Killmore

by Martha Sweeney

  My forehead bobs against hers.

  “Goodnight, Aiden,” her sweet, sexy voice bids.

  “Goodnight, Pix,” I reply.

  Twenty Seven - Laurie

  The past week after seeing Aiden and Paul at their place and the incident with the stove in the cafe has been busy and entertaining to some extent. Aiden and I have seen each other several times in public, again some planned and some not. It’s kind of hard to stage outings with him when he has yet to really grasp the concept that I keep a low profile in town, especially during tourist season. He joined Trudy, Marcus, the Lenards, and me at Jacob’s soccer game yesterday and tonight we’re scheduled to go to the town fair that will start this afternoon and end late in the evening.

  As I finish getting changed into a black tank top and jean shorts, I toss on some crystal necklaces, tie on my combat boots, and then grab a cardigan before heading downstairs. Right as I finish packing my shoulder bag, the house system alerts me to a visitor.

  “Hey, Pix,” Aiden greets with a smile when I open the door.

  “Hey,” I return.

  “See, I knew you liked the nickname,” Aiden roasts.

  “Do not,” I challenge, stepping toward him to get out of the house.

  “What’s the rush?” he inquires, stepping into me, causing me to take a few steps back into the foyer.

  “Don’t,” I reply sternly.

  “You know I’ve been past the doorway, right?” he checks playfully.

  “Yes,” I confirm, unamused.

  “And, I’ll need to start setting up,” he reminds.

  I don’t reply.

  “Why don’t you show me around now?” he suggests.

  “No,” I return, blocking him from going further. “I’m pretty sure you’ve seen enough the two times you’ve been in here…besides, we need to get to Trudy and the boys.”

  “Later then,” he muses.

  I refrain from confirming or denying anything.

  “Come on,” Aiden calls, tugging on my arm and leading me outside.

  He guides me to the passenger side of the truck and opens the door for me. Once he’s seated, he comments, “You look sexy today, Pix.”

  “You tell me that every day you see me,” I remind.

  “And, I mean it every time,” he states.

  “You don’t need to show off. No one is here,” I claim.

  “Who says I’m showing off?” Aiden chuckles, pulling out of the driveway.

  Twenty minutes later we’re parked in Trudy’s driveway. It would have only taken us ten minutes, but we had to take a detour and wait for a mass of people who were crossing the road.

  “We’re here,” I announce, opening Trudy’s back door.

  “Hey, Laurie,” Marcus and Jacob greet from the living room.

  The dogs whimper so I signal for them to relax and they head straight for the boys. “Hi,” I return.

  Marcus and Jacob both greet Aiden when they see him.

  “Mom said she had to stop at the cafe for a second and that she’ll be right back,” Marcus informs.

  Every year we close the cafe early since there’s no point in keeping it open with the fair going on. No one stops in with the endless food options to choose from.

  “Sounds good,” I return, walking toward them. I place my bag on the table behind the main sofa. “No book?” I ask, looking to Marcus.

  “No,” he confirms. “They usually back off with a lot of things with the fair going on.”

  “How did your paper turn out?” I check.

  “We just got them back today,” Marcus informs. “I got an A.”

  “Nice,” I cheer, giving him a high-five.

  “Wanna play?” Jacob asks.

  “You just want her to help you beat me,” Marcus teases.

  “So?” Jacob replies.

  “You play video games?” Aiden asks.

  I look at him, forgetting he came with me. “Yeah? Why?”

  “Nothing,” Aiden replies. “I’m just surprised.”

  “Laurie always plays games with us,” Jacob defends.

  “They got me into it,” I share.

  I remember playing Nintendo with my brother when we were little, but other than that, I hadn’t played until I came here and met Marcus and Jacob. It was easy to get back into. Plus, it’s been a great way to connect with them overall.

  “We have an extra controller if you want to play too, Aiden,” Marcus offers. “We can do teams.”

  “Sounds good,” Aiden answers with a smile.

