by Darla Jones
“No, we don’t,” she protested sleepily, relishing his tenderness.
“Oooh, I’m afraid we do.” An agonizing groan escaped from his lips. “I don’t have anymore condoms.”
Like someone clanged a Chinese gong beside her head, her eyelids popped open, and she sprang to a sitting position. “We’d better stop right now unless you have a desire to be a daddy again. Did I tell you I’m very fertile?”
He groaned again. “I don’t think the subject ever came up.”
She buttoned his shirt over her breasts and leaped to her feet. “I’ll make coffee. The kids will be up soon.” She bent down and gave him a quick kiss and although his shirt skimmed her knees, she went to her room to grab a robe and threw it on over his shirt.
When the coffee was ready, Jeff tugged on his pants and joined her in the kitchen. As she predicted, her children joined them soon after.
“Hi, Jeff.” Cassie scampered onto his lap.
“Where’s Jon?” Matt wanted to know.
Cassie eyed his uncombed hair. “You need your hair combed.” She sped to her room and returned with a comb and basket of barrettes. Standing on his thighs, she began working on his hair.
With a grin on his face, Jeff allowed her to fuss with his hair. The little girl pulled up locks of hair every which way possible and fastened them with barrettes. His hair pointed upwards and outwards in all directions. Cassie ran to her room again and this time she returned with a tiara, the one with a huge pink plastic fake diamond and faux pink fur, and added it to the top of his head for the finishing touch.
“Stupid girl,” Matt moaned, looking at Jeff with disbelief.
“It won’t be long before you change your mind about girls,” Jeff told him with a smile, not minding the girl’s attentions at all.
Matt shook his blond head. “No way,” he declared and then glanced at the clock. “Hey, come on. I think Looney Tunes are on.” He called to Cassie, and they raced to his bedroom.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and LynAnn recognized Jean’s rap. “It’s Jean. Oh no. I don’t want her to find you here. Get behind the couch and I’ll get rid of her.” She hastily gave him orders, and when the man was safely hidden from view, she opened the door.
“Morning.” Jean smiled and held out her coffee cup. “Is the coffee ready yet?”
“Sorry.” LynAnn quickly shook her head. “There was only a little left, and I’m afraid I’m all out.”
“No problem. I’ll go get some.” Jean turned and climbed back up the stairs to her apartment. LynAnn was about to close the door when of all people to find there Rev. Barnes, wearing his black Sunday sermon suit, arrived at her opened door.
“Good morning, LynAnn. I tried to call you. Abby Southern is in bad shape, and she’s asking to see you.” His line of vision went from her disheveled hair to her robe.
“Oh dear.” She had no idea his phone call was about Abby. “Do you have her number? I’ll go see her today.”
“Sure.” He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her and then noticed the sleeping bags on the floor.
She followed his gaze, and Jeff’s shoes sat at the far end of the sleeping bags. “The kids wanted to camp out last night,” she hastily replied, without mentioning the shoes.
“I see.” He nodded and LynAnn hoped he really didn’t understand what was going on.
But just as the minister turned to leave, Becky, her babysitter, joined him at the door.
LynAnn couldn’t believe her eyes. She was being invaded by aliens, although friendly ones, and it was only a little after eight in the morning to boot.
“Hey, Rev. Barnes,” the young teen addressed her minister and after he gave her a nod she turned to LynAnn. “I really have to talk to you, LynAnn.” Her voice sounded urgent, and she knew what it was about.
The teen had no sooner spoken when Jean returned with a can of coffee in her hand. “Hi, Rev. Barnes…Hi, Becky.” She greeted the two other early morning visitors standing at the door, and then her eyes caught the shirt fabric sticking out from LynAnn’s robe. “What kind of night clothes are you wearing?” Jean squinted at the shirt and then her eyes swept over the sleeping bags and came to rest on the men’s shoes beside them.
“ Some old shirt I found,” LynAnn lied.
Jean smirked. “Does it match those shoes?”
