“Kacy likes her privacy too,” Peter said.
“Does she flip out often?” Gulliver’s directness startled her.
“She’s all right most of the time. Changes scare her. It might be a good idea for you to stay away.”
Peter folded his arms and took a defensive stance. She stood at the end of the hall, finding his protectiveness cute. Nevertheless, she didn’t want him running off this particular man. This specific one she wanted to hang onto for as long as he would tolerate her “flipping out”.
“Gulliver, I’m ready to go out to eat now. Here are your socks and shoes.”
She watched him toss his shoes to the floor and slip his feet in without the socks. She never thought feet could be nice-looking on a man. She had an urge to touch Gulliver’s attractive toes.
He stuffed the stocks in his pants’ pocket and held his hand out for her.
“Peter, we’re going out to dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Kacy let Gulliver make the move that forced Peter to exit the house.
Peter didn’t try to hide his hurt expression. “I have to work until two, maybe then we can get together for coffee?”
“That’ll be perfect.” She handed her key to Gulliver and he locked her front door.
“It was good meeting you, Peter. Maybe I’ll stop around tomorrow afternoon and have coffee with you both. You can tell me the inside scoop on the other neighbors.”
Peter gave a rude grunt for an answer.
“You didn’t want to go out,” he whispered in Kacy’s ear as they walked across the lawn to his car.
“I changed my mind. A girl has a right to do that, doesn’t she?”
“From experience, I know they do it all the time.” He opened the car door for her and put a hand out for her to hold as she slid onto the seat.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“I mean for being here tonight. After how I acted at the ballpark and the pizza place, then hitting you with the lamp, today has to have been awful for you. I just want you to know I appreciate the kindness.”
“I think you’re worth it.” Gulliver strolled around the front of the car to the driver side of the vehicle.
He was like a beautiful dream, and Kacy took a deep breath and held it to prove she was awake. He made her happy with a few words and his wonderful smile, and she wanted the moment to last forever. But this was just the beginning of their evening—anything could happen to spoil it.
* * *
Colorful Chinese lanterns and crepe paper fans adorned the multi-room restaurant. The oriental wonderland livened Kacy’s mood to the point she coiled her arm around Gulliver’s as they waited for the hostess to seat them.
“It’s pretty in here, like a Chinese circus.” She rested her cheek against his shoulder and held his jacket sleeve with two hands wrapped around his bicep.
Several seconds passed before she became aware of her forwardness. The short car ride had been a little too quiet.
“It does look like a fun place to eat.” He covered her fingers and prevented her from letting go of him. “And since this is the first time here for us both, it can officially be our place.”
“Our place,” she repeated, and enjoyed the way he slipped his arm around her waist to lead her behind the small Asian woman escorting them to a table.
“I can’t understand why you’ve not been here—” He stopped short of finishing the sentence.
“I haven’t been out to eat with anyone over the height of four feet in two years.” She smiled, not wanting the past to ruin her night—or her future.
“I’m honored.” He pulled the chair out for her. “Though I have a feeling you were ready to do this and I just happened to be around when you got up the courage.”
Kacy looked at the menu handed to her.
“What you want to drink?” The woman had a thick Chinese accent.
“Water,” Kacy answered.
“I’ll have the same,” Gulliver said.
“I be back in one minute.” Their waitress left them alone.
“Kacy, don’t be too concerned how I’ll respond to your overreactions. I know what happened and I think you’re doing a terrific job in getting your life back together. It might not be happening as quickly as you’d like, but I know you’re brave. It takes a lot of courage to club a man climbing through a window.”
His hand went to the side of his head and he cringed. She wanted to do something to make it better. The restaurant wasn’t the right place to hold ice on a guy’s head.
“That wasn’t bravery, it was confusion,” she confessed. “If my brain didn’t freeze up and shut down my thought process, I could do almost anything by now.”
“What is the worst problem you have?” He folded his hands together, ready to listen.
“The worst, I guess, would be the way I come out of my skin when I’m touched.”
“You did pretty well with me.” He extended his hand across the table.
Kacy looked at his open palm—so unthreatening. She liked the way it felt on hers. She slipped her fingers onto his, greedy for his generous kindness.
“It’s all right to be oversensitive with the touching, as well as the leaving the house and the socializing. I’ve met women that completely went over the edge after…well after an incident such as you endured. You’ll be all right because you know you have to be.”
“I don’t know about that.” She laughed at the thought of ever feeling normal again.
“Don’t let it get you down. Stay strong and determined. It’ll pay off in the end.”
“I’m sure I would be stronger if I had someone like you to tell me that all the time.”
“Done,” he said immediately with a smile.
Kacy looked away. Her innocent compliment could have been easily mistaken for a diehard plea from a desperate woman. She didn’t want him to think it, even if it was true.
“Damn!” Gulliver shot up from his chair. “We’ve got to go.”
“What’s wrong?”
