Rescued by Mr. Wrong

by Cynthia Thomason

  William had stayed about a week, doing odd jobs at the bed-and-breakfast under Aurora’s watchful eye. No one could ever say that she viewed her situation as fixable. She was too realistic, and she knew William couldn’t be trusted. She’d been about to tell him to move on when he discovered money in Aurora’s dresser. He’d taken that and some jewelry and left early one morning. Aurora had been sad but not surprised.

  Martin cleared his throat, tried to be delicate. “Has he been arrested, Aurora? Does he want you to bail him out?”

  “Not this time,” she said. She took a deep breath which seemed to stick in her throat. “He’s dead, Marty...” She couldn’t go on and sobbed into the phone.

  “What do the authorities want you to do, Aurora?”

  “I’m going to identify the body, but I know... I just know in my heart that it’s William.” He pictured her straightening her strong back, finding solace from the well of her spirit. “A mother knows these things.

  “I just wanted you to know, Marty, in case you noticed my car gone, the house dark. I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “You’ll never stop me from worrying about you, Aurora, and especially not now. Parkersburg isn’t such a long drive, only three to four hours. Give me a few minutes to make some calls, and I’ll drive you.”

  “No, Marty. I couldn’t possibly...”

  “You can’t possibly keep me from going with you. Maggie is stable, my work calendar is light. I’m going and that’s final.”

  He could almost see her shoulders sag with her long sigh. “Thank you, my dear friend. Thank you.”

  Thirty minutes later, Martin was on his way to Aurora’s Attic. He wondered if Aurora had ever seen a dead body. Of course he had, but even for him, it was not easy to contend visibly with the irreversible nature of death. And this was her son. She’d loved him, still did, he imagined. Like him, she was a parent, and a parent’s love never ended.

  They arrived at the police station three and a half hours later and went directly to the morgue, which was located in the building’s basement. Martin held Aurora’s elbow. He’d never thought of her as a frail woman, but today her arm seemed thin, her body almost breakable. He was glad he was with her, not only as a friend, but as a doctor. No parent should ever have to face this challenge.

  A technician uncovered the body. Martin recognized the young man he’d seen on Aurora’s porch. She reached out one trembling hand and lightly touched her son’s still face. Martin silently uttered two prayers, one for Aurora asking for strength and peace, and one for himself, that he would never be forced to view any of his children this way.

  Upon receiving a verbal identification, the technician had Aurora sign a statement. Then he handed her an envelope with William’s effects. They opened the envelope in a café a few blocks from the police station where Martin had insisted they go for some lunch, and to gather their thoughts. Included with William’s worldly possessions was a wallet with twenty-five dollars in cash as well as the jewelry he’d stolen from her.

  “You see, Marty,” she said. “It’s just costume, not really worth much.” After managing to eat a few bites of an omelet, Aurora said, “I’m ready to go home now.”

  As they walked out of the restaurant, Aurora bundled the jewelry into her fist, stopped along the sidewalk and dropped every piece into the nearest trash can.

  * * *

  CARRIE TRIED TO hide the smile on her face when she hung up the phone after her conversation with Grady the mechanic.

  “What did he say?” Keegan asked from the desk where he was working on his memoir.

  “The part isn’t in yet,” Carrie said. “Apparently this type of steering box has to be ordered from the factory in France. Grady doesn’t know when he’ll get it.”

  Keegan nodded. “Cars like those are fun, but not too practical.”

  “I’ve learned my lesson, believe me,” she said, hobbling into the kitchen. “What would you like for lunch? I’ll fix it today.”

  Not counting the first awkward moments upon awakening this morning, Carrie and Keegan had been comfortable in each other’s company. The relationship was moving toward being easy, as if they’d known each other more than just four days. Not so at eight this morning when both had opened their eyes within seconds of each other.

