Derek

Well, I haven’t heard anything from anyone at home so I must assume everything is fine there, that the attack hasn’t started yet. I will just feel better when I get there to see it rather than assume it. Until I get there I will reflect on today. How did it go? I think the day was a complete success. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Meredith is easy to be with; easy to talk to; very easy to look at. She seemed to be having a good time also. I think I hit a homerun. We talked a lot about ourselves. I was an open book with her. It seemed natural and safe to talk about myself. I can’t tell her about many of the things that I have done with the military but I get the idea that she understands that. I think she gets it because she’s a teacher and teachers can’t talk about some of the things they do and know. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance in her line of work.

Playing badminton is not something a man wants to brag about, but that was a lot of fun. Watching Meredith play it was a lot of fun. I am learning that she is very competitive. I like that she wasn’t trying to be dainty about it; she went all out to beat me. I didn’t have to let her win to be a gentleman. I am glad I won ultimately though because my reward was spectacular. Although, I am not so certain how long I can hold out for just a kiss. Kissing her is a major tease to my entire body, which, by-the-way, betrays me with the tell-all signs that my dick puts out there. Way out there. I don’t want to push her too fast though. I want her to want me as much as I want her, and not just physically. With each passing moment, I know more and more that I want all of her. I’d ask her to marry me now if I didn’t think it was a bit soon. I never thought I would be this mushy over a girl, and definitely not this quick.

Just as I turn into the drive way of my home, I get a call from Meredith. She sounds a little scared. “Derek, that blue mustang is right outside my house. It’s just sitting there. I just happened to look out the window when I heard the neighbor’s dog barking and saw it. Why do you think it’s here?”

“Off the top of my head, I would say they figured out we are seeing each other and decided to watch you. I’m sorry, Meredith, I should have considered that.” I tell her. “They are most-likely deciding if they can use you as an angle to get at Nellie. Here’s what I want you to do. Put me on speaker so you can talk to me as you pack a bag. I am turning around to come back and get you. You will stay at my place until this thing is over.” As I am saying this I am trying to be calm for Meredith, but in actuality I am livid. I am livid at myself for not thinking this might happen. I’ve been walking around with my dick in my brain. I have not done that since I was a teenager. And I am livid that these men would even hint at threatening Meredith. Killing them with my bear hands would be a pleasure. For now, I need to get there, and get Meredith out of there.

“What about my work, Derek? I need to be in class tomorrow morning.” She asks with concern.

“I will get you to class, just like I do Nellie. I will make certain that we do it discreetly so that there aren’t any crazy rumors floating around. It will be okay, Meredith.” I say as I coax her to start packing. “Now start packing. Pack work clothes and comfortable clothes for after work. If you forget something because of the rush we will borrow it from Lacey. I am glad you don’t have a pet.”

“Me, too. I love animals though. I just wouldn’t want to leave one by itself all day while I am at work. My neighbors come home on their lunch break to check on their dog so he’s not by himself all day. I like that about them. Listen to me carrying on, babbling because I’m a little scared. I’m not usually a babbler,” she explains, “although, I do like to talk a lot. Most teachers like to talk or they wouldn’t be teachers. I mean, how could you be a teacher and not like to talk since you pretty much have to do it all day?”

“It’s okay. I love to hear you talk. Keep talking to me. Don’t forget the shoes you might want, and your toiletries. I am almost there.” I try to keep her mind busy.

“I have my work clothes, some comfy clothes, night clothes, underwear, shoes, hair brush, toothbrush and paste, curling iron, and oh yea, my favorite hairspray. What else? You better have coffee. I can be a little cranky if I don’t get coffee, and Pepsi; coffee in the morning and Pepsi in the evening. Oh! I can’t forget my Milk Duds. I doubt you have those.”

I can’t help but laugh at that one! “Milk Duds! No, I don’t have any of those. I can handle the coffee and Pepsi. I like to keep a variety of those around in case someone visits. I’m pulling onto your street right now. Meet me at the door but don’t open it until you hear me knock and I say Yankee Doodle. If I say anything else, I want you to call 911 as you go hide somewhere. Understand?”

“Yes, Yankee Doodle or 911. Why Yankee Doodle?” she asks.

“I don’t know. It was the first thing that came to mind. You wouldn’t want to have a code that anyone can think of, now would you?”

