Strangely Normal (22 page)

He sat on the stool at the counter. “How did I get involved in this?”

“Really? Oh my gosh, guys are so clueless. Megan is so nuts about you, she’s ready to pick out a china pattern.”

“You mean that chick who waits on me in here? I’ve hardly ever said hello to her.”

“Well, you leave her generous tips, and she seems to have decided that that means a serious commitment.”

“I always leave big tips.” He pulled out his phone, sent a text, and then leaned his elbows back on the counter. “Anyhow, I didn’t come here to talk about her.”

“Why did you come?”

He stared at me with that expression I could swear he spent time working on in the mirror. “I’m an ass,” he said.

“No argument here.”

“I was upset and I lashed out at you and it was wrong. I was pissed at myself, and for some stupid reason, I took it out on you.”

“You could have just reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. It would have hurt less.”

He leaned forward. “Come back, Eden. Finley’s been asking for you. She really tore me a new one when she found out why you left.”

“So, this is just a ploy to save your own ass.”

He jumped off the stool and took hold of my arm. “No, this is a ploy to save my heart.”

I stared down at his fingers wrapped around my arm. His face was near mine, but I was not going to give in. I was not going to look up at him because if I did, anything could happen. His phone rang and he released me to answer it.

“Hey. Yeah. Hold on.” He stretched out his arm to hand me the phone. “It’s Finley.”

I had no idea the impact just hearing she was on the other end of the line would have on me. I stared at the phone slightly stunned and then reached over and picked it up.

“Hey,” I pushed the syllable out of my throat.

“Eden?”

“Yep, it’s me.” This time the words came out through sobs.

“Do you hate me?” she asked and her words broke too.

“Never.”

“Is my brother, the ass, standing there listening in?” she asked.

“Yes, yes he is.” I wiped my eyes.

“I told you he was an ass.”

“You did warn me.”

“But he really cares for you, Eden. Frankly, I can’t stand to see him mope around here like Mr. Poopy Pants.”

A laugh spurted from my mouth.

“Is she calling me Mr. Poopy Pants again?” Jude reached for the phone, but I waved his arm away.

“Eden, I want you to come back. I think it will really help me. I confess, the medicine is already helping me feel better. It makes me feel kind of numb but a good numb. Like I could let some things go and not go ballistic about them.”

“That’s great, Finley.”

“So will you?”

I paused and looked at Jude. Everything about him still stole my breath, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle all of it again. “I’ll think about, Finley.”

“I’ve only got one more thing to say then. Come back, come back, come back.”

“Actually, that’s three things.”

“No, it’s me remember. Three times is once in my world, otherwise I would have repeated
come back
nine times, which I could still do if it would help convince you.”

I smiled. “You sound good, Finley. Like your old, quirky self.”

“Thanks . . . I think. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

“I will.”

She hung up. I handed Jude the phone and raised my brow at him. “You play dirty.”

“Yep, I guess I sort of do.” He looked toward the small staircase that led up to my room. “Are you staying here by yourself?”

I shrugged slightly embarrassed at my situation. “The rent is free as long as I’m here to open up early. The owner’s a nice, old man, but the place is too much for him to run.”

“It’s not safe, Eden. This neighborhood sucks, and the lock on that door can be snapped with one good shove.” He took hold of my hand and even though he only touched my fingers, I could feel it through my entire body. “Come home with me, Valley.” It was the first time he’d used the nickname since that horrid night, and while I’d always thought of it as humorous and even a bit annoying, the sound of it now made my heart ache for him.

“I need some time to think about it, Jude.” I looked around the place. “I’m on my own here, working at this diner, and I kind of like it. Independence feels good.”

“But you will think about it?” He walked to door and looked back. “Lock this thing as soon as I walk out.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He looked at me as if there was nothing in the world he wanted more than to kiss me and there was nothing I wanted more, but the incident was still too fresh. And he knew it, just like he knew he was going to leave without that kiss. He pointed at the lock. “Don’t forget.” He walked out and turned in the direction of the bar, and I wondered if that was where he was headed. Then he crossed the street to the construction site. I watched him for a moment and then dragged my tired legs upstairs.

