Fractured ( Fractured #1) (16 page)

“But, why? I’m so ordinary and boring. You could have better.”

He held my hand in his. It was warm. “That’s where you’re wrong. There is so much about you that’s interesting, and wonderful, and exciting, and creative, and—”

I held a hand up. “Okay, okay. I get it.” I was confused by the conflicting opinions he and I both had about me.

“You aren’t superficial. You’re genuine and beautiful, inside and out. I can’t help but be happy when I’m with you. You have a pull on me, like a strong magnet. And the more I get to know you, the more I feel like I have to be with you. It’s hard to leave when we’re together. And when I’m not with you, I think about you all the time. I count the minutes until I can see you again. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t be without you.”

His words made my heart skip a beat. My head reeled
, because that was exactly how I felt about him. Was this really happening? Or was this one of my wonderful dreams?

A few silent moments fluttered between us. “I haven’t seriously dated many girls. In fact, I can count them on two fingers, but…”

But? My guard went up. Sweat formed on my palms. I held my breath and waited for him to tell me that it wouldn’t work. That although I was nice, and pretty, and all the other adjectives he listed about me, I wasn’t the right girl for him.             

He stroked my hair, which I had worn loose because I knew he liked it that way.
His fingers meshed in my curls. His other hand caressed my cheek. I looked into his crystal-blue eyes. “What I’m trying to say, Mandy, is… I need you. You make me happy.”

Skyrockets went off in my brain. My heart danced like it was leading a Conga line. My feet went numb
, and the only thing I had control over was my mouth. I lunged at him and pressed my lips to his. I kissed him so hard I thought he would be able to feel what was happening inside of me.

“Ouch!” he said.

I pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”

He rubbed the back of his head. “No, I didn’t expect
you to do that and I banged my head.”

I rubbed his head, too. “I’m so sorry.” I felt awkward and stupid.

“Don’t be,” he said. He smiled and his dimple appeared. “It was nice.”

“It was?”

“Yes. It’s always nice to kiss you.”

I leaned in and kissed him again, this time with gentle butterfly kisses.
He didn’t let go of the last one. A low moan came from his throat. My blood raced in reaction.

“Let’s go inside,” he s
aid. “It’s too cramped in here.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

We barely made it back into the house when I felt his arms slide around my waist from behind me. They pulled me toward him. His muscular chest formed a wall against my back. His lips pressed gently against the nape of my neck. A tornado of emotions whirled up inside of me.
I couldn’t control my breathing as I tried to inhale. Tilting my head to the side, I allowed him broader access. My shoulders dropped, and I closed my eyes. Unable to harness the surge of hormones, I stopped thinking about what I was supposed to do, and focused on what I wanted to do. I turned to face him and attacked his mouth with mine. My fingers raked through his thick dark hair. I couldn’t stop, but I had to; the doorbell rang.

An unnatural halt caused us to look at each other and realize how dangerous the moment had gained in momentum. The bell rang again.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, deflated.

I shook my head to rattle my common sense back to the front of my brain.
Then, I took a seat at the breakfast nook. It separated the kitchen from the den. The wall at the far end had dark soot stains that ran up and down the once pretty,flowered wallpaper. Breathing in deeply, then exhaling to a count of five, helped to calm my over anxious body. When Rob returned, he was carrying a large box
.
He placed it on the counter, and the aroma of food drifted back towards me. Involuntarily, my stomach grumbled.

“Since I haven’t been living here, the kit
chen isn’t in working condition yet. I hope you don’t mind, I ordered in.”

I spied a clock on the stove. How had it become six o’clock already? My mental checklist registered that I was hungry, but not for food.

Removing several containers from the box, he placed them on the table. He opened a cabinet and pulled out paper plates, plastic utensils, and napkins. “Sorry it has to be paper. All of the dishes and silverware are still packed in boxes until I can move back in officially.” He pulled some cans of soda from the refrigerator.

“That’s fine.”

