36. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Maci
J eeps and rubber ducks are kind of a thing. Over the eighteen months I’ve owned mine, I’ve gotten so many different ducks of all sizes. Sometimes they come with notes, other times a duck waits alone on my handle when I return to my parked car. It seems only fitting that as part of the items I put together for Izzy’s Trunk-or-Treat bash, I would have a thousand costumed duckies. A thousand ducks is an exaggeration. Probably.
Given this event is at the dentist’s office and Izzy is a hygienist, someone is bound to be giving out toothbrushes. Who wants a toothbrush on Halloween? So it’s my duckies and me to the rescue.
I arrive an hour and a half before the start of the event, as instructed. It’s dusk and my Jeep is only the third car in attendance. Izzy’s is, unsurprisingly, the first, and I can’t decide if I’m impressed or pissed that Leah’s is the second. Our cars are butted up to make an Izzy trunk sandwich and my best friends have already popped their trunks and started decorating.
Izzy is dressed as Tooth Fairy, complete with a white bodice, tutu, and sturdy wings. Her ice-blonde hair is styled in fat ringlets down her back and she wears a crown atop her head.
I slide my handmade costume on and stand in the driver’s seat.
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a wand. ”
Izzy’s head pops out of the trunk when I yell out to her. Whatever she was going to say dies on her lips and her smile turns into a perfect O as Leah draws out, “Ho-ly shit,” from the other side of her.
Thanks to Sutton’s help with the Jeep top earlier, and entirely too many balloons, my Jeep is about to resemble a full-on bubble bath. I stand, grinning down at my friends, my head and torso above the roof of my seat. Once all is said and done, I’ll be a rubber ducky raining down mini ducks and chocolate on the trunk-or-treaters. I couldn’t hide my cheek-splitting smile if I tried.
“That’s fucking amazing!” Leah cries, finally gathering herself. She’s bouncing up and down, the tail of her leopard costume swaying behind her. Where she found a one-piece bodysuit in leopard print is beyond me, but she’s gone all out on her big-cat makeup and paired it with ears on a headband. Her wild tresses hang down in beautiful chaos as usual and she’s every bit the wild animal she’s portraying.
Izzy’s bright smile hasn’t left her face. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Maci Grace.”
I bow as much as my ballooned costume will let me and swing my hand around with a flourish. I’m not always one for theatrics, but when I do, I do it right. I spent entirely too long sewing too many half-inflated yellow balloons onto a body suit for this. I may have permanent hearing damage from all of the accidental popping.
I climb down from my seat, opening the driver door so I can attach the last of the cardboard which will give the Jeep its bathtub feel. My bucket of ducks and candy is riding shotgun, waiting to make its debut.
“Where’s Sutton?” Izzy peeks into the passenger seat like he may be hiding there.
“He’s coming. They ended up with two cows calving today so he was sticking around in case there was any trouble. I think it’s just precaution. ”
“Look at you, picking up ranch lingo.” Izzy bumps me with her shoulder before attaching the final piece of her car’s costume. Paper teeth larger than my head dangle from her open hatch. The storage area is lined with black trash bags and a red, plastic tablecloth sticks out the back, folded to look like a tongue. Green and purple goody bags line the faux mouth, ready for little hands to grab. “Look! Bacteria.” She cackles.
“This is really cute.” I wrap both arms around her, admiring her hard work.
“Thanks, friend.” A tiny bit of pink colors her cheeks. “I’m glad we’re all together.”
I squeeze her tighter, about to tell her I wouldn’t miss it for the world, but the pressure causes one of the balloons on my costume to pop and we all jolt and scream together, bursting into laughter as one.
“Jesus, Maci. Leave it to you to give us a heart attack,” Leah chides once we’ve calmed ourselves. The three of us lean against the back of Izzy’s car, staring out to Main Street. The sun begins to lower behind the tree line across the street.
I turn to them suddenly. “Ok!” In unison, their eyes widen. “A leopard, a duck, and a tooth fairy walk into a bar.” And with that, we’re a mess of laughter all over again.
Like clockwork, families start strolling in at seven o’clock. Sutton hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m not worried. He’s yet to let me down .
I’m perched in the Jeep, Izzy and Leah at their respective trunks, along with about fifteen other people who agreed to pass out candy and goodies. A plethora of costumed children, and some parents, file through below me. Spider-Man, princesses of all kinds, a toddler dressed as Chucky who totally gives me the creeps, and babies in fluffy lion and pig costumes. Their squeals over the ducks raining from the sky, and a boat-load of candy, fill me with joy.
Everything is going off without a hitch up until a motorcycle revs. Judging by the volume, I assume it pulls into the parking lot next door which is also the home of the only Italian restaurant in town. A few of the kids startle at the loud noise, but the parents are quick to shush them and candy makes everything better at this point, so they’re all happily on their way. Crisis averted.
“What time is it?” Leah calls up to me.
I eye the glow of the dash below me. “Seven-thirty.”
“Still no word from Sutton?”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. I’m sure something came up at the ranch.”
Izzy and Leah exchange a look, but I ignore them.
A low voice comes from the front of my Jeep. “Would’ve pegged you for a princess.” A chill runs down my spine and I drop the ducks in my hand just off the side of the car, whipping around to see who’s there.
Colt.
“Nope, no princess here.” I turn back around, ignoring his remark. “Hi, Belle!” It’s an effort to kick my excited voice into overdrive, greeting children with a broad smile. Especially because I know he isn’t leaving.
Out of my peripheral, Colt moves closer, fitting himself between Izzy’s passenger door and my driver door. He leans against Izzy’s car, not taking his eyes off me. I continue to ignore him .
