Unexpected Ride

by Rebecca Avery

  Edna was right because up until recently the pain over losing Doug had made it impossible for her to even visit his grave. Every waking moment had been filled with a pain so sharp she often couldn’t breathe… let alone cry. She had wrapped herself so tightly with the responsibility of caring for the boys and Meredith it had become a cocoon of pain and loss.

  Glancing between the two women she said, “I won’t be gone long. I’ll just check on him and then come right back home.”

  “Take your time, I think Gretchen has it under control,” Dana laughed.

  The boys adored Gretchen and were always excited to go to outings where she would be. Within minutes of being around each other though, they were all usually arguing. Typically it was two against one but it wasn’t always the boys against Gretchen.

  At a considerable size difference from either of Carla’s boys, Gretchen didn’t let that stop her from placing herself in charge and the quicker Matt and Ben figured that out, the faster they could get down to playing.

  This should bother Carla as a mother but it didn’t because Gretchen was always fair and was just as willing to play along with whatever the boys wanted to do as she was to make them play what she wanted. They always had fun and usually begged to ‘camp in’ which was what they called a sleep over. At their ages she didn’t have a problem with it and neither did Dana. To her boys, Gretchen was just one of them… and the only one who could make Chuck do her bidding.

  Entering the ER Carla was met by Dickie who stood and offered her his seat next to Becca since the waiting room was full and there were no other chairs available.

  “We must have been the first of many holiday accidents… this place was almost empty when we got here so they took him right back for an x-ray. If we had waited any longer to ‘screw around until someone got hurt’ the wait might have been a whole lot longer,” Dickie said.

  “He was pretty upset at even having to come here and insisted he was fine, so thank you for suggesting it. Had the idea come from me, he would probably have refused outright,” Becca said when Carla sat down next to her.

  “I feel just terrible about what happened and I know Ben does as well,” Carla said.

  “There is no need to feel bad. Greg told Ben to tackle him and by the time Greg realized the error of his ways, the boy had nailed him a good one,” Dickie said, smiling. “Chuck’s right… that kid is a natural.”

  They talked for a bit longer until Greg came out into the lobby area and upon seeing her sitting there, he frowned. He walked over with some papers and handed them to her. Was he angry at her for making him come here?

  If he hadn’t yet again interfered with her decisions where the boys were concerned, there wouldn’t have been a need to visit the emergency room. She could feel her own anger over the situation mounting.

  Becca looked between them and said, “Did it cause more damage?”

  “No, it just hurts like hell,” Greg replied.

  “We were going to take the girls out for dinner this evening so we need to get going. Did you want us to take you to the beach house?” Becca asked him.

  Greg glanced at Carla and she could feel the return of the tension that had been building between them since yesterday when she had washed his hair. The feeling was urgent, needy and a little overwhelming but his anger over the situation didn’t give him the right to constantly butt into her business. The image of Gretchen bossing the boys around came to mind… maybe the little girl had the right of it.

  “I can drop him off or take him back with me. You guys go on ahead and have a good evening with the girls,” she replied in place of Greg. Somehow being bossy sounded better coming from Gretchen but Carla squared her shoulders just the same and braced for his refusal to allow her to help.

  To her surprise Greg nodded his acceptance to Becca who leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Then taking Dickie’s hand, she led him outside to the parking lot.

  When the big automatic double doors closed behind them, Carla turned back to where Greg stood and all the anger she felt over this whole incident rushed into her face, heating it to the boiling point. Angry or not her eyes were again drawn to his mouth which now contained a lopsided grin.

  “You know if you’d listened when I told you no football for Ben, this wouldn’t have happened. I expect it out of Ben… he’s six! Even from Matt I could understand it, but from you? I do not need anything… any help from you so please,” she started, but quit when he grabbed ahold of her arm with his good hand.

  “I am not one of your kids whose behavior needs corrected so you can just stop mothering me. If you want to help me then I’ll tell you what you can do to help… but this coddling me has to stop,” he said.

  “Fine… what do you need then? Are you hurting?” she asked a little breathless from her agitation and the feel of his hand touching the bare skin of her arm. Stop staring at his mouth!

  “My arm is fine but God I ache… even worse than last night… and all I need from you is just a little… taste,” he whispered before pulling her to him and capturing her mouth with his incredibly soft lips.

  Before she completely lost herself in the amazing feel of his lips moving against hers… that was surely going to make it hard to sleep tonight… she pulled back away from him. She forced her eyes away from that mouth of his that felt so good and up to meet his gaze. Somehow she’d known those lips would feel like that… it was the reason she stared at them.

  “Are you ready to go?” she said, attempting to collect her scattered thoughts.

  “You don’t feel that?” he asked with a look of disbelief on his handsome face.

  “What?” she asked as her gaze slipped back to his mouth. God that felt good.

  Those beautiful lips turned into a frown and he said, “Never mind… let’s go.”

