Far from Perfect (Perfect, Indiana: Book One)

by Longley, Barbara

  The drive home went by like her car had autopilot, while her mind struggled to process everything. Pulling up in front of the house, she noticed Noah’s truck was gone, and her heart sank. Missing him only added to the weight she carried around inside her. The past five days had been so hectic they’d hardly crossed paths, and besides, Jenny’s cancer had reduced everything to who’d take care of what when.

  Weary to the marrow in her bones, she dragged herself up the stairs and through the front door. She headed to the kitchen, dropped her things on the table, and went to the fridge for the pitcher of sweet tea they always kept full. Her hand on the pitcher, she froze. Footsteps? There weren’t any extra vehicles in the driveway. “Ted?” she called. “Noah?” The sound stopped midway down the front stairs. Ceejay’s heart raced, and her mouth went dry. She closed the refrigerator door and moved toward the foyer.

  Moving to the end of the stairs, she frowned up into Allison Langford’s startled face. “What are you doing here?”

  “Noah called. He told me about Jenny, and...we came to help.” She gripped a pile of linens in her hands.

  “I didn’t see your car.”

  “We flew. Noah picked us up from the airport earlier this morning.”

  “You shouldn’t have come. I don’t need your help. I’m a nurse.” Didn’t anyone think she’d step up for the woman who’d raised her? Jenny’s words came back to sting her. Her aunt had already arranged to have her siblings take care of her. That’s what she’d said. She’d been a mother to Ceejay her entire life, and now she wasn’t going to let her to reciprocate? She’d even encouraged her to move to Indianapolis. That hurt the worst. What kind of person did Jenny think she was? “Do you think you can take better care of my aunt than I can?”

  “No, of course not.” Allison took another step down the stairs. “But we can help with Lucinda and the house. You’re going to have your hands full.”

  Made perfect sense, but it didn’t stop the ringing in her ears, or the throbbing pain at the base of her skull. Seeing Allison triggered memories of all the shame and rejection she’d suffered when Matt walked away, and that triggered a deeper, unhealed pain.

  Something inside of her imploded, and she fell back into a frightened little girl standing on an unfamiliar veranda. Her mother held her hand, and a shabby, pink suitcase with cartoon characters on the front sat beside her. She remembered the front door opening to reveal a stranger. Her mother didn’t even bother to go into the house before pushing her into the other woman and her eyes grew brightbes . His ’s arms. Didn’t even kiss and hug her good-bye before she was gone from her life forever.

  “I can’t...” She’d gone numb, emotionally paralyzed, and it had nothing to do with the woman standing on the stairs. Her ability to form coherent sentences, to explain, abandoned her. All she could do was stare and shake her head.

  The front door opened and closed behind her. Noah? Man, when she had it back, she was going to give him a piece of her mind, but right now she couldn’t even muster the energy to turn around. She continued to stare at Allison, watched the tears pool in her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand. Nothing she could do about it. The best she could manage was to shake her head again and hope Allison understood her own reaction had nothing to do with her.

  Allison turned around and fled back upstairs. Ceejay remained frozen to the spot.

  “You made my wife cry again. I’m disappointed. I had hoped for a change in attitude by now.”

  She sucked in a breath and turned. She knew that voice. Noah had his eyes, his chin. They were the same height and had similar builds. His tyrant, tough, son-of-a-bitch father. Great.

  Anger flared, rousing her from her stupor. What right did this man have to walk into her home and talk to her in that condescending tone? “Why? Because you offered to buy your way into our lives a few weeks ago?”

  “No, because Noah is my son. He tells me you two are seeing each other.”

  “I didn’t invite you here, and I sure don’t need your help.” Ceejay clenched her hands into fists. A flicker of doubt cast a shadow over her heart. Was Noah seeing her just to ensure a place for the Langfords in Lucinda’s life?

  ̶d.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  NOAH PARKED HIS TRUCK, CLIMBED out, and hurried toward the hospital entrance. He had to get to Ceejay before she left. He could only imagine what would go down if she arrived home to find his parents there before he’d had a chance to talk to her. She’d be pissed as hell, but dammit, they were a couple now. His parents would be a permanent fixture in their lives. She had to get used to that fact.

