox.
Laughing, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach. "I don"t know where I"d put it. I"m stuffed."
He glanced at the nearly empty pitcher on the table. "I could order some more beer."
She groaned. "I"ve had my limit. Actually, I drank more beer with dinner tonight than I"ve drunk in years."
"What about some coffee?" He was trying to find a way to keep her here for a while longer. Food, drinks, conversation, whatever would persuade her not to go.
"Maybe some decaf later." She scooted back her chair and stood. "What I want right now is to dance." She held out her hand.
Dance with Cathy again? Cheek to cheek. Bodies pressed together.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Grinning, she shook her head and clicked her tongue. "You aren"t afraid to dance with me again, are you?"
He rounded the table, took her hand and led her onto the crowded dance floor. She slipped into his arms as naturally as if she"d done it a thousand times. He pulled her close. She was soft and warm. When she laid her head against his shoulder, he pressed his cheek against her silky hair.
If she were some other woman, a woman he"d just picked up here at the Catfish Shack, he would maneuver her out of the door and to the nearest bed as quickly as possible. But this was Cathy, and unless he missed his guess, she still wasn"t the type of woman who had casual s.e.x. And if he were a different kind of man, he would take advantage of her vulnerability. She was working hard at trying to have a good time. He understood why. He"d been there. More than once. She was holding on for dear life, the control over her emotions hanging by a mere thread, that modic.u.m of control not easily achieved or maintained.