He had just finished taking a bath, so he didn’t get his bandage wet. All he had done after getting out, was pull on the same jeans he had worn to the hospital, and was planning on getting some breakfast when his front door flung open.
He jumped and spun around, startled by the sound. After the events of the night, no one would blame him for being a little jumpy.
When he turned around he barely had time to realize it was Mindi this time before she had flung herself into his arms. Without any warning, she wove her fingers in his hair and kissed him. He barely had a chance to kiss her back before she was moving away.
“Hello. Looking for someone?” He didn’t know if it was exhaustion or relief, but he didn’t have it in him to be angry at her this time. “And what are you doing out by yourself again? Do we need a repeat of the last time?”
“Not funny. Are you okay?”
“It’s just a scratch. I only had to have a few stitches.” He was just grateful she was here, and that Tracy was obviously a lousy shot. “Things could be a lot worse. I was just getting ready to get something to eat.”
That was an understatement. She could have killed you. “Scratches don’t require ER trips and stitches. Gunshot wounds do. Let me help you. I can get you something for breakfast. What do you have in here?” she asked, walking into the kitchen.
He followed behind her. “You don’t have to cook my breakfast. I can manage.” I kind of like her needing to take care of me.
“I’m going to cook your breakfast, so just sit down and hush,” she said, pulling out a chair and pointing at it. “And for your information, Dad dropped me off. I’m riding to church with you.”
“Okay. You’re off the hook, and you can ride to church with me,” Luke said with a funny feeling in his stomach.
When she rode to church with him it always made it feel like they were officially together. He was trying to wait for this thing with Tracy to be over before they really talked about where their relationship was going. It made him foolishly say the first thing that came to mind. “You still don’t need to be out on your own.”
“She shot you, not me,” Mindi said, sounding a little miffed.
“She has shot at you. She’s convinced that if she can kill you, I will magically start loving her. You need to be careful.”
“I can take care of myself. Now, be quiet. I’m going to cook your breakfast.”
The room fell silent while she cooked them sausage and eggs with toast and orange juice. They ate in silence. The room had grown tense again. “You could have died.”
“Yeah. What was I supposed to do different? I didn't do anything to provoke her. She’s crazy.”
“Why did you date her to start with?” Mindi asked, starting to sound really aggravated.
“I was just dating her, like I’ve dated other women. I didn’t know she was crazy. When I realized she was crazy, I broke up with her.” She was getting angry, again. He could feel it.
He wasn’t sure it was a good idea to tell her or not, but he seemed unable to stop himself. “I was trying to make you jealous. I was having a really foolish moment.”
At first her mouth just hung open. When the full implication of his words sunk in she snapped it shut. “Why would you do that? Grr.” She made a sound under her breath, and jumped up and started clearing the table. “You need to be more careful.”
“Why are you angry with me? I didn’t do anything.”
“I’m not mad. I’m just nervous. They haven’t caught her yet. She could come after either one of us at any time. How am I supposed to feel?” she asked, just looking at him, the fear showing in her eyes.
He got up and followed her across the room to pull her into his arms. “Nervous. That’s how,” he said, wrapping his arm around her. “She’s probably laying low right now. Even she should know she’s in trouble now. She’s got to know she just keeps digging a deeper hole for herself.” I’m not sure reality has any effect on her.
“Fine. Whatever,” she said, her nerves still showing. “You need to get ready for church. Do you need help?”
“No, I think I can manage. If you try to help me, we won’t make it to church,” Luke answered, sounding a little strangled. The images that question had evoked shot blood surging to a certain part of his body it would be better not to mention.
Deciding they should probably leave soon, so they wouldn’t be alone long, Luke added, “I won’t be long, and we can get out of here,” before he turned to walk out of the room.
Five minutes later he came back to the living room, and handed her his keys. “You’re driving. My arm hurts.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “Do you need something for the pain?”
“I took some while I was in the bathroom.” He just grinned at her. Her obvious need to take care of him this morning was feeling really nice. He might just have to take advantage of it later.
“Come on. We need to go.” She headed for the door, but was brought up short when he tugged on her hand to spin her around to face him once again. She collided with him, and he trapped her against him with his uninjured arm. She gasped with surprise, and looked up into his beautiful brown eyes. He gave her a quick kiss, and then let her go.
He gave a soft laugh when she had to steady herself. He stepped around her and headed out the door still chuckling.
When they got to church, everyone was worried about Luke. They wanted to know what had happened during the break in. By the time they managed to get in the building and sat down, it felt like they had talked to everyone in the place. It seemed like the church house was buzzing with it.
When the service finally started everyone was still staring at them. She knew it was because of the break in, but it still made her a little nervous. There were only a few key members of the community that knew they really weren’t getting married. At least not yet, she thought hopefully. It left her wondering how many of them were thinking about that.
When church was over, and everyone was filing outside, one of her old friends from high school walked up to her. “Hey, Mindi, do I get an invitation to the wedding?”
“Oh. Yes. We’re changing the date.” She felt funny lying, especially just after walking out of church, but she wasn’t sure they were ready to let the ruse go, and she didn’t want to mess things up.
