CHAPTER 5
“Marla. Marla, look at me.” Pete commanded. She looked into his blue eyes, still in a fog. “You need to find someplace else to stay tonight. We won’t be done in here until morning. Do you want me to call someone for you?” Pete offered.
Marla thought for a minute before answering. “No, I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ll just stay out here tonight with the dogs.”
“You can’t do that, you need to get some sleep, but you can let the dogs stay in the yard if you want. Everyone seems to like you in town, I’m sure you know someone who’d take you in for the night.”
“No. I don’t have any friends like that. I wouldn’t dare put anyone in that position. I’ve purposely kept to myself in case something bad from my old life came after me. If I had friends they could use that against me and possibly hurt them so it’s just me and the dogs. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine and lord knows I’ve survived worse.” Marla slouched down into the chair and extended her legs, crossing them at the ankle as she rested her head on the back of the chair. She crossed her arms over her full breasts and closed her eyes to try and sleep, taking comfort in the fact that the house was filled with cops. Thanking her lucky stars that things could have been worse. Whoever was behind these invasions didn’t seem to want to do her any physical harm. They just wanted something she had, or at least thought she had.
Damn she’s stubborn! Pete stood with his hands on his hips and stared at her as he thought about the situation. Finally he made a decision.
“Marla, take my car and drive over to my place. You can stay there since I’ll be here all night anyway. I live in that blue house across the street from the hardware store, you know the one?” Pete asked.
“Ummm, Pete, thank you for the offer, but you don’t have to do that for me. I’ll be fine really. Besides, I don’t know how to drive.” Marla confessed.
“You don’t know how to drive or you can’t because you don’t have a license?” Pete needed clarification.
“I don’t know how to operate a vehicle,” Marla answered more firmly this time.
“Wow. That would mean you were probably living in a large city with mass transportation available before you were dumped here. I didn’t see anything about that in the reports I pulled on you at the station. Did anyone ever ask you about this before?”
“No, I don’t think it ever came up. I walk everywhere but then so do a lot of people who live in town. It’s never been an issue.”
“It could be a lead to your past. I promise I’ll look into it but for now I’ll have a black and white drive you to my house. I’ll keep them stationed outside until I get home. What time do you need to get up for work tomorrow?” Marla smiled.
“Four thirty.”
“Please, please tell me you’re kidding me,” Pete begged.
“Sorry, time to make the doughnuts. It’s not just a saying. Four thirty, at the latest.” Marla smiled broadly now and Pete noticed how it lit up her face. Beautiful, he thought. She’s simply beautiful.
“I’ll make sure you get there on time. You better get your cute little buns in bed. Oh my, it’s almost seven o’clock, way past your bedtime,” Pete teased and laughed as he led her to the police car.
“I’ll take care of the dogs and bring you some fresh clothes when I come to get you. I can’t let you into the house until CSI is done so I’ll have to do the packing for you. Make yourself at home and I’ll see you later.” Pete held her head down as she got into the back of the police car. At first it was just habit but when he felt the silky texture of her hair he extended the contact a little longer than necessary and gave her neck a little massage before closing the door.
When Pete got home at two o’clock in the morning he checked in on Marla. He looked on as she curled herself even tighter into the fetal position as she slept restlessly. He took his shower and had just enough time to slip on his sweat pants when he heard her screams. He grabbed his gun and raced into the bedroom to find Marla having a nightmare. She was fighting off someone as her arms flailed in the air and she struggled with her imaginary attacker.
“Marla! Marla, wake up. It’s all right. It’s only a dream. You’re okay. Shhhh.” Pete lain down on the bed with her and held her tightly in his arms, kissing the top of her head gently until she settled into him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled herself even closer, wishing she could just go inside his body and hide. She managed to squeak out her plea “please, stay with me. I’m scared.”
“Of course I’ll stay. You go back to sleep now and I’ll wake you when it’s time.” Pete held her tightly until he felt her body relax and her breathing evened out. Now his heart ached for her and what she’d been through. She had to be one of the strongest women he’d ever met but everyone had their breaking point and he sensed that Marla wasn’t far from hers. He needed to get some answers before that happened. All right, so he cared about her. So what? It wasn’t a crime to care about someone. Besides, Marla was special. She had an innocence about her that made him want to protect her and take care of her. No biggie, really. He could handle it, or at least that was what he was telling himself for now.
