“You have got to be kidding me.”
“Nope. You know Deidra, puts whatever spin she wants to on things. It has inconvenienced her so someone must be to blame. Lucky you, she can just add it to the list of ways you are destroying her perfect life.”
“Fine. Whatever.” It didn’t matter if it was ludicrous; Deidra Lowe was resolute when she made up her mind to something.
Keys in hand, Sam bent to give me a hug. “Back in a few,” she said to me. Then to Gladys, “Keep an eye on her okay?”
Gladys gave Sam a thumbs up. “You bet.”
It didn’t seem like very long at all before Sam was back with Mom and Dad.
“Oh! Piper, my goodness we would have come to visit without all this drama if you had called and invited us,” Mom joked with a twinkle in her eye as she hugged me tightly.
Dad, of course, brought his own bag and was steadily unpacking a stethoscope and pulling out the light to check my eyes for pupil constriction.
“No,” I told him.
“Honey, I just want to see…”
“No, Dad. I’m fine. Put it away.”
“But…”
“Nope,” I folded my arms across my chest. Mom slapped at his hand. Mumbling he repacked his doctor bag and moved it to the floor.
“We can’t tell you how happy we are you are okay,” Dad told me as he kissed my forehead like he had been doing since I was a little kid. “Can we get you anything?”
My stomach growled. “Yes. Lunch. Go find someone who can release me. Stat.” I smiled.
“On it,” Dad grinned and I knew I would be out in minutes.
“I’m going to make sure he doesn’t make anyone cry,” my mom chuckled, following him from the room. My heart filled at the sight of the love the two still shared.
We decided to order pizza and eat at my apartment; I hadn’t showered yet and was not ready to go out in public. Gladys offered to drive me and my parents to my apartment while Sam picked up the pizza. Sam left first and Gladys followed to pull her car around to the front of the hospital. I leaned my head back again. I hated to admit how tired I really felt.
The sound of the door opening was a relief. “It’s about time. It took you a whole three minutes to get me released Dad,” I taunted, smirking just a little.
“It is about time, Piper; how right you are,” a wheezy voice rasped.
I sat straight up, heart racing. Abigail, with an IV drip and some type of monitor handcuffed to her wrist, leaned against the door frame. After she caught her breath she half-walked and half-leaned on the rolling machine, coming towards my bed.
NINETEEN
I couldn’t believe it.
Would this nightmare never end?
Abigail bumped into the end of the bed, jostling my bag of chocolate chips from their hiding place. As they scattered across the room, my fear fled as well. I was fed up with this crazy woman.
“Are you kidding me?” I screamed at her. “That is the last time you ruin my chocolate.” I chunked the tv remote at her head.
She ducked, losing her balance and the machine tilted. I kept throwing things. Pillows, magazines, finally I tossed my water cup at her. The liquid sloshed in a puddle at her feet and Abigail finally went down, hitting the footboard on her way. The machine crashed onto her head and she lay still. I watched in horror as blood slowly soaked through her hospital gown, her stab wound having been reopened.
I considered getting up to check on her but decided against it. No way I wanted to be close to her again. Dad entered the room at that moment, all smiles, trailed by Mom and my attending nurse. The nurse saw the crumpled woman on my floor and yelled into the hallway for help. Dad for once stood flabbergasted but Mom practically vaulted the mess on the floor, stepping in the visitor chair and over the nurse, to get to my side.
The nurse looked up at us, removing her fingers from Abigail’s wrist. “She’s…dead.”
It turns out, Abigail’s neck had been broken, snapped on the footboard during the fall and killing her instantly.
A blur of activity followed.
Dad sprinted from the room to catch up with the sheriff whom he had seen at the nurse’s station on the floor below while having me released.
The sheriff, of course, had to come and take more statements from me. “Well, Miss Rivers. It looks like we won’t have to worry about a trial after all. Clearly, this death was accidental and in self-defense. I may have a few more questions when I finish up the paperwork but for now, I hope you can begin to recover and find some peace.”