  The automatic doors slid open, and a blast of air-conditioned cold hit him as he followed a crowd of people to the elevators. Knowing his stepmom as he did, he should’ve figured once she heard about Jenny she’d hop on the first plane down. It wasn’t like he hadn’t told her not to come. He had. His father’s presence had been the real shocker, though.

  He exited the elevator and headed for Jenny’s room. The door was slightly ajar, and he glanced in to make sure she wasn’t in the middle of some procedure involving her doctor or a nurse. The second bed was still empty, a good thing. Her curtain had been pulled, and he heard voices, but not Ceejay’s. Sheriff Maurer?

  “But...but I’ll lose my hair, and—”

  “Hell, Jennifer, I lost most of mine ten years ago. Are you telling me you think less of me because I’m bald on top?”

  Jenny giggled like a schoolgirl. “You don’t have much left, do you?”

  Noah smiled. It did his heart good to hear her laugh. He stood still for a moment, unsure what to do.

  “I don’t care about your lack of hair, Harlen, but I...I only have one—”

  “It’s not your breasts I’m in love with, sweetheart.” The sheriff’s voice came out a husky rasp. “It’s you I need, and I’m not leaving your side until you promise me you’ll fight this thing.”

  Well, shit. Noah swiped his hand over the lower half of his face. He didn’t want to interrupt, but this could go on all day. He didn’t have all day. Hell, the sheriff could go all gooey after he left. Noah knocked. “Hello, can I come in?” The curtain slid back, and Sheriff Maurer glared at him. He ignored it. “Where’s Ceejay? I was hoping I’d catch her before she left.”

  Jenny’s color had improved, and her smile was genuine. “You missed her. She left about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Crap.” Noah, blew out an exasperated breath. “My folks are at your house.”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t invite them, Jenny. I told my stepmother about your surgery. She and my dad hopped on a plane, and now they’re here. Allison wants to help.”

  Jenny’s brow furrowed. “Oh dear.”

  “Yeah, oh dear.” Noah’s hand automatically went to the back of his skull.

  “Ceejay was upset when she left. I...I told her about how her mother died, and I told her I wasn’t going through chemotherapy or any other treatment.” A blush filled her cheeks, and she glanced at the sheriff, who had her hand gripped firmly in both of his. “I’ve changed my mind about that.”

  “I’m glad, Jenny.” Noah smiled. “You can beat this.”

  “You’d better head back.” Sheriff Maurer raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Right.” There was no way he’d get there before she did. The damage was already done. “How did she take the news about her mom?”

  “Not well.”

  “I’d better get going, then.” Noah headed for the door. “We’ll see you tomorrow when you come home.” He didn’t wait for a reply and hurried back to his truck. Maybe he worried for nothing. Ceejay might have put her animosity toward Allison behind her, especially since he’d confronted her about taking her anger at Matt out on all of them. Maybe she’d even appreciate his family’s willingness to help out. Sure, and the pigs in Indiana are going to start smelling like roses.

  The countryside flew by as he formulated a plan for disarming Ceejay’s temper. A sound argument an
d logic should work.

  They wouldn’t. Not with her. He’d have to get past her defenses. He sighed and turned into the driveway. A rush of adrenaline hit his bloodstream, turning his mouth into a desert and his insides into a jumbled mess.

  The house still stood. That’s a good sign, but where’s her car? Maybe he’d gotten lucky and she’d stopped in town to run some errands before coming home. He climbed out of his truck and made for the door in double time. “Mom, Dad, you here?”

  “Oh, Noah.” Allison rushed at him from the living room. “I did it again. We shouldn’t have come. I...I thought Ceejay would be OK with seeing me here...and...”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Great. Crisis not averted. “Things have been hectic around here, and she’s gotten one piece of bad news after another.” He looked past her. “Where’s Dad?”

  “He’s out walking off the ear-beating I gave him.” She shook her head. “He...he threatened Ceejay. We—”

  “Wait. Back up. He threatened her?” Noah went into battle-ready mode. “You’d better tell me what happened.”

  “Come sit down. Do you want coffee? I just made some.”

