Christmas With Hover Hill (5 page)

Hover came back and set the wine glasses on the table
beside an ice bucket with the wine bottle in it He took the bottle
out of the ice and poured wine in the stemmed glasses.

“
Thank you, Hover. You may wind down for the
evening,” Elizabeth said.

“
What I do is called power down,” Hover
corrected.

“
Sorry,” Elizabeth replied, waving him away.
She held her breath, waiting to see if the robot would obey without
some wise cracking objection. To her amazement, he went quietly to
the corner.

Zoe, opened mouth, watched the exchange between them.
She leaned toward Elizabeth and whispered, “Is he safe to be
near?”

“
Yes. At least I think so. I've only had him
here for a few days. The only thing about him I find annoying is
his mouth.”

“
Why?” Zoe hissed.

“
He has a bossy attitude when it is just him
and me here. He's good at rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe it's just
because I've lived alone for so long. I'm not used to him yet.”
Elizabeth took a drink. “This is good white wine.”

Zoe curiously eyed Hover Hill as she said, “It's
called Warm Kiss. The label said it was a wine for romantic
moments. Sorry I had the wrong impression about what was going on
in here.”

Wheels were turning in Elizabeth's brain as she
watched Zoe. She brightened up. “I just had an idea. How would you
like to take Hover Hill home and try him out? He does anything you
tell him to do. As soon as Scott comes back from a business trip,
he's going to take Hover with him. He can come to your house and
pick the robot up. That will be right after Christmas so you
wouldn't have to keep him very long.”

“
Oh, no! You're not going to push that robot
off on me when you haven't even broken him in yet. He may mind you
well enough, but who knows what else he might try besides doing
what you tell him. I don't know what all he's programmed to do, and
I'm worried that you don't know, either,” Zoe protested. “I don't
think I like the idea of you being here alone with him.”

“
Zoe! Don't be ridiculous. He's just a robot,”
Elizabeth declared.

“
He might be, but he's a man robot and a good
looking one,” Zoe whispered in a know it all manner. “Scott should
have found you a woman robot to be your maid if you needed a
helper. That would have been much more suitable. Sorry, but that
robot is your problem.”

Chapter 4

The next evening, Elizabeth stretched out on the
couch. She was almost to the end of her book when the door bell
rang. She wasn't expecting anyone. Maybe Scott finished his trip
faster so he could spend Christmas with her. Her heart soared as
she raced to let him in.

She had a hard time believing who smiled back at her
when she opened the door. Her former boyfriend, Steven Mitchell.
“Merry Christmas, Beth. Can I come in?”

In a weak moment due to the shock of seeing him, she
stood aside and let him in. “I don't know why you would want to
come here but all right. I guess, but only for a few minutes.”

“
I moved back to town, and you have been in my
thoughts a lot. I decided to come by and tell you just how much
I've missed you in my life,” Steven said as he walked passed
her.

“
That's rather hard to believe. Have you been
by your ex-wife's place and said the same thing to her?” Elizabeth
asked sarcastically.

Steven waited for her to sit down on the couch and
sat beside her. “I take it you've heard it's all over for Lois and
me?”

“
I've heard. I'm sorry things didn't work out
for you,” Elizabeth said flatly.

Hover came from the kitchen to interrupt. “Beth, can
I get you and your company anything?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but Steven beat
her to it. “A glass of wine for each of us would be fine if you
have it, Hover.”

“I'll get it,” Hover said as he left the room.

Elizabeth noted something seemed off. As
uncomfortable as she was with the robot, Steven seemed to relate
well to Hover Hill already. He didn't ask questions about Hover
Hill or seem the least bit surprised that the robot was in her
apartment.

After an awkward silence, Steven asked, “How do you
like the robot?”

“
I don't. Scott is taking him out of here as
soon as he gets back from a business trip.”

“
I see. Scott is gone over Christmas? That's
unusual. Don't you two spend the holidays together?” Steven quizzed
while Hover poured their wine.

“
Not this year.” Elizabeth took a sip from her
glass to keep from looking at Steven. She didn't want him to see
how disappointed she was.

Steven drank from his glass as he studied Elizabeth.
He placed his glass on the coffee table before he said, “I have an
idea. Since Scott isn't going to be here, maybe we could spend some
time together. After all, I haven't anywhere to go for the
holidays, either.”

“
I don't think so,” Elizabeth said quickly. She
tipped her glass and finished drinking the wine.

“
Hover refill our wine glasses,” Steven
ordered. He focused on Elizabeth. “Now, Beth, don't speak so
hastily. We should discuss this some more. After all, it would be
nice to spend the holiday with you again. Just like old
times.”

Hover picked up the wine bottle in the ice bucket. He
poured and settled the bottle in the ice.

“
You may shut down for the night, Hover Hill.
We won't need you any longer,” Steven ordered.

The robot obeyed. Elizabeth frowned as the
robot went to his corner.
Why did Hover
Hill quietly do what Steven told him when he's always so lippy to
me?
She let the thought go
with
, Must be a man thing.

For a while, Elizabeth and Steven caught each other
up with what had happened in their lives since Steven and Lois left
town until the present time. Elizabeth wondered if it was the wine
that made her talkative. Maybe it was the fact she felt the old
attraction for Steven coming back to her. Goodness, she really had
missed these chats with him.

Steven studied Hover a moment. “So Scott is going to
get rid of the robot for you?”

“
As soon as he comes back. I can't wait. That
robot doesn't give me a moment of peace. He's almost too human like
for me which creeps me out. I don't know what Scott was thinking
when he gave me that thing for a Christmas gift.”

“
Perhaps you just have to get used to Hover
Hill being around,” Steven suggested.

