by June Kramin
“No.” Ellie stood. “I’ll go and try talk to her again.”
The nurse told her it was okay to go in for a few minutes, but only because the police needed the information.
“Five minutes, no more.”
“I promise. I won’t stay longer than I have to.” Ellie walked into the room and over to the bed, again taking Nancy’s hand in hers. “Nance? You up? I really need to talk to you.”
She shifted a little bit then opened her eyes. “Hey,” she said, and then closed her eyes again. “I thought you didn’t want to ever see me again.” Nancy sounded much clearer than before.
“That doesn’t mean I want you dead, you brunette wench.”
“Blond ditsy broad.”
Ellie smiled. Some of their banter had returned; that was a start. “Do you remember what kind of car he drove? The cops want to know.” Nancy moaned and held her side. “You want me to get the nurse?” Ellie asked.
“No, I’m okay.” She kept her eyes closed, but now they were squinted tighter. Ellie kept quiet. Ellie knew Nancy’s expressions almost better than her own and could tell she was straining to remember.
She finally spoke after a minute. “Piece of shit Buick. Older one. Gray. Had that Minnesota rust along the bottom of the door thing going on.”
“Thanks. I’ll let them know.” Ellie squeezed her hand. “Did he hurt you bad?”
“Honestly, I don’t remember much.”
“The doctor said you weren’t raped.”
Nancy shook her head. “I didn’t move a lot while I was here. I know you said to get up and move around so of course…”
“Of course you didn’t because I said you should.”
Nancy looked up with guilty eyes. “Something like that.” She swallowed hard, obviously in pain. “I was walking that day and he was just there. It seemed dangerous, but fun.”
“Fun?”
“He was cute and handy. I haven’t had sex in almost a month and barely moved in a couple weeks. I was just feeling…frisky. When we got to the room, we got into some heavy petting, got naked and I guess I blacked out. The last thing I remember was crying out in pain when he flopped me on the bed.”
“Did you call 911?”
She shook her head no. “He must have.”
“GodDamnit, Nance. After all I went through to save you, your little stunt almost killed you.”
“So what, El? That makes it all that much better. Especially since he thought I was you.”
“What are you saying? I don’t understand, Nance.”
“Don’t you see? I’d rather die as you than live as me!” She covered her eyes with her arm. “Get out.”
“Nancy…you’re — ”
“I said get out!” she yelled. “Now. And send a nurse in. I fucking hurt.”
Ellie left. She was more confused than ever by her sister’s comments, but she hurried to the nurse and asked her to go in, and then rushed to the police officer with the information. After giving the officer what she could, she turned to Bix.
“I want to go home. There’s nothing more I can do.” She turned to her brothers. “She doesn’t want to see me anymore anyway. Just call us if anything changes.”
“She’s just tired and upset, El. Don’t leave sad or disappointed,” Nick said, trying to comfort her.
“Well excuse me for being just a little tired and upset myself. I had surgery a couple of weeks ago too, if you recall. I’m going home.”
“No, you’re not,” Bix said, standing and taking her hand. “This asshole is out there and it’s not going to take him long to figure out his mistake. He’ll be back for you, Ellie. I’d bet my ass on it. You can’t go back to your house.”
“He’s not going to be that stupid. He almost killed her!” She tried to calm her voice down; people had stopped what they were doing and were staring her way. “He’s probably half-way to Canada by now.”
“Let’s stay at Gramps’s, for a while at least.”
“Fine.” Ellie walked away without saying even a goodbye to her brothers. Bix caught up to her and together they hurried through the reporters with their heads down and their hands blocking their faces from the camera flashes.
Once they were on their way Bix asked her, “So what happened in there? Other than the obvious, why are you so upset?”
“This is all my fault.” She dropped her head to his shoulder. “I almost killed her.”
“No, you saved her life, Ellie. Some stalker asshole almost killed her.”
“Because he thought she was me.”
“But it wasn’t you and I won’t have you punishing yourself for that. She had to have played along with it. You know she did. You said yourself she did it all the time. Maybe she used him first by pretending to be you.”
“It doesn’t help me trying to blame her.”
“I’m not asking you to blame her. Just use a little perspective. You had no way of knowing the guy was dangerous. Please don’t beat yourself up.”
“She hates me.”
“And until yesterday, you hated her, babe. It’s the shits, but sometimes it takes something horrible for some things to change.”
She turned slightly to look up at him. “So now I care and she doesn’t. Big improvement.”
“She’ll come around. I love you. You’re a nutcase, but I do love you, Noelle Freeman. I honestly don’t know how you did it so damn fast to me.”
She sat up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I really do love you, too — are you ever going to tell me what Bix is short for?”
“It’s my name. Honest. Look at my driver’s license if you don’t believe me.”
“I know its short for something. I’ll find out.” She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes and rested on the way to his house. The thought of walking into that house without Gramps hurt. Again fighting tears, she drifted off for the short drive.
Chapter Fifty-One
Bix woke Ellie as they pulled in the driveway. “You feeling okay?”
