She nodded, looking around the kitchen as she thought of all of the money she was about to spend. “I do,” she said softly. “This house was a steal at three hundred and fifty thousand, but I’m guessing I’m going to be putting at least another one hundred and fifty thousand into it. But I don’t mind; I like the challenge.”
He grinned at her as he sipped his coffee. “You must,” he said. “So what do you do for a living that is going to enable you to pay for this white elephant?”
“Emergency Medicine,” she replied. “I have a new position with North Shore Medical Center in Salem in their Emergency Department. I start next week.”
“Nurse?”
“Physician. Trauma surgery.”
He lifted his eyebrows; now it was his turn to be impressed. “Dr. Hendry,” he said as if correcting his bad manners. “North Shore is a good place. We may see each other once in a while.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I’m with the fire department. That’s my district’s hospital for medical runs.”
“Oh,” she wasn’t displeased at the thought of seeing him again. “Paramedic?”
“I was, once. Now I’m a captain.”
She grinned. “How long have you been in that line of work?”
“Twenty-three years,” he sighed. “A long time.”
Alix watched him as he leaned against her counter, feeling more and more drawn to the man the more she got to know him. He’d come inside to tell her about the house but they’d hardly talked about it. They were talking about each other, as if they were getting to know one another for personal reasons. He was a hunk, no doubt, but other than the fact he was her neighbor, had two dogs, and was a firefighter, she really didn’t know that much about him. She didn’t even know if he was married. If he was, then he was being a bit of a flirt and she wasn’t sure she liked that at all. But if he wasn’t….
“Do you have any kids, Cord?” she asked as she sipped her coffee.
He nodded. “Three boys,” he told her. “Chris will be a senior in high school in the fall, Kyle will be a junior, and Cole is entering the ninth grade.”
“My son will be a junior in high school, also,” she said. “He’ll be going to Danvers High School. I also have a four-year-old daughter who will be entering preschool.”
He lifted his eyebrows at her. “You don’t look old enough to have a sixteen-year-old.”
She grinned, flattered. “I was a baby when I had him.”
“You must have been.”
“Actually, I had him while I was in Medical school. I was lucky enough to have him in July and was able to start my second year right up again in September.”
“Good planning. What about your daughter?”
“By the time she was born, I was already established. I took four months off but I wish it could have been more. I loved staying at home.”
He was halfway done with his coffee. “The boys’ mother was able to stay at home with them when they were very small. I think it’s important to have the mom around full time when the kids are young.”
“Does your wife still stay home with them?”
He shook his head. “Ex-wife,” he clarified, and very glad the conversation had allowed him to make the point clear. “We divorced years ago and the boys live with me. She lives in New York.”
So, he wasn’t married. Alix was back to liking him a great deal, probably more now. “Well,” she said casually, “they must keep you very busy. I’ve got enough to do with two.”
“Where’s Dad?”
It was a direct question, one she hoped meant that he was as interested in her as she was becoming in him. She had no problem answering.
“Back in Los Angeles,” she said. “He’s kind of got his own thing going on, but he’ll see the kids when he can.”
Cord simply nodded, not wanting to probe her too deeply on that subject. At least not until he got to know her a little better, but already, they had exchanged a good deal of important information and he was thrilled. He looked around the kitchen as he finished the last of his coffee.
“What else can I tell you about the place?” he asked. “Oh, and by the way – is there any more furniture to move out?”
She nodded. “A few bigger pieces in the dining room. Why?”
“Because I’ll do it before I leave. I don’t want to take the chance that the Bat-Signal will go up again today and I miss it. You’d better let me do it for my own peace of mind.”
Alix laughed softly. “Seriously, you don’t have to,” she assured him. “Sean and I will get to it once he gets out of bed. If he ever gets out of bed.”
Cord snorted into his coffee cup. “I’ve got three of those,” he said. “They’d sleep until noon if I let them.”
Alix giggled, shrugged, and went back over to the coffee pot, which he was standing next to. She could feel the heat from his body as she picked up the pot, distracting her.
“Do you want another cup?” she asked.
He shifted slightly to hold up his mug but he didn’t move, even though she was brushed right up against him. It was a little weird, maybe even creepy if he was to admit it, but he couldn’t explain his reaction to her. He’d known the woman all of ten minutes and had never felt such a strong reaction to anyone in his life. He could smell her from where he was standing and she smelled like something cool and crisp and sweet. He found himself inhaling deeply and hoping she wouldn’t notice.
“Thanks,” he said as he watched her fill the cup half-full. “You make good coffee.”
She grinned. “I don’t have many vices, but coffee is one of them,” she admitted. “You’ll always find very good coffee in my house.”
He was gazing down at her, noticing she hadn’t moved very far away from him. “There’s a gourmet coffee shop in town about a mile up the road,” he told her. “I always stop there on my way to work.”
She nodded her gratitude. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll have to try it.”
She was still standing there, no more than a few inches separating them, and Cord was seriously having a difficult time focusing on anything other than her lush lips when they both heard noise in the doorway that led from the kitchen out into the dining room. The adults looked over to see a tall, skinny, young man with a head of messy blond hair rubbing his eyes. Sean Patrick Hendry gazed at his mother with some irritation.
