Lasting Shadows: Shadows Landing #3 Read online

  “You’re right,” Ridge said later that night. “You do make a good spaghetti dinner.”

  “I’m still not cuddling you,” Granger warned as he looked at his phone. “Ellery delivered her dinner and stayed for an hour before leaving. Now Savannah is in bed,” Granger reported.

  “I got the same report from Savannah with a little more detail.” Granger had kept it light tonight. They joked about old times, but there was still underlying tension.

  Ridge sat down on the couch and turned on the sports channel. He’d finally found a woman he wanted to have a serious relationship with and all of this happened.

  “Have you found anything out on the names I gave you?” Ridge asked.

  “Cleared Delight. I still can’t believe you dated a girl named Delight and more shockingly, she wasn’t a stripper,” Granger said, disappointed as he shook his head.

  “You probably have too. You just don’t care enough to remember their names.” Granger was a one-night–and-done kind of guy.

  “I’m pretty sure I would remember Bunny. That’s worse than Delight.”

  “Did you find anything about Bunny?” Ridge asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “Are you seeing anyone right now?” Ridge asked, suddenly feeling like a teenager at a sleepover as they talked about girls.

  “You know better than that. I don’t see women for longer than twelve hours.” Granger let out a sigh and leaned back on the couch. “Did Wade tell you what Darcy did to me?”

  Yes. They all knew. “No. What could little Darcy do to big tough Granger Fox?”

  Granger was quiet for a moment. “She told me the scars were scars, but they weren’t grotesque. She said I should show them more. That the women I should be dating are the ones who won’t care about the scars.”

  Ridge pretended to think about what Granger had told him. He was actually surprised Granger had admitted that conversation had ever taken place. “I think she has a good point. You could try it out and see if it works.”

  Ridge kept his eyes on the television just like Granger was. “Maybe.”

  Ridge wanted to pump his fist in the air. If anyone deserved to be loved for who he was, it was Granger. “You know what I’m good at? Dessert.” Ridge changed the subject knowing that was all Granger was going to say. He got up and went into the kitchen. While he was there, he texted Savannah goodnight.

  Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.

  Yup, he was a teenager all over again because reading that text from her made him feel on top of the world. Ridge reached into the freezer, pulled out two pints of ice cream and headed back into the living room.

  Granger looked up and rolled his eyes. “What a chef! I’ll take the chocolate caramel turtle.”

  And because Ridge was a good friend, he handed his favorite ice cream over to Granger as they settled in for the night.

  12

  “Good morning, cupcake.”

  Ridge blinked his eyes open and looked up into Granger’s smiling face.

  “What time is it?” Ridge asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the window and confirmed his suspicion that it was really early as the sun had yet to come up.

  “Four forty-five. And I have news.”

  “What news?” Ridge asked, sitting up in bed.

  “Whoa,” Granger said, blocking his eyes. “Get dressed and we’ll talk over coffee. I told you no cuddling and that includes naked snuggles.”

  Granger spun around and left the room with the door still wide open. Ridge shoved off the remaining sheets and stepped into a pair of black athletic pants and tugged on a T-shirt for the Atlanta Vultures football team as he rushed down the hall toward the stairs.

  Ridge could already smell the coffee and was thankful for that. All in all, Granger was a pretty good roommate. He cooked dinner and made morning coffee. When Ridge came into the kitchen, he also found that Granger had brought in the newspaper. “Do you want to move in with me?”

  Granger’s lip curled in disgust. “No way. You sleep late and you can’t cook.”

  “I can cook. I’m great at grilling and I can do laundry,” Ridge said defensively.

  “That is a plus,” Granger admitted, taking a seat at the kitchen table and sipping his coffee. “But I think you’d rather have a certain green-eyed beauty in your house than me.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” Ridge joked as he poured his own cup of coffee and took a seat across from Granger. “So, what’s the news?”

  “I think I’ve tracked down the person responsible for the attacks against you and Savannah.”

  “What?! Who?”

