by Jodi Thomas
For a moment, he stepped to shield her from danger. Then his eyes adjusted to the night enough to see. It wasn’t a man curled and ready to strike, but a boy huddled in pain beside the kitchen door. Hiding. Or trying to.
Connor took a step backward, his logical mind trying to find reason.
Jillian spotted the crumpled form. A heartbeat later she was running forward.
“He’s hurt,” she cried as she lifted the boy’s face in both her hands.
Connor knelt beside her. “Reese?” He turned a bloody face toward the light and recognized the kid whose father did all the handiwork around town. “Reese, what happened?”
19
Sunnie had enjoyed as much of the quilting group as she could stand. Her goal in life was to never put a needle in her hand. No knitting, no crochet, no sewing. The whole idea of quilting didn’t make sense when all anyone had to do was go to the store and buy a blanket. They weren’t pioneer women anymore. They didn’t slaughter their own pigs or wash their clothes on rocks at the creek. Why piece together scraps for a quilt to keep warm in homes with central air and heat?
But, of course, she didn’t express her opinion to this posse. The sweet old ladies would probably burn her at the stake. That’s what undoubtedly really happened in the Salem witch trials. It was all about whether to quilt or not to quilt.
For the past two hours, she’d popped up every ten or fifteen minutes and gone back into the kitchen to stare out the window and hope to see Reese. He’d called at six and said he’d be a little late.
It was after eight and there was no a little left. He was just late. Or, she had to reason, by now there was the possibility that he wasn’t coming at all.
The guy was fifteen. Who knows, maybe the idea of eating pizza with a girl made him sick. Or maybe he was scared she’d kiss him again. He didn’t act as if he liked it much when she’d kissed him before. He obviously didn’t know how to be a boyfriend, even a short-term one.
This was the last time she would go out with a younger man. Correction. She hadn’t left the house. He hadn’t shown up. There was no going out this night. And he wasn’t a man, not like Derrick had been. But then, Derrick had turned out to be a jerk. She was quickly moving from restless to annoyed. Maybe she’d been cursed by fairies at birth. This dating thing was not working out.
“I’ll get more sandwiches,” she said, popping up again. She’d look out the window one more time. If she didn’t see Reese’s old pickup out front she’d tell everyone she had homework.
She’d been up and down so many times none of the ladies paid any attention to her anyway. They were all talking except Gram, who’d dozed off about an hour ago, without anyone noticing.
The strange thing about women with needles flying in their fingers—they don’t tend to look up and make eye contact.
Bumping into the swinging kitchen door with an empty tray in each hand, she stopped abruptly and stared at the bizarre scene before her.
Her father leaned over someone slumping in one of the two kitchen chairs. The smell of blood hit her nostrils about the same time the swinging door slammed against her back. With a thud, the squeaky door pushed her forward.
“What...”
“Keep the door closed and lower your voice,” he ordered in that parent tone that might as well have added a screaming NOW to the request.
Sunnie dropped the trays on the counter, passed Jillian, who was dumping ice into a baggie, and rushed to her dad. She felt like someone had slowed a horror film down to one frame at a time.
Her father looked angry, worried. His sleeve and shoulder were covered in blood, but he didn’t look hurt. Sunnie brushed her hand over his shoulder, making sure he was sound before she breathed.
Red drops spotted the white linoleum like crimson rain, and a bloody handprint ran along the side of the bar.
A tossed tea towel, more red than white, lay on the breakfast table.
“Dad?” She focused on his bloody hands holding the ice pack over someone’s face.
A patient, or victim? She couldn’t tell from the cussing mumbling out from behind the ice pack. He was tall, long legs. Thin. Worn jeans. Muddy tennis shoes. A jacket like the one Reese had on at school when he’d passed her in the hallway a few times.
“He’s going to be all right, Sunnie.” Dad’s tone didn’t convince her. “I’ve just got to stop his nose from bleeding.” Her father slowly lifted the bag of ice.
Sunnie swallowed a scream. Reese!
He looked terrible. His left eye was swollen closed and rainbow-colored, leaving out any happy hues. His lip was double the size it should be on one side. His whole face was a patchwork of blood, bruises, and one-inch-wide cuts.
His nose still dripped as he looked up at her with his right eye and smiled.
He smiled! Well, with the left half of his mouth anyway.
“What happened?” She turned to her father, as if the victim couldn’t answer for himself.
“I have no idea.” Dad shook his head as he pressed the ice pack down again. “We found him like this. He was bleeding all over the porch. I don’t think anything is broken, except maybe his nose.”
Reese pushed away the ice bag.
Her dad didn’t force it back. He just studied the mess of blood and bruises a moment, then wiped Reese’s nose as if he were a three-year-old.
Sunnie had never had an ounce of patience. “What happened to you, Reese? Tell me right now.” She caught herself doubling up her fist as if planning to add another bruise if he didn’t answer fast.
“Look at the bright side, Sunnie.” He laughed at his own words. “I still got all my teeth. It can’t look that bad.”
Dad put the pack back over his face. “Shut up, Reese. Trust me. You look terrible.”
He mumbled a few cusswords and then settled, allowing them to care for him.
