Unexpected Ride

by Rebecca Avery

  “That’s part of it… but it’s also about you,” he replied. When had Whiskey become a truth serum?

  “Me? What did I do? Drinking yourself stupid is a personal choice… not something another person can force upon you,” she said defensively.

  “You don’t do anything. That’s the problem,” he muttered under his breath.

  “I have been really busy getting ready for school, entertaining the boys while they are off for winter break and getting ready for the holidays. Besides… you said that you didn’t need my help anymore,” she explained.

  “I don’t need your help…” he replied sarcastically.

  “You are a hateful drunk… do you know that? If you don’t want my help then what? What do you want from me?” she asked angrily.

  “I want you beneath me… I want to feel your body enjoying mine. I want you to kiss me… not just stare at my mouth. I want you to stop mothering me and treating me like another one of your kids! I’m a grown man, dammit! I want you to tell me that I even stand a chance with you!” he replied.

  He’d done it now… she stared straight ahead for the rest of trip. When they pulled into her driveway, he realized too late that she intended for him to stay at her house. Again, she looked over at him and he felt her disapproval like a blanket covering his head. Smothering him.

  “I know you’re not a child and I know you’re not… Doug… but sometimes old habits are hard to break,” she said quietly. “Truthfully, I just want to help you… but I’m the one who needs the help. Who am I kidding?”

  “What could you possibly need help with? You run this household like a professional event planner. You’re sweet, funny, sexy and smart. You’re perfect so what could you possibly need help with? You’re not facing a forced medical retirement after twenty five years or Christmas Eve alone,” he replied with the sound of self-pity ringing in his ears.

  “You’re right about that,” she sighed. “But I am facing a past that has come back not only to haunt me but make me sorry all over again.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked. He sounded like he was slobbering… good grief.

  “Perfect?” she laughed. “I’m a far cry from it and unfortunately my daughter and Chuck may end up paying the price for my flaws.”

  His head may feel like it was wrapped in cotton but his heart told him this was important and despite the white noise the alcohol was creating he sat up straighter and listened.

  “I have never admitted this to anyone else except my father and my husband but I was arrested once,” she said and then looked away from him.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “Selling counterfeit concert tickets,” she replied.

  What? No way! Even his alcohol saturated brain couldn’t accept what he was hearing. The admission coming from her was like the strongest coffee and acted as a way to sober him up. Turning towards her in the seat he was just in time to see a single tear spill down her cheek.

  “Recently?” he asked.

  “No! No, when I was nineteen,” she confessed, looking down at her hands. “I was conned into it by the same man I think is responsible for that event website regarding Chuck.”

  “And who would that be?” he asked. His heart was numb at her confession.

  “Jarrod Tompkins… but I need you to promise me something,” she nearly whispered. “If it is him and you catch him, I need you to let him go.”

  What? Her confession became more confusing and crazy sounding by the minute. He was a cop! Why the hell would he let a suspect go if he was able to catch him, especially one that had done something to her own daughter and future son-in-law?

  “Why the hell should I do that, Carla?” he asked.

  “Because the man is Meredith’s biological father… not my Doug,” she choked. “And she must never know that. Promise me.”

  “You are asking me to break the law, Carla! I can’t do that… even for you,” he replied.

  “I’m not asking you to break the law… I’m asking you to shut down that website and then walk away… don’t get involved beyond that,” she said. “I’m asking you for Chuck and Meredith’s sake, please, just let it go. I will figure out a way to pay those people back who bought dinner or raffle tickets… I swear.”

  “I can’t… because it’s Chuck and Meredith,” he said. “And because it’s you.”

  Chapter Seven

  Would he even remember her confession from last night? Seeing Greg drunk had made her feel really bad for leaving him alone on Christmas Eve while she and the kids were at Doug’s parents’ house and also sympathetic over him being potentially out of a job.

  Then, as if she were drunk herself, she’d confessed all to him. She had started talking and it was like opening a window to her soul… sharing with another person… besides Doug… and she couldn’t seem to close it back shut. It had felt so good to unload some of her burden on another person. Now she could only hope that Greg had been drunk enough to either not remember it or think it had been a dream or just his imagination.

  Finishing up the cinnamon rolls she was making for breakfast and putting them in the oven, she headed to her room to get a shower and dressed for the day before the boys got up… or Chuck. The young man had been so excited about Christmas morning that Meredith had to basically drag him upstairs to the spare bedroom by joking that Santa wouldn’t come if he wasn’t in bed fast asleep.

  Carla had been somewhat thankful that they’d still been awake when she got home with Greg, or she might never have got him in the house.

  Laying her clothes out on her bed, she then opened the door to her attached bathroom and was startled out of her thoughts at the sound of the shower curtain being pulled to one side.

  Looking up she was gifted with a sight she’d only ever imagined. Standing in her shower was over six feet of finely chiseled Greg Sanders, with drops of water sliding down his muscular shoulders and carved chest. Before her mind could advise her differently her gaze lowered and, rather than a quick glance, she looked her fill.

  “Let me know when you’re done looking and I’ll dry off and get out of your way,” he offered.

