First Impressions

by Aria Ford

  “The guys who beat him up?” Alex clearly thought the same. “I guessed that.”

  “Mm.”

  We both sat quietly. I didn't know what to say, but I also didn't want to put the phone down. I was so worried and scared. His voice made me feel better.

  “I'll call the hospital, okay?” Alex said quickly. “Immediately after I've talked to them, I'll call you. That sound okay?”

  “Okay,” I said in a small voice. “Thanks, Alex.”

  “Of course.”

  He called the hospital, just like he said. Then, about ten minutes later, he called me.

  “Darby, he's okay. Pretty beat up, but okay.”

  “Whew.” I felt a sudden flood of relief. “How is he?”

  “They've fixed his ribs. They'll discharge him tomorrow. Nothing serious.”

  I was amazed by the sheer relief that flooded through me, tiring me.

  “Whew. Hell, Alex. I can't thank you enough for letting me know.”

  “No problem. Now stop worrying, okay? Maybe we can get Uncle to go through and see him or something. And I can talk to Haddon and explain the situation. It's time the police dealt with this.”

  I nodded. He was right. “Yes. Thank you. Thanks, Alex.”

  “Not at all. Now stop worrying.”

  I smiled. In a small voice, I replied. “Yes, Alex.”

  We hung up. I sat holding the phone. My mind was a whirlwind. Mostly relief, but also a big worry. I wanted to see him, to check he was okay. I thought about the fact that Uncle would probably go and check on him. That gave me an idea.

  I checked my calendar. I did have another two weeks of leave scheduled for this year. I made a decision. Dialed a number.

  “Uncle?”

  “Hey! Darby!” he sounded pleased to hear me, which was a pleasant surprise – I did feel a bit awkward for having been so distant the last time I saw him. “What's happening?”

  “Uncle,” I said. “Look, I... I know that this is weird of me, but...could I come and stay? On Tuesday?”

  I waited for the barrage of questions. To my amazement, it never came.

  “Sure, Darby,” he said gently. “No problem.”

  “Thanks.”

  I let out a long sigh of relief. I couldn't quite believe that had all worked out so well. I just had to pack, now. And find a flight. I thought about how expensive a flight for the next day was going to be, but I didn't care. I was going to do this.

  I flipped open my laptop and booked a flight. Then I leaned back, letting out a long sigh of relief.

  “Jared,” I whispered. “Hang in there.”

  I was going to see him on Tuesday.

  ***

  I waited in the hallway outside the hospital room. I felt my heart pounding.

  “Okay, Ms. Gilmore. You can go in now.”

  I waited at the door, looking down at him. He was lying there with his eyes closed. He looked at peace with the world. He was asleep, or so I thought.

  I walked in and sat down by the bed. This close, I could see how bruised he was. His eye was swollen shut, his face purple in places with spectacular bruising. I was amazed his jaw hadn't been dislocated. He had probably lost a tooth or two, but I would find that out shortly.

  I didn't want to wake him. He looked so restful. All the same, I reached out to where one of those knotty, muscled hands lay at his side. Flexed loose with sleep, it was at once strong and breathtakingly vulnerable.

  I touched his hand. He stirred.

  His eyes opened and he moaned. They closed again. Then they opened. Focused.

  “What..?”

  “Sh,” I whispered. “It's okay. I'm here.”

  “Darby?” the incredulity in his voice touched me more than anything else could have done.

  “Yes.” I was smiling now. Smiling and crying. “Yes. It's me. I'm here.”

  “But you... how?”

  He tried to sit up and I could see on his face that it was painful for him to do so. I leaned forward.

  “Don't sit up,” I whispered. “Don't do anything. “It's fine.”

  He laughed. “Darby. I... ow.” His face contorted with some pain as he laughed. I chuckled too.

  “It's okay,” I said. “Don't do anything. Just stay there. It's fine.”

  I was holding his hand and it fastened on mine, those strong fingers warm and hard and alive. I squeezed back and we stayed like that, his hand in mine, the ward silent. He was the only patient in there, for which I was grateful. If there had been others, I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaning forward and putting my lips on his.

  His eyes flew open with surprise, and I found myself looking down into those pale blue depths.

  I grinned and flicked my tongue lightly across the hard, thin lips. He smiled and his tongue came out and probed my mouth. I parted my lips and let him in. His hand, strong and scarred, stroked my hair.

  “My fallen hero,” I said.

  He laughed. Then he coughed.

  “Sure don't feel like... one...” he rasped.

  “Don't try and talk,” I whispered gently.

  He coughed. “It's laughing...that does it.”

  I chuckled. “Well then, don't laugh.”

