Christmas With Hover Hill

by Risner, Fay

  “That's rather hard to believe. Have you been by your ex-wife's place and said the same thing to her?” Elizabeth asked sarcastically.

  Steven waited for her to sit down on the couch and sat beside her. “I take it you've heard it's all over for Lois and me?”

  “I've heard. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you,” Elizabeth said flatly.

  Hover came from the kitchen to interrupt. “Beth, can I get you and your company anything?”

  Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but Steven beat her to it. “A glass of wine for each of us would be fine if you have it, Hover.”

  “I'll get it,” Hover said as he left the room.

  Elizabeth noted something seemed off. As uncomfortable as she was with the robot, Steven seemed to relate well to Hover Hill already. He didn't ask questions about Hover Hill or seem the least bit surprised that the robot was in her apartment.

  After an awkward silence, Steven asked, “How do you like the robot?”

  “I don't. Scott is taking him out of here as soon as he gets back from a business trip.”

  “I see. Scott is gone over Christmas? That's unusual. Don't you two spend the holidays together?” Steven quizzed while Hover poured their wine.

  “Not this year.” Elizabeth took a sip from her glass to keep from looking at Steven. She didn't want him to see how disappointed she was.

  Steven drank from his glass as he studied Elizabeth. He placed his glass on the coffee table before he said, “I have an idea. Since Scott isn't going to be here, maybe we could spend some time together. After all, I haven't anywhere to go for the holidays, either.”

  “I don't think so,” Elizabeth said quickly. She tipped her glass and finished drinking the wine.

  “Hover refill our wine glasses,” Steven ordered. He focused on Elizabeth. “Now, Beth, don't speak so hastily. We should discuss this some more. After all, it would be nice to spend the holiday with you again. Just like old times.”

  Hover picked up the wine bottle in the ice bucket. He poured and settled the bottle in the ice.

  “You may shut down for the night, Hover Hill. We won't need you any longer,” Steven ordered.

  The robot obeyed. Elizabeth frowned as the robot went to his corner. Why did Hover Hill quietly do what Steven told him when he's always so lippy to me? She let the thought go with, Must be a man thing.

  For a while, Elizabeth and Steven caught each other up with what had happened in their lives since Steven and Lois left town until the present time. Elizabeth wondered if it was the wine that made her talkative. Maybe it was the fact she felt the old attraction for Steven coming back to her. Goodness, she really had missed these chats with him.

  Steven studied Hover a moment. “So Scott is going to get rid of the robot for you?”

  “As soon as he comes back. I can't wait. That robot doesn't give me a moment of peace. He's almost too human like for me which creeps me out. I don't know what Scott was thinking when he gave me that thing for a Christmas gift.”

  “Perhaps you just have to get used to Hover Hill being around,” Steven suggested.

  “That was Scott's thought. I'm not buying it. I don't think getting used to that robot will ever happen. See all the Christmas decorations.” Elizabeth waved her hand around the room. “I haven't put them up in years. Isn't much point to going to all that bother for myself. Plus, it's work taking them down again. I came home to find Hover had the apartment decorated without me telling him to do it. Next thing I knew, he figured out how to use the DVD player, and he was playing Christmas carols.”

  “And that is a bad thing how?” Steven asked. The corners of his mouth twitched.

  “I could care less about Christmas except for the time I spend with Scott. Hover Hill had White Christmas playing when he had the nerve to ask me to dance with him. How is that acting like a robot for Pete sakes? I tried to turn him down, because I was busy grading term papers. He wouldn't give up so I danced with him. The next thing I knew the robot was psychoanalyzing me. He said I was afraid of commitment. Of all things for him to accuse me of!” Elizabeth paused a moment. She took a drink of wine and looked over the glass at Steven. “I guess he did give me a reason to think about you and me after he brought it up.”

  Steven closed in on her and put his arm around her shoulders. “That's wonderful, Beth. I'd hoped when I came here we could discuss getting back together after Hover Hill paved the way for my entrance back into your life.”

