“God damn,” he mutters, rubbing his chin. “I thought we were done proving how tough we are.”
Embarrassed, I stare at the floor. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Have I ruined the moment? Probably. And here I stand, weak with wanting him.
“No worries.” He cups my face in his palms and tilts my head back until I meet his gaze. “Honor Melanie Sullivan also known as Minnie Mouse. I want to take you to bed.”
I shiver with anticipation.
He smiles. “Promise you won’t hurt me?”
I wrap both arms around his neck. “Not intentionally.”
Then, I’m scooped up and deposited on the bed. Billy lands beside me and the world shrinks to our five shared senses. Trembling hands fumble with buttons and zippers. My field of vision is filled with the sight of Billy’s bare muscular body poised over mine. The sound of our breathing ebbs and flows like breakers crashing onto a beach. I moan with pleasure as his silky tongue slowly traces every inch of my body. I gasp and breathe in his scent like it’s oxygen. He smells of motorcycle leathers overlaid with a touch of minty toothpaste, menthol shaving lather and gasoline. I could pick him out of a lineup with my eyes closed.
I feel a sense of loss when Billy gently pulls away. I see that he’s trembling in an effort to control himself.
Lying beside me, he strokes my hair. “I don’t want to hurt you. It’s just that you’re so small and I’m…” His voice fades away.
I brace myself on an elbow and take a look at the organ in question. Whoa. I’m beginning to see the problem. Not that I’m an expert on the subject of male genitalia. My prior carnal experiences all took place in darkened cars and ended fast. I never got a good look at the one-eyed monsters.
Now, here I am, all worked up and wondering if it will fit.
I guess my doubt shows in my face because Billy says, “Here’s the deal, Minnie. You’re in charge. Whatever you want, that’s what I’ll do.”
Empowered by his words, I take a moment to think it over. I’m in charge, so I give him a shove and order, “Lie on your back.”
Smiling broadly, he sprawls on his back, arms outstretched in surrender. “I’m all yours, baby.”
I pop up, throw one leg over his midsection and straddle his body. I feel like a bull rider coming out of the chute. Ladies and gentlemen. Next up, we have Minnie Mouse aboard Billy the Kid for the ride of her life. Can she stay on or is the Kid too much for her?
“Now what?” Billy pants.
“Now this,” I say, trailing kisses across his chest, up the side of his neck until I reach his mouth. His beautiful, glorious, sensuous mouth. I slide my tongue across his lower lip. He thrashes and moans as I part my legs and slide down his body until I feel the tip of his erection press against me.
I’m trying to figure out my next move when I see him extend his right arm. He’s trying to reach his pants. Does he plan to get dressed and leave? Am I doing something wrong?
“Rubber,” he gasps. “In my pants pocket.”
“I’m on the pill.”
“Better use it anyway.” He grips me around the waist with one arm and rolls us sideways. Our bodies stay mashed together while he gropes through the pocket of his jeans. He leans out a little too far and we crash to the floor.
Billy goes, “Oof!” I’m still on top. How can that be? It defies the law of gravity. He must have executed a slick maneuver to keep from crushing me, which would have spoiled the moment for sure. I try to fight it, but a hysterical giggle bursts from me like an arrow released from a forty-pound bow.
Billy gives me a weak smile. “Wanna start over?”
I get my hilarity under control and nod. I watch Billy slip on the rubber. I can’t help but notice his manly organ seems a bit smaller than its former awesomeness. We climb back on the bed and resume our former positions. I feel laughter bubbling up again and pinch myself. Hard. Billy looks deadly serious. I fear I’ve lost my way and he knows it.
“How can I help,” he says.
I stare into his eyes and, once again, see the fire smoldering in his soul. “I’m not sure.”
“It’s okay,” he says. “I just want to make you happy.”
He lifts me off his body, places me on my back and proceeds to make me happy. Very happy. Ecstatically happy. And, everything fit just fine.
****
Bang, Bang, Bang.
Consuela’s signature knock.
Before I’m fully conscious, I’m dragged from the bed, tossed onto the floor and covered with Billy’s body.
“Down! Stay down!”
