Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Evie

The following Friday afternoon, I was in a session with one of the traders when the receptionist knocked on my door.

“I’m very sorry to interrupt, but you have a call. The gentleman said it was urgent, but your phone is showing as do not disturb.”

I held my hand out toward Derek, my patient. “I turn it off when I’m meeting with someone. Do you know who it is?”

“Marvin Wendall. He asked for Merrick first, but when I said he was out of the country, he asked to speak to you.”

My forehead wrinkled. I would think Will was the “next of kin” for any business matters. But okay… “Thanks, Regina.” I looked over at Derek. “I’m sorry. Would you excuse me? I’ll just be a minute.”

He nodded. “No problem. Take your time.”

At my desk, I picked up the phone. “This is Evie Vaughn.”

“Hiya there, Evie. This is Marvin. I’m a friend of Kitty Harrington.”

“Oh. Hi, Marvin. Is everything okay?”

“Not really, honey. That’s why I’m calling. I’m a little worried about Kitty. I tried to reach her grandson, but they tell me he’s out of the country. She talks about you a lot and had mentioned you’re a doctor and that you work there now, so I figured I’d talk to you since I couldn’t reach Merrick.”

“Merrick’s on a business trip to China. I think he flies back in the next day or two. But tell me what’s going on?”

“Welp, Kitty broke one of her ankles and twisted the other.”

“Oh, that’s terrible. How did that happen?”

“It’s a long story. But we were roller skating and—”

“Roller skating?”

“We’re old, missy. Not dead. Anyway, some little turd knocked her over, and she twisted one ankle. I helped her up, but when she tried to put weight on it, she fell again and someone rolled right over the other ankle. I heard the crack on that one.”

I winced. “Oh gosh.”

“But that’s not the worst of it.”

“It’s not?”

“Nope. We went to the ER, and they took some X-rays and did some bloodwork, mostly just routine stuff. But she came back anemic. Turns out she’s also been having some lady problems and hasn’t gotten checked—a lot of bleeding, apparently. So they had a specialist come see her about it, and that one told her she needed some surgery. They wanted her to stay in the hospital, but you know Kitty. Nothing keeps that woman down. I’m afraid she checked herself out. Now she’s in a wheelchair with two bum ankles and some woman problems, and she won’t talk to me about those. I didn’t know what else to do. She’s going to kick my ass when she finds out I took her phone and called you, but right now she can’t run to catch me, so I have some time to worry about that.”

I blew out a big breath. “No, you definitely did the right thing, Marvin. I’m glad you did. I’ll talk to her.”

“Woman’s one of the most fascinating people I’ve met in my life. But she’s also pigheaded.”

I smiled. “I see you’ve gotten to know Kitty pretty well.”

“I’m sorry to dump this on you. But I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her and I hadn’t done all I could.”

“Of course. I’m with a patient right now, but I’ll give Kitty a call in about a half hour.”

“Thank you, dear.”

After I concluded my session with Derek, I settled in at my desk to call Kitty. But while I was collecting my thoughts on the best way to approach her, I realized that if I did get her to go back to the hospital, she would need someone to look out for her and be there to help make decisions. And if I didn’t get her to go back, no one would be checking her vitals to see if her anemia got worse—not to mention, she had two injured ankles, so she wasn’t getting around too well to begin with.

So rather than call, I decided this should be taken care of in person. I figured I should run it by Merrick to see what he wanted to do, but when I Googled the time in China, I realized two in the afternoon on Friday here meant it was three in the morning there. I wasn’t sure when he was flying home, so I called his assistant.

“Hey, Andrea. Could you tell me when Merrick is flying back from China? I need to talk to him about something important.”

“Of course. Let me pull up his itinerary.” I heard the clickity-clack of her keyboard before she spoke again. “He’s on a nine-AM flight out tomorrow morning, China time. But between the twenty hours of flights and time change, he gets into JFK on Saturday about four in the afternoon.”

