Looking for Julie (17 page)

Edie drove home without calling Claire or Pam.  She was worried about the book she was writing—
Midnight Magic
. She had around one hundred and sixty pages of what she considered crap and she was stuck. Whenever she wrote a romantic scene, Mary Ann, the protagonist’s best friend, popped into her head in the form of Claire. Her deadline was April first. She had never been so far away from the finish with less than two months left, nor had she ever disliked writing as she did now.

At home, she forced herself to sit down in front of her computer. Don had just proposed marriage to Elizabeth when Mary Ann came in the back door and called Elizabeth’s name.

“Hey, woman, how about a cup of coffee?”

Elizabeth smiled at Don and shrugged helplessly. “We’ll have to talk about this later. Besides, I can’t answer without giving it some thought, can I?”

Shaggy dark hair hung over his eyes. His gaze burned through it as if he might convince her by staring at her. “All right. I have to go now.” The UPS truck was parked out front. If his boss found out he’d gone out of his way to stop at her house, he’d probably lose his job.

“Oh,” Mary Ann said from the doorway. “I didn’t realize you had company. I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth smiled at her friend, certain that she wasn’t sorry. “Let’s go have that cup of coffee.” She put an arm around Mary Ann and smiled into her eyes.

She shouldn’t write that, she knew. Women didn’t smile into other women’s eyes, not in Horizon Romances, but at that moment the story came alive.

In the kitchen Elizabeth started decaf and the two women sat at the table, waiting for it to drip through the grounds. “Are you going to accept?” Mary Ann asked.

“I don’t know if I want to share everything with him.”

“Well, there you go.” Mary Ann made a palms-up gesture as if everything was solved. “You should trust your instincts.”

Elizabeth smiled. “You don’t like him, do you?”

Mary Ann shrugged and dodged the question. “It doesn’t matter whether I like him. He’s been here weeks and I still don’t know him. Do you?”

“He doesn’t talk much about himself.”

“You can’t marry someone you know nothing about.”

She knew a few things, which she’d passed on to Mary Ann. He was divorced with no children. His father was dead. His mother had Alzheimer’s and lived in a nursing home. He had a brother on the west coast whom he seldom saw.

Edie stopped. What about this guy? He was the hero in the book, not Mary Ann, and she still hadn’t fleshed him out in her head or in words. She took a break and looked at her e-mail.

Jennifer’s name leaped out at her, and she clicked on it. It was a reply to her message.
You name the place. I’ll either meet you there or we can drive together.

She shot back—
Standing Rock, Iola, Winter Park, American Legion. Pick one.

Jennifer responded immediately.
Winter Park. Meet me at my place at seven a.m. Saturday. We can ride together. Chip might come with.
She gave directions.

See you then
, Edie sent. She thought she’d made a move to put Claire in her past and was proud of herself. Then she remembered her promise to take Jamie back to Madison and called his mother.

“Jean? Will Jamie be ready to go back to school on Sunday?”

“I don’t know. He sleeps all the time. The pain meds, I guess. We can take him back when he’s ready. That makes more sense, Edie. You’ve done enough, getting his room changed and all that when we were gone.”

“Is that okay with Dave?”

“Of course. Want to talk to Jamie? His eyes just opened.”

“Hey Auntie. I hope your life is more interesting than mine.” His voice was still weak.

“Your mom said they’re going to take you back to Madison.”

“I’m their prisoner. They’re going to keep me here forever. Right, Mom?” Jean said something in the background. “No, just joshing. Dad is ready to get rid me.”

“The truth, Jamie?” She was smiling.

“Actually, he’s treating me like a human being. They’re going to take me back on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. What are you doing?”

“Working.” Before she went back to writing she made coffee.

Don knocked on Elizabeth’s door at five. She was grading papers at the kitchen table. Mary Ann, who taught at the same middle school, had gone home long ago to also grade papers. She got up with a sigh and went to the door.

No bells and whistles blew when he grinned at her. She was thinking she should tell him to get on with his life, when he walked inside and kissed her hard. It was such a surprise that she neither responded nor resisted.

He leaned back to look at her. “Isn’t it about time?”

“Time?” she repeated.

“Why don’t you show me your bedroom?”

“Oh. Okay.” Maybe it was time.

When they started down the hall, Mary Ann burst through the door without knocking.

“Does she live here?” Don asked.

Elizabeth looked from one to the other. If she had to make a choice, it would be Mary Ann, she realized. A good friend is indispensable.

Mary Ann said with a smile, “Would you two like to come over for a cookout?”

“Not now,” Don said.

“I’ve got some leftover slaw in the fridge.” Elizabeth jumped at the invitation.

She should have gotten Elizabeth and Don in bed pages ago, but every time they got near the bedroom, Mary Ann showed up. Doggedly, she made Mary Ann leave and Don and Elizabeth continue toward the queen-size bed down the hall.

When Don started to remove Elizabeth’s clothes, she said, “Let’s just lie down together for a few minutes.”

He glanced at his watch and she at hers. They had about an hour before going to Mary Ann’s house. Elizabeth lay on her back, her arms folded over her chest. She was thinking about the ungraded papers.

Don put an arm over her and pulled her toward him. He kissed her again, this time deeply. One of his hands was resting on her breast, when the kitchen door opened.

“Come back here, Riley. Elizabeth, it’s me and Riley. I came to get the slaw,” Mary Ann’s eight-year-old daughter, Jane, called.

