Approaching Menace (6 page)

Andrew chuckled and Josie grinned, backing away from him. They had so little solitude that they enjoyed each moment they could get alone, or when they thought they were. He often made her forget anyone else might be near.

She slipped into her car and he waited. Making an anxious face, she pushed in the clutch and accelerator, and turned the key. Her car started.

Andrew beamed. “I knew you could do it.”

She threw him a thank-you kiss and waited for two cars to pass, then pulled out into the space behind them. She reached the traffic light at the corner right before the mass of cars waiting to cross on Elm. Once she drove across the boulevard, a few cars and trucks made turns and followed her. She glimpsed in the rearview mirror and noticed a dark sedan pulling away from the curb into her lane.

Traffic remained steady. The rain clouds had moved off, leaving behind sprinkles of sunlight. Josie steered her car down Main Street and turned with other drivers onto Windswept Road leading to Windswept Elementary.

She stopped behind parked trucks, cars, and two familiar behemoth RV’s.

No sign of life came from the schoolhouse that normally brimmed with boisterous children. Two stocky boys emerged from the white field house. They lugged bulky football gear over their shoulders and glanced at the string of vehicles. The boys gave looks of relief and shifted their equipment on their backs before hauling it to their waiting mothers.

Only a few rays of the sun were out. Some glinted off the window of a red truck parked at an angle on the grass, blinding Josie even through her sunglasses. She turned her head. Still the brightness struck her eyes. She allowed them to shut.

Leaning into the curve of the seat, she told herself she would have to pay attention so she wouldn’t flood the engine. Maybe she would need to get another one. But every time she mentioned changing it for another used automobile, Andrew and Colin protested. Colin loved the little bug. It was the perfect size for him, and his friends thought her purchase was “cool.” Josie bought it because it wasn’t expensive. She really liked it, too. And Andrew had been so persuasive.

Opening her eyes, she spied a few more boys lugging their ponderous bags out from the field house.

No Colin yet.

The glare slanted from Coach’s truck. Josie squinted and closed her eyes.

A few moments ago Andrew mentioned he was grateful that he could be trusted now. Of course she trusted him. And the one thing good about her car was that it helped them find each other. He sold cars then, before those grueling months of what they would go through.

She had searched for a car ever since her previous car developed rattles and a major oil leak. The thrifty runabout had served her well, and she hadn’t hesitated to drive it from Nashville down to Florida. But once she moved in with Sylvie and Colin, her car began staying in shops. She paid too much for repairs. She’d looked at cars in Biloxi, Gulfport, and even Pensacola. Most of the models catching her attention were attractive. And expensive.

But she’d made the move back with her family to help her mother take care of Colin and help pay for his expenses. She wouldn’t put herself in a position of having to meet large car notes and detract from whatever her brother required.

She smiled, envisioning that last showroom. Pensacola. As soon as she entered, a tiny man with oil-slicked hair erupted, it seemed, from some wall. Shenoticed Andrew beyond the large showroom autos. He held the door open for a departing woman.

“Excuse me,” Andrew told the salesman who had Josie aimed at a mid-sized sedan. “But I think I’m in love.” Andrew put a hand out to Josie, and, without thinking, she let him clasp hers. His electric blue eyes captured her gaze while he spoke. “Your name must be Juliet because right at this moment, I feel like Romeo.”

Her face burned then and she knew it reddened, but she didn’t know how to get out of that situation, or if she wanted to.

“It’s Josie Aspen,” she’d replied, gently removing her hand from his, “and I need a car that doesn’t cost too much.” She didn’t say she knew nothing of automobiles except how to fill them with gas and wash and drive them.

She saw the other salesman giving this Romeo, who said to call him Andrew, a harsh look before walking away with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

Andrew cocked his head. “I’m sure you know you’re beautiful.”

She recalled feeling flattered and apprehensive. All she knew about the young man was her mutual attraction. His eyes flashed with expression. She’d stepped nearer a car and glanced in its window, wondering how often he acted this way with customers.

“No, that’s not you,” he said, guiding her away from what she realized was well beyond her price range.

