Dark Secrets of the Heart
by Margarett Marr

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

Thump.

I clawed my way out of a deep sleep and opened my eyes, but didn’t move for thirty seconds or so, as if my brain had awakened before my body.

A noise had disturbed me. But what? A muffled thud of a car door slamming shut? Or something more sinister, like an intruder dropping to the floor from a windowsill? Possible, because I lived out in the country and loved fresh night air blowing through an open window.

I shivered and glanced toward the bedroom window. Moonlight spilled across my bed, and I registered the full moon suspended above the trees. Along with a few smoky clouds, the ever-present stars twinkled as if an unseen hand had strewn silver glitter across a navy canvas.

No other noise disturbed the quiet night, and I thought about rolling over and going back to sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time a sound in my dreams awakened me—real or not. Once I’d heard my name as if someone stood next to my bed and shouted it, but after struggling from sleep and searching the cabin, I discovered no ghostly specter or another human being had invaded my living space.

Tonight’s noise might also turn out to be nothing.

Still. Maybe it’s Chris.

With a tired sigh, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. I knew I wouldn’t be able to return to sleep until I checked. At the window I pulled the curtain aside and peeked out. A shadow moved in the darkness, and, even knowing Chris might be down there, a jolt of fear zapped my nerve endings anyway.

“Damn it, Chris,” I whispered. He loved to show up unannounced late at night. Always welcome at any hour, he knew I wouldn’t mind, even when he gave me such a fright.

As my heart rate returned to normal, I watched him. Tenderness stirred inside me…such a tormented man; his career as a rock star didn’t bring him much peace. He only found solitude here in the back of the beyond where no one knows his name.

He leaned against the driver’s side door, gazing at the moon. I would have missed him if it hadn’t been for his candy-apple red Porsche. Black T-shirt, black jeans and black shoes made him one with the night.

He sensed the weight of my stare and shifted his attention from the moon to look at me. A slight smile, so full of love, crossed his face. He said so much without speaking a word. I’ve never seen him smile at anyone else in the same way. Granted, I wasn’t with him a lot, but I was pretty sure no one else received that particular smile.

Chris came to me most often when he needed a place to hide from the world. I wondered what or who had chased him into obscurity this time.

I hurried out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and flicked on the porch light. Shoving my feet into a pair of house shoes, I unlocked the door and raced across the yard. “Chris.”

He opened his arms for me, and I launched into his embrace. With a furious hold, he squeezed me tight, almost as if he were afraid it’d be the last time he’d get to hug me if he let go.

“Anna—it’s been a while,” he said against my hair, his breath warm on my scalp. “Everything okay out this way?”

“Seems to be.” I stepped back from his embrace, and looked him over as if I were his worried girlfriend—something I’m not, though I have entertained the thought of what it might be like to date Chris, sleep in his arms—but he’s the closes friend I’ve ever known, and romance can kill the friendship between a man and a woman quicker than a bullet smacking into its target.

In the light from the porch, his pale face appeared washed out and tired. Eyes, once vibrant blue, looked dull and listless. What on God’s green earth had happened to him this time? I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know. His glamour world didn’t match my quiet country life.

I puckered up and blew at his face, and then flicked his black hair out of his eyes.

“Hey—hey. Don’t.” Sensitive about the small scars left on his forehead after a violent car crash eight years ago, he ducked away from my fingers.

“Your hair hurts my eyes. How can you see with such a stringy mess in your face?”

He shrugged. “I got used to it.”

I reached for his hand, and led him toward the house. “Come on, let’s go in, and I’ll fix you something to drink.” I stopped short when his body didn’t follow his hand. I tugged on his fingers and shot him a curious glance.

He scanned the wooded area along my driveway; his eyes narrowed as if something in the trees disturbed him.

“What is it?” I whispered.

After a moment, his shoulders relaxed. “Nothing.”

I looked along the same area he had, but didn’t see anything. A chill crawled up my arms anyway. Chris had a knack for spooking me. Maybe his paranoia about some crazed fan shooting him dead had rubbed off on me. He didn’t want to end up like John Lennon. I didn’t want him to either.

Fifteen minutes later I stared across a steaming cup of cocoa at Chris. I sipped it slowly and waited for him to say something about what had brought him here.

He glanced at the ceiling, the sink, the curtains, and stared at the trash can for so long I thought something of value lay among the egg shells, empty milk cartons, and ‘tator peels. But he wouldn’t look at me.

“It’s a woman again, isn’t it?” I asked. Most women didn’t last long in his life. I was one of the few he kept in touch with. I suspect because we’d never crossed the line of friendship.

His head swung around, and he pinned me to my chair with the fire in his eyes. “What makes you think I’m here for a reason?” He twisted the turquoise ring he always wore on his index finger—a gift from his long-dead sister.

“You never visit unless you want to get away from something or someone.” This is where Chris Gentry the rock star came to hide. Very few people knew of my existence in his life, and we both preferred it remain so.

“Not true. Your birthday. Last year. Remember?”

Right. I sighed and set my cup on a placemat decorated with black and white cows. As long as I didn’t push him, he would open up to me eventually. I placed my hands on the table and stood. “I’m going back to bed.”

He nodded without looking at me and shoved aside his cocoa. Perhaps he needed something stronger.

“You know where your bedroom is.” I paused at the dining room exit and gave him a lingering look. “Will you be okay?” With him, I never knew. He hadn’t broken yet, but one day he might. A man took only so much heartbreak before he snapped.

He raised his head. The look in his eyes scared me. “I just needed to make sure you were safe.”

Back to Order Page