Smart Girls Think Twice

by Cathie Linz

  “Ignore all her questions,” Emma told Jake.

  “She never used to be this bossy.” Maxie shook her head and rolled her eyes almost clear up to her penciled eyebrows.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Emma demanded the moment they were outside the restaurant. “What? I’m just looking out for you.”

  “Well don’t!”

  Her anger turned to panic as Emma saw Roy’s rusty blue pickup jump the curb and head straight for them. An instant later her dad shoved her out of the way. Emma screamed as she heard the sickening thud of her dad bouncing off the truck’s right front fender before he was thrown to the cement sidewalk.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Emma vaguely heard shouts and screams from onlookers as Roy’s truck plowed into a lamppost and finally came to a stop. But her concentration was on her dad. He was on his back and he was bleeding heavily from a jagged cut to his leg. His eyes were open, but his face was deathly pale and he wasn’t moving.

  “Call 911!” Emma cried, hurrying to her dad’s side.

  “Already done,” Jake said The next thing she knew, Jake had yanked the leather belt from his jeans and was applying a tourniquet to her dad’s leg. He did so with a calm confidence and speed that told her he knew what he was doing.

  Their server from the Thai Place had come out to try to calm an hysterical Maxie. The ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, as did Nathan.

  Roy was getting out of his smashed truck and weaving drunkenly. “My sister,” he shouted.

  “My sister is hurt!”

  “It’s nothing. I hurt my arm, that’s all,” Rhonda called out.

  The fire department was now also on the scene, focusing on getting her out of the damaged vehicle. One of the paramedics checked her status while the other two focused on Emma’s dad.

  Jake moved aside to let them work on him. “Are you okay?” he asked Emma, putting a protective arm around her as she stood. “Did your head hit the pavement? Did you black out?”

  “No.”

  “Your knees are scraped and bleeding.”

  “I’m fine.” Her voice was shaking. “Is my dad going to be okay?” she asked one of the paramedics.

  When he didn’t answer she panicked. “Is he going to be okay?”

  Again the paramedic ignored her as he and his partner worked quickly to put Emma’s dad on a backboard and then a gurney, and finally into the ambulance. Maxie climbed in and they were off, sirens blaring.

  Emma grabbed hold of Jake. “I have to go to the hospital.”

  “I’ll take you. My Jeep isn’t far away.”

  Jake tenderly helped her into his vehicle. The trip to the county hospital seemed to take forever.

  When they arrived at the ER Emma hurried to the information desk. “My dad was hurt in an accident. The ambulance from Rock Creek brought him in.”

  “His name?”

  “Bob Riley. Robert Riley.”

  The assistant checked her computer. “He’s with the medical staff now.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “As soon as they have any information they’ll let you know. Your mom is back there with him so you’ll have to wait here in the waiting area.”

  “Emma was injured in the accident too.” Jake pointed to her bleeding knees.

  “It’s nothing,” Emma said.

  “Let’s let the medical staff determine that,” the assistant said. Ten minutes later Emma was being examined. Her injuries were cleaned up and bandaged. “What about my dad?” she kept asking.

  “He’s being taken care of.”

  “Yes, but is he going to be okay?”

  The last nurse she’d asked had squeezed her hand reassuringly and said, “I’ll see what I can find out for you.”

  “Thank you.” Emma felt tears threatening.

  Jake, who’d remained at her side throughout, took her hand in his. “It’ll be okay,” he said gruffly.

  “Your dad is a tough dude. Former Marines aren’t wimps.”

  “He was bleeding so badly.”

  “Yeah, but we put a tourniquet on his leg.”

  “Not we, you. How did you know what to do?”

  Jake shrugged. “What can I say? Extreme sports can get messy sometimes and it pays to know basic first aid.”

  “That was more than basic first aid.”

  “I’m no doctor, although I’d be more than happy to play doctor with you anytime.” He lifted their clasped hands to nibble on her fingers.

  Yes, Jake distracted her but not enough to stop her from worrying about her dad.

