Drawing Blood (33 page)

“Abigail, will you marry me?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go inside.”

“I don’t have any clothes -”

“So what? Come in.”

They put Archie to sleep on the spare bed, with pillows penning him in place. They left the door open since he would likely be upset when he woke.

David held her hand as they walked down the hall to his room. Abigail suddenly felt very old and tired, but his warm hand was the most comforting thing she’d known. In his room he left the lights off and helped her out of her dress and slip. She slid into bed in her underwear and he pulled the covers over both of them. They went to sleep without making love, but they held hands until the darkness eased them under.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Elliot

He had never felt so uneasy in his own house. Their family and friends had left abruptly, no one saying a word. The look on Janet’s face as everyone just walked past them was … He would have killed someone if she said it would make her feel better. But she said absolutely nothing.

They were washing and drying dishes, having put Caroline down to sleep. Janet wouldn’t look at him. He wanted to shake her, which he found troubling. Instead he continued drying the pots and pans, storing them away. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he had to ask.

“You told David about Hank Talbot?”

Janet’s back straightened and tensed. He could tell her shoulders clenched, too. “I might have … mentioned it when I was upset. When we went to see Archie the first time.”

Elliot let that sit for a while. “Why … why did he say that part about … you know.” He couldn’t even repeat it.

“The part about Hank making me put his cock in my mouth?” She supplied sharply. Even without that tone it would have sounded awful.

He didn’t reply.

“Because that’s the part I didn’t tell you. Hank said if I didn’t … he would tell you that we were an ongoing … item from the second you left.” As she scrubbed a pan her motions were very violent.

“But … you weren’t?”

She threw the rag in to the water, turning on him. “No, we weren’t. How dare you question my fidelity. He kissed me, I told him to stop, and he … threatened me. Black mailed me. Whatever you want to call it.”

She went back to the dishwater. Elliot was shaking now, more angry than he’d ever been.

“So you … did that? David was right?”

“I was drunk. I didn’t think I had a choice. Of course, the next day I realized that was idiotic. I should have … bit the fucking thing off.”

He looked out the window at the Talbot’s porch light over the fence. When the cold calm came over him he got scared. That’s when he knew he was enraged. He knew he would be a danger to Hank Talbot right then, too.

“Motherfucker,” he snarled.

Janet looked at him, surprised. “Elliot.”

“I’m going to kill him.” He put his cloth down and made for the door to the patio. She grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you dare! Elliot!” He dragged her along for a bit before she raised her voice. “Elliot!”

On cue Caroline started crying. Janet looked down the hallway, exasperated. After a pause she headed for the baby’s room.

Elliot followed her. “You should have told me the truth,” he said, knowing he sounded like he was angry with her, even though he wasn’t. “You should have told me everything.”

“I know, but I just … I couldn’t.” Janet was checking Caroline’s diaper, but obviously that wasn’t why she was crying.

“Why not? You can tell me anything. I told you everything.”

“I know.” She snapped back. “And I know how it felt to … to know everything. And nothing.”

“Don’t give me that. You thought I would blame you. I don’t, Janet. It’s him I want to rip limb from limb.  I’m upset you didn’t trust me enough to tell me all this.”

“How could I trust you?” She finally said, voice breaking. Dammit, she was crying now. “You came home different, Elliot. Your first night back … do you remember? Coming home? Do you remember making love to me, Elliot? I was terrified of you. You seemed the same at first but then you were … you scared me. You’ve never been that rough with me before.”

Elliot was stunned. He could remember them making love, but he didn’t remember it being violent. She hadn’t told him to stop, he knew that. Now he felt even worse.

“You came back eventually. You were yourself by the end of that first week, and I was so relieved. The nightmares were scary and you still seemed … different. Especially after the nightmares. Then you told me about this woman you had been with. And I … I was relieved. I blamed all the changes in you on guilt. But David? Tonight? His sudden change in demeanor? That was you when you first got home. Only when you were sleeping, true. But that … that was you.”

He was so confused, his mind was reeling.

