2 Maid in the Shade (31 page)

***

When I got to the job address I found the key where it was supposed to be and the check left on the counter seemed ridiculously generous. I was actually making something of a success at this gig. I made my way through the mansion with Jackson. We were stunned by the wreckage. “I think we’ll need a few more people” I said.

“Or a match
and gasoline,” Jackson agreed.

He
got some supplies out of his own car and started one of his guys on dry walling. I went to cash the check so I could be sure to get everyone paid right away. It was one reason I could assemble people so quickly.

W
e finished up in the early evening. “So…we have a slumber party I understand.” Jackson said, looking at his watch. “But it doesn’t start now.”

“
Oh come on, why not now?”

“Promise I’ll be there soon? Okay? I will be there before bedtime.”

“All right,” I said reluctantly. I loved Jackson’s company and despite my best intentions I knew I would miss Jared tonight. He was great at keeping my mind off of the Ben dilemma, although our tryst had added complications to it.

I
drove to the house and grabbed my bag. When I walked in and called for Mosey, he didn’t seem to be as anxious to rush outside as usual; Lucy must have stopped by to let him out. He finally came back inside having barely earned his treat. I passed through the kitchen to take my shower. As lovely as my new bath was, I wasn’t ready to go there yet. I fumbled through the extra dresser downstairs for underwear and a robe but the pickings were slim. I had raided it a time too many without replenishing it. I started upstairs and thought I heard water running. I stopped to listen—nothing. I wished Jackson had come straight home with me. My imagination was running wild and I hated myself for my cowardice. After all, I could have stayed with Jared, but I had chosen to come home, to dive back in, to reclaim a small piece of independence.

I reminded myself
there was a patrol car for the neighborhood every night.

I moved slowly upstairs, convinced I heard a swishing sound
, trying to take deep even breaths. As I approached my bedroom I got more nervous. There was definitely someone in there. I turned my phone to silent and pressed 911 hoping they could indeed track someone by the mere act of phoning them.

Y
ou know when you are watching a horror film and you whisper “You idiot! Don’t go in the room!”

I
went in the room.

Facebook Post: “Fueled by rage I have often attempted the impossible. That rarely ends well.”

Chapter 23

T
he lights were off in the bathroom. I looked at his shadow with his back to me, his head bent down over the bathtub filled with bubbles. The image of the young woman on the news flashed through my mind. “Sick bastard,” I thought to myself, “you think you can take one more woman down?” I was suddenly filled with adrenalin. I considered carefully what Ben had taught me about self-defense some years back.

I looked at the cruel geometry of
the rapist, leaning, waiting to put me in that tub.

“I am strong” I told myself.
“I can do this.” I visualized how it would happen, just as I once visualized myself on the bars so many years ago before a competition.

I
rushed toward the tub, knowing I was committed to this now. I moved low, leading with my left shoulder intending to topple him, and if I could, drown him. By using leverage and taking him by surprise I shoved him into the water. Before I could hesitate I had him by the neck pushing him down past the suds littered with red rose petals which only reinforced my rage.

U
nfortunately I had counted on being stronger or his being more willing to die. And maybe his neck not being so wide. As hard as I pushed he pushed back. His whole upper torso was in, which meant he was able to effectively push up with his hands. His feet scrambled for purchase against the sheepskin rug.

A
s he rose up snorting and sputtering I let go and skittered backwards on my rear toward the door then forced myself upright against it. I took a deep breath and turned to flee down the hall.

“GRETCHEN!
What the hell? Why are you trying to kill me?”

“Jared
?”

I
saw him in silhouette move over to the towel rack and begin drying off just as the sound of sirens began in waves shrieking proudly as though they had to let Nebraska know they had an emergency.

I
heard a rap on the door and rushed down to answer it.

I
t was Sheriff Hensley flanked by several deputies. 

“We got the call.”

“Oh,” I said, “Ummm butt dial? Everything is fine.”

He looked dubious. “M
ind if we check the house?”

J
ared appeared behind me breathing hard, “its okay, everything
is
fine. Gretchen just panicked.”

