Fender Bender Blues (35 page)

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re pretty fucked,” Rick pronounced, crossing an ankle over his knee. A smile enveloped his lips as he leaned forward. “Well hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so bent out of shape before. It’s a nice change.”

“It’s not funny. I don’t know how to fix this.”

“So you’re telling me for the first time in your life you actually give a damn about a woman—one who’s amazing, I might add—and you’ve fucked up. For the first time in your life, you’re going to lose.” Rick cocked his head to the side and stroked his chin as he studied Craig. “Very strange to see you like this, bro.”

“Yeah, well, don’t rub it in or anything.” Craig sighed, his heart crushed.

“And she hates you.”

Craig bristled. “She said she hates me?”

“Not Rach, though I’m sure she does hate you. It’s Leah. Leah said she hates you and if you try to go near Rach she’ll stab you with her scissors. Which is significant—if the best friend hates your guts, you’re toast.”

Craig grimaced. “Can you talk to Leah, tell her what happened? Just tell her I need to see Rach again so I can tell her…”

He trailed off because he didn’t know what to say. How was it even possible? She’d only been in his life a short while and for most of that time she’d driven him crazy—mostly on purpose. And he’d fallen in love with her.

Rick stared at him expectantly. “Yes?”

Craig took a deep breath then let it out in a whoosh. He gripped the edge of his desk with both hands and admitted, “That I love her. Maybe if she knows how much Rach means to me, she’ll help me get her alone so I can tell her myself.”

Rick grinned and stood. He sauntered to the door and threw it open. “It’s about time you wake the hell up. I just have one more thing to say to you: you wouldn’t be in this mess if you weren’t so power hungry. You do everything in your life trying to control things and now you’re screwed. You didn’t have to win with Maggie. You could have had your attorneys make her talk. Instead, you had to run the show. You’ve got to draw a line, man. It’s probably taken away any chance you have at a future with the one woman who’s right for you.”

Rick left the door open behind him. He waved at Kathy before walking out the door, letting it slam shut behind him. Kathy turned reproachful eyes on Craig and he dropped his gaze. His brother was right and it was a kick in the ass to have to admit it.

Craig got to his feet and went out to where Kathy preened at her desk. “It’s about time someone called you on it.”

He smiled half-heartedly. “I needed it.”

Just as he was about to shut the door, a woman from the finance department walked into the office. As the door shut behind her, she glanced around the room, looking ready to bolt. Kathy smiled kindly at her. “Miranda, is everything okay?”

“I, um, came to see Mr. Larsen,” she answered, but she took a step back toward the door. Her hands were busy, nervously kneading her fingers together. Almost a whisper, she added, “It’s about Maggie Capers.”

He glanced at Kathy who perked up in her chair. “Of course, of course. Go right in, Miranda. Would you like some coffee?”

She shook her head and finally appeared to relax a bit. “No thank you, ma’am.”

Something about the woman’s edginess told Craig whatever she had to say, it would be important. He gestured to his office. “Please, come in.”

****

After Miranda left, Kathy hurried in. “What was that all about?”

He gave her a slow smile and put his hands behind his head, leaning back into them in his chair. “I think I have Maggie in a position she won’t be able to talk her way out of this time. Miranda went into her office this morning to put a sticky note on Maggie’s monitor and noticed my e-mail was open on the screen. When Maggie walked in, she nearly throttled Miranda and told her she would have her fired. The poor woman’s been a mess ever since, thinking she was going to lose her job. Seems Maggie’s been telling everyone we’re back together, too.”

Kathy shook her head with wide eyes. She breathed, “That woman is
crazy.
”

“After everything that’s happened, I’m not even surprised. I know she’s the one who’s been leaking information to the media. She’s been hacking into my email, reading every damn thing Phil’s sent me. I don’t know why I didn’t see it. She must have seen my password information when we were dating and wrote it down.” He shook his head in wonder. “She’s about to find out there’s consequences for her actions.”

Kathy opened the door with a grin. “I’ll take care of it.”

A minute later, Kathy’s phone line blinked busy. She’d have Phil in his office in under a half hour. Maggie would be gone permanently within the hour. Maybe he’d have her escorted out by the police. She deserved the spectacle.

He sat back to contemplate his life. All he knew for certain was no amount of money or success was enough to make him happy. He needed Rach and he needed results now. The only way to do that was to convince Rach’s best friend he deserved a second chance.

He picked up the phone and dialed Leah’s number. “Hey Leah, it’s Craig.”

Chapter Forty-Two

“I wasn’t going to buy a car I didn’t like, Dad.” Rach turned the new Cadillac onto her street and switched her phone to her other ear. After a week of car shopping she’d finally found the one. A little pricey, much more than she’d planned on spending, but it was hers. With only one previous owner, the interior was immaculate. She felt like a movie star in her big ass sunglasses and shiny silver car.

“I’m just saying you really would have liked that Chevelle. A classic, Tiger.”

She made a smooth right turn, no wide birth necessary, and parked. The parking lot was empty which meant she wouldn’t run into Mrs. Petska on her way into the townhome. The day before the other woman had stopped Rach to find out why Craig hadn’t been coming around. Trying to answer over the lump in her throat had been difficult and she’d ended up mumbling some nonsense about him being a workaholic before rushing inside.

“Yes, a classic, but it’s also a rust bucket and would cost me a fortune to fix up. I need a car
now
, Dad. Maybe in a few years when I’ve got some money saved up we’ll go look for a classic to restore. Together.”

“Really?” He sounded more like a child than a sixty-three-year-old man.

“I promise.” She smiled and put her purse strap over her shoulder.

