Chapter 12
***MALCOLM***
As soon as Vanessa was on the phone with the police, Malcolm dug out his phone, but he had to sit there with Rose tucked under his arm for a long time before he could even think about making the call.
His mind was whirling with all the emotions crashing inside him, and the angry bursts of magic from the dragon buried deep within him weren’t helping, nor was the urge to defend Rose that climbed to almost unmanageable every time he looked at her car.
When he’d driven in to return his work truck and seen the car in the corner of the parking lot, his first thought was that he’d lost Rose before she’d even been his, and a stab of powerful grief had taken his breath away.
Then he’d seen her standing with Vanessa, her entire body trembling, a look of horror on her face, and his emotions had swiveled as a hot rage slowly descended over him with the urge to make the person responsible pay and the need to protect Rose rising to the surface and telling him more than he wanted to know.
It was the sight of her ready to tumble to the ground that finally penetrated through it all, and he’d vaulted out of the truck just in time to sweep her off her feet.
Now he could no longer deny the truth, he was falling in love with her.
The one thing he’d been so sure he could control had gotten away from him.
Remembering Sam’s words, he told himself that it wasn’t the end of the world, he could just rearrange his plans.
Then it hit him, she had no idea what he was.
Looking down at her, he imagined the conversation they’d have to have, saw in his mind the way it would go and what had been complicated before suddenly seemed impossible.
Vanessa was off the phone and walking toward them when he realized that his phone was still in his hand so he quickly placed the call to Roger.
Now wasn’t the time to think about his love life, the police would be there soon.
“They’re sending out a car,” Vanessa said, tucking her phone into her pocket. “Did you call Roger?”
“I’m doing that right now,” he said, holding up the phone. “Do you want to come sit with Rose while I make the call?”
When he was sure that Rose was fine, he stepped away, glad to take a few minutes to himself, the made the call. “Hello,” Roger answered on the second ring. “Make it fast, I need to keep this line open.”
“We’ve got a problem here at the office,” he said. “Someone vandalized Rose’s car, completely destroyed it. We’ve called the police, but we thought you might want to know. Roger, we think it was Sandra, we don’t have any proof…but well…if you saw this, you’d think so too.”
“I’m on my way, I’ll be there in five minutes,” Roger said, then the line went dead.
The police cruiser was just pulling into the parking lot when he got back to Rose. “Roger is on his way too,” he said. “He’ll be here in five minutes.”
Rose got shakily to her feet, “I can’t believe this is happening, even when we lived in my mom’s car we never had to call the police,” she said, then took a deep breath. “I feel terrible causing so much trouble.”
“You didn’t do this,” he said. “You’re the victim, the last thing you should be feeling is guilty.”
“He’s right,” Vanessa chimed in. “You didn’t do this, you’re the innocent one.”
The police had already begun their investigation when Roger drove up and jumped out of his truck, a look of horror spreading across his face when he saw Rose’s car. “Are you okay?” he asked, striding over to Rose, his eyes scanning her from head to toe. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
Rose shook her head. “It was like this when we came out,” she said, her voice still a bit shaky. “I’m sorry, Roger. I can’t help but think that Sandra did this.”
Roger looked over at the car, then back at Rose.
“I’m afraid you might be right,” he said, then sighed.
“I know what you’re going to ask me next, and the answer is I don’t know where Sandra is.
I was trying to help her and it completely blew up in my face.
She’s…well…maybe not quite living in reality I guess you could say, she’s got this crazy idea that she and I…
well…that there was something between us.
I don’t know where she got that idea, we’ve always just been friends, but things at her house are pretty bad. I think she might have just snapped.”
“That’s no excuse for this, Rose didn’t have anything to do with any of that,” Vanessa said. “She should be in jail.”
“She should be somewhere she can get help,” Roger said, shaking his head. “I just couldn’t get her there; maybe this will force her to go.”
“Okay folks, we need to get a statement from everyone,” one of the officers interrupted. “I understand you think you know who did this. Let’s start there.”
It was nearly two hours later before the car was towed away, the officers had all the information they needed, and they were told to go home.
“You look exhausted,” he said, pulling Rose into his arms. “Do you want to go home, or would you like to come home with me for a late dinner? Hattie always leaves leftovers for anyone who gets home late and there’s always plenty. ”
“I don’t know…I mean you and I…I don’t want…” Rose stammered, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just so tired, I’m not making any sense.”
He looked down at her, then smoothed the hair back from her face. “We need to talk. I was a jerk the other night, and I owe you an apology,” he said. “But first I think we need to get you some food and rest. I’m going to take you home with me and let Hattie fuss over you for a while.”
***Rose***
Her eyelids drooping, Rose settled a little deeper into the couch, enjoying the warmth of the fire, the murmur of conversation around her a comforting sound.