  The four of us get situated on the couch with Marcus and Jacob moving to the corners which forces Aiden and I to be in the middle. Jacob and I team up against the other two and immediately start to dominate the game. Aiden tries to mess me up on occasion, attempting to take my controller away, tickle me or block me from seeing the screen. Trudy returns home after a bit and waits patiently for us to get to a stopping point so we can leave for the fair.

  The five of us and the dogs head over to the pier, searching for Paul and the Lenards who have already been there for some time. Once we find them, we start strolling around through the crowd, checking out the different booths of games and food when there isn’t a ride or a stage with performers on it. For dinner, we find a picnic table to share and Trudy, Paul, and Jacob go in search of food while the rest of us wait and continue chatting.

  “It’s good to see you happy, Laurie,” Esther comments with a smile.

  Aiden is sitting right next to me and touches my arm or holds my hand from time to time. Esther and Gerald are sitting across from us. Marcus is standing, talking to one of the girls from his school.

  My lips press together, not forming a full smile, but enough for a reply. “I'm always happy.”

  “Not this happy,” Esther returns.

  Aiden leans in and kisses my cheek.

  “Who’s hungry?” Laurie checks with food in hand. Apparently, Dr. Derek has joined her food gathering party.

  Jacob excitedly helps his mother, handing out plates and cups while Marcus and his friend join us. General conversations float around the table as everyone devours the food. Once we clean up, Trudy lets the boys go off on their own, reminding them to text on occasion so she knows they’re safe. Esther and Gerald head over to where the music has started playing again while Trudy informs me that Dr. Derek wanted to show her something. I speculate that Trudy’s lying to me, but I know I need to keep up appearances with Aiden.

  “I’ll be around,” Paul states with a smile, leaving Aiden and me alone before an objection could be offered.

  “What do you want to do first?” Aiden asks with his hand on my hip.

  I shrug my shoulders. “I’m not really one for fairs.”

  “What? Why not?” Aiden says with a boyish grin.

  “Don’t know,” I reply.

  “It’s because you’ve never had a date for one, I bet,” Aiden states. He takes my hand and tugs me into the crowd. The dogs follow closely as our bodies weave around people. “You haven’t been to a fair until you’ve ridden the Ferris wheel.”

  “I’ve been on a Ferris wheel before,” I share.

  “On one while at a fair?” Aiden checks.

  I shake my head.

  “Then, it doesn’t count,” Aiden declares.

  He pays for tickets and we get on after I instruct the dogs to wait inside the gate. The sun has already started to set and the view of the town and lake is quite beautiful from the top. I’ve never seen it like this. It’s almost peaceful and serene even with all of the people and noise happening below us.

  Aiden holds my hand while placing the other behind me. “Are you one of those women who secretly wishes her boyfriend will win her one of the big plush toys?”

  “What?” I snort, almost choking on my breath while trying to move away from his embrace.

  “You heard me,” Aiden replies, moving closer.

  “No, I’m not,” I assure. “Never was that kind of girl.”

  “T
oo bad,” Aiden says playfully. “Had my eye on one of the shooting games.”

  “Would you like me to win you one of the stuffed animals?” I tease.

  Aiden offers a sideways glare. “No.”

  After our ride on the Ferris Wheel, Aiden takes me over to the bumper cars and we take a few spins on them, giving ourselves mild cases of whiplash. Then, he leads me over to some kind of spinning ride and we come off feeling like we’re about to vomit, but end up laughing at ourselves more. Needing a rest from all the motion, Aiden insists on us going inside the Fun House. At first we’re side by side, but then we get separated somehow while we’re in the mirror section. I call out his name several times as I wander around, but don’t see him.

  Suddenly, he jumps out and I scream. “That’s not funny,” I say, punching him.

  “Sorry,” he laughs in-between whining from my blow. Aiden tugs me in a different direction and we’re between the standing mirrors. He shushes me when we hear more people enter the section we just left.

  “What are you doing?” I whisper.

  When the voices stop, Aiden pulls me into him and kisses me.