“What
is
me?” She was sorry she’d asked when he turned and looked her over from head to foot.

“Come here.” He led her outside. “You are so slim. You’re quality and have classic features. You’re a perfect match with her.”

She had no idea whether to take him seriously or not, but he piqued her curiosity.

He guided her to a mass of used autos. “These aren’t new, but most are in great shape. And here is the car meant for you.”

Josie grinned. “I like the color and size.”

“Much newer models are out now,” he said, “with vintage prices.”

Uneasiness came over Josie now. She felt the cracks that recently formed where her right hand gripped the steering wheel, and opened her eyes.

Some of the parked cars and SUV’s had gathered their charges and left. More boys were scuttling from the field house. Colin, usually one of the first to come out, was not among them. That fact must be causing her jitters.

She glanced at her watch. If he wasn’t out in five minutes, she would go down to check. If he was all right, he would hate that. “Don’t mother me,” he’d complain.

If he was all right.

Colin couldn’t engage in rough sports. He couldn’t hurt his shunt or himself. And he must feel so different from the other boys, she mused, recalling how she’d felt lost among the larger vehicles when she’d first driven the smaller car. It started well then but rode so low she feared her hips might scrape the street. But soon she’d gained a nestling feeling within her new-used vehicle. Colin had been excited. The price was great.

Andrew explained the warranty when she made the purchase and also said, “If you ever have problems or need anything, call me.” His gaze gripped her. “And I don’t mean only for the car.”

It took just six days for her to call. The car hadn’t come with an extra key, and she’d thought maybe. Maybe she could speak with him again. Then maybe she could get those piercing blue eyes away from her mind.

But he’d come with those eyes to their house the first time he showed up wearing a suit on his motorcycle. He brought Josie a key, admitted to purposely keeping the extra one and hoping she might phone for it.

That started their time together.

Josie massaged the inner corners of her eyes, considering how they’d grown close, so close that at one point she thought they might marry.

Then he’d been found out. What Josie thought was his occasional betting turned out to be a real problem for Andrew. It had been for some time.

Thank God he stopped, she thought. They’d worked together on his compulsion and now it was under control.

Marriage? She’d considered then and even now what her role models were.

No wonder the concept seemed too foreign. From what Josie had seen in her own home, being married was not something to yearn for.

A band of tension circled her head. She shook it and let her eyes go, pleased to see the sun’s final ray now angled off the hood of Coach’s truck and no longer blinded her. She looked for Colin.

Only one boy, Andy, emerged. He’d come to the house with Colin once. Andy hobbled with an equipment bag that could have been filled with cement. He stepped across a dry ditch and grabbed a car’s doorknob, and his round face lengthened. His head bobbed from one side to the other, and Josie grinned, watching him huff off to a sedan exactly like the dark blue one he’d almost gotten into.

Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw the vehicles left behind looked familiar, as did the faces of waiting parents.

She again peered at the sedan Andy almost entered. It looked similar to the one she’d spied leaving the curb near the store. That car, or one like it, had followed while she drove in this direction. As often as she’d waited here, she had never seen that car parked at this school. Only one resembled it, the one driven by Andy’s mother.

Josie stuck her head out to stare back and determine who drove that sedan.

Thumps came from her front passenger door. “Hey Joseph. Unlock the door please.”

“I’m not Joseph.” Josie smiled and leaned across to unlock Colin’s door.

He tossed in his bag and climbed inside. Pulling his door shut, he yelled to someone outside. “Bye, Mom!”

A boy nearly a head taller than all the other boys flashed a grin. “See ya, Colin,” he called, breaking into a dash to his father’s waiting Jeep.

Josie shook her head. “He really doesn’t mind you guys calling him that?”

“Duh. If he did, we’d be dead.” Colin smirked. “He passes real good and runs good. And he takes care of all of us little guys, so he’s kind of like our mamma.” His eyebrows shot up. “See?”

“Oh, sure.” She grinned. At least her brother had remained the same size as some of his peers, but none were anywhere near the bulk of their mentor, Ashton Blakely, fondly called Mom.

