Paradise Park

by Carolina Mac

  At five o’clock, I put a shepherd’s pie into the oven along with a pan of apple crisp. Both easy to make and they baked themselves. I opened a cold one and kept working on the prologue. At six the oven beeped. I turned it off, uncapped another beer and sat on the deck waiting for Rob.

  Can’t believe I’m anxious for Rob to get here. What a fucking turn of events.

  The wait time was short. Another five minutes and hot air crackled—the chrome tailpipes on the Sportster banging out exhaust in the distance. I smiled as he pulled through the gate and veered down Hickory Lane headed for my driveway. He put the boot to his kickstand and grinned as he mounted the steps to the deck. “Hey, baby, were you waiting out here for me?”

  I handed him a beer. “Sure was.” I stood up, buried my hands in his mop of hair and kissed him.

  Rob didn’t pull me close to his body like he usually did and a tentative look crossed his face.

  “What?”

  “I’m not too clean,” he said. “It’s hot in the shop.”

  “I’m okay with that. I realize you worked all day.”

  Rob relaxed with his beer and chatted about his day in welding world.

  I checked the time on my phone. “Ready to eat?”

  “Can’t believe you made me dinner again. Makes me think you like me.”

  “Could be true. Maybe a little bit.” I poured a glass of ice water and put it beside Rob’s plate.

  “You’re spoiling me, girl.” He sat down at the table and sipped his water.

  I mussed up his hair and kissed him. “Maybe I’ll make you work for your dinner.”

  A grin broke across Rob’s face. “Are you almost yourself again?”

  Almost.”

  “Don’t know what that means but it makes my heart pump.”

  “You’re going to need a lot of carbs, cowboy.”

  “Fuck, baby. You got it.” Rob ate seconds of the shepherd’s pie and could barely squeeze in a small piece of apple crisp.

  “Man, I am so full. If I keep eating here I’m gonna top three hundred. I can feel it.”

  “When you weigh three hundred, I’m going to take the top.”

  Rob chuckled. “I’ll let you have the top any day.”

  I was pouring coffee when I heard the big rig grind past the trailer.

  Rob tilted his head. “Trucker’s home,” he said and looked straight at me. “You okay, baby?”

  “I’m okay.” I sucked in a big breath.

  “What did that asshole do to you, girl?”

  I tipped my head to the side and Rob got the message. “He’s not an asshole.”

  “Sorry,” Rob said nothing more. One of his best qualities was knowing when to keep quiet.

  “Let’s take our coffee on the back porch so you can have a smoke, sugar.”

  “Uh huh.” Rob picked up his mug and followed me. The back porch was tiny, but big enough for two chairs and a small table. It offered a view of the back lawn and beyond that, the woods behind the trailer.

  I sat in silence and tried to pull myself together while Rob smoked. I almost had it contained when my eyes welled up with tears and a couple trickled down my cheeks. Rob patted his knee and I moved onto his lap. He cuddled me and stroked my hair while I cried without making a sound.

  After soaking Rob’s shirt with tears, I sucked it up and trudged to the kitchen to clean up.

  “I’m going home to have a shower. If you need me, call me and I’m here. I can tell you don’t feel like having company right now.”

  “You’re sensitive, sugar and I love that about you.” I kissed him and held him tightly.

  ROB RODE HIS bike home from Gracie’s place feeling bad for her. That fucking trucker had screwed her over good and he wanted to make the prick pay. He couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain. He loved that girl like nobody before or since and like nobody he would ever love again. Love was burning a hole through his gut like battery acid.

  It was full dark as he parked his bike still thinking about Grace. He climbed the steps to the deck and barged through the screen door expecting to see his brother. But Marg was sitting at the kitchen table smoking and looking at a catalogue. “Where’s Gary?”

  “Don’t know. Off somewhere raising hell, I guess.” She tipped up her beer.

  “His truck’s out there. He can’t be too far.”

  “Maybe he took off with Sheila, the skinny slut.”