“No,” she sort-of laughs as she replies. “I haven’t needed a secret word since I was about ten.”

Keeping it light I tell her, “I have lots of secret words. Nellie and I like thinking up crazy ones. You are getting involved with a lunatic family.”

I am so glad that even in this scary moment she can laugh as she does now. “I guess I’ll have to take my chances with the lunatics since the men outside probably have guns.”

“Good choice. Now, hang up the phone so it’s available if you need to call the police. I am in your drive way.” She does as I ask. I passed the mustang getting to her driveway. I could see that there were two men sitting in it. I am sure I got their attention driving by. I waved at them.”

Meredith meets me at the door and waits for the code word to let me in. She already has her stuff waiting just inside so I tell her to turn all the lights off but the kitchen one and grab her purse. She wastes no time. I have a thought, so I ask her for a piece of paper, a magic marker, and some tape. She gets them for me and I write on the paper, ‘Bring it on, Assholes’, and I tape it to the front door. The men won’t get out of their car to read it until we are gone, so, that will buy us just a few moments to get ahead of them going to my property to get through the gate. I get her stuff, she locks the door, and we head to the truck. Once we are safely inside and the truck is moving I say to her, “I’m sorry I got you into this. I will keep you safe and get rid of the problem as soon as possible.”

I can feel her looking at me as she tells me, “It’s okay, I don’t think getting me involved was your plan. It just happened. For some reason, I feel completely safe with you.”

“Thank you. I won’t let you down.” I sound more convincing than I feel. I should have never let those men know about her, let alone get anywhere close to her.

I exceed the speed limit getting us to my place. As we turn into the driveway and move into range I click the remote that opens the gate so that we can move through quickly. Then, I click it again so that the gate closes immediately. Leo was able to find me a gate that opens and closes on command. He said you never know when you might want to close the gate quickly and not have to wait on it to close on a timer. He was right. I wait just inside the gate long enough to see the mustang pass by the driveway. That note gave us the fraction of time we needed to get inside my fortress. Now, its bring-it-on time!

When we pull up to the house we can see Dad and Nellie sitting on the front porch. As we get out of the truck Nellie begins speaking but abruptly stops. “How was your da-. Miss Walker!”

“Hi, Nellie.” Meredith says to her. “I hope you don’t mind too much if I hang out with you all for a couple of days.”

“That would be so cool!” Nellie responds excitedly. “But, why?”

“Well,” I answer for Meredith, “that mustang was hanging out at her house so I thought she should come join us until we can get them to leave us alone. I am sure that they can be convinced to leave town soon.” I don’t want to scare Nellie any more than necessary so I try to keep it light, but she’s a wise child.

“Good, I’m tired of them. They are like bugs just waiting to be squashed.” Nellie says to our surprise, a little vehemently. I wonder where she heard that phrase.

I understand her vehemence. I feel it myself. “Let’s get Meredith in and get her settled into the guest room. She needs her rest so that she can teach you and your friends tomorrow. Nellie, would you show Meredith where everything she might need is while I make a couple of phone calls?”

“Sure, Uncle Derek, but I want to hear about your date.”

“Meredith can tell you about our date. We had a great time. We didn’t know about the mustang men until our date was over. Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you a surprise from Hanks. Let me grab it.”

Nellie squeals in delight as I hand her the banana pudding. She grabs Meredith’s hand to go in and tells her, “I’ll share my pudding with you if you like.”

Meredith rubs her stomach as they walk away and says to Nellie, “Oh, I am so stuffed. Your Uncle Derek ordered so much food. It was fabulous. I had a Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert. It was the best I have ever had!”

Watching them gives me hope. They are so good together. It’s almost like they are family. Maybe, maybe someday they will be.

My dad is looking at me. He has been silent through this whole exchange. He now asks, “Well, Son, are we ready for what’s coming?”

“I think so, Dad. I have tried to cover every angle. I just didn’t know about Meredith when I covered those angles. There is always an unexpected variable to be dealt with. I will need you and the others to help me keep her safe since she hasn’t been a part of our planning. I will brief her about the safe rooms before we all go to bed. First, I need to call Leo and the Sheriff to let them know what’s going on and that things should be heating up quickly now. I don’t expect anything more tonight but tomorrow might be a different story.” I had texted Leo just before we left The Hideaway to thank him and let him know that he could go home.