Unexpected Ride (7 page)

“What the hell is that woman up to?  She must be sneaking around and doing stuff for the wedding even though we told her not to go overboard.  The only problem is if she’s not already there, then where is she?  She should have been there by now and she’s not answering her cell phone,” Chuck said.

The worry in Chuck’s voice had Greg sitting up a little straighter.  “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Something is going on with her and I’m not sure what… but it isn’t like her to lie.  She left nearly two hours ago and said she had to take you to a doctor’s appointment and would be back.  I’ve got the boys but if she doesn’t show up in the next ten minutes, call me back and I can load them up and come and take you to your appointment,” he said.  “Meredith told me she thought you and Carla were …
hooking up
… and that’s what all the phone calls and sneaking around was about.  So if you are hooking up I just want to know.  Meredith and I don’t give a shit as long as you don’t hurt her.  Right now I’m a little worried so if she is there… again… don’t care… just don’t want to freak out for no reason.”

A knock at the door had him walking to the front of the house and peeking through the curtains in the living room.  Upon seeing Carla’s car parked in the driveway he said, “Don’t worry.  She just got here and I will get answers to all those sneaking around questions because it hasn’t been with me.”

“Good… oh and if you have a good checkup today… why don’t you stop by the shop next week and take a look at what Bobby’s got worked up on your bike,” Chuck said and then disconnected the call.

It was one thing for Carla not to be interested in him and blow him off.  It was another to use his interest in her to lie to her family and sneak around doing God knew what…
or who.
  Taking a deep breath and putting his game face on, Greg opened the door and was a little surprised at his reaction to seeing her after two weeks of nothing. 

Her eyes immediately dropped to his lips and before he could stop himself he said, “Window shopping?”

“What?” she asked.

“Just browsing but not looking to buy?” he replied.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, her eyes finally making their way back to his.

“The way you stare at my mouth makes me think you want… never mind,” he finished quietly.  “I’m ready if you are.”

He followed her right back out the door to her car and the first few minutes of the trip were met with awkward silence until he decided to treat her like any other person he needed information from.

“Thanks for taking me today.  Hopefully this one will be the last one or at least I can start driving myself.  Then you won’t have to deal with me anymore.  I meant what I said… I’m still glad I asked you to help with my recovery rather than some stranger.  I hope I wasn’t too bad of a patient even with the unwanted advances,” he said.  “I also hope it didn’t make your life even crazier… I know you must be busy.”

“No, I enjoyed taking care of you,” she replied.   She was quiet for a moment and then said, “Can I tell you something and you won’t tell anyone else?”

This was turning out to be easier than he expected
.  “Sure,” he replied.

“I’m thinking of taking some nursing classes.  I know it probably seems silly to do that at my age but I really did enjoy taking care of you.  I think I could really help people and I need something more dependable than what my Dad can get for me up at the courthouse,” she said and then whispered “I want a
real
job of my
own
.”

She never ceased to surprise him.  He was expecting her to tell him she was seeing someone else… wasn’t interested in him… but wanted him to cover for her with Meredith and Chuck.

“You’re not too old to go back to school.  You must be around my age… mid-forties?” he replied. 
Stupid… Becca would kill him for asking her age.

“I’m forty five.  I had Meredith when I was only twenty and never ended up finishing college.  Doug and I got married and I stayed at home with her and just when I started considering going back to school and finishing, I got pregnant with Matt.  Then once Ben came along I just figured it was God’s way of telling me to be content with what I had… a nice family… nice house… nice husband… nice life.  Now that Ben’s in school full time and with Doug gone… those old dreams just kind of came back,” she said.  “The problem is that I’ve never really worked full time and have large gaps in my employment history so even if I did get an education… who would hire a middle aged woman with no real work experience?”

“Maybe you need to take it one step at a time… check in on the classes and see if you can even get into the program first,” he offered. 
Great… instead of finding out where she’d been going and what she’d been doing… he was off subject.

“Actually, I already did that. I even took the placement tests and went to orientation and I
can
get into the program… all I have to do is sign the paper and turn it in,” she nearly whispered after parking the car.

“So… when do classes start?” he asked.

“After the holidays
if
I turn in the paperwork,” she replied getting out of the car.

As they headed into the doctor’s office he asked, “What do you mean
if
you turn in the paperwork?”

She looked at him strangely and said, “Aren’t you going to ask me about when the classes are or how long they last?”

He signed himself in, took a seat next to her in the waiting room and then said, “Does it really matter?  You obviously want this really bad to have held on to the dream for so long.”

“It will mean having to be away from the boys even beyond them being in school because most of the classes are an hour and a half long and at night.  Plus it will take me at least two years to complete the program,” she answered his unasked question.

“So… you are gone for a couple of hours every night… I’m sure between Chuck and Meredith or even Dana Atkinson you can find someone to stay with them or keep them.  Hell, I’d help you with them if I was going to be around.  Sign the damn paper and turn it in,” he replied.

She gave him another weird look and then said, “It’s only two, maybe three, nights a week… not every night.”

“Okay, I’m convinced… sign the paper and turn it in,” he replied again. 
Was she just trying to convince herself?

“Shouldn’t I talk it over with the kids first?” she asked.

“So if they proclaim that it will be too big of an inconvenience for them for you to follow your dream… you’ll give it up…
again?
” he asked incredulously. 
Didn’t she ever do anything selfishly?
 

“I’d just put it on hold again… like last time.  That’s all,” she replied softly.

The doctor chose that moment to call him back.  A half an hour later he was even angrier than he’d been on learning he’d be out on sick leave for at least six weeks.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanders… I can’t release you in good conscious.  I’m not even convinced you could draw your weapon at all at this point, let alone defend yourself or anyone else with it.  You have two choices, learn to shoot left handed enough to qualify or we can bump up your physical therapy sessions and take another look in a couple of months,” the doctor said hesitantly as if Greg would come after him for the words he spoke.