His panic became her panic. Her lungs seized up, not letting air out.
“I’m sorry.” He snatched her hand and held it to his chest. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Oh God, no.” He carefully cupped her cheek. “I left my piece in your living room.”
“Your piece?” As the words came out, she realized he meant his gun. “Oh.”
“I don’t ever leave it just lying about,” he explained, hurrying her through the restaurant toward the exit. “Someone could steal it and use it in a crime.”
“You no eat?” The Asian woman, carrying two tall glasses of ice water, rushed at them.
“Not here, not tonight. I have somewhere to be.” He plucked the menu out from under the woman’s arm. “Order something to be delivered, Kacy.”
She didn’t have to look.
“I’d like noodles, rice, Kung Pao chicken, hot and sour soup, and ah… ah two egg rolls. Gulliver, what do you want?”
“Lord, Kacy, you’ve ordered enough for two.” He looked jokingly from front to back of her. “Where do you put it?”
“Don’t worry about that. Now order.”
“Double yours and I’ll go get the car and pull it up out front while you give her the address.”
He turned away and a tremor rose in her throat at his abandonment. The sound made Gulliver stop and come back to her. His hand hesitated in midair. “Touch?”
Kacy nodded and leaned for his caress to her cheek.
Do for yourself, Kacy.
“I’ll be all right,” she assured him.
“I’ll be out front waiting for you.” His stroke brushed along her jaw and then dropped away.
Kacy faced the hostess and gave her the order again and the address for delivery. She glanced around, feeling a stir of pride that she’d done something for herself in an unfamiliar location. She had been all right with the gas station, the supermarket, the drycle
aner and a few other places. However, her sister had accompanied her for several months before she chanced them alone.
When she walked outside, Gulliver was just driving up to the curb. She smiled, thinking how the day had turned all around. A handsome man taking her home to have dinner could lead anywhere. They’d talk, maybe he’d even kiss her and she’d steal a moment of complete peace.
If everyday life had happy endings like fairytales, she would have been all set, except a figure across the street moved and she looked. She shouldn’t have.
The car came to the curb for her. If she opened the door herself, she’d soon be home with Gulliver.
Instead, she stood transfixed by the sight of the man with a black ski mask located directly across Main Street. He watched her. Hypnotized by fear, she remained rooted in place on the pavement.
Her heart hammered wildly for the wrong reason. She wanted it to beat for a different sort of adrenaline rush, instead of the trouble her newfound hero wouldn’t want to bother with.
Chapter Six
“I hope they deliver the feast quickly. I’m getting hungry.” Gulliver said.
Vaguely aware of Gulliver’s presence, she didn’t reply as he came around to open the door for her. Her limbs wouldn’t cooperate in moving and she didn’t even jump when Gulliver touched her arm.
“Kacy?”
His question sounded far off.
She couldn’t let the man across the street intimidate her. Whether he was real or imaginary, she had to take a stand against the psychological paralysis threatening to destroy her.
“Kacy, get in and stay there.” Gulliver demanded, pushing her toward the car.
The man stood brazenly, still staring directly at her. Gulliver’s command did not move her.
“You see him, don’t you?” She trembled, dreading another hallucination.
“Yes. Now get in and lock the doors,” he ordered, placing her hand on the car roof.
Gulliver ran across the street, dodging oncoming traffic from both directions. That it could be the man she feared waiting to grab her brought her less worry than the fact she’d put Gulliver in danger.
“Gulliver,” she yelled.
Kacy watched the scene, terrified Gulliver would get hurt. It would be her fault.
When she lost sight of him, she glanced into the car and saw the keys dangling in the ignition. She climbed in and shut the door behind her. Trying to scoot across to the driver’s seat, she discovered her shoelace was stuck in the door. Too much time was passing, so she jerked her foot out of the shoe to get behind the wheel.
Her fingers shook while turning the key. She’d seen movies where people panicked and couldn’t even get a vehicle started. She found it a silly concept and always thought if she were in that situation, she’d have no trouble starting a car. She was glad to see she was right.
Without much care for the traffic, she pulled away from the curb. She imagined driving forever, further than anyone ever believed possible. Yet it wouldn’t get her away from her nightmares and she had one other reason not to flee—Gulliver. She had to stay because of him.
Kacy found a place to turn around in a convenience store parking lot. Now she was on the same side of the street as Gulliver. She scanned the sidewalk as she drove along until she spotted him further down, tackling the man to the ground. She pulled the car over and stopped to watch them tussle on the pavement. They were equal in size, and she worried Gulliver would lose the fight. When he was kicked in the face, Gulliver staggered back, appearing stunned.
“Gulliver,” she breathed inaudibly, and fumbled with the door handle to get out.
Trapped in the car, she hunted for the unlock button. Unable to find it right away, she looked out the windshield to see Gulliver recovered from the blow. He grabbed the man’s clothing and jerked him down.
