Redhead Meets Redneck: First Date (16 page)

“No, it wasn’t. And just for your information, I said yes. But, I can change that to no if you don’t
let me have some say occasionally.”

William
raised an eyebrow, looked Laura up and down, then shuffled to the wheel chair and sat down.

“Thank you
, William.”

Kneeling next to the wheel chair, Laura’s
demeanor changed. Her voice was quiet, and raspy. “William, I was so afraid I had lost you. It was the worst thing I’ve ever been through.”

“I know
. I felt terrible that I couldn’t prevent that terrorist from harming you. It was awful for me too.”

“I’m just glad that the bullet only grazed your heart, and that the extraction team was a bit early.”

“Laura, would you mind driving me home?”

“
I was planning on it.”

She gathered up William’s things and pushed him in the wheel chair down the hall, and into the elevator. After helping him into the passenger seat of his truck,
she climbed in the driver’s seat. William was already punching buttons on the GPS.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could do that. Sit back and rest. I’ll do the driving.”

“Calculating route,” the GPS chimed.

“You might need a little help following the breadcrumbs home.”

Laura tried not to let her lips poke out as she started the truck and put it in gear. She was happy that the terrorist ordeal was behind them, and that she could drive William home. Hopefully, his injury would be an excuse to visit him frequently. Maybe she could spend a couple of days. She could use this as an excuse to spend time with the man who just proposed to the day before. She worried a bit about that proposal; it had been done in the heat of a nasty battle. Was it for real? Did William really mean it, or was it just a deathbed wish? She needed to spend time with him and cultivate the relationship. Otherwise he might change his mind. She certainly wasn’t going to change hers.

Pulling into the driveway, Laura peered ahead for her first glimpse of William’s house. He had been so quiet about it. He talked freely about his cabin and sailboat, but his house seemed to be off limits. Was it so shabby that he was ashamed of it?

“Follow this driveway about a half mile, then park
in front of the carriage house,” William said.

“Carriage house? Wait a minute. What’s going on?”

William didn’t answer. He just looked straight ahead and smiled.

Reaching the end of the driveway, she saw the carriage house that she had seen during their dinner Friday evening. It sat on the side of a mountain, next to a beautiful home, just like she remembered.

“But—but—I thought you said this belonged to ‘some rich bonehead’.”

“Y
es, well there was a little bit of truth in the statement.”

Laura parked
his truck between the carriage house and main house, next to a white pickup. She stepped out of the truck and breathed in. Fresh pine scent filled her nostrils, and birds chirped a merry tune.

“It’s beautiful. But why
—”

“I’ll explain later. That truck belongs to Jimmy. He must be here feeding Bongo. Let’s see how the two of them are doing.”

William hobbled slowly toward the front door, Laura walked behind him, watching carefully to see if he needed any help with the stairs. Easing himself up the stairs, Laura was happy to see him recovering so well, considering that he had been shot fewer than twenty-four hours earlier. Laura made a mental note to refill the pain- killer prescription as soon as she got William settled.

William pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door. A large tan
and white collie bounded toward William. Putting a hand on the doorframe, he braced himself as the Bongo’s paws patted his chest and his tongue licked William’s face.

“He’s beautiful. I love the full rough coat. He’s a beauty, but is he always this excited?”

“No, he’s always calm, never like this. Let’s find Jimmy. Maybe he can tell us why Bongo’s so wound up.”

Laura tried to divert Bong
o’s attention from William by rubbing his neck and cheeks, and playfully pushing and shoving, but Bongo didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

“Don’t worry, B
ongo warms up to new people quickly.”

Bongo darted back and forth to the kitchen
. William and Laura followed. In the kitchen, Bongo went to the back door and tapped the door with his paw.

“What’s wrong, Bongo?”

William unlocked the door and opened it. Bongo darted out in a flash. William and Laura followed.

As the door opened
, Laura saw two legs lying on the ground. Moving through the doorway she could see the body of a thirtyish man lying face down in a pool of dried blood.

“Oh . . . no
.” William’s voice was barely perceptable. He, ignoring his pain, ran the several steps to the body, and rolled it on its side.

“
Jimmy!”

Laura’s heart pounded. She could
see that Jimmy’s limbs were stiff, and quickly put the pieces together. Jimmy had come to feed the dog, and the terrorists had for some reason come to William’s house, and happened to cross paths with Jimmy. He probably didn’t have a chance. Maybe they killed him before he even realized they were there.

“Ahhhhhhh, my God!” William knelt next to Jimmy’s body and wept. He pulled Jimmy’s head into his lap and cried. “No—no
—no, not this.”

Lau
ra couldn’t believe what happened. After she and William had survived the dangers of the last three days, why did they have to come home to this? Why did Jimmy have to die? It didn’t make sense.

Laura watched William rocking back and forth with Jimmy’s head in his lap, and tears streaming down his cheeks.
This can’t be happening.

William was having trouble catching his
breath; he gagged as he cried louder and louder. Laura knelt next to William and put one hand on William’s broad warm shoulder, and the other hand on Jimmy’s arm. It was cold and hard.

What should she do? She wanted to comfort William, but how. Nothing would bring back Jimmy, and his cold rigid body was a gruesome reminder of the violent death that h
e suffered. She wrapped both arms around William and squeezed. She kissed him on his cheek, neck, forehead, lips. She didn’t stop. It was the only thing that she could imagine doing. He needed to know that someone loved him, right now, in the middle of this awful mess. Someone desperately loved him.

