Not My Solution

by T. E. Killian

  He wasn’t sure what to do when Darla opened her eyes and looked over at them.

  “Nicole! I’m so glad you came. I was afraid you wouldn’t come. I know I wouldn’t have in your situation.”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Okay. Here’s the deal. After almost dying because of some of the things I tried to do to you, I want to ask you to forgive me for all the bad things I’ve said and done to you.”

  Roger was surprised and one look at Nicole’s face told him she was almost shocked. She didn’t seem to be able to say anything.

  Finally, Nicole looked up at Darla with tears in her eyes. “Of course, I forgive you Darla. I hope that means we might also be able to become friends.”

  It was Darla’s turn to be shocked. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes opened wide.

  “You mean that’s all. You’re not still mad at me?”

  “No Darla. I’m not angry with you. I never was. But I was angry with the things you did and said before.”

  “How can you separate the two?”

  “I don’t really know but I do.” Then she seemed to think of something. “I do have one question for you though.”

  When Darla nodded, she went on. “Why were you in my room the morning you were stabbed?”

  Darla looked down at her hands then back at Nicole. “I went there to warn you that Vance was going to do something to you.” She pointed at Roger. “And him too. So, he could win the mayor election.”

  “Thank you for that but we were already aware of that fact.”

  They stayed for a few minutes longer. Then as they were leaving, Darla called out to stop them and Roger turned Nicole’s wheelchair back to face Darla.

  Darla waited until Nicole looked directly at her.

  “I’m getting discharged tomorrow morning and I don’t have anyone to come get me.”

  Nicole seemed surprised. “But what about René and Linda?”

  “They probably would but I don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. At least not unless they change too. They were always worse than me and they always pushed me to be mean to you.”

  She held up a hand. “I’m not blaming my actions on them. I did plenty because I wanted to, but they made it worse. And if I’m going to change, I’ll have to stay away from them.”

  Nicole didn’t seem to hesitate. “What time?”

  “They said about nine-thirty or ten. Don’t you have third period free?” When Nicole nodded, she continued. “Then you could come then and if they discharge me sooner, I can wait for you.”

  As they left the hospital, Roger thought his love for Nicole had grown so much stronger just by the way she treated the woman who had been so mean to her for three years.

  * * *

  Once she and Roger made it back to her van, Nicole had to wait for her tears to stop before she could drive.

  “Where would you like to go to eat? How about that new steak house? They have great steaks.”

  She smiled at him as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “You know what? After all that’s already happened today, I’m starving, and I would love a big juicy steak with a loaded baked potato right about now. Let’s go.”

  She was finally able to drive and as usual, they couldn’t talk on the way. Thankfully, it wasn’t very far, and they were soon going into the restaurant.

  The place was busy, and they had to wait for a table. Neither one seemed to want to talk then, so they waited until they had a table.

  As soon as they were seated, and the hostess had taken their drink orders, Roger looked across the table at her with a big grin on his face.

  “You are amazing. You’ve got to be the most forgiving person I’ve ever known. You didn’t even make her beg the way a lot of people would have.”

  She smiled at him and shook her head. “What good would that have done? When someone admits they were wrong, they deserve a second chance, don’t you think?”

  He grinned again. “Okay. I want you to remember that if I ever do something to make you mad.”

  She laughed and felt good all over. Then she remembered something she’d wanted to ask him but hadn’t had the opportunity yet.

  “Roger, you didn’t tell me what happened to Vance Robertson when Darla identified him as her attacker.”

  He frowned. “Yeah. Floyd said they’ve been looking for him ever since, but they can’t find him. He must have left town knowing Darla would identify him when she woke up.”

  She thought about that for a moment. “You have your weapon on you?”

  He nodded. “Always.”

  “And I have mine in my pouch.” She pointed at the bag on the right side of her wheelchair.

  “Then we’ll both be ready for him if he comes after us.”

  This was a strange conversation they were having now, and she wanted it back to where it had been before she’d asked about Vance Robertson.

  She thought about what might happen if Robertson accosted her. She wasn’t worried and apparently neither was Roger.

  She tried to channel her thoughts onto happier subjects. And she suddenly knew what she wanted to do.

  She looked across the table at the man she truly loved. “Roger. I’ve come to a conclusion.”

  He was spreading his napkin on his lap and stopped to stare at her. Good, she had his attention now.

  “I have come to the conclusion that I do indeed love you.”

  She waited for his reaction and nothing happened at first. Then finally his face lit up.

  “That’s great Nicole. I …”

  Suddenly there was a man standing next to their table between them. She looked up and realized it was Vance Robertson. She automatically slipped her right hand into her pouch and gripped her M9 but didn’t pull it out.

  He didn’t do or say anything at first. He just stood there staring at Roger. Since he wasn’t looking at her, she took the opportunity to observe him.

  He was around fifty and average height but very thin. There was just something about him that made her uneasy. He was almost snarling down at Roger who was sitting with his body seemingly relaxed.

