by Leger, Lori
At four-thirty sharp, she slipped into leather boots and smoothed down a burgundy sweater over black jeans. Trying to ignore the battle of nerves being played out inside her stomach, she applied her favorite perfume and grabbed her purse. Carrie took one last look at the mirror over the entry table and pulled open the front door. Her breath rushed out of her lungs at the sight before her.
CHAPTER 10
Dave stood in her doorway, one hand fisted midair in pre-knock position. The other gripped a huge bouquet of red and white roses in a cut crystal vase. His gaze seared her as though she were a piece of meat on a hot grill.
“Where the hell are you off to looking like that?”
The accusation in his tone turned the ball of nervousness inside her stomach into anger. Instead of trying to come up with a way to defend her actions, she remembered her mother’s words from that morning. You make the rules now.
She stiffened her spine. “Is there something you need? I’m about to leave.”
He shoved the flowers at her. “I brought you these as an early Christmas present.”
Carrie grabbed at the flowers and raised a one brow skeptically. “You never brought me real roses in all the years we were together. Why now?”
“Because, I want to make amends for all the times I didn’t bring you any.”
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing…I’m not up to anything.”
“This timing seems too perfect somehow. I know you’re up to something.”
“Look, that house just isn’t the same without you there, Babe. I want you to come back home.”
“Oh…” she said. That was easy…wait…too easy. “So, you’re saying you want me to move back home.”
His face lit up. “Yes…exactly.”
“And you’ll be…Where…at your mom’s?”
“No, I’ll be at the house with you, of course.”
“With me…As a couple you mean?”
“Well, sure as a couple.”
“No thank you.”
“You took the roses,” he said, looking perplexed.
She shoved them back at him, forcing him to take hold of the vase. “I’m giving them back.”
“What the hell’s going on here? And where are you going all dolled up like that?” His tone was hard and edgy.
“It’s none of your business where I go.” She leaned around him to look toward his pick-up. “Where are the kids?”
He moved to block her view of his truck as well as her path out of the door. “They’re at Mom’s. You didn’t answer me.”
Carrie’s frown darkened. “I don’t have to answer you.”
He leaned in closer. “I asked you a question.”
“Bite me, Dave.” When he didn’t reply, she tapped her foot and raised her wrist to glance at her watch. “You’ve got thirty seconds to tell me why you’re here,” she said, pushing her sleeves up to her elbows, “then I’m leaving.”
“You bitch! I see right through you. Who are you screwing?”
She stuck her finger in his face. “You almost had me going Dave. Who’d you get to make those phone calls? Some guy you work with? To think I chewed Sam’s butt for accusing you of doing exactly what you did. And Mom agreed with him.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What phone calls? And who the hell is Sam?” Dave said, his face a mask of confusion that would have convinced her any other time. But now she knew better.
“I defended your ass!” She shook her head. “I should have known better. God, I’m such an idiot.”
Dave splayed one hand. “I don’t know wh—”
“Sure you don’t, jerk. I’m leaving now.” She pushed past him then closed and locked the door. She’d only taken two steps before he jerked her around by the arm.
“Stop, dammit! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
The old version of Carrie, the 1.0 version, would have attempted to reason with him. The newer, improved version knew it couldn’t be done, and had no desire to try. Not with Sam waiting.
Carrie wrenched her arm away and glared at him. “Get your hands off of me.” Clutching her keys tightly, she spun around and walked to her car. Just when she thought she’d escape without any further trouble, he pinned her against the car door from behind.
“I want you, Babe,” he breathed, hot and moist near her ear. “You know you want me. We were always so damned good together.”
Her outrage turned to amusement at his ludicrous proposition. The initial on-set of low chuckles increased in volume, turning into uncontrollable laughter.
Dave pushed away from her, his foul curses reverberating across the small yard into the quiet neighborhood.
Carrie turned to face him, wiping tears from her eyes. “Come on Dave, we’re divorced. It’s over. Neither of us has wanted the other in years, and we’ve never been good together. Can’t you be honest with yourself?”
He stepped closer and raised his volume a notch. “I’ve always wanted you.”
She tightened her grip on her car keys and stared him down. “I guess it’s just me who didn’t want you, then.”
She got in her car and closed the door. Hoping for the end of the drama, she pressed the automatic lock button.
“Carrie, you have to come home now!” he yelled through the closed window.
“Stop making a scene and go home to our kids, Dave.”
Screw you!” He reared back, and threw the vase of roses into the windshield.
Carrie jumped at the resounding crack of glass against glass. The thick vase bounced off and landed with a thud in the grass that lined the driveway. She stared at the fracture line travelling across the upper part of the windshield until it encompassed its entire length. Red and white rose petals littered the glass, along with one snapped bud that settled at the base, jammed inside a wiper blade.
Her heart pounded with a rush of adrenaline as she tried to steady her breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut and took two calming breaths. By the time she opened them, Dave had leaned over to investigate the damage.
