Jaq With a Q (Kismet) (13 page)

“I—I’m sorry. I was just trying to get someone to answer the door. We’re here to start on your dock.”

I looked past him to the crew of men, four of them all standing around with deadpan stares.

“Is she okay? Should I call for help?”

“No, no, she’s fine. You can start on the dock. You don’t need to knock on the door for that. I’ve already talked to the contractor.”

“Yes, sir, and I’ll remember that tomorrow, but I need this okayed before we start. John thought it would be better to put the sand on the left for more shade, that way we can give you another six feet of dock.”

Annoyed, I glanced at the clipboard in his hand. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be down soon.”

With that I slammed the door and went to Jaq. “Shh, Jaq. It’s just the construction guys. You’re okay.”

Jaq was hunkered in a corner between the dresser and the wall, sobbing with her face buried in her hands. I squatted to her level, not thinking about anything but calming her down, not how close I was, not how wet and naked I was, and not about touching her.

Talk about fast. I didn’t even know what hit me. I’m pretty sure it was the heel of her bare foot, high on my cheekbone, but low enough to miss my glasses. Jaq screamed again, her voice a shrill, and her body thrashing. I straightened my glasses, and like an idiot, I went back for more. It took an elbow, a knee, and a fist before I had her wrapped in my wet body, the towel barely covering me. The strength it took to hold her down and close to my body took everything in me. The combination of talking to her with soft words, promising that she was okay, and the lock that I had on her finally calmed her down. That’s when I felt the throbbing below my eye, pulsating with the tempo of adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“Shhh, you’re okay. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

“I can’t do this, Ollie. I don’t want to. You promised,” she cried. “You promised.”

“Shhh, you’re okay.”

Jaq flared her arms, twisting herself right out of my arms. “I’m not okay! What’s wrong with you? I’m not okay, and I’m never going to be okay. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be anywhere. Why can’t you get that?”

I held my hand over my towel, tucking it back to safety. “Come here, Jaq.”

“Stay away from meeeeEEE!” she screamed, her tone elevating, and her head tilting to the ceiling.

That was enough for me to grab her and tackle her to the bed, but she didn’t fight me like I had expected. She released her resistance and cried in my chest.

“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be like everyone else?”

I squeezed a little tighter and kissed her forehead. “You’re getting better.”

“No, I’m not. I thought he wanted to hurt me. You didn’t come. I thought you sold me.”

That got a frown, and another kiss to her head. “I was in the shower. I didn’t hear him knocking. I’m sorry. I’ll make sure you’re never alone around any of these men. I promise.”

“What men? I don’t like it.”

I moved her hair from her face, trying to get her to look at me to no avail. She kept her eyes down, away from mine. “This place needs work, Jaq. I can’t do it all. Everything will be done in a couple weeks, and it’ll just be you and me, but I promise to stay close by you when they’re here. Deal?”

Jaq sniffed and dropped her head back to my damp chest, agreeing to let me be there for her. “Okay.”

My lungs depleted from the held breath, and the nerves settled. Never mind the feelings I had from holding her so close, her body giving into mine, surrendering to me. Trusting me. I held her like that, neither of us speaking a word for over an hour. Thoughts of what all of this meant moved in and out of my mind. The receptors in my brain were going nuts. This was bigger than me. More than I could grasp. I would kill anyone who touched her. Something powerful pulled me, emitting some sort of emotion I didn’t understand. She was suddenly all that mattered. Simple and complex like the universe.

Chapter Twelve

As soon as I got dressed, I poured a cup of coffee and walked down to the dock. The morning was beautiful. Even though the sun hadn’t made her appearance over the tall pines, she was still warm, promising a new day of bright blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and radiant heat. My morning may not have started off the way I had planned, but I still felt fulfilled, rejuvenated with the magical sun.

“I’m sorry again. I didn’t know.”

I shook the guys hand as I neared him, but I really didn’t want to. There was something about him that I didn’t like, that I didn’t trust. “No worries, but you don’t need to do that again. I’ll be overseeing this project. You’ll be seeing me plenty without walking around my house, beating on doors.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

I stared at the guy while my mind considered whether or not he’d really just said that. Of all things he could have said, that wasn’t what I expected. Yes, sir or sorry again. Maybe an agreement and a promise not to let it happen again, but not that.

“You know; I think I’ve changed my mind. You guys can head out.”

“Excuse me? Are you serious? I said I was sorry, dude.”

I sipped my coffee, speaking over the brim of my cup. “Yeah, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ve just decided that I don’t want you here. That’s my prerogative, so if you’d take your crew and get off my property, that’d be great.”

The guy blew out a puff of haughty air and picked up a shovel. “Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here, guys.”

I watched the crew walk back toward the two work trucks, hearing comments about the freak with the wild girl. The judgmental words swooped in and bounced right back off. This was a great day. Jaq took a giant step, the lake was majestic, and everything around me came to life. There wasn’t one thing any of them could have said to change the high I was on. The liberation I felt was too powerful to let them change that. This gratification felt too right to let them change my mind and so I chose let go of the ores, turning to catch the tail end of a fish, splashing in my lake.

