Then Justin was calling. The police had called him and so had the security company. He was on his way home. The police were on the way too. Justin told me not to leave the room. I was in a state of panic and didn’t have my pepper spray. I maniacally looked around the room in search of some sort of make shift weapon. The best I could do was the bedside lamp. I tore off the lamp shade and held the thing in my hands, much like a baseball bat. Hiding in the corner, I waited. I don’t know why I even bothered to hide at all because I was panting so loudly the intruder would undoubtedly be able to hear me from the floor below.
Fuck! Where are the goddamn police?
A few minutes later I heard the sirens. Then I heard Justin’s voice. I was glued to that freakin’ corner. Someone must’ve come in and poured super glue all over my body. My arms and legs would not obey my brain’s messages at all. Next thing I knew, Justin was prying that lamp out of my fingers and I was in his arms.
“You’re okay Terri. The police are here and they’re checking things out downstairs. Terri? Terri?”
I was frozen in time. I heard him but I couldn’t respond.
“Terri!” He was slapping my hands and then he was cupping my face. “Talk to me Terri. Damn it, talk to me or I’m gonna have to take you to the hospital. Don’t go into shock over this on me.”
I started crying and trying to talk all at the same time. It was the most bizarre feeling. My body felt like it wasn’t mine anymore. My skin tingled and my arms and legs felt nearly felt numb.
“Okay...you’re okay baby. Everything’s going to be fine.”
He hugged me to him and rubbed my back. My heart was getting ready to go “Pop” and I didn’t feel myself at all.
Then those soothing words starting flowing from his lips. “Deep breaths honey. Controlled deep breaths. Come on. You have to breathe.”
I took one long pull of air and held that precious commodity in my lungs. “Okay, release.” I blew it out, just like he asked. This was a trick Phil had taught me, but my mind wasn’t functioning properly for me to think of it on my own. “Again baby.” I just followed his orders and pretty soon my arms and legs began to feel like I owned them again.
“Whew,” I said as I blew out that last breath.
“Hell, Terri. You scared me.”
“Hell, Justin. I scared me.”
He let out a sound that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a groan.
“Do you think you can make it down the stairs? The police want to ask you some questions.”
“Are they gonna be mean?”
“No. Why?”
“They were so mean to Lexi after she was abducted.”
“Oh yeah. They were, weren’t they? Well, I won’t let them be mean to you. Okay?”
“I won’t let them be mean to me either. I was just gonna prepare myself. I was gonna bring the lamp.”
“I see.”
I got the feeling he wanted to laugh now. It was a good thing he didn’t. He could laugh another time. I wasn’t quite ready for laughing.
The police wanted to know if I saw anything. I told them everything I could, which wasn’t much. It turned out someone had slashed my tires and then tried to break into the house. The alarm scared them off. It was a good thing. I’d had way too much excitement lately. I was seriously considering getting a gun after all this. I just didn’t feel safe anymore.
It was close to four in the morning when everyone left. Justin was leery about leaving me here alone. The alarm system was reset and he would be home in a couple of hours. I assured him I’d be fine. It was the biggest lie I ever told. I lay there with my eyes wide open, waiting for every tiny noise to worry me to death. I finally relaxed when he slipped into bed next to me and pulled me close. We both slept until noon.
********
On Monday, my own alarm system was up and running so I moved back home. My front window had also been repaired and Justin had taken care of getting my tires replaced. We had briefly argued over that, but his insistence won out. He had caged me against the counter and told me he’d wouldn’t let me leave unless I let him do that. Then he threatened to tie me up and do all sorts of unmentionable things to me if I let him take care of my tires. I was a panting, dripping, throbbing bundle of neurons by the time he stopped whispering in my ear, but when his tongue began that torturous descent down my neck, I went all animal on him. He got his wish and I got my tires...er, among other things.
When the weekend hit, I’d forgotten about getting a new cocktail dress, so I pulled something I had out of the closet. It was a short red one shouldered dress. I put it on and my heart sank. It had been a while since I’d worn this dress...well, since I had worn any short cocktail dress. My scarred up leg looked like a crap show in it. I couldn’t go out like this. I tore through my drawers in search of a pair of panty hose and didn’t have any.
Damn!
Okay, now what? Justin was going to be here in about twenty minutes. My hair and makeup were done. I’d twisted my hair into messy bun at the nape of my neck. My make up was my usual...light with very little eye liner.
Heading back to my closet, I went through my dresses again. There wasn’t anything that I could wear that would cover up my scars. My heart sank right to my toes and then it crashed all the way through to my crawl space. The doorbell rang and I heard the door open and him calling my name. I still had the red dress on. He walked into my room and stopped and stared.
His eyes got all sexy on me and he just said in that husky voice of his, “Wow! You look amazing.” He cocked his head to the side and kept staring. Then something shifted in his gaze and he said, “Something’s happened. What is it?”
I looked from his face to my leg. He followed my gaze. His thumb and forefinger pinched his lower lip for a second and then he walked up to me and grabbed me by my hips.”
