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Chapter 53
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The Fantasy Maker Chapter 54
Emma lay on her back, her bruises aching, her muscles popping along her back, her sides, as she tried to find a comfortable position. Steve lay on his side next to her, his fingers moving lazily along her belly, playing a game of their own making around the scar of childbirth. She watched him, her thoughts swirling in a dozen different directions.Guilt lay heavy on her shoulders. She couldn't help but think of Tommy now that the heat of passion was done. She missed his easy smile, the way he looked at her as though she was the center of his world. She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, wanted to feel his heavy hands on her breasts, her belly.It hurt, how much she had in such a short time and how much she would never know.Was it possible to love two men so completely?She ran her fingers through Steve's hair, traced the curve of his ear. He looked up at her and smiled. It was a beautiful smile.She wished she could return it.She closed her eyes, her mind s
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 55
She dialed Jen's cell number as she navigated the still dense late evening traffic on the interstate just outside of Denton. Jen answered on the first ring."Steve, I've been trying to get through to you all day.""It's Emma, Jen.""Oh." There was a long silence on the other end. And then, as though a switch had been flipped, her voice filled with concern and caring. "Is everything okay, sweetie?""Fine," Emma lied. "I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you the other day.""Don't worry about it. I understand.""Do you?""Losing Tommy like that must have been difficult.""It was. Especially the way he died.""Suicide, right?" Jen asked, an undercurrent of cruelty in her voice. "Such a pity."Emma maneuvered the car around a curve, nearly dropping the phone as she tried to hold it in the crook of her shoulder."Where are you?" Jen asked. "I went by the house earlier, but there was no one home.""We took the kids to the airport." Emma grabbed the phone with her right h
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 56
Emma managed to stay ahead of the truck for a few miles, speeding dangerously on the little back roads that led to Pilot Point. Just as she came around the bend that would take her into the tiny hamlet of downtown, the truck gained on her and swerved around her. Emma slammed on the breaks and tried to move around him as she had before. However, the truck anticipated her movements and slammed his transmission into reverse, cutting off her escape. She swerved, the car stuttering to a stop in a shallow ditch at the side of the road."All you had to do was pull over," a voice said as her door was wrenched open. Rough hands grabbed her upper arm and yanked her from the car.Emma stumbled, her sore ankle felt wrong, as though she had hurt it even more in the attempts to control the car."What do you want?" she demanded."Just doing what I'm told, lady."He dragged her to the truck, pushing her in through the driver's side door before climbing in after her. Emma slid over to the passenge
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 1
Prologue"Mom, Seth hit me!""I did not!""You did!""Boys, if you don't settle down, I'm going to turn this car around and take you back home." Emma glanced in the rearview mirror at her two sons. "And then you'll have to sit in your bedrooms until your father gets home.""But he won't be home until Friday," Justin moaned."Exactly."The boys immediately sat back, clutched their hands in their laps, and stared straight ahead as they had been told to do too many times to count. Emma slowed the car for a stop sign, glancing into the rearview mirror with a stern, warning look one last time before jabbing the power button on the radio. Exchange one noise for another.Her thoughts were a million miles away. As a popular pop song infused the car with its deep bass beat, she found herself thinking about recent trips she had made to the Pilot Point Spa and Resort. Or the Ranch, as it was called by its customers. She knew she should feel guilty, especially in light of the places th
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 2
Emma shoved Steve's uneaten breakfast into the garbage disposal with the remnants of the boys' meal, feeling a little too much satisfaction as the sound of the grinding blades filled the room. Was it evil of her to imagine his face sliding into the disposal?Maybe.She sighed as she bent to put syrup lathered plates into the dish washer. She loved her husband, really she did. Every time he looked at her with those amazing blue eyes, her heart still skipped a beat. She just wished that he still felt the same way.They hadn't had sex in months. In fact, she could distinctly remember the last time. They were in the Turks and Caicos Islands, celebrating their wedding anniversary. He spent nearly the whole time on his cellphone while she went scuba diving, took hikes with a local guide, and explored the local markets. Only on the last night of their trip did he seem to have time for her. And even that felt more like an afterthought than anything else.They went to dinner at the resort.
