by Jacki Renée
“Don’t worry, girls,” Bryan chimes in. “I have something special planned for Dani.”
“What is it?” Kourtney asks.
“Yeah, Mr. Hawk. What did you plan?” I ask.
“I’ll tell you when she’s not around.” He winks at them in the rearview mirror and blows me a kiss.
The girls try to guess his plans and he plays along, saying things like, “I didn’t think of that,” or “that sounds good, I may have to do that.”
We make it out of the parking lot and head home. I look out the window, ignoring their little game.
A shadow in the side-view mirror catches my attention. I sneak a peek at Bryan. I can’t see his eyes because of the shades, but I know he checks the mirrors when he drives. Does he notice the black SUV about three cars back too?
Tonight I’ll tell him about the mysterious truck following me.
A catchy tune comes on the radio. “Turn that up,” Kourtney shouts. “I like that song.”
Bryan cranks up the volume. I look over my shoulder. Kourtney and Emma are bobbing and wiggle-dancing, singing along to the song. Even Bryan is bobbing his head in time to the beat.
They keep the music turned up as we head home. Every now and then, I check the side-view mirror. We’re still being followed, but not as close.
When Bryan makes the left turn onto our street, a few seconds later the SUV also makes a left turn.
Usually Bryan pulls in front of the steps when he drops the girls off. This time he pulls into the garage. I turn around, watching the truck drive past the house as the garage door comes down. The girls jump out and go inside. Bryan walks around and opens my door.
“You looked bothered when you came to the truck with Emm and Kourt,” he says.
“Ms. Williamson is upset with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been ignoring me since school resumed. Today she was glaring at me.”
“The sun was probably in her eyes.”
She was glaring. I felt it.
We walk inside the house. I go upstairs to change out of my work clothes so I can help get ready for the party. Much to my dismay, I’m ordered out of the garage and gym until tomorrow.
Bryan and Willis park the vehicles on the street and move the equipment in the gym.
It takes mommy guilt to be allowed to decorate the formal dining room. It’s where the snacks and food will be served because it is closest room to the garage.
I’m happy Bryan is doing everything for Kourtney’s party, and I understand why he’s overcompensating, but I’m feeling left out. This is the first big party she’s had and I have a small roll in it.
After dinner, Bryan leaves to hang out with his friends. I take the girls in the kitchen to pump them for information.
“You’ll have to come up with something better than ice cream sundaes.” Kourtney licks her spoon. “Bryan promised us something good to keep his secret.”
Emma nods her head, strawberry ice cream smeared all over her mouth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Saturday morning, Bryan and his friends turn the gym and garage into a bear’s den. I’m given a tour before the party starts.
Small piñata beehives filled with candy hang from the ceiling with cardboard bees buzzing around. The children have to win clues to get their chance at breaking one open.
Grizzly bear cutouts sit in different areas around the two rooms.
What scares me is the mini zip-line over the river of foam fish, and the tree-climbing wall. Bryan rented crash mats and his friends will supervise those areas.
At one o’clock the doorbell rings, signaling the start of the party.
I move around making sure the children enjoy themselves and their parents are comfortable. Holly and her daughter are here. I go out of my way to make her feel welcomed. She seems sad and I want to help if she’ll let me.
Stephanie socializes with other parents and throws eye daggers at Madelyn. I know it’s wrong for me to celebrate someone’s comeuppance, but Madelyn deserves it!
Madelyn moves between the gym, garage, and dining room looking for a friend to talk to. No married woman will socialize with her and the handful of married dads steer clear of her.
Uncle Vinny bursts into the gym dressed in a grizzly bear costume. Personally, I would have gone with a teddy bear, but since I wasn’t a part of the planning, I keep my mouth shut.
After the guests leave, I find Bryan in his home office pacing the room. On the phone. And packing a bag. I lean against the doorframe.
His face is a mask of calmness. He doesn’t see me in the doorway.
Listening to his end of the conversation, I’ve deduced that he’s going somewhere. I wait until he’s off the phone to make my presence known.
“Another urgent business trip?”
He turns around. I’ve caught him by surprise. His eyes shift to the open duffle bag on his desk, then back to me.
“I will be back by your birthday.”
I step into the office and close the door behind me. “What do you do?” I sit in a chair in front of his desk, glimpsing two guns inside the bag.
Without taking his eyes off me, Bryan moves to his desk, lifts the duffle bag, and sets it on the floor, out of sight, before sitting in his chair.
“We’ve been over this. I own a close personal protection company.”
“I know that, Bryan. But what do you do?”
“It’s self-explanatory.”
I smile: he’s on the defensive. “What does the owner of a close personal protection company do?”
“Dani, if this is your round-about way of asking where I’m going, just ask.”
I laugh. “It’s not. But since you brought it up... Where are you going?”
“A client needs to travel to an unfriendly area and requested I personally handle the logistics of his security.”
“Is that a normal part of your services?”
“For certain clients, yes.”