“Move with me a minute babe.” He walked me to the mirror and stood behind me. Bending his head to the crook of my neck, his low-pitched voice whispered. “Now look at yourself and tell me what you see.” His hands never left my hips.
“I see a dark haired woman in a red dress.”
“Uh huh. What else?”
“There is a really sexy man standing behind her.”
“Not that Terri. Focus on you. Stay with me please. I’m trying to point out the obvious here.”
“That’s all.”
“That’s all? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, then we’re good.”
“Wait. What do you mean?”
“You never mentioned your scars.”
“Justin, I did that on purpose.”
“Okay, then start all over.”
I looked at myself and in the lighting here it really wasn’t the main focus on my body.
“Honey, I know what you’re thinking here. I know how you feel about this. But honestly, I don’t look at you and see it. I see you and who you are. I see a gorgeous dark haired beauty who looks quite spectacular in her red dress. That’s your color and I don’t know if you could look any better.”
I turned in his arms and hugged him. “You always seem to say the perfect things to me. Thank you.”
“Wear those scars with pride honey. I know what they stand for and most of the people that will be there tonight will understand it too. And if they don’t, fuck ‘em.”
I had to laugh at that.
He still countered. “I’m serious here. Think about how hard you’ve worked just to be standing and walking Terri. That’s why I’m telling you to wear those scars with pride. Don’t you ever be ashamed of them. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, how about a kiss before you put your lipstick on?”
Who could argue with that request?
********
Jackson and his wife Alice lived in the old village in Mount Pleasant. They had a lovely old home that sat right on the Charleston harbor. The back terrace went all the way down to a dock that was lit with torches and there were fire pi
ts scattered everywhere to warm the guests. Inside music played and hor d’oeuvres were served along with a host of drinks. Justin introduced me to everyone and he was sure to escort me everywhere, never leaving my side.
“What a beautiful home you have,” I told Alice.
“Thanks Terri.”
Justin laughed and told Alice, “Terri has an eye for houses. She’s in real estate.”
“That’s right. I remember you mentioning that. By the way, how are your eyes?” Alice asked.
“Completely recovered, thanks to you. I’ll never be wearing that mascara again,” I laughed.
“Well, if you do, just be sure to get it off that same night.”
“Yeah, she looked like she was breeding chinchillas,” Justin added.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Everyone was laughing.
“Why don’t we go inside and get a bite to eat?” Justin suggested.
“Sounds great.” We worked our way back inside and ate some of the scrumptious food. A little while later I excused myself to use the ladies’ room.
I was waiting in line when I heard a voice behind me snidely say, “So you’re Justin’s new date du jour.” It was a blond, blue eyed woman in her early thirties I would guess.
I chuckled to hide my discomfort at her statement. How rude to say something like that at a party. I decided to ignore it and held out my hand. “Hi, I’m Terri Mitchell.”
“So, how long do you imagine you can hold on to him?” she asked tauntingly. She smiled but it was plastic and never reached her icy eyes.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh come on. You look like an intelligent girl. You know he’s a player. He’ll tag you along for a while and then dump you like he did all the others. It’s his way you know.”
“Actually I don’t know that and quite frankly I don’t think what we do is any of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I went to move past her but she grabbed my arm and clamped down on it...hard.
“Listen to me, if you know what’s good for you. He’s gonna use you like the rest.”
I jerked my arm out of her grasp. I had one thing going for me and that was my upper body strength.
“Don’t you ever lay a hand on me again. And let’s get one thing straight. I don’t listen to gossip. So why don’t you get lost?”
I turned and sailed into the bathroom, making sure the door was locked behind me. Then the shaking started. I felt like a damn paint can in the shaker at Lowe’s. My hands were vibrating faster than JJ. What the hell was going on here? Were people out to get me or something? Was there a sign on my back I wasn’t aware of? Crap!
I took care of business and marched back into the party to find Justin. One look and he knew there was something wrong.
“What is it Terri?”
“I just had a run in with some crazy chick that tried to tell me you were going to use me then dump me.”
“Damn it! Crazy Destiny.”
“What?”
“She’s this batshit crazy nurse at work that’s been harassing me.”
“Well, make that two of us.”
Justin was furious. His mouth had turned into a thin hard line and his eyes looked like a stormy sea.
“Hey, I don’t want her to know she’s ruined our night.”
He looked at me and said, “You’re absolutely right.” He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me back toward the party. Moments later we heard Jackson’s voice over a microphone, announcing that they were going to begin the sponsoring of the children. Justin smiled at me and we headed into the other room.
There were about fifty needy children and Justin agreed to sponsor ten of them. There were six boys and four girls. He leaned over to me and said, “You’re going to help me with the girls. I have no idea where to go on that.”
