Splitting the Defense

by Amber Lynn

  “How often do you get the headaches?”

  “What makes you think there have been others?”

  Hazarding the wrath of the light, Toby opened his eyes a sliver to test the waters. His room only had one window and even after cleaning, the haze on it worked like a curtain. The noisy generator wasn’t running, so Toby already knew the light in the room wouldn’t be on.

  Those things combined made the instant pain Toby was already cringing away from negligible. There was still a tinge of hurt as he opened his eyes wider. Meredith wasn’t within his immediate sightline, but he felt her sitting on the bed to his right.

  “You knew what was going on last night and said the last time it happened you were out for hours. So, how often do you get them?”

  Toby didn’t remember saying anything about it, but he didn’t doubt her. She said last night, so it had to have been another long-term blackout. He was surprised she was still hanging around. She had to be exhausted if she’d stayed up all night watching him.

  “Hmm,” Toby grunted as he tried to sit up.

  Even though he could see, his body wasn’t quite ready for moving. His arms felt like gelatin as he tried to but some weight on them.

  “Just sit still. I’m not sure we didn’t break something getting you back here. I knew you were a big guy, but I didn’t realize just how solid you were.”

  Toby blinked his eyes a few times and shook his head from side to side. He wasn’t usually delirious when he came to, but he had to be.

  “Care to explain what you just said? Who moved me where?”

  He knew Meredith and Caleb were in the house, but he hadn’t heard Paul yammering on. Toby had observed the guy seemed to be good at that. It was probably what set him off.

  “I did. You only made it about a quarter mile before you ended up curled next to a tree trunk. We don’t see bears every day in the woods, but I have my shotgun for a reason.”

  It was easy to picture Meredith walking around with a shotgun slung over her shoulder. Toby couldn’t think of a time he’d ever thought that about a woman, or person.

  “Did your wannabe boyfriend help?”

  There had to be someone else. Toby weighed two-twenty the last time he weighed in. A week living off canned dinners could have dropped a few of those pounds, but not enough to make it so Meredith could move him around. Whether his head was in it or not, he lifted his neck so he could verify she was in one piece.

  He was sure he looked like hell, but the bags under her eyes that he immediately took note of told him she’d had a rough night. No clocks were in the room, so it was hard to say exactly what time it was.

  “Paul will never be my boyfriend.”

  There was a strong emphasis on the never. Toby wanted to smile, because that was exactly the vibe he’d picked up. He kept his reactions to himself as she went on.

  “I can’t waddle through the woods very well, so we brought the ATV out and hooked a cart to it. There was a lot of rolling you around and such, which is why I mentioned the possible broken bones.”

  Toby took a second to assess what he already knew. Beside the subtle pain in his head and weakness when it came to moving, he felt fine.

  “I watched you walk away from the dock. You don’t waddle.”

  A smack to his leg wasn’t what Toby expected from what he saw as the truth. The immediate apology curbed some of the shock the move caused.

  “I’m so sorry. Sometimes my hands react without thinking. That didn’t hurt, did it?”

  With his head still in a position to see her, Toby saw her eyes widen immediately after the slap. After more fights than he could count, Toby wasn’t unfamiliar with being hit. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been slapped though. Usually his fights involved closed fists.

  “I’m sure it won’t even leave a bruise. Did you sleep at all, or have you just been sitting there staring at me?”

  Meredith looked down at the floor to the side of the bed. If Toby didn’t know better, he’d swear she blushed.

  “I didn’t spend all night starring at you. When I unbuttoned your shirt to make sure we hadn’t done any damage, I saw the scars.”

  “And they’re hard to look away from.”

  Toby nodded as he realized why she appeared to be shy all of a sudden. He’d never thought they were that bad, a few souvenirs from playing a full-contact sport wasn’t unexpected. When he started his pro career, he got the worst of the bunch during a freak accident when a skate blade cut into his chest. Thirty hurried stitches weren’t meant to look pretty.

  “Were you in a car accident or something?”

  The question was logical. It would’ve been less painful if they’d all happened at once, but the battle scars took years to collect.

  “Or something. Please tell me you got some sleep. I don’t know what time it is, but I’m going to feel like an ass if I made you come after me and kept you up.”

  Her answer wouldn’t change the way he felt. He wished he would’ve sensed the headache coming on earlier in the day and just stayed home instead of going against her wishes and stopping by her cabin.

  “It’s a little after eight. You were out for about twelve hours. And, yes, I did fall asleep at some point. I’m used to long hours being a single mom, but I have my limits.”

  “That’s good to hear, both on the sleep and the limits. I know moms are required to have superhero capes and all that, but as someone who’s also looked at that way, I know it’s not true.”

  Toby had seen the look in thousands of kids’ eyes over the years. They all wanted to grow up and be like one of the guys out on the ice. Toby thought it was silly, given the damage the game had done to his body. He was sort of happy that he wouldn’t have to see those particular looks anymore with his career coming to an end. The second blackout meant the vacation wasn’t helping like he’d hoped.