Shoot. Even if he hopped on a different flight, with twenty hours of travel, he wouldn’t get to Atlanta until late Saturday night, at best. This didn’t seem like something that should wait. So I decided I’d just go. Besides, Kitty might find it easier to talk to another woman about her issues than her grandson. And my grandmother would want me to take care of Kitty. So I made the choice to get on a plane and delay telling Merrick until he landed. There was no point in having him worry for twenty hours of flying when there was nothing he could do until he got here anyway. If I flew down tonight, I’d know more by then, too.

“Do you want me to contact his hotel or anything for you?” Andrea asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll talk to him when he gets back. But thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll email you his itinerary, in case you need it after I’m gone for the day.”

“Thank you. Have a good weekend, Andrea.”

“You, too, Evie.”

After I hung up, I searched for flights. There was one at 6 PM that would get me in at 8:30. As long as I didn’t check a bag, that would have me to Kitty’s by 9:30. The later flights arrived too late to knock on Kitty’s door. I didn’t want to disturb her rest. I could also wait until tomorrow, but I would feel better going now. So I booked the flight and let Joan in HR know I needed to leave a little early. It felt like the right thing to do—though I hoped Merrick didn’t disagree.

• • •

By Saturday evening, I was starting to worry that I hadn’t heard from Merrick yet. I’d flown down to Kitty’s yesterday and spent the night at her house. She was stable and doing well. This afternoon, I’d sent Merrick a long email, telling him everything that had happened over the last day and a half. I’d waited to send it until two hours before his flight was scheduled to arrive, but when he hadn’t responded more than two hours after I confirmed his flight had landed, I tried calling. My call went straight to voicemail. Another hour later, I tried again and texted. Still no response.

At 9 PM, I checked my phone one last time before checking in on Kitty. She’d taken the pain pills the ER doc had prescribed, and they’d knocked her out. So I grabbed a towel and took a hot shower, hoping it would help me relax enough to fall asleep. But just as I got out, I heard what sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen. I assumed Kitty had woken up and tried to get something to drink, but when I passed by her room, she was still sound asleep.

Oh shit. Was it a broken window and not a glass? Could it be a burglar? Or maybe Marvin had a key and had let himself in to check on Kitty… Though he’d been over earlier for dinner and obviously knew I was here. I wasn’t sure, but I also wasn’t about to find out empty-handed, so I looked around for something to use to defend myself. The closest thing to a weapon I could find was the toilet bowl cleaner, a plastic stick with a brush on the end. It would have to do, because someone was most definitely in the kitchen—I could hear rustling now, even through the closed door.

My heart pounded as I approached. If it did turn out to be Marvin, I hoped I didn’t give the old guy a heart attack. I wanted to use the element of surprise to my advantage, so I wasn’t about to announce myself. Instead, I took a deep breath and whipped the door open. But it stopped abruptly when it whacked into something.

Everything after that seemed to occur in fast forward.

A person was down on the floor, bent on all fours.

I lunged forward with the toilet bowl brush high in the air and brought it down with a loud smack across the back of the intruder’s head.

He yelled.

I lost my balance, tripped over the man, and went flying through the air.

It wasn’t until I landed on my ass that I realized what I’d done.

Oh my God. Shit!

“Merrick! I’m so sorry!”

He rubbed his head. “What the hell? What did you hit me with?”

I held up the toilet bowl brush, the head of which was now missing. “This. It’s…” I pointed to the bristled top on the floor nearby. “I guess I broke it on you. It’s all I could find. I thought you were a burglar. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Why were you on the floor?”

“I broke a glass and was cleaning it up. I didn’t turn on the lights because I heard the shower running and didn’t want to scare you. That worked out great, huh?”

He climbed to his feet and leaned toward me, offering a hand to help me get up. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” But once I got to my feet, I felt something pinching my butt. I twisted to look over my shoulder then patted around my ass. Hitting a spot on my left butt cheek, I felt the pain again.

Merrick’s brows drew together as he watched me. “What’s the matter?”

“I think I might’ve landed on a piece of glass.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I patted my butt again, and this time I felt a little wetness. There was a tinge of blood on my fingertips. “Shit…I’m bleeding.”

“Let me see.”

“It’s my ass!”

“Well, how are you going to see what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. A mirror, I guess?”