Izzy and Leah are giving me questioning glances. Chewing my lip, I shake my head tightly at Izzy.
If I ignore him, he’ll go away.
It’s a lie. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what Colt wants, but the pit in my stomach is warning that this is going to be more than a menacing wink over his shoulder.
“No cow-fucker tonight?”
My head snaps in his direction, my eyes darting to Izzy briefly. She’s eyeing the families walking by the backs of our cars, who are now eyeing the biker clearly up to no good. Her voice is getting louder to compensate for the added distraction. “You are such a cute Cinderella! Happy Halloween!” Leah follows suit.
With both hands on the roof of the Jeep, I lean over to whisper-yell at Colt. “What is your problem!”
It’s not a question. I know there isn’t a logical answer at this point. I also know drawing attention to it won’t make him go away.
He brings a cigarette to his mouth, taking a long drag, and eyes me from head to toe. “Usually you’re hot. But tonight you look fucking ridiculous.” The cigarette returns to his lips.
“Ouch, that hurts,” I deadpan.
Night is descending quickly, the sky darkening to an indigo color, and there are no lights in this parking lot. A massive oversight. Only the cherry of Colt’s cigarette lights the space between the cars.
“I’d still fuck you if you asked nicely.” Smoke leaves his mouth in a cone. “Well, I would.” He snickers the second part as if someone’s with him.
My climb out of the truck is far less graceful than the last time I did it. I shove the bucket of ducks and candy at Izzy, who now stands between our two cars attempting to block the view. Her ability to put her back to Colt is either really brave or really stupid, but I don’t have time to deal with that right now.
When I turn on Colt, he stands fully again, flicking the cigarette under Izzy’s car.
“Get out of here!” Without thought, I move toward him. He grins at me, backing up slowly. Too slowly. Taunting me.
“That what you want, princess?” Every time he calls me princess , a cold chill runs down my back. Nausea coils in my stomach.
Continuing forward, I move to shove him, but he’s ready and he grabs my wrists, pulling me into his chest. My feet falter at the change from pavement to grass as he pulls me around the front of the Jeep. “What’s wrong, princess ?”
His emphasis on the last word lets me know he’s doing it on purpose. I’m fighting against his hold, simultaneously trying to push him away and pull my arms free, but neither thing is happening.
In front of the Jeep, I can no longer tell what people can and can’t see. My senses zero in on what’s happening right here, in this moment, and everything else is distant. A sense of familiarity washes over me as I struggle against him.
“You seem a little worked up.” His eyes gleam and his grin grows, and I’m two seconds from throwing up on him. “Need a little release?”
“You couldn’t give me release if you had a map where X marks the spot,” I spit at him.
His grin never falters. “Maybe if you expected more than to be treated like a common whore in an alley—"
I explode. I bounce up on the balls of my feet and slam my head into his nose with all my force. There’s a satisfying crunch and he releases my wrists.
“FUCK YOU!” I scream. I no longer care if there are families with children .
“Motherfucker!” He’s holding his nose which is pouring blood. When he pulls his hand back, his eyes shoot up to my face. I’ve never seen a look contain so much fury.
Pounding footsteps and skidding tires mesh with the whooshing of my own blood in my ears as Colt launches at me. I’m fully prepared to grab two handfuls of hair and give him a knee straight to the dick, but his gaze shoots over my shoulder and he missteps.
“We’re not done, bitch,” he says under his breath, the pounding in my head getting louder.
Movement from my peripheral catches my attention as Colt darts into the darkness. Sutton’s truck is parked on a side street, driver door open, lights on, as he runs straight for me.
“Maci!” A male’s voice yells behind me. I whip around.
“Jesus!” Nick stops short, hands up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. What the fuck happened?”
Before I can respond, Sutton shoves between Nick and I, gripping my face with both hands. He looks between my eyes for a moment before holding me at arm’s length and looking me over. “Are you ok?”
Heaving breaths cause my chest to rise and fall. I close my eyes and tilt my head to the sky, sucking in air and willing my heartbeat to slow. My chest burns. The pounding is painful and my eardrums throb.
Izzy’s and Leah’s voices infiltrate the other sounds. Everything is starting to meld together into noise.
I suck in a breath and hold it for a four count before blowing it out.
Nick’s low voice breaks through the flurry. “I’m gonna go move your truck.” A soft thudding on the grass follows and I finally open my eyes to see him jogging to the truck .
“Oh my God!” My hands fly up to my face. “Izzy, I’m so sorry!” I still can’t see between the cars to the other side and now the space around me is mostly filled with bodies anyway.
“Shh, Maci, it’s fine.” Izzy’s brows furrow. “Most everyone had moved on and your safety is more important.”
“Maci, what the hell happened?” I face forward to Sutton again. His warm hands still hold my shoulders, steadying me. A tornado is building beneath his surface. The energy contained is practically vibrating out of him.
My brain chooses now to catalog his attire. His usual look is replaced by an all-white uniform with pinstripes and a dark ball cap. “What are you wearing?”
He’s stunned. “My old baseball uniform.”
I can’t stop my grin.
“Not the time,” he says sternly.
The past few minutes wash over me again. Tears threaten, a combination of coming down from my adrenaline high and knowing that he made a point to dress up for this event.
I slip my arms around his waist and lean into his chest, seeking his comfort, but inadvertently popping another yellow balloon and causing yelps to sound from Izzy, Leah, and I. We break into laughter, an accidental comedic relief in this moment of tension, but my face is pressed against Sutton’s firm chest and I can’t bring myself to let go as I bounce softly with laughter. His strong arms encircle me, squeezing me against his body.
Peace washes over me.
I’ve missed him. I want him. I never want him to let me go.