  Chapter Four

  He could remember a time when he actually enjoyed being in Florida. The thought of seeing Carla usually made it a no brainer when the opportunity presented itself to come down here but that was before his failed attempts at seduction. At least the guys in the investigations unit of the Sheriff’s Office back home hadn’t been around to witness him being shot down. Now the state of Florida was just beginning to grate on his last nerve.

  After his attempt to kiss Carla didn’t go so well, he’d tucked his tail and headed off to Becca’s beach house to lick his wounds. The problem was that boredom was going to kill him. At least at Carla’s house there had been Chuck and the boys to keep him entertained. Here it was only the sand and beach… and solitude.

  The Administrative Sergeant over his department was encouraging him to use up some of the mass amounts of sick and vacation time he’d accrued over the years but six weeks in this state felt like ten years when there was nothing to do. He might be able to take more than a year off between sick time and vacation but that didn’t mean he wanted to.

  The one person he wanted to spend time with while he was down here had found convenient ways to avoid him. Carla had so far sent Meredith by at the beginning of last week and then Chuck at the end of the week.

  This week it had been his sister which was even worse. Becca was an attorney and a damn good one. She was constantly asking him questions… mostly about Carla… like he was hiding the truth from her… which he was, but her inquisitions needed to stop none the less. Just like with Carla… he wasn’t a child that either one of them needed to take care of.

  He wondered who Carla would be sending today to take him to his doctor’s appointment. He could probably drive himself but between Carla and Becca telling him how unsafe driving one handed could be, he’d caved. Maybe that was part of the problem… he was always giving in to them and instead needed to take back a little control.

  When his cell phone rang and he noticed Chuck’s number on the screen, he sighed. He felt bad that Chuck was getting the short end of the stick by having to chauffer him around though he would enjoy the reaction of the staff at the doctor’s office when they got a look at
the young man.

  Getting to know Chuck was a privilege he wouldn’t change for anything but it was fun to watch people actually cross the street to get as far away from Chuck as they could. Fear, opinions and an unforgiving society made most people very leery of Chuck.

  He had been one such person before actually getting to know Chuck and watching him step in and take care of Meredith, Carla and the two boys in an impressive way. Hell, he wished Carla adored him the way she adored Chuck.

  Perhaps if he insinuated that Chuck might be the one bringing him from now on the doctor would not only do away with the sling for good but clear him for duty as well.

  Sure his shoulder and arm still ached terribly and were a little on the weak side but not working was starting to mess with his head. He was one of only two people in the whole Sheriff’s Office that had actually been shot. A couple other deputies had been shot at but only he and Major Laskins had actually been shot.

  In fact over the past year Greg had been held hostage, testified in front of a grand jury regarding a high profile case involving Lilly Jackson’s first husband, and had now been shot. All of those things had happened while in this state so perhaps he should go home and recuperate there.

  “You the lucky one taking me to the doctor’s office?” he asked upon answering his phone.

  “No… Carla is. Isn’t she there with you?” Chuck asked.

  “No, I haven’t seen Carla since Thanksgiving when she dropped me off at the beach house,” Greg replied.

  “Hold up… she hasn’t been coming over and checking on you at all? Like last Wednesday night before church and then this past Wednesday as well?” Chuck asked clearly confused.

  “No… and to tell you the truth all this solitude is starting to get to me. Do you want me to call you when she gets here?” he asked.

  “What the hell is that woman up to? She must be sneaking around and doing stuff for the wedding even though we told her not to go overboard. The only problem is if she’s not already there, then where is she? She should have been there by now and she’s not answering her cell phone,” Chuck said.

  The worry in Chuck’s voice had Greg sitting up a little straighter. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Something is going on with her and I’m not sure what… but it isn’t like her to lie. She left nearly two hours ago and said she had to take you to a doctor’s appointment and would be back. I’ve got the boys but if she doesn’t show up in the next ten minutes, call me back and I can load them up and come and take you to your appointment,” he said. “Meredith told me she thought you and Carla were … hooking up… and that’s what all the phone calls and sneaking around was about. So if you are hooking up I just want to know. Meredith and I don’t give a shit as long as you don’t hurt her. Right now I’m a little worried so if she is there… again… don’t care… just don’t want to freak out for no reason.”

  A knock at the door had him walking to the front of the house and peeking through the curtains in the living room. Upon seeing Carla’s car parked in the driveway he said, “Don’t worry. She just got here and I will get answers to all those sneaking around questions because it hasn’t been with me.”

  “Good… oh and if you have a good checkup today… why don’t you stop by the shop next week and take a look at what Bobby’s got worked up on your bike,” Chuck said and then disconnected the call.

  It was one thing for Carla not to be interested in him and blow him off. It was another to use his interest in her to lie to her family and sneak around doing God knew what… or who. Taking a deep breath and putting his game face on, Greg opened the door and was a little surprised at his reaction to seeing her after two weeks of nothing.

  Her eyes immediately dropped to his lips and before he could stop himself he said, “Window shopping?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Just browsing but not looking to buy?” he replied.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, her eyes finally making their way back to his.