Merrick looked down at my bare feet and sighed. “Don’t move. There are probably still slivers all over. I hadn’t finished cleaning up.”

“Well, could you fi—” Before I could complete my sentence, he lifted me into the air and didn’t set me back down on my feet until we were in the living room.

I smoothed my shirt, which had ridden up. “A little notice you were going to do that would’ve been nice.”

“I didn’t feel like wasting time arguing about it.” He lifted his chin. “Go fix your ass.”

Twenty minutes later, there was a quiet knock at the bathroom door.

I sighed and creaked open the door enough to stick my head out.

“You okay in there?” Merrick asked.

I frowned. “No. I can’t get it. I feel it, but it’s not sticking out enough for me to pull it with my tweezers. I think it’s in pretty deep.”

“Let me take a look.”

I shook my head. “I’m just going to leave it.”

Merrick put his hands on his hips. “You’d rather leave a piece of glass in your ass than have me see a little skin? Pretend you’re wearing a bathing suit. Then strangers see half your ass.”

“I’d rather strangers see my whole ass than you see part of it.”

Merrick thumbed over his shoulder. “There’s an overpass a few miles away with a bunch of people living in tents. You want me to go get one of them to examine your cheek?”

I narrowed my eyes. “It’s not funny. This is all your fault, you know.”

“Would it make you feel better if I showed you my ass first?”

I tapped my finger to my lip. “Maybe?”

He chuckled. “Just let me in.”

“Fine.” I sighed and opened the door.

Merrick came into the bathroom and pointed to the shower curtain, which was no longer hanging and now on the floor of the tub, along with the rod. “What’s going on there?”

“Oh. In order to see my ass, I had to stand on the toilet. I lost my balance at one point, so I grabbed the shower curtain to steady myself, and it all came down.”

The corner of Merrick’s lip twitched. “Sounds like you have things under control.”

I squinted. “Just shut up and look at my ass.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Merrick sat down on the ledge of the tub while I turned around. I’d been dressed for bed when I heard the noise, so I had on a pair of flimsy pajama shorts. I lifted the back to expose my left cheek.

“Do you see anything?”

“I see a lot of red, which I’m guessing is from you trying to get it out. I’m going to touch the area, okay? See if I feel anything.”

I nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Warm fingers gently ran across my skin. Oh God. My traitorous body liked it. Thankfully I was not facing him, so at least he couldn’t see the heat creep up on my face.

“Anything?” I asked with a shaky voice.

“Not yet. I need to push a little harder, okay?”

Push a little harder. Jesus Christ. He needed to stop talking like that, too. I blew out a puff of air. “Just do whatever you need to do.”

He rubbed his fingers over my ass again, this time pressing down as he went.

“Ow!”

“Yeah. I feel it right there. It’s definitely fully beneath the skin. I’m going to need to squeeze it like a buried splinter to tease it out.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine. Go ahead.”

His fingers moved around the area for a few seconds before he stopped. “Can you…lie over my knee?”

“I’m not lying over your knee!”

“I need leverage, and it’s hard to squeeze with you in the upright position.”

I huffed. “Maybe we should go get that person under the bridge after all.”

Merrick laughed. “Come on. I’ll do it as fast as I can.”

“Fine.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

For the next five minutes, I laid, with my bare ass cheek hanging out, over my boss’s knee. And I hated the thoughts running wild through my head.

I kind of like it here.

I wonder what he’d do if I told him I wanted him to spank me?

He has such big hands. I bet the print he’d leave on my skin would be huge.

God…my clit was starting to tingle. Seriously?

Stop, Evie. Just stop.

All thoughts finally came to an abrupt halt when he squeezed so hard that tears formed in my eyes. “Ouch! That hurts!”

He let go. “It’s out.”

I reached around and rubbed my derrière. “Jesus. Did you cut off a piece of my flesh?”

“It was deeper than I thought. I had to squeeze hard.” Merrick pointed to the cabinet next to us, under the sink. “There should be a first aid kit under there. Grab it, and I’ll put some Bacitracin on this and cover it up.”

