Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Rawlins sighed with relief when he walked in and found Chaney asleep on the sofa. She looked like an angel curled up on her left side with a sweet smile on face. He went upstairs to shower and change while she slept, hoping she’d be awake when he returned. He threw his laundry in the wash while he was up there.
When he came back downstairs, Chaney was sitting on the sofa, drinking water and watching the TV.
“I thought I heard movement upstairs,” she said.
“And you weren’t scared?” he said.
“No. The door was locked. You had the key,” she said. “Unless my parents sent Broderick over to pack my things and take me home…”
“Why would they do that?”
“They called after you left. I told them I’d taken a job and was supporting myself,” she said. “They didn’t take it too well. Especially my mother.”
“I bet,” he said, sitting on the sofa. “Why would you do that?”
“Because she called wanting my answer to their question that I hadn’t given,” Chaney said. “And well…” she shrugged. “I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.”
“You never cease to amaze me.”
“I wish I felt amazed by it. I’m more worried what they might do,” she said. “They might come out here.”
“Wouldn’t that be good? You were complaining they didn’t spend enough time with you after you were rescued,” he said.
She nodded. “I know. I know. But now I’m more worried what might happen if they learn the truth, that I don’t really have a paying job and that I can’t support myself like I claimed.”
“You will in a few days. Call it a future truth,” he suggested.
“I don’t think they’d go for that,” she replied, scooting closer to him. “You smell nice.”
“I just showered.”
“I know. But you still smell nice. You’re cleaned up like you’re going somewhere, are you?”
“We’ve been invited out to dinner if you feel up to it,” he said. “But we don’t have to go.”
Her brow arched and she studied him for a moment. “Who invited us?”
“The Montana Crew.”
“You want me to go out to dinner with four Brotherhood Protectors?” Chaney asked.
He shrugged. “I explained how you were recovering, so if you don’t feel up to it, they’ll understand.”
“I didn’t say I don’t, but just the thought of four muscle clad men around me drawing all that attention people might think I’m a celebrity or something.”
He laughed. “You have quite the imagination. They are tall, but they aren’t that brawny.”
She slowly stood but was unsteady on her feet. “Let me go to the bathroom and I’ll tell you whether I’ll go with you.”
“You think I’ll go and leave you alone tonight?”
“If I say you go, then yes, go. I’ll be fine. I’ll take my medication and go to bed,” she said.
“What about dinner? Aren’t you hungry?” he asked.
“I’ll fix a sandwich.” And she closed the door.
It sounded to him as if she’d made up her mind not to go and he really didn’t want to leave her alone. He’d hoped she’d want to go because he didn’t get that many opportunities to hang with other protectors on the job, but he knew that was selfish of him. His place was here with her and if he went, he’d spend the night worrying about her like he’d been thinking about her all afternoon while working.
She finally returned with one hand clutching her stomach and the box of pads under her other arm. “I need to go upstairs. Do you mind helping me up to my room?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Should I carry you?”
A shocked look crossed her face, but she relented to the idea and nodded. “Yes, please. Thank you.”
“Will you be returning? Should I take up the heating pad for you?” he asked.
“That’s a good idea too.”
He unplugged it, wrapped the cord around the middle of it and handed it to her before he swiftly scooped her into his arms.
“You’re strong,” she said.
“You’re not that heavy. I’ve carried equipment that weighs more than you,” he said.
“I’d hope so,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “If you make me a sandwich and see that I’m in bed. You can go meet up with your friends.”
“No. I’m not going,” he said. “I’ll call Swede and send our regrets. I’d rather stay here with you and watch television or watch you sleep or something.”
She giggled. “Watch me sleep?”
He shrugged. “You are adorable when you sleep.”
“I am?”
“You are.”
“And how would you know? Have you been sneaking into my room late at night, Mr. Grainger?” she asked.
“I saw you curled up on the sofa when I returned with a sweet smile on your face,” he explained.
“Ah,” she said as he carried her into her bedroom. “You can set me down now. I can manage.”
“I’m sure you can, but you were holding your stomach downstairs. Are you sure you’re, okay?” he asked.
“Cramps. And there isn’t anything you can do about those.”
“I guess not,” he said. “I can plug in your heating pad for you.”