  “No one looks at me like a superhero. Most people around here are too busy looking down their nose at me. Obviously, that’s nothing you need to worry about. Do you think you’re out of the woods so I can take Caleb home and make sure my house didn’t burn down?”

  After hinting about his own background, it was interesting that Meredith didn’t have any questions. She hadn’t even pushed for more information about his injuries. It was a new experience for him. Usually people were more inquisitive.

  Pushing around the weakness he still felt, Toby sat up in bed. Meredith finally looked back in his direction. After bringing up the distraction his bare skin was, she’d kept her gaze away from it. Toby thought it would’ve been easier if she just buttoned his shirt back up while he slept, but it was wide open.

  “Thanks to you, I am most definitely out of the woods. Go home and take care of yourself. I’d offer to watch Caleb for you while you get some rest, but I have a feeling you won’t take me up on that.”

  It felt like the right thing to say, even though no one in their right mind would leave their child in Toby’s care. At least no one had been in dire needs enough to call him in roughly thirty years.

  “We’ll be fine. You do have to promise me one thing, though.”

  Toby reached out to touch Meredith’s hand not far from his on the bed. If she wanted him to promise something, he figured a simple touch wouldn’t be frowned upon. It wasn’t meant as anything more than a gesture to indicate he was listening and was thankful for what she’d done.

  She didn’t react to the touch. Her face remained blank until a small smile appeared. Toby didn’t say anything as he waited for her to spit out the promise. He didn’t want to set himself up by saying something stupid like he’d do anything she asked.

  “In order to get Paul out of my house last night without any questions I had to tell him I’d go to the stupid dance with him. I don’t understand why the guy can’t get it through his head that I’m not interested, but I figured it was more important to make sure you were okay than sit around and bicker about whether you’re a killer.”

  The admission ca
ught Toby off guard. Meredith didn’t seem like someone who would sacrifice anything for anyone other than her son. Promising to do something she’d made clear she hated was as clear of a sacrifice as Toby could think of. And she did it for him.

  He wasn’t stupid enough to read anything into it other than her wanting to help out a neighbor. The idea didn’t mesh with her tough exterior, but it led Toby to believe there were layers to his neighbor she didn’t often let out.

  “And you want me to kill the guy so you don’t have to go to the dance?”

  Meredith laughed. It had to have been the first time since they met that she let the soft tinkling sound out of her mouth. He got the feeling she didn’t do it often, much like smiling was rare for him. He’d probably smiled more in the twenty-four hours since he’d met her than he had in months.

  “If I wanted him dead, I wouldn’t ask for help. Since I’m being forced to go to the dance, I want you to be there. Everyone will be too busy trying to figure out who you are to focus on me.”

  “So this isn’t your way of making sure you have a decent dance partner for the evening.”

  She wanted to use him as a shield. He saw that easily enough. It wasn’t like she tried to hide it.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask given last night. I don’t want to be the cause of you going down again, but if I’m going to be miserable, I prefer sharing the experience.”

  Toby scoffed and shook his head. He wasn’t afraid her dance would knock him unconscious. Since he didn’t know what caused the headaches, there was no way he could predict them.

  “When and where do I need to be?”

  The idea of hanging out with the townsfolk had as much appeal as getting his teeth pulled. An hour or so making a situation less stressful for a pregnant woman seemed like the chivalrous thing to do.

  Chapter Eight

  “I know this is breaking your cardinal rule, but I haven’t seen you around for a few days and wanted to make sure everything was good with you.”

  Meredith had barely broken the water when she heard Toby’s voice. Three days had passed since he performed his death act. She didn’t know the guy, but she panicked when she found him in the woods. She would’ve felt the same for anyone she found, mainly because at the time she thought it was her fault.

  The sun was just coming over the hills around them. It wasn’t high enough that it made it difficult to see the man standing in nothing but shorts on the dock. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a four-inch scar on his chest just above his ribcage. It was the biggest one of a dozen or so marks marring his otherwise perfect torso. Meredith had never seen that many muscles before.

  “I think we’ve established that you don’t like following rules. How’s your head?”

  The underlying cause of the headaches had Meredith curious, but she wasn’t going to press for more information. He’d been kind enough not to pry too much into her situation, so she could return the favor.

  “I’m pretty sure I haven’t passed out. Look, about that. I know you didn’t ask.”

  He stopped for a second before continuing, running his fingers through his hair as he considered something. She was about five feet away from the dock, but it was clear he hesitated with whatever was on his mind.

  “You don’t have to say anything. You came to check up on me. Caleb and I are fine. We’re always fine, so no need to worry.”

  Toby cocked his head to the side. Meredith blinked for a mere moment and felt the water around her rush closer. She’d been treading in place since she became aware of her company. The new water flowing in her direction required her arms and legs to move faster as the water settled down.

  “I thought we talked about the whole superhero cape thing. It’s impossible to always be fine, which is why I wanted to explain my headaches in case you find me suffering through one again.”

  He stayed a few feet away. With his height, his feet touched the bottom so he didn’t have to work to keep his head above water.