When he was done, he gave a little smack to my right cheek. “All done.”

I stood and adjusted my shorts. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I think I need a drink after this welcome. You want one?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m just going to wash up first.”

After Merrick left the bathroom, I took a few minutes to compose myself before finding him in the living room. He’d opened a bottle of wine and was sitting on the couch. When I walked over, he slipped a throw pillow from behind his back and tossed it toward the other end. “You might want more than one of these to sit on.”

“Thanks.” I picked up the much-needed glass of wine and sat down. “It might be the first time I’m glad I have a little extra junk in the trunk. I don’t really feel it now.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you brought it up… You do have a pretty full ass for a little thing.”

“I get it from my mom. I hated it when I was younger. But the Kardashians have made it fashionable, so I’ve learned to appreciate it.”

Merrick brought his wine to his lips. “I’d say I appreciate it too, but I’m afraid I might get whacked in the head again.”

“I really am sorry for that. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Can’t do too much damage with a plastic toilet bowl brush. Next time, maybe try for something a little sturdier.”

“It was all I could find. And you should be glad about that.”

Merrick smiled. “True.” He sipped his wine and pointed his eyes to the coffee table. I’d left out a piece of orange sea glass when I took a shower. “Kind of ironic that you got a piece of your lucky charm stuck in your ass, don’t you think?”

I took the sea glass from the table and rubbed it between my fingers. “Don’t blame the sea glass for trouble you caused.”

“What’s the story with those anyway? How did they become your good luck charms?”

“About a year before my mom left my dad for good, he had done a number on her and we took off for a week—my mom, my sister, and me. Mom took us to this beach in Virginia that we’d never been to. It was sunny and beautiful, and one day I spent hours on the beach collecting sea glass. I remember my mom telling me she wasn’t going to go back to my dad this time.” I closed my eyes and could still feel the happiness in my chest from that day, could still smell the salt air. “I remember feeling so free and happy. I guess the sea glass just kind of stuck with me as a reminder that it was possible to feel that way. My mom did end up going back to my dad, but I never forgot the feeling I had on that trip. Still to this day, I go to the beach when I’m feeling down or need to clear my head.”

“That must be hard in New York City. Not sure I’ve ever seen sea glass on the beach. Maybe some broken beer bottles, but not anything to collect.”

I smiled. “Then you haven’t been to Glass Bottle Beach in Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn, have you?”

“Dead Horse Bay? No, I haven’t. That’s not the most enticing name…”

I laughed. “Definitely not. But it’s covered in sea glass. The bay got its name because a lot of horse bones have been found there. It’s near the Marine Parkway Bridge, and when they built that, they used garbage to build the land up around a small island they were trying to protect. Unfortunately, they didn’t cover the trash with enough sand, so it started rising to the surface in the fifties. Every day more and more seventy-year-old trash washes up, and a ton of it is now sea glass. You have to walk with thick-soled shoes, but it’s a collector’s paradise. I go there often to comb the beach. It helps me clear my head.”

Merrick’s eyes looked back and forth between mine. “You’re definitely a unique person, Evie.”

I sipped my wine. “You’re hard to read. I can’t tell if that’s an insult or a compliment.”

He smiled. “It’s a compliment.”

“Should I write down the date? I get the feeling they’re given out pretty sparingly.”

“Well, as long as I’m feeling generous, I need to thank you for rushing down here to take care of my grandmother.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. But no thanks needed. I’d do anything for Kitty. She’s an amazing woman. Stubborn, but amazing.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t text you back to let you know I was coming. I fell asleep on the flight from China, and when I woke up, we were getting ready to land. I read your message and had to turn off my phone for a while. Once we were on the ground, I turned it on to text you back, but it only had one-percent battery left. I’d plugged it in to charge on my flight, but apparently the port wasn’t working at my seat. Then I was able to get on a connecting flight to come down here, but I had to rush to make it, and there was nowhere to charge my phone on that flight.”

I nodded. “I did worry a little when I didn’t hear from you, but I figured something like that must’ve happened.”

“What the hell was my grandmother doing roller skating anyway?”