“That’s just great, you jack-ass!” she sneered, as Dave gave her his typical ‘Yeah, I screwed up but it’s too late to take it back’ look, …the closest he ever came to admitting he was wrong. She glared at him through the fractured glass, the jagged lines further proof that divorcing him had been the right thing to do.
Two minutes later, Carrie walked into the police station, shaken, but determined to show Dave she was stronger now.
Chief Rob Ledoux glanced at her from his desk, his phone to his ear. He nodded at her while speaking to the person on the phone. “She just walked in, Mom, it’s alright. I know, Mom. Yes ma’am, I’ll take care of it right away.” Rob hung up the phone and stood to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “My mother saw the whole thing from her front door. Are you hurt?”
“Damn, I keep forgetting Ms. Kathleen lives next door. I wondered if he’d disturbed any of the neighbors.”
“That neighbor is quite disturbed and good and pissed at your ex.” Rob led Carrie out the door of his office then told the dispatcher to have someone find Dave and bring him in for questioning. He turned back to Carrie. “Mom told me to ‘put that crazy S.O.B. in jail and throw away the key’.”
He followed her outside and shook his head as he checked out her windshield. “I’m glad you came by to report this. I’ve seen too many women ignore situations, when all they had to do was make a report to raise a warning flag. This is the second one, in his case. One more and he’ll get jail time.” He picked up the red rose bud that had jammed behind the wiper blade. “Didn’t like the color?”
Carrie snorted in disgust. “Son of a bitch never once gave me roses when we were married.”
Rob chuckled at her answer. “I’ll talk to him about having this repaired. You shouldn’t have to file it with your insurance.”
“Thanks. Is it safe to drive until then?”
He examined the
break again. “I think so. Hopefully, we can avoid any further confrontations between you two, but just in case, I want you to be careful, okay? Whatever you do, don’t take any threats lightly.”
His words reminded Carrie how convenient life in a small town could be when everyone knows everyone else. “Thanks, but it happened just in time. I was really starting to worry about those phone calls. Now that I know it’s him, I’m not worried.”
“Wait, he confessed to making the calls?”
“No, I know he couldn’t have made them, but I also know he put someone up to it.”
“How do you know?”
“The timing is too perfect, Rob. He waited until he knew I was good and scared to ask me to move back home with him. He just knew I’d say yes.”
“That all sounds good, and I hope that’s exactly the way it happened. But we don’t have any proof, and Dave would be a fool to admit to it, so just to be safe, I want you to be careful.”
“I will, but I’m telling you, it’s not necessary.”
“Yeah, well, humor me, okay? I’ll have someone park at Christie’s tonight, just in case.”
“I’m about to leave town, and probably won’t be back until late. Christie and Max won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“Well, then, stop at the station on your way home and have the patrolman follow you there.”
“All right, if you insist.”
They walked back into his office and he pulled out a form. “Now, the fact that he did it while you were sitting behind the window indicates a threat to your person.” He handed her the form and a pen. “Here, fill this out, please.”
Carrie spent the next few minutes filling out a complaint and pushed the paper at him.
Once Rob took pictures of the damage, he told her she was free to go. Just as she opened her car door to leave, Dave drove up in his truck, escorted by a police cruiser. He stepped out of the vehicle, his face a depiction of angry resistance.
Rob pointed at Dave and spoke in a voice booming with authority. “You! Stay put until I tell you otherwise.” He turned back to Carrie and spoke in a calm manner. “You call if anything else happens.”
She nodded. “Thanks Rob.” Determined not to show Dave any fear, she turned to him and pointed to her car window. “And thanks for the real early Christmas gift, Dave. I’m sure the kids will appreciate it.”
Dave leveled an icy glare in her direction but kept his silence.
As soon as she drove off, Carrie’s calm façade fragmented dangerously fast. A strong mixture of waning adrenaline and righteous fury had her struggling to hold back tears. She snapped up a tissue from the box on her console and dabbed at her eyes. If she cried, there went the make-up. “Oh, come on,” she spoke to her reflection. “Get pissed if you have to, but do not cry…don’t you dare cry.”
As a distraction, she turned the car radio to a station playing continuous Christmas music. For the entire hour drive, Carrie sang along as loud as she could. When she got to Kenton, she pulled out Sam’s directions. By the time she saw the blue cross in his front yard, she nearly cried out with relief.
Carrie glided to a stop next to his truck and turned off the ignition. She stepped out of the car and stared at the doorway just opening to reveal his bulk. The crisp, cool air of the December evening restored her and she managed to get to the porch without falling apart. But the glare he aimed at the window of her car deflated her reserve as quickly as a ten penny nail in a bicycle tire. By the time she reached him, she wanted nothing more than to bury her sobs in his welcoming embrace.
***
Sam was so glad to see her he nearly missed the broken window. Once he saw it, a cold fury for the man he knew had to be responsible flooded through his system. He riveted his gaze back to the only important factor. Carrie looked like a lady whose tenuous hold on a wildcat had about broken loose. He brushed his fury aside long enough to open his arms to the woman he cared for.
