8. Chapter 8
eight
Amanda pulled open the curtains and let the morning sunshine into her bedroom. The twinge on her wrist was becoming less noticeable, unless she bent it at a ninety-degree angle.
I guess no yoga yet.
Besides that, she felt almost normal. The ten or so hours of sleep must’ve been what she’d needed. She’d been super tired when Gene took her home yesterday. The nap in the car had given her enough energy to make plans with Jo for later today, and she’d eaten the casserole Gene’s mom had dropped off for dinner.
Gene had asked if she needed him to stay another night. But she was already indebted to him enough. She basically pushed him out the door, knowing he hadn’t even seen his parents yet since he’d been home. Even then he’d only left after he’d walked Loki and she’d promised to text and update him how she was feeling in the morning.
Picking up her phone from her nightstand, Amanda called Loki to follow her to the backyard when she noticed an unread message.
Noah.
Noah:Hey, I had a great time at dinner. I’d like to do that again soon. You free this Saturday night?
Amanda grimaced at the question, torn about how to answer the text. She’d been driving home from dinner with Noah when she’d gotten into the accident, and she’d forgotten all about him. For a second date, she’d actually had a pleasant time getting to know him more. He was a gentleman, a small business owner like herself, and hadn’t raised any red flags.
How did I forget him?
Amanda waited to answer Noah”s text and wrote to Gene instead.
Amanda:Good morning, Doc. I’m up and feeling like I can take on the world.
Gene’s reply came not long after.
Gene:Good morning. Why don’t you take it a day at a time before conquering the world?
Amanda bit her lower lip as she read his text.
Amanda:I’ll start easy this morning. Will be at Sanctuary this afternoon.
She hesitated for a second.
Amanda:Why don’t you stop by later for the pie tasting I promised? I owe you another thank you for picking up after my dog.
She added the last part when she noticed her clean backyard, as she was about to pick up after Loki. She always cleaned up after her dog, but the past couple of days she hadn’t exactly been up for the job.
Gene:No problem. Sounds good. I’ll see you then. Please don’t go rambling in the woods without me.
After yesterday’s waste of effort, Amanda knew she wouldn’t find that girl going into the woods without a plan. She needed more clues, but she didn’t have any.
Amanda:Don’t worry. I won’t.
This doesn’t mean I’m giving up. But maybe Gene was right. Maybe the girl was just too late walking home and was terrified she was gonna get grounded.
That was the simpler explanation and usually most likely to be true. At least according to Occam’s razor. But Amanda’s gut said otherwise.
“What can I do about it?” Amanda grumbled and headed into the bathroom.
She turned the shower on and let the water warm up while she checked on her cut. The bruises looked a little scarier, but the wound itself seemed to be healing. She covered it with a large waterproof bandage to keep it dry, as per Gene’s instructions.
Standing under the warm shower, Amanda exhaled a long breath as the water gently massaged her head and shoulders. She lathered shampoo on her long hair and couldn’t help but think about Gene washing the blood from it the other night.
No wonder I forgot Noah.
Once Gene reentered her life, he’d occupied her mind almost completely. Between her worry for the mysterious girl, the accident, and the startling desire Gene unwittingly triggered in her, she had no room to think about anything else in the past thirty-six hours.
Amanda took the bar of soap and rubbed it between her hands when she realized something.
Gene used this soap yesterday.
The silly realization made the pink bar feel different as it glided over her skin, creating a wave of tremors through her body.
Amanda held her breath and froze as the sensation subsided.
Really, Amanda? It’s freaking soap.
But what if she closed her eyes and imagined it was his hand? His strong, capable hand.
She sighed and succumbed to need. Feeling relaxed under the pelting warm water, steam billowing around her, her eyes shuttered. It was too easy to picture Gene in her bathroom, stepping into the bathtub close to her back.
He’d whisper, “You need help washing your back?”
Amanda could only nod and hand him the soap. He would take over the rest, starting on her back, he’d continue around her waist.
Covering her breasts with her hands, Amanda imagined they were Gene’s warm palms, cupping them, his fingers teasing their tips. A moan escaped her lips as pressure built in her lower region. She needed release.
Turning the handheld shower head to the power spray setting, Amanda aimed it strategically to where she wanted, again imagining it was Gene: his hand, his fingers, his mouth.
Amanda’s heart raced as her climax came over her in a rush. She slumped against the wall, flushed and spent.
But the satisfaction felt hollow as she knew whatever this was she had with Gene, it wouldn’t last.
And she’d be heartbroken all over again when he left.
Gene put his phone down with a smile and started on the plate of eggs and toast in front of him.
“Thanks for breakfast, Mom.”
Martha Rowland gestured to the cell phone on the table. “Was that Amanda?”
“Uh, huh.”
“How’s she feeling?”
Mom joined Gene and his dad at the breakfast table with her own plate.
“She’s fine.”
“But is she, though? She was just in a car accident two days ago,” Mom said.
“With minor injuries,” Gene pointed out.
Mom huffed. “So minor that you were concerned enough to stay with her overnight. I say you should’ve stayed with her another night and made sure she’s completely fine.”
“Amanda just needed rest,” Gene assured his mother. “She went straight to bed after eating the casserole you dropped off. She had a good appetite and all her faculties about her. I had no reason to stay with her.”
