by Ann Mullen
“Stay here, Mom,” I said as I stood, walked over to the coat rack, and grabbed my coat.
“I don’t think so, Missy,” she responded. “I want to know what’s going on with my daughter.”
Mom was right behind me as I walked out onto the porch. We both stood with our mouth hanging open as we watched Cole slap Claire. He pinned her up against the wall, but released her and stepped back when he saw us.
“Have you lost your mind?” I yelled as I pushed him aside. I grabbed Claire by her coat sleeve and pushed her toward Mom. My anger let loose. The only thing I could think to do was to knee him in the groin. The look on his face was not only one of shock, but also one of pain. I had hit him where it hurts, and I did it as hard as I could. He grabbed himself and bent over.
“Get inside,” I said to Mom and Claire. “Cole’s leaving.”
Mom and Claire hustled inside.
I looked up and could see them peering through the window. They were hugging each other as they watched. I turned back to look at Cole. If I’d had a bat handy, I would’ve beaten him up side the head with it. I would have hit him until he bled. He deserved to be hurt like he had hurt my sister. It was all I could do to keep myself from going inside and getting my gun and coming back out to shoot him. My anger was so out of control that I had to back off and take a deep breath. I let a few minutes pass before I spoke.
“I think you should leave,” I said as I shivered in the night air. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I think you’re the one who needs to see a doctor. Get help, Cole. This isn’t like you.”
“I’m sorry, Jesse, but she made me do it. She was getting ready to tell lies about me. She knows how I feel about you and she won’t leave me alone about it.”
“You lied to me, Cole. You said you had never hit my sister, and I almost believed you. Men like you are sick. You need therapy. ”
The front door opened and Mom tossed Cole’s duffel bag out onto the porch. She slammed the door shut without even looking at him.
“I guess that says it all.” I turned and walked back into the house.
The three of us stood in front of the window hugging each other as we watched Cole leave. Claire cried as his tail lights disappeared into the night.
“It’s okay,” I said to her as I pulled the curtains together, hoping to block out the ugly scene. “He needs the kind of help you can’t give him.”
“I know,” she said. “But I still care about him.”
“Of course, you do,” Mom said as she walked Claire over to the sofa. “We all care about Cole and when he calms down; maybe you can talk him into getting some professional counseling. Cole’s a good man, but he obviously has a few problems to work out. I’ve never known him to act like this before. However, I can’t stand by and let him hurt you. Maybe a doctor can help him learn to control his temper.”
“He needs help, but he’s going to need a lot more than just help when Billy finds out what happened,” I said. “There’s no telling what Billy will do. He’ll flip out.”
“Jesse, please, you can’t tell Billy,” Claire cried.
“Billy has enough on his plate as it is,” Mom said. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell him just yet.”
“Tell me what,” Billy asked as he walked through the front door.
All three of us squealed as we jumped up and ran to him. We hugged and kissed on him as if we hadn’t seen him in months. In the background, a baby cried out. The dogs came out from hiding and barked wildly. Benny came down the stairs rubbing his eyes as he held onto Carrie’s hand.
“It’s too loud,” Benny said. “You woke us up.”
“It’s loud, Mama,” Carrie added.
We all broke out in laughter.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” I said as I helped Billy take off his coat.
“It’s been a long day,” he said and then bent down and kissed me sweetly on the lips. “I’m so glad to be home. They had to let me go when they found out the blood on Jonathan’s clothes was from an animal. I tried to tell them, but you know how they are. They just don’t listen.”
“I’m so glad you’re home, too,” I said.
“What kind of secret are you gals keeping from me?” He looked at each of us.
Neither one of us said a word.
Russ Shank walked in after a light tap on the door. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Please do,” I said. “Come and warm up by the fire. I have to go get Maisy.” I turned to go to the bedroom and looked up and saw Claire walking out of my room carrying Maisy in her arms.
“Somebody’s wet and hungry.”