“
That was Scott's thought. I'm not buying it. I
don't think getting used to that robot will ever happen. See all
the Christmas decorations.” Elizabeth waved her hand around the
room. “I haven't put them up in years. Isn't much point to going to
all that bother for myself. Plus, it's work taking them down again.
I came home to find Hover had the apartment decorated without me
telling him to do it. Next thing I knew, he figured out how to use
the DVD player, and he was playing Christmas carols.”

“
And that is a bad thing how?” Steven asked.
The corners of his mouth twitched.

“
I could care less about Christmas except for
the time I spend with Scott. Hover Hill had
White Christmas
playing when he had the nerve to
ask me to dance with him. How is that acting like a robot for Pete
sakes? I tried to turn him down, because I was busy grading term
papers. He wouldn't give up so I danced with him. The next thing I
knew the robot was psychoanalyzing me. He said I was afraid of
commitment. Of all things for him to accuse me of!” Elizabeth
paused a moment. She took a drink of wine and looked over the glass
at Steven. “I guess he did give me a reason to think about you and
me after he brought it up.”

Steven closed in on her and put his arm around her
shoulders. “That's wonderful, Beth. I'd hoped when I came here we
could discuss getting back together after Hover Hill paved the way
for my entrance back into your life.”

He confused Elizabeth. “I don't understand. You
should tell me how you would expect a robot you didn't know about
to make things right for you and me.”

“
Perhaps, I shouldn't have said anything,”
Steven admitted, pouring himself another drink.

“
Oh, but do go on and elaborate more on this
subject. I'm really interested. You have my full attention now. How
much did you know about Hover Hill being here before tonight?”
Elizabeth insisted. “I knew you didn't act surprised when you saw
the robot here with me. In fact, you carried a comfortable
conversation with him. He followed your orders well. I thought only
Scott and I knew Hover well enough to do that. Now that I think
about it, I didn't mention his name until after you said it, and
that has been several times in the last hour. Steven, maybe you
better tell me what is it that I don't know?”

“
Maybe I should. I don't want you to be mad at
Scott. I'm the one that programmed Hover Hill to know your likes
and dislikes. My plan was to get the robot to help me make you more
receptive to my return. Like I said, I've always regretted not
staying with you. Lois and I didn't have much of a marriage from
the very start, and it went down hill from there.”

“
I see. What was Scott's part in this
deception?” Elizabeth asked quietly.

Steven looked sheepish. “I convinced Scott to help me
give Hover Hill to you as a Christmas gift so you would let the
robot into the apartment.”

Elizabeth ran a finger up and down the stem of her
wine glass as she digested all this information. “So Scott lied to
me about needing to go on a business trip over Christmas. What idea
did you give my brother to keep him from being here to spend
Christmas with me?”

“
Scott was the one worried about you spending
so much time by yourself. When I called him, he thought it was a
good idea for me to connect with you again. I just mentioned to
Scott with him out of the picture, you and I could spend Christmas
together,” Steven said honestly.

Elizabeth shot to her feet, whirled to face him,
folded her arms over her chest and glared down at him as she
exploded, “I want you to leave now.”

The pleased with himself mask faded from Steven's
face. “Please, let me explain so you understand how we thought this
was in your best interest and mine. After I realized how much I
missed you, I was desperate to get you to take me back. I realized
I still love you. I always have,” he pleaded.

“
You certainly didn't show your love for me
when you left me for another woman and married her. Now that you're
divorced, you're so desperate to get back in my good graces you
have the bad taste to use such elaborate trickery. Bringing a robot
into my home to brainwash me was a new low for even you. No, I'll
never understand how you could do this to me. And, Scott, my own
brother! How could Scott go along with such a trick? How could he
help you do this to me when he knows how much our being together
for Christmas means to me?”

“
Give me a chance to help you understand our
reasoning,” Steven pleaded.

Elizabeth picked up the wine bottle by the neck as
she edge toward him. “No, I've heard enough. I don't want to hear
anything else you have to say. Get out of here!”

Steven bolted off the couch and backed away. “You
will regret pushing me away once you've calm down. You know we
belong together, Beth,” he said as he shrugged into his coat.
“Think about how much we meant to each other before and how good it
would be with us together again. Call me when you've cooled
down.”

“
No, face it. I won't be calling you. Not
ever.” Elizabeth pointed a stiff finger at the door. “Get out of
here, Steven, and don't come back ever.”

After the door shut, Elizabeth paced around the room,
thinking about the kind of jerk Steven had become. Or, was he
always this conniving? Maybe she had been so in love with Steven
that she hadn't notice he would go to any length to get what he
wanted.

This evening, he was so insistent that she was going
to come back to him. All she needed was a little time to cool down.
She really didn't want to let him get close to her again. Once the
new wore off in their rekindled relationship, some other woman
would come along that caught Steven's fancy. He'd be gone again
just like before. She couldn't trust him not to hurt her again.

Her brother had been just as untrustworthy. He had
gone along with a man that left her once and was trying to deceive
her to get back in her good graces. To do it, Scott had left her
alone for Steven to coerce into his way of thinking on Christmas.
The special holiday time Scott and she always spent together.
That's how much her own brother cared about her. He had become more
like the unfeeling man their father was then she could have ever
imagined.

She needed to get away and decide what she wanted to
do about this mess, before Steven came back to hound her again. She
was sure that he wasn't going to let things end with tonight. Scott
would probably be calling in soon when Steven told him they had
been caught in this deception. He'd be sure to tell Scott how angry
she was with both of them. She didn't want to talk to either of
them for a while. She needed time by herself. Time to think about
this mess.

Where could she go that they wouldn't find her? If
she used a credit card, she'd leave a paper trail. She'd have to
get cash from the bank. Enough money to tide her over for a while.
Maybe what she should do was take a leave from her job and spend
six months away from Cedar Falls.