The onion smell was particularly stubborn, and I had to go through the torturously slow process of washing my hair twice. Getting up before five had made me super tired in the late afternoon and with a completely unwatchable television set, I fell asleep with a towel wrapped around my wet hair and my mind wrapped around Jude King.

Chapter 25

A high-pitched scream woke me from a sound sleep. I jolted up in bed, and the towel unraveled and fell onto the floor. The room was dark. I felt for the light switch and flipped it on. A frightening stillness followed, and I listened over my pounding heart for another noise but silence followed. Momentarily, I wondered if the scream had just been part of a dream and then I heard voices down below on the sidewalk. I pressed my face against the window to get a better view of the bar next door. Several of the street lights overhead were broken, and the sidewalk was dimly lit but I could see several figures rustling around in front of the bar. Then I heard a scream again. It was Megan.

I scrambled to put on my shoes. I raced downstairs, unlocked the door, and ran down the sidewalk. A hulking guy, with a neck the circumference of a telephone pole and a shoulder span that rivaled the width of the building behind him, held Megan tightly around the waist. She looked as if she’d been shocked out of a drunken stupor. Her lids were heavy and her head lulled forward and backward, but the expression on her face was terror. Two other massive guys stood nearby watching in amusement as the guy picked Megan up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She screamed again and pounded the guy with her her fists.

“Let her go, you mindless ape,” I yelled. “I just called the cops, and they’ll be here any minute.” As I spoke the threat, I truly wished I’d taken the time to do just that. Unfortunately, reason and common sense had left me during my rush downstairs.

The guy rumbled out a laugh that nearly shook the sidewalk. “Hey, look, another little girl to play with.”

One of his giant buddies smashed his cigarette out with his boot and lumbered toward me. I stumbled backward, turned, and scrambled back toward the diner. I’d just reached the door as his thick fingers took hold of my arm. I swung my fist around and nailed him on the side of the head.

“You bitch.” He took hold of my wrist, and I just waited for my frail bones to crack beneath the pressure of his fingers. I flailed my free arm at his head again, but he threw up a rock solid forearm to stop the impact.

“Let me go!” Several cars drove past and the drivers glanced our way, but no one seemed inclined to step out and help. The size of our attackers was a definite deterrent. It was as if their mothers had filled their baby bottles with steroids.

My attacker dragged me back toward the guy who had Megan still draped over his shoulder. I heard a door slam somewhere across the street and hoped someone was coming to our rescue.

A groan of nausea came from behind the beast holding Megan, and then with her head hanging upside down, she puked all over the back of the guy’s pants. He threw her down to the ground with a vicious thud. I struggled to free myself but it was impossible.

“Let her go now, and I won’t have to wipe up that puke with your ugly face.”

Tears flowed before Jude had gotten the first words out. I hadn’t seen him walk up, but I could feel him standing behind me.

The attention on the otherwise deserted sidewalk had turned to the guy who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The jerk holding me pushed me aside and I spun around. Jude was standing with his hands in his jeans pockets, facing down all three guys as if they were made of paper. His gaze softened as he glanced toward me. “You all right?”

I nodded. “There are too many.” The pleading tone in my voice had no effect.

Jude looked over at Megan. “Peel her up off the sidewalk and drag her into that diner. Lock the door behind you.”

The guy with puke on his pants shoved the sleeves of his jacket up over his forearms. “Yeah, girlie, you’re not going want to see this.”

“Go, Eden,” Jude said.

My heart was slamming against my chest as I ran over and grabbed hold of Megan’s arm and pulled her to her feet. She moaned in pain and both her knees were bleeding as she stumbled toward the diner. I shoved her through the door and looked back through blurry, wet eyes.

The guy drew back his arm and threw his fist at Jude. Sobriety was on Jude’s side. He easily ducked out of the way, and the giant staggered forward. Jude raised his foot and shoved the guy face first into the sidewalk.

His two friends lunged toward Jude.

“Jude!” I screamed, hoping to warn him, but it had the opposite effect. And in the split second that I’d had his attention, the other two jumped him. Jude managed to throw one of them off just as the other landed a solid punch to Jude’s face. The first guy had recuperated and rage steamed off of him as he stooped over, roared with anger, and plowed into Jude as if he was on the football field taking out an opponent. Only in this game there was no ref and no rules. Jude groaned as the guy slammed him hard against the building.

