I Knew You Were Trouble: Accidents Happen (4 page)

"Stuff like that happens to me a lot," Adeline said quietly. I caressed her hair and made no move to have her sit up. I liked taking care of her. Silly, since I had no desire to take care of anyone else. She turned on her side, looking away from me, and tucked her knees toward her chest making herself more comfortable. It caused me to smile.

"I don't care," I responded softly. I combed my fingers through her hair, and she wrapped her arm over my knees. We sat that way for a while. Just being there. It was comfortable. I hadn't been comfortable like that in a long time.

"I was fired today," Adeline added to her troubles, "I called this afternoon and they told me I failed to show up for my shift." I continued playing with her hair. "The tips sucked, but it was a job."

"You'll find another one," I said. She curled into me more. I was like a support blanket. I was Oliver, just a lot quieter and with a lot more touching.

"I tried to call my friend Rose on your phone." Adeline was dumping everything. "She hung up on me. What little I have is at her place. I guess the SUV was the last straw."

"The last straw?" I asked stupidly. Curiosity worked faster than my compassion. Adeline turned in my lap and looked up at me.

"Is it okay if I don't tell you right now?" Adeline asked sadly. I felt shitty for asking.

"Give me her number tomorrow," I said, instead of answering, "I'll see if I can't pick up your stuff." Adeline gave me a weak smile. Homeless, jobless and seems to think herself a bad omen. I should be running, but even her weak smile held me there. So unlike Jessica. That was part of the attraction. I couldn't put my finger on the other part. She rolled her head forward, sideways once again. She reached back and took my hand and pulled it over her shoulder and tucked it in with hers. I was truly a blanket.

"Thank you," Adeline whispered. I held her because she needed it. I held her because I needed it. I didn't want to be anywhere else. I fell asleep there.

Chapter Six

"Damon." I was startled by Adeline's voice. I opened my eyes to her wonderful smile. She was still in my lap though she was now completely on her back. She reached up and wiped the side of my mouth. Shit, I was drooling. I lifted my head groggily.

"Sorry," I said and wiped my lips with the back of my hand. I couldn't feel my legs, they were sound asleep. "What time is it?" Adeline lifted her head and looked over to the clock above the fish tank.

"A little after two. Let's move to your bed." I nodded. I tried to stand, failed and just straightened my legs to let the blood back in. My brain was still not fully awake. She stood and held out her hand. I took it and stood slowly, then moved my head around, stretching the kink out of my neck. She moved behind me, her hands kneading my neck. I leaned into it.

"Our bed is over here," I said walking slowly, trying not to separate from her hands. I heard a small giggle. I shut off the lights and walked by memory into my bedroom, Adeline following closely behind, her heavenly fingers working my muscles. I stopped by the bed and yawned. There was a dim glow from a street lamp coming through the translucent curtains. I turned, trying to think if I had pajamas -- I hadn't worn any in a long time.

Adeline's hands went to my collar and began unbuttoning my shirt. I smiled tiredly and stood there as she removed it. I was too exhausted to be surprised when she undid my belt and loosened my pants. She had me sit on the bed as she removed my shoes and socks, then pulled my pants off, leaving me in my boxers. She pulled back the sheets, and had me climb in under them. She walked to the other side. I heard her rustle around, then climb in the bed. She scooted close and put her arm over me. I felt a naked breast on my side and my mind began to waken.

"Shh," Adeline whispered, "let's just sleep." She spooned into me, her breasts pressed into my back. Her hand wrapped around me, lightly caressing my chest. I drifted off, again.

***

My alarm, as always, was an asshole. I was in the middle of some strange dream, not unpleasant, that faded quickly to the incessant, ever louder tone. Nails on a chalkboard. I reached over and slapped the clock a few times until my hand found the snooze. I rolled onto my back, my eyes still closed, and the rich aroma of coffee teased my nose. Adeline.

I sat up and fully turned off the alarm. I didn't remember setting it last night. I spent a few minutes in my closet searching for my robe, the one I hadn't worn in years. When you don't have guests, your modesty wanes. I gave up after failing a cursory search and put on last night's pants and pulled on a t-shirt. The mirror told me my hair was in serious need of a brush. I ignored it and followed the scented trail of java.

I leaned against the corner of the entrance to the great room. Adeline was busy cooking something in the kitchen. My robe looked a lot better on her than it ever did on me. I liked watching her work; she was so intent on her tasks. I could hear her humming to herself which caused me to smile. She somehow sensed it.

"Good morning," Adeline said brightly, "coffee and pancakes?" I didn't usually eat breakfast, but the coffee sounded like an excellent idea.

"Please," I responded and took a seat at the counter. "You set my alarm." I stated. Adeline nodded as she filled a cup with coffee.

