by J. D. Faver
“You’ll be a fine teacher someday. I want to help you make your dreams come true. In the meantime, we can build a life together.
His eyes, dark and shining with encouragement, filled her with anguish. Tears sprang to her eyes and he kissed them away. “If you’re not ready to move in with me, at least we’ll have a place to relax and hang out together. Okay?”
Cassie nodded her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She pressed herself against his shoulder as he picked her up and swung her in a circle. She kicked herself for being such a miserable chicken in light of Javier’s obvious delight over the prospect of providing for his simple-minded little delivery girl.
~*~
Calvin called the Sheriff’s office and a departmental vehicle showed up in a matter of minutes.
Shortly thereafter, Rafael pulled into the clearing in front of the house in the Escalade. Sky was surprised to discover that his lovely, very pregnant wife accompanied him.
Rafael escorted Chloe, to the group now huddled together on the porch.
Chloe was embraced by Trish before she turned to give Sky her attention. “You must be so frightened.” Chloe gathered Sky into a hug. “Raffy took me to dinner and a movie in Harlingen. We were on our way home when Darla called.”
Sky felt numb. She knew that injured nerves stopped feeling pain after a while. She supposed she’d reached that point. There was no use being scared any more. This man, Luther Franks, meant to kill her and he was showing her that he could get to her anywhere.
A second unit came rushing down the narrow lane with its lights flashing. Darla jumped out as soon as it ground to a stop, sprinting to where her brothers stood with their arms around the women they held dear. Germaine, the tall African American deputy who’d been at the wheel, followed her to where Sky stood in the circle of Zach’s arms.
Darla and Rafael gathered what information they could as one of the deputies dusted the Audi for prints and another took photos of the crime scene.
Darla drew Zach and Sky aside, fixing them both with her serious gaze. “Are you two ready to talk about protection now?”
Sky looked at Zach and then back at Darla. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Zach cleared his throat. “Darla thinks we should keep some weaponry close at hand.”
Sky frowned. “Weaponry?”
Darla looked grim. “Guns. I think you should have a couple of guns in case this guy attacks you. There might not be time to call for help.”
Sky shivered, a trickle if ice slipping down her spine. “I should go. I should just go and spare everyone from all this drama.” She tried to smile, but her face crumpled as tears overtook her.
Zach put his arm around her. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled.
“Sky,” Darla said. “It’s time for you to get hold of your fear and turn it around. By this time, you should be mad. This man is making your life miserable. He almost killed your sister and he’s after you. Don’t you want to fight back?”
Sky fought to control her tears. She had been running scared for months now. It had never occurred to her to fight back.
~*~
The next morning, Zach ate granola and yogurt with Sky on the deck. It was overcast and the wind was blowing from the north. A patch of darkness on the beach below turned out to be a flock of seagulls standing with their beaks pointed into the wind.
Zach watched Sky, trying not to intrude on her thoughts. She’d been quiet since Rafael and Chloe had dropped them off at the house last night.
After he drove Sky to the hospital Zach would purchase four new tires and take care of the Audi. The car was only a machine, but by damaging her property, Franks had proven he could get to her no matter where Zach tried to spirit her away.
“Are you ready?” he asked when she finished the yogurt. “Leave it.” He indicated the container and she stood, taking the hand he stretched out to her.
He held her for a long moment, a flood of emotions clutching at his throat, as he stroked her silky hair. “I made your lunch.” He released her and handed her the small insulated bag he used when he made his dolphin runs with Mack on the Fair Weather.
A smile broke through all the storm clouds gathered on her face. “You made my lunch? How sweet.”
“I wanted to make sure you got some solid protein. There’s fruit, too.”
She peeked in the bag and then curled her arms around his torso. “I can’t remember what I did before I had a Zach in my life.” She pressed a kiss to his lips.
He pulled her close and held her. “I don’t want you to ever even think about finding out.”
“I’m hanging in,” she said.
Zach carried her down the steps to hasten her descent. Keeping her out in the open for any prolonged period of time was unwise. He chose a different route to reach the causeway, feeling somewhat foolish as the causeway was the only way on or off the island that didn’t involve watercraft.
At the hospital, he drove close to the entrance to let her out. He watched her walk inside as an electric eye opened the front doors.
She twirled and gave him an overly perky little wave before turning to the elevator, clutching the insulated bag to her chest.
Zach struck his palm to the steering wheel, feeling a sense of loss and helplessness.
~*~
Cassie groped her way to consciousness when she heard someone enter the house. She sprang out of bed in her bare feet and looked around for a weapon. Oh crap! I have no possessions.
