WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Catherine…”

  “Get away from me. I’m leaving,” she informed him, pushing herself to her feet and glaring at the floor and moving cautiously toward the stairs.

  “No, you’re not…” Aaron put an arm around her waist and lifted her from the floor, ignoring the feeble foot kicking at him.

  “Yes, I am…”

  “No, you’re not…” He set her down, quickly taking her hands in one of his and pulling them above her head, stretching her out over the bed.

  “You’re about to get an earful of all the language I’ve learned the last twelve years,” she growled, bucking against the heavy body partially bracing hers down.

  “Will you calm down and listen?”

  “No! I’m pissed off!”

  “Yeah, I got that…but you’re also hurt…like it or not…”

  “If you didn’t want me…”

  “Catherine…because I can grit my teeth and wait, doesn’t mean I don’t want you,” he felt a little of the tension leave her wrists.

  “I want to leave. Please let me go,” she closed her eyes and tried to raise her leg, swearing at the lack of control.

  “Not until you hear me out. If you were a hundred percent, you’d have moves to toss me over. You have over a hundred stitches in your knee and thigh. I wish you’d never been hurt…”

  “You know, genius, if I hadn’t been, I’d never have been on the break-way trying to escape two days in the hospital,” she ground out.

  “So I waffle between wanting to pound the guy into the ground or thank him,” Aaron tossed back, groaning at the hint of moisture in eyes that were a little more violent. “Catherine…you have the most…and probably it’s me…because I notice…because you’re some lost part of me…hell, I don’t know…at least another day, Catherine. How the hell am I supposed to stop worrying about hurting you? You try and hide it, but I see you wincing when you move. I see the perspiration when you’re on your feet too long and you fight it.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know, sweetheart, I hate you too,” Aaron met the reluctant smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. He watched the effort it was taking for her to swallow the yawn trying to break free, his hand loosening and letting her wrists free. “I have a t-shirt for you to sleep in…”

  “I don’t need babysat. I can go home,” she pushed her hands behind her until she was sitting upright, a little surprised when he moved to stand up, just watching her. Dark lashes narrowed suspiciously.

  “Of course you can. I’d rather you stayed, but…” He watched the realization dawn on her.

  “You kept me talking…I can’t…damn it, Aaron…” She let herself flop back onto the bad, hands balled into fists and pressed to her eyes.

  “Come on…I’ll help you to the bathroom…” He took the fists in his hands and tugged until she was standing beside him, his hand going firmly to her waist. He took a lot of her weight against him, left her sitting on the vanity bench and quietly closed the door behind him.

  He made a quick round of the doors, checked the alarm, found her cane and poured a glass of juice for the morning. He left the cane next to the door, taking his sleep pants with him to the bathroom on the lower floor. A sharp twist of pain stabbed at him when he entered the bedroom to find her curled on the bottom of the bed, staring out the balcony doors. The pain came when he heard the soft sniffle.

  “So why is it so bad to have someone worry about you?” He asked softly, leaving the lights on very low on the other side of the room before he pulled the blankets down. He went around the end of the bed, dropping to his heels. Her eyes were closed even when he brushed stray tendrils of dark hair from her eyes.

  “I don’t like being like this. I don’t like being helpless…”

  “I don’t think anyone does, Catherine. When Anna is rational, she works at it with lines like – it’s not forever. A minor setback,” he was relieved when she smiled at him, lashes lifting a little. “You need rest to heal, Catherine. Like it or not. It’s not forever…I’ll probably fail miserably at being able to resist your many charms tomorrow…”

  “You think?”

  The tiny hopeful sound in her voice made him laugh.

  “I could have told you the truth…” he saw a spark in her eyes. “That I don’t have condoms here…and will have to get some.”

