The Necklace Pt. 02

I reached out and lightly touched her hand. "It's okay. I didn't know for sure what I wanted to do right when I got out of school either. But you'll find your way. It just takes a little time to get where we're supposed to be."

A smile lit up her face and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you always so nice to complete strangers?"

I had to laugh at that one. "God no. But then again, I don't feel like we're exactly strangers anymore."

She looked up at me. "Then what are we now, Jim?"

I grinned. "We're friends now. Right?"

"Friends? I can do friends."

"Friends it is." I held out my hand to shake which she took quickly. I admired how soft her hands felt and had some very unfriendly thoughts about wanting more. I just hoped the look in my eyes didn't betray how I was really thinking.

If she saw it, she didn't say anything. "So, how about your turn now? What do you do for work?"

"Oh, that," I said with a chuckle. "My job is really boring. I'm an engineer in the aerospace industry."

Allie perked up slightly. "That doesn't sound boring at all!"

"It's tedious. Long days going over the same diagrams and spreadsheets."

"I'm sure there's got to be something nice about it," she said.

"The pay is pretty nice and I do get a company laptop," I said, laughing while I tapped my nearby computer.

She dropped a few more cards down and I noticed her hand was getting rather empty. "What made you decide to do that?"

"I've always loved airplanes. I used to think I'd want to fly one some day, but I was pretty good in math so I decided to go the engineering route. But my love for planes started when I was little. I used to have so many airplane toys," I said, chuckling as I remembered all the different models I had. "It was funny since I was all about planes and my brother was all about construction vehicles, so when we played together it was always interesting."

Allie smiled at the mention of my brother so I kept going. "I remember this one time we were playing outside and I had this bright idea to tie a string around my toy airplane and connect some toy bulldozer he had. I pulled it into the sky and started to fling it around, finally spinning in circles. I guess I gave it enough force that the bulldozer launched right off the string into the tree in our backyard and broke in half. Matt was so pissed he didn't talk to me for a week."

Allie covered her mouth while laughing. "Oh, that sounds terrible. I'd be pissed at you too!"

I grinned. "He got over it quickly though. But I sure did feel bad for quite a while."

"It sounds like you were a good brother, Jim," she said while giving me a serious look.

My grin dropped. My mind flashed back to the source of my frequent nightmares. I saw Matt begging me for help once again. In an instant it was gone. But it waited, lingering just below the surface.

She noticed right away. Quickly her hand was right over mine once more. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't bring up any bad memories."

I opened my mouth to respond and then promptly shut it. I knew what I wanted to say but not the words to say it. I still couldn't get over my guilt even with Allie's lovely emerald-green eyes on me. Finally I shook my head in a way to tell her that her apology wasn't warranted.

"Sometimes it's just hard. When all you have left are memories, you try to cherish the good ones and push away the bad ones."

She nodded, seeming to understand exactly what I was trying to say. Something about what I said had struck a chord with her.

"Well, I do think you were a good brother," she said finally. "And there's something else you need to know."

"What's that?"

"Uno," she said with a toothy grin. She held that last card in triumph. I shook my head playfully as I looked for something to save the game for me, which proved to be entirely futile. Setting down another card enabled her to leave the final one.

"I told you I was going to win." She laughed while grabbing the pile of cards and started to reshuffle them.

"Luckily for you, we have all the time we need to play a few more rounds. Let's see if your luck manages to hold!"

We continued playing for the next hour. True to form, she took the majority of those rounds while I only took the remaining handful. There was a perfect explanation for it as she said it was the favorite card game of her grandma and they played it often—as in every day they were together. It showed as she thoroughly spanked most of my hands. I didn't really mind though. I was just enjoying her company and the change this morning had brought. I could continue to lose and still be pretty happy. Funny how things like that work.

We spent most of the morning either playing cards or sitting around the table talking. Allie was so easy to talk to that I found it quite amazing. She was a very thoughtful person in general and usually her opinions seemed right on the mark. Instead of praying for the snow to melt, I found myself wishing that the snow would last as long as it could.

