Damon (8 page)

“Nothing.
She…Ms. Kirkpatrick told Con
nor…she doesn’t trust me, Cait. Me!
I don’t think I’ve ever…not even as a new doc
tor has anyone not trusted me.
She’s going to run
again too.
Just as soon as she’s able and she’ll
take that little boy with her.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re gone already.”

“I’m so sorry, Damon.
Would y
ou like for me to talk to her?
Maybe we could get her into some woman’s shelter or something
until she’s better.
She might not be as safe there, but if she doesn’t trust you then—”

“No. No, don’t…I want her there.
I…shit
, Cait, what am I going to do?
I’ve fallen in love with that kid and until today, I was kind of growing fond of Charlie too.
No, that
’s not true. I am fond of her.”
There was a long pause then he said somethin
g that hurt her heart for him.
“I guess I’m not ever go
ing to find anyone to love me. Boy did that sound childish. I’ll talk to you later.” And he hung up.

Cait stared at the paperwork in front of her
and then picked up the phone.
It was time to
call in the big guns for this.
If Damon found someone he liked, then she would move heaven and earth for him to have a chance at it.

“Margaret, it’s Cait.
I have a problem I think you’re the onl
y one who can help me with it.
It’s about Damon and Charlie.”

An hour later, Cait h
ung up quite proud of herself.
She knew that M
argaret could talk to Charlie.
If she couldn’t, then she doubted
the woman was worth it anyway.
Cait called Dane to tell her she was on her way.

~CHAPTER 6~

Charlie
woke up to the semi-dark room.
She moved slowly and was startled to see an older woman sitting
in the chair across from her.
She was reading a book with the only source of light
in the room.
She was smiling at wh
atever it was she was reading.
The woman looked over at C
harlie as she turned the page.

“Good, you’re awake. I’m Margaret Parker. How are you feeling, dear? You certainly look better.
I told Ronnie that shirt would look good on
someone with your complexion.”
The older woman stood, turned on the overhead light, and then sat back down.

“I…Damon—Dr. Grant left.
I
don’t know when he’ll be back.
I think h
e was headed to the hospital.”
Charlie didn’t have a clue where Damon was, but she didn’t want to tell this lady that.

“Oh, he’
s delivering the Morton twins.
Sally has nine children and two ot
her sets of twins in that lot.
Why she doesn’t make that man of hers go g
et his balls cut is beyond me.
No dear, I’m Damon’
s mother.
I’ve come to talk to you.”

Charlie looked at the do
or and then back to the woman. He called his mother on her?
Margaret looked like she couldn’t be any more than fifty at the most. There was n
o way she could be his mother.
Then she thought something had happened to Connor.

“My son.
I should go and find him. He was mad…he went to the store with someone this morning an
d I…I have to go and find him. Excuse me.”

She started t
o rise and then sat back down. Hard.
Dizziness swamped her and made
her belly roll.
She was trying to remember the last time she’d eaten when a small Chinese woman walked it with a big tray.

“Good, you
eat. I bring you chicken soup.
Missy Dane s
ay it good for what hails you.
Make n
o sense to me, but I bring it.
Missy M
argaret, I bring you bowl too. Boy, he eat five bowls. Good boy that.
Washed dishes for me too.”

Charlie looke
d at Margaret who just winked.
She was still working on the Missy Dane part and then she realized that the boy who she was referring to was Co
nnor. He’d eaten five bowls of soup?
Before she could ask, the woman was out the door, leaving two huge bowls of thick soup on a tray with crackers and a carafe of iced tea and two glasses.

“That was Pi. She’s a card.
Most of the time it’s easier to just nod at what she says th
an try to figure it out later.
But she and I have been hanging out a lot now that Dane is pregnant so I
think I’m getting used to her.
She does need to grow on you for you to appreciate her.”

Charlie thought she might be right. The soup smelled so good that her mouth watered for it. It was thick with broth and handmade noodles that
were perfectly cut and tender.
The bits of chicken were juicy and tender and the
herbs tasted fresh and hearty.
She finished off the whole bowl wit
hout stopping.
She could see why Connor had eaten five bowls.

“I always find a bowl of soup makes you feel so much better, don’t you think?” Margaret ques
tioned as she wiped her mouth.
“Would
you like to go downstairs now? You have company.
Cait and Dane are here and they’d li
ke to ask you a few questions.
Now don’t get upset, it’s not whatev
er is going through your mind.
They’ve come to help you and Connor.”

Charlie stood and didn’t get too dizzy, but Margaret never left her side as she led her to th
e bathroom.
She went to the bathro
om and then brushed her teeth.
By the time she walked out, she was tired again.

“I seem to get so tired so easily right now. I think I need to start moving around more
to build up my strength again.
Maybe walk up and down
the stairs a few times a day.”

