Chapter 26
Chapter 26
E verything happened at once, and the scene turned chaotic. There was a scream, a yelp, and Piedmont froze. As if anticipating this, Ethan used his free hand and drew him into the room while keeping his right hand on his gun, the gun that was now trained on the man in the middle of the room.
Belatedly, Piedmont remembered he also had a gun. He also raised it onto the man, which would have been overkill except the man in question also had his gun raised and trained squarely on Paley’s head.
Paley stood beside a single bed, her husband’s pregnant girlfriend sprawled on the mattress, weeping. “Shh,” Paley said, somewhere between annoyed and soothing.
Piedmont’s brain seemed to work slowly and yet on high speed at the same time. He took in the scene and understood it in an instant. His first instinct was to take a shot at the man with the gun. But he might miss. Ethan could take the shot and likely wouldn’t miss, but he didn’t. He stood still, hand outstretched, gun pointed at the man’s head. It occurred to Piedmont that there was a reason Ethan didn’t take the shot, and he quickly understood what it was. The person holding the gun was little more than a boy, possibly nineteen at the most. He had a baby face, his hands shook, and he cried.
“You’re going to have to lower the gun, or I’m going to kill you,” Ethan said slowly and carefully, but the boy cried harder. He could slip and shoot his weapon, harming or killing one of the women by accident. Ethan must have thought the same thing because his hand tightened on his gun.
“You haven’t hurt anyone here,” Piedmont said, his tone soothing. He lowered his gun. “I’m a lawyer, and I can help you. But that’s not going to be possible if you fire that gun.”
The boy blinked at him. “You’re a lawyer?”
“Yes, and I’m friends with the District Attorney. Put your gun down, and I’ll tell him you cooperated. I’ll put in a good word on your behalf. But if you don’t put the gun down right now, I’ll make sure you get the maximum penalty with no leniency.”
“He’s serious. He’s really good, and he’ll help you,” Paley added. By her tone Piedmont guessed maybe she had already been working on the boy, trying to soften him up and develop a friendship. “He’s kind of famous.”
The boy blinked at him, sniffling. Slowly, he lowered his gun. Ethan went forward and took it before turning the boy around and securing his wrists with a zip tie. “Where’s your partner?”
“He had to get sewn up. She winged him in the arm,” he said, nodding toward Paley. Once the boy was secure, Ethan pulled out his phone and made a call, presumably to Cameron who would figure out what to do with the kid. They had the capacity to arrest people, but didn’t often do it because of all the bureaucratic lines it crossed.
“Are you okay?” Piedmont said, going forward to grasp Paley’s biceps and inspect her.
“Yes,” she said, but it came out sounding like a question. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” he began but didn’t know how to finish. He had wanted to be the one to rescue her. She looked at him as if he were a hero, as if he had singlehandedly burst into the room and saved her life. But all of a sudden he realized that was how she always looked at him. She didn’t need him to physically rescue her from danger; she needed him to love her. And he did. “I have no idea.” He gave a little self-deprecating laugh and shook his head. “I’m no good at this stuff. If I were in court, I’d say I had temporary insanity when I heard you’d been taken.”
“We might need to dial back the shooting lessons. You’ve gone full cowboy,” Paley said, reaching up to tenderly brush his temple.
“No more, I’m done. And I’m afraid I have some bad news. This little venture has nothing to do with me,” he said.
“I know. I figured that out when they took her,” she thumbed to the woman on the bed. Piedmont couldn’t remember her name, but she cried bitterly. “It was Aaron.”
“No, it wasn’t,” the woman spouted, her tone filled to the brim with angry bitterness.
“She’s been a ray of sunshine,” Paley said.
“I called an ambulance for her, the cops for him,” Ethan interjected.
Paley jumped as if noticing his presence for the first time. “Ethan, what are you doing here?”
“How do you know Ethan?” Piedmont asked.
“There’s a picture of him at Amelia’s salon,” she said with a sheepish half smile.
“You went to Amelia’s salon?” Piedmont exclaimed.
“You dated Amelia for months, and you don’t recognize her handiwork?” Ethan said, picking up a chunk of Paley’s hair. “No one else does highlights like my baby girl.”
Piedmont gave him a look. “Right, I’ll stop talking and let go of your girlfriend’s hair now,” Ethan said, taking a step away from Paley.
“I’m not his girlfriend; I’m his housekeeper,” Paley said.
“Whatever works for you,” Ethan said, then made a zipping motion across his lips when Piedmont gave him another look.
“No, flip that around. I ran into Ashley Benholt at the courthouse this morning. Your divorce is official, Paley Anderson,” Piedmont said, giving her biceps a squeeze. Outside sirens wailed, the sound growing louder.
“If I’m going to be your girlfriend, I’m going to need a massive raise,” Paley said.
“What? As my housekeeper you said I’m paying you too much, but as my girlfriend you want more?”
“Piedmont, it’s so obvious. Girlfriends are way more expensive,” she said.
“True story,” Ethan said, and this time they both looked at him. “Yeah, I’m not so good at the staying quiet thing.”
“I’m seriously beginning to doubt Amelia’s choices in life,” Paley said.
“I’m finally beginning to understand them,” Piedmont said.
“This is so cute. I’m not usually present for the happily ever after part,” Ethan said, smiling fondly as his gaze bounced between them. “Except my own. And, again, I’m no expert, but I think now is when you kiss her.”
“It could not get more awkward,” Paley said.
“Yeah, it could because your husband’s mistress’s water broke,” Ethan said, pointing to the bed.
“Uh-oh,” Paley said.
“It’s okay, I did a year of med school before law school,” Piedmont said. “I was a bit undecided. I know all the technical aspects of delivering a baby, in case the ambulance doesn’t arrive.”
