Chapter 4
Joel
“No, I am not letting you walk to the door,” I bicker my way all the way around the front of my truck to the passenger side where Ellyn sits.
She peers down at me with narrowed lids that slightly hide her honey brown irises.
Her gaze, only a few shades lighter than her skin tone, doesn’t scare me. Unfortunately, the look intrigues me. Makes me want things I haven’t wondered about or wanted for a long, long time.
“I only have a bruised hip,” she tells me.
“And a sprained wrist,” I take the liberty to remind her. “Which you could make a lot worse if you try walking, trip and fall right here in your driveway. Then what? Huh?
“Another trip to the ER,” I say, not waiting for her to respond. “Put your arm around my shoulders,” I instruct.
She glares for another second before she reluctantly sticks out her arm with the cast on her wrist to slide around my shoulders.
I ignore the heated sensation that pulses through my body the moment she touches me. Instead, I remind myself to be gentle as I lift her from my Ford, holding her to me, ensuring she doesn’t slip.
Something makes her jump.
“Am I hurting you?”
She turns her face to meet mine. It’s not lost on me that our lips are mere inches apart in this position. A fact I can’t deny when my eyes involuntarily drop to get a look at her plump lips.
When she tucks her bottom lip in between her teeth, I bite back a groan.
“No.” Her voice is but a damn whisper.
It’s time to get this woman into her home so I can get back to mine.
Minutes later, after shouldering through her broken door, I deposit Ellyn onto her champagne-colored couch in the living area of her home.
Ellyn tries to hide her grimace the moment her hip touches the couch. She spreads her lips into a tight smile, but I see the way her eyes water from the pain.
My frown deepens before I remove the three pillow cushions from the couch, giving her more space and reducing the pressure on her injured hip.
“Thank you,” she sighs out.
“You need some ice,” I say and spin toward the kitchen.
It’s easy to navigate in her home since the living room space flows right into the kitchen and dining area. It only takes opening a couple of the coffee colored cupboards to get what I’m after.
“What are you looking for?”
I hear her question behind me but ignore it as I fill a Ziploc bag with ice from her freezer. Then I grab the kitchen towel that hangs over the stove handle to wrap the bag up before returning to Ellyn.
“Twenty minutes on, twenty off,” I instruct as I place one of the previously discarded pillows onto Ellyn’s lap, then adjust her sprained wrist atop the cushion to place the ice on.
“The doctor said—”
“You think some twenty-something year old knows what he’s talking about?” I shake my head. “Didn’t look a day older than my eldest grandson. And he’s only twenty-three. Wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”
“Doesn’t your grandson fly multi-million-dollar military airplanes for a living?”
I blink at her. “How do you know my grandson is in the Air Force?”
“You told me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did. When you were griping at me when I told you I wasn’t decorating for the holidays. You said, and I quote, ‘Even my grandson, Aiden, who’s one of the best damn pilots in the Air Force, is coming home to help decorate for Christmas.’”
I glance down at the floor, ignoring the tightening in my chest at the reminder of the call I’d gotten before I heard Ellyn’s cry for help.
“I said no such thing,” I lie as I adjust her wrist to make sure the ice pack isn’t sitting too heavily on her injury.
“I have a wonderful memory,” she tells me.
“It must’ve let you down this time. Either that, or it’s making up stuff. That tends to happen in—”
“In what?” Her voice rises an octave. “You better not say, ‘in old age.’”
“Fine then, I won’t say.” I rise to my feet.
She makes an incredulous sound with her mouth, and once again, I’m drawn to those lips.
“Men are ridi—”
“Yeah,” I say while slapping the thighs of my worn blue jeans. “Speaking of men …” I glance around notably. “You shouldn’t be alone.” I drop my gaze back onto her. “Do you have someone here to take care of you?”
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t an answer to my question.”
She pauses, taking her time to pick nonexistent lint from the white T-shirt I bought her from the gift store at the hospital.
“If you must know, I live alone.”
“That’s more obvious than it being hot as Hades in Texas in the middle of August.”
Ellyn’s mouth drops open.
“It’s evident you live by yourself. But is there someone you can call to help you out? You shouldn’t be alone.”
I gesture toward the door.
“Especially not with the front door the way it is.” I frown as I look over the door that I had to break through to get inside earlier in the day.
“You left my daughter a message, right?” Ellyn asks.
“I did.” Ellyn had given me her youngest daughter’s name and number to call right before the hospital staff took her back to get X-rays. I’d only gotten the girl’s voicemail, so I left a message to let her know what was happening with her mother.
So far, though, I haven’t gotten a call or text back. Ellyn’s phone was left here in the rush to get her to the hospital.
“I’m sure I’ll hear from her soon. Speaking of my phone.” She looks around the room. “I think I left it in my bedroom.”
Without allowing her to finish, I head for her bedroom. A quick glance around the room, lands my eyes on the cell phone resting on the dark wood nightstand on the right side of the bed. As soon as I lift it, though, I notice something’s wrong.
“Damn, I let the battery drain,” Ellyn says when I hand her the phone and she attempts to turn it on.
She finally gets the phone turned on after plugging it into the portable charger that sits on the coffee table at the center of the living room.
“There’s still the matter of the door,” I say, eyeing the cracks and dent in the door frame.
I head over to inspect the door frame. Not much structural damage. Appears to be an easy fix.