She nodded. “I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep that great last night.”
“You were more worried than you let on, babe.” Bix stroked her cheek. “I’ll get you tucked in when we get downstairs. You’ll feel better after a good nap.”
“Is that your dad’s?” she asked, pointing to a truck in the driveway.
“Yup. He’s back packing up with mom. Can I carry you in?”
“No, I’m okay.”
Bix opened his door and Ellie took hold of his arm, stopping him. “Jean told Shawn about you.”
“And?”
“And? What if comes looking for you to find me? What if he comes here?”
“Like you said, he’s probably long gone. But if he’s not, me and my dad and Gramps’s guns have a better chance protecting you here than you have being alone at your house.”
“Guns? You don’t think it’ll come to that, do you?”
“I don’t know, Ellie. I’ve never met crazy before. If it comes to that, we’ll do what we have to.”
“But your mom…Bix, I don’t want to put anyone else at risk.”
“We may be over-reacting a tad just yet. Come on, it’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
Ellie received warm hugs from Sue and Bart.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear it wasn’t you, Ellie,” Sue carried on as she hugged her. They finally broke apart and sat down on the couch. Bart excused himself to the office and Bix went downstairs to get fresh sheets on the bed. Ellie thought the men sensed the women needed some girl time.
“As relieved as I am that it’s not you, it’s still horrible about your sister. She going to be okay?” Sue asked.
“Physically, yes, but I think she has some healing to do with the trauma. She was acting like it was nothing, but eventually she’s bound to be hard on herself about it. She wasn’t making any sense and kept going on about rather being me.”
“She wanted it to happen to you? That doesn’t sound right.”
> “No. She didn’t want it to happen to me. Her comment was something about being me. I guess I don’t know. It just didn’t make any sense at all. There’s no way she wants to be me. Look at her life, for crying out loud. Grand balls with royalty and more money than God and she claims to want to be me? A nobody making coffee. I should have asked them about her morphine dosage.”
“You’re not a nobody, Ellie. Maybe your sister was just voicing how she feels. Maybe she wants a simpler life and not so much glitz and glamour anymore. It’s probably something she couldn’t admit until now and under all this stress.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Time will tell. In the meantime, don’t be hard on yourself over this. You couldn’t have known things would go this way with this Shawn person. You knew enough to stay away from him and did the best you could for yourself. Nothing made you warn her about him. You didn’t purposely not tell her so something horrible would happen.”
“I still feel horrible.”
“So stop.” Sue placed her hand on Ellie’s. “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do — ”
“But it doesn’t get you anywhere.” Bix walked in front of them and finished the phrase for his mother. He put an arm under Ellie’s legs and one at her back and picked her up. “Nighty-night time. And I know you can walk. Say good night, Gracie.” He leaned her down and his mother kissed her on the cheek.
“You’re a little young to be quoting TV shows from my generation, Bix.”
“Ahh, the beauty of re-runs. Old-fart shows on any time of day on the Internet. I’ll come back up and help with supper later.”
Bix helped Ellie get settled in his bed. “Are you comfortable with Mom and I going to your house for a few things while you rest?”
“You think that’s necessary?”
“Of course not. You can walk around here naked all you want.”
“Stop.” Ellie blushed. “I can go later.”
“I’d rather you just rest.”
“Bix. You’re really pushing this rest thing. If it wasn’t for Nancy’s lawyer and that damn intern, I’d be back at work already.”
“But there’s all the added stress with this Shawn guy and your sister. The extra rest is better, babe. Just humor me, okay?”
She crossed her arms. “It’s not like I have a choice.”
“Glad you came around to see my side.” He winked at her. “Mom will have a better idea of all the girlie necessities than I would. I just wanted to be sure and check that there isn’t somewhere we shouldn’t dig.”
“I don’t have any ‘toys’ if that’s what you’re asking. You’ve been there long enough to know where everything is, Slick. Grab me comfortable stuff. Lounging around here in sweats and pajama pants sounds fine to me. The jeans I like best are on the top of the pile. Grab me at least one pair in case you ever let me walk out of the house.”
“Aha ha. You finally got your excuse to see the cars.”
“Damn straight.”
He leaned down and gave her a kiss. “I’ll make sure Dad stays in the house and plays guard dog. If you need anything and we’re not back give a holler for him.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will, but just in case — holler, okay?”
“Cross my heart,” she said as she made the motions. “You be careful. I don’t like you going over there either.”
“The cops are supposed to be doing a regular patrol. We’ll be all right.”
Sue was more than happy to help gather things for Ellie. She didn’t think the man would risk coming back to her house and she felt more than safe with Bix there with her. They found a small suitcase on wheels and went about the task of filling it with clothes. Bix let his mother pick things out while he kept watch at the window.
“Grab her some, you know, Mom. Things. Aunt Flo is supposed to show up soon.”
“You’re twenty-nine, Bix. You think you’d be man enough to say tampon by now.” She stepped out of the bedroom and looked at him.
