What You See (22 page)

Billy and Sarah laughed.

“As I was saying, I’m retired. I don’t practice anymore, so I
am not concerned with their law. I own this clinic and I see to its operation,
well, actually Sarah keeps everything in order. The point is, my son-in-law,
Dr. Adam Nesbitt, is the vet and his office is closed on Saturday. Your visit
did not occur.” He pressed two bottles of pills into my hand. “Take these
according to the directions on the label. One is for pain and the other one is
for infection. If you see any signs of infection, get Billy to call me right
away. You do know the signs of infection, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” I answered.

“I think you’re finished,” he replied. He turned to Billy as
we were walking out of the door. “Make sure she goes home and gets some rest.
That shot of Demerol is going to make her groggy and incoherent for a few
hours. Do not let her drive a car. Remember, what I told you, my son.”

“Thanks for the help. I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” I
said, walking out of the door on wobbly legs.

Sarah guided me to the Jeep, while the chief and Billy
continued a conversation that I couldn’t hear.

“So... son,” I mocked as Billy backed out of the parking
space. “What did your dad want you to remember? Did it have anything to do with
me?”

“You know it did,” he growled. “He chastised me for getting
you into this mess. He raked me over the coals.”

“I’m sorry he fussed you out, Billy. I don’t blame you
anymore. Oh, I did at first, but now that I’ve had time to think about it, you
did the same thing I would’ve done if I’d been more alert. Next time I will
be.”

“Next time?” he asked.

“Yeah, you don’t think a little thing like getting shot is
going to stop me, do you?” I laughed.

“You’re a tough `ge ya,” he said.

“That’s right. I am a tough woman, and don’t you ever forget
it!”

It
was almost
seven o’clock
when we pulled into the driveway of
my house. Billy and I had practiced the story we were going to tell Mom and
Cole. He assured me that Sarah and the chief wouldn’t breathe a word about the
shooting to anyone, and we didn’t have to worry about one of the Hudgins
turning us in for trespassing. They wanted to forget the whole ordeal. Billy
had talked to Larry Hudgins while I was being fixed up, and Larry agreed that
it would be in everyone’s best interest to drop the entire matter. He hoped I
was okay, and he was real sorry for the unfortunate accident. However, he
wanted his shotgun back.

“He’s such a loser!” I wailed. “I get shot and the only thing
he’s concerned about is his shotgun!”

“It’s evidence. Of course, he’s worried. Not to worry,” Billy
said. “I told him the only way I would return the shotgun and forget about the
attempted murder charge you could file, was if he agreed to let us come back
and question Rose and Jay.”

“Did he agree?”

“Yes, he did. He didn’t have much choice.”

“When do we go back?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. They have church first thing in the
morning.”

“Are you serious?”

“That’s what the man said.”

The house was filled with the aroma of food cooking. Mom was
in the kitchen with Cole, laughing and carrying on when Billy and I walked in.

“Something smells good,” Billy remarked, walking toward the
kitchen.

I followed him as far as the kitchen table and then sat down.
I was beginning to get dizzy and I didn’t want to fall out the minute I walked
in.

Mom instantly knew something was wrong. She hurried over to
where I was sitting and cried, “What’s the matter, Jesse? What happened to your
shoulder? There’s blood all over your shirt.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I lied. “Just a little hunting accident,
I guess you could call it.” I winked at Billy, making sure Mom saw me.

Billy’s eyes grew to the size of quarters. I thought he was
going to faint. This wasn’t what we had planned on telling her, but after
seeing the look in Mom’s eyes, I knew she’d never believe the story about me
falling on a pile of rocks, unless I embellished it a little. At the last
minute, I made up a story I thought she would believe.