When they finally managed to make it back in the car and back to Luke’s apartment, she noticed he was wincing a lot. “You need more pain medicine.” It hadn’t been a question. “Sit down on the couch. I’ll go get you some.” Once she turned down the hall, he let a small smile spread across his face. His arm did hurt, but not as much as he was letting on.
She came back up the hall and gave him a couple of capsules, then went to the kitchen to get him a glass of water to take them with. When she came back in the living room, she handed him the glass and asked, “What do you want for lunch?”
Feeling a little guilty about taking advantage of the situation, he patted the couch beside him. “Here, sit down. You don’t have to fix me lunch.”
“Yes, I do. And I’m not going anywhere. So, don’t try to run me off,” she said, giving him a belligerent stare.
“I don’t want to run you off. I want you to sit down with me,” he said, tugging on her arm. “I never want to run you off.” I’d move you in here with me tomorrow if I thought you’d agree to marrying me that fast.
“Lunch first. What do you have in there? Do I need to go to the store?”
“No, you should be able to find something.”
“Okay. Stay put. Just rest.”
Chapter 20 - Monday, July 16
The police had been looking for Tracy for four days now. Ever since her rendition of the ‘shoot-out-at the O. K. Corral.’ It had been less than forty-eight hours since she had shot him in the arm. And to top it all off, everyone must have heard about her break in. Everybody and their brother had been by to check on him today.
It had been the Monday of all Mondays. The garage had been so busy he hadn’t had time to
stop and think about anything but work. He felt like he had been going for three days straight, rather than eight hours. His arm hurt like nothing he had ever felt before in his life. It had been about the longest day of his life. He felt like five o’clock was never going to get there.
About half way through the day, he had been informed by Zane that he was expected at the Townsend’s tonight. Apparently, Jamie had decided after a very long sleepless night that she wanted him to stay with them over night as long as Tracy was still at large.
Zane had also informed him he thought this was a good idea. Tracy had managed to pick his locks and break in twice now. They felt it was unlikely that she would try to break in at Carl and Jamie’s.
So, with that in mind, he ran upstairs to his apartment and grabbed some clothes and the usual paraphernalia. He was exhausted and just wanted a shower, but decided he would wait till he got there to take one.
It took him about ten minutes to get outside of town, and then the rest of the way to the Townsend’s house. As soon as he walked in the door, Mindi grabbed his bag and ordered him to the game room. She apparently was still feeling the need to take care of him. Right now, he was really appreciating it. He could barely put one foot in front of the other.
“Can I take a shower first?” he asked, giving her a kiss.
“Oh. Yeah. Wait, don’t you need to take a bath? So, you don’t get your stitches wet?”
“Yeah. It’s a habit.”
“Just a minute.” She ran out of the room, and not a full minute later came running back. “Mom said you can use her and dad’s bathroom. It has the biggest tub.”
“What? Are you calling me fat again?” he asked, smirking at her.
“I can’t even begin to explain how not funny that is. Do you even have any fat on your body?” From what I’ve seen, you sure don’t.
“Oh. In one or two places.”
“Where? Let me guess. Your big toes?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.
He just laughed. He tried to wrap his arm around her, but she was too quick. She grabbed the hand of his good arm and started dragging him down the hall. “Come on. I’ll run your water.”
“Baby, I can do some things for myself. I can manage.”
“You’re going to let me do this. I can tell by looking at you, you’re about dead on your feet. And, besides, I need to take care of you right now, as much as you need me to take care of you.”
“Why is that?”
“I could have lost you. She could have killed you. I couldn’t have handled that.”
They had made it to the bathroom, and she sat his bag down on the toilet seat. Before she could lean over to turn the water on, he pulled her into his arms. The motion pulled at his stitches, but at the moment he just didn’t care. She had revealed more in those three simple sentences than he could have ever hoped for.
He kissed her softly, holding her tight in his arms. After a minute, he let her go. The pain was starting to get to be too much. “You got any aspirin or ibuprofen?”
“Oh. Of course, your arm is hurting. You’ve been working all day. Zane said when he stopped in to see you, you were completely swamped.” She picked his bag up off the toilet seat and sat it in the floor. “Here, sit down.”
She leaned over and plugged the drain and then turned the water on. When she stood back up and turned around, she caught him staring at her. “What?”
“Nothing. This thing with Tracy can’t end soon enough. You just keep making it harder for me to keep my hands to myself.”
“Why does what we do have to hinge so much on catching her first? Please tell me.”
“Well, we’re too emotionally charged right now. I want you to be sure of your decision when the time comes.”
“Luke, I know what I want,” she said, her eyes catching fire. “I’ve always known what I wanted.”
“You’re not going to sway me on this,” he said, not entirely sure of his own words.
“I don’t know.” She stepped between his knees and looked down at him. “I probably could.”
“Don’t do that to me. This is important.” He was starting to wonder how hard she would push. He knew it wouldn’t take much.
