Left behind, p.7
Left Behind, page 7
Wiley sat back down with his food and ate because he was hungry, but he was bothered. He didn’t like people being upset with him. And at the same time, he knew she had every right to feel how she felt.
***
Linette was teary-eyed all the way to her car. As soon as she slid in behind the wheel, she laid her head down on the steering wheel and cried, then wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and drove home. She couldn’t keep doing this—resenting a man she’d only had half a date with. And he’d said in his text that he’d been appalled at what had happened and blocked them from contacting him again, and she’d been happy when she read that.
And then all of a sudden, it hit her! She’d never responded. She’d just assumed he would call her again, while her silence must have given him the impression she wasn’t interested.
“Oh lord. I am such a dumbass,” she muttered.
But how did she correct this?
Had he given up on her?
After the snotty attitude she’d just copped, was it already too late?
Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent him a text.
I think I messed up. I read that last text from you as a heads-up to an incoming invitation after you healed, then heard nothing, and you read my idiotic mistake in not responding to your text as I wasn’t interested. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m still here. You still make me crazy. But dinner sometime would be nice.
Then she hit Send.
Wiley had just finished off his burger and was working on the last of his fries when he got a text. He wiped his hands before checking his phone.
As he read, he knew he was smiling, and when he got to the end of the message, he was smiling inside as well.
“Hot damn,” he said softly, and sent her a thumbs-up emoji and a smiley face. Life was looking up.
***
Tom Wheaton was at the front desk of the Serenity Inn, requesting a handicap-accessible room on the ground floor for him and Johnny Knight.
“How long do you plan to stay?” the clerk asked as they were checking in.
Tom glanced down at Johnny and then sighed. “We’re not sure. We’re here because his fiancée is in the hospital in the ICU. We don’t know what’s going to happen because she hasn’t recovered consciousness.”
The clerk blinked. “Oh my. So, you’re in Jubilee just because of this family emergency?”
“Yes,” Tom said.
The clerk paused. “Excuse me a moment,” he said, and slipped into the adjoining office.
Tom saw him pick up a phone and wondered what was going on, but when he came back a few moments later, he soon found out.
“Mr. Wheaton, your room and two meals a day have been comped for the duration of your stay. That includes the cold drinks and snacks available in your room.” He handed Tom two card keys. “All you have to do is charge the meal to your room and it will be picked up by us, along with the room charge.”
Both men were in shock, but it was Johnny who spoke first.
“I have no words to explain what a gift this is. You have my undying gratitude for such kindness.”
The clerk nodded. “You’re welcome, sir. It’s our policy to accommodate families now and then in emergencies such as this. We’re sorry for what’s happening and wish your fiancée a speedy recovery. Follow that hallway, and take a right. Your room is about halfway down on the left.”
Tom pocketed the card keys, shouldered his travel bag and put Johnny’s bag in his lap, and then wheeled him away. As soon as they got to the room, he gave Johnny the bed closest to the bathroom, then helped him into bed. It was midafternoon but he felt like he’d been awake for days.
Johnny was in so much pain that he was ashen. Tom helped him undress and then got him to the bathroom, gave him two pain pills, then helped him back into bed.
“Rest easy, buddy,” Tom said. “We’re here, and with some luck and a few prayers, Carey will wake up and get well. But you’ve got some healing to do, too, so we’re gonna be smart about these visits. Morning. Noon. Evening. Not every hour on the hour. Understand?”
“Yes, and I appreciate what you’ve done by taking off from your work like this for us.”
“You would have done it for me,’ Tom said. “Get some rest. I’m gonna shower. Do you want a snack or something to drink from the fridge?”
“No. I just want the pain to go away so I can sleep.”
Tom patted his friend’s shoulder, then stripped and walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
Johnny heard Tom turn on the shower, and then the pills kicked in.
He was asleep when Tom emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced at Johnny, then got a cold Coke from the fridge, and stretched out on the bed to check messages. When he was finished with his drink, he crawled into bed so damn tired he couldn’t think and closed his eyes.
***
Wiley was relieved of duty just after eight the next morning. He checked in at the precinct before going home to get a few hours of sleep. As soon as he got to his house, he showered, ate some breakfast, then sat down and called Linette, hoping it wasn’t against hospital rules for nurses to take personal calls because he was done with texting. It was too freaking impersonal and too easy to be misunderstood.
When his call began to ring, he half expected it to go to voicemail, but instead he got her.
“Hey, you.”
He grinned. “Hey, back,” Wiley said. “I just got off work and am going to catch a few hours’ sleep. I don’t go back on duty until eight p.m. What time do you get off work today?”
“I came on at six. I get off at four today.”
“Are you free for dinner this evening?” he asked.
“For you, yes.”
He closed his eyes, thanking God for a second chance. “I know it’s short notice and a short date, but I can pick you up at five and spend a couple of hours with you.”
“I would love that,” she said.
Wiley exhaled, grateful she didn’t know he was grinning from ear to ear.
“Awesome. See you at five.”
