Riley slammed the door behind Charles and ran his hands through his hair.  He moved to the couch, sat down, closed his eyes and waited for his breathing to return to normal.  He opened his eyes to see Darby standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

“So,” Darby started, “what now?”

“I told Vanessa I wouldn’t let her go without a fight, so that’s what I intend to do.  Fight.  For her.”  He realized his right hand throbbed and noticed the knuckles were swelling and he chuckled.  “Just not so literally.”

Emily grabbed his hand and placed an icepack on it.  The coldness sobered him.  “Feel better?”
            “What?  Me or my hand?  Because I feel great, like a weight has been lifted.”

“Yeah,” Darby snarked.  “About 350 pounds.”

“Do you have any clue where Vanessa would go, Emily?” Riley asked.

Emily shrugged.  “Home, I guess.”  She smiled.  “She is in love with you, you know.”

“You know, I hate to say this, but I kinda think Charles had a point.  If she does love me, why did she leave so easily?”

Emily paused a long while before answering.  She looked unsure of how to word things.  “Riley, she is scared.”

“That’s it?  She’s scared?” he slapped his non-iced hand down on the couch.  “I’m scared, too, but of losing her.  Why is she scared?” 

“Honestly, Riley, I think she is scared of the same thing.  She is the strongest woman I know.  A little too strong.  I’ve never seen her do really strong emotional attachments.  It’s exactly why she has never really been in love before.”  Emily’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand, as if she had revealed some terrible secret.  Slowly, she moved her hand away.  “Beyond all her little panic attacks, she is so very brave.”  She looked down at her hands.  “Look, I think you need to know something about her, but I don’t feel right telling you.”

“Does it have to do with her mother?  Vanessa told me she was bipolar.”

“More like crazy freakin’ nut job.”  Again, Emily covered her mouth.  “I’m sorry, it’s just that you don’t know what that woman did to her.”

Darby interjected, “If her mother was sick…”

“Yeah, sick.  Tell that to a kid who has to grow up with it.  And blame her disorder all you want, but that woman was simply not a nice person.  I know another person with bipolar disorder, and he is not like Mrs. Taylor was, at all.  Vanessa can forgive it and rationalize it all she wants.  Don’t get me wrong; it’s good she can do that, but it doesn’t mean that all the damage done while she was growing up can be erased.  She has deep scars.”  Emily moved the icepack to see the damage and replaced the icepack again.  “Her mother was very… unstable.”

“I don’t know much about bipolar, but isn’t that kinda the definition of it?” Darby asked.

Emily threw up her hands.  “Yes, but even on medication, she was evil.  I’m pretty sure her mother blamed Vanessa for her institutionalization.  So she told Vanessa that no one would ever love someone who locked her own mother away.  Told her things like ‘They might love your body, but not the bitch on the inside,’ and, ‘No one will take you seriously with boobs like that,’ and ‘Stripper or whore, that’s about all you can be.’  I even heard her tell Vanessa she would make a great ‘slutty little cum dumpster.’ Her mom said that to her after a year on bipolar medication and supposedly better.  No telling what she said to her, or did to her, before her treatment started.  I honestly don’t know the level of abuse that Vanessa withstood.  Vanessa never told me, and I never asked.  All I can say is that all those panic attacks she gets, I’m sure, are rooted in what her mother did to her growing up.   

“Anyway, Vanessa said she never believed what her mother told her, but that doesn’t mean the words didn’t affect her.  She never really dated in high school.  It wasn’t until college that she had her first boyfriend, and he treated her like crap.  They dated for a while.  He was jealous and possessive, and he hated me.  But the day after she told him she loved him, he dumped her over a text, which I never understood since he was so far up her butt, she couldn’t breathe without him knowing.  When he dumped her, it was the best thing to happen for Vanessa, but he basically gave credence to what her mother told her, at least in her mind.  She then thought she would try a science-nerd, thought he would be better.  Not so much.  He was cheating on her the entire time and left her for his mentor’s TA. 

“Since then she has been on a string of dates that never went anywhere because she would pick the guy to death.  It was the way he held his fork, or his smile was too toothy, or that he chewed too loudly, or he ended his sentences in ‘at,’ or something else ridiculously petty.  Of course, she didn’t pick stellar guys to date either.  She said she was just being selective, using all her body-language training, and that if he was the right guy, she would know it.  However, I know it was because she felt she was beating them to the punch.  If she didn’t allow them to get close, she wouldn’t let the guy have a chance to not love her. 

“She worked all this out in her free therapy.  She said she was ok, and to be honest, I did see a positive change in how she felt about herself, but then, she was so busy working on her dissertation, she never had time to date.  Then you come along.  She meets you thinking she is going to treat you like any other client, but there was a problem:  she was attracted to you.  She didn’t tell me all the details, but I know she fell hard and fast, which is scary to her, because her greatest fear is that you will never love her back.  Charles probably fed that fear.  And the problem is I honestly don’t know what to tell you to do to make this better.”

Riley smiled.  “I just have to prove to her that I love her.  But first, I have to start by telling her I do.” 

“First,” Darby said, “we have to find her.  Emily, do you really think she would go back to Texas?”

“About 90% sure.  If she’s not there, I have no clue.”

“We’ll just have to try there first.” Darby moved closer to Riley.  “You’re not going without me.”

“Or me,” Emily announced. 

“I really don’t think I need an entourage.  I think I can do this alone.”

Darby laughed.  “Fat chance, dip wad.  You need moral support.”

Riley rolled his eyes.  “I thought you had an appointment this afternoon”.

“It was moved to Friday.  I’m all yours, Chief.”

“And I know how to get to Vanessa’s dad’s house,” Emily added.  “Better than GPS.”

