by Ben Cass
Jen lightly smacked his shoulder. “You lied to the pastor’s grandmother? Shame, Doyle. Shame.” She made sure to smile as she said it, so he’d understand she was just teasing. “And does that poor girl you were talking to know that you’re single?”
He blinked, looking surprised. “What?”
“Come on, Doyle. Love you too is not something you say to someone on the phone when you’re single.” Jen hoped her prying wasn’t obvious.
Realization dawned on his face, and he laughed. “No, but it’s the way you say goodbye to your twin sister if you want to avoid a beating.” He affected a high-pitched British accent. “Good manners dictate that you express your affection for family when you take your leave of them.”
Again, Jen lightly smacked his shoulder, trying to hide her relief. “I’m sure she doesn’t talk like that, Doyle.”
“No, she really does. It’s hard to believe we’re twins. We’re so different.”
“If you say so,” Jen replied. “Anyway...I hear you helped my sister work through some stuff today. Thank you.”
“Any time,” Doyle said, waving a hand. “She and I have a lot in common, I think, including not being able to handle our siblings being in trouble. My sister has told me repeatedly I’m too overprotective. I’m still trying to figure out how to step back and let her live her life without my input. I’m not doing so well, honestly.”
“Tell me about it,” Jen replied. “Ellie started dating a couple of years ago, and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, everything’s been fine, so either she’s hiding things really well, or I have nothing to worry about.” She peeked into his basket and frowned. “Please tell me that’s not your dinner,” she said, pointing at the items. “Hamburger helper and King’s Hawaiian rolls? You have the body of a Greek god and eat like a preteen boy?”
Doyle looked down at the basket and grinned. “Don’t judge me,” he retorted, raising an eyebrow. “This stuff is great!” He looked up and studied her face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I forgot to ask how you’re doing.” He pointed at her temple. “The bruising doesn’t look too bad.”
Jen touched her cheeks with her fingertips, smiling ruefully. “One advantage to working on television is you learn how to apply makeup to your advantage.”
“You’re perfectly fine without makeup,” Doyle told her, and then looked surprised he’d said that out loud. Jen felt a rush of warmth inside her.
“Always a charmer, aren’t you?” she asked. Unable to think of anything else to say, she blurted out, “I should get going. I have to go home and feed the ravenous beast. Thank you—again—for helping her and for, you know, saving my life.”
“You are most welcome,” Doyle said to her. “Have a good evening.” He gave her a friendly nod and walked off.
Chapter Six
Jen stepped out of her bedroom, pulling her hair up into a bun and securing it with a hair tie. Ellie sat on the couch, texting somebody on her phone. Ellie looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Going somewhere?” she asked. Jen nodded.
“Figured I’d go for a short jog,” she said. She watched as her sister’s mouth hardened disapprovingly, but Ellie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and blew it out.
“All right,” Ellie said. “I’ll try not to freak out the entire time.” Jen sat down next to her.
“Honey, we talked about this after dinner. I can’t stop doing the things I usually do, and you can’t sit here and make yourself sick worrying about me.” She kissed the top of Ellie’s head.
Ellie rubbed her face with both hands, dragging her fingers down slowly. “I know. I just have to deal with it somehow.” She favored her sister with a tentative smile. “I promise I won’t get angry at you unless something happens.”
“Good to know,” Jen replied. “I was fine on Saturday, if you recall.”
Ellie snorted. “Sure. Because you had a giant hunk of man sitting next to you on that rock.” She clasped her hands and batted her eyes, affecting a Southern drawl. “Oh, Mr. Doyle, I do declare, you are so fascinating I can’t even see my own sister standing thirty feet away from me! She had to pretend she hadn’t seen me so as not to embarrass me in front of you!” She raised the back of a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, fanning herself with the other hand. “And those rippling thigh muscles under my hand! Sir! I feel so faint! Keep your devil body closer to me! I mean away from me! Mercy me, I’m so flummoxed being around you!”
