Beauty (A Midsummer Suspense Tale) Read Free Page B

vehicle.
    The sun struck him hard and he fumbled with his coat for his shades. Damn hangover. Whiskey had seemed like such a good idea at the time and he made a mental note to not do that again. Instead he breathed in the fall air, fresh and tinged with the scent of water and trees. It filled his lungs, calmed his stress enough that the tension unwound just a bit more from his shoulders.
    The driver took care of the bags without a word while Val looped her arm through Scott’s and pulled him across the lawn, pointing at the beach in the distance and murmuring something. Sawyer watched them for a moment, the closeness and realness palpable between them. They’d been married just six months, but they never seemed to have the supposed “honeymoon period” of doe-eyed loviness. They were always simply Val and Scott, friends first, couple second, with a genuine regard for one another Sawyer rarely saw in other people. Of course, given the company he generally kept, that was hardly surprising. He felt a sharp sudden squeeze of his heart, some yearning for something he’d never had, never would have, when he looked at them.
    He scowled and glanced away, heading up the steps toward the rental house. Jeffrey already had the door unlocked and was heading back down to get the rest of the bags. Sawyer slipped inside past him and paused in the foyer to peer around. It was as the place was described, a vaulted ceiling just inside with a second floor balcony around it, stairs to his left leading up to the hall of bedrooms. A kitchen lay directly ahead of him, bright with the massive windows despite no lights being on. Around the corner would be the living room. Downstairs, a multimedia den and laundry facilities. Four bathrooms, six bedrooms. A small boathouse and dock by the water, complete with boats. Perfect getaway.
    As if he could really get away from anything.
    The silence was broken moments later when Val and Scott came in laughing, the latter giving Jeffrey instructions while the former scooped up one of her suitcases.
    “Any room I want?” Val challenged, pausing at the stairs to glance over her shoulder at Sawyer.
    He nodded. She’d pick a small modest one, he knew, but liked to pretend otherwise.
    Scott closed the front door while Val headed upstairs and slapped Sawyer on the shoulder. “It’s a nice place.”
    “It is.”
    “You’re brooding still.”
    “I am.”
    “You’re here to not brood.”
    “No, I’m here to brood away from the paparazzi cameras.”
    “Point. You could do us all a favor and brood a little less, though.”
    “There’s a hot tub on the deck. You won’t see me from there.”
    Scott shook his head and pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his nylon jacket. “Here’s the code for the door alarm and the front gate. I don’t figure we’ll need it, but just in case.”
    Sawyer took the paper, glanced over the string of numbers, and pocketed it. He stepped away from Scott, the other man’s hand slipping off his shoulder, and grasped his overnight bag and suitcase to head upstairs.
    “Sean.”
    He was halfway up the stairs when Scott called him, and he glanced over his shoulder at him in silence.
    His brother-in-law’s expression was serious, dark brows pulled tight over his deep-set eyes and lips set in a grim line. “It’ll be okay.”
    Sawyer bit back a comment and continued on up the stairs. What was there to say, after all?
    His life was a mess. Everyone else’s life he came in contact with became a mess in turn. Somehow he’d gone from a bright-eyed kid with big dreams to a jaded, washed up loser who destroyed everything he touched. At least I’ve got the brooding down. Too bad it doesn’t make for much of a career.
    All the bedroom doors were open but the one nearest the stairs, which he figured meant Valerie had claimed it already. He continued on down the hall to the farthest end where a pair of massive doors opened to the master bedroom. It had a vaulted ceiling like