“The meetings helped. Everything’s going back to normal, you’re more like yourself now. Then she shows up and … I’m drowning again, Elliot. I feel like I know nothing about you again. Without seeing her it was just a story I didn’t really have to believe but now …”

He backed up a step. “Janet, I’m sorry about that.”

“You keep saying that, but you can’t tell me why you did it. Just treat me like an adult and fucking talk to me!”

Caroline was yowling like she was competing to be heard. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “What … what do you want to know?”

She sighed, exasperated. “Let’s start with why? Why did that scrawny sawbones turn your head in the first place?”

Elliot was working without a plan. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t give me that. You still notice her. Don’t tell me you don’t!”

He closed his eyes. Tried to tell himself he didn’t still think she was lovely. How she was wearing that same yellow dress that Janet had worn to see him off when he left. How he could still remember the taste of her skin. “She was … she was kind to us, Janet. She took good care of David. She stitched him up, cleaned his wound, gave us a place to sleep for the first time in months.”

She was staring at him. She didn’t believe him.

He sighed. “I liked her smile. And she seemed so … sad. And alone.”

“So who made the first move?”

“Janet -”

“Tell me so I’m not left thinking the worst.”

“I kissed her first. After David killed a guy that was strangling her.”

Janet’s face looked horrified. “What?”

“There was a Resistance fighter that thought she had turned in other underground members. He came there to kill her. I was out, patrolling the yard. He attacked her, had her on the ground and was strangling her. He meant to kill her. The bruises were … they were bad.”

Her face was changing. She had been right, though. The more she knew …

His voice had all the emotion of an official debriefing. “There was also a German officer that had a … crush on her. She used it to escape the attentions of the German soldiers. He sort of … claimed her for his own. He raped her, once, she said. Second day there we were in a barn. It was raining; otherwise I might have heard him coming. She … she kissed me. He yelled out, calling her a whore in German, tried to shoot us. I was able to disarm him, we were fighting. He was tough. He was going to kill me. I don’t think I could have beat him. And she killed him. Shot him with my rifle right through the head. Then she put a couple more in him. She was in shock. I’d seen that before, from that first kill. Your adrenaline is flowing and you feel … invincible.  You’re ready to either do it again or just … keep that feeling of being alive going. We were both covered in blood. We got out of our clothes, and that’s when it happened.”

She looked like she might want him to stop. But instead she said, “How?”

“Another kiss. And I just … I had to. It wasn’t about want, even desire. All I knew was I wasn’t dead, neither was she. And that’s when we fucked, Janet.”

She flinched at his word choice.

“We started in the kitchen but didn’t want to wake David, so we went down to her bomb shelter. It took all of ten minutes and it wasn’t near as good as it is with you. It was just different and desperate and … it was like momentary insanity. I remember almost everything leading up to it, but the act itself is hazy.”

She left Caroline’s room, turning the light off. He followed her back to the kitchen.

“What else do you need to know, Janet?”

She was back to doing the dishes. “Did she … did she enjoy it?”

“What?”

She looked at him angrily. “Did she have an orgasm?”

“Janet -”

“And don’t tell me you don’t know for sure.”

“Yes, she did. Does that matter?”

“As long as you were courteous.”

“What is this doing, Janet? Is this making it worse than you imagined or not as bad?”

“You were just there for two days?”

“Yes, I told you that.”

She paused. “I don’t think I believed you.”

“It was a mistake, Janet. Every second of it. It was nice to feel something other than … being on guard constantly. It was the only time I wasn’t expecting to die.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what it would have been like.” Her voice was small. She was calming down, and he felt the fight leaving him, too. Everything felt bruised even if no one threw a punch between them.

They finished the dishes without another word. Once everything was put away he checked that the doors and windows were shut tight. When he joined Janet in the bedroom she was standing in front of the vanity, sliding her dress off her shoulders. It felt inappropriate but he couldn’t help but watch. She put a hand to the loose skin at her abdomen. She was self-conscious about it. He couldn’t care less; she was Janet and always would be the love of his life.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, leaning in the doorway. She caught his eyes in the mirror. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Each time I see you I just … I don’t deserve you.”

