Page 59 of Misadventures Of A Single Mom

A tour? “Sure. A tour.” I started to put my glass down.

“No, you’re welcome to bring your wine with you. Please, enjoy it. I have more.” He took my free hand and led me through the downstairs. His hand was warm, his skin slightly rough with calluses. Dex talked about the building of the home, the details, and his plans for the future.

That was great and all, but I was getting worried about Ty. “Dex, I was supposed to meet my friend here. He’s really late. Have you heard from him?”

Dex looked down at me and smiled. “Yes, sorry. He called and said he was running behind. Something about a fire?”

“Right. The fire.” I relaxed then and took another sip of wine.

“Let me show you the upstairs while we’re waiting for him.” He led me through six bedrooms, a study, media room and laundry before ending at the master suite. It was bigger than my entire house. Lots and lots of cream carpet. Again, the views, the dark wood furniture. The bed. A great big bed.

I had this funny feeling in my stomach. This was not where I wanted to be with Dex. Alone. I swallowed. All of a sudden, Ididn’t feel so well. The bed started to lose focus. I blinked to clear my vision.

“Jane, are you all right?” He sounded concerned.

“I think I’m scared of your bed.” I giggled. “Everything all of a sudden feels…groovy.”

Dex took the wineglass from my fingers and placed it on a dresser. “That’s to be expected.” He didn’t sound concerned anymore.

My foggy brain was slow to process. Next to the wineglass on the dresser were the boys’ gnomes. “Whuh?” I looked at Dex and he was all soft around the edges. I was so confused. What were the gnomes doing in Dex’s bedroom? “The gnomes….how?” I lost my train of thought. “I don’t think I can feel my fingers. What’s…what’s wrong with me?”

I think Dex smiled. “You didn’t think I’d let you taint my bedroom, did you? This is where I plan to bring my wife someday.”

I felt wobbly, the room spinning. “I thought….” I couldn’t formulate what I wanted to say. Something about Dex and a wife and me. Gnomes.

“You thought I wanted you to be my wife?” He yanked me by the hand he still held, pulled me close to him. “I did. Not now. I don’t bring sluts to my bed.”

I felt so funky, so spacey, so foggy, so…happy. Whatever was wrong with me didn’t feel bad. It was like being drunk, but drunk on happy juice. My limbs were loose, my skin felt tingly. I swear I could feel each and every hair on my head. Even with the weird feelings, I could hear the anger, the evil in Dex’s voice.

“You betrayed me and you will be punished.” He released me and I stumbled, fell toward the dresser. I grabbed its edge with both hands to keep upright, the movement tipped over George the Gnome and knocked him onto the carpeted floor with a soft thump.

The lethargic feeling moved into my chest. My lungs felt heavy. It was difficult to breathe. “I…can’t…catch my breath.”

“Or you may just die. Who knows how much of the drug I should have given you.”

With those words my body let go, and I fell without fear into blackness.

When I slowly came to,my first thought was about how dry and funky my mouth felt. It tasted like I’d eaten a wadded-up tissue. I slowly blinked, but my eyes flew open in panic when I recognized my surroundings. I was in a horse stall, lying on scratchy hay.

My body felt sluggish as if I’d had a fifth of whiskey and slept it off. I looked up and blinked some more, clearing the fog. I took in my surroundings. Cinder block walls on three sides painted white. A closed half gate on the fourth. Feeding trough in one corner. I stood up on shaky legs, wobbly like a newborn colt, and recognized the space outside the gate. I was in Dex’s breeding shed.

This was not good.

I heard a door open, the clip clop of horse hooves. Dex walked up leading a big, black horse. The animal’s large head came into the stall and he snorted. I stepped back, shaky and afraid. I could feel his hot horsy breath on my skin.

“Dex! What is going on?”

“You didn’t die after all.” He sounded as if this disappointed him. Leading the horse away, he looped the lead on the bridle to a ring on the…what had he called it? The phantom mare. Dex returned and leaned his forearms on the half gate, watching me.I backed up further, slipped on the hay and landed on my butt with a jarring thud. That hurt!

I remembered I’d first thought he was the Marlboro Man. He still looked the same, but now had a mental disorder to go along with his good looks. Ted Bundy came to mind. Handsome, yet completely psycho. Something dark and sinister lurked in his eyes which I hadn’t seen before.

“I wasn’t sure if the amount I gave you would knock you out, or kill you.”

I closed my eyes for a second trying to clear the cobwebs. Slowly shook my head. “You drugged me.”

“Ketamine. Also known as Special K.” He smiled. A creepy, serial killer kind of smile. “Around here, it’s also known as horse tranquilizer.”

Oh boy. “Dex, you need to let me out of here!” I shouted.

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