His head swivels back and forth across the room. His eyes are wild. After a few moments, the tension leaves his body. He takes a shaky breath and helps me back onto the bed. “Sorry. I was dreaming. Thought I was back in the barracks. In Afghanistan.”
I open my arms, inviting him in. “You’re right here in good old Number Twelve.” I wrap my arms around him and snuggle into his warm chest. The thudding of his heart reverberates through my body.
Our tender moment is blown to smithereens by Connie’s nerve-grating screech. “Rosa no here. You help me now!”
“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter. My lips are pressed against Billy’s neck. “Nick should fire that Rosa bitch.”
I roll out of bed and slip on Billy’s T-shirt, long enough to cover the bare essentials. When I open the door a crack, Connie bumps it with her hip. She peers in, her bright eyes checking out the man in my bed and the rumpled sheets. Her eyebrows go up and down like an elevator on speed.
She cackles and wags a finger in my face. “Ha. I see Billy’s bike parked here. You a naughty girl, Mel. Connie likes naughty girls. Billy the Keed is macho man. You get tired of Billy, you let me know. Connie will take him for a ride.”
Looks like Connie and I have bonded.
“You’ll be the first to know.” I glance over at Billy who gives Connie a sheepish grin and a salute.
“Now,” Connie claps her hands. “You leave thees big, hot man. Come help me. Hokay?”
I dress quickly and tell big, hot man I’ll see him later. Before I leave the room, I hand him Dani’s letter and pictures.
He studies the pictures first. “Can I take these with me?”
“I guess so. Why?”
“I think I know where these pictures were taken. I’ll check it out.”
I have a smile on my face as I trot out the door wondering what the day will bring. The night was damn good!
Chapter Thirteen
The next few days pass in a blur. My days are filled with work and I earn my pay. I spend my nights with Billy. One day, I overhear a couple of guys talking about me. What they say slaps me upside the head and makes me think. Apparently it’s common knowledge I belong to Billy. One guys says, “That new waitress? Hands off. She’s with The Kid. Touch her and he’ll kick your ass.”
I can’t deny Billy’s presence makes my work shift easier. And, I’m enjoying our nights together. A lot. But, the notion of belonging to somebody? The loaded word slips into my cerebral stew and floats around, surfacing now and then to gnaw away at my sense of self. Not when I’m in bed with Billy, though. Then, all rational thought is gone and I’m lost.
Billy returns Dani’s things and tells me he’s located the medical clinic. It belongs to Dr. Jarod Breen, a fertility specialist. In order to discover this, Billy made an appointment to leave a donation to the sperm bank. In the future, there may be a shitload of little Kids running around 3 Peaks. Not sure how I feel about that.
Dani’s graveside service is at eleven a.m. on Tuesday. I dress in my finest thrift shop outfit and take the bus to the cemetery since Billy has yet another interview with the 3 Peaks P.D. A question nibbles at the back of my mind. Will Billy’s sensitivity to loud noises impact his future as a detective? Does Billy have PTSD? I guess time will tell. We plan to meet up at the gravesite in the Pilot Butte Cemetery, located in the heart of 3 Peaks.
I step off the bus into a brisk wind tha
t carries a hint of snow. It seems the weather gods are not smiling on Dani’s final resting place. As I’ve been told since I arrived, “It’s May in 3 Peaks, Oregon. Anything’s possible.”
The cemetery is lined with huge pine trees that shelter grassy acres of graves, some with elaborate above ground statuary, complete with heavenly beings carved in stone. I stop and read an inscription. Elizabeth Marie Hanson. Born September 15, 1910. Died July 20, 1914. Our Sweet Betsy. God’s Littlest Angel. My emotions, held in check since the day of Dani’s death, spring to life and begin chipping away at the brick wall I built around my heart.
In the distance, I see cars parked along the long drive that winds through the cemetery and a cluster of people gathering at a gravesite covered by a canopy. By the time I make my way there, all three rows of white folding chairs are occupied. I join the throng standing behind the last row of chairs. Eddie, tugging at the collar of his dress shirt, stands next to a solemn-faced man in a black suit. Mortician or minister? I spot Dani’s father, Gil Johannson, front row center. Kendra is on his left, a baby on her lap and a fidgety little boy on the chair next to her.
