Taking Charge (11 page)

“Oh, hi, honey, how was the training?” Pam asked,
fidgeting and not meeting her eyes.

Something wasn’t right. Pam looked flustered and she
was wearing rubber gloves. She did love to clean but not usually at
night.

“Not too bad, they’re a bit rough around the edges,
but I can iron them out. Is Bob back yet? Did he tell you about my
car?” Robyn asked, shaking the keys even harder.

“Yes, he did. Wow, that’s great,” Pam said
unenthusiastically.

“It’s so cool, come and see it.”

“I will, honey, in a while. I’m just in the middle of
something,” Pam said, pausing at the sink and wringing out a
cloth.

“What are you doing?” Robyn asked.

“Just cleaning up.”

“Cleaning up what? Where’s Bob?” Robyn wanted to
know.

“He’s, er, in the garage,” Pam said quickly.

“No he’s not, I parked Leonora in there. Why can I
hear scrubbing?” Robyn asked her.

“Oh, it’s nothing, honey. Why don’t you make us all a
pot of coffee?” Pam suggested.

“It’s coming from my room,” Robyn said, moving toward
the sound.

“Robyn, don’t go in there. Bob’s fixing it. Robyn…”
Pam began, hurrying down the hallway after her.

Robyn entered her bedroom to find Bob fiercely
rubbing at the wall of the room with a hard-bristled brush. On one
wall, the words “Jason loves Robyn” were daubed in three foot high
red letters.

“Robyn, I don’t know what’s gotten into them. This
isn’t like them at all. I am so sorry. Bob is going to get this off
the wall even if we have to buy every product Meijer has to offer,
or even redecorate. We could do with redecorating anyway and
wallpaper is twenty percent off right now,” Pam babbled.

“It’s okay,” Robyn replied, swallowing a lump in her
throat.

“No, it isn’t okay, Robyn. Their privileges have been
taken away for a month; it’s no TV in their room, no candy, and no
weekend trips. And they are going to apologize to you,” Bob told
her as he continued to scrub.

“And we’re going to go to the school and see the
principal. We’re going to get to the bottom of who’s been filling
their head with all this stuff,” Pam added.

“I’m just going to go. It’s too much having me here.
I should have realized that when you offered,” Robyn said, picking
up her backpack and scanning the room for her things.

“No, honey! Don’t do that! We want you to stay,” Pam
insisted.

“I know you do, but I’ll be fine. It can’t be easy
for the twins having someone else sharing their space, especially a
strange cousin from England who everyone still thinks is a witch,”
Robyn added with half a smile.

“Robyn, this is as much your home as theirs, I hope
you know that,” Bob told her.

“Thank you for saying that, but it isn’t, not really,
not now. I’m going to go, it’s just easier for everyone,” Robyn
replied, putting her baseball cap into her bag.

“Robyn, please don’t. Tell her Bob, tell her she
can’t go,” Pam blubbered, tears forming in her eyes.

“Robyn, we don’t want you to go. I’m going to speak
to those two monsters I’ve raised and…” Bob began.

“You don’t have to do that. Honestly, it’s fine,”
Robyn insisted.

The situation was just too awkward and she needed to
get out of it. She was used to standing on her own two feet…well,
to a certain extent. How hard could it be?

“But where will you go?” Pam asked, wiping at her
eyes.

“I’ll stay with Sarah,” Robyn said confidently.

“But her place is really small, and the last time I
went, there was a motorcycle in the spare room,” Pam informed
her.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be fine,” Robyn assured her,
hoisting her backpack onto her back and picking up her case.

“I don’t want you to go, this isn’t right. Bob, this
isn’t right. Make her stay, at least until the morning. Stay until
the morning, honey,” Pam said, shaking her head and dabbing at her
eyes.

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and Bob, I’ll speak
to you about arrangements for our night out on Friday,” Robyn said,
backing out of the room.

“Er, yeah, sure, Friday,” Bob replied, not daring to
look at Pam.

“See you!” Robyn called as cheerily as she could as
she headed out toward the garage.

