by Leger, Lori
“He may have done this sort of thing before,” Doug said.
“I don’t think he planned on leaving here without her.” nother officer’s comment, even spoken in a low whisper, could be heard in the quiet of the night.
Heath brought the K-9 unit over and loaded Lucas inside. After convincing Carrie he’d be fine with him, he left to bring the dog to the vet.
Carrie stood watching the unit drive off then turned to gaze at the man’s face. “Tim Hardin,” she said. “I know him.” She shuddered, remembering how she’d urged Christie to check him out as potential date material.
Charlie leaned toward Sam. “Take her in the house and get her warm. Get her away from this.”
Ten minutes later, Carrie still convulsed in violent shivering, despite the mound of quilts piled on top of her.
“Babe, you’re going to be fine, now. It’s all over with,” Sam crooned.
“Then why d-do I feel so c-cold inside?” she said, through chattering teeth.
He went into her bathroom and came back with two aspirin and a glass of water. “Here, take these.” She did as she was told and lay back with a violent shiver. Sam stretched himself out alongside and held her until the trembling lessened and her breathing turned to light snores. He left the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.
Sam spent the next hour making necessary phone calls to Carrie’s family members, children first, then Elaine. Next he called his family, then their co-workers. Exhausted, and sick at heart from telling and retelling the terrifying story, Sam walked outside for a dose of fresh air.
He stepped onto the front porch to check on Lucas. The vet had cleared the dog and sent him home, saying he’d recover from the sprain, his only injury. The Chesapeake sat there with his wrapped leg, vigilant as a great stone lion guarding the palace gates. He stared up at Sam with large, trusting, brown eyes, and thumped his tail at his approach.
“You did good, boy.” Sam reached out to scratch the beast’s head, as man and dog watched the scene on the street unfold. The department finished taking their photos, freeing the coroner’s office to leave with the body. Sam followed the flash of lights until the vehicle turned at the highway and disappeared from his sight. After a few more minutes the street cleared completely.
Sam had just taken Lucas to the back yard, when Nick walked over to meet him.
“How is she?”
“Sleeping. I don’t think she let herself think about how dangerous this whole mess was. God almighty, he came close.” Father and son talked a few minutes more before Nick stood up to leave.
“I’ll be here, Son. I don’t want her to wake up alone, but you’re welcomed to stay and keep me company.”
Nick shook his head and stepped off the porch. “Naw, I’m gonna go on home.”
Sam went inside to lock up. He stared at the time on the microwave. Not even one a.m. He washed up in the bathroom before heading back to Carrie’s bed. Settling himself beside her, he lay on top of the quilts so that layers of fabric separated them. When the drop in temperature convinced him to get up for another blanket, a soft touch on his arm stopped him in his tracks.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.
“I was just going to get an extra blanket.”
Carrie lifted the covers. “It’s warm under here.”
Sam did as he was told, snuggling up to her under the mound of quilts and bedspreads. “How you feeling, pretty girl? Better?”
“Yeah, I am. I don’t know what happened.”
“Probably a mild case of shock. You’ve been through a lot.”
She wiped at a stray tear with the palm of her hand and nodded. “But I didn’t have to go through any of it alone. It’s meant a lot to me that you’ve been here for me.”
He leaned over and gave her a light kiss. “Glad to be of service.”
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“Not even two hours, not long enough.”
She struggled to rise from the bed. “I need to call my kids and my mom before they hear it from someone else.”
He placed a hand on shoulder. “I took care of all that. They all said to tell you how proud they are of you and how much they love you. Grant and the girls will be here tomorrow.”
“Mom?”
“She said she was glad to hear it before Kathleen Ledoux for a change.”
She closed her eyes in exhaustion and sighed, too emotionally drained to see the humor. Her head fell heavily against the pillow. “Is Lucas okay?”
“He’s fine. He’s as happy as a bundle of one dollar bills in a clubful of pole dancers. That dog is famous, fed, and fast asleep on the back porch.”
She gazed up at him. “You really do know how to take care of me, don’t you?”
His chest rumbled with laughter. “It’s a little difficult for me to do that when you’re doing such a fine job of taking care of yourself.” He fluffed her pillow and covered her with the extra blanket. “Try to go to sleep hon. I’ll be here.”
***
She woke to low voices and a sudden knock on the side of the house. Carrie cracked one eye open, sensing she’d slept later than normal. Another knock, then another, made her jerk upright in her bed and struggle to crawl out from under the mound of quilts and blankets.
“What the hell?” she cried, as her foot tangled in the sheet and sent her tumbling to the floor, only half-freed from the multiple bed coverings.
The door flew open and Sam stood there, his face a road map of concern until he saw the tangled mess hanging off the bed. “Hey Babe. Looks like you’re goin’ nowhere fast.”
“Dammit, Sam…” She raised one arm toward him as her head fell forward. “Help me.” It was more of a command than a request.
“Hmmm,” he said. “I will, as soon as I figure out where the quilts end and you begin.” He reached under her arms and hauled her up off the floor.
Carrie stood warily, making sure there was something solid under her feet before stepping free from the tangle. “Where’d all these blankets come from?”