He set his alarm for 4:00 p.m. and crawled into bed. Thinking about Linette made it easy to go to sleep.
When he woke up hours later, he was excited by the thought of spending time with her. He already admired her dedication to her job, but there was something about her that spoke to his heart.
Chapter 5
Linette was a bundle of nerves by the time she clocked out. She flew home, jumped in the shower, and then once she was out, did her hair and makeup before going to her closet. She couldn’t decide what to wear, and time was getting short. Finally, she settled on a pair of gray slacks and a pale-blue blouse with elbow-length sleeves.
As she was dressing, she kept remembering the first time she’d dressed for a date with Wiley. She’d been so smitten with the man that she’d been expecting too much, and then had been humiliated by the two women who’d ruined it.
But after the attempted bank robbery, her perception of what mattered most in life had changed. They’d survived the tragedy together, and experiencing firsthand how swiftly a life could end had changed the whole dynamic of her life. Now all that remained was to see if the chemistry from before was still there, too. She was pacing the living room, anxiously awaiting his arrival when she heard a knock at the door.
He’s here!
She opened it to tall, dark, and handsome, and then realized she was holding her breath, and exhaled.
“You look beautiful,” Wiley said. “Are you ready, or do you need a minute?”
“I don’t want to waste a minute. I’m ready to go,” she said, then grabbed her purse and pulled the door shut as they headed for the elevator.
There was an awkward moment when the elevator doors shut them in. He pressed the button to take them back down to the lobby and then glanced at her. She was watching everything he was doing when he caught her staring and winked.
She blushed, then laughed, and the doors opened. They walked out of the apartment building to his car and were soon headed downtown to the tourist strip. When he pulled into the parking lot at the Back Porch, Linette sighed.
“I love this place. The food reminds me of my grandma’s cooking,” she said.
“What about your mama’s cooking?” Wiley asked.
Linette wrinkled her nose. “We don’t talk about it.”
Wiley grinned. “That bad, is it?”
“Daddy cooks. Mama does dishes. It works out better that way,” Linette said.
“Where do they live?” Wiley asked.
“St. Petersburg, Florida. I grew up there,” she said. “Let’s get out. We can talk inside. You don’t have much time to eat before you have to go on duty.”
They both exited the car and hurried across the parking lot and into the restaurant.
“Wiley Pope. Reservation for two,” he said, when the hostess approached.
She checked his name on the computer, then led them to a table beside a window. “Your waiter will be with you shortly,” she said, then left the menus on the table and walked away as Wiley seated Linette, then sat down and shifted his legs a little sideways to make them fit beneath the table.
She noticed his dilemma. “They don’t leave enough legroom for guys like you, do they?”
He shook his head. “Or beds long enough, or headroom in some of the older buildings. But we’re really handy at changing light bulbs. We rarely need a ladder. What sounds good to you?”
“I’m going for shrimp scampi with wild rice,” she said.
“And I’ve been thinking about chicken-fried steak all day,” he said.
Linette deadpanned. “And here I thought you were thinking about me.”
He had a moment of panic, but then realized she was teasing and sighed. “For a second there, I thought I was in trouble all over again.”
She laughed, which intrigued Wiley even more. Linette was a dark horse. She was gorgeous and smart, and now he was discovering that she has a wicked sense of humor, too.
He loved it.
The waiter arrived and took their drink orders and, when Wiley told him they were pressed for time, took their food orders, too. After that, they sat back and stared at each other from across the table, almost as if they were memorizing each other’s faces. Finally, it was Wiley who broke the ice.
“So? Do I pass muster?” he asked.
“Do I?” she countered.
The teasing slid out of his voice. “You already did the first time I saw you. I wanted to ask you out even then, but you were so far out of my league that I didn’t think I’d stand a chance. And then when I finally got the nerve, well, we both know what happened. Thank you for the second chance.”
She rolled her eyes. “It would have happened sooner, but I missed the cue, then had to get out of my own way.”
He shook his head and reached for her hand. “It no longer matters. Tell me about Linnie Elgin. Why did you want to become a nurse, and how did you wind up in Jubilee when you grew up in Florida?”
“I always wanted to be a nurse. I was always putting bandages on my dog or on Daddy. Mom had to put Band-Aids on the grocery list at least once a month because I used them all up on Dad, dolls, and dogs.”
Wiley smiled, trying to imagine her as a child, and listened intently as she continued her story.
“As for how I wound up in Jubilee, it’s because we came here for my sixteenth birthday to see the music shows and do the tourist thing, and I fell in love with the place. After I graduated from nursing school, this hospital was the first place I applied for a job. I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t hired me. I never saw myself anywhere else.”
“I’m really glad you did,” Wiley said.
She gave him another long, steady look. “So am I. Now you. What’s your story, other than being related to most of the local residents?”
He hesitated. But if they were going to have the relationship he wanted, he had to be honest from the start.