Jen shoved her hard, knocking her over sideways onto the couch. Ellie burst out laughing hysterically, and after a second, Jen joined her, shaking her head. She dove on top of Ellie, pinning her down and tickling her. Ellie squealed as Jen got hold of her hamstring. She’d always been particularly ticklish there, much to her father’s amusement.
After a few moments of battling each other, Jen pulled Ellie back up and leaned against the arm of the couch, dragging Ellie back with her and propping her own legs up on the couch. Ellie snuggled up onto Jen. The couch was fortunately quite large and able to hold both of them. Jen stroked her sister’s hair, enjoying the moment.
“Are you going to change the subject again?” Ellie murmured, wrapping her arm around Jen’s stomach and squeezing her.
Jen sighed. “No, I’m not, as much as I’d like to. Go ahead and ask what you’re dying to ask.”
“Are you interested in Coach Doyle?”
Jen’s hand found Ellie’s, and she twined their fingers together. “I think I might be,” she admitted. “I’ve only seen him a few times, and every single time, I’ve fought down the urge to go after him and keep talking, just to spend more time with him.”
“Then maybe you should stop fighting and start following,” Ellie said gently. “Jen, I’ve gone on more dates in the past month than you’ve gone on in the twelve years I’ve known you.”
“You went on one date last month, Ellie.”
Ellie poked Jen’s stomach. “Exactly.”
Jen puckered her mouth. “Mm. You may have a point.”
“Yes! I do! I’m glad you’re finally coming around!”
Jen sighed. “Doesn’t mean I know what to do about it. I just act all-knowing when I’m answering your questions.”
Ellie clucked her tongue. “That’s why I don’t ask you for dating advice.”
“Speaking of dating...you sure did turn red when Doyle asked you about Amore Rock. Anything you’d like to share?”
Ellie popped up off of Jen and climbed over her, disentangling herself. “Weren’t you going for a jog?” she asked Jen. “Better get going before it gets too late.”
“Mm-hmm,” Jen said, standing up herself. “That answers my question. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Ellie replied. She kissed Jen on the cheek. “Be safe out there. Call the police if you see anything suspicious.”
“I will,” Jen promised. “I won’t be gone long.”
JEN jogged around her neighborhood, enjoying the cooler night air. The houses were very spaced out, each one sitting on at least a couple of acres, but they were all lit up, the windows exuding an inviting warmth. She glanced inside as she passed homes, seeing families watching television, playing games, or working in the kitchen.
She thought about what Ellie had said to her, and concluded her sister was right. She needed to suck it up and just see if Doyle would be interested in meeting up for coffee or something. Nothing too high-pressure; just a friendly sit-down between two potential friends.
Problem was, she didn’t have any idea how to broach the subject with him, nor did she know how to reach him outside of the school.
Jen decided to turn onto Primrose Drive, which was about half a mile away from her. A long, empty stretch, it connected her small section of town with one of the more distant areas. Primrose stretched on for nearly two miles with very few houses. Those few were mostly farms, the white houses set way back into the fields, hundreds and hundreds of feet from the road.
She remembered Doyle lived ou
t in the middle of nowhere, but that was on the other side of town. Too bad; maybe she could have come up with a plausible excuse to knock on his door and see him.
The sound of barking reached her ears, and she smiled. The dogs around here all knew her, and usually greeted her like this. She listened, and then slowed her jog to a near stop; the barking was...unusual...tonight. Normally, there’d be riotous barking until they could recognize her, and then it would turn to the friendly yipping, inviting her to come pet them, which she often did.
Tonight, though, the barks were short and contained. One dog would bark, and then another would respond, and then yet another would reply. Jen’s mind flashed to that old Disney cartoon, 101 Dalmatians. What was the scene called? The midnight bark? Something like that.