“If you’d like another whack to your head, you should ask her just like that.”

He laughed and drank his wine. “True.”

“As much as having one ankle broken and the other twisted is bad, it might’ve been a blessing it happened. Apparently, she’s been having bleeding and uterus pain for a while and hadn’t gone to a doctor or told anyone. They only found out because she was anemic at the hospital and the doctor asked questions. This afternoon, she let me go online to the hospital’s patient portal and read the ER summary and lab results. The attending wrote that the gynecologist consult believes she might need a hysterectomy. So we really need to talk her into going back to the doctor, and I don’t think she should be alone until her blood count is in a normal range. It was so low I’m surprised she didn’t pass out at some point before the roller-skating incident.”

Merrick shook his head and dragged a hand through his hair. “That’s Kitty. Takes care of everyone else, but doesn’t prioritize herself.”

“Yeah. My grandmother was the same way.”

“Is she in two casts?”

“One hard cast and a removable boot for the sprain. She’s not happy about it. If there’s any kind of saw in the garage, we should probably hide it. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to take it off herself.”

“Good idea.”

Over his shoulder, I noticed Merrick’s briefcase sitting near the front door, but when I glanced around the room, I didn’t see any suitcase.

“Where’s your luggage?”

“It didn’t make the flight to Atlanta. The connection was too tight. Hopefully it will show up tomorrow.”

“Oh, that stinks. Well, my suitcase is in the guest room, but I’ll move it out and stay on the couch after I finish this wine. You must be tired from all the traveling.”

“You’re not sleeping on the couch. I’ll be fine right here.”

Kitty’s two-bedroom house was small, and so was her furniture. I eyed the tiny sofa. “You won’t even fit on that thing.”

“I can fall sleep anywhere.”

I looked around the room and sighed. “It feels so strange to be here and not be able to go next door. It’s the first time I’ve been down here since my grandmother’s house sold. I’d rented it for two years after I moved because I wasn’t ready to part with it yet.”

“I’m sorry. That must be hard.”

I smiled sadly. “At least I have a lot of good memories. Your grandmother used to come over and sit on my grandmother’s porch every night after dinner. When I was working on my PhD, I practically lived at the library. Sometimes I’d come home at ten or eleven, and the two of them would still be out there, laughing their asses off and often loaded on spiked sweet tea. They used to drink it out of mugs so the neighbors would think they were drinking regular tea. I’d walk Kitty home and make sure she got inside alright, and she’d twist my arm to have a goodnight shot of whiskey with her. Then I’d go back next door, and my grandmother and I would sit outside a little longer on the porch.”

Merrick smiled. “I was eight when my grandmother gave me my first taste of whiskey. I remember my mother being pissed.”

“The new owner took down the treehouse in the back. I loved that thing.”

“I remember the treehouse. I was in it a few times.”

“You were?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid and I’d come down to visit my grandmother, sometimes I’d go check it out when they were sitting around on the porch. I remember it had a lot of pink in it—pink plastic refrigerator, pink pillows, pink frilly lampshade, even though there was obviously no electricity.”

I smiled. “That was all me. I hadn’t honed my decorating skills yet.”

“Wasn’t there a poster of some boy band, too?”

“Not a boy band. Burt Reynolds.”

“Burt Reynolds? The old actor who died a while back?”

“Yep. I had a major crush on him. He was the voice of the German shepherd in All Dogs Go to Heaven. I loved that movie and his voice. I watched it over and over again. One day my mom and I were in some store, and I found an anniversary movie poster of Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. I made her buy it for me. I thought he was so good looking.”

“Ah… So this is a pattern for you,” Merrick said.

“What do you mean?”

“Finding older men attractive. I do have three years on you, you know.” He winked.

I snort-laughed. “It’s funny how we both spent so much time here, but never ran into each other.” I shrugged. “At least I don’t think we did. To be honest, I don’t remember too much before the age of ten.”

“How come?”