Hattie had fussed over her just like Malcolm had predicted, but it wasn’t just her; his friends had stepped in as well, making her feel safe and protected, something she hadn’t known she needed until it was there.
It wasn’t a feeling that she was used to, and she knew that she shouldn’t get accustomed to it.
This wasn’t her real life, and when she found out what she was supposed to, she’d have to leave.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Malcolm asked, sitting down next to her. “You look exhausted, but there’s some color in your cheeks again.”
“Eating helped a lot,” she said, then forced herself to sit up. “I should probably be getting home. Could you give me a ride?”
“We’ve all been talking and think it would be for the best if you stayed here for a couple of days,” Malcolm said. “It might be overdoing it, but better safe than sorry, as the saying goes.”
“You think she’s going to try to hurt me, don’t you?” she asked, then shivered. “She can’t be that…lost.”
“We don’t know, that’s the problem,” he said, taking her hand. “I don’t want to scare you, but even the police said that you should take her threats seriously. She took a sledgehammer to your car, Rose. That’s a lot of rage.”
“Maybe I could go stay with Vanessa, I don’t want to be in the way around here,” she said. “You’ve already got a full house, and I don’t want to be a bother. Everyone has been so nice, but they have their own lives, they don’t have time to babysit me.”
“They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t want to be, but they all like you, so it’s settled, you’ll stay here at least for tonight,” he said. “The guest bedrooms are up in the attic. You’ll have the whole place to yourself.”
She was too tired to argue and let him lead her up the main staircase to the third floor, Hattie trailing along behind them, tutting and fussing over her the entire time.
By the time Hattie chased Malcolm away and helped her change into a long, flowing nightgown, she was half asleep, and she was out the moment her head hit the pillow.
Bright sunlight woke her the next morning, and for a few minutes she couldn’t remember where she was, only that she was safe, then the night before came rushing back at her.
The memory of her car being towed away made her stomach hurt just a little, but she reminded herself that it was only a hunk of metal; she could get a new one.
The important thing was that no one had been hurt.
Throwing back the covers, she got out of bed and followed the smell of coffee down a short hallway to a little kitchen where she found a fresh pot brewing.
Grabbing a cup off the counter, she poured a cup, then spooned in a generous amount of sugar, deciding she deserved it, then found some milk in the refrigerator and added a splash.
After taking a big sip, she let out a groan of appreciation, then looked around, surprised to find it was a snug little apartment, not just a couple of bedrooms.
Noticing her clothes folded neatly on the table, she walked over to them and saw a note. “Good morning, hope you slept well,” it said. “Enjoy the coffee, there are towels and toiletries in the bathroom. Help yourself, then join us downstairs when you’re ready.”
She set the note aside, smiling when she realized that Malcolm had gone to all the trouble of washing her clothes, then she saw her phone.
Grabbing it, she turned it on, scrolled through her notifications, and saw a message from Roger.
Ignoring everything else she opened up, then called him like he’d asked.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked when he picked up. “I hope you managed to get some sleep.”
“I’m doing fine, better than my car, that’s for sure,” she said, putting more enthusiasm into her voice than she felt. “I might be a few minutes late this morning. I’m not sure how I’m getting there.”
“That’s why I was calling. I think under the circumstances, it might be best if we took the rest of the week off,” Roger said.
“I’ve already spoken with all of our customers, and they’ve all been very understanding.
I hope by Monday, we’ll have things under control and we can get back to work without any distractions. ”
“I hope so, too,” she said, unable to hide the relief in her voice. “Do you need me to help spread the word? I’d be happy to make some phone calls.”
“No, I’m good, I’ve already called everyone,” Roger said. “I’m sorry about all of this, Rose. I wish you weren’t caught up in it, but I’m sure we’ll find Sandra soon.”
“Thanks, Roger, but I’m doing fine,” she said. “Malcolm and his fraternity brothers are taking good care of me.”
“Glad to hear it. Malcolm is a good guy,” he said. “I’ll be sorry to lose him when he graduates.”
She took her time showering and getting dressed, not sure how to spend her day off, but glad that she didn’t have to face the parking lot yet. Malcolm was waiting for her in the kitchen, his computer open in front of him, school books covering the table, and she felt bad for interrupting.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked, getting to his feet. “Are you hungry?”
“I slept great and I’m starving,” she answered, laughing. “I guess you heard we’ve got the day off. Do you have class?”
“Nope, I’m free all day,” he said, walking over to the stove. “Well, except for some homework, but that can wait for later. How about some eggs?”
“Sounds good, but I can take care of myself,” she said. “You don’t have to bother Hattie.”
“I wasn’t going to bother Hattie, I’m perfectly capable of scrambling a few eggs,” he said, acting insulted. “I’m not some helpless man, you know. Now sit down and I’ll have breakfast ready in a jiffy.”