“We fed her a couple of hours ago,” I replied.
Mom and Claire looked at each other and laughed.
“We’ll take care of her while you talk to Billy,” Mom said. “I know you two have a lot to talk about.” Mom gave me a funny look and I knew exactly what she meant. She didn’t want me to tell Billy about Cole… and I wasn’t going to, yet. “Tomorrow, you and I will have a class on childcare.” Mom snickered as she went to the kitchen. “Right now, I need to heat up a bottle for the little one.”
Claire handed Maisy to me. “Hold her while I get the kids back to bed.”
Maisy stopped crying the minute I cradled her in my arms.
“Wow! Did you see that? She stopped crying.”
“You’re a natural,” Russ said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” I replied as I turned to him. “Russ, why don’t you make yourself at home while I show Billy how to change a diaper?”
Billy laughed and said, “I have news for you, Missy, I already know how to do that stuff.”
I heard Mom in the kitchen chuckling.
“I guess you do, partner, but it never hurts to practice.”
Billy turned to Russ and said, “I’m pretty sure there’s coffee in the pot if you’d like a cup.”
“No, thanks,” Russ said. “I’ve have enough for one day. I think I’ll be heading out. We’ll talk in the morning, but if anything should happen before then, give me a call.”
“You don’t have to leave so soon, do you?” Claire asked as she came down the stairs. “Mom would probably love to fix you a cup of hot chocolate. It won’t take but a minute. ”
“I could do that,” Mom said from the kitchen.
“Well, if it wouldn’t be a problem, I guess I could drink one cup.”
Billy and I smiled at each other as we walked to the bedroom. Once we were in the bedroom, Billy closed the door, leaned down and kissed me.
“That was nice,” I said.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. I’m so glad you’re home.”
Maisy let out a cry.
“Oops, sorry little one,” I said. “It’s your turn.” I placed her in the crib and then reached down and grabbed a disposable diaper from the bag, and the container of baby wipes. I removed the diaper, wiped her rear end with a baby wipe and then put on a fresh diaper. I snapped her one piece pajama set back together and then picked her up. “See, piece of cake,” I said. My hands were shaking just a little.
Billy smiled when he noticed. “Are you a little nervous, dear?”
“This is new to me, plus I do have a handicap,” I said as I wiggled the fingers of my arm with the cast on it. “But I can handle it.” I placed Maisy up on my chest and rubbed her back. “She hardly cries. I always thought babies cry every time they wake up and continue to cry until they get their bottle, but she doesn’t. See, she isn’t crying now. She’s a happy baby.”
“She has good parents… had good parents.”
“How’s Brian holding up?”
“He’s devastated about Vicki. She was his whole life. He told me that if it wasn’t for Maisy, he wouldn’t care if he died in prison. He’s lost his soul mate and has nothing to go home to, except Maisy.”
“It’s a sad thing, because you and I know that if the police think Brian killed Vicki, they won’t be out looking for the real killer.”<
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“That’s what I’m here for. I promised Brian I would find Vicki’s killer, and I plan to keep that promise.”
Mom came to the bedroom door and said, “Her bottle’s ready.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said. I looked at Billy. “I guess it’s time for me to feed her. Babies sure are a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
We walked to the living room. I sat down in the rocking chair and stuck the bottle’s nipple in Maisy’s mouth. I tried to relax as she sucked on the bottle. Halfway through the feeding, she seemed to stop sucking, so I placed her against my shoulder and patted her back. She belched a tiny burp, and then we went through the procedure again.
“This is much easier than I thought.”
Everybody looked around at each other and then back at me and laughed.
“You’re something else, Jesse,” Russ said. “You act as if this is the first time you’ve ever taken care of a baby.”
“It is,” I said. I looked over at Claire. “Claire was too fussy to let me take care of Benny or Carrie, and now I understand why. It’s a big responsibility.”
“Consider this a chance to get some practice before your baby comes,” Mom said.
