by Cee Bowerman
“I remember Sandra talking about him years back. I just thought he’d never get out of prison.”
“Yeah. Me too,” I whispered.
“Well, keep your chin up, pay attention to your surroundings, and keep a gun on you at all times, sweetheart,” Martha advised. “You shoot that bastard if he gets within range and we’ll worry about the fallout later.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I chuckled but I knew she was serious, just like Aunt Sandy would be when I talked to her what was going on. Nothing came between these women and their kids. That son of a bitch wouldn’t come between me and mine for long.
“Let’s get you out there and feed you a slice of pie.” Martha grabbed a tissue and dabbed at my face before she nodded her head and turned around to open the office door. “Pie will make it better, even if just for a few minutes.”
14.
“I can find out those weird things about you before it’s too late for me to run.”
Mace
MACE
“Are you okay, Reba?” I pulled her into my arms as soon as she came into the dining room with Mrs. Forrester.
“I’m okay.” Reba smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It is just hard knowing that I’m not going to be there to protect them myself. I’ve been away from them before for a few days at a time, but this is different, you know?”
“But you trust your cousin’s friends, right?” I asked her as we sat down in a booth by the window.
“I’ve known all of them forever,” Reba nodded. “The Forresters lived next door to Aunt Sandy and Martha’s her best friend. Grunt lived across the street for years and now he’s remarried and has kids.”
“They’ll be taken good care of then?”
“Yes, definitely.” Reba and I looked up when a waitress set a coffee in front of each of us and two pieces of pie in the middle of the table. “Thank you.”
“Well,” I took a bite of the chocolate pie and closed my eyes in ecstasy. I chewed for a minute and then took a deep breath, “Damn, that is good. I have no idea what I was going to say.”
“You were going to say goodbye.” Reba said conversationally as she used her fork to pick up a bite of the pecan pie. “Because you have a life, a home, and you don’t need to give all that up while you babysit me.”
I chewed another bite while I thought about what to say and finally I just shook my head.
I wanted to stay with Reba and see her through this. I hadn’t known her that long and was still working through it all in my head. I didn’t love her. I cared for her, but I hadn’t known her long enough for such a heavy emotion as love.
Right now, I considered Reba a good friend, although I wanted our relationship to grow into more.
“I do have a life but it’s mobile, I guess would be the word for it. I can come stay with you, keep you company while this all goes on, and get to know you better at the same time. It’s a win for me, even though it’s probably going to be very hard for you.”
“Mace, I like you. I really do. But this just isn’t your problem. You barely know me.”
“True, but sticking around you for the next little bit while we figure out what’s going on will help me know you better. I can find out those weird things about you before it’s too late for me to run.”
“Weird things? LIke what?”
“Like do you jack with the thermostat or leave it where it should be? Do you KNOW where it should be? Are you secretly a slob? Do you have a closet in your house where you just shove things and if I open the door an avalanche will cover me and it will take the rescuers three days to find my body?”
Reba laughed and I felt my heart beat faster as I watched her face transform from sadness to joy.
“Well, as long as I’m the one paying the bills, my thermostat habits are none of your business and my closets will not bite you.” Reba started talking, but I put a hand up and shook my head.
“That means you fuck with the thermostat.”
“It’s my thermostat.”
“This is an argument we’ve gotta get out of the way now. It’s been an ongoing battle between Lena and Finn and I just can’t deal with that. She gets a chill and turns it up to seventy something, then he’s all sweaty and bitching. She gets hot during her workout and cranks it down so low the damn thing freezes up. They’re not even married and they’ve been seconds away from divorce at least four times now just because of the temperature in the house.”
“Still my thermostat.”
“We’ll see.” I laughed. “I’ll find a way to take your mind off of that control issue you have.”
“Whatever,” Reba waved her hand toward me and took another bite of pie.
“I can see now why it throws you into a rage when Vada says that to you.”
Reba choked on her bite of pie when she started laughing and I handed her a napkin.
“That bad, huh?” she asked when she could finally take a breath.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It’s pretty bad. I felt homicidal for a minute.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
◆◆◆
REBA
“Okay, the garage door is closed,” I told the man that was laying on the floorboard of my backseat.
“You drive really smoothly.” Rason complimented me as he stood up. “I could have taken a nap back here. Even when you were turning corners, I never even moved.”
“I was being careful!” I laughed. “I don’t drive that way all the time. I was nervous with you in the back without a seatbelt.”
“Well, either way, we got here safely. Can you show me where I can put my stuff?”
“Sure.” I waited by the door leading into the house while Rason climbed out of the back door of my SUV carrying a large duffle bag. “How did you get volunteered for this anyway?”
“I just finished a big project at work and am dealing with a, well, let’s just say she’s an unhappy and vengeful ex.”
