by Freya Barker
I haven't been back there while he's been working at the house, because I've been busy helping out in the diner while Beth is glued to Clint's bedside, but Joe's checked in a few times.
This is the first time I'm seeing it and what hits me right away when we drive up is the fabulous looking new porch. No sign of the scorch marks and damage to the siding left behind by the explosion. How he managed to do that in barely five days, I have no idea. Joe mentioned he had a large crew with him every time he went over there.
A brand new front door is in its hinges and all the windows appear to have been replaced.
The biggest impact is on the inside, where they not only fixed any damage done to the walls, the basement and bathroom door, but a fresh coat of paint in a buttery yellow makes the entire hallway feel like the sun is shining inside.
"I love this color. Who picked it?"
With just a slight nudge of his head Jed indicates to Joe, who is chatting with some of the crew. He gives me a curious look when I walk up, slide my arms around his waist and kiss his chest.
"What's that for?" he wants to know.
"Brightening my hallway and my day," I reply smiling up at him.
"If that’s my reward for the color in the hallway, I can't wait until you see the master bath."
"Bathroom? But we haven't even gone over the details for the house yet? The clinic was going to come first."
Confusion must've shown on my face because he chuckles. "Go have a look. You seem to enjoy the bathroom at the guesthouse so much, I thought this might go a long way toward making this feel a bit more like home to you. Besides, you'll be so busy with people trampling down those clinic doors when it opens, you should have at least one place where you can relax."
With a squeal I let go of him and sprint up the stairs. First door I open is the master bedroom, where a massive canopy bed, with simple lines and straight corner spindles that reach almost to the ceiling, takes center stage. A matching dresser with eight large drawers stands against the opposite wall and in the little alcove by the window sits a big comfortable looking club chair with fat armrests and a footstool. Perfect place to look out on the gorgeous views and read a book.
"But...I don't understand? When? How?" I stammer, not quite believing my eyes and looking for answers to Joe, who has followed me into the room.
"Do you like?"
"I love it! It's absolutely gorgeous, but this'll seriously blow my budget."
"Not your worry, it's my housewarming gift." He holds up his hand to silence me when he recognizes the argument I'm about to give him. "A gift to myself as well, beautiful, since I plan on spending as many nights as I'm welcome to, right here in that big ass bed with you."
He's right. When he puts it that way, I have no room to argue. Who am I to challenge a man who couldn't be making it clearer that he plans on taking up a substantial space in my life, especially when I so desperately want him there?
"Have I told you how much I love you?"
"You don't have to. I know. But only because I love you just as much," he chuckles planting a kiss on my forehead. "Now go check out your bathroom."
I have to admit, I'm not really surprised to find a fully decked out oversized bathtub replacing the old cracked one that was here before. Nor does it really shock me that the shower that's been newly installed is big enough to fit two people comfortably, with a large number of showerheads of different shapes and sizes for the full experience. Fact I've come to understand is that these men—Gus and Caleb being prime examples—all have a thing about their showers; they like them big and shared with their women. The boys love to play in water.
"I'm leaving now. I should be there in five. Do you want me to pick something up?" I ask Katie, when I'm heading out to check up on little Mattias, who appears to have survived his bout with thrush just fine, to his daddy's great relief.
"No need. Emma came by yesterday and dropped off enough muffins and sweetbreads to last me the month," is her response.
"See you in a few then."
I pull out of the Parker place—I really have to stop calling it that, since it's technically my place now—and turn toward town. Joe mentioned he was hoping we could meet up at the diner for lunch after, since he has something he needs to talk over with me. Thank God Joe was able to rent his own wheels until he's able to sort things out with his insurance company. They're being assholes since I guess they don't deal with intentional explosions that often. A bit concerning that they don't have that whole thing tied off with a neat little bow yet, but it looks like Heffler may have covered his tracks really well. There hasn't been any way to tie the C-4 explosives to him. Anyway, Joe having his own ride means we can get so much more stuff done, although I have to admit, I kinda miss having him join wherever I have to go and vice versa.
My mind is going over a checklist list of things I want to get for the house and this afternoon's scheduled visit from Kendra to discuss all things clinic when a car almost ploughs in to me at the first intersection in town. I'm sure I have the right of way, since I was just pulling up from the stop sign. Seems the other car never even slowed down approaching the intersection and ploughs right through. I have to swerve and slam on my brakes to avoid it. A pang of unease shoots through me when the green Toyota barrels through even after almost hitting me. I recognize the car from a few other near run-ins over the past few weeks. Other than a quick glimpse of what looked to be a woman behind the wheel, I don't register much else. The rear license plate is illegible with only 'BM' showing as part of the number. I consider calling Joe right away, but decide to wait until I get to Katie's.
The excitement of seeing Katie already waiting by the door with a happy little baby in her arms is enough to make my need to call Joe slip to the back of my mind. It isn't until after I've examined and declared Mattias healthy and the thrush gone, that I remember to give him a call, but by that time I'm almost ready to leave and meet up with him at the diner anyway, so I decide to wait and tell him face to face.
