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Emma was right. Dax didn’t
know exactly what she went through, but he had to suspect she’d had a very bad
sexual experience with a man. Or men. And as serious as the brothers had looked
outside a few minutes ago, he must have told them about last night.
    “Rye and Griff know too, don’t they?” she
asked Alaina.
    “Probably. The guys don’t keep secrets from
each other.”
    She twisted her fingers together. The heat
of embarrassment swept through her at the thought of her friends now knowing
what she’d gone through. “I didn’t want them to know. I didn’t want anyone to know. God, I’m so ashamed.”
    Emma squeezed the back of Kelcey’s neck.
“You have no reason to be ashamed. Those bastards took advantage of a little
girl. You did nothing wrong. Don’t ever forget that.”
    “Emma’s right. Nothing that happened was
your fault.” Alaina hugged her again. “Feel better?”
    It surprised Kelcey to realize she did feel better. “Yes.” She looked back and forth between her friends. “You gals
are the best.”
    “Of course we are,” Emma said with a grin.
    The teasing made Kelcey laugh. She didn’t
know what she would do without Alaina and Emma in her life. She wiped the last
of the tears from her cheeks. “Let’s get that pizza in the oven. I’m hungry.”

Chapter Five
     
    Once outside the fast food place, he lit a
cigarette and blew out a stream of gray smoke. Taking his time, he enjoyed his
cigarette as he strolled to his car in the parking lot. It felt good to stretch
his legs. He’d been behind the wheel for hours and still had hours to drive before
he reached his destination.
    Dallas, Texas. That’s where Kelcey lived
and worked. He’d made this long trip to find her.
    He wouldn’t rest until he did.
    * * * * *
    Kelcey pressed the last label to the tab of
a green folder and smiled. All done. She’d spent the morning sorting papers and
creating file folders in Alaina’s office. She’d used green folders for income
and red for expenses. She had yellow, blue, white and purple folders on hand to
create other categories after she found out exactly what Alaina needed.
    She looked around the small office. Alaina
had piled books and catalogs of supplies haphazardly on the bookshelves,
intending to sort them later. Thanks to Kelcey’s work, they now stood up nice
and neat, arranged alphabetically by category. The desk held a brand new iMac,
ready to be uploaded with bookkeeping software Alaina had ordered and expected
to receive today or tomorrow.
    Kelcey smiled. She’d accomplished a lot on
her first official day of working for Alaina.
    Alaina rushed into the office, almost
skidding to a stop next to Kelcey. Her eyes were wide, her breathing labored.
“Where’s the invitation list to the grand opening?”
    “Here.” Kelcey took a purple folder from a
cubbyhole above the desk and handed it to Alaina. She silently waited while her
friend scanned the list.
    Alaina’s shoulders slumped in obvious
relief. “Bella is on here. I thought I’d forgotten her.”
    Kelcey remembered Alaina telling her about
the former owner of Stevens House and how she figured so prominently in the
histories of both Alaina’s family and the Colemans. “Aren’t you having the
grand opening for everyone?”
    “Yes. I’m placing a full-page ad in the Lanville
Journal , but I want to send out invitations to special people too.”
    “Invitations should go out three weeks
before the event, Alaina.”
    “I know! I need to order them, but I can’t
order them until I come up with a name for this place. Arrrggghhh!” She flopped
down in the padded chair by the desk. “Why is it so hard for me to think of a name ?”
    “You’re trying too hard. You need to relax
and clear your mind.”
    Alaina released a snort of laughter.
“Relax. Right. I have to shove six weeks of work into four weeks and two days.”
    “Everything is on schedule. Rye promised
the house will be finished by the thirteenth. The furniture