  Rob made a face. “Yeah, maybe.” He headed for the bathroom and took a shower. When he came out he looked in Gary’s room and it was empty—messy but empty.

  “Why are you here, Marg? I thought you and Gary were on the outs.”

  “Not so much anymore. I’m helping him with some of his problems.”

  “What problems would they be?” Rob couldn’t think of one single problem that Marg could solve for his brother or for anybody else.

  “None of your business.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Gary kicked her out. Why would he let her come back?

  Rob called Sheila. “Just wondered if you knew where Gary was? He said he wanted to talk to me when I got home. Now I’m here and he’s not.”

  “Yep, I do know where he is, Rob.” Sheila slurred her words. “He’s sitting right here beside me tying one on. We’re having a private party.”

  “Okay. Whatever,” said Rob, “Tell him I’ll talk to him in the morning.” He went to bed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  ROB RODE HIS bike home from Oshawa and drove straight to Gary’s trailer. He had checked his brother’s bedroom in the morning before he left for work and his bed hadn’t been slept in. He figured Gary was beyond wasted and had spent the night with Sheila. Made him sick to imagine Sheila naked, but his brother wasn’t choosy.

  Marg sat slumped in a chair on the deck when he parked the Sportster. Her head drooped down on her chest, causing her to drool down the front of her shirt. In her left hand, she clutched an old sepia photograph half hanging out of a busted frame. Rob nudged her leg with his knee to rouse her.

  “Where’s Gary?”

  “Don’t see his truck, do you?” she slurred. “I kicked the bastard out. My trailer.”

  Her trailer? Gary will beat her senseless.

  Rob said nothing, went inside and searched the trailer from front to back. No Gary. He had passed Sheila’s trailer on the way home and Gary’s truck wasn’t over there. He went back outside and stood in front of Marg’s chair. “What do you mean, this is your trailer?”

  “Put it in my name when Gary was in jail. Got him good with that one.” She slapped her knee and laughed like a hyena.

  “You did that and Gary knows?” Rob shook his head. “Can’t believe you’re still breathing.”

  Marg began chuckling again. “Got the last laugh on that ass wipe.”

  “Where is he, you stupid bitch?” hollered Rob.

  “Pack your stuff and get out,” yelled Marg. “This is my trailer.”

  Rob started the big Harley and stopped in at Sheila’s trailer on the way to Grace’s. He knocked on the door and Sheila talked to him through the screen.

  “Where did Gary go when he left here last night?”

  “Said he was going home to teach Marg a lesson. He was beyond pissed about her name being on the trailer as the owner.”

  Rob nodded. “Yeah he would be.”

  “That’s all I can tell you. Haven’t seen him since he left here around midnight.”

  “Midnight, eh? He never slept in his bed and his truck ain’t at home.”

  “He didn’t sleep there?”

  Rob shook his head.

  Sheila said, “I have no idea. Sorry.”

  Rob drove around the corner and cruised up Hickory Lane. He parked his bike and knocked on Gracie’s door. While he waited for her to answer he glanced next door to see if the rig was parked. Not home yet. Good. She got too upset when that big trucker fucker came home.

  Grace opened the door and smiled at him. “Hey, sugar. Come on
in.”

  Rob stepped into her kitchen and he could tell she’d been crying again. He wanted to hurt that fucking trucker bad. He reached out for her and she melted into his arms, holding him close and kissing his neck like she always did. God, he loved that. He loved her. He was a fucking goner.

  “Don’t be sad, baby.” he stroked her long black hair and kissed her and that hot liquid feeling shot through him again. She opened her mouth and he filled it with his tongue.

  Gracie pushed his leather jacket off and slipped her hands under his shirt. She rubbed his bare back while she licked his neck and he almost went insane. Low growling escaped from his throat as he pushed his erection up against her leg.

  She said nothing, just took his hand and led him into the bedroom. She closed the door and locked it behind her.

  “Are you yourself again, baby?” he asked in a whisper.

  “No, but I’m on the road to recovery and you’re helping me get there.”