“We had a lead we wanted to run down,” I said. “On the way
home we passed a beautiful patch of trillium growing by a stream just this side
of
Afton
Mountain
.
I conned Billy into stopping. He didn’t want to, but I told him it was for you.
I know how you love wildflowers. Anyway—against his better judgment—Billy
pulled over to the side of the road and we went hunting for that perfect clump
of flowers. As I was digging, I saw something move in the grass. I freaked,
lost my footing, and fell on a jagged rock. We spent the rest of the afternoon
at the hospital.”

“Did you have to get stitches?” Mom asked.

“No, I didn’t get cut, just scratched up a little,” I
explained. “The hospital cleaned me up and sent me on my way.” I had a terrible
pang of guilt, but if I’d told her the truth, she’d probably never let me out
of the house with Billy again. Moms have a way of controlling you like that—no
matter how old you are.

Mom was so sympathetic. “Honey, why don’t you come on over
here and lie down,” she said as she helped me out of the chair and led me to
the sofa. “We’ll have dinner soon. Cole and I have been fixing deer meat. I
haven’t had deer meat since I lived on the farm. I was just a kid then.”

I glanced over at Cole and Billy. They were in their own
little hushed conversation and from the looks of things, Cole was not a happy
camper. Billy looked like a deer at night, caught in the headlights of a car.

I didn’t want to deal with either one of them. Their constant
bickering was beginning to make me crazy. Ignoring them, I did as Mom said. I
stretched out on the sofa and fell asleep.

Dinner was delicious and uneventful. Whatever Cole and Billy
had been discussing earlier was now water under the bridge, or it appeared to
be. Mom gave no indication that she didn’t believe what I’d told her about my
accident. Athena sat by my feet. Everybody was happy.

Later, when Cole and I were alone—Billy had gone home, and
Mom had gone to bed—we sat in the swing on the porch and talked. With his arm
around me, and my head resting on his chest, I told him I didn’t feel like
going anywhere, I hoped he didn’t mind.

“I understand,” he said. “You’ve had a pretty exciting day.”
He smiled. “Billy and I talked about it.”

“You did?”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with
me. You did the right thing. I don’t think your mom needed to hear all the gory
details. She’s just beginning to come around, and I think this would’ve caused
a setback if she knew the truth.”

I trusted Cole, but at the same time I wondered if he really
knew the truth, or if he was playing me. Was this the sneaky cop side of him
that Billy had warned me about? I wanted to know.

“What did Billy tell you?”

“Just that you were someplace you weren’t supposed to be, and
there was an accident,” he answered.

“Is that all he said?”

“That’s all I needed to hear, so we agreed to let it go. Some
things are better left unsaid, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I think I do.”

It was almost the end of June. The evening was cool, and the
sky was filled with stars. I could smell honeysuckle in the air. I was content
just to sit with Cole, and swing in the swing. Nowadays, it seems as if I could
be happy with the simple things in life—as long as I had him in mine.

“Hey,” I said, “I thought you were going to bring River with
you tonight. Why didn’t you?”

“He tangled with a skunk this morning. He won’t be
presentable to go anywhere for a while.” Cole laughed. “You should try to give
a seventy-pound dog a bath in tomato juice. It was a nightmare.”

“Does that really work? I’ve heard that it does.”

“I don’t know, yet. By the time I finished pouring tomato
juice all over him, my sense of smell was useless. It was all I could do to get
his scent off me when I was done.”

I leaned over, sniffed his neck and said “You smell fine to
me. Actually, you smell more than fine. You smell terrific.”

Old Spice… I love that smell. There must be a connection
between your nose and your vagina, because every time I get a whiff of Old
Spice, I get aroused. I also love English Leather. What’s that all about? And I
don’t think I’m the only woman who reacts that way. Men know this. That’s why
they always smell so good.

“I must smell like a swamp rat after what I’ve been through
today. Sitting in the hospital with blood all over me can be pretty nasty. I
hope I don’t smell awful.”

“You smell fine,” he said as he kissed me.

“Ouch... ouch... my shoulder.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot,” he replied. “Maybe if I massaged
your breasts you’d forget about your shoulder.” He chuckled out loud at his
joke, but made no attempt.

