Laurie Salzer - A Kiss Before Dawn

by Laurie Salzer

  Angie pulled Chris’s arm over her burly shoulder and hoisted her up. “I hope that woman of yours likes the colors of the rainbow because, girl, you’re going to be sporting all of them in a couple of days.”

  Chris tried to laugh, but the pain in her ribs shot around to her back, and she couldn’t smile because of her lip. “Ouch! Don’t make me laugh, Angie.”

  Angie helped Chris back onto her stool and took the bag of ice someone gave her. She handed it to Chris. “Here, put this on your… well, maybe we need a bigger bag.”

  Chris playfully slapped Angie’s arm. “Just give it to me.” She held the cold pack against her eye. “Jesus, I never saw that coming.”

  “That Sky has no control over her temper. I have no idea what cocktail of drugs she’s on tonight, but one minute she’s hornier than hell, and the next she’s meaner than a bear.” Angie tilted Chris’s chin up and examined her. “You should see a doctor to make sure nothing inside is hurt.”

  Chris closed her eyes and carefully shook her head. “No, I’ll be all right.”

  “Are you sure? Stay here. I’ll get you some aspirin. You’re going to need a lot of it in the next few days.”

  While Angie was gone, Chris rotated the ice bag from her eye to her lip and back again. Although her body throbbed all over, her mind felt clearer than it had in years.

  Angie came back with four aspirin and a glass of water. “Here, take these and then look at me. I want to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” She handed her the pills and glass and peered into Chris’s eyes. “I want to compare the size of your pupils.”

  “Bartender and doctor?” Chris slid the aspirin into her mouth and swallowed the pills down with water. “Ow. Shit.”

  “Yup, pain comes with the territory. Are you okay to drive home? Or do I need to make other arrangements?”

  Chris knew Angie would drive her home without her asking. “No, Angie, thanks. I’ll be okay.”

  “You just sit here until that ice melts. I’ll get you some coffee to keep you awake. How’re the ribs?”

  “They hurt like hell, but I can breathe okay. I guess that means they’re not broken.”

  “Good news.” Angie helped Chris move to the end of the bar to avoid her being jostled by other patrons, and presumably so she could also keep an eye on her in case Sky managed to slip back in unnoticed. The bouncers had shown Sky the door and, not so nicely, given her a push outside.

  It took two strong cups of coffee and another hour before Chris felt like she could make the drive home. She put the bag of melted ice on the bar and slid off her stool. Angie came over and pulled her into a tight hug, mindful of her sore ribs.

  “Good luck, C-Breeze. You go home and tell that woman she has somebody special. Tell her I’ll come looking for her if she isn’t good to you.”

  Chris squeezed the woman in return. “Thanks, Angie. I’ll miss you.” Her attempt to smile felt somewhat lopsided.

  “I’ll miss you, too.” Angie released Chris and shoved her hands into her pockets. “I’m going to have one of the bouncers walk you to your car just in case Sky is out there lurking someplace.”

  ”Thanks,” Chris said and left for home.

  * * *

  When Mary Jo made the turn into Frances’s driveway, she was surprised to see Daisy sitting in the middle of the lane.

  “That’s odd. Chris must not be here yet.”

  From the moment she opened her eyes that morning, she’d anticipated seeing Chris. The closer she came to her destination, the more butterflies she had in her stomach. Now she stopped her truck and opened the door. Daisy came over to the truck’s side, wagging her tail.

  “Want a ride?” Mary Jo asked.

  Daisy bounded up and over her lap and onto the passenger seat. Mary Jo pulled her door closed and drove up to the house.

  She parked the truck in front of the porch, got out, and waited for Daisy to follow. There was still no sign of Chris. She hesitated before turning toward the house, disappointed not to hear Chris’s truck in the distance. She sighed, patted her leg, and called Daisy to follow. “Come on, girl, let’s go see what your mom is cooking today.”

  Mary Jo knocked twice on the door to announce her arrival and walked in. Frances met her at the door. The look of worry on her face made Mary Jo forget all the usual pleasantries. “Frances, what’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. Have you heard from Chris at all?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her since last week. I got called out of town unexpectedly for a few days. I’ve been mostly out of touch with everybody except Doc.”