  “I want to.” Rob undressed, threw his work clothes unceremoniously on the floor and watched Gracie undress.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered as she unclasped her bra and let her breasts tumble free.

  She lay down on top of him and he kissed her with all the fire built up inside him.

  “You are so hot, cowboy. I want you so bad.”

  “I’ve wanted you since the first minute I saw you. You’re my only thought.” He rolled her onto her back and gently fondled her breasts, then rubbed his rough hand across her flat belly and lower. Touching caressing—nothing more. Gracie shivered under his touch. She let him take the lead. He was so gentle. He kissed her neck as he lay half on top of her and then he slipped his hand between her legs.

  “You’re so hot and wet, baby. I need to get inside of you.”

  Gracie stroked his erection and he moaned as he grew in her hand. She rubbed her thumb over his penis and smeared the pearl drops over the tip. Rob opened her legs with his knee and eased himself inside of her. Nothing like a rapist. A sweet gentle boy, that’s what he was.

  He pushed the big machine deep inside of her and she arched up to meet his strokes. Deeper and deeper. He could barely stand the heat and he wanted her to come first.

  “Come baby, please,” he whispered, “Do it for me.”

  Gracie gyrated twice underneath his weight and she was there. She dug her fingers into his ass and pulled him into her with a low growl and a force he could no longer fight. He gave it up.

  He moaned loud and long. “I love you, baby. I love you so much.”

  I WOKE NEXT to Rob’s naked body sprawled across my bed. The trailer was hot and stuffy and Rob was drenched in sweat and snoring softly. I smiled thinking of our time together. He was dynamite in bed. Young, hard bodied and strong, with lots of stamina and yet amazingly gentle. Something I never would have believed.

  I slipped away so as not to wake him, took a quick shower and warmed up leftovers from the previous night. He wandered into the kitchen with his long hair hanging wildly in his face and his lower jaw dark and scruffy. I wrapped my arms around him in the middle of the kitchen and kissed him. “I made some dinner.”

  “I need a smoke and I’ll be right back. You smell nice, and yeah, I know I need a shower.” He grinned. “You made me sweat.”

  “Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”

  Rob came back inside and sat at the table. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. “I’m not good at saying stuff to girls. Probably because I never did it before,” he chuckled. “Whenever I had a girlfriend before, and it wasn’t very often, I didn’t talk much—never lasted.”

  “What do you want to say, sugar boy?”

  “Just that… this…being close with somebody…having dinner and hanging out…I’ve never done it before. And I know inside my gut that... I want to be close with you, Grace. I want…I want…”

  “What do you want? You can tell me.”

  “I want you to love me,” he whispered barely audible.

  I walked around the table and kissed him. “You are so sweet and I do love you Rob. You make me happy.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his face into my chest.

  “Okay, I think I can eat now.” He smiled a little.

  “Got through the serious stuff, eh?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Relax, sugar. Enjoy your dinner.”

  “I’m tense around you, baby. I don’t want to make a mistake and pull some dumb-ass move that will finish us. That’s what I’m scared of.”

  “Okay…I understand. Let’s just take it day by day and try to get on solid ground.”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I want—solid ground.”

  We finished dinner and Rob went quiet. He was always quiet but I could tell something besides our not-so-solid relationship was on his mind. I gazed at him, trying to figure what was going on inside his head. He looked up from his coffee and grinned.

  “Heavy thinking going on over there,” I said with a smile.

  “Can’t find Gary,” he said in a low voice.

  “What? He’s not in his trailer?”

  “Gone.”

  “How can he be gone? Is his truck gone too?”

  “Yep.”

  “And he didn’t say a word to you?”

  “He said he wanted to talk to me yesterday. When I came home from work, I went straight to his trailer to see what he wanted and only Marg was there. She said he was at Sheila’s. I phoned. He was there like Marg said and him and Sheila were drunk. I went to bed. This morning I checked his room and he never came home.”

  “Did he stay at Sheila’s?”