  “You won’t believe it, but I think it’s bachelorette number two, Bunny.”

  Ridge shook his head. “No way. Bunny is a bubbling blonde bimbo. She’s not going to set fire to the house of a girl I’m seeing or ram me from the road.”

  “Bunny was your last serious girlfriend, right?” Granger asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Yeah, but so what?”

  “So, when I was interviewing Trisha, the girl you went out with just a couple of times after Bunny,” Granger said as if Ridge didn’t remember his girlfriends.

  “I’m not like you. I remember the girls I date.”

  “Whatever,” Granger dismissed before continuing. “Trisha says otherwise. She said Bunny warned her that you two were still together. Then when Trisha came home from your last date, you two kissed by the front door. Do you remember?”

  “Yes, we made out a little. So?”

  “Well, when she woke up the next morning, she walked out to get her newspaper and found that her car had been keyed and the word SLUT had been spray-painted all over the front of her house in huge letters,” Granger told him.

  This was the first he was hearing this, but now it made sense. “Trisha called me and told me that while she had fun, she wasn’t ready to take things further and wished me all the best. And you think Bunny is still holding on to our relationship? It’s been over nine months since we were together.”

  “She’s avoiding me and won’t take my calls after hanging up on me the first time she answered. I asked Charleston PD for some help and guess who they can’t find right now?”

  “Bunny,” Ridge said on a shocked whisper.

  “She tried to scare off Savannah and look what happened,” Granger told him. “You moved her into your house. In these stalker cases, when it’s clearly no longer the other person’s fault, they turn into their obsession. It was no longer Savannah’s fault you and Bunny weren’t together. It was yours. You moved a woman into Bunny’s house. That how she sees it. You finally betrayed her.”

  “And then she went after me with the truck.”

  “Exactly,” Granger said, taking another sip of his coffee. “Charleston PD and the state police are helping me look for her. She’s currently wanted for questioning.”

  Ridge let out a long breath. He had a name and a face to put with the danger. And now it didn’t seem as dangerous. Facing Bunny was a lot better than facing an unknown.

  “Do you think she’s still in Shadows Landing?”

  Granger shrugged. “I don’t know. We know she was here for the auction. She was the losing bid to Savannah. But I’m putting out feelers with my informants.”

  Ridge chuckled. “You mean the town.”

  “Informants,” Granger said, doubling down.

  “Mary Jane at Stomping Grounds and Gil from the gas station aren’t informants.”

  “They inform me of what’s going on in town. That’s the definition of an informant.”

  Ridge shook his head and hid his smile behind his coffee cup. “What should I do about work today?”

  “I think you’re good to go as long as you stay visible. It might even be worth putting on a breakup scene just in case Bunny is watching. It could draw her out.”

  “Break up with the woman I’m not even officially dating. Sounds like a plan.”

  “Yeah, but the
n there’s make-up sex,” Granger pointed out.

  “That does make the plan more interesting,” Ridge agreed.

  “I’m off to work. Do you need a deputy to trail you?” Granger asked as he scooted the chair back and stood up.

  “Nah. I can handle Bunny. Especially if she thinks I’m no longer with Savannah. She’ll want to get back together. And I’ll call you first thing if I see her.”

  Granger nodded. “I’ll still check in on you.” He grabbed his cowboy hat from the table and headed for the front door. “Make sure to lock the door after me.”

  “Yes, dear!” Ridge called out.

  It was pretty hot for a fall day. Savannah had slipped on a tank top and shorts and attacked housecleaning with a vengeance. Ridge had called and woken her with news on the case. The woman who had bid against Savannah for Ridge at the charity auction was behind it all.

  The woman had seemed determined, but Savannah had pushed higher with the bids. However, now the glares and narrowed-eye stares Bunny had given her at the auction made sense. And Savannah was positive she’d seen her around town later that night and the next morning. Strange for someone who lived in Charleston to be in Shadows Landing so often.