  He confused Elizabeth. “I don't understand. You should tell me how you would expect a robot you didn't know about to make things right for you and me.”

  “Perhaps, I shouldn't have said anything,” Steven admitted, pouring himself another drink.

  “Oh, but do go on and elaborate more on this subject. I'm really interested. You have my full attention now. How much did you know about Hover Hill being here before tonight?” Elizabeth insisted. “I knew you didn't act surprised when you saw the robot here with me. In fact, you carried a comfortable conversation with him. He followed your orders well. I thought only Scott and I knew Hover well enough to do that. Now that I think about it, I didn't mention his name until after you said it, and that has been several times in the last hour. Steven, maybe you better tell me what is it that I don't know?”

  “Maybe I should. I don't want you to be mad at Scott. I'm the one that programmed Hover Hill to know your likes and dislikes. My plan was to get the robot to help me make you more receptive to my return. Like I said, I've always regretted not staying with you. Lois and I didn't have much of a marriage from the very start, and it went down hill from there.”

  “I see. What was Scott's part in this deception?” Elizabeth asked quietly.

  Steven looked sheepish. “I convinced Scott to help me give Hover Hill to you as a Christmas gift so you would let the robot into the apartment.”

  Elizabeth ran a finger up and down the stem of her wine glass as she digested all this information. “So Scott lied to me about needing to go on a business trip over Christmas. What idea did you give my brother to keep him from being here to spend Christmas with me?”

  “Scott was the one worried about you spending so much time by yourself. When I called him, he thought it was a good idea for me to connect with you again. I just mentioned to Scott with him out of the picture, you and I could spend Christmas together,” Steven said honestly.

  Elizabeth shot to her feet, whirled to face him, folded her arms over her chest and glared down at him as she exploded, “I want you to leave now.”

  The pleased with himself mask faded from Steven's face. “Please, let me explain so you understand how we thought this was in your best interest and mine. After I realized how much I missed you, I was desperate to get you to take me back. I realized I still love you. I always have,” he pleaded.

  “You certainly didn't show your love for me when you left me for another woman and married her. Now that you're divorced, you're so desperate to get back in my good graces you have the bad taste to use such elaborate trickery. Bringing a robot into my home to brainwash me was a new low for even you. No, I'll never understand how you could do this to me. And, Scott, my own brother! How could Scott go along with such a trick? How could he help you do this to me when he knows how much our being together for Christmas means to me?”

  “Give me a chance to help you understand our reasoning,” Steven pleaded.

  Elizabeth picked up the wine bottle by the neck as she edge toward him. “No, I've heard enough. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say. Get out of here!”

  Steven bolted off the couch and backed away. “You will regret pushing me away once you've calm down. You know we belong together, Beth,” he said as he shrugged into his coat. “Think about how much we meant to each other before and how good it would be with us together again. Call me when you've cooled down.”

  “No, face it. I won't be calling you. Not ever.” Elizabeth pointed a stiff finger at the door. “Get out of here, Steven, and don'
t come back ever.”

  After the door shut, Elizabeth paced around the room, thinking about the kind of jerk Steven had become. Or, was he always this conniving? Maybe she had been so in love with Steven that she hadn't notice he would go to any length to get what he wanted.

  This evening, he was so insistent that she was going to come back to him. All she needed was a little time to cool down. She really didn't want to let him get close to her again. Once the new wore off in their rekindled relationship, some other woman would come along that caught Steven's fancy. He'd be gone again just like before. She couldn't trust him not to hurt her again.

  Her brother had been just as untrustworthy. He had gone along with a man that left her once and was trying to deceive her to get back in her good graces. To do it, Scott had left her alone for Steven to coerce into his way of thinking on Christmas. The special holiday time Scott and she always spent together. That's how much her own brother cared about her. He had become more like the unfeeling man their father was then she could have ever imagined.