“
Panicked? PANICKED?” I put my hands on my hips, “Sheriff, when I came home ALONE, I heard the bath water running. I go upstairs and see my bath being drawn and the lights out. A bubble bath, with red rose petals floating on top and a man I couldn’t identify in the dark bent over with his back to me. So I shoved him in the water and,” I grimaced “sort of tried to drown him.”

I
turned my head to look at Jared, “That about cover it?” He nodded.

“
You have bubbles in your hair,” I smirked.

Sheriff
Hensley tried to hold back a laugh and then just gave in, chuckling with both hands on his knees.

T
he rest of the deputies followed suit, and for added humiliation, began to snap photos with their phones.

“
Are you telling me that one of my deputies thought it was a good idea to sneak into your bath, in that bathroom where we recently found threatening and grotesque evidence of a homicide and thought it was a romantic idea to surprise you there?”

He
chuckled again and shook his head at Jared. “You have clearly never had to do any work in the romance department or you would know better. Did you ever think that might be frightening? I never thought I’d see the day, but either you have catapulted from my best deputy to the worst, or you are in looove.”

T
here was a chorus of laughter.

“Well glad to see
you all responding in a timely manner” Jared grinned. “It was just a comedy of errors. Still trying to win this girl over and y’all can see how effective that’s been. She has a friend coming on over tonight so you can go and I’ll get on out of here in a minute.”

T
hey all walked to their cars, laughing and shaking their heads as they stole glances at the two of us.

J
ared asked “Will you come upstairs with me? I guess we better clean up after my ill-advised plan.”

“Do you think you can warm up the water for me? It was a very nice gesture. Maybe it will help.”

“Come on.” He led me upstairs and added a little more hot as I changed in the other room. I shucked off my clothes quickly and put on a silk robe. Jared was waiting on a wing chair inside.

“Want some music?
It was part of my plan to make your new bath a happy place again.”

I
nodded and he turned on his Iphone.

I
turned my back to him as I let the robe fall to the floor and slipped into the water trusting the bubbles and petals to cover me. I didn’t turn around to gauge his reaction.

“
May I take over?”

I nodded wearily as he took full advantage of his little surprise and he washed my hair first
. I ducked and rinsed, he filled a pitcher he had thoughtfully brought upstairs and poured clean water over me once more to take care of the remaining suds. Then he partially drained the tub and added more warm water and my Gardenia oil. He soaped up every inch of me, wordlessly lingering where he didn’t necessarily need to. My breathing was becoming more uneven and my eyes closed. He must have noticed, but neither of us was willing to break the silence.

W
hen I stepped out I stood like a child while he took the towel to me. He held out my robe and I slipped into it and he tied the sash. The he picked me up and tucked me into bed.

“I hate to
ask another thing, but could you hand me some panties?”

I directed him
to the top drawer of a nearby dresser and he dug around in them with wonder.

“I have seen some underwear in my time but this takes the cake,
” he said laughing. “You must spend more on underclothes than on the clothes themselves.”

“You might be right,” I said as I turned and propped up on one elbow.
“I’m not the most feminine girl around, but I find the little things help me feel that way. I’m no good with the hair and makeup routine.”

He
tossed me a pair and I shimmied into them under the covers gracelessly. 

“Trust
me” he said huskily, “no one has to look twice to tell you’re all female.”

“You aren’
t angry that I tried to kill you?”

“I’m starting to get used to it
. I’m more worried that you thought I was a killer and you tried to attack what you thought was a dangerous man. There’s no shame in running away, Gretchen. Although I will say that was a pretty good move, given the weight difference between us. Where did you learn that?”

“Ben.”

“Good Lord, it seems more like he was training you for the CIA than boys at Duke. I’ve seen those boys at Duke, hell I’ve played those boys at Duke. I’m pretty sure my grandmother could take them on a rainy day when her arthritis is acting up.”

I
looked at my hands in apparent embarrassment. “As long as we’re talking about college I have a confession to make. You know that scandal y’all had about the UNC athletes having someone else write their essays for them? I used to do that as a job to bring up the Tar Heel players’ GPA’s. I got caught.”

