Page 13 of You Can Leave Your Hat On

It was quiet for a few seconds before Aaron said, “I had this weird impression that something’s going on. What’s up?” Maisey took a couple of minutes to explain what had happened.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m sitting in my car, pointed toward the Laurel River bridge over on Keavy Road.”

“I’ll be right there.”

She was thankful for his interest and willingness to help, but she felt awful about him giving up part of his afternoon for her. “Oh, honey, you don’t have to?”

“Nonsense. We’ve talked about increasing patrols out that way. I’ll be there in just a minute. You sit tight, beautiful.” And he hung up.

Maisey was mystified. What the hell was happening? She got out of the car twice more and tried to walk down the highway, but both times, the same thing happened, so she went back to the car and sat there, thinking. The car was warm, she was comfortable, and her eyelids drooped. Sleep had almost foundher when she felt something on the car and checked her rearview to see Aaron’s cruiser behind her. That handsome, familiar face filled her window. “Hey, babe!”

“Hi.”

“Get in the cruiser and I’ll take you to your appointment.”

“Okay.” Maisey let him open the door and help her out, then grabbed her bag and her messenger bag and walked back to his cruiser.

Once she was in and her seatbelt was buckled, he looked at her and smiled. “Ready?”

Maisey nodded. “Yep. Ready.” Aaron pulled out onto the highway, passed Maisey’s car, and kept going.

As soon as they passed the point where she’d felt forced to stop, a wave of anxiety and nausea broke over Maisey. “Oh, god.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel sick.”

“Sick? Like …”

“Like physically ill! Like I’m going to puke! Oh, god, Aaron, this is horrible!” Her eyes were watering and she could taste bile in her mouth.

“Let me get you to the other side! Hang on!” Aaron stepped down on the gas and the cruiser shot ahead. Once it rolled out past the other side of the bridge, he glanced over at Maisey. “You okay?”

Maisey sat there for a second and took stock. “Uh, yeah. I’m… better. I feel better. Honestly, I do.” There was still a nasty metallic taste in her mouth, and sweat beads still stood on her forehead, but she did feel better. “I’m okay.”

Aaron kept driving. “Tell me where I’m going. I’ll take you to your appointment and then drive you back to your car.”

“You don’t have to?”

“I do. Stop it. Let me do this. It’ll be fine. Tell me where I’m going, Maisey, or I’ll drive around in circles all afternoon.”

Ten minutes later, they were at the client’s house. Before she climbed out of the cruiser to go to the door, she leaned over and kissed Aaron on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered to him.

“You’re very welcome. I’ll be right here when you finish. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too.” Maisey headed to the client’s door, then spun and gave him a little wave before ringing the doorbell.

She was only there about forty minutes and, sure enough, when she came out, Aaron was sitting right there. “Thanks for doing this. You didn’t have to,” she said as soon as she’d strapped herself into the car.

“Yes I did. Otherwise, you would’ve sat there on the side of the road, unable to go anywhere. At least this way you got your appointment finished.”

“True.” Maisey pulled the paperwork out of her messenger bag and as Aaron drove, she worked on the forms. There were at least three she had to fill out, so she busied herself with the questions asked and coming up with the answers that would explain what she’d seen and what they’d talked about.

Halfway through the second form, it felt like someone had slapped the papers from her hand, and they went flying. That horrible nauseous feeling passed over her again, and she gripped the door handle. “Oh, god, no. Ugh. I feel…” Words wouldn’t come. And just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Aaron stopped right in the middle of the bridge. “Oh, god, Aaron, keep driving! Oh, uhhh, I feel?”

“Get out,” he ordered.

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