by Kris Calvert
I parked and put on my suit coat as I headed up the walkway to the main entrance. My plan was to go to the office first, and then see Momma.
As I walked through the massive front doors to the main building, I had a quick flashback of my run-in with security guard Chuck. “D-22” I muttered under my breath, wondering if I would catch a glimpse of the beautiful Samantha this afternoon.
Following the directional signs, I was quickly through the building and at the doors marked Administration.
“Hello,” retched a tiny voice.
“Hello?” I replied, looking for the source.
“May I help you?”
“I’m sorry,” I laughed. “I can hear you, but I can’t see you.”
A short and portly woman suddenly appeared from the tall reception desk. “It’s a common problem around here. I think the desk was built for someone taller than me.”
“So it would seem,” I smiled, extending my hand. “I’m Mac Callahan, my mother Nancy is a resident here.”
“Yes, Mr. Callahan. I know who you are. I’m Stacy Little, Mr. Miller’s assistant. I heard about your little incident yesterday from Chuck.” She batted her eyes, but it didn’t detract from her high-pitched tone. Stacy Little had a voice that could chip paint.
“That’s why I’m here. I wanted to have a word with Mr. Miller if that’s possible.”
“Let me see if he’s available. Can I get you anything while you wait? Coffee? Sweet tea? Water? Me?” she asked with a giggle.
“No, thank you.”
I sat on the oversized leather couch and had a look around. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary—magazines and brochures about services offered at Autumn Valley—but It didn’t look like a nursing home. It looked like the business office of an expensive hotel.
“Mr. Callahan?”
I rose to my feet to find yet another small person in front of me. The whole damn place was run by the Lollipop Guild.
“You must be Mr. Miller,” I stated firmly, shaking his sweaty hand. “Thanks for seeing me. I know you must be very busy.”
“Oh, I’m never too busy to meet with a resident’s family. C’mon back.” He waved me forward and looked past me, not making eye contact.
I followed the older, squatty man with a salt and pepper comb-over down the long hallway. Taking inventory of the surrounding offices, I wondered who might occupy them.
“Have a seat, Mr. Callahan,” Miller offered, taking his place behind a large desk.
“Please, call me Mac.” I said, noticing again, he was avoiding direct eye contact with me. I already knew I could intimidate him, and I would.
“What can I do for you today, Mac?”
“I just wanted to drop in and apologize for the mishap yesterday in the B wing. I confused the B and D wings and walked in on a woman in B-22. Gave her quite a scare, I’m afraid.”
“Yes, I heard about it,” Miller acknowledged, adjusting a few items on his desk. “This may surprise you, Mac, but I know everything that goes on in my healthcare center.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all. I just wanted to formally apologize for the mishap.”
“It’s all been handled,” Miller said, looking around his office as if he was late to be somewhere. “In fact, I personally checked in on Mrs. Grimes yesterday afternoon.”
I nodded, not saying a word, wanting him to talk about himself as much as possible.
“The residents feel special when the President and CEO pays them a visit,” he said with arrogance, speaking of himself in third person. “You know, it makes them feel important.”
“I’m very happy with the care my mother has been receiving since she moved here a couple of years ago,” I said, encouraging him with as many compliments as I could muster. “I’m sure it’s because of excellent people like yourself.”
“We have an excellent medical staff and state-of-the-art equipment so that our residents only need to go to a top tier hospital when critical care is needed,” Miller explained.
I nodded again, spurring him to continue.
“We operate on a pretty hefty budget, Mac,” he boasted with authority. “As you know, our residents pay a premium to live at Autumn Valley, and our waiting list is extensive.”
He still refused to look me in the eye. It had become distracting.
“Well, I don’t want to take up any more of your time,” I said as I quickly scanned his office.
“Drop by anytime. Although if I remember correctly, you no longer live in Shadeland.”
And there it was. After continually avoiding me, he looked directly at my face.
“Yes, that’s correct. I’m currently in D.C. with the FBI.”
“Really?” Miller quipped. “You’re probably bored as hell in sleepy little Shadeland.”
“Not at all,” I declared, rising to my feet before he did. “Mr. Miller, you might be surprised how many criminals like to hide in plain sight. Especially in small towns like Shadeland.”
Miller stood slowly and walked around his desk to meet me. “Oh, I might not. I keep a Glock 19 right here in this office. You never know.”
“That’s a powerful weapon.”
Miller looked away from me. “You don’t have to work for the FBI to have good equipment.”
I nodded in agreement. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Miller.”
“Let me walk you out,” he replied, shaking my hand and showing me the door.
He followed me up the hallway and back into the reception area where Miss Little was talking with Chuck. I gave Chuck a nod and he returned the favor with a smirk, not breaking from his conversation.
“Thank you for your time.”
“Mac?” Miller asked, stopping me in the doorway. “Just out of curiosity, what division of the FBI?”
I pulled a business card from my front pocket and handed it to him.
“Fraud.”
*
I walked to the D wing slowly, hoping for the chance to see Sam. As I made it to the door of Mom’s suite, I knew my wish wasn’t going to be granted. “Momma?” I called as I knocked and walked in at that same time. I shut the door behind me and went farther into the quiet room. “Mom?” I looked around trying not to panic. “Mom?”
