Falling Fast

by Aurora Rose Reynolds

  “You haven’t eaten anything. Are you not hungry?” I ask, pulling a chair up next to her and picking up wrapped silverware off the side of the tray.

  “I could eat,” she tells me, and more relief washes through me as she takes the spoon from my hand. Feeling Colton pull another chair close, I sit there and watch her take one bite and then another.

  “How are you feeling today?” I ask her after she takes a sip from the cup of apple juice on the tray.

  “Okay, I guess, but I still wish they would let me out of prison. I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know why they are keeping me captive.”

  “Grandma, this isn’t prison.” I feel guilty, because it kind of is like prison, even if it isn’t. “You’re at Morning Point Nursing Home,” I explain gently, and she looks at me then around the room. I can see the wheels turning, but I know she still doesn’t understand when she looks at me confused.

  “Why?”

  “I—” My words come to an end when a tall, good-looking black man wearing scrubs and sneakers comes into the room.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know Mrs. Ricci had company,” he says, stopping just inside the door and across the room from us. “I was just coming to help her eat, but I see you have already started doing that.”

  “Yes, sorry,” I tell him, and he smiles.

  “Don’t be. It’s all good.” He gives me an easy smile. “I’m Stan. I’m one of the aids who works here. I just transferred over to evenings.”

  “Nice to meet you, Stan. I’m Gia, her granddaughter. And this is Colton,” I introduce, and he lifts his chin Colton’s way.

  “Do you plan on being here for a while?” he asks, and I nod once more.

  “Cool, just press the bell on the wall and I’ll come collect her tray when she’s done eating.”

  “Will do, thanks again.”

  “No problem.” He smiles at me then looks at Grandma. “Enjoy your visit,” he tells her before leaving.

  “He seems nice.” I smile at Grandma, and she shrugs.

  “He’s nice enough… for a prison guard,” she murmurs before taking another bite, and even though I know it’s not nice, I still laugh.

  “Your grandma seemed okay tonight,” Colton says two hours later, as he opens my door for me to get into the cab of his Suburban.

  “She did,” I agree, thinking that’s an understatement. After we sat with her while she ate, we took her on a walk around the building, and then I helped her into her pajamas before getting her into bed. Yes, she still thought she was in prison when we left, but she was talkative and alert the whole time we were there with her. It was a huge change from even yesterday, when I thought for sure I would get a call that she had suddenly passed away.

  “Do you feel better now?” he asks, sliding in behind the wheel, and I turn my head to look at him after locking my seat belt in place.

  “Yeah, I needed to see her like that,” I admit, and his face softens.

  “I’m glad you got it then,” he says, starting up the engine and backing out of the parking space.

  Hearing my stomach growl, I cover it with my hand. “I’m starving.”

  “Wow, she’s hungry,” he mutters, and I smack his chest with the back of my hand lightly.

  “It’s hard to think about food when you’re worried about your family.”

  “You’re right.” He reaches over and rests his hand in my lap. “How about we stop and pick up a pizza to take home?”

  “That sounds good, but at some point, I’m going to need to start cooking again. If I keep eating takeout the way I have been, I’m going to end up gaining twenty pounds,” I mutter, looking at my cell phone to make sure I haven’t missed any calls.

  “I like all of this.” He squeezes my thigh. “And if you gain more weight, I’ll like all that too,” he says, and my stomach dips in a good way. “Still, you’re right. We can go grocery shopping tomorrow when we get off work.”

  “Don’t you work tomorrow night?” I ask, remembering looking at the schedule and seeing he worked most days from four ‘til closing.

  “I changed shifts with Dad for this week so I could be around if you needed me.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal that he did it, when it is not just a big deal, but a huge one.

  “Now you’re making it hard for me not to kiss you,” I tell him honestly.

  “Not going to stop you,” he rumbles, as a smile spreads across his lips. “But just saying you could wait until I have you home to do it so I don’t have to pull away to go in and pick up our pizza.”

