Mike realized later that Karen must have gone out to get the other therapist when she left before.
He was standing! He looked over at Jason who had a big grin on his face. “I’m standing!”
He felt Karen tighten her grip on the belt. “Okay now, Mike, whenever you’re ready, try taking a step. You don’t want to lift your foot very high, just high enough to slide it forward, okay?”
Again, she didn’t have to tell him twice. He concentrated on lifting his left foot then sliding it forward on the ramp. He could only lift it maybe an inch but that was enough. He then shifted his weight to his right hand as he slid his right foot forward.
“Great Mike! You’re doing just great. Can you do a little more?”
Mike concentrated again and was able to move each foot forward another step. That was when he realized that this ramp was only about five feet long and that the other therapist had his wheelchair down at the other end now.
“Okay, Mike. Here comes the tricky part. I don’t want you to try to walk back to where you started so what we’re going to do is this. We will help you turn around so you can just sit back down in your chair where it is now. Okay?”
All he could do was nod. He was getting so tired that his muscles were beginning to shake. Then, before he knew it, the two therapists had him turned around and sitting in his chair again. He marveled at how well they did what needed to be done.
Karen kneeled down in front of him to where her eyes were on a level with his. “You did fantastic Mike. I’m proud of you. Maybe on Friday you just might be able to make the whole round trip.”
On the way home, Mike and Jason talked about his walking for a while then Jason said, “So Mike, how does it feel to be back at the high school?”
Mike thought about it for a second then said, “As far as the kids go and just the teaching part, it’s great”
“Why do I hear a but in there?”
“Probably because there is one.” He gritted his teeth and said, “There’s a woman teacher who’s giving me all kinds of trouble. In fact she did last year too.”
“What’s she doing?”
Mike snorted. “What isn’t she doing Man? I mean she’s hitting on me big time and I can’t discourage her no matter what I do. She’s all over me every chance she gets.”
Jason grunted and said, “That’s tough. What’s her name? Maybe I know her.”
“Probably not. She came here from Springfield at the beginning of the last school year. Her name is Suzette Owens.”
Jason pounded the steering wheel and shouted, “Suzette! Did you say Suzette?”
“Yeah. What's the problem?”
“Apparently you don’t know that Owens is her married name but she’s divorced from the guy.”
Before saying anything else, Jason pulled the vehicle off onto the shoulder of the state highway just before the congested area started.
He turned to face Mike and said, “Her maiden name was Hollis.”
At the look of incredulity on Mike’s face Jason said, “Yep. Hershel Hollis was her dad.”
Mike felt like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut. He couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. Then he blinked at Jason and all he could say was “Wow!”
Chapter Twelve
Mike had been able to avoid Suzette on Thursday by staying out of the lounge and the cafeteria both all day. He had decided to start bringing his lunch and then eating it in his room.
Kent was disappointed at first but then he decided that he could bring his tray from the cafeteria to Mike’s room just as easy as he could take it to the lounge.
So Mike had a lunch companion whether he liked it or not. Sure, he would just as soon be alone most of the time, but the kid was harmless and kind of humorous too. After all, Mike had virtually been in isolation for six months until recently and he wasn’t really sure he wanted to go back into that isolation.
In one way, Kent kept Mike from relaxing the way he thought he needed to sometimes but overall, he just couldn’t get upset with the little guy. The kid really seemed so innocent and inexperienced. But Mike had found out from Ron that the kid was really a good teacher though.
On Friday at lunch, Kent came in and placed his tray on the student desk directly in front of the teacher’s desk and Mike almost laughed out loud. The skinny little guy looked so much like a student sitting there.
Mike pulled out half of the huge ham and cheese sandwich his mom had made for him and shook his head. She insisted on making big lunches for him and justified it by saying that he needed to eat more right now since he was working so hard to walk again.
He guessed that she might actually be right since he had to admit that his appetite had been greater lately.
He had just taken his second bite and almost choked on it when the door opened and Suzette came in carrying a brown paper bag.
She didn’t say anything before she took the chair next to his desk, placed the bag on the edge of the desk, and began pulling plastic containers of vegetables and fruit out of the bag.
She finally looked over at Mike with a big smile and said, “I decided that if you won’t come to the lounge then I would come here.”
They all ate their lunch without much talking. Then everything changed. Suzette pulled her chair around the desk to be next to him. For the next fifteen minutes, he had to endure all of her blatant hints about the two of them. And to make it worse, she was constantly touching his arm, or his shoulder, or his hand and even leaned on him a couple of times.
He was extremely relieved when she looked at her watch and said, “Well, it’s been fun but I need to get back to my classroom.”
As she left the room, Mike was surprised as he watched her walk across the room and out the door while keeping her eyes and that smile on him.
When the door closed behind her, Kent grinned at him and said, “Wow! That’s some woman and I sure wish she had the hots for me the way she does you. Man! She was all over you like flypaper.”
Mike laughed loudly. “Hey Kent, you can have her and with all my blessings too.”