From behind the sofa, Jeff rose to his feet, his hair going every which way in barrettes and the plastic, pink jeweled tiara on top of his coiffure. The back of the sofa covered him from the waist down and revealed his bare chest but not his lower half. He looked as if he were completely nude. “Is this a convention?’ he asked nonchalantly. “Don’t you people know what time it is?”
Becky’s hand covered her mouth, and she expelled a loud gasp. Jean made a grunt somewhere between a gasp and a chuckle. The minister’s lips were moving, but no words came out of his mouth, and LynAnn thought he might be praying.
Mouth gaping, LynAnn stared at Jeff. He looked completely hideous. Sunshine from the window behind him basked his body in bright rays, and he looked like Neptune rising from the sea, minus the barrettes and tiara, of course.
“Oh, dear God,” the preacher finally found his voice.
He was praying.
LynAnn began to giggle, and soon, Jeff blurred from her vision as tears filled her eyes, and she laughed so hard she couldn’t see.
One by one and still unable to peel their eyes from Jeff, the stunned trio each made their slow retreats. “I’ll make my own coffee.” Jean’s chest heaved trying to squelch her laughter.
“I’ll talk with you later.” The teen’s face was crimson.
“See you at church.” The minister spoke to the floor.
When at last they were all gone, LynAnn shut the door and clicked the dead bolt. “There will be no more visitors,” she announced, leaning on the closed door and laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach.
Jeff, despite his ridiculous appearance, strutted from behind the couch like the cockiest rooster in the henhouse. Her lacy bikini panties dangled from the end of his finger. “Look what I found behind the sofa. I’d have moved them out of here a lot faster if I had showed them this.” He twirled her panties on the end of his finger and laughed. LynAnn laughed until she had to struggle for air.
Chapter 18
Later, LynAnn phoned Becky and asked her to babysit while she visited Abby Southern. When Becky arrived, the poor girl was so embarrassed she couldn’t look her in the eye. “I wanted to ask you to please not say anything to my parents about last night.” Deeply mortified, she hung her head.
“Of course, I won’t,” LynAnn assured her. “After you found Jeff here, I am not about to condemn you.”
“Hunter and I love each other, and we’re going to get married someday.”
For a bit, LynAnn envied the teenager. They loved each other, or at least they thought they did, and they had plans for their future. But with Jeff, love was not mentioned, and there were no plans.
Although she didn’t want to scare the teen and there had been no further incidents, she gave Becky strict instructions. “Keep the children inside, and Jean is upstairs if you have a problem.” Becky nodded and LynAnn headed for the door. Abby Southern waited to see her.
The dog days of summer were upon them, and it was hot. Once on the road, LynAnn fiddled with her Subaru’s air conditioning lever which managed to throw cold air in spurts. She had to wipe the sweat from her hands several times on the five-mile drive to see Abby. She was always cautious of her surroundings, and the SUV was not in sight.
Jeff weighed heavy on her mind. He usually came up with an outing for them on Sunday afternoons, but when he left this morning he made no mention of when he would see her again. A sharp twinge jabbed at her chest. Were Jean and Stu right? Was it all a game to him? Did he thrive on seducing women, and now since his conquest was over, did he plan to move on?
For her part, last evening she gave herself to him because sh
e loved him. Yes, she was hopelessly in love with him. She’d even blurted out the word, but he made no mention of love. She’d chosen to ignore her friends’ warnings and perhaps now she had to pay the piper.
Abby Southern lived in the countryside on the outskirts of Pottersville. Green cornfields were everywhere, their stalks heavy with ears and tassels. Here and there, she spotted red barns, complete with tall silos. She kept a watchful eye in her rear view mirror, but there was no sign of the black SUV.
When she reached Abby’s home, the ill woman was in bed and apparently confined to it now. She had lost more weight and was weak and frail. She hadn’t bothered wearing the scarf on her head today, and only thin patches of hair covered her scalp. Her husband, Don, sat beside her and held her hand.
