by K T Grant
My breath hitched, and I rocked upward.
“I owe you payback for what you did to me for hours last night. I’m surprised I can stand upright without my legs wobbling.” She nibbled under my chin and then lower, twisting her hand just the right way that had me whimpering her name.
“You’re going to be late for work,” I moaned, spreading my legs to hold off the gnawing pressure expanding in my lower extremities.
“No one is going to come out in this weather. Plus, I have you to help me. Let’s play some more.” She wiggled her eyebrows and fell to her knees.
Why argue when she was so intent on getting what she wanted?
We both won, regardless.
***
The shower seemed longer than it was, but it had been fairly quick, even with the short diversion. Freddie was very efficient when rushed for time. She let me to finish in the shower while she dressed. By the time I dried off and joined her in the bedroom, she looked annoyed.
“What’s wrong?” I tightened the towel around my head, all thoughts of giving her a proper good morning kiss vanishing.
“You phone keeps ringing. You should answer it,” she said, spraying mousse into her palms.
“I’ll turn it off.” I really didn’t want to talk anyone but Freddie.
“It might be important. Lorraine might be checking in. Go answer it.” She waved in the direction of the living room.
“Okay, Miss Bossy.” First, we shared a kiss.
“I’ll find something for you to wear.” She stared at my chest, and the tip of her tongue poked out. “I’m going to give you my tightest T-shirt to show off your incredible rack.”
I smacked her arm. “You’re a perv.”
She winked. “If we had more time, I could show you how perverted I can be.”
I giggled and slapped her ass. She yelped but finished styling her hair.
The temperature was much cooler in the living room. I rubbed my arms to block the chill and was looking for the thermostat when my phone rang.
I snatched up my purse from the couch and took out my phone. Ten missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize.
I was tempted to shut it off, but maybe it Aunt Lorraine using the chief’s phone? It could be Bianca…. If so, I could hang up on her.
I answered the call and was met by a frantic male voice.
“Cassandra? It’s Dale. I’m at the hospital. Bianca tried to kill herself last night.”
The floor fell out from under my feet, and my head spun.
***
The drive to the hospital where my grandmother died wasn’t easy. The main roads were barely plowed, but, with Freddie’s experience driving in bad weather, we got there in one piece. It just took longer.
I wasn’t one to fidget, but I couldn’t sit still in the car. Panic had settled deep within. Freddie taking my hand as we parked in the hospital parking lot didn’t squash these tumultuous feelings.
As I opened the door to get out, she tugged me to her and gave me a kiss. I accepted gladly, inhaling her breath as if it would calm my racing heart.
“It might not be as bad as you think,” she said, after finishing our kiss and rubbing my arm.
I pressed my fingers to my forehead where a tension headache had taken root. The black spots appearing in front of my eyes didn’t help matters either. “It’s bad, Freddie. Dale told me he found Bianca in the bathtub with her wrists slit from his razor. She was covered in blood and wasn’t coherent.”
“She’s a fighter. She’ll get through this.”
I almost broke down in tears then because of her sympathy to the situation. “Why do you care if she’s okay or not?”
With a small smile, she dropped a kiss on my cheek. “Because I care about you and I hate to see you in pain for someone you love.”
“Loved. I loved Bianca.” I winced at a sharp pain in the middle of my forehead. “She might be dying and I’ve rejected her and don’t love her anymore. How insensitive is that?”
“You may not love her like you once did, but you’re concerned for her welfare. That in itself makes you sensitive.” She pulled me in for a hug, which I gobbled up.
Feeling much more stable, I smiled at her in gratitude. With a kiss in thanks, I finally opened the door.
She locked the car and came over to my side. “Be careful. It’s slippery.”
We walked side by side, holding hands, until we entered the foyer where I went to the information desk to inquire about Bianca’s whereabouts. The nurse at the desk made a call, and after she hung up, she told me Bianca was still in the ER being worked on. I whispered my thanks. Freddie led me down the hall and through the double doors.
“She must still be in bad shape if they haven’t taken her up to a room,” I said, speed walking.
Freddie kept up, taking my hand in hers again. “Or there might be a backup of cases and they haven’t had time to find her a room yet.”
We turned the corner to the waiting area. I spotted Dale staring at his cell. This was the first time I saw him out of a suit or with his hair uncombed since college. He wore sweat pants and a white T-shirt and sneakers.
“Dale,” I called out, and his head shot up. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked ten years older.
“Cassandra, I’m so glad you’re here.” He rose from his seat and, to my surprise, hugged me. I patted his back in return.
“This is my friend Freddie. She drove me here.”
They shook hands.
“How’s Bianca doing?” I asked, stamping down my irritation at having to ask.
“I’d rather talk to you alone, if Freddie doesn’t mind.”
She sent him an easygoing smile. “Not at all. I need to make a phone call, so I’ll leave you to talk.” She pressed her palm on my back and walked toward the sliding glass doors to the outside.
“Let’s sit in the corner.” He motioned to a row of empty chairs in the back.
I followed him and we both took a seat.