Laura didn’t remember
how long they cried, how long she kissed William, or how long they knelt next to Jimmy’s body, but finally, after a long time, the worst hit her. Someone had to tell Mama . . .

Telling Mama that her only child was dead was the worst experience that Laura had ever been through, worse than seeing William shot, and worse than seeing Jimmy’s dead body. The anticipation of Mama’s agony probably made it all the more agonizing. She knew that Mama would take it hard. After all, Jimmy was her only blood relative, and her own flesh and blood. He once had been a tiny baby, carried in her womb for nine months as Mama looked forward to his birth, years of nursing, weaning, growth, and manhood. But in all of Mama’s expectations, she never would have imagined that she would experience his death, especially a violent death at the hands of a terrorist. The only consolation was that William had done all the talking. Laura was able to give him moral support, and she had tried to comfort Mama with hugs.

William was still recuperating
, so Laura drove him in his truck to the funeral. She had taken the week off from work, and stayed in the carriage house. She had spent her days trying to comfort William, at the same time cooking for him and taking care of his physical needs. She could see him growing stronger each day, but wondered if he would ever recover from the emotional scars of Jimmy’s death. She imagined the pain he must be experiencing, having someone like a brother ripped from his life by a horrible person like the terrorist.

Laura had notified General Thompson about Jimmy’s death, and he had an investigation star
ted to determine who killed Jimmy. Fingerprint results indicated that the murderer was one of the terrorists that Laura had killed while on the sailboat. She was glad he was dead, and that she was the one who killed him. But she thought it would have been better if William had killed both of them. Then he would have had some sense of closure, and vindication.

Pulling into the parking lot of the cemetery, Laura dreaded seeing Mama. She knew there would
be tears and sorrow, and she didn’t know how to comfort Mama. She wished for some magic formula that she could use to soften the agony that Mama would experience today.

Parking William’s truck, she walked around to the passenger side. William was already out and standing next to the truck. He had a sad, pensive look on his face.

“Breaking the news to Mama was awful. Today will probably be worse,” William said.

“I know,
but we need to be strong for her sake.”

They walked hand in hand to the graveside. Mama was sitting there, dressed in black, cheeks dripping with tears.

Laura took the initiative. “Mama, I’m so sorry.”

Mama looked up
. A faint smile shone through her black veil. “Laura, thank you for coming. I’m so glad you could come today. It means so much. And I’m happy that William has someone to nurse him back to health. I always worry about him living by himself out there in that big lonely house.”

Mama stood and motioned to William to sit in the chair next to her. Drawing close to Laura
, she spoke quietly. “I want you to know how much comfort you and William have brought to me during this difficult time. I have always felt like I had two boys. Now that one is gone, I’m so blessed to have William. I love him dearly, just as if he were my own flesh and blood. If it weren’t for him . . .” Fresh tears began flowing down her cheeks.

Laura reached out and embraced Mama. “
I’m sorry I never got to know Jimmy.”

“You would have loved him. He was such a good boy, never a problem, and always a blessing.”
Mama pulled out a worn Kleenex and blew her nose. “After things settle down, I want William to bring you over to my house and I can show you some photos of Jimmy when he was growing up.”

“I’d love that.”

“Laura, I saved you a seat here next to William. Please, sit down.”

Laura sat down just as the service began.  The pastor
reflected on Jimmy’s life, read some Bible verses from Romans chapter five, and said a prayer. The service wasn’t long, but Laura wished it were longer. Not that she liked funerals, but she knew how hard it would be to see the casket lowered into the ground. She hoped that Mama would be able to bear up under the strain of seeing her only child lowered into the ground, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, Mama didn’t take it very well, and Laura felt partly to blame. As the casket was lowered,
Laura fought back her own tears. She didn’t hear anything from Mama, and was hoping that she was holding up. But Laura’s emotions got the best of her as she contemplated Mama’s loss, and she whimpered, then cried aloud. At that point, William cried, and moments later Mama began crying. It was awful; all three were consumed with their loss. Neither could comfort the others. All three were broken and lost in their grief. Laura was sorry that she had started crying; maybe William and Mama wouldn’t have started if she had been able to restrain herself. The friends that attended the funeral tried to comfort Mama, but she writhed with emotions and couldn’t control herself.

The friends of Jimmy gradually migrated to the parking lot, entered their cars, and slowly drove down the driveway. Laura, William, and Mama
stood silently by the edge of Jimmy’s grave. Looking down at the casket, William broke the silence. “Goodbye, bro.” Wincing from pain that the meds couldn’t overcome, he gently embraced Mama with one arm. “I’m so sorry, Mama.”

Mama nodded, turned and kissed William on his cheek
. “Thank you for being here and giving me the strength I needed to get through this day. You have no idea...”

“I love you
, Mama.”

“I love you
, William.”

Mama turned to Laura
. “Thank you for everything, and please remember, when things slow down, come by for a visit. I want to get to know you better.”

Laura smiled and nodded. Mama turned and started walking toward the parking lot.

“Would you like a ride home, Mama?” William’s voice croaked.

Mama couldn’t
speak; she just shook her head as she headed for the car that the funeral director was sitting in.

William turned to Laura
. “I think we should go.”

Laura nodded. William took
one last look into the grave, then reached for Laura’s hand and walked slowly to his truck.