Looking back toward the house, I thought about my father’s notebooks, and his breakthrough drug that I knew could help Jaq. I’ve had a photographic memory for as long as I can remember, yet I couldn’t get a clear picture to save my ass. A trace of LSD, sertraline hydrochloride, and a blur. Maybe from my dad hastily taking the notebook from my hands, but why. That part baffled the hell out of me. Why wouldn’t he want me to see that? Everything in me told me he would have wanted me to know. He would spend hours telling me about his discoveries, but not this one. Why? Why the hell didn’t I dig deeper back then? Oh yeah, because I didn’t know I would ever have a need for a normal pill.

I made myself a bacon sandwich and opened my laptop, deciding to look in Buford, the town over for help. It was a little further, about forty-five minutes’ verses twenty, but I didn’t mind that at all. They even had a Kroger’s store. I liked it way better than the local one I’d gone to, and they had plenty of contractors in the area, not just one, whose brother worked here, and their friend worked there. If only I would have chosen that route to begin with. The short cut isn’t always the path of least resistance. I planned on keeping that in mind for future references.

I glanced to my ringing phone, answering it with a smile. “Good late morning. Come out here. I just made bacon sandwiches’.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You’re not hungry?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to come out there, but I’ll open the door for you. You can bring it.”

I thought about my response, chewing the food in my mouth before replying. She let me hold her naked in my arms, but she wouldn’t come out and eat breakfast with me. Made sense. “They’re gone. I told them to get the hell out of here. I’ll let you help me with the next crew. How’s that?”

“What do you mean? Help you what?”

“Come out here and I’ll show you. Please.”

Silence filled the space and time between us and I let it, making her reply without being coaxed. “Okay.”

I swallowed my surprise and stood to fix her plate. “I’m getting you coffee now. Come on.”

To keep from making eye contact, I kept my back to her. “Sit. Do you like your bread toasted? I like mine toasted with butter and then the bacon.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, check out that webpage there. They specialize in boat docks. Henderson and sons’. Look at some of their work. I thought maybe we would have a fire-pit built down there too.”

“I thought you were going to put a fire-pit in my garden, I mean your garden.”

I smiled at her, meeting her eyes with mine. “It’s your garden.”

“Did I do that?”

My fingers touched the swell right below my eye and I hid a flinch. “It’s fine. It doesn’t even hurt.”

Her eyes dropped, a sad expression taking over her pretty face. “I’m sorry.”

Not even thinking about it, I lifted her chin with a finger, and stepped back, both hands going into the air.

Her eyes slammed shut, her head ducked between her shoulders, and arms covered her head.

“I’m sorry. I’m not going to hurt you, Jaq. I would never hurt you,” I said for at least the hundredth time, trying like hell to get that through her mind. Not that it mattered. I’d tell her another million if I that’s what it took.

I managed to talk Jaq out of the house, to her little garden in the making, and a walk around the lake. Every step she took was a step toward success. She even walked right beside me, just a few feet to the right. Close enough to touch her if I wanted to. My feet walked the length of the new dock I had in mind, jumping to a spot on the corner where I thought the fire-pit should go.

“I was thinking we should get a paddle boat, too. Silas and I spent hours in this lake.”

“Are there snakes?”

I shrugged, trying to make it no big deal. “I’m sure there are some around here somewhere. They won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. Hey, look over there.”

Jaq’s eyes turned past me to the stray cat, her face lighting up like child on Christmas morning. She smiled, gasping with delight and kneeling to the ground. “Come here, sweet baby. Come on.”

I stood very still, watching her every move. It wasn’t the cat that captivated me; it was her. Jaq held out her hand, promising with her scent not to hurt her. The purred when Jaq held her close, snuggling into her neck like they were old friends. I watched, mesmerized, but unsure at what. Her or instant bond she seemed to have with this cat.

“You’re so pretty. Oh, I know, I love you, too,” Jaq cooed, connecting with the feline, giving her a silent vow to take care of her with the showering love.

Shifting my eyes to the tires on the gravel, instant panic set in. “Jaq, hold my hand.”

Her attention turned from the affectionate cat to my stressed expression, my hand, and then the cop car. “I’m going to run.”

“No, you’re not. Just keep holding the cat and hold my hand.” I didn’t give her a choice.

My hand swallowed hers, and she stepped behind me. The decision to stay put and let him come to us was made through a whirlwind of what could happen.

“Afternoon, son.”

I felt Jaq stiffen behind me, squeezing my arm as the cat hopped out of her arms. “What do you want now?”

“What’cha got here, Oliver Benson? Folks around here are telling me you brought a wild girl here. That true? You okay, girl?”

Again, Jaq tensed behind me, no words spoken. “She’s fine. What do you want?”

The sheriff spit a toothpick from between his teeth to the ground and nodded toward Jaq. “I’m following up on a report. I need to ask your wife here a few questions, make sure she’s here on her own free will.”

“She is, and unless I’m in trouble for something, I’d like for you to leave me alone. You’ve been giving me shit ever since I got here. There’s no crime here. Why don’t you go harass some drug dealers, or rapists?”

“Hey, what’s your name?”

If I didn’t know better, I would say I had help with the lie. I wasn’t even thinking it; it just came out. “She doesn’t talk and she can’t hear you. She’s deaf.”

I never realized someone could be on a power trip for so long. This guy had been on it for years.

He stepped toward her, and again, I felt her tense. “Is that so? Can you hear me, girl?”

“Her name is, Jaq, and I already told you. She can’t hear. Leave us alone, we’re not hurting anyone.”

“Jack?”

Not seeing the need, I didn’t correct him with the Q. “At least you can hear.”