The Switch

by Heather Justesen

  After a bit of paperwork, Laura and Danny had their belongings back.

  “The officer who brought me in said my car would be towed. Do you have any idea where it is?” Danny asked. He only had a day before he had to be back to work. He’d arranged to be off so much already, missing another day because his car had been impounded would not be good.

  Then, the door to the sally port opened and the two arresting officers entered the room. They eyed Danny and Laura, but said nothing to them, greeting the booking officer curtly before heading down the hall.

  “Let me find out,” the booking officer said in reference to Danny’s question. She picked up the phone and called someone. A moment later she wrote down contact information and gave it to Danny. One more issue to resolve before he headed back to Kansas City.

  His father looked relieved when they greeted him in the foyer a while later. “Thank goodness you’re all right.” He hugged Laura. “Your parents called out the troops when you didn’t return home. It’s been hours.” He scowled at Danny. “How on earth did you end up here?”

  “It’s a long story.” Danny turned to the booking officer. “Thanks.” He knew she could have been a whole lot nastier about everything.

  The officer nodded, and returned to her post.

  When they dropped Laura at her parents’ front walk, Danny helped her from the back seat. “I’ll be by sometime tomorrow.” He could see the pain etched around her eyes. What had he been thinking taking her out so soon after surgery, anyway?

  “I’m sorry about this mess,” she said. “You were trying to help me out and I caused all kinds of problems.”

  “Think of the stories I’ll have to tell at the fire station.” He pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. They were crinkled at the corners, a sure sign she needed her prescription pain killers.

  She met his gaze. “You’re really not mad at me?”

  Like he had any reason to be. “At you? No. I’m frustrated and irritated about my day being wasted, being forced to eat nasty jail food, and that you’re still hurting because you haven’t had any painkillers in hours—don’t deny it, I see the pain in your eyes. But it wasn’t your fault.” He put up a hand to stop her argument before she could start it. “I’ll take up the towing fee with the police department before I leave town tomorrow. Get some rest.”

  He watched her parents rush down the sidewalk to get her. The poor people had been through too much already. No, it wasn’t his fault, but he’d meant to watch out for her. He hadn’t done such a great job.

  Twenty-one

  Danny pulled into the Dunaway’s drive late the next afternoon. There was a big blue van with the letters KMXO painted on it, and a man with a large video camera standing outside.

  Laura stood at the doorstep with a willowy blonde, but when she saw Danny, she said something and hurried over to him.

  “You’ve got to help me out. This reporter wants to ask me questions about, well, I don’t know exactly what question she wants to ask, but she knows about the mistake,” she hissed at him when he came into range.

  He was actually surprised the news hadn’t broken before now. “Settle down. You knew there’d be interest in the story when it got out that Adrianna was the one who died in that accident. She was a celebrity of sorts. You had to expect this.” Wanting to give her comfort, he slid an arm around her shoulder, turned, and guided her toward the house again.

  “I expected something—I don’t know what—but not this. I don’t know if I want to do an interview.” She bit her bottom lip, an old habit of hers that only showed up when she was really nervous.

  He knew she’d never sought the limelight. “It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “You know how many people would give their eyeteeth to be in your shoes? Stay cool, answer the nice lady’s questions, and it’ll all work out.” Seeing the distress on her face, he touched her chin. “I’ll be here with you the whole time.”

  “I don’t want to be on television.”

  “Do you want to give people heart attacks when you finally go out in public? Care to be arrested for impersonating yourself—again?” Danny lifted his eyebrows and held her gaze.

  “And who’s this serious hunk?” the reporter asked when they drew near. “My name is Natalie Swamp with KMXO News.” She extended her hand to him.

  “This is my friend, Danny,” Laura introduced. “I guess I can answer a few questions for you, if you’ll answer a few for me.”

  “I might be able to do it.” The blonde smiled brightly. “Do you mind if we go inside? It’s awfully cold out here.”