“No one ever wrote my papers for me, but I’m surprised at you Gretchen, and a little disappointed
. Were you suspended from Duke?”

“Well
,” I said defensively, “it was a heady experience being looked up to by these tough manly players, being asked so many academic questions. But no, my suspension was no TV for a week; you see I was only nine…”

J
ared laughed and picked up a toss pillow and threw it at me. “I know we have a lot of obstacles to overcome but this Tar Heel versus Blue Devil rivalry may be the biggest one.”

“
All kidding aside, you’re not mad that I humiliated you in front of your boss and co-workers?”

“Oh that’s going to be the delight of the week. And I’m afraid you’ll be the biggest part of that conversation. “She’s so brave, she must be crazy, but brave, that girl is definitely nuts not to fall for Jared…he is so romantic, if that didn’t do the trick maybe she isn’t into guys…”

“Ha!” I laughed, “You seem to get off scot-free in all these scenarios.”

He
came over and tucked me in a little tighter, “I’m heading out. I’ll tell Jackson you’re asleep. I told him to come late because I had surprise plans for you.” He grinned and shook his head, “try not to kill him all right?”

I
nodded meekly, as he kissed me on the forehead.

Facebook Post:
Jackson: “Now don’t you girls go running amok in that bar and shame me.”

Lucy: “Oh we’re going to run amok all right, in fact, I personally am going to run the fuck outa some amok.”

C
hapter 24

W
hen I woke up, I heard the sounds of pots and pans clattering and a hushed running argument. I trotted lightly down the stairs to find Lucy, Mona and Jackson all cooking up a storm.

“Thank the Lord
,” Jackson said, “I thought you were never going to get up, and I gotta have music when I’m cooking.” He rushed over to set up his Iphone on my speaker dock.

P
retty soon the kitchen was filled with the sounds of P!NK, Adele, Everlast and an assortment of other artists as the trio danced and bumped their way through the preparation of a feast.

They were preparing
coffee cake, eggs, country ham, hash browns, biscuits and gravy; an absurd amount of food. Every time I tried to help I got my hand slapped. I sat on a stool feeling useless.

“You can entertain us
,” Lucy suggested, “tell us what went on here last night.”

“You tell me what you heard first.”

Everyone had a different version, all a little wrong, but the greater part of the scandal seemed to be that I wasn’t taking golden boy Jared seriously. I had offended the town.

“So I’m crazy not for shoving an intruder in the tub but for resisting Jared’s charms
?”

“He is beloved,”
Jackson shrugged, “and he has never gone to this much effort in his life.”

L
ucy snorted, “He never had to go to ANY effort before, and now he’s pulling out all the stops. Bridle Springs is all abuzz, if your story line had Neilson ratings you’d beat out every reality show.”

I was feeling a little uncomfortable with my romantic life
being so heavily scrutinized and scrambled for a fast subject change. Just then “Rumor Has It” came drifting out over the speakers.

“
I’ll entertain you,” I said, and picked up dancing to the music in a choreographed routine I had picked up from watching “Smash” in one of the few times I had bothered to turn on the set. I had enjoyed it, so I recorded it when it ran again and had used it often when I felt low or lethargic. If you’re not a gym rat you’ve got to be creative keeping fit.

J
ackson pointed a ladle at me and said “Alright now, alright, that was wicked good, we’re going to learn that little number and do it at Bunburry’s on Karaoke night. I’ll sing it. Right now it’s time to eat!”

S
omehow we seemed to vanquish the ridiculous amount of food, and they sat around the kitchen groaning while I cleaned up. I checked my messages on the phone and the answering machine and shrugged. “No work today.”

“Great,”
Jackson said, “Now show me that dance bit real quick and we’ll teach it to the gals.”

“This seems sort of crazy,” I said doubtfully.

“Are flash mobs crazy? Yep, crazy as all get out, batshit crazy, but people enjoy them right?”

I
shrugged.

“
Think of us a mini flash mob, ‘cept we are practicing together and showing up at the appropriate venue.”

