"How many bottles should I pack?" Nora calls from the kitchen. Andy came around the corner just in time to see Nora fumbling with bottles, nipples, and the formula container. Jumping at Andy's unexpected entry, it all goes flying. Bang! Plop! Ping! The girls looked at each and then busted up laughing. Nora threw a hand over her mouth when Andy snorted hysterically. Andy's eyes watered as she doubled over, her insides hurting. Bracing herself against the island's countertop, she gasped for air.
"Oh shit! Now that was awesome. A much needed laugh." Andy's face was red, her eyes bright. Nora tried to contain her own laughter and nodded.
"Indeed! You scared the crap out of me!" Nora began to gather the scattered items. Andy helped clean up the half spilled formula contents. Once the floor was swept clean of formula and free of the bottles, they repacked Harper's bag. They wouldn't be gone for long. A short trip to the grocery store to get food stuffs for dinner. Andy still didn't know what to make. The weather was amazingly beautiful for a September day in the Black Hills. It was pleasantly warm with the first signs of autumn coming. It could be a good night for the guys to grill outside and leave the doors open to the house. Just a simple dinner, picnic style.
Andy loaded Harper in her car seat into the Ford Escape that Matt had leased for her. It was higher off the ground than her old car and it made it less trouble to secure the seat. Once the car seat was clipped into its base, Andy tucked a light blanket over Harper's bare legs and gathered some soft toys for her to play with. Nora opened up the back door on the passenger side and slipped the diaper bag onto the floor beneath the seat. Both Nora and Andy got into her car and buckled up.
"I was thinking of having Garrett and Matt grill out tonight. What do you think?" Andy asked Nora as she put the keys into the ignition to turn the motor on. It came smoothly to life.
"I love grilled food. We could get some Portabella mushrooms and grill them. They are fantastic!" Nora shifted in her seat. Andy considered that. Grilled mushrooms? Hmm.
"I'm going to give Matt a ring before we head off. Just to make sure he doesn't need anything else." Andy slipped her cell phone out of her purse and hit the speed dial button. Her stomach clenched. What should I say to him? Should I act like last night never happened? One ring. Two ring. Third ring.
"Hey babe." Matt's voice was smooth and divinely male. "I am so sorry about last night."
"Um...thank you, but I am calling to see if you need anything from the grocery store. Nora and I are going to pick up some stuff for dinner. We thought about having barbecue, if that's fine." Andy motored through her speech, her heart racing and her mind skipping along. A pause and then Matt answered.
"Barbecue is great. Hannah is going to come over too. If you could pick up some beer and whatever you girls want to drink, I can't think of anything else." Matt cleared his throat. Andy's heart pounded.
"Sure. No problem. Beer. Check." Andy met Nora's eyes and pursed her lips. There was no censure. Andy had an ally in Matt's sister and for that she was grateful. Still she was stupidly nervous about what Matt would say. Everything just felt so off balance.
"Andy, before you hang up on me, I want you to know I'm sorry. I feel awful for making you so upset last night and for not trusting you to tell me in your own time." Again a weird silence. Andy swallowed hard, wondering what to say. Should she absolve him or make him sorrier for what he did and didn't do. No answers came.
"I know you are." She said as she put her sunglasses on, shading her eyes from the sun and Nora.
"We can talk about it tonight. I have a meeting in a few minutes. As soon as I am done, I will be on my way home." Matt offers in an informative voice. Someone must have walked in. Probably Margaret.
"Yes, all right. I will see you later." Andy says and hangs up the phone. She drops it in her cup holder in the console and prepares to back out of the driveway.
It is a short drive to the grocery store. Andy vaguely noticed all the traffic and stops along the way. All the driving seems to have been done on auto pilot, which punches her in the gut. What are you doing? Get your head on straight! Harper is with you in the car! Andy closes her eyes, fighting back a wave of tears. She feels so overwhelmed, but she needs to be a mother to her child. Her daughter doesn't deserve to be passed from one stranger to another while her mother checks out for a while. She let the cold, calm wave of anger brew and stiffen her spine. She prefers it to the ever present ache of despair and loneliness.