I could feel the blood rush to my head and ring in my ears.
“Yes?” she whispered quietly from the corner chair.
“What are you doing over here in the dark?”
“I’m sorry,” she breathed, pointing to her ears. “I had these on.”
“Where in the world did you get those?” I asked with a laugh. I was surprised to say the least that she was wearing huge studio headphones.
“I don’t remember,” she smiled. “I like Debussy.”
“Yes, I know.” I leaned in to kiss her on the head. “How are you feeling today?”
“May I help you?” She withdrew and studied my face.
“Momma? It’s me. Mac.”
She knitted her brow and looked confused, but nodded at me and gently placed her headphones back over her ears. She turned her head into the darkness of the corner and shut her eyes. I was overcome with emotion. I had a pit in my stomach and a lump in my throat. She didn’t know me.
I sat on the couch on the opposite side of the room as to not disturb or scare her, and dropped my head in my hands. Yesterday I was a stranger in a stranger’s room. Today I was a stranger in my mother’s room. I wanted to stay, but I didn’t want to upset her. It was six-fifteen p.m. and I was suddenly tired. I walked over to her once more, only to find her peacefully smiling, eyes closed—enjoying Claude Debussy.
I wasn’t giving up on her. I knew I could reach her. I knew I could.
I pulled the keys from my pocket and left Wing D for the exit. I was filled with frustration. “This is fucking unacceptable,” I muttered under my breath. I needed to call King.
Walking out the main door of Autumn Valley, I patted my right breast pocket for my phone. “Shit.” I’d left my phone in Mom’s room. I t
urned on my heels and immediately hit a wall of cardboard with my face. “Shit!” I said again as I stepped back and dropped my keys.
Backing up and tossing the large cardboard box like a hot potato to the side of my feet was none other than the beautiful Samantha Peterson.
“I am so, so sorry,” she exclaimed, clapping her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. “I should’ve been looking where I was going, but I couldn’t see over the top of the box.”
“It’s quite all right, Samantha,” I said with a nervous laugh. Holding my head, I looked down and stooped to pick up the car keys, only to be met with another blow.
“Oh God!” she moaned as our skulls collided.
We both teetered back a couple of steps holding our heads, laughing through the pain. “Don’t move,” I instructed and begged at the same time. “I’m going in.” I slowly leaned over and grabbed the keys, showing them to her as I stood.
She picked up her box and headed to the closest leather couch in the entrance hall.
“Oh God…. oh God, oh God, oh God,” she machine-gunned as she rocked, holding her forehead.
“Are you okay?” I asked, walking to her and rubbing my own head from the two blows.
She looked up at me and suddenly I found myself without air in my lungs. Her sapphire blue eyes were glistening with tears and they drew me in at once. She was perfectly petite with killer legs. Still, I had to admit the sexiest curve on her body was her smile.
“I’m so sorry.” She batted her eyes at me in pain. “It’s bad enough to get you once, but twice?”
“I’m fine,” I confessed, sitting down and thinking to myself, you had me at ‘Oh God’.
I was unable to look away from her. Who was this lovely creature? Chestnut hair, amazing eyes and a fantastic set of getaway sticks. Those legs went on for days, and I was checking them out each time she buried her head in embarrassment. I liked seeing her up close and vulnerable. Rescuing damsels in distress was one of my fortes.
I stood at her feet and offered her my hand. “Can you stand?”
“Yes,” she said as her cheeks blushed. “I’m perfectly fine. Nothing a couple of Advil won’t fix.”
I picked up her box in one arm and offered her my other. “Allow me,” I said with a smile.
“Thank you… Mac.”
A shiver went through my core when I heard her say my name. I walked her out the main door of the building and headed for my car.
“Thanks again,” she said, “but my car is parked in the employee lot.”
“I’ll take you,” I protested, not wanting to leave her. As we approached Pussy Galore I had to smile. The beautiful car demanded a magnificent woman like Sam. The top was down, and I placed the cardboard box in the back seat and opened the passenger door simultaneously.
“Wait,” Samantha stammered. “I can just take the box and walk over to my car. Seriously.”
“I’ve seen you walk with that box, and no one in this parking lot is safe, least of all you.”
She laughed and slid into the front seat, revealing a lot of leg and the slightest bit of stocking and garter. I was immediately horny. I exhaled quietly, knowing if I didn’t let the breath out of my lungs, I was going to say something that might embarrass us both. She glanced up at me with her dazzling blues as I closed the door and smiled, unable to break my gaze.
“The employee lot is just behind that security gate.”
I turned the key and the Aston Martin responded with a purr.
“Nice car.”
“Thanks. It was my dad’s.”
As I put the car in reverse I could feel the attraction hanging over us—thick like a humid Alabama summer night. “Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Pardon?” She wrinkled her button nose at me, clearly taken off guard.
“Well, I was just thinking, you need to take some Advil, and you shouldn’t take that stuff on an empty stomach.”
She smiled and shook her head, squinting in the sun. “Are you asking me to dinner?”
