AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about Lisa and the girls?”
“Tara’s babysitting.” He reached for his rain slicker, put it on.
“I don’t need a beer, Cal. Really. Besides, I should get home. You don’t need to—”
“No one watches out for you anymore, El.”
“I know, but—”
“Let me.”
The simple way he said it plucked at her heart. He was right. It had been a long time since someone had taken care of her. “Come on.” She grabbed her black leather jacket and followed him out of the station.
The streets were empty again, quiet.
A full moon hung in the night sky, illuminating streets still damp from a late night rain. It gave off an eerie radiance that stained the trees and silvered the road.
Ellie tried not to think about the case as she drove. Instead she focused on the darkness of the road and the comforting light from the headlights behind her. Truthfully, it felt good to have someone following her home.
She pulled into her yard and parked. Before she could turn off the ignition, a song came on the radio. “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”
She was plunged into a memory. Mom and Dad playing this song on the piano and fiddle, asking their girls to sing along. My El, Dad would say, has an angel’s voice.
She saw her pint-sized self running for the makeshift stage, sidling up beside her dad. Later, when Sammy Barton played that song for her, she’d tumbled into love. It had been like drowning, that love; she’d barely made it out of the water alive.
“You used to love this song,” Cal said, standing by her door, looking down at her through the open window.
“Used to,” Ellie said, pushing the memories aside. “Now it makes me think of husband number two. Only he left on a Greyhound bus. You’ve got to want to get away from someone pretty damn bad to ride a bus.” She got out of the car.
“He was a fool.”
“I guess you’re talking about every man I’ve ever loved. And there are a truckload of them.”
“But never the right one,” he said quietly, studying her.
“Thanks for that insight, Sherlock. I hadn’t noticed.”
“Someone is feeling sorry for herself tonight.”
Ellie had to smile at that. “I won’t let it last long. Thanks for letting me vent.”
He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Come on, Chief. Buy me a beer.”
They walked across the springy lawn and climbed the porch steps. Inside, Ellie was surprised to find her sister up and working.
Julia sat at the kitchen table, with papers strewn all around her. “Hey,” she said, looking up.
“Julia?” Cal said. His face lit up in a smile.
Julia stood up slowly, staring at him. “Cal? Cal Wallace? Is that really you?”
He opened his arms. “It’s me.”
Julia ran for him, let him hold her. They were both smiling brightly. When Cal finally drew back, he stared down at her. “I told you you’d be beautiful.”
“And you still give the best hugs of any man I’ve ever met,” Julia said, laughing.
Ellie frowned. Were they flirting with each other? All at once she thought about those old-time parties again. While Ellie had been center stage, singing her heart out, Julia had been on the stairs, sitting by Cal, listening from the shadows.
