Silent Echoes Part 38

Taylor swayed, but Ian held her up. "I-I don't think so, Miss Agnes," Taylor said. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet him."

"Oh, but I was sure I had. Nice fella, about Riley's height, with those European features, the blond hair."

Taylor shook her head.

"Oh, well. We were hoping he'd stay again and house sit." Agnes shrugged. "But, what can you do? You young whippersnappers always galavanting off."

Speak of the devil galavanting off. Agnes had stopped by at least once a day while Ian had stayed with Taylor. She'd regaled him with stories from her trips with her husband.

"He only swung through town just this afternoon and told me he had other plans."

Shaking took hold of Taylor's body.

"What's going on Taylor?" Ian whispered at her ear.

"What ... did he ask ... about me?" Taylor asked.

Agnes's smile creased every inch of her face. "Oh, you know how men are. He asked how you were getting along, if any suitors had come by. He remembered you being somewhat solitary during his stay last year. I told him you had your Ian here." She laid her hand on Ian's forearm and squeezed. "You are smitten with Miss Taylor, aren't you young man?"

Even as Ian thought, *Who is Andy George, and why does he have this affect on Taylor?' he smiled. "I believe I am." His hold on Taylor didn't decrease, but he took Agnes's hand in his. A blush filled her cheeks, pinking them up like a little school girl's.

"Well, I best be going."

"I'll walk you home, Miss Agnes." Riley nodded toward Ian and pushed forward with Agnes.

"Have a good trip," Taylor said as the door closed behind them.

a a a With every step, Taylor wobbled, and Ian had to steady her. "Tell me what's going on. Who is Andy George?"

"One of the three." She fell to the couch and leaned forward, heaving air. "From the tower accident in Alabama." Taylor shook her head from one side to the other in a way Ian understood to be deliberate. "He's doing something. Planning. He took this Tanner guy's name, faked his ident.i.ty and set me up before. Why?" Before Ian could speak, Taylor continued, "Then, he comes here and takes Jason's name and a s.h.i.+ning to Emma, gets information and tells her he's leaving. But ... Andy. Is he being all three of them? What did he do to the others?" Taylor popped up. "What the h.e.l.l is he doing, Ian?"

Ian wished he had an answer. "First, we don't know that Andy is Tanner. It could be complete coin-"

The glare Taylor sent him stopped him.

"Okay, so coincidences aside ... I don't know, but I'm not going-"

"You think you can stick to my side every minute of every day for the rest of my life? I've got Tanner-Jason-Andy following close on my heels. I know he was in my house today."

"How?"

"The rose. In the middle of that mess in Alabama was a rose, tied in a velvet ribbon. Just like today." Her tone hardened. "And, it was there today. And, it was there ... before. Before now. In our life before. He dropped it on my grave as he buried me."

"He? Did you see his face in a vision or-"

"No." Taylor yanked at her hair. "I just-I don't know."

Ian took her hands and rubbed with his thumb. He was in the photo. If he was there before, could he have killed Taylor? Why?

"He's been this shadow looming over my life for over ten years, Ian!" She broke Ian's thoughts. "Maybe ten lives! Or at least four!"

Ian motioned for her to inhale. "Come on. Breathe a little."

Her rigid shoulders relaxed. "What's he doing to me, Ian? Why? Why now?"

"Well-"

"What if that photo was him, and what if he's involved in this, and what if that means the game isn't over, and what if we fail, and I never hear you tell me you love me, and ..."

"That's your worry?"

"All of it is! I don't know what's going on, and I hate it!"

Ian crushed his lips to hers. When he slowed and parted, he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you, Taylor. I have for three lifetimes, and I do now. I love your work ethic, how you support people, that you're building a business and that crazy-a.s.sed, southern accent of yours. So, there's one less thing to worry about, okay? I love you."

She touched his lips. "Thank you."

"Now, before we keep going. I had a thought. For sake of argument, if there were three players ... well, Tripp and Lexi both have the same symbol on them-"

"Are you ever going to tell me what they can do?"

Ian chuckled. "Ask them one day. They'll tell you, I'm sure."

"Okay.

"So, as I was saying, they have a matching symbol. We have a matching symbol. If he's involved in this thing with us, he'd probably have the same, right? That's logical, at least. Do you remember if he had this?"

Her eyes went wide. "No." A head shake followed. "Oh-how could I not-"

"What?" Ian asked.

"When I first met him, he'd been working and had gloves on. Then, he said he was into leather making-like belts and ropes and stuff. And his hands were either super-stained or covered in band-aids. What if he was hiding the tattoo from me? What if-"

Ian took her hands, which had moved around wildly, and held them still. "Surely he wasn't like that all the time."

Taylor hung her head. "No. You're right. I'm projecting what I want to remember."

"Lexi and Tripp's are in slightly different places. I'm a.s.suming you saw all parts of Tanner's body? Did you ... oh G.o.d, I can't believe I'm asking this ... but did you ... have s.e.x with him? Or at least check out ... that."

Her hands fisted within his grip "He was my first, Ian." She said it with such softness Ian's heart flip-flopped. "G.o.d, I wish I hadn't. Now, of all times, I wish I'd listened to Mama."

He ran a hand down her cheek, the pain in her eyes tearing at his heart. "We all make mistakes." He pulled her in toward him, laid her head on his chest and breathed deep. "I hate to make you think about it. But ... did you? Notice?"