“Yes, while I go into my bathroom and freshen up a bit.” She hobbled off.
He busied himself turning down her bed, plugging in the heating pad and turning it on to warm and then he went into the hallway and looked for extra pillows in the linen closet. He found two and stuffed them in cases before bringing them back and putting them on her bed. Then he went downstairs and prepared them something to eat while he called Swede to let him know they weren’t coming.
“Sorry, but she’s not feeling great at the moment. She said I can go with you, but I don’t think I should,” he said. “Maybe I’m being overly cautions, but I wasn’t there when she got stabbed because I was up in that ceiling running that wiring. If I go out tonight and she needs me…”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. We’ll hang out tomorrow while we work. You can bring the coffee and donuts,” Swede said.
“S-sure,” Rawlins said.
There was laughter on the other end. “Just messing with you. But if you want to bring coffee in the morning that would be great.”
“I can do that,” Rawlins said. “See you then.”
By the time he finished preparing the tray with their meal and carried it upstairs, Chaney was out of the bathroom and in bed again. She was propped on the pillows with the sheet covering her.
“Hope you’re hungry,” he said.
“Depends on what you’ve got,” she replied, leaning forward and trying to see. “Did you make me a hero sandwich?”
“I did.”
“Yummy. Then yes, I am.”
“Aren’t you getting picky.”
“I know what I like.”
“So, do I.”
She cocked a brow as he sat down, balancing the tray on his lap.
“Good. These aren’t as big as the ones you made that first night. I don’t think I could have eaten one that large.”
“I didn’t think you could,” he said.
“I think you are getting to know me pretty well,” Chaney replied.
“I think I am too.”
She smiled before taking a bite. “I’m glad you decided to stay in tonight even if all you can do is watch me sleep.”
He laughed. “Yeah.”
They ate in companionable silence and then she snuggled up beside him and fell asleep. He flipped on her TV and watched the news until he heard the wash cycle stop and then he slowly got up and went to throw his clothes into the dryer. When he returned, he turned the TV off and took the tray of dishes downstairs, to clean them up. But it was still early, and he had to wait for his clothes to finish before he could turn in for the night as well.
The sad truth was not having Chaney around right now pointed out just how much he’d come to enjoy her company in the evening each day. They usually played Scrabble or another board game or watched a movie before going to bed. And while they hadn’t been doing this that long, he had already come to count on it as a daily routine and not having this to fill his evening right now felt like something was missing.
Annoyed, he went upstairs to take a shower, but halfway up realized he’d already done that because he’d been going out earlier. “Well darn it,” he muttered, continuing up the stairs to check in on Chaney before going to his room.
He changed into his lounging shorts and T-shirt, did his breathing treatment for the night and channel surfed to see if there was anything on that caught his eye. Thankful now that there was a TV in his room.
As soon as the dryer went off, he went to get his clothes out and hung them up. Then he peeped in on Chaney one last time before going to bed.
He left feeling he’d done his job and could rest soundly for the night as he headed back to his room.
Chaney woke to find herself alone the next day. When she finally stirred from bed and went downstairs there was a note from Rawlins that he’d had to leave early to pick up coffee for the Montana Crew since he didn’t join them for dinner. That meant she had the place to herself, and she could run around in her PJs all day if she wanted. The thought made her giddy. She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat on the sofa watching TV, then she went back to her room and took a nap. By the time she woke it was late afternoon and she was feeling better, but tired. She went back downstairs and had another bowl of cereal for lunch and found a movie to watch. She must have fallen asleep face down on the sofa because the next thing she knew Rawlins was calling her name, rubbing her back to wake her up.
“Hi,” she said drowsily, raising her head to look at him. “What are you doing home?”
“It’s dinner time. Are you hungry?”
“Maybe.” She ran the back of her hand across her mouth as she yawned. “What kind of pills did the doctor give me? I took one yesterday, and one this morning, but boy did it have a different effect today.”
“I see that. Have you slept all day?”
“Pretty much.”
“Maybe your body needed the rest,” he suggested.
“Maybe.” She turned over and got a better look at him. “Ewww. You’re covered in gunk.”