“I wanted to see you, LynAnn,” the woman whispered. A nasal oxygen tube ran into her nose. “I have something for you. Show her, Don.” She slowly waved her hand at her husband as if it weighed twenty pounds.
Don handed LynAnn a tiny box and she immediately protested. “Really, Abby, you don’t have to give me anything.”
“It’s something to remember me by.” Abby forced a weak smile on her lips.
LynAnn opened the box and found the tiny opal ring the woman always wore around her neck. “Oh, Abby, it’s the opal your mother gave you. Wouldn’t you want to give this to one of your daughters?”
Abby gave another weak smile. “No, dear. I talked with my daughters, and they want you to have it.”
LynAnn leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Thank you. This means so much to me, and how thoughtful of you. I’ll never forget you, Abby. I’ll wear it every day.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Your opal is a precious gift, and I will always cherish it.”
“Tell me about your children,” Abby prodded.
After twenty minutes of visiting, Abby’s eyelids grew heavy, and LynAnn kissed her cheek once more. “I’ll come see you again,” she promised.
Don walked her to the door and gave her a big hug. “She’s wanted to give you her opal ever since you told her about your aunt losing the one she promised you.”
“Thank you, Don. It’s a wonderful gift.” The same as when the sick woman was able to come to Dr. Wilson’s office, she departed with a heavy sadness in her heart.
Later in the afternoon, Jeff did phone. “How ’bout I bring over some pizza?” His voice had a happy ring.
“I went to visit Abby and stopped at a roadside stand on my way back and bought fresh corn and a cantaloupe. I can throw some hot dogs on the grill.” With Jeff around it would be safe to take the children out in the backyard.
“Sounds better than pizza. We’ll be over in an hour. Hey, you shouldn’t have gone there by yourself. I could have taken you.”
“Jeff, I was careful and there was no SUV. I tell you, they’ve given up, whoever it was. The police chase ended it.”
“I hope you’re right.” He didn’t sound convinced.
Later, when he and Jon arrived, Jeff scooped her into his arms, molding her to his body. She held him tight. He felt so good she wanted to soak him in. Her insecurity about being nothing more than a sexual conquest instantly dissolved.
After their meal, the children raced around the yard. Matt and Jon were inseparable and played until they were exhausted. Dusk set in before they all went back inside the house.
“Abby gave her opal ring to me.” She held the tiny ring in her palm and showed it to Jeff. “She’s so sick. She can’t go on much longer.”
He examined the child-sized gold ring. “You’re getting quite a collection of opals.” He tried to force a smile and then became somber. “I don’t know how you do it, sweetheart. You deal so much with dying people.
“I’d like to say you get used to it, but you never do.” She expelled a long sigh. “Dealing with death makes you realize how precious life is and you should never waste a day.” Her head bowed, and she went silent. Besides the death around her in her work, she had witnessed too many deaths in her personal life. She couldn’t help but think about Todd, and as if he could read her thoughts, Jeff gathered her into his arms and held her.
There were a few dishes to attend to from their cookout, and he lent a hand. She washed and he dried.
“I have a dishwasher at my house,” he teased.
“Are you trying to bribe me or showing off?” she countered.
Setting a plate on the table, he moved behind her and folded her in his arms. “Any regrets about last night?” he whispered into the side of her neck.
She inhaled his scent and an instant desire spread through her body. “No, none,” she murmured softly. “In fact, I should thank you for being so patient with me. Not many men would have put up with me. Do you have regrets?”
“Absolutely not.” He turned her toward him and gently kissed her. “Oh, my little Miata. I was afraid you weren’t ready. I…”
Spp…lat. Something hit the front of the house and halted his words.
“What was that?” she gasped.
Jeff didn’t have time to reply; he was already running out the door. LynAnn ran to the front window and watched from a crack behind the living room curtains as he raced across the street. Except for him, the street was empty. Darkness had fallen and the streetlight on the corner lit the area fairly well. She sped to the door and threw the dead bolt. Oh Lord, it was happening again.