  The nurse finally returned. “Your father is upstairs getting prepped for orthopedic surgery for his broken leg. There don’t appear to be any internal injuries. If you’d like, you can wait with your mom in the surgical waiting room on the second floor. I’ll have an orderly show you the way after you sign your paperwork.”

  Emma didn’t think they’d need assistance finding the surgical waiting room, but the hospital was a maze of dissecting corridors and conflicting elevators. She heard Maxie’s voice down the hallway and followed it.

  “Where have you been?” Maxie demanded.

  The accusatory tone of her mother’s voice hit Emma hard and had her taking a step back.

  Then Maxie’s tone changed to one of maternal concern. “What happened to your knee?

  Why are you all bandaged up like that? Baby, are you okay?” Maxie engulfed her in a hug.

  “Speak to me.

  Did you hit your head? Is that why you can’t talk? Do you know who I am?” Maxie leaned back to look at Emma. “I’m . . . your . . . mother.” She turned to Jake. “Does she have amnesia?”

  “No, I don’t have amnesia,” Emma said.

  “Thank heavens.” Maxie released her. “Sue Ellen wanted to come, but I told her to wait at home and that I’d call as soon as we had more news. Too much stress wouldn’t be good for her baby.”

  “Right.” Emma nodded. “That was smart.”

  “Come sit down,” Maxie said.

  “Do you want me to find some Dr Pepper and Cheetos?” Jake asked Emma.

  “No thanks.” She sat in a surprisingly comfortable chair. Every bone in her body was starting to hurt from the fall she’d taken when her dad had pushed her to safety.

  “How about some tea?” He pointed to a machine on a table in the corner that offered a variety of hot beverages.

  “That would be lovely,” Maxie said. “I’ll have some Earl Grey. How about you, Emma?”

  “How about me what?” Emma felt as though she were having an out-of-body experience.

  All of a sudden she couldn’t seem to fully comprehend everything going on around her. She knew she was at the hospital, but it didn’t seem real. Except for the smell of disinfectant.

  That seemed real and it was making her queasy.

  “Here.” Jake held a paper cup of warm tea up to her lips. “Take a sip.”

  She did. The tea was very sweet, as if he’d dumped an entire bowl of sugar into it. A second later she took the cup from him. “Thanks. I can do it myself.”

  Two hours later, Emma tried not to obsess over the clock on the wall. Operations took time.

  That didn’t mean anything was wrong.

  “They need a better variety of reading material here.” Maxie tossed an out-of-date copy of Parenting magazine onto an end table.

  “The Library of Congress has over five hundred miles of shelves.” Emma bit her lip at her mom’s blank look. “What? You know I list trivia when I’m under stress.”

  “I always thought you just made that stuff up,” Maxie confessed. “You mean there really are that many miles of shelves at the Library of Congress? I wonder who’s job it is to measure all that and how much they get paid?”

  Emma didn’t have to answer because a doctor walked into the waiting room. “Are you Bob Riley’s family?”

  Emma nodded. So did her mom. Jake grimaced as Emma clutched his hand and squeezed hard while she waited for the doctor to c
ontinue.

  “He came through the surgery just fine.”

  “Thank heavens.” Maxie practically sagged with relief. “Can I see him?”

  “He’s still groggy, but yes, you can see him. It’s best if we wait until tomorrow for anyone else to visit.”

  Emma nodded.

  “You look like you could use some rest,” the doctor said with a kind look at her and her bandaged knees. “Go on home. The worst is over.”

  Emma sure hoped so, but the guilt was starting to set in.

  By the time Jake let her into her apartment, she couldn’t keep silent any longer. “It’s my fault. My dad being in the hospital is all my fault.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “If I hadn’t had that fight with Roy in the bar that day, then he wouldn’t have come after me and run over my dad.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he said bluntly.

