Halfway to Nowhere

Strange sounds woke Angie. Maybe an animal got in somehow, she thought, trying to remember if she closed the door all the way the night before. As the noises grew louder, she dressed, looking around for something to use as a weapon. The only thing she found was a shoe. Creeping to her door, she pushed it open a few inches.

"You can come out, Angie."

"Steve?" The word came out as a cross between a scream and a screech.

"Who did you think would be here?"

"Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"I just talked to her doctor. She'll have bruises for a while, and she won't be able to put any weight on her foot until it heals some, but they said she can come home tomorrow," Steve said.

"That's great, right?"

"Tell me what happened."

She noticed her ignored her question, which confused her. His entire demeanor appeared cold and irritable. Hopefully that would change once Jeanette improved.

"I don't know, exactly. I mean, I was still in my car when I heard her scream. She didn't say how she fell."

"Did she know you were coming?"

Angie nodded. He stared at her and left. His head hurt from lack of sleep. Nothing made sense anymore. The only thing he was sure of was that Jeanette needed help.

Angie went to open the trading post for a few hours. The work would keep her mind off Steve—at least she hoped it would. Several neighbors who saw the bright lights of the ambulance stopped in to ask what happened. After the fifth one showed up, she had enough. Using the flap of a cardboard box and a marker, she made a sign for the front door. The bright red letters simply said closed.

Steve sat next to Jeanette while she ate her lunch. For hospital food, it didn't look bad, he admitted, thinking of the meal he missed the night before. The doctor had already been in and recommended she use a wheelchair until her ankle healed some. Later she would be able to use a walker. Steve assured the man he would have them at the house for her. The staff social worker gave them a list of agencies to call to have someone help her at home for the first weeks. Jeanette balked at the idea but Steve nodded and tucked the paper into his pocket. He was in the middle of a tricky trial and knew he needed to get through that before he would be free to take care of her himself.

Angie wandered around the yard deep in thought. The weeds and high grass tickled her bare legs. She smiled when she looked at the castle but sadness took over at the sight of the chair Steve sat on the day she tried to talk to him about going home. She hoped she could get him to understand why she had to leave when she did.

* * * *

Jeanette wasn't the ideal patient once she returned home. She constantly tried to get up and do things the way she always had. Angie wanted to stomp her foot and demand the woman follow the orders given to her by the doctor. Instead, she crossed her arms and gave her an ultimatum.

"If you think you can do everything on your own, then there's no need for me to be here. I might as well continue on with my travels."

Angie waited for the woman to answer. She expected to hear a snappy reply about how much wiser the older woman was from everything she learned in life. Instead, Jeanette laughed. She laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.

"You think that's funny? That leaving you alone is no big deal. Who do you think will be here when you fall again, or if you want something to eat and your ankle is so sore you can't make it to the kitchen?"

Jeanette hesitated. The girl had a good point. Her ankle still hurt like hell and going from room to room wasn't easy even in the wheelchair. All she wanted to do was stay sitting with her foot propped up but taking it easy wasn't something she was used to.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what it's like to just sit all day. The store and the house don't take care of themselves. Maybe I'm just old and set in my ways."

Jeanette realized she missed having Steve around. The boy was always in the middle of some case and didn't make it back too often. Once she saw his reaction to Angie, she hoped that would change. In the beginning, when she had been trying to think of a way to get them together, she never imagined an injury would make it worse. She turned away and sighed.

Angie hadn't asked about Steve but he never left her thoughts. In the short amount of time they had together, she was sure they connected, and not just sexually. That's why it didn't make sense when he hadn't let her explain her intentions for going back to talk to her parents. If he had listened, he would have known she would only be gone a few days. Jeanette noticed the sadness in the girl's eyes and wished she could make it go away. Only one person could do that—and he wasn't answering his phone.

"I promise to be a better patient if you promise to stop worrying," Jeanette said.

"That sounds perfect. I'm sure your doctor would like to hear you say that too."

"Old women like me tend to get cranky when something stops us from doing what we're used to. Add in the pain and it's even worse. Thankfully, I have you to keep me in line."