"Cream, sugar?"

"Black," I responded, shaking my head. Adeline moved the cup to me with a smile. It all seemed so practiced. I remembered her saying the tips sucked; I guessed she had been waitressing. "Thank you." The coffee was good. Thick enough to ward off sleep, but not overly bitter.

"I'm sorry for last night," Adeline said. I put the coffee down and looked up to her. Her face was sincere, but luckily didn't have the despair I saw yesterday.

"I'm not," I said. I guess it caught Adeline off guard. She didn't know where to put her hands all of a sudden. "I liked you in my arms," I admitted as much to myself as to her. She turned back to the stove and flipped four mini pancakes. She turned back to me, and I could tell she had found some strength.

"I don't do well in relationships. They end badly, and I don't know if I can take you not liking me." I raised my eyebrows at her. I saw something starting between us, and she was already looking at the end. She turned back to the pancakes on the stove.

"Are you trying to warn me off?" She nodded to the pan. I took another sip of coffee and watched as she slid the spatula under a pancake to check its color. "What if I ignore your warning?"

"I will probably ruin your life," Adeline replied softly. I tried not to, but a small chuckle escaped my lips. She turned with a little anger in her. "The garage won't be the last of it, you know. Everything will be fine and then, wham, you'll wish you never knew me."

"The thought of you doing a better job of ruining my life than my ex is what I find funny," I said with a smile. "I'd like to take the risk if you let me. You're just as likely to think me scum in time." I took another sip of coffee while she digested my thoughts. I saw steam coming off the pancakes and pointed my cup toward them. Adeline turned and deftly moved them to plates. She brought the plates to the counter, along with silverware.

"It scared me when you called it 'our' bed last night," Adeline said as she retrieved the butter from the fridge.

"What?"

"Last night, you were pretty tired, but called it 'our' bed." I had to smile at my Freudian slip.

"I think I drooled on you too," I laughed. I loved the smile Adeline returned to me. "I can't be held responsible for things I do when I'm half awake." I spread some butter on my pancakes. I wasn't really hungry, but she made them for me.

"So, you didn't mean it?" Adeline half teased. I stalled for a moment, then thought, 'what the fuck.'

"I loved that we slept together in our bed," I said confidently. I quickly filled my mouth with pancake, forgetting the syrup, to avoid having to speak further. Adeline was trying desperately to hold back a smile. I could tell she wanted to remain serious, thinking there were future ramifications we needed to discuss. Finally, she gave in.

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Adeline's smile was beautiful. I nodded and grabbed the syrup. The pancakes were good, but I loved sugar. I made pancakes for dinner about once a month just to get a sugar fix. She stayed my hand when I started to pour, leaned over the counter, over my pancakes and kissed me. I couldn't swallow my mouth full of pancake fast enough to lengthen the kiss, and had to let her recede.

"You want to try that again," I said brightly, once I swallowed. Adeline shook her head with a sly smile. I let her have her fun and doused my pancakes in syrup. I was hungrier than I thought.

Chapter Seven

"I'm going to need to take the next couple of days off, James," I said into the phone. James Thorgan was a sensible boss. I have had a few who were less than reasonable, but James knew I made him look good when I could. "The spring on my garage door snapped off and shot through the back wall. The door won't open and I have to fix the hole." I listened for a moment, watching Adeline squirm uncomfortably. I think she thought I was risking my job or something. "Sure, I can do that Monday, but I want Emily there. Last time she left me in the dark." More listening. "Okay, see you Monday." I hung up and smiled. "Four day weekend!"

"They just let you leave like that? No notice." Adeline said, surprised.

"Of course, shit happens that people have to deal with," I responded casually. Adeline must have had some really shitty jobs. "They'll just take it off my PTO hours. I'll get paid for the time off one way or the other." I opened the phone book and glanced through the yellow pages looking for a local garage door company.

"Hanson's Overhead Door is really good," Adeline said. I glanced up and saw her cheeks redden. "I've had a few that needed fixing," she said sheepishly. I smiled to soften her supposed shame.

"Hanson's it is then," I said as I found them in print and called. When I had described the problem, they knew instantly what the issue was and were quite familiar with it. I was told they would be out within the hour with a new torsion spring assembly to replace the old extension spring system. I passed this on to Adeline who still seemed to think it could only have happened to her.

We spent the next hour working the spring out of the wall. It was an awfully greasy thing. We scooted the washer-dryer into the great room to create some room to work. It took only a second for the spring to find its way into the wall, but fifteen minutes to get it out without tearing half the wall down. It wanted to catch on the drywall every step of the way since it went in at an angle. It also weighed a lot more than I had expected. In the end, I had a nice one-foot gash in my drywall. I guess I should be happy it didn't take out a stud.