I got my wish later that day. The temperature dropped low enough to give the cabin a distinct chill. At one point I peered out to the front porch thermometer to see a reading of two degrees. By the time night fell it was certain to fall into the negative. Allie and I took to throwing fleece blankets around our shoulders, not to mention staying bundled up in long-sleeved shirts and wool socks.

As night fell I found myself sitting in front of the fire enjoying the warmth. Allie had gone to take a nap a couple hours previously and the cabin was very quiet at the moment, save for the cackle of the flames.

Suddenly I heard a shuffling sound to my right.

"I don't know if that nap made me feel better or worse." Allie's face came into view wearing a sleepy smile as she shuffled over wearing a pair of my mother's old slippers.

"There you are. I was wondering how long you were going to sleep." Despite the subtle teasing, I was genuinely happy to see her again.

She let out a little yawn. "I was going to sleep longer but I found myself shivering in there and then I just couldn't go back to sleep."

Allie grabbed one of the fleece blankets and wrapped it delicately around shoulders. To my surprise, she didn't sit on the opposite couch in front of me, but instead sat down right next to me. Even though she was just as covered in blankets as I was, I could feel her leg touching against mine. I didn't mind one bit that she chose such a close proximity.

"It's getting cold in my room too. This storm is getting worse now."

"I wish I had a giant space heater right now," Allie said with a giggle.

"Or maybe just go to the beach? That would be really nice right now."

"Now you're talking. I'd love to feel the warm sand between my toes and the sunlight on my back. That would be just fantastic," she said.

"Instead we're buried in a mountain cabin," I said with a chuckle.

She looked over to me. "It could be worse though, right?"

I nodded. "It sure could. Call me crazy but I do like your company here despite the circumstances."

Allie's face broke into a grin. "So you don't think I'm a crazy bitch anymore?"

"I mean the jury is still out on that but we'll see what tomorrow brings."

She leaned against me in a playful manner before straightening up. "I can't remember the last time I had such a nice day. Like you said—given the circumstances."

"So you don't mind my company anymore? Even being with a pervert?" I laughed once the word escaped my lips.

Allie giggled. "For the record, I guess I don't blame you for looking. I did leave the door slightly open."

"Slightly?"

"Okay, maybe more then slightly but still. You didn't deserve that."

I decided to take a chance with her. "Maybe you were right though. I was looking."

Her eyes rose to look into mine. "And?"

"And?"

She bit her lip. "Did you like what you saw?"

I smiled. "Who wouldn't? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're gorgeous."

Her cheeks filled with red. "I think you're just being nice."

"Trust me, I'm not," I said brazenly.

She leaned into me once more. "Why are you so nice to me?"

I took a deep breath. "Because I kind of like you. And it seems like you haven't had a lot of nice lately."

The smile on her face dropped only to be replaced by a solemn nod. "You're right on that one."

"Why is that, Allie?"

She shook her head. "It's not a good story."

"I still want to hear it anyway."

Allie looked to be weighing her options, and I watched as the idea went back and forth in her mind. Finally after several moments, she sighed. "Okay, but before I do, there's something that I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

She took another long breath. "I have a fiance."

I'll admit, that one felt like a sucker punch. I thought I was getting a good connection with her but as soon as I heard that f-word, I felt ready to be sick. Of course she would have a fiance. I should have figured that sooner. Women like her were scooped up quickly so it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was.

It still hurt though, and I think it showed in my response. "Oh," I said, turning to look back into the flames.

"It's not what you think though, I promise," she said, her arm reaching out to grab mine.

"It's fine if you do. I just thought . . . well I don't know what I thought," I said, saving myself from being too open.

Her eyes drilled deep into my own. "Jim, he's the reason I'm running away. I don't want to marry him."

That caught my attention but my brow remained furrowed in confusion. "But you're engaged? Don't you have to say yes to that kind of thing?"

It was Allie's turn to look away. "I didn't have a choice."

The pain that was so prevalent in her eyes this morning rebounded and showed in every contour of her face. "You can tell me," I whispered.

She gulped hard and then pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I guess I need to start from the beginning. But first, let me tell you my last name. My full name is Alexandra Harrington."

