"Whu?"
"Uh uh. You look firm on the outside but inside you’re all wiggly and squishy." I snapped my fingers at him and turned away hiding my grin. I loved it when I disconcerted Drew. He was generally so unshakeable.
"Dylan, what do you want for breakfast baby?" I yelled down the hall.
"Cereal!" he yelled back at me.
"Okay!" I skipped back into the kitchen and poured him a bowl of Raisin Bran and 2% milk. We’d had a Battle Royale with Drew over fat free milk. It was blue. Milk isn’t supposed to be blue. I’d argued that if I had to consume blue milk, I may as well just pour water over the cereal. He’d rolled his eyes and conceded to 2%. We took our wins where we could.
Before Drew, or what I liked to call the Time of BD, our mornings consisted of me shoving a granola bar in his mouth on our way out the door while we sped to his school, hoping that he wasn’t late. Now, he ate and we talked. We went over his homework and talked about the latest things in school that he found interesting - like his Class Leadership Program - or we prepped for tests.
I could see a change in my little boy. He was turning into a little man and not only was his confidence up, but he also exhibited strong leadership skills. He made me so proud, this man in the making.
The doorbell rang just as the last scoop of cereal was consumed. I grabbed my son, dropped a kiss on the tip of his nose and told him to have a great time with his Dad.
It was always a little painful to watch him go, but I could suck it up with the best of them.
"Ready?"
I turned and nodded, giving one last wave goodbye as my son headed out the door before following Drew downstairs for yet another day of grueling work.
"Grace, you keep dropping your elbow. If you’re going to drop your elbow, you’re going to get smashed in the face."
And with that, he smashed me in the face. I saw stars but I stood my ground, spun and did a leg sweep. He dodged at the last minute. Normally he could see my attacks coming, but I’d surprised him by not stopping and checking for broken bones or missing teeth.
"Better." There was a hint of pride in his praise.
I bent over at the waist and drew in a deep breath. I was hot and sweaty and even though I had more stamina than I used to, forty-five minutes of fighting was forty-five minutes of fighting. It was hard work.
The thing to remember - he would calmly instruct me while I was panting and out of breath - is that your fights shouldn’t last this long, but you may have hours of battle. You have to be ready for the long haul.
I stood up straight and nodded at him. "Ok I’m ready to go again."
He threw the first punch before I’d gotten the "again" fully out. I hadn’t been prepared and he caught me smack in my eye. I could feel my cheek swelling and I returned a quick jab to his ribs and spun around catching him in the arm with my elbow.
We were both in mid-swing when the doorbell rang. He paused for a fraction of a second, long enough for me to smash my knuckle into his mouth, splitting his lip.
My mouth made an O of surprise and I spun as fast as I could to scramble the stairs, hoping to escape the retribution that was sure to come.
I swung open the door, out of breath and unaware of what I looked like. Obviously it wasn’t good, because Rose’s mouth dropped open and she gasped before grabbing my arm and pushing me inside.
"What in the hell is going on Grace? Have you been attacked?"
"What are you doing here?" Rose was digging in her purse and we were talking at the same time so neither of noticed the man coming up the stairs.
Drew chose the wrong moment to come tearing into the hall. Rose whirled on him, her Taser out and had already fired before I could stop her.
His body jerked rapidly as the volts of electricity shot through his system.
I couldn’t help myself, I started snickering. It turned into peals of laughter and before I knew it I was bent over and snorting between helpless giggles. As horrifying as it may seem, watching someone get tased was funny. It didn’t occur to me that Drew would be susceptible to the electric prongs. He was just this impossible, strong creature out to make my life a living hell.
"What in the HELL is going ON here?" Rose’s face was a thunderous mask of fury.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and gulped in as much air as I could, trying to calm down as I crept towards Drew. Chances were he was faking it, waiting to spring. But just in case, I wanted to make sure that he was ok.
"Rose, you just tased Drew, my live-in trainer and housekeeper." I bit my lip to keep from bursting out laughing again. I choked a bit as I remembered his body flailing around like a fish out of water.
I leaned over to check for a heartbeat and breathing when he whispered softly, "Don’t tase me bro."
That sent me into further fits of hilarity. I was certain that I was going to have an apoplectic fit at any moment, but Rose - being the consummate doctor - was already pushing me out of the way to check his vitals.
Lying back on the floor, I gave into my mirth. He was absolutely faking it, letting Rose feel empowered. It melted something inside of me. Drew could be so stern, so demanding and at times, utterly incapable of human feeling. To see him lying prone, allowing my best friend to minister to him so that she felt less guilt - it gave me a different perspective of him.
Rolling over onto my side, I studied his profile. I usually didn’t spend a lot of time looking at him. His face alone could cripple the strongest will and I wasn’t the kind of girl to garner his kind of attention.
"Rose, he’s faking it," I commented dryly.
"Wha-what?" She stuttered back.
"He’s faking it. He’s trying to make you feel better by letting you fuss over him." I sat up and nudged his hip with my toes. "Drew, can you give us a few minutes please?"
He popped up, winked at her and padded into the kitchen.