My feet took off before my brain had even told me to move. The sidewalk seemed to have magically stretched and it felt as if it took me forever to reach them, and in that time, I wondered just what the hell I would do once I got there. My adrenaline rocketed me into the air and I jumped on the guy’s back and clawed his face. He threw me off with hardly any effort, and I fell back hard on the sidewalk.

Annoying little pest gone, the guy concentrated on his real prey. Jude had held his own for a few minutes but the three against one scenario had definitely turned the odds against him. Blood dripped from Jude’s mouth and nose as he staggered forward to hit the guy in front of him. I was still at ground level and with his drunken state to help me, I kicked my leg and toppled one of the beasts. He fell to his knees with a thud, and I could have sworn the sidewalk shook from the impact. The guy pushed to his feet and swung around with a look that told me to get the hell up and run.

It was time to do what I should have done in the first place. I raced to the diner to call the police, but before I reached the door, headlights lit up the sidewalk. I twisted back around. The scene on the sidewalk looked as if it was under the spotlight on a stage. Two of the guys had taken hold of Jude and the third one was pummeling him, seemingly ignorant of the car that had pulled up in front of the bar. I squinted into the harsh headlights, hoping it was a police car. But, oddly enough, it was a limousine.

The car door opened and a familiar figure stepped out. The guy administering the beating finally stopped and looked around at the person standing next to the limo. Then another figure stepped out of the car, and this one made the three attackers look petite. I’d seen Nicky King’s bodyguard once but the sight of him slapped the breath from me. He had to be close to seven feet tall, and I half expected the sleeves and legs of his shirt and pants to be tattered, his Hulk transformation complete.

I wandered over to the scene, wondering if I’d been knocked senseless by the fall to the sidewalk or if I was actually witnessing the sight in front of me. The two guys holding a rather bloody and limp looking Jude kept their hold on their victim, but their mouths dropped open in a perfectly suited apelike fashion.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” one of the guys muttered, “it’s Nicky King.”

“You better fucking believe it,” Nicky answered in that awesome British accent, “and that’s my kid you’re beating the shit out of.” Nicky’s bodyguard took several steps toward them, and they released Jude and stumbled back with eyes as wide as marbles. Jude sank to the ground. “Jude!” I ran to him and dropped to my knees.

“Hey,” he said weakly.

I winced at the pain in his tone. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, but everything from chin up hurts like hell and the ribs ain’t feeling great either.”

“I wish there was something I could do to help.”

He shifted his green eyes toward me with minimal movement of his face and head. “I’m sure I can think of something.”

Conveniently having missed all of the fight action, some of the bar patrons finally emerged from the dark saloon to see what was going on. Immediately phones came out of pockets and an excited murmur rolled down the line of onlookers. Never mind that a guy was slumped on the sidewalk with a swollen face and blood loss, there was a rock star standing in front of their bar.

As fast as the phones were lifted for pictures, the humongous body guard stepped in front of Nicky, shielding him like a brick wall. His voice was as impressive and frightening as his size. “Unless you want to lose those phones, you’ll put them back in your pockets now.” The group of curious spectators moved fast to follow his command.

Seconds later, and fashionably late, a police car pulled up. The officers stepped out and looked just as star struck as everyone else on the sidewalk. I half expected them to pull out their book of citations for an autograph. It was fascinating to see everyone’s reaction. Maybe my dad wasn’t that far out of the norm.

One of the officers gained his composure quicker than the other. He assessed the scene and pointed to the three jerks standing in the shadows of the building. “You three sit down right where you are with hands behind your heads.” They followed his command immediately. Nicky walked over to talk to policemen.

Jude rested against me. “You were right,” he mumbled through his swollen mouth.

“There were too many. What happened to locking the door?”

“I did lock it.”

“I meant for you to lock it once you were behind it.”

I lifted his hand and traced my fingertip over his swollen knuckles. “I did, but then Megan screamed, and after that things went to hell.” I kissed his knuckles. “This time I deserve the blame,” I said. “I ran out to help Megan, but I should have just called the police instead. Where did you come from anyway?”