Elizabeth jumped to her feet as Riley, who was all paws and wagging tail, jumped on her and knocked her back on the bed. She pushed him away with a laugh and got up quickly. Before she shut the door behind her, she heard Don say, “If it’s not Mary goddamn Ann, it’s her kid and the dog.” She smiled and hugged Janie.

Edie looked out the window. A light snow was falling, clinging to the two blue spruces in her backyard. She abandoned the computer, put on her warm clothing and went outside. She’d deal with Don and Elizabeth and Mary Ann later. The tracks along the trail were only lightly coated with snow, and she stepped into them and began to pick up speed. Skiing always cleared her head.

The day was fading quickly through thickly falling snow when she cut back to her house.

Officer Dana called Sam late Monday afternoon to tell her that Charles DeWitt had been released on bail. She was walking with Karen toward the Union. A strong wind was blowing off the lake, and her ears were freezing. The wind and passing traffic made it difficult to hear.

“But you said they wouldn’t let him go.” A rush of adrenaline left her weak. She’d been so sure he was off the streets. She’d almost gotten used to feeling safe.

“The arresting officers missed court.”

“Why?” she yelled in angry frustration.

“They had an accident.”

“But he’s going to kill Jamie and me.” She truly believed that.

“He never saw you. That was one-way glass. All he knows is that no one identified him. He has to come back for trial.”

“When’s that?”

“Eight weeks. You can get a restraining order against him.”

“That will really keep him away.” She knew how effective restraining orders were from her Women’s Studies Class.

“I’m sorry, Sam. Call me if you even think you see him. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” She shut her phone and shoved it and her hands in her pockets.

“What happened?” Karen asked as they climbed the steps of the Union and pushed inside.

“He’s out on bail. There was some fuckup.”

“Maybe you better get out of that apartment.”

“I can move into Jamie’s room till he gets back.” Angst made her edgy. DeWitt could be anywhere.

“Okay,” Karen said. “Let’s get your stuff and move you.”

They turned to go outside just as Carmen came inside. “Hi. Where are you going?”

“Back to the apartment. I have to move.”

Carmen looked surprised. “How come?”

Sam was trying not to focus on Carmen’s one eyebrow. “Listen, Nita needs to get out of the apartment too.”

“Isn’t that guy in jail?”

“No, he’s out on bail.”

Karen took her arm and urged her toward the door. “It’s getting late. Let’s go.”

“I’ll come with you,” Carmen said. “Nita can stay with me.”

The three of them ran down the steps and arrived at the apartment breathless.

“What’s happening?” Nita said, looking alarmed.

It was unusual for Carmen to be with her and Karen as if they were friends, Sam realized. “You need to get out of here. DeWitt was released on bail. There was a screwup.”

Nita stared at Sam. “Where are you going?”

“I’m staying in Jamie’s room. Carmen says you can go with her.”

Nita paused only a moment. “Okay.”

Sam called Jamie from his room where she was sitting cross-legged on his bed wrapped in his blanket. “Hey, guess where I am?”

He sounded sleepy. “I don’t know. My head is all fucked up with drugs. Don’t make me play games.”

She told him about DeWitt being out on bail and how she’d moved into his room and Nita had moved in with Carmen. There was a long pause.

“You’re shitting me. This guy is out on bail? He’ll fucking kill me.”

“I know. I think we should transfer to UW-Oshkosh.”

“So you can see your therapist. Right?” He let out a big sigh. She pictured him falling back on a pillow in bed. “What are we gonna do about this guy, DeWitt? Is that his name?”

“Yeah, Charles DeWitt. Are you going to be ready to come back on Sunday? Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“I’m a one-armed fucking target,” he said.

A long silence fell between them. “I’m going to buy a can of Mace.”

“Good idea. I could do that too, but I don’t know if I can run. It hurts to walk.”

Karen slipped quietly through the door and sat on the bed next to her. She took one end of the blanket and wrapped them in it together. “Hey to Jamie,” she said.

Sam repeated it.

“You lucky bitch,” he said. “No fucking in my bed.”

“C’mon, you’re no fun.” She wanted to make him laugh, and he did.

“It’s okay if you do, just don’t mess up the sheets.”

“As if they’re not already a mess.”

“I could hire a bodyguard,” Jamie said, “some handsome gay guy who works out a lot.”

“You know someone?” she asked.

“Yeah, but he’s not handsome. He needs money, though. Thad Young. He lives in Witte. Can you find him?” Jamie actually sounded excited. “Tell him I’ve got a job for him. My dad will pay. Mom will make him.” Jamie’s dad owned Instant Printing.

“You’re serious?”

“Goddamn right I am.”

She and Karen found Young on the fourth floor of Witte. The door to his room stood open. No clothes were strewn on any surface, books were stacked neatly on desks or shelves and the beds were made.

Young was no looker. His ears stuck out and his eyes were small and close together, topped by jutting brows. He had a thick neck and a muscular body, which towered over them. She had just given him a short history about Jamie, and he was staring at her with disbelief.

“He needs someone to protect him. He’ll pay minimum wage. All you have to do is walk places with him. If you’ve got a class, he’ll wait till it’s done so that you can escort him home or vice versa.”

“What happened again?” he asked, his voice unusually high for someone so big.

She gave him an abbreviated version and added, “He’s not a sissy. He just can’t defend himself.”

Thad sat on a bed, on sheets and blanket tucked in tightly. He motioned for them to sit down on other bed.

Sam and Karen exchanged glances. “We can’t stay,” Sam said. “Can you do it? He’s coming back Sunday.” She gave him Jamie’s cell number.