Alex came to unload the groceries, a smile skidding across his features. “Sweetie, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?”
“I passed my patient’s new home. Oakwood Manor. Somehow from the sound of it, I had imagined a much nicer place than what I saw on my way here.”
“Who’s the patient?”
“A very dear old man, by the name of Finn, who served his time and whose family wouldn’t take him. He lives there now. I just can’t see him fitting in with all those addicts hanging out in front of the building.”
“Tough break, huh, hon?” Alex said, and kissed my nose. “I love you for being so caring.”
The merlot we bought was perfect. We listened to Adele and I tried to put Finn out of my mind. Alex pierced the potatoes and wrapped them in foil. He paused and turned to kiss me. I trembled and forgot all about Finn as I fantasized about unbuttoning Alex’s shirt and unzipping his pants.
“Grace? Sweetheart? Earth to Grace,” I finally heard him say.
“What? Oh. Sorry! What were you saying?”
We lingered over dinner and sipped wine while soft jazz played in the background. Afterwards, I fed him chocolate-dipped strawberries. The kitchen clock ticked slowly, the sound echoing through the condo.
“Hmmmm …” Alex murmured. “Why don’t we go into the living room? I’ll clean up later.” He looked into my eyes a little bit longer than usual, put his arm around my waist and led me to the couch. The feel of his arm around me as we walked together was as fluid and effortless as swimming in a two-person school of fish. I closed my eyes, breathed in his musky scent, and put my hand out to feel the curve of his cheek. It had been so long since I had been with a man.
“I can’t believe you might actually go on the mission trip to Indonesia with me,” he said. “A few days together in Bali afterwards is just what we need. Just the two of us.”
“Thank God for Matt’s parents. They’ve agreed to stay with the kids for the week. Not that they wouldn’t love it anyway.” A deep sexual thrill surged through me at the prospect of going away with Alex. I twined my fingers through his.
“You’re beautiful when you smile, you know that?”
I felt younger than I had in years. “I think it’ll be good for all of them to spend this time together. They’ll stay at the house with the kids so they’ll be in their own routine. I am a little worried about it though.”
“You’re a wonderful mother.” He nuzzled my neck. “A whole week together. I know you’re going to love it. I’m going to love it with you there.”
Something dark flashed through my mind. I wondered if it might be too soon for the children. Alex tried to reassure me, telling me he wanted to be part of my life and wanted to know my children. “I’m looking forward to working side by side with you in Indonesia. And being alone together in Bali. But if not this time, there’ll be other opportunities,” he promised.
I curled into the promise of him next to me and said, “I just need to do what’s best for the kids.”
“I know. Just give it some thought, okay?”
I put my hands on his chest and felt Alex’s chest rise and fall with each breath. He pulled me toward him and found his way underneath my shirt, touching my skin so softly it was almost painful. The telephone rang, piercing the silence. “Just ignore it,” he whispered and then kissed me again, parting my lips with his tongue.
My hands moved to his shoulders. Already, it felt like home when I was with him. I wanted his hands on my body, although I wasn’t sure where. I needed to have him touching me.
Alex stroked my hair and kissed my cheek and my neck. I was desperate for him to kiss me. He got up and spread a blanket down in front of the fire, threw another log on the fire and pulled me down next to him. The light from the fireplace cast a warm yellow glow in the room. I felt as luminous as the candles he had lit. He turned to me and traced the outline of my cheeks and jaw, again kissing my neck. I ran my hands along his back and gathered him closer as his hands slid underneath my skirt. “You are so beautiful. God, I want you,” he murmured.
I grabbed him, kissing him hard, impatient in my need for him. As our eyes met, the urge to melt into him was irresistible. He tilted my head back with one hand under my chin and brought his lips to mine, very gently, cautiously. I kissed him, arching my back so he might kiss me more deeply. Intoxicated with desire, I caressed him and told him with my body that I was ready. He touched every part of me as we made love. There was nothing like being in his arms and connecting with him with such love and tenderness and passion.
Afterwards, we sat on Alex’s all-season porch and looked at the stars. My cell phone vibrated. It was Josie. “That’s strange,” Alex said at the same time. “There’s somebody on the street looking this way. It looks like he’s looking at us.”
“Josie, hey! Can you hold on just a second?” I asked. “Alex! That guy in the dark jacket and hat? You’re right.”
I picked up the phone and Josie asked, “Grace, where are you?”
“I’m at Alex’s. Why? Ya wanna stop by or something?”
“No, I wanted to warn you. I wasn’t sure if you were there or not, but I saw Bud Anderson’s truck parked outside the building. I went down to have a word with him and it looked like he had a camera with a zoom lens or something in his hands. He put it away when he saw me coming but I could’ve sworn he had a perfect view of Alex’s window. He said he was waiting for somebody.”
“Oh, God. Alex, go check if the curtains are drawn in the living room, okay?”
Alex came back and said, “No, they’re not, why?”
“Shit. Gotta go, Josie. Thanks for telling me.” I hung up. “Alex, Josie just told me she saw Bud Anderson parked out in front of your townhouse with a camera or something in his hand. She went out to ask what he was doing and he played dumb.”
“Is she sure it was him?”
“Yeah, she knows him, all right. She had a word with him and the captain after that incident at the Christmas party I told you about.”
“I think we ought to call the police, Grace. I’m worried about you.”
I hated to make things worse. He was probably just a harmless jerk with nothing better to do on a Saturday night. Besides, it was getting late. The children were with their grandparents but I needed to go home go to take Sketcher out. I asked Alex to walk me out, just in case.
“Damn it!” I kicked the rear driver’s side tire. “I have a flat!”