Pete managed to get Marla to work on time but made no secret of his intention to go straight home and go back to bed. He did just that after he made sure she was safely inside the bakery and saw Betsy beating up some dough on the counter. He was glad she wasn’t alone or he would have had to stay until someone else showed up. When he got home he crawled into bed eagerly, only to be distracted by the sweet smell of Marla on his sheets. He tossed and turned while he tried to put her out of his head but after a half hour he gave up and got dressed. When he walked into the bakery Marla smiled, genuinely happy to see him.
“I thought you went home to get more beauty sleep,” Marla commented as she poured him his coffee and handed it to him.
“That was the original plan but something got in the way,” Pete said in his usual morning grouchiness.
“What? Don’t tell me something else happened to my house. Are the dogs all right?”
“Yes, they’re fine. By the way, does Curly ever suck his tongue into his mouth?” Pete asked concerned.
“Never. Why, did you think he’d been poisoned or something?”
“Something like that. Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Anyway, that wasn’t the problem.” Pete lowered his voice and moved in closer to Marla. “Someone left the sweetest, nicest smell on my sheets. I couldn’t get to sleep because I kept thinking about who had done that to my sheets.” Pete smiled broadly as he watched Marla’s face blush to a beautiful rosy pink.
“Sorry about that. I’ll stop by and wash them for you later today, and thanks again for giving me a place to stay and a shoulder to sleep on. That was the first bad dream I’ve had since I woke up in the hospital. I acted like a scared little ninny.” Marla shook her head at the memory of the dream.
“Don’t you dare touch those sheets, I like them just as they are and you’re welcome anytime between my sheets. Do you remember what the dream was about?”
“Not really, just bits and pieces. I was fighting someone off, I remember that much anyway.”
“Where were you in the dream?” Pete asked, hoping for a little subconscious slip.
“Ummm, in my bedroom at my house, the one I live in now. It was a man but he was all in black, even his face, so that only his eyes showed through the mask. They were big and bulgy and really bloodshot, terribly red really, with brown iris’, but not a nice brown, more like a shit brown. And angry, very angry. That’s all I remember.” Marla shrugged her shoulders and shivered as she remembered the terror that had seized her in the dream. Pete’s arm immediately went around her shoulders and pulled her into him as he gave her a reassuring squeeze. Marla put her splayed hand on his broad, muscular chest and rubbed it slowly and gently. When she realized what she was doing she stepped back abruptly just as his ar
m released her as if it were on fire. They were both taken aback by their actions, although Pete was silently very pleased with her reaction to him. Yes, he could definitely get used to wrapping his arms around her--and much, much more. Pete forced himself back to reality and grabbed his bakery selection. He waved as he headed out the door while others streamed into the bakery, oblivious to it all, except Betsy of course. She had watched the whole thing from the kitchen and did some silent clapping of her own, happy that they seemed to have found each other at last.
After the morning rush was over Marla made her way back into the kitchen for a much needed break and a cup of coffee. There she found Betsy rolling out the dough for the next batch of apple cinnamon rolls with nuts. For some reason Betsy had a huge smile on her face.
“What are you up to now Miss Betsy?” Marla asked suspiciously.
“Nothing, I’m just happy to see you and that cop finally getting ‘along’ for lack of a better term. You make a nice couple, that’s all,” Betsy answered with her tongue in cheek.
“Well, I did spend the night in his bed last night.” Marla heard the empty bowl clatter to the floor and laughed. Two could play this game.
“Spill it or I’ll have to torture it out of you!” Betsy commanded.
Marla let her stew a minute before she explained the unfortunate events of the previous night. She left out the part about the bad dream and the cuddle session that had followed, not wanting to encourage Betsy’s matchmaking spirit.
“Now I’m just stalling. I have to go home and clean-up that mess. Yuck! Do you know they had the nerve to dump every canister in my kitchen right in the middle of the floor! It’ll take me forever,” Marla whined.
“I have a suggestion. Lizzie Michaels is always looking to make some extra money, why don’t you call her to help?” Betsy had a good idea there, Marla thought.
“Yeah. Great idea. Do we have her phone number anywhere? I’ll give her a call.”