  “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

  “’Cause I’m a guy…hell, I don’t know…’cause a couple days ago I stuck my foot in my mouth when I came home and found Carter and Anna…” he leaned back, his head down and shaking. “You don’t think of your sister…”

  “Ahh…and here we almost were…and I’m some ones sister…”

  “Guys brains are screwy on some topics,” he admitted, standing up and helping her slide beneath the blankets. “So now you know I’m not so suave and sophisticated after all.”

  “I think I’ll survive the shock,” she said with a long yawn. “I still hate you.”

  “I thought you might,” he kissed her softly. “Go to sleep.”

  “Why don’t you have condoms?”

  If he thought the question odd, it didn’t show on his face. “The last few years I’ve been focused on work. Building a clientele….idiot market fluctuations…I think I needed to step back awhile from…I think I was unsatisfied…something wasn’t right…”

  “I was married when I was nineteen…for a year…” she heard the words even as her eyes fought to remain open. “We weren’t good that way…then I wanted to be a cop so bad, I blocked everything else out for a long, long time…then you come into my life with sweet words and fancy manners…” She liked the deep laughter that came from him at her comment. “Very different from cop dates…”

  “You are more than a date to me, Catherine…and I’ve enough ego to believe you aren’t interested in just some good sex,” he tapped the light, relaxing when she began breathing regularly. His lips brushed her forehead. “Good night.”

  “I’m still pissed…”

  “Of course you are. I’d expect nothing less.”

  “Good. Just so we’re clear…” The slight slur in her words and the softest of sighs signaled the end to the conversation.

  Aaron was still smiling when sleep finally claimed him, not minding at all when she curled on her side and fit neatly against him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  She woke up determined to find out where he’d stashed those damn pills. Even as she drained the orange juice he left on the nightstand for her, she was growling. Puffy, sleepy eyes watched the dark charcoal slacks and pale silver pristine shirt wander across the large room. His hands were absently working a blue and silver striped tie into a neat knot at his throat as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Good morning,” Aaron watched the pissed off gleam she was working to hold in her eyes and on her features. “Or not…”

  “I’m not talking to you.”

  “That makes it difficult to exchange ideas, but okay…” He caught a slight flash of something and felt the corner of his mouth lifting. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?” She tried for casual nonchalance, cursing herself for answering when she said she wasn’t talking to him.

  “Hmm…like I’m the main course at the buffet.”

  “I was thinking primo dessert on the table, but the other works, too,” Catherine dropped back to the bed with a groan. “I hate those pills.”

  “I know…and I’m really sorry…” he sighed, his palm out to let his fingers trail over her face. “Rest, Catherine. I left a spare key here for you along with the code for the alarm. I’ve got appointments but maybe you can meet me at the office for lunch?”

  She met the dark eyes filled with concern she’d never known before and nodded. “I’ll wait a bit here…I don’t want to drive when I can’t think straight.”

  “Take a long shower…find stuff in the kitchen and eat something…I’ll look for you about twelve-thirty, alright?”


  “Aaron…thank you…” She accepted that it wasn’t quite as annoying to say as she anticipated.

  “You’re welcome,” he bent over, kissed her fleetingly and turned to lift his jacket from the chair. Hands patted down pockets after he’d shrugged into it, dropped his wallet to an inside pocket and left her lying there.

  It was an hour before she shoved her legs over the side of the king sized bed. She hadn’t realized she was glaring at her leg until she reached for the cane he had left hooked to the bottom of the large sleigh bed frame. Humor won out as she hobbled into the massive master bath. Sliced or not, she was grateful she wandered into him on the break-way.

  Catherine dropped the damp gauze into the trash, grinding her teeth against the occasional bit that caught on a stitch and pulled. They warned her that muscles took a little longer to heal, a little longer to knit back together. And it was only Wednesday. Not even a week, she thought, wrapping fresh gauze around her thigh before sliding the loose khaki pants up her legs. Still not stable enough to be without the cane, but that didn’t stop her from trying as she prowled the large stainless kitchen. She settled for a frozen smoothie cup, slowly walking around his office and looking at the photos on the walls, the diplomas and bits of Aaron around the room.