  His lips linger for a second or two before I pull away. “What are you…?”

  Aiden pulls me in for another kiss, this time, trying to use his tongue after our mouths part temporarily.

  “Fuck off," I say, pushing him away. I throw a punch and clock him in the shoulder.

  “Ow!” Aiden whines.

  I shove him away and head back the way we came. Aiden tries to get a hold of my arm, but I’m able to break free each time. I eventually make it out of the maze through the last part of the Fun House with Aiden not far behind me.

  “That was out of line," Aiden admits.

  "You think?” I snap

  “How about a snack?” Aiden suggests with a forced smile.

  “I’m not hungry,” I reply, still angry.

  “I am,” he says with an expression that suggests nothing has happened.

  “How can you eat after everything we had for dinner and all of the rides?” I ask.

  Aiden shrugs. “Don’t know. What are you in the mood for?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, there’s caramel apples, ice cream, funnel cake, and who knows what else is out there,” Aiden reports. “Lets walk around and decide.”

  “No,” I challenge.

  “Come on,” he pleas.

  I don’t move and keep my arms crossed.

  “I’m sorry,” he says. “It won’t happen again.”

  “It better not,” I state heatedly.

  Fifteen minutes later, we settle on having large ice cream waffle cones and take a stroll along the boardwalk, needing to get away from the excitement of the crowd.

  “How about a little boat ride?” Aiden asks.

  “How are you going to eat your ice cream?” I inspect.

  “You’ll feed it to me,” Aiden suggests.

  “That sounds a bit presumptuous, doesn’t it?” I say.

  “No,” Aiden denies with a grin.

  We climb into a canoe and embark on a relaxed journey over the water. I hold out Aiden’s ice cream on occasion for him to take a bite, but he licks it seductively on purpose just to get a rise out of me. After his fifth attempt, I smash some of it into his face, spreading it on his nose, cheeks and chin.

  “Cute,” Aiden comments. “Now, wipe it off.”

  “No,” I challenge.

  “What?” he baulks.

  “It actually suits you,” I return flatly.

  Two seconds later, Aiden has the paddles inside the boat and is heading right for me. I fall backward onto the dogs a little as he hovers over me, smearing the food from his face on mine. I can’t help but laugh.

  “There,” Aiden comments. “Now, we’re even.” He lowers his mouth and steals a kiss, knowing I can’t fight him off with ice cream in both of my hands.

  “Get…off of…me,” I command in between breaths.

  “No,” he replies. “I like this.”

  “You’re going to get a head full of ice cream if you don’t,” I press.

  “I’d rather put it on you and lick it off,” Aiden returns with a grin that's barely visible in the low light of the evening.

  My eyes inflate and I swallow hard, not expecting his forwardness.

  “You’re cute when you panic, which isn’t that often,” Aiden mentions.

  “I didn't panic,” I counter.

  “You panic anytime we’re this close,” he presents.

  “With good reason,” I reply.

  “Why’s that?” he checks.

  “I don’t trust you,” I answer.

  “Sure you do,” he states. “If I was Dr. Codie, would this be happening right now?”

  “I’m doing this because I have to,” I correct.

  Aiden lets out a heavy sigh and sits up. He grabs some extra napkins and wipes my face gently before cleaning his own. Once we’re settled, Aiden shifts and sits next to me. We’re quiet, watching the activity unfold around us as we finish the ice cream.

  My attention gets pulled to the stars which is one of my favorite things to watch. I’ve got a telescope in my bedroom that points right out through the large sun light window. There have been many nights where I’ve seen shooting stars and been able to see some beautiful colors that are far off into the distance that can’t be seen by the naked eye on a pitch black night.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Aiden hums into my ear.

  I turn to face him. “Yeah,” I agree.

  “How about a few more minutes and then we’ll head back,” he suggests.

  “Sure,” I agree.

  Once we get our boat tied off on the dock, Aiden helps me out. As we head back up the stairs to the main boardwalk, Aiden’s steps slow down.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he denies.