“I’ve been in the ceiling again. It isn’t as bad in the girls’ dorm as the boys was. But it is still dusty.”
“You should go shower,” she said.
“I will. Think about what you want to eat,” he said.
She moved the sofa throw pillow so she could curl up and lay her head on it in a different spot. Then she closed her eyes again after he left, drifting back off to sleep.
“Chaney!” Rawlins called, waking her when he returned from showering. “Is this the bottle of pills you took today?”
She sat up on the sofa, blinking her eyes several times to wake up. “I don’t know, I guess. If the bottle was on the counter, I did.”
“This is a pain pill. Not the antibiotic. No wonder you have been sleeping.”
“It has helped my cramps,” she said.
“But it isn’t the pill you took yesterday. That was the antibiotic,” he explained.
“Okay. Sorry. I guess I wasn’t fully awake this morning when I came down and took it and I got the bottles confused,” she said.
“I’m going to put this one in the cabinet and only have the antibiotic on the counter since it is what you need to be taking,” he said. “That is why you are so out of it.”
“Yeah. I can’t hold my eyes open,” she giggled. “I think I’ll go to bed.”
“No. You need to stay awake, or you’ll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep and feel rotten tomorrow. See if you can walk around without too much discomfort. That should wake you up.”
She did as he asked, and they prepared soup for dinner which was warm and filling. She changed clothes and then they went outside and walked almost down to the swings and back. Then and only then would he allow her to go to bed and sleep.
By the next morning, she was up and at it like nothing had happened. She was amazed that her stomach wasn’t hurting from her surgery. Dr. Pirelli had said it would take several days before she felt better. Maybe all that sleep yesterday had done the trick?
She was dressed and ready to go by the time that Rawlins came down for work. He frowned when he saw her waiting for him on the sofa.
“No,” he said. “Dr. Pirelli has not given you the okay to go back to volunteering.”
“But–”
“No.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stormed back upstairs, slamming her bedroom door the band echoing through the house. “Who do you think you are, Mr. Hot-Shot Brotherhood Protector?” she fumed. “When did you become a dictator?”
Walking over to the window, she watched him get into his shiny new car and drive off, leaving her alone. What exactly was she supposed to do all day? Watch TV? She’d never been a couch potato even if she was supposed to be recuperating. Then she remembered she hadn’t had a chance to investigate taking classes online during the trial, so she went into her study and sat at her desk.
To her surprise there were a few options, but most of them were for introductory level courses that she had already completed. Which would not progress her in her studies. She might have to rethink taking classes this semester. She made a call to her advisor to set up a meeting to discuss her major change and what necessary steps she’d need to take to do that.
The sound of a car pulling in her drive and the door shutting caught her attention and she got up from her desk, walking to the window to look out. It was Broderick. What was he doing here? She didn’t have an appointment with Dr. Saunders today. That wasn’t until tomorrow, was it? She grabbed her appointment book and double checked, but she was right. It was tomorrow.
She didn’t wait for the doorbell to ring to go downstairs and was on the landing when it did. And she answered the door within a matter of seconds. “What a surprise to see you Broderick,” she said. “Did my parents send you?”
“They did call. May I come in?” he asked.
“If you like,” she said.
“When did Rawlins get a car?” he asked.
“His employer sent it to him last week.”
Broderick nodded. “I was surprised when I saw him drive off this morning and you weren’t with him. I was under the impression that you have a job. He must be the one driving you around since you haven’t been contacting me to take you. Unless you are working for once of the families in the neighborhood here.”
Her mind raced on how to respond. If she lied and said she was he’d want to know which one and he could easily check on that. Besides, she didn’t want to go down that path.
“He is driving me,” she said. “But he’s off on an assignment right now. I don’t have to be at work until later.”
“I thought he was supposed to be protecting you and he just leaves you here alone to go and do another job?” Broderick crossed his arms over his chest.
“Who said what he is doing isn’t part of the same job?” She threw back at him, trying to keep her voice level.
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” he said. “I don’t like the position you’ve put me in, Miss Daniels. Getting called out by your parents when I thought everything was going fine makes me look bad.”
“I’m sorry you got caught in the middle,” she said. “But I don’t need a babysitter. My parents shouldn’t have hired you do drive me around and keep tabs on me for them.”