  But Robertson, on the other hand, was far from relaxed. He seemed to be so tense he was almost shaking.

  She was proud of Roger when he just sat there apparently waiting for Robertson to speak first.

  Finally, Robertson spoke, and it must have been softly for Roger leaned toward him apparently to hear better. Nicole had no such problem. She could read Robertson’s lips perfectly since he was pronouncing each word very deliberately.

  “You may think this is over and you’ll win the election but you’re wrong. I will get around this latest lie and I will still win the election.”

  He looked around the restaurant as if looking for anyone who might try to stop him. She knew Floyd had deputies out trying to find him right then. She hoped none would see him until after he left the restaurant. She knew it could get bad if they approached him in there.

  “If you don’t drop out of the race tomorrow, you and your family will be sorry.”

  He turned to leave but Nicole turned back to look at Roger just as he spoke up finally. “I will not drop out of the election Robertson. By this time tomorrow, you’ll be in jail and it won’t matter anymore.”

  She could tell that Robertson said something but since he was walking away, Nicole looked at Roger. “What did he say to that?”

  Roger shook his head. “Nothing. He just laughed and kept walking away.”

  She was concerned now. “But what do you think he’ll do next?”

  He held up his hand for her to wait. She hadn’t seen that he had his cell phone in his hand. He punched a button on it and was now listening for the other person to answer. He had to be calling Floyd to tell him about this little incident.

  She was right. He told Floyd where Robertson was and quickly disconnected.

  “First, we’ll wait and see if Floyd’s deputies can catch Robertson. If they don’t, we
’re going to have to be very careful and watch everywhere we go until he is caught.”

  She decided that was about as much as they could do so she attacked her steak when it came, and they didn’t talk anymore until they both finished.

  When she finished, she looked up at Roger who was placing his fork and knife on his plate. When he looked at her, she smiled.

  “Roger. I don’t want to go home yet. Nick will be there, and I really wanted to talk to you some more … alone.”

  He grinned back at her. “No problem. You need to take me home. Why don’t you stay a while and we can talk? We’ll be the only ones there.”

  He seemed to think for a moment. “Well, except Oscar.”

  She was surprised. He’d never talked about a roommate before. “Oscar? Who is that?”

  He laughed and reached across the table with one hand to grasp hers. “He’s my friend and companion.” He seemed to pause on purpose. “My Beagle.”

  “Oh, Roger. You’re silly. You really had me going there for a minute. I’d love to meet Oscar.”

  * * *

  As they approached his house, Roger regretted agreeing to bring Nicole here. He knew that at her place she pulled her van into her garage and didn’t get out until the garage door was closed. At his house, they wouldn’t be able to do that. She’d have to park in his driveway. There simply wasn’t enough room in his garage with his Jeep in there.

  Then he remembered that his Jeep wasn’t there or if it was, it would be outside where Floyd had left it. That was no problem since Roger had a backup key in his wallet. It only opened the doors, but that was good enough since Floyd would have placed the other keys under the floor mat.

  When Nicole pulled into the driveway, he turned to her. “Stop right here Nicole so I can get in my Jeep and open the garage door. Then you can drive in and we can close the garage door before you get out.”

  She smiled at him. “That’s a good idea Roger, but it puts you in danger when you get out.”

  “I’ll be quick and try to stay between the two vehicles the whole time.”

  Even though Roger planned to stay down and between the vehicles as he opened the Jeep’s door, a shot rang out. He didn’t see where it hit because he was on his knees pulling the keys out from under the floor mat. Then he reached up and hit the garage door opener clipped to his visor.

  Nicole drove on into the garage and no more shots came until Roger made a dash for the garage. Three more shots came as he quickly hit the button inside the garage to close the door.

  First, he ran around the van to check on Nicole. She was sitting there with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh Roger! You didn’t get hit, did you?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. How about you?”

  “I’m fine but I’m starting to get quite angry with Vance Robertson.”

  “Me too. I’m calling Floyd again.”

  She stayed where she was and watched while he made the call. He tried to keep facing her so she could tell what he was saying to Floyd.

  When he finished, she exited her van on the lift and followed Roger into his house. Even before they got inside, he could hear Oscar howling softly.

  As soon as they were in his kitchen, they saw Oscar, sitting there and he was definitely giving her the once-over. Roger could tell she was laughing at the serious look Oscar was giving her.

  Roger went over to Oscar and patted him on the head. “Roger, this is Nicole and I want you to be real nice to her because I like her a lot.”

  Oscar let out a soft sound more like a moan then it changed into an equally soft bark.

  With that, he advanced toward Nicole. He stopped just short and stuck his head out toward her and she assumed he wanted her to pet him.

  “Go ahead and pet him. That’s what he wants.”

  She reached out her hand for him to sniff it then she patted the top of his head. He stepped closer then and placed his head in her lap. That was when he must have gotten a sniff of her cat on her clothes and he let out a low growl.

  Roger laughed and Nicole gave him a puzzled look.

