by Mary May
Her eyes swimming with tears of fury, Klara stared at him. “Please…just stop.” Turning around she walked quickly back to the restaurant.
Alec started to go after her, but he felt a sharp tug on the back of his shirt. “Let her go, son, I think you have done enough damage for one night. You care to tell me what that was all about?”
Alec had forgotten his grandfather was even with him! That’s how riled up that woman made him! Rubbing the back of his neck, he bent down to pick the jacket off the ground. He turned, watching as Klara came back out with her purse. He was relieved to see she had thrown on a light jacket. She got in her car and within seconds she was peeling out of the parking lot.
“Alec’zander? Do you plan on answering me anytime tonight?” Alec knew he was in trouble when his grandfather addressed him by his full first name. Anytime he was “Alec’zander” it didn’t bode well.
“I’m sorry, granddad, what did you ask me?” Shaking his head, Abraham walked around and got in the car. Alec followed suit, throwing his jacket on the backseat. He was still fuming over Klara.
“Son, who was that woman and how long has this been going on?” Backing the car out of the parking lot Alec glanced at him. “How long has what been going on?” Speaking slowly like he would to a small child Abraham spoke again. “How long has this been going on with that woman? Klara? Was that her name?” Pulling out onto Pacific Ave Alec shook his head. “There isn’t anything going on between us. Not like that.”
The car was immediately filled with Abraham’s booming laugh! “Oh, son, it’s worse than I thought! You got it bad and don’t even know it!” Frowning, Alec dismissed his grandfather’s notion. “Boy, you want proof? Here you go! In the five years you have been with fancy pants Clarissa you have taken her out in far less than what that lady was wearing and didn’t bat an eye about it. Never once did you get green-eyed with jealousy over someone else seeing what was supposed to be your private treats. Care to explain that?”
Alec opened his mouth to dispute it, but then closed it again when he couldn’t. His grandfather had one point right anyway. It hadn’t bothered him when Clarissa paraded around in barely there dresses and outfits. He had never told her to cover herself up or gotten so angry. That didn’t mean he had feelings for Klara though…did it?
Chapter 12
“Overbearing, bossy…tyrant!” Klara navigated traffic with one hand on the wheel while she swiped at angry tears with the other. “He had no right to do that! No right at all! Now what am I going to do?” she moaned. It had taken her two weeks to find that job. Granted, it wasn’t the best job in the world and she admitted she didn’t care for the revealing dress either. But it paid really well and now she was unemployed again. “Does he want me to be thrown out in the street when I can’t pay my rent?” She wondered aloud. It seemed every time she felt like she made some forward momentum in her life something happened to knock her back to square one. Here lately that something had a name…Alec Adams! How one man could be her savior and her tormentor at the same time was beyond her.
Pulling up to her apartment building, she unbuckled her heels and walked barefooted up to the lobby door. The desk clerk waved at her. “Hi, Klara there is a package here for you.” Smiling her thanks at Stanley, Klara took the package then went up to her apartment. She set the package down and changed into her pajamas. After feeding a yowling Scooter, she popped a potpie in the oven. Walking back into the living room she opened the package then let out a short scream, recoiling in horror.
“Mrs. Martin, Marcus Kelley is behind bars. He can’t be responsible for this package. Are you sure no one else would have a reason to send this to you?” Shaking her head Klara looked everywhere but at her dining room table, which now had the remains of the mutilated rat on it. No way could she ever eat on it again.
“No, like I said, he is the only one that would have a reason. He threatened me. I made a statement. You were right there; doesn’t any of this ring a bell for you?” The officer in charge tonight was the same one when they had arrested Marcus. She finally read his nametag. “Brady Willis? Listen, Officer Willis, I know that Marcus is behind bars, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have this done. Don’t you ever watch Law & Order?”
