Paradise Park

by Carolina Mac

  “You are so tolerant, darling, and such an exceptional person. I’m yours to command.”

  Winona smiled benevolently and squeezed Barkley’s hand.

  THE NEW CHAPTER heading stared back at me from the blank page. Since dawn, I labored diligently on my laptop at the kitchen table leaving my third cup of coffee to grow cold. Ambling over to the counter to warm it up, I caught a glimpse of someone walking up Hickory Lane towards my trailer. A prickly shiver ran through me, my hand shook and I spilled coffee all over the counter.

  “Damn it Ted, I’m jumpy as a cat.” I reached for the dishcloth and watched Ted stretch and rouse himself from under the table. He was growling, low and constant as he headed towards the door. Not the fastest guard dog alive, but his senses were keen and he didn’t miss much. Eventually he got the job done.

  “What is it, boy?” Almost afraid to look, I opened the inside door a crack and saw him sitting in one of the chairs at the umbrella table. Recognition flooded my brain and I sucked in a breath. Rob Eastman. “What should I do, Ted?” I asked in a whisper.

  Ted scratched on the door and barked loudly. He was unhappy that someone was on the porch and he couldn’t get outside to do his job. I clipped the leash onto his collar and opened both doors.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” said Rob with a gorgeous smile. He eyed me up and down like I was naked and I double checked to make sure I had clothes on. Yep. Jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing showing.

  He’s so good looking in a scary sort of a way with beautiful ink down both arms. Just another one of the wrong guys I was always drawn to. The story of my life.

  “Why are you sitting on my deck? I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Ted pulled hard on his leash—his white fangs salivating, probably anticipating tasting a chunk of Rob.

  His ‘eau de biker’ aroma filled my senses. The scent of leather never failed to raise my pulse rate.

  Damn, I shouldn’t be having thoughts like this.

  “I’ll go in a minute, I just want to say something first,” he said, his voice low and husky. “I’m not a rapist. Not now…not ever. That bitch lied in court and I served time for something I didn’t do.”

  “Why should I believe you?” He seemed sincere, but I took a step back and leaned on the railing. Ted stopped pulling on the leash but continued to growl intermittently.

  “Because it’s the truth. I don’t give a shit what other people believe about me. The only thing I care about is what you believe.” He sounded wistful.

  I sized him up, studied his dark eyes and thought he might be telling the truth.

  “Believe it or not, women like me and I don’t have to rape them.”

  That could be true. You are one good-looking hunk.

  He leaned forward in the chair and looked straight into my eyes. “The first time I came over, I didn’t make a good impression. You were so damned beautiful and I wanted to meet you real bad. I said all the wrong stuff. I’m sorry about the way I handled it. The last thing I wanted to do was scare you.”

  “Where have you been all this time?”

  “Around. Better to stay out of the cops’ way. I never met either one of those girls that got raped and I wasn’t about to let the law haul me in again because I had a record. There was no evidence against me last time—because I didn’t rape her—but I still did time.”

  “Makes sense, I guess.” Ted sat down close to my legs and I stroked his head.

  “My bike is at my buddy’s house. Gary’s driving me into town later to pick it up.”

  “Don’t you work?”

  “I’m starting at A-1 Welding on Monday. Hard for cons to get jobs. Even when they’re innocent,” he said with a little chuckle. “But I managed.” He pulled out his smokes and lit one up.

  “What do you do?” I relaxed a tiny bit, but didn’t let my guard down.

  In case of what? Would he attack me on the deck in broad daylight?

  “I’m a welder.” He glanced up at me, his blue-green eyes catching my breath.

  I nodded, a little surprised. “Good to have a trade.”

  “Your boyfriend said you worked at home?”

  “I’m a writer. Crime fiction.”

  “You must be smart to write books.”

  I smiled and turned my head to see a pickup heading our way. Gary parked in the driveway and hopped out. “Ready to pick up your bike, bro?”

  “How’d you know where I was?” Rob frowned.

  “Lucky guess,” Gary said lighting up a butt. “How are you this morning, lovely Miss Grace?”