Hanson's were very efficient. They disassembled the door, reset the guides, built a frame to hold the torsion spring assembly and rehung the door. In the middle of it all, I got my rental car out of the garage. The door was slightly misshapen in the lower left corner, but it was a garage door and you couldn't see the problem from the road, so I decided to live with it.

"It's bent," Adeline said sadly as she looked at the door.

"You can only tell from up close, and it's not that bad," I said. "You almost have to know it happened." It was an old house and deserved to look lived in. Adeline shook her head slowly, then headed inside. I think she would have preferred if there was no sign of the incident ever having occurred. I looked at the door again and now the crease was all I could see. Women.

I chased down Hanson's team before they pulled away. They told me someone from sales would call about replacing the door or just the panel if they could still get the same style, which they doubted. The panels were as old as the house. I suspected I needed a new door. Adeline was expensive to have around.

"You were right," I told Adeline once I was inside, "I have them pricing a new door." She looked at me with a funny expression.

"You did that for me?"

"You thought it looked like crap," I said, "I looked again and agreed." I thought she would be happy about it. Why did I just ask for a new door? I could have lived with the dented one.

"It did look bad, but I thought you were going to live with it," Adeline added.

"You didn't like it so I decided to replace it."

"Are you trying to impress me?" Adeline asked. There was a challenge in her tone that confused me. I think she was trying to pick a fight over fixing a bent door. I really didn't want to fight over the damn door.

"Yes, I guess I was," I said firmly and put my hands on my hips. Adeline smiled as she moved close. I could see a sparkle in her eyes.

"I am impressed," Adeline said and kissed me. This time I didn't have a mouth full of pancake. I wasn't going to be satisfied with a little peck. Not after her bent door teasing. I pulled her into me, our lips at first caressing, then pressing, then sharing. I felt the tip of her tongue tickle my upper lip. I could feel her heartbeat strengthen, and a heat rose through my core.

"Oh," Adeline breathed as she separated from me, "that was more than expected." I wanted to devour her right then. I stopped, not sensing I had permission to continue. It was something in her posture. I dropped my hands to her hips -- less aggressive, but still sensual. I didn't want to lose it all.

"Too fast?" I asked.

"No and yes," Adeline answered cryptically. "I meant to kiss you, I just didn't think...I liked it more than....we've only known each other for a day." Her floundering was adorable. I could see it in her eyes. I was as much an enigma to her as she was to me. I released her hips -- there was no danger of losing her right now.

"I have to get something at the hardware store to patch the wall. I'll pick up my phone and see if I can't get your stuff from Rose's." I paused for a moment. "You know I'm going to spend most of the day trying to figure out how to impress you again." Adeline laughed.

"I'll try my sister again," Adeline said. She looked serious for a second. "I'd like to stay tonight, even if I find her."

"I would love for you to stay." I loved her smile. This time I allowed a simple peck.

***

I drove to the phone store first. Life was different without my mobile. It was not unpleasant, I just felt undressed without it; almost off balance without that little rectangle bulging out of my left front pocket. I was the only customer. It was the first time I had ever been there and was waited on before I could say hello.

"We have it in the back, Mr. Richardson. It will just be a minute," the young techie said before he disappeared into the back room. I walked around aimlessly, looking at a rack of phone covers. I had one once, but didn't like how thick it made the phone. I laughed inwardly, thinking a cover may have saved my phone when Adeline dropped it. I started to go over to the tablet displays, and my foot caught on something. I absently pulled harder without thinking. There was a slight screech, and I turned in time to see the six-foot display of hundreds of phone covers fall in slow motion to the floor. My feeble attempt at reaching out to stop it was entirely too late. When it crashed, the covers scattered like scared mice across the floor.

Three of the employees came out of the back room with looks of shock. My foot was still caught in the bottom of the rack and my attempts to stand the rack back up seemed to be making the problem worse. "I'm sorry," I said quickly, "I'm, not sure what happened."

"Don't worry, Mr. Richardson," the techie said as he handed me my phone, "we'll take care of this." His tone was condescending, and I was in no position to dispute it. He kneeled down and untangled my shoe lace from the stand. The other employees began gathering the scattered cases.

"Look, I'm really sorry about this," I repeated. He waved me off without saying a word. I felt like an idiot. The other two were avoiding my eyes. I made my exit, with embarrassment tingling in my spine. I sat in my rental car for a few moments, letting the feeling subside. If anything, I knew part of what Adeline felt like. It was inwardly painful, burning deep into the mind. Adeline must be deeply burnt inside. I could be her aloe, that much I could do.