  Frances wrung a dishcloth in her hands. Her graying eyebrows furrowed as she peered past Mary Jo, evidently hoping to see Chris coming down the drive. “It’s just odd, Mary Jo,” she said. “She’s always here early unless she calls and tells me otherwise. I haven’t heard from her, and I’m on my way to a nervous breakdown.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine, Frances, but if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll drive over there after breakfast to check on her.” Mary Jo tried to sound convincing, but Frances’s apprehension proved contagious. She changed her mind. “Tell you what, let’s try calling her, and if she doesn’t answer, I’ll go over right now.”

  The relief on Frances’s face was instantaneous. “All right.” She reached for the phone that hung next to the door and dialed Chris’s number. Fifteen long seconds passed before she hung up and tried another number, perhaps Chris’s cell phone. “It went right to voice mail.” Frances replaced the receiver.

  “All right, you stay here in case she calls. I’ll head over there.” Mary Jo opened the door and ran down the steps. “I’ll call you when I get there.”

  As her truck sped down the drive, she tried to quell the sudden panic that threatened to overcome her. “Where the hell are you, Chris?” she asked under her breath.

  She barely recognized landmarks as she drove, mentally chastising herself for not taking the time to call Chris while she’d been away at the veterinary school. I should have called her. I should have called.

  The last time Mary Jo had seen Chris, she’d left in a haze of thoughts and feelings. She had surprised herself when she kissed Chris and wanted to pull her into her arms and hold her, never let her go, never leave. But considering the emotional turmoil Chris had relived that night, Mary Jo hadn’t thought it was fair to take advantage of the situation. She would never forgive herself had she felt like she’d forced herself on Chris in a moment of vulnerability.

  Now she realized her feelings for Chris Martel ran deep. Without being conscious of it, she had fallen hard.

  Her knuckles were white as she drove with a death grip on the steering wheel. The truck fishtailed when she turned onto the farm drive, and the tires threw up stones and dirt. Her truck skidded to a stop in front of the barn, her seat belt already released. She turned the ignition off, jumped out, and ran toward the barn before the truck’s engine stopped.

  Images of Chris trampled or fatally kicked ran through her head. Her breath came in gasps as she opened the barn door. Neither Chris nor the dogs were inside.

  She swung around and ran toward the house. Her knock produced no answer. No dogs barked excitedly on the other side of the door. Just silence.

  “Jesus Christ, Martel! Where the hell are you?” She groaned in exasperation. She tapped her forehead with the tips of her fingers, “Think, think, where would she go?” The garage. Her truck. She ran over and peered through the windows. The pickup was parked next to the Taurus. “Shit.”

  She turned from the window and leaned against the truck’s bay door, feeling completely defeated. She tilted her head and looked at the sky. Where would Chris go on foot? She could be anywhere on the farm.

  Suddenly, Mary Jo recalled meeting Chris on the trailhead at the base of the mountain. Instinct guided her as she sprinted in that direction. Farther up the mountain, she walked onto a thin crust of snow. She stopped, bent over with her arms resting on her knees, and tried to ca
tch her breath. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears.

  What was that? Her eyes focused on tracks made by Chris and the dogs. Hope washed over her. Maybe the tracks were fresh. She pushed herself with more resolve.

  She looked wildly back and forth as she broke through the stand of trees and into the field, trying to catch sight of Chris or the dogs. Finally, her gaze settled on a pair of legs that stuck out from behind an uprooted tree. Their owner would be protected from the constant wind, she thought.

  Her boots crunched through the coating of frozen snow as she walked cautiously toward Chris. She held her breath, afraid of what she might find. Ten feet away from her goal, the dogs heard her and jumped up from the blanket they had been huddling on together. All three ran to her, their tails wagging in a blur.

  “Thank God, I found you guys,” Mary Jo said, striding closer. “Chris?”

  “Yeah?” Chris sat with her head leaning against the tree trunk, her eyes closed against the sun, her hands resting in her lap.

