Now Matt couldn’t wait to get to the diner and tell Betty Sue about the DNA test. But he didn’t get a chance to tell her right away. When he walked in the door of the diner, she grabbed him and pulled him all the way back into the kitchen.
She stopped in the middle of the kitchen, placed her hands on her hips, glared up at him, and said, “All right Matt, I want to know exactly what happened last night. And don’t even think about leaving anything out. Trish already told me that she can get the rest from Hal if you don’t tell it all to me right now.”
Matt gazed down at Betty Sue in all her fiery glory. He’d never seen this side of her before. But before he could began to wonder if he’d been wrong about her sweet nature, he saw the deep concern in her eyes and maybe just a little bit of something else.
Trying not to grin, he spoke softly, “I love you Betty Sue.”
She opened her mouth but nothing came out, as he knew she just realized what he’d said. He did start grinning then.
She reached up and touched his face gently. “I should knock that silly grin off your face Matt Livingston. You know I’ve been worried sick and yes scared to death about you.”
She stepped back and crossed her arms. “And here you come in here and start making jokes.”
He was shaking his head before she finished. “No Betty Sue. It’s no joke. I do love you.”
She frowned. “But what about that woman who says you’re the father of her baby?”
His grin broadened. “I’m not!”
She opened her mouth again and closed it without saying anything. Then she said, “Are you saying that you know for sure now?”
He nodded. “I sure am. Hal just told me a few minutes ago that the test came back and I am definitely not the father of Crystal’s baby.”
He had hoped that she would be pleased but he had never even hoped he’d get the reaction he did get. She whooped and leaped into his arms.
“Oh Matt! I’m so happy for you!”
Trish walked into the kitchen then and just stood by Terry as they both watched Betty Sue in Matt’s arms. When they broke apart and Betty Sue stepped back a little, Trish walked up to them.
“Okay, big boy, don’t think you’re going to kiss your way out of telling us what happened at your apartment last night, so spill it all out right now.”
Before he could answer, Betty Sue took him by the hand and led him out into the dining room to the table near the doorway into the kitchen. She sat down and Matt and Trish did too. She looked up and noticed that Terry was leaning on the order window trying to listen.
Matt told them everything. And when he finished, Betty Sue reached out a hand and rubbed his cheek with her knuckles.
“Oh Matt, you could have been killed.”
While Matt was trying to come up with something to say to get her mind off that, Betty Sue smiled big and turned to Trish.
“The DNA results are back and they proved that Matt wasn’t the father of that woman’s baby.”
Matt wasn’t surprised when Trish turned to him with a hard look on her face. “Now, does that mean that you are going to change all that part of your life too Matt Livingston?”
He knew exactly what she meant so he didn’t try to avoid the question. He snorted and said, “You sure don’t give an inch do you Trish?”
She continued glaring at him so he said, “Yes, Trish, it means that I am now officially a one-woman-man.” He chuckled. “If she wants me to be, that is.”
Betty Sue only smiled and nodded her head but Matt knew he still had some work to do before he could completely convince both of the women that he truly had changed.
He looked into Betty Sue’s eyes and said, “Betty Sue. I’m making you a promise right now in front of witnesses that I will never go back to the kind of life I was living before I met you.”
She sat so still for so long that Matt wasn’t even sure she’d heard him. Then slowly a tear formed in one eye then the other and they started to roll down her cheeks. He wasn’t sure she was going to say anything even then but she finally smiled and said, “Thank you Matt.”
Trish clapped her hands together softly and jumped out of her chair. “Well kids, I need to get back to work now.” She touched Betty Sue on the arm. “You can stay right here for a little longer Sweetie.”
With that, she was gone and Matt looked up at the order window to make sure Terry wasn’t still hanging over it, listening to them.
“Betty Sue. I meant what I said before. I do love you. I don’t know how it happened but you’ve become so special to me in such a short time that I just can’t hardly believe it.”
She reached out and covered both of his hands where they lay on the table. “Yes, Matt, I know exactly what you mean for I feel the same way too.”
He brightened. “Betty Sue. Does that mean that mean what I think it means? Do you love me too?”
She grinned then. “Yes, Matt. I love you too.”
Matt left the diner almost walking on air. There was noting that could come between him and Betty Sue now. She had just said she loved him too. Wow!
He was so excited that he didn’t want to just go home and sit in his dinky little apartment for the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait until that evening. Trish had invited him over for supper.
He just drove around town and out into the country for a few hours before heading back to his apartment.
He was pulling into the parking lot of the complex when two things happened almost at once. A hole appeared in his windshield and he felt a severe pain in his shoulder all at the same time.
* * *
The rest of the day at the diner seemed to drag by so slowly for Betty Sue though it was only a few hours. She couldn’t wait to get back to Trish’s house. They were cooking supper for Matt tonight.
Finally, they were in Trish’s Escalade on their way home and Betty Sue was having a hard time sitting still in her seat. The seatbelt was too confining. She was so happy. She just wanted to jump up and down.