  “He must have just smelled your cat.”

  Nicole looked around the kitchen and leaned over to look into the living room.

  “Do you own it?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t have enough for a down payment on a house after all the expenses of setting up my law practice.”

  He was glad now he did it that way since Nicole had her own house. Whoa! Was he getting a little ahead of himself here? He’d better be careful. Nicole was one who could be spooked quite easily.

  His cell phone rang, and it was Floyd.

  “We can’t find anybody in the area, not that I’m surprised. The skunk probably popped off a few shots and high-tailed it out of here before we could get here. But we’re still looking for him all over the county.”

  When Roger disconnected, he filled Nicole in on what Floyd had said.

  She frowned. “I didn’t expect them to see him, did you?”

  “No, but it is frustrating.”

  They were quiet for a moment then Roger looked at Nicole. “Why don’t we sit at the table so we can talk better. I want to know all there is to know about you Nicole Fuller.”

  She laughed. “Well, I want to know all there is to know about you Roger McCracken.”

  They both laughed, and as soon as they were at the table, he pointed at her. “You go first. Ladies first you know.

  She frowned and then blushed slightly. “I really don’t like talking about myself Roger.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But I know for us to get any closer, we do need to know all there is to know about each other.”

  She looked around the room and finally back at Roger then she let out a little cry and looked down at her lap where Oscar’s head was resting again.

  “All right Nicole. You have arrived. Oscar never gets that friendly with anyone when he first meets them. He must be able to sense how beautiful you are on the inside as well as the outside.”

  She blushed brightly this time and raised her hands to her cheeks. “I’ve never blushed as much as I have in these last three weeks.”

  She sighed again. “Okay, here goes but you’re going to think I’m trying to get your sympathy but I’m not. I’ve never wanted anybody’s sympathy.”

  He held up a hand. “Okay. I promise … no sympathy.”

  “Good. So, here goes. My parents were both forty when Nick and I were born. They’d waited to have a family until his business took off.”

  She scoffed. “Well, it took off all right. I grew up in a mansion in Mission Hills which is mostly mansions. My dad was always too busy at the office to spend any time with us kids. And my mom was always busy with her charity boards and events too.”

  Roger snorted. “Poor little rich girl.”

  She pointed her finger at him. “Don’t laugh. That’s exactly what I was. We hardly ever saw either one of our parents when we were growing up.”

  He sobered up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

  She smiled. “That’s okay.”

  “Well, even as a young girl, I realized that both of my parents had wanted boys instead of girls. Apparently, they tried for more, but it never happened.

  “Therefore, I was a big disappointment to my parents and they both basically ignored me.”

  She paused for a short time. “I guess it was inevitable that I would rebel against them as soon as I turned eighteen. They wanted both of us to go to the University of Missouri and get degrees in finance. Well, Roger did, but I decided to go to college in Oklahoma and to make matters worse I went through on the ROTC program.”

  “Don’t you think that was a bit drastic?”

  She shook her head. “No, not at all. Since I wouldn’t go where they wanted me to go, they wouldn’t give me any money at all for college. ROTC was the only way I could afford college.”

  She was quiet again, either thinking of what to say next or more than l
ikely how to say it.

  “Okay, to make a long story short, when I graduated, I went straight into the Army as a second lieutenant. I had expected to be placed in some type of office position but boy was I ever surprised when they sent me to MP officer training.”

  He could tell she was thinking again.

  “I was on active duty two-and-a-half years before they finally sent me to Afghanistan and six months later, we were hit.”

  She opened her hands out in between them. “The next three years, I spent in rehab, mostly learning how to read lips and also going back to college to get my teaching certificate in English.”

  He was going to ask her some questions now but before he could ask, she pointed at him. “Now, it’s your turn.”

  Roger had a dozen questions he wanted to ask this wonderfully complicated woman sitting across from him at his table. But he knew she had gone as far as he was going to be able to get her to go today. He’d have to try for more later.

  * * *

  Nicole almost laughed when it became obvious that Roger suddenly realized he hadn’t offered her anything to drink.

  “Hey Nicole. I’m sorry but I’m a terrible host. Would you like something to drink? I have soft drinks and I think there’s still some orange juice in there. Or I could make coffee.”

  She smiled at him. “Coffee sounds good. I got chilled out in that cold rain before.”

  “Ouch! I’m sorry again. I’ve got an afghan my mom made for me. Do you want me to get that? It’s just on the couch.”

  She shook her head and smiled. “No, thank you. I’m all right now, but coffee does sound good.”

  He made the coffee, and they waited until it was finished brewing.

  Once they both had a cup of coffee in front of them, she laughed. “Okay Roger. You’ve put it off long enough.”

  He grinned at her and she found she loved that silly grin of his. But he still needed a little prompting.

  She smiled encouragingly at him. “Okay. You now know almost all there is to know about me, but I don’t know that much about you. One thing I want to know is what it was like growing up in a big family on a farm with aunts, uncles and cousins close by too. It must have been wonderful.”