“What did you want, Mom?” he asked sleepily.
Alix put her cup down on the counter and went to her son. “Nothing,” she said, reaching out to stroke his blond head. “What do you mean?”
“You knocked on my door, didn’t you?” Sean sounded annoyed.
Alix shook her head, glancing over at Cord as if to reaffirm she hadn’t left the kitchen. “No,” she said. “Are you sure? Maybe you just dreamed it.”
Sean yawned, finally catching sight of Cord standing over by the sink. He eyed the very big man. “I don’t think I did,” he muttered, lifting his hand because he and Cord had made eye contact. “Hi.”
Cord smiled faintly, raising his hand in response. “Hi.”
Alix did the introductions. “Sean, this is our neighbor, Mr. Trevor,” she said. “He’s got three boys your age.”
Sean yawned again but didn’t seem particularly impressed. “Cool,” he stumbled over to the myriad of cardboard boxes that were stuffed in, and blocking, the utility room, and began ripping open the tops. “Where’s the cereal?”
Alix watched him as she went back over to the counter and collected her cup. “No cereal,” she told him. “I wasn’t shipping cereal across country in a box. I’ll go to the store this morning and get some bread and stuff for breakfast. Meanwhile, I think there are some crackers in there.”
Sean turned his nose up at crackers for breakfast. But before he could argue, a piercing scream came from the second floor. Startled, Alix slammed the cup down on the counter and bolted and, instinctively, Cord did the same. In his profession, one usually ran towards danger rather than a
way from it, so he was acting on his training. He followed Alix up the narrow back stairs to the second floor where the distinct sounds of a child crying were evident. Alix ran into one of the doors and Cord followed.
A little girl was sitting up in her messy bed, rubbing her eyes and sobbing. Alix sat down on the bed and pulled the child into her arms.
“Shhhh,” she whispered soothingly. “You’re okay. What happened?”
Cord was looking around the room, dingy and full of boxes, for anything that would have caused a hysterical child as the little girl answered.
“A bad girl,” she said rather angrily. “She wanted my kitty and I told her no. But she took it anyway.”
Alix looked around to see the stuffed cat on the ground a few feet away. Cord was following her focus and saw the cat, also, picking it up and handing it to Alix when she tried to get off the bed and hold her daughter at the same time. Alix took it from him, smiling gratefully.
“Here’s your kitty.” She gave it back to the child, who cuddled it. “No one took it. It just fell off the bed.”
The child hugged it, getting her snot and tears on it. She was growing more lucid; enough so that she noticed Cord standing in the doorway. She immediately shrank against her mother, her big eyes wide at the strange man. Alix hugged her daughter, stroking her little blond head gently.
“That’s Mr. Trevor, our neighbor,” she said. “He’s our neighbor. Can you say hi?”
The little girl lifted a hand much like her brother had. “Hi,” she hiccupped.
Cord smiled gently. “Hi,” he said, then spoke softly to Alix. “If everything’s okay, I’ll just go back downstairs.”
Alix waved a hand at him, collecting her daughter from the bed and standing up. “We’ll go with you,” she said, wrapping a little blanket around the girl. “This is my daughter, Rose Elizabeth Hendry. Rosie turned four years old last week.”
Cord continued to smile at the child, who was genuinely adorable with her honey-colored hair and big eyes. When she looked up at Cord, he could see that they were the color of her mother’s, that steely blue that appeared gray in certain light. He followed the pair back down the stairs.
Both kids were crowded around the table and Alix began digging through boxes looking for something to feed them. Cord began to edge his way towards the back door.
“Well,” he said, not particularly wanting to leave but feeling rather awkward now that the entire family was up. “Good luck with the house. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Alix’s head came out of a box, her hands full of animal crackers and granola bars. “Hold on,” she said as she set them down on the table in front of the kids. “I’ll walk you out.”
Cord stood at the back door, politely opening it for her and then following her out onto the driveway where his dogs were waiting. Before Cord could say anything to her, he noticed the dresser still on the badly paved driveway where he had left it when he pulled it off of Alix. He went over to it and getting a good grip on it, he looked at Alix.
“Where do you want it?” he asked. “In that shed back there?”
Alix sighed heavily. “Really, you don’t have to….”
He cut her off by lifting the thing and began walking with it. “In the shed?”
Alix winced as he walked past her; the piece of furniture was very big and very heavy, but he handled it easily. “Oh… brother,” she said apprehensively. “You’re going to give yourself a hernia.”
“Then I know which doctor to go to.”
She giggled and followed him across the yard and into the dark shed. He took the dresser over to the corner and set it down with a grunt.
“There.” He brushed off his hands. “What more is there in the house?”
Alix shook her head firmly and blocked the door. “No way, dude,” she said. “You leave that furniture alone. I’m not going to have you go out on an injury because you were moving my old junk around.”
“It’s not yours.”
“Yes, it is. I bought it when I bought the house.”