“I thought I was keeping you safe after you were abducted. That was my understanding of the job description they gave me when I was hired,” Broderick said. “But it’s clear as the weeks have progressed, they had another agenda for my services.”
She nodded. “Yes. They are very manipulative people with their wants and demands. Resign and walk away from this job.”
He grunted and shook his head. “You’d like that wouldn’t you.”
“It’s whatever you’d prefer. Leaving on your own terms or getting fired.” She shrugged. “Take your pick. I can see it coming. The writing is on the wall. They are not happy. They can’t control me, so they are lashing out at you. And if they can’t get the results they want, it’ll be bye-bye Broderick.”
“Are your parents control freaks?” he asked.
“I never thought they were, but then, I always did what they wanted growing up,” she explained.
“You seem like a grounded kid…err… young woman,” Broderick said. “I don’t really see why they have an issue with you living your own life.”
“Listen, I can’t tell you what to do. I just don’t want them to ruin your reputation and make it difficult for you to get another job in the future. I think leaving on your own terms is better than being fired.”
There was a long pause before either of them said anything, but finally Broderick did. “I hear you. I’ll get out of here now. Do you need me to take you to your appointment with Dr. Saunders tomorrow?”
“I think Rawlins will be going with me to that, but I’ll call you tonight if I should need you,” Chaney said, walking him to the door.
“Okay. If I don’t hear from you, I will take that to mean you are covered.”
When he left, she locked the door and leaned her back against it. Hoping she’d dodged a bullet talking to him like that. She wasn’t sure what would happen now. Would she hear from her parents again? She had a feeling she would, and she decided she had better be prepared.
Swede and Viper finished setting up the control terminal in the security office at The Village while Taz and Rawlins tested out the panel in the girls’ dorm to make sure it was working.
“The light’s glowing green,” Rawlins said. “What is your digital display showing?”
“Green.” Taz rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t get why it’s not working.” He pulled out his phone and called Swede. “Yo. We have an issue with the digital display in the girls’ dorm. We have two green lights, but nothing else is working.”
“That’s because we’re offline in here. Sorry. I should have told you we were down. We’ll be back up in about five minutes,” Swede apologized.
“I’ll get you for that,” Taz warned. “We’ve been busting our butts trying to get this to work while you monkeys are messing around in there.”
Swede laughed. “Hang tight, it’s almost back online.”
“It’s not on our end, but theirs,” Taz said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “They took the system off line without telling us.”
Rawlins shook his head. “I think this August heat is getting to all of us.”
“I know. It could rain, and cool us off any day now,” Taz agreed.
Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound was soft, but distinct as the green lights began flashing on the digital display and a Welcome to The Village message came across the panel.
“We’re up and running,” Rawlins said.
“Right on,” Taz cheered.
He programed the device while Rawlins packed up their gear and they headed over to boys’ dorm to finish setting up that digital display panel as well. Within fifteen minutes they were finished and headed to the security office.
“Rawlins, take a seat at the computer here,” Swede said when they entered. “I want you to learn how to work the system so you can train The Village’s security guy to run it.”
“How difficult is this?” he asked.
“Not hard at all.” Swede laid an easy-to-follow laminated instruction sheet in front of him. “See. Simple.”
Rawlins ran through the steps several times with Swede’s help until he felt he had it figured out and then he called Hannah to let her know the system was up and running. She came down to check it out before they left for the day.
Swede ran through the simple instruction sheet with her as well.
“This is so simple I can work it,” she said. “Thank you for the work you’ve put into making this happen.”
“It was our pleasure,” Viper said. “We don’t fly out until tomorrow afternoon if you need anything just let us know.”
“I will,” Hannah said, turning to Rawlins. “Your off tomorrow for Chaney’s appointment as I recall.”
“That’s right. She was up ready to come in this morning with me, can you believe her?”
Hannah smiled. “Actually, I can. Have a wonderful evening.”
When the director left, Rawlins looked at his Montana counterparts that he’d gotten to know so easily in such a short time. “I guess this is goodbye, guys,” he said.
“Yeah,” Taz agreed. “We couldn’t have gotten through this so fast if you hadn’t already started running the wire before we arrived.”