  Rob glared at his brother.

  “Fine and you?”

  “Couldn’t be better if I tried,” Gary said with a chuckle. “Let’s go, Rob. I’ve got shit to do.”

  Rob took his time getting up to leave. Ted growled and strained on his leash, focusing his attentions now on Gary. I tightened my grip.

  “Bye for now,” Rob said with a grin, “nice talking to you, Grace.”

  “Bye.” I watched the truck turn off Hickory Lane onto the highway and head north.

  Damn, this was a nightmare. I sucked in a breath and my chest was tight. I could hardly breathe picturing what Lonnie’s reaction would be. I paced on the deck wondering if I should text him or just wait until he got home to spring it on him. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him at all. No, I didn’t want secrets in our relationship. Damn it. Damn it. “Damn it to hell, Ted.” I stomped back inside.

  GARY PUNCHED THE gas on the old pickup and flew up the highway casting a couple of sketchy glances over at his brother. Rob was sitting in the shotgun seat grinning like a Cheshire cat and looking like he’d just been down the rabbit hole.

  “What the fuck are you trying to do, bro? Start world war three?”

  “Yeah, I guess the trucker is going to be pissed all right—if she tells him I came over.”

  “What make you think she wouldn’t?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Right. As soon as that rig pulls in tonight, he’ll be on my deck looking to beat the hell out of you.” Gary spit out the window. “And do you know why that bothers me?”

  “You don’t think I can take him?”

  “I sure don’t.” Gary shook his head. “Hell no. That’s one big strong mother. Did you see the arms on him?”

  “But I’ve got you at my back.”

  “That’s what I’m concerned about. I’m not getting my head beat in just so you can drool all over a woman who’s already taken. Ain’t in the cards,” said Gary, I’ve spent my life cleaning up your messes. This is your fight.”

  “Maybe she’ll see the light and dump the trucker.”

  Gary snarked. “What light?”

  “I’m better looking and I can make her happy.”

  Gary shook his head. “She looks pretty happy now.”

  Rob scrubbed a rough hand through his black hair and exhaled. “My God, she is one gorgeous woman.”

  “For sure she is. Never seen anything like it, and I been around some. But you’re messing in dangerous territory and you know it. Look how quick the trucker called the cops the second time you paid her a visit.”

  “I remember, and thinking back on it, I should have beat the shit out of him then and there.”

  “Did she tell you to leave when you showed up this morning?”

  Rob smiled. “Only once and then she calmed down and talked nice to me.”

  Gary glanced sideways at his brother. “How nice?”

  “Like conversation. Civilized stuff.”

  “When have you ever talked civilized to anybody?”

  “It’s the new me,” said Rob with a shit-eating grin.

  “The new you? Fuck, bro. She’ll soon find out that ain’t the real you.”

  “She’ll be in tune with the real me. She’s got a wild streak in her. I can feel it.”

  Gary shook his head and tried to ignore the knot twisting in his guts. “You’ve gone over the edge, little bro. Find somebody else.”

  “Too late.�
� Rob flicked his butt out the window. “She’s the one.”

  “Fuck me blind.” Gary braked and slowed down for the lights.

  SHEILA SPENT THE morning cleaning up the room that Marg had been sleeping in. Good riddance to that bitch. She had sneaked behind her back and taken Edgar when she knew…she bloody well knew, Sheila liked him more than a little bit. To hell with her anyway. Cross another one off the friend list.

  Guess I’ll try to get Gary back. Better than nothing.

  Sheila showered and stood for a long time in front of the mirror putting on makeup and trying to make herself look pretty. She curled her dead-straight hair with the curling iron and fluffed it up, and then donned a push up bra that made her look like she actually had a chest. Before long she was sidling down Maple Street to Gary’s trailer. His truck wasn’t in the driveway. She sat down in one of the white plastic chairs on his deck to wait.

  AFTER ROB LEFT, I tried to get back to work but I couldn’t concentrate. My stomach was in knots anticipating what would inevitably happen when Lonnie found out that Rob had come over for a visit.

