It's Bliss (22 page)

When the girls had gone, Nettie, Hal, and Robert asked him about Billie’s change of demeanor, and all he could do was just shrug his shoulders. He felt miserable.

Saturday afternoon, Billie called Sheldon at home and informed him that she and Paul were going to watch a movie at her parents’ home and have dinner with the family. He had hung up the phone, feeling betrayed. This was
his
territory! He quickly realized what he was doing; he was feeling possessive of Bliss because of what they had done together. He reprimanded himself. He certainly shouldn’t be feeling this way. Bliss was only a student to whom he had committed his support and help, so she could become productive and successful in a business career. Disturbed that he hadn’t totally convinced himself, he got up and stared out of the window.

Glancing at his watch, he realized that the Bliss family and their guest were probably eating dinner about now. Feeling restless, he went for a walk.

By the time he had covered a couple of blocks, he found it much too warm and sultry. He turned around and decided to go for a drive instead. There was no need to stay home in case of a call. Bliss was perfectly safe.

-

Sweat was dripping down Lora’s nose, as she sat in the car trying to study.

All the windows were rolled down but there wasn’t a hint of breeze. She had driven by the home of Billie’s parents and had seen the Corvette in the driveway. After driving by the house over and over, she decided that the man was going to stay awhile. What would an astute PI do? she asked herself. Wait for them near Billie’s apartment, she decided. So here she was, parked about a block away where she could see any car enter Billie’s driveway.

Lora was also sweating it out over Billie and that man. They had been pretty thick the past several days, and she was now beginning to wonder if she had been wasting her time. She got out of the car, hoping to cool off, feeling more than a little unnerved and unsure over her suspicions about Billie and Dr. Ackerman. She paced up and down beside the car, mumbling to herself. “Since I’ve worked this long, I’ll stick it out one more night—just to make sure.”

-

Sheldon found himself driving by the Bliss home around 8:30, feeling chagrined with himself for pulling what he considered to be a high school tactic. However, he told himself once more, he was responsible for Bliss since he had introduced her to Paul Atwood. So he felt justified in continuing his surveillance. Seeing the black Corvette still in the driveway, he drove back toward Billie’s apartment. Continuing past it, he noticed a blue Volkswagen parked less than a block from the apartment. He wondered—no, surely that couldn’t be Miss Lemmon’s car. He must be getting paranoid!

-

Dr. Ackerman’s approaching car had sent Lora scuttling behind a bush where she watched as his car went by. “That was close!” she muttered. She stepped out quickly and got back into her car, feeling as skittish as a cat around a rocking chair.

What was Dr. Ackerman doing in this area anyway? Was it just coincidence?

What if he drove by again? She simply couldn’t afford to be caught one more time! This thought galvanized her into action. Immediately, she was out of the car and walking rapidly toward Billie’s apartment. It was after 9:00 p,m, and approaching dusk. She was hopeful she could find a place to hide where she could watch and not be seen by anyone.

Scouting around behind the apartment, she tried to find a place directly across from Billie’s front window. To her dismay, she discovered the bushes which offered the best hiding place also shielded the offensive anthill. “Maybe the ants are asleep this time,” she mumbled to herself. “I don’t remember ants coming out at night.” She peeked into the bushes. No ants were in sight.

Dare she try to step over the pile? Would it disturb them? she wondered. She had just decided not to chance it when, all of a sudden, she heard a car enter the driveway. Ants or no ants, she dove into the bushes, desperately trying to straddle the potential danger.

Paul Atwood parked his Corvette, went around the car, opened the door for Billie, and together they went into her apartment. Though it was just getting dusk, Billie turned on the lights. Lora was delighted, for they were in plain view from where she was standing.

Lora watched them as they stood facing each other. From what she could see, it looked as if they were having a problem. The man seemed to be trying to convince her of something, but Billie kept shaking her head, looking very determined. Neither one looked happy. All of a sudden, the young man opened the door and stormed out of the apartment, looking angry and upset.

He slammed the car door shut and backed out, the tires screeching in protest.

Well, thought Lora, I guess that’s it. I might as well go home. Warily, she checked the window and saw that Billie’s back was to it. She slid one foot tentatively out onto the grass just as Dr. Ackerman came pelting up the driveway. Jerking it back in panic, her heel dug a furrow across the top of the anthill. Horrified, she looked down expecting to see hoards of the fiery little insects come charging to avenge this indignity. Holding her breath, she waited. Scanning the darkening area, she saw no movement. She exhaled a slow sigh of relief and again straddled the area of danger. By the time she looked up, Dr. Ackerman was knocking on Billie’s door.

“
Yes!” she whispered triumphantly, feeling pleased with herself for sticking it out. This just might be what she’d been waiting for. Her legs, tired from the effort of this unaccustomed position, were beginning to quiver. Since she hadn’t disturbed the ants with her heel, she reasoned, maybe she could carefully lower herself to a sitting position on top of the small mound. And if she sat very still, they would probably remain tucked in for the night.

-

“
Dodds! What are you doing here?” Billie exclaimed, opening the door to Sheldon’s knock and standing aside to let him enter.

“
I was driving down the hill and saw Paul Atwood backing out of the driveway so violently, I had to swerve to keep from running into him. What happened?”

“
I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, turning her back to him.

Sheldon was surprised. This wasn’t like Bliss. “Wait a minute, Bliss, remember me, your support counselor?”

She didn’t answer, remaining as she was, her back to him. “Bliss?” he questioned, stepping around to face her.

She quickly wheeled around again, but not so quickly that he didn’t see the tears. Beside himself with concern, he pleaded, “Bliss, what is it?”

“
Just the same old thing,” she blubbered, edging around him to the refrigerator.

