by Darla Jones
Jeff walked to the table, stood behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, LynAnn.”
She jumped up, turned, and threw her arms around his waist. “It’s not your fault. You tried.” She stepped back to look up into his face. “How did you get a picture and license number?” She was curious.
“I told you I was a marine in Afghanistan. I did some covert operations there,” he modestly replied. “I know you’re not going to like my next idea, but I want you and the kids to move in with me until this is over.”
“No, Jeff, I…” She started to protest, but he drew her into his arms again and nuzzled her ear like he’d done at the supermarket.
His voice low, he whispered so he wouldn’t upset the children, “I want to make sure you and the children are safe.” Then he released her and in his normal tone declared, “Kids, you’re going back to camp at my house for a while.”
“Yeah.” They all yelled in unison and high fived each other.
“You’re out voted.” Jeff grinned at her. “Trust me, sweetheart. Now pack some things.” He strutted into the living room and headed to the window and peered out. “I’m going to look around outside while you pack. Lock the door behind me and I’ll knock twice so you know it’s me.” Then he beelined for the door and disappeared.
LynAnn bolted the door and then threw clothes in a suitcase. She didn’t know what made her more frightened, the SUV or Jeff’s behavior. He tried not to show it, but she could tell he was worried. More than anything, she had to protect her children.
Jeff returned in about ten minutes. “There’s no one outside, and your car is fine.” In the next instant, his gaze swept over her living room. He began inspecting her apartment. Running his fingers along flower pots, knick-knacks, lights, lamp shades, and window frames, he was checking to see if her place was bugged. Finally he shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t find anything and Ryan and I came up empty at my house, too.”
****
Later, after the children were settled in bed at Jeff’s home again, LynAnn shared the sofa in the den with him. The lights were low, and music from his stereo hummed softly in the background. He put his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled her cheek against his wide chest, and his masculine aroma surrounded her. She felt so secure when she was close to him. “Do you have any idea who would want to do this to you?” he asked.
“No, I’ve been racking my brain and I can’t think of anyone.”
“Anyone at Dr. Wilson’s office or St. Luke’s?”
She replied negatively again. “No. Dr. Samuels makes a fool of himself. His flirting is obnoxious, and he made quite a scene in Dr. Wilson’s office.
He made some distance between them. “Do you know who filed it?”
“No, but I’m positive I’m not the only female at the hospital he’s made advances toward. Dr. Wilson talked with the hospital administrator after he barged into his office accusing me of filing the grievance, and a day following his suspension he turned in his resignation.”
“So this guy only thought he had an ax to grind with you.”
“Yes, but not now. He must have found out who filed the grievance. Of course, he may be pretty upset after what you did to him.”
Jeff shrugged his shoulders, as if slugging the guy was an everyday occurrence. “He deserved it, and he’ll have to get over it.”
He settled back on the sofa. “Stu didn’t come to a hearing today. I called him, and he was sloshed to the gills.”
“Oh, no.” She let out a gasp. “What is the matter with him? Oh, poor Jean, she’s so heartbroken. Do you think he’s going to divorce her?”
“Beats me. I’ve never known him to drink much, let alone get drunk.”
“Do you think there’s another woman involved?” An affair could explain Stu’s behavior, but she hated to think Stu would stoop so low.
“When marriages end in divorce, there’s usually a third party involved.”
“What happened to yours?” Jeff never mentioned his ex-wife and she was curious.
He nodded. “More third parties than I could count.”
LynAnn gathered him into her arms. “I’m so sorry. She had to be an absolute fool.”
“She showed up last Christmas, drunk or high, or maybe both. Jon didn’t know who she was. He was three months old when we divorced.”
“Oh, how sad for both of you.” Jon never really knew his mother. She couldn’t understand how a woman could desert her baby, but then her own mother had done the same thing.
When they decided to go to bed, Jeff walked her to her room and held her in his arms a bit before he kissed her. This time it wasn’t the rock-her-senseless kind of kiss, but more of a gentle nudge. “Remember where my room is if you need me,” he whispered, winked, and was gone.