“I just don’t understand why you have to buy so
new
. I don’t know how to fix anything with a computer. If something on it breaks, you’ll be on your own,” he threatened.

“It’s a new car, Dad, I don’t think anything will go wrong with it for awhile. Plus, it’s still under warranty.” She dropped her keys into her purse. “I’ll be over later so you can check it out. I know you’ll like it. It’s got leather interior.”

“Well, that’s something at least.”

“I knew you’d approve.”

“Your friend, Angela, called here looking for you. From HHS.” It was hard not to miss the hopefully tone to his voice.

“She did? What did she want?” Rach asked, though she had an idea.

“She called your home number but it was disconnected.” After a pause he asked, “Everything okay?”

Not really. But she couldn’t tell him that. She’d put her parents through hell the last six months and the guilt ate at her. “Everything’s fine, dad.”

She thought that would be the end of it. Her dad hadn’t pressed the issue of work like her mom had during her leave from HHS, but he surprised her by saying, “Honey, I think you need to go back.”

Her throat was already tightening and she swallowed painfully. “Dad, I...”

“I know what happened was hard. When we went to see you in the...hospital...” The crack in his voice was all it took for the waterworks to start. He cleared his throat. “It was a tough thing, what happened. But you worked so hard to get that position. You were happy there. I haven’t seen you happy since you left it.”

He was right, of course. She took a deep breath and wiped her tears. “I’ll think about it, I really will, Dad.”

“Good, I’m glad. I’ll see you later, Tiger.”

Rach hung up and glanced over at the résumés sitting on the seat beside her. After a moment, she picked up the thin stack and wadded it into a ball and threw it onto the seat. Her life was such a mess.

She sat staring out at the street, empty except for two small boys furiously pedaling their bicycles in the direction of the pool. They turned at the end of the block and disappeared behind a fence and again the street was empty. Just like Rach’s heart.

She got out of the car slowly and made her way to the house, letting herself in at a snail’s pace. Tally was there to greet her, but Rach had nothing more to give than a half-hearted pat on the head as she passed by on the way to the kitchen.

She pictured Craig’s face and her stomach ached. How could she have known after the way they’d met he’d be the first guy to ever break her heart? She hadn’t even known it would’ve been possible to fall for him considering their second encounter at the open house. Their third meeting at the bar hadn’t been much better. Definitely no promise of a future there.

Yet she’d fallen for him. And now thinking of it, he’d had her libido screaming after their first kiss. He’d knocked her socks off and now the thought of never feeling his arms around her made her stomach cramp painfully. She swallowed down the sob that attempted to escape and choked on her own saliva. Tally cocked her head as Rach gasped for air and coughed until her eyes watered.

When Rach was finally able to breathe again she sat down at her kitchen table to stare at the wall, bare except for a boring picture of a fruit basket. Her love life was as bleak as her professional life. She tossed her purse onto the table and sighed. She needed something to eat and shuffled to the fridge. But when she opened the door it was to stare at the emptiness inside. It reflected her life. She shut the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table again with her dad’s words echoing through her head.

When she’d graduated high school she’d gone to college with a drive to earn a degree in an occupation where she could make a difference. She’d breezed through college because she’d been certain that a career in human services was what she wanted to do more than anything else.

When she’d graduated and nabbed a job in her hometown she and those close to her had celebrated because she’d been
happy
and certain she was where she wanted to be. And she had plans. After her second year as a case worker she planned to return to school and pursue a degree in counseling, another step up the ladder and to better enable her to help families and people who truly needed her.

When Rach woke up in the hospital with a concussion and her family staring down at her, she’d panicked. She’d dissected what had happened, the events leading up to the mother losing it and attacking her and thought there had to have been some sign she’d missed.

But that hadn’t been what frightened her. Whatever she’d missed could have cost those two children their lives. The woman had obviously been on a drinking binge for days if not weeks, and had taken out her aggressions on two innocent, small children. She’d blamed herself for it, convinced herself she should have seen it even if no one else had.

With that conclusion she’d doubted her calling in life. She couldn’t accept making another mistake and she wouldn’t endanger another child. She hadn’t been worried about herself, she had a hard head. She’d been scared to death of what might have happened if she hadn’t shown up when she had.

On the way home she’d been thinking about her life. An image of the two little kids from her last HHS case had flashed through her mind and she’d blinked her eyes against the tears. Except this time, the tears that had fallen hadn’t been tears of guilt, but of relief. No matter what had happened up to the moment she’d found them cowering in the corner of that dirty apartment, now, they were safe.

She’d made a mistake. Never should have let them go back to their mother. But it had been a mistake, one she’d never make again. That one bad experience wasn’t telling of how every case turned out, because there were parents in this world who were able to change, who could love their kids enough to turn their lives around. That one woman had been a monster, but not all parents were like her. From now on, Rach would trust her instincts.

Rach snapped out of her trance and reached for her phone. There was only one thing left to do.

She’d spent half a year confused and floating from job to job. She’d tried her hand at customer service, worked in a retail store, worked as a data entry specialist, worked in the copy service industry and had lasted a day at an onion factory. She wasn’t good at any of those things.

What she’d been good at was helping people. She had done more good than bad as a social worker. Everyone—her parents, Leah, Craig—knew it, had encouraged her to go back. Why had it taken so long for her to realize it for herself?

She flipped her phone open and when Angela answered, Rach said, “Hey, it’s Rach.”

“Oh, good. I left a message with your parents...”

“Yeah, my dad told me.” Rach fanned her thumb over the corner of the phonebook nervously. “My leave is up at the end of the week.”

Angela was silent for a moment. Gently, she asked, “Have you decided, Rach? We really miss you here and I would hate to have to replace you.”