She closed the door behind her, threw her luggage
into Leonora, and let out a heavy sigh. Who was she trying to kid?
She couldn’t stay with Sarah and Mickey, not after her friend had
poured her heart out over lunch and what she had heard Mickey say
at training. It would be like living in a melting pot of tension
the whole time and that was the last thing she needed at the
moment.

She could go to her dad’s, but that would mean
confronting Nancy, and she wasn’t sure the woman would welcome her
with open arms after what had gone on at the roadhouse. In fact,
she would probably get the door slammed in her face while being
subjected to quite a few well-chosen words, most of them beginning
with the letter “F”.

Brad’s was out of the question because of his whole
asking her on a date moment and the fuss he had made about Leonora.
Apart from a hotel, there was only one other place she could
go.

She started the car.

The photo album had been on the top of his case. His
mother must have slipped it in because he sure as Hell wouldn’t
have packed it. Everything was still too raw. But he’d taken it
out, he didn’t know why, and now it was on the coffee table. He put
the bottle of beer to his mouth and took a swig of the liquid
inside. Why was life so difficult? Or was it? Maybe it was just his
life, or maybe not his life, maybe it was just him. The hockey team
had made a judgment. Like his team at Gen-All, they had all stared
and looked him up and down and made a decision about him. First
impressions, taking things at face value, that’s what people did.
And they all had such high expectations—impossibly high
expectations. Well, he had to be good enough or else what was the
point? If he didn’t matter, if he couldn’t achieve what he wanted
to achieve, he may as well drink himself stupid and find a wall to
drive into. He opened the drawer of the sideboard and threw the
album inside.

“Look, I know this is really weird and you probably
think I’m a crazy stalker or something, but I can’t stay at my
aunt’s any more. The Devil children did something really crazy and
it freaked me out. And if I have to look at them across the dining
table one more time, I’ll want to grab them by the pigtails and
string them up from the ceiling fan. See, you can tell I’ve really
thought about it. And I can’t go to Sarah’s, her and Mickey are
having a silent domestic. He’s a commitment phobe and her
biological clock is ticking. And if I turn up at my dad’s, I think
Nancy might just punch me out. I’ve phoned the two hotels in town,
the posh one that’s apparently full because of a Jehovah’s
Witnesses conference and the seedy one run by Psycho Mike-o and he
only has his basic room left. I’ve seen those rooms and, believe
me, if he calls his last available room basic, it means it probably
doesn’t have its own bathroom and I’d be sharing with a family of
cockroaches. So, I’m asking—no—I’m begging you to let me stay in
one of those four bedrooms. Not the one with the best view or
anything, well a lake view would be nice, but it isn’t a deal
breaker. I just really need somewhere to stay. Please?” Robyn
gabbled when Cole had opened the front door.

He looked at her in amusement, a smile on his
lips.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’ve begged
haven’t I? My next plan of action is to ask for a duvet so I can
get some sleep in Leonora,” Robyn said.

“Come in,” Cole invited, taking her case from her
hands.

“I can stay? You don’t think I’m a stalker?” Robyn
asked in relief.

“I don’t think you’re a stalker, you can stay. I got
you the car to drive, not to live in,” Cole told her.

“I’ll pay rent or do the housework or something. I
have money. Vacuuming. I can vacuum at least twice a week like your
mom wanted,” Robyn suggested.

“We’ll work something out. Do you want a coffee?”
Cole offered.

Robyn dropped her bag on the floor and pulled him
toward her, kissing him hungrily on the mouth. She felt him kiss
her back, more intently than he had at the airport. She backed him
up against the wall. Her mouth didn’t leave his for a second. She
didn’t want to stop. She wanted to hold on to this feeling, this
indescribable urge she had to get intimate with him every time they
were together.

His lips were so smooth, yet the way he used them to
kiss her was firm and suggestive. His hands touched her skin at the
waistband of her jeans and it was like she’d been scorched. A warm,
unrecognizable sensation shot up her spine, and she shivered.

Then he ended it. He pulled his mouth away from hers
to take a breath. He looked at her, his dark eyes questioning. He
didn’t know what was going on between them and neither did she.

“This isn’t a date,” Robyn said quickly, enjoying the
way his arms felt circled around her waist.

“I know…you don’t do dates,” he answered, still
looking deep into her eyes.