In no time at all Marla had made arrangements for Lizzie to stop by the bakery and pick-up Marla’s house key so she could get started. Marla had some ordering to do and a lot of bill paying before she could concentrate on that disaster. She gave Lizzie her key and instructions and decided she better call Pete and let him know about Lizzie.
“Wynott Police Department, may I help you?” The gruff voice answered the phone.
“May I speak to Pete Jensen please?” She used her sweetest voice, hoping the guy didn’t ask who was calling. Gossip was not limited to the bakery and Marla knew by Betsy’s response that the rumbles of romance wouldn’t take long to hit the grapevine.
“Hold on.”
“Pete Jensen, can I help you?” Pete sounded aggravated.
“Hi Pete. It’s Marla. I didn’t mean to interrupt but I just thought that I’d let you know that I gave Lizzie Michaels my house key and sent her over to start cleaning-up.” Marla rushed out the story.
“Oh, that’s good. That place is a wreck. I don’t know this Lizzie person, is she trustworthy?” Pete seemed much calmer and even a little concerned.
“Yeah, and she’s had some added medical expenses lately so she could really use the extra money. I’ve been helping her a little here and there for the last couple of months so I trust her. Anything new on the detective work yet?” Marla liked talking to Pete, it made her feel safe and it was nice to have someone to talk to.
“Well nothing concrete yet but I have a lot of calls out, kind of playing phone tag with some folks at the FBI. I’ll let you know when I have anything solid. So, since you have the house in good hands, what’s on your schedule for the rest of the day?” Was he actually making conversation with a woman? This was so not supposed to happen, but he was hooked and he knew it.
“Ordering supplies and doing payroll, paying bills, and all the other non-fun things there are to running a business. Umm, Pete, I just want to thank you again for staying with me last night and taking me in like a stray wet kitten. I really appreciate it and I also have to warn you that the gossips are starting to have a field day over it. I think I may have put you in a bad position, maybe even helped your bad guy image a little. Sorry about that.” Marla closed her eyes and cringed, expecting a very negative comment.
“Hah! Let them go at it and have a good time. God bless them, because from what I understand I needed some good publicity. I guess my image has come across a little tarnished to the general population. Another plus is that maybe every single woman in a twenty mile radius will stop leaving food on my doorstep and some very inappropriate notes to go along with it.”
“So you’re telling me I have a little competition?” Marla asked, amused.
“I’ve never met ninety nine percent of them and that other one percent are old enough to be my mother!” Pete chuckled into the phone. “I think you’re safe, for now that is.”
“Well thank goodness, I don’t think I could handle any more problems right now, my plate’s pretty full. I guess I better let you go. Thanks for the chat, it helped.”
“Good. Talk to you soon.” Pete smiled as he put down the phone. When he looked up he saw the entire squad room staring at him with open, gaping mouths. He addressed the group as a whole.
“Something wrong?”
“No, nothing at all, loverboy. Did you give Marla a smooch over the phone or did you go straight for the phone sex?” Dillon asked as the whole room erupted into loud laughter. Pete could have denied his feelings for Marla but he knew that was useless and would only encourage the group, possibly inciting them to riot. He just kept his cool, this wasn’t the first time he’d been teased and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“Unlike you Dillon, I don’t have to resort to phone sex because I can get the real thing.” That shut him up as the rest of the group gave a low ‘woooooo’ sound.
“This isn’t over pretty boy,” Dillon said as he pointed his fat, stubby finger at Pete.
“Actually, I think it is. I’m going to lunch.” Pete stood and grabbed his jacket as he sauntered out the door, round one, Pete.
Marla sat at her desk and smiled for no particular reason. That was a lie and she had to stop doing that to herself. It was because of Pete and no other reason. His reaction to the news of the gossips wasn’t at all what she had expected. She was sure he’d be mad as a hornet but instead seemed pleased. For the first time in, actually forever, Marla allowed herself to entertain the idea of dating and the possibility of love entering her life. She’d been lonely these last three years but never felt she had the right to involve someone in her mixed-up life. What could she possibly bring into a relationship? She didn’t even know what kind of person she had been. No history to speak of and no memorable life experiences to draw from. But with Pete, she didn’t feel the need to explain herself. He accepted her just as she was. She just hoped that what she was now would be enough, because beyond that there was nothing.