Riley looked back and forth between two very determined faces.  “Ugh, fine.  We need to make a plan.”

 

***

 

“I talked to her dad,” Emily announced.  “Vanessa is staying there.  I told him I hadn’t heard from her and was worried.  I asked him not to tell her I called.  He seemed confused, but hopefully he will listen so we have the element of surprise.  If she knows I know where she is, she will probably figure out that I’ll tell you.” 

“When did you call?” Riley asked.

“When we landed,” she answered, climbing into the front passenger seat of the rental car.  “Why?”

“I want to make several stops before seeing her.”  Riley adjusted all the mirrors three times before backing out of the space.  He cleared his throat twice before saying,  “I don’t know how she’ll take all this.”

“Are you actually nervous?”  Darby asked.  “Wow.  This is new.”

Riley whipped around to face her.  “I’m not nervous,” he snapped.  He caught his breath, and then he smiled.  “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Don’t be, Ace,” Emily patted his arm.  “I think your plan has potential.”  She turned to look out the window.  “What were you writing on the plane?  And you were on your phone a lot, too.  Were you actually researching and writing out what you were going to say to her?  That’s so friggin romantic, if you were.  Wow, I can’t believe this.  I’m actually in the middle of a romantic movie starring Riley Tate and my best friend. I’m the wacky best friend.  So cool.  By the way, walking through a airport with two big stars?  Not all it’s cracked up to be.  I thought it’d be more… adventurous.”

“Usually it is,” Darby said.  “I think it’s a sign.  That was easy, so the universe is telling us we are on the right track.”

Riley tried to hide his annoyance at the wacky best friends to get everyone focused on the task at hand.  “Where do I go from here, Emily?”

“Turn right here, I’ll take you to your first stop.  We need to hurry.”

 

***

 

They pulled up the long driveway to the Taylor property later than they wanted.  The front door opened and closed, and Vanessa’s father stood menacingly between the house and the car; a rather large dog, what looked to be a larger-than-average Australian Shepherd sat at his feet. Riley’s heart leapt into his throat. 

“Let me,” Emily said, getting out of the car.  She approached Officer Taylor, hugged him awkwardly, and began explaining.  She kept gesturing toward the car and talking with her hands. 

“What do you think she is saying to him?” Darby asked.

Riley just watched silently as Emily kept explaining.  Officer Taylor never changed his stance:  feet shoulder width apart and arms crossed.  Something told Riley that whatever Emily said wasn’t helping matters. 

“I’m going up there.”  Before Darby could protest, Riley exited the car and walked toward the house.  “Hello, Sherriff Taylor?  I’m Riley Tate,” he offered his hand.  The older gentleman shook it stoically.  “I’m here to convince your daughter that I love her.”  A look of what seemed like surprise momentarily appeared on Officer Taylor’s face.  Riley stood silent, mindlessly petting the dog who had approached Riley to sniff his hand, because his words even surprised him.

Officer Taylor narrowed his eyes at Riley.  They stood staring at each other for a few minutes.  Riley had to resist the urge to swallow loudly and nervously. 

“You know,” Mr. Taylor began, “I knew there was more than what my daughter told me when she showed up unannounced the other night.”  He looked longer at Riley, who tried steadfastly to maintain eye contact with the thinner, shorter, much scarier man. 

“Yes, sir.  She and I were getting close, but someone I thought was my friend said some things to make her doubt me.  I’d like to see her, say what I need to say, and let her decide if she thinks this is worth pursuing.”  Riley looked down at the ground.  “I just can’t let her think those things he said were true.”

Robert Taylor stood unmoving showing no expression changes for several minutes.  Riley shifted uncomfortably but kept up the eye contact.  “Funny thing is,” the officer began, “something in my gut tells me I should believe you, Mr. Tate.”  He sized Riley up one more time.  “But you are an actor.  And my head just won’t let me trust you.”

“Honestly, sir, if I were lying, why would I fly all the way here?”  Riley opened his arms wide.  As he continued his speech, he paced.  “There is no other woman in the world who has made me feel what I feel for your daughter.  She is caring.  And funny.  And challenging and engaging and intriguing.  And very intelligent.  And maddeningly stubborn and persuasive.  And strong and vulnerable at the same time.”  Riley stopped pacing and looked down at his feet.  “I know it sounds crazy.  I have only known her for two weeks, but I know I love her.  I don’t want to let her walk out of my life without fighting for her.  I told her I wouldn’t.”

“And you shouldn’t,” Mr. Taylor said.  Riley slowly looked up to meet a slight smile hinting around the officer’s lips.  “You know, I’ve never told Vanessa this, but I fell in love with her mother the first time I saw her.  I knew her an hour and told her I was gonna marry her.  She and I only knew each other a little over a month before we married.”  His eyes moistened.  “We were only married a year before she died.  Best year of my life.”  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearing up the mystery of where Vanessa learned the technique.  “I wouldn’t change the time with her, ever.”  He ran his hand over his head.  “I married Molly more than a year after she died, but I could never love another woman like I loved Vanessa’s mom.”  He walked closer to Riley and poked a finger in his chest.  “Don’t think for a second that I believe two people can’t know right away if they are meant for each other.”  He put his hand on Riley’s shoulder.  “Plus, Jesse likes you, and he’s an excellent judge of character.”  He smiled, and his eyes lit up so much like Vanessa’s.  “Son, you’ve convinced me, but now comes the hard part.” 

“The question is will she see me?”

“Well, she’s not at home yet.  She took her grandmother to the movies.  It’s supposed to be over in about,” he glanced at his watch, “15 minutes.”

“I have a plan, sir.  Will you help me execute it?”

Officer Taylor smiled, and when he did, Riley marveled at how much Vanessa really did look like her father.  “Just tell me what you need me to do.”