The Lonely Lady

by Michelle Sutton

  Peering through the shade as Josiah strolled up the street with his hands stuffed in his pockets, she mulled over their conversation and sighed. Though she had not arrived at any firm conclusions yet, at least they'd addressed the issue about waiting for marriage... If there was ever going to be a marriage. Somehow she needed to get confirmation from God that it was His plan for her life. Maybe if Josiah prayed with her or read the Scriptures to her and washed her with the Word like the New Testament described, that would help.

  But would he ever be able to do that? Could he lead her in her relationship with the Lord to a place where they both could grow? Not if he couldn't keep his pants on whenever they were alone. She stared through the window in her living room and sighed.

  Peering at the full moon in the sky, she watched the clouds roll by. As she stared at the shining orb above, she prayed for Josiah with her whole heart. She prayed for God to reveal His pleasing and perfect will for their lives.

  Now all she had to do was listen for His voice, and follow wherever the Lord led. But that meant putting to death her flesh, and tuning in to God's will.

  Easier said than done.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Josiah started to pass the salon where Tara worked, but paused when he saw a light on inside. No way would someone be there at this time of night for business purposes. Had the burglar returned? He approached the side of the building and tried to peek inside, but the lights went out before he saw anything.

  Pressing up against the back wall next to the door, he held his breath and waited. After several minutes passed and nothing happened, he realized he needed a weapon in case the person tried to attack him. Not that a stick would do much to protect him from a gun, but it was better than nothing.

  He glanced to the right and saw a two-foot long branch lying by the trash. Stepping closer, he started to pick it up when he saw a metal tube inside the dumpster. It looked like part of a barber's chair. Though it wasn't very long, at least it was solid.

  Several beeps, like the sound of the alarm being set, raised the hairs on the back of his neck. A door squeaked and Josiah turned to find the burglar, mask on, staring in his direction. Something about the long blond locks peeking out from underneath the mask looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why. "Stop right there."

  The burglar's eyes widened. He turned and sprinted off with what looked like a heavy pillowcase in his hand.

  Josiah took off running after him and was about to catch up to the man when a piercing sensation hit him in the waist. He used to get similar cramps when he ran track and knew if he paused for a moment and squeezed his side it would help. Panting, he did just that and within fifteen seconds he was tearing after the mysterious thief once again.

  The man turned a corner behind the cowboy museum and Josiah followed. In a desperate attempt to startle the guy and make him stop so he could catch up, Josiah hurled the metal pipe at the man and struck him in the back.

  The burglar cursed and turned suddenly so that Josiah ran right into him and knocked them both down on the asphalt. As they wrestled, Josiah stood and tried to rip off the man's ski mask, but missed every time he lunged for it.

  With a grunt, the thief jumped up and swung the bag at Josiah's face. Before he had a chance to duck, what looked like a heavy sack of money clocked Josiah in the forehead. He staggered back, pretty sure he'd been nailed with a sack of rolled coins. As he lost his balance and hit the concrete, he saw stars for the first time in his life.

  He moaned and clutched his forehead. His temple throbbed where a tender lump of flesh jutted from his skull. Something warm and sticky told him the impact had broken the skin. The world started spinning and he slipped into darkness.

  He felt a tapping sensation on his cheek and heard a man's voice. "Sir, are you okay? Should I call for an ambulance?"

  Opening his eyes, he strained to focus on the person above him. Someone with logo on their shirt from Circle K had stopped to help him.

  He propped up on his elbows and pushed his torso up until he sat straight. How long had he been out? "Did you see what happened?"

  The man shook his head. "A customer came into the store and said while he was pumping gas he noticed someone being chased. I came out to investigate and found you here. You sure you're okay?"

  Josiah groaned. He needed to catch that guy. "I really can't afford a ride to the hospital right now. I'm sure I'll be fine."

  "If you're sure..." The man held his hand out to offer assistance.

  As Josiah slowly stood, he shook off the dizzy sensation and smiled. "I really appreciate your help."

  "No problem." He watched as the man shook his head and walked back to the gas station. After several long moments of debating where to go now that he'd lost the thief, he decided to return to Tara's house and explain to her what had happened. Once they decided what to do -- if anything -- he'd go home and put ice on his throbbing forehead.

  Examining his hand, he noticed he'd scraped the skin off his palm as well. Wincing as he rubbed his palm on his jeans to knock free the tiny stones that had embedded in his skin, he thanked God that something worse hadn't happened.

  *****

  A light tapping noise slowly pulled Tara from her slumber. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was after midnight. Who could be knocking on their door this late?

  She stood and reached for her satin robe, then stepped into the living room.

  This time she peeked through the mini-blinds to see who stood outside before she opened the door. She gasped at the sight of Josiah standing outside with what looked like red mud dripping down his face.

  She opened the door to get a closer look. Just enough light shown from the lamp to illuminate his face, and she gasped. "What happened to you?"

  What she'd seen wasn't mud on his face, but dried blood. He looked like he'd been beaten pretty badly. But who would do something like that? Unless he was in a car accident.

  Josiah gaped and clutched his forehead. His mouth moved, but nothing came out.

