“I almost blew it when I saw him whack you with the beer bottle! I nearly ran into the kitchen at that instant but realized that I had no weapon. That’s when I picked up the poker from the fireplace and plotted my move.”
Tom gestured toward the poker lying on the floor. “Good thing you didn’t hit him with the business end of that-he’d be dead as a doornail now.”
“I must confess that I was wanting to hit him with the poker end, but I changed my mind.”
“It wouldn’t have been any great loss but I’m glad you didn’t. That would have been hard to explain to the cops.”
Erin outstretched her hands and chuckled. “What cops? Haven’t exactly seen too many of them around lately.”
Tom laughed. “Good point.”
“So what are we going to do with him?” the girl asked.
Tom stared at the unconscious man and said, “Tie him up, I guess. I wonder if Kyle left me any duct tape.”
“Looks like there’s still some left,” Erin said, pointing at the roll still lying on the kitchen counter.
“Why don’t you go ahead and take that hot shower while I tie him up?” Tom suggested.
“Yes!” Erin smiled broadly. “I’ll go out and get my things.”
Erin left and Tom lit up a couple more candles, grabbed the duct tape and bound Donnie Shortridge securely to the chair. He heard Erin come back in the front door and make her way upstairs to the bathroom. When he was finished with Donnie, he went to the living room fireplace, lit a match, valved in the gas and watched as the gas logs came to life. With a long yawn, he sat down on the sofa and leaned his head back.
He heard the faucet squeak and the water running upstairs as Erin started her shower. He thought of how grateful he was that the girl had the courage and moxie to do what she had just done. Most girls her age probably would never have taken the risk to come to his aid as she had. The more he got to know Erin Myers, the more he realized what a truly unique individual she was.
His thoughts shifted to Donnie Shortridge and what had just occurred. A number of questions came to mind as he fought the fatigue gnawing away at him.
For starters, why had Donnie shown up in the first place-and why now of all times, when there were only a few people still existing on earth as far as he knew? Why someone from his hometown-someone he had never known before yet someone who apparently knew plenty about him?
And how much of this man’s insane story should he believe? Yes, he had had a one-night stand with Mindy Conkel twenty years ago. And yes, it was possible but unlikely that he had gotten her pregnant. But why had Donnie been so adamant that Tom had been the father of her child?
And what about Mindy Conkel, who had at first insisted that Donnie was the father then recanted once it was discovered that Donnie’s DNA didn’t match the child’s? Why would she all of a sudden insist it was Tom instead? How could she be so certain?
Unless, Tom thought, he had actually been the only one who had slept with Mindy that particular month. There was an outside possibility, and if it were the case, then she would have been correct in assuming that Tom was the father.
Tom swallowed hard and stared intently into the fire. What if he really had been the father of Mindy Conkel’s child? What if the call she had made to him in New York had been a legitimate cry for him to take some kind of responsibility for her desperate situation?
His thoughts flew into a tailspin. He had been so much in denial of the situation at the time that he had totally dismissed its seriousness. And this denial was ultimately what had kept him from accepting responsibility when he should have.
How convenient, he thought.
And the fact that Mindy had called him once and only once had made it even easier for him to forsake his responsibility.
Tom leaned back on the sofa. He was so exhausted now that he could barely keep his eyes open. He yawned and promptly drifted off to sleep
…
***
“Tom?” he heard Erin say softly.
He opened his eyes and saw her sitting beside him on the sofa, her expression apologetic.
“I hate to wake you up but I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to or not. You had mentioned wanting to take a shower.”
Tom sat up straight. “Oh, yeah, I’m glad you woke me up. I guess I just dozed off for a moment there.”
He rubbed his eyes and noticed that Erin was wearing nothing but a white oversized tee shirt that went down to just above her knees and that she smelled as sweet as a rose after her shower. Her hair was still damp, combed out poker straight, falling onto her shoulders in shiny strands. For the first time, Tom realized that Erin Myers was attractive in an oddly compelling way that made her unique-as unique on the outside as she was on the inside.
“How long have you been sitting here?” he asked.
She giggled. “Would you believe about five minutes? You were really dead to the world-and you were snoring, too!”
Tom smiled. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“You’ll feel much better after a shower-I sure did. But I wouldn’t have any trouble falling asleep now, either.”
“Why don’t you go to sleep, then-I’ll take my shower and do the same.”
“Okay.”
Tom stood up. “Are there enough blankets for you?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine,” Erin replied.
Tom decided to go into the kitchen long enough to check on Donnie Shortridge, who was still out cold, then returned to the living room and headed for the staircase.
“Tom? Who is Mindy?” Erin asked suddenly.
Tom halted in his tracks. He turned toward her and replied, “You mean the Mindy we were discussing in the kitchen? She was Donnie’s wife. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I just love that name-Mindy. It was my biological mother’s name, too.”
“Oh, really?” Tom said, intrigued at this revelation. “You mean you actually know who your real mom is?”