  Realizing she was still pressed up against Keegan’s side, Carrie had squirmed to put a few inches between them. The movement had allowed Keegan to roll over with a satisfied yawn while he threw his arm over the mattress on his side of the bed. Carrie had tried to exit the situation without fully waking him, but when her feet had left the warmth of the blankets, a shiver had alerted him to her presence.

  “How’d you sleep?” he’d asked through another yawn.

  “Fine. I...ah...I intended to go back to the sofa so you could catch up on your sleep without fussing over me, but obviously I never made it. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” he’d said. “I slept like a log. If I thought I could conk out like that every night, I wouldn’t care if that danged car part ever arrived.”

  Carrie knew he was kidding. And he was just being nice, considering the solace she hoped she’d brought to him in the middle of the night. Keegan was definitely fighting some personal demons. She wished he would open up to her and tell her about the dreams, although maybe he was getting the therapy he needed through his writing.

  She concentrated on the items in Keegan’s pantry. “So,” she said. “Lunch?”

  “I’m thinking a thick cheeseburger, some fries and a cold beer.”

  She laughed. “Well, sure, but we don’t have any of that stuff.”

  “Rocky’s Diner does. Only about ten miles down the road. Let’s go out to lunch.”

  “That’s a great idea,” she said.

  “I’ll go with you!” Duke’s voice carried through the narrow opening in the window of the front door. “Wait just a minute, and I’ll get Delores,” he added. “I need to stop at the drugstore, too, Keegan, and pick up a few groceries. That’s no problem, is it?”

  Keegan grimaced.

  “We’ll pass those stores, won’t we?” Carrie asked.

  Keegan hitched one obstinate shoulder. “I suppose.”

  “Sure thing, Duke,” Carrie said. “Tell Delores we’re leaving in a few minutes.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the lone residents of the Cedar Woods Campground bundled into the sturdy Chevy Tahoe and headed down the road. Keegan turned up the heater when Delores complained of being too cold, and turned it down again when Duke swore he was going to burn up. Carrie sang along to the radio and passed furtive glances at Keegan to determine if he was enjoying any part of the outing. He didn’t seem to be.

  Rocky’s Diner was crowded with a variety of local folks—workmen, housewives, a few professional types. It seemed a friendly, welcoming place. A few patrons even commented sympathetically on Carrie’s awkward journey with her crutches. Hardly anyone spoke to Keegan.

  “Don’t you know any of your neighbors?” she asked him.

  “I’m a hermit, remember? Not knowing neighbors is the first statute of our bylaws.”

  “Still, you’ve been here over a year. You must know someone!”

  And he did. An attractive, thirtysomething lady came into the diner and caught Keegan’s attention immediately. Her bobbed black hair swung with silky grace at her jawline. Her lithe body moved with precision and finesse as if she were making it her priority to be noticed by everyone in the café. She spoke to a few patrons before heading over to Keegan’s table.

  “Hello, darlin’,” she said to him. “What a surprise seeing you in here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at a table before.”

  “That’s because I’m a takeout kind of guy,” he said.

  She spoke briefly to Delores and Duke and waited patiently with one ey
e on Carrie. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Kee?” she said.

  “Sure.” He mumbled his introduction. “Carrie, this is Jeanette. This is Carrie.”

  A silence awkward with unfulfilled details permeated the area around their table until Jeanette pulled up a chair and settled between Carrie and Keegan at a small four-top clearly not intended for more. “And where did you come from, honey?” Jeanette said to Carrie. “Are you a relative of Kee’s?”

  “Ah, no. I’m sort of his current charity case,” Carrie said. “He got stuck with me the day of the blizzard.”

  Jeanette flashed wide eyes at Keegan. “What’s she talking about, Keegan? Is she staying with you?”

  Keegan explained about the accident, the car repairs and the injuries Carrie sustained.

  “How long until you’re off those crutches, darlin’?” Jeanette asked.

  “About three more weeks I’d say,” Carrie told her.

  “Three weeks? Oh, my.” Jeanette stared at Keegan. “She’s going to stay with you all that time?”