  Mary Jo walked in front of Chris and let out a loud gasp when she saw her black and blue face. Her right eyelid was so swollen she could barely make out the eye beneath. “Oh, my God! What happened to you?” She fell to her knees. As carefully as possible, she held Chris’s face between her hands. “Who did this? Are you okay?”

  Chris opened her eyes, smiled, and grimaced in pain when her split lip stretched. “I’m okay. Just a little banged up is all.”

  “Who did this to you?” Mary Jo repeated.

  “Somebody who thought she needed to knock some sense into me,” Chris said without emotion. She reached up and took Mary Jo’s hands in hers.

  Mary Jo’s worry transformed into anger. “Did one of those bitches up at that bar do this to you?”

  Chris sighed. “Yeah. She didn’t like it when I said no.”

  “No to what? I don’t understand.”

  Chris touched Mary Jo’s cheek, softly stroking it with her thumb.

  Concerned, Mary Jo gazed at Chris’s bruised face and cataloged her injuries.

  “I said no to her, because my heart was saying yes to you,” Chris said.

  It took a moment for Mary Jo to grasp what Chris had told her. Finally, she understood. “Are you sure, Chris?” she asked, almost afraid to believe.

  “Let me show you.” Chris leaned toward Mary Jo.

  Mary Jo became aware only of Chris’s lips. She met them with her own in a soft, lingering kiss until Chris hissed and pulled away.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” Chris ran her tongue over her split lip. “Damn, that stings.”

  For a minute or two, neither of them said anything else. Mary Jo was content to stare into Chris’s eyes. The pressure in her chest made it difficult to breathe.

  At last, Chris leaned back against the tree. Mary Jo reached out to help by putting a hand on her side.

  “Umph,” Chris grunted and grimaced. “Sorry, she did a little number on my ribs with her boots.”

  Mary Jo withdrew her hand. “Jesus, Martel, we need to get you to a doctor. How the hell did you get up here?”

  “It took me about an hour and a half to make it because I took lots of breaks. I was hoping the cold air would take some of the swelling down.”

  “You’re incorrigible, you know that?” Mary Jo put Chris’s arm around her shoulder to help her up. As she lifted Chris to her feet, she grunted and muttered, “Christ, I didn’t know it was going to be so much work rescuing a damsel.”

  That got a laugh from Chris, but it ended up being more of a groan. “Apparently you’ve never rescued a damsel.” She got her feet under her and slowly stood upright.

  Mary Jo shifted her position, reached up, and put her hand on the back of Chris’s neck. She tenderly pulled Chris’s face to her lips and kissed the corner of her mouth. “We’re going to be careful with that lip and make sure it heals fast, because I have some serious kissing planned for you, Martel.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Chris said, squinting.

  Mary Jo wondered how Chris withstood the throbbing she must be feeling on the side of her face. “Oh, shit, I promised I would call Frances,” she said. “She’s worried to death about you. Can we move into the woods and out of the wind?”

  Chris nodded. Mary Jo picked the blanket up and draped it around both their shoulders. Afraid to put any pressure on Chris’s sore ribs, she gripped her belt loops with her arms around Chris’s waist and walked with Chris holding onto her tightly as well.

  Once they entered the woods, out of the blustery wind, she paused briefly to caress Chris’s face with warmed hands before dialing Frances’s number. Chris absently watched the dogs milling around as the call connected.

  “Hi, Frances,” Mary Jo said.

  “Did you find Chris?”

  “Yes, I found her.”

  “Oh, thank heavens.”

  “I had to climb a damned mountain to get to her though.”

  “Do you need me to come over?” Frances asked, and when Mary Jo told her no, she went on to say, “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine. We’re walking down now.”

  “Tell her she’s going to put me in the grave.”

  Mary Jo chuckled. “Okay, I’ll tell her.”

  “Thank you, Mary Jo.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll call you later.” Mary Jo closed the cell phone and returned it to her pocket. “You are in such big trouble with Frances,” she told Chris.

