Sue (20 page)

She tapped on the door. “Melvin,
are you okay?”

Silence.

Then she heard the sound of water
running and a moment later the door opened. Melvin stood before her, jacket in
one hand and inhaler cupped in the other. “I’m okay now.”

On impulse, Sue stood on tiptoe and
kissed him on the cheek. She looked into his eyes for a few seconds and then
stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him. He dropped the jacket to the
floor and returned her embrace. They held each other, rocking lightly back and
forth. She buried her face in his shoulder, breathed deeply of his clean fresh
scent, flushed with tenderness toward him. When he pulled away, she thought he
might kiss her. She raised her head slightly, expecting to feel his mouth on
hers. But the moment passed and he stepped back.

“I kind of ruined our evening,
didn’t I?” He picked up his jacket and slipped the inhaler back into the
pocket.

“It’s not ruined.” Sue took his
hand and led him to the front room. “It’s going to be a good evening.
The best.
I have an idea. Why don’t we just stay in tonight
and watch a movie here?
Something lighthearted.
Silly.”

Melvin flashed a small smile, shy
again now that the storm had passed.
“Sounds good to me.”

They made a quick trip to the video
store and grabbed some snacks from Rick’s Market. The rest of the evening they
sat near each other on the sofa, not quite touching, but close.

Making good on her word, Sue talked
to her parents the next day and they called Will to terminate their
arrangement. Melvin continued to accompany Sue most places and they spent hours
together, only now it wasn’t work; it was social. Their friendship grew
stronger and at the same time more vulnerable as elements of affection pulsed
beneath the surface.

Chapter 29

All the months of celibacy combined
with night after night of wild dreams stirred longings in Sue, urges for
intimacy that demanded attention. She had looked at Melvin with new eyes ever
since he’d stood up to the pizza guy, and felt a growing closeness after he’d
confided in her his feelings about the fire. She decided it was time to act on
her desires.

She and Melvin always ate out or
ordered in. This time, she would treat him to a home-cooked meal. Though she
hadn’t ever prepared a real meal on her own, she thought she could pull off a
spaghetti dinner easily enough. She hummed as she made a list of ingredients.
Picking up her phone, she reached Melvin and issued her invitation, which he
accepted.

“You’re cooking? Cool. What can I
bring?” he asked, his voice setting off tender explosions under her skin.

She reminded herself that he had no
idea what she planned for later, and smiled at how surprised he would be. She
pictured burying her hands in his hair, plundering his sweet lips with her own,
unzipping his jeans. Heat spread throughout her belly.

“Just yourself,” she said, voice
slightly husky, revealing something of her intent.

“Okay.” He sounded slightly baffled
but pleased. “What time?”

“Give me at least an hour. I want
to run by the store.” She also wanted to take a bath, shave, and primp. “Better
make that an hour and a half. Would that be okay?”

“Fine.
Maybe I’ll stop and get a bottle of wine. Do you have a preference?”

“Anything will do. No, wait.
Something red.
And sweet.”
She
giggled. “I really don’t know much about wine.”

“I don’t either, but I’ll ask the
clerk. I’ll get something good.”

They disconnected and Sue made a
quick dash for groceries. Back home, she hurried to her closet to choose a
flattering outfit. She ran a hot bath, dumped in perfumed bath salts, and
opened a fresh razor. Lighting a scented candle, she removed her clothes and
sank into the water.

When finished, Sue toweled off,
dressed, and dried her hair. She
spritzed
on body
spray and applied a touch of makeup. Melvin arrived right after she’d loaded
the CD player with soft music.

“I hope this is alright. The liquor
store clerk said it was good.” He handed her a bottle.

“I’m sure it’ll be perfect.” She
carried it to the kitchen. “I’m fixing a special family recipe tonight. I think
you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will. Need any help?”

“You can keep me company while I
cook.”

Melvin joined her in the kitchen,
shooting her shy smiles every so often as they chatted. Soon the apartment
filled with the savory smell of simmering sauce. Sue told him a joke she’d
heard at work and they laughed together. A knock at the front door interrupted
them.

“I’ll get that and be right back.”
Sue headed for the living room.