  “Nope I went there after work and she said he went home at midnight.”

  “But he didn’t?”

  “I was sleeping. If he came and then left again, I don’t know.”

  “Is Marg back again?”

  “I don’t know why she’s there. She said when she bought the trailer for Gary before he got out of jail, she used his money and put her name down as the owner. She told me she threw Gary out on his ass and I could pack up and leave too.”

  “Gary wouldn’t leave because Marg told him to. I’m sure of it. He would fight her on that.”

  “He told Sheila last night that he was going home to teach Marg a lesson.”

  “Maybe they had a fight at midnight and something happened.”

  Rob frowned. “Something…like Marg did something to Gary?”

  Gracie shrugged. “I don’t know, baby.” She stroked his hair.

  “Can’t picture Marg getting the best of my brother,” he said, “If there was a big fight inside the trailer, I would have woken up and heard them. But, outside—maybe I slept through it.”

  “Do you want to report him missing?”

  “Maybe.” Rob shook his head and stared at the floor. “Fuck, I hate cops.”

  “True, you would. Let’s go over and talk to Marg. See what her body language is like when we ask her a few point-blank questions.”

  Rob grinned. “You’re like a detective or something.”

  “That’s what I write. Crime.”

  “Fuck, I’m gonna read one of your books.”

  “Just one?” Gracie messed up his hair.

  “Ain’t never read a book, baby. I’m a reading virgin.”

  “You’re a virgin all right.” I buried my hands in his hair and kissed him with passion.

  “I can feel your heat, girl. You starting me up again?”

  “What if I was?” My hand slid down the inside of his thigh.

  He pulled me close to his body and I could feel his warm breath on my neck. His hands were hot on my skin as he explored my body. He pressed me up against the cabinets, unzipped my jeans and let them drop to the floor. Then his hand was between my legs, gently at first, then with more purpose, getting me ready for him.

  “You are so wet for me, baby.” He dropped his jeans and I guided the swollen instrument inside me. He lifted me, impa
led on his throbbing manhood and I wrapped my legs around him as he thrust me against the counter top.

  My orgasm was violent and I clung to him as he pounded against me. “Give it up, Robbie. Give it up.”

  And he did with a loud wail. Rob stood breathless holding me in his arms, his face buried in my hair. He kissed my neck and held me so tight I could barely breathe.

  We had a beer together on the deck before making our pilgrimage to Maple Street. Rob lit up a smoke and grinned. “You almost like yourself again?”

  “Getting there, and I have to admit, you’re helping me a lot.” I winked at him.

  “When you’re all the way there. I hope I can keep up.”

  “I have the feeling you will be exactly the man I need.”

  Rob grinned.

  IT WAS ALMOST nine when Rob rode home to Gary’s trailer on his bike. I followed in my truck thinking it would be easier for me to drive back home and Rob could go straight to bed. He had work early in the morning.

  Marg was hunched over the kitchen table reading the Enquirer, drinking beer and smoking when we arrived. The ashtray on the table was full of butts and a cloud of stale smoke hovered above her head. The kitchen sink held a mountain of dirty dishes and Marg smelled like she was a week overdue for a shower.

  Rob wasted no time on formalities. “What did you do with my brother, bitch?”

  “Nothing. Never saw the asshole,” mumbled Marg without looking up.

  “You know where he is,” Rob hollered. “Sheila said he came back here last night.”

  Marg shrugged, turned the page of the paper and didn’t answer.

  Rob was livid. He was clenching his fists as I took a step closer and tilted my head. Rob reluctantly stepped away from the table and let me try.

  “Rob’s going to report Gary missing in the morning.”

  “That piece of shit ain’t missing. He’s just whoring around someplace.”

  “Did he go into town?”

  “Never told me where he was going.”

  “Sheila said he was coming here to talk to you about the trick you played on him. That’s fraud, Marg. Gary can charge you with fraud and you’ll go to jail.”

  Rob nodded his head. “This is your last chance to tell me where Gary is and then I’m going to the cops.”