“Okay,” I said.

He had a surprised look on his face. He was joking, but I
wasn’t.

“Oh, you weren’t serious?” I whined.

“I could be, but I’m not too sure about doing it here on the
front porch with your mom barely twenty feet away. What if she walked out and
caught us? I’d be embarrassed.”

“Oh, but you weren’t embarrassed when she called in the
middle of the night and we were in bed together,” I said, teasing him.

“That was different. She didn’t actually see us.”

“It just so happens, I have a blanket in my Jeep,” I said. “I
also keep several other items in the back in case of an emergency: a change of
clothes; first aid kit; and a rocket launcher... all the basic necessities.”

“You’re cute.”

“Just what I wanted to hear,” I snarled. “A thirty-one year
old woman lives for the moment when a man calls her cute.”

“You’re so pretty. I’m sure I’m not the first one to tell you
that,” he said. His eyes had a glow that melted my heart.

“No, you’re not, but you’re the first one to say it and have
it mean anything to me. I care about you.”

I made myself stop. I had to shut up. Next thing I would say
is... I love you. I want to marry you and have a house full of baby cops. It
was my idea of the perfect family. No, I couldn’t let anything like that
happen. I had to take it slowly. I didn’t want to scare him.

“What about that blanket?” I asked. “Should I go get it? It’s
been a long time since I stretched out on a blanket under a tree and gazed at
the stars.”

“Let’s do it,” he moaned.

We walked out to my Jeep and retrieved the blanket. As soon
as I shut the Jeep’s hatch, I heard Athena bark.

“She thinks there’s someone out here,” I told Cole. “I need
to go let her out.”

“Give me the blanket and meet me in the backyard. There’s a
huge Ash tree out there with a great view,” he said.

I opened the front door and Athena came barreling out,
jumping all over me. I rubbed her head and said, “I want you to behave yourself
tonight.” I bent down to her level. “Don’t be making a lot of noise and wake
Grandma. Do you hear me?”

Gosh, I think that dog understood what I said. She looked at
me sheepishly, arched her back, and then trotted off to the backyard. Women!
We’re all alike in some ways, aren’t we? You can dress us up, but you can’t
take away our pride or our raging hormones. At the moment, Athena had the
pride, and I had the raging hormones.

Cole was stretched out on the blanket with Athena at his feet
by the time I got to the backyard. “Aren’t we cozy?” I asked. “All we need now
is River to make this a complete foursome.”

“That’s a great idea!” he said, leaning over to pet Athena.
“Athena and River, you two would make a fine pair. Just think of the beautiful
puppies you could have... or can she?” He looked at me.

“We both can,” I said, with a big grin on my face. Yes, as
far as I knew, I could give him babies. Just the thought of having Cole’s child
made me feel like I was on a cloud.

My heart was pounding as I lay down on the blanket next to
Cole. His warm hands swept over me with a gentleness I’d never known. His
kisses were soft at first, and then soon became rapid with desire. We made love
under the Ash tree.

“I love you, Jesse,” he whispered in my ear as we both
reached the fulfillment we were seeking.

I didn’t know what to say. Was he for real? Guys do this all
the time. Right in the middle of a climatic moment, they whisper those three
words all women want to hear... I love you.

“Don’t say it unless you mean it,” I commanded. “Save it for
someone that isn’t as fragile as I am. My heart has been broken more times than
I can count. I don’t need more lies.”

“Jesse, you’re a hard woman!” he whispered. “I meant what I
said. I love you. I want to be with you. I want us to have a life together.”

Athena jumped up and started licking Cole on the face.

“See, even your dog knows I’m serious. She believes me. Don’t
you, girl?” he asked as he stroked her back and rubbed her ears.

The look he gave me said it all. He was in love with me and
he wanted to be with me! He wanted us to have a life together.

“I love you, too,” I whispered, tears running down my cheeks.

That night, a star in the sky twinkled brightly... just for
the two of us.