“It’s called dissociative amnesia. Our brain sometimes blocks things out, often as a protective mechanism after a traumatic event. I was ten when we left my dad for the last time. Usually his abuse came at night, when he’d come home drunk and start with my mom, so I was already in bed. I had this little pink clock radio with rhinestones on my nightstand. If I heard screaming start, I’d bring it under the covers with me and put the music on next to my ear.” I paused a moment. “That last time, he was perfectly sober, and I wasn’t in my room. It happened here at my grandmother’s. We’d come to stay for a few days, and he wasn’t happy about it. So one afternoon, he waited until my grandmother went out and then snuck inside. I don’t remember all the details, but apparently my dad made my sister and me sit on the couch and watch while he beat Mom up pretty badly. It was an extra punishment for her because she’d left without ironing his shirts.”

“Jesus Christ.”

I shook my head. “It was pouring that night. After, my sister locked herself in the bedroom, and I ran to the treehouse. But when I got to the top rung of the ladder and was trying to climb in, the ladder fell away from the tree, and I wound up dangling from the edge of the treehouse floor. I was crying hard and the rain was pelting down, and my fingers were slipping. The boy across the street, Cooper, saved me by putting the ladder back. Do you remember him from your visits?”

Merrick shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, at least I think it was Cooper who helped me. I didn’t stop to look once I got back on the ladder. Years later, I asked him about it, and he said he didn’t remember. But I prefer to think it was Cooper who saved me, rather than that I unknowingly accepted help from my father—who could have come out of the house. Anyway, I remember that treehouse and that little rhinestone clock so clearly, but I can’t remember a lot of other things about my childhood. That treehouse made me feel so safe. My grandfather built it for me for my fifth birthday. He died the following summer.”

Merrick frowned. “I’m sorry you went through all of that.”

I shrugged. “It made me stronger in a lot of ways. Not being able to remember got me interested in how the brain works, which eventually led me to study psychology and become a therapist. And that treehouse I loved so much is where I got the idea for my Airbnbs. I know my grandparents would be thrilled at what I did with their property, and all of the profits are donated to an Atlanta DV shelter—the one Kitty founded.”

“God, you must think I’m such a dick.” Merrick rubbed the back of his neck. “I basically made fun of your rentals when you told me about them during the interview, and all the profits go to my grandmother’s charity.”

“Nah. I know renting treehouses and a glamping site sounds a little odd. I didn’t think you were a dick for that.” I grinned. “There were so many other reasons to think you were a dick. You know, like you telling me you were hiring me because I was the least-competent candidate.” I paused and smiled. “Sorry. We had a deal that I wouldn’t bring that up anymore.”

Merrick hung his head. “I really am an ass.”

“At least you own it.”

“You know, I ridiculed your upbeat personality when we first met because we’re so different, and I didn’t understand it. But maybe I can learn something from you.”

I cupped my ear and leaned to Merrick. “What was that? I didn’t hear you. I think it might have been another compliment. Can you repeat it?”

Merrick lifted his glass of wine. “If you tell Will I just said that, I’ll deny every word.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

“I don’t think I ever actually apologized for the way I treated you at first. So I’m sorry.”

I smiled. “Thank you. But you can’t appreciate the beauty in someone without seeing the ugly. You just got your ugly out of the way to make it easier to appreciate the good parts.”

His eyes swept over me. “I’m not sure that’s always true. I haven’t seen any ugly side of you.”

Oh wow. That made my belly feel all mushy. You know what goes good with mush? Wine—lots of it. So I drank half mine down.

A few minutes later, we’d both emptied our glasses, and Merrick yawned.

“What time zone are you on right now?” I asked.

“I have no damn idea.”

“Welp, on that note, I think it’s time for me to let you get some sleep. Are you sure you don’t want the bed? I really don’t mind the couch at all.”

“I’m good. But thank you.”

I went and grabbed a blanket and pillow from the guest room and returned to set them down on the couch. When I got to the doorway, I stopped and looked back over my shoulder. “Thanks again for, you know, saving my ass.”

Merrick’s eyes dropped to my butt, and his lips formed a dirty grin. “Anytime you need to drop your drawers and bend over a knee bare assed, I’m your man. Let’s just say, it wasn’t miserable for me.”

I winked. “I might’ve enjoyed it a little myself.”