Easily starting the car, Josie was glad Andrew made her practice the start-up. Lately the car hesitated too much with some knocking from the engine in the rear. Andrew had done something to the motor and most of those problems disappeared.

Colin coughed. He leaned his head back against the seat.

Josie glanced at the new sedan as she pulled onto the street. “What did they make you today? The water boy? Assistant coach?”

“A goal post.”

She slammed the brakes. A horn blasted behind from a truck that almost rammed her car.

“You were a goal post!” She drove again, no longer concerned about a sedan that had seemed to follow her.

“Hey, goal post is good. Except if somebody big like Mom would run into you.” His guru’s name brought a grin to Colin’s face.

“You need to get out of biddy football.”

He shook his head, face resolute. “At least I get to be one of the guys.” He set his chin. His freckles seemed less prominent. “I’m staying on the team.”

Josie felt his shame. How could the coach make such a mockery of this child?

She eased in and out of lanes and, without wanting to, found herself searching in the mirror for that dark blue car, until she noticed Colin pulling back his left sleeve.

“I know I can’t play.” He stared at the tape binding his shunt, then yanked down his sleeve. “But I’m staying on with the other boys.” He shoved his head back. Shutting his eyes, he breathed hard. Exhaustion was taking hold of him.

A knot grew in Josie’s chest. She reached out and ruffled his hair. “You know what you need?”

His face remained grim.

“You need a nickname, like Mom.”

Colin’s face brightened with interest. “Yeah?”

“Sure.” Josie thought. “Okay, I’ve got one. How about Petunia. Or Sweet Pea? Either one would suit you fine.”

He moaned and pushed at the air between them. “Aw you.” He turned and stared out the window. His breaths sounded labored. Being a goal post hadn’t been as easy as it sounded.

By the time they arrived home, he was coughing while he slept with his ear down against his shoulder. The darkening sky made drivers turn on their headlights. Josie needed to wait for three cars to pass before she could turn onto her driveway. More vehicles came from behind. Uneasiness caught her when she saw the lights from the first car to her rear. Their core glistened with an unusual brightness, similar to the headlights of the sedan that seemed to follow her from the practice field.

She hurried to turn in and head for their garage.

Behind on the street, a dark sedan eased past.

Chapter 5

Two cars that looked similar near her this evening had to be a coincidence, Josie decided. Still, finding Sylvie’s car in the garage gave her solace. Colin made barking coughs, yet Josie needed to gently shake his shoulder to wake him.

He stared at her as though not knowing who she was and then lumbered out, still coughing.

She grabbed his equipment bag, but the look he gave her reminded that he did not want her to notice him weary. She let go of his bag, and he hefted its bulk to his shoulder.

He tried so hard to be strong and normal, yet the defectiveness of one body part caused him to fail miserably.

Josie followed as he trudged to their kitchen, filled with the scent of meat roasting. Her brother seemed on automatic pilot opening a cabinet, taking out bottles, unscrewing them and counting out pills. He replaced caps on the containers and placed a heap of medicine beside his plate. Only afterward did he step near their mother. “Hi,” he said, letting her kiss his cheek.

“Hi yourself. Did you have a wonderful day?”

Listless eyes give his answer, but Sylvie didn’t seem to notice. She smiled and said, “Terrific.”

Colin lugged himself off, but the slightest clearing of his mother’s throat made him stop. Glancing back, he saw her staring at the counter.

A burn hit Josie’s stomach as her weary brother returned, opened the cabinet, and replaced all of the bottles.

Sylvie shook her head and not one of her shoulder-length highlighted hairs moved. Her lips, coated with bright pink, gave an admiring smile as she watched him leave the room. “That boy,” Sylvie said, “sprouting like a weed, just like his daddy.” She flashed Josie a smile. “I made meatloaf and green beans.”

“Nice.” Josie noticed plates were set only in front of two chairs. The only dish at their mother’s place was a salad bowl. “But you’re only having salad?”

Sylvie turned her small palms up. “What else?”

“If you don’t start eating real food, you’re going to waste away.”

Sylvie plucked a celery stick from a bowl and nibbled.