  Oh no, what if he'd gotten brain damage like her mother?

  "Are you going to be okay? You look kinda pale."

  He winced and nodded slightly, then stepped inside on light feet as if trying not to move his head any more than necessary.

  She directed him to the couch and asked, "Do you need some ice? Looks like you have a pretty big knot on your head."

  "Sounds perfect." He sucked air through his teeth as if it hurt to even talk.

  Grabbing a towel, she opened it on her palm, then pulled out the ice tray from the freezer and dumped several cubes in the center. She shut the freezer and rolled the towel around the ice, like a burrito, and thanked God he seemed like himself. He just looked like he was in pain. She offered the ice pack to him and noticed him staring again.

  She glanced down to see what had captured his attention and saw that her belt hadn't been tied correctly, so one of her legs was exposed up to her hip. No wonder he'd been staring earlier. Her bikini underwear with the little hearts on them had been exposed.

  Closing her eyes, she pulled the material over her thigh and whispered, "Sorry."

  A wry grin covered his face as he winced and said, "At least I know I didn't lose too much blood. Seeing your bare leg was making my toes curl and my pulse pound something fierce."

  Sitting beside him on the couch, she grinned and took the towel from him. She pressed it gently on his forehead. It seemed like the lump was already starting to shrink.

  "Hold this a sec."

  He held the towel while she zipped into the bathroom to get a wet washcloth. When she returned, he lowered the towel and smiled. "Thanks."

  "My pleasure." She started dabbing at the dried blood on his forehead to clean the wound and get a better look. As she leaned toward him she couldn't help noticing how close his lips were. He met her gaze and scanned her mouth as well.

  "The burglar is back."

  "Burglar? From where, the salon?"

  "
Yes. I almost caught him and then he clocked me in the head with a heavy bag of coins."

  She paused and a sinking sensation made her stomach churn. That meant he'd gotten into more than just the register. He'd broken in to the little safe behind the counter. "How do you know it was the same guy?"

  "I recognized his long hair under the ski mask and noticed that he was similar in height, but I can't be sure. It all happened so fast. Seemed like he recognized me, though."

  "Did he have any bills? I wonder if he cleaned out the register, too."

  "I don't know. I came straight here as soon as I could. Want me to go check for you?"

  "No, I don't want you to get arrested for trespassing." His face was starting to look better now that it wasn't caked with blood. From what she could tell his nose hadn't been broken, and just his forehead had been cut.

  Josiah circled her wrist with his palm. "Thanks for everything."

  She leaned close and gave him a brief kiss. "My pleasure."

  He smiled and cupped her face, then kissed her a bit longer this time.

  Before she forgot to bring it up, she asked, "Should we tell my boss about the last time this happened, even though we replaced the money right away?"

  He blinked, like he wasn't ready to shift gears from kissing just yet. But now wasn't the time to be kissing anyway. He'd been assaulted and the salon had been burglarized again.

  "Let me think about that for a minute."

  Glancing at the clock, she thought about how the salon would open in the morning and she didn't have to go in until ten. But her boss would be there at 9 AM, so she'd find the money stolen right away and probably call the police.

  Josiah sighed. "I'm not sure how we'd go about it without getting in trouble and I hate lying. We'll just meet her before work and tell her the truth."

  She shivered. That's what she thought he'd say. But he didn't have to worry about losing his home and his job. She had her mother to think of.

  "How about I just go to work tomorrow as usual, and you meet me outside before the salon opens at ten? Can you meet me about 9 o'clock? Then we can talk to her in person." She swallowed hard. "I can't afford to lose my job."

  "You won't. Remember? We fixed the problem when we replaced the money. We didn't commit a crime, we just didn't report it."

  Tara rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and now that guy struck again, but this time he probably cleaned out the vault, too. How else would he get that many rolls of coins?"

  "True. But I'll stick up for you, Tara." He touched her chin until she had to look at him.

  His face looked unscathed but his forehead was discolored. No doubt he'd have raccoon eyes tomorrow if things transpired like she suspected. Her mom had looked the same way when she was first taken to the hospital. But her mom had her head injured in several places when her skull hit the door, then bounced off and hit the windshield, etc. They said she'd fractured her skull in three places, and the bleeding on the brain was what put her in the coma at first. When the swelling went down, she'd come out of the coma, but the mother she'd known before the accident was gone.

  "Okay. I guess we have no choice. See you tomorrow?"

  Josiah nodded and stood like he was an arthritic old man.

  "Are you sure you're going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow?"

  "No. But I'm going to try." He kissed her forehead. "See you in the morning."

  Tara closed the door and watched through the blinds as he strolled up the street toward his home. She thanked God he hadn't been seriously injured, or worse. If anything had happened to him... What?

  If he were her husband she would take care of him just like she took care of her mother. She didn't give up when things got hard. That was Josiah's specialty.

  Clenching her jaw, she conceded that she would not give up easily on her relationship with Josiah, not without fighting for him first. She had to make sure that it wouldn't work before she would allow him to cut her off completely. A good portion of her heart would be shattered if she lost him, so she hoped their relationship would work out. She just wished she could resist him better before they did something again that they'd both regret.