Sunnie just stood, watching Jillian switch ice packs and her father dab at the blood leaking out of several cuts.
The next time Dad pulled off the pack, the faucet that was Reese’s nose had slowed. Dad reached for a clean tea towel. “It might be a good idea to get that one deep cut on your cheek stitched up. Otherwise it might leave a scar.”
“It’s fine.” Reese’s voice had hardened, more man than boy now. “I don’t care if it scars.”
Sunnie couldn’t stand it. She fought down the urge to yell for someone to call 911, but the last thing she wanted in this bloody kitchen was half a dozen quilters. “What happened? And this time I’m not interested in your teeth.”
She’d thought of punching Reese for standing her up. Maybe this was her fault. No. Wishing didn’t blacken eyes. Maybe her dad thought he was a burglar and pounced. No. Dad wasn’t the type. If he ever killed anyone, it would be by lecturing them to death.
Jillian put a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t know anything, Sunnie. We found him curled up on the porch like this. He was either trying to get to you, or away from someone here.”
Dad wiped a wet hand towel over Reese’s face and all three spectators waited for blood to drip. When it didn’t, Dad straightened. “It’s stopped, Reese. Your nose doesn’t appear to be broken. How about telling us what happened?”
“I was late picking Sunnie up for our date.”
To her utter horror, her father stared at her in that questioning way he had. The look that silently shouted, What have you done now?
“Don’t look at me,” she snapped. “I haven’t even seen him since school.”
Dad rolled his eyes as though he was insulted that she even felt the need to explain. Maybe she’d guessed his expression wrong. Maybe it was more a Can’t believe you had a date look.
New looks had been popping up on Dad since she got her period four years ago.
Reese didn’t seem to notice their exchange. He just lifted the ice pack to his eye and continued, �
�When I started up the walk to pick up Sunnie so we could go get pizza, Derrick stepped out from the shadows. He told me he was dating her, and if I knew what was good for me I’d disappear.”
Reese managed a lopsided smile. “I told him I guess I didn’t know what was good for me. I said I was going to take Sunnie out for pizza whether he liked it or not.
“That was the first time he hit me. I wasn’t prepared. When the stars in my vision finally cleared, he was still there snarling at me. He said I didn’t know Sunnie like he did.
“I explained that I’d already seen her naked.” Reese shrugged and moved the pack to his lip. “That’s when he hit me again.”
Sunnie didn’t dare look at her father, but she was fighting back taking a slug at her one-eyed short-time boyfriend who was now talking way too much.
Reese wiped blood away from his swollen lip. “After that, I decided to fight. It’s kind of a blur. Derrick cussed me out and walked away, but I think he was mad more than hurt.”
“You want to call the sheriff?” Dad asked.
“No. My dad used to work with his dad. They’re friends. This was between us. I probably shouldn’t have even told you guys, but one look at Sunnie convinced me she probably wouldn’t take silence for an answer.”
He looked up at her and kept his promise. “Sunnie is my girlfriend, Mr. Larady. Derrick needs to get that through his head and back off. I’m dating her.” He tried to grin. “I didn’t expect it to be easy, but I didn’t think it would be this hard on me.”
Sunnie swore under her breath. She couldn’t deny Reese’s statement, not even to her father. The guy just got beat up because of her, and he was still holding up his end of the bargain. The guy had grit. She’d give him that.
Jillian asked if Dad would bring her a first aid kit. He nodded and reluctantly left the kitchen while Jillian moved the bloody towels to the sink.
Sunnie knelt down, her hands on Reese’s knee. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I thought he might get mad, or yell at us, but I never dreamed he’d fight you.”
“It wasn’t much of a fight.” Reese hung his head. “Maybe you should have picked a senior to be your boyfriend for a few months. Some guy who knew how to box.”
“No. I picked you, if you’re still up for it. You’re starting to grow on me. Of course, I plan to slug you, when you’ve recovered, for telling my dad you saw me naked.”
“Fair enough. Sorry I was late. We had work to finish on the remodel. Every day we’re still working, the family has to stay in a hotel.” He carefully laid his hand over hers. “I’m starving for a pizza, and now I’ll be lucky if I can close my jaw enough to eat. It hurts like hell.”
She laced her fingers in his, noticing that his knuckles were scraped. “You know, Reese, I don’t care if you are fifteen. When your lip heals, I plan on kissing you again.”
“Really?”
“I swear.”
He grinned, then winced. “Sunnie, I got to admit, being your boyfriend sure has its ups and downs.” He tugged on a strand of her light hair. “But I think I could get used to it.”
Dad was back, interrupting as usual. He acted as assistant while Jillian put a butterfly bandage on Reese’s cheek.
“You sure collected a lot of cuts.” Jillian doctored each one.
“Yeah, Derrick has a senior ring on both hands. That’s what I felt, not the fist or the blow, but the rings pounding into me.”
Reese never complained. When she finished, he still looked terrible, but he hadn’t turned loose of Sunnie’s hand for a moment.
Dad said they could go upstairs and watch TV in her room if Reese wanted to stay a while. He’d order them pizza and bring it up once it arrived.