“I suppose hiding out in my house where she has no idea how to find you is perfect?”
“So perfect” Rason closed his eyes and shook his head for a second. “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“I assume we’ll have plenty of time for you to catch me up. I’m not even really sure why we need to hide you in my house. What are you going to do when I’m not here?”
“Sonny didn’t tell me everything about the situation, but he did say more than once that this guy is methodical and creepy. What better way to get to you than to break in and hide while you’re at work and the house is empty?”
“Oh, shit,” I whispered. “I never even thought of that, but Sonny’s right. Darryl liked to jump out when you weren’t expecting it and didn’t have time to defend yourself.”
“I’ll be here when you’re not and will make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at my new roommate. “I can pay you for your time.”
“Pfft. Not happening. The way I see it, I get a safe place to hang out. I can read, nap, enjoy a little relaxation. It’s all good.”
“Well, I can at least feed you! What are your favorites?”
While Rason and I talked, I pulled out what I’d need for dinner this evening and added items to the grocery list I kept hanging on the refrigerator. Jace was already inside the house when we got home and he sat down at the table with Rason and started a game of cards while I worked in the kitchen.
Mace had followed me to the shop and then gone on to work for a while. He insisted that he was going to come back this evening and stay for the duration. I still wasn’t convinced that was a good idea, but he wouldn’t be swayed.
A little part of me was secretly happy that he would be here. I knew it was selfish of me, but I couldn’t help it.
While the guys talked in the background, I thought of different ways I could secure my house. I wanted to keep Darryl out of it, but I needed a back up plan just in case he got inside.
I’d been hiding from my big brother for as long as I could remembe
r. Even after having been away from him for 20 years, I still made sure I had a good hiding spot in my house or a place I could hide if I needed to.
Oddly enough, I’d thought it through already. A few days after the kids and I had moved into this house, I’d gone up into the attic and looked around to see what I could do to make it a safe place if we needed it. I had a plan in mind and it just so happened that the man who was sharing my bed worked in construction. His skill set could make my vision a reality.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and flipped it open to send Mace a text. I leaned up against the counter while I thought it through and then once I had double checked the supplies I thought I’d need, I sent it to him.
He replied within seconds and said he’d bring everything over this evening without asking a single question.
With a sense of relief that I’d finally found something I could control, I turned my focus back to dinner. Instead of two picky eaters to please, I had three grown men to feed. I looked forward to cooking for them and started planning a great menu for the next few days.
◆◆◆
“How did the phone call go?” Mace asked me as I worked to take the door handle off of my bathroom so I could swap it with the one from my closet.
“Well, the kids were so excited they could barely talk.” I bit my lip for a second and fought back tears. “They’re safe and happy. That’s the most important thing.”
“Good, I’m glad they’re happy. But how are you?”
“I’m handling it, I guess,” I answered, still fighting back tears.
“It’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “I know it will, but that doesn’t make this any better, especially since we’re not positive about Darryl’s whereabouts. I don’t want to talk about that right now, though.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about something else then.” Mace was agitated and kept moving around me as he watched me work. “Do you want a screwdriver?”
“No.” I shook my head. “This will be fine.”
“Hmm,” Mace mumbled as he watched me work.
“The kids said that they were going to visit the neighbors tomorrow and might get to ride horses.”
“I bet they’ll like that.”
“Are you okay?” I finally put down the butter knife I’d been using to twist the screw and started working at it with my fingernail, trying to get it out just a little bit more so I could use my fingers to turn it. “You seem irritated or something.”
“I have some tools in the truck that would work better than what you’ve got there,” Mace ignored my question and watched my hands while I worked.
I pulled the steak knife I’d grabbed from the kitchen out from under my leg and tried it on the screw, finding that it worked a bit better than the butter knife. I had to hold it a certain way and it only turned the screw a little bit at a time, but I was making it work.
I glanced over at Mace and noticed that he was still aggravated.
“Let me get my tools and finish that up.” Mace tried again and I realized that it was me that was making him so jumpy.
“You think I’m doing this wrong,” I laughed.
“I wouldn’t say wrong, really. It’s just taking you forever when it could have been done 20 minutes ago.”
“What’s wrong with the way I’m doing it?”
“Do you own a screwdriver?”
“Yeah, but I can’t find it.”
“I’ll just run out to the truck and get my tool bag,” Mace walked toward the bedroom door and I realized it wasn’t how I was doing the work that irritated him, it was what I was using. I’d had this same argument with my cousin and Uncle Tink more than once. So often that they usually just pushed me out of the way and grumbled about “damn stubborn women” while they fixed whatever was broken.
“Nah, that’s okay,” I told him seriously, even though I was fighting back a smile knowing I was messing with him.
I picked the butter knife back up and tried to pry the screw out of the hole so I could grab it with my fingers. When I glanced up at Mace, I thought I saw him twitch.