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 3
Emma was standing in the backyard with her camera in her hands. She was adjusting the focus, trying to get just the right angle on a tiny dandelion moving just slightly in a gentle breeze. Just as she had it perfect, she heard a voice call out to her from the corner of the house."Mrs. Hamilton?"She pressed the shutter several times before turning and acknowledging the short, squat man walking toward her."You must be Mr. McWhorter.""Billy," he said, holding out his hand as he approached. "Nice to meet you." Emma turned toward the house, gesturing to the far, west corner of the main building. "Over here is where I'd like to build the addition."As he followed her across the yard, Emma described her vision. "A building about 45x45, with 20x20 of that a dark room on the far side, close to that stand of trees. The other half will be a photography studio, so I want it to have as much natural light as possible. High windows with retractable shades and sky lights.""Have you spoken
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 4
She stood in the doorway and watched them. Her three men. Seth and Justin sat across from each other in their superhero pajamas, Justin in Iron Man, Seth in Superman. They had their noses buried in worksheets, Justin struggling with a simple crossword that forced him to define his spelling words for the week, and Seth with his math. Steve sat at the head of the table, his laptop open and a stack of paperwork fanned out beside it. Every time his eyes moved over something at the top of the screen, it felt like he was looking at her. She studied his face, the angles so familiar that her hands could almost feel them against her palm. She remembered the first time she saw him. It was like this.He moved in to a house across the street from where she lived the summer she was sixteen. She caught glimpses of him from time to time, saw him coming and going with his father, saw him playing basketball alone in the driveway. But it wasn't until school started again that fall that they really me
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 5
Emma followed Jen through the lingerie store, a blush so hot on her cheeks that she felt like she was having some sort of hot flash."What do you need that for?" Emma asked before she could stop herself.Jen held up the satiny teddy she had just tried on in the tinny dressing room. It was red and black, with tiny yellow bows along the top and bottom hems. Too tight, too short, and too sheer for Emma's comfort."To make Ray remember why he married me."Emma laughed despite her embarrassment. "I'm sure you never let him forget.""I try not to." Jen glanced back at Emma as she continued to make her way through the stacks of displays. "You should get something, too. I'm sure Steve would appreciate it.""I don't think Steve would notice even if I wore this," she said, snatching up a pair of crotchless panties from a low lying table. Jen's eyes widened and Emma dropped them, laughing so hard she thought her ribs might burst.They walked out of the store a few minutes later, the fifty
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The Fantasy Maker Chapter 56
Emma managed to stay ahead of the truck for a few miles, speeding dangerously on the little back roads that led to Pilot Point. Just as she came around the bend that would take her into the tiny hamlet of downtown, the truck gained on her and swerved around her. Emma slammed on the breaks and tried to move around him as she had before. However, the truck anticipated her movements and slammed his transmission into reverse, cutting off her escape. She swerved, the car stuttering to a stop in a shallow ditch at the side of the road."All you had to do was pull over," a voice said as her door was wrenched open. Rough hands grabbed her upper arm and yanked her from the car.Emma stumbled, her sore ankle felt wrong, as though she had hurt it even more in the attempts to control the car."What do you want?" she demanded."Just doing what I'm told, lady."He dragged her to the truck, pushing her in through the driver's side door before climbing in after her. Emma slid over to the passenge
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 55
She dialed Jen's cell number as she navigated the still dense late evening traffic on the interstate just outside of Denton. Jen answered on the first ring."Steve, I've been trying to get through to you all day.""It's Emma, Jen.""Oh." There was a long silence on the other end. And then, as though a switch had been flipped, her voice filled with concern and caring. "Is everything okay, sweetie?""Fine," Emma lied. "I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you the other day.""Don't worry about it. I understand.""Do you?""Losing Tommy like that must have been difficult.""It was. Especially the way he died.""Suicide, right?" Jen asked, an undercurrent of cruelty in her voice. "Such a pity."Emma maneuvered the car around a curve, nearly dropping the phone as she tried to hold it in the crook of her shoulder."Where are you?" Jen asked. "I went by the house earlier, but there was no one home.""We took the kids to the airport." Emma grabbed the phone with her right h
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 54
Emma lay on her back, her bruises aching, her muscles popping along her back, her sides, as she tried to find a comfortable position. Steve lay on his side next to her, his fingers moving lazily along her belly, playing a game of their own making around the scar of childbirth. She watched him, her thoughts swirling in a dozen different directions.Guilt lay heavy on her shoulders. She couldn't help but think of Tommy now that the heat of passion was done. She missed his easy smile, the way he looked at her as though she was the center of his world. She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, wanted to feel his heavy hands on her breasts, her belly.It hurt, how much she had in such a short time and how much she would never know.Was it possible to love two men so completely?She ran her fingers through Steve's hair, traced the curve of his ear. He looked up at her and smiled. It was a beautiful smile.She wished she could return it.She closed her eyes, her mind s
