A Girl by Any Other Name (37 page)

wouldn’t see myself. It must be really bad.

Molly came back with a handheld mirror. “I’m going to go now. I’ll be in a little later to check

on you, Sylvie. I’m so glad you’re okay…and that he found you.”

After she left, I turned to Cal. “This is weird. Your ex-girlfriend is my nurse?”

“Yeah, I know. I told her who you were. Once she found out you weren’t some girl I had just

met, she apologized to me. She’s taking really good care of you. I’ve been watching.”

“Will you lie down beside me?”

He looked unsure. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” I insisted, trying to shift so he could come onto the bed. Parts of me seemed to

work just fine, but other areas like my hips would not cooperate.

“Stop,” he said gently.

“Tex, I want you next to me.”

He stood up and placed his muscular arms under my body. “I’m going to lift and move you over,

but you have to tell me if it hurts.”

I nodded, grateful he wasn’t arguing. He shifted me over easily and climbed into the bed next to

me. He placed his arms around me carefully. I snuggled into him, grateful to feel his heartbeat again.

It was in his arms that I felt the safest and the strongest too.

He moved his mouth against my ear and at first I only felt the heated breath against my skin,

making it tingle, until he started whispering in that pained, tormented voice that made my heart melt.

“I was so afraid of losing you again. It would have been all my fault. I put you in danger not once but

twice. I knew Eddie. He used me to get to you.”

This sounded familiar to me because Eddie had said as much when he’d taken me from that hotel

room. I looked up at him—this man who loved me so much he was willing to sacrifice everything. I

smiled reassuringly, and placed my hand over his heart.

He covered my hand with his. “I almost killed you. I will never forgive myself.”

“Cal, you didn’t almost kill me. You saved me in every way a person can be saved. You gave

me courage and strength when I needed it the most. You were a friend when I had no one. You

became my family and made me yours the day you slept on my floor when I was twelve and I have

loved you since that day. You weren’t my reason for almost dying. You are my reason for living.”

He buried his head into my neck and I knew he didn’t want me to see the tears there. I let him

release his pent-up emotion. I loved him so much and his pain was mine to bear so I started crying

too, which made him stop. He wiped my tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t do this, Tex. We’ve lived with regret for so long.”

“You’re absolutely right. I never thought of us as lucky, but that’s exactly what we are. We found

each other not once, but twice. I love you so much.”

“I love you too. Now, tell me about my face.”

He looked up with a surprised expression.

“Did you think I forgot?”

“I was hoping.” His expression was grim as he took the mirror from the nightstand where he’d

placed it. “Let me just preface this by saying that I think you are beautiful either way. And on the

bright side, you’re gonna have one badass scar.”

Cal had a strange sense of humor, but I appreciated it. He was always able to get me to laugh,

even in my present state. “No one is going to mess with you after this. Are you ready?”

I nodded and he held up the mirror to me.

I wasn’t a vain person, but I swear if he wasn’t holding the mirror, I would have thrown it

across the room. I remember the pain when Eddie had cut my face open. He’d stuck his finger inside

the wound, widening it, making comments about how he needed me to bleed to make up for my sins. I

forced my eyes to stay open, but it was difficult to stare at the strange reflection that greeted me. The

side of my face was stitched neatly, but it was a very long line that covered the area below my eye

down to my chin. My face was pale, sunken in and lifeless. My eyes were droopy with black circles

underneath them. I couldn’t imagine that Cal thought I was beautiful, but I knew he was speaking the

truth when he said it.

“Put it down, please.”

He moved the mirror away immediately, placing it back on the nightstand. “Baby, like I said, it

doesn’t detract from your beauty.”

“I look like Frankenstein.”

“No, you don’t have any bolts in your ears.”

I buried my face in his chest. He stroked my hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so grateful you’re here with me

that it’s hard for me to come up with the right words to comfort you about this.”

“Plastic surgery sounds expensive. I don’t have any insurance.”

“I’m taking care of it.”

“Cal, I can’t let you do that. Can you even afford it?” I was surprised to hear myself yelling. It

was such a drastic change from the quiet tones we were speaking in.

He smiled. “Not really, but my Citibank and Amex card can. Plus Momma’s going to help and

the hospital is reducing the cost.”

“Cal—”

“Listen, Sylvie, I don’t care either way. I think you’re perfection no matter what. But I don’t

want you to be reminded of him every time you look in the mirror. I don’t want to discuss it any

further.”

“’Kay.”

He held me closer, kissing my head, whispering reassurances.

“Thank you.”

“I’m your Huckleberry.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Hey, I needed to tell you something else.”

“What’s that?”

“Joe said your new name is ready. You can use it if you want, although you don’t need to. I was

wondering if you picked that name so I would find you again.”

I thought about it for a second, realizing in all the rush I’d never told him. “It might have been

subconscious.”

“Well, I love it.” He took my hand in his, shaking it slightly, “It’s nice to meet you, Lenore Poe.

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Caleb Tanner, the man who plans to love you for the rest of his

life.”

I smiled at the sound of that. It was the most comforting thing he could have said. “So you want

me to keep it?”

“Actually, like I said before, I love the girl, not the name. I don’t care what you choose, at least

not your first name. It’s your last name I’m interested in.”

“My last name?”

“Yes, I want it to match mine.”

I backed away from him so I could study his face. He was smiling hopefully. “Caleb James

Tanner, are you asking me to marry you?”

“Not yet, but I will. I’m going to do it right when you’re healthy and I can kneel before your feet

and present you with a rock that’s worthy of gracing your hand.”