"First, you aren't that old. Cranky, OK, yes, but pain sucks."

For a few minutes, it was if the two women reversed roles. The conclusion made Jeanette smile. She settled into her chair and picked up a magazine. Her ankle would heal. Then she could get back to living as she had before.

Five hours away, Steve sipped on his beer while staring out the wall of windows in his apartment. Although the road below rarely seemed empty, he didn't hear anything through the glass. Lights from other buildings twinkled in the night, reminding him how much he missed seeing the stars. He should be asleep but he couldn't stop thinking of Angie. In just the few days they were around each other, he knew he wanted her in his life forever.

He was ashamed of the way he ran when she tried to talk about going to see her parents. His fear kicked in as soon as she mentioned leaving. In reality, he was proud of the way she was handling it all. His own past taught him to stand up to those who hurt him or they would never stop. It was time he checked on Jeanette, and a phone call wasn't what he had in mind. A few minutes after he made his decision, he had a partner covering his current case. He hadn't put his suitcase away after using it last time so it was easy to clear it out before packing it again. It was late, but he didn't want to wait. A quick check of his apartment and he was ready to leave.

Over four hours later, he was there. The one place in the world he truly felt he could relax and be himself. Herman and Jeanette gave him more than a place to live when he was young. He learned love from the way they gave love. If anyone could choose their parents, Jeanette and Herman were the perfect ones for the job. After Herman passed away, he made sure to check on Jeanette as often as possible. Yet he realized it hadn't been enough. If he had lived closer, or went to see her more often, he might have noticed how tired she appeared. He should have known, he chastised himself.

Her house was dark when he parked in the driveway. Once he had made the decision to go back and check on her, he hadn't given the time much thought. He grabbed his bag and made his way along the path. Since he knew the layout of the castle so well, he opened the door, dropped his bag, and went to the bedroom he used just a few weeks before.

He hadn't expected to see Angie sprawled across the blankets, naked, sound asleep. His heart pounded as he stared at the woman he hadn't been able to forget. From the first time he saw her standing at the sink, washing her shirt, he wanted to know more about her. If he didn't want to scare her away, he knew he had to walk back out of the room, even though it wasn't what his body screamed at him to do.

A brief memory of their discussion about destiny ran through his head. He hadn't given the theory much thought until their discussion on the subject. Trying not to make any noise, he took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and went outside. The cool air did nothing to ease the heat of his skin. All he saw was Angie, naked, in his bed.

"Steve?"

Her voice came out as a whisper. He knew she was there even before she called his name.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"You came back."

He struggled to answer. How could he explain why he left? After taking another swallow of beer, he cleared his throat, hoping he didn't scare her away again. She took a few more steps, stopping at his side, unsure of what else to say.

"I'm sorry I left the way I did," he said.

"I understand. When I left home, I didn't tell my parents. I just took off. I should have stayed and talked things out with them—especially with my father. I let go of the anger I had over what my mother did. Jeanette made me see a father was more than the man who provided the sperm. A real father loved his children and took care of them. I believe my mother was wrong for what she did but I can't stop loving my father because of her mistake.

"The other places I stayed at were important. They taught me there are good people in the world. When I stopped here, Jeanette made me feel as if this was my home. Without knowing it, I reached my destination. Then you showed up and we talked about destiny. It made sense in ways I never thought of before. "

"Angie, I was wrong to just take off the way I did. No one ever made me feel the way you do. It happened so fast it scared me. Mostly, I was afraid you were going home to your parents and I wouldn't ever see you again."

"That would never happen. From the first time I saw you, I couldn't imagine loving anyone else," she said.

"Come here."

Steve reached out for her hand and pulled her onto his lap. They sat in the dark, two people with troubled stories who met at the right time in the right place. Destiny, they both thought seconds before they kissed.

The next morning, Jeanette looked out her window and smiled. Steve and Angie were asleep in the chair. It was easy to see by the way he held her that he wouldn't ever let her go. Herman would have loved Angie the way he had loved Steve. They were perfect together. She turned from the window imagining a grandchild, a little girl named Destiny.