“Wait, Sue...” Melvin followed her.

She threw open the door, a smile
still on her face. There stood a youngish man with dark blonde hair partially
covered by a blue baseball cap. He cocked his head, looked her up and down,
then
stuck his hands in his jeans pockets, striking a casual
pose. A grin spread over his face. “Oh, yeah,” he murmured.

“Can I help you?” she said, annoyed
at the disruption.

“Susie?” His grin widened.

“Yes. Do I know you?” She couldn’t
keep the irritation out of her voice.

“I’m Eric Grant. And no, you don’t
know me, but I was told I ought to look you up.”

Melvin edged closer and stood
behind Sue, just out of sight of the visitor.

“For what?
By whom?”
She felt prickles of apprehension scurry up
her spine.

“Mutual friend, that’s
who
. Can I come in?” He stepped closer.

Sue closed the door partway. “No, you
can’t come in. I don’t even know you.” She started to shut the door but he put
out a hand to stop it.

“Don’t be that way, come on. I’m
not some weirdo; I’m just a nice normal guy. We could have a lot of fun
together, if you know what I mean. Give me a chance, won’t you?”

“I’ll give you a damn chance!”
Melvin eased past Sue, seized the front of Eric’s shirt and swung him off the
porch, bashing him against the outside wall of the house. “Is that the kind of
fun you had in mind?
Hunh
?”
With lightning fists, Melvin pummeled him in the abdomen
several times. “
You having
fun yet? Is this fun?
How about this?”
Melvin kicked the man’s feet from under him
and he crumpled to the ground, gasping.

“Melvin!
Stop!”
Sue grabbed his arm.

Melvin backed off, shoulders
heaving with the effort of containing his fury. “I just want to make sure he
has a good time.” He leaned down and spat out savagely, “Big
fun
!”

Sue gazed down at her would-be
suitor. “Who are you, really? Why did you come here?”

Cradling his stomach with one arm,
Eric pushed himself into a sitting position. “I don’t want any trouble,” he
panted. “I’m only here because Ian told me you like a good time. You know Ian.
Mutual friend?
Problem is
,
he
didn’t mention you have a jealous boyfriend. It’s not my fault. I didn’t know
you’d hooked up with anyone.” He gave Melvin a slanted look. “Can I get up
now?”

“Fine.
But
you’ve got a lot of questions to answer, buddy.”

“Okay, dude, whatever you say.”
Eric climbed to his feet, using the house to steady himself. He stumbled to the
porch and sat heavily on the edge.

The smell of something burning
wafted from inside and Sue exclaimed, “The food!” She rushed inside and yanked
the tray of garlic bread from the oven. She returned to find Eric massaging his
torso.

“I hope my ribs aren’t broken.” He
gave Melvin an annoyed look.

“I didn’t hit you that hard,”
Melvin replied, unsympathetic. “Now talk. Who gave you Sue’s address?”

Slowly the story came out. Eric had
met a guy named Ian in an internet cafe when he was working a job in Nashville.
“I walked by and noticed some pretty intriguing pictures on his screen.”

Ice water flowed through Sue’s
veins. “What kind of pictures?”

He glanced up at Sue, a grimace on
his face.
“Old buildings.
Derelicts.
Really stunning ones.
So I stopped and asked him about
them. Turns out he’s obsessed with abandoned structures, just like I am. I
explore them every chance I get.”

“What’s that got to do with Sue?”
Melvin’s face was stony, his fists clenched.

“We got to talking. When he found
out I was from Maine, he told me
if I ever got up to Cyrus, I should look you up, introduce myself. Now don’t
hit me again...” He held up his palms to Melvin. “I’m just telling you what he
said. These are his words. He told me you love to put out, that you are very
open-minded and adventurous. He said you’re a free spirit, always looking for a
party. Told me he thought we’d really have a good time together. And he gave me
this address.”

Sue looked at Melvin, eyes wide
with shock. “It was Zeke for sure.”

“Nah, this guy’s name was Ian. I
don’t know any Zeke.”
Eric ’s
tone signaled he was now
feeling more at ease. He stood.