Walking into the diner is starting to feel like coming home, especially since I've spent so much time here this past week. Some of the regulars wave when I come in and Arlene comes out from behind the counter giving me a big hug.
"Hey chicky. I don't do it much, so mark this down to warm you over those cold winter days coming up, and don't repeat it to anyone cause I'll only deny it, but thank you for your help this week. It made things much better with that extra pair of hands," she says in a low voice and immediately releases me, stepping back behind the protection of the counter.
"Aww, thanks Arlene but it's been my pleasure. I was starting to get bored not doing anything productive and picking up a little slack for Beth was the perfect distraction. How’s Clint by the way?"
"Still out. I swear the man does it on purpose, knowing Beth is sitting next to his bed waiting to tear into him like she always does, keeping his eyes tightly closed hoping for her to leave him in peace."
After Arlene's own initial rocky start with Clint, she appears to have grown quite fond of the big lug. Has to be said though, the man does have a way of getting off on the wrong foot with just about every female he encounters. Once people realize the words out of his mouth aren’t intended to be as offensive to the recipient as they might initially sound when they leave his mouth—being the true tender-heart that he is—it's easy to recognize the good man underneath. Well. For everyone except Beth, around who he seems to get so rattled, the holes he digs himself with his 'Southern charm' just keep getting deeper and deeper. Curious that she'd be the one sitting by his bedside, holding his hand and almost willing him to pull through this.
"Your man is already in the kitchen having a chat with Seb if you want to go in. I'll just clean off that booth by the window and you guys can sit when you're done."
I find the guys chatting by the big industrial stove where Seb is cooking something that smells absolutely amazing.
"What'ya making?" I ask leaning over his shoulder to peek in the
pan. Seb turns around to give me a hug and kiss, and shakes his head with a chuckle when a low growl can be heard from Joe's direction.
"Jambalaya, with freshly ground spices, mango, chicken and spicy sausage. No shrimp in this one," he responds grabbing a tasting spoon from the drawer in his work-station, scoops some up and holds it out for me to try. "Here, have a taste."
The flavors burst out over my tongue; a sharp bite of the sausage and what I'm sure is hot pepper, the juicy morsels of chicken, the tang of the mango and the fragrance of the cumin and cloves I can detect, have me ordering a big bowl for lunch. Delicious. Joe follows suit and we find our booth, each carrying our own food to the table.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" I ask Joe, when both of us sit back with an after-lunch coffee.
"Gus offered me a place with GFI last night. I won't say this hasn't crossed my mind before, or is an idea that is entirely new, but with this suspension and the way the brass is dragging their heels to get it resolved, I'm getting tired of the political manoeuvring. Pissed that I'd have to be worried about placing my family's safety before everything else, knowing it could come back to bite me. It's no way to build a future. Be putting a serious kink in the pleasure I used to take in working. The thought of being able to continue in the law-enforcement field, with a company I know will always have not only my, but my family's back, is very appealing. I'm thinking about it, but didn't want to make any decisions without you." With a creased brow and pensive eyes he looks at me, as if to gage my reaction. So I grab his hand over the table and hold on while I seriously consider my words.
"I hate the thought that I may have been cause for the problems they've been giving you, but—" I hold up my hand when he opens his mouth to protest, "I realize it isn't much different from what I've just done with the hospital myself. I think you'll love working with Gus and the boys and though I'm sure you'll miss certain parts of the job you’d leave behind, you'll get so much more in return. You need to know that I've never felt safer, even with everything we've just been through, with you by my side. I'm so grateful for the promise of a future full of that security."
Joe reaches over with his free hand to wipe at the tears that have started trickling down my face.
"Happy tears then?" he asks smiling, cocking his head to the side.
"Extremely," I tell him.
After a productive meeting with Kendra in the afternoon, where we manage to create a long list of needs, wants and dreams for the future in terms of the clinic, I roll into bed that night wrapped around Joe's large protective frame, exhausted but excited by all the upcoming changes.
Around two in the morning though, I wake up screaming from a nightmare featuring a green Toyota.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"It's okay, beautiful. I've got you."
I wake up with Naomi screaming and thrashing in the bed beside me, but before I can grab hold of her, she bolts out of the bed and climbs in the bathtub where she sits curled up and shaking, looking at me like I'm the boogeyman. Fox comes flying in from the living room, his hair all askew from sleep.
"What's wrong? Why's Mom screaming?"
"Bad dream, Bud. Go back to bed. We have a big moving day tomorrow and we're getting up early. I'll take care of your mom. Don't worry."
I watch him shuffle back to the couch before closing the door and stepping into the bathtub to gather Naomi up and wrap myself around her. The whimpers from her lips gut me. She hasn't had an attack in weeks and I'm not sure where this one comes from. Out of the blue.