Even though I can’t see the bag, my gaze shifts in its direction. “And you need to take weapons?”
“Yes.”
He offers no other explanation.
I stand, walking around the desk. Bryan touches the monitor in front of him. The screen goes black. The bag pushed under the desk, by his foot. He turns to face me.
“Why the vague answers? Is what you do confidential?”
“For the protection of my clients, what I do is highly confidential.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Sometimes.”
“How will I know if something happens to you?”
Now that we’re together, I don’t want anything to take him away from me. From us.
“You’ve been on the emergency contact list for a long time.” He guides me onto his lap.
I know he’s hiding something, yet in his arms, I find everything I’d been searching for since childhood. Something even James could not give me.
Serenity.
***
Wednesday night the girls and I stay up past their bedtime addressing Valentine cards for their classmates and wrapping the gifts they bought.
I oversleep Thursday morning and forget to buy cookies for the classroom party. The school has a four-day weekend starting tomorrow and they are celebrating today.
I call Jessica. “Can you pick up two dozen Valentine’s Day cookies on your way in?”
“Sure, Dani. I’m leaving the house now.”
My first patient is always on time. I sip a breakfast smoothie while we have our session. Mr. Brumfield is grieving the loss of his wife after sixty-five years of marriage. They were high school sweethearts. She died four months ago. He refused to let his children touch any of her belongings. He went as far as barring the windows and doors so they couldn’t come into the house. We’ve been making headway. Last week he allowed his youngest daughter to come in and help him pack his wife’s clothes to donate to a shelter.
I like Mr. Brumfield. He’s a good
man. He reminds me of Bryan, protective of the people he loves. I’m sure he was a good husband and is a great dad.
He’s been holding back in his sessions. I don’t pressure him. I allow my patients to set the pace of their therapy and gently push them when they plateau. When he’s ready, he’ll open up.
Vanessa sits a vase filled with Amethyst Temple Lilies on my desk after Mr. Brumfield leaves.
“They were delivered to the reception desk,” she says.
It’s been a while since I’ve gotten anything for Valentine’s Day. James used to make me mixed CDs and write love poems. Sliding the letter opener under the flap, I pull out the card.
Do You Miss Me, Danielle?
My smile fades. This isn’t Bryan’s handwriting.
The desk phone rings.
“Dr. Edwards,” I answer.
“Dr. Edwards?”
“Good afternoon.”
“Do you miss me?”
“Who is this?”
The line goes dead.
I know that voice.
My phone rings again.
“Look, either you tell me who you are, or stop calling.”
“Dani, this is Jessica. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything is fine. I got a prank call.”
“How many times have you gotten a prank call?”
I lie. “Once.”
“If it keeps happening alert hospital security.”
“I will. What’s up?”
“Isabel’s coming over to pick up patient lab results. Do you want me to send the cookies with her?”
“Yes, please. And thank you for picking them up.”
I throw the card in the trash and take the vase to the family waiting room.
Isabel knocks on my office door right when I finish typing notes in Mr. Brumfield’s file. I shut down the computer, lock up my office, and leave for the day.
With Bryan out of town, I’m covering for him at the classroom party. He volunteered to help even though we already completed our volunteer hours for the school year. I know he signed up just so he could keep an eye on Jacob and Dylan.
Bryan’s going to be a bear when the girls start dating. I pray I’m having a boy for his sanity.
As I reach for the cookies on the back seat, I spot Holly sitting in her car crying. I go over and tap her window. “Holly, are you okay?”
No response.
I try the handle. The door opens.
Holly’s right arm rises. The barrel of a small gun rests on her temple. She’s looking straight ahead, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“He left. No warning. No goodbye. He packed up and left,” she says.
“Holly, look at me,” I plead, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket.
“I have no money. No way to support myself. And no way to support Melissa. I have no friends.”
“Holly, look at me right now!” I command.
Slowly, her head turns. She looks at me, but it’s like she’s looking through me. There’s no light in her eyes.
“He doesn’t want us anymore,” she cries.
I take a small step to the right and press the emergency call button on my phone.
“Lower the gun, Holly.”
“I take care of myself. I let him bring other men and women into our bed. Our home is clean. I don’t question his whereabouts. And he leaves me.”
“You’re hurting and you want the pain to stop.”
Her dead eyes blink.
“All you want is for the pain to stop,” I repeat.
She nods.
“I know what it feels like to have someone walk out on you. If you let me, I can help you find other ways to stop the pain, Holly. Options where you don’t have to hurt yourself and leave Melissa here without you.”
From the corner of my eye, I see a black SUV pull into the parking lot. I can’t break the connection I have with Holly to see who’s in the truck.
“You and I can find a way to make the pain go away,” I tell her.
She blinks her eyes.
“Can you lower the gun first?”
“Why do you want to help me? We’re not friends.”
“Holly, we’ve never tried to be friends. I’m willing if you are.” I smile and take a quick breath. She lowers the gun to her lap.