We ate slowly, exchanging wanton glances as we talked about upcoming expectations for the school year.

From the large picture window over the sink, I could see the sun hang low
in the sky. Its orange radiance spread across the horizon, making the rocket ship clubhouse look as if it had pushed off for a mission. Light bounced off of the kitchen walls. The room glowed. The amber hue made Rob even more handsome. When he realized that I was staring, his cool blue eyes locked on me. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all.”

“You’re not eating.”

“I was thinking about what you said earlier.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t want you to think I was saying it bef
ore just because you did, but you make me happy, too. That day I took you to the creek, when you looked into my eyes, you connected with my soul. Or maybe it started the day we were at the beach. You shared how you felt about the water, the clouds, and the beauty of everything around us. It made me feel special. You made sure I would remember every moment by giving me the shell as a memento. Perhaps an ordinary shell to anyone else, it will never be ordinary to me. That’s the way you’ve made every moment I’ve shared with you. When you leave me, I feel like something has been stolen from me; and when we’re together, it feels as if I’m going to explode with happiness. I’ve never experienced this before, but I’m certain that it’s love that I’m feeling now.”

His smile was bright. He reached across and rested his hand on mine. I was ready to swipe all the food onto the floor and throw him down on the table. I wanted to show him how much I loved him, but his cell phone rang.

“Hello...yes.” He never took his eyes off me, but they changed from adoration to concern. “Okay, we’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

**
*

I sat in the front seat of the car this time, as Rob raced back to my house. He pulled into the driveway. I didn’t wait for him to shift it into park before I flung the door open and ran inside.

“How long has it been?” I screamed at my brother. His expression was blank. He was shirtless and his hair was messed up.

“Like twenty-five minutes,” Jimmy said. I switched my attention toward him. His neck was already turning purple from the hickeys Tanya had been decorating him with. His face was almost as dark.

I looked past Bryan. Jennifer was trying to twist her shirt back into
place; her usually perfect hair was jutting out all over the place. Again, I looked at Bryan. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“I was in my room with Jennifer…
” A quick glance back to Jennifer made me take note of how red she was. Lipstick was smudged all over her mouth. “Then Jimmy banged on the door and said that Dillon wasn’t downstairs. I told him to check his room. He came back five minutes later and said he wasn’t in the house. We looked all over, and in the yard, too.”

“Then what happened?”
I could feel the heat of anger building in my face.

“Mom came out of her room. She could barely stand up straight. She heard Jimmy say that Dillon wasn’t in the house. I tried to hold her back, but she broke away from me
, and raced down the stairs. I went back to my room to grab my shirt and ran after her, but the front door was open, and I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t leave everyone here.”

“Yes
, you could, Bryan!” I was screaming. “Your ten-year-old, autistic brother is out wandering the neighborhood. He doesn’t know how to cross the street, or ask for directions, or stop when traffic is moving. What if some sick, twisted person hurts him? Isn’t that more important than putting another notch in your belt?”

Bryan
looked down at the floor and nodded. “I called Dad. He wasn’t there, but I left a message with Al at the shop; and I’ve been calling his cell, but he hasn’t answered.”

“He wasn’t at the shop?” I asked. My voice was several octaves higher than usual. “Where is he?” I paced on the porch. “I ask you to watch Dillon
once
, Bryan. All you had to do was make sure he was safe.” My blood pressure was rising. My ears pounded from the inside.

“Dillon was upset you weren’t home, Mandy,” Jimmy said. “I told him you went with Rob. He said he was going to find you. He said something about Rob going to go see the planes.”

A little light went on in my head. It was my “ah-ha” moment. I turned to Rob. “He’s headed to the airport.”

“Come on,” he said, and we raced back to his car.

“I’m comin’,” Bryan said.

“No!” I barked. “Your help is useless. You stay here and explain it to Dad when he finally calls back.”