Kent looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you kidding? I’ve been trying to get somewhere with her for the last six months.” He shook his head. “I guess she thinks I’m too young for her.”
Mike smiled and seized the opportunity. “How old are you anyway?”
“Twenty-four.”
“That would make her five years older than you. Women her age usually go for older men. You’ll have to wait another ten years before women like her will turn to you. Then they’ll want younger guys so they can feel younger too.”
Kent went back to his classroom after that and Mike couldn’t help but laugh to himself when he thought about how he wanted to avoid Suzette who was all over him yet Kent wanted to be with her and she didn’t want anything to do with him.
Well, life sure could be interesting couldn’t it?
Mike thought he’d seen the last of Suzette for the day but he’d been wrong. About fifteen minutes after the last bell that afternoon, she came through his door again.
He quickly gathered all his things off the desk that he needed to take home with him and stuffed them into his briefcase. Placing it in his lap, he said, “Hi Suzette. Sorry, I’ve got a meeting in the principal’s office in a few minutes.”
With that, he began to wheel himself toward the door but she had stopped there and was effectively blocking the doorway. Now what? He couldn’t very well run her down. So he stopped a few feet from her and waited.
He didn’t have long to wait. She placed her hands on his chair arms, leaned down to within a few inches of his face, and said, “I just want you to know that I’m not going to give up on you. One of these days, and I think it’s going to be soon, you’re going to realize that the two of us were meant to be together.”
With that, she turned and he was sure she muttered under her breath, “Or no one will have you.”
She went on out then leaving the door wide op
en. He knew his mouth must have been hanging open almost as wide too. That certainly sounded like a threat or at the very least a warning.
Well, he hadn’t had an appointment with Ron before but now he was going to see him for sure. He decided that it was about time that Ron knew what was going on, especially with the fact that Suzette was Hershel Hollis’ daughter.
Ron wasn’t in his office when Mike arrived but his secretary said he would be right back. He was just out supervising the bus loading in the parking lot. She told Mike to go on into Ron’s office to wait.
As soon as Ron came through the door and took one look at Mike’s face, he turned back and closed the door softly.
Once he was settled behind his desk, he looked over it at Mike and said, “Okay, what happened?”
Mike told him all about Suzette’s harassment and sat back while Ron turned a bit red in the face before he spoke.
“You do know who her father was don’t you?”
Mike frowned. “Yes, but I only found out Wednesday. Do you know that he had been threatening me the last couple of weeks?”
Ron nodded and said, “Yeah, word like that travels fast in a small town like this one.
He scratched his graying hair, frowned and said, “Do you think Suzette’s harassment is all part of Hollis’ original plan?”
Mike shook his head. “No, I think she’s acting on her own for two reasons. She hit on me big time last year too and I even went out with her once but never again. The woman’s certifiable. That was shortly before I was shot. I’ve also been told that she didn’t really get along with her dad. Seems that it goes back to her senior year of high school.”
Ron sighed. “Well, that was long before my time here.”
Mike thought for a moment about this latest confrontation with Suzette before he pounded his chair arm and said, “If you could have seen the look in her eyes a little while ago. Man, it was almost wild, like she was just barely in control.”
Ron blew out a breath. “Okay, do you want to talk to Floyd about this or do you want me to?”
Mike didn't even think about it. “No, I’ll take care of it. In fact, one of his deputies, Jason Walker, is picking me up in a few minutes. I just wanted you to be aware of what’s going on.”
“Thanks. Not that this was what I wanted to hear but I’m glad you gave me a heads up.”
* * *
By Friday morning, it was becoming a part of Daisy’s daily routine to stop in at Best Friends after dropping Lucy off at pre-school. And the other two women seemed to be expecting her now.
That made her so happy. She hadn’t had a good friend since she left St. Louis over three years ago. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed having someone she could really talk to. Now, it looked like she was going to have two.
So as Daisy walked through the door she did it in anticipation of spending an enjoyable time with her two new friends. But things just didn’t work out quite as she had planned it this time.
First, there were several customers there and Sue Ann had to stay out front with them. When Daisy went to the back, she found that Jo was having to deal with a fussy Luke. And even there, Jo’s attention was divided between Luke who was demanding to be fed and trying to work the counter.
Daisy mentally braced herself and said, “Here, Jo. Why don’t you give him to me and I can give him his bottle while you wait on customers?”
“Oh Daisy, would you? That would be such a tremendous help right now. I don’t know where all these people are coming from. We don’t usually have many customers at this time of day.”
Daisy took Luke in her arms and sat down at the table. Picking up the bottle that Jo had left there, she tentatively stuck the bottle up toward him.
Almost two weeks old now, Luke was becoming aware of things around him especially food. And as soon as the bottle came into his vision, he grabbed it with both hands, pulled it down, and clamped his mouth on the nipple.
Daisy laughed softly as she watched Luke greedily suck on his bottle, all the while making little cooing sounds that made her giggle softly.
She was having so much fun watching Luke that she didn’t realize it when Jo and Sue Ann were both standing over her and Luke’s bottle was empty.