He made a face at her. “Don’t think you can out-stubborn me, Dr. Hendry. I’m going to move the rest of that furniture in here if I have to break into the house to do it.”
She gave him a quirky grin. “I have a teenage son who is not nearly as strong as you are, but he’s capable. Plus, it will give him something to do.”
“The same teenage son that’s sitting in the kitchen, waiting for his breakfast? I can do it a lot faster than he can.”
Alix gazed at him, her smile fading. She appreciated the offer, his sense of humor, and everything about the man, so far. But she couldn’t, in good conscience, let him move all of the old furniture out of the house as if he were somehow responsible for it. He seemed far too eager to help and, to be truthful, that freaked her out a little bit. He was coming on strongly but not in an obvious sort of way; it was gentle, firm and insistent, like she couldn’t say no to him no matter what. She had just met the man and was undeniably attracted to him, so she wasn’t sure what was holding her back, only that something was. Maybe she didn’t want him to think she had taken advantage of him. Maybe she just didn’t want to become dependent on him, because it would be so easy to….
“Absolutely not,” she said firmly, moving through the door and out into the yard with Cord on her heels. “Thank you for saving me from being crushed to death by the dresser, but that’s the one and only piece of furniture you get to move. Sean and I can do the rest.”
Cord could see she wasn’t going to let him help, but there was more to it now. She wasn’t as warm and open as she had been only minutes before, like an invisible wall had been raised. He sensed that he’d overstayed his welcome and sought to make amends. He wanted to see her again and he didn’t want her to be cautious about it because he’d come on like a bulldozer the first time.
“Okay,” he backed off considerably, realizing she wasn’t being receptive. Then he crooked his finger. “Come here; I want to show you something.”
Alix followed, somewhat hesitantly, as he motioned her over to the edge of the driveway. He pointed to the east, down into the vale where the road carved a path. There were a few houses down there amongst the trees and fences, all Colonials set on big lots, but he was pointing to one in particular.
“See that blue house down there with the dark blue eaves and the big white porch?” he asked.
Alix spied the structure. “Yes.”
He stopped pointing and looked at her. “That’s where I live,” he said. “If you need anything, day or night, please don’t hesitate to knock on my door. I’m assuming you don’t know anyone around here or have any family, so don’t feel like you’re all alone. I’d be happy to help, whatever you need.”
She was still hesitant. “I appreciate that, but….”
“And,” he cut her off, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket, digging around, and pulling forth a business card. He handed it to her. “My cell phone is on that. Call me if you need anything. Please.”
Alix could feel her resistance breaking down again as she gazed up into his handsome face. She didn’t sense any ill-intent; simply a true eagerness to help out. But there was more to it than that. She could see it in his eyes and it both thrilled and scared her. Torn, she nonetheless gave him a genuine smile and held out her hand again.
“You’re very sweet,” she said quietly, sincerely. “Thank you. I hope I won’t ever have to bother you.”
He held her hand a moment, shaking it gently. But more than that, he just wanted to hold it. She was spectacular, in every way, and he was succumbing quickly.
“I hope you do.”
With that, he let go of her hand and whistled loudly to the dogs, who came running. Alix watched him make his way back down the driveway, waving at him when he turned to look at her. He waved back. She continued to watch him until he faded from sight, realizing there was a big, fat grin on her face when she turned back for the house.
It had taken all day for Alix and Sean to move the furniture, piece by piece, into the old shed. Alix was something of a neat freak so they just couldn’t dump it; it had to be neatly arranged, which set Sean off to no end. As Rose followed them around with a rag because her mother had asked her to clean off the furniture, the entire family got into the furniture moving business.
Alix took the kids to town halfway during their day so they could go to the supermarket, but they passed a Dunkin’ Donuts and both kids went crazy. So she ended up stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts and buying a bunch of crap just because the kids wanted it. Usually, she was much stricter about what they ate, but considering they had just moved across country and had a fairly stressful few days, she relented and let Sean eat jelly donuts for lunch and let Rose have a soda. The result was that by the time they hit the supermarket, both kids were bouncing off the walls.
When they returned from the market and put away the groceries, Alix put the kids on unloading their boxes upstairs while she finished up in the kitchen. Now that she actually had groceries, she put dinner on in the crockpot and headed upstairs to help Rose unpack. As she neared her daughter’s big bedroom at the front of the house, she could hear the little girl talking to someone. It was playful talk, as little girls do when they are pretending, and she smiled as she entered her daughter’s bedroom.
“Who’s your friend, Rosie?” she asked as she headed over to a half-unpacked box.
Rose shrugged, more interested in the doll in her hand. “I don’t know her name.”
“Oh?” Alix was already involved pulling out bed linens. “What does she look like?”
“Sad.”
Hands full of folded sheets, Alix looked at her daughter. “Sad?” she repeated. “Why is she sad?”
“Because she has to live here and she’s scared.” Rose turned to her mother. “Mommy, can I have a pony?”
Alix’s expression twisted with surprise. “A pony?” she asked. “Where in the world did that come from?”
Dark Secrets: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 226