"Yeah, I remember and no. Nothing ... there."

Ian brought her in for another hug. "It's okay. We'll figure all this out."

a a a Taylor lifted her head and stared right into Ian's eyes. "So, if it's not game related, then why? What?

Ian laid his lips against hers again, making her heart swell with emotion. "If we find Tanner and can sit down with him, maybe a conversation or two will net us some answers. Let's go see if Tripp and Lexi have had any luck."

Taylor had been thinking the same, wanting to ask, or beg or plead for them to search for Tanner again-however they went about it. "You sure?"

"Yes, so let's go."

31.

Ian pulled up outside the real estate office Lexi shared with Emma, and he and Taylor exited the car. Emma walked out of their single-story building, followed by Lexi and Tripp.

"Not right now." Emma directed her words to Ian and Taylor while waving Lexi and Tripp toward their Mini Cooper. "Get a move on already."

"Where are you going?" Ian asked.

"Ultrasound day," Tripp said.

"You gonna find out what it is?" Ian slung an arm over Tripp's shoulder. "Hoping for a boy?"

"It's a little early for that," Emma said. "Now shoo, you two."

"They're just going to date the pregnancy officially ..." Lexi leaned against Tripp's chest. "Though, I could tell them to the day when it happened."

Ian and Emma said *eww' at the same time as Taylor laughed.

"We'll be back by dinner time." Lexi extracted herself and moved to Taylor. "I can see what you want to ask. I haven't had any luck. But, I'll try again when we get back."

"Thank you." Taylor wrapped her arms around Lexi and squeezed. "It means ... a lot ... to have friends like you two."

"We'll be back," Tripp said. "Lock up for us, Em."

"Already done. I'm coming with." She scooted around them both toward her own car. "But unlike you two, I'm coming back to get some work done."

Ian gave Tripp a salute. If Taylor hadn't been in the middle of emotional torture, she'd have been happier for them.

"I need to get back to the site and finish off the day's work. I'm still behind, and the last day of the month is ... coming up way too fast. Payday is upon me." She ran a hand through her hair. "If I don't run numbers tonight, I'll have nothing ready for next week."

"I can help with that," Ian said.

"You'd like to help? Or you just would for me?"

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Both."

"I'm going to have to see about how to pay you ... unless you'll work for free."

"No one said anything about not getting paid." He offered her a quick kiss. "I will take an IOU, and my preference is s.e.xual favors."

She slapped his chest as a grin popped onto her face. "You can be in the most stressful environment ever and still think about s.e.x, can't you?"

His hand went over his heart. "Whatever do you mean, Milady?" Ian s.h.i.+fted against her, his center pressing to Taylor's-the rock hardness telling her just how he felt. "Hey, remember when my parents said I'd never brought anyone home?" Ian asked.

Taylor nodded.

"They weren't kidding. Most of that's because I knew every girl wasn't the right one. And, somewhere in there, I felt the need to *sow my oats' as Grams said. But, like I said earlier, I'm in love with you, Taylor ... in a way I've never felt before. In a way I've never wanted to be before. So h.e.l.l, yeah, I think about s.e.x all the time. With you. No matter what happens in the next eighty or so years-no, wait, that would make me a hundred and fifteen ... sixty years then-I want you to know that."

Taylor poured herself into the kiss. She pressed, pled, begged and responded with every ounce of love she had. Ian's hands went to her waist. Hers tangled together around his neck. She wanted nothing more than everything he'd offer.

When she surfaced for air, she smiled and stared into his eyes. "I love you, too, Ian. I feel like I have for three centuries." Another kiss ignited tingles through her body. "What if our eighty years ends badly?"

"Well, then we should make the most of it now. Remember I asked about a date? One we never got to go on?"

Taylor's eyebrow winged up, a smile taking over her lips. "Yeah."

"No time like the present. Tonight. You and I. Dinner. A little fun. Let's take our minds off evil and past lives and just enjoy the one in front of us."

"What about Tanner?"

"We'll deal with that. Afterward. Tomorrow. Maybe Monday. He sounds like a good Monday job. The perfect epitome to ruin a good week. And, Riley's already on it, I'm sure. When Tripp and Lexi get back, I'll ask them to look again. For tonight ..." He took her hands in his. "Let's let this be the start of our future. Just us."

a a a Sweat beaded on Taylor's brow as she and the carpenters secured the last cabinet into place. The two hours of work, with her as an added hand, helped bridge the two-day schedule delay she still carried on the project.

Taylor wanted to get another hour or two in, but the crew had been at it for almost twelve; to ask more would kill her reputation for decent work schedules and make her late for her date with Ian.

Marty walked up to her, his face the picture of exhaustion.

"We callin' it a day, boss?"

"Yeah. Think we should."

"It's six, anyway. Want us back tomorrow?"

Sat.u.r.day. She closed her eyes for a second. "Only if you can."

"I think I right can. Mark, too. Maybe Jose and Jock, even."

"Thanks." She laid her hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate it."

He nodded. "We do, too. You're too good not to work for." He tipped his hat and trotted off with the rest of the crew in his wake.

Of course I am when I pay double overtime.

Taylor dropped her gloves onto an overturned bucket but changed her mind and picked them up only to plop herself on it.