He made an over exaggerated shudder then continued his watch.
“That man isn’t going to be dumb enough to come back.”
“You never know, Mom.”
“I have to admit, it is rather scary. These things never happen to people you know. Even all those years in the cities…I’ve never known anyone to actually get attacked. You especially don’t expect it in these parts.”
“I know. I moved here for a more peaceful life. Life has been anything but dull since I met Ellie, that’s for sure.”
“Well, I’m just glad she has you.” She walked over and kissed his cheek.
“I don’t know that I’ve been much help. I introduced a man into her life that up and died on her. I’ve already broken her heart.”
“That’s not how the story goes. She would have met him whether you moved here or not.”
“True enough I guess.”
“I’m going to finish packing. You check the windows and make sure everything is locked up. Turn the heat down, too. No point keeping the house this toasty if it’s going to be empty.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Bix’s father was standing at the door when they came back from Ellie’s house. His expression worried Bix. “What’s wrong? She okay?”
“There hasn’t been a peep from her. She’s resting fine. Have you been out to the shed?”
“Not since I was out there with Ellie’s brothers when we wanted to see what it was that Gramps left me. You hadn’t been out there yet?”
“Nope. That was your business, not mine. You bust the lock?”
“We did. I didn’t find the key until after the fact. Are the cars okay? Someone else go in there?”
“What cars?” Sue asked.
“Gramps had a couple of classics out there,” Bix explained. “Sweetest things I’ve ever seen. If things don’t work out with Ellie and me, her brother is already in line waiting.”
“They’re not touched as far as I can tell. The lock was busted and I was afraid the guy came snooping around here. I don’t like this feeling of sitting around waiting for him to show up. I walked around the property real quick to look things over. Don’t worry; I never took my eyes off the house. This is unsettling to say the least. I hope they catch him soon.” He gave Bix a key. “I found a lock in the shop and put it on for you.”
Bix accepted the key and looked at his dad. “You’re not going to say anything about them?”
“Handsome machines.”
“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say? Threaten your life to make you give me that ’Vette? Give you the old ‘I brought you into this word and I can take you out’ speech? They’re your cars, son. Gramps left ’em to you. I have no say in the matter.” Bart’s cell phone rang and he answered it and walked away.
“He’s trying, Bix. The least you can do is the same,” Sue whispered.
“I’m going to go check on Ellie,” was all he gave for a response.
Ellie stirred when Bix walked in. He crawled in bed and cuddled up to her. “You okay, babe?”
She moaned softly. “Even better now.”
“Mom and I picked up a bunch of stuff. Should hold you over for a while.”
“I could have just as easily walked around in your computer geek sweatshirts. I’m sure we won’t be here for long.”
“We’ll stay as long as we have to.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Miss Kitty seems happy to be back home too. I think she’s looking for Gramps though. You hungry yet?”
“I could eat the south end of a north bound mule.”
He laughed. “We’re fresh outta mule, but I’ll see what I can dig up for you.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Together they walked upstairs. Entering the kitchen, they found Bix’s mother frying up hamburger.
“How you doing, dear?” She asked Ellie.
“I’m really fine. Can I help with anything?”
�
��Not at all. I was going to throw together Sloppy Joes. Nice and simple. Why don’t you go take a look in the shed at Bix’s new toys?”
“That sounds like a great idea. I’ve wanted to come look at them, but your son is a mother hen about letting me do anything.”
He laughed and tugged at her hand. “Come on, oh speed demon of mine. You can look, but no touching and no driving. I still have to find the papers for them and I wouldn’t want to take them out with the salt on the roads. They are definitely not winter toys.”
Bix’s dad walked into the kitchen. Apparently he overheard the conversation while he was in the office. “I’ll take over here; you haven’t seen them yet either, Sue.”
“If you insist.” She handed him the spatula.
The three of them put on their coats and walked out to the shed. Bix used the key his dad gave him for the lock then opened up the door. Ellie gasped and let out an embarrassingly loud, “Holy shit!” She looked over at Sue. “Sorry, Mom. I — ” She stopped talking. She went from being embarrassed about swearing to being embarrassed about calling her “Mom.” Even though she asked Ellie to call her that, it caught her off guard when it came so freely.
Sue gave Ellie’s arm a reassuring pat and returned her attention back to the vehicles. “Holy shit indeed, honey.”
They wandered through them in astonishment of the perfect condition they were in. “Dad really had no idea Gramps had these?” Bix asked his mother.
“Not a clue. You know they weren’t particularly close. I don’t know what possessed Gramps to get them only to hide them in a shed. Have you looked around for the titles?”
“Only in the glove boxes. There’s nothing there.”
Bix walked over to Ellie. She had made her rounds of the cars, but was back in the Camaro.
“Well now this sucks,” Bix said.
“What?” she asked, looking up at him with her hands on the steering wheel.
“I’ll never know if you love me for me or love me for my car.”
“Silly computer geek. The car, of course.”
He laughed and leaned down, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.