The phone rang.
“Who’s calling at this time of night?” Billy asked as he got up to answer the phone.
I looked over at the clock above the computer table and realized that it was later than I thought. “It’s almost midnight. Who in their right mind would call at this time of night?”
Billy looked down at the phone on the table and said, “It’s Cole. I was wondering what he was up to. I thought he’d still be here.”
“He was going to stay the night, but things changed,” I said, looking from Mom to Claire and then back to Billy.
“Hello, Cole,” Billy answered. “What can I do for you? Okay, just a minute.” Billy turned to look at Claire. “He wants to talk to you.”
“Please tell him that I’ve gone to bed,” she said as she got up from the sofa and headed to the stairs. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”
“What was that about?” Billy asked me as he held the phone. He placed it to his ear and said, “I’m afraid she’s gone to bed. You’ll have to call her in the morning. What? It’s going to have to wait, Cole. I don’t think she wants to talk to you. What did you do?”
We weren’t privy to the rest of the conversation. A second later, Billy hung up the phone and walked over and sat down on the hearth close to Maisy and me.
“She is so cute,” he said. He looked back over at Russ. “It’s getting late. Do you want to stay the night? We have plenty of room.”
“Thanks, Billy, but I can’t. As a matter-of-fact, I need to be leaving.” He stood and took his cup to the sink and then headed to the door. “I’ll see you folks later.”
“Thanks, Russ,” Billy said as he got up to see him out. He shook his hand and then walked outside. A few seconds later, he came back inside.
“Whew! It’s cold out there,” Billy said as he rubbed his hands together and then shut the door. “I’m ready for bed.”
“So am I,” Mom agreed. She got up from the sofa, walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Maisy looks as if she’s ready for bed, too. It’s been a long day for all of us.”
I looked down and Maisy was sound asleep. “Bless her heart. She’s crashed. I guess I’d better put her in her crib.” I handed the almost empty bottle to Mom and put Maisy on my chest. She stirred, let out a small burp, and then went back to sleep.
“I’ll go with you,” Mom said.
“Count me in,” Billy added.
Once Maisy was settled in her crib, Mom left the room and went upstairs to bed. Billy and I stood for a little while, watching Maisy sleep.
“Pretty soon we’ll have our own little warrior to watch over,” Billy said with a smile.
“Yes, we will,” I agreed. I turned to Billy and put my arms around his waist. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was really worried.”
“I had a few moments of doubt myself.”
“What happened at the police station?”
“Why don’t we talk about this in the morning, Jesse? It’s late, I’m beat and I need to take a shower.”
“The last time you said that to me, all kinds of trouble broke out. That’s not going to happen this time, is it?”
“Nope, nothing crazy happened. It went just as I expected.”
Billy started to undress as I watched. His body was firm, and the bronze color of his skin added to his appeal. I marveled at the sight of him as he stood half-naked in our bedroom.
“Where’s your T-shirt?” I asked.
“I voluntarily gave it to Captain Waverly for the K9 Unit. I had to give them something or it would’ve slowed down the process, and I’d still be there.”
“Well, I guess they’ll probably return it when they come back in the morning.”
“I doubt if they’ll be coming back tomorrow. Like I said when I got home, the blood on Jonathan’s shirt and pants was from an animal just like we tried to tell them.”
“Did they let Jonathan go?”
“They didn’t have much choice.”
“How did you get that blood on your clothes?”
“While you were in the hospital, Jonathan and I had gone to have a talk with Sheriff Hudson and on the way home someone had hit a deer.” Billy turned and headed to our bathroom as I followed.
“The deer wasn’t dead, so I got out of the truck, shot it in the head, and then Jonathan and I carried it into the woods.”
“Yuck!”
“We couldn’t just let it lay there and suffer. It was the right thing to do, but it was a hard thing to do it.”
“I don’t think I have the courage it takes to do something like that.”