Black suit guy fiddles with a portable sound machine and Amazing Grace blasts from the speakers, startling the gathered crowd. A woman yips in surprise. Several people clap hands over their ears. When the volume is lowered, I hear a baby cry. My gaze follows the sound to a blond-haired baby who’s in the lap of a woman clad in a full-length black leather coat. She murmurs something to the man seated next to her and hands him the kid. During the hand-off, I get a good look at the baby’s face. It’s Destiny.
The man rises, clutching the squalling baby awkwardly between outstretched hands. The woman settles herself back in the chair, fluffing her hair and smoothing the wrinkles from her coat. Apparently these are Eddie’s so-called friends, the ones he’s entrusted with his daughter’s care. They don’t look like they hang with Eddie’s crowd. The man wears a pricey gray business suit, pale blue dress shirt, cuff links, silk tie and polished black loafers. I know this because he walks by me, holding Destiny away from his body like he’s afraid she’s going to puke on him. I hope she does.
Now, I’m torn. I want to stay for Dani’s service, but I also want to know where the guy is taking Destiny. If I hurry, maybe I can do both. I peel away from the crowd and stroll toward the cars. The man reaches the driveway and turns left, trotting down the line of cars until he reaches a dark blue BMW hybrid with tinted windows.
I step to the other side of the parked cars, pause by one close to the Beemer and dig through my purse like I’m looking for my keys. The man raps on the side rear window of the sedan. The door opens and a pair of hands reaches for Destiny. The man closes the door and hurries back to the service.
Now what, Mel? Approach a total stranger and ask about the baby’s living arrangement? I know what would follow: a 911 call and my description on the five o’clock news. I decide to play it cool and see what Dani’s dad has to say. I start back toward the gravesite.
“Mel? Is that you?”
I turn toward the BMW and see a pregnant blond girl in stretch pants and oversized T-shirt standing next to the car. She’s holding Destiny close to her body and smiling at me.
I freeze in my tracks and stare at her. My brain is having difficulty making sense out of what I’m seeing. “Aida? You’re here? With Destiny?”
Aida walks toward me. Destiny’s squalls have diminished to pitiful whimpers. “They tell me to call baby Addison. Not Destiny.”
****
Remember the brick wall around my heart? It crumbles to the ground brick by brick. “What?” I screech. “Addison’s a horrible name. Her name is Destiny. What right do they have to change her name? She’s not even their kid. She belongs to Dani. I mean Dani was her mother and she named her Destiny. This is just wrong. This sucks!”
I’m furious. I’m sad. I want to squall louder than Destiny. I want to march over to the couple now in possession of my friend’s baby and slap them into next week. I want to grab the kid and run. The sane part of my mind says, “Then what, Mel? Catch the bus back to Number Twelve with the baby tucked under your arm? Remember the incident at the hospital?”
Aida observes me calmly during my meltdown. Finally, she shrugs and says, “I’m just the nanny.”
When I regain my senses, I realize Aida might have answers I need. I shiver and rub my arms. “It’s cold out here. Can we get in the car?”
Aida casts a nervous glance at the funeral party. The crowd is still gathered around the gravesite. “We must be fast. I don’t want no trouble with the Missus.”
We scramble in the back seat of the car. I hold my arms out to Destiny and whisper, “Hi baby girl. Can I hold you?”
Destiny draws a shuddering breath and studies my face like she’s trying to decide if I’m friend or foe. It’s like looking into Dani’s beautiful blue eyes and I tear up. Then, I get mad. The poor little kid just lost her mother. Her father basically turned his back on her and now she’s in a strange house with strange people and a different name.
I must look nonthreatening because Destiny dives into my arms. She pats my wet cheeks with both hands and smiles, revealing two tiny white teeth on her bottom gum.
Aida approves. “Baby likes you. You must be good person. She good judge of character.”
I know our time together is limited so I pepper Aida with questions. Name of the couple she works for? She was told to call them Mister and Missus. How long has she been in their home? Not long. Just since baby comes. Where did she work before? With her sister, Larissa, at another big house. Also pregnant.