Jen shook her head and rubbed her arms, trying to rid herself of the sudden goosebumps that had risen on her flesh. “Get a grip, Jen,” she told herself. “The dogs aren’t talking to each other.” She shook her head and set off jogging again, turning down Primrose. The barking changed, now a rapid-fire bark by each dog, echoed quickly by the next. This went on for several seconds, although the barks started to recede into the distance as she ran. Jen increased her speed, suddenly wanting to leave all the unsettling noise behind her. Maybe she wasn’t as okay as she’d convinced herself she was.
A deep howl, louder than all the others, suddenly split the night air, rolling like thunder. Jen stumbled, her heart pounding in primal fear, her body reacting instinctually to a threat she didn’t even know about. What in the hell was that? No dog was that loud! Goosebumps again rose on her flesh. She paused, looking around. She was already quite a way down Primrose, probably over half a mile, at least. Did she keep going? Or did she turn back?
She stood there indecisively, chest heaving as she tried to regain her composure. She glanced around, spotting the farmhouse in the distance to her left. Pastor Arnold’s house stood there, the lights inside dark. He was probably at the church, along with his wife.
Jen suddenly started as a dark shadow on the roof moved. She hadn’t even noticed it until it shifted, but now she couldn’t unsee it. To her eyes, it looked like the shape of a man. The house was about three hundred feet back from the road, but when the shadow changed position again, she knew she wasn’t just seeing things. Somebody was standing on the roof of the house, looking right at her.
“Nope,” she muttered. “I’m done.” Turning around, she began running down the road back the way she’d come, starting off slowly but increasing her speed as quickly as she could. She glanced back once, and saw the roof was now empty. Oh, hell no.
Jen turned on the speed, running as fast as she could. The headlights of a car suddenly appeared in front of her, which was weird, as most people didn’t drive down Primrose. The high beams flashed in her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Holding her hand up to shield her eyes, she moved to the grass, getting off the road. The car swerved for a moment, but continued going straight before suddenly veering again. It looked like a drunk driver. Jen moved further off the road, and the car changed direction again, its engine revving as it increased speed, now starting to zigzag back and forth.
Another sudden turn of the car set it on a path aimed right at her. The growl of the engine increased as it picked up speed and jumped off the road, bouncing into the field.
Jen turned and ran into the field, trying to get out of its path, but the car seemed to keep jerking towards her. She suddenly realized it was going to hit her, and she braced herself, hoping she could somehow roll off the hood and survive.
Mere feet before the car hit her, a gust of wind blew her hair and Jen was shoved out of the way, a pair of strong hands effortlessly pushing her. She spun as she stumbled and saw somebody, impossibly, leap into the air, avoiding impact with the vehicle, and run across the top of the car, somersaulting off the back side.
The person landed on the ground, hand down for balance, and then stood up and spun around, taking off after the car. Jen’s heart hammered against her ribcage.
Doyle!
How he’d been out here in the middle of nowhere, without her noticing him, escaped her comprehension, but she was glad he had been.
The car stopped dozens of feet past her, and the driver angrily climbed out, a metal pipe in his hand, but Doyle was already there. The driver tried to strike him with the pipe, but Doyle merely caught the piece of metal in his hand and ripped it out of the man’s grasp, flinging it to the side.
He grabbed the man by his shirt and lifted him off the ground, holding him nose-to-nose. Doyle said something to him. Jen couldn’t hear, and his back was to her, so she couldn’t read his lips. Doyle tossed the man against the car and stood there, calmly staring at him. The driver swallowed hard and climbed back into his car. He started the engine and drove off into the field before making a big loop and heading back to the road.
“Damn drunk drivers,” Doyle muttered to himself. He walked back to her and extended a hand. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
Jen shook her head and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up. “No more than I already was,” she replied, starting to shake with adrenaline. “Thanks to you.”
“We need to get you home,” Doyle said, looking her up and down. “That adrenaline is going to wear off, and you’re going to crash. Come on, I’ll walk you back.”