“Here, let me take a look at that. Grace, this isn’t a flat. Your tires have been slashed!”
“My tires?”
“The back tire is flat too!” Alex exclaimed, walking around the car.
“Why would anyone slash my tire? Do you think it was Anderson? This hasn’t happened before in this neighborhood has it?”
“Not that I know of. I don’t think this can be repaired. How about we buy you new tires tomorrow? I’ll call and report it to the police. I don’t think you should be home alone. I want you to stay here tonight.”
“I’m gonna call Josie …” As soon as I said it, I heard Josie’s voice. She was walking quickly toward us. “Grace! Is everything okay? Bud got me so riled I couldn’t sleep and I saw you out here,” she said looking at my flat tires. “What happened?”
“I think Anderson slashed my tires. That bastard.”
“Whoa! After I came down to pay our peeping tom a little social call, he sped off like a bat outta hell. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the tires. Que cojones!”
“Great. I have four flat tires and a lunatic out to get me.” I tried to laugh it off. “What else could go wrong? Shit. Alex, can you give me a ride home so I can let Sketcher out?”
“Sure, let’s go. We can see about your car tomorrow. But I want you to come back with me, Grace. I don’t like you being home alone.”
The moon cast a bright light on the narrow road in front of us. I lowered my window and the air was ripe with the smell of manure and mud. Cornfields surrounded by barbed wire flanked both sides of the road.
“I forgot how far out in the country you live,” Alex said. “Do you remember the first time I brought you home?” He chuckled and stole a sideways glance at me.
I could feel my cheeks reddening. “Yup. That was an auspicious beginning. What a klutz you must have thought I was!”
“I did wonder if you had a flask of something stronger than hot chocolate with you that day.”
“You did not! Tell me you don’t remember how icy it was. You didn’t think I was drinking, did you?”
“No, no. I’m kidding!” Alex laughed a deep belly laugh which made me smile every time I heard it, no matter what the circumstances.
“Anyway, it’s not that far. It takes about twenty minutes to get to work. As you can see, there’s not much traffic out here. I like it. The drive gives me time to think and be alone for a little while each day. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I do. You don’t have much time for yourself, do you?” His face grew serious. “Do you have any idea who else might have slashed your tires?”
It was quiet, except for the sound of Alex’s tires crunching the gravel road. I was pensive. “No, I really don’t. When I lived in Minneapolis, I knew to avoid certain areas at certain times of day, just like anybody in a big city would. I felt safe though, even though there was evil out there, because I knew to mind my own business. I don’t know. This feels different. I guess there’s violence in the suburbs as well, it just seems more hidden. Everybody here looks like a soccer mom or a gym teacher. So, it’s really shocking to think someone would slash my stupid tires.”
“There’s someone else out on this road,” Alex said, looking in his rearview mirror. A car was barreling down the road behind us. “And they’re coming awfully close.”
A set of bright headlights, shining like cat’s eyes, hurtled in our direction. “Alex, why don’t you pull over and let them by? I’m already on edge from the whole tire thing. Let’s just drive slowly. No use in speeding up just because some idiot wants to get somewhere fast.”
Before Alex could put his turn signal on and pull over to the side of the road, the small dark compact car passed us and cut back into the lane with inches to spare. Alex slammed on the brakes and the car skidded several yards along the pebbly road. We both lurched forward but the shoulder harness and lap belts of the Volvo held us in our seats. “What the fuck?” he yelled. “Grace, are you okay?” He yanked his phone out of his pocket.
“I’m fine,” I said although I felt like crying. The shadows cast by the moon seemed to shift, turning the dark into something malevolent closing in on us. I tried to take a deep breath and noticed Alex taking out his phone.
“I’m calling the police,” he said angrily. The near collision with another car served as a warning. Something was going on here.
“Alex, don’t. It’s late. By the time the police get here that idiot will be in the next county. I didn’t even get a glimpse of the driver, did you?”
“No, but the car was a dark-colored Civic or Sonata. He almost ran us off the road.”
“A lotta help that is. A car just like that cut in front of me the other day. Forget it. Let’s just go home, okay?” I wished I could pick up the kids and we could cocoon ourselves in our house, lock the doors and forget tonight had ever happened. I was still shaken when we pulled into the driveway.
“I’m sorry this evening turned out to be such a disaster!” Alex leaned over to kiss me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just gonna feed Sketcher and let him out and then we’ll leave, okay? I think I’ll take you up on that offer. I don’t want to be here alone. I’m ready for a good night’s sleep.”
An hour later, we arrived back at Alex’s. As we made small talk and got ready for bed, there was a loud creaking noise outside, and I jumped. The color drained from Alex’s face. I reached for his hand and gripped it so tightly he winced. He got up slowly and walked around to the window. “I’m going out to see if anyone’s out there.”
“Alex! No! Are you crazy? What if it’s some lunatic?”
“Sweetheart, it was probably a tree branch. The wind has really picked up. I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, slipping on a sweatshirt and jeans. I followed him into the kitchen and gasped when he grabbed a kitchen knife and a flashlight. “You’re not going out there,” I said, but he had already opened the front door. The door creaked on its hinges. I could hardly bear the sound.
I stood at the window, behind the floor-length drapes. The beam from his flashlight shone around the bushes in the yard. I breathed a sigh of relief when he entered the house and locked the door. The dinner we had so happily shared was churning its way up my esophagus, my throat felt as though it were on fire.
“The street’s deserted. Let’s try to get some sleep, okay? There’s nobody out there.” Alex attempted half-heatedly to reassure me.
I hovered in the half-state between waking and dreaming for most of the night. It seemed as though I had barely closed my eyes when I woke at six to a chill in the room.