Linda O. Johnston - Operation - Reunited

Her attempt at levity so obviously unsuccessful, Alexa shrugged beneath her robe. She lowered her hands and looked out again over the shimmering water of the lake. “Just a figure of speech,” she replied softly.

Why had he gotten so upset?

John suddenly grasped Alexa’s arms, turning her to face him. His grip was firm, insistent, just short of hurting her. His hands released her quickly, but his gaze didn’t. His eyes seemed to glow in the faint light on the balcony, as if they had a source of illumination of their own.

“Alexa,” he said in a surprisingly soft and sympathetic voice, “I…I sense something here. Something not quite right. If you’d like to talk about it, I’m a good listener.”

“You’re imagining things,” she said quickly.

“Am I?”

For a brief, crazy moment, she considered blurting out everything. What had happened two years ago. How the terrors of the past had somehow been resurrected right here, at the haven she had turned to in an attempt to put it all behind her.

How she feared what Vane was up to. How alone she felt, how responsible and scared.

How badly she missed Cole Rappaport.

She bit her bottom lip to prevent it all from spilling from her. She looked up into John’s curious and kind gaze.

He was a salesman. A people person. He seemed outgoing, yet full of empathy.

Could he help her?

No, shouted a voice inside her. You’re still mistaking him for Cole. He’s not here to save you.

You have to do that yourself.

She was alone here, in the midst of all these people. And she didn’t dare forget it.

“There’s nothing,” Alexa said firmly, though she glanced away from the inquisitiveness and sympathy in John’s eyes. “Nothing at all.”

“If you change your mind,” John said, “all you have to do is—”

“Alexa!”

She turned to the glass door to the house. It slid open, and Vane stood there, fully dressed, as if he had been out somewhere.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said, his tone almost accusatory.

“Sorry,” she said. She glanced toward John, intending it to be firm but apologetic. Hoping, for her own sake, to see in his continued stare the sympathy she had noticed before.

Instead, his glare had turned furious. But why? Alexa shivered as she turned to accompany her fiancé back into the house, but it wasn’t the night air that chilled her.

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