By the time we arrived at my apartment, Sam had been waiting for about fifteen minutes. Giving her a giant hug, I went straight to the shower without speaking, leaving my parents to explain everything that had happened after she left the hospital.
I showered and dressed in the softest sweater I owned and some thick cotton pajama pants, feeling almost human again. My wrists were still pretty sore but I felt like they would heal quickly.
The tough part would be erasing the gory images of Abigail’s body being removed from the hospital floor and zipped into a black body bag.
When I joined everyone in the living room, Gladys was there as well. She had come over to check on if I was settling in ok. Sam and my parents insisted she stay for pizza. She had, after all, been crucial in finding me. Dad also insisted on checking my pupils but didn’t push any further than that. They asked if I was up to talking about why Abigail was so determined to hurt me and so I filled in all the details of Abigail’s delusions and my stalker notes at the spa for Mom and Dad as we ate.
“Thanks, Dad,” I told him when I finished. “If it hadn’t been for you insisting that I carry that knife years ago who knows if I would have made it off of that beach last night.”
“You are tough,” Mom said. “You would have found a way. I’m so glad Samantha’s brother and the sheriff got there so quickly yesterday. I’m so sorry we left you alone in the hospital room today for that, that psycho to try again.”
“Tell me about this Griffin though,” Dad said as he crossed his arms. “Is there something we should know? This Abigail woman seemed pretty convinced you were standing between her and her fairytale prince.”
I rolled my eyes. “Griffin is Sam’s brother, Dad. You know that. He was looking out for me just like he looks out for his sister.”
Gladys choked on her water. I shot her a dirty look behind my parents’ backs; no need for Gladys to interject her own crazy theories about Griff and me here either.
Sam’s phone rang, cutting off the glaring contest between me and Gladys.
“Excuse me,” she said as she left the room to answer the call.
There were a few moments of quiet as we each chewed on our pizza and reflected on our own thoughts. Sam returned to the room rather quickly, placing the phone back on the side table as she plopped down on the sofa.
“Piper, that was Pastor Dan. He called to check on you and to invite us and your family to a small dinner tonight.”
“That was sweet of him,” I smiled.
“He feels so bad that we missed out on the last day of our spa stay and said the least they could do is hold a dinner to celebrate you being found quickly and safely. I told him what happened and that I wasn’t sure if you would be up to it.”
“Mom? Dad? Would you like to join us for dinner this evening on Pastor Dan’s invitation?” I asked my parents.
“That would be wonderful,” Mom responded for them both.
“I think we should go,” I told Sam. “It will be good to get my mind off of things.”
“Great,” Sam said. “I’ll send him a message after we finish this pizza.”
My parents insisted on heading to a hotel so that I could take a nap. I’m not going to lie, a nap sounded perfect so I didn’t even argue; I hugged them both and arranged for Gladys to pick them up on her way to dinner at the church that evening since the hotel was closest to her.
Sam promised to come back and pick me up later. Everyone wa
s insistent I shouldn’t overdo it and they evidently considered driving to be on the list of things that were too stressful for me right now. I supposed I should probably be annoyed or frustrated with them but all I felt was loved and blessed. I tossed the pizza boxes into the recycle bin, washed my hands and then escaped to my bedroom as the door closed behind the last of my guests.
I didn’t sleep for nearly as long as I expected that I would. I managed to take around a thirty-minute nap but was wide awake after that. Perhaps it was being home after so many days away. Maybe it was relishing the feeling of being alive and free and safe. Whatever it was, I felt like it would be a shame to waste another second in bed.
I got up and tidied my little apartment. I noticed my duffle tucked beside the couch; Sam or Gladys must have brought it home for me. The thought made me smile and I picked it up, carrying it to the laundry nook where I began to separate lights and darks. The ruined white dress wasn’t a part of the contents for which I was happy. I don’t care if someone threw it away, I definitely had no plans to salvage and wear it again. My beautiful new silver dress was also missing. A pang shot through my chest; I was saddened that I hadn’t even worn it yet. Maybe I could ask the staff tonight after dinner if someone had found it.