“Is it from my son bumping his arm a couple of weeks ago?” Carla asked hesitantly.

“No, ma’am.  It’s from the bullet… it looked like a clean wound when he went into the operating room but it did more nerve damage than we first thought.  The surgery repaired the majority of that and it’s mostly healed but some of the lasting consequences of being shot are still there and it is affecting his grip,” the doctor replied.  “I have to be honest… it may never be exactly the same as it was before but until he can qualify with his weapon, I cannot release him and he’s nowhere near that right now.”

As pissed as he was… the doctor was right.  His arm just wasn’t the same anymore but he could fix that… he’d bump up the therapy appointments and really start working it.  He only had five more years and he could get full retirement benefits. 

Otherwise he’d be forced to take a medical retirement or a desk job and since his injury hadn’t been while he was on duty the chances of him getting his full benefits were slim. 

He wasn’t an ass kisser that would get bumped up the chain of command long enough to ensure a good retirement either… not that permanent desk duty was appealing anyways.  Most of the time he pushed the limits and patience of his supervisors… but he also had the best arrest and conviction record in the whole damn division.  His dream had been to retire at fifty and then ride the motorcycle that Bobby Jackson was designing and building for him across the country.  He also hoped to figure out how to spend the rest of his life in the process.  He wasn’t ready to give up on that dream just yet but since he was screwed out of going back to work right now… he could at least help Carla work on her dream.

Now that she was at least talking to him again after his less than smooth attempts at coming on to her and since he couldn’t go back to work anyways, unless he wanted to spend forty hours a week being a pencil pusher, he might as well remain in Florida.  After scheduling another appointment in a month he followed Carla out to the car.  She glanced at him when she got in the driver’s seat as though to judge how upset he was at the doctor’s report.

After Carla started the car, he placed his hand over hers when she tried to put the car in gear. 

“Where’s the paperwork for those classes, Carla?  We aren’t leaving this parking lot until you sign them.  Then we are going to drive over there and drop them off and finish up whatever else you need to do to start classes after the holidays.  I figure I’ve got at least a couple of months more down here… and I think Matt and Ben like hanging out with me.  Maybe not as much as they like Chuck but I’m working on that.  So I’m pretty sure you have at least three babysitters… four if you count your dad.  So sign it,” he finished.

The look she gave him made him want to kiss her worse than when she stared at his mouth.  A mixture of excitement, joy, nervousness and wonder shone in her eyes.  Then as though his thoughts were somehow transferred to her mind, her gaze went to his lips.  His attraction to her only seemed to grow with each new look she gave him.  The willingness to be patient and wait for her to finish grieving for her husband was completely unexpected though.  Was he kidding himself?  Holding out hope when there was none?

She shuffled through her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper and a pen.  After unfolding the paper and briefly scanning it she glanced at him and a smile that took his breath away crossed her face and lit up her eyes.  Pressing the paper against the center of the steering wheel, she signed her name and the pressure she applied made the horn blast, which resulted in giggles from her which in turn made him smile.

When they made it to the college and parked she looked over at him and said, “I don’t think I can do this after all.  I’ll be the oldest one in the class and it’s been so long… what if I can’t learn anymore.  You know that saying about teaching an old dog new tricks… what if that’s me?”

Without thinking he reached down with his right hand and grasped the door handle and when he couldn’t open the door, it hit him.  This injury could be permanent… what if the last day he’d worked as a detective
was
his last? 

Looking over at Carla it struck him… she’d never even had the satisfaction of having done something she loved for twenty five years.  At least he’d had that… and he wasn’t giving up on going back to it just yet but he also wasn’t about to let her talk herself out of her dream… again.  Not after seeing that light in her eyes when she’d signed the paper.

After letting himself out of the car by using his left hand to pull the handle, he went around to her side and opened the door.  Reaching inside he took the keys from the ignition and stuffed them in the pocket of his jeans.  Then he reached in again and this time he grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the car.

“Wait… I need my purse,” she squealed in excitement.

He enjoyed every look on her beautiful face as she turned in the paperwork and was given a list of her classes and the books she needed.  Then he pressured her into going down to the bookstore and getting her books so she could look over them during the holidays.  Instead of having her drop him off at the beach house, he took her up on the offer of dinner at her house.  He hadn’t seen her boys in a couple of weeks and since he would be down here over the Christmas holiday he needed gift ideas for them and dinner was a great time to ask.

“How am I going to tell them all?” she asked after pulling into the garage.

“You’re asking me?  I thought you had already aced the ‘family discussion’ class years ago.  You’re like a professional at uncomfortable conversations… but you want
my
opinion on how to tell them?” he laughed.

“Okay… the sooner the better,” she said more to herself than him and got out of the car. 

When they entered the house, Ben came tearing down the stairs and Greg almost felt the need to run interference between him and Carla but instead just cringed when he knocked her back a few steps by hugging her tightly around her waist. 

“My teacher says I’ve been good and now I can play football… right mom?” he asked, holding out a gnarled paper that he had clenched in one of his meaty fists.

He watched Meredith give Carla a knowing look and before he could stop himself he was reading over Carla’s shoulder.  The paper was from Ben’s teacher and it commended him on behaving himself better in class and turning in his homework over the past couple of weeks.  However, it also said he was still struggling with his work and suggested tutoring.

Carla looked at him and even though he should take her advice and stay out of it he instead said, “He’s trying… compromise and meet him halfway?”

Chuck stepped in the room with Tommy McMurray’s daughter, Gretchen, right behind him.  The little girl was the closest thing that Chuck had to a child of his own at this point and she was definitely his little shadow.