Page 48 of Gentle Persuasion

“She went to the mall…alone?”

Both men were in shock. They looked at each other and turned as one, intent on retrieving their Little Red before anything else happened to her…when she walked into the house. The blurred image of a cab driving away passed between her and the open door just before she slammed it shut.

“Hi, guys,” she said as she staggered into the room with her arms full of sacks. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’re having chicken tonight, compliments of the Colonel.”

She dropped two sacks into Morgan’s arms and handed one to Buddy, unaware of the panic she’d caused.

“Wait till you see what I bought for the baby!” She handed another sack to Cole.

“Baby?” Cole was the first to speak, and he felt as if he’d just walked into the twilight zone. She’d told him she was protected.

“Yes, baby.” She was beginning to realize that something was wrong here. They were behaving as if they’d all had an overdose of bug spray from an orange grove. “You remember him, I’m sure. Your sister, Lily…remember? She had a baby. Your nephew…Morgan’s grandson?”

“Oh! That baby,” Cole dropped backwards into the nearest chair and held onto the sack she’d handed him as if it were a lifejacket that would keep him from sinking.

Debbie rolled her eyes and stepped back, taking a good look at the trio before her.

“What’s going on,” she asked.

“You went to the mall.” Morgan’s voice was slightly accusatory.

“You went to play golf,” she retorted.

He blushed and dropped into a seat beside his son.

“Did you get my Pop Tarts?” Buddy asked, and then handed her his sack and bolted for his room when his father and brother glared at his question. He’d suddenly lost his appetite.

“What in the world is the matter with you?” Debbie asked. “Did you expect me to hide in this house for the rest of my stay, just because I got a busted lip? Besides, the man’s been arrested. You called and told me that much, remember?”

The rest of her stay? Cole’s stomach turned. That meant she’d be leaving.

Morgan decided that an exit at this point was wise and headed to the kitchen with the chicken and fixings.

Cole got up, dumped their sacks onto the floor, and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m sorry I overreacted,” he said quietly. “But I came home and you were gone and—”

“You leave every morning,” Debbie said. “You tell me you’ll be back. I trust you to fulfill your word, Cole.” She doubled up her fist and punched him gently in the chest. “You have to allow me the same.”

“But you’re so little, I guess that—”

“Bullets are smaller.”

Her response shocked and silenced him. She was right.

“I suppose you’re going to hold this over my head,” he growled as he gave her one last hug before following her into the kitchen.

“Only if you hog all the drumsticks.” She grinned, and then she knocked on Buddy’s door as they walked by. “Buddy! You can come out now. And I did forget your Pop Tarts, but I brought you one of each of the desserts from KFC, instead.”

He beat them both to the kitchen.

***

It was the witching hour. Cole had tossed and turned until his bed looked as if it had been turned inside out. All through their evening meal, Debbie had studiously ignored him. Oh, she’d laughed and talked and answered when spoken to, but she hadn’t made eye contact once.

He wasn’t sure what he’d done to warrant this treatment. But gut instinct told him that it was what he hadn’t done that was causing her behavior. He’d caught the inference she’d made earlier about “her stay.” He’d done nothing to insure that it was permanent. And it was time he did.

The hardwood floor was cool beneath his bare feet as he walked across the hall and paused outside her door. A thin string of light shown beneath, telling him that she was still awake. He knocked once, gently, and called her name. “Debbie, can I come in?”

“It’s open,” she answered.

---