AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I huff and look at him staring at me, daring me not to agree, but I give him a stiff nod. Displeased that he talked me into depending on him. I don’t depend on anyone, yet he whirls his magic around me, and I agree to anything.
I felt bad leaving him a note this morning, and I still feel vulnerable laying out my cards to him just now. But I feel a little lighter for sharing my life and knowing he didn’t run.
“Why did you have to wait for hours in the waiting room? Why didn’t they see you straight away?”
“Because this is one of the most underfunded hospitals in all of the county. Because there are not enough trained doctors and nurses to help all the people that need helping. Harrison, I am so clumsy, I am here nearly every month with some ailment or another. I wait my turn. I don’t want to be more of a burden on the hospital system; they have enough to deal with without having someone like me in here all the time,” I say, sighing, suddenly feeling really exhausted from the day.
He looks around, and I see his eyes assessing the room. The threadbare curtains against the window and the thin sheets on the bed. The white plastic chair at the side of the room that has more marks and scratches on it than not and the chipped floor tiles that have seen better days. But it is all we have. It is all I have ever known.
“Are you ready to go? I called your dad and told him that I will bring you home,” he offers, and I nod silently. I know I will get the third degree as soon as I walk in the door, even though I am a twenty-five-year-old woman. More than capable of fixing a hole in the roof. Or not, it appears.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I ask, trying to think about his schedule and what he had on today. He holds me close as I shuffle to the door, and I grip onto his arm so I don’t do something like trip and fall, which is a very real possibility. Especially since I still feel lightheaded.
“I’m right where I need to be,” he says, and I feel like I am basking in the sun due to the warmth that spreads through my body at his words. He watches me for a beat as his hand rests on the door handle, waiting for me to process what he just said. His words are so simple, but the meaning is so committed. He is making me a priority, again something I have had very little of in my life.
When I look up at him, he gives me a smile of understanding, just as he opens the door and we are greeted with the sounds of a busy hospital.
***
We pull up to my small, worn weatherboard home in Harrison's sports car, which glitters and shines against my very middle class street.At least our garden is nice, I think to myself as he opens my car door and I get out and stand next to him, admiring the home and the pretty red roses in the front yard, albeit with one bush that looks a little squashed.
I have never brought a man home before. There was never a boyfriend in college who lasted the distance. I feel almost nervous as I stand next to his car, which in all likeliness is worth more than some of the houses in this street. Including our own.
“So that is the scene of the crime?” he asks, pointing to the side of the house where the gutter hangs from the roof a little.
“Yep,” I say, popping the ‘p,’ looking at the mess I left behind. The gutter hangs in a way it didn’t before. The ladder is still leaning against the house, my small simple tools scattered around the lawn below, and a trail of blood follows my journey to the front doorstep.
“Go inside, see your father, I will be there in a minute,” he says, and I watch him roll up his sleeves.
“Harrison? Really, you don’t need to...” I start to say, because he is not dressed for yard work.
“Beth?” My father’s voice rings from the side, and I see him at the open front door. He looks at me, before side-eyeing Harrison.
“Go, I’ll be in in a few minutes,” Harrison says before I watch him walking to the side of the house. Picking up the tools and pulling down the ladder.
“What the hell did you think you were doing on the roof?” My father starts in on me as I turn and walk to meet him at the front door. He is not happy.
“I needed to fix the leak!” My defense is weak, but at least I am honest.
“You could have broken your back!” he nearly roars, his own ailment coming into our conversation. My heart beats fast at his tone.
“You should have called someone in to fix it,” he says, quieter this time.
“Dad, we didn’t have the money… the heating bill was a big one, and I knew that calling a team in would cost too much!” I say, pleading at him for his understanding. Not telling him that I am secretly stashing away cash to buy him a new chair.
His jaw ticks, and he gives me a quick nod in understanding.
“Is there something going on here that I need to be worried about?” Dad asks, looking at Harrison fixing up our small yard before his eyes land on me.
“No. But we do enjoy spending time together, Dad. Is it okay that he is here?” I ask tentatively because we have never had the talk about me bringing anyone home. There was never anyone in my life to bring home.
“Out of all the men in town, you bring home the one that is running for governor… any blind man can see there is something going on, Beth. Just be careful,” my dad murmurs, as we both watch Harrison tidy the last few things, check the security of the gutter, and fix up my mess.
“Okay, I have put everything away,” Harrison says, coming up to us, and Dad looks at him with narrowed eyes.
“Well, you might as well come in for a drink and watch the first half of the football, I owe you that, at least,” my dad grumbles as he turns his chair to go inside.
“Sorry, he is usually a little more hospitable,” I lie as I turn to Harrison and relax when greeted with his warm, comforting smile. My nerves at having him in my simple home have spiked now that we are standing at the door. Harrison is so tall, he almost hits the doorframe, something Dad and I have never had to combat before.