  Laura forced a smile and nodded, though she muttered under her breath low so only Danny could hear, “I thought reporters would do anything for the story, even stand in subzero temperatures.”

  He snorted in response. This could be interesting.

  Twenty-two

  Tia picked over the apples for the next day’s show. Samantha stood holding onto the grocery cart as instructed, gabbling on at a thousand words a minute. Tristi pounded her plastic toy against the shopping cart handle, demanding candy.

  Shopping with the girls was one of the things Tia hated most. She missed the nights when she left Samantha with Lee and wandered the aisle for as long as she could, enjoying the peace and quiet. She could squeeze the bread and smell the pineapples at her leisure.

  Reality now was much different. Samantha called to her from where she stood, holding tight to the shopping cart, as directed. “Mom, you said Danny’s supposed to come back tomorrow. Can we go see him? I want to ask him about the shocking machine.”

  Danny. Tia had been trying not to think of the video feed from the news of him walking with his arm slung around Laura’s shoulders. An hour after the segment, she still felt her gut clench. He’d blown her and her family off to be with Laura—like Carrie had said he would. She told herself she was being stupid, but jealousy and insecurity were definitely rearing their ugly heads. She hated when she did that, but couldn’t help it.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t the castoff.”

  Tia turned to find Carrie standing there. The woman really did have a thing for making an entrance. “Hello. Carrie, isn’t it?”

  The beautiful brunette with the soulful eyes of an actress only smiled. “I suppose you learned where you fit in Danny’s life quicker than most of us do. What was it, a day, two, after I saw you together before he ditched you to be with her?”

  Samantha brightened at the topic. “You know Danny? He’s my friend. He’s going to take me out on the fire truck again.” She had released the shopping cart and skipped her way to them when she heard Danny’s name come up.

  “We’re not serious, and I can accept that he has a life beyond me. I’m quite pleased Laura’s back. I know he missed her a great deal.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. She was glad Laura wasn’t dead. The other woman had been nice when they ran into each other at the school when Tia had presented to a home ec class. But the way Danny talked about her, the way he ran off at the first moment to be with Laura, left Tia wondering if Carrie was more right than even Danny had realized. What if he was, even now, coming to understand that his feelings for his old buddy were much, much stronger than he’d thought?

  “Very level-headed and mature of you,” Carrie said. “Just wait until she starts showing up on your dates and butting into your relationship. He mooned around after her death like she was the love of his life, and he was continually choosing her over me when we dated. He has no sense of priorities when it comes to her. Your days are numbered.” Carrie grabbed a bunch of bananas and turned away.

  Tia tried to act unconcerned, but Carrie’s venom only complemented the thoughts already running through her mind. What would happen when Danny came home? Was it even worth pursuing a relationship with him? Was the tenuous but interesting relationship they had started to share over?

  Tia ordered Samantha back to the cart and finished picking out apples. She could sense which way the wind blew, and she refused to be second string to ano
ther woman.

  * * *

  Tia put Tristi to bed, then sat at the computer while Samantha went through the usual evening routine. Mona had left a frantic message on her phone asking for a call back. Tia couldn’t deal with her mother, and she couldn’t help herself. She pulled up the television station’s website and clicked through to the story about Laura again, watching the section where she and Danny had walked down the drive, his arm across her shoulder. The story indirectly accused Laura of lying about the amnesia and derided her for thinking she could get away with such a fabrication. It also brought up the fact that the two of them had been arrested for fraud the previous day.

  Tia had picked up a brief voice message from Danny saying the arrest was a mistake, that it was because they thought Laura was someone else pretending to be her, and that it was all straightened out. She was glad to hear that, but it still didn’t explain how it happened. Maybe she should have returned his call, but she hadn’t.

  Tia noticed some of the comments below the video. In addition to the usual crazies who believed every word of the story, there were supporters.

  “I don’t believe a word of this story. Laura’s a sweetheart. She and Danny were always such a sweet couple.”