“Did Bianca really slit her wrists, or is it some ploy of hers?” I asked, throwing aside any niceties. I wanted to know the truth, no matter how hard it might be to hear.
His face paled, the strain lines around his mouth more pronounced “After you left the hotel, I found Bianca on the couch in tears. She told me you two had a horrible fight. Eventually, she calmed down, I ordered room service for us, and we ate. We then, um…made love. Afterward, she wanted to take a bath. I didn’t think it was strange because she usually takes a bath or shower after we….”
The question of how often he and Bianca had sex burned on my tongue, but I kept silent. It still stung that she fooled around with him, especially while we were still involved. But the hurt wouldn’t change the events that had both brought us here.
“I fell asleep, but the wind and snow hitting the bedroom window woke me up. It was after midnight, and Bianca wasn’t in bed. I could see the bathroom light shining under the door so I went in and found her unconscious in the tub with blood running down her hands. One of my razors was on the floor.” He hunched forward with his forearms on his knees. “At one point she was barely breathing. I was so afraid we were going to lose the baby.”
“What?” I lurched up in my seat.
“She didn’t tell you?” He ran his hand down his face. “She’s eight weeks pregnant.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You look like you need this.” Freddie handed me a paper cup of dark liquid.
“What is it?” I asked, taking a sniff. I smelled chocolate.
“It’s hot chocolate, but it probably tastes like shit. I got it from the vending machine down the hall.”
“Thanks.” I lifted the cup to my mouth but didn’t sip. My stomach rolled, and I set the cup on the floor as I hunched over my knees.
Freddie curved an arm around my back. “Are you going to be sick?”
“I don’t know.” Bile hit the back of my throat. I sat back up, my head swimming from the sudden rush. “She’s pregnant.”
She jerked in her seat. “How far along?”
“Eight weeks.”
“You didn’t know?”
A snort-laugh erupted from my lips. “Not a clue. I didn’t notice anything different about her body, other than her erratic mood swings. Now it makes more sense that she freaked out on me yesterday.”
“You’re making excuses for her attacking you because she’s pregnant?” Her eyes widened.
“I wasn’t making ex—”
“It sounds like you are.” She stood and walked over to the large windows overlooking the street.
I left my chair and joined her side. She didn’t acknowledge my presence. She stared outside where a snowplow cleared the street. I placed my hand on her arm. At least she didn’t push me away. But she didn’t hold me close either.
A dark town car drove up to the front of the building. The driver got out and opened the back door. A blonde woman dressed in a long overcoat and heels not appropriate for the weather exited. I backed away, ready to hide in the bathroom. Freddie turned to me, confusion replacing the irritation on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
I tugged her near a section of pay phones, averting my face so I wouldn’t be recognized.
“Did you see the car that just drove up, and the woman inside?”
“Yeah? What about it?” She glanced over her shoulder.
“The woman is Bianca’s mother.”
Noel Durand strode up to the front desk, followed by a young man in a suit, a co-worker of Dale’s and one of the many lawyers the Durands kept on their payroll.
“Bianca takes after her mother,” Freddie said.
“She sure does,” I murmured as Mrs. Durand walked with a doctor through a double door, with her lawyer bringing up the rear.
“No father?” Freddie asked and leaned back into the wall with her arms crossed.
“He probably couldn’t get away.” I would have preferred Mr. Durand had come in his wife’s stead. He was good at pretending everything was right in the world and making a person feel welcome. So unlike his wife, who made snap decisions without knowing the facts, cutting down a person by simply denouncing them with her striking blue eyes, so like her daughter’s.
“Mrs. Durand will want to talk to me at some point today.” I touched my bruised cheek, wondering how she would react to what Bianca had done to me or her trying to kill herself. Most likely she would blame me for her daughter’s “mistakes.” Bianca was the golden child of the Durand family, as I had been told on many occasions, even by Bianca herself.
“You’re not looking forward to that face to face,” Freddie curled her arm around my shoulder.
I back up a step, away from her, even though I wanted nothing more than for her to hold me. “I think it’s best if we don’t touch one another here.”
She scowled and dragged the heel of her sneaker across the linoleum floor. “It’s not like I was going to make out with you. You never had a problem with my hugging you before. Why now? Is it because we’re in public?”
I was tempted to pull her into my arms and show her how little I cared who saw us together. But not under these circumstances, and not with Bianca’s mother nearby. Mrs. Durand wouldn’t have a problem making judgments and vocalizing them. I didn’t want Freddie to be on the end of her biting putdowns.
“I don’t want Mrs. Durand—”
“Why don’t you call her by her first name? You’re an adult and her equal. You make her sound like she’s your teacher or your employer.” Freddie’s stare turned analytical, as if she was trying to figure out something and had a hard time finding the answer.
“I’m more comfortable calling her by her last name. She never granted me the honor of calling her by her first name.”
“Granted? Honor?” She sighed. “Allowing someone to call you by her first name isn’t like giving someone a gift.”
“If you knew Noel Durand like I do, you would understand even a smile or a compliment is a gift and one not given lightly. She’s not easily impressed.”