Rob revved the engine, and the tires squealed as we took off for the airport. It was only a mile past town, the equivalent of thirty blocks maybe, but once Dillon set his mind to something, particularly planes, he was like a bullet. Who knew how far he was, or in which direction he traveled?

With the window rolled down, I stretched my head out and scanned the streets. No Dillon. No Mom. No one. The streets were bare. Horrible thoughts raced through my mind.
What if he’s hurt? Or a stranger has him? What if he’s been hit by a car, and he’s lying in the middle of the street? Beads of sweat formed on my hairline despite the breeze rushing through my curls with the speed of the car. I shouldn’t have left him, at least not without explaining where I would be, and telling him when I’d be back. I never thought to tell Dillon about my date with Rob. Now he was missing and it was my fault.

Rob pointed toward the left. “There! Is that him?”

The streetlight flickered, threatening to go out at any moment. I squinted to make out the shape. “Yes, yes. That’s him!”

Rob drove straight toward hi
m. I flung the door open and jumped out of the car. “Dillon!” I screamed.

He turned around. “Manny. Planes.”

I threw my arms around him and squeezed as hard as I could. “I see them, Dill. But you can’t go off on your own to see the planes. You have to wait for me or Dad, okay?”

“Kay,” he stared past me to Rob. “Planes.”

“I see, Dillon. Very nice. Why don’t you get in the car? I’ll take you home, and we can talk about the planes.”

Giving Dillon the quick once over to mak
e sure he wasn’t hurt, my father pulled up in his car. He raced over and hugged both of us. “Bryan called me. I came as soon as I could. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay,” I said. “
What do you mean you came as soon as you could? Where were you?” I said, but he didn’t let go. From under his arm, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting in the passenger seat of his Nissan. Although I could only see a silhouette, there was no mistaking who it was. Shoulder length hair curled upward on the bottom. I stiffened, and then pulled away from my father, dragging Dillon with me.

After the cloud of confusion cleared, my father realized what I had seen and tried to explain. “I was driving Mrs. Sutton home. Her car is in our shop.”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it,” I said, and marched toward Rob’s car, dragging Dillon by the hand. “Are you her pusher, Dad? Was it you who gave her that bottle of Jack Daniels the day after we had those amazing few alcohol-free hours with her? Are you keeping her loaded so you can have fun with your tramp?”

“No, Mandy. I… I don’t want your mother driving to the liquor store. She might get into a car accident if she drives drunk.”

“Oh, so you’re doing her a favor, are you? She can’t even form a whole sentence, but you’re afraid she can’t drive? It looked as if she was trying the other day.” Dillon got into the back of Rob’s car. “Do me a favor, Dad, just go on with your little skank. Forget us.”

“Mandy, I do care.”

“Really? Like I believe you give a shit about Mom, or any of us.” I made sure my brother was safely buckled up in the back seat. Then I turned toward my father. “I’m going to look for your wife, now. She’s out searching for her son.”

“Is she in any condition to be doing that?”

“No, but I guess it doesn’t matter to you, does it? You can go back and finish your evening. I’m sure the strawberries and whipped cream are getting warm. Your bimbo must be getting cold only wearing her black lace teddy.” I got into Rob’s car and told him, “Drive!”

We roared away and left my father standing under the
flickering streetlight.

Three-quarte
rs of the way back to the house, I spotted Mom, passed out on the Hanleys’front lawn
.
Rob slammed on the brakes and was out of his door in a shot. After checking to make sure she was still alive
,
he picked her up, and carried her to the car. When we got home, he carried her upstairs to her bedroom while I got Dillon into the house.

Rob
waited in the living room until I had washed her, put both of them into pajamas, and tucked them into bed. Jennifer and Tanya had gone home, and my brother and Jimmy sat in the kitchen, waiting for my reprimand.

Instead, I ignored them
, and sat on the couch next to Rob. He put his arm around me and said nothing. That’s when my tears came. And they didn’t stop, not for a long time. Still, Rob said nothing. He just held me and let me cry.