Once I had the first load of clothes started my energy began to fade but I had the perfect solution for that. Cookies!
There was a new bar cookie idea that had been tapping at the back of my head recently; today, I would try it out. I stood on tiptoe, stretching to reach the large blue mixing bowl on the second shelf of my cabinet. The other supplies I gathered from various places in the kitchen. For the ingredients, I grabbed flour, butter, eggs, brown sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, hazelnut extract, dark chocolate, coconut flakes, and pecans.
I breathed in the delicious scent of melted butter and sugar with the hazelnut extract as I added the eggs and creamed it all together.
The dry ingredients were next. With each thing I put into the bowl, the stress slowly eased from my neck and my thoughts centered on the mixture right in front of me; everything else drifted away.
A bit of the dark chocolate went into the batter, the rest I sprinkled on the top of the bars in thick layers so it would melt over everything while they baked. I garnished with the pecans and coconut flakes and popped it into a three-hundred-fifty-degree oven.
Ding-dong. My doorbell rang just over an hour later. I went to open it, stopping to check the peephole for the first time in ages, obviously I was still shaken up, and smiled to see Sam on my doorstep.
“You’re early,” I greeted.
“Yep. And you’ve been baking, I can smell it.”
Grinning, I led the way to the kitchen.
“Just a little something to tide us over until the dinner tonight,” I told her. “Here try one, they should be plenty cool by now.” I grabbed a butter knife from the drawer and cut two bars from the pan.
Sam bit into the sample I handed her and closed her eyes.
She licked her lips before declaring, “Love it!” We finished off the ooey-gooey bars and I placed two more on a plate to carry to the living room.
“I was thinking of calling them Chocoloconut Bars. I’m glad you like them.”
“Are you kidding? They are scrumptious!”
“What’s in the bag?” I asked pointing at the bag Sam had deposited in the door of the living room when we passed by on the way to the kitchen.
She picked up the bag and pulled out my beautiful silver dress. “This got packed up with my things. I thought you should wear it tonight.”
“Thank you, I was afraid it had been lost.”
“You’re welcome. I brought my dress, too, so we can just get ready here.”
“Perfect,” I sat down gingerly on the couch and pulled up the guide on the tv. “Until then, what do you want to watch?”
Two and a half episodes of Cupcake Wars later, Sam stretched.
“Okay,” she said, “let’s get moving or we’ll never be ready to go.”
I watched with a bit of awe and a bit of apprehension as Sam pulled gadget after brush after tube out of her magic bag.
“That is way more than just a dress,” I pointed out sarcastically.
“Yeah well, we missed our last spa day so for tonight we get the works. Come on, it’ll be fun; like playing dress up when we were girls.”
“I never played dress up.”
“No time like the present,” Sam retorted.
I gave in, as she knew I would. Sam plugged in a few things and laid them on the coffee table. I hit play again. If she was going to straighten or curl or who knows what to my hair right here in the living room, then I might as well be entertained. I tried to ignore the sounds of my hair sizzling.
Next, Sam sat down in front of me and spread all of the makeup products from every department store known to man on the coffee table. At least that’s how many it looked like to me. “No. No to that, that and this,” I said pointing to cherry red lipstick, something that looked like pink chalk dust, and what might have been a blue map pencil right away.
“Piper…” Sam pouted.
“Just use something light, no crazy club make-up. It’s not like I’m going to this dinner to impress anyone.”
“Okay, fine.”
TWENTY
We pulled up in the dining hall parking lot, with Sam avoiding the main spa parking lot out front, and I could see Gladys and my parents waiting by the entrance. As I stepped out of the small Juke, I smoothed wrinkles from my dress with both hands. I took a deep breath, in and out, and then reached for my small clutch that held my phone and tissues and a thin wallet.