  She needed to get away and decide what she wanted to do about this mess, before Steven came back to hound her again. She was sure that he wasn't going to let things end with tonight. Scott would probably be calling in soon when Steven told him they had been caught in this deception. He'd be sure to tell Scott how angry she was with both of them. She didn't want to talk to either of them for a while. She needed time by herself. Time to think about this mess.

  Where could she go that they wouldn't find her? If she used a credit card, she'd leave a paper trail. She'd have to get cash from the bank. Enough money to tide her over for a while. Maybe what she should do was take a leave from her job and spend six months away from Cedar Falls.

  Her eyes lit on a picture on the lamp table. A picture taken of her when she was ten and her brother was twelve. They were standing beside their father, Martin Winston, on the porch of an old farm house. This was one of the few pictures she had of her father and her together. She snatched it up. The one place none of her family would think about looking for her in the winter was in that picture.

  Once she applied for a leave, if Steven or Scott checked with the college, they would be told she left for six months. Since the college knew about her leaving town, this wouldn't be like a sudden disappearance that would have people hunting for her. Scott wouldn't get any help from the police since she took off on her own accord.

  The next morning, Elizabeth called the college to make an appointment to talk about her leave from work. After she ate breakfast, she instructed Hover to throw out any leftovers in the refrigerator and pack the canned goods and other food in boxes. He could fill the cooler with what was in the freezer. While he was doing that she packed three suitcases with clothes and stacked them on the bed with her laptop.

  “Hover, I'm going out for a short while. When I come back, you can help me put the things I laid on the bed in the car. While I'm gone you aren't to answer the door or the phone. That is an order. Oh, if you have time, take down all the Christmas decorations you put up unnecessarily. Put the boxes back in the closet.”

  She was out the door before he could ask questions. First stop was the bank to withdraw plenty of money. By the time she needed more, maybe Scott and Steven would forget about checking in at the bank. Then she could write checks.

  On the way to the college, Elizabeth debated what to do with Hover Hill. She could leave him in the apartment until Scott found him. It occurred to her, she might miss his help. Maybe she was crazy for thinking about it, but Hover could go with her. Steven spent a lot of money for that robot. It would serve him right if she didn't ever give Hover Hill back to him. Besides, she'd be a lot safer traveling with a man in the car. That thought made her smile.

  Chapter 5

  “Hover, I'm back,” Elizabeth called from the apartment doorway. At least the place had a normal, familiar look again. Hover had managed to find the time to take down all the decorations.

  The robot came from the kitchen.

  “I want you to help me put the food boxes into the car trunk to take to the food bank. The boxes on my bed go in the back seat. We're dropping them off at Good Will.”

  It took several trips to the car. They filled the back seat and the trunk with boxes and three suitcases full of her clothes. “There now we can leave,” Elizabeth said. “Get into the car while I lock the apartment door.”

  When Elizabeth returned to the car, Hover asked, “Where are we going?”

  “For a ride. To Good Will and the food bank like I told you,” Elizabeth replied as she slid behind the steering wheel.

  She headed south. Soon they passed the city limits, traveling along the route her father used to take when she was a child. The flat fields were filled with snowy corn stubble and rolling pastures of cattle and horses knee deep in snow as they munched on large hay bales. The scenes didn't look the same as the summer scenery she remembered when she spent a couple weeks with her father in the country. That's all right. She was sure she was going the right direction.

  Hover Hill broke in on her daydreaming. “You packed most of your clothes in the suitcases, food in the boxes and your laptop is in the back seat. You would not give away all your clothes. My internal GPS tells me we are a long way from the closest food bank or Good Will store. Why are we headed south on a country highway? Don't try to tell me you have lost directions to a food bank or Good Will. I will not believe you.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions? I decided to take you for a nice ride. Let me drive in peace and quiet. I know what I'm doing,” Elizabeth replied.

  Hover stared straight ahead.