  Catherine stopped at the drug store on her way home. Just in case, the girl in her reminded her how easy it would have been to forget birth control when caught up in his kiss, his touch. No guy had ever blanked out her mind that powerfully before.

  She was content nothing was oozing from her stitches as she changed into a pair of comfortable hip hugging jeans, tucking her tee shirt into the waist band and pulling a light jacket from the closet by the door. His office was situated on the waterway west of Tacoma, a new development being created as part of the resort that was gradually causing a great reclamation of the whole area. Simple and modern yet not flashy, she parked the sports car and growled as she worked to maneuver out of the low riding bucket seat, using the cane as a hook to pull herself up where she could lever herself against the door.

  She was only growling a little when she entered the large reception area of the unit divided into two. Alice’s Garden had the right half.

  “Miss Jenkins?” Delia Compton smiled at the young woman glancing around the office. “He’s expecting you…you can go on in…” she gestured to the partially open door behind her.

  “Thanks…” Catherine decided she definitely had spent a good portion of her life on the less classy aspects of humanity. She listened to him talking, his back to the door, voice brisk and not leaving leeway for excuses from the other end of the conversation. She saw the cord leading from the phone, which told her he was on a headset, one elbow on the arm of the chair, a pen twirled absently as he spoke.

  “It isn’t acceptable. You find the answer and get back to me this afternoon,” he turned at the reflection in the large window, a finger raised. “Then you track down the answer and the person,” he ended the call and tossed the headset to the desk, inhaling slowly and meeting the smiling eyes.

  “Bet he…or she…is quaking in their boots right now,” Catherine commented, leaning on the side of his desk, the cane between her knees.

  “She and I hope so…she convinced me she could handle it, now she has to be tough enough to fix things,” he said simply. “It continues to amaze how few people know the meaning of personal responsibility.”

  “I’m not late,” she said hurriedly, her grin matching his as he stood up and lifted his keys at the same time his phone sounded.

  He glanced at the readout and tapped the speaker button. “A minute, please. Anna? What…”

  “It’s not Anna, Aaron, it’s Crystal,” came the hurried voice through the line.

  “What’s wrong, Crystal?”

  “I don’t know…I don’t know…Aaron, she came in from outside and was…was white as a sheet and…and mumbling…”

  “Where is she, Crystal?”

  “She’s in her office and she won’t answer. I’ve been trying for the last ten minutes…I thought I could get her to open the door and talk to me, but she just keeps telling me to keep an eye on the store.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Aaron ended the call and barely looked up at Catherine, her hand out to take his. He had his phone out, his thumb tapping in the new number he’d added. “Carter, it’s Aaron…I just got a call from Crystal, something is wrong and Anna’s locked herself in her office. Did anything happen that…”

  “I’ll be right there,” came Carter’s brisk, flat answer through the phone. “She was fine this morning, Aaron.”

  “Thanks…”

  “I’ll drive and don’t even apologize,” she said firmly, struggling for stability when her leg wouldn’t give her the power she was accustomed to throwing into her stride.

  “Thanks,” was all he said, sinking into the plush leather seat and waiting while she slid behind the wheel. He saw her put the little light on the dash, and wished for a little humor to tease but couldn’t find it. Something in Crystal’s voice worried him. “I don’t know what…”

  “The girl on the line sounded seriously scared, Aaron.”

  “I know. And that bothers me. Crystal has been with Anna since she got out of high school,” Aaron watched traffic move out of the way and when it didn’t, her control of the car had him smiling despite his worry. “Anna’s brought her along as a second in charge of the nursery and she’s handled everything well, according to my sister. But something must have seriously broke Anna’s control…she’s never let…”

  His voice trailed off, another five minutes before they pulled into the busy parking lot, people hauling carts filled with plants or dirt to various vehicles waiting. He caught sight of Carter striding from the side, his pace slowing but impatience obvious.