He lifted a weak arm and pointed toward the trailer across the street. “I decided to stay in the construction trailer and keep an eye on you.”

“You stayed because of me?”

“Yeah, Valley, I did. Does that take me off the shit list?”

“Maybe.” I leaned over and kissed the edge of his jaw, the only spot without swelling or blood.

“I think I’m going to need a lot more first aid than that to fix everything that hurts, Doc.” He gave me his hand. “Help me up, and we’ll talk about my personalized medical treatment later.” He groaned in pain as he pressed his arm against his rib cage. It took some effort for him to stand.

“You’ve been beaten senseless and yet you’re completely focused on sex,” I said, with a certain degree of amazement.

He turned to face me. One of his eyes was swollen and there was an ugly gash above it. “Uh, yeah.” He reached up with the back of his hand and wiped away the blood from his mouth. “I’m not too proud to accept pity sex either.”

Nicky walked over with the two policemen. “Jude, do you need an ambulance. I was just telling these officers how you were jumped by these drunken bar patrons.”

“No ambulance. And yeah, that’s basically what happened. They were going after Eden, and I stepped in to help her. But how the heck did you end up here, Dad?”

Nicky looked down at me for the first time and smiled. “Finley sent me to pick someone up.”

His words took a moment to register. “She did?” I couldn’t keep the elation out of my tone.

“I did.” A small but distinctive voice came from the open door of the limo, and a head of white blonde hair popped up from behind the tinted window. She looked tiny next to the ridiculously long car but as usual her impact was huge.

“Finley!” I pulled away from Jude, and he staggered sideways a second but his dad caught him.

“Don’t worry about me, Valley. Just a few broken ribs and brain swelling.” Jude called to me as I raced to the limo.

I nearly knocked Finley over as I threw my arms around her. We completely ignored the scene behind us as tears and cries of joy kept us in a tight hug for several minutes.

We finally came up for air. Finley looked up at me. She was paler and thinner than when I’d last seen her, but the overwhelming sadness, the grim aura of depression had vanished. “Please come home with us, Eden. I really need you.” She glanced toward her brother and then hopped up on her toes. “And so does the ass,” she whispered. She crinkled her tiny nose. “Wow, he really took a beating.”

I looked back at Jude as he spoke to the officers. His shoulders were slightly hunched in pain and his face showed the same. “I told him there were too many of them.”

Finley wrapped her hand around my arm, and it felt as if none of the bad stuff had happened, it felt as if we were still strongly connected by friendship. “That boy never listens. I guess you’ve probably already discovered that.”

Jude looked our way and he seemed to know that we were talking about him. The poor guy looked miserable beneath the bruises and swelling. I blew him a kiss and the hurt in his face lessened some. I had to give the police my statement and then they pulled Megan from the diner to get hers.

Megan walked past me with her arms crossed tightly around herself. Then surprisingly, she stopped and looked up at me. “Thanks.”

I nodded. “No problem.”

The three guys were cuffed and put into the back of the police car, but Nicky wasn’t certain they would press charges. He didn’t want the hassle or publicity of a trial. I returned to the limo. Jude was inside holding a bag of ice on his eye. Finley was tucked in next to him holding a cold can of beer against his lips.

I leaned into the car. “Maybe he could just sit in the little refrigerator.”

Finley laughed but Jude seemed less amused. Nicky returned to the car. “Let’s get him home. My personal physician is meeting us at the house.” He motioned me to get inside, but I stopped.

“I can’t leave the diner. The owner is a really nice guy, and he’s expecting me to open up in the morning. Otherwise he’ll lose business.” I didn’t want to stay behind in the lonely little room upstairs, but I’d made a promise to Billy.

“Do you have the owner’s number?” Nicky asked.

“It’s by the phone in the diner.”

“Great,” he didn’t say another word but walked toward the diner and disappeared inside.

I looked questioningly at Finley and she shrugged. “You never know with my dad.” She patted the seat next to her and I climbed inside.

The long night had taken its toll, and I rested my head against her shoulder. “Jude,” I said quietly, “thanks.”