“Come sit down and talk to me.” I patted the floor beside me as I stared up at him. “My work will go faster if I have you to chat with.”
Mace pulled his lips in between his teeth for a second and then finally sat down on the carpet close to me with his back against the wall. I swapped the butter knife for the steak knife and poked the end into the middle of the screw and twisted it a fraction before I looked back over at him. He was staring at the doorknob like it might explode.
“I think my screwdriver might be in the backyard,” I explained. “I was using it on the dirt out back when we planted that flowerbed. I think Vada might have accidentally buried it.”
Mace’s eyebrows rose and he glanced at my face to see if I was serious, “Why did you need it in the flowerbed?”
“Well, I didn’t have a shovel, so I was using the screwdriver to break up the dirt so we could scoop it with our hands.”
I thought I heard Mace groan, but it could have been my imagination.
“Do you work around your house like this much?”
“I try, but usually end up calling Sonny or Uncle Tink. If it’s something major, I call the landlord.”
“Have you ever thought about purchasing and maybe keeping track of some real tools that could help in a situation like this?”
“I have tools right here!” I laughed at the look on Mace’s face. “This is making you nuts, isn’t it?”
“Nope.” Mace shook his head. “This is your ballgame. I’m always available to pinch hit, but you just do your thing.”
“Is it hot in here to you?”
“Huh?” Mace tilted his head and finally tore his gaze away from my work to look at me.
“Do you think it’s hot in here?”
“Not particularly. It’s a bit stuffy, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Did you look at my thermostat?”
Mace finally realized where I was leading the conversation and laughed before he answered me.
“Yeah, I looked at your thermostat.”
“How’d I do?”
“It’s a little warmer than I’d choose, but it’s your house. The question was if you jack it up and down according to your mood. I still don’t know that answer.”
“How badly do you want to go and get that screwdriver?”
“It’s setting my teeth on edge.” Mace shuddered. “You’re killing me, Reba.”
I shrugged.
“I have so many questions right now.” Mace leaned back on his hands and stared at me for a second. “You talk like you only had one screwdriver and I don’t even know how to respond to that. And then…”
“It was a pointy one. I can use the butter knife when I need a flat one, so I’m really missing the pointy one. I lost the damn hammer too. I’ve been using a shoe. Cyrus and I had to hammer a nail to hang a picture in his room and we tried to use a soup can. Poked a hole in the damn thing, so we had to eat it for dinner.”
“Jesus,” Mace whispered as his head fell back and thudded against the wall behind him. I laughed when he lifted his head and thumped it against the wall a few more times.
“Alright, Mr. Fix It. It’s all yours.” I laughed as I scooted away from the door. “Go get your fancy tools and do your thing.”
Mace hopped up off the floor and then bent down to drop a kiss on the top of my head before he walked down the hall toward the front door. Within just a minute or two, he was back with a large black toolbox in one hand and a tool belt hanging from the other.
I watched silently while he pulled out a screwdriver and finished the work I’d started. He had the door knob off within a minute.
“Why are we taking off this knob?” Mace finally thought to ask.
“I’m swapping it for the one on the closet.”
“Why?”
“So I can lock that closet from the inside.”
“Okay.” Mace ra
ised his eyebrows in question.
“I have a good reason.” I laughed as I stood up. “Come on. When you’re done with that door knob I have a whole list of other shit you can help me with. How are you with pipes? I had a leak under the sink in the guest bathroom last week and I think I fixed it with duck tape. You might just check my work.”
“Shit.”
15.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d take your bullshit outside from now on.”
Lena
MACE
“Mornin’, babe,” I whispered as I nuzzled my lips close to her ear.
“Hi.” Reba laughed softly. “I like the way you wake me up, but it’s still so early.”
“My people work early.”
“Way too early.” Reba stretched and then snuggled up against my chest and yawned loudly. “I have had my pre-breakfast orgasm and now I’m going to sleep for two more hours.”
“Okay, sweetheart.” I kissed her one more time and then got up. “I’ll talk to you later today.”
Reba mumbled something incoherent and burrowed under the covers. Before I had even made it into the bathroom, she was sleeping again.
My shower and morning routine were underway quickly and I made my way into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee before I had to leave. As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I could smell that someone had beaten me to it. When I rounded the corner, I saw Rason and Jace were both at the kitchen table with mugs in front of them.
“Hey,” Jace said with a nod my way.
“Didn’t figure either of you’d be up.”
“We’re usually in the garage by 7:00 at the latest,” Rason explained.
“That’s when we start at my company.”
“I have a weird schedule at work. I own a tow company and we work all hours. But, for now I’m going to work with Reba.” Jace took a sip of his coffee and then put his mug down in front of him.
“And you’ll be with her all day?” I asked Jace with a pointed look.