“No.” I smiled, mesmerized by her blue eyes sparkling in the light.
Without saying a word, she pulled a rubber band from her wrist and in one quick motion whipped her long brown hair into a sexy ponytail. “Let’s go.”
6
MAC
The afternoon air cooled to a balmy 66º as we made our way into town. Sam Cooke’s greatest hits were playing soft and low. He was one of my dad’s favorite artists, and subsequently one of mine. The CD player was a later addition to the classic car, but an essential nonetheless.
I was born by the river, in a little tent. And just like the river, I’ve been running ever since. It’s been a long, long time coming, but I know a change gonna come. Oh, yes it will.
I glanced at Sam. She was smiling—sunglasses on and ponytail blowing perfectly in the wind.
“Do you like Sam Cooke?”
“I like this song,” she answered without looking at me. “I like what it means.”
I watched her turn her face to the sunshine. She was a beautiful and interesting creature, and I was having a hard time concentrating on the road.
“Do you mind if I ask where you’re taking me?” She turned, catching me watching her with intent.
I smiled and remained silent. I made a turn off the main street of Shadeland and pulled into the Wilcox Drug Store and Soda Fountain. Putting the car in park, I killed the engine and glanced toward Samantha, looking for a reaction. I hopped out of the car quickly, noticing her hand on the handle.
“You really pick fancy places to take a girl out to dinner.”
“I told you.” I grinned as I opened her door. “No dinner.”
I took her hand and helped her out of the car and felt it immediately. The energy arcing between us was palpable and I looked to see if she felt it too. She removed her sunglasses and gave me a fleeting gaze, tilting her head. I could tell she thought I was up to something.
“What?” I was positive she’d felt it too.
“Nothing.”
I escorted her through the drugstore and to a booth at the soda fountain in the back. “Tuffy!” I shouted, gaining the owner’s attention behind the counter. I ushered Sam into her seat, hoping for another glance at her garters as she slid into the booth.
“Hey, Mac,” Tuffy shouted. “Long time.”
I nodded. “Will you please get Miss Samantha some sweet tea?”
“Comin’ right up. Hello, Sam,” he nodded, giving her a wink.
“I’ll be back straight away.”
I walked to the aisle marked Pain/Analgesic and grabbed a bottle of Advil. Slowly making my way back to the soda fountain, I couldn’t help but admire Samantha from afar. She spoke on her phone, quickly ending her call and nervously fidgeted in her seat. With a big sigh and one motion, she tilted her head and released her ponytail, shaking out her hair.
“Aw hell,” I moaned under my breath. She was so damned sexy and completely unaware of it. For the second time in less than an hour, my manhood thought of standing at attention. I adjusted myself and walked back to the booth.
She was drinking her sweet tea and smiled at me over the rim of the glass as I slid in. “I see Tuffy took care of you.”
“Yes.”
“Here,” I offered, setting the Advil still in its box on the table. “This is for you.”
“Aw, you shouldn’t have,” she teased.
“Let me get that for you.” I opened the box and removed the protective seal. “I couldn’t help but notice you were on your phone. I hope I didn’t take you away from anything important tonight.”
She shook her head no, and took two of the pills without speaking.
“I would hate to make you late for dinner with your… boyfriend?”
She shook her head.
I gave her a big smile at the news of her singleness, causing her to blush and look away. “Tuffy,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Can we get two milkshakes to go?”
“You got it,” Tuffy replied. “W
hat flavor?”
I turned to Samantha and raised my eyebrows searching her beautiful face for an answer.
“Chocolate.”
“Two chocolate.”
“Coming right up,” Tuffy smiled.
The excitement I felt took me by surprise. This was far from my usual M.O. with a woman, but I really didn’t care. I couldn’t wipe the shit eatin’ grin from my face.
“So I know a few things about you already.” I leaned forward and breathed her in.
“Really?” she asked, playfully. “What do you know?”
I know you’re beautiful, sexy and funny and I want my mouth on yours right now. “I know you work at Autumn Valley, you don’t have a boyfriend, but you do know Tuffy. You aren’t afraid of a little adventure…” I paused, “… you should be avoided when carrying anything, and…”
“Yes?” she questioned with a sweet drawl, spurring me on.
“You have the bluest eyes I think I’ve ever seen.”
She blushed again and looked down at her hands for a split second. Without warning, she raised her face to mine and looked completely through me, unbuttoning me to my core. The building could’ve been on fire and I would’ve cared less.
“Two chocolate shakes with whipped cream,” Tuffy announced, breaking our gaze and placing a shake in front of each of us.
“Did I say whipped cream?”
“No,” Tuffy replied. “But I know Sam likes it on hers.”
Tuffy winked at Sam and walked away. I raised one eyebrow. “So you wanna tell me how you know Tuffy?”
“I come here sometimes for ice cream.”
“After a long day at the office? Knocking heads and taking names?”
“Something like that,” she said with an embarrassed smile.
“Let’s roll.” I tossed a twenty on the table, taking both shakes and offering her my arm. She picked up the Advil and latched onto me.
“Thank you, Tuffy,” I shouted as we made our way out of the soda fountain.