  Ridge and his workers showed up at seven, and knowing who she was up against had calmed Savannah’s nerves. It was time to focus on the future. Clean the house, finish unpacking, go on a date with Ridge, stage a breakup, catch the psycho Bunny, and then . . . Savannah smiled at the then. Then she could be with Ridge, start her college classes in the new term, and, hopefully, get a job she loved.

  “Savannah?”

  Surprised, Savannah dropped the stripper she was using on the walls as she worked sections of decades old wallpaper from the wall. She’d been lost in thought and hadn’t heard anyone approaching.

  “Oh hi, Trent.” Savannah smiled at the man who was easily identifiable as a relative of Ridge. The cousins had that same masculine look. The only differences between Ridge and Trent was that Trent’s hair was a darker brown and his eyes a little greener. He was about the same height as Ridge but just a smidge shorter. And they both smelled of fresh wood and ocean breezes.

  “Ridge asked me to stop by to see if there’s anything you haven’t gotten yet that you might want me to build.” Trent leaned down and picked up a spare scraper and began to help strip the wallpaper from the wall.

  “I have everything for the kitchen ordered. But, there is something I’ve always wanted. It has nothing to do with the fire, so I totally understand if you don’t have time,” Savannah told him. “It’s nice enough that you’re helping me strip wallpaper for a couple of minutes.”

  Trent chuckled. His hair was shorter than Ridge’s and pushed back from his face. “It’s not a problem. As long as it’s not a big project, I can work on it at night after I stop working on my clients’ furniture. What is it you’re wanting?”

  Ridge.

  “I once saw in a magazine a porch swing that was a swinging bed. Not a king- sized bed but around a double. And it had this amazing woodwork along the back.”

  Trent nodded. “Was that in Southern Times?”

  Savannah stopped scraping and turned to him. “Yes! You saw it too?”

  Trent chuckled. “I made it.”

  Savannah looked at the man scraping wallpaper in jeans and a T-shirt next to her. “You’re . . . I can’t remember the company name they used.”

  “TAF Designs,” Trent said casually, all the while continuing to work.

  “You’re TAF?”

  “Trent Ansell Faulkner.”

  “You’re renowned,” Savannah sputtered.

  “I’m just a furniture maker. Ridge is renowned.”

  “Your whole family is,” Savannah said in sudden realization. “You with your furniture, Ridge with his homes, and Tinsley with her art.”

  Trent nodded. “We’re pretty evenly split. The three of us are right side brain dominant, and Gavin, Ryker, Harper, and Wade are left side dominant. Gavin told us that when we were just kids. Ridge, Tinsley, and I always wanted to build or color while the others wanted figure out mysteries and puzzles.”

  “Who won out?” Savannah asked as she felt as if she really understood the family better now.

  “We all did. We did two activities. Just don’t ask Ryker to paint for you. It’s not pretty. However, I’ve definitely had him give me a hand with my business.”

  “You all supported each other’s strengths.” No wonder the family was so close.

  “That’s what family does,” Trent said, stripping a sheet of wallpaper from the wall. “I’ll get that swing made over the next couple of weeks.”

  “Thank you, Trent. That will be so special.”

  Together they worked as the wallpaper came down. Sometimes they talked, and other times they worked together in silence until Ridge entered.

  “Do you need any more help?” Ridge asked as he came over and rubbed her aching shoulder muscles.

  “I think we’ve just finished. Whatever you do, don’t stop,” Savannah groaned as he worked out the sore, tight muscles.

  “My turn next,” Trent said, picking up the tarp covered with wallpaper remnants.

  “Thank you for helping out,” Ridge said to his cousin. “Now, are you ready to have a romantic date and break up?”

  “Oh, I want to see that,” Trent said with a grin. “You have to throw your drink on him.”

  “Hey, now.” Ridge turned to his cousin as he shook his head. “We can have a fight without throwing things at each other and still be convincing. I was just going to break up with her on the porch.”

  Trent looked horrified. “You can’t do that. Who is going to see? There won’t be any gossip about it that way.”

