Hearts In Rhythm Read online

  “Nobody is leaving until I know what is going on here.”

  Allie looked at Brandon for assistance. Surely he would say something, do something. After all, this was his girlfriend. She was shocked when he stood there with his hands in his pockets, doing and saying absolutely nothing. It was up to her to get out of this house. She hated to cause a confrontation, but if that’s what it took, she wasn’t one to back down. On the other hand, she wanted Brandon to like her and fighting his girlfriend was not going to be the way to win him over.

  Allie looked at Simone’s crossed arms and there on her left hand was a gleaming diamond, reminding her of what she did not have. What she could never have. She walked over to Simone and stood mere inches from her face.

  “You want to know what was going on? I was coming on to your boyfriend.”

  Allie felt the slap of Simone’s hand across her cheek before she saw it coming. Simone had backhanded her across her right cheek causing her head to jerk.

  Now Brandon was there, talking softly to Simone. He put his hands on her arms, but she shoved them away. Allie’s face stung. She could have retaliated easily. She looked at Brandon, his pale brown eyes pleading with her.

  If it makes any difference, I didn’t know he was your boyfriend. I thought he was available.”

  She looked at Simone. The beauty in her was gone, replaced with anger. Her eyes were squinted, her lips were clenched, and her chest heaved with angry breaths.

  “I probably deserved that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go.”

  Allie pushed past her and walked out. As the cool night air hit her face, tears stung her eyes. She was relieved she hadn’t started crying in there. She opened her car door, wiped her face with her sleeve, and sat down. She turned the ignition and then realized the reason she had gone back in Brandon’s house in the first place. The engine didn’t turn over. There was nothing more than a click. She pounded the steering wheel with her fists and looked toward his house almost expecting to see Brandon and Simone watching her from the window.

  The house was silent and dark, save one golden square of light from the living room window. She didn’t know what was going on in there. Were they fighting or were they making up? She blinked the image from her mind and grabbed her purse from the passenger seat. She got out of her car, and began walking home.

  * * * *

  Simone came at Brandon pounding her fists into his chest.

  “You jerk,” she screamed. “So this is what you’ve been doing. Chasing around a little two bit tramp?”

  Her red hair was flying about her face. She didn’t give him any time to answer before she was screaming more.

  “You ignore my calls and texts all weekend, and then you think three dozen roses will pacify me? You think you can buy my forgiveness?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I was wrong, Simone.”

  She stood before him, arms crossed. Her lips were drawn into a thin line.

  “That’s not good enough.”

  “Well then, neither am I. Go home, Simone.” He walked to the door and opened it for her. “Go home, cool off, and we can talk when everyone is being rational. But I’m tired and frankly, I can’t deal with this right now.”

  “So that’s it? You’re going to bury your head? Hide in your little turtle shell? You know what Brandon. You’re a coward.”

  She stopped at the door.

  “I wouldn’t marry a coward if someone paid me.”

  She pulled off her engagement ring and threw it, hitting him in the chest. Brandon heard it clink as it hit the tile floor. He stared at her, biting his tongue. Words are something you can never take back. His mother taught him that lesson well, her harsh words still stung after all these years. After a few seconds of staring at one another, Simone turned and stepped off the porch.

  “What a waste of my time,” were the last words Brandon heard her say.

  He calmly closed the door and bent over to pick up the ring.

  Wow. So it was over. Just like that.

  He heard Simone’s tires squealing out of his driveway.

  He walked to his bedroom. Opening his dresser drawer, he found the red velvet box. He carefully placed the ring back in the box and stared at it for a long time. He couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening. His feelings were all over the place and he couldn’t rely on them. Simone, the woman he loved, had just ended their engagement. She thought he was having an affair because, why? She walked in on Allie with her hands on his chest. Immediately, he thought of lies and excuses that he could give Simone to convince her she was wrong. But why? She didn’t want him. She had made that clear.

  He returned the box to his dresser drawer and closed it. He was feeling something for Allie that he just couldn’t explain. She had come on to him. Yes, that was absolutely true, she even admitted it to Simone.

  He needed some air; this was all too much for him right now. He stepped outside. The night was fast approaching. Snow still lay in patches of white in the shadows of trees and walls. He looked into the street where the piles of dirty snow rested in the gutters. And that’s when he saw it. Allie’s car parked across the street.

  He stepped back in, grabbed a sweatshirt and his shoes and headed out into the night.

