“Tina,” I called softly as I knelt beside the bed. “Tina, it’s me, Merry.”
When she didn’t respond, I was filled with momentary panic until I saw the steady rise and fall of her chest.
“I got her that ice pack out of the freezer,” Jess said, coming to stand beside me. He pointed to the chemical ice packet Lacey was holding to Tina’s eye.
“That was very wise,” I said. “You did well.”
Jess straightened his frail shoulders. “I called 911 too.”
“Very well done,” Curt said, standing behind us. He made certain to keep his voice soft and friendly.
Jess still eyed him with distrust but nodded, accepting the compliment.
Just then we heard a vehicle pull into the drive behind Curt’s car. Jess turned white and Lacey began to whimper.
“It’s okay,” I said, sitting on the bed beside Lacey. I leaned in and gave her cheek a kiss. “Even if it’s your father, it’s okay. He can’t hurt you or your mom with all of us here. We’re going to see your mom gets to the hospital, and you get someplace safe.”
The kids looked at each other, and some message flew through the air between them. Jess nodded and Lacey calmed a little. She went back to stroking Tina’s hand.
Randy looked out the front window. “It’s the ambulance. And the police. I’ll go let them in.”
Jess climbed onto the bed beside his mother and sister. He knelt, leaning over Tina. “It’s okay now, Mom. Merry’s here. And so is the ambulance. And the police. It’s okay now.”
Tina, who hadn’t moved or seemed aware previously, relaxed at his words. I could see it in the movement of her shoulders and hear it in the deep sigh she gave. A hand snaked out from under the quilt and touched Jess lightly, then Lacey, before falling heavily to the pillow.
Curt, Randy, Jess, Lacey and I sat on the living room couch and waited as Tina was prepared for her trip to the hospital. Lacey’s little body shook as she leaned against me, and I ran my hand soothingly over her head. Jess sat alert, listening for anything that might go wrong. I thought with sadness that things going wrong was a regular part of his life.
The most amazing and unsettling thing to me was that every one of the emergency responders, police and medical personnel alike knew Jess and Lacey. One of the EMTs stopped at the couch and knelt in front of the children. “I’m sorry we took so long to get here, you guys. We were out on another call and came as soon as we could. Are you okay?”
Jess nodded for both of them.
“You’re a good man, Jess,” the EMT said as he stood. “And you’re a sweetie, Lacey.” He chucked her gently under the chin, and she smiled shyly.
With a quick nod at Curt and me, he disappeared upstairs. How many times, I wondered, had these people been here in the past to be on such friendly terms with the kids?
And why had Tina stayed with the villain who was her husband?
As the EMTs wheeled Tina across the living room, she made a feeble motion for them to stop. She looked at me, fighting to stay alert.
“The kids,” she said in a barely audible voice.
“I’ll take care of them. Don’t worry.”
“Jess, Lacey.” When she reached out a weak hand to them, I stepped back. “I love you. Go with Merry.”
“I’ll call your parents if you want. Is your father still in the hospital?”
“Home. Very sick. Tomorrow.” It was all she could manage. Her eyes lost focus and slid shut.
“I love you, Mommy,” Lacey whispered, her voice desperate.
I picked her up and held her tightly as Tina was taken from the house. “She loves you too, kitten.” I kissed the little girl’s cheek. “She loves you a lot.”
I looked at Jess, the little boy who was forced to react like a man. “And you too, Jess. She’s so proud of you for all your help.”
He looked at me, his big eyes uncertain. Curt laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder. This time the boy barely flinched.
We loaded the kids and their hastily packed suitcases in the backseat with Randy. Lacey clung to a battered, fuzzy, once-pink blanket, holding it to her face and rubbing it back and
forth between her fingers. Jess had a teddy bear with a missing ear and a dangling eye tucked firmly under his right arm. They leaned into each other, and I almost cried when I saw Jess pat his little sister on the shoulder.
Just before I climbed into my seat, Curt looked at me over the roof of the car. “You want to go to the hospital to see how Tina’s doing, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“What about our little friends?” He glanced down at the car.
“I don’t know. We certainly can’t leave them. They need us as much or more than Tina.”
Randy leaned out the window. “Mom and I can take care of them. Take us to our house. We’ve got a guest room they can stay in.”
I looked at Randy, uncertain.