“So think about a flash mob, but made up of only four people doing the appropriate thing at the appropriate place
?”

“Yeah, yeah alright, so then you just made the point that it isn’t crazy at all.”

“You sure you don’t want to stay in law school?” I grinned. 

W
e had to play the song about eleven times until we had it down.

“We have to wait a week to do it,” Lucy grumbled.

“Unless we go tonight!” Jackson said. “C’mon now, let’s try it with me singing! Oh wait, we shouldn’t go out with Gretchen while the cops are keeping an eye on her.”

I
considered that carefully, “You know, as long as everyone is talking about me let’s change the conversation. Hanging out here is not getting my mind off the situation. Hit it Jackson.”

“HELL YEAH!
” Mona hollered, and we burst out laughing.

J
ackson had a beautiful voice, a high tenor that seemed to add a nuance to the song which had escaped me before. I glanced over at Lucy, astounded.

S
he shrugged, “I’ve heard him in Church, everyone knows he has a good voice, no one knows he has a great one. He tends to keep it toned down when he sings gospel and he never does solos.”

“
Well those days are done. Lucy, call the bar and leave a message, you KNOW they’ll agree,” Jackson commanded.

“I’ll go out on the porch
” she laughed, “y’all are too damn loud.”

S
he came back in smiling.

“
You’re smiling like a mule eating briars,” Jackson said. “What you cookin’ up now?”

“You’re my best friends,” she said defensively, “where is
the trust?”

W
e were all eyeing her expectantly.

“So maybe I called a few extra people,” she said. “No backing out now.”

“Wait a second.” I said, “Are y’all trying to keep me busy on purpose?”

T
hey were quiet for a moment and Lucy said; “We’re trying to keep you happy on purpose.”

I
n a spot on imitation of Jackson I said, “Alright then, alright.”

A
fter breakfast everyone scattered back to their lives with an agreement to meet at Lucy’s house for makeup. As far as clothes went Jackson said “You know Lucy’s gonna wear her damn black jeans and a black top.” He waved his hands in a fit of exasperation. “Just everybody wear black. I’ll fix you up.”

I
spent some time reading, calling my brothers and Anita “just to check in,” anything to keep me from focusing on the unfathomable situation with Ben or the more immediate patrol car circling around the house and parking occasionally at Leslie’s. Just as I was reading the same page for the third time Elizabeth called.

S
he launched into the conversation immediately. “Gretchen, your father and I are wondering if we should come to you. What in the world is going on? We had a call that Ben’s flat in Charlotte was robbed and people came to see us here about it which seems very odd.”

“
That’s the reason you called? Nothing else?” I asked, relieved that news of Charlotte’s rapist hadn’t reached them. “And Dad is with you?”

“Yes,” she paused
and I smiled.

“Is Ben working for a British Company
?”

“Darling
, I asked him about his work once and he said that revealing his client list would render his business worthless.”

“What else have you heard
?”

“Well, it started with that call from that abominable woman, then the news about the flat being robbed, then these people visiting me here, in my home, to ask me about Ben’s
work and when he had been here last and so forth and if he had left anything in my safekeeping. Has something else happened?”

“No
additional news on Ben,” I said quickly, “I had the same visit and questions; I don’t think I know more than you do about what’s going on with him. I don’t think it would serve any purpose for you to come until he gets home. I can take care of his condo before he’s scheduled to return. That’s about a week from now right? He did give us fair warning he would have difficulty getting in touch. Otherwise I guess we would be frantic.”

“That’s lovely darling thank you.”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“I’m sorry
dear; I was talking to your father. He brought me a cup of tea.”

“Oh,” I said blankly.

She was silent for a moment. “Your father and I, well, the relationship defies definition. Do promise not to let it affect you and Ben.”

“After that call from his girlfriend I think our relationship defies definition as well
. He led me to believe before he left… well, let’s just leave it at that for now.”

“We should come,”
Elizabeth said, evidently catching the break in my voice.