Harrington? Now where had I heard that last name before? It seemed so familiar but I couldn't quite place it.

Allie continued. "Harrington as is Mike Harrington."

Then it clicked. "Mike Harrington as in the mayor of Denver, Mike Harrington?"

She nodded. "He's my father."

"Wow," I said, truly at a loss for words. "I didn't know I had the mayor's daughter here in my cabin."

"Well, that's just the family that I come from."

"It doesn't sound like it's been a pleasant one," I said, connecting the dots from our earlier conversation.

"You're right, it's hasn't been. My father has always been very politically minded. He ran for his first election when I was just two and he hasn't stopped moving up since. It used to drive my mother crazy with the late hours, all the press disruptions, and the general lack of privacy. She hated it but he was fueled by it. I don't remember him being around much when I was younger. He was always out campaigning."

"That had to be hard."

"It was extremely hard. I missed him when he wasn't around. Then I just kind of accepted that was who he was. He loved the career more than he loved his own family. Nothing confirmed that more than when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer."

Allie began to choke up and several tears ran down her cheek. "That bastard was never at the hospital but I was. I was there every day, especially when she got worse. And when she finally passed, he didn't grieve about it. He just used the points it scored him politically to win another election. When I wanted to grieve, he sent me to my grandparents house to do so. I ended up staying with them full time in the years after she passed."

"Which precipitated your move to Aurora, right?"

"Right. They were the parents that I needed and were able to give love without strings attached."

"I'm sorry, Allie. That sounds terrible," I said, offering my hand to comfort her shoulder.

"It gets worse," she whispered. "My father was never very high on the political food chain. If one good thing can be said about him it's that he truly worked his way up from the bottom to become mayor. But of course, that's not good enough for him. He wants to be senator."

I nodded. "Seems to be the next step up the ladder."

"When he got in his head that he wanted to be a senator, he started to use his contacts to get him to the people that could finance his campaign. People with lots of money. The real people who run Colorado with old family names."

"Any name that I would recognize?"

"Have you heard of the Reynolds family? Daniel Reynolds in particular?"

I shook my head. "Doesn't ring any bells."

"It's a pretty old family with lots of money. They've produced several senators and three governors for the state. Anyway Dad started to associate with them and that's when he got his next big idea. You see Daniel Reynolds has a son, Ken, who hasn't fallen far from the family tree. They've always had the money and when word got out that Ken was searching for a wife, guess who saw dollar signs?"

I almost gasped. "You can't mean . . .?"

Allie nodded. "That's right. I washeavily pressured into dating Ken from both sides and then into accepting an engagement. My father gets the old money contacts he needs to run a campaign and the Reynolds get control of an up-and-coming politician. Everyone gets what they want. Everyone that matters that is." Allie's head fell down as her hands rushed to her cheeks.

"Everyone but you," I whispered.

"No one seems to care about that. Least of all my fiance. Ken is challenging to say the least. Like most Reynolds, he craves power and is single-minded in his pursuit of it. With their resources, I have no doubt he'll get it someday."

"He doesn't sound like an easy person to be around."

She wiped a tear from her eye. "He wasn't so bad at first. He was always a bit awkward—old money types usually are. But as time went on, it got worse. A few months ago he . . . hit me for the first time."

Allie pulled up the sleeves of her shirt where my eyes gazed at a variety of black and blue marks. The skin on her arm had several spots of abuse. The tears really began to flow shortly after and she grabbed a tissue to stem the tide.

"I couldn't do it anymore, Jim. I couldn't marry him and consign myself to that for the rest of my life. He's a monster and the thought of him touching me is revolting. Not to mention, I feel like I was sold like an animal between our two fathers. I know with Ken I'd get to live an easy life as some governor's wife or something like that, but that's not the life I want to live. I wanted to start my own day care like I'd always dreamed, but Ken disagreed. He said it wasn't good for the upper-class image he wanted to portray. So I was expected to do nothing and be the perfect wife for his career."

"That's not much of a life worth living."

