Coming Home (14 page)

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to and I’m not done yet.”
Vicki stopped walking and looked at me. “You’re spending the night. I’ve
already called Hillary, and she agreed you need to stay here for the night. It
was either that or she was driving out here.” Vicki didn’t let me respond and
walked down the hall. “Wash up and come down. Dinner’s about done.”

I just stood there staring down the empty hall. “She called my
mother?”

“Yes.” I jumped as Matt came up behind me. “She told your mother
all about the . . . incident and got info on your favorite things so you’ll be
comfortable here tonight.”

“My favorite things?” I was confused.

“Yes. You know pajamas, snacks, and toothpaste. She went shopping
for you while you were out the second time.” He put his hand on my shoulder.
“Is she too much for you? I mean, I know she can be too much sometimes, but do
you want me to tell her to back off?”

“No, it’s okay. If she’s talking to my mother, it’s no use.”

“Do you know who put that coffee in your office?” Matt looked so
serious. This must have been hard on him. To have one of his employees pulling
stunts like the sketch they plastered and now the coffee had to be hard to
take.

I shook my head. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but I’m
coming up empty. Couldn’t it have been drugged at the coffee shop?”

“I would have possibly believed that if someone came forward to
say they gave it to you and where they bought it, but . . .” Matt took his hand
off of my shoulder.

“No one will admit they gave it to me?” I couldn’t believe it.
“Someone really does hate me.”

“Someone’s sick. I’ll give you that, but I don’t know anyone that
hates you.”

Vicki yelled from downstairs. “Guys, it’s time for dinner.”

“Coming,” Matt responded. “Now I’ve decided to let the incident
get quiet instead of bringing in a bunch of police or investigators.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, it’s against my better judgment, but I thought you
wouldn’t like to make a production out of it after you wouldn’t let me find out
who was behind the redecorating with Ryan’s sketch. Besides, someone took the
coffee before we could get to it.” He held up his hand. “I’m not sure if
someone was just cleaning up or covering their tracks, but either way it’s
gone.”

“Gone.” I barely whispered the repeat.

“Yes, or I would have had the cops crawling all over that place.
I do want to watch everything around you very closely, though. The other may
have been a harmless prank gone too far, but this is far from harmless. And
then add your tires into it.” He shook his head. “So until we know who or what
happened . . . Well, I just want to keep an eye on you. Okay?”

“Okay.” I looked back towards the stairs. “We’d better go. I
don’t want to upset Vicki.” I was upset enough for the both of us, and I didn’t
need to add her hysteria to the mix.

~*~

Dinner was great, and I actually loved having a family
to talk with again. I didn’t realize just how much I’d missed it. Dad never
said much, but mom and I would hold several different conversations about our
day when I was younger. I wondered if I had brothers or sisters with kids that
I could have dinner with and talk about their day. I had to stop thinking like
that. It wouldn’t do me any good to have fantasies about what could be and have
it turn out to be nothing like it.

“Did I buy the wrong kinds?” Vicki was showing me everything she
bought for my stay when I zoned out about the family I was searching for. “I
can go get something else, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m sorry, Vicki. Nothing’s wrong. Actually everything here is
perfect, just as I have at home, but I don’t want to be a bother to you. I’m
only staying one night, and you went to too much trouble.”

“Nonsense. I want you to feel welcome to stay any time. The only
home you’ve known is hours away, and I want you to feel as if you can come here
whenever you need to. We’ll just keep this stuff in the guest room for when you
stay again.”

Again? Maybe Matt was right and she was becoming too much. I felt
a little awkward standing there wondering when exactly I was going to want to
stay at my employer’s home again. Vicki and Matt were great, but I wasn’t going
to just invite myself over. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond that wouldn’t
make it sound like a commitment to stay over again. “This is really nice of
you, Vicki. I do love these pajamas.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. I picked up clothes for tomorrow, too. The
doctor said you could return to work tomorrow if you were feeling better, and I
know you won’t stay home again if you don’t have to.” She handed me a sack.

I pulled out a complete outfit—slacks, blouse, socks, underwear,
and a bra—all designer labels. “Vicki . . .”