“Oh, I think you’d do just fine, but I’d love to help.” He kissed my cheek and smiled back at me. We walked over to the table to pick up the information we would need on the kids and for Justin to sign everything. I was holding a glass of red wine when I was suddenly jolted from behind. My glass flew up in the air and the contents spilled down the front of my dress. Since I wasn’t expecting the blow, my leg gave way at about the same time, and I felt myself collapsing toward the floor. My arms tried to grab something to stop my fall, but Justin was too far out of my reach. To make matters worse, if that was even possible, I was wearing heels so my ankle ended up twisting too. I must have yelled because Justin spun and the look of alarm on his face made me aware that I was going to crash and burn...and not in a good way.
When the floor smacked me on the cheek, the only thing I could think of was the pain in my bad leg. I screamed and he was there, on the floor, his face next to mine.
“Don’t move Terri. I know you want to but don’t, okay?”
I nodded as I sucked air in through my clenched teeth. Then I heard Jackson’s and Robert’s voices. They were discussing what to do.
“Terri, we need to have your leg X-rayed. I doubt anything happened, but I won’t be happy until I see it. Robert and Jackson agree. We’re calling an ambulance.”
“My ankle hurts Justin.”
“Okay honey. I think you twisted it. I’m not worried about it like I am your leg. I just want to make sure. Robert is going to drive to the hospital and I’ll ride in the ambulance with you. I don’t want your leg moved until we know we’re in the clear. Okay?”
I think I nodded. He held my hand and ran his fingers across my cheek.
EMS arrived shortly afterward and I was really scared for them to lift me onto that bed.
“Justin, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be. I’m right here honey. Every step of the way.”
They put an immobilizer on my leg and got me on the gurney. It wasn’t so bad. My ankle was hurting worse than my leg now. We were on the way to the hospital and I told as much to Justin.
“Like I said honey, I just want to be sure. Staying on the safe side. Do you know what happened? To cause you to fall?”
“Yeah! Someone bumped into me really hard from behind,” I explained. I told him exactly what happened and his eyes turned into chips of granite.
“That crazy fucking bitch.”
“Justin! What are you talking about?”
“All bets are on Destiny.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Justin
Robert was waiting for us in X-ray when we arrived. We both told the techs exactly what we needed and within thirty minutes we were looking at her leg, along with one of the radiologists.
“It looks like she may have knocked this screw just a little but she’s way past twelve weeks so she has significant healing. I think she’s good. Watch her and X-ray it again in two weeks to see if there’s any change. By the way, she has a sprained ankle. No breaks there so it looks like she’s good for now.”
I dropped my ass into the nearest chair and Robert squeezed my shoulder. The radiologist walked out and left the two of us alone.
“Justin, you look like you just saw a ghost. I think that girl in there has you wrapped around her pinky.” Then Robert started laughing. “I never thought I’d see the day that Justin Middleton fell in love.”
My head whipped around so fast I almost fell out of the chair. “What kind of crazy shit are you talking about?”
“No crazy shit my man. You’ve got it bad for that girl. You are in so damn deep you couldn’t swim out if you tried. Hey, your secret’s safe with me. But damn, the look on your face when you’re around her...I don’t know who you’re trying to fool.”
I put my head in my hands and moaned. “Oh God. What am I gonna do?”
“About what?”
“Her. Everything.”
“Looks to me she feels the same way. Just go with it man.”
“This is scary shit.”
Then he let out a whoop of laughter. “You have no fucking idea. No fucking idea.” We went to walk out but I stopped him.
/>
“Wait! Robert, do you know Destiny?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. She’s been drooling after you for quite some time now. Why?”
“She pushed Terri. Caused the fall. She’s been harassing me. She’s crazy. If you see or hear anything she says or does with regard to me, let me know.”
Robert eyes zoned in on Justin’s. “Yeah sure. I’ve always thought something wasn’t right with her. Watch your back Justin. Go check on Terri and I’ll give you two a ride home.”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
I went and collected Terri from X-ray and when she went to stand, she winced. I knew her leg hurt.
“It’s my leg and ankle, damn it. What am I gonna do now?”
“You’re coming home with me...at least for tonight. That way I can baby you. Robert is waiting to drive us. Oh, and we need to repeat the X-ray in a couple of weeks. Okay?”
“You’re the expert, doctor. I’ll just do as you say.”
I looked at her dress and I cringed. She followed my gaze and her eyes clouded. “I think it’s probably ruined. I can’t believe she did that to me. I’m gonna quit drinking red wine. At least if it had been chardonnay, I wouldn’t have a ruined dress.”
Then I looked at her face and her cheek was scraped. My heart squeezed in my chest and I could feel myself burning with anger.
“What is it? I know that look,” she observed.
“You’ve scraped your cheek,” I said tightly.
“Justin, that’s the least of my worries.”
“I don’t want you to have a bruise there.” I walked up to her and lifted her up in my arms.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m carrying you to the car. I don’t want you to put any weight on that leg for twenty four hours. Plus, your ankle is hurting you. I’m going to ice it when we get home.”
She huffed and said, “It’s always something.”
“Honey, I never told you how sexy you looked tonight.”
That brought a smile to her face, which was all I cared about.
Shattered Edge Page 10