  Nothing happened. Rob wasn’t a jerk. He was polite and quiet. What was that all about? Why had I been nervous of him the first time he came over?

  I started a fresh pot of coffee, pushed the button and almost jumped out of my skin when the phone rang on the counter beside me. I glanced at the screen. Shit, it’s Lonnie.

  “Hi sugar,” I said trying to sound normal.

  “What’s wrong?” He sucked in a breath on the other end of the line.

  “Nothing wrong. All good.”

  “Uh huh…and?”

  Might as well get it over with. “Rob came over.”

  “What?” Lonnie shouted into the phone.

  “There was no problem. He was nice.”

  “Nice? What the fuck does that mean?”

  “It means he only talked and he was quiet.”

  Lonnie let out a loud breath and cursed. “What the fuck is he up to?”

  “I don’t know.” I inhaled deeply and blinked back the tears burning behind my eyes. Lonnie was so angry I could feel the heat through the phone.

  “Stay inside and lock the door until I get home.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  “I love you baby. This isn’t your fault,” he said. “I’m not mad at you.”

  “I know.” I pressed end and the tears came. Lonnie was going to be furious when he got home. A shitstorm was on its way and it was all my fault. I called Ted into the bedroom and cried myself to sleep.

  ARTHUR LYONS OPENED the faded curtains on his front window and peered through the crack at Maple Street. He hadn’t gone out since the police released him the week before. He killed Earl, the egg man, and he knew all the women in the park would fear him now. All except Mel. She was the only one that mattered anyway.

  His gaze travelled across the road to Sheila Warren sitting in one of the plastic chairs on Gary’s deck. Gary had left earlier in his truck and hadn’t returned. Sheila must be waiting for the hoodlum to come home. That woman wasn’t too bright. She couldn’t be, if she hung around that abuser of women of her own free will.

  Arthur boiled the kettle and made himself a cup of tea. He missed talking to Mel every day, but her sister was staying with her, taking care of her until she felt better and Randy was sticking closer to home too. Time that kid did more to help his mother. Things would return to normal soon—he hoped.

  Arthur picked up his mug of tea and edged his way onto the deck. It was refreshing to be outside. The smell of hay and horses drifted across the park from the farm one road farther west and cheered him. The sight of Mel’s trailer so close to his rekindled memories of his efforts to clean up while she was in the hospital.

  The day Detective Spangler brought Arthur home, he had used Mel’s spare key and gone next door to clean her kitchen. Her trailer was stuffy from being closed up and the smell of blood still lingered on the stagnant air inside. Arthur had scrubbed the kitchen floor time and again with bleach and a scrub brush, but he couldn’t get the stain out. The crimson color had leeched into the vinyl, darkened to black and it was there to stay. Mel’s blood mingled with Earl Galloway’s. A blatant reminder of what he, Arthur Lyons was capable of. Yep. He was a killer.

  Sheila slouched with her head in her hands, waiting and dozing until finally the old pickup rolled through the back gate. Gary parked and sauntered up the steps. Arthur saw Sheila give the hoodlum a smile but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. Gary bent down and kissed her, took her by the hand and they went inside.

  Make-up sex. Arthur had heard about make-up sex. He rubbed his hand down the front of his baggy trousers and smiled.

  LONNIE WAS UNLOADING in Sarnia when he called Grace earlier in the day. He never should have left her alone, but she needed to work and he understood that. Her editor wanted some chapters and she had to get them written. They both needed to work and he couldn’t stay home with her every minute of every day. Now that the rape case was closed, Rob was front and center—large as life and free as a bird. There would be no stopping him now. He wanted Grace and he was going to make a run at her. Lonnie had to stop him. Short of killing him, how was he going to do it?

  All afternoon, driving back home from the border, he could think of nothing else. What if Rob was talking nice to Grace and she started liking him? Fuck—his insides roiled. She told him she always fell for the bad guys and that had caused a lot of problems between her and her brother. He’d never been jealous before. Is this what jealousy felt like? You wanted to kill every other guy when he was close to your girlfriend. Fuck, this was bad.

