She’d just about given up on getting out of the hospital sometime this century when Dr. Ross, Mary Jo, and Frances walked in at the same time.
Chris sat up straighter. “Thank God. I thought I was going to grow old waiting for you guys.”
Mary Jo sighed. “Yup, you’re feeling better.” She turned to Dr. Ross. “She’s like a caged cat, and it’s making her snippy.”
“I can vouch for that,” Frances said.
“Well, we’ll definitely let you out of here today, Chris.” Dr. Ross’s voice took on a more serious tone. “But on one condition. You are not to do any lifting for at least two months. I want to see you at my office in two weeks to check your wound. Is that clear?”
Chris rolled her eyes and sighed. “I guess.”
“She’ll be good. We’ll make sure of it. Right, Frances?” Mary Jo asked.
Frances nodded. “Right.”
“Come on, you guys. I’ll be good as new in a few weeks,” Chris said, though she knew she was complaining to deaf ears.
“Careful, babe,” Mary Jo warned, “or I’ll talk the doctor into three months.”
Frances chuckled.
“In your work, three months would be optimal,” Dr. Ross said, looking thoughtful.
“What? No way,” Chris said. “I can’t sit still for that long. I’ll go crazy.” Feeling the weight of three pairs of staring eyes, she relented. “God damn it. All right. Two months. That’s all I can promise.”
“Good. It looks as though you’ll be in good hands.” Dr. Ross handed her a clipboard and pen.
Chris chuffed out a frustrated breath. “Two freaking months. Jesus,” she muttered.
Dr. Ross plucked the clipboard out of her hands. “Let’s get your discharge paperwork done, and you’re out of here.”
* * *
When they arrived home and opened the door to the house, the dogs rushed to Chris. She carefully crouched down to hug them close and murmured words of endearment. Neither the Labs nor Sadie would leave her side since, insisting on constant contact.
Frances took Daisy home to do her own chores, and Chris sat with the three dogs crowding the couch with her. Mary Jo had no choice but to sit in the chair opposite.
Chris sat with her head back, her eyes closed, and both hands buried in Cedar’s and Cagney’s coats. Despite Mary Jo’s objections, a smug Sadie lay on Chris’s lap. “I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight,” she said to Mary Jo, opening her eyes. “You’ll stay, right?”
“Of course I’ll stay. If you think Frances or I trust you not to go out and do chores, you’re crazy.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Doctor’s orders.” Mary Jo grew silent, and a frown creased her face.
Chris felt uneasy. “What? Is something wrong?”
“Actually, yes. You haven’t said a word about what happened. It’s like you just want to forget Sky assaulted you, and go on with your life.”
Chris shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. “So? Do you know what happened to her?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. And I’ve been keeping close tabs on her to make sure she doesn’t ever come near you again. After the doctors came to the conclusion that she was going to live, a police officer was assigned to stand guard outside her room. When they think she’s well enough, they’re going to formally arrest and charge her. She’ll be transferred to a holding center to await arraignment and trial.”
Chris moved Sadie off her lap, got up, and walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of water. Before she put the glass to her lips, she said, “I feel sorry for her.”
Over the half-wall, Chris saw Mary Jo’s mouth drop open. “Are you serious?” she asked in obvious shock. “Jesus Christ, Chris, she damn near killed you!”
“I feel responsible for what she did. I feel like maybe I led her on at the bar.” Chris stood at the sink, feeling like the half-wall wasn’t the only barrier between her and Mary Jo.
“Oh, and the fact that she beat you up at the bar is forgivable, too? Chris, be reasonable. Please. I love you, and if anything ever happened to you again, I’m not sure I could take it,” Mary Jo said, joining her at the sink.
Chris stiffened when Mary Jo’s arms came around her waist. “Nothing will happen. I promise.” The warmth of the embrace gradually relaxed her. She drew Mary Jo closer and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry. I have this irritating habit of avoiding conflict. I’d rather ignore what happened and get on with our life together. I do love you. Just tell me what I should do, and I will.”