Gulliver twisted the fellow’s arm behind his back and kept him pinned on the pavement with his knee in his spine. He pulled the ski mask from the man and Kacy felt disappointed when she saw the straight, dark hair. It couldn’t be her attacker.
The loud, shrill sirens of police cars parted traffic and the cruisers pulled to a stop. The irritating noise from the cars ceased as Kacy unlocked the car door and got out.
She stood on the street and grasped the top edge of the window as the officers ran to Gulliver with their guns aimed at him. An explanation ensued that she couldn’t hear, and soon spectators multiplied between her and the scene, making it impossible to see. She stepped up on the lip of the doorframe and looked over everyone’s heads. The police officers handcuffed the man and let Gulliver walk away.
Her heart raced. She hopped down and hurried around the car to meet him.
“Do you recognize him?” He wiped the back of his hand over the corner of his mouth.
“No. It’s not him, the man that… It’s not him.”
She pulled the passenger door open and leaned inside to get a pack of tissues out of her purse.
“You’re positive?”
“Yes. I’m very sure.” She lifted a tissue to his face and dabbed the blood on his cut lip.
“Ouch, that’s enough.” He took her hand away and held it.
“Are you ready to sell your house and get as far away from me as you possibly can?”
“And miss all the excitement?” He gave her a reassuring smile. “I think I can handle it. Are you one hundred percent certain it’s not the same man? Maybe if you got a closer look? I can take you to the police station where they’ll do a line-up.”
“My attacker had fair skin and light, sandy blond hair that might have been curly. That man has dark, straight hair and a darker complexion.”
“Yet you thought I was after you.”
She shrugged sheepishly.
“Kacy, did you ever consider the man might have worn a wig or dyed his hair? Maybe he’s dying it a dark color now.”
All she remembered about her attacker’s appearance were the glimpses he allowed her to see of him in the dim light. Maybe he had changed his appearance then.
Gulliver raked his fingers through his windblown hair. She reached to touch the wavy black strands and discovered the silky locks didn’t have the same coarse texture as Peter’s wiry curls.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” He placed his hands on her hips.
“I should be asking you that question.” She touched the corner of his mouth, pushing aside the new concern she had that if Gulliver was right, then all men became suspects, not just blond-haired ones.
“A little bruised, nothing fatal.”
“I don’t understand the mask. It’s summer.” She looked back at the police.
“Oh, he was up to something, there’s no doubt about that. Probably a purse-snatcher or mugger. The officers will take him in and check for prior warrants. I told them about your unsolved case, so they’ll compare his fingerprints to those in your file.”
Kacy put her fingers up near his eye. “That shoe must have smarted when he kicked you.” He flinched and it made her giggle.
“Oh, you think this is funny?” he teased.
“Well, now who doesn’t want to be touched?” She cupped the side of his face and her finger slid over the scar above the same eye. “Will you tell me what happened?”
“I was kicked, remember?” His hand slipped around to her back.
“No, before.” She brushed the scar again and traced it to his hairline.
“Another time.” He turned her toward the car.
“Okay. We should get some ice on the new injury before it swells. Then you can tell me about the scar.”
“I’ve always wondered what I’d look like as a boxer after a fight.” He attempted to guide her into the car.
“I’ll drive.” She slipped free from him.
“I can drive.”
“No, now get in,” she insisted.
“Your shoe, Cinderella?” He held up her sneaker.
“The laces got caught in the door.”
“Give
me your foot.”
Kacy swiveled on the leather driver’s seat and put her foot up where he could slip it on. He held her heel and brushed the road grit off her sole. He made a big production of dusting off her toes. He eventually got her shoe on and tied. His hands still wrapped around her foot.
“Kacy, I don’t want you to chase after me like that.”
She jerked her leg from him and stared out the front window. She didn’t know what to say.
“I think I said that wrong.” He reached over and covered her hand on the seat before she could move it away.
“Oh?”
She had started falling for Gulliver too fast and too hard from the moment he stepped into her house.
“I meant, on the off chance I was ever pursuing someone again. I’d prefer to know you were at a safe distance next time.”
“I don’t want there to be a next time.”
“No?”
“No. I’d rather not have to watch you in danger at all.” She pulled from his touch.
“Hmmm, that’s what I thought you meant.” He grinned when she looked at him.
“You don’t mind, do you?” She paused, holding the steering wheel. “That I drive?”
“I don’t usually like people driving my car. They always go adjusting the mirrors, the seat and the steering wheel. Then it takes me forever to get it back where I want.”
Kacy’s brow rose.
“I’m kidding.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Her insecurities teetered between trusting his smile and looking for some hidden sarcasm.
“Hell no, I like being chauffeured.”
Gulliver stretched his legs out, reclined his seat and put his head back with his eyes closed. Then he turned and stared at her.
“I’m sorry for getting you hurt.” She rubbed the steering wheel nervously.
A Desperate Longing Page 6