Free Mending Fences by Lucy Francis

that he failed to steer Victoria into bed, just being with her, hanging out, felt…comfortable.
    He’d realized his complete ease with her yesterday, when they spent two hours playing Scrabble with Kelli after Rob went to bed. Laughing and disagreeing over the validity of his native spelling in an American board game made him happy. Having her beside him gave him a strange sense of contentment. It was odd, but he found the thought of losing that contentment disconcerting.
    Curran reached for his phone in his pocket, instantly recalling he’d handed it to Kelli, and reversed course back to his office. He really should take Victoria out. The Sundance Film Festival was over, so all the reporters had left town. Besides, he’d surely been out of the media spotlight plenty long enough to come and go as he pleased without wondering where his photograph would show up next. Thank God there were always other people for the public to find interesting. There was no reason at all why he couldn’t take her on a proper date.
    They’d have a nice meal at a good restaurant. Perhaps catch that new romantic comedy she wanted to see. Then maybe, for once, he’d convince her to stay with him. It was more than just the sexual desire for her. It was starting to be downright damned miserable falling asleep alone every night.
    * * * *
    Victoria stood in front of her bedroom closet, dripping from the shower, frantically searching for something to wear. Something nice enough to eat at Fusion Cafe. Little black dress would work for there, but not for the movies afterwards. Something nicer than jeans or the pajama pants she lived in. Add expected snowstorm and wind to the mix.
    After pairing and discarding a half-dozen outfits in record time, she settled on russet-brown, wool trousers and a muted gold, cable-knit sweater with a V-neck.
    Curran had somehow managed to get them a reservation at six-thirty, just before dinner rush. It was a tight squeeze, time-wise, but if he was willing to come out of seclusion and actually take her out, she could certainly rise to the challenge and be ready on time. Luckily, a little anti-frizz gel and a quick blast with the hair dryer made her impossible hair presentable. A brush with the makeup basics later, she slid gold hoops into her ears.
    Sassy scampered back and forth through her tunnels for attention. Victoria went to the cage and looked down at the rat. “You were out for hours today, Sassafras.”
    The rat washed her face, then stared up expectantly.
    She reached into the cage and stroked her pet’s furry head. “Sorry, girl, I have plans. I’ll let you out for a little while when I come home.”
    Ignoring the spoiled rat, Victoria walked down the hall to the kitchen. She didn’t want to be desperately staring out the sidelight by the front door when Curran arrived.
    Dating Curran left her giddy inside. He made her laugh. They shared many of the same interests in reading, animals, music, movies. He even passed the acid test—he liked Sassy. There were still certain subjects he avoided, like work, other than that on the ranch. Not that she had room to complain, when she shied away from talk of her past, too.
    It was a here-and-now sort of relationship, growing deeper but still uncomplicated. She liked it that way.
    An ivory sheet of paper on the counter caught her eye, in the same place she’d dropped it after opening it a few hours earlier. There seemed to be something of a pattern to them, arriving every other week. This was the third. She picked it up, folded it into the original thirds without reading it again. She didn’t have to. The words swam before her eyes, simple and to the point.
You and I have unfinished business, baby.
It is far from over.
    Anger spiked inside her, and she tossed the note with the other two in the desk drawer. Nate was dictating those notes to someone on the outside. Some creep was helping him reach her, but there wasn’t enough to go on for the police to get