Courting Alley Cat (18 page)

              It was hard work, but she was enjoying it. She wasn’t taking phone calls from anyone or even checking her email except at night before bedtime.

              She glanced at the clock. Mom was late. She stole a glance at her cell phone which had the volume turned off. No calls. She thought about walking to the house, but decided to give her a few more minutes.

              She admitted to herself that she was being a little bit spoiled. Ok, a lot. But it was working. The routine. The comfort. The whole thing was working out so well. She was so absorbed in her work, that she was even able to keep thoughts of Justin from intruding - most of the time.

              She needed to rest her eyes anyway. She squeezed them tightly shut, then opened them and had a hallucination.

              Justin was walking up the path with a pitcher and a plate. He had a worried look on his face and was walking slowly. She watched until he disappeared around the corner to knock on the door. The knock was real.

              Perhaps Justin was real. Her heart skittered in her chest – a familiar little skipping that only happened when Justin was near. He must be real.

              He didn’t seem to have seen her. She could ignore him and maybe he would go away.

              Her mother must have sent him up here, otherwise, he would have had no way of knowing where she was.  And... he was bringing her snack that her mother usually brought.

              He knocked a second time and she was jarred out of her reverie. She jumped up and ran into the little bathroom which was the only other room in the house - and held the only mirror.

              She groaned. In such a hurry to get to work today, she hadn’t even washed her hair. She grabbed a pony-tail holder off the sink and pulled back her hair. Had she brushed her teeth today? Panicking, she quickly brushed, grateful to whatever had prompted her to bring basic toiletries with her.

              That was all she could do. Maybe he had already left.

              She didn’t have a change of clothes. Feeling like a rag-a-muffin, she took a deep breath, and opened the door.

              He was still there.

              And he looked so fresh, and, well... just plain hot.

              “I thought you weren’t going to let me in,” he said.

              “I had to,” she said, “You brought my snack.”

              He laughed, and she took the pitcher and plate from him, feeling some of the tension drain.

              She leaned over and set them on the desk, then before she could say anything, he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers tangled in his hair.

              Then he kissed her. They kissed with all the longing and all the love that had been bottled up inside of them for the past weeks. He kissed her as though he couldn’t get enough.

              Her mind went blank. All she knew was that this was what she wanted. She wanted to be with him - like this. This was where she belonged.

              They kissed for what could have been minutes or could have been hours. She didn’t even know. When finally, he pulled back, reigning kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, her hair, she clung to him, not wanting the moment to end.

              “I missed you so much,” he said.

              “I missed you, too.”

              “Don’t ever leave me again.”

              “I won’t.”

              It hadn’t been hard to find her. Especially not when all he had to do was to follow her from Hanover all the way to Dallas - and she never once noticed. People were such idiots. So trusting.

              His plan was absolutely perfect. No one would ever suspect him way over here in Dallas. He would kill Alley, then go back to Hanover. No one would ever put the two together. That would teach that uppity Justin to nose around in somebody else’s business.

              That little girl would never have lived if it hadn’t been for him. Now she could identify him and he would have to move on to someplace new - again.

              And now it wouldn’t be Dallas- not after what he had to do here. Maybe Houston. Lots of young girls there - fresh faces - new blood. He chuckled to himself.

              He hadn’t been sure he would have it to do. Since Justin didn’t seem to care anymore about the little twerp. But here he was - followed her all the way over here. Now it would be ever so much sweeter to take out the little slut.

              The young ones were so much better. Not sluts yet. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Justin had to pay for what he’d done.

              Justin had disrupted the whole thing when he found the girl. Yes, he would pay.

              Determined, he moved forward toward the little house. Little rich girl thought she was safe. They always did. They always thought the ugly world out there couldn’t touch them.

              The only problem with his plan was that Justin was here to get her and he couldn’t risk killing her in Hanover. The connection would be too obvious. He had to do it and do it quickly. Before they left to go back.

              “Alley,” he said, pulling back to look into her eyes. “I love you.”

              “I love you, too.”

              “Alley,” he said, dropping to his knees. “Will you marry me?”

              All she could think about was her book deadline. Right then, in that moment, when what she wanted more than anything else in the world was right before her, all she could think about was the second most important thing to her, which for the past few days, had somehow become the most important thing in her life.

              Alley looked up as the door behind them opened, then she gasped as she recognized the man standing there looking at them.

              Justin turned and followed her gaze, then pushed her behind him.

              The man smiled - an evil smile. “You can’t save her,” he said, his voice gravelly.

              Justin didn’t respond. He just watched. The man took a step forward.

              “What is it you want from us?” Justin asked.

              The man laughed again. “I don’t want anything from you.”

              Justin took a step back, pushing Alley with him. He shifted slightly, turning. It was then that Alley saw the knife in the man’s hand. How could this happen? How could she be proposed to in one second and in the second have a lunatic pull a knife on them?

              “Don’t do this,” Justin said, quietly.

              “It’s nothing personal,” the man said, glibly.