  “I’ll call her later.” Chris frowned. It obviously hadn’t occurred to her to call Frances after the bar scuffle.

  Mary Jo knew she must be feeling guilty for putting her dear friend through so much distress. She kissed Chris’s cheek and pushed a strand of hair behind her ears. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you.” She paused and stared at Chris’s swollen face. “But only if you promise us you’ll never go up to that place again.”

  Chris pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I have all the reason in the world, right here in front of me, to make that promise to you.”

  “Chris, are you sure you’re ready for a relationship?”

  “I’m surer about this than I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”

  Mary Jo wanted to believe her. And she wanted Chris. “I need to know I’ll be the only one.” She held her breath, wondering if she’d just asked for the impossible.

  “I took a beating. Doesn’t that prove it?”

  Mary Jo wrapped her arms around Chris’s shoulders. “Yes.” She held Chris close for several minutes, relishing their combined warmth and sensing their hearts beating as one.

  “As much as I would love to stand here all day, holding you,” she said, finally ending the embrace, “I didn’t dress to climb mountains or go on a search-and-rescue mission. Plus, I’m starving. You owe me breakfast, coffee, and several hours of snuggle time.”

  Chris laughed. “Ouch. Yeah, okay, let’s go.”

  Mary Jo made sure they took their time going down, to let Chris catch her breath. She also indulged in frequent hugs. She took pleasure in the closeness and in knowing Chris felt the same.

  Once inside the house, Mary Jo threw a couple of logs on the fire and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Chris leaned against the counter and watched her.

  “You should sit down, Chris,” Mary Jo said, worried that she might be hurting more than she let on.

  “I will in a minute.”

  When she opened the refrigerator, then the pantry, Mary Jo was delighted to discover that Chris had gone shopping in her absence. “Oh, my God, look at all this food.” She gazed in awe at the stocked shelves.

  Chris walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around Mary Jo’s waist. “I went shopping.”

  “I guess you did. This is great. I didn’t think you knew what couscous was.”

  “I don’t, but I figured you would.” Chris giggled. “I was hoping you’d stay and cook more often.”

  Mary Jo turned around in Chris’s arms and smiled. She kissed the side of C
hris’s mouth and said, “I will cook for you whenever you want, sweetheart. Now sit down and rest.”

  Chris reluctantly released her. “I’ll try to be useful and make us some coffee.”

  After the coffee brewed, she placed a mug next to Mary Jo and stood lingering in the kitchen. “Did I make you uncomfortable last week? Is that why you didn’t call?”

  Mary Jo abruptly put down the bowl of pancake batter she was mixing and turned to Chris. Chris’s worried expression made her smile. “Didn’t Doc tell you I’d been called away?” When Chris shook her head, she said, “Oh, shit. I am so sorry. He must have forgotten because he had to handle all the calls himself. Chris, last week was an incredible awakening for me. No, you didn’t make me uncomfortable at all. When I left, I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t want to force myself on you. Not when your emotions were so precarious. I wanted this.” She carefully caressed Chris’s face. “But I wanted to be sure we both could handle it, and we both wanted it.”

  “Why didn’t you call?”

  “I should have, and I’ve been kicking myself in the ass ever since. I was out of town for a couple of days because of a bad horse trailer accident. Those danged professors of mine at Cornell didn’t give me a break. I’m so, so sorry.”

  “So you weren’t off gallivanting with an old girlfriend or something?”

  “Nope, you were the only woman on my mind.” Mary Jo grinned at her, and after shooing her out of the kitchen, she went back to preparing breakfast.

  Chris took her coffee into the living room and sat down on the floor in front of the fire. Sadie left her bed and crawled into Chris’s lap.

  Chris was sound asleep when Mary Jo came in with a plate of sausages and pancakes. She quietly sat down beside her.

  She let Chris sleep, looking at her bruised face while she ate. She was astounded at the results of the beating. She could only imagine what Chris’s ribs looked like, although despite her face’s appalling condition, Chris looked pain free at the moment.

  Chris gradually woke, still foggy from sleep. She took a deep, shaky breath and stretched cautiously. “Did I miss breakfast?”