Chapter 3
McGee had come into the shop twice over the last week, picking up pizza for his family.
Everyone knew that it was for his family because all he did was bitch about the fact that they were annoying him.
Hailey had sat for his kids twice more since the first time and thought that his family was nice.
Especially his wife. Why she put up with him was anyone’s guess.
He was an ass to her when they were out in public.
“I need to order six pizzas and five subs.” She got her pen and paper ready to get the order. “Well? Aren’t you going to start on them? I’m in a hurry.”
“What sort of pizzas were you wanting? And we have all kinds of subs.” She waited for the woman who was rolling her eyes at her. She said she just wanted regular pizzas. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Just make the pizzas, and I’ll tell you what I want on them as you go.
” She said that it didn’t work that way.
Things went on the pizza in a certain order.
“Of for Christ’s sake. Where is your manager?
I want to talk to him about your attitude.
” She went to get Cheryl and told her what was going on.
“I know who that is. She comes in here about once a month to order, and she wants them put together in her order of things. Then she’ll call back and tell us that she wants a refund, as the pizzas didn’t hold together like they were supposed to.
I’ll handle her.” She was glad that it wasn’t on her to deal with the woman on her own. Hailey thought about Gleason again.
She couldn’t believe all the things that he’d left for her. Having a can of hot soup was wonderful, and the crackers were a nice addition. She was enjoying the better heater too and couldn’t believe that he’d even thought of blankets. She’d been sleeping better since.
He seemed to be a nice man, and she couldn’t believe how much she’d told him about what had happened at the Sheep.
She wasn’t one to trust easily and was surprised that she’d trusted him with as much as she had.
Getting ready to make the first pizza that the woman ordered, she was able to make it without any trouble.
Just as she put it in the oven to cook, the woman was getting loud to Cheryl.
Tuning the two of them out, she wondered again why she’d trusted so much the first time she’d seen him.
The poke to her ribs had her turning toward the person who was standing behind her. She smiled at Cheryl and asked her what she needed. The laughter caught her off guard, and she didn’t know what was going on.
“She’s left. You can have the pizza if you want it.
I don’t think she’ll be back for a while.
” She said good. “I agree. She thinks that if she comes in here complaining again, I’m going to say she can have them for free.
I don’t work that way. You go ahead and have that one, and I’ll just take a slice.
It’s better than letting it go to waste. ”
After eating a couple of slices of the pizza, she was ready to quit.
It wasn’t something that she would normally eat, pineapple and ham, but it was all right if you liked that sort of thing.
Deciding that she didn’t want any more, Cheryl decided to take it home with her, and she did when they closed up.
For a Wednesday night, they’d been busy, and she was ready to call it a night.
She tried to look out for Gleason when she was walking home.
She knew that he was out there someplace, but she couldn’t tell one car from another.
When she got to the greenhouse, he beeped his horn and drove away.
She was going to have to tell him to stop this before he got her caught.
But she didn’t know how to do that since it was his place she was staying in.
Wondering what to do next, she readied herself for bed and got under the covers.
It wasn’t really chilly out, but the blankets made her feel like she was being wrapped in warmth from a hug, and she really enjoyed that.
Getting up the next morning, she showered as best she could and washed her hair.
It was long, and all she ever wore it in was a fat braid down the back of her shirt.
Braiding it now, she kept an eye out around the area to make sure no one was snooping around.
She didn’t know what she’d do if someone came into the greenhouse while she was there.
Scream, she supposed, but no one would hear her.
Shivering about the fact that she was alone out here, she knew better than to think of things that would get her into trouble.
That would prey on her mind all day, and she’d never get anything done, looking over her shoulder all the time.
When the large truck pulled into the lot, she tried to think where to hide. Before she made it back to the office, where she could at least close the door, she heard her name being called. At least the one that people around here knew her as. It was Gleason, and he had a bag with him.
“I brought some breakfast.” She asked him if he was trying to give her a flipping heart attack. “No. I never thought of how scared you might be if you saw me. I’ve been following you for a week. I guess I was doing a good job of it because you didn’t know my truck.”
“I barely know a truck from a car.” She did know better, but that wasn’t the point right now. “What do you have in that bag? It smells wonderful.”
“I bought us some breakfast. Then I thought, if you’d not mind, I’d take you out to my new house.
It’s finished. Even the back yard.” She asked him if there was anyone there who was going to take her.
“No. I told you that you could trust me, and you can. The only people who will be at the house are you and me. I haven’t even told my family yet that the house is completed.
David knows, but he won’t say anything until I’m ready. ”
She took the still-warm donut from him and moaned at the taste.
It was just sweet enough that she wouldn’t get a headache from it and warm enough that it didn’t burn her.
Taking a second bite, he pulled out one coffee for her.
Telling him that she didn’t drink it, he gave her the tea.
She loved hot tea with donuts. Eyeing him while she ate the second donut, she asked him why he wanted her to see the house.
“Because when I got the keys yesterday, all I could think about was showing it off. And you’re the first person that came to mind.
I have no idea why, but there you have it.
” He was biting into his second donut when he told her that he’d have to remember she didn’t like coffee.
“I don’t drink it either and should have gotten two teas, but I didn’t know what you’d drink. ”
“I had to give it up when I went on the lam. There is no way that I can brew myself a cup of coffee while being in here, so I went cold turkey. It was painful there for a while.” He said he’d gotten into the habit of drinking it while in the service, but never really cared for it.
“I can imagine. Jamie, the guy I worked with at the Sheep, would like it bitter and black. I swear that it curled his hair; it was so nasty. I used to drink mine without anything in it, too, but it was not bitter. I like it smooth.”
They finished off the donuts. She had two, and he had the other four.
She would hate to have to feed him; she’d bet anything that he could eat his weight in food.
Asking him about his house, she was shocked to see how happy he was about it.
Not only was it finished, he told her, but he was ready to put furniture in any day now.
She told him that she was excited for him in that.
“So now that I’ve bribed you with donuts, would you come and see the house with me?
It’s off the beaten path, so no one will see you if that makes you feel better.
” She said that it did actually. “Good. We’ll leave here when you’re ready.
I’m glad to see that the blankets have come in handy.
I love to snuggle down deep into blankets when I’m going to bed at night. ”
She didn’t want to imagine him snuggling anywhere, but she did.
Getting her jacket, as it was still chilly outside in the morning, she followed him out to the truck before her mind got her into trouble.
It wasn’t new, but it was large. Getting in proved to be a little hard, but with his help, she was able to get in and see everything around her at the same time. They drove out to the site in silence.
At first glance, she thought that he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Then the closer they got to the house, she realized to call it a house was something of an understatement; it was a frigging mansion.
Jumping out of the truck, she stood there while he came to her side.
She looked up at him and could see that he was proud of his home.
“It’s beautiful.” His face turned red, and she thought that was charming. “I thought when you said you were single that the house would be small. It’s huge, isn’t it?”
“I have seven bedrooms, counting the master. And five bathrooms. I didn’t want to have to wait in line when I had to use the bathroom anymore.
I have five brothers, and we all lived in the same house for a long time with just one bathroom, so I wanted enough that no one had to wait.
” He laughed and took her hand into his as he dragged her to the house.
“The living room is my favorite. I can have my whole family over and not be crowded in the same room if we want to watch television. How do you like sports?”
“I like it well enough when I can watch it. I don’t have a television where I’m staying right now.” She didn’t think he was listening to her as he was going on about the rest of the house.