Under the Moonlight collection

by MaryAnn Kempher

  “Okay,” she said.

  Scott heard the hurt in her voice. “I’m sorry if I overreacted. Let’s change the subject. What about your fender-bender on the way to Tahoe? Do you think it was an accident?”

  “I don’t think so, but it’s hard to know for sure. Have you found out anything else?”

  “I talked to that friend of mine, remember? My friend Jason in Carson? I don’t know if I mentioned that he’s a police officer. Anyways, he made some calls and turns out the Reno police department do have a suspect, they just don’t want anyone to know it. They have no real proof yet.”

  “Jeez, I hope it’s the guy and they arrest him soon. I think I’ve been doing a good job of keeping it together, but the stress is starting to get to me. I’m seeing boogeymen around every corner.”

  “I hope it’s him too. So what about double dating again? What do you think?”

  Katherine wasn’t eager to spend any more time with Verna than she had to, but was always glad to see Scott. She figured that if the only way she could see him was with Verna, it was better than nothing.

  “That sounds great. Let’s set a time and date, but let’s not tell Verna or Michael.”

  “I don't think that would go over well. I’m glad you called, Katherine. I thought you’d lost my number. ”

  “Hey I’ve called your apartment and I’ve called your cell. You never answer.”

  “That’s my fault. I should probably check my cell’s voice mail more often.”

  “Oh, I thought maybe Verna was monitoring your calls.”

  Scott laughed. “Well, maybe she is. She’s insecure when it comes to you. I tell her all the time she has nothing to worry about - we’re just friends.”

  “That’s what I told her when she was giving me grief in the bathroom last night - we’re just friends.”

  Scott laughed. “She gave you grief, huh? That’s probably why she was all over me during dinner.”

  Katherine bit her tongue. She wanted to tell Scott he was dating a real bitch, but it was none of her business who he dated. They spoke for a few minutes more before Scott had to go.

  ***

  Instead of hanging up the phone after Katherine’s call, Scott called Alex, whose first question was: “You still hung up on that Katherine chick?”

  “I told you I have a new girlfriend, remember?”

  “So you say, but it’s been over two months and nobody’s seen her. You make her up, buddy? Now that’s pathetic.”

  Scott knew Alex was only messing with him, but it was annoying nonetheless. “Her name’s Verna, and we’re not at that place yet.”

  “What place would that be? Reality?”

  “Bite me.”

  “Ohh, I’m telling Mom. All right, what do you mean that place?”

  “We’re not serious. Well, I’m not serious about her. There, now I sound like a jerk.”

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Alex, I’m going to come up there and kick your ass. There’s nothing wrong with her.”

  “I get it, you are still thinking about Katherine.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m not,” Scott said, but he didn’t sound convincing, not even to himself. “I hardly see her anymore. She’s got that Mike guy, and I’ve been seeing Verna.”

  “Who you’re not serious about. Are you bringing her to my wedding?”

  “When is that?”

  “Not until the fall.”

  “I don’t know. If we’re still going out, I probably should, shouldn’t I?”

  “Not if you're not serious about her. If you bring her, she’ll start getting ideas, and pretty soon you'll find bridal magazines all over the place.”

  “I don’t know what to do. She’s smart, and she’s funny.”

  “But?”

  But she's not Katherine. “Hell if I know, but I don’t think I’ll be bringing her. That’s the last thing I need, her seeing white dresses and floral arrangements in our future.”

  ***

  Scott couldn’t sleep - the phone call with Alex, combined with what had happened later with Verna, was keeping him up. They’d planned to watch a movie, and Verna had suggested that maybe she’d stay over. She’d picked up the phone to call her roommate to let her know she might not come home that night, but first, Scott assumed, she’d scrolled through his phone log. Naturally, she’d seen Katherine’s phone number.

  “I see Katherine called,” she’d said.

  Scott could tell this pissed her off, probably because she hadn’t been there to keep him from taking the call. Now that he knew Katherine had called in the past, he’d be checking his phone more often in case Verna “forgot” to tell him again.

  “Are you screening my phone calls now?” he asked.

  At first Verna was defiant. “Well, excuse me if I thought that since we’re dating and she’s supposed to have a boyfriend, she’d stop hovering in the background.” The sarcasm was clear in her voice.

  “Is she confused, or something?”

  Few people had seen Scott angry, and Verna was sorry to be one of them. His face became flushed, his eyes turned to slits and he actually appeared to get taller.

  “Nobody is confused here except you, Verna,” he said.

  He could tell she thought he was overreacting. She did her best to look wretched, but her crocodile tears didn’t fool him. She cried and explained that she was very insecure when it came to Katherine.

  “I'm sorry, Scott. Please don’t be mad. I only did it because I like you so much.”

  “Verna, I like you, too, but you have to trust me. Katherine and I will never be anything more than friends.”

  The fight passed easily enough. Verna had clung to him, her arms around his neck, and soon he wasn’t angry anymore.