  “Right,” I say, and his hand on my thigh tightens before he lets me go to pick up his phone and hand it to me.

  “Call in our order. Number’s under Bob’s Pizza,” he instructs.

  “What kind of pizza?”

  “Whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t have fruit on it.”

  “You mean pineapple?” I ask, and he smiles.

  “Yeah, like pineapple. I do not eat fruit on my pizza.”

  “Are you crazy?” I gape, and he looks over at me, grinning.

  “I’m guessing you like to eat fruit on your pizza.”

  “You cannot eat pizza without it,” I tell him honestly.

  He laughs. “Order half whatever you want and half meat.”

  “Meat pizza. Could you be any more of a guy?” I tease, laughing and sliding through his contacts for the number to Bob’s Pizza in his phone. Once I find it, I hit call then I order a large half-meat half-Hawaiian pizza. And since it only takes us about five minutes to get there, we spend fifteen minutes making out in the parking lot before he has to run in and pick it up.

  ~**~

  Hearing my cell phone ring in the back pocket of my jeans late the next morning, I drop the rag in my hand to the top of the table I’m cleaning, and pull it out. The number isn’t one I recognize, but it’s local, so I slide my finger across the screen and put it to my ear.

  “Hello,” I answer.

  “Miss Caro, it’s Detective Preston.”

  “Hi, Detective. How are you?” I ask, looking over at Colton when I feel his eyes on me from across the room.

  “Good, thank you for asking,” he says as Colton walks toward me from the back of the bar. “I wanted to let you know that Chad should be in contact with you sometime this afternoon to give you instructions on how to go about entering your home and retrieving your belongings.”

  “That’s great news,” I say, feeling relieved I will finally be able to get some of Grandma’s stuff for her.

  “I really appreciate you cooperating with us. If you have any questions about what’s going on with the case, you can call this number.”

  “I’ll do that. Thanks again, Detective. Have a good day.”

  “You as well, Miss Caro.” He ends the call and I shove my phone back into my pocket, feeling relief but still uneasy.

  “What did he say?” Colton asks, crossing his arms over his chest as I pick up the cleaning rag and start to scrub the table again.

  “He said Chad should be calling me this afternoon with instructions on how to go about getting stuff out of the house.”

  “That’s good news,” he says, studying me.

  “It is good news,” I agree, finishing wiping down that table and moving on to the next one.

  “So if it’s good news, why don’t you seem happy about it?”

  “He didn’t tell me that my name is cleared,” I admit.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. You passed the polygraph test. Pretty sure all that adds up to your name being cleared, Dimples.”

  “That all might be true, but he didn’t say it, so I don’t know if it is or not.”

  “Call him back.”

  “What?” I stop what I’m doing to look at him.

  “If you’re that worried about it, call him back and ask him if your name is in the clear.”

  “I can’t do that.” I shake my head and walk to the next table, spraying it down and cleaning it.

  “Why can’t

you?” he questions, seeming puzzled, and I let out an annoyed huff.

  “Because then I will look suspicious.”

  “How on earth will you look suspicious if you ask him if your name is cleared?”

  “Have you never read a book or watched a movie? The person who is normally guilty is the person who is always trying to pretend like they are innocent.”

  “Babe, you are fucking innocent,” he growls.

  “I know that,” I growl back. “Which is why I can’t just ask him. I need to wait until they tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s eleven,” he tells me out of the blue, and I feel my brows snap together.

  “And?” I ask, wondering what that is supposed to mean.

  “You told me I can’t kiss you while we’re working.”

  “You can’t,” I confirm, moving around the table so it’s between us. “Absolutely no kissing at work.” I made that rule yesterday morning when we pulled up to the bar. There isn’t much I can do about his parents knowing about whatever this thing is happening between us, but I can still shield them from having to witness it firsthand.

  “You being crazy and cute is making me want to kiss you.”

  “Colton,” I warn when he starts to come around the table toward me.