  “Bullshit,” I claim.

  “That’s him,” Aiden states, shifting our bodies.

  “Who? And, Where?” I question.

  “Quintin,” Aiden whispers in my ear, pressing his lips to my cheek. “Seven o’clock.”

  My eyes dart to my left and then I realize that Aiden meant his seven o’clock and not mine, so I look to the right. It’s too dark, even with the light above to see clearly. There are five men standing and smoking about ten feet away from one of the light poles. The shadows make it too hard to distinguish anything other than some low, deep voices.

  “How do you know?” I inquire.

  “I kind of know what he and his men look like,” Aiden confirms.

  “Do you need to hear what they’re saying?”

  “Yeah, but anything we do will be too obvious,” Aiden mentions.

  “So, what do you want to do?” I search, studying the men in the distance while trying not to look so obvious.

  “I have a few things in mind,” Aiden comments.

  “What?” I reply, still looking at the group of men.

  Aiden’s leans forward.

  My head snaps to face him when I feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek and his hands more intimately on my body. “Don’t even think about it,” I say, knowing that he was going to try to kiss me.

  “What?” he questions.

  “How do I know that’s really him?” I pry, shifting out from behind him.

  “You don’t,” Aiden admits, reaching for my arm.

  “Exactly,” I return, keeping my voice low. “For all I know, you just lied to me in order to cop a feel.”

  Aiden laughs. “If I wanted to cop a feel, Pix, you’d know.”

  “Trust me, I know. I just felt it,” I return slightly irritated, walking away from him.

  “Come on,” he calls, jogging up to me. “You know you liked it.”

  Pausing for a second, my eyes narrow at his confidence and then I continue to walk away.

  “Laurie,” he calls. He snatches my arm when he says my name a third time. “It was him, honestly.”<
br />
  “Sure,” I reply, not caring about the truth.

  “Don’t be mad,” he pleas.

  “I’m not,” I lie.

  “Pix,” Aiden calls.

  We continue our fight like we’re teenagers as we make our way back through the fair. After wandering for another twenty minutes, we decide to call it a night and I text Trudy that we’re leaving. It takes about fifteen minutes to get over to the truck, but only ten to get to my house since most of the town is at the fair.

  Aiden darts around to open the passenger door and walks me to the door. “I had a great time tonight,” he declares sweetly.

  “It was okay,” I comment.

  “What?” he replies with mock hurt feelings.

  “You know what I’m talking about,” I say, opening the door.

  “Nope,” Aiden denies.

  “Where’s your stuff?” I check.

  “Oh, right,” Aiden replies. “I’ll be right back.” He turns when he gets to the bottom of the steps. “You’re not going to lock me out, are you?”

  “I guess we’ll see,” I goad.

  Aiden jogs to the truck and grabs his backpack and then hurries back to me. “How about a tour first?” he suggests.

  “Of the lower half,” I confirm.

  The kitchen and living room are obvious since they’re a part of the main, open room once you get past the foyer that includes a large walk-in closet. There’s a huge pantry and a half bath off the kitchen and a hallway that leads to the mudroom and garage. The far right of the living room, along the side that faces the house where Quintin is supposedly living, used to be a large sunroom that expands the entire length of the side of the room. When I moved in, I converted the thirty-foot wide area, knocking most of the dividing walls down and changed it into my workout room where I have a rebounder, punching bag, weights, yoga mat, and my Wing Chun wooden dummy for practicing self defense.

  “You’ll be fine setting up in front of or on one of the window ledges,” I mention. “The windows are designed for me to be able to see out, but not for anyone to see in at any point regardless of light coming from inside.”

  “Smart,” he praises.

  “The windows are all bullet proof, like the greenhouse, and the whole house is impenetrable,” I share.

  “Looks like you’ve thought of everything,” Aiden comments.

  I shrug, knowing that as prepared as a person can be, there are still things you can’t prepare for. “How often do you need to come back?”