"All set?" Nora says softly from her seat. She had removed her seatbelt but remained in the car. Andy threw her a brave smile and nodded. Opening the door, Andy grabbed her purse and tucked her car keys inside the small pocket. Zipping it up, she closed her door and opened Harper's. Little waving arms greeted her as Harper struggled to get free of her three-point harness. Andy smiled.
"Hey baby girl! Let's get you out of there." Andy quickly slipped the latch free and squeezed the inserts apart. Harper squealed. Nora appeared beside them with the diaper bag and a couple of the cloth bags she was firm they use. Matt's sister with her many earrings and tattoos used cloth grocery bags! Who would have thought!
Settling Harper on her hip and her purse over her shoulder, the women headed across one row of parked cars, down a short sidewalk and into the store. Andy sighs. It's cool inside compared to the warming early-afternoon outside.
"Okay, so Matt said to get beer and whatever we want to drink. Hannah is coming." Andy snagged a shopping cart and set Harper inside, buckling her up tightly and putting her purse and diaper bag on either side to steady her. All in all the almost four month old sat well. Nora giggled at Harper's new view of the world.
"She's too cute." Nora said, smiling at Harper. "I don't mind beer, but I could go for some wine coolers. Maybe Mike's Hard Lemonade?" Nora raised a sculpted brow at Andy. Andy must not have wiped the surprised look off her face soon enough.
"You look more like a hard liquor girl." Andy answered and Nora chuckled. Andy's cheeks reddened.
"Sometimes, but I'm not looking to get plastered. There's enough entertainment at the house without me dancing on the tables!" Nora winked and Andy blushed further. She's right there!
"I happen to like Mike's too. Any particular flavor? I'm partial to the cranberry." Andy maneuvered the cart around an elderly lady who had stopped to feel the produce.
"Oh definitely cranberry! By far the best one." Nora says as she picks up a green bell pepper. "My brother makes some mean potatoes on the grill. I think we need green bell peppers, onions, potatoes, cream cheese and some butter." Nora put a bell pepper and onion into a plastic produce baggy. Andy stopped to pick up a small bag of little red potatoes.
"All right, I'm sure we have butter. We need cream cheese, beer, Mike's, and whatever we want to grill. Any ideas?" Andy asked as they neared the meat counter. Nora bit her lip, looking over all the pre-cut meat in plastic and styrofoam containers.
"Let's do a mix. T-bone steaks, pork ribs, and chicken breasts would cover the spectrum. I've only met Hannah a couple of times and we went out to eat. I don't remember if she is one of those vegetarians or just has a principle not to eat red meat." Nora screws up her face. Clearly she isn't the biggest fan of Garrett's newest flame. Andy had come to find out that Garrett goes through girls like a sick person with tissues. It's sad really. He is such a nice guy.
"Sounds good to me." Andy tossed a couple of cream cheese bricks into the cart along with a package of shredded cheddar cheese. She met Nora at the liquor stations. They found a case of Bud Light and two six-packs of Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonade. Harper played with a cold bottle of water, chewing on and sliming the cap.
"I think that will do us. Do they have enough tin foil?" Nora asked as they walked past the plastic baggies and plastic wrap. Andy tried to remember if she had seen any.
"Let's grab one of those just in case." Andy slowed the cart to a halt as Nora selected and dropped the aluminum foil into the basket.
"I think that should be all of it." Nora says as they clear th
e isle and head for the checkout lanes. Oh dear! I hate long lines! Andy takes a deep breath and parks the cart behind a woman with the least amount of items, which is still almost a full cart!
"Well this will take some time." Andy sighs, straightening Harper into a better position. Her daughter didn't seem to care. She continued to gum on the water cap.
"It gives us some time to chat." Nora grins at Andy's sudden posture change. Andy steeled her spine for whatever was going to come from chatting with Matt's sister. "Don't look so scared! You forget that I have been where you are and in some ways, I still am." Nora grimaced slightly.
"I suppose so. What do you want to know?" Andy swallows hard, her stomach fluttering. Nora cocks her head to the side, considering just how to put her questions.