A shrewd light appeared in her gaze. “She’s not impressed with you.”
I shrugged. Mrs. Durand had never been a fan of mine, but she accepted me, with reservations, because of Bianca. Any approval or tenderness was solely for her children and husband.
“She’s never been too happy about my being such a big influence in Bianca’s life.” I rubbed my arms, suddenly chilled as I thought back to one night, close to a year ago, when Bianca had too much to drink and had admitted her mother probably had a good idea about our unusual friendship. She had wanted Bianca to start spending more time with her other friends, meaning Dale, which ended up happening.
Freddie shifted away from the wall. “She knows about you and Bianca.”
“Knows what? That Bianca and I—”
“Are lovers.”
I chuckled sadly and shrugged again. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows how close Bianca and I are…were. Whenever I’m invited to their house, she’s polite to me, but other than that, she doesn’t go out of her way to make me feel welcome.”
“Now the truth is going to come out because of Bianca’s selfish actions. Maybe she planned it.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You think she tried to kill herself so she no longer has to hide her sexuality?” I barely stopped the tremor in my voice, stunned at the idea Bianca would go to such lengths. “She could end up disowned by her family—”
“Maybe she finally realized she lost you and thought the only way you would stay with her was if she did something so drastic so you wouldn’t leave.” Freddie lifted her hand to my face. “A suicide attempt is a great way to gain a lot of sympathy and make those you love feel guilty for not seeing the signs or stopping it from happening.”
I knocked her hand away and stepped back, hugging my chest. “You can’t think she slit her wrist in order to get me back.”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” She slid her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and stared at me in pity.
I blew out a gust of air. Would Bianca really endanger herself to prove I would come running back to her and help her recover? Could she be so calculating?
I winced, not realizing I had been nibbling on my bottom lip. Tasting blood, I pressed the side of my hand to my sore lip to stop the flow.
“Cassandra!”
I turned around. Dale strode over to me and took my elbow. “Bianca’s awake and asking for you.”
“But what about her mother?” I pulled away, uncomfortable with his touch since his hands had been on Bianca, both clothed and nude, much like mine had been.
“The first person she wanted to speak to is you, even before Noel or me.” His expression changed from harried to guarded.
“I’ll talk to her for a few minutes so she doesn’t get upset.” I looked back at Freddie watching me and Dale with indifference.
“You should be with your friend.” She rubbed my back then smiled at Dale. “You’ll make sure Cassie gets home?”
“Cassandra? Of course.” He bobbed his head in the affirmative.
“Please don’t leave. Stay with me.” I clutched her hand, ignoring Dale’s huffy breathing.
“You could be hours. I have to open the café.” She squeezed my hand and then let go. “Go be with Bianca. She needs you.”
I reached out to grab her, but Dale tugged me away.
“I’ll see you later.” She marched out the automatic sliding doors to the parking lot.
“Bianca is more important than that friend of yours.” He hurried me down the hall.
“That friend is someone I care about a great deal, someone who doesn’t lie or hide the truth, unlike you and Bianca.” I gritted my teeth, to stop snapping at Dale, who wouldn’t let go of my arm.
He shot me a scornful look, and his upper lip curled. His fingers clenched around my elbow. “Like you should talk, you pathetic little—”
“Dale, would you please stop causing a scene and dragging Cassa
ndra around like a rag doll? My daughter has been crying for her for the last ten minutes and refuses to rest until she sees her.”
Mrs. Durand eyed both me and Dale with displeasure. She jutted her chin, daring us to argue with her. She didn’t look like a concerned mother whose main concern was for her sick daughter. She appeared irritated, if anything. She flicked her honey-blonde shoulder-length hair. Bianca took after her mother in so many ways, including her cavalier attitude.
“Sorry, Noel, but Cassandra was taking too long talking with the woman who drove her here.” Dale sighed loudly, and joined Noel, drawing an arm around her waist and giving her a quick hug.
“Thank you for delivering Cassandra to me.” She patted his cheek then settled a lofty stare on me.
“Dale, please call my husband and give him an update on Bianca’s prognosis.” She kept her focus on me.
“Sure thing.” He kissed her on the cheek and walked down the hall.
I would have entered the room then, but Noel blocked the door. She would allow me to enter when she wanted me to.
She ran her palms down the front of her cashmere coat and set her hands at her sides. Only then did I notice the subtle twitching of her fingers.
I moved a step forward. “Mrs. Durand—”
“Under these circumstances, you may call me Noel,” she said. “Bianca was given medication to dull her pain. She may say some things not meant for public consumption.”
“You really can’t think I’ll spread gossip about what Bianca has done or what she might say under the influence from her medication?” I clenched my teeth in outrage. “You know I’m good at keeping things private. If you think I’ll call the media to inf—”
Noel held up her palm. “The media will eventually find out Bianca was rushed to the hospital. My husband and I will make certain another reason for her treatment is leaked. Bianca is in a highly emotional state and may upset you, which she has already done based on what Dale told me. She may say some things you’ll want to share with your aunt or your friend who drove you here. Please don’t.”