It's not that long before her breathing returns to normal and her eyes become clearer, and she lifts her face to me for a kiss.
"What happened, babe? One minute you’re in the middle of what looked like a nightmare, and the next, you're in a full-fledged attack."
"I remember only bits and pieces of the dream, but I think I know what triggered it. With all the distractions yesterday, I forgot to mention the green Toyota."
"What green Toyota? Like the one that cut us off a while back?" I'm a little surprised something like that would be cause for a nightmare, but her next words send a cold chill through me.
"Looked like the same one. I actually had an incident with one just like it at the first intersection in town. It just blew through the stop sign and I barely managed to avoid being broadsided."
I grab hold of her shoulders and sit her back so I can look at her. "Why didn't you call?"
"I was going to as soon as I got to Katie's but then she was waiting with Mattias and I got busy examining him. It slipped my mind until I was on my way to the diner and meant to tell you then, but we got to talking about other things and it disappeared into the background."
"Naomi," I growl, angry at her for not contacting me immediately. "Something like this happens, you stop and call right away. Understood?"
"Whatever," she says turning away and making moves to get out of the tub, but I hold her pulling her back against my front.
"Not whatever, Doc. I mean it. The thought of something happening to you is enough to give me a heart attack. My job’s to look after you and I can't do that if you don't let me know. I could've done more at that moment than I'll be able to do now."
"Fine, Joe. I get your point already. It wasn't intentional and it obviously was enough to worm its way into my subconscious and set off a panic attack. No need to treat me like a child." She is still stiff in my arms, so I get up out of the tub and carry her to the bed where I lay her down.
"Trust me, beautiful. Last thing I see you as is a child, but give me a break. Seeing you go through one of these attacks is hard enough when there is nothing I can do to make it better, but at least I'm here to hold you. Knowing that something might've happened when I wasn't around or even aware? That's the cherry on top."
I crawl in beside her and am pleased as fuck when she turns to wrap herself around me.
"Sorry," she mumbles in my chest.
"Sleep, babe. Big day tomorrow remember?"
Within minutes I hear her breathing even out, but I lay awake until morning—thinking about that damn Toyota.
"Where do you want me to put this?"
"Bring that one to the basement. I'm gonna buy a smaller one for the living room," Naomi answers Neil, who walks in carrying a large flat screen TV.
Naomi is standing in the hallway of the new place directing where everything that comes in the house should be taken. I have to smile, because my girl has exposed a side to her I haven't had an opportunity to see in action before. She is bossing around six big men, plus Fox who's also a fair bit taller than his mom, like the dictator of a small country. She’s organized. I mean organized with a capital O.
When all our friends started gathering in Emma's kitchen this morning for her move—even Seb who had committed to helping for a few hours—she had a script ready to go in each truck with detailed instructions on what to load first and who would take responsibility for each individual room in her house. She claims it's because she can't be two places at once, and this is the only way for her to make sure everything gets here and is placed where she wants it. Not that we'd have a chance to miss that, ‘cause every box and large item in her old place is labeled with its origin and its 'new home.' Standing in the hallway, she checks every item and each box against her own list, and when an item is missing from the load, she insists it be first to come in on the next load.
"Fuck, she's scary," Caleb mumbles to me under his breath after she catches him accidentally putting a box intended for the basement down in the mudroom for a minute to grab a quick drink of water. "You'd think she caught me stealing the silver or something, the way she just stared from the doorway with her hands on her hips. Like Mother Superior at a convent school. I swear my dick has been left a stump and my balls are shriveled to raisins."
Mal, who overhears his brother and I, bends over laughing. Little Naomi putting the fear of God into the six-foot-five ex-ranger is funny as fuck. When I look over Mal's shoulder, I see her standin
g in the doorway directing poor Neil with another box and Fox won't even come near her.
I walk over to her and she throws me a pointed look when she sees my hands empty. Without a word I pick her up over her protests and walk her into the mudroom where I set her on the washer, inserting myself between her legs and kiss the indignant protest right out of her. When I finally pull back I keep her from moving by resting my hands on either side of her hips to box her in.
"Joe. I've gotta get out there, things will go wrong if I'm not there to make sure they put stuff in the right place."
"Doc, you think maybe you're overdoing it a bit? Hell, you scared the shit out of Caleb. Maybe let up a little? They're grown-ass men, beautiful, and with the detailed instructions you provided everyone with, there's no way something could go wrong. A little faith, okay?"
Naomi's eyes have gone big and are starting to water. Damn, don't want to make her cry.
"Did he say something? Is he mad?" she asks in a little voice, no sign of the slightly tyrannical Naomi we've seen all morning.
"No babe, but you can relax a little. I promise we'll get everything out of the old house and in here. On the off chance something ends up in the wrong spot, it won't be the end of the world. We'll come across it eventually, right?" I try. "What is it that has you so tightly wound today?"