  “I’m sorry…” she whispered, her throat suddenly dry. She was still looking because she just couldn’t seem to stop.

  “No need to apologize… ready to touch me yet or are you still just window shopping?” he asked.

  She’d been so lost in thoughts of the coming day she must have missed the fact that he was no longer asleep on her couch in the living room and instead she now stood staring at him… all of him. And wow was he a sight. Forcing her mouth closed and her eyes back to his, she watched him remove a towel from the rack and run it roughly over his hair with his left hand, watching her as he did so.

  Incapable of speaking, she stared as he stepped out of the shower and walked over to where she stood. Unable to handle the heat shining in his eyes she instead looked at his perfect mouth. He stopped in front of her and bent until he was able to again capture her gaze with his own. Handing her the towel he then guided her hand and the towel to his chest.

  “How about a compromise then? You can look all you want but I get to feel you… even if it is through a towel,” he whispered.

  Every nerve in her body was awake now and reaching out toward him. Forcing her hands to move, she wiped the towel down his beautiful chest while he dipped his head lower. He ran his delicious mouth along the column of her neck and across the skin of her shoulder that was exposed around the strap of her nightgown.

  The sensation streaked down her body and settled between her legs causing her head to fall back on her shoulders and a guttural noise to escape her lips.

  “You mentioned last night that you were the one who needed help. I think you need a lot more than just help, Carla. I think you need a man’s touch… my touch. You watch my lips because you know they can help make your body come alive again… like your touch does mine,” he whispered against her shoulder before scraping his teeth along the b
one and sucking on her skin.

  Through the fog from his hot shower and the haze in her brain she heard Ben’s voice upstairs. Greg must of heard it too because he lifted his head. Moving his mouth to hers, he placed a kiss on her lips while staring her in the eye.

  “Shower is all yours. I’ll finish up breakfast while you get ready,” he said against her mouth. Then he pulled the towel back out of her hand and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

  How long she stood there unable to move from enjoying the tingly sensation that was now pooled between her legs, she was unable and certainly unwilling to admit. She listened as he got dressed in her bedroom and then eventually left that room as well.

  She managed to shower and was nearly dressed before catching sight of a painting Chuck had made of Doug for her. This time instead of the normal sadness she saw shining in Doug’s eyes, which the painting captured so well, she could see a smile there instead… as though he accepted what was happening between her and Greg. Instead of jealousy or disappointment that she would have expected to see, the painting instead reflected… relief.

  “Merry Christmas, Doug. This year I will do better at making sure that the kids… that I… enjoy the holidays. I promise,” she whispered.

  She could swear she saw approval in Doug’s eyes that stared at her from the canvas. Smiling at the painting, she headed across the room to her bedroom door before realizing that the feelings Greg brought out in her weren’t replacing the love she had for Doug… they were enhancing it. Allowing her to remember what it felt like to live again… to love again… for them both. Glancing back over her shoulder she smiled again at the painting. An unspoken goodbye.

  She barely made it down the hall from her room when Chuck and the two boys came barreling around the corner and stopped short in front of her.

  “Maybe we should open gifts first, before breakfast… I mean as good as it smells we should let them cool down some first,” Chuck suggested.

  Matt shook his head in agreement of Chuck’s suggestion and Ben looked as though his whole body was full of excited approval.

  “Sorry, mom… I tried to stop him but he’s worse than the boys,” Meredith called from the kitchen.

  Looking at the three of them she couldn’t stop the excitement that settled in her stomach… the joy on their faces was contagious. Sighing heavily she said, “How about one gift each before breakfast?”

  As quickly as they had appeared they disappeared back into the living room and she could hear them sifting through gifts under the tree. Meredith’s laughter rang through the house as it had before Doug’s death. A feeling of contentment settled around her shoulders like a cloak of comfort as she followed behind them a little slower. Greg had been right… this is what Doug would have wanted for them all. Especially for her.

  Watching them inspecting their gifts and trying to decide on which one to open before breakfast, she felt Greg approach her and leaning in he said, “You still seem pretty perfect to me.”

  He had heard her confession… all of it… and much like with Doug, it hadn’t mattered… hadn’t changed his opinion of her one bit. Doug had loved her unconditionally… regardless of her past… was it possible that a police officer could as well? Just as she was about to ask if he wanted the gift she’d got for him, he pulled his left arm from behind his back and held out a gift bag on the end of his fingers.

  “Open mine first?” he asked as though reading her thoughts.

  The kids all stopped, even Chuck, and stared at her. Taking the large gift bag over to the loveseat she sat down and pulled out a beautifully wrapped present from within it.

  After carefully un-wrapping the box she opened it to find a teddy bear dressed as a nurse. Around the bear’s neck was a lovely gold chain with a pendant of the Red Cross indicating the nursing profession. The stuffed animal also held a clipboard which had a note attached asking her out for dinner sometime before her classes started and a gift certificate to an office supply store.

  Between his looks and this… how he managed to still be single at his age was a complete mystery to Carla. The boys quickly lost interest in the heartfelt gift she sat holding and went back to looking under the tree at their own gifts. Seeing they were distracted Carla met Greg’s warm smile and sensual gaze.