“Call Mom. She’ll tell you to bring them.”
I went back inside to call Edie so we could talk out of earshot of the children. She needed to be able to say no if having the kids was too much for her right now, but I didn’t want Jess and Lacey to overhear and think no one wanted them.
“Oh, my goodness, bring them,” Edie said without hesitation. “And bring their mother if they don’t keep her at the hospital.”
“You’re sure? This is a tough time for you.”
“People stepped in to help Randy and me back when we needed it. I have to step in now. One thing I learned all those years ago, help is needed when it’s needed, not when it’s convenient.”
I thought about how I’d hesitated to help Randy and felt a strong kick of shame. Maybe one of the great drawbacks to an orderly, happy life like I’d experienced was that you didn’t understand immediate and desperate need. You’d never had it.
After I explained to the children that they were going to stay with Randy and his mother, they huddled against the far door. They stared silently and skeptically at Randy across the backseat. Lacey hugged her blanket more tightly and Jess pulled his bear against his chest.
Oh, Lord, please let them be okay with this plan
.
Finally Jess spoke. “Aren’t you big to live with your mom?”
I blinked, startled. I don’t know what I expected the boy to say, but that wasn’t it.
“I’m not so big,” Randy said. “I still go to school.”
“You do?” Clearly Jess equated size with maturity. “College? Big guys go to college.”
“Not yet.” Randy smiled. “Someday.”
The kids continued to study him. He sat still and let them stare. Every so often he smiled at them, but their solemn little faces didn’t respond.
“I used to have a father like yours,” Randy blurted as we turned onto Main Street.
“Yeah, right.” Disbelief vibrated about Jess like sound waves about a tuning fork.
“I did.” Randy held his hand up like he was taking an oath and bent all his fingers but the last. “Pinky swear.”
The kids blinked, looked at each other and giggled. “Pinky swear,” Jess whispered, like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. They giggled again.
“I had to call 911 for my mom too,” Randy continued. “Once my father threw her down the stairs and broke her leg.”
“That’s bad,” Lacey said, giggle gone.
Randy nodded. “Very bad.”
“Did she get a cast?”
“She did. And crutches.”
“Does she still got them?”
He shook his head. “She’s okay now. That was a long time ago, when I was little like you.”
Lacey stared, obviously overwhelmed at the idea of big Randy being little like her.
“What did you do?” Jess asked. “When he did it, I mean.” He was back to looking out the window, but trembling with the need to hear Randy’s answer.
Randy looked out the window too. “Nothing.” He swallowed. “I couldn’t. I was too little.”
Jess gave a great sigh. “Yeah,” he said sadly. “Too little.”
“But you called 911,” Lacey said to Randy. “Like Jess. That was good.”
Randy smiled at her. “You’re right. I did. Thanks for making me feel better.”
She smiled back and stuck her thumb in her mouth.
He looked at Jess. “My mom said it was okay that I didn’t do anything more.”
Jess glanced at Randy, then away. “My mom too.”
“But it still hurts. Even today it hurts.”
Jess stared at Randy. “But you’re big.”
“There are some things you never forget, Jess. You just learn to live with them.”
“Oh.” He thought about that for a few minutes, his chin resting on the teddy’s head. “Oh.”
I caught Randy’s eye and nodded. He smiled slightly. I was not surprised to see that within a few blocks Jess and Lacey were leaning against him like they’d been leaning against the far door a few minutes ago. Carefully, cautiously, he slid his arm around them.
In the emergency room I finally learned Tina’s last name. It was on her insurance cards that the ward clerk handed me when I approached her to ask how Tina was.
“She’s in x-ray,” the woman said. “That’s all I know.”
As I automatically took the proffered cards, I wondered how many broken ribs they’d find.
I looked at the cards, and there the name was. William Bond. William. Bill. “Bill Bond! Curt, Bill Bond is Tina’s husband!”
“And that’s significant how?” he asked as he led me to a seat.
“Bill Bond is Tom Whatley’s boss at Hamblin Motors! No wonder he wouldn’t talk to me when I showed up at the dealership. He thought I was there about Tina, about the phone call to Mac, about his threat, when all I wanted was to talk about Tom.”
“Didn’t you recognize him when you saw him at Hamblin’s?”
“I never saw him.”