She grabbed one of the sandals she’d worn last night, holding the spike heel as one would a hammer, ready to drive a nail.
Soundlessly, she opened her door and crept down the hall. She passed the room shared by Zach and Sky and saw that the rumpled bed was empty. Zach must have taken her to work. And now the stalker is making another try for me.
A little knot of anger gathered in the midst of her fear. If the stalker figured he could sneak up on her when she was sleeping again, he had another think coming.
Cassie peeked around the corner and then ducked back, catching some movement out of the corner of her eye. He’s in the kitchen.
She advanced warily holding the shoe aloft. He was bending down. Now was her chance. Cassie leaped for the counter, bounding over the bar separating kitchen from dining room and reached for the intruder’s head. She landed on Zach who was rooting around in the store of plastic storage containers in the drawers below.
“Oh my God!” she shrieked, rolling to her feet.
“Cassie! What the hell?” Zach rose from his knees, holding his head which he’d managed to bump on a drawer in the scuffle.
Her pulses throbbed in her ears. “I’m so sorry! I thought you were the guy. I was going to grab his head and snap his neck.”
They looked at each other in shock.
“Really? That would do it?
She blew out a long breath. “Yeppers. That would do you in.”
Suddenly, they were both laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
“You were going to attack the stalker with a shoe?” Zach grabbed his sides, reeling with laughter.
“Yeah, well...” She laughed too. “I really didn’t need the shoe.”
He sighed, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Do you want some breakfast? We’ve got granola and yogurt.”
“No offense, Zach, but I’d rather eat glass. I’m in the mood for Coca-Cola and a Snowball.”
Zach folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the counter. “We’re fresh out, but I need to go shopping. I’ll put that on the list. Any other requests?”
“Chips and French onion dip would be a refreshing treat.”
Zach shook his head. “How did you grow to be such a tall gorgeous specimen eating that kind of junk?”
“It’s in my genes.”
Zach eyed her long bare legs beneath the sleep shirt. “Speaking of jeans, maybe you better put some on.”
~*~
Consideration
“So she’s on her way?” Selena Rios spread the dish towel over the hook above the sink to dry.
Javier hung up the phone. “Yes, and I want you to be very nice to her.”
Selena Rios drew a breath. “Of course, I’ll be nice to her. I’m a nice person.”
Javier kissed his mother on the cheek. “Yes you are. And so is Cassie. I want you to make the effort to get to know her. She’s terrified of you.”
Selena smiled at that. “Well, she’s a very pretty girl. I can see why you’re attracted to her.”
Javier gritted his teeth, huffed out a deep breath. “It’s so much more than that. She’s really smart and she’s funny and sweet. But all the while she’s got this innocence that makes me want to protect her and build a life with her.”
“Innocence, that’s important.” Selena’s brow furrowed. “A woman should be innocent before marriage.”
He groaned aloud, slapping his forehead with his palm. “Can you please forget that I ever told you about that? Her innocence is a private matter between her and me and it’s not the reason that I love her, but it does make her even more special to me.”
Selena smiled and patted his cheek.
Javier heard the roar of his truck turning into the driveway. “Remember, be nice. She’s going to help me take some of my clothes to my new apartment.”
Opening the kitchen door, he saw Cassie sitting inside his truck. He could read her fear from that distance. He thought about how she’d repelled Lita when she’d been attacked and yet his mother was so fearsome that Cassie would rather avoid her at all costs.
He walked out to the truck, grinning. “Come on inside, baby.”
“Javi, where is your sling?”
Javier flexed his right wrist, making circles with it. “I’m getting better, see. And the stitches come out in a couple of days.”
Cassie looked at him, doubt written on her face.
“My mother is a nurse. She changed the dressing this morning. Want to ask her?”
“No, that’s all right.”
“Come inside then. Help me.”
She looked scared, but she slid out of the truck.
He drew her into his arms and kissed her. Holding her was always so easy to do. It was the letting go part that was hard.
She licked her lips, her little pink tongue just flicking over them.
He recognized this now as a nervous mannerism. Nevertheless, every time she did it, he had the urge to kiss her, to invite that little tongue into his mouth.
It’s just after eight o’clock in the morning and I want to jump on her. I need to marry her quick.
He held her hand and took her into the house.
“Hello, Cassie,” Selena greeted her. “Good to see you again.”
Cassie looked surprised. “You, too, Ma’am.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
“No, Ma’am.”
Selena made a face. “What? You should start the day with a hearty breakfast.”