  “But if Bunny is here, she’d follow us back and she’d see it,” Ridge explained.

  “Nope. You need to have dinner at Lowcountry tonight and sit out on the front sidewalk. Everyone will see you.”

  Savannah thought about it and actually, it was a good idea. “That does make more sense. She’d probably see us. And if she listens to the local gossip, she’ll hear about it. We’ll just have to be careful not to be seen together for a little while afterward.” And that part broke her heart. She loved the excitement she got when she knew she would see Ridge and the way her heart seemed to beat a little faster. However, she would do anything to keep him safe. That included not seeing him for a while.

  “Then let’s get ready to break up. Want to meet there so you’ll have your own car to drive home?” Ridge asked.

  “Sounds like a plan. Let’s give the town something to talk about.”

  13

  Ridge walked into Lowcountry Smokehouse and got a table front and center on the sidewalk. Everyone who was out strolling on this beautiful fall night would see and hear them.

  Ridge ordered a beer while he waited. As soon as it was placed in front of him, he went to take a sip and saw his whole family casually walking by. There was no chance they were going to keep walking by.

  “Ridge!” Harper said, sounding surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have a date with Savannah, remember?” He loved his family. He did. But this was something he dreaded having to do. The last thing he ever wanted to say to Savannah was something mean. And he was going to have to tonight.

  “I’m surprised after that fight you had at her house today,” Trent said so smoothly Ridge thought he was telling the truth.

  “We’re going to talk about our relationship and see if we have any future,” Ridge said through gritted teeth. This was supposed to be a two-person show, not a whole theater troupe.

  “Good luck,” Harper told him as they started to head inside.

  “Who’s covering the bar for you, Harper?” Ridge asked just to put her on the spot.

  “Skeeter,” Harper said as she shot a smile over her shoulder at him.

  “I thought you were going to hire a full-time bartender.” Ridge broke character because Harper had said she
was going to do that instead of working all the time. With Darcy’s help, Harper had found a massive emerald that had once belonged to the Shadows Landing pirate Black Law. It was worth more than Harper ever dreamed of making and she had intended to use that money to hire help at her bar.

  Harper shrugged. “I’ll get around to it. In the meantime, Skeeter said he’d like to fill in here and there. I pay him in beer. It works.”

  “Please tell me you actually pay him and you report it on your taxes,” Ryker groaned.

  “Yeah, yeah, I did everything your stuffy accountant told me to do.” Harper rolled her eyes and shoved through the heavy wooden door into the inside of the restaurant. “I’ve never seen a man so proud of his bow tie collection. It’s a little weird,” Ridge heard her saying as they disappeared inside.

  Ridge slumped back in his chair. He loved his family, but sometimes they were a little overwhelming.

  Fake breakup to protect your potential girlfriend from an ex-girlfriend? And Bunny, really? You dated a woman named Bunny?

  Ridge groaned at his cousin Ryan’s text. Ryan was from the Davies side of the family that lived in Keeneston, Kentucky. He was also the head of their local FBI office, but it wasn’t investigative work that got Ryan the gossip from Shadows Landing.

  Who told you? Ridge texted back.

  Ryan quickly replied back to him. Gavin told me, Ellery told my wife, Ryker told Dylan, Harper told Sophie, Tinsley told Piper, Trent told Wyatt, and even though he’s on his honeymoon, Wade texted Walker to see if you were okay.

  Ridge blinked at the text message. He loved his family. They were helping because they loved him.

  I’m good. I’ve got it all handled.

  Ridge took a deep breath. He did have it handled. They had a plan, and by this time next week, he and Savannah would be together again publicly, once Bunny was caught.

  Let us know if you need any help Bunny hunting, Ryan offered. And while Ridge felt overwhelmed with the strong family presence, it said a lot that his cousins were so concerned. Ryan had helped them in the past. Cousin Layne had saved their best friend, Walker. They’d married and were now happily uniting the two family branches that had been separated out of spite a few generations back.