Shadow Dreams Read online

  Oh my God! I clutched the mace to my chest, my heart-beat going a mile a minute. Was Shadow all right? Suddenly it seemed like a very stupid thing to have done, letting him out like that. What if they had a gun or a tazer? What if he was lying out there hurt right now? What if…?

  “Shadow?” I yelled, unable to stand the suspense any more. I moved carefully towards the door, holding the mace out in front of me stiff-armed as though it was a gun. I was going to spray the first person I saw.

  There was a low muttering like several people talking and then I heard a familiar voice yelling my name.

  “Angie? My God, Angie, call him off! We weren’t going to take them all, I swear!”

  “Douglas?” I gathered the silky folds of the robe closely around me and dared to step outside. The ground was rough under my bare feet and the night smelled like dust and sand and uprooted roses. All along the back of the house, several of the rare bushes that Douglas had put in and tended so carefully were laying on their sides, roots exposed. The delicate blooms were lying with their faces in the dirt and I had to step carefully to avoid getting a thorn in my foot.

  “Douglas?” I yelled again because he wasn’t in sight.

  “Around here.” His voice drifted around the side of the house.

  I was edging around the uprooted rose bushes towards the sound of his voice when a familiar bark echoed in the empty yard and Shadow came trotting out of the darkness.

  “Shadow!” I stopped for a moment to examine him, pleased to see he was all right. “Good boy,” I told him, ruffling his fur affectionately. “I think you really scared the living shit out of them. Let’s go see, huh?”

  He barked again, agreeably and we went around the side of the house to find Douglas and Justin huddling together on the ground looking utterly terrified. They were both dressed in all black, which for my ex-husband meant black jeans and a black polo shirt and for his boyfriend, skin-tight black biker shorts and a black tank top. They had smeared some kind of black grease all over their faces like they were going on a top-secret commando-style mission instead of stealing rose bushes in the middle of the night. Well, Douglas always did have a flair for the dramatic, I thought. They looked like two terrified boys caught playing war out past their bed time.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing here, Douglas?” I asked, trying not to laugh.

  “What the hell does it look like?” he snarled, still crouching awkwardly on the ground. “Trying to get back what’s mine.”

  “It looks like you and Justin are out here playing Navy Seals,” I said, crossing my arms and tapping my fingers impatiently. “And may I remind you that those rose bushes were bought mostly with my money and planted on my property? Why are you two still laying on the ground like that?” I asked because neither of them had moved an inch from their original positions.

  “He’ll kill us if we move.” Justin’s voice, usually deeper than Douglas’s, was no more than a thin whimper.

  “Oh, come on now, boys, I know he’s big but he’s just a dog,” I protested, thinking they were both overreacting.

  Shadow barked and they both jumped. I felt a little sorry for Justin. His grease smeared face was tense with fear and I thought he looked like an abused and neurotic chimney sweep—if a chimney sweep ever went to work in biker shorts, which I doubted. Douglas, on the other hand, was glaring pure malevolent hatred at me from his narrowed gray eyes.

  “I was the one who cared for those roses, Angie. Me.” He spoke coldly, keeping his eyes on Shadow and not moving a muscle.

  “Yes, I know that, Douglas.” I felt a muscle twitch in my face. “You cared a hell of a lot more for the roses than you did for our marriage.”

  “Can you blame me?” he sneered. “Those roses gave me more pleasure than you ever did, my dear.”

  “Douglas,” Justin hissed. “Now is so not the time for this!”

  “To hell with that!” Douglas stood suddenly and reached for me. I don’t know what he intended to do but before I could even bring my can of mace into attack position, Shadow was between us. He looked up at my ex-husband, a low, menacing rumble building in his throat, every hair in his licorice-black coat bristling. As he was a big dog and Douglas was a rather small man, Shadow didn’t have far to look.

  “Whatever you were planning on doing I wouldn’t,” I told Douglas casually, crossing my arms again. My ex-husband was such an ass, it felt good to have the upper hand for once. “He’s very protective.” I nodded at Shadow whose growl deepened.

  “Yes, I can see that.” His face twisted into a hateful sneer. “So glad you finally found someone who could put up with you, Angie.”

  “That’s totally unfair,” I said, feeling the muscle in my jaw begin to clench again. “If anybody was high-maintenance in our relationship it was definitely you.”

  “So sorry if I impeded your relentless march towards tedium, darling.” His voice dripped venomous sarcasm. “How is your life lately, anyway? I bet you just have to beat the men off with a stick.”

  “You’re an asshole, Douglas,” I said flatly, feeling my jaw clench as it always did when I was around him. “You always have been and you always will be.” How could I have ever thought I loved this man?

  “Why don’t you just admit you’re upset because I found someone so much more entertaining than you to spend my valuable time with?” He smiled and it was an expression you’d imagine seeing on a shark’s mouth before it took the first bite.

  “Your valuable time? Give me a break,” I said, trying to sound calm.

  “Yes, my dear, valuable. I realized just how valuable when it occurred to me that I was wasting my life with you. Oh, and by the way, how are you spending your time these days? Written any Pulitzer-class material lately, or is it the same old dreary ad campaigns?”

  I couldn’t help wincing at that. Douglas knew my writing, or lack thereof, was a sore spot with me, and he had always been quick to bring up the most hurtful thing he could in any argument.

  I took a deep breath, willing myself not to cry because this asshole wasn’t worth it. I could see by the wide, toothy grin on Douglas’s face that he knew he’d scored points on me and it delighted him. I debated spraying him with mace or siccing Shadow on him again and decided to do neither.

  “Thank you,” I said at last, holding myself in by main force of will.

  “For what?” Douglas looked puzzled and not nearly as pleased as he had. I knew he’d wanted to see me blow up and lose my temper or even better, break down and cry. I was happy not to meet his expectations.

  “For reminding me why I’m better off without you,” I said. I stood up straighter and tightened the flimsy pink robe around myself with one hand. The other I rested lightly on Shadow’s head, drawing strength from the big dog’s warmth and the low growl that still vibrated his massive throat.

  “I’m going to count to ten,” I told my ex-husband. “And you’d better be gone by the time I reach it or you’re going to get to know my new friend a lot better than you want to. One.”

  “But the roses … my Lady Penzance Eglantines, they’ll die,” Douglas protested weakly. Beside him, Justin was already scrambling to his feet.

  “Should’ve thought of that before you pulled them out by the roots,” I said calmly. “Two … three…”

  “Douglas, come on.” Justin’s face was a mask of black-smeared terror as he tugged at my ex’s arm. I thought it odd though that instead of looking at the menacing Shadow he was staring over my shoulder as though expecting a hideous new monster to appear out of the blackness at any second.

  “Four,” I said. “Five.”

  Douglas stood firm although his face was beginning to crumble. “I’m not afraid,” he said uncertainly. But it sounded more like a question than a statement of fact.

  “Well I am, damn it! Douglas, come now or I’m leaving you.” Justin was already backing towards the side gate that led out of the big back yard.

  “Six … seven…” I said. I could