Cassie made a strangled noise in the back of her throat. “Yes, Ma’am. I know, and I would if there was anything to eat in the house, but there’s granola and I don’t like granola. It’s gritty, like something you swept off the floor. Oh, and soy milk. Yuck! Who wants to put that in your mouth, much less swallow it?”
“Ay, que lastima! Poor baby. Let me fix you something. Do you like flour tortillas?”
Cassie’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, my God, Yes!”
“Sit down right here. Let me fix you un poquito desayuno.”
Javier looked at his mother in wonder. This could not be the same woman who had become enraged when she’d learned that her youngest son was dating a twenty-year-old, non-Catholic not to mention, non-Hispanic.
He stood in the doorway, puzzled, as Cassie sat down at the kitchen table, accepting a glass of orange juice from the woman who frightened her. He met his mother’s gaze with a warning frown.
She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go on, Javier. Get your things and I’ll make sure Cassie has something decent to eat. Soy milk! Who could drink that?”
~*~
“Thank you, Mrs. Rios.” Cassie spooned scrambled eggs and potatoes into a warm tortilla and ladled salsa onto it before rolling it up and biting into it. She was aware that she made a little moaning sound as the taste of real food hit her palette.
Selena sat down across the table from her. “Have some bacon, Mija.”
“Thank you so much. I’m being such a pig, but this is so good it makes me wish I could cook. I could eat this for breakfast every day.”
“You need to eat to keep up your strength.” Selena leaned forward on her elbows. “You don’t cook?”
“No, Ma’am. This is the first time I’ve ever lived on my own and now, since the fire, I’m not in my own place. Learning to cook was high on my list of priorities. I even bought a cook book, but it got burned up.”
“Pobrecita!”
Javier entered the kitchen with an armload of his clothes on hangers. “Mama, don’t speak Spanish to Cassie. She doesn’t understand.”
Cassie swallowed her bite. “Yo estudio dos anos en la escuela.”
Javier’s mouth dropped open as he stared at her. “You studied two years in school? Cassie, why didn’t you tell me that you speak Spanish?”
She took a sip of orange juice. “You never asked me.”
He laughed. “I would think that you might have mentioned it.”
She looked up at him. “Javier, do you speak Spanish?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay, now we both know.”
He drew a breath and shook his head, grinning as he carried his garments to the truck.
Selena Rios sat across the table from Cassie with a great big grin on her face.
~*~
Sky’s assignment to the Emergency Room was always more exciting than the hospital in-patient unit or the nursing home wing. She never knew what might come rolling in the door, and she liked working with Doctor Rick Marcos.
She held the head of a squirming, sweaty four-old-boy as the doctor removed pennies from the child’s nose.
Rick spoke in a monotone as he concentrated on his task. “Now, son, It’s a good idea to put your money away for a rainy day, but I suggest you get a good, strong piggy bank and stick your coins in that from now on.”
The boy struggled and writhed against Sky’s hold, a red-faced, damp, unrepentant wrong-doer.
Rick stepped back, the last penny clutched in the prongs of a pair of elongated tweezers. “All done!”
Sky released the child to his mother and held the door of the exam room open for them to leave. She stripped off her latex gloves, tossing them in the trash can. “I feel like I’ve been wrestling an alligator.”
“More like The Tasmanian Terror.” Rick followed suit and they both scrubbed their hands in the sink. “Want some coffee before the next onslaught?”
“Sure.” She reached for the door as a timid knock sounded. She opened it to a tall, slim man with a pony tail and two small silver hoops in his left earlobe.
“Trash?” He pointed to the waste receptacles in the corner of the room.
“Sky, this is Hank. He’s the new custodian on days.”
Hank lifted his brown eyes from the spot on the floor where he’d been staring. “You want me to mop, Doctor Rick?”
“Sure, Hank,” Rick said. “We’re going to take a quick break.”
Hank nodded and stepped aside for them to exit before dragging a rolling bucket of disinfectant-smelling mop water into the exam room.
“He’s new?” Sky asked.
“Started on your days off. Much better than the last guy. He actually makes rounds and cleans the entire room, instead of just emptying the trash.”
Sky nodded, the tendons in back of her neck feeling tight. “They run a security check on all new hires, don’t they?”
“Every single one. They check
ed you out too, ran your license and made sure you were a citizen. You can’t work in this hospital with a criminal record.”
Shy massaged the back of her neck. “That’s a relief.”
They crossed the waiting room where the television was tuned to the news channel. The grinning weather man pointed to an area south of the Florida coast, warning of a new tropical storm gathering in the Gulf.