"When in the hell did you get a Taser? Beyond that, when did you start shooting first, asking questions later?"
Her brows knit together in a confused frown and she pushed a strand of honeyed hair off of her forehead. "I picked it up a week ago," she said absently. "There have been an irregular number of muggings at the hospital lately. Ted wanted me to be safe."
Pulling herself up to her feet in a graceful way that I’d never be able to pull off, she put her small, capable hands on her hips and stared me down.
I began to fidget. Suddenly I couldn’t look her in the eye. If I were Catholic, Rose would be my priest. Everything crossed before the confessional of our friendship. There were no secrets. She knew I was keeping something from her and I could see the hurt in her eyes.
"C’mon, I’ll make you some hot cocoa." I pulled her toward the kitchen.
"With booze in it?" She tugged back against my hand a bit. This was the Rose I loved. She’d forgive me and let me get my confession out at my own pace, but she’d make me pay just a little for it.
"Yes," I groaned, drawing the word out. "With booze in it."
Leading her into the kitchen, all of the things that I’d wanted to say to her just fell out of my mind into a blank void. Suddenly, I didn’t want to confide all of the hurts and the secrets. I just wanted to tell her that I’d missed her and that I was sorry. Turning around to tell her just that, I opened my mouth but she interrupted me.
"Wow you look great! Plastic surgery?"
"No, unfortunately it wasn’t that easy. Exercise and diet. Drew, has been working my ass off," I grumbled.
She looked so great. It hit me in that moment how much I really had missed her. Her hair had grown out a bit and the blonde waves fell softly past her shoulders. She had put on a few pounds since she’d had the boys but it looked good on her. She was like this motherly goddess filled with light. She pushed her glasses up her nose and took a step back to study me.
"It’s been less than two months since I last saw you," I could feel a "doctor" lecture coming on and I waited patiently for her to finish. "You shouldn’t have lost this much weig
ht in less than two months. Are you on some kind of crash diet? You know those don’t work Grace, you’re only supposed to lose…"
I tuned her out. Her lips were moving and her brows drawing together and then - like a conductor in an orchestra - her hands started moving in time with her words. Rose was a very expressive speaker. Sometimes, I wanted to grab her hands to see if she would still be able to talk.
This woman had known me since I was eight years old. I couldn’t hide from her. So I took a deep breath and let it out. "I have something big to tell you, but first – I miss you and I love you and you’re my bestest of the best friend and I’m sorry that I haven’t been around to see you. How have you been?"
I’d completely derailed her lecture and her lips pursed in annoyance. She cocked her brows at me and tilted her head as if to say, "Really, Grace?"
I pasted a big smile on my face and lead her past the kitchen into the family room, sitting her on a loveseat, calling out "Drew, we need booze!"
"Empty calories Grace," He called back.
I scowled, "Ok booze for Rose. I need water anyway."
I turned back to Rose and continued the creepy grinning, hoping that she’d just fall into the usual conversational mode.
"Oh you know the usual. I’ve done a few surgeries, raised the kids, hosted a Halloween party for Ted’s company and not seen my best friend in two months…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at me expectantly.
"A Halloween party? What did you dress up as this year?"
I could tell that her patience with me was running low. I sat on the ottoman and watched her face tighten. Her eyes were creased with worry and her brows were drawn together. I knew that she was worried about me. I knew that I had to tell her, but I was chickening out.
"Nope, it’s your turn. What’s the big news?"
"I met my real mother," I blurted.
"Shut the front door!"
"I know right? It was a shock. Remember all of that worrying that I did as a kid that I’d turn into a psycho nut job with some rare genetic disease? All for nothing." I tried smiling, but the look on Rose’s face quieted me.
"How did you find this out?"
I told her the story, leaving nothing out. She stopped me before I could finish, holding out her hand. "Hold on."
She left the house and I could hear her car door slam before she reappeared with her medical kit in hand. She pulled out a pen light and knelt in front of me shining it in my eyes.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"I’m checking you for drugs," she replied calmly.
"Rose, I’m not on drugs. I’m telling you the truth. I got the photograph of your reaction to the pee cup. You know I’m not on drugs."
"Is this some kind of scam? Grace, did you get involved with a cult and they’re brainwashing you? Have you given them your money? Honey, you have to tell me what’s going on. Do you need money?"
I expected disbelief, but that she would think that I’d joined a cult was slightly insulting. "Hello, we’re talking about me. I mock cults Rose. I don’t join them."
I grabbed her hands and pulled her down next to me. "I’m telling you the truth. Harsh Truth. Swear to God."
Invoking Harsh Truth was like swearing on the bible, owning up to a lie detector test and swearing on the head of your first born all in one. When one of us said "harsh truth," it meant that there was absolutely no bullshit involved, regardless of whose feelings were hurt.
"You realize why this is difficult for me to understand?"
"Of course I do. Remember that freak storm that blew off my roof when I was a kid?"
She nodded mutely.
"Yeah that was me."
"Shit," she said.
My mouth popped open in surprise and I had to cover it with my hand to keep the laugh from coming out. Rose never swore. I mean never.
"I need to call Ted and tell him that I’m going to be late coming home. Gimme a minute."