“
Elizabeth, I would just be working and you would just be waiting. Everything is fine here, I’m going out with some friends shortly, I’m just keeping busy until he returns and then you could come. You’re always welcome, but you may as well see us at the same time. I’ll come to you if Ben goes to England first.”

“You promise.”

“I swear it.”

“And you’re
well? Your father and I worry about you too, you know. Although your father is baffled by your career choices and I know it’s none of my concern, he says you seem happy enough.”

“Oh yes,” I said reassuringly, “tell Dad to stop worrying. Wait. Tell him I said I’ll tell him when to worry.”

She laughed lightly, “Do try to have the same attitude toward Ben, despite recent circumstances, he’s never given you reason to doubt him before has he?”

“Y
ou’re absolutely right,” I said, and we said our goodbyes soon after that.

I
took Mosey out and leaned against a tree thinking about Ben. I never knew enough about the fine details of Ben’s life before to doubt him; I only knew what he showed me, believed what he told me. It was very naïve and maybe a little egotistical to never consider that he might have a romantic and sexual life. For that matter, he only knew what I wanted him to know about me. It was unfair for me to have such lofty standards for him that one call from a woman he was involved with had sent me into a spiral and into to Jared’s bed.

I
had behaved badly toward both of them. I was not, I reflected, a very nice person at all.

I
took a deep breath and thought about tonight. Starting tonight I would work on being a better person. Starting with Jackson.

W
ithin twenty minutes I was ready in black jeans, a black top and heels. The heels put me right over the 6 foot mark on height, but they looked nice. I decided as far as my face and hair went that I would leave a blank canvas to make it as easy as possible for Jackson. I resolved to watch him do my hair and makeup tonight though and maybe pick up a trick or two that I could manage on my own. I took Mosey out and walked him over to where the car from the sheriff’s department was parked. I told the officer where I was going so he wouldn’t get into trouble and made my way to Lucy’s house.

J
ackson was already there, roughhousing with the twins and finished with Lucy. He started on me immediately with a satchel full of products that would make a MAC consultant dizzy with envy. Mona arrived and we were all pleased to see her wearing something not only black but contemporary. “I went shopping in Charlotte!” she announced as though it had been some great sojourn.

“Whoa,”
Jackson exclaimed, “Is that St. John?”

“Sure enough is and I just let those gals take care of everything. Told them dress me in black and I’d buy it.”

Black wasn’t her color, until Jackson finished with her. After we had our makeup done we went into Lucy’s home gym with its mirrored walls to practice a few more times under Jackson’s direction. Mona’s presence in the lineup helped take the edge off, as though we weren’t taking ourselves seriously, but Lucy was adamant that Jackson sing the entire song while we did the chorus. Not that there was any argument, we could all carry a tune but Jackson could
sing
.

F
ortunately we all had rhythm and the routine was fairly simple, Mona’s generation had grown up learning particular dances like the “mashed potato” so learning choreographed steps was not uncharted waters for her. From Lucy’s ninety pound frame to my towering one we certainly didn’t look like we were chosen to complement each other, but Jackson waved that off saying, “just think of the Mamas and the Pappas, back before everyone was all packaged up. As long as we look like we’re having fun with it people will enjoy it.”

“You swear you’re going to really belt it out right
, Jackson?”

“Sure, no point doing it if we don’t do it right.”

“You heard him Lucy,” Mona said, “You’re going to do it no holes barred right Jackson?”

“Holds,” we all corrected her simultaneously.

She yanked her head around irritably. “Bein’ with y’all is like hanging out in a Tourette’s support group, y’all just bark out words randomly, if that’s a new thing I’m not on board with it. But Jackson’s got a point, what’s making you so skittery Lucy?”

“Yeah,”
Jackson said, “I’m getting a little wary myself, seems like its real important how I do tonight.”

“Nothing is up,” Lucy said flatly, “I just think this town should see what it’s been missing.”

“You want this town to see what it’s been missing?” Jackson repeated, “Alright, alright yeah now, everybody has to do a Karaoke number tonight then. What can you sing? You all can carry a tune, just pick something in your range. Mos’ likely a song you like to sing would be that.”