  “I don’t even pretend to have a cape, Toby. My life can be hard enough without one.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve already hinted that I know how that is. Look, I’m here because I have to take a break from the life I live where my head gets smashed multiple times a week into glass, ice, fists, and whatever other hard surfaces can be found. Apparently, enough concussions can really do a number on your head.”

  There was so much revealed in those few sentences. Meredith wasn’t exactly sure how to reply, which was something new for her. She prided herself in knowing exactly what to say.

  “Like I said, I know you didn’t ask. I just thought you should know why they were happening so you don’t think it’s drugs or something.”

  Meredith knew so little information about Toby that she hadn’t even begin to speculate the cause. There were sure to be handfuls of medical conditions that could lead to a blackout. She’d never once let drugs or alcohol even cross her mind. That seemed odd once she thought about it.

  “So you play hockey.”

  It wasn’t a popular sport up in the mountains. Back in the city where she grew up, her high school had a team. She wasn’t a big fan by any means, but she’d seen a game or two. Even without watching, his clues were enough to tell her what he was talking about. The ice part was a pretty big giveaway. She couldn’t remember hearing about any vicious fights breaking out in curling.

  “I think it’s probably safe to use the past tense of the word. You’ve seen how long I can be out and I have no way of predicting when it will happen.”

  “Isn’t taking a swim a gamble?”

  Meredith studied his face. She remembered the sweat on his forehead during dinner and didn’t see any signs of it.

  “I’ve been staying pretty close to shore when I don’t have supervision. Aren’t you getting worried about being out here by yourself? I don’t mean that in a negative way. I just imagine it’s not going to be long before the baby’s here.”

  Dark sunglasses covered Toby’s eyes so Meredith couldn’t get a look at whether his eyes matched the backpedaling his words were doing. She’d gotten slightly snippy about the subject before when he brought it up, so she figured he knew what her general reaction would be.

  “This isn’t my first rodeo, Toby.”

  “I know. I just worry about you out here by yourself. I’d be a dick if I didn’t.”

  Shrugging, Meredith leaned back and kicked her legs out to put a little more distance between them. She only had a few minutes before she needed to head home. Caleb kept a strict schedule, something Meredith was grateful for.

  Her morning swims had started shortly after Lawrence died. Before that, she hadn’t liked leaving Caleb home with his father. She didn’t think Lawrence would ever hurt their son, but she never felt comfortable leaving them alone.

  “Hey now, even with you here I’m not planning on getting too far away from the dock. So why don’t you come back over here so we can finish our conversation?”

  Meredith remained on her back and breathed deeply. Morning swims were her time to relax, and she needed just a few more minutes before she went back to wearing fifty different hats. She didn’t have a cape like Toby suggested, but life kept her busy.

  “I don’t remember asking you to come here and start a conversation.”

  The baby decided it was a great time to start a drumming session. Meredith loved feeling her child alive and moving around. She positioned her left hand on her stomach to feel the small kicks.

  “I suppose that means I should get to my point a little quicker.”

  When he didn’t immediately continue his thought, Meredith rolled so she could tread water again and face him. He hadn’t moved from his spot, and sadly his sunglasses were still covering any chance she had of reading what his eyes said that his words weren’t.

  Shaking his head, Toby coughed and dove under the water. The man had a problem completing a conversation. She had to wonder if all the hits to the head he’d mentioned had anything to do
with that.

  “I know this is going to come out wrong, but it’s hard to think clearly when you’re rubbing your belly like that.”

  Meredith wasn’t expecting the comment or the fact that Toby surfaced behind her. She quickly spun around to find herself a foot away from Toby. If either of them moved a little, her belly would’ve bumped into him.

  “I don’t want you to think I’m hitting on you, because I did get the message loud and clear that you don’t need a man in your life.”

  “Careful. I’m starting to worry Paul was right about that whole serial killer thing. You said you wanted to say something and I’m guessing it didn’t have anything to do with admiring my stomach.”

  The way Toby’s left eyebrow arched while that side of his lips also curved up didn’t help ease her fake fear about him being a serial killer. The look made it clear he was a killer, but Meredith would define it as more of a lady killer.

  “No, and as I expected, that came out all wrong. Look, you said the dance is tomorrow night and I’m required to make an appearance, so I wanted to make sure I’m dressed for the occasion. Judging by how your friend showed up for dinner the other night, I’m guessing what I consider proper attire is a little overdressed.”

  Meredith couldn’t stop herself from laughing. The idea that Toby was worried what anyone from town would think about him was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. She covered her mouth, trying to keep from showing just how amusing the thought was.

  “Honey, you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb no matter what. If any of the women in town get a look at those muscles of yours, you won’t be going back to your home in the city without at least a couple stalkers.”

  The flow of her words didn’t necessarily match the question, but she thought she’d better warn him of the simple facts. She added in the part about him going home to get his reaction more than anything. Him showing up in the middle of nowhere made a lot more sense with the news of his headaches. The quiet and seclusion were probably meant to cure his problems, but it was clear they weren’t working, so she didn’t expect he’d stay around too long.