“There’ll be a trial, and I’m sure you’ll be called as a witness. I’ll call my dad and see if he thinks we need an attorney. I’m sure he’ll say yes, if only to keep tabs on what happens with Sky.” Mary Jo pulled her cell phone from her pocket
“If your dad is anywhere near as protective as you are, I’m sure I’ll like him,” Chris said. She smiled when she was rewarded with a kiss.
* * *
Since she’d been home, Chris insisted on accompanying Mary Jo to the barn despite the fact she wasn’t allowed to do anything. Most of the time, Chris and the dogs headed into the office, made coffee, and worked on the seemingly endless mountain of paperwork that continued piling up on the desk.
A week after Chris’s homecoming, Mary Jo managed to slip from their bed unnoticed. The sound of deep breathing assured her she hadn’t disturbed Chris’s sleep. She picked up a pair of jeans from the floor, slipped into them, and pulled on a long-sleeved shirt. Most of her clothing had somehow migrated over to Chris’s house.
“I’m going to have to do laundry soon, or I’ll run out of clothes,” she said under her breath.
She signaled the dogs to follow and closed the bedroom door.
When the dogs finished their breakfast, Mary Jo headed to the barn, a mug of coffee in her hand. The morning was bright and cool with just the hint of a breeze. Most of the horses had spent the night outside. As they saw her approaching the barn, they calmly headed to their stalls. Since Top Hat was in the foaling stall, Mary Jo was pleased to hear no announcement of her arrival.
She went about the morning chores, having fallen into the routine weeks ago.
Frances arrived every day at eight after completing her own chores. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep Chris from exerting herself. More than once, Mary Jo had caught her casually picking up a manure fork. She knew it was force of habit, but Chris kept her and Frances busy with the need to watch her every move.
When Frances and Daisy arrived later, Mary Jo would have to leave for work. No wonder she was tired all time. The scare of almost losing her lover to a crazy, drugged out lunatic made her want to stay as close to Chris as possible.
After graining all the horses down the main aisle way, she strolled toward the foaling stalls, softly humming a tune. The bucket of feed in her hand bumped against her thigh in time with the melody.
Stunned by surprise, she stopped and fell silent when she looked into the stall. A bay colt was asleep in the straw.
Top Hat stepped up to the grain bin and nickered at her.
“Well, look at you, girl. What a pretty little boy you have there.” Mary Jo lifted the bucket, but just before the grain spilled into the feedbin, she caught sight of the remnants of a bran mash. “Son of a bitch, I’m going to kill her.”
Sighing heavily, she noticed the afterbirth in the bucket beside the stall. “Martel, you are in such big trouble.”
Mary Jo now knew the reason Chris was still sleeping so soundly. She had undoubtedly snuck out in the middle of the night, delivered the foal, and snuck back into bed. Mary Jo shook her head in frustration, gave the mare some hay, and walked into the stall. Top Hat no longer made her nervous. She and the mare had made peace the day Chris was assaulted.
Disinterested, Top Hat munched hay and made no move to intervene as Mary Jo examined the colt.
Satisfied mare and baby were healthy, Mary Jo cleaned the stall and left. There was only a little manure in the othe
r stalls, and she took care of it. She quickly returned to the house and made no attempt to be quiet when she entered. She let the door slam and dropped her boots with two loud thuds. The dogs ran up the stairs to the bedroom. Fuming at Chris for her midnight antics, Mary Jo made no effort to stop them.
She poured herself another cup of coffee, and a second one for Chris, and ascended the stairs. The bedroom door never closed tight, so she had no doubt that the dogs had woken Chris.
“Serves her right,” she mumbled, hearing grumbling. She put the extra mug on the nightstand and leaned against the doorway while she waited for Chris to notice her.
Chris yawned and stretched like a cat. She was naked except for the dressing around her abdomen. Mary Jo’s heart clenched every time she saw the wounds on Chris’s body. She and Chris hadn’t made love since the attack. While she missed the intimacy, she knew her lover had to heal. She made herself be satisfied with curling up in Chris’s arms at night. Chris would let her know when she was ready.