“Shut up.” Melvin shot him a
baleful look and Eric sat back down.

“Should we call the police?” Sue
asked.

Eric shot to his feet. “The
police?” he squeaked. “What the hell for? Your boyfriend beat
me
up, not
the other way around. Way I see
it,
this is a simple
misunderstanding, nothing more. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just showed up
ready to be friendly.”

“You have a problem with the cops?”
Melvin asked.

“No. And I don’t want any. Come on,
dude. Can’t we just forget this whole thing? I’ll leave and you’ll never see me
again.”

Melvin turned to Sue. “Sue?”

“If he answers all our questions,
I’m fine with letting him go. I don’t believe he can help the police anyway.”

Relief spread across Eric’s face
and he eagerly told them everything he knew. “I don’t even really know the guy
that gave me your address. I just met him a couple of weeks ago.”

“What did he look like?” Sue found it
hard to breathe as she listened.

“I guess he was good-looking, you
know, for a guy. He had blond hair, looked like he worked out, and had these
intense blue eyes. He was real easy to talk to, though.”

“Did he say where he’d come from,
or where he was going?” Melvin asked.

“Nah, he didn’t say anything about
that.”

“What was he driving?”

“Hell, I don’t know. We were inside
that cafe, not out on the road.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“Well, there was a girl that kind
of hung back while we talked, like maybe she was waiting for him to notice her
or like she knew him or something. I don’t know. She never came up to us or
spoke.
Just watched us.”

Sue latched onto this information.
“What did she look like?”

“Young.
Maybe late teens, early twenties.
I’m not good at guessing
age.
Red hair, fake looking, not natural.
Looked like
it had been hacked off, not cut nice or anything. She was kind of cute, but
timid acting.” Eric shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t even know if they were together.
It’s just a feeling I got at the time, is all. I could be wrong about it.”

After they obtained every detail,
Melvin dismissed the guy. “Really,” he said with a grim look on his face. “You
don’t want to ever come back here. Take my word for it.”

“You got that right,” Eric said as
he shambled to a battered white pickup truck parked down the street and climbed
inside. Setting the truck in motion, he thrust an arm out the window and
flipped Sue and Melvin off.

Sue hurried to the edge of her yard
and watched him pull away, memorizing his license plate.
Just in case.

She pushed past Melvin and darted
into her room to write it down before she forgot it. “Just recording the tag
number in the event we need it someday,” she called over her shoulder. “Come on
back inside.”

Melvin stood on the porch until the
truck disappeared from sight. Only then did he reenter the apartment, close and
lock the door behind him.

“We should tell Will and Roxie
about this,” Melvin said. “It could be important.”

“I don’t see how, but tell them if
you want to. I just don’t want my folks knowing about it.”

“I doubt Will would tell your
parents; he’s not working for them anymore. But, Sue, we could run that tag
number and find out who this guy is.”

“Do you think he lied about his
name?”

“Maybe.
I
don’t know.” Melvin frowned.

“Go ahead, but I don’t think it’s
going to lead to Zeke.
Sounds to me like they just met in
passing.”

Melvin looked determined. “Well,
I’m going to check him out anyway.”

After about twenty minutes of
discussion, Sue finally returned to the kitchen and finished preparing their
meal. The food was good, in spite of the disturbance, and they ate
companionably. But any thought of romance fled with the man in the white truck.

Chapter 30

Saturday rolled in with a gentle
breeze. The air was redolent with the sweet delicate scent of daffodils. Sue
called Melvin. “Hey, do you have plans for the day?”

“I need to study for an exam but
that can wait until later; what did you have in mind? Want to go do some
shooting or go to the gym?”

“Not today. I thought maybe we
could go for a drive. It’s so pretty out.”

“Sure. Want to take a picnic lunch
along?”

Sue’s mind flashed back to the day
she and Zeke first made love. They’d had a picnic that day. She shuddered, not wanting
to remember how wonderful she’d felt; how much she’d enjoyed the things Zeke
had done to her; the things she’d done. Almost angrily, she shoved these
thoughts aside. “Why don’t we just plan to stop and eat out? Would that be
okay?”