As I sat leaning against Curt, my head on his shoulder, I thought about how small the world could be sometimes. While I hadn’t known whom I was seeking an interview with, he had known who I was, thanks to my giving my name when I rescued Tina and the kids from him on Saturday.
But if Bill Bond was Tina’s husband, then the man I had seen lecturing Joey Alberghetti as I pulled away from Hamblin’s was someone else entirely. I’d have recognized Tina’s husband, even from the back. Who he was was probably unimportant, but his identity piqued my interest for all of five seconds before questions about Bill Bond took over, questions like where was he?
Surely he realized Tina needed medical treatment. He might be reprehensible, but he wasn’t stupid. Even bullies understood the need to show up, to protect themselves by spinning their story of falls down stairs or trips over curbs.
I shuddered. Enough of Bill Bond. I turned to Curt. “Tell me about your evening. In all the excitement, we haven’t had a chance to talk yet.”
He smiled a half smile. “Somehow it doesn’t seem quite so important anymore.”
“But it is important.” I took his hand between mine. “At least it’s important to me.”
His eyes began to sparkle, and I knew I’d said exactly the right thing. No more mistakes like the other night at the gallery.
“Oh, Merry, it was great!” The joy and happy disbelief in his voice made me smile. “Delia lined up the most incredible people for me to meet.”
Delia. It suddenly became harder to rejoice for him.
Oh, Lord, I’m so petty! I’m jealous!
And I knew it wasn’t just Delia herself that upset me, in spite of her blond beauty and sophisticated style. I was jealous because Delia could and would do for Curt things that I couldn’t. She could give him a gallery showing. She could introduce him to important people. She could open doors to the art community that I didn’t even know existed.
And what could I do? Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. Zilch. I sighed.
Curt heard and stopped mideffusion. He looked at me, questions written in his eyes.
“Sorry,” I said hastily. “It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I am truly glad for your chances to make all these professional contacts.”
He grinned knowingly. “It’s okay.” He leaned over and kissed my temple. “I still love you the best.”
I stared at him. He had an amazing heart.
“What?” I could see him going back over his words, looking for his mistake. When he thought he knew what was wrong, he grimaced. “You
only
is what I meant. I still love you only.”
I smiled. “I know what you meant. And I’m not worried about you. You’re the good guy. She’s the shark.”
“And I’m the itty-bitty fish waiting to be devoured?”
I looked at him, all broad shoulders and athlete’s body. An itty-bitty fish wasn’t exactly appropriate. If indeed he had
been an itty-bitty fish, I doubt Delia would have been interested, no matter how fine an artist he was.
“I’m jealous,” I confessed in a rush. I never could keep a secret.
“Whatever for? You’re ten times more appealing than she’ll ever be.”
“Really?” It was obviously time for his glasses to be changed, but what joy his comment gave me.
“It’s true,” he said, seeing my expression. “She may be sleek and lovely in her own way, but you’re real. You have a heart that cries and cares and loves.”
“But she can give you so much that I can’t!” There. I’d said it. My worst fear. The core of my jealousy.
Curt looked at me and nodded. “You’re right. Professionally, she can open doors for me and save me years of trying to establish myself.”
How depressing.
He ran his finger down the side of my face. “However, for real life, for quality, character and spunk, you win hands down. You beat Delia without even having to try.”
I looked into his eyes and saw that for him this was the truth.
“Trust me on this, darlin’ girl,” he whispered as he bent and nibbled my ear. “I know what I’m talking about.”
I shivered and giggled and nodded.
“Excuse me.” It was the ward clerk.
I drew away from Curt and hoped I wasn’t too red in the face. I simply wasn’t used to being caught in public with a man nibbling on me. Or in private for that matter.
“Mrs. Bond is ready to go home,” the woman said.
We hurried into the emergency treatment area and found Tina sitting in a wheelchair with a physician standing beside her. The doctor’s name tag read Sondra Blanchard, MD.
“Are you caring for Mrs. Bond?” Dr. Blanchard asked.
“We’re taking her to a place where she’ll be safe.”
The doctor nodded. “See that she stays in bed for a couple of days. She looks worse than she is because the injuries are so visible. She has a pair of cracked ribs, but that’s about it below the neck. Her face will become a veritable palette of rainbow shades over the next couple of weeks. Nothing to worry about. We stitched up the split lip on the inside, and there should be minimal scarring.”