“Not exactly. All I know is that her name was Mindy. I’ve got a picture of her holding me when I was a baby. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. You want to see it?”
“Of course I would.”
Erin opened her backpack. Tom sat down beside her and waited as she located her billfold and began thumbing through it.
“Here it is,” she said, taking one of the photos out of a transparent sleeve. She flipped it over and showed Tom the back, which had writing in blue ballpoint pen. It read, “To my lovely daughter. Please know that I will always love you.” At the bottom it was signed, “Mindy, your mommy.”
“See, she even signed it,” Erin said proudly.
She flipped the photo over. “There we are-my mommy and me.”Tom stared at the photo. It was in color and showed a young woman about twenty or so holding a tiny baby in her arms The woman was Mindy Conkel!
Tom looked closer. No doubt about it, the woman in the picture was Mindy.
He was dumbfounded. Not sure what to do or say, Tom struggled for the best way to deal with this.
“She’s very pretty. How in the world did you get this picture, anyway?”
Erin continued holding on to the picture lovingly. “I think my first foster parents gave it to children’s services who in turn gave it to me after I’d been adopted by my second foster family. Since I had already been told that I was an orphan I guess they figured I may as well have it.”
“Did you ever want to find her-your biological mother?” Tom asked curiously.
“Of course! But I haven’t known where to begin. I heard that you could trace your family tree online so I tried that once, but had no luck. It really helps when you have a last name to start with,” she added dismally.
“I wonder if you could post that picture on the internet. There’s a chance that someone might know who she is,” Tom suggested, feeling more and more guilty the further he went with this charade.
“I tried that, too. In fact, Kyle put it
online for me, which is about the only nice thing he’d ever done for me. We never heard back from anyone. It’s useless. I’ll probably never know who she is-or was.”
Tom wanted nothing more than tell her who her mother was. And that he knew who her father was, too. That it just so happened that her dad was the same man sitting there with her right now.
But he couldn’t do that. Not yet, anyway. He had to be certain that he was truly the girl’s father before running the risk of leading her on with something that might not be true. And the only way to be absolutely certain would be for them to have their DNA tested.
Furthermore, he wanted to be sure of Mindy Conkel’s feelings on this. After all, she had given Erin up for adoption in the first place. It was really her place to decide if Erin should know who her biological mother was. Somehow, he was going to have to track her down and find out what her thoughts would be on seeing her daughter again after all these years. Perhaps he could find out Mindy’s whereabouts from Donnie when he came to.
Tom stared thoughtfully at Erin for a moment as she continued studying the wallet print in her hand. Did she look anything like him? She did have brown eyes and hair, just as he did. And her face was rather long and thin like his. And didn’t the shape of her nose resemble his, or was it just his imagination?
Suddenly, the bizarre nature of this entire situation hit him straight on. What in the hell were the astronomical odds of he and Erin and Donnie Shortridge all being together in this house right now at this very moment? The world was virtually deserted right now for all he knew, yet here he was with a daughter he never knew he had and the man who had once been married to her mother There had to be a reason for all of this.
But what was it?
He had no idea.
He would have to think about this.
But first, he was going to have to get some sleep. His thoughts were so jumbled up now that it was useless to try to make any sense of anything.
He observed how Erin was looking longingly at the photo in her hand. His heart bled for her. The girl had had a miserable life through no fault of her own. Yet she still yearned to know who her mother was. And no doubt, her father, too.
It was enough to make him want to break down and cry.
He gently placed his hand on her arm. “Well, you never know, kiddo. You may still find her some day. I wouldn’t give up if I were you.”
She smiled as she continued staring at the photo. “I know I’ll never give up. Even if she doesn’t want me in her life, I want to know what has happened to her. And why she had to give me away. This photo proves she loves me. I think she had to do it for a good reason. And whatever the reason was, I know that I’ll forgive her. I just want to know her!”
Tom put his arm around Erin and pulled her against him. “If you want, I’d be more than happy to help you find her in any way I can.”
“Oh Tom, that would be so nice! And I’ll help you find your wife and kids.”
Tom had almost forgotten his own family for a moment. Almost. This was all just too much to bear. All he could hope for was that things would be better in the morning.
“Well, I’m ready to take that shower and turn in.”
Erin slipped the photo back into her wallet. “Me too.”
Tom got up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay. Night.”
“Night, Erin.”
Tom went upstairs, undressed and took a long, hot shower.
After changing into a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, he quietly descended the stairs to the living room. By the light of the fire, he saw Erin snuggled up on the sofa under the blankets. He went over to where she lay, leaned down and kissed her gently on her forehead.
He went into the kitchen to check on Donnie. The hillbilly was still out like a light and breathing regularly. With luck, the bastard would be out for another eight hours so he and Erin could get some much needed sleep.