  *****

  Josiah hoped his mom would be in bed sleeping when he arrived. No such luck. He found her at the kitchen table sipping hot tea.

  "Glad you finally decided to come--" His mother stood and examined his forehead. "What happened to you? You look like you were hit by a two by four."

  "Close. I tried to catch this guy who had burglarized a place in town and he hit me with a sack of coins."

  "You're lucky that's all he did. What were you thinking?"

  "I was just trying to help. I didn't see a gun on him and figured I could chase him and catch him. Stupid, huh?" He didn't want to tell her what place was burglarized. He'd already said enough. Probably more than she wanted to know.

  "Did you ever make it to Tara's?"

  "Yes." He looked away, because he knew what she'd ask next.

  "Did you behave like a gentleman?"

  Yes and no. But he wasn't going to tell his mother that. "We talked."

  "Is that all?"

  "We kissed some, too." His neck grew warm. He hoped she wouldn't ask for more details. He didn't want to lie to her.

  "What kept you from messing up this time? That knot on your head?" His mother's wry grin told him she was kidding and probably relieved that he hadn't fallen again.

  "Nah. When I left the first time Tara kicked me out before things got out of hand. I went back to talk to her after the burglar nailed me in the head, and she cleaned me up. My face was covered in blood."

  "Good for Tara."

  "For cleaning me up or kicking me out?"

  "Both." His mother gave him an affectionate pat on the arm.

  "Gee thanks, Mom. It sounds like you have no faith in me."

  "I do have faith in you, but sometimes I worry. It's a mother's job. Now you need some rest. There are a lot of things I need to do tomorrow, so we need to get up early. Some of that stuff will require your help."

  Nodding, Josiah sighed and slinked off to bed. His mom was always good at finding things for him to do around the ranch. Most of the time he had no problem helping, but he was so sore right now, he doubted he'd be much help. Not if it was physical labor. Hopefully whatever she had planned for him wouldn't take all day.

  Several minutes after he lay down, he realized he hadn't told his mother he had already promised to meet Tara by around 9 o'clock. He'd just have to tell his mom in the morning. Right now he was too tired and sore to think about anything except getting a good night's rest.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tara waited until 9:30 AM and Josiah was still nowhere in sight. Had he misunderstood and gone to her apartment instead? She was pretty sure she'd said around nine. She was tempted to go back and check when Dakota, a young man she remembered from high school, showed up at the back door of the salon. He resembled what she imagined a California surfer looked like with his tall, lanky body, long blond locks, ripped jeans, and devastating smile.

  When she'd known him back in high school he'd been several inches shorter and was a real stoner. She wondered if he'd outgrown the party scene when he'd matured, or if he still lived for the moment.

  "Hey, Tara, how've you been?" He reached over and gave her arm a friendly pat.

  "I've been fine. You?"

  "Just moved back to town. I was planning to meet my aunt this morning and surprise her. Think she'll flip her lid?"

  Tara smiled. "Maybe."

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and scanned her from head to toe. She checked him out at the same time. He must still be skating for kicks at the skate park, because his arms look scraped up like he'd gotten on the half pipe and crashed.

  As if he'd read her thoughts he said, "Hit the ground skating. It wasn't pretty."

  She winced. "I'll bet."

  He smiled wide and bored into her gaze. "You busy this morning?"

  "Yeah. I have to wo
rk. You?"

  "Only if my aunt wants me to help. Why'd you come to work so early?"

  Not sure how much to divulge, she said, "I needed to share something personal with my boss. I just hope she's not too disappointed in me."

  "She won't be."

  "You don't know what I'm going to say. You know, it's weird that she's running late. She always gets here by nine. That was a half an hour ago."

  He looked like he wanted to say more, or at least ask what she was worried about, but didn't want to chance it. After several awkward moments, Dakota peered at her shyly and asked, "Want to go out tonight after you get off work?"

  Was he seriously asking her on a date? He was cute, but she had Josiah to think about.

  She shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't. I take care of my mom every night after work. She was hurt in a car accident when I was a senior in high school and brain damaged. Now she needs total care. I don't get out much."

  "I remember hearing about that when I was working at my uncle's garage. I'm so sorry."

  "Thanks."

  He stared at her with expectant eyes.

  What could it hurt? His compassionate response made her want to change her mind. "But, you're welcome to stop by my place if you want. I make a decent casserole."

  His eyes twinkled, making him look more handsome than she remembered. "Sounds awesome. Just give me your address."

  After handing him the paper with her address and phone number, she realized how dumb that could potentially be. She didn't want Josiah to get the wrong idea. Then again, what could it hurt if he got a little bit jealous? Maybe it would help her to decide about her long-term commitment to Josiah as well. She hadn't been with anyone else, so she had no one to compare him to.

  Dakota peered over her shoulder and suddenly acted as if he couldn't wait to leave. "I'll see you tonight."

  Before she could respond, he took off jogging down the road and quickly turned the corner. His unique stride reminded her of how Dakota and Josiah had once been on the track team together at Tombstone High. Those were the days. And, oh, how she missed them.