  But, he’d never loved anybody before either. He loved Gracie with every cell in his body.

  It was after six when he geared down and pulled the big rig through the front gate of Paradise. Grace sat on her deck with a beer in her hand and Ted at her feet. He passed her place and backed into his parking spot with his heart pounding in his ears he was so uptight. He had hoped Rob was gone for good when he disappeared during the investigation, but now he was back acting like Mr. Nice Guy.

  Lonnie locked the truck and didn’t bother to take a shower like he usually did when he got back from a long run. He had to talk to Grace right away. Ted ran straight for him, tail wagging. He jumped up and Lonnie ruffed up his fur. “Good boy, Ted. Did you miss me? Did you bite that fucker, Rob?”

  No feedback from Ted.

  Grace stood up as Lon walked up the steps onto her deck. She held out her arms and kissed him. “I missed you, cowboy,” she said in that husky voice that he loved so much.

  He held her close and didn’t want to let her go. “I love you, Grace.”

  “I’ll get you a beer. I can tell you want to talk.” She wasn’t smiling.

  Keep it together. This wasn’t her fault. If I lose it, it will only make things worse.

  Grace brought two Coors outside and handed him a bottle. She poured her second one down the side of her glass and sat down. Ted flopped down at her feet and leaned on her ankles. She reached down and touched his fur. She always said Ted gave her comfort. “I didn’t want to tell you while you were on the road,” she said, “I wanted to wait until you were home.”

  “What did it matter?” Lonnie tried not to sound angry but his voice had an edge to it.

  “It mattered because it was a whole day of you being upset needlessly.”

  “Needlessly?” Lonnie raised his eyebrows and Grace turned her head away.

  Shit, he was going to make her cry again.

  He took a swallow of his beer. “What did the two of you talk about when he was being so nice?”

  Fuck, now he sounded like a jealous husband on TV.

  “He said he had a new job.”

  “What, driver of a getaway car?” Lonnie raised his voice. “Local chop shop need a new hire?”

  Grace said barely audible. “He’s a welder.”

  “A welder.” Lonnie was surprised, but maybe Rob had his ticket before
he went to prison. “Anything else?”

  “He said he never raped the girl who accused him. He said she lied on the witness stand and he was wrongly convicted.”

  Lonnie jumped to his feet, stormed to the railing and whirled around. He almost spit out the words, “And you believed the lying little shit?”

  Grace shrugged and pulled back a little. “He sounded sincere.”

  “Jesus, Grace, the guy’s gonna say anything. He wants in your pants.”

  “And what?” She snapped back, “I’m just going to fall on my back and give it up?”

  “I didn’t say that. But you even said you have a weakness for bad boys.”

  Grace ran inside her trailer with Ted on her heels and Lonnie heard the lock click on the door.

  Fuck, now I’ve done it.

  “Gracie, I’m sorry. Let me in.” Lonnie could hear Ted whining on the other side of the door. “Come on, sweetheart. That came out wrong. Don’t be mad.”

  After waiting five minutes with no response, he headed home, grabbed a shower and chugged two more beers. He phoned Grace’s cell and she wouldn’t answer. He tried texting. ‘I love you. Please talk to me.’ No reply.

  He finished the six-pack around nine, went outside and looked around. Quiet night. Warm and still, the scent of evergreens that dominated the park landscape, thick on the air. Mixed aroma of pine, spruce and cedar. He walked around the back of his trailer, headed down the hill, strode between two trailers and came out on Maple Street. Gary and Rob were drinking beer on the deck with a skinny woman as Lonnie approached.

  “Wondering when you would show up.” Rob chuckled.

  “Well, your wait is over,” said Lonnie. “Here I am and you won’t be laughing long.”

  “Grace enjoyed my visit,” Rob said.

  Lonnie felt his muscles tighten. “She doesn’t want you coming around bothering her.”

  Rob grinned. “No—you got that wrong. It’s you that don’t want me near her.”

  Gary shook his head as Lonnie took another step towards Rob. “Stay away from her,” shouted Lonnie, “this is the last time I’m telling you.”