  “Roy aimed his truck at me. My dad pushed me out of the way and was hit instead.” She scrubbed at the tears racing down her face. “You don’t know how it feels—”

  “Yes, I do,” he interrupted her. “I know exactly how it feels. Not only to feel guilty about being responsible for someone else’s injuries but for their death. To wonder why you’re left standing when someone you care about dies.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wasn’t thinking. Your climbing accident . . .”

  “You read the reports on the Internet. Not everyone believes it was an accident.”

  “That’s why you were so angry when you thought I was a reporter that first day I walked into the bar, right? Because of what the media wrote about you.”

  “They were all looking for a story. ‘How did it feel leaving your best friend under tons of ice, rock, and snow?’ he mimicked a reporter’s voice. “Hell, I’ll tell you how it feels. It feels like shit. There aren’t even words to say how bad it feels. So you don’t say anything and the guilt just keeps building up inside you.”

  “Survivor’s guilt.”

  “Yeah, you probably know all about it, studied it, but you never experienced it until now, have you?”

  She shook her head. “It sucks.”

  “Yeah, big time,” Jake said. “I keep thinking that if I’d only done something different, if we’d moved our descent earlier, or later, then we wouldn’t have been in the avalanche’s path.” He clenched his hand into a fist as the memories washed over him like a tsunami.

  The huge wall of ice, rock, and snow roaring down the mountain without warning.

  Boulders, some the size of cars, shooting past him like toys. One second Andy was above him, and then he was gone.

  “Andy and me . . . we made up our own rules, always pushing the envelope,” Jake said.

  “What’s life worth without the edge of danger?”

  “It’s worth a lot,” Emma said.

  “Yeah, it is. That’s why I fought to stay alive. The avalanche separated us all. We were roped together. Something severed the climbing rope connecting me to Andy, but not until I’d been dragged several hundred feet.” Jake paused. The memory of that excruciating pain ripping through him remained to this day.

  “I didn’t cut that rope.” Jake’s voice was hoarse with emotion.

  “I know.”

  There was more to the story. Andy’s British friend, Piers Russell, wasn’t as experienced a climber.

  He’d panicked. Piers was the one who’d cut the rope tying him to Jake. Jake had been teetering on the jagged edge of unconscious at the time, but he remembered that.

  He couldn’t blame the guy. He hadn’t thought Jake would live long enough with his injuries to make it down the rest of the mountain alive. But Jake had. And when Piers realized that, he’d helped get Jake back to so-called civilization—the nearest village. That belated assistance was the reason Jake hadn’t said anything when Piers hid his own guilt by dropping subtle innuendoes about Andy’s rope.

  Jake had never talked about that part of the story and he never would. He’d already told Emma more than he had anyone else.

  She didn’t ask him questions, didn’t press him for more details. Instead she held him in her arms.

  They held each other, lending each other silent support. They didn’t have sex . . . yet it felt like the most intimate night of his life as they slept together, his arm around her to keep her close and safe.

  Jake’s nightmare returned at dawn. The mountain peaks, the awesome view from the summit in the Andes, then the horror as everything went so horribly wrong. He stood by helplessly as Andy disappeared. He felt the violent pull as the rope yanked him off his feet.

  But before he went down he saw Emma there. o! ot her! Don’t take her too!

  He woke in a cold sweat, still forming the silent but vehement no on his lips. He sat straight up as if to escape his demons.

  “What’s wrong?” Emma asked sleepily.

  “Nothing.” His voice was unsteady. “Go back to sleep. Everything’s fine.” Jake had told more than his fair share of lies in his life, but that might have been the biggest one of all.

  His silent anguish was a warning that he was in over his head with Emma and he was heading for disaster.

  Which could only mean one thing. It was definitely time to think about getting the hell out of Dodge. Time to walk away while he still could.

  Jake stared down at Emma, the curve of her cheek, the silkiness of her hair. Hell, maybe it was already too late.

  That afternoon, Emma stood with the rest of her family in her dad’s hospital room.

  “If you didn’t want to be a grandfather, you could’ve just said so instead of stepping in front of a speeding car,” Sue Ellen said.