How could she forget? She lay awake thinking about the sweet man down the hall.
Chapter 14
Life for LynAnn and her family fell into a comfortable routine at Jeff’s home. Cheerios tires for breakfast, then off to work. Later when they returned, Jeff helped with dinner and once the children were settled into bed, the two snuggled on the sofa. Sometimes they chatted, but more often than not, it wasn’t necessary.
On Saturday afternoon, Jeff’s parents, Rose and Robert invited them for a cookout in their back yard. The day was filled with bright sunlight, and a few delicate cloud-like wisps of translucent gauze hung in the cerulean blue sky. The change of pace was a welcome relief for LynAnn. The friendly older Kelleys were happy to meet her and her children despite the incident at the amusement park.
“What beautiful children,” Rose gushed. With a kind face, white hair, and a round body she could have easily passed as Mrs. Santa Claus.
“Jon talks about his friend Matt all the time,” Robert said, a retired judge who also had white hair, but his thin stature was straight and tall giving him a distinguished air.
Their meal was served on a red and white checkered tablecloth on the long picnic table in their back yard, and LynAnn brought a fruit salad for dessert. After they ate and the children played a distance away, the adults’ discussion turned to the abduction of the boys. “Did you ask the boys if the man tried to touch them inappropriately?” Upset about the incident, Robert clinched his fists.
Jeff gave his head a shake. “The police asked them and both said he didn’t.”
The elder Kelley must have given the incident much thought. “They were missing for well over an hour and he was riding with them. Now that’s a puzzle unless he hadn’t planned to abduct them but got the idea after he had them in his clutches.”
“I hadn’t considered it could have been a spur of the moment opportunity for the abductor.” LynAnn agreed it was conceivable.
She noticed Jeff’s pensive expression as he watched his son play on the swing. More than most people, he knew what the man was capable of doing to his son and Matt.
Jeff gave a weary sigh and then joined the conversation. “The boys described his black curly hair as big. I picture him as a white man with an afro.”
Rose jumped from her chair and began rearranging the food on the table. The discussion made her nervous. “Oh, those poor little boys. Didn’t they realize they were in danger?” She halted her motion and folded her arms over her heavy breasts.
Robert patted his wife’s hand and gently nudged her back onto the bench. “Rose has been having difficulty sleeping since this happened,” he addressed LynAnn and then spoke to his wife. “The boys realized they were in danger when the man tried to take them out of the park. Kids are smart nowadays, Rose. When Jon is here we don’t leave him out of our sight, do we, sweetheart?”
Rose nodded her agreement and fussed with a bowl of potato salad.
LynAnn’s ears perked up at his endearment, and she glanced at Jeff, and he gave her a flirty wink. He’d used the endearment with her almost since their first date. Could it mean something special or did it fall from his lips as easily as her name? She’d once read abo
ut a man who had three wives in three different cities and when asked how he kept all their names straight, his reply was, “It’s simple, I called them all sweetheart.” Perhaps Jeff called all his girlfriends sweetheart, too.
“You and Jeff have been under a lot of tension.” Rose ceased her motions with the salad she was stirring and turned to LynAnn. “Why don’t you and Jeff get all dressed up and go out for dinner this evening? Robert and I would love to watch the children.”
“Three kids are quite a handful,” LynAnn protested and rose to help clear the table.
“Nonsense,” she objected and forgetting the table, sat again. “They’re darlings, and we’d love to do it. We have no plans for this evening.” She turned to where the children were playing. “Cassie,” she called out and the little girl came running on the fly and hopped on her lap.
“What is it, Grandma?” Since Cassie heard Jon call Rose Grandma, the little girl assumed it was her name. Cassie had never known either of her grandmothers.
“Grandpap and I want to stay with you this evening so your mom and Jeff can go out.”
“Sure, Grandma.” The little blonde was eager to oblige.
Rose beamed, happy to be addressed as Grandma by the girl. “It’s settled,” Rose declared. “What time do you want us?