  Two hundred miles south, Elizabeth asked, “How far does your transmitter carry? I take it Steven Mitchell was able to overhear our conversations. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been necessary to plant you in my apartment while you brainwashed me so he'd know when to show up.”

  “That is true. My long range transmitter carries fifty miles.”

  “Good! We are way out of range. Now, Mr. Nosy, I can answer your questions. We aren't going to a food bank or Good Will. Not anywhere close,” Elizabeth said.

  “I knew that. I told you that already,” Hover declared.

  “Yes, but I couldn't answer you back. I didn't want Steven to realize that I've left town until we've been gone so long it will be hard for him and my brother to track us,” Elizabeth said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my father's summer house. When we were kids, he used to take my brother and me there for two weeks each summer. No one uses it in the winter,” Elizabeth said, proud of herself for thinking of the idea. “If you want to be helpful, watch for a destination board that says Wickenburg on it. That's the town we have to stop in.”

  “Why?”

  “Millie something or other is the owner of the Maidrite Diner. It's been so long since I met her I've forgotten her last name. She keeps the key for my dad's house,” Elizabeth said.

  “You do not need to see a destination board. My GPS transmitter tells me you need to stay on this highway. We are exactly twenty three miles and a half from an establishment called Maidrite Diner in Wickenburg, Iowa.”

  Hover was right as usual. As soon as they reached the city limits, Elizabeth watched on the right side the street. When she spotted the diner, she pulled into a parking space near the front door.

  Lunch rush was over. The place was almost empty. A pretty blond, about Elizabeth's age, smiled at her from behind the counter. “Hello, what can I get you?”

  “Are you Millie?”

  “That was my mother. She turned the diner over to me. About two years ago, she passed. My name's Susie,” the woman said. “Anything in particular you wanted Mom for?”

  “I'm sorry about your mother. Maybe you can help me. Mr. Winston has been kind enough to permit me use his house in the country for a while. He said I could stop and ask at the Maidrite Diner for the house key.”

  “Sure thing. I can get
it for you,” Susie said warmly. She brought a metal box from under the counter, picked out the key and handed it to Elizabeth. “I'm surprised that Mr. Winston told you to ask for my mother. He knows I run the diner now.”

  “Of course, he does. Mr. Winston mentioned the diner had changed hands when he told me about the house key. I just got your mother and your name mixed up. Sorry, the mistake is my fault.” Susie's scrutinizing stare made Elizabeth uncomfortable.

  “I see. Wonder why he didn't call ahead and tell me you were coming?”

  Elizabeth felt queasy as she released the word, “Why?”

  “He usually has me hire a cleaning crew to go in and clean the house from top to bottom before he comes.” Susie watched closely for Elizabeth's reaction.

  “Mr. Winston wanted to call ahead. He mentioned the place would be a mess, but I told him I wouldn't be here long enough to bother with that. I could do what cleaning was necessary. I – we are just staying for a few weeks,” Elizabeth excused.

  Susie glanced over Elizabeth's shoulder and out the window at Hover Hill in the car. “Sure. Anything else I can do for you?”

  Elizabeth couldn't tell if the woman believed her or not. Guess she'd find out soon enough if Susie called her father to verify a woman could stay in the house. He'd call the house to find out who it was. If she didn't answer the phone, he'd send the law out to find out for him. All she could do was hope it didn't come to that. “I'm starving. I'll take a maidrite and coffee to go.”

  Susie glanced out the plate glass window again. “What about your husband?”

  Elizabeth gave her a blank look. “My husband?”

  Susie studied the man in the car. “Isn't he hungry?”

  “No.” Elizabeth knew she'd spoken too quickly from the puzzled expression on Susie's face. “I mean yes. Thank you for thinking of that for me. I guess I'm just too tired to think straight after all the driving I did. Make that two maidrites.” Why not get the extra one? Saves the woman from being curious, and I'll need something to eat for supper.