The Fight

by Alice Ward

  “Until I make her!” Clementine said, smiling brightly and showing her uneven adult teeth as she shuffled back into the kitchen.

  “Oh, you made something?” Caleb asked as he took the drawing and held it up in front of him. “Hmm. Is this your house? With everyone… lying on the front lawn?”

  “Getting tickles!” Honey answered in her usual overly loud tone. “We’re using tickles!” She proceeded to lunge at Clementine, and soon they were rolling across the floor in a mass of flailing limbs and giggles.

  I half expected Caleb to get irritated, but he just watched with what appeared to be genuine amusement until the girls calmed down and Honey started to explain to him the characters in her artwork.

  I let her banter on, certain I was throwing Caleb into the deep end. I just hoped that he’d survive.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Caleb

  How strange. I had once spent ten thousand dollars on a new necklace that the woman I’d been dating lost less than a week later, and she couldn’t have cared less. My dad had dropped eighty thousand on a car that I’d totaled within a month. Yet here Cherry was, pleased as punch just because I’d ordered dinner and had it delivered then insisted on helping with the cleanup.

  She smiled softly, in that sweet, quiet way that I didn’t get to see too often as I dissected her angelic little sister’s drawing like it was a piece hanging in the Louvre.

  She’d scared the hell out of me earlier today when she hadn’t showed at training. Then again when it became apparent she was afraid I was going to fire her. The fact that Cherry was all right mattered to me more than anything else. More than my business. More than my investment, more than money itself. The whole world would seem like a darker, crueler place if she had somehow been injured, and I couldn’t be more grateful that wasn’t the case.

  One side of my brain, the logical part, told me that I knew exactly why I felt that way. But the other side, the one full of pride and status and the need to maintain my impenetrable demeanor, told me firmly that I had no idea what it was, and that I should exit the family scene gracefully. And yet an additional side, the one I refused to investigate, held simple fear. Fear of losing someone important to me again.

  They said it was better to have loved and lost, but I called bullshit on that. In my case, loss created a deep well of doubt. There was no closure, leaving the mind to worry, and even worse… hope, which was a good and a bad thing.

  Shaking off the negative thinking, I looked at the five faces all staring at me as I pointed out the details in Honey’s drawing, and I’d never felt so out of my depth in my entire life. But as alien as being immersed in Cherry’s daily life was, there was also this… warmth to them that I couldn’t explain.

  When I had first entered the home, I’d sensed it immediately but thought it was something just for them. A sort of connection in their family that I would be able to observe but not participate in.

  But then, as the two boys bantered, I couldn’t resist chiming in. Little did I know, I was opening a door that just seemed to be swinging wider and wider with every second, until I too was bathed in that same warmth I sensed when I first stepped into the house.

  I handed over the drawing and wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. I didn’t think I had ever been so intimidated by a group of underage people, a mother, and one gorgeous woman in my entire life. Board meetings, hostile takeovers, hard pitches, none of them compared to sitting down at a dinner table with a family I knew had fought a battle to even own the table.

  Sitting directly across from the matriarch of the household, I had to have been seated where Cherry’s dad once sat. I’d been more than ready to vacate that chair once the meal was done, and now I couldn’t help but still feel the weight of the responsibility that came with that seat on my shoulders.

  Was I overreacting? Was I being invited into the family? Or was I just overthinking the situation? It had been the only damn chair available, after all.

  I’d offered to provide the meal mainly to ease the pressure of an unexpected guest. I could tell her mother was appreciative, and not used to someone helping out, much like Cherry. When one of the boys opened the fridge, I’d been thankful I’d had the meal delivered. While the cupboard wasn’t bare, it was obvious either no one had been to the store lately or there was a need. Well, I’d take care of that as soon as I left here. I knew I needed to stop being surprised at what it was like to be on the have-not side of the coin, but it was just so different from what I was used to. I had to stop taking so much for granted.

  They all had their own personalities, for sure. Sage was smart and enjoyed being in charge, that was clear enough. Colby was a bit of a troublemaker. Not in a delinquent sort of way, but rather a too-smart-for-his-own-good kind of troupe. And Honey? Affable and obviously enamored with her eldest siblings. Clementine was the quietest of the bunch, but she wasn’t shy by any stretch of the word. I’d often felt her eyes on me, but every time I glanced to her, she had painstakingly already averted her stare.

  I thought I already knew Cherry but seeing her smiling broadly at her siblings despite their sassiness and exuberance just filled me with that much more admiration for her.

  The kitchen cleared out suddenly and the two of us were alone for the first time since Friday, when we had a small meal in my penthouse. I locked eyes with Cherry. She really was something else. In fact, I found that I didn’t want to leave. But the family needed to get back to their routine. And I needed to plan how to make sure they had all they needed.

  It was quiet, with the sounds of the kids settling drifting in as Cherry wiped at the counter.

  A raise in her stipend perhaps? That could work. But I would have to time it carefully, I didn’t want her to think that I was pitying her. Because I wasn’t. Still, it would take a significant raise in her pay to put this family where they deserved to be. Cherry deserved that much and more. So much more.