  “The way you stare at my mouth makes me think you want… never mind,” he finished quietly. “I’m ready if you are.”

  He followed her right back out the door to her car and the first few minutes of the trip were met with awkward silence until he decided to treat her like any other person he needed information from.

  “Thanks for taking me today. Hopefully this one will be the last one or at least I can start driving myself. Then you won’t have to deal with me anymore. I meant what I said… I’m still glad I asked you to help with my recovery rather than some stranger. I hope I wasn’t too bad of a patient even with the unwanted advances,” he said. “I also hope it didn’t make your life even crazier… I know you must be busy.”

  “No, I enjoyed taking care of you,” she replied. She was quiet for a moment and then said, “Can I tell you something and you won’t tell anyone else?”

  This was turning out to be easier than he expected. “Sure,” he replied.

  “I’m thinking of taking some nursing classes. I know it probably seems silly to do that at my age but I really did enjoy taking care of you. I think I could really help people and I need something more dependable than what my Dad can get for me up at the courthouse,” she said and then whispered “I want a real job of my own.”

  She never ceased to surprise him. He was expecting her to tell him she was seeing someone else… wasn’t interested in him… but wanted him to cover for her with Meredith and Chuck.

  “You’re not too old to go back to school. You must be around my age… mid-forties?” he replied. Stupid… Becca would kill him for asking her age.

  “I’m forty five. I had Meredith when I was only twenty and never ended up finishing college. Doug and I got married and I stayed at home with her and just when I started considering going back to school and finishing, I got pregnant with Matt. Then once Ben came along I just figured it was God’s way of telling me to be content with what I had… a nice family… nice house… nice husband… nice life. Now that Ben’s in school full time and with Doug gone… those old dreams just kind of came back,” she said. “The problem is that I’ve never really worked full time and have large gaps in my employment history so even if I did get an education… who would hire a middle aged woman with no real work experience?”

  “Maybe you need to take it one step at a time… check in on the classes and see if you can even get into the program first,” he offered. Great… instead of finding out where she’d been going and what she’d been doing… he was off subject.

  “Actually, I already did that. I even took the placement tests and went to orientation and I can get into the program… all I have to do is sign the paper and turn it in,” she nearly whispered after parking the car.

  “So… when do classes start?” he asked.

  “After the holidays if I turn in the paperwork,” she replied getting out of the car.

  As they headed into the doctor’s office he asked, “What do you mean if you turn in the paperwork?”

  She looked at him strangely and said, “Aren’t you going to ask me about when the classes are or how long they last?”

  He signed himself in, took a seat next to her in the waiting room and then said, “Does it really matter? You obviously want this really bad to have held on to the dream for so long.”

  “It will mean having to be away from the boys even beyond them being in school because most of the classes are an hour and a half long and at night. Plus it will take me at least two years to complete the program,” she answered his unasked question.

  “So… you are gone for a couple of hours every night… I’m sure between Chuck and Meredith or even Dana Atkinson you can find someone to stay with them or keep them. Hell, I’d help you with them if I was going to be around. Sign the damn paper and turn it in,” he replied.

  She gave him another weird look and then said, “It’s only two, maybe three, nights a week… not every night.”

  “Okay, I’m convin
ced… sign the paper and turn it in,” he replied again. Was she just trying to convince herself?

  “Shouldn’t I talk it over with the kids first?” she asked.

  “So if they proclaim that it will be too big of an inconvenience for them for you to follow your dream… you’ll give it up… again?” he asked incredulously. Didn’t she ever do anything selfishly?

  “I’d just put it on hold again… like last time. That’s all,” she replied softly.

  The doctor chose that moment to call him back. A half an hour later he was even angrier than he’d been on learning he’d be out on sick leave for at least six weeks.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Sanders… I can’t release you in good conscious. I’m not even convinced you could draw your weapon at all at this point, let alone defend yourself or anyone else with it. You have two choices, learn to shoot left handed enough to qualify or we can bump up your physical therapy sessions and take another look in a couple of months,” the doctor said hesitantly as if Greg would come after him for the words he spoke.

  “Is it from my son bumping his arm a couple of weeks ago?” Carla asked hesitantly.

  “No, ma’am. It’s from the bullet… it looked like a clean wound when he went into the operating room but it did more nerve damage than we first thought. The surgery repaired the majority of that and it’s mostly healed but some of the lasting consequences of being shot are still there and it is affecting his grip,” the doctor replied. “I have to be honest… it may never be exactly the same as it was before but until he can qualify with his weapon, I cannot release him and he’s nowhere near that right now.”

  As pissed as he was… the doctor was right. His arm just wasn’t the same anymore but he could fix that… he’d bump up the therapy appointments and really start working it. He only had five more years and he could get full retirement benefits.

  Otherwise he’d be forced to take a medical retirement or a desk job and since his injury hadn’t been while he was on duty the chances of him getting his full benefits were slim.