  Later, Verna brought up the subject of their future. “No pressure. I know we haven’t been seeing each other for very long. Just wondering how you would classify our relationship. I guess, to be frank, I’m wondering how you feel about us.”

  This was not a conversation Scott wanted to have. He thought it was very premature. He put an arm around Verna’s shoulder. “I feel like we have plenty of time, that there is no need to rush things. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company and let the future unfold.”

  That was the best answer he could give. She didn’t push for a better one.

  Chapter Fifty

  When Katherine told Amy about the bad dreams and how Scott had come over, Amy asked why she’d called Scott instead of Michael.

  Katherine shrugged. “Michael’s great, except that I don’t appeal to him either.”

  “What do you mean either? Are we talking about Scott? Katherine, as crazy as this might seem to you, maybe he’s just not interested in you that way.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with me?”

  Amy laughed loudly. “You take the cake, Katherine. First you don’t want romance, so Scott backs off, and because he’s shown you nothing but respect, now your ego is bruised.”

  Katherine made a tsk sound. Amy is just annoying. “No, that’s not it.” Standing, she walked over to the front windows. She laid her forehead on the glass and looked out. “I guess he’s made his choice—friendship with me or romance with Verna. What guy is going to choose a woman he can just hang out with over a woman he can hang out with and have sex with?”

  “What about that maintenance man you told me about, Jack? Why don’t you ask him out?”

  “He is cute, and a huge flirt.”

  “Katherine, don’t you have somewhere to be? My head is starting to hurt.”

  “What, you don’t like my company?”

  “You want my neck to hurt, too?”

  “Ha-ha.”

  ***

  Katherine’s Sunday morning didn’t start out great. It was cloudy outside, she stubbed her toe, and when she went to get ready, she couldn’t find her lipstick. But she decided that the crummy-looking sky and her runaway lipstick wouldn’t ruin her day or keep her in
side. She headed out the door to get tea as planned—it was the only thing that made her feel good anymore. She’d been fighting the flu, and just when she’d start to feel better, her head would start to hurt or her stomach would churn again. The worst time was at night.

  She sat on the same stool at Starbucks she’d sat on the many times she and Scott had gone there. It seemed like such a long time ago. She looked outside. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, and only a few people were on the sidewalks. It was early, though. She figured everyone was either at church or still asleep.

  While she sipped her tea, traffic slowly picked up and more people appeared. They all seemed to be in a hurry, probably smelling the rain in the air. Soon it started to drizzle, complementing Katherine’s melancholy mood. She sat, chin supported on her hand, staring out the window.

  What the heck happened? One minute I have this great best friend and the next he’s off with some bleached-blonde bimbo.

  She thought of Ray, which never brought her pleasure. She’d been there for him through good times and bad. She thought of the time she’d waited on him hand and foot when he’d hurt his knee, but when she was sick he was never around to baby her. Then there was Michael. Something was going on with him. She’d thought she knew him because they’d worked together. That was one of the reasons she’d allowed herself to see him in a romantic light, but lately his behavior couldn’t be called anything but odd.

  Is he sleeping with someone else? Ha—sleeping with someone else implies he’s sleeping with me, too. We haven't been seeing each other all that long. Maybe I don't have a right to expect to have him all to myself.

  She pondered the possibility that there was someone else. Strangely, the thought didn’t really bother her.

  Katherine had played with the idea of dropping some hints to Jack. She’d run into him quite a few times since the time she’d seen him at the movies. It looked as if they had a lot in common, since he seemed to go to the same places she went. But then, getting involved with Michael had been a risk, and look how that was turning out.

  ***

  Monday night Katherine tossed and turned. Her head hurt and she felt like throwing up. She wished she’d get the flu or whatever her body was fighting and get it over with. When she did fall asleep, her dreams were disturbing images of that woman’s garage and the sound of shoes hitting the pavement as she was chased.

  It seemed to Katherine that instead of fading, the memories from that night and the bad dreams that followed were becoming more vivid and frightening. She awoke the next morning feeling groggy.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  He watched Katherine as she entered her office building. Time was running out. The longer he hung around, the more likely it was that the police would pick him up, or worse. Nothing he’d tried had worked out the way it should have. It was looking like he’d have to take a more hands-on approach, something he’d been trying to avoid. He worried that he’d chicken out again, like at the mall. That didn’t really count, though—he couldn’t be expected to stick around to get caught. When the opportunity arose, he’d be ready, and this time nothing would stop him.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Tuesday afternoon Katherine arrived home from work and was alarmed to see an ambulance outside her building. When she attempted to enter the lobby she was stopped by a female police officer.

  “I’m sorry miss, you’ll have to wait.”

  “But I live here,” said Katherine.

  “That may be, but it’s not safe to go in.”

  Just then Jack came around from behind the building; he was talking to a police officer. When he saw Katherine, he hurried over.

  “I’m relieved to see you, Katherine! Where is Amy?”

  “At work, I assume. What’s going on, Jack?”

  Jack took Katherine by the elbow and led her back toward the sidewalk. As he did, two paramedics left the building. Katherine recognized the woman on the gurney they were pushing as her next door neighbor.