“You don’t like it?” The fear of rejection was written all over
her face.

“Of course I like it. I love all of it, but I could have gone
home to change before work.”

Vicki waved her hand as if she were shooing the idea away. “I
love to buy clothes and Ashley’s a lost cause. She’s still a tomboy and takes
after her father. I finally have someone to share this with. Please don’t take
that from me.”

I put the sack on the bed and turned to Vicki. I needed to set
some boundaries, but needed to be selective in how I approached this as Vicki was
quite sensitive. “Vicki—”

“Just say it. Matt’s always saying how you’re a straight shooter.
Don’t start holding back on my account.” Vicki crossed her arms and appeared to
brace herself for what she knew was coming.

“Vicki, this is all nice. Really, really nice and it would be
very easy to get used to all of this, but it’s just . . .” I paused and looked
at all the things on the bed she bought in hopes of me spending more time here.
“It’s just that I’m finally on my own and I feel like an adult.”

Vicki looked visibly relieved that I didn’t say anything about
her. “I completely understand. You want your independence, and I agree
wholeheartedly that is very important for a young single woman.”

“Why do I feel a ‘but’ coming?”

“However,” Vicki said with a smile. “Sometimes being so far from
our loved ones makes us very lonely, and I just want you to know that you have
a place to come to if you ever need it.” She picked up the toiletries and took
them to the guest bathroom.

Chapter 10

I had been keeping my distance from everyone since the
coffee incident. I know it wasn’t fair to the ones that were my friends, but it
was hard to tell who did it. I hated to think that way, but what if it was one
of my friends? I finally agreed to have lunch with Stacy again after eating a
cold lunch in my office alone every day for two weeks. I got caught up on all
the office gossip and who was dating or breaking up. She actually held out
longer than I thought she would have before asking about it.

“So when are we going to talk about what happened to you?” She
took a bite of her sandwich and stared at me waiting for my response.

I took a drink as my mouth went dry the second she asked the
question. I had hoped she would do most of the talking as she usually did
during our lunches. I could tell she wasn’t going to let this one go. I
shrugged, trying to act as though it wasn’t a big deal to me. “What’s to talk
about?”

Stacy put her sandwich down and looked at me. “What do you mean?
There’s a lot to talk about. All I know is you passed out and Vicki caught you
because everyone else was paying attention to Matt. Once we all got clued in
that something was wrong, it was pandemonium. The next thing I knew, Ryan
picked you up and carried you out with Matt and Vicki on his heels.”

“Ryan carried me out?” I felt my cheeks burn as I realized what I
thought had been a drug-induced fantasy had actually happened.

Stacy rolled her eyes. “Please concentrate on the importance of
what happened here and not get lost in the hottie rescue. Who do you think did
it?” She picked up her sandwich again. “You have to have your suspicions.”

I thought about everyone on my team again and couldn’t think of
anything. I thought about the other people I had come in contact with over the
last few months working here and still nothing. I started shaking my head. “I
really don’t know.”

“You want to know what I think?” Stacy leaned in really close so
she didn’t get overheard. I leaned in, too. “I think it was Vicki.”

“What!” I sat up straight as if I had been hit head on. “Why
would she do that and then take me home to her house if she hates me so much?”

“I think she did it so she could take you home.” I started to
protest. “Think about it. She was the only one that watched you and knew
something wasn’t right. Matt was standing in the opposite direction. She should
have been watching him talk, but she was looking at you. It’s like she was
waiting.”

“It just doesn’t make sense.” I knew Vicki was a little off, but
I never expected her to pull anything like this. The more I thought about it,
the more it did make sense. Matt had asked if she was too much. He also said he
wanted to keep a close eye on me. Maybe this sort of thing had happened before.
“Has she done anything like that in the past?”

Stacy looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook her head.
“No. She’s always been fair and treated everyone the same until you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? How am I treated differently?” I
started to get defensive.

“You went to her house for dinner without the rest of us, for
one. We’ve been there, but always as a group. Then she’s patting the seat next
to her so you’ll sit by her in meetings. It’s like you two have assigned
seating now. Plus, she seems to follow you everywhere around the building.”