“But you would stay if she’d asked you?”
Gene eyed his mom with a frown. “What are you getting at?”
“Leave the boy alone, Martha,” Douglas, Gene’s dad, finally chimed in. “The whole town is already talking about them. You want to throw more gasoline on the fire?”
Gene ignored how his dad still referred to him and his siblings as the boy or the girl, though they were all adults—especially since he was in his thirties. “What fire? There’s no fire. People whose opinions I care about know I was only helping a friend.”
“You should care more about what the people in town say because they will be your patients. You’ll need their trust if you ever want to take over Dr. Bloom’s practice,” Dad said.
“I’m only exploring the possibility for now, Dad,” Gene patiently reminded.
He didn’t even know what he was leaning toward: joining the family practice permanently, returning to the ER, or a whole new adventure all together like joining Doctors Without Borders. Each option had its pros and cons, and Gene wasn’t ready to make that decision yet.
“Now, you leave him alone, Douglas,” Mom said. “Gene has to make up his own mind.”
“Thank you, Mom.” Gene flashed her a smile.
“So, are you going to check on Amanda today?” Mom returned to her line of inquiry.
Gene sighed but was resigned to answer. “I’ll stop by Sanctuary later and see how she’s doing.”
Mom’s smile widened. “Oh, good.”
“I asked her to take it easy, but Amanda doesn’t seem the type who can relax,” Gene said. “She insisted on finding a girl she saw during the accident. If I hadn’t caught on, she would’ve hiked the woods by herself yesterday.”
“What girl?” Dad asked, then turned to his wife. “You heard about this, honey?”
Mom shook her head.
“No. Only about the accident and Gene taking Amanda home after. There was no mention of any other girl involved in the car crash. What is this about a girl?”
Gene’s brow rose at the info—or lack of info, really. He was surprised that little tidbit wasn’t a part of the rumors going around.
“Amanda claimed she crashed her car because she was avoiding a girl who ran into the road out of nowhere.”
Mom’s eyes rounded. “Oh, god. I thought it was a deer.”
“Somebody in the office mentioned the blue lady striking again,” Dad said. “Didn’t realize they were talking about this accident.”
Mom swatted Dad’s arm. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not the first time we heard of the blue lady causing an accident around the lake.”
Dad shrugged. He was talking about the legend of the lady in the blue dress who had driven her car off a bridge outside of Gainesville in nineteen-fifty-eight.
“But I thought she haunted the bridge on fifty-third,” Gene said, pointing out the urban legend they all knew. “Isn’t that where those ladies had their accident? What were their names again?”
“Delia Parker Young and Susie Roberts,” Mom said. “May they rest in peace.”
“Well, there have been too many sightings of Delia to just brush it off as an urban legend,” Dad said.
“Seriously, Dad?”
“So what about this girl Amanda said she saw if it wasn’t the lady in blue?”
“Couldn’t say. All I saw were her taillights as they went off the road,” Gene explained. “But Amanda was frantic about the girl as soon as she came around. She told the responding officers, but they didn’t take her seriously because there was no evidence of any girl. They made the same joke you did, Dad.”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who said it,” Douglas defended himself.
“Is Amanda sure she saw this girl?” Mom asked.
“She’s completely convinced she saw her.”
“You don’t sound as if you believe her,” Dad said.
Gene sighed. “I think Amanda truly believes she saw a girl. But she did hit her head and lost consciousness briefly. She didn’t show the typical signs of a concussion or any other effects of a head injury, but now I wonder if I should’ve pushed her to get a head CT.”
“Maybe you should,” Dad said. “Didn’t you take her to Dr. Bloom?”
“I did. He wasn’t concerned either,” Gene said.
“Well, I, for one, believe her,” Mom stated. “Amanda has a good head on her shoulders and a big heart. Why would she even make up a story about seeing this girl?”
“Maybe she was embarrassed and came up with the scenario to explain the accident,” Dad theorized.
“Oh, that’s horseshit,” Mom spat. Gene was shocked. His mother hardly ever cussed. Mom huffed as she gathered their empty plates. “Why would she do that? The accident only hurt her, nobody else.”
“I don’t think she did consciously. Perhaps the blow to her head made her psyche create this scenario to explain the incident,” Gene tried to justify his dad’s theory.
Mom stood and adamantly said, “I just don’t believe Amanda, consciously or unconsciously, would concoct a story like that. And if it’s just a story, why would she be looking for this girl?”
“It’s not a story to her. She truly believes it. She told me the girl was probably fourteen or fifteen. Might be blonde. She couldn’t be sure because she looked dirty. But she was positive the girl was afraid for her life. That’s why Amanda is determined to find her.”
“I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Amanda is one of the most caring people I know. If she thinks this girl needs help, she won’t stop trying to find her,” Mom said.
“I know she won’t,” Gene said.
“I’m gonna ask around. If the girl is fourteen, she may be a student at my school or the other middle school. Someone would know if there’s a girl unaccounted for,” Mom said.
Gene thought that was a good idea, but he still wasn’t sure it would help Amanda in the long run. He was worried it would spur Amanda’s obsession with finding the girl, when there was a huge possibility she had gone home safely, or worse, she never existed.