  He grinned. “Now that you say it, all I want to do is laugh. Weird, ain’t it?”

  I started laughing and he coughed again and soon we were both laughing – him wheezing and me giggling. If there was a slightly ragged edge to my laughter, it was because of relief. We were still laughing when the nurse walked past. She gave us a weird look, but carried on down the hallway.

  Jared made a straight face.

  “Oh, Darby. I still can't believe it.”

  “I had to come!” I said. “How could you not know how worried I was?”

  “Sorry,” he said contritely.

  I chuckled. “No. Don't be sorry.”

  He nodded. Then, with a gesture that took my breath away, he lifted my hand and kissed it. I felt the sweet, soft touch of his lips all through my body. I sighed.

  “Oh, Jared.”

  We sat like that, hand in hand, a long while.

  “I...they said I could get out of here tomorrow,” he said after a while. “Got to...get to work.”

  “No,” I said firmly. “No you don't. You're not going anywhere near a horse, or any kind of heavy yard work, until those ribs are fixed. That's an order.”

  “Oh?” he smiled. “That's a change. I think I like it.”

  I grinned at him, then slit my eyes. “Well, don't get used to it.”

  He laughed. “Yes, sergeant.”

  I laughed.

  “What happened?” I asked him later.

  “Well...I got beat up,” he said with a self-conscious laugh.

  “Yes. I saw that bit. I mean...it was them, wasn't it?”

  “The gang guys? Yeah.”

  I sighed. “Jared...if it wasn't for me, this wouldn't have happened.”

  “No!” he sounded horrified. “No,” he said again more gently. “That isn't true. Well...those guys, they're trouble. It's their fault. Not yours. You didn't beat me.”

  I chuckled. “No.”

  “Well, then?”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “But...but the rest...the blackmail. You should tell the police.”

  “And admit to being a former gangster myself? I can't.”

  I sighed. “You don't have to tell them that bit. I understand you can't do that. But I could go to them. Tip them off about these guys. They did try and steal my purse, after all.”

  “True,” he said with a wry grin.

  “I'm sure they know about them anyway,” I added. “If we give them an excuse to go looking for them, they'll be glad.”

  “True.”

  “Besides,” I said. “If we tell your employer the truth, I don't think he'll take it badly.”

  “If I do, he might,” Jared said. I could see the light dawning in his eyes. “But if you were to tell him...maybe...”

  I nodded. “I can explain it. He
'll listen to me, I'm sure of it.” I grinned weakly. “After all, I do have quite some practice in persuasive speaking.” I knew Alex had tried, but as a lawyer I suspected I could carry more weight in this field.

  The relief that spread across his face was moving. I squeezed his hand.

  “It's all going to be fine,” I said gently.

  His eyes looked wistful. I wondered what he was thinking.

  “Now, Ms. Gilmore...visiting hours end in ten minutes.” The nurse spoke from behind us, her voice briskly authoritative.

  I rolled my eyes. Jared chuckled. The chuckle turned to a wheeze.

  “Don't laugh,” I said.

  He pulled a face at me. We both laughed.

  “Seriously, Jared,” I said gently. “You need to take care of yourself better.”

  “I promise I'll try,” he said. He pulled a face. His eyes – those stunning blue eyes – twinkled at me.

  I laughed.

  “I believe you,” I said.

  We sat silently for a while, my hand in his. I sighed.

  “I guess I should go before I get thrown out,” I commented.

  He nodded. “I suppose.”

  Neither of us moved. It felt surprisingly hard, thinking of walking away from him. I made myself stand.

  “I'll see you soon,” I promised.

  “Good.” He sounded relieved, which surprised me. I smiled down at him.

  “Get well soon, huh?”

  He laughed. “Okay, sergeant.”

  I pulled a face at him. We both laughed.

  When I went out into the hallway, I was surprised to find that I was crying, my face damp with tears. I leaned against the wall and took a deep, shuddering breath.

  How could I have been so dumb? Weird, how we miss the truth, sometimes, when it is right under our noses. I hadn't noticed until now that I was in love with Jared. I think I always had been from the moment I saw him. It just took me this long to realize it.

  “Darby, you can be really dumb sometimes,” I told myself.

  But at least now I knew I wasn't going to be dumb anymore. I had made up my mind on this. I was in love with Jared. Besides that, nothing else really mattered, did it? We could work it all out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Jared

  “Why didn't I say it?”

  I felt really dumb. I should have told Darby while she was here. I wanted to tell her I loved her. It had been on the tip of my tongue, but at the last moment I had lost my nerve.

  I never said that to anyone before.