  “Sure.” Noah jammed his hands into his pockets and followed her into the kitchen.

  “Where’s Ceejay now?”

  “I don’t know. She took off shortly after she found us here.” Allison placed a mug of coffee on the table. “Sit.”

  He complied and wrapped his hands around the mug while she caught him up on everything that had gone down. Dammit.

  “Ceejay was in bad shape, Noah. She seemed...bewildered, lost. I don’t know.” Allison’s brow creased. “Maybe even a little hurt, like she thought nobody saw her as capable of taking care of things on her own.”

  “Christ.” Noah leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Where had she gone? “How long ago did she leave?”

  “About forty minutes ago. Maybe she went to get Lucinda.”

  He shook his head. “The Offermeyers only live a couple of miles from here. She would’ve been back by now.”

  “Wouldn’t she have stayed to visit?”

  “It’s possible.” Sirens broke the normal country quiet, two, maybe three. They drew closer. The sound crescendoed and passed. Another siren from the opposite direction converged. An icy finger of dread traced from the base of his skull down his spine. The area wasn’t what you’d call densely populated, and the two-lane county road didn’t get much traffic. “I have a bad feeling.” Noah shot out of his chair and headed for the front door.

  Allison ran after him. “Where are you going?”

  “Those sirens...I gotta see...I have to find Ceejay.” Sweat and the shakes. He had to fight the trigger, fight sinking into a flashback. His lungs labored to catch up with his pulse. Noah clenched his jaw and forced himself to concentrate on the here and now.

  Allison called out, “Call me when you do.”

  He nodded and ran for his truck. The bad feeling had turned to shrapnel in his gut. The sirens stopped. They hadn’t faded into the distance. They’d stopped. His truck bounced along the ruts in the driveway, jarring him. He gunned the engine and flew down the two-lane in the direction of the Offermeyers’.

  A mile down, the road was blocked. Two patrol cars with lights flashing flanked a fire engine. An ambulance with its back open caught his eye. Two attendants unloaded a gurney and pushed it toward the edge of the culvert. Noah pulled off onto the shoulder and bolted for the ditch.

  “Whoa, hold on there.” An officer put his arm out to block him. “We need to keep the area clear.”

  Noah strained to see beyond the emergency vehicles. “I’ve got to—”

  “You don’t got to do anything, Noah. Let the professionals take care of her.”

  Hell no! His worst nightmare. All the blood rushed from his head and spots went off like fireworks in front of his eyes. He blinked and focused on the deputy. He remembered meeting him at the Fourth of July celebration. “Deputy Taylor, right?”

  “That’s right, and we have everything under control.”

  Ceejay. “Is she...” The words stuck in his throat. He couldn’t force them past the lump.

  “She’s banged up, but her vitals are good. She’s being taken to St. Mary’s Warrick Hospital in Boonville.”

  “I need to see her.”

  “She’s not conscious. You can see her once she’s been taken care of.”

  “No. I need to see her now.” He’d lay the deputy out on the asphalt if he had to. Gut-deep and visceral, his need to lay eyes on Ceejay overrode everything else. If he didn’t see her chest rise and fall, if he didn’t confirm for himself that she still had a pulse, someone was going to get hurt. “Move.”

  Deputy Taylor frowned, glanced over his shoulder at the EMTs with their loaded gurney, and nodded. “A minute. She needs to get to the emergency room. We figure the accident happened a while ago. A passerby called it in and—”

  He didn’t wait to hear the rest. All the air left his lungs in a rush. Noah pushed past the deputy to weave his way through the vehicles until he was near enough to see her on the gurney. The attendants collapsed the frame and started to load her into the ambulance. “Wait.”

  They’d strapped her to a backboard and put a neck collar on to keep her still. She had a gash on her forehead near her hairline. He didn’t know where to touch her. “Ceejay.”

  “Sir, we need to go.”

  “Give me a second.” Noah leaned close and put his hand on her cheek. Her skin was damp, but warm. Relief swamped him. “Honey, I’m here.”

  Her eyelids flickered and she moaned. “Hurts.”

  “I know, baby. I’m sorry. They’re taking you to the hospital now.”

