The Outer Edge of Heaven (29 page)

Several men from the ranch yard advanced with rifles and the security guard came roaring by on an ATV. Disgusted with their failed check of her running route, Luke ran ahead to where Charlie lay flat against the bottom of the ditch. He looked up at Tyree, then back at the advancing riflemen and dropped into the ditch beside her.

She was face down and he put a gentle hand on her back. "Charlie, are you hurt? Can you talk to me? Turn over, honey. You're safe now. The others will keep him until the police come and take him away."

She slowly turned to look at him, her face deathly pale, her eyes huge but tear free. That almost scared him. She appeared to be half in a state of shock. "Are you okay, Charlie? Talk to me. Where are you hurt?" All she did was shake her head and he sat down beside her and gathered her tightly into his arms. "Say something, babe. Are you hurt or just scared?"

"Just… Just scared. At least I think so." She turned her face into his neck. "I knew you'd come, Luke. I knew you would."

"I did. I did come and he's going to be gone for good now. And you're okay. Keep talking to me, tell me if anything hurts. Did he hurt your shoulder again? Did you land okay? When you dove in here?"

"Yeah, I landed okay. My shoulder is a little tender. I knew you'd come. Oh, Luke, knowing that made such a difference."

She finally started to cry and he took a deep breath and held her even tighter. "That's it, let it all go, Charlie. It's over and I came and you're okay. It's finally over."

He rubbed her back and shoulder as she cried and spoke low and softly into her ear and encouraged her to let it all go. They were still sitting there in the ditch when Richard approached and squatted down beside them. Luke looked up and met his eyes and said, "Charlie, my dad is here to check on you." He smoothed her back again and said absolutely reassuringly, "She's okay, Dad. She knew I'd come and she's okay. Tyree's going to finally be taken away permanently and it's over. And she's okay. Aren't you, Charlie?"

She nodded against his neck and then looked up at Richard, the tears still streaming down her face. She tried to speak through her tears. "I truly am okay; I don't know why I can't get a handle on these tears. Just give me a… Just give me a minute and I'll be… I'll be fine."

They finally heard sirens coming down the road. Luke pulled her close again and held her, still rubbing her back as his dad headed out into the field. A few minutes later, two police cars came up the lane and pulled right into the field between where Charlie and Luke were sitting and where the others had Tyree spread eagled on his face. Both officers went toward Tyree and a minute later another siren sounded and then an ambulance pulled in as well. The paramedics on board approached Luke and Charlie and when she tearfully refused help, they headed for Tyree.

One of the hands pulled up on a four wheeler and got off and said, "Your dad said to bring this to you. Do you want me to help you lift her?"

"No." Luke shook his head. "She'll be okay in a minute. Leave it there, would you? Thanks." He leaned down close to her ear. "Charlie, they brought us a fourwheeler. Are you up to a short ride? Let's get you out of this field, shall we? I can take you to your house or up to Madge or the bunkhouse. What do you want to do?"

She finally raised her head, tears still in her eyes. "Can I just go back to my house? Would you stay there with me for a while?"

"As long as you want, honey. Let me help you up."

Back at her house, he pulled the quilt off of her bed and wrapped her in it and went and sat in the porch swing with her bundled in it. It was probably seventy degrees out here, but she was still shivering and trying not to cry and he began to worry about her going into shock again. Fo came around the corner of the house and Luke had never been so glad to see someone. He leaned in close to Charlie's ear again and said, "Hey, Fo's here. Do you want to talk to him?" She opened her eyes and smiled at her old friend and just enough of a hint of her old spark showed through to make Luke heave a sigh of relief.

Squatting down beside the swing, Fo ruffled her tangled curls. "It's over, Chuck. This whole mess is finally over. You can move on with your life now. Doesn't that feel awesome?" She blinked away the last of her tears and nodded and Fo went on, "Would you like a blessing? It might really help right now."

She rolled back from Luke's chest and looked up again. "I would love one, thanks. Do you mind?"

"Absolutely not. What do you need right now?"

