AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No charge.”
“No. I couldn’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. Please, trust me.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Trusting you isn’t the issue. I want to, but I’m not a charity case. I would like to pay you.”
“We can discuss that later. For now, you need to be somewhere safe, and my cottage is perfect.”
“Are you sure?”
“I insist.”
“I could pay you some now. I don’t have much money, but ...”
“Tell you what, when your eye heals, and you feel well enough, you can provide me the pleasure of hearing you play some more on my guitar. Maybe join in some night here at the bar. How’s that sound?”
“I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me, nor do I know if ... well, my gut tells me I should trust you. But then, I don’t know. I haven’t done so great in the trusting-men department lately, so forgive me if I sound a bit skeptical here, but why do you care?”
“Let’s say I like the way you played my Dreadnought.”
Brodie came out from the back room carrying a case of beer. “Don’t you think we should open the door now? It’s getting close to eleven-thirty.”
He set the case down and started stocking the fridge.
I looked at Lena as she grabbed her coat closed tighter. “Give us a minute and we’ll be out of here. I’m going to show Lena the cottage and get her settled in.”
“The cottage?” Brodie frowned, then shook his head as he lined the small refrigerator with the rest of the beer, emptying the case. We were close for brothers, not only in age—Brodie being only eleven months younger—but close friends as well.
“Okay, Jackie,” he said with a bit of a shrill to his voice, sending a shiver down my back. He knew it would irritate me—always had, ever since we were kids when Jenny Casings wrote Jackie and Jenny all over the girls’ bathroom in elementary school. From then on, it was a continuous tease of Jackie and Jenny, J and J, Jackie loves Jenny. It was a small town, and I had to grow up hearing Jackie and Jenny most of my life. It got worse in eighth grade when I had given in and agreed to go with Jenny Casings to the Sadie Hawkins dance. She’d had a crush on me since second grade and never quite got over me until Brad Sims came along in high school and swept her off her feet. Thank God. Then she became Mrs. Brad Sims, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. It wasn’t that Jenny was bad-looking or anything; but she talked incessantly, which annoyed the hell out of me.
Although I knew Lena could drive—she’d driven all morning—I didn’t think she should anymore in her condition. So, we left her car on the street by the bar. She didn’t strike me as the type of woman to put up with abuse, but perhaps that’s why she was running. If so, I had to give her credit.
* * *
The guest cottagestood behind the main house on a huge lot my uncle had owned. I pulled my car to the back and stopped in front of the garage door. In order to get to the cottage, we’d need to walk up a steep set of stairs beside the garage, and I wasn’t entirely sure Lena would be able to make the climb. I went to offer her a hand up the stairs as she flinched, and I wondered if she cowered out of fear or habit. I held onto her anyway, determined to win her trust, and helped her up the long flight of stairs that led to the front door. To the left of the landing at the top of the stairs, our newly installed wood deck balcony graced the front and protruded out above the garage doors. “It’s not much, but it should meet your needs for a few days or however long you need it.”
Lena almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the deep, rough bark that came from halfway up the stairs as my massive hound dog, complete with drooping ears and loose, wrinkled skin, came trudging up with drool dripping from his jowls.
“That’d be Rufus. He’ll be your best friend if you rub behind his ears. Otherwise, he’ll just lie beside your feet. Though if you’re not careful, he might lie on top of them, and believe me, he can be quite heavy.”
“Hi there, Rufus.” Lena let go of her coat, crouched down to the dog, and rubbed the loose, wrinkled skin around his ears as I opened the door to the cottage. “He’s great. How old is he?” she asked, letting the dog slobber all over her.
“Ah, he’s about five now. He seems to like you, but if you’re not careful, you’re going to need a bath after he finishes drooling all over you.”
“Yeah, well, I need a bath anyway, huh, Rufus?” she said with a low voice, pouting her lips as she spoke close to the dog’s head, making my fondness for her grow immensely.
Her coat hung off her shoulder, revealing soft-looking white skin, and surprise came over me as I realized I was staring. I thought maybe I should reach down and tug it up before Rufus nuzzled it down any further but then decided to let it go. I had to remind myself to be careful; she was in no shape for what was going through my mind. “He’s a great tracker but voracious. He eats about ten pounds of dog food a week.”
Lena stood up and pulled her coat closed as she walked through the door I held open. “Thanks.” She stepped in, glanced around. “This is perfect.”
“It’s a one-room deal, furnished with a small daybed, a couple of end tables, and an old television. There’s a small kitchen with your basic ceramic sink, refrigerator, and small stove. The bathroom has a shower and a small tub that you can soak in … if you want.” I cleared my throat as I forced that picture out of my head. I needed to get a handle on where my mind was going. This girl was injured in more ways than one.
“Um ... listen, I have some clothes you could put on. Nothing fancy, and I’m sure they’ll be three sizes too big for you, but at least you won’t have to wear your coat all the time. I’ll go get them. I live in the house down there.” I pointed to the sizeable three-story stone house that sat on the other side of the driveway in front of our massive backyard—close to two acres—spanning down to the three-foot-wide creek that flowed most of the year.
Lena glanced out the window. “You mean that park down there is part of your backyard? I guess with a dog like Rufus; you would need a backyard that size.”
“Yeah. You sit. Relax. I’ll be right back. Rufus, stay.”