"When I reached my boiling point, I just bolted. I got in my car and just kept driving. When the weather turned, I just wanted to keep running and running but I eventually found out my little car wasn't going to go much further in the heavy snow. So I parked in your driveway. At first, I thought about going to find help or doing something. But as the snow piled up, I just felt so helpless and lost. I didn't know what to do."

I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Allie . . ."

She continued anyway. "I just couldn't live that life anymore, Jim. Because no matter what I do or where I turn, there's not a place I could go where Ken wouldn't find me." She buried her face against my shoulder as the tears fell freely. I did the only thing I could think of in that moment and the only thing I wanted to do—I held her close and let her cry.

And cry she did. We sat there for several minutes while she got it all out. When she was nearly finished and pulled away, the blanket was covered in a thick layer of tears.

"Sorry," she said while sniffling. "I didn't mean to lose it just now. And I got your blanket all wet."

"It sounded like it was long overdue," I said while offering a brave smile. "I never imagined what kind of hell you were going through."

Allie nodded as her fingers silently went to the necklace around her throat. "You asked me earlier why I don't wear the necklace on the outside, remember?"

I nodded.

"There's a simple reason for that. My mother gave me the necklace before she passed. She said the symbol on the pendant was for true love. Real, passionate, endless love, hence the infinity symbol. She told me to wear it in hopes of finding that love one day."

Allie's fingers pulled the pendant out and she looked down upon it. "I couldn't wear it on the outside while I was with Ken. Because then I knew I'd be living a lie. That wasn't the type of love she was referring to so I wore it inside my shirt—always hidden. Ken absolutely hated when I did that. He knew the story behind it and what it said about our relationship. At one point he grabbed it while it was around my neck with the intention of breaking it. Thankfully he didn't but the red mark it left around my throat lasted for a week. I was consigned to wearing turtlenecks until it healed."

"This guy's face is going to have a serious meeting with my fist and not a second too soon," I said with a growl.

She smiled throughout the tears and then tucked the necklace back inside her shirt. "Anyway that's why the necklace stays on the inside. If I ever found that love that I'm seeking, I'll pull it out, but until then that's where it'll stay."

Allie took a deep breath shortly after she stopped crying. She wiped her eyes and then turned to face me. "I'm sorry. I feel like I just unloaded all my problems on you."

"Don't be," I said in a near whisper. "I'm glad you told me."

"Glad? Why?"

"Something tells me you don't just tell anyone that story. I'm glad you felt like you trusted me enough to share."

She smiled. "Strange as it may be, I do feel like I can. Trust you, that is. Is that weird?"

I gently shook my head. "Not at all. I'm in the same boat."

"Thank you, Jim. Her hand reached out to squeeze mine before she turned to look at the clock. "I can't believe we've been talking for hours."

I looked over to see it was nearly nine-thirty. "Wow, how did it get so late already?"

Allie let out a small yawn. "I think I'm going to try to get some sleep."

"I won't be far behind you. I'm just going to watch the fire wind down and then I'll be heading to bed too."

Allie raised herself from the couch and started to shuffle back to the bedroom. When she reached the kitchen she turned to face me once more. "Thank you, Jim. For everything today."

A warm smile split my face. "You're welcome, Allie."

With one last heart-stopping look, she continued to the bedroom and disappeared from sight. It was a long time until that smile finally dropped from my face. Something about her presence just made me happy. Happier than I've felt in a long time. Hearing her story was heartbreaking though, and I found myself desiring some way to rescue her from that cruel world.

About a half hour later, the fire had mostly diminished. I put out the remaining coals before making the short trek to my room. On my way past the kitchen, I saw that Allie had left the door to her room slightly open. With curiosity getting the best of me, I peeked inside just to make sure she was okay and sleeping.

She must have fallen asleep quickly. Allie was rolled on her side and facing the door. Her face looked quite tranquil and serene, and I hoped if she was dreaming that they were pleasant ones. I thought about how much I enjoyed her company today and most of all, I was already looking forward to what tomorrow might bring. Sure, her past was troubled, but she seemed like a good person. Allie was someone that I wanted in my life.