****
Later, LynAnn and Jeff were back at the lounge dancing to slow, easy music. “Are you sniffing my neck, Pepé?” he playfully asked.
“Ummm.” She inhaled deeply. “I am, and you smell delicious.” He looked delicious, too. Wearing navy blue slacks and a lighter blue jacket with a pale blue shirt and a navy tie, he reminded her of a blue Picasso painting. Most of LynAnn’s dress clothes were church outfits; she needed to buy some new clothes. Earlier, Jeff had driven her back to her house so she could change, and she had trouble finding anything suitable to wear. She closed her eyes and inhaled his manly scent again.
He chuckled, “Have a ball then.”
During a long set of romantic ballads, LynAnn closed her eyes and nestled herself into his strong body, loving the feel of his arms around her, and his sensuous aroma sent a warm glow through her. Her body clung to his as the band played one love song after another. She opened her eyes to glance at the other couples on the darkened dance floor. They ranged from young to old and thin to heavy and were as engrossed in the music as she and Jeff were.
Suddenly her gaze linked with a man a good distance away on the other side of the room. Frozen, for a long second she stared in disbelief. Her eyes had to be deceiving her. She blinked, and he was still there. Her body went weak, and she leaned on Jeff for support. Then she began to shake. Letting out a weak gasp, she tore herself from his arms and swayed as she raced from the dance floor.
Jeff took long, fast strides to keep up with her and she was at their table gathering her purse when he caught up with her. “What is it? What happened?”
Distraught, LynAnn looked straight at him, but in shock, she didn’t recognize him. Like a sprinter’s take off at the shot of the gun, she sped for the door and disappeared. When she reached Jeff’s car, she jerked on the locked door with all her might trying to force it open.
When Jeff caught up with her, he reached for her shoulders and turned her to face him. She panted for breath, tears ran down her cheeks, and her body shivered as if she were freezing. Her eyes were glassy. “Are you sick?” His face was etched with worry.
She couldn’t answer. Her mind was blank.
Jeff clicked his key fob to open the door and helped her into the car. Once she was settled in the seat, he got in the other side and gathered her in his arms. “LynAnn, sweetheart, what happened? What’s wrong?” He stroked her hair and tried to soothe her shaking body.
After a time, although still quivering, she began to mutter. “No…No…It can’t be.”
“Please tell me, sweetheart,” he begged, tilting her face upwards with gentle fingers.
“Todd,” she whispered.
“Todd?”
Her shaking worsened. “My…husband. I…saw him,” she whimpered and sobbed all the more.
Gathering her into his arms, he caressed her back with long soothing strokes as he held her. “That can’t be,” he tried to assure her. “I thought your husband was dead.”
She lifted her head and clamped a hand on either side of his face to get his complete attention. “He is…He was…” She looked straight into his eyes. “It was Todd. I’m certain.”
“You couldn’t have seen him. It must have been someone who looked like him.” He tried to reason with her.
“Nooo,” she shouted angrily. “He smiled and waved at me.”
“All right.” He didn’t try to contradict her again. “We’ll go back inside and you can look around for him yourself.” He stroked her hair and pulled her close. “I’m sure it was a man who looked like him. Come back in with me and I’ll prove it.”
“No, I can’t.” She gasped for breath. “Take me home. Take me home,” she pleaded. “Get me away… from here,” she spoke between raspy respirations.
Jeff did as she asked and they drove off.
As they rode, LynAnn sat hunched against her car door with her face in her hands. She sobbed. She muttered to herself, at times she prayed and then sobbed again. When Jeff tried to reach for her hand, she pulled away. When at last they reached his home and he drove into his garage, she protested, “I want to go to my home, please, Jeff.”
“No, I can’t take you there in the shape you’re in.” He was adamant. “We have to talk about this, don’t you see?”
Jeff helped her from the car and led her into the house. Robert and Rose were in the living room watching television, and he mouthed something to them from the doorway, and they stayed in the living room. He seated her on the leather sofa in the den and then went to the kitchen and returned with a box of tissue and a glass of wine. “Drink this, it may help.” He lifted her hand and placed the glass in it.
