Everleigh…

The crack and boom shook me to the very core. I sat up in bed with a wordless yell, my heart pounding, disoriented, wondering if I was being shot at.

“Everleigh!” I heard faintly over the dull roar all around me and I scrambled out of bed, yanking my shawl around my shoulders. The world flashed blue-white, my eyes were blinded by the dazzle, and the cabin shook. I clapped my hands over my ears and shot inside the back door.

Narcos sat up in bed, his arms out to me, and I rushed into them. He lifted the sheet and tucked me in close and held onto me. I clung to him in return, frightened, and he pressed my ear to the center of his chest. His heartbeat was a rapid match for my own and it took some time for me to realize he was talking.

“ – just a storm, you’re okay.”

I nodded, bobbing my head rapidly, unsure if I had been dreaming before being startled awake by the storm or not. Still, the shreds of bad memories and imagined fears of things that’d never been but could happen clung to me as I quaked against him.

He settled me against him in a way that was comfortable for us both and let out a breath. Eventually, I turned to face the windows and the water streaming from the sky beyond them while he clutched me back against his chest. His hands stayed positioned appropriately and he simply held me while the storm raged outside the windows.

I vaguely worried about my things on the porch getting wet, but I wasn’t about to go out to deal with it right now. Not while I was comfortably warm, and safe. I hadn’t felt either of those things in so long, I wasn’t quite ready to give them up.

I know, I know, I was supposed to be on guard… but it was hard. With every passing day and every kind gesture he was chipping away at the foundation that held my walls in place. I couldn’t find a reason to be terribly concerned about it, the more that I got to know the real him, his true self. So, I lay in the circle of his arms and indulged in the warm and fuzzy feelings that it brought and swore to myself I would reinforce those walls, shore them up, first thing in the morning.

The next morning was a first. I woke before him… or so I thought. I drew a deep breath and tried to move carefully from where I was fetched up against his chest, my head on his shoulder when he chuckled deeply and kindly, saying, “Was wondering when you were going to join me. Welcome back to the land of the living.”

I pushed off of him abruptly, and sucked in a sharp breath when my hands protested.

“Easy!” He held out a hand to me when I cradled mine awkwardly against my stomach. “Let me see?”

I hesitated before easing one of my throbbing, aching hands in his direction.

“They stiffen up on you?” he asked, examining it.

I nodded and he gently pressed his thumbs into my palm, massaging. I gritted my teeth, expecting it to hurt, which it did a little bit, at first.

“Too much?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Okay, good.”

He worked on one hand for several minutes before letting it go gently and waving his fingers at me to give him the other one. I did, and I can’t say I felt bad or guilty about it. Having him work on them felt really good.

“How’s that?” he asked after a while, and I nodded carefully.

He released my hand and I stared at it for a few moments.

“You all right?” he asked gently, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly.

I thought about it and looked up at him. He sat, his back straight, the sheet in his lap, his green eyes, darker than my own, searching my face.

I decided that I didn’t hate him. That I couldn’t be angry with him, and that I forgave him for what he’d had to do. I mean, it only made sense to, right? We were living together for who knows how long, and he was taking care of me. Letting me change his cabin to suit my whims, letting me roam without constraint and trusting I wouldn’t run – although, honestly, where would I go? Better yet, why would I? I had it pretty good here.

I nodded and he smiled and it was as if some kind of truce had been declared. It was a moment of peace, of settling in, that was shattered by the rumble of a motorcycle’s engine out front. I stiffened.

“Relax,” he soothed. “It’s Driller. That’s my bike; I’d recognize her purr anywhere.”

He got up and I drew my shawl around me a bit tighter. He went for the front door and I went for the back.

My ‘room’ had actually made it through the rainstorm of the previous night relatively unscathed. The candles had pools of water in their tops, which I poured out, and then I relocated them to my little apple crate shelves, which were dry. One corner of the bed was damp from a little bit of a drip from the porch roof. Given the buckets and buckets of rain that had fallen the night before, I was surprised it wasn’t much worse.