"For starters, I want you to say that you will come to my wedding in a couple of weeks. Before you say no, I want to remind you that my brother will not come unless you do." Nora narrows her eyes, daring Andy to decline out of hand before thinking about it. Andy closes her mouth on her denial.
"If I say yes, will it curb any more questions?" Andy asks sweetly and smiling in a cheesy manner.
"Of course not, but it will get me to stop hounding you about coming." Nora bats back. Andy sighs loudly, gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes. Nora chuckles at the play.
"All right, I will consider coming and I will do all that I can to convince Matt he should go." Even without me. Andy didn't want to say that aloud. She wasn't sure how she felt about going to a huge family function as Matt's girlfriend. She wasn't sure of anything at the moment.
"Good! And just for saying that, I will run interference with my mother. She has heard so much about you that she practically begged me for a full report." Nora grinned, absolutely enjoying Andy's horror at the thought of Matt's mother. Andy felt her insides congeal.
"Oh dear! I was wondering how long that would be. I know Matt is very close to his family, but I wasn't sure what exactly he had told any of you." Andy tilted Harper to straighten her out. Nora raised her eye brows in silent conversation. It was a more of wouldn't you like to know look!
"Matt is her baby. She loves us all, but he usually garners more attention than the rest of us." Nora said as they noticed the lady before them was on her last items to check out. FINALLY! Andy felt a rush of relief. This felt somewhat like an interrogation, but with the really, really good cop. She just didn't know what she could say that wouldn't bury her alive in more questions.
"I can respect her concern. I would be concerned for Harper too." Andy graciously conceded. Nora's expressive blue eyes sparkled. Good call. Andy pushed the cart forward and helped Nora load their purchases onto the belt. It ceased the conversation for a bit. The cashier exclaimed over Harper, asking how old she was and saying what beautiful a baby she was. Now this was familiar territory.
Andy paid the bill as Nora put the groceries into the cart. After taking the receipt, Andy picked up the two sacks with their Mike's Hard Lemonades. Nora didn't continue their earlier conversation or ask any more questions as they made their way to the Ford Escape. It didn't keep her from going back to what she had said, however. Matt's mom wanted to know all about her. Hmm. That would be an interesting conversation. Andy thought that if the woman didn't like her, then it wouldn't speak very well of a long-term relationship. Her head hurt. She was tired of thinking and over thinking every move and every conversation. Living in the moment was all she wanted to do, but it was more living in the past that she had been doing instead.
Andy looked over at Nora talking softly to Harper as they made their way over the lip of the sidewalk and across the parking lot to the vehicle. Andy slowed, remembering her keys were in her purse. She paused, pulled her purse up to unzip it and shifting the heavy sacks into one hand. Using her teeth, she unzipped the toggle and dug into the bag for the automatic remote with keys. Focused on what she was doing, she didn't hear the sound of an engine steadily getting closer. Gripping the keys in triumph, Andy saw rather than heard Nora scream her name. It all happened so fast. It might as well have been slow motion for that is how her brain perceived it to be happening.
A small blue sports car came out of nowhere and was suddenly thirty feet away. Her eyes widened, her heart stopped beating and all she could do was breathe. Sweet Lord in heaven! Her keys fell out of her hand, her purse spilled its contents on the asphalt parking lot and then it happened, the car hit her, knocking her onto the hood and into the windshield. For a brief, heart-stopping moment she was airborne before being deposited rudely on the ground. Blackness appeared around the corner of her vision, spreading dangerously close to blocking all light and life out of view. Andy fought it. She hurt so badly that she tried to hide from the pain. It may have been seconds, minutes, or hours for the interminable length that spread before someone stopped to check her.
"Is she alive?" Nora's tear strained voice came from far away. Alive? Yes, I'm alive.
"She's barely breathing. Someone call an ambulance!" I'm here. I'm ALIVE!
"Did anyone check the woman in the blue car? Make sure she doesn't go anywhere." Why didn't they stop? They had to have seen me.
"Back up, please, we need to get her to the hospital." Finally. Andy lay there on the pavement, trying desperately to keep her eyes open. It was a struggle. The pain just wouldn't go away. Looking the length of the ground, the last thing she saw before she succumbed to the darkness was the red liquid running in rivulets across the dark pavement.