“Oh, yes you do, Jesse. You could do it. It doesn’t take courage; it just takes heart, and you have a heart.”
“That’s such a sweet thing to say... I think.”
Billy turned on the shower and went to step in.
“Do you mind if I join you?” I asked. “I’ll have to hang my arm out of the shower, but…”
“By all means,” he replied.
The warm water felt wonderful and Billy’s kisses felt even better. Later, as we lay cuddled together in bed, Billy rubbed my tummy and said, “I can’t wait until we have our baby, `ge ya.”
I kissed him on the lips and said, “Me, too, Billy.”
I fell asleep in his arms, dreaming of things to come. I had no idea of how quickly good dreams could turn into bad ones, and how life had a habit of mimicking those dreams... but I was about to find out.
CHAPTER 12
Billy shook me as he tried to wake me from the terrible nightmare I was having. “Jesse, wake up,” he said. “You’re having a bad dream. He shook me again. “Wake up, `ge ya.”
I opened my eyes and noticed the room was still dark. “What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s four o’clock in the morning. I’m sorry to wake you, but you were obviously having a bad dream. You kept tossing and turning. Twice you tried to yell out something, but I couldn’t make out what you were trying to say. Are you all right?”
I sat up in bed and looked around. Slowly, the dream came back to me. Cole had been chasing me around the house, waving a piece of paper under my nose and yelling, “See, I told you so! I knew it all along! Wait until I tell Billy!” The piece of paper contained the results from a paternity test… my paternity test. I felt nauseated. I lay back down next to Billy and said, “I’m fine. It was just a bad dream. It’s over. Let’s go back to sleep.”
I had barely dozed off when I heard a baby’s cry. At first, I thought I was still dreaming and then I realized I wasn’t. Maisy was awake and ready for some attention.
“I’ll get her,” Billy said. “You go back to sleep.”
“No, that’s okay,” I replied as I sat up in bed and tried to come to life. “I’ll help. I need to get used to waking up at all hours of t
he night.”
“I hate to tell you this, `ge ya, but it’s six-thirty. Half the day is gone.”
“You always say that,” I said, laughing. “If you had it your way, you’d never sleep.”
“I do like to get up at the crack of dawn. I like to see the sun come up.”
“I’m not a morning person, but I’m working on it.”
Billy jumped out of bed and walked over to Maisy’s crib. He bent down, picked her up, and then brought her over to me. He laid her on the bed. “I’ll get a diaper and a change of clothes for her. While you do your magic, I’ll go heat up a bottle.”
I had to laugh. “Magic, huh?”
“From what I’ve observed, you seem to be a natural.”
“Ah, you’re just trying to make me feel good.”
“That’s not true. I saw how Maisy reacted to your touch, and I’m telling you, you’re going to make a fine mother.”
“I hope so,” I said.
As I changed Maisy’s diaper and clothes, not once did she cry out. She lay there with a smile on her face. I couldn’t help but think about how sad it was going to be for her to grow up without a mother. I brushed aside those thoughts. I crawled out of bed, picked up Maisy, and then headed to the kitchen. Billy handed me her bottle.
I stuck the bottle in Maisy’s mouth and walked over to the rocking chair to sit down. “I haven’t had a chance to brush my hair. I must look like a mess.”
“I’ve seen worse,” Mom said as she came down the stairs dressed and ready for a new day. She walked over to where I was sitting. “I can feed her if you want to go brush your hair.”
“That’s okay, Mom. I can live with unruly hair.”
“Where’s her car seat?” Mom asked. “We’ll need something for her to sit in while she’s awake.”
“We can take turns holding her,” I said.
They both looked at me as if I was crazy.
“That’s not a good idea,” Mom said. “We don’t want to hold her all the time. What we can do is put her in her seat and let her take in her surroundings. Someone will always be near her. Besides, she’ll let us know if she gets bored.”
“Okay, if that’s what you think we should do,” I said.