The sky was clear and the sun already shining through the screen on that corner, so I didn’t worry about it much. I simply made the bed and draped my shawl across it once more.

“Everleigh!” Narcos called, and I went back inside, clutching my dress and apron in my hands, intending to change in the bathroom.

Narcos stood with Detective Stahl just inside the front door.

“Well, look at you!” the Detective – Driller cried. “Got your hair did, huh?”

I pointed at Narcos and smiled with a bit of a shrug, gesturing past them both to the bathroom.

“Whoops, sorry,” he said, stepping aside so I could get into it.

I shut the door and let out a breath, my anxiety rising – I hadn’t realized how much it had calmed down over the last few days. I was sincerely hoping that he wasn’t here to tell us that we needed to go back already. I wasn’t ready to go back. I just needed a few more… years.

I hung my head and snorted at myself, impatient with my cowardice, but I had a lot to be afraid of. I liked being alive, and I wasn’t down for whatever creative slow death King would have been dreaming up for me, after having been thwarted in his last attempt at it. I sighed and finished getting dressed and stepped out.

“Seriously, bro, you’re saving my life right now. I’ve never been so happy to see my own clothes in my life,” I heard Narcos say and I bit my lips together to try and suppress my smile. I hadn’t exactly been enthused about the Deliverance-style overalls, myself. We were just running out of options for him without my ability to get the laundry done.

I left my nightgown hanging on the hook set in the back of the bathroom door and went out the front door to where the boys were standing next to their toys.

“See, now that looks nice,” Driller said looking me over and I smiled. “Betcha you missed the rest of this stuff, though.” He held up a small duffel bag, the kind you take to the gym, and I perked up. I went over and opened it up to find all of the things that had been left in the hotel when we ran, plus a bit more. I looked up, beaming and gave a little excited jump.

“Figured that’d cheer you up,” Narcos said.

I cocked my head curiously, and pointed at him.

“Yeah, King had me get rid of your shit – I took it to this storage locker I have in the city instead. Figured you might still want it.”

I lowered the bag and nodded, wishing I could force the ‘thank you’ I wanted to say out of my throat, which was tight with emotion.

“You’re welcome,” he said gruffly and I smiled. He cleared his throat and turned back to Detective Stahl.

“So, how long you stayin’?” he asked.

“Sadly, I’m not. We’ve got some things to talk about, but I need to make the ride back tonight. On my own bike, thank you very much.”

Narcos gave a half-laugh and asked, “What was your excuse?”

“Broke down and in the shop, you let me borrow yers.”

I rolled my eyes, wondering if the other cops really fell for that, then thought to myself, they’re a bunch of citizens at the end of the day, so of course they did.

“Yeah, I was actually kind of surprised that one worked,” he said and turned back towards the cabin saying, “Show me what you’ve done to the place. I see you got the porch screened in…”

Narcos made us a pancake breakfast, which was delicious but would have been better with orange juice. Driller handed him over a big wad of cash and said, “There’s over a thousand there. No one but our club knows where you’re at, and even then, they only know you’re at our fishing cabin. Ain’t none of them been out here or knows where it is. We were planning a ride out to visit, sometime around next weekend.”

Narcos nodded and I swallowed hard. I didn’t know if I was ready to meet his real club, even if they were all cops.

“Pasquale wanted to know how your hands are doing,” he said, and I held them up, front and back. He eyed them and asked, “They hurt much?”

I waffled one back and forth in a so-so motion and he pulled an orange pill bottle out of his jacket pocket and put it on the table.

“Naproxen. Sorry it isn’t something stronger, but Pasquale said it was the best he could do.”

I smiled, but honestly, I figured they’d be handier if my period struck than they would be for my hands.

“Been into town yet?” he asked me.

“No, but it’s full of busybodies,” Narcos answered for me. “Baker and his wife saw her on our way in when we stopped to eat, and just about everyone I’ve come across since, in the couple of times I went into town, has asked about her.”

“What’d you tell them?”