“Mom was born here. She was a Pope before she married. We grew up in Conway, Arkansas, and before we came here, our last name was Wallace. We changed it to Mom’s maiden name just before we came back, which was about a year after our father went to prison. He abused Mom and us throughout their entire marriage, up until we were old enough to fight back or move out. Then one day when he was high on drugs, he beat her so badly she nearly died, then left the house and murdered two strangers in cold blood. Sean found Mom and called an ambulance.
“The cops arrested Clyde and put him in jail. He went to prison for life, and we were vilified for being related. Aaron’s first wife divorced him after only a year of marriage because of it. We were all let go from the jobs we had. Then Grandma Helen died. Mom inherited her homeplace, and we moved back to Jubilee with her. She’s living in the house in which she grew up. I know it’s an ugly story, but I don’t want any surprises between us.”
Linette was in shock. She’d thought of him as a man just looking for a good time when they first met. Her opinion had already changed, but now she was seeing a whole other side of Wiley Pope. He already knew how to survive long before she saw him get shot.
“Oh, Wiley…I’m so sorry. What a life for all of you. But you’ve all risen above his crimes. You should feel no shame, and you’re the hero for so many here in Jubilee already. I hope you know how indebted we all are to you for your bravery.”
“I wasn’t being a hero. It was a knee-jerk reaction to what I walked in on. I didn’t see you until you were running toward me, but I will never forget how you stepped into the gap for me, and then for the victims, with no thought for yourself.”
She shrugged. “Oh, I fell apart. I just waited until I got home.”
He reached for her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I. Mr. Trotter was a really nice man. The last thing he did before he got shot was look at me. We were belly down beside each other. I could see the fear in his eyes even then, and then seconds later he was dead. It was so random, and those men were high as kites.”
“Like Clyde Wallace,” Wiley muttered, and then changed the subject. “What do you want out of life?”
She let go of his hand, took a sip of her sweet tea, and then looked up.
“I already have the job I want. But I want a family. I love children. I often work on the children’s ward. I don’t want things. I just want to be happy with the man I love. And you?”
“Same. Aaron and Sean are head over heels in love with their spouses. I want that. Brendan—we call him B.J.—is also looking for Miss Right, but he’s the head pastry chef at the Serenity Inn, and right now, he doesn’t have much of a social life.”
She shrugged. “I never did believe in looking for love. Daddy always said when it’s right, love comes to you.”
“That’s beautiful, Linnie…just like you,” Wiley said.
She smiled. “You talk as pretty as you look, and there comes our food. I think you’re going to be good to go on time after all.”
“Next time, I won’t be cutting it so short,” he said.
She liked the thought of “next time,” but the waiter was already putting their food in front of them, and their focus shifted to the meal. She would think later how easy he was to be with. There was no pretense. Just two people playing catchup on who they were and what they’d been before they met.
It didn’t take long for her to realize how solidified the bond between the brothers really was. Maybe it had to do with growing up in an abusive home, or maybe it was due to the strength of the woman who’d raised them. But by the time they were back in the car and on the way to her apartment, she knew she wanted more of Wiley Pope.
“We cut it close. I don’t want you to be late clocking in. You don’t have to go inside with me,” Linette said as Wiley pulled up to the apartment building.
Wiley shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m not dumping you out in the parking lot.”
They both exited the car on their own, but when they started toward the building, Wiley reached for her hand.
It was an innocent gesture, but it meant everything to her. She hadn’t held hands since high school. The men she’d dated were always reaching for something else. He was still holding her hand as they rode the elevator up, and when she unlocked her apartment door, he walked her inside.
The moment the door closed behind them, Wiley stopped.
“Linette, I’ve been heartsick ever since our first date, and tonight meant everything to me. Thank you for the second chance.”
She slid her arms around his neck. “Thank you for asking,” she whispered.
Moments later, she was in his arms. Her heart was racing, and the kiss was all that she’d imagined and more. The moment he pulled away, she regretted it was ending.
“Be safe,” she said.
Wiley ran a finger down the side of her cheek, then brushed his lips across her mouth one last time.
“Always. I’ll call you,” he said, and then he was gone.
***
The next day, Wiley sent flowers to her at the hospital and signed the card, Two hours was not enough. Let me know your next day off.
Linette came by the nurses’ station just after the flowers arrived, and when she found out they were for her, she blushed, knowing she was going to get teased all day. And then she read the card and quickly slipped it in her pocket, prompting every nurse on duty to ask the same question.
“Who are they from?”
And she gave all of them the same answer, “None of your business,” which only amped up the prying, and the smile on her face was all they needed to know the flowers were from a man.
As soon as Linette had a moment, she sent him a text.
You have caused a sensation at my work today. The flowers are beautiful. And you’re right. Two hours was not enough. I’ll check my schedule and you check yours, and we’ll meet in the middle.
Wiley got the message and sighed. Their jobs and schedules were going to be a headache to work around, but she was worth it. He was off today, and tomorrow he’d go back on days and someone else would guard Carey Eggers, and he wouldn’t be in the hospital with Linette anymore.