Drew sauntered in as she moved to the back door and dialed her husband.
"She doesn’t believe you. She’s going to ask Ted if he thinks that they can commit you without consent."
"Of course she is," I said calmly. I expected Rose to go this route. She was logical. She would conclude mental instability immediately. "I don’t want to do anything that could hurt her though so my bag of tricks isn’t going to work."
Biting my lip, I gave him an imploring look. He knew what I wanted. I could see the hesitation in his eyes. He was trying to decide if telling Rose was going to be less messy than breaking me out of the mental ward.
Hearing Rose start back to us, I decided for the last ditch option. "You have been my best friend for over twenty years. How could you even think to have me committed Rose?"
"Baby, there is something wrong with you. The weight loss, the hallucinations and delusions of grandeur…something is wrong. I just want you to be okay."
"Did it not occur to you that I could be telling the truth?" Tone pleading, I crossed my arms defensively over my stomach and started pacing. "I’m telling you this because I need you. I need you to be there for Dylan if anything happens to me." I was begging her to believe me with my eyes and my tone.
"I know that you believe that what you are saying is true. But Grace, I’m a scientist. You have to know that I’m going to be logical about this."
She grabbed my wrist and stopped me mid-pace. "I wouldn’t even think of having you committed if I didn’t think that it was necessary."
"Drew?" I asked shortly. I needed him to do this. "How effective do you think I’m going to be if I’m fighting off my publisher, my ex-husband and everyone else who thinks I’m insane just so I can get back to normal?"
He sighed. "Fine."
"Grace, I don’t know what kind of hold he has over you, but I think that it’s important for you to realize that things started going crazy as soon as he came into your life. I know that it’s been hard with the Brandon situation. It’s completely understandable considering how crazy life has been for you these last few months." Concern was heavy in her voice and she moved to take me in her arms. She was going into her soothing mom mode and it meant that she was going to do or say something that I didn’t like.
Stepping back, I said wearily, "Just shut up and watch."
I didn’t know what he was going to do, but I expected something dramatic, full of flash and bang. What I didn’t expect to see was Drew shifting into a version of me.
"I didn’t know you could do that." I studied his new form thoughtfully, temporarily forgetting Rose. Was this how he saw me?
Instead of the frumpy housewife image that I had of myself, I saw a warrior woman who looked strong and confident. He’d even copied my bruises and cuts. Instead of looking ugly, each mar on my skin was shown as a badge.
My lips curled into a faint smile and I felt a bit of a blush rising. Rose’s gasp brought me back to myself. I looked at her, hoping that she was getting it now.
You could say that her jaw was dropped. She started to speak several times and failed. I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing at her expression of shock. Finally she turned to me and said quite frankly, "Your boobs aren’t that big." She then promptly fainted into my arms.
Chapter 9
Rose came around and I handed her a cup of hot cocoa. She inhaled the fragrance deeply and took a sip. "Wow."
"I know."
Those three words held an entire conversation. I sat down next to her and curled my legs up beneath me, laying my head on her shoulder.
"Shit just got weird."
"Yeah," she said softly. Then, "Holy crap he is hot."
"Yeah, I know. He also reads minds." Once I’d said this, she started blushing furiously.
"Trust me, you couldn’t have thought anything worse than I have and I have to live with him." I gave her a wry smile and patted her arm.
"I can’t believe that this is happening to you Grace. I’m almost jealous." She smiled but it had a hint of bitterness. "You’re going to
live forever."
I shrugged. "Maybe not. Who knows? I could die tripping over a rusty garden rake and break my neck. I have no idea what this change is going to do to my body. I’m a little afraid." That was the first time I’d said that out loud.
"Well, you’re probably going to outlive me. Think of all of the wonderful things you’ll get to see! You might even have a flying car!"
I laughed at that and took a sip of my drink. "I haven’t gotten around to thinking about that yet. I think about outliving my friends and my family. I think about you growing old and finding another old biddy to go world cruising with - picking up hot young Italian gigolos."
"You’re the only old biddy I want to cruise with," she said and hugged me.
We fell into our normal chatty routine and talked for what seemed like hours before Drew came in and interrupted.
"Lunch is almost ready. Rose, will you be eating with us?"
She shook her head and disengaged from me and the couch. "No, I have to get home to Ted and the kids." She looked down at me. "How long do you have before you have to go away?"
"Not long."
"You won’t be here for Christmas?"
We always spent Christmas day together. After presents, I'd drag Brandon and Dylan over to her house. We'd spend the day drinking and cooking. Rose was the closest thing I had to family, and the thought of not being around made me sad.
"She’ll be here for Christmas," Drew interjected quietly. "I promise."
Rose nodded. "Ok then, I’ll call you tomorrow and we can plan for it."
I walked her to the door and gave her another hug. "I love you. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. I just," I paused. "I just couldn’t yet."
"It’s ok. I love you too, but you should know better. You don’t have to go through this alone."
I watched her drive away and closed the door. "Thank you," I said softly.
"Don’t thank me yet, you have payback coming for the lip."
Huntress (A Grace Murphy Novel) Page 9