I looked up to find Sam watching me, her normally smooth face etched with soft concern, eyes sharp.
“I’m fine,” I reassured her. “What’s on the menu tonight anyway?”
We linked arms and made our way to the small group at the door, Pastor Dan and his wife Nora had joined the others. I was squished into a giant group hug by both of my parents the moment I stepped next to them.
“Gosh guys, you just saw me a few hours ago,” I laughed to take the bite out of the words and hugged them back.
Pastor Dan was next.
“Piper, I’m so glad you and Samantha were able to make it tonight. And it is wonderful to meet your parents. Allow me to introduce my wife, this is Nora.”
“Hello, Nora,” I shook her hand and was pulled into another bear hug.
“Well hi, honey,” Nora beamed a million-watt smile, “let’s get you in here and find some food, what do you say?”
“I say, lead the way,” I told the sweet woman. Pastor Dan absolutely glowed when he looked at her; they made a great match.
The dining hall was quiet this evening. I noticed a long table was set with ten places.
“Who else is coming?” I whispered to Sam as we pulled our chairs out.
“Here, let me get that for you.”
I whirled at the voice so close to me, toppling in the heels Sam had insisted I borrow. I would have fallen had Griff not caught my wrist and righted me.
“Don’t sneak up on people,” I snapped.
Griff quirked one eyebrow at me and smirked, his demeanor back to normal. He had gone home to shower finally and his face was shaven smooth once again. He seemed lighter, happier than he had been during his visit to my hospital room.
“You look good,” I blurted out. “I mean, better; you look better, cleaner.” In my head, I yelled at myself shut up, shut up, shut up Piper, just sit down and be quiet for goodness sakes.
Griff smiled as he held my chair out and pushed it in for me as I sat down, trying to calm my rapid heartbeat. I lied and told myself it was only because he startled me as I unfolded my napkin to fan my face a bit before spreading it in my lap.
“You look good too, Piper. I’m glad to see you wore the dress” Griff murmured, breath warm against my ear, before casually hugging his sister and taking a seat on the opposite side of the table.
S
ome shuffling chairs caught my attention and I saw Pastor Dan stand to receive the last guests. Beside me, Sam cleared her throat.
“Remember when you asked who all was coming? Surprise…Pastor Dan invited my parents to be here also.”
“Oh boy,” was all I could say, especially after Sam had already told me that her mother was more upset with me than usual.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Sam spoke but we both knew she was fibbing.
Mayor Gregory Lowe and the first lady Deidra greeted the pastor and his wife, shaking hands and air kissing cheeks respectively.
Sam and I stood as her parents approached our side of the table. “That is a lovely dress, Samantha,” Deidra said as she held Sam at arms-length and literally inspected her. “Red looks wonderful on you, except those horrid streaks in your hair, of course.”
“Of course, Mother. Thank you for letting me know,” Sam rolled her eyes as she hugged her mom and then smiled brightly at her dad. “And how are you, Dad?”
“Numbers are looking good,” he said brightly. Mayor Lowe had a one-track mind. Politics. Never suspecting his daughter was simply asking about his general well-being, he launched into the latest updates from the office and pole statistics as he pulled out Sam’s chair for her to be seated. Deidra skirted around me as if I had the plague and followed her husband to the other side of Sam.
I looked up and saw that Griff had witnessed the snub. His brow creased and a scowl flashed across his face before he schooled his features. He caught my glance and I rolled my eyes, tilting my own nose in the air as I resumed my seat with an exaggerated air of snobbishness. I smiled and winked, letting Griff know I’m not hurt by his mother’s actions. I have to look away, unnerved and a little breathless, as he smiles and continues to hold my eyes.
Thank goodness, I spot the servers bringing out plates of food and sigh in relief. Noticing, Sam gives me an odd look.
“Hungry,” I tell her, not caring if she believes me.
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life Page 14