  In fact, I had never met a woman who deserved so much but received so little. If she had the resources I did, she would be unstoppable. It made me feel like I had wasted so much time, so many opportunities. The world could be at my fingertips, but I chose to sequester myself in my business and entertain myself with the occasional pet project.

  “Why are you frowning?”

  I was pulled out of my thoughts by Cherry’s quiet words and made a decision. “I was just thinking of how I’m going to invest in your family.” I smirked as a line appeared between her eyebrows.

  “Invest in my family? What do you mean by that?”

  “Like it or not, Cherry, I’m going to do some things to help, help a lot. It’s unfair that your father was taken from you, and that you and they have to struggle. So I’m going to fix it, and it’s going to piss you off, but you’ll get over it.”

  Cherry opened her mouth, her eyes wide, but nothing came out for a moment. She stomped her foot. “You will not.”

  I snorted. “And people think I’m the one with control issues.”

  “I would say it’s safe to assume we both have them. We just deal with our issues in different ways. My issues aren’t your issues, Caleb, and you can’t fix them all.”

  “No, but I’ll fix what I can.”

  A bubble of joy rose into my chest, and I leaned back against the counter, thinking about everything that had happened since I first met her. I’d thought I was the one sweeping in to change her life forever, but clearly, she was the one who was altering mine so drastically.

  Funny how that happened.

  It had become harder and harder to deny the truth that was so readily apparent. I had feelings for Cherry that went past the desire for her to succeed, past… lust. Although I had never used the L word before, I was alarmingly close to it.

  And that was dangerous, for me. For Lillie. Add a romantic interest to my life and precious time would be used up that could be used looking for my sister.

  But would it be different with Cherry? She seemed like she had her own life and might understan
d my time constraints. My head was spinning. I’d never felt romantic toward anyone before — except Lauren in high school. We’d gone the long-distance relationship route when we both went off to college, but that had ended because I’d been too consumed with getting Lillie off the streets to allow for any goodness in my life. It had seemed pointless. But with Cherry, nothing was pointless.

  Suddenly, I just wanted to seize the moment.

  “Come get ice cream with me.”

  Cherry laughed. “What?”

  “I’m serious. Let’s go get ice cream. We’ll surprise them and bring some back.”

  “Caleb, it’s cold outside.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I know a great little place.”

  After she told her family she was leaving for a bit, I ushered Cherry out the door, wanting to back up our relationship a bit, sweeten it, because of the way we’d fallen on each other. Not erase the sex, just take it back a notch.

  It was deep twilight when I started the car and looked over into Cherry’s eyes, my heart thudding and doing somersaults in my chest. She felt the change in the air because her breath caught.

  Leisurely, I leaned in, watching each subtle change in her. Her pupils growing larger, her lips parting slightly, the way her blinking slowed. But when my lips made contact with hers, I couldn’t go slow any longer. The kiss turned frantic, tongues swirling and diving, before I could conjure my usual steel and retreat to a sigh inducing level.

  When I pulled back, she yanked me to her again for another.

  I certainly wasn’t objecting.

  When we’d kissed each other into oblivion and the neighbors were probably about to call the police, I put the car in drive as I looked up at the simple house with the warm light coming through the windows. She didn’t know it yet, but the next step was a date. A real one.

  I’d entice her with a little childish ice cream fun first, and she wouldn’t know what hit her when we brought back the unique ice cream found at The Comfy Cow. Cherry wouldn’t stand a chance against all those siblings.

  I understood now why family meant so much to Cherry. It was just, up until this point, I’d forgotten a family could be anything else than a name that opened doors.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Cherry

  Warm. Oozy. That’s how my body felt as Caleb put the car in drive after nearly kissing me into a coma. I barely held back a deep sigh.

  He had no obligations to me personally, and plenty of better things to do, and yet he’d spent the day with me and my brother then had chosen to join us for dinner, which he’d had brought in. He’d completely charm my family. If that wasn’t enough, now he had me thinking of romantic ice cream dates in March.

  I’d never had anyone who wasn’t family look out for me so thoroughly. It filled me with an uncertain sort of happiness that I didn’t know what to do about. For now though, I wouldn’t question it further. I thought that for the moment I’d just enjoy this warm contentment and see where it took me.

  Caleb had completely changed my life. Not just with the job, or the money. But in the way he was helping me trust, the way he brought out emotions in me that I’d clamped down on before. I felt more open with him than I’d been with anyone, and while I didn’t know what to do with that, I wasn’t going to ignore it.

  I had spent far too much time fighting my feelings. My dad’s death had taught me that tomorrow was never promised.

  As Caleb drove, I turned to study his profile, this man who seemed so cold to the rest of the world but who was actually the most giving person I’d ever met.

  As if he felt my gaze on him, his hand found mine, our fingers entwining together. A floaty feeling enveloped me, and even as I tried to talk myself out of letting the feeling take over, I couldn’t keep the smile off my lips.

  “Where are we going?” My words sounded almost slurred, as if I were drunk on happiness.

  “This great little place, they use local ingredients. Like near the Kentucky Derby, they make a bourbon-based ice cream from Old Forester Bourbon.”