Turning her head towards the steaming coffee, Chris blinked and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Oh, babe, thanks.” She tried and failed to stifle another yawn.
“Out late last night, were we?” Mary Jo kept her voice stone cold.
“Um.”
“Don’t ‘um’ me. You knew Hattie was going to foal last night, didn’t you?” Mary Jo didn’t give Chris time to answer. “Why the hell didn’t you wake me? You think you’re so damned invincible. What if you’d gotten hurt again?” She swiped at the angry tears in her eyes. “Well? Why can’t you let the people who love you, help you? Damn it, Chris, I am so mad at you right now I could just—”
“Move in with me?” Chris interrupted quietly.
Unheeding, Mary Jo paced around the room, throwing misplaced clothing in a pile. “You’ll never, ever learn, will you? We’ve gone round and round, but no, do you listen? No. God forbid you think about how I feel about you doing something as stupid as that little maneuver you pulled last night.”
“Move in with me.”
“What?” Mary Jo stopped her rant, certain she hadn’t heard right either the first or second time Chris had spoken.
“Most of your clothes are here anyway. You’re here in my bed almost every night. Move in with me and make this your home. Our home.”
“Arrgh.” Mary Jo resisted the temptation to thump her head against the door molding. “Why do you make it so difficult to stay mad at you?”
“Well? Will you?” Chris rolled onto her side and leaned up on an elbow.
“Yes, but I’m still mad at you.” Mary Jo sat on the edge of the bed and let Chris yank her down. “Careful, I don’t want to hurt you.” She pulled Chris into an embrace as she swung her feet up and lay next to her. She looked into the eyes that, just a few weeks ago, she’d been so scared of never getting lost in again. “Are you sure?”
Chris kissed her with confidence. “Yes. Absolutely.”
Chapter 27
“Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?” Chris asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.
Mary Jo let out an exaggerated sigh. “I told you, we’re going to visit a good friend of mine. I’ve told her all about you, and she’s anxious to see you.” She glanced over at Chris and noted the slight frown. “Don’t worry, babe, you’ll love her.” Feeling smug, she settled further into the driver’s seat and steered the truck eastbound on the New York State Thruway to Albany.
Three weeks had passed since Chris had come home from the hospital, and Mary Jo deemed her fit enough for a little day trip. When Frances agreed to hold down the fort at home, Mary Jo had persuaded Chris to head out with her after breakfast.
Doc and Donna had been extremely generous in allowing her to take time off whenever she needed until Chris was back on her feet again. To say she would be forever indebted to them was an understatement.
“Have your landlords found a renter for your apartment yet?” Chris asked, absently rubbing the top of Cedar’s head.
Ever since the assault, Mary Jo noticed, the dogs were especially clingy. At times they got frustratingly underfoot, but she and Frances forgave them.
On the other hand, Cedar’s protectiveness was more marked. The Lab seemed obsessed with the need to have some part of her body in contact with Chris. When Mary Jo and Chris got in the truck earlier, Cedar had jumped onto the front seat and refused to move. As soon as Chris got in, she lay down with her head on Chris’s lap.
At the moment, Sadie and Cagney were sleeping contentedly in the back.
“Yup. Their son,” she said, in answer to Chris’s question. “He came home from Iraq and needs a place of his own, so it seemed logical that he live there.” Reaching over Cedar, she rested her hand on Chris’s thigh, next to the dog’s head. Like the dog, she always wanted to touch some part of Chris’s body.
Chris put her hand on top of Mary Jo’s and gave it a squeeze. “I love you, you know? I never in a million years dreamed I could be as happy as I am right at this minute.”
Mary Jo glanced at her lover and grinned. Chris’s face and neck had almost healed. The plastic surgeon had done a fabulous job of repairing the skin. Other than a thin pale line, the scars would be imperceptible over time. However, Chris’s abdomen wasn’t so lucky. Mary Jo’s smile faded. Chris would always sport a wide scar because the wound had been open for several hours.