LynAnn blew her nose, wiped at her tears, studied the wine, took a sip, and puckered her face. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her still quivering body. He held her for a long time, but she couldn’t speak, and it took some time before she felt calmer and tried to control her tremors.
“Are you feeling better now?” His voice was filled with concern.
Inhaling deeply, she nodded.
He gave her a reassuring hug, “Okay, I’m going to talk with Mom and Dad a minute.” He rose and went to the living room.
She didn’t know what he told his parents, but they both followed him from the other room. Rose sat down beside her and put her arm around her. “Oh, my dear, you’ve been under too much stress,” she softly patted her back as she tried to soothe her. “I’m sure you haven’t been sleeping much. You get a good night’s rest and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rose raised herself from the sofa, and then Robert touched her shoulder. “You need to rest.” His voice was soft and kind. After nods to his son, the couple departed for their own home. They were such caring people and so was their son.
Jeff sat quietly beside her and held her hand for a long time.
Finally, she spoke, “Jeff, I lied…I lied.” She hurled the words at him and waited for his reaction.
“What did you lie about, sweetheart?” He spoke softly, as if unscathed by her admission.
“Todd didn’t die in an auto accident. I didn’t want you to see his death certificate to apply for Cassie’s benefits. His death was ruled a suicide. I made the story up for the kids’ sake. They were too small to remember, but I’ll never believe he committed suicide. Todd wouldn’t kill himself. He had too much to live for.”
Sucking a deep breath into his lungs, Jeff showed no emotion and waited for her to continue.
“The last six months we were married, he was doing undercover work.”
“Undercover work?” He was surprised.
She nodded. “Yes, he was a state trooper. I hardly ever saw him those last months, and he couldn’t t
ell me what he was doing. Sometimes he’d sneak home to see us, and other times I’d drive for hours across the state to meet him in some out of the way place. I met him a week before he died and he seemed fine. I told him I was pregnant, and he promised he would get out of undercover work before Cassie was born.”
LynAnn paused for a breath and searched his face. She found only sadness there.
“Tell me more,” he gently prodded and caressed her hand.
“When the police came to my house and told me Todd killed himself, I couldn’t believe it and I still don’t. A few days after his funeral, Sgt. Ron Cooper, who was Todd’s best friend, came to my house and told me Todd was a dirty cop, and he’d been getting kick-backs from the operation he was mixed up in. He thought Todd was in too deep with the criminals and killing himself was his only way out. It couldn’t be true, Jeff.” She raised her voice now. “I knew him, and he wasn’t dirty, and he wouldn’t take money that didn’t belong to him.”
Pausing, she looked into Jeff’s eyes. He looked so sad.
“Go on, sweetheart,” he prompted again while his fingers ran through her hair.
She clasped her hands in front of her and began rubbing her palms together. She forced herself to continue, summing up the events as best she could. “After he died there were all kinds of rumors going around Philipsburg. Somehow it got out Todd was a dirty cop. Todd’s father was the worst. He told everyone it wasn’t true, I had made it up. He wouldn’t speak to me after Todd died, and he blamed me for his death. He blamed me for having an affair, and when Todd found out, he killed himself over it. He said Todd wasn’t the baby’s father, and I guess he told the story to anyone who would listen. People I knew all my life ignored me. The rumor got to the Baptist Church and the minister asked me to leave the church. I felt like the shunned woman in The Scarlet Letter.
“I couldn’t keep up the payments on our house and I lost it. Todd had a life insurance policy and the police department had a policy on him too, but because his death was ruled a suicide, neither paid. In fact, I’m still making payments on his funeral.” She halted, bowed her head and her body shuddered. “I moved into an apartment and worked right up to the day Cassie was born. Sandy watched her for me so I could go back to work. Sandy was my only friend. Finally, I decided to get away from all the hatefulness and I moved here.” Then, she slumped back on the couch. She’d said it all and felt relieved.