  I couldn’t keep my lip from turning up. “I’ll stick with strawberry, thanks.”

  Caleb laughed, a light, full sound I hadn’t heard from him before that made me laugh along with him.

  Then the seatbelt snapped tight across my chest, knocking the breath from me as he slammed hard on the brakes, narrowly missing rear-ending the car in front of us.

  “What the hell.” Caleb unhooked his seatbelt as the driver of the car in front of us got out and went to the front of his own car.

  “What’s happening?”

  “I think the guy just hit something. You stay here.” He jumped out, slamming the door.

  “Like hell.” I popped open the door, wondering what the man had hit. A dog? A deer was possible. They lived in the sparse sections of woods throughout the city but were rarely seen in the more populated areas.

  Getting out, I started to the car in front of us and almost changed my mind, thinking maybe Caleb’s order to stay in the car had been a good idea. I stopped when I reached the other car’s passenger door and was about to turn around.

  Until I saw Caleb’s face. An expression that was a thousand expressions in one. But mostly…

  Disbelief.

  Oh, god. What could it be?

  A woman in a dingy gray, shapeless coat stood up from the ground in front of the car.

  A woman! The car had hit a woman?

  But the way Caleb was looking at her…

  He reached out, grabbed her arms to steady her when she swayed. His face changed to an expression I’d never seen before, a mixture of love, torture, relief. This strong man was fighting back tears. Then he said her name as he pushed the hood away from her face, strands of shaggy dirty-blonde hair falling to her shoulders.

  “Lillie!”

  My knees went weak, and I sagged against the car. His sister? Lillie?

  A reunion played out in the middle of the street, lit by the car’s headlights, one that was mostly on Caleb’s part with his sister shrugging off his concerns. It was soon joined by police and ambulance lights.

  “Please, Lillie, you’re not well. Let me help you.”

  She was shaking her head for the second time, her face pale, dark circles under her eyes. “I’m fine.” But she was agitated and getting more so. And so skinny I wondered how she had enough energy to stand.

  A police officer stepped in, speaking low in her ear. Whatever he said convinced her, because she let the paramedic closer, and they and Caleb guided her to the stretcher. Soon, the doors were closing on the ambulance and it was pulling away.

  Without looking at me, Caleb turned, walking briskly to the car. I followed and before I had my door shut, he was stepping on the gas, following the ambulance as they turned their sirens on.

  “Jesus Christ.”

  I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. Had something happened to make Lillie deteriorate since they took off, or were the sirens standard procedure?

  I reached over and clasped Caleb’s arm, trying to give him some comfort.

  He unclenched his hand from the steering wheel and grasped mine, gripping tightly.

  “I can’t believe it’s her.” His voice cracked, and he drove in silence for a moment.

  “It’s unbelievable, Caleb.”

  The light in front of us turned red and the ambulance skated through, and Caleb was about to follow but the opposing traffic took off through the intersection, making it impossible.

  Caleb’s fingers tapped on the steering wheel as he stared at the rapidly disappearing ambulance.

  “You know which hospital they’re taking her to?”

  “Jewish.”

  When he took his hand from mine and placed it on the steering wheel, gunning it as the light turned green, I patted his leg. “We’ll be right behind them.”

  At Jewish Hospital, we found the ambulance bay and parked nearby, heading in the EMS entrance when the door slid open as a nurse exited.

  Cal
eb looked around and went directly to the nurse’s desk. “Where was Lillie Birchmeir taken?”

  The nurse looked up and frowned. “Sir, you aren’t supposed to be back here. Patient’s family will be called back when needed. We do not yet have the name you mentioned.”

  He leaned over the counter, splaying his hands on the edge and gripping it. “She just came in.”

  “Like I said, sir, we don’t have that name.”

  “Check your system,” he demanded.

  The nurse frowned menacingly.

  “Please,” I added as Caleb’s knuckles turned white. I was afraid he might lunge over the counter and yank the nurse up by her Vera Bradley scrub v-neck.

  She glanced at me, back at Caleb, sighed, then rapidly punched some keys on her computer. “Nope. Sorry.” She shot us a glance that said she wasn’t really, but that we would be if we didn’t leave.

  “I don’t understand.” Caleb’s fingers went to his forehead.

  I took ahold of his arm and pulled. “The ambulance is still outside. Maybe she’s there. Let’s go talk to the EMS.”

  He let me lead him back out the sliding doors, where the guy who had loaded Lillie into the ambulance had one back door open and was busy changing the sheet and wiping things down with disinfectant.

  “Where is she?”

  The man looked up, recognition on his face. He jumped out of the back. “I’m sorry, man. She left.”

  “Left?” Caleb stilled, maybe didn’t even breathe. I was reminded of the HBO series, WestWorld, where the people who were robots were turned off, and life ceased to exist for them until that switch was flipped again.

  “We can’t hold them if they walk away.”

  “Them.” Caleb’s soul seemed to snap back into his body. “You let her leave?”

  “I couldn’t—

  Caleb grabbed his jacket lapels and slammed him against the ambulance door. “Where did she go?”

  The man’s eyes were huge in his face. “How the hell should I know?”