  “What’s happened?

  “There was a carbon monoxide leak in her apartment. She’d called me yesterday about a leaky toilet, and when I knocked this morning to work on it I could hear moaning.”

  “Oh my God.”

  They moved out of the way of the approaching paramedics and watched as they placed Katherine’s neighbor into the ambulance.

  “Is she going to be alright?”

  “I don’t know. I think so. Like I said, I just spoke to her yesterday; she mentioned that she hadn’t been feeling well. We both thought maybe it was the flu or something. The only explanation I can think of is that it was a slow leak. I’ll know more later. For now, you’ll have to stay out, and let Amy know too.”

  Katherine thought back over the previous few weeks - she hadn’t been feeling one hundred percent either, and now she knew why.

  “Alright Jack, thanks. When should I return?”

  Jack looked up at the building. “Once I got your neighbor out, I grabbed a painter’s mask and got everyone else out, then opened most of the windows. I’d give it at least three hours.”

  “You’re a hero, Jack.”

  He smiled, then said, “Nah. I’ll see you later.”

  ***

  Katherine called and warned Amy, then drove over to the mall. After some walking around she was bored. She called Scott and told him about the leak.

  “How long did they say it would take for your place to air out?” he asked.

  “At least three hours.”

  “Come over. You can wait it out over here.”

  “I’ve been at the mall for an hour, so you’ll only be stuck with me for two.”

  Scott laughed, then said, “I’ll suffer through it.”

  “What about Verna?”

  “What about her? It’s still my apartment. Besides, she took the day off and treated her mother to a spa day somewhere in Sacramento.”

  “Ah, the truth comes out,” teased Katherine.

  Ten minutes later, Katherine stood at Scott’s kitchen counter opening a package of blueberry muffins. “Would you like your muffin heated?” she asked, and immediately regretted it. She looked at Scott, and he was grinning, of course. She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead say it. I don't want your head to explode.”

  Scott raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Would you like your muffin heated?” he said, trying to sound sexy.

  Why yes, yes I would. “You are such a goober.”

  Scott pulled a bottle of wine his boss had given him for Christmas out of the refrigerator. “Hey, it’s a dessert wine,” he said, seeing Katherine’s puzzled look. “Listen, Katherine, this is getting serious. What if what happened at your apartment wasn’t an accident?”

  “I thought the same thing, but the carbon monoxide leak was next door, not at my place. The paramedic said he’d been told one of the batteries in her detector had worked itself loose.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.”

  They started the evening at opposite ends of his couch, but it didn't take long before they were right next to each other. After talking about everything and nothing for a while, there was a comfortable silence.

  Scott often thought about what might have happened if he’d let himself lose control the morning after Katherine had had her bad dream. Those thoughts were the reason for a few restless nights. He knew that drinking wine with her in a dimly lighted room was pushing his luck and testing his resolve.

  “Why are your bangs always in your face? Did you forget your sunglasses?” teased Scott, knowing she usually had a pair perched on top of her head. Once, she’d worn a pair and had a pair on her head, too. He casually brushed her bangs aside; without thinking, she turned her face toward his hand. This innocent gesture ignited a passion within Scott. He reached over and caressed her cheek. She didn’t pull away. He traced the shape of her jawline and then ran his fingers gently over her lips, which parted for him. He placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her toward him. Scott’s lips were full and soft, and he kiss
ed her lips as softly as he might touch a rose. He held her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes. Then his lips found hers again. Soon, his kisses became more urgent. They pulled at each other’s clothes, but their lips never lost contact, as if they needed to feel the other’s lips to know it wasn’t a dream. Scott flung his shirt to the floor and pulled Katherine’s blouse over her head and tossed it aside. Rational thought was gone. All that was left was animal passion. His lips traveled down her neck and her back arched, invitingly. A second later, her lacy white bra lay next to the couch and Scott’s mouth covered her nipple. She gasped. Her hands ran through his hair and down over his chest, her fingers sliding through black chest hair.

  She felt as if she was on fire and couldn’t touch or kiss him enough. So aroused it almost hurt. She straddled Scott, delighting in the feel of his erection through his thin pants, and deliberately positioning herself on top of it, grinding just a little. She flicked his nipple with her tongue and kissed his chest from the indentation below his neck to his jeans. There was no outside world, only two nearly-naked bodies aching for a long-suppressed, barely controlled desire to finally be satisfied. Scott cupped her breasts, caressing them and kissing her nipples again. Their eyes met again, and the mutual desire, the mutual craving was clear. He unbuckled his belt and Katherine began pulling his pants off.

  Thoughts of consequences or anything else concerning the future were ignored - until the phone rang. Once, twice, and then the answering machine picked up and they heard Verna’s voice.

  “Hi baby, I’m on my way over. My mom and I decided to head home earlier than expected. See you soon.”

  For a moment they stared at each other. Then Scott stood. The magnitude of what they’d done, and almost done, was suddenly made clear. Katherine’s face turned pink and she looked away. As Scott buckled his pants he said,