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Abby nodded to Sarah, “Yeah, but did you meet her mother?”
Sarah shook her head. “No. No one was home.”
Abby sighed. “Well, she’s- wait- first off, Tildy made me stop half way down the street from her house to see if they were home before we pulled up front.”
Shooter frowned. “Why?’
“Because she’d been drinking, and she didn’t want to get caught.”
“Is she underage?” Caleb asked. “I thought she was 22.”
“She is,” Abby replied. “But apparently they don’t let her drink. At all. And she would’ve gotten into trouble.”
Caleb’s face darkened. “What kind of trouble?”
Abby paused and licked her lips. “That’s the thing. I- I think- I think they abuse her,” she declared.
Hawk’s gut twisted for a second. “Wait a minute. What? What makes you say that? Did she tell you that?”
“No offense,” Shooter said, “but she also said she was going to marry Hawk. This girl may not be stable.”
Abby shook her head. “She didn’t tell me. She showed me. By accident. She was a little drunk so I took her to her room, and she started to change clothes, to take a nap. And she’s got these bruises. Small ones, dozens of them. All over her upper arms. When she’d realized that I’d seen them, she panicked. Then her mother came home. And Tildy begged me not to say that I knew about them.
“So her mother knows,” Abby concluded. “Tildy’s not hiding them from her family. Just from other people. And that St. Christopher medal? She hides it in her pillowcase. I am telling you, Chris, that Tildy is terrified of her mother. You should see them together. Tildy’s like a robot. She can barely speak. Her mother basically told me she thinks Tildy’s a disappointment.”
Abby sighed. “And if you want my opinion, I doubt Tildy thinks she’s really going to marry Hawk. It’s just that the medal is important to her. And apparently it broke the moment Hawk touched her.”
“It did,” Hawk confirmed. “I remember that.”
“I think she feels trapped,” Abby declared. “Her mother is awful. I haven’t met her dad, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s the same way. And… well, she knows she’s not marrying Hawk…because she’s marrying someone else.”
Hawk’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? Who?” he demanded.
“A guy named Tate. Her mother told me all about him. Or rather, she told me all about Tate’s family. Which I’m guessing is the whole reason for the marriage. Ugh, Jesus. They’ve got it all planned out. They’re expecting a holiday proposal and a wedding in the spring.”
Caleb grunted. “What’s Tildy expecting?”
Abby shrugged. “A knight in shining armor? Someone to rescue her?”
“She said if she ever got lost, the medal would help her find her way home,” Sarah interjected.
Abby looked at Hawk. “I don’t think she’s crazy, Hawk. I think she’s just very sad and very lonely, and you came along, and… well…” She held up her hands. “Desperate times.”
Chapter 14
On Monday, Hawk pushed Shooter to finish Tildy’s car first, so it would be ready by the afternoon. When it was, he headed into the office to get her number off the work order. She answered on the second ring.
“Tildy?”
It took her a second to place his voice. “Hawk?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Your car is ready.”
“Oh. Okay. I…I can call my dad. We can be there in a few hours. Would that be okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he told her and hung up. Mostly, he just wanted to see her again. He felt like shit for ignoring her at the barbecue. And, if he was being honest, he did worse than that by bringing the brunette into it. It had just seemed easier than a confrontation, but he hadn’t expected to be so wrong about Tildy. Now he was worried about her. He didn’t know if she could forgive him; he could accept it if she couldn’t, but he wanted to make sure she was okay.
He kept one eye on the clock for the rest of the day, until quarter to five rolled around, and a cherry red Porsche turned into the lot. He couldn’t say he was all that surprised by the make of the car or all that impressed either, but he put a smile on his face when the doors opened, and Tildy and her father got out.
Her father was tall, though not as tall as Hawk, and wearing a business suit, despite the heat of the day. Between his manicured hands and his hundred dollar haircut, Hawk had a hard time seeing this man as a bully who would abuse his daughter, but then appearances couldn’t be relied upon; the man was definitely scowling and Tildy was definitely not herself. Rather, she wasn’t the bubbly, excitable girl he’d danced with at Maria’s. Hawk wasn’t sure who the real Tildy was, though he knew which one he preferred.