  Their dad grinned at Sue Ellen. “It was a truck, not a car.” He squeezed her hand. “You got your sense of humor from me.”

  Maxie wasn’t similarly amused. “That truck hit your father. He didn’t step in front of it.

  Which reminds me, the sheriff stopped by first thing this morning and said Roy has been arrested. Roy’s sister Rhonda also stopped by and apologized for her brother’s actions. She had her arm in a sling but said she was okay otherwise. She said Roy didn’t want to kill anyone. He just wanted to scare Emma, but he lost control of his truck. It’s not Rhonda’s fault that Roy is the way he is so I don’t blame her. But her brother is a different matter.”

  She grabbed her husband’s hand. “He could have killed you!”

  “It takes more than a rusty pickup truck to do in this former Marine,” he said with a stoic bark of laughter. “Semper fi!”

  “It’s not funny.” Maxie shook her head so hard that one of the plastic cherries on her hairclips went flying and nearly hit Donny in the face. He ducked just in the nick of time.

  They were all silent for a moment. Then Emma, Sue Ellen, and Maxie cracked up while Donny looked on in confusion.

  “You’ll get used to them in time,” Emma’s dad told Donny.

  Ten minutes later, Emma was alone with her dad as the rest of her family went in search of a late lunch at the hospital cafeteria.

  “You really scared us,” Emma said.

  “I didn’t raise you to be afraid.”

  “How could I not be afraid with all the yelling and screaming?” The words were out before she could stop them, and they surprised her as much as him.

  “What yelling and screaming?”

  “When you had too much to drink,” she said quietly.

  Her dad looked stunned. “That was a long, long time ago. You were too young to remember those times.”

  “I do remember them.”

  “I’ve been sober for over twenty years now.”

  “I know you have and I’m proud of you.”

  “You never said that before,” her dad said.

  “Well, I am.”

  “And I’m proud of you too, Sweet Pea.” His voice was gruff as he took hold of her hand. “I know you, Sue Ellen, and Leena are all grown up and don’t need your old dad anymore.”

&nb
sp; “That’s not true. We’ll always need you. I’ll always need you.”

  She saw the sheen of unshed tears in her father’s eyes before he pulled her to him for a fierce bear hug. “Holy crap!” He sniffed. “You nearly made your old man cry.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t tell your mother.”

  “Tell me again why I have to be here for this?” Jake asked Lulu as they stood in front of the trailer where she’d grown up.

  She grabbed hold of his arm as if afraid he’d take off, which he was damn tempted to do.

  Emma was visiting her dad at the hospital. He hoped she was doing okay because he sure as hell wasn’t.

  He was still rattled from his nightmare about her early this morning.

  “You’re here as moral support,” Lulu told him.

  “Yeah, well, the thing is I’m not real good at that. Oliver would be a much better guy for that job.”

  “Yes, Oliver is very supportive,” Lulu agreed. “But this is a family matter. And like it or not, you’re family.”

  “Not really—”

  “Shut up and get used to it. You’re family now.”

  Jerry opened the door. “What are you two shouting about out here? Well, don’t just stand there.

  Get your butts in here before you let all the air-conditioning out.”

  Jake entered the trailer to find Zoe busily wiping the kitchen counter and sink. She dried her hands on a kitchen towel imprinted with the state map of South Dakota. “It’s good to see you both.”

  “See, here’s the thing,” Lulu said, still hanging onto Jake’s arm as if they were fellow prisoners chained together. “Things have changed.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Zoe said. “I’ve changed.”

  “You were almost killed. Yesterday. When Roy aimed his truck at Emma and her dad. I saw it all out the store window. That truck was going to hit you next. You were on the sidewalk. Then he veered and hit the lamppost. Anyway that got me to thinking.”

  “Yeah, near-death experiences tend to do that,” Jake said.

  Lulu shot him an aggravated look.

  “What? I was just agreeing with you.”

  “I’m trying to be all emo and stuff here,” Lulu said.

  “Hey, go for it,” Jake encouraged her.