She crossed the room in her underwear, leaned in to him and put her hands on his chest. She undid the top buttons of his shirt, pulled out the shirt tails, and unfastened the rest of them. He let her undress him, and when she sank down to her knees he tried to pull her back up.

“Janet, don’t. Not like this.”

She looked up at him, pulling at the elastic of his shorts. “Please, Elliot. Let me.”

“This isn’t right.”

“I can’t … not for a few more weeks. And it’s already been a while, Elliot.”

“You … you’re upset.”

“I don’t want to go to sleep with her on your mind.”

“She’s not. I swear.”

“Don’t lie.” She pulled his shorts down. He wasn’t in the mood. “I want … I want this.”

She took him in her mouth and he closed his eyes. She teased him with her teeth and tongue, and there was only so much he could take before he reacted. He didn’t hold off. When he felt the tension rising he let it build and release without fighting it. He gave a guttural grunt and finished fast, intense. It felt fantastic. She was right: it had been a couple weeks since they’d been together. She had been so tired towards the end of the pregnancy.

She stood and turned off the light, moving to the bed. He felt terrible. Well, good, but terrible. That had been ugly, for the most part.  He didn’t want things to be that way with Janet.

He undressed in the dark and crawled in to bed next to her. She settled against his chest, her usual spot under his arm. He traced along her shoulder, knowing she liked that. He kissed the top of her head, then raised her head to kiss her lips. She kissed him back sweetly, and when he eased his tongue in to her mouth she pulled back.

“I can’t, Elliot. Remember what Doctor Martin said? He said to wait six weeks.”

“Just for intercourse, Janet.” He kissed her again, and this time she let him. He ran his hands over every part she let him, but she wouldn’t let him touch her stomach. He kept kissing her neck, breasts. She writhed under his fingertips, breathing softly but rapidly. He cautiously slid a hand between her legs, careful to touch only the spot that would give the reaction she needed. She softly gasped, moving her hips against the stroking of his hand. The sounds grew closer together until she cried out, legs stiff, body twitching.

He realized he’d been crying. His cheeks were wet with tears. Janet raised her head to kiss him, and that’s when she felt the tears, too.

“Oh, Elliot,” she whispered, then wrapped her arms around his neck. She started crying with him, and they held each other in the dark bedroom, shaking.

It was the worst and best night he’d ever known. Raw and terrible, sure. But it also felt like they were ready to honestly move forward. Together.

Chapter Fifty-Six

David

Within a week Abby and Archie were moved in to his house. They set up the spare room as Archie’s room, and he got his first “big boy” bed, which seemed to distract him from the fact that he was being picked up and moved to a strange house again.

David felt bad that they really didn’t seem to have very much to move. He knew that Abby left all her parent’s furniture in France, which was a shame since a lot of it had been really nice stuff. She was rootless too, just like him.

The first night they were first moved in they got Archie to bed late and he passed out before they even had the blanket covering him. They planned to have a glass of wine, relax for a bit, then go to bed themselves. He took her hand and led her down the stairs, when suddenly she stopped halfway down.

“What’s wrong?”

Abigail looked down the stairs, then up again, frowning. “I just realized … this is almost the same as the house in France.”

David chuckled, pulling her hand and getting her moving again. “I know. That’s one of the reasons I bought it.”

She stopped and spun him around to face her. “Really?”

He shrugged. “It was … comfortable. I immediately felt like I was at home when I walked in.”

To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. He hugged her back, confused by it. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s … too perfect.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“That’s very good.” She pulled back and gave him a quick kiss. “I … I love you, David.”

He felt the ridiculous grin spread across his face. “You … you do?”

“Yes.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Abby.” He gave her another kiss, an appropriate kiss for the moment when the woman you’re crazy about finally tells you she loves you.

The next weekend they were married by a justice of the peace. Emily served as Abby’s maid of honour. Tom was his best man, and Murphy was glad to serve as witness. He and Janet both attended with Caroline. To David’s surprise the entire thing wasn’t awkward at all. He suspected that Janet was happy to see Abigail married to someone, anyone. He caught a slight whiff of the same relief from Murphy, but he might have been imagining things.