  “What about if I take you outside?”

  “You can’t do that either. I need to work, and so do you.”

  “I can’t believe I agreed to this crazy rule,” he mutters, looking as annoyed as he sounds, and I smile at him. “Don’t smile at me like that.”

  “I’ll stop,” I lie through my smile, and his eyes drop to my mouth.

  “Christ.” He turns around and walks off saying, without looking at me, “I got shit to do. I’ll be in the back.”

  “I’ll be here,” I yell at his back, still smiling as he shakes his head and disappears into the office. Going back to cleaning the tables, I still have a grin on my face.

  Finished with the cleaning over two hours later, I drop my cleaning stuff in the office then look at the clock on the wall and see it’s already after two. Colton left about twenty minutes ago to go to the storage unit to pick up a few supplies, and also to grab us lunch from some sandwich place he said is good. I’m not hungry, since I had two bowls of cereal this morning for breakfast, but that didn’t stop him from insisting I eat something. And knowing when to pick my battles, I didn’t fight him on it.

  Standing behind the bar, I pour myself a Diet Coke and take a sip. I lift my head when the door opens, expecting to see Colton, and my spine goes straight when it’s not him. Instead, it’s Lisa wearing slacks and a yellow silk blouse, with a blazer that matches her pants. Taking my eyes off her I notice the two other women with her. One is a blonde with the same cut and style as Lisa, wearing a vest over a denim shirt with dark blue jeans and boots. And the other, a brunette with a short bob wearing an army-green colored jacket with jeans and black flats.

  As soon as Lisa spots me at the bar, she starts in my direction with the two women. Not even asking why they are here, I know why they’re here. I can see it in the catty way Lisa is looking at me and the way the girls are flanking her on either side.

  “Is Colton here?” Lisa asks when she reaches the bar.

  “Nope,” I answer, then ask, “can I get you girls something to drink?”

  “What’s going on with you and Colton?” the brunette asks, looking me over in a way that I know she’s sizing me up.

  “I don’t think it’s any of your business,” I tell her honestly, then look at the three of them. “Are you drinking?”

  “Are you seeing him?” the blonde asks.

  “Everyone has been seeing you two around town,” Lisa puts in. “Real classy making out with him in broad daylight.”

  “You sound jealous,” I say, and her eyes flash with anger then fill with what can only be described as pity.

  “I’m not jealous. He’s mine. He’s always been mine. We’ve been together since we were fifteen, and when he gets over this, we will be together again. Even his mom has been trying to get us back together again.”

  Staring at her, I know she truly believes that. She thinks Colton will eventually get over what she did to him and go back to her. For all I know, he might, but I really doubt it. The damage she did cannot be repaired. As for Rose, I don’t know what she’s thinking.

  “Are you drinking?” I repeat my earlier question, and the three of them look at each other, then climb up on the barstools in front of me.

  “We will each have a water,” Lisa orders, and I pull out three glasses and fill them with ice then bring up the soda gun and fill their glasses with water. Pushing the full glasses toward them across the bar, I’m half tempted to tip them over onto their laps. But I don’t, because that would be rude, and I don’t really feel like cleaning up the mess it would cause.

  “How’s your grandmother?” Lisa’s blonde friend asks, making my already tight muscles bunch almost painfully. “I heard she’s not right in the head.”

  “I heard you only came to town to get her money, and when that didn’t work, you tried to kill her by setting her house on fire,” the brunette says, and my hands ball into fists at my sides.

  “You need to leave now,” I growl, ready to jump over the bar.

  “I think Rose would disapprove of you talking to paying customers like that,” Lisa says with a smile. “In fact, when I leave here, I’ll make sure to call and let her know how rude you’ve been to us.”

  “Call her now,” I suggest, and her eyes turn to slits before they all stand at the same time like some well-planned performance.