Narcos grimaced and said “I said she was my girlfriend. I figured they’d never buy ‘sister’; we don’t look nothin’ alike.”

“No shit you don’t, she’s way too pretty to be related to your ugly ass,” Driller said without missing a beat.

My mouth dropped open and Narcos just laughed and said, “Fuck you.”

I shook my head in amazement and stood up to clear the table and wash the dishes. I stacked them neatly, and fetched my apron before anything. I liked this dress and I didn’t want to screw it up.

“I see you did some major redecorating,” Driller said to me and I forced a smile and nodded. He smiled back genuinely and said, “It’s nice, I like it. Got any other plans while you’re here?”

“I figured we’d ding out the loft if it was raining, the garage if it’s nice. Doesn’t look like the river is going to be a good place to wash clothes today, Everleigh. You look at it?”

I shook my head, and went out the back door and stood at the screen across from my bed, to glimpse the river through the trees. It was slightly swollen, rushing and brown from the churned-up sediment. I sighed and went back inside.

I put my hands on my hips and looked around, and finally up at the loft.

“There’s a Goodwill-type of shop in town, donate what they’ll take. When it comes to the trash, there isn’t really a dump around here, but there’s a scrapyard about six miles outside of town. Might be able to get a little cash from that. If the town already knows about her, might as well take her with you, but don’t share where you’re from. If you have to pick a place, say Baltimore.”

“Fuck, man. I miss my damn colors. My real colors,” Narcos complained.

“I brought them, but leave them here.”

Narcos shook his head and asked, “How’d the brass take us disappearing?”

“Pissed them right the fuck off. Pretty sure I’m going to lose my shield for insubordination by the time this is all over, but I don’t give a fuck.”

“Nah, you won’t lose your shield,” Narcos said. “You’re just dead in the water for any type of promotion.”

Driller nodded, but he didn’t look like he thought he was missing out on much.

“I’d be shit at a desk job,” he remarked dryly.

“Bullshit,” Narcos snorted. “You’re better suited to that shit than I am. I tell you what, though – “

“Robbery is looking better and better?” Driller asked.

“After this shit,” Narcos said, casting a look behind him to where I had drifted to the sink. I got the impression he was looking less at me and more at my hands when he said, “Yeah,” in the most resigned tone of voice I’d ever heard from him.

I bit my lips gently together after turning back around from the men and their conversation. It had looked like doing what he had done really had nearly broken him and my eyes became misty thinking about that.

He really was one of the good guys.

“You got any leads on who the mole in the department is?” Narcos asked.

“Not yet,” Driller said.

“Seriously?”

“Still trying to figure out what to leak to who. Give us a little time. Knights of Crescentia are fuckin’ pissed. Joker told them all about you being a cop and the fact Everleigh’s turned.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“Right,” Driller said, reading me loud and clear. He nodded as he voiced my thoughts, “What did they expect?”

Narcos grunted in agreement.

Their conversation turned back to the cabin and the small improvements we’d made over the last few days. I finished the dishes, drying them all and putting them away. I was still going to do the laundry, I was just going to have to do it here at the sink. First, though, I wanted to go through the bag Driller had brought and put my things away as best I could.

I found my sandals and stowed them beside my boots beneath the bed. I pulled out the wooden flat for apples that was only half the height of one of the crates and stashed my extra bras and underwear in it, grateful beyond measure to have them. I was wearing my last pair!

I heard Driller and Narcos talking down below, but they were far enough that I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I peeked over the edge of the porch rail and smiled when I saw they were finishing stringing the clothesline for me. I was going to need that, so I was really pleased they were working on it while they talked.

I didn’t have enough room to put everything away; what I couldn’t find room for in my apple crates, I stored back in my leather bag so that Driller could have his back. My leather bag, I shoved under the bed, and stood up, startling when I caught Driller standing just the other side of the screen door.

“Sorry!” He put up a hand and laughed. “I was trying not to scare you. I’ve got to get back on the road.”

I pouted some and backed up so he could let himself in. He shook his head grinning and said, “You even found an area rug?”