The officer looked at her with obvious contempt. “Ma’am, that is a TV show. Please don’t confuse it with reality.” He then walked over to talk to another officer who was bagging up the rat. Klara sat down on her couch and marveled at how crazy her life had become; it could be a TV show! She rubbed her temples, feeling a migraine coming on, when she heard a familiar voice in the hallway. Squeezing her eyes shut she prayed she was mistaken, but within seconds Alec was at her side.
“Klara, are you ok? The officer called me and told me what happened.”
Looking up in disbelief Klara asked, “Why? Why would he call you? Who told him to?” Sitting down across from her, he looked at her with concern, and she really wished he would stop!
“I told them to contact me immediately if something like this was to happen.”
Her voice went as high as her brows. “You told them to contact you if I ever had a hacked up rat delivered to me? You actually thought this was a possibility?”
Sighing, Alec got to his feet. “Stop being so prickly…I told them if Marcus ever tried anything to let me know.”
Slowing rising to her feet Klara pointed a finger at him. “Prickly? You think I’m being prickly? I have had a really rotten night and the dead rat wasn’t even the worst part! If I seem a little “prickly” I think I have just cause to be, don’t you?”
Raising his hands in defeat, Alec nodded. “Yes, Klara, you have every reason to be really angry with me right now. I’m truly sorry for the way I acted tonight. I will get you another job, I promise.”
Still pointing her finger at him, Klara barked out a snort of laughter. “You see, that’s just it. I don’t want you to get me another job! Alec, why do you feel this…this…need to protect me from everything, including myself?”
After casting his eyes around at the room full of officers, he asked, “Do we have to discuss this here and now?”
Klara shrugged. “Why not? I asked you here and now.”
He gave his head a sharp nod then walked to her bedroom and motioned for her follow. Once inside he shut the door then he turned to face her. “ Look, I’m sorry if I seem pushy or whatever; I just want to help.”
After pacing her room she looked back at him. “I appreciate all your help, Alec, I really do, but you crossed a very serious line tonight. You had no right to do what you did.”
Shoving his hand through his hair, Alec growled, “I know… I know! I don’t know what came over me. I just couldn’t stand to see you put on display like that. I understand that it was your choice, but I honestly had no control over my reaction…I saw red. I have never lost it like that before. To answer your original question, I somehow feel responsible for you. I read somewhere once that if you save a life you are responsible for it.” He raised his hand to stop her from speaking. “I know I’m not. I get that, believe me, but that is the answer to your question. I just want to make your world better. I don’t ever want you to feel like you have no other recourse other than to jump off a bridge.”
Feeling most of the anger drain out of her, Klara sat on her bed. “That’s very kind of you. I know I have been less than appreciative of your efforts. I apologize for my behavior, except for tonight. Tonight you had everything you got coming to you.”
Alec chuckled, rubbing his jaw. “Yes, ma’am, I did. You pack quite a wallop. Who taught you how to throw a punch like that?”
Giving him a small smile, she answered, “My daddy.”
The officers had gathered up all the evidence and spoke with Stanley, asking who had delivered the package. The doorman wasn’t a lot of help; he said it was delivered by the postal company. The officers said they would check into it to see who was responsible and they would be in touch.
Rolling her eyes behind of
ficer Willis’s back, Klara watched as Alec thanked the officers and then shut the door after they had left. “I think you need to move somewhere else, Klara. This is too close for comfort.” Throwing the potpie that she never got to eat in the trash, Klara mumbled something under her breath.
“What?” turning to him. “I said there you go again taking control over my life. You can’t work here, Klara; you can’t live here, Klara; you can’t wear that, Klara. Do you see a pattern emerging here? Because I sure do.”
Alec propped himself against her kitchen counter. Looking right at home, which rode her last nerve. “Well, don’t you think this is a little too convenient if it is Marcus behind this?”
“Oh, come on! Who else would do something like this? Of course, it’s Marcus! And why should I have to move? He is the bad guy here; make him move! And another thing -- why don’t you ever ask me about something before just tossing out an order about what I should or shouldn’t do? I very well might have come to the same conclusion if I was given half a chance.”