“Leave the door open,” he added as they headed up the back stairs. “And, Reese, let me know if you feel faint or dizzy.”
Sunnie pulled Reese into her cluttered room and closed the door. The only light was the TV. It was easier to look at him that way. They leaned back on a dozen stuffed animals stacked on her bed. He used the buffalo as his pillow.
She sat beside him and flipped channels. Neither said a word. It occurred to her that no one in the room knew a thing about dating. They’d just have to make it up as they went along.
Finally, he lifted his hand and touched her arm, slowly sliding his finger along her skin from elbow to wrist, as if testing to see if she were real.
“You okay with this,” he said. “Me being here? Me touching you?”
“Sure. You want to see me naked?” She had no idea why she’d said that. Words just dribbled out of her mouth sometimes. At this point in her life she rarely made it through a day without saying at least one terrible, dumb, stupid comment.
“No. I’ll wait until I have two eyes.” After a minute, he asked, “Can I touch your hair? You’ve got angel hair. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like.”
She flashed him an impatient look. “How about you touch me where you like, and I’ll let you know if you go too far.”
His hand slid down over her hip.
“That’s too far.” Making it up as they go probably wouldn’t work with Reese. He’d probably need boundaries, or a fence, or a brick wall. Maybe she could find a dating manual online.
He slowly crawled his fingers up to just below her breast. When he pushed an inch farther, she said, “Too far again.”
“Just testing. You can touch me and test my boundaries, too.”
“Do you have any?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I don’t mind if you run a test for them.”
Dad banged his way into her room with sodas and a pizza. She was glad to see him for a change. She’d just had the strangest conversation with a guy she’d known forever and realized she didn’t know him at all.
Dad set the pizza down between them and backed away. “Enjoy.” He cleared his throat like he always did when he had something important he thought he had to say. “And, Sunnie, keep your clothes on.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dad, I was five when he saw me playing in the water in the front yard.”
“That’s right, Mr. Larady. But I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.”
Dad tilted his head as if trying to see Reese more clearly. “You get beaten up often, son?”
“Why’d you ask?”
Dad shook his head. “I don’t know. The thought of hitting you just crossed my mind, and I’m not prone to violence.”
“I know how you feel, Dad.” Sunnie added, for once understanding her dad. “He kind of brings the violent thoughts out, but don’t worry, he’s harmless. He’s kind of like a pound puppy. The longer he stays around, the cuter he gets.”
“Leave the door open.” There was no negotiation in her father’s tone.
“Why? Don’t you trust me?”
“I do. I just have a feeling if you two talk much, I’ll hear his screams for help better with the door open.”
When Dad walked away, Reese slowly sat up and took a bite of pizza. She flipped channels until she found a Harry Potter movie they’d both seen when they were kids. They leaned back and watched it again, saying the lines at the same time the actors did.
Finally, when the drinks and pizza were gone, she took his hand in hers and they watched the end of the movie together.
Both were almost asleep when they heard the quilters leaving. They all seemed to be talking at once as they passed below her window.
“It’s late.” Reese stated the obvious.
“Yeah. We should do this again sometime.”
“Yeah.” He squeezed her fingers, which were still laced in his.
She walked him all the way out to his old truck loaded down with boards and smashed boxes. After two hours of healing, he didn’t look any better, but the darkness made it easier to face him.
“You all right to drive?”
/>
“Sure. I’m only going six blocks.” He ran his fingers through her hair slowly, like it was something special. “Sunnie, is it too early to tell you I think I love you?”
“Yes,” she answered with no emotion. “Definitely.”
“Okay.” He moved away and pulled the door open. “Let me know when it’s time.”
Laughter, the kind that tickles up all the way from your heart, suddenly shook Sunnie. “Give me about ten years to get used to you first, Reese. Then I’ll think about letting you love me.”
“Sounds good. We’ve got lots of time.” He climbed into his truck. “See you at school. Any chance you’ll eat lunch with me?”
“Nope. I always eat lunch alone. But I’ll speak to you if I see you in the hall.”
He nodded. “Definite improvement. Night, honey.”
“Don’t call me honey.”
“Right.”
The good side of his mouth rose slightly and she knew he was lying, but he raced the engine and was gone before she could answer.
When she walked back to the porch, Dad was waiting for her. “That boy needs work.”
“Tell me about it. I’m starting a list.”
“Does that mean he’s coming back?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’ll stock more chips, cookies and frozen pizzas.” Dad shrugged. “And bandages.”
“I think I like him, Dad.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
20
As he had every evening since Gram’s accident, Connor drove through the deserted district of town, though it wasn’t on his way home from work. Even in the dying light, the shadows seemed longer on this side of the creek, but he explored the alleyways and peered between the buildings. Searching for a ghost. The outline of a man who’d disappeared amid the ruins.
When he’d been looking for Gram that morning over a week ago, he hadn’t had time to confront the shadow in the alley, but now he had no intention of forgetting someone was there.
Maybe it was just a kid playing around. Maybe a druggie looking for a place to get high. Maybe a drifter hunting for something worth stealing. But somewhere, trouble was hiding out among the buildings he owned.