Trish laughed. “Betty Sue, if you don’t calm down, you’re going to bounce right out of this car. It’s only supper Dear.”
Betty Sue blew out a noisy sigh. “I know, but Trish, I’m just so excited about so many things. I’ve never really had things going so good for me as they are right now.”
They were both quiet for a short time before Betty Sue said, “And you know I owe it all to you Trish. I don’t know how I can ever thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
Trish waved a hand in the air between them. “Don’t you even think about it Dear. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it just as much as you have. It’s like I have two daughters now, despite the fact that I never had any kids.”
“Thank you Trish. But you’re too modest. If it hadn’t been for you I’d probably be living in some sleazy apartment in Kansas City working at who knows what kind of dead-end job by now.”
Betty Sue continued thinking of what could have been until Trish turned into her driveway and the garage door opened up for them.
As she stepped out of the car, Betty Sue’s mind was on the meal they were planning to prepare for Matt and of course spending the evening with him. She didn’t see or hear anything until she felt a strong arm wrap around her throat and pull so tight that it almost choked her. Then she felt cold metal against her forehead. Without realizing it, she dropped her bag to the floor.
Trish had the door into the utility room open and was about to step in when a voice that Betty Sue remembered all too well said, “All right lady, I want you to turn around and slowly place that bag of yours on the floor.”
When Trish only turned around and simply stared at them, he shouted, “Now!”
Trish set her bag on the floor and then Dave said, “Walk into the house very slowly and stop in the middle of the kitchen. And I don’t want you touching anything. Do you hear?”
She only nodded and started walking through the utility room and into the large kitchen, stopping in the middle as he’d instructe
d.
Dave took the gun away from Betty Sue’s head to reach over to touch the garage door remote to close it. Once inside, he motioned with the gun to Trish. “Pull out that chair and sit in it.”
When she did, he dragged Betty Sue over there and keeping his left arm tight against her throat, put the gun in his belt and pulled out a set of handcuffs. He then snapped one cuff around Trish’s wrist and the other around the table leg next to her.
After he finished that, he dragged Betty Sue to the other side of the table, pulled out a chair, and pushed her down into it. Then he cuffed her to the table leg near her.
He stood there in the middle of the kitchen glaring at Betty Sue for a long time then he turned to the refrigerator and opened it.
He looked over his shoulder. “Don’t you have any beer in here woman?”
Betty Sue assumed he was talking to Trish and she was relieved when she answered.
“We don’t drink any alcoholic beverages here.”
He grabbed a Pepsi and slammed the door. “Yeah, that’s the way goody-two-shoes there always was too. No wonder she hooked up with you.”
Dave started glaring at Betty Sue again but she refused to look away. She just tried to keep her look as neutral as she could.
Finally, he pulled a chair out far enough that he could look at both women without turning his head and sat in it facing them. He didn’t say anything but just continued to stare at Betty Sue.
After about five minutes of that which seemed like forever to Betty Sue, Dave began to speak
He looked at Trish then Betty Sue but kept his eyes on her after that. “We’re going to wait for dark then we’re going to head back to Dallas.”
Betty Sue’s sharp intake of breath made him laugh and that was when she realized that there was something different about Dave this time. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but now as she was able to get a good look at his eyes, she could see it and it was starting to scare her. He had a wild look in his eyes that she’d only seen before when he’d been beating her.
As she thought about it now, she realized that those other times were when he’d lost control. Did that mean that he’d lost control now. . . completely?
She looked over at Trish and she could tell that the older woman was praying. Well, she decided she needed to be praying too.
Dave pointed at Trish. “As soon as we reach the Texas line, I’ll let you go. But Betty Sue stays with me and as soon as we get to Dallas we’ll be safe.”
Betty Sue was afraid that he might be right. After all, his father, the judge, had kept him out of trouble all those other times. She really was scared now. What would he do to her once he got her back there?
It had been so quiet for a few minutes that Betty Sue almost jumped when Dave started talking again.
“Don’t you have any food in this place woman?”
He was glaring at Trish who said, “If you’ll unhook me, I can fix us all something to eat.”
Dave laughed and the strange sound of his laugh sent chills down Betty Sue’s back.
He stood and went back to the refrigerator again. He looked inside for a moment then began pulling out containers of lunchmeat and cheese.
“Got any bread?”
Trish pointed to the cabinet behind him and he opened it and pulled out a loaf of bread.
* * *
Matt was getting tired of this hospital. First, he’d been brought here when he broke his leg and now they were swarming all around him again and making him lie back down on the examining table.
“Mr. Livingston. Good news. We’re not going to have to operate on your shoulder. The bullet seems to have passed through cleanly. But I am going to have to put a few sutures on both sides. I’m going to give you a shot on each side so you don’t feel anything there. Are you ready?”
It was a woman’s voice and she sounded like she was miles away through a fog. He listened to the voice calling his name again. He’d been lying there on the exam table for a while and must have started to doze off. How could that be with the throbbing pain he had in his shoulder?
She got right in his face then and said, “Mr. Livingston. Don’t go into shock on me now.”