  By myself in the ward, I lay in my hospital bed, trying not to notice how aching I was.

  I still couldn't quite believe she had come to see me. It was the last thing I would ever have expected. She had come all the way from Newton, MA – to see me? It felt crazy. There were times I thought she hated me. Certainly, I had thought she didn't care.

  Nothing could have been further from the truth.

  I felt like there was a warm light burning in my chest somewhere. I hadn't ever felt cared about before. My whole life I'd felt a bit like a nuisance – the bad smell that people wanted to forget was there. But I was starting to learn what it felt like to be loved and cared for. It was a good feeling.

  “Mr. Manning?”

  I looked leftward. It was the nurse in the door. A gaunt woman with kind eyes, she and I had come to a grudging understanding. She gave me the relief of painkillers, I gave her decent manners. She was the same nurse who'd treated me last time I was in here. I'd learned the hard way that she didn't like sass from her patients.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “Time for your painkillers.”

  I felt a wash of relief. “Good.”

  She came over and went through the procedure that had by now become routine for me – swabbing down my wrist, sliding in the needle. It hurt, but not as much as the one yesterday had done, for which I was grateful.

  “There. Now, Doctor Hudson will come and see you in a minute – he'll say if you're good to go.”

  “Good.”

  I was looking forward to getting out of here.

  When Doctor Hudson came around, he pronounced me good to go. He gave me two prescriptions – one for painkillers, one for anti-inflammatories. Then he said I could leave.

  “Whew.”

  I sighed. Getting out of bed and back to my own house was probably the best thing for me.

  It felt weird, getting home. I walked into the place where, days before, I had felt so desolate and depressed. Now, my chest was full of this beautiful melting feeling. It was love.

  “Darby Gilmore. I love you.”

  I whispered it under my breath. It felt good. I practiced saying it. I hadn't had any experience saying that to anyone. I hadn't known how amazing it felt to love someone before now. But now I did.

  I made myself coffee and took an anti-inflammatory. I went to the fridge and took out the bottle of cheap wine and put it out on the doorstep by the trash. I wasn't going to touch that again. I was through with it. I didn't need that kind of thing.

  I was checking my mail when the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Jared! How are you?”

  It was Cody. “Hey! Cody. I'm okay. What's up?”

  “Nothing... only the boss was looking for you. He needed to talk to you. We told him you weren't here. Where are you, man?”

  I closed my eyes. “I was in hospital again, Cody. Those guys...they came back. But I'm okay now.”

  “Hell. Jared. Wow. That's hectic, man. But...can you come down later? Only, if Haddon needs to chat to you, then...” he trailed off.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

  We chatted a bit longer and when we hung up I sighed. What was all this about?

  I couldn't help feeling a bit apprehensive. I mean, Haddon was asking for me? I remembered the day he had hired me.

  “You are going to work,” he'd told me. “I don't take anyone's shit.”

  It had worried me at the time, and now I was even more apprehensive. I wasn't going to make him regret hiring me. Not for anything. But I'd disappeared without warning for three days and he must be having second thoughts about me by now.

  I made some lunch and drove down to the ranch, guts churning with apprehension. My chest was aching by the time I got there and I took a painkiller with a mouthful of water just before I went.

  I walked in through the gate. The yard, predictably, was deserted. The guys must have just returned from lunch.

  “Guys?” I called.

  No-one. I walked through, with the eerie feeling I was the only person alive. I could hear the sound of horses in their stalls somewhere, and the sound of the wind banging a door somewhere.

  “Guys?”

  I breathed in the smell of fresh hay and clean cement and warm wind. But there was no sign of anyone. I could hear my own footsteps crunch on the dirt path as I headed out toward the field.

  It was good to be back.

  The first person I saw was Jeff. He had just dismounted by the paddock fence. He turned around and his eyes went huge when he saw me. He looked horrified, almost as if he had seen a ghost or something.

  “Jared? Hell, man! What happened to you?”

  I grinned shyly. “I got beat up,” I said.

  He whistled. “You can say that again.”

  “I got beat up.”

  He closed his eyes, looking exasperated. “I didn't mean it...”

  I laughed softly. “I know. Listen, Jeff. Cody said the boss was looking for me? When?”

  Jeff shrugged. “He talked to Cody and Nics earlier. I was in the field. I dunno. But listen, don't worry. We aren't gonna let him cause trouble for you. We like having you here.”

  I swallowed. My throat had gone all funny and tight and I couldn't get the words out properly.

  “Thanks,” I managed.

  He nodded. “No problem. Now, if the boss is still here, you know where to find him, right? And don't worry, okay? It'll be okay.”