She couldn’t stop herself. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his for just the merest second. Then she backed up, and looked him in the eyes once again. “Okay. We’ll do it your way. I just hope it don’t take too much longer.”
She walked over to the medicine cabinet and got ibuprofen out and handed him two, then ran some water in one of the paper cups from the dispenser on the wall. Once she handed him the cup, she left the bathroom.
*******
Thirty minutes later when he hadn’t emerged, her mom sent her to see if he was okay. She knocked on the door first. When she didn’t get an answer, she cautiously stuck her head in, and found him asleep with the air jets going.
She really hated to disturb him, but he didn’t need to leave the jets running any longer. She went ahead and stepped the rest of the way into the bathroom, and let the door close behind her. When the door clicked shut, Luke sat up straight and looked her in the eyes.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Just waking you up.” And thinking about crawling in there with you.
“Okay. I’m awake. Unless you want to explain why your clothes are soaked when you leave the bathroom, you should probably get out of here,” he said, seriously considering pulling her in with him.
“Is that a promise?”
“Mindi, don’t tempt me,” he said, shaking his head. The woman is absolutely no help sometimes.
“Okay. I’m leaving. If you’re sure you can stand up. How long have you had the jets on?”
“I don’t know. How long have I been in here?”
“Half an hour.”
“Well, I might not be able to stand,” he said with humor in his voice. He could tell she was about to offer to help him out. “But I’ll manage. Out,” he said, trying to sound stern.
“Okay, I’m going,” she said with a grin. “Dinner’s ready.”
*******
Five minutes later Luke made his way down the hall to the kitchen where everyone else was already seated, and waiting on him.
He took his seat beside Mindi, and leaned over and whispered in her ear. “It’s a good thing I didn’t pull you into the tub with me. The whole family would have known. Can you imagine what Zane would have said?”
She felt like she was red from head to toe. “Stop it,” she said under her breath.
“Hey, what are you glowing for, Mindi?” Zane asked. Like I don’t already know.
“There are some things a brother doesn’t need to know.”
“Hey, Lisa, where’s James?” Luke asked with a hint of concern.
“He refused to come. He’s not talking to me much right now. The last time he spoke to me was last Thursday, when he was here. And that was stressful,” she said, struggling to hold the tears back.
“Ever since movie night?” he asked with a frown.
“Yeah.” Lisa sounded like her heart was broken.
“Movie night?” Jamie jumped in. “What happened on your movie night?”
“I surprised him,” Lisa said. Now she was the one glowing.
“Lisa, tell her. Don’t just give her hints,” Mindi advised. “She can help.”
“I kissed him.” And boy did he kiss me back.
“Wow,” Carl exclaimed. “Our girls certainly have a mind of their own.”
“Yeah. Well, it worked for Mindi. All that’s happened for me is, I’ve lost my best friend.”
“He’s been a real bear at work lately, so I have a stake in this,” Luke said. “Let me give you a piece of free advice. Don’t back down. He’ll come around. As long as you don’t give up. He’s just as miserable as you are right now.”
Luke watched as Lisa dropped her head trying to hide her tears and wondered if he should tell her why James was holding back. Luke knew Lisa was the one person that coul
d get James to see that him being black didn’t stop her parents from loving him as much as they did him. The only thing that stopped him, was James had told him, trusting him to carry his secret to the grave.
Chapter 21 - Thursday July 19
Zane Townsend was going to speak with Tracy’s parents again. They had been searching for Tracy for a week now. They were running out of ideas. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were good people. They were just like anyone else around this town. They didn’t understand why their youngest child had ended up the way she did.
Zane was hoping they might be able to shed some light on where she may have gone. They had been watching for her from the house across the street. The owners of the house were on vacation, and had let the police set up their stake out there. They knew Luke well, and always took their car to him for repairs and regular maintenance. But it had come to nothing, and they were running out of time. She hadn’t come to her parent’s house once. It was like she had dug a whole and crawled in.
Zane walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the solid wood door, and waited for Mr. Lewis to answer.
“Hello, Zane. I’m sorry. Officer Townsend. We thought you might come back. Come on in. How’s Luke doing? We heard he only had to have a few stitches.”
Zane stepped inside, his tall muscular frame seeming to fill the small living room. “He took it like a trooper. You know Luke. He was more shocked that she had really shot him than anything. He had nine stitches, and in his words, it was only a scratch. I think he’ll live.”
Mrs. Lewis was sitting on the couch. They had obviously been watching television. It was now paused. “We figured you would come back. I don’t know how we can help you though, but we can try.”
“I’m sorry to have to ask again, but do you know where Tracy might have gone to disappear for a while? Right now, she is leaving Luke alone, but we’re concerned she might go after Mindi again,” Zane said, doing his best to cover his anger. It wasn’t Tracy’s parents fault she was a lunatic.
“Not really. She knows we don’t agree with her obsession with Luke. We told her he broke it off with her because she was acting crazy. We love our daughter, but we were glad when she left town. We were hoping she could actually make a life for herself in Kansas City. You know, get a fresh start.”
Summer Obsession (The Townsends Book 1) Page 19