  “Carter Shipley…Catherine Jenkins…” Aaron held her at his side, moving with her toward where he knew their offices were. The young blonde was pacing, relieved when she caught sight of him.

  “She won’t answer, Aaron…I mean, she’s…she’s mumbling…I can’t make out what she’s trying to tell me…”

  Aaron put his hands on her shoulders firmly. “How about you go take the nursery half and let me take care of this? I’ll find you when we get her talking, Crystal, I promise,” he accepted the relieved nod, watching the young woman stride off with a purpose. He reached out and tried turning the handle. “Anna? Anna, open the door…”

  “No…no, I can’t. Not right now. Go away. Just leave me be…I have to think…” She said firmly. Pacing the large office, her hands up and on her ears. It was impossible. She knew that. She KNEW it!

  “Anna!” Carter moved closer to the door, his voice striking through the walls. “Open the door, Anna.”

  “I – am – fine,” came the concise words through the closed door. “Both of you go away and let me think!”

  “The hell you are,” Carter murmured, dropping to his heels and working a small device in the lock for a long, quiet minute until there was a click. He stood up, his hand sliding into his pocket even as he pushed the door wide, a pair of wide dark eyes staring at him in disbelief.

  “We need to discuss the hobbies you two have,” Catherine said in amazement, looking from one man to the other.

  “How did you…damn it…go away…both of you…I have to think…I have to…it couldn’t be…it couldn’t,” she repeated, waving her palms at them and putting them back on her ears. “Go away…go away and let me think…it couldn’t be…”

  “Anna…” Both men called her name, both stepped forward only to have her back up, frantically shaking her head, ignorant of the tears streaming over her cheeks.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  Catherine leaned the cane against the sofa, bracing herself on two feet, her voice hard and clear.

  “Anna!”

  She was banking on the difference making it through whatever she was battling inside her mind and she won. She met the dark eyes that blinked in
confusion, her pacing stopped and hands crossing her body to cup each shoulder.

  Biting her lip, Catherine stepped forward and pulled the hands free, holding tightly as she met the dark eyes so familiar. She took a cautious step back, silently grateful for the firm hands at her waist. She turned slightly, one hand moving to Anna’s shoulder and pushing her into the sofa.

  “Talk to me, Anna. I’m with the police. Tell me what happened.”

  “I heard him…I know it was him,” she whispered, lost in the world of a four year old. “But it’s not possible…it isn’t…it can’t be,” she whispered painfully.

  “No…what were you doing…where were you?” Catherine kept her voice hard, clear, demanding and forcing Anna’s mind to go somewhere else.

  “Customers…” She stared into the pale eyes and saw where she was. “I was working. People planting…spring time…there are so many questions,” her voice slowly returned to normal. “What kind of plant for shade, for full sun…we were swamped and I was helping a customer select some seeds.”

  “Then what happened? Who did you see?” Catherine sighed and sunk into the chair Aaron brought behind her.

  “A van…a TV van…I thought it was just another of those fluff pieces, you know…spring time and planting…then I saw another man. In a suit. He had two people with him, a man and woman on either side of him…” suddenly her breathing increased.

  “No…no, Anna…look at me…just at me…” Catherine leaned forward, her hands taking Anna’s before she could retreat. “Look at me…you’re safe here. Carter and Aaron won’t let anyone hurt you…you know that…you know you’re safe here.”

  “It was him…I heard him talking to the woman…his voice…different words…but words…I know…I know…” She whispered vehemently. “I know the voice,” she insisted adamantly, silently pleading that they believe her.

  Words. Catherine straightened up at the single reference. “You recognized the man speaking?”

  Anna nodded rapidly, swallowing hard, her eyes immediately going to her brother’s face. “It was him, Aaron. It was…I…I know I haven’t heard it in…in forever, but it was him! I swear it was!”