  “I knew them in college, two peas in a pod all the way. About time they got together. I’m shocked about the fraud allegations, though. They much have changed a lot since then.”

  And Carrie’s post: “Danny would do anything for Laura—always has and always will. They could be a regular Bonnie and Clyde.”

  Tia snorted at the comment. Bonnie and Clyde? Seriously, the woman needed to get a life. She did make some sense, though. Tia replayed the segment and watched the way Danny leaned over and said something to Laura as they walked. Then there was his arm around her shoulders, so tight and familiar. It was a very intimate scene.

  Again she wondered how close they had really been.

  “Mom, that’s Danny!” Samantha said from Tia’s elbow. “Who’s he with?”

  Tia jumped slightly in surprise. She hadn’t realized Samantha was in the room. She clicked the video to pause it. How much should she say? “It’s his friend Laura. The one he told you about, remember? They thought she was dead, and he found out she wasn’t. That’s why we didn’t go to the movie last weekend. He was with her.” She felt an ache growing in her chest, keeping up with her burgeoning confusion.

  Samantha turned her earnest gaze to her mom. “But we’re going next Saturday, right? He promised!”

  Tia looked at the frozen shot of Danny and Laura together. Pain clogged her throat and she had to swallow it away. “I don’t know, honey. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.” She stood and began ushering Samantha to bed. “He’s pretty busy right now, though, so he probably won’t have time to spend with us next Saturday.”

  “But he promised!” The complaint was a wail now.

  “I know.” And these small broken promises were already more than Tia could handle. What had she been thinking, letting herself get involved with him?

  Her cell phone rang and without thinking, she answered it.

  “Tia, it’s about time you answered your phone,” Mona said, sounding frantic. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. I can’t believe that Danny has been seeing someone else and he was arrested!”

  “It’s not like you think, Mom. Calm down.” So maybe it wasn’t fraud, but Tia didn’t know what to think about it.

  “But he’s a felon now. You can’t let him anywhere near the girls, do you understand? You have to protect them! I knew there was something off about him.”

  “Mom, you totally misunderstand. The news blew it all out of proportion.” Tia was too tired and emotional to deal with her mother’s hysterics.

  “You don’t have a date with him this week, do you?”

  “No, Mom. We don’t have anything. I really ought to go now. I need to get Samantha in bed. I love you.” Even when I wish you would just go away. The last thing she’d needed was another person making more of this than it was—Tia was doing a fine job of that all by herself, thank you very much.

  “Love you, too.”

  Tia hung up and stood to check on Samantha. Maybe the whole situation would look better after a good night’s sleep.

  * * *

  After driving half the night to return to his apartment, morning came way too early for Danny. As soon as he finished checking his rig at work, he went to the back room to try to sleep for a while. The pagers were busy, however, so by evening, he was beyond exhausted.

  Though he was ready to drop, he wanted to talk to Tia, and hoped the vibes he’d been getting from her over the past few days were due to distraction. He dialed her number and smiled when Samantha answered the phone. “Hey, sweet pea, it’s Danny. How’re you doing?”

  “Good.” Her usual verve was noticeably absent.

  “You don’t sound like you’re very good. What’s wrong?”

  She gave a loud and dramatic sigh. “Mom says you’re not taking us to the movies on Saturday. She said you’ll be too busy.”

  That made no sense—unless that was the excuse she was using with her daughter to explain why she was blowing him off. “When did she say that?”

  “Last night. Don’t you like us anymore?”

  “Of course I do, Samantha. And I’ll have to talk to your mom and find out what’s going on with Saturday.” He wished he could go over there, but her place was too far from the station and he was afraid he couldn’t get to the scene in time if there was a call. “Can I talk to her?”

  “Yeah. I’ll get her. Mom!” In true six-year-old style, she’d screamed into the receiver.

  Danny winced as he pulled his phone away from his ear. Then he wondered how many times he’d done the same to his parents’ friends when he was a kid.