Chapter Nineteen
Matt smiled sheepishly at Margaret as he hung up the phone with Andy. His secretary tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at his guilty look. Guilty? Oh, yes, very guilty! Matt swallowed hard.
"So I screwed up. I let my need to protect Andy get out of hand and I hurt her." Matt answered Margaret's unvoiced question. The older woman nodded and took a seat in the chair beside his desk. She situated her skirt and leaned back to listen. She was like another mother to him and he knew he was going to have to let her in on what happened. Matt leaned against the back of his office chair.
"Andy got a phone call last night and she was so upset." Matt swallowed hard again, his mind's eye taking him back to seeing her on the kitchen floor. "Needless to say, I wanted to know who had caused such fear and she wouldn't tell me. So when she was upstairs, I called Detective Briggs on Monica's case and he said the man's name was Lance Harper." He grimaced, looking down at his hands. Even now he could see what a devastating mistake that had been. Stupid!
"Well, well, I can see where you jumped to conclusions. It doesn't make it right, however." Margaret said to herself, her arms crossed over her chest. She shook her head from side to side in such a disbelieving manner. "He isn't the baby's father though, is he?" It sounded more as if she was sure he wasn't, but he answered it just the same.
"No, he isn't." Matt pushed back from the chair and began to pace the office. He had always felt it was so spacious, that is, until now. Now it felt like some sort of box that kept sliding the walls closer together. He tugged at his collar.
"I didn't think so. It seems too easy that if the father wanted anything to do with the baby that he should be calling. I think Andy is one of those girls, who would do the very best she could to keep the father in the picture, if for no other reason than for Harper. So, how is this Lance Harper relation to the father?" Margaret asked, working out the situation in a calm and efficient manner. Why didn't I just call Margaret last night instead of listening to my brother?
"Lance is the father's brother. After Andy found out what I had done, well, she did tell me about Harper's father. His name was Terrell Harper and he was a soldier killed in action." Matt felt his chest tighten, thinking about the father Harper would never know. Margaret looked at him, her eyes crinkled in concern and understanding. He continued, "Terrell told Andy not to ever tell his parents. A really bad lot, I guess. He neglected to mention what to do about his brother. Andy isn't sure if she can trust him or not."
It was a heavy silen
ce that filled the room. Margaret looked as if she were deep in thought, her hands now folded in her lap. Matt couldn't contain the restlessness and continued to circle the office. His chest banged painfully as he considered all that he knew and how he was ever going to make this right. At the first moment of trust, he had thrown it to the side in order to satisfy his own need for immediate truth. Grr! It would serve you right if Andy never forgives you! He blanched at that thought.
"Now you are in limbo wondering just where each of you stands. It's not a very comfortable or enjoyable place to be. It begins with complete honesty, fixing this mess you both created." Margaret begins, gesturing in a worldly manner. Matt starts at the older woman's mention of Andy's mess.
"Wait a minute, Margaret, Andy didn't create anything. I'm the one who went behind her back and didn't let her choose whether I should know or not. I hardly think..." Matt closed his mouth on his sentence as Margaret stood from her seat in a flourish of angry hands.
"Of course you both created this mess! You are not the only one with responsibilities here, Matt. Yes, I agree, you needed to give her the choice of telling you or not about Lance. Yes, you went too far in enlisting a detective to find answers for you. Yes, you are a grand idiot, but she had a responsibility to keep Harper safe. You are a part of that equation now. She needed to tell you about this man, just in case something happened. Besides, that girl knows you love her and her daughter to pieces! It is the height of idiocy that you two have not told each other how you feel anyway. What happens if one day you never get that chance?" Margaret softened her storming and rested her hand on Matt's arm. He met and held the wisdom in her eyes. She's right, you know? Time has a funny way of putting things into perspective.
"So how would you go about fixing this?" Matt asks, leaning back against the front of his desk, his hands resting on the edge. Margaret pursed her lips, considering all the things he had said and he was sure, even the things he hadn't said.
Black Hills Angel (Black Hills Series) Page 19