Charlie needed to get out of here, out of this house an
d out of these people’s lives.
It wasn’t that they were bad people, but they could run a
person’s life if one let them. Especially this one.
Charlie just knew she
had an addendum.

“No, you wait unt
il Damon tells you to do that
. Y
ou don’t want to mess up
all his hard work now, do you? He’s a good man, my Damon.
Why don’t you like him?”

Charlie stopped on the stairs.
She looked over at the woman who had her elb
ow and sputtered.
Didn’t like Damon? Where on…

“If he thinks sending you over here is going to make me change my mind, t
hen you just wasted your time.
We are leaving as soon
as I’m able to take care of us.
I appreciate everything he’s done, but this is my fight and I will handle this on my own.”

“I’m afraid it’s
not that easy, Ms Kirkpatrick.
This man, I believe his na
me is Anthony Ormond, correct? He’s killed before.
Twice t
hat I can tell, and maybe more.
My name is
Dane Grant. I’m Jamie’s wife.
I’m also a telepath.”

~~~

Damon sat in his
office and stared at the wall.
He’d been here since Sally had her twins and he’
d made sure she was all right.
The proud parents had thanked him at least twenty times and he’d told them it was no problem that many
back.
They had trusted him to deliver their children and he had.

Charlie didn’t trust him.
No, that wasn’t right. She
didn’t actually trust anyone.
And she was ma
king Connor feel the same way.
He didn’t understand someone not trusting him, he supposed
.
It had never
in all his life been an issue. He had not liked a few people.
Nicky’s fir
st wife had been a real bitch.
Then there was the nurse he’
d almost hired out of college.
She’d tur
ned out to be a mass murderer.
Not really, but she had ended up killing a man over some drugs.

Connor was a joy to be around and he seemed to trust him. They’d been doin
g some things in Damon’s yard
. Y
esterday they had winterized the deck and had ta
ken in all the chair cushions.
He’d let Connor use the leaf blower to blow all the fall leaves off the deck
and around the smaller trees. He’d had a blast.
Damon
could still hear his laughter.
He could tell sometimes that he expected
Damon to scream at him or hit.
Ther
e was never any need for that.
Connor was a great kid and so what if he’d sp
illed the trash on the ground?
They had spent a fun te
n minutes picking it up again.

Damon knew he should get home.
He didn’t know what time Cait and Dane where coming over, but he should be th
ere at least part of the time.
Pi
was coming too, he remembered.
He pulled his coat on and was just leaving
the office when his cell rang.
It was his house.

“Hello?”
He could hear voices in
the back ground, Pi’s mostly.
A
nd then he heard his mother’s. Shit.
He wondered who had cal
led her. Cait. Damn it!
He moved to the stairs when he repeated his greeting.

“Damon?
It’s Connor Joshua Kirkpatrick. I’m the kid that’s st
aying at your house right now. Can you come home?
There are fifty women he
re and they’re…they’re crying.
I don’t like it. My momma’s crying, your momma’s crying, and even that fat lady that says she not fat but preggers,
whatever the heck that means. She sure looks fat to me
. Y
ou have to come here and make them stop.”

Damon laughed to himself.
The boy sounded
absolutely panicky.
He didn’t blame him; he couldn’t sta
nd to hear a woman cry either. Especially his mom.
He had an idea that Conno
r was having the same problems.

“Tell you what, kiddo
. Y
ou meet me in the driveway when I pull up and you and I will le
ave them to their tears.
We’ll go over to one of my other brothers’, how about Jamie’s. His wife isn’t there so it’ll be woman free. Just let me talk to your mom to ask first.”

“Ah, Damon, that’ll be great. I’ll give her the phone now.
Sheesh, it’s lik
e sob city here.
Here’s my momma.”

There was a shuffle of the phone and then a teary Charlie came on. Damon suddenly found himself leaning
against the wall for support.
She was crying and he wanted to go to her and comfort her, hold her, and tell her it would all be all right.

“Damon?
Connor said
you needed him for something.
He said
that you were picking him up.
Are you not coming home?”

Home? Yes, he wanted to come home.
He wanted to come home to where she was and be with her. He wanted to make a
home with her.
And he didn’t have the slightest
clue where that had come from.
He cleared his throat twice before he trusted himself to speak.

“Yes, if it’s okay with you, he and I are
going over to Jamie’s house.
We w
on’t be long, couple of hours.
It sounds like…it sound
s as if you’re having a party.
Is everything all right?”

She was quiet for so long Damon was afraid she wouldn’t answer him. He nearly asked h
er again when she finally did.
He held his breath.

“I’m not a nice person, am I?
Don’t a
nswer that.
I have…I should have told you at first that…would
it
be all right if
you and I had a talk sometime?
Maybe ton
ight after Connor goes to bed.
I have to…Dane is here and
she told me that he’s coming.
I want to…Damon, I don’t know how to trust
anyone.
I’ve been making it on my own for a long time.”