Scowling at her Alec fired back, finally losing his cool, “Because everything in your life happens in rapid fire succession! I don’t have time to ask you about things. I barely have time to pull you out of one mess before you’re in the middle of another one! You attract trouble like bees to honey.”
Klara threw the rag she was holding into the sink then walked out of the kitchen and opened the front door. Then she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest with eyes the color of the Pacific, spitting angry sparks. “Tell you what. Why don’t you just leave me to deal with my messes then?”
Alec stopped by the door and looked down at her for a long moment. “I’m sorry,, ok? Don’t be like that, Klara. If you need me then call me. I really don’t mind.”
When she tilted her stubborn little chin up a little higher, he just shook his head and walked out.
***
Sarah laid the Bible down in her lap. She just couldn’t concentrate on the Word tonight. Usually she found such peace and comfort in its worn pages, but tonight she was restless and uneasy. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Dale asked.
Furrows lined her forehead as she shook her head. “I’m just uneasy tonight. Can’t find my peace.” Reaching over and taking her hand, he asked, “Do you think it’s Klara? Should we call her?”
Sarah laughed softly. “Oh, I’m sure it’s Klara, but I don’t think it’s anything we need to call her for. I just feel the need to lift her up in prayer right now.”
Dale bowed his head. “Then let’s do it right now. Lord, we lift Klara up to you right now. We know that you can see exactly where she is and exactly what it is that she needs. Lord, we pray Your protection over our daughter who was Your daughter first. Jesus, fill her heart with Your love and light and help her get through whatever it is that is troubling her right now. We thank You for all Your blessings. In Jesus’ name we ask these things. Amen.”
Sarah sighed, “I just feel so helpless, Dale. I want to help her, but she won’t let us. I know the Lord has her in the palm of His hand always, but it’s just a mother’s instinct to want to help her child and when you can’t it’s heartbreaking.”
Dale tugged on her hand until she got up and sat in his lap. He pulled her down until her head was resting on his shoulder. “Do you remember when Klara fell out of that tree and broke her arm when she was eight?”
Pulling back she looked at him. “Of course I do! Why, it was a horrible break, with the bone coming through her skin. I won’t ever forget that!”
Dale nodded then started to rock, easing her head back on to his shoulder. “Yes, it looked really bad. Do you remember what the doctor said?”
Sarah thought for a moment. “He said that it looked worse than it was, but that he could fix it as good as new.”
Dale stopped rocking and nudged her chin up to look into her eyes. “We have to let God take care of Klara’s heart just like we had to let the doctor take care of her arm. Honey, there wasn’t anything we could do then, but take her to someone that could help her, and that’s just what we do with her now. We lift her up to the Lord. This isn’t anything He hasn’t seen before and He, too, can fix her better than new.” Sarah laughed. “Why listen at you! That sounded like something our preacher would say. I guess you have been paying attention in church.”
Dale laughed then kissed her cheek. “Yeah, but I got you to sit in my lap. Bet he couldn’t do that!”
She nuzzled closer. “No, he certainly couldn’t.”
Chapter 13
“Alec, are you going to make me repeat myself yet again?” His grandfather asked in dismay. “At this rate I might as well record myself and let you listen to it when your head isn’t somewhere else! Just what are you thinking on so blasted hard?” Rubbing his eyes to get Klara’s angry face out his mind, he tried to focus on the task at hand.
“I’m sorry, granddad, it wasn’t anything important. What were you saying?” Abraham stubbed out the fat cigar in the overflowing ashtray. “Rubbish and bull hockey! It’s that woman again, isn’t it? Haven’t you learn to at least get untangled from one before you get wrapped up in another?”
Shifting in his chair Alec was uncomfortable under his granddad’s piercing gaze. They didn’t call him “Hard Eye Adams” for no reason. His gaze could cut right through you. He never could lie to him and get away with it.