Daisy was glad that Jo didn’t look like she was going to take Luke away from her yet. In fact, Jo laid a towel across Daisy’s left shoulder so she shifted Luke up there and began patting his back until he burped rather loudly.
They all laughed and Sue Ann said, “He sure has his cousin’s manners. I swear that Floyd can burp louder than anyone I've ever heard.”
Jo giggled and said, “When we were kids we used to have burping contests.” She paused a moment then added, “And I think I won about as much of the time as he did.”
Daisy joined them in their laughter as she shifted Luke to cradle him in the crook of her arm again. It felt so good to laugh with these two special women and also to hold a baby boy again. It wasn’t bothering her much anymore. She was even beginning to wonder if she would ever be able to have another one of her own.
It was only a few minutes before Luke fell asleep in Daisy’s arms and Jo took him from her to lay him down in his cradle.
Once the other two women were seated at the table with Daisy, Sue Ann said, “Okay, girl, give. Do I need to get Floyd to tell Mike who Suzette is or not?”
Daisy smiled at Sue Ann’s fake gruff tone. “No, that won’t be necessary. It seems that Mike mentioned Suzette to Jason Walker and he told Mike all about her. Now, Mike is trying to figure out some way to keep her away from him without causing too much trouble. I understand she has four brothers who are just like their father.”
Jo nodded and said, “They sure are. Those Hollis boys always caused so much trouble in school that none of them ever graduated.”
Sue Ann shook her head and snorted. “Well, if you ask me, I think all five of them will probably wind up in jail before too long. Floyd said that he thought Hershel’s boys were trying to take over the drug business from where Hershel left off. And that Suzette. If I remember right, she has a violent temper. So much so that her brothers don’t even mess with her when she gets mad.”
As Daisy thought about everything the other two had just said, she grew more worried than ever that the Hollis’ might still try to do something to Mike. Maybe she should warn him.
She didn’t have time to complete that thought before Sue Ann was leaning across the table almost in her face.
“Girl, we need to talk about your hot date with Mike tonight.”
At that comment, Jo spoke up. “Now Sue Ann. Don’t you think you and I should stay out of what goes on between Daisy and Mike.”
Sue Ann laughed loudly and said, “Like you stayed out of it when Floyd and I started dating?”
Daisy had to laugh. Jo turned so red that her freckles looked almost white across her cheeks and nose.
“So.” Sue Ann continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “Where are you two going tonight?”
Daisy thought she’d try to have a little fun with them. “Well, Mike really wanted to go bowling but I convinced him that he ought to wait a little longer. At least until he can stand by himself again.”
She could tell that the other two were trying to determine if she was serious or not when her laughter began to bubble out of her.
Jo pointed at her and said, “Sue Ann, I’m happy to report that the woman has a sense of humor after all.” She tilted her head toward Sue Ann next to her. “You have to have one to be around this one very much.”
When they all stopped laughing, Daisy said, “But seriously, one of Mike’s goals in his recovery is to be able to bowl again. It seems that he was quite a good bowler before.”
“I think for tonight though, we decided on a movie then pizza afterwards.”
Jo smiled and said, “That sounds nice and romantic doesn’t it Sue Ann?”
Sue Ann was grinning now and Daisy was beginning to know her well enough to suspect that so
mething was coming. And she wasn’t wrong.
Sue Ann’s face grew serious and she looked into Daisy’s eyes before saying, “Daisy are you falling in love with Mike Bates?”
Daisy was speechless. She sure hadn’t seen that one coming. But was she? Even in her thoughts, she’d skirted around this very issue thinking that it was too early even to think about it. But, was she falling in love with Mike?
She was brought back to the present when the other two began to laugh. Jo said, “Daisy, if you could see your face right now, I think you would know the answer. You are aren’t you?”
The bell over the door out front tinkled saving her from having to answer that question. Daisy looked at her watch and realized it was almost time to pick up Lucy.
They all three headed out front at once and were confronted with four very tall and broad men in their early thirties. Daisy didn’t know who they were but both Jo and Sue Ann seemed to know them.
Sue Ann stepped in front of the other two women and confronted the four men. “Good morning boys, what can we get for you today?”
The oldest of the four took a step toward them while the other three spread out along the front with one blocking the door.
He pointed at Daisy and said, “We just come to give that one a message.”
Daisy was shocked. She didn’t even know them so how could they have a message for her?
He laughed a mean sounding laugh. “The message is really from out little sister, Suzette.”
Then Daisy began to suspect what was going on.
He kept his arm up still pointing at Daisy, “She says for you to stay away from her man. And if you don’t you and your little girl will both be sorry.”
Daisy saw movement behind her and realized that Jo had just come in from the kitchen. She sure hoped Jo had been able to call for help.
They all stood that way for what seemed forever with the four men glaring at the three women. No one moved or spoke.
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief when the four men turned at the sound of the door opening. There stood Sheriff Floyd McCracken with his hand resting on his gun that was still in its holster.
The Only Solution (Crowley County Series Book 3) Page 18