Mary Jo saw the exit sign coming into view ahead. She’d have to exit the Thruway in about a mile and then hope she could find their destination without getting lost. She’d only traveled in this area a few times.
A moment later, Chris closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Mary Jo stayed calm. Chris still tired from small tasks, but her appetite had returned with a vengeance.
Mary Jo recalled the first time she had seen Chris eat a meal, still amazed she could pack away so much food in so short a time and still have a body like that.
Her mind drifted to how nice Chris’s naked body had felt against hers when she woke up that morning. There had been no space between them as Chris spooned against her, an arm curled around her waist, a hand tucked under her breast. Each of Chris’s gentle breaths had caressed her ear. With their legs entwined, it had been difficult not to be aroused when Chris’s pubic curls brushed against her buttocks. Chris’s lips had rested on the back of her neck as she slept…
Shit, I almost missed the exit. Mary Jo signaled and slowed down to a legal speed as she entered the sharp curve of the exit ramp. A glance at her passenger told her Chris was still asleep. Cagney and Sadie stood up to look around and then disappeared from sight as they lay back down.
Mary Jo drove through nine traffic lights and passed fast food restaurants and businesses on both sides. A sign identified the road she was looking for. She took a right-hand turn into a semi-residential area. A few minutes later, she pulled into the visitor’s parking lot for the Adirondack Village.
Mary Jo gently shook Chris’s shoulder. “Babe, we’re here.”
Chris yawned and stretched her cramped muscles. She kept her movements tentative for fear of pulling a stomach muscle. Despite frequent trips to see her doctors, this was the longest trip she’d taken in the truck for a while.
Cedar sat up and yawned as well. Chris sympathized. She would have much rather stayed in bed instead of getting up at the crack of dawn and taking off on some sort of secret road trip.
Though taking things easy for the past few weeks had been challenging at best, Chris found she enjoyed slowing down a little. Last night, long after Mary Jo had fallen asleep, she lay in bed with her eyes wide open and listened to the familiar sounds around their home: creaks as the wind blew against the south side of the house, snoring dogs, coyotes in the distance, and tree frogs.
“Where are we?” Chris asked through another yawn, her eyes heavy with sleep.
Mary Jo ignored her question, got out of the truck, and walked to the passenger side. She opened the door and gave Chris a hand out. When her feet were on the ground, Mary
Jo threaded her arm through Chris’s and led her to Building 3, Apartment B.
With Mary Jo at her side, Chris walked up three cement steps and stood on a stone pad made from red and white landscape bricks. Feeling uncomfortable, she turned away from the door. Farm visitors usually focused more on the horses, not her. She didn’t mind the interaction when talking business because she was not the center of her guest’s attention, but standing here made her itch to be away.
While Chris fidgeted, Mary Jo rang the doorbell. “Will you stand still?” She playfully punched Chris’s arm.
“I can’t help it,” Chris said. “You know how I am with meeting new people sometimes.”
“Uh-huh, yeah, I know.”
“I’ll go check on the dogs and make sure the windows are down far enough.” She barely got down the first step before Mary Jo grabbed her arm.
“No, you won’t. The dogs are fine. It’s cool out, I parked in the shade, and there’s a nice breeze.”
Shit. There goes that excuse. Chris felt like bolting. She was in an unfamiliar place waiting to meet an unfamiliar person. Gnawing her lower lip, she stuffed her hands into her pockets and felt horribly self-conscious. The cuts on her face, though healed, remained very visible in her mind.
The door behind her opened. Taking a deep breath, Chris turned around to be polite, aware of Mary Jo’s reassuring, loving smile.
“Chris?” a familiar voice asked.
Chris’s gaze shot to the door. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she stared at the old woman standing in the doorway. “Gram? Oh, my God, Gram!” She pulled her grandmother into her arms and held her tight. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mary Jo wipe tears from her cheeks. She mouthed “Thank you,” and “I love you.” Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she’d someday be reunited with the only real family member she’d ever loved, and the only one who’d ever loved her in return.
Laurie Salzer - A Kiss Before Dawn Page 29