Abigail looked stunning. She’d found an ivory-coloured suit to wear, and she wore her hair up; something he’d never seen her do before. Her neck looked long and elegant, and the bit of make-up she’d put on was just perfect. She couldn’t have been any more beautiful.

By way of a reception they invited their little wedding party back to their house where they had a meal prepared. It was his backyard so he took over the grill, and the women took over the kitchen to get everything else ready.

They sat down around the patio table to eat, and it was a subdued but happy affair. Tom and Emily got on well with Murphy and Janet, but it would appear that Emily could get an entire room of people to get along.

Tom and Murphy were able to share different and polite-company-appropriate war stories. Janet and Abby even commiserated on motherhood stories. He was pleased when Janet thanked Abby for her gift. It had just been undershirts, face cloths, diapers and diaper pins, but Abby had insisted you only thought you had enough of them. Janet confirmed she needed every single item.

Their guests left around ten at night. Archie had fallen asleep on the couch so he carried him up the stairs to his room, dressing him in his pajamas and putting him to bed without him even waking up. Jesus, he wished he could sleep like that.

He left the bedside lamp on then eased the door most of the way shut. He found Abby in the kitchen, running water to start the last of the dishes. Their guests had helped with most of them but the pots and pans were still dirty.

David turned the water off, and she looked at him, laughing. “We have to wash these, David. They’ll be dried up by the morning.”

“So let them soak.” He caught her hands and pulled her to him. “It’s our wedding night, Abby.”

“I know.”

“We’re not supposed to be doing dishes.” He kissed her neck, and she sighed, letting her head fall to the side.

“I won’t sleep if these are sitting here dirty,” but she giggled as he nipped at her collarbone.

“You’ll sleep. I’ll make sure you’re tired.”

“David …” but she followed him up the stairs, turning the lights off as they went.

Under her dress she was wearing white lingerie that he’d never seen before. When she dropped the shift to the floor and he saw it all at once he thought it might make him go blind.

“Abby … oh my God.”

She backed him up to the bed, and he sat on the edge when she kept coming. She put his hands on her hips, and he pulled the panties down over the garters and stockings.
She put them on underneath
, he was telling himself, his hands shaking.
She’s going to keep them on.

She pressed down on his shoulders, pushing him back on to the bed as he was unbuttoning his shirt. “Keep it on,” she whispered when he was about to shrug out of it. He did as told. She undid his belt and pants, pulling them right off with his shorts. He wriggled further on to the bed as she got on her knees over him, crawling up over him, stopping to kiss, nip, and suck here and there.

His brain was overreacting to every touch, and he was completely stunned by everything she was doing. She wasn’t usually like this but he liked it.

She settled across his hips, kissing him deeply, her breasts brushing against his chest. He slid his hands to her hips but she pushed them down to her thighs. She grasped him in her hand and eased him inside, no condom. His fingers bit in to her skin as she lowered herself all the way down, tossing her head back. He wanted to watch her, but he wasn’t sure if he could take it. He squeezed them shut as she found a rhythm that seemed to work for her. Jesus, she felt so fantastic. She rolled her hips back and forth, and when he thought he could handle it he opened his eyes. She had her eyes closed, her head to the side, biting her lip. She knew what she was doing; she certainly didn’t need any help from him. 

She’d never been on top before. He really should have asked her to do it sooner.

The room filled with the sound of her whimpers, and he had to close his eyes again and think of something else, anything else. When she sped up he clenched his jaw, but it was of no use. He couldn’t stop. She cried out, head back, her body tightening around him. He was done. He cried out as she was finishing. He might have seen stars for a minute.

She slid off him to the side, collapsing next to him with a satisfied sigh. He put his arms around her shoulders and she rested her head on his chest. “Wow, Abby. Just … wow.”

She giggled, pulling the sheet up over them. “I was hoping you might hold on a little longer.”

“I’m sorry. We haven’t … you know … without a …”

She trailed a finger along his collarbone. “I thought tonight should be special … since we’re not exactly virgins on our wedding night here.”