Jen tried to walk, but her legs were shaking too much. The barking, the shadow on the roof, the car...it was all too much of an overload. She was freaked out, and didn’t want to move.
Doyle must have recognized this. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “We can just wait here until you’re ready. Is there anybody we can call to come pick you up?”
Jen nodded. “Ellie’s at home. She can drive the car.” She pulled her phone out of the black holder strapped to her bicep and unlocked it. She tapped the speed dial icon for Ellie and held the phone to her ear. “Hey, kid,” she said, hoping her voice was calm. “Can you come pick me up? I’m on Primrose, by the Arnolds’ house.”
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Ellie demanded. Jen winced at the volume in her ear.
“I’m fine, Ellie. Can you come get me, please?”
Ellie was quiet for a moment, but Jen could hear her breathing slowly and deeply. Finally, voice tense, Ellie asked, “Are you safe?”
“As safe as I can be, I think. Coach Doyle is with me.”
Ellie’s tone lightened instantly with relief. “And you’re not hurt, right?”
“I’m not hurt,” Jen assured her. “Just a little freaked out.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Ellie promised. “Be at the side of the road.” She hung up.
Before Jen could turn the phone off, Doyle held his hand out. “May I see that for a moment?” he asked. Jen handed it to him, an eyebrow raised, and he swiped to her contact list and quickly entered a new contact. He handed the phone back to her. “Now you have my number,” he told her. “If you ever need me, just call, okay?”
She nodded, feeling something warm spreading through her. She wasn’t sure how to describe it, but she was definitely happy. She went to his contact information and sent a quick text message. His phone dinged from his pocket. “And now you have my number,” she said, replacing her phone in its holder. She pointed to the road. “I need to get up there so Ellie can see us.”
Doyle held his hand out. “Let me help you balance,” he said. “You look pretty shaky still.”
As she took his hand, a sudden memory flashed through her mind, surprising her. She was stepping across smooth stones, a gently flowing stream just beneath her feet. A strong, calm hand helped her across. Small, reddish fish swam in the stream, inches from her toes.
The memory left as quickly as it had come, and she shook her head, trying to regain her composure. She had no idea where that memory had come from. She’d never crossed a stream like that in her life.
At least...not that she knew of. Had she just had a flash from her missing years?
Doy
le said nothing, probably assuming she was still trying to get over the adrenaline rush. Jen leaned into him, suddenly wanting to feel a warm, solid body next to her. She needed comfort, and he was there. He tentatively wrapped an arm around her, careful to keep his hand on her waist, and held her for a moment.
“Are you ready?” he finally asked. “I see car lights turning down there.”
She nodded, and he helped her walk towards the road. The barks rose again, as they had earlier, but they were single, almost conversational barks, as if in greeting. Doyle relaxed suddenly, the tension leaving his body.
“It’s Elowyn,” he said. Jen wanted to ask how he had arrived to that conclusion, but when the car stopped a few seconds later, she recognized her purple Volkswagen Beetle, and saw her sister climb out of the driver’s seat, looking around the fields.
“Jen! Jen, it’s me!”
“We’re over here!” Jen called back, and Ellie turned to face them. Doyle helped Jen walk up to the car, where Ellie quickly embraced her.
“Thanks,” Jen said to her sister. “I didn’t feel like running back.” Doyle’s arm had finally left her side, and she turned around to face him. “And thank you, again, for saving me.” She felt the tension radiate out of her sister when she said saving, but decided to leave the explanations for the house.
“Always,” he replied easily. “Remember...call me if you need anything. That includes a jogging partner. You really need to stop going out alone.”
“Seconded,” Ellie said, her voice tense again. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, I am,” Jen said, and started walking around the front of the car, the gentle breeze moving her hair. She brushed it out of her face, thinking. When she was by the passenger headlight, she stopped. She might never have a better chance than this.
Turning to face Doyle, she blurted out, “Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Jen thought he looked pleasantly surprised. She hoped that was it, at least.