She looked from one of them to the other and took a shuddering breath. "Strength. Strength to get back up and keep on and not live in this fear anymore. Strength to go forward and deal with my family. And wisdom and judgment. I don't want much, do I?"

Luke hugged her. "Those are pretty reasonable needs right now, Charlie. Your Father in Heaven loves you and will send what you need."

They blessed her and then with Fo on one side of her and wrapped in Luke's arms in her blanket, the emotional storm took its toll and she fell into an exhausted sleep.

****

The police had grilled Luke over and again and finally left after promising to come back and question Charlie. And Fo had gone off to work. Luke was still sitting in the swing holding her when he was surprised to see both of her parents come around the corner of her house. They came up to him and looked down at her sleeping and for a second he wasn't sure how to react. Finally, deciding he was going to treat them as if they would someday have the friendly in-law relationship he'd always hoped for, he said pleasantly, "Dr. and Mrs. Evans, this is a surprise. I thought you'd long be on a plane over the Midwest by now."

Her dad replied tersely, "Elroy left. We decided to stay. Is she sick?"

Surprised that they hadn't heard what had happened, he answered, "Not exactly. She's just not feeling so great right now. I don't think we should wake her up. Go on in and make yourselves at home. Do you need anything?"

Still not mincing words, her father said, "No, we're fine. We'll go run some errands and be back in a while."

An hour later, she stirred in his arms and after a moment, she looked up at him with those remarkable, clear blue eyes that matched the sky there above the river valley. He smiled down at her, "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. Were you able to rest?"

She nodded. "Oh my heck, I can’t believe I actually fell asleep. I'm sorry I've made you waste your whole morning."

With a shrug, he said, "There are worse ways to spend a few hours than holding a beautiful girl. Plus, it gave me some time to think. Are you hungry?"

"Starving." She sat up and began to unwrap out of the quilt. "And way warm. I've probably roasted you out. Sorry."

"It's all okay, Charlie. I was happy. In spite of it all. Happy and grateful that you are still here, all in one piece, in my arms."

A shadow flitted across the blue of her eyes and she asked, "Was he okay? Did he make it out of the field?"

Luke sighed and reached for her hand. "Yeah. He made it. He had a pretty busted up leg and a bullet hole through one arm, but he'll live to learn to make license plates until he's much more mature. How are you feeling?"

The tears welled back up into her eyes. "A little stiff. And like you, grateful to still be here in your arms, all in one piece. And unbelievable grateful that they caught him."

"I asked Dad to threaten to sue both the security company and the whole state of Montana for all of it after he'd been arrested and even had a restraining order against him. I doubt they would have ever let him out on bail, but I'm sure they won't now." He hesitated. "Um, you should also know that your parents are here, somewhere. They showed up about an hour ago, without Elroy. I don't think they had even been told what happened here this morning. I didn't offer to wake you and they decided to go run errands."

Charlie groaned. "I pretty much expected that. Although I'm surprised that Elroy wasn't with. Where was he?"

"They said he left."

"That probably means they spent the night checking into your background and found out that you're suitably wealthy. Maybe they've decided to have him bow out gracefully so it won't be so hard to insist I go back to school."

He put an arm around her to pull her gently against him. "Now, Charlie. You're sounding positively bitter. That's not like you."

"I know. I'm sorry. But did you hear the way she said, ‘Commoner’ last night? I swear, she should have used a British accent. She sounded as if she thought she was the Queen of Buckingham Palace thrice removed. Commoner!"

"She only wants what she thinks is best for her daughter."

"No." Charlie leaned up and turned to look at him. "She may think that, but this is about appearances. And I'm sorry, but I'm not playing her game."

He tugged her back to lean against him again. "I know, honey. And I'm so proud of you. Both for standing up to them so well and for having your priorities right. I don't think you'll ever regret making your career a lower priority than they have. I think your children will feel much differently about their mother than you do about yours."

She got quiet for a minute and then she began to finger the ring he had given her the night before with the big solitaire diamond. Finally, she said, "We need to talk about some things, Luke."