“Believe me … I appreciated it. As you could tell.”

She sighed again, closing her eyes, a small smile on her lips. “That was … a nice day.”

“It was,” he agreed, eyes sliding shut. Then they flew open again. “But what if … you get pregnant?”

She shrugged as much as one can while laying on their side. “Would that be so terrible?”

David had to close his eyes as he smiled. “That would be almost too much to be grateful for.”

Her breathing was warm on his skin, and he eased in to sleep slowly. When he woke, it was because she had gasped and jolted next to him.

Automatically he reached for the lamp as she was saying, “Someone’s in here.”

The light came on and he blinked against it, just in time to see the woman standing next to the bed. He didn’t know who it was right away; he was too focused on the barrel of the handgun she had trained on him.

He froze, and Abigail gasped, sitting up and pulling the sheet over her chest.

“I was going to ask why you weren’t at your house anymore at night … and I guess now I know,” Evelyn Thoureux had tears streaking her face and her hand was shaking visibly. He put his hands up.

“Evelyn, what are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?”

Next to him Abby whispered Archie’s name. He’d had the same thought.

“Is that the kid? He’s fine. I have nothing against him. You though …” she clicked the safety off.

He sat up slowly. “Evelyn, what is this about? There was only one thing between us, Evelyn. Remember?”

“No, I cared about you.”

“No, you didn’t. You’d get what you wanted and leave … every time.” She looked over at Abby, but he didn’t want Evelyn looking at her. “Evelyn? This is a bad idea.”

“I could shoot both of you and likely get away with it.”

“Maybe.” She looked over at Abby again, and he decided there was no point in talking in circles here. He grabbed her wrist, shoving it upward. She was startled and it didn’t occur to her to pull the trigger.

David groaned in relief, then anger. He pushed her over, keeping the hand with the gun. He wrenched it out of her grip, dislocating her finger. He didn’t care.

Abby darted off the bed, taking the sheet with her. She went for Archie’s room and shut the door behind her.

He tossed the gun on the bed, reaching for his shorts. He couldn’t be mad without pants on.

Evelyn was curled up against the wall, sobbing and cradling the hand he’d damaged. He yanked her to her feet by her arm roughly. He could smell the booze on her then. Mostly, all he was aware of was his own blinding rage.

“You are your own brand of crazy, you know that?”

She just sobbed in response.

“You dare to come in here waving a gun around my wife and kid? Get the fuck out of my house!” He dragged her down the steps to the front door. It stood open still. Did she steal a key or something? Didn’t matter. He was changing all the locks the next day.

“How about you just leave me alone and no one has to know what a crazy bitch you are. Go be someone else’s nightmare.”

He shoved her out the door and she stumbled on the stoop but caught her balance as he was slamming the door and locking it.

Archie was crying upstairs from all the noise. He turned on the porch light and watched as she slinked her way back to her car.

He met up with Abby back in their room. She had a robe on now, and she was holding Archie while he shrieked. Cursing, he took the gun off the bedspread and put it in the nightstand drawer. She was shaking, but she managed a smile up at him. “Friend of yours?”

“Someone I used to spend time with.” He pulled back the blanket and climbed in to bed next to them. Archie held his chubby arms out to him, and David took him from Abby. She rubbed his back as he was passed over.

He sat Archie on his lap, leaning back against the headboard. “I’m sorry Abby. She … she likes men in uniform. Chases after them. The guys from work thought it would be funny not to let me in on the secret. She’s actually the wife of a really rich property developer, which was a messy situation since he just hired Elliot’s company to build their next apartment complex.”

Archie quieted down, resting his head against David’s chest.

“You were … a bit hard on her, weren’t you?”

He looked at her, surprised. “She had a gun, Abby. In the house with you and Archie.”

Her smile was a bit sad. “I’m glad you defended us, but … that was scary.”

He put his arm out and she slid next to him, rubbing Archie’s tummy. “I’m sorry. I got angry, that’s true. But I’d never lay a violent hand on you, Abby.”

“I believe you.”