I nodded, pleased with myself. I couldn’t wait to bring in some potted plants and light candles, it would really be amazing out here, then.

“You and he… you, uh, doing okay?” He searched my face, his own expression hooded, but worry and nervousness shining through despite his best efforts to hide it from me.

I put a hand on his arm and smiled, nodding. He looked relieved and said, “It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was literally the only option at the time. You believe that, don’t you?”

I nodded and did something unprecedented: I went up on my toes and I hugged him. Both he and Narcos had been nothing but good to me when they didn’t necessarily have to be. He hugged me back and said, “Seems like you been taking care of my boy as much as he’s been taking care of you.”

I went down, flat-footed again, and gave a little shrug. I mean, I tried to be kind when people were kind to me. Hell, I tried to be kind even when people weren’t kind to me. I did draw the line somewhere, though. Like when your old man has you nailed to a tree.

I probably should have left far before his drug-addled, psychotic brain had let him get that far, but… well, the more you know…

“You take care of yourself, Everleigh. I’ll see you in a week.”

I nodded and he smiled, patting me on the shoulder a bit awkwardly.

“Can’t wait to see what else you’ve done with the place by then.”

I smiled and gave a bit of a curtsy in thanks. He laughed, tipped an imaginary hat, and disappeared into the cabin. I closed my eyes and listened to his booted steps cross the floor and fade across the walkway. A minute or two later, his motorcycle started up… and the rumble of the engine drifted further and further away.

“Wished he could have stayed longer?” Narcos asked from just beyond the screen door. I sighed a little and nodded. He smiled, a bit of nostalgia playing along his lips, nearly hidden by his unruly beard. “Yeah, me too.”

I gathered my washing and he came inside the porch and asked, “Doing laundry at the sink?”

I nodded.

“I’ll go grab the washboard for you, and I’ll help. It’s harder than it looks.”

He wasn’t kidding. Around halfway through the first article of clothing, the water still not running clear, he said, “Fuck this, load a bag or a crate. There has to be a laundromat in town. We can do the washing and bring it back here to hang. This is bullshit.”

I nodded in wholehearted agreement. I may have been one with nature and all of that, but apparently I wasn’t ready to be a full-on pioneer woman.

I put all of the laundry into one of the trash bags he’d bought and put another empty, clean one in with them to bring the clothes back in. I made sure to grab the laundry soap he’d bought and he took both from me and led me down to the truck. I grabbed my sandals from under my bed and hung my apron back up on the way by.

The old truck was in pretty bad shape, both the exterior and the interior. I sank into the bench seat and had to watch my feet, as there were holes in the passenger side floorboard. I kept my sandals clutched in my hands, afraid one would fall off and through the floor.

“Yeah, I need to put a piece of plywood or something down there. That’s ridiculous.”

I heaved a sigh. There was a lot that needed done in that place. The truck was the least of our worries. He glanced at me and laughed a little before saying, “My sentiments exactly.”

I smiled at him and the old truck rumbled to life. The drive into town was pretty idyllic. We didn’t find a laundromat, but when Narcos came out of the hardware store with the extra fuses, he hopped in the truck and said, “You ain’t going to believe this.”

I looked at him and cocked my head.

“Mitch called his wife, Nora. She told him to send us over to do our washing.”

I blinked and crossed my eyes. Who did that? Invited strangers into their house like that?

“Good thing we are who we are, isn’t it?” he asked, starting up the truck. I nodded and he said, “Yellow house, one street over from the smokestack.” I made a choking noise and he laughed. “Right. Doesn’t get more small-town than directions like that.”

We found the house, no problem, an older woman in old lady jeans and a yellow sweatshirt with gray kittens and one of those white faux-collars waving from the front porch. She came stumping up her brick walkway to the white picket fence around her front garden calling out, “You must be Darrin and Everleigh!”

I smiled and nodded as he cut the truck’s engine.

“We are!” he called past me, and I got out of the truck.