At least it was nice to have a phone again. The thought made me remember to call Rose. It was a brief conversation. For a moment, I thought Rose would hang up on me, but she was willing to allow me to pick up Adeline's stuff as long as Adeline wasn't going to be there. I thought it was pretty childish. I intended to tell Rose, once I had Adeline's stuff loaded. I got the address and disconnected politely.

Rose lived in an apartment complex. She had a place in the back on the fourth floor. It was a gated establishment with a guard out front who insisted I show an ID to enter. I smelled money, though I thought it was wasted fencing out the world. I parked in a guest spot, close to the door the guard indicated would be best. I had to speak into an intercom before Rose buzzed me in.

Rose was a heavy woman. Not, a two-plane-ticket woman, but someone who really likes her meals. She spent a lot of money on stationary hair, the type that is curled, then glued in place on the top of her head. It looked like her dirty blonde hair wouldn't have moved in a hurricane. She was much older than Adeline, but what surprised me was her kind smile.

"How is Adeline?" Rose asked. I wasn't ready for the question. I suspected the 'here's her shit now get out,' message.

"Upset," I answered truthfully, "she wants to talk with you about it." I wanted to add a small tirade about human decency, but her kind face was too disarming.

"Yeah, it's kind of unlike me," Rose responded. "Cathy thought it best not to encourage Adeline to rely on me anymore. She knew I would cave if I talked with her again."

"Cathy?" I asked surprised. What kind of crap was going on?

"Cathy...her sister. I couldn't reach Adeline's cell two nights ago... after the insurance company called, so I called Cathy." Something sounded wrong, but I let it sink in and followed Rose into what looked like a guest room. The apartment was bigger than my house. It looked like she had paintings on the wall worth more than my house.

"These two boxes are hers and those three suitcases." Rose sighed. "Not a lot to show for her life." She shook her head slowly. "The fire kind of zapped the drive out of her." I grabbed the first box and headed to the door. "Here, this will let you back in." Rose slipped her key card into my back pocket since my hands were full. I loaded the first box in the trunk and returned to the apartment.

"So, Cathy said you shouldn't talk with Adeline anymore?" I asked casually as I went for the second box.

"She thinks Adeline needs a lesson in self reliance," Rose said while nodding, "Adeline has had a rash of incidents, and people keep bailing her out. I am the worst of the bailers." I lifted the box, a little dubious of the psychology involved.

"So, you two were just going to leave her in jail?" I asked.

"Jail! No one said anything about jail!" Her eyes went wide, "Oh, the poor girl. How long was she there?"

"Just a night," I said as I headed back to the door. A few minutes later I was back up for the suitcases.

"I'll call Adeline," Rose said when I returned, "I didn't know anything about jail. It was the third accident with one of my cars...I was a little angry. I was going to leave the problem to Cathy. She's been taking care of Adeline since they were kids." Rose looked a little embarrassed about the jail part. "Shit, I'll be lucky if the guy she hit doesn't sue me into the next century." The swearing didn't fit what little I knew of Rose's personality. I could tell she felt guilty about ignoring Adeline and was trying to justify it.

"Yeah," I joked, "I hear the guy's a real asshole." The expression on Rose's face was priceless, but I couldn't keep a serious face. I laughed and added, "I'm not suing anyone, just keep the lawyers away. I've had my fill for lifetime."

"She hit you?" Rose smiled.

"Yep," I said as I lifted the two suitcases, then added without thinking, "kind of a love tap." The words shocked me inside. It was just a misused cliché. I hurried with my load down to the car. I returned for the last suitcase and found Rose pouring two glasses of wine.

"Sit," Rose said, pointing to a chair. There was concern in her voice. "Please." I sat and she handed me a glass of white wine and took the seat opposite me. "Love tap?"

"It's just a saying," I said. The wine was pretty good. Rose looked at me in a strange way.

"Adeline needs someone. I just don't know if it is the guy she hit with a car." I became confused and somewhat irritated. I set the wine down and stood to get the last suitcase out of the guest room. "Sorry, I said that wrong," she said.

"You think it's best to ignore her and now you question me," I said, trying to keep my tone civil, "I'm not sure if Adeline needs friends like you."

"Please," Rose said, pointing at the seat, "you're right, of course." I sat back down, but left the wine where it was. "I just don't want to see her hurt." I shook my head.

"I'm confused, she's old enough to make her own decisions." I looked around the apartment, at the art and expensive furniture. "Why do you care?" Adeline didn't seem to fit with Rose. I was missing something and I wasn't sure I even cared to know.

"I was friends with her mother," Rose admitted, "very good friends. When she passed away, I promised to keep an eye on Adeline, that's all."