She had just grasped the handle when Sheldon’s hand covered hers, holding the door shut.

“
Dodds! Don’t do that, I want something to eat.”

“
No, you don’t, Bliss, you just had a nice dinner.”

She looked up at him with those liquid, maple-syrup eyes, a tear drop rolling delicately down her cheek. “Please don’t tell me what I don’t want. You don’t even know what I want or don’t want!” She pulled the refrigerator open.

Sheldon slammed it shut. Billie became fierce in her struggle to open it. He grabbed her with both arms and held her tightly against him. Nevertheless, she continued struggling, but to no avail. Finally she gave up and began to sob against his shoulder. Sheldon loosened his grip enough to stroke her hair tenderly until the sobs subsided.

“
Will you sit down and tell me about it, Bliss?”

“
In a minute,” she mumbled against his chest, not wanting him to know that it felt so good to be in his arms she didn’t want to move. After some time, she reluctantly said, “All right, I’ll tell you.”

They sat down at the small table. Sheldon reached for a tissue from the counter and handed it to her, waiting while she wiped away the remaining tears. Then, unconsciously taking her hands in his, he said, “Go on, Bliss.”

“
Paul Atwood asked me to marry him.”

“
So soon?”

“
Yes,” she whispered, looking like she might cry again.

“
Why did that make you unhappy?”

“
It didn’t.”

“
Then, why . . .”

“
It’s a long story.”

“
Please, don’t start that again, Bliss.”

A small, impish smile twitched around her lips. “How many weeks do you have?”

Sheldon fought back a smile, “I warn you, Bliss, I’m in no mood to be teased.”

“
He’s a very nice man, Dodds.”

He waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. His patience stretched, he said through clenched teeth, “Bliss, I uh, do you know there are times I’ve wanted to shake you?”

“
There are?” She gave him a small wistful smile, “Why haven’t you?”

Sheldon tilted his head, puzzled as to why she seemed amenable to the idea. “Would that have been proper?”

She smiled and nodded her head.

In spite of himself, he laughed. “Females have always been an enigma to me, Bliss, but you take the cake.” Making an effort to become serious, he said, “Now—will you please tell me why you’re unhappy over Paul Atwood’s proposal?”

“
All right, Dodds. After the dance on Friday, he took me to the park. We sat on a bench and talked, and then he asked me to marry him. He didn’t even try to kiss me. I was very impressed with that. He assured me that all he wanted at the moment was permission to date me until I knew him better, and that I didn’t need to give him an answer yet.” She looked down and sighed.

“
Go on. What did you say?” Sheldon asked, feeling anxious over what her answer had been.

“
I had no reason not to give him permission to date me, but . . .” She stopped, hesitant to go on.

“
So what happened?”

A sadness, which he hadn’t seen for awhile, came over her face. Again, he realized that she was as changeable as a child.

Another sigh escaped her lips. “On Saturday, he was very charming with my family. After dinner, when we were watching a movie, he asked if we could talk instead. I was glad. I felt obligated to get to know him better—and besides, I could tell he was bored,” she added, sounding disappointed.

“
I asked him all about his family. I asked him why he hadn’t married yet, and he said it was because he hadn’t been able to find an old-fashioned girl until now. Then I asked him how many children he wanted. That’s what happened.” She gave no other explanation, looking at him as if she expected him to understand.

Trying to carry on a normal conversation with this girl was about to be his undoing. “Are you going to explain?”

“
Well,” she said, the tears pooling up in her eyes, “he said he didn’t want any children.”

Sheldon was shocked. “Why in the world not?”

“
Oh, I’m glad you’re surprised too, Dodds. That makes me feel better.”

She managed a pathetic little smile. “He said that he was too old to start having children at his age. I said that any old-fashioned girl would want children, and didn’t he think of that? He said yes, but if she were the right girl for him, she would realize that it would be for the best. After all, the world was getting to be a pretty bad place in which to raise children.”

Sheldon felt thoroughly depressed. If Paul Atwood was too old to have children, then what about himself? Now, why was he thinking that? he wondered. “Go on, Bliss.”

“
I told him that I wanted as many children as I could have. So he had better look for another old-fashioned girl. Well, he spent the rest of the evening trying to convince me otherwise, but—he had already killed the romance!”

“
Wanting children is part of romance?” Sheldon asked, wondering if he would ever learn what romance was.

“
Of course, Dodds.”

He thought about that a moment, then spoke slowly, “That makes sense to me.”

“
I’m so glad you feel like that, Dodds.”

“
What did you do or say to make him so angry?”

“
I told him he was selfish for not wanting children. So you see, Dodds, romance
is
dead!” The tears started to flow again. Sheldon stood and pulled her up into his arms, holding her tight, comforting her—telling himself that this was necessary so she wouldn’t want food for comfort. But she felt so good in his arms, just as she had a moment ago, he wondered which one of them was getting the comfort. They stood so long together, Sheldon could no longer delude himself. It was time to go.

Reluctantly releasing her, he looked down into her face and smiled. “Are you all right now, Bliss?”

She smiled one of those Bliss smiles. “Yes, Dodds, I don’t need to eat for comfort, you have given me enough.”

-

Lora had been so delighted and engrossed in the sight of Dr. Ackerman and Billie hugging, she had bounced with excitement, totally forgetting her resolve to sit still. All of a sudden, she felt ants crawling up her legs and her arms! Squelching a scream, she stood up, straddling the mound. Clapping her hand over her mouth, she knew she had to get out—and now! Just as she started to emerge, Dr. Ackerman opened the door and came out onto the porch. It seemed to Lora that he was walking in slow motion down the steps and out onto the driveway. She panted, almost hyperventilating, while lifting first one leg off the ground and then the other.