“Oh, my! Isn’t this just the prettiest thing on you,” she declared, fluffing my lace cap sleeve and taking me in. I blushed and dipped a little curtsy, and she laughed.

“Well, come on in! Bring your things and let’s get it washing.”

“Thank you, Ma’am. We sure do appreciate it. I can give you some money if that would be all right.”

“Oh! It’s only one load!” she cried, waving a hand at me, taking in the bag in my hands, which Narcos had passed to me.

“Appreciated,” he said stepping up beside me. He’d changed into a gray tee shirt and a pair of worn jeans and looked sexy as sin. “We just need to wash. I put up a line this morning with my brother.”

“Oh, is he staying out there with you?”

“No, Ma’am. Just came by for a quick visit on his way home.”

“I heard two men bought the old Mercer place a few years back.”

“Yes, Ma’am. That would be me and my brother. We just decided it was high time we started fixing it up. Everleigh, here, came with me because, well, she must really love me.” He smiled at Nora, but the panicked look of ‘I’m sorry!’ he cast me behind her back made me giggle.

She turned around and I nodded vigorously. ‘Oh yes, absolutely. Love him to pieces.’ I tried to put it in my eyes and my face and she smiled warmly and held her screen door open saying, “Aw, now isn’t that lovely?”

Nora was lovely and talking to her in her kitchen was a delight. She tried to feed us fresh scones, and honestly, she didn’t have to try very hard. They were amazing and I had a mind to revisit that beehive to bring her fresh honey as a thank-you gift.

“You know,” she said as we were leaving, “There is a Salvation Army in town, just off Coal Street. You might want to try there if you’re lookin’ for a place to donate anything, like you said.”

“Thank you, and thank you so much for letting us use your washer. We would have been at it all day with that old washboard.”

She smiled sweetly as I got into the truck and Narcos handed me the clean bag of washing.

“Y’all come back any time you need to.” She patted his arm and he smiled, nodding.

He got into the truck and I smiled at him and he asked, “Need anything from town?” as Nora turned from her porch to wave.

I waved back and made motion like eating. She’d been so sweet when she’d learned I couldn’t talk and had been surprised when I didn’t know sign language.

“Right, we need to do some stocking up,” he sighed and pulled away from the curb.

Our town adventure took longer than we’d thought, but it had been worth it. We’d stopped at the general store and had gone on to the butcher and the baker. When we got home, the clothes were still wet, but I now had clothespins to put them up with, thanks to a second trip to the hardware store.

I hung the washing, he cooked dinner, and we ate to the slow melody of the old-time music my grandfather had loved so much.

It had been a good day, I was happy, and so I began to sway lightly to the music at the sink. I spun lightly to put things away and caught Narcos watching me from over by the back door, coming in with dry clothing heaped in an old milk crate we’d emptied, sorting through things in the garage. We’d washed it thoroughly to use as a laundry basket for now, until we could either buy a proper one, or I could make one.

He slid it onto the dining room table and I smiled, put the plates away and wandered over to help fold clothes. He took me gently by the hand when I reached to pluck an item off the top and I stilled, looking up at him. He smiled and drew me out into the middle of the room, pulling me close and dipping me back.

I laughed and we danced through Frank Sinatra’s version of Bobby Darrin’s Somewhere Beyond the Sea.

I spun beneath his arm and he drew me in. He was actually pretty good at dancing and I felt myself relax, easing into his arms, his smile disarming, a moment passing between us, our steps slowing, my heart giving a painful, apprehensive squeeze even as it begged for him to close the gap between us. His eyes, heavy with desire, traced every curve of my face before settling on my lips with such an expression of pleading wanting.

Please… my mind and heart begged, my lips parting slightly in invitation. He sucked in a breath and closed the gap between us, his lips descending on mine gently, perfectly, but far from chastely. He kissed me, lightly at first, his tongue flicking out to taste my bottom lip and I groaned, melting against him, my body molding itself to his perfectly.

He broke the kiss first, his breath coming in ragged pants as I looked into his eyes and whispered, “More?”