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Chapter Twelve
“You’re right, Max. Someone’s in the kitchen.” Lillian kept listening and flinched. No doubt about it. An intruder in the kitchen, one not even bothering to muffle his steps.
Should she call the police? In Steve’s absence?
Darn, she didn’t have a gun, and she badly needed a weapon. She remembered seeing a baseball bat in Royce’s room years ago. Was it still there?
“Quiet Max, come.”
She tiptoed to the boy’s room, removed the bat from the hooks on the wall, and went down the stairs barefoot, careful not to make a sound.
With Max behind her, she padded to the kitchen door, lifted her bat.
“Go on, Max. Bite him,” she murmured to the dog.
Obeying, Max ran into the kitchen, barked once, and…crouched at the foot of the predator. Traitor… Why didn’t Max attack?
Panic overwhelming her, she swung the bat, hitting… The intruder had bent over and was patting the dog. The blow grazed his head and landed on his shoulder.
The man screamed, and she shouted. “Max, bite him.”
“Stop it, you crazy woman.” He grabbed her wrist tight, twisted it. The bat fell.
She yelped in pain, but he wouldn’t let go and stared at her.
“Damn! ... Ms. Lillian?”
“Royce? You…” Her eyes rounded. “Oh God. My wrist...” Tears of pain slipped from her eyes. Still doubting her sight, she stared at the tall, thin man sporting a bushy beard. She rubbed her forearm.
“Yes, ma’am. You missed my skull by pure chance.” He stroked his shoulder. “Hell, it hurts.”
“I’m sore, too.” She sat on a chair, massaging her wrist. Her medical training took over. She could’ve broken his collarbone. “Come here. Let me check you.”
Years vanished. Grimacing with the mischievous look of a ten-year-old, he dragged a stool over and dropped onto it. Without protest, he yanked off his shirt, exposing arm and shoulder to his former babysitter as he’d done so often in the past. She patted his flesh and bones with her good hand, praying she hadn’t broken anything.
“If it hurts a lot, maybe I should take you to the hospital.”
“I don’t think it’s broken. Let’s wait until tomorrow.”
“Well then, let me ice it for you.” She grabbed two bags of frozen peas from the freezer. “One for you, one for me.”
He held his frozen bag on his shoulder, and she placed her arm on the kitchen table, and adjusted her peas on it.
They glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
“Dad will have a field day when he hears about this. Too bad we can’t take pictures. Where is he by the way?”
“Dr. Winston is on a business trip. What are you doing here?”
“I’m back. For good. I’ve decided it’s time to come back and put my life in order.”
“Ah.” He’d certainly chosen the wrong time. “You didn’t tell him you were coming home, did you?”
“I wanted to surprise him, make him happy. God only knows, he’s probably cursed me often enough. I’m going back to college to finish my degree in computer engineering. To make sure my father will forgive me, I’m determined to do the right thing. I’ll live at home and...and keep him company.”
“Ah.” Definitely the wrong time. She had the feeling Steve would curse him again…all the way to St. John and back.
“I want to show him my good will, at least until my friend arrives.”