  A moment passed, then finally Tia answered, “Hello, Danny.”

  “Hey, Tia. How are you doing?” Nerves assaulted him as he wondered what was going through her mind.

  “Fine. Just fine.” Her voice was flat and the kind meant to discourage conversation.

  What was wrong with her? “I’ve missed you.”

  “Really? It sounds like you were kind of busy.”

  He paused for a moment. She was really mad. Was this over one broken date? “What’s going on?” He’d left her the message explaining the news report. Did she think he’d lied about it?

  “I’m trying to get dinner ready. Sorry, you called at a bad time.”

  His bad feeling got worse. When a woman was that polite it meant no good. “Are you sure? Because if there’s something we need to discuss, I’d rather not put it off.”

  “Nope. Everything’s fine.”

  It didn’t feel fine to him, but there would be time to discuss it on their date to his Christmas party. “Okay. I’ll be by to pick you up tomorrow night around six-thirty, if that works for you.”

  “What? You’re not taking Laura?” Tia’s voice was downright icy.

  “Laura?” Suddenly it dawned on him. “Tia, Laura and I are nothing but friends. I know the news report came out sounding otherwise, but it’s not true.” He thought of the shot of him with his arm around Laura, but surely Tia knew how he felt about her. Hadn’t he told her?

  “You dropped everything, rescheduled your life, so you could be with her last weekend,” Tia said.

  It sounded a lot worse when she put it like that, but he expected she’d know him better by now. “She’s my friend, Tia, and I thought she was dead for the past few months.” He threw out his free hand in frustration. “Sue me if I wanted to make sure she was okay. She has nothing to do with my relationship with you.”

  “Of course not.” She didn’t sound the least convinced.

  “Tia, it’s not like that. Come on.” How could he make her understand?

  “I’ve got to go; Tristi dumped a bag of chips on the floor. And tomorrow night—something came up. Sorry.” She ended the call.

  Danny wanted to hit something
. Their relationship had just started to get interesting. Why was she doing this? She wasn’t Carrie—hadn’t shown any indication she’d be as jealous and possessive. Had he totally misjudged her? Thoroughly irritated, he dialed Jason.

  “Hey, Jase, it looks like I don’t need you to cover for me tomorrow night after all. Thanks, though.”

  “What happened?”

  “My date can’t make it.” Or just plain won’t. He sure wasn’t going alone, and since he wouldn’t have a chance to track Tia down to talk to her until just before the date started, he might as well write it off. She may think their Saturday outing was off, but he had no intention of welshing on it. He’d take the time that day to straighten things out.

  Danny held back a curse as he slid his phone into his pocket a moment later. She’d actually told Samantha he wasn’t going to take them to the show. What was up with that? And how could he fix whatever was wrong?

  He would never understand women.

  Twenty-three

  Tia hadn’t heard from Danny since she’d broken off the date with him on Wednesday. She was disappointed—and realized part of her had hoped he would care enough about her to fight for their relationship. She knew that was completely messed up thinking, but couldn’t help herself. Carrie must have been right; his tie to Laura was stronger than he’d ever acknowledged. She wanted to wish him luck, but she was hard pressed not to wish him to the devil instead.

  She finished putting away the lunch dishes—hours after they’d finished eating—and tried not to regret blowing him off. Could their relationship have been salvaged? Was it worth the effort? It hurt that he’d let her go so easily.

  “Mom, Danny’s here.” Samantha came streaking into the room and tugged on her shirt. “He said he’d be here to take us to the movie. He’s here, like he said.” She grinned and all but danced in excitement.

  Tia felt her heart leap. Maybe he hadn’t given up after all. And maybe, she reminded herself, he was just being nice to a little girl, and refused to let her down again. That thought was somewhat disheartening, but Tia decided not to hope for more until she had a chance to gauge his actions. She could deal with disappointment, after all. Samantha, on the other hand, wouldn’t understand a sudden defection.