There it was again, that voice calling him. He opened his eyes and sure enough, there was a woman’s face real close to his.
She was talking again but he wasn’t paying any attention to her. Then he looked into her dark blue eyes and began to come out of the fog he’d been in. He looked down at her white coat and saw a blue nametag with Dr. Fulton written on it in white letters.
She leaned back from what she’d been doing on his shoulder and said, “Mr. Livingston. Can you move your left arm?”
His left arm? Why? He started to ask why but when he began to lift it, the pain almost made him yell out.
He kept lifting his left arm until it was a few feet above the table and the fiery pain hit him again.
“That’s good. I don’t want you raising it any higher than that for a few days. Okay?”
He was left alone for a while and he tried to keep his mind alert by looking around the room at the different objects there. The next voice he heard was Hal’s.
“Matt. Look at me.”
“Yeah.” He croaked out that one word and it didn’t even sound like it came from him.
“Did you see anyone when you got shot?”
Shot! Is that what had happened to him? Then it began to come back to him rather quickly. After he’d left the diner that afternoon, he’d driven around for a few hours. Then he was going home to get ready so he could go to Trish’s for supper that night to be with Betty Sue.
“Betty Sue?”
Hal misunderstood. “Betty Sue’s all right Matt. She wasn’t with you when it happened.”
Matt tried to make sense of Hal’s response then he said, “No! Supposed to go to Trish’s . . . for supper. Tell her.”
“Okay Matt. We’ll give them a call.”
Just then Matt saw movement behind Hal and his parents both stepped around Hal and came up on Matt’s right side.
His mother immediately grabbed his hand and said, “Oh Matt, I’m so glad you’re going to be okay.”
“I am?”
His dad smiled down at him and said, “Yes, you are. The doctor said the bullet passed right through your arm just below your shoulder. It did very little damage too.”
He looked up at his dad and tried to understand all that he’d just said. “Does that mean I’ll get out of her real soon?
His dad answered since it seemed like his mom was too choked up to talk. “Yes, the doctor said you should be able to go home in an hour or two but they want you to come back tomorrow so they can check for infection.”
Now he remembered the doctor telling him the same thing a while ago.
His mom squeezed his hand, “And Matt. I don’t want any arguments this time. You are coming home with us and I will take care of you.” She smiled and said, “And I would just imagine that Betty Sue will be fighting me for that job too.”
Just then, Hal, who had been outside the room stepped back in and up to Matt’s left side again. He frowned and said, “I tried to call Betty Sue and Trish. I called both of their cell phones and Trish’s landline but got voice mail on all three. Are you sure they were going to be at home?”
Matt looked at Hal, trying to comprehend all that the man had just said. Finally, he grasped it.
“Yeah. They were going straight home and they were cooking supper and I was supposed to go over there to eat with them at six.”
Hal looked at his watch. “Well, it’s five-thirty now. I’m going to run over there and check on them.” He turned to Matt’s dad and said, “I’ll give you a call to let you know if they’re okay.”
With that, Hal was gone and his mom began talking to him about how scared they’d been and how happy they were that he wasn’t hurt worse than he was.
Matt lay back on the table and must have dozed again when he was awakened by a cell phone ringing cl
ose by. He opened his eyes in time to see his dad answer his phone. He couldn’t tell what was said but then his dad held the phone away from his mouth and turned to Matt.
“This is Hal. He says that it doesn’t look like anybody is at home at Trish’s house. It’s all dark. He wants to know if you can think of anywhere they might have gone.”
Matt shook his head and was surprised that it didn’t seem to cause his wound any problems. In fact, he could move his left arm pretty good now so he sat up on the table to be able to talk to his dad better.
“No. I’m positive they should be cooking supper together right now. It had to be Betty Sue’s ex-husband who shot me and he must have them now.”
He heard his dad relay that information to Hal on his phone. From his sitting position, Matt didn’t have much trouble swinging his legs to the left and begin to slide his feet down to the floor.
His mom cried out, “No Matt. You have to stay in here a little longer so you don’t aggravate your injury.”
He ignored her and turned to his dad who had just disconnected his call with Hal. “Get my shirt. I’m getting out of here. Betty Sue needs me and I’ve got to get to her before that maniac hurts her again.”
He heard his mom arguing with his dad, but he had to smile when his dad was suddenly at his side holding his shirt out for him to slip his arms into. He didn’t have time to think about how good it felt to have his father supporting something he wanted to do for once.
Betty Sue needed him and he wasn’t going to let her down.
Chapter Thirteen
Betty Sue was really scared now. Dave had taken off both pairs of handcuffs one at a time. He had then handcuffed her and Trish together. Her left wrist was with Trish’s right wrist and her right wrist with Trish’s left one. He had them facing each other, which made it difficult to walk out to the garage especially since he kept shoving them every time they slowed down. Then he told them to get into the back seat of the Escalade.
With great difficulty, they were barely able to crawl and slide their way into the car. Once they were in though, it took some more maneuvering to be able to sit side by side.
Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1) Page 18