"I know."

"No. I mean." She tipped her head to look up into his face from where she laid against his shoulder. "I do love you, Luke. And I'm truly grateful you gave me this ring when you did. And I think it will work to get rid of my parents eventually, although it may take a little more time. But I can't expect you to honor a proposal made because two tough old birds were pounding on the door like the big bad wolf. Getting roped into being engaged to me to protect me from them is no more fair to you than offering to marry Lindie out of a sense of responsibility because of the baby."

Luke paused for a minute, hoping to say this right and not mess it up. "I knew you were going to say that, Charlie. And I'll agree to taking it back. But only with the understanding that you know I want to give it right back to you over a candlelight dinner and in a more romantic setting. You and I are nothing like the situation with Lindie. And I'm sorry we even have to have this conversation. At the time I talked to her about getting married, it was simply that I felt it had to be done for her and the baby. I do love Lindie, but she's like my little sister."

He looked down at Charlie's mouth and then back up into her eyes as he stroked her fingers with his thumb and said huskily, "What I feel toward you, Charlie, is most definitely not brotherly."

He leaned and kissed her gently, letting his mouth linger and taste her lips as she kissed him back. Finally, he pulled back. "No, definitely not brotherly. I want to be the father of those children of yours that we were talking about."

Her eyes flew open and he had to smile at the mixed expression of panic and need he saw there. He chuckled. "Sorry, but I don't want anymore misunderstandings between us. I'll take the ring back, but I love you and I need you and I can't let you go. It has to be with the understanding that you're getting it back."

She watched him quietly, her face there only inches from his and he could hardly help himself when he found himself kissing her again. He pulled her tightly into his arms and literally tried to breathe her in as she kissed him back for the first time without any of the hesitation he'd felt from her every other time he'd found himself unable to resist that beautiful, sweet mouth.

The feel of her mouth and her scent and this heady emotion filled his brain like a drug. He'd never felt this way about a girl. Never even knew it was possible. It was amazing how much more vital the eternities had become now that he knew he had found her and that they were looking and planning toward the future. So much that had been frustrated hopes of someday had finally distilled into sharp, clear, inspiring focus.

It was a demanding "Huthumm." that brought them screeching back to the present. It nearly made him swear to pull away from her.
Geez, what a frustrating interruption.
It took them a second to look up and face her tough old birds. Charlie kept her composure very well, all things considered. She didn't even bother to sit up straight out of his embrace as she said, "Mom, Dad. Luke told me you were here somewhere. I thought you said you had a plane to catch."

Luke leaned forward as her father said, "We decided it was more important to stay and try to talk some sense into you than go home and deal with a number of vital, pressing responsibilities. Your life is by far more of a priority."

Charlie made a sound of complete, tired frustration. "Dad, did it ever occur to you that my life was
my
life? I'm twenty-three years old. Was it not just glaringly obvious that my life is dandy right now? Don't even start. I'm too tired to argue. As inhospitable as it sounds, if you're only going to start in ramming your ideology down my throat again, frankly, I have better things to do. Go home and operate on someone and let me get on with my own, beautiful, peaceful existence out of your circle of status.

“If whether I have the properly heavy hitting spouse and career is that much of a desperate concern to you, then lie to whomever you're trying to impress at the time. Make up some fairy tale scenario that properly strokes your ego and I'll stay here at the edge of heaven and no one will be the wiser. Just leave me the heck alone."

She looked back up at Luke and then leaned against his shoulder again. "Go home, Mom and Dad. I'm never going to cave this time. I'm through with your social farce. My priorities are poles apart from yours and I'm finally sick of trying to keep you happy. There's too much at stake now. Luke's and my children will
never
go to daycare. Just go home. Maybe you can get Elroy to marry a Nobel Prize winning PhD slash MD slash MBA attorney who owns a university and you could claim both of them and tell people I was killed out in Montana. You can even tell them I died in law school. Just don't expect me to be anything other than an at-home mom for years and years and years. Cause it aint gonna happen."