  Leaning over she kissed him full on the mouth. The passion between them that always lay just beneath the surface was still there, but this time she felt more than the incredible sensation of physical attraction. An unexpected connection to him she had thought she would never again share with another person… another man… sprang to life.

  The rest of the morning simply flew by and she felt so lighthearted watching the boys and Meredith enjoying the holidays again after such a dark and painful period in their lives. Chuck’s reaction to the holiday was refreshing and brought home the charitable idea behind this time of year.

  It felt like the sunshine had finally broken through the clouds and was warming her… much like Greg’s mouth against her skin.

  The following week the New Year was celebrated while trying to both prepare for the trip to New York for the premiere of Chuck’s art at the gallery and have everything in place so that she could start school as soon as they returned from the trip.

  Greg didn’t say anything more to her about her confession where Jarrod was concerned but she knew he was still working on the case. She had even overheard him talking on the phone a couple of times. The only difference now was that whenever he was working on it he would cut phone calls short if she was around as though keeping it all a secret from her, which she didn’t appreciate.

  Doug had done similar things during their marriage as though she wasn’t capable of making those kinds of decisions and so shouldn’t be bothered with the particulars of the situation. Instead of being frustrated over the issue, she instead focused on packing up the boys’ things so they could stay with their grandfather since school would be starting back up for them while she was in New York with Meredith and Chuck.

  She had somehow become the event coordinator for the whole group and did the best she could to book hotel rooms and dinner reservations with the account information from the gallery that Becca gave her. The gallery was hosting and paying for up to ten family members or friends of Chuck as part of the premiere. He and Meredith were too excited to think about hotel accommodations for the group or how to get around the big city or even food.

  Apparently she could make sound decisions for ten people about where to stay in a huge city in a whole other state but couldn’t be trusted with information about skeletons from her own closet.

  Having made it to her father’s house to drop off the boys in record time thanks to a lead foot filled with annoyance over Greg shutting her out on his investigation into the website, Carla helped the boys carry their things in the house. She had finally broke down and told her father what was going on and had been surprised at his change of heart from the first time they’d had to discuss Jarrod Tompkins.

  Back then he’d been angry and had tried and been successful at sweeping the whole thing under the rug. Twenty five years later he sounded guilty for giving Jarrod money and a free ride out of town and trouble.

  “I’ve often wondered when that judgment call would come back to haunt me. I can’t say I’m any more ready for it now than I would be in another ten or twenty years, but I’m ready to end this thing for good this time,” he’d said.

  The funny thing was back then she’d been ready to take her lashes for her part in the whole fiasco and her father had been the one insisting they make it go away quickly and quietly. Now it sounded like he was in agreement with Greg about finally dealing with it while she was the one wanting to sweep it back under the rug.

  Maybe this time she would be the one to stand on the rug in hopes of keeping it all neatly tucked beneath. Entering the kitchen she watched her father abruptly end his phone call and brace himself for Ben’s over eager hug.

  The boys dragged their bag
s down the hallway and into the bedroom they shared when spending time with their grandfather. A few minutes later she could hear the sounds of one of their favorite video games starting up.

  She made herself a glass of tea and refilled her father’s glass then sat down at the small table that set between his kitchen and the living room. He took a drink and stared at her over the rim of his glass.

  “Just got off the phone with Detective Sanders… seems they were able to shut down the website and have in fact tied it back to one Jarrod Tompkins,” he said. “Somehow I doubt that son of a bitch will go away quietly this time even if we paid him off again, Carla. Chuck’s an opportunity Jarrod can’t pass up… his biggest score yet. Have you considered just telling Meredith the truth?”

  “It would devastate her… with the accident and everything. I should have listened to my gut and told her about Jarrod back then when Doug and I first discussed whether or not we should. Doug was her daddy… I know that and that’s not why I even brought it up,” she sighed. “This right here… right now… is why I thought we should have told her the truth. Their bond was thicker than blood… she was his world and I don’t think that would have changed if she had known about Jarrod. With the accident, I’m afraid it would crush her. She says she no longer blames herself but it would seem like rubbing salt in an open wound to tell her now.”

  “That girl is like your mother was… delicate and fragile to the naked eye but tougher than nails when it really counts. You cut her short by believing otherwise. Think about it like this… it may not even be an option much longer. Besides staring at you like a lovesick fool… hunting down criminals and locking them up is the second thing Greg Sanders does better than anyone else I know. Better for Meredith to be gently introduced to the idea than to be smacked in the face with it,” her father said.

  She was exhausted. After kissing the boys goodbye she drove home to try and get some sleep before the caravan to New York left in the morning. Instead, she lay there thinking about the conversation between herself and her father. In most things she trusted her father’s judgment but always she felt it was Doug’s decision to tell Meredith because he had loved her so much. With him gone that decision now rested squarely on her shoulders and it felt like a betrayal to Doug to tell her now that he was gone. It was an even bigger betrayal than looking at, kissing or thinking about Greg Sanders naked.