  Carrie waited anxiously for Keegan’s answer. When he didn’t give one, she said, “I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Keegan knows I’ll leave just as soon as I can.”

  Jeanette gave Keegan a coy smile. “Looks like a leopard really can change his spots, doesn’t it? Keegan the Good Samaritan.”

  “I expect to be on my way long before three weeks,” Carrie said, and noticed the stiff smile on Jeanette’s lips gentle into something more natural.

  Jeanette stood when someone called her name from across the room. “That’s Suzie. I’ve got to run,” she said. “You call me if you need anything, Carrie.” With a pointed stare at Keegan she said, “I’ll be glad to run supplies out to the cabin.” With a hand on Keegan’s shoulder, she added, “She’s a cute little thing, Kee. I thought maybe she was your little sister. You take good care of her.”

  Keegan grunted and took a long draw from his beer.

  Silence settled over the table until Delores spoke up. “It’s the darndest thing. I’ve had a half glass of water and already I’ve got to go to the ladies’ room. Will you come with me, Carrie?”

  Glancing forlornly at her crutches, Carrie said, “I will if you really need me to, but...”

  “Good. I do. Don’t know why I hate going by myself. Afraid someone will open the wrong door on me. Modesty is the curse of the Midwestern woman. We’ll walk slow.”

  Once inside the restroom, Carrie indicated an empty stall and immediately realized that Delores did not need to use the facilities. “What are we doing in here, Delores?” she asked.

  “That cheeky hussy!”

  “Who? Jeanette?”

  “Of course, Jeanette. She’s no good for Keegan. She’s head and shoulders above him in wiles and traps and chasing after a man. You know Keegan... He’s just a simple country boy.” Delores pointed to her head. “I love him like a son, but there’s not much up here if you know what I mean.”

  Carrie had to swallow to keep a belly laugh from escaping. Keegan a simple country boy? She remembered Keegan telling her that Delores had no idea who he really was. “What makes you think Jeanette is after Keegan?” she finally said.

  “You saw the way she was looking at him, all sparkly eyed and mouth watery. You’d have thought he was the best thing on the menu.” Delores leaned close to Carrie’s ear. “She’s a fox, that one, and poor Keegan is the henhouse.”

  Carrie didn’t know how to respond. Truthfully, she’d be surprised to learn that Keegan hadn’t had a female visitor stay overnight at some point. And why shouldn’t he? He wasn’t married. He was living alone with no responsibilities. He was ruggedly handsome in a way that most women would find very attractive. And he was certainly mysterious. She wondered if Jeanette knew about his past, or cared.

  Her mind lingered on the assorted descriptions Delores had used about Jeanette. This was none of Carrie’s business, and Keegan was certainly experienced enough to handle his own love life. But still... He was a man, and Delores might be right. He was certainly no simple country boy, but did he even realize that Jeanette was trying to trap him?

  * * *

  BESIDES BEING ALL mouth-watery as well, lunch was a delightful taste of freedom for Carrie. In fact, she enjoyed hearing that Keegan had never sat at a table before in the diner. That meant he’d been willing to break his rules for her. Besides that, her perfect farsighted vision had kept tabs on Keegan and Jeanette, and Carrie was gratified that, once Jeanette left their table, he never once looked in her direction.

  Why should that make Carrie happy? She certainly didn’t have designs on Keegan, and even if she did, Carrie was only good at innocent flirting. She didn’t have the arsenal of a woman like Jeanette—that sass and swing and overall confidence. Yes, Carrie was attractive in a youthful, don’t-wanna-grow-up way, but Jeanette—she was fully grown in all the right places. And she’d probably already had her hands on Keegan, literally and figuratively.

  After the required stops at the drugstore and market, Keegan drove his entourage back to the campground.

  “I need a nap,” Duke announced, and hobbled his way to his trailer.

  “I’ll make some scones to thank you for today, Keegan,” Delores said, and despite his protestations that payback wasn’t necessary, she headed off to her kitchen.