The pregnant lady screamed.
“Something tells me the feelings are vastly different and not something you want to experience,” Paley said. “It’s okay, Melinda, he was joking. The squad will be here in minutes, I can hear them outside.”
“Shut up,” Melinda screamed, gripping the bed. “I hate you.”
“I’m going to miss her when this is over,” Paley said, and Ethan and Piedmont laughed.
Officers arrived, followed by the ambulance. Melinda was loaded and taken away, still screaming and angry. Paley assured everyone she was fine and didn’t need looked over. She gave her statement to the officers, along with a location they could probably find Aaron. As promised, Piedmont called the DA and put in a good word for Paley’s captor and a bad one for her husband who had masterminded the whole thing for the insurance money to pay off the loan sharks he owed. By the time he was finished with the call, a warrant had been issued for Aaron’s arrest.
At some point after the officers arrived, Ethan slipped out undetected. Piedmont would have to call him later to say thanks, but then again maybe not. In Ethan’s mind they were probably even, and in Piedmont’s mind, too. Instead maybe he would have Paley help him pick out a combined and belated wedding gift for both Ethan and Amelia.
They sat on the bed, avoiding the wet spot where Melinda’s water broke, holding hands, watching activity swirl around them.
“I’m sorry I missed your dinner last night,” Paley said.
“You didn’t. They rescheduled for next week when you’re available,” he said.
“I’m still sorry. I hated that we fought, that I hurt your feelings.”
“I was being overly sensitive.”
“Still, I felt horrible, and I wouldn’t have gone if it hadn’t been important,” Paley said.
“Mattie told me about Jenny.”
“Oh.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
“Because I’ve spent so much of our relationship in the gutter. I didn’t want it to be one more thing about me that needed saving,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Piedmont, when I came to you I had been both fired and dumped. I had no place to live, no money, the world’s junkiest car, and an emotionally insulating layer of fat.”
“But, Paley, you’re the one who got the job, held on to your dignity despite how often your husband tried to take it away from you, and got in shape physically. I had nothing to do with any of that. You’re the one who pulled me out of my self-pitying heartache, made me laugh again, taught me what people are talking about when they incessantly reference The Breakfast Club, as well as how to play every conceivable sport,” he said.
“Maybe if I’m hearing you correctly, we rescued each other,” she suggested.
“While we’re being honest, I have to tell you I don’t have any idea how things are going to work going forward. Can I actually pay you to keep being my housekeeper if we’re together?” he asked.
“No, it’s too weird.”
“I don’t want another housekeeper,” he said.
“Do you want to break up already? That must be some kind of record,” she said.
“No, I don’t want to break up ever.”
“How about if I keep doing everything I’ve already been doing, but this time because I love you and not because you’re paying me to do it,” she suggested.
“That seems disproportionately unfair to you,” he said.
“Why? They’re all the things I love to do and without the constraint of being your employee, I can cater more. I’ve had other offers,” she said.
“You have?”
“A few. Not enough to make a fulltime career of it, but enough for some spending money.”
“You mean plant money,” he said.
“Yes, I’m going to start on the front this week,” she said.
The officer in charge of the scene cleared them to go and they walked hand in hand to the car the officers had also summoned, since Paley and Piedmont were without their phones. Charles held the door for them, looking properly dazed and upset over the day’s events.
“Piedmont,” Paley said when they were safely tucked in the back seat.
“Yes.”
“I’m officially divorced,” she said.
“You are.”
“I told you I love you.”
“You did?” he asked, surprised.
“It was in there, if you were listening,” she said.
“I totally was,” he assured her.
“Okay. I guess we’re all caught up,” she said, turning to stare out her window.
“You’re really tipping my hand here,” Piedmont said. Reaching into his pocket, he set a small box on her knee.
She opened it with shaking fingers and pulled out a small, plastic card. “You bought me a lifetime pass to the botanic garden?”
“For inspiration. I actually argued with Mattie about it because he said you’d prefer season tickets to basketball. I don’t think he knows about your gardening proclivities.”
“It’s a relatively new acquisition, and this is definitely so much better than basketball, thank you,” she said.
“I had a whole thing planned where I was going to take you out to a nice dinner and grovel for being such a jerk. Then I was going to present you with this and tell you I’m crazy and intensely in love with you and willing to wait, no matter how long your divorce takes. But you kind of wrecked my big, romantic plan by getting kidnapped and interrupting our dinner reservations. Then your divorce got finalized, and it skewered my speech about being willing to wait. But despite all that, I still love you and I’m ridiculously thankful you came into my life.”
“That was incredibly sweet and heartfelt,” Paley said.
“I sense a ‘but’ coming on,” he said.
“I think you were supposed to follow it with a kiss, and instead we’re sitting here awkwardly staring at each other,” she said.
“I’m waiting to make my move,” he said.
“What are you waiting for?”
“The perfect moment. It’s been a long time building. I can’t kiss you because it’s the expected next step,” he said.
“You really can,” she assured him.
“No, trust me, it’s going to be worth the wait,” he said.
“Maybe your perfect moment won’t be my perfect moment,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying when I decide to kiss you, you’re going to refuse?”
“Maybe.”
“Uh-oh.”
“What?” she asked.
“My competitive spirit has awoken.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re going to have to be the one to give in because now I can’t,” he said.
“It would seem we’re at a stalemate here,” she said.
“Do I need to remind you I’m undefeated in the courtroom?”
“Are you equating physical affection with winning a case?” she countered.
“You may be onto something there. Let’s bookmark that and come back to it in time,” he said. “The point is I have an iron will, and I’m going to break you.”
“Challenge accepted. Care to seal it with a kiss?”
“It’s going to take more than that to break me,” he said.
“Let’s see how much,” she said.
“Challenge accepted.”