Edge of Shadows (Shadows #1) by Cege Smith Page B

tell it was there, but Ellie could. Jake had been drinking. Again. She wondered if he had gone to work at all that day, or if he had passed out somewhere in a drunken stupor. Then she wondered why she was concerned at all. It wasn’t her problem. She hoped that by now he was passed out somewhere and would forget that he had called. She hoped.
    She leashed Skipper and started out on their evening walk, following the same path that they had taken that morning. She needed the fresh air, and the cool evening breeze was refreshing. She thought about David and how he had managed to turn her life upside down within the space of one day. She went over their conversations, going over every word in her head several times looking for hidden nuances.
    She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but it seemed like she had known David for a long time. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like that with anyone. It was strange, and that could be part of the reason talking with him had made her so jumpy. It wasn’t in her nature to trust something that came so easily. There was usually something nasty hidden underneath.
    In the end, she concluded that it had all been innocent enough, and she did genuinely like him. The fact that he was smokin’ hot was a nice benefit.
    As she and Skipper made their way around the lake, she looked at the stately homes that lined the street facing the lakeshore. Some were more like cottages, but some looked like huge Italian villas and southern plantation houses transplanted to the urban Minnesota landscape.
    The houses were beautiful, and many of them were still dark in the growing twilight, their owners not yet home from work. What stories those houses could tell, Ellie thought. She had always been a bit of a romantic. She imagined women in ball gowns, and their escorts in their crisp tuxedos doing waltzes across a brightly lit dance floor. They would have secret rendezvous in the rose gardens with nothing more than stolen kisses to cool their ardor during a time when romance and chivalry were alive and well. Ellie was reminded of her dream from earlier that morning and she smiled.
    Ellie knew that Linda lived in one of these exquisite mansions on the other side of the lake. Linda didn’t talk much about what her husband had done for work when he was alive other than “he did very well for himself and our family.”
    Ellie was surprised to feel butterflies of excitement in her stomach when she thought about Linda’s little event. She’d never been to a real dinner party before, and it wouldn’t be so bad to get dressed up for once. Plus David was going to be there, and although she didn’t know exactly what she felt for him yet, the idea was ripe with anticipation. Perhaps she might even go shopping for something new to wear.
    Later, with Skipper curled up in her lap, she pulled a blanket tight around her shoulders and stared into the fireplace. It was one of the few amenities that the small apartment offered. The big old houses seemed to have a fireplace in every room. Ellie sipped some tea and thought about her past.
    The embers beneath the flames glowed and she felt overwhelmed by the black depression that seemed to be her constant companion. She didn’t know how she could have messed everything up in her life so badly. She thought about her parents, and felt that they would be terribly disappointed in her. She felt like a complete failure. There were a few bright spots: her shop, her dog, and her friends, but she still felt empty. She wondered if that may be why her encounters with David had affected her so strangely. Since she was eight years old she had wanted nothing so desperately than to belong and be loved.
    Tears started to stream down her face. She knew deep down inside that she had never loved Jake, at least not the way you are supposed to love the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with. It was her horrible little secret. When they’d met he’d been so confident and