  That left Keegan and Carrie with lazy full bellies and an afternoon ahead of them. Carrie decided she could use a nap, or at least a time to unwind, but she figured that was because the memory of a night snuggled next to Keegan was still fresh on her mind. That was a one-time thing, Carrie, she told herself. As surprisingly pleasant as it was.

  Keegan turned on the TV and watched a few minutes of the news. Apparently satisfied that the world wasn’t coming to an end today, he picked up the remote. “I get a lot of movies,” he said. “Do you want to watch one?”

  “I don’t know. How about if we just talk?” What’s wrong with you, Carrie? You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you? Just hours ago she’d been trying to think of a way to avoid answering questions about herself.

  “Talk?” Keegan stared at her as if she were an alien being. “We talk all the time, don’t we?”

  She smiled. “Well, there’s meal planning and answering a couple of simple questions with as few words as possible... And then there’s actually talking. That requires eye contact, a selected vocabulary, an orchestrated thought process...”

  He waved the remote in front of her face. “Sounds like work, doesn’t it? I mean, that’s what I do when I write.”

  She gave him her best you’re-so-clueless look and he chuckled. “What do you want to talk about, Carrie?”

  She moved over on the sofa and patted the seat next to her. “Oh, you know, your life here in the boonies, what you do all day, your hobbies...”

  “Life is quiet, I write, watch TV. I don’t have any. Okay, what’s next?”

  “Your friends and acquaintances. There must be people you enjoy spending time with.”

  “Nope. And not to flatter you overmuch, but you are the first person I’ve been able to stand in a long time.”

  “My, you do risk swelling my head with that compliment.” She paused a moment before saying, “What about the lady at the diner, Jeanette? She’s a friend, isn’t she?”

  He waited a few seconds before nodding slowly. “Delores. The trip to the ladies’ room. She filled your head with all sorts of gory details.”

  “Are any of them true?”

  “Ha! I’ve admitted to being a hermit, but I never said I was a monk. Now, if you want to play truth or dare, I guarantee I can make you blush, but you’ll have to answer, too.”

  She frowned. “You won’t make me blush,” she said rather haughtily. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

  His jaw dropped, but she knew
he was only pretending to be surprised. “Honey, you’ve been hiding everything since you got here.”

  That was true, but as far as her past experiences with men, she didn’t have many secrets. Did she regret that fact? Too many ways to mention. “I’m not going to play truth or dare with you,” she said. “If we did play, I would just be shocked, and you would just be disappointed.”

  His arm settled on the back of the sofa, his fingers lightly touching her shoulder. He smiled. “Are you saying that as far as boyfriends and lovers are concerned, you have a pristine past?”

  “No... I’m not saying that. Just that compared to you, I imagine my exploits are not very...”

  “I believe I made a promise to you that you would have to answer some questions for a change.”

  So he hadn’t forgotten. His hand slipped up to cup her nape under her hair. “Let’s assume Delores is looking in the window right now. After all, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  “And what would be the point?” His fingers pressed gently on her skin, sending pleasurable waves to her shoulders. If he did tell her the point, she didn’t think she’d remember.

  “Let’s give her something to think about.” He leaned closer. Carrie’s heartbeat accelerated. “If I kissed you right now, she’d have a juicy morsel to chew on for days, and you’d have a story to use the next time you played truth or dare.”

  He pulled her face to his. She swallowed. “You’re not going to kiss me, though.”

  “Yes, I think I am, but purely for the entertainment value.”

  His lips were practically touching hers. Carrie’s mind spun in a crazy wonderful arc. “For Delores’s entertainment, you mean?”

  “Not entirely, Carrie,” he whispered. “Not even partly.” His lips brushed hers, soft, gentle and moist. “I should have done that last night, but I sort of promised I wouldn’t.”

  “And you always keep your promises.” Her tongue peeked out to trace her lips with hope that he would take the hint.

  “Not always. If I promised you right now that I wouldn’t kiss you again, it would be a lie.”