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She didn’t know how to respond. “Why not?” she asked Hendrix in surprise.
“They won’t be able to do anything.”
“I guess... I guess we have it under control,” she told the operator and disconnected before asking Hendrix, “Why don’t we have the police come? He attacked me!”
“He forced you to kiss him. He won’t go to jail for that—at least not for any length of time.”
Something else might’ve happened. Would probably have happened. But Hendrix had jumped in before it could.
“Call them back,” Jordan shouted, pointing at Hendrix. “So I can tell them how this bastard attacked me!”
Hendrix didn’t seem concerned about the accusation. “I didn’t attack you,” he said. “I beat your ass because you got out of line. There’s a difference. And I’ll do it again if I ever see you around here. Do you understand? You’d better go now, and you’d better forget about Ellen. Don’t ever contact her again.”
Ellen was so astonished she didn’t know what to say. She’d always had to fight her own battles; there’d never been anyone to stand up for her. And even if that hadn’t been the case, Hendrix would be the last person she’d ever expect to come to her defense.
“You got it all wrong,” Jordan said. “We were just...kissing good-night.”
“Sure you were, buddy,” Hendrix said. “I saw what was going on.”
How? How had he seen? Ellen planned to ask as soon as they got rid of Jordan. But she was rattled enough that she just stood there while her dentist “match” started his car and peeled out of the drive.
“I can’t believe that happened,” she said in the sudden silence.
Hendrix winced in pain as he shook out his right hand. “Dude deserved a lot more than I gave him.”
Ellen gaped at her unexpected rescuer. “I—I appreciate the help. I don’t know how far it would’ve gone without you. The situation was certainly escalating. And I never saw it coming, never dreamedthatguy, of all guys, would cross the line.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t.” He examined his damaged knuckles. “You wouldn’t expect it from such a dink. Shocked the hell out of me, too.”
“Aren’t dentists supposed to be nice?” she said. “I mean...it takes a lot of self-discipline to get through all those years of school. A certain amount of intelligence, too. That’s got to mean something. Itshouldmean something.” She’d been relying on it, had almost entirely dropped her guard.
“I guess it just goes to show anyone can be an asshole.”
The past ten minutes could’ve taken a much darker turn. But Hendrix had protected her against the worst—Hendrix Durrant!She still couldn’t believe he’d come out of nowhere right when she needed him most. How was it that he was so close? “What were you doing here?” she asked.
He kept his attention on his hand, which he seemed to be testing by opening and closing it again. “Just happened to be in the area.”
“How? And why’d you bother to stop and help?”
He looked at her with a shocked expression. “You think I’d stand by and let a woman—any woman—be hurt?”
“We’re not talking about any woman,” she said. He hated her, wanted her gone. Plenty of people around town had told her that. And she could understand why. Her father was the only one of the two of them who’d really wronged her. She just hated Hendrix because he’d taken a lot of what she otherwise would’ve had.
“God, Ellen,” he said with a scowl. “How bad do you think I am? I’ve never been out to get you personally.”
She thought of Ben and how much more she was having to pay him since Hendrix had tried to hire him away. That pissed her off. But she’d done her fair share of damage to Fetterman Well Services, too; she figured she’d deserved some kind of retaliation. Part of her was even grateful Hendrix had finally done something to hurt her. After so many months of being ignored, it gave her something concrete to hold against him, made her feel that much more justified in disliking him.
“I—I don’t think you’re...bad,” she said but she didn’t sound convinced, even to her own ears, which was probably why he shot her a dirty look.
“Thanks a lot.”
She shook her head. She had so many questions. She still didn’t understand how he’d been able to step in at such a critical moment—and she knew she owed him her gratitude for that, at least. She would’ve assumed he’d been visiting Brant and Talulah and just happened to notice the scuffle as he was driving away. But she’d never seen him at their place before. And Talulah’s had been dark when she passed it.
She opened her mouth to ask again, but his knuckles were busted up, his shirt was torn and stained with blood, and it was a lot cooler than it’d been earlier in the day. The wind felt like it was slicing right through her; he had to be cold, too. She figured they could talk inside. “C-come on in where it’s warm, and...and you can get cleaned up.”
Eight
Hendrix had never expected to find himself inside Ellen’s house. Actually, he’d been in the house before, many times, when Stuart’s parents owned it. But it was different now. Ellen had been in Coyote Canyon long enough to put her own stamp on the place. She’d brought a hippie vibe to what had been a straight-up ranch-style rambler by adding a lot of houseplants, contemporary art and eclectic furniture, most of which came off as quirky as she was.