“Tell Chaney we wish we could have met her,” Viper said.
“Yeah,” Swede said.
“I will. Maybe we’ll get to work on another project again someday,” Rawlins said.
“Or Kenneally will bring you out to Montana when he comes on a visit,” Taz said.
“Yeah, he’s coming for one of those in a few weeks I think I heard Hank say,” Viper added.
Rawlins grinned thinking about that. “You never know.” He waved at this as he walked to his car and got in, starting the engine and letting the windows down to air out the car before driving toward Chaney’s condo.
He just hoped she wasn’t still mad with him from this morning.
When he unlocked the door and walked into the condo he could smell dinner cooking. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it smelled good. He locked the door back and stepped into the living room. He didn’t see anyone at first, but he saw that the table was set, a basket for bread was there and salads waited for them. Food warmed on the stove and the aroma mingled with that of the bread baking in the oven. It all made him want to dig right in.
He investigated exactly what it was because he still couldn’t imagine it smelled like one of the frozen skillet meals he’d purchased. And it wasn’t. But he still couldn’t put his finger on it. Had she gone out shopping herself? But how?
“Hello,” Chaney called from the stairs.
He pivoted to see her dressed in a long yellow dress and flat sandals with her hair pulled over her left shoulder.
“I hope you’re hungry.”
“I am. It smells delicious.”
“You have time to quickly shower and change if you want. Or we can eat now.”
She was being too calm from the way he’d left her this morning and it set him on edge. He didn’t know whether to question her about it or not. Therefore, he decided to go shower. “I’ll be right back then.”
He was back in under ten minutes, his hair damp from being towel dried. But he was clean, and his clothes were fresh. And she was taking the bread out of the oven as he came back down the stairs.
Their plates were waiting for them on the table, and he waited for her to join him there before they sat together.
“What brought all of this about?” he asked.
“Boredom and the Food Network. I knew about it but had never watched it. I actually made tonight’s dinner from items you purchased after watching several episodes. Not from those skillet meals.”
“Should I be afraid?” he teased, with a grin on his face.
“I’ve taste tested it and I think it tastes pretty darn good,” she said. “Bon appétit.”
He took a tentative bite and chewed slowly before reaching for another one. “It does taste good. You did great,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. “I brought my laptop into the kitchen, set it on the island and watched the video as I prepared the meal, watching the parts over I needed as I went.”
“That’s how you learn,” he agreed.
He told her about his day as they finished the meal and how the Montana guys wished they’d had the opportunity to have met her. She told him about her visit from Broderick and how she talked to her advisor about classes.
“It sounds like you’ve had a productive day. Are you okay with how things turned out with Broderick?” He inquired.
“Not sure. I guess I’ll wait and see where it leads.
“Since you cooked, I’ll clean up. Go rest,” he said.
“But you worked,” she protested.
“And you are recovering from minor surgery. I think you’ve been on your feet more than enough today,” he said. “Besides, we have your appointment with Dr. Saunders tomorrow don’t forget.”
“I haven’t. You are still going with me, right? If not, I need to call Broderick and let him know he needs to take me,” she said.
“I’m off to take you.” He pushed away from the table and started clearing the dishes.
Chaney stood and went to the sofa, sitting with her back leaning against one armrest so she could stretch her legs out and watch him work. It didn’t take him long to have the kitchen cleaned up and then he came to sit with her. She switched positions, putting her feet back on the floor.
“Okay,” Rawlins said. “It’s time to have a talk about this morning, when I left. I didn’t like leaving you angry at me because I wouldn’t let you go to the shelter. Are we good now?”
“We are. I was angry then, but you were right, I didn’t need to go,” she said. “If I’d gone, I wouldn’t have been here when Broderick came. I wouldn’t have contacted my advisor. I couldn’t have spent time learning to make dinner.” She looked at him sheepishly for a moment. “Or taking a nap.”
He chuckled. “I think you’ve enjoyed sleeping lately.”
“It has been the only good thing to come out of being stabbed.” She covered her mouth and yawned. “See I am still tired. It must be from taking those pain pills when I didn’t need them.”
“Or your body needs the rest still. Come on, we’ll turn in even though it is early. I’m sure we can both use the sleep.”