I wish I had the photos Dani sent me. I want to show them to Aida, see if the house in the picture is where Destiny ended up. What about Aida’s pregnancy? Does she have a boyfriend? No boyfriend, she insists, blushing. She claims she has never been with a man in that way. I’m dying to say, then how the hell did you get pregnant? But, she’s uncomfortable. I know I won’t get any more answers. So instead, I take a good long look into her soul.
Aida’s getting increasingly nervous and I see the service is breaking up. I whisper a silent apology. Sorry, Dani. But I bet you’d rather have me hold your baby than mourn your ashes.
I thank Aida and tell her to call me if she has a day off. I drop a kiss on top of Destiny’s head and step out of the car. Ms. Leather Coat is striding toward me, her hubby trailing behind. She doesn’t look happy. Time to beat feet. But then I realize Aida will be facing the wrath of The Missus all on her lonesome, so I stand outside the car and wait.
The woman’s eyes glitter with suppressed rage. “Were you inside my car? With my baby?”
I realize now is not the time to point out Destiny is not actually her baby. Besides, what I see in her soul scares the hell out of me. “Actually,” I say. “Aida and I are old friends. I just popped in to tell her hi.” So please don’t yell at her.
Her eyes narrow in suspicion. “How do you know Aida?”
I scramble for a plausible answer. “Through her sister, Larissa.” I put a hand on my hip and cop a little attitude. “Why? Is that a problem?”
The Missus thinks it over and gives me a phony smile. “Not really. I just don’t want the baby around strangers. Germs, you know.”
I meet her fake smile with one of my own. “I assure you I have very few germs. Now, I’ll just tell Aida goodbye and be on my way.”
I lean into the car and whisper, “We met through Larissa. Stick to the story.”
She nods. I close the door and walk toward the crowd, hoping to catch Dani’s father. As I approach the gravesite I think about the woman who claims to be Destiny’s mother. Her soul is ice blue with a thick black border like a clunky picture frame. That particular combination indicates a total and complete lack of human warmth, as well as an obsession with self. In other words, Destiny’s new mother is cold, calculating and a self-centered bitch.
I scan the crowd and see Dani’s dad walking with Kendra who is lugging her baby and a diap
er bag. Her free hand is latched onto the little boy who’s struggling to break free.
Gil Johannson’s face is drawn and tired but he manages a smile. He greets me with a hug. “Melanie. So glad you’re here. Dani would be glad.”
I snuffle into his chest for a moment, unwilling to admit I’d missed the service. When I pull away, I ask him, “What about Destiny?”
Kendra’s gaze darts back and forth between Gil and me. It’s obvious she’s got something to say but doesn’t want to break into our conversation.
Gil says, “She’s with Eddie’s friends. He told me to come over to the house before I catch my flight. He said Destiny would be there.”
Kendra can’t stand it any longer. “You know Destiny was here…right? With those people.” Her last two words are dripping with venom.
Gil’s face tightens. “Yeah, I saw her. She’s the image of Dani.” He swipes at his eyes. “I can hardly look at her. It’s too painful.”
Kendra and I exchange a glance. It’s not what we want to hear from Destiny’s grandfather.
Kendra’s son, Aaron, takes advantage of her distraction and makes a break for freedom. He scampers onto an in-ground marble slab and launches into what looks like an Irish jig, laughing and waving his arms.
Kendra sighs. “I should make him stop.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “This place could use a little joy.”
“You coming to Eddie’s?” Gil asks me. I can tell he’s itching to take off.
I shake my head. “Not invited.”
“I’ve gotta run. It was nice seeing you again, Mel.”
As Gil hurries toward his rental car, I tell Kendra about my encounter with Aida. “And,” I say, “She doesn’t even know their real names. She calls them Mister and Missus. How lame is that?”
“I know who they are,” Kendra says. “Ethan and Nina Rockwell. He’s a big shot lawyer in 3 Peaks and she’s a doer of good works. Assholes, both of them.”
“Do they have kids?”
“They do now,” Kendra’s voice is tinged with bitterness. “Looks like they bought one from Eddie.”
Affliction Page 7