“Boy, why don’t you just tell me what has you so worried? It is the woman you pulled out of the Black River, isn’t it? Are you worried she may jump again?”
Shaking his head Alec played with the pen in his hand, clicking it in and out. “No, I really don’t think she will try to kill herself again. It’s just that she is so stubborn! She would rather get kicked out of her apartment and live with that cat that’s the size of a baby moose on the street than accept my help. I just don’t understand. Why won’t she let me help her?”
Abraham studied his grandson as he clicked that pen harder and harder until it fell apart in his hands; then he got up and tossed it in the garbage can.
“Son, I think the better question would be why do you care so much? You pulled her from the river and you saved her life. You then took care of her cat until she was better. I think you have done your duty as a decent human being. Has the girl thanked you?”
Alec looked at his grandfather. “Yes, she has.”
Abraham nodded. “Ok, then maybe it’s time to let her go? And if you can’t then maybe it’s time to find out why.” Alec drove home deep in thought over his granddad’s words. Why was he so interested in Klara’s life? She acted like she would be just fine and dandy if she never saw him again. Now why did that thought bother him so much?
“Yes, I can start immediately, tomorrow will be perfect! Thank you so much! Good bye!” Klara hung up the phone and whooped out loud. “Yes, yes, yes! Take that, Mr. Alec thinks he can run my life, Adams!” She had just gotten a position as a bank teller at Ozark Mountain Bank downtown and she was thrilled. Her life could start to get back on track again. She was starting to panic because she had just about gone through her savings, not that she had much. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she sat down at the kitchen table and was reaching for the phone to call her mother when it rang. “Hello… Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?” Klara frowned as she heard the sound of traffic in the background and she heard the person shuffling around. She finally just hung up the phone thinking someone probably “butt dialed” her by mistake. She started to dial her mother’s number when her cell phone buzzed once more. “Hello?” Once again no one responded but she could clearly hear someone on the other end of the line. She hung up the phone and placed it on the table. She sat there looking at it and within twenty seconds it was buzzing again. She didn’t answer it. She waited to see how long it would ring. It rang until her voicemail picked up. Then it started ringing again. When it finally dawned on her to check the number, she was relieved when she saw her mother’s number on the display.
“Hi, Mom?” She heard
her mother laugh on the other end of the line.
“Oh! Hi, honey. I was about to give up on you and leave a voicemail!”
Klara smiled. “I’m sorry. How are you today? How is Daddy?”
For the next twenty minutes she chatted with her mother, telling her about her new job. While her mother was telling her about her neighbor’s knee replacement Klara walked over and looked out the window. Just as she was turning away, she spotted a figure in a gray hoodie that was looking up and appeared to be watching her. She pulled back from the window and then peeked out from behind the curtain to see if he was still there. She shook her head at her own silliness when the corner was empty. After she hung up from speaking with her mother, she paced her apartment. She was restless and edgy for some reason. She really wanted to call Alec to see what he had found out about Matthew, but after she had kicked him out the other night she didn’t feel exactly comfortable doing that.
She tried calling D.H.S., but they wouldn’t tell her anything. Then she tried calling the police station, and ran into a brick wall there as well. “Oh, fine! I’ll call him.” She grumbled. Sitting back down at the table she dialed his number from memory then counted the rings as she waited for him to pick up. She had counted to four when his voice came on the line.
“Klara? Are you ok?” Alec was so surprised to see her number on his phone that he dropped it and had to scramble around under his desk to get it before his voicemail picked up.
“Yes, I’m fine, believe it or not. I was only calling to see if you have found out anything about Matthew.” He felt his heart plummet in disappointment that she wasn’t calling just to speak to him. He wasn’t ready to admit what that might mean.
“Not a lot, unfortunately. I know he has been placed in a foster home for the time being until his family could be located. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more than that.”