Her finger is still on the trigger.
“I’ll go first. Hello, I’m Danielle Edwards. Kourtney Edwards is my daughter. We moved here from Arizona at the end of July.”
I wait for her to respond.
“I’m Holly Valentine. Melissa Valentine is my daughter. I’m from Littleton.”
“I took Kourtney to a place in Littleton over the winter break. We did rock climbing and zip-lining. That’s where she got the idea for her party.”
“I’ve taken Melissa there a couple of times.”
Great, she’s responding.
“I am a therapist at the hospital,” I tell her.
“You’re too young to be a therapist.”
“I graduated high school at fifteen.” I smile bigger. Her finger relaxes on the trigger.
“I’m a housewife, but I completed the program to be a paralegal.”
“My daughter is obsessed with teddy bears.”
“My daughter’s obsessed with monkeys.”
We laugh. The front passenger door moves. I keep her focus on me.
“I’m a widow.”
“My husband just left me.”
I don’t give her a chance to dwell on that fact. “My husband was in the military. He died in action.”
“My ex-husband is a real estate broker.”
“He makes good money?” I ask.
She nods.
“My husband was my only friend until he died.”
“All my friends are fake housewives.”
Feigning indignation, I say, “Don’t put me in the same category as Madelyn and Stephanie, please. I mean I know we’re just becoming friends, but come on. Fake housewife?”
Holly chuckles. She sets the gun on the passenger seat. “Okay, I have one friend who isn’t fake.”
Dramatically, I drag my hand across my brow. “Thank you. Now where was I? Oh yes, I grew up in foster care in Los Angeles.”
“My parents still live in Littleton. I have an older sister.”
“Holly you came up with options.”
She looks confused.
The passenger door cracks open, someone wearing a white long sleeve shirt reaches in lifting the gun off the seat.
“You said you have no financial means. As your friend, I’m telling you to sue him for every penny you and Melissa are entitled to. You said you have no way to support yourself. But you completed paralegal training so do the final steps and be a paralegal. We’ve already established you have one real friend. You said you’re alone, but you have family in Littleton.”
“Oh my god. Was I really going to kill myself?” She cries into her hands.
“No, Holly. You thought suicide was your only choice to ending the pain. We found another way.”
She sobs.
I place a consoling hand on her shoulder. And look around.
There’s an ambulance pulling into the parking lot behind Boulder Police patrol cars. I’m surprised the sheriffs didn’t respond. One police officer is out of his unit talking to the two men dressed in black suits. The other officers are blocking the entrance to the parking lot, parents stand in the driveway, trying to get a view of the activity. Another police officer is slowly making his way toward us. He’s just out of Holly’s line of sight. I also see Dr. Barrett, the school’s principal.
“Holly, are you aware that you were holding a weapon to your temple?” I ask her.
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me what your intentions were with that weapon?”
“I was going to kill myself.” Her words are muffled by her hands.
I gently remove her hands from her face.
“Do you still want to kill yourself?”
“N
o.” She looks me in the eyes.
“Can you tell me what you want to do now?”
“I want to move back to Littleton with my parents, get a job and keep in touch with my friend.”
“Holly, do you understand I am a licensed therapist?”
“Yes.”
“Because you admit to having thoughts of killing yourself, I’m sending you to the hospital by ambulance.” I motion for Dr. Barrett to come closer. “I can contact your parents. Littleton is forty-five minutes away. If you give your consent, Melissa can come over for a play date until they get here.”
The principal is within earshot.
“Melissa can go to your house.”
He nods, acknowledging he heard her.
“Holly, I’ll call ahead and arrange for Dr. Stevens to meet you in the emergency room. He’s head of the Behavioral Science Department. He will decide if you need to be admitted or if you can go home with your parents. As your friend, ethically, I cannot make that determination.”
The officer steps back and I help Holly out of the car. We embrace for a moment, then walk with our arms around each other to the waiting ambulance.
She asks me to call her sister and gives me the phone number.
“Thank you, Danielle.”
“My friends call me Dani.”
She hugs me. “Thank you, Dani.”
Once the ambulance pulls out of the parking lot, I step out of earshot of the spectators to call Dr. Stevens. I give him a brief synopsis. He assures me he’ll be waiting for Holly in the emergency room.
I give my statement to the officer in charge, then go to Dr. Barrett.
“If Melissa comes to school tomorrow it is my professional recommendation that the school provide counseling for her. I know how these parents gossip. I’m sure she will hear about what happened from the other students.”
“I informed the parents that Mrs. Valentine fainted and was refusing medical attention. I hope that appeases their curious minds.” He winks.
I get the cookies from my truck and go to the classroom. Ms. Williamson is a little nicer today, but it’s forced.
The girls are quiet on the ride home. Normally Emma gives a minute-by-minute recap of her day. They loosen up as we make pizza bagels for snack and by the time they turn on the gaming system, the three girls are friends.
