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“But Pixie?” Fleet clearly understood there was a bit more to the story.
“She wasn’t so lucky.” Talia’s chest filled with regret. “She’d been shot in the left shoulder, and the nerve damage to her arm was so extensive, the surgeons were unable to fix it.”
“Which is why I’ve got this useless appendage today,” Pixie added pragmatically.
It still rattled Talia, even after fifteen years, that she hadn’t been able to save her sister.
“And the asshole who did this?” Fleet growled.
“Behind bars for the rest of his life.”
Talia had checked, directly following Fleet’s kidnapping, just in case the incident had anything to do with the prick. It hadn’t. “Yeah, he’s serving hard time because the police discovered that he’d also killed his old man and brother before he came to take vengeance on us.”
“Holy shit,” Fleet gaped, but clearly his internal engine-of-astuteness was running on all cylinders. She could see the ah-hah moment come into his head. “That’s why you came out of your shell and became a cop. You saw…”
“How much they can make a difference. Yeah,” Talia affirmed. “I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to hide myself away from life any more. I set my sights on a career as a cop, then turned so outspoken that my parents couldn’t believe I was the same kid.”
“And I went the other way,” Pixie added softly. “I felt so stupid and guilty for what I’d done, what I’d been, that I couldn’t make sense of life, so I withdrew. After a lot of counseling, I was able to function again, but not in the way I had, previously.”
That was an understatement.
Pixie sighed. “I kept my head down for the balance of my senior year, graduated, then went to a local community college. My father drove me there every day, because he knew if he didn’t, I wouldn’t go. I eventually got my teaching credentials, and I’ve been at the elementary school ever since. I drive now, but I don’t really go out. Just to school and back. Sometimes to a restaurant with my parents. And when Talia insists, I come here some weekends, but that’s all.”
Which made her new fascination for Doug even more confusing. A definite head-scratcher for Talia. Was Doug a throwback to the bad-boy type Pixie used to fall for? Or was he the hero who’d come and saved her from the shooter? Talia wished she had the answer. But now, only time would tell where the odd relationship would go.
“I think you both turned out just fine,” Fleet stated magnanimously.
Talia wanted to snicker. She already knew he liked her bossy side.
“But,” he added, turning toward her sister, “I also think it might be good for you to get out more, Pixie. With our help. That is, if you think you can handle it. A trip to the local supermarket might be a good start,” he grinned cheekily.
Pixie pondered for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I think I can do that. But…” She looked him square in the eye. “Can Doug come?”
* * *
Later that nightafter some discussion, and a little unaccustomed arguing from Pixie that Talia secretly relished, it was decided that Pix would take the guest room, and Fleet would share Talia’s bed. Not that anything would happen, Talia had assured the pair. Fleet was not cleared for hanky-panky of any kind. Yet.
In order to keep her hands to herself, Talia had demanded she and he both be completely clothed, and even though Fleet had pouted and cajoled, she’d won out in the end. And didn’t that suck, even though she’d suggested it out of caution. Sometimes it wasn’t good to get your way.
After retiring, she and Fleet held hands as they talked from opposite sides of the bed.
“Do you really think we can help Pix?” Talia asked.
Guilt rose within her. She knew she was partially at fault for Pixie’s introverted self. She could have done more for her sister, but by the time they’d both finished college, their divergent careers had made hanging out together difficult.
Truthfully? Talia hadn’t quite known how to deal with the timid woman most of the time.
Fleet seemed determined to change all that.
“I know we can,” he answered. “She’s just got herself into a routine that’s turned into a rut, and needs a helping hand to lift her up and out of that ditch. And I hate to tell you this, Tallie.” He’d eschewed the nickname he’d previously given her for the one Pixie always used. “Whether we draw her out, or not, it looks like Doug might be able to do the trick.”
“Which is really weird,” she replied with a huff. “The man is…abrasive, at best. Why couldn’t she have gone for Spencer, or Kyle?”
Fleet barked a laugh.
“Okay. Spencer. Kyle would drive a saint, nuts.”
Fleet squeezed her hand. “Who knows why the heart does what it does. If someone had told you a couple months ago that you’d be dating a black sound engineer, would you have given it credence?”