They stood on his front porch just outside the doorway of his home, for God and everyone to see, for a full five minutes. He rubbed shoulders that practically vibrated with nervous tension, praying the bastard hadn’t touched her. They stood, Carrie’s face buried in his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. He rocked from side to side, keeping his silence until she pushed away with a renewed grip on her emotions.
“You okay?” He didn’t trust himself to ask more than that.
She nodded and wiped at the corner of her eye. “I am now, but it was a long drive. Can you show me where your restroom is, please?”
Once she’d stepped into his bathroom, he walked out to get a closer look at her car. His jaw clenched furiously as he examined the jagged crack in the windshield. God, he hoped she wasn’t in the driver’s seat when that happened.
He walked back into the house to pace impatiently until she rejoined him.
By the time Carrie emerged, looking relatively unscathed, Sam was the one tied in knots.
She approached slowly and lifted her gaze to his. “Hey.”
Once more, he reined in his anger for her. “Hey pretty girl. You ready to talk about it yet?”
She released a trembling breath. “Dave showed up at my door just as I was leaving. If I’d left one minute earlier, I’d have missed him, but there is a bright side to this.”
Sam shifted uneasily and clasped his hands behind his head, squeezing his elbows together. “I’d love to hear it right about now.”
She placed her hand gently on his chest to calm him.
“Go on, tell me the rest.”
“He’s behind the phone calls, Sam. You and my mom were both right.”
Once he heard everything she and Rob discussed, he grunted his approval. “It sounds like the Chief’s on the ball.”
“He is. Now, can we please drop the subject for the rest of the night?”
Sam smiled and stepped back to drink in her appearance. “You always look good, but…Wow. Is all this for me?”
She made a show of looking around the room. “Actually, it’s for that other guy I saw lounging around here—”
He pulled her close. “Always the smart ass.”
“Would you want me any other way?” she asked, one delicate brow arched in question.
“Absolutely not.”
He locked his arms around her, luxuriating in her warmth, her soft curves, and her smell, spicy and sensual. He felt the rightness of her being here, like some missing piece of his life had fallen neatly into place.
She buried her nose in the front of his shirt and groaned, low and inviting. “God, you smell good.”
He rested his chin on the top of her head. “It feels good having you here, Carrie.”
“It feels good being here,” she said. “It’s easier than I thought it’d be.”
He grinned at the wonder of her thoughts mirroring his so closely. “Is it?”
She nodded and pulled away from him. “It’s too damn easy.” He watched as she looked around, wishing again he had more to offer.
“So, I’ve already seen the bathroom. Want to show me around the rest of your place?”
“It’s a simple place, and I’m a simple man, I guess, but it’s been my home sweet home for twenty years. Well…sometimes it was sweet.” He grimaced at painful memories. “Other times, not so much.” He showed her the living room, kitchen, and small dining area in the back.
“This place has good bones, but it does seem a little bare.”
“Yeah, well Linda took a few things with her when she left initially, then a few more things over the last year or so.”
She bobbed her head in agreement. “It looks like a man cave. Two bachelors living alone.”
“I guess I got used to it. Would you like a beer or something? I’ve got your favorite.”
“Just in case you thought you could get me drunk and have your way with me?” she teased.
“You know I wouldn’t do that, don’t you?”
Carrie smiled at him. “I know that. I’ll t
ake that beer, thanks.” She accepted the long neck bottle from him. “How’d you know this was my favorite beer?”
“I heard you tell J.C. a couple of months ago,” he answered.
“You paid attention that long ago?”
He opened a door and nodded. “Here’s the spare room, and here’s my room,” he said, reaching out to push open the partially closed door to reveal his king-size bed.
“That’s a big ole bed,” she admitted.
“Too big,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Uh, I’m tall, so I need a big bed.” He led her to the back end of the house where the dining room and second bath were located.
After Carrie admired his various pieces of woodworking, which included the dining room table, she pointed to a doorway at the end of the back hall. “What’s through there?”
“Nick’s room, and it’s not fit for human eyes.”
Carrie raised her hand. “Say no more; I have a son around that age and I don’t go into his room unless my tetanus shot is up to date. You keep a neat house, Sam.”
He laughed. “It wasn’t quite this neat when you called. I mopped and did some laundry.”
“Just for me?”
Sam beamed down at her and nodded. “You impressed, yet?”
“I am.”
He turned, remembering the gift he’d bought her. “Hold on a sec, I got a little something for you.” He walked into his bedroom to retrieve the gift. By the time he got back to her, she held a wrapped gift in her hands. “Great minds think alike, I guess.” He held a gift bag up to her. “Merry Christmas, Carrie.”
She opened the card first and smiled at the Christmas Village scene. She remained silent as she read what he’d written on the blank surface:
Carrie,
Thank you for taking a chance on me. I plan to make sure you don’t regret it.
Merry Christmas,
Sam
He watched her blink rapidly, as though to keep tears back.
“Thank you, Sam.” She put the card gently aside and turned her attention to the package. She pulled out the sheets of tissue to reveal a stuffed alligator with a wreath around its neck and carrying a sign in its mouth that boasted Cajun Christmas Greetings. The bag also contained a package of Magnolia scented potpourri.