  “This is going to be my first and last warning,” Lisa sneers, knocking over the three full glasses, causing water to go everywhere and the glasses to fall off the bar and shatter at my feet. “Stay away from Colton.”

  “It will be kinda hard to do that, when I live with him,” I tell her, and her body jerks back and surprise fills her eyes. I don’t even have it in me to feel bad for her, since she’s such a bitch. But I still think I should have kept that information to myself, because she is obviously crazy.

  “Come on, Lisa. Let’s get out of there,” the brunette says, taking hold of Lisa’s arm and dragging her toward the door, with the other friend following along with them.

  I wait until the door closes behind them to suck in a deep lungful of air. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t breathing until then. Tears burn the back of my eyes, but I fight them off and lean over, resting my hands on my knees and trying to calm down. My nerves feel shot and my body feels wired, like I drank way too much coffee. Gritting my teeth, I fight the urge to call Colton and tell him what just went down. I don’t want to worry him about this, or make him have to think about Lisa or deal with her. Especially when I know that’s exactly what she wants.

  “Gia.” My head flies up when I hear Colton call my name, and I watch him come toward me with worry-filled eyes. “What the fuck happened?” he asks, looking at me then the mess of shattered glass and water at my feet.

  “Nothing,” I say shakily, watching him set a bag on top of the bar. “You know me. I’m clumsy.”

  His eyes narrow. “Tell me what happened and why you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Nothing happened.” I wave him off. “Like I said, it was an accident.” I grab the garbage can from under the counter and set it down in the middle of the floor then move toward the office to grab the broom and dustpan.

  “Please don’t lie to me,” he says gently, wrapping his fingers around my wrist to stop me from walking away.

  Turning to look up at him, I swallow over the sudden lump in my throat. “I’m not lying,” I state, and his eyes close. “Please let me go so I can get this mess cleaned up,” I whisper, and his eyes open then he dips his head and touches his forehead and lips to mine in a soft touch that makes me want to curl myself into him and tell him everything that happened with Lisa and her posse.

  “Leave the glass. I’ll clean it up,” he orders, letting me go, and I let out relieved a breath.

  “Eat your lunch. I know you’re hungry. I can clean this up.”

  “I’m not going to let you clean up glass. Just go get some towels from the back,” he instructs while he heads toward the office.

  Standing there, I watch him disappear before I head to the storage closet to grab a stack of bar towels along with the mop and bucket. It takes us a while to get all the glass and water cleaned up, and I can tell Colton is frustrated and annoyed, but he doesn’t ask me to tell him again what happened.

  Which I’m pretty sure is worse than him asking me over and over again.

  CHAPTER 8

  Falling Fast

  Gia

  “GIA, CAN I TALK to you for a minute?” Rose asks, sticking her head out the office door.

  Meeting her gaze, I set down my cleaning stuff. This morning, Colton didn’t drive me to work like he has been doing every day for the past week. He told me that he had some stuff to take care of, so he gave me his keys to the bar and instructions on how to go about turning off the alarm and rearming it once I was inside. He also told me that his mom would be here before opening so I wouldn’t be alone.

  I didn’t ask him what he had to do, but I could tell that whatever it was, it annoyed him, which in turn worried me. He didn’t bring up what happened again, but I know he still hasn’t let it go, because things between us seemed different last night and this morning. Yes, he kissed me after I got home from visiting Grandma and before he went to bed last night, but it was just a soft peck to my lips. And this morning when he left to do whatever he had to do, it was the same, just a quick touch of his lips to mine. Nothing more. And totally opposite of the heated kisses we’d been sharing the last few days.

  Shaking off the worry in the pit of my stomach, I quickly wash my hands and wipe them on one of the bar rags before resting it on the edge of the sink under the counter.

  “What’s up?” I ask, stepping into the office, finding Rose sitting at the desk with her laptop in front of her.

  “Have a seat, honey.” She motions to the chair at the edge of the desk. Taking a seat, I rest my hands in my lap and study her profile, noticing she looks upset.

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