“Two other beds and a futon.”
She looked up, still trying to adjust to the brightly lit room, and noticed his sunbeam of a smile. “Don’t laugh at me. I can’t take it right now.”
“I’m not laughing,” he confessed. “Even with puffy eyes, rumpled clothes, and wild hair, I know I’ve never loved you more than I do at this moment.”
She sniffed. “At least you didn’t say I’ve never looked better.”
“You want me to lie?”
“If you had, I’d have had to shoot you. What time is it?”
“Almost eleven.”
“Half the day’s gone,” she groaned, and froze when she heard the distinctive wall-knocking sound again. “That!” she said, pointing to a spot just beyond the exterior wall of her bedroom. “What is that knocking?”
“It’s your dog. He’s happy.”
“Wh..what?” She pictured that big tail of his wagging, knocking on the wall. “Oh. I get it now,” she said, stumbling to the bathroom to survey the damage to her face.
Carrie groaned at her reflection. She splashed cold water on her face, ran a brush through her hair, and started brushing her teeth. “Wait!” She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. “What’s Lucas so happy about?”
“His kids are here. Didn’t you hear them outside with him?”
She rinsed her mouth, gave Sam a quick kiss, and rushed out, suddenly desperate to see them. As she reached the back door, she paused, picturing Toto as she’d found him, then turned and ran out the front instead.
Carrie called for her kids and they came running. She pulled them close, needing the contact of her babies, even if they weren’t babies anymore. Then she hugged each one separately as her silent tears fell. About that time, Lucas barreled through his kids to get to Carrie. She hugged the dog, praising him for his courage as he wagged that huge tail hard enough to hurt whomever it contacted. They made their way
into the warmth of the house, via the front porch. Carrie stopped to wave to Sam as he stood on his own steps. He raised his hand slowly, and she blew him a kiss before closing her door.
Carrie turned to her children. “God, I’m glad to see y’all.”
Grant leaned forward on the couch. “Was it dangerous, Mom?”
She gazed at him, wondering how much he knew. “Did Sam tell you what happened?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you know that I was never in any danger.”
“Something could have gone wrong.”
“But it didn’t, and Tim Hardin isn’t a threat anymore.” She sat across from the couch where she could see all three of them. “Maybe now I can start to enjoy this place.”
Gretchen spoke first. “I can never live here, Mom.”
Her daughter’s words made her sit up straight. “Gretch, nobody’s asking you to make a decision now.”
“I don’t want to stay here, either,” Lauren added.
Carrie’s breath hitched as she tried to continue her line of deal making. “I’d even consider letting you both finish your school years in Gardiner. You could start your sophomore years in Kenton. And Grant, I’m still convinced this would be a better place to spend your last two years of high school.”
Grant shook his head but kept his silence.
Carrie sighed and turned to Lauren. “By next year you…”
“I don’t ever want to see this place again.”
“I don’t ever want to see this town again,” Gretchen added.
“Do you understand that Officer Hardin lived in Gardiner, and that he was probably the one making the phone calls?”
This time Grant spoke up. “We don’t care, Mom. Toto was killed here. That guy tried to get to you here.”
“Look, sometimes things happen that we can’t contr—”
“Don’t you think this place has, like, bad mojo or something?” Gretchen said.
Carrie stared at her daughter, felt a miniscule crack in the foundation of her brave, new, independent world. “Bad mojo?”
“Toto died here. I can’t live here,” Lauren continued, tag teaming with her sister.
“We’ve had pets die in our home before. Heck, we had two die in one day, but we stayed because it was our home,” Carrie argued.
“But they weren’t murdered!” Lauren said, her large brown eyes pooling with tears. “That man murdered Toto! He died right there, on the back porch.”
“And then he died, right there in the street. In front of the house,” Gretchen pointed out.
Carrie’s heart pounded, trying to pump blood back into the half of her body that felt drained. She let her head fall back on her shoulders, too exhausted to hold it up, anymore. “This is my life, girls. This is my future…our future…someplace better for me.”
“Just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it’s better,” Lauren said.
“And that doesn’t mean it’s better for us,” Gretchen added.
“I have legal guardianship of the both of you,” Carrie said, using her big gun. “You will live with me. End. Of. Story.”
Gretchen’s chin lifted. “Dad said we can choose, because we’re old enough now. And we all choose Gardiner.”
“Besides,” Lauren said, crying in earnest now, beginning to shake. “You promised me. You said if things didn’t work out, you’d stop seeing Mr. Sam.”
Carrie felt the color drain from her face, imagined the small crack in the foundation of her world widening. “This is not a matter of things not working out with Sam. He was with me through all of this. He never let me down. You three like Sam and his kids…don’t try to tell me you don’t.”
“If you hadn’t moved here, Toto would still be alive,” Lauren sobbed. “And I believed you when you said you wouldn’t choose your boyfriend over us. I should have known better.”