I couldn’t deny any of those things, but I thought there was a good
excuse for each one. The only reason I went to her house for dinner was because
my mother was in town and they had since formed a close friendship. That’s
probably why she was looking out for me and wanting me to sit next to her.
“It’s just a favor for my mom. Really, it’s almost as if I have two mothers
now.” I waved off Stacy’s theory with a little more confidence than I felt.

Stacy thought about that for a minute and shrugged. “I guess that
could be it.”

For the rest of the day, my thoughts were all about Stacy’s
theory on who drugged my coffee. Vicki did seem to want to keep me closer to
her, and she did buy all that stuff expecting me to stay again. However, she’d
never so much as hinted about me staying over again since I told her I wanted
to remain independent. She did follow me around, but she had offered to take
stuff for me when she learned we were both going to the same department. She
wouldn’t offer if she truly wanted to be by my side the entire time.

Vicki had seemed like a regular person lately, and she hadn’t
been so emotional. She’d even mentioned her parents a couple of times without
crying. I wondered if I was just being paranoid or if I should say something to
Matt. Maybe I should just pay closer attention to everything Vicki does. On the
other hand, I needed to get to the bottom of this. How did I even bring it up
without offending him and ruining everything here if I was wrong?

I had been consumed by my thoughts and didn’t really work that
much after lunch. I was shocked to see the clock read six when I finally looked
up. I started to close down since I knew my concentration wouldn’t be any
better, especially now that I felt guilty for not working. I quickly looked at
my calendar to see if I missed any meetings and thankfully there hadn’t been
anything scheduled this afternoon. There was a meeting scheduled first thing in
the morning, and I knew I would have to sit next to Vicki. I wasn’t sure if I
could do it or not. I needed to talk to Matt.

I went up to his office to see if he was still in and overheard
him talking to someone. “I really appreciate all of your help on this. I know.
I know it’s not an easy case to solve.”

“I know why this is so important to you, but are you sure you
want to find the answers? You may not like what you find out.” The other voice
sounded much closer to the door, and I backed up a little.

“I need to find the answers whether I like them or not. This has
been eating at me for so long. I just need it over with.”

“I would, too. What are you telling Vicki?” I realized the other
man sounded a lot like the recruiter that got me the interview.

“Nothing. She is to know nothing about this. I’m finally getting
her back after everything, and I can’t lose her again.”

I turned and walked away. I didn’t want to be part of any lie
that Matt was keeping from Vicki. I understand that Vicki is an emotional
person, but he shouldn’t keep anything from his wife. I ran into Ryan as we
both rounded the corner a little too quickly. He put his free hand on my arm
before I bounced completely off of him and landed on the floor. I suddenly
remembered Stacy telling me that he carried me when I passed out. I closed my
eyes, embarrassed again at the image of him carrying me.

“We really have to stop meeting like this.” I looked up at him
and saw the amusement in his eyes. “That or I’m going to have to start wearing
my umpire gear to work.” He let go of me and started to rub his chest.

“Please, I’m sure you’ve been hit harder than that. What are you
in such a hurry for anyway?”

“I need to get these to Matt before he leaves and I’m late.” Ryan
looked at his watch. “Make that really late.”

I hated to go back to Matt’s office, but this gave me the perfect
excuse to be there. “I’ll take them to Matt for you.”

“That would be great, Rebecca.” He handed over the folders he was
carrying and practically ran out the door. “Thanks! I’ll see you tomorrow
morning when I kick your butt on the treadmill.” He laughed and waved as he
left.

I smiled and turned to go back to Matt’s office, walking a little
slower than I had when I left his office. I was trying to decide what all I
should talk to him about. It was none of my business if he was holding secrets
from his wife. I shouldn’t have been so bothered by it, but I really did like
Vicki, even if she seemed a little off. I knew I needed to ask him if he thought
Vicki was capable of giving me that spiked coffee, but I couldn’t talk to him
about that and then discuss why he shouldn’t keep things from his wife. I would
just be handing him the perfect excuse why he should keep things from her.