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 53
It was a slow, gentle kiss. But it touched her in places that had forgotten what it felt like to with the one she loved.She stepped into him, felt the tip of his tongue just brush against her bottom lip. She opened to him, and was rewarded with a sigh of such power that she could feel it as though it had issued from her own lungs, her own lips.She ran her hand slowly over his chest, could feel his heart pounding against her fingers. His hand moved from her jaw to the back of her head, buried its fingers in her hair to pull her closer, always closer. And then he buried himself inside of her, moaning against her lips with more pleasure than she had thought possible from such a simple touch.Her breath stuttered in her chest as he ran his hand over her back, slipped his palm over the curve of her hip, the roundness of her bottom. He pulled her to him until she could feel his need hard against her hip. She slid her hand around his back, drawing him so close that there was nothing but
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 52
Emma handed Steve the lists she had made on the hotel stationary after they finished eating. The DVDs were back in their bag, waiting to be destroyed. That had been her promise to Tommy. If anything happened to him, she was to take the DVDs and destroy them. He had no desire to hurt anyone else.Steve just glanced at the lists at first, but when he began to recognize name after name, he slowed and began to read the lists again."You're kidding me, right?" he asked.Emma shook her head."Some of these people are worth billions. And he slept with all of them?"Emma paled slightly. She had been trying not to think about that aspect of the situation. "I don't know. I didn't watch any of them."He nodded absently, as though it didn't really matter. Finally, he put the lists down and sat back. "There are a lot of important people on those lists," he said after a moment's thought, "but I don't see a single one who might want to hurt us or hurt you specifically. Except for maybe the incu
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 51
Steve arranged it all.After arranging for a garage to pick up Steve's car and for a rental car, they picked up the boys and Emma's parents. They boarded a plane for Florida three hours later. Her mother was a little concerned by the rush, but was thrilled for the chance to get out of town. It had been such a long winter, she kept telling Emma on the ride to the airport. They would stay at a resort down there near Universal Studios in Orlando. The boys had wanted to go back there since a trip they made as a family two years ago. A trip Steve had abandoned them to when he was called back to his office three days early.Funny how she and the boys remembered that time so differently.Instead of driving home, Steve pointed the rental car toward downtown Fort Worth."We are we going?" Emma asked."A hotel."She turned in her seat. "Do you really think that's necessary?""Someone slashed the tires on my car, Emma. In the middle of downtown." He glanced at her. "Someone ran you off the
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 50
Emma slid the key into the small lock and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure it would open. He had told her it would, but some little piece of her was still uncertain about this, about all of it. What if he had lied to her?It did turn.Steve stood behind her close enough that she could feel the heat of his body. She had expected him to argue, to insist they drop the whole thing and go home, back to their broken lives. But he didn't say a word when she told him what she wanted to do. Simply drove them to the bank like it was something they did every day.She flipped the little door open and reached inside for the safety deposit box. Steve grabbed it as it began to fall into her hands, lifting it away from her and carrying it to the small table. She hobbled over, her ankle still causing her a great deal of pain. Her knee, too, had gotten stiff where the stitches pulled and tugged with every step. Between the two injuries, her sore ribs and constant headache, it was a miracle she was
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 49
They drove to the house together in Ray's Escalade. A police car sat in Tommy's front yard, the driver's side door open. Emma had a flash, imagined a large number of police cars sitting here, their lights flashing as the uniformed cops walked in and out of the house. She imagined a hearse, imagined them rolling a gurney out of the house with a big, black body bag lying on top.She shivered despite the warmth of the day.Ray climbed out of the car and went to speak to the cop. Steve glanced back at Emma from his place in the front passenger seat. "You don't have to go inside. You could just tell us what you need."Emma shook her head. "I have to do this."He looked at her for a long minute and then nodded, turning his attention to the windshield and the two men just a few feet in front of them.Emma looked out the window at the front door. Again she imagined him as he had been the last time she saw him. Monday morning. He stood on the little porch, his hand lifted in a gesture of f
The Fantasy Maker Chapter 48
"I talked to McWhorter, the contractor, this morning," Steve was saying around a bite of Danish. "He said that he turned in all the keys he and his men had.""Do you believe him?" Ray asked.Steve shook his head. "I keep the spare keys in a locked drawer in my office. There was one missing."Emma sipped at the hot vanilla latte the waitress had just brought her. "Who else has a key to our house?"Steve looked over at her, his eyes so dark from a restless night's sleep that they looked almost as bruised as hers. "Just your parents. And Liz."Emma's eyebrows rose. "Why would Liz have a spare key to our house?"He sat back, pushing his thumb into a corner of his Danish. "She ran by the house a few weeks ago to get some paperwork I had forgotten. You weren't there, so I had to give her my keys. I gave her a spare the next day in case it happened again."Emma glanced at Ray. He was watching the two of them like a child waiting for World War III to break out between his parents. She b