“I’ll have to stop by tomorrow after I get some of my equipment from the ranch.”
“Stop by? For what?” Ellyn asks, confused.
I go to stand beside the couch again and gesture toward the door. “I did a number on it to get to you earlier. It won’t take more than a couple of hours to fix, though. The overall frame looks sturdy.”
“I can call a repairman to do that.”
“Why would you call a repairman when I can fix it by the end of the day tomorrow?” Besides,” I continue, not giving her time to answer, “you’ll need it fixed up in time for you to start decorating for the holidays.”
The words slip out before I think better of them.
“Oh, that’s easy,” she tuts. “I won’t be decorating.” Her voice is sharp, certain, and unyielding.
I snort. “You already made it clear on your feelings about entering the neighborhood holiday competition. Which is ridiculous, by the way. But surely, you’re planning to decorate inside.”
“Surely?” she repeats. “What makes you think I have to decorate?”
“It’s Christmas.” I throw out my arms in frustration because the damn answer to her ridiculous question should be obvious.
“And?” she counters.
“What about—”
A borderline hysterical voice interrupts my comeback question. “Mom?”
Seconds later, a young woman with eyes the same color as Ellyn’s barrels through the front door.
“Mom, are you here?”
“Meghan?” Ellyn calls out, twisting her body toward where the voice is coming from, but then flinches in pain.
I move to still her, holding her by the shoulders to keep her from moving too much and hurting herself any further.
“Mom, what happened?” The younger version of Ellyn goes to her knees at the side of the couch.
I step out of the way to give her some room.
“What are you doing here?” Ellyn asks.
“I was already flying down to surprise you. I finished my coursework early so that I could spend the week before Thanksgiving with you before returning to the city to finish my classes for the semester.
“I had my phone off during my flight. And only got the message that you were hurt once I landed. I came straight here.”
“Oh, baby,” Ellyn says, half-laughing. “I guess your mama’s the one full of surprises.” Ellyn holds up her injured wrist, dislodging the ice pack, which her daughter catches before it hits the floor.
“What on Earth happened?”
“Thought it was a good idea to take a shower without the mat and I slipped while getting out,” Ellyn explains.
“And who was it that left the message on my phone? It sounded like a man’s voice. I tried to call your phone. Was it the doctor?” Meghan asks.
Ellyn’s eyes move to me. I’ve stood silent, watching the two women interact since her daughter arrived.
Meghan looks up at me, her eyes swinging from her mom to me and back again.
“Oh,” she whispers. She shakes her head and rises to her feet. “Thank you so much for helping my mom.” She approaches with her hand extended.
I shake her hand before dropping mine to my side.
“You’re Mom’s neighbor, right? Mr. …” she draws out.
“Townsend. But call me Joel,” I grunt out.
Meghan immediately shakes her head. “Yes, that’s right. I remember we met when mom first moved in," she says. “But absolutely not. My mother would beat me if she heard me calling someone my senior by their first name.”
“Since when have I ever beat you?” Ellyn says from the couch.
“That time in fifth grade when you found out that I stole Mrs. Tomlinson’s pet frog.”
“I never beat you,” Ellyn tuts. “That was a little swat on the behind. Besides, who told you to go around stealing class pets?”
“It was a dare that I made in front of Marcus Smith. I couldn’t back out of it. You know how much I liked him.”
“Girl, if I didn’t have this bruised hip I would get up and give you another swat. Causing all of that drama over a little boy.” Ellyn rolls her eyes, and I have to force my lips together, suppressing the smirk that tries to emerge.
What in the world am I smirking about?
“Anyway …” Ellyn’s daughter turns to me, but whatever she’s about to say is stopped by the ringing of her cell phone. “Hey, Shanice. Yeah, I’m with Mom. Here.”
She lowers the phone from her ear. “I called Shanice on my way from the airport and left a voicemail. Talk to her.” She hands her mother the phone.
“Shanice, baby. I—” It sounds like the woman on the other end of the phone cuts her off. “I’m fine.”
A pause.
“Yes. I swear. Just a little tumble in the bathroom.”
“Mr. Townsend.”
I recenter my focus on Meghan, not even realizing that I’d gotten caught up watching Ellyn explain to, who I presume, is her other daughter, what happened.
“If that’s the name you insist on calling me,” I reply.
“Thank you again for taking care of my mother.” She glances down at Ellyn who’s still on the phone. “I’m so glad she wasn’t alone.” Meghan takes my hand in hers.
“Is there any way I can repay you? I’m a broke law student so I don’t have much money, but—”
“Don’t finish that sentence.” I slide my hand from the girl’s.
“You just take care of your mother. And be careful of this door.” I point at the front door as I stroll toward it.
“Slip one of those dining chairs under the handle for tonight to keep it shut tight. I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon to fix it. Need to pick up some supplies from my ranch,” I explain.
“That’s very kind of you,” she says, standing by the door as I exit.
“See?” I gesture toward Ellyn, confusing Meghan. “That’s the correct response you're supposed to have. Unlike your mother who told me it wasn’t necessary.” I shake my head.
“Close the door tight,” I insist. “And don’t forget about the chair. And make sure your mother ices that hip good tonight. Twenty minutes on. Twenty off,” I shout making Ellyn turn to look over her shoulder at me with a sideways glance.
I have to smother another damn smirk as I make my way back to my truck.