  “Lucinda,” she whispered. Her eyes opened for a second, connected with his, then fluttered shut.

  Her pain and helplessness slammed into him. All his fault. “I’ll take care of Lucinda. Don’t you worry.”

  The EMT stepped closer and gripped the gurney. “She may have internal injuries. Every minute we delay—”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. Go.” Noah stepped back and let them do their job. The siren’s shrillness shredded his heart. Seeing her injured, hurt because of him, brought him lower than he’d ever been. He should’ve made sure his parents understood they weren’t to come to Perfect without Ceejay’s OK. He turned back to his truck. She was alive. Thank God she was alive. His chest constricted, and he could hardly draw a breath.

  “Noah,” Deputy Taylor called. “Take this home for her.” He handed Ceejay’s purse to him. “That old car of hers is totaled. We’ll have it towed.”

  He nodded and walked on shaky legs back to his truck. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he glanced at her purse. Pain tore a wide path through him. He was an idiot, and he didn’t deserve her.

  What if Ceejay never got past her hostility toward his stepmother? How could they ever have a future with Matt in their past? He gripped the steering wheel, rested his forehead on his knuckles, and fought the urge to weep. Turning his head slightly, he glanced at his watch. The Offermeyers weren’t expecting anyone to pick Lucinda up until 1400 hours. He had time. He needed to make something clear to his father before bringing Lucinda home. Someone knocking on his car door brought him up.

  “You all right to drive?” Deputy Taylor rested his hands on the open window frame.

  Noah sucked in a breath. “I’m a little shook up.”

  “I can give you a ride to the hospital if you want.”

  “No, thanks for the offer, though.” Noah shook his head. “My folks are here. I need to let them know what happened, and then Lucinda...” His voice broke. Shit.

  “This has surely been a tough time for the Lovejoys. You let us know if you all need anything. Me and the wife would be happy to babysit, or anything else you can think of. Jenny and Ceejay have certainly helped us out plenty of times.”

  “Thanks, I will.”

  The deputy touched the rim of his hat and walked away. Noah waited until he cou
ldn’t hear the siren anymore, turned his truck around, and headed for home. Thoughts of patricide passed through his mind.

  Both Lovejoy women in the hospital, one in Evansville, and the other in Boonville, wherever the hell that was, and one little girl who would soon find herself without her mother and great-aunt. She’d be frightened and confused. He couldn’t mess up when it came to Lucinda.

  His jaw tightened at the sight of his father standing on the Lovejoys’ front porch. Noah slammed the truck door behind him. His hands curled into fists as he strode to the steps. “What the hell did you do, Dad?”

  “I made it clear to Ms. Lovejoy that no isn’t an option when it comes to Lucinda.”

  “Great. Did you consider what kind of stress Ceejay’s already under? Her aunt has cancer. She found out today that her mother died of an accidental drug overdose. On top of all of that you threatened her?”

  “I—”

  “Shut and her eyes grew brightI need c p b the hell up and listen. If you ever threaten her again, it’s the last you’ll ever hear or see of me.”

  “Noah, you can’t mean that!” Allison cried from behind the screen door.

  “I do mean it, Mom. Those sirens...Ceejay’s been in a car accident, and it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t left here so upset.” Tears stung his eyes. He turned away to face the orchard. “She...” He swallowed hard. “Ceejay and Lucinda mean the world to me, and I’ve screwed everything up enough as it is. I won’t have any kind of threat hanging over her head.”

  “Oh, honey, we can work this out. Sit down, both of you.”

  Sitting was beyond him. He was keyed up and ready to spring. Noah shook his head, while his heart pounded from the adrenaline still rushing through his system.

  His father made no move to take a seat either. He plunged his hands deep inside his pockets and widened his stance.

  “Oh, for crying out loud.” Allison sat. “You two idiots are far more similar than you realize. Both as stubborn as concrete.” She sent them both a disapproving scowl. “Your father overreacted when he saw me crying. Ceejay’s words didn’t upset me. It’s what I saw in her eyes that brought me to tears. That poor girl has been through so much. She’s devastated, lost, and everything feels out of control to her.”