Tom returned to the living room, picked up one of the blankets, sat down on the recliner and covered himself up. He felt a bit more focused after his shower and had come up with a plan for tomorrow morning. He would take Donnie aside, safely out of earshot of Erin, and ask him where he might find Mindy. If he refused to comply or claimed not to know, he would be out of luck. If he flatly refused to talk, Tom would use some kind of tactic to get him to speak. What that would be, he had no idea and in fact hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Then after making certain that Donnie was securely bound, he and Erin would take a drive down to Smithtown. Tom would make up an excuse for going there-maybe tell her that his family could possibly be there with relatives or something.
The truth of it was, Tom now found himself obsessed with the idea that Erin might be his daughter. He had to find out if it was true. And locating her mother would be a start.
Tom pondered why he had become obsessed with the truth about Erin and came up with a very good one…
She could very well be the only family he had left on earth.
Tom glanced over at the sleeping girl, wondering if she would ever be able to forgive him if she were indeed his child. Would she be as forgiving of him as she was of her mother?
Only time would tell.
Tom felt his eyes get heavy. He finally gave in to the absolute need for sleep, closed his eyes and fell into a dead slumber.
CHAPTER 15
“Tom? Can you hear me?”
The voice seemed far away. Miles and miles away.
“Tom, please wake up!”
He wondered how long the voice had persisted. It seemed like he’d heard it for the last hour or so. He wished it would go away. He was so damned tired “Please, Tom! Open your eyes!”
He realized now that the voice was not going to go away. He was going to have to get up, damn it!
Tom opened his eyes. His vision was so blurry that all he could see were blobs of random shapes. And it was bright-he had to shut his eyes immediately to avoid being blinded.
“He’s awake!” the voice cried. “Tom, honey, can you hear me? It’s Peg!”
Peg? he thought. Figures. He had probably overslept again and she would have none of that!
He opened his eyes again, blinked a couple of times and shut them promptly. “It’s so bright!” he said.
His throat felt raw. Great, he was getting a cold.
“My throat. Dry. Sore.”
“Have some water, honey. Pour your father some water, Kelli.”
“Okay, mommy.”
“And can we turn down those lights down some?” Peg said.
Another voice replied, “Surely, Mrs. Grayson, I’ll get them. I’ll page the doctor, too.”
“Thanks, Nancy. Here, drink some of this, dear.”
Tom felt something touch his lips and opened his eyes. It was not as bright now and he could see the Styrofoam cup that his wife was holding to his mouth. He parted his parched lips and sipped the water. It felt like heaven going down.
As his senses sharpened, he realized that he was lying in bed in a hospital room, causing him to suddenly panic “Jesus, what happened?”
Peg took his hand and squeezed it. “You passed out, honey. In your car.”
“Passed out! What do you mean?”
“At the supermarket. You were overcome by what the doctor said was a mixture of raw gasoline fumes and carbon monoxide.”
Tom tried to get a grip of this. The supermarket? When had he been at the supermarket? His eyes were wide open now and everything was in focus. He saw Kelli and Tyler standing near the foot of his bed and suddenly all he wanted to do was hug them.
“Come here, you two!” he called, reaching out his arms toward his children.
Kelli got there first and he gave her dad a big bear hug. Then came Tyler, who seemed a little embarrassed as Tom held him tight.
“I can see where I stand now,” Peg mumbled from the bedside.
“Aw, let me hug you too, sweetie,” Tom said emotionally. He wasn’t sure why he felt so sens
itive toward his family now but for some reason he was extraordinarily grateful for their company.
“You could have died, Tom!” Peg cried passionately after they kissed. “I am so glad they found you in time!”
Just then, the doctor came into the room and went over to Tom. Peg arose and stood off to the side as he examined him.
“I’m Doctor Wheeler, chief resident on call. And you are one lucky man, Mr. Grayson,” he said as he shone a penlight into his eyes.
“That’s what I hear. So what happened? I don’t really remember.”
“Well, apparently you drove to the store in the snowstorm and left your motor running while you were inside. By the time you returned to your car, fumes had built up inside to a fairly dangerous level. I was surprised you didn’t smell the raw fuel until your wife informed me that you had sinusitis and couldn’t smell much of anything. Carbon monoxide of course is odorless.”
Tom struggled to remember. He could vaguely recall being at the supermarket but couldn’t remember why he would have gone there without Peg.
He looked over at Peg. “What was I getting at the store?”
“Pop and cigarettes, remember? We were playing euchre with Frank and Jules.” Peg was visibly alarmed that he couldn’t remember.
Tom thought back for a moment and it came to him in bits and pieces. The Warrens had been over to play cards, euchre of course, in the family room. The kids had been playing in the living room. It had been snowing hard. He’d gone to the supermarket to pick up more Seven Up and smokes for Julie.
“I remember now. So where are Frank and Julie now?”
“They went home about an hour ago. They’ve been here all evening but finally decided to take Brittany home and put her to bed.”
“So exactly how long have I been in the hospital?” Tom inquired.
Peg glanced at her wristwatch. “About six hours.”
“Jesus! And I’ve been passed out all this time?”
See Tom Run Page 13