****
Jeff ran across the street, and a man raced at full speed about fifty yards away from him into the next block of houses. When Jeff reached the next block, there were hedges and bushes all around him, and he had to slow down in case the person hid there waiting for him. “Damn it. I wish I had my pistol.” Guarding his back, he carefully weaved his way around the bushes, and then he heard a motor start up. He moved in the direction of the sound. A dark Ford streaked out from the curb on yet the next block. He hightailed it back to his car, quickly revved the engine, and tramped the gas trying to catch up with the Ford.
Although he drove fast, he looked down every alley and driveway along the roadway, but he couldn’t find the car. He was angry, and his mind whirled as rapidly as his BMW’s engine. Who was doing this? He ended up on First Avenue, and even for a Sunday night, traffic was heavy. “Damn,” he swore again and pounded his fist on the dashboard. It was no use. He lost the attacker. Frustrated, he retraced his route a short distance back up First Avenue and pulled off in an area where his car wasn’t noticeable and waited. There was a chance the Ford would double back to LynAnn’s house.
****
Anxious and fearful for Jeff, LynAnn continued to stare out of a crack in the drape. He had been gone for twenty minutes, and the street was completely still. Giggles came from Matt’s bedroom as the children watched a movie, unaware of what had happened. She waited and watched. Suddenly, the hair on the nape of her neck stood on end. It wasn’t a sound. It was a movement she caught out of the corner of her eye. Someone turned her doorknob. Once…twice…three times it slowly turned back and forth. She knew it wasn’t Jeff since he had his special knock. She raced to her bedroom and grabbed her heavy baseball bat. On the way past the children, she softly closed their bedroom door. She grabbed her cell phone and slipped it into her pocket and then posed her body by the side of the door with both hands gripping the bat high in the air and ready to attack. She intended to swing with all her might at whoever came through the door because if she didn’t strike her target in exactly the right spot to put him out of commission, she knew she wouldn’t get a second chance.
Barely breathing, she waited.
****
The cars streaked by on First Avenue, but none resembled the Ford Jeff saw peeling off from LynAnn’s neighborhood. He decided to call her. The little woman was probably beside herself with worry. He pushed her number on his cell, and she must have been holding the phone in her hand because she answered immediately.
“Jeff, are you all right?” she asked quickly.
“Is the dead bolt locked?” Jeff questione
d hastily.
“Yes, but someone tried to open the door.” Her voice quivered as she spoke.
“What? Are you certain?” There was a long pause. “I chased the person up First Avenue but I lost him.”
“I’m sure. Someone tried to open my door. Oh, Jeff, there must be two of them.”
“I’m going to call Jim Anderson. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“No.” LynAnn raised her voice. “Don’t call him. Isn’t there someone else at the police station you can call?”
“What? I don’t understand. He is the police captain. Why wouldn’t I call him?”
She expelled a long ragged sigh. “We’ll talk about it when you get back. Please hurry. Come to think of it, don’t call anyone at the police station. Please, Jeff, humor me on this. Please, just get back here.”
Jeff had already turned his car around. He only agreed about the police because she was so adamant, but in his mind, his plan was the right course to take. Now, LynAnn was against all policemen. He shrugged his shoulders. There was really nothing Jim Anderson could do about this incident anyhow. He was never close enough to get a model or the license plate number of the car, and he didn’t get a good description of the man either. Dressed completely in black, he had a ski mask over his face. He judged him to be taller and heavier than he.
But now, LynAnn believed someone tried to open her door. Could it be possible the man had somehow doubled back to her house? Or could there actually be two perpetrators involved? Did one man purposely draw him out of the house so the second person could get to LynAnn and the children? A shudder stabbed deep in his gut, and he tramped down on the accelerator.
Although his last talk with Stu hadn’t been on the best of terms, he called him. He needed help. He held his cell up by the windshield to punch in the numbers and was still able to drive as fast as possible on the busy road. Stu answered on the second ring.
“Stu, its Jeff. There are big problems with LynAnn and the kids. They’re in danger. Someone lured me out of the house and tried to get to her. Is your revolver still upstairs in the house?”