“Have you got any beer?” she asked.

He ran his finger over his lips as he lay in bed.
She’d kissed him again last night and he’d kissed her back. He’d
held her close to him and he’d felt her quake. She was holding on
to something, he could tell. She put on this brave front, talked
her way out of situations, but inside she was vulnerable. Just like
him. The job and his project was the only thing holding him
together sometimes. What was holding Robyn together?

He’d given her the best room. She had a panoramic
view of West Lake and all its natural Michigan beauty. When she’d
woken up the next morning and drawn back the curtains, the scenery
had stunned her. The sun was already up and the lake was still and
calm. Like a mirror, it reflected every tree standing along the
banks. The sky was a cornflower blue and there wasn’t a cloud in
sight.

She was still suffering from the time difference, but
this morning, opening her eyes to the fantastic garden, the boats
moored around the edge of the water and the lake itself, everything
seemed a little bit better. Today was a good weather day. The sun
was shining and there was little wind, and in Portage, that meant
getting intimate with the barbecue.

She was already outside on the deck, a pair of tongs
in her hand, and the lid of the grill open, when Cole appeared.

“Morning! Bratwurst?” she greeted, waving a sausage
in the air.

“Man, it’s not even seven yet. How long have you been
up?” Cole asked, joining her at the barbecue.

“I don’t know, about five-thirty. The sun was up, I
went for a walk around the lake, came back, put a load of washing
on—it’s in the dryer now, by the way, if you’re looking for
something—then I thought I’d cook breakfast. Well, I was going to
do eggs, but you’re all out,” Robyn informed him, turning the
sausages over.

“I’ll pick some up today,” he answered.

“Oh no, don’t worry, there’s some other stuff we
need. I’ll go to Meijer’s later, use Pam’s discount. No point
having family working at a store if you don’t take advantage of
their discount card,” Robyn said.

“Listen, Robyn, you don’t have to do this. Doing my
laundry and cooking me breakfast. I said you can stay, I don’t
expect anything in return. And I mean anything in return,” Cole
assured her.

“You’re talking about the kiss, aren’t you? That
wasn’t a down payment on the room. What sort of girl do you think I
am?” Robyn asked, trying to avoid looking at him.

Last night’s kiss had been even better than the kiss
at the airport. She’d wanted more, she’d wanted him more. She’d
wanted something to stop her thinking, just for a few moments.
Something to wipe away the sick graffiti the twins had painted and
what it meant. What better distraction than getting a little
intimate with her crush?

“That wasn’t what I meant. I just…” Cole began.

“You need help with your grocery choices, that’s all.
You don’t even have any crisps in the cupboard. I mean chips, you
know, deep-fried sliced potatoes with salt. They come in large bags
that are never quite big enough to share. Every house should always
have chips in the cupboard, if only for emergencies. They’re a
comfort food, a basic necessity. And there were no gherkins, you
know, dill pickles,” Robyn told him.

“I’ve only been here two days and I didn’t know I was
going to be having a house guest. I just bought the essentials…you
know, bread and milk, pasta and fruit,” Cole said.

“That’s a staple diet for someone who always does
what their mother tells them. You want two or three?” Robyn asked
as she began putting sausages on a plate.

“No more than two! I can’t believe you’re barbecuing
for breakfast,” Cole remarked.

“You need to get into the Michigan ways. It’s always
time for a barbecue around here,” Robyn told him as she brought the
plates over to the table.

“So it seems. So what are your plans for today? Still
want to meet for lunch?” Cole asked.

“Delivery at eight at the roadhouse, visiting Dad,
overseeing the decorating. Don’t you want to meet for lunch? I
mean, I guess it might get too much seeing each other all the time
if we’re living together…I mean, sharing a house. And people might
get the wrong idea,” Robyn remarked, trying not to focus on his
lips.

“We wouldn’t want them to think we were dating,” Cole
said, looking up at her.

“No, we wouldn’t,” she agreed with a stiff nod.

“We could always skip lunch and go to the
supermarket—do the shopping together,” Cole suggested.

“You really want to shop with me, don’t you! You’re
worried I’m going to stock your ridiculously large, talking
refrigerator with goodies,” Robyn said, laughing.