“I don’t need a rock. Ask me.”

I could see the relief in his eyes, because we both knew two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been

able to say this, but everything was different now.

“Patience, Sylvie.”

“Then I’ll ask you.”

“Hell, no. I’m kind of old-fashioned about these things. I will ask you when the time is right and

when I do, it will be the best proposal you ever had. Will you let me ask you the right way?”

“As long as you don’t make me wait two years,” I replied with a pout.

He chuckled. “I promise I won’t.”

“’Kay.”

“Why don’t you go to sleep, sweetheart.”

“I’ve been asleep for two weeks.”

“Yes, but I know you’re tired.” He rubbed my arm. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

It seemed ridiculous that a conversation and a trip to the bathroom could be so exhausting, but I

was ready to sleep again. I closed my eyes, leaning my head against his chest. “Thank you for

coming,” I murmured.

“Girl, they must be giving you some really good stuff because it sounds like you’re smoking

crack. You’re thanking me for coming to the hospital? They couldn’t keep me away.”

“No, I’m thanking you for coming to Portland. I’m thanking you for finding me.”

He trailed kisses along my forehead. “You found me. Besides, I had to come. I was missing

something and I had to find it.”

“What?”

“My heart. A man can’t function without his heart.”

Epilogue

My wife was laughing at me. I guess I deserved it for all the times I made fun of her when we

were shopping and she’d insist on studying every label at the store as I was doing now. “Tex, I think

you can just pick one. They’re all the same.”

“No, baby, I don’t think they are. We want to get an accurate result here.”

She sighed. “You know I have to go to my gynecologist to have an official test, right?”

I took her arm and pulled her against my chest. “I know, but your appointment’s not until next

week and I can’t wait that long. I want to know tonight.”

I looked down at her, tracing the small white line on her cheek, the last semblance of the ugly

scar he’d left. After a great deal of arguing, she’d finally agreed to the surgery, but only when Momma

had talked her into it. I was glad, because I saw the melancholy in her beautiful face when she looked

in the mirror and I couldn’t stand it.

They had found six more bodies under the floorboards of that cottage—all missing girls in their

mid-twenties with long brown curly hair. My muscles tightened every time I thought she could have

ended up there. Joe had corroborated my story that I killed that bastard in self-defense and no one had

questioned it. After all, Eddie wouldn’t be missed.

She took my hand in hers. “I don’t know if this is the right time, but I want to tell you something

that I’ve been thinking of for a long time.”

“You can tell me anything anytime.”

“No matter what this test says, I want to go back home.”

I stared at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I want to go back to Prairie Marsh. We both know you came to Portland only to find me, but it’s

time for us to go home.”

“Will you be happy there?” I knew all the other issues were done now. She was safe and we

were never letting each other go again. Hell, even economically we were doing very well. She

painted full-time and her work was in demand as was mine. We both had jobs that would allow us to

live anywhere.

“Yes, my family lives there.”

I took her in my arms and embraced her tightly. “Sounds good to me.”

“I want our children to be baptized at that church, I want you to teach them how to fish at our

lake and I want them to play football too.”

“What if we have a girl?”

“Then you’ll have to teach her not to throw like a girl.”

I laughed, placing my hand on her waist. I’d been doing that a lot since she’d told me she was

late. I knew we were both getting a little too excited about this, but either way it felt good just to

know we were together without any hindrances. She was mine in every way and I was hers.

“Just pick one already so we can go. We’re making a scene.”

I laughed at her shyness. Some things never changed. “I know what we’ll do. We’ll get three

different ones. That way we’ll be sure not to get a false positive.”

I picked out three different brands and threw them into the basket in her hand. She stared at me

dubiously, shaking her head. “I don’t even think I can pee that much.”

I grinned. “We’ll stagger the tests. You don’t have to do them at the same time.” I took the basket

from her arm and started walking toward the register.

“Cal, wait,” she said, motioning me back to her.

“What? I thought you wanted to get out of here.”

She waited until I was close, and she said the words quietly so we wouldn’t be overheard. “We

can’t leave the store with three pregnancy tests.”

“Why not?”

“It’s weird.”

I laughed, cupping her chin. “Baby, we’ve been married for six months. I don’t think this is

weird at all.”

“I know, but I just think it would be good if we got some other stuff.”

I sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to win this argument. “Fine, you go get something and I’ll get

something. We’ll meet back here, okay?”

“’Kay.”

As I found what I was looking for, I was glad she had suggested this. Every day with her was

like a precious gift and I treated it that way. We’d returned to Prairie Marsh to spend the holidays

with my family and to say our vows in front of the people we loved in the very church there where

we’d forged a friendship on the swing set. She was Sylvie Tanner now.

It was a beautiful wedding where Matt and Mandy stood up for us. Momma cried a great deal,

but they were tears of joy. I even managed to bite my tongue when Mona Simms boasted how she’d

known Sylvie was always alive. I wanted to slap that woman, but my gracious wife just smiled and

thanked her for her prayers. So I kept my comments to myself.

I walked over to her, smiling with each step that brought me closer to my wife, my best friend,

my fishing buddy and the only girl I would ever love. She stood by the display of books, with a

mischievous smile, hands behind her back. “What did you get?” she asked me.

I held up the two items in my hand—a bottle of wine and a pint of ice cream. She arched her

brow at me. “I’m not sure if we’ll be commiserating or celebrating,” I said.

“So the wine’s if we’re commiserating and the ice cream’s if we’re celebrating? It’s usually the

opposite for me.”

“Either way you’re going to have the ice cream and I’m going to have the wine, at least until we