Carrie collapsed into her chair at the last statement, seeing her future crumble around her. She let her head fall back against her shoulders and pressed the heel of her hands to both eyes. How could she find the words to argue with them? How could she blame her children for feeling this way, when she didn’t know if she could ever set foot on that porch again? It had been torture to leave Lucas there the previous night. He’d sniffed the floor where Toto had died and gazed up at her with those sad eyes, almost as if he’d known. At the time, it had felt as though he blamed her for Toto’s death. Now she knew her kids did, too.
She gazed across at them, her eyes pleading, and made one last ditch effort to change their minds. “Please, kids. I’m begging you. Please give this a chance.”
Grant and the twins exchanged looks with each other then turned toward her, shaking their heads.
Carrie took two deep breaths and released the last one, shakily. She ran her hands through her hair and sat up straight. “All right, then. You win,” she said. “No more Kenton. No more Sam.” She stood, suddenly feeling much older, and a lot less independent. “Pack your things. Everything you’ll need for the weekend. We’re going back to Gardiner tonight.” She reached for the door handle, and paused, suddenly angry at the situation, at them, at herself, for falling for Sam when her life was one, big question mark. But, anger was good. Anger would help her get through the next five minutes.
“Make damn sure your stuff’s packed by the time I get back. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“Where are you goi—” Lauren began.
“Shut up, dumb ass!” Grant hissed, cutting off his sister.
Carrie tensed and threw open the door, stared out toward Sam standing on his porch…waiting for her. “Whatever’s not in the car or truck by the time I get back will stay here until everything else gets moved.” She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
Sam watched her approach, feeling his stomach tighten and knot, knowing he wouldn’t like what she had to say. She walked up the sidewalk, determined in her purpose, her jaw tight with anger and hurt. “Ah hell, here it comes,” he murmured softly to himself.
She marched up his steps and stopped directly in front of him. “We have to talk.”
He nodded, reaching for her shoulder. “Let’s go inside where it’s warm.”
“No,” she said, avoiding his touch.
“Carrie…”
“I’m moving back to Gardiner.”
“Talk to me.”
“They don’t want anything to do with this place, Sam. Not the house, or the school, or the town or…” she faltered here, but caught her stride again as she finished in an icy tone. “Or anyone in it.”
He wasn’t surprised, especially after speaking to her kids when they’d first arrived. He didn’t like it, but at least he’d had time to think of alternative methods of keeping their relationship intact. “Babe,” he said, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders. “It’ll be okay. I’d rather have you here, but at least we’ll see each other every day at work. We’ll survive until the weekends get here.”
“I made them a promise, Sam. If things didn’t work out between us…all of us…I’d walk away.”
“It’s not that big of a deal, Carrie. An hour is not that far, and I’m willing to do all the driving.”
“No, Sam.”
He stopped and caught his breath. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” she stopped to swallow, to steel herself. “I can’t choose you over my children. It’s over.”
His breath rushed out at the two words he knew were capable of blowing his world apart. He’d been through this before, and damned if he wasn’t going through it again. “You can’t be serious.” He nearly laughed at the lameness of his reaction, knowing she was dead serious.
“I am. And if you were in my shoes you’d do the same thing, you know you would.”
“I would stop to consider what I’d be giving up, I can promise you that.” His shock morphed into indignation, then fury…Fury that deflated when he saw the tremble of her chin.
“You don’t think I know what I’m giv
ing up?” she asked, turning her gaze on him. “I’m giving up everything. I’ve done it once before for my kids, and I guess I’ll have to do it again. It’ll hurt like hell, but we’ve both been through worse than this and lived through it. But, I am sorry. I don’t want to do this.” Having used up her reserve of anger, she allowed one tortured sob to escape. She covered her mouth with her hand, before attempting to turn away from him.
Sam caught her by the arm and turned her back to face him. “Then don’t Carrie, come on Baby.”
“Sam, stop it,” she said, looking down as she pushed away from him, her hands fisted and unyielding. She stopped then, opened her hands as she raised her gaze to meet his, and then placed one hand on his face. “If you had to choose between me and your children, you would choose your children, don’t tell me you wouldn’t.”
He caught her hand in both of his. “It doesn’t sound much like a choice. It sounds like an ultimatum, bordering on blackmail.”
“Maybe it is, but my children’s feelings are no less important than ours. I have to go, Sam.” She pulled her hand free and turned away from him.
“Carrie, please don’t do this.”
Carrie rushed away from Sam in a brisk walk-run back to her place. She threw the door open and barked at her children. “Girls, get in my car. Grant! I want Lucas riding inside the truck with you.”
“He’s gonna smell up the truck.”
“Too bad. His foot’s hurt and he won’t be able to keep his balance back there.” She stopped in front of her girls. “Didn’t I tell you two to get in the car?”
“I need my radio—”
She pointed to the doorway. “Now!”
As her kids scrambled to the door, Carrie rushed to her bedroom closet. She threw two pair of jeans and some blouses in a shoulder tote, along with her makeup kit and a few other items. Hoping to avoid a confrontation with Sam, she locked up and jumped inside her car.
“Can we ride with Grant while Lucas rides with you?”
Not bothering to look at the twin who’d asked the insensitive question, she forced her voice to remain calm. “I don’t think so, now sit your butts down and buckle up.”