              “It sure feels personal,” Justin said.

              “You won’t feel much for very long,” he said, taking another step toward them.

              In the next instant, the man froze and his eyes widened. Justin had a gun in his hand pointed at the man. Seconds ticked. Then the man laughed again. “You won’t shoot me. You don’t have it in you.”

              As though in slow motion, Alley watched as the man lifted the knife and went to throw it toward Justin. But before he could release it, a shot rang out. The knife fell to the ground. Justin lowered the gun. Then the man fell, slowly, but when he crashed against the floor, the vibrations went all through her.

              Justin dropped the gun. The shock filtered through him. He had never shot anyone before. It had been self-defense - that much was clear. He had done nothing wrong - technically.

              Alley was still there - behind him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t bear to look at her. Not only had he gone and shot a man, he had done it right in front of the woman he had just proposed to. A woman who didn’t even know he had brought a gun into her home - without her permission. Had he saved her life? Probably. But nonetheless, he hadn’t planned to kill a man in the process.

              Seconds passed. The quietness was deafening. How had no one heard the shot? This was the city, albeit somewhat secluded. Surely someone heard. He needed to call the cops.

              Then he felt Alley’s hand on his arm. Felt her pull him close. Hold him tight.

              The tension drained out of him and he dropped to the floor taking her with her, pulling her against him. “I’m sorry,” he said.

              “No,” she murmured. “You had to do it.”

              “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought a gun into your home.”

              A bubble of laughter escaped her. “You just saved our lives and you’re worried that you didn’t ask if you could bring a gun in here? And anyway, this isn’t my home. It’s a study.”

              Then he was able to look into her eyes. “You’re right. You’re always right. We’re ok. That’s all that matters.”

              “What do we do with him?’

              “We get out of here and call someone to come get him.”

              Two hours later after their second episode as a couple with law enforcement, Alley and Justin sat in her parents’ living room. Alley was wrapped in a blanket battling chills that she couldn’t seem to shake despite the sweltering Dallas heat outside. Justin sat protectively next to her and hadn’t left her side since the shooting.             

              “How about some hot tea?” Kylee asked.

              Allie smiled at her mom. “Ok,” she said. Despite the fact that she had been outside twice, each time she came back inside, she was chilled again. Maybe she needed to get warm from the inside out.

              “It might help,” Justin said.

              “I’ll be ok,” she said, attempting to wipe the worry from his brow.

              It wasn’t his fault. It had to just be her body’s shock to all that had happened this afternoon. She’d never seen anyone shot and killed. And.... she’d never been proposed to. She hadn’t wrapped her mind around which of the two might be causing her body to experience symptoms of shock.

              Perhaps it was the combination. The two were juxtaposed in an unnatural way. From an evolutionary viewpoint, she supposed she had no choice but to accept his proposal. He had proven himself to be an ample protector which genetically was the thing she valued most as a female. A thesis topic, perhaps?

              She shook her head.

              “What’s wrong?” Justin asked.

              “Nothing. I was just thinking about... everything.”

              “I’m sorry,” he said.

              “You have to stop apologizing. It’s not your fault.”

              “In a way it is.”

              “Because of the SAR thing?”

              “How do you know about that?”

              “Granny told me.”

              She shook her head again and met his gaze. Those wonderful bluer than blue eyes.

              “Anyway,” she said. “I wasn’t just thinking about... that.”

              “What were you thinking about?”

              “I was thinking about what we were talking about before we were – um… invaded.”

              He took her hand and held it firmly between his. She could feel her skin warming with his touch. “And what exactly were we talking about?” He had a mischievous look on his face.

              “Well,” she said. “If you don’t remember, then I wouldn’t think it was very important.”

              “Here’s your hot tea,” Kylee said, coming back into the room with a tray with not only two tea cups, but also cookies. Alley’s mom had impeccable hospitality skills; however, right now, Alley wasn’t so very pleased with her timing.

              “Thanks, mom,” she said, taking the cup and warming her hands.

              Kylee sat on the arm of the sofa next to her daughter. “Are you feeling better?”

              “I’ll be ok.”

              Kylee studied her daughter intensely, glanced at Justin who was staring into his teacup, his jaw clenched. Then her observation skills caught up with her mothering instinct. “All right then. I’ll just be upstairs if you need me. I have to get ready for a meeting after dinner.”

              After her mother had left, Justin lifted his gaze to hers.

              “Alley,” he said. “I know this isn’t the right time. But the question is out there. I can’t pretend I didn’t ask so I can save it for a better time.”

              He got on his knees - for the second time that day. “Alley? Will you marry me?”

              “I can’t right now.”

              He laughed. Or at least it sounded sort of like a laugh. She couldn’t really tell.

              “I don’t mean right now.”

              “I know,” she answered, looking into her teacup.

              “Alley,” he said, taking the teacup from her. “I know this is not a good time for me to be asking you. But...” he stopped, putting his hand under her chin until she met his gaze. “The question is out there and we can’t just ignore it.”