  * * * *

  It was at least two miles back to Allie’s mom’s house, but the night was cold, and her feet hurt. Why had she chosen to wear these stupid heels? She had kicked them off about two blocks from Brandon’s house after feeling a blister coming on the back of each heel. The sidewalk was cold, and occasionally she would step on a sharp rock and shriek out in pain. Besides the cold getting to her and her feet hurting, her pride was also feeling a sharp pain. If only she could go back in time and erase her actions. She should have just asked Brandon for a ride home and kept everything professional between them. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle the situation when she saw him again. If she saw him again. It would be no surprise to her if he found another drummer. It would certainly save a lot of awkwardness.

  Of all the nights to have left her cell phone at home, this would have to be one of them. She was walking through Brandon’s neighborhood making her way toward the town. She would have to cross a main street to find her way back to her house. But first lay a city park with a nice trail. When she managed to get to the main street, she would go into the nearest convenience store and ask to use a phone. Her mom was helping with Samuel. She would have to call Maureen and she’d come get her. She knew that.

  Allie heard footsteps coming up behind her on the sidewalk. Dark had settled on the town and although she normally wasn’t afraid, thoughts of every serial killer she’d ever watched a documentary on popped into her head. The footsteps were coming closer and at a much greater speed. She realized that they were running. She took a deep breath and began her self-talk. Relax, she told herself. It’s just a late night runner. And maybe it’s not even a guy. There’s a fifty-fifty chance it’s a girl who isn’t going to bother you at all.

  The footsteps began to come at her louder and faster. Her mind began to imagine knives and a sweaty palm clamped over her mouth as she is pulled into an alley. Her mom always told her if anyone were to ever attack her, to scream as loud as she could, because once they got her in a car, all the screaming in the world wouldn’t help if nobody could hear her.

  She began to walk faster hearing the footsteps drawing nearer. She looked back and she saw a figure coming toward her. It was a male figure and he wore a hooded jacket. Fear gripped her.

  She turned and began to run, her bare feet slapping the pavement. The pain and cold of the cement piercing her feet. She ignored it and ran as fast as she could. Her purse strap dropped to her elbow and bumped against her thigh. Her breath was coming hard now. She pumped her arms and pushed herself, but she wasn’t fast enough. She heard heavy breaths directly behind her. She felt a hand tighten around her arm and she screamed. The man yanked on her, slowing her down. She screamed louder and clenched her eyes shut.
/>   She braced herself for the assault from her attacker, she knew she would soon be pummeled with punches, kicks, and pain until he was finished taking what she wasn’t willing to offer. She tried to reach her purse and throw it at him, hoping that’s what he wanted.

  Instead, she felt nothing but two hands on her arms and heard a voice repeating, “Allie, it’s me. Allie. Allie. It’s me.”

  She stopped screaming and opened her eyes to see Brandon standing before her with a black hoodie shrouding his face. His gentle eyes were studying her, pleading with her to calm herself and see him, for who he was, not who she was imagining him to be.

  She threw both arms around him, erasing the earlier incident from her mind. She forgot the embarrassment and the attraction and was overcome with feelings of relief, comfort, and safety. She couldn’t loosen her grip. She wanted to hold onto him forever. She felt his arms wrap around her tighter and she pressed herself closer into him, willing herself to crawl inside his skin, to find a sanctuary within where she would never fear again. A place where her worries were blown away like fluff from a dandelion. She felt his arms around her like a blanket, warm and soft. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter hoping he would never let go.

  * * * *

  Brandon held onto Allie tightly as darkness settled over the entire town. It wasn’t late, but early December invited darkness to come at a ridiculously early hour. He leaned into her, breathing in the scent from the brown curly hair that was piled on top of her head. In the silence of the night, on this abandoned street, he heard her sobs being released into his jacket. She was so tender, and he couldn’t help but find that irresistible.

  He understood now that she was putting on a façade with the tough act. She was a young mother, struggling to care for her son. She was willing to sacrifice so much for Samuel. She had needs of her own, and yet she had pushed them all aside to do what needed to be done. That in itself also made her sexy to him. Not to mention, she was smoking hot on the drums.

  He knew he had tough decisions to make. He may have lost the woman he loved tonight, but the way Allie touched him, the desire that built hot inside him, the kiss she wanted all made him wonder if that was meant to be. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Simone had not stepped in. As soon as he realized Allie had left on foot, he went after her. He could not even think straight.

  He reluctantly pulled himself away from her.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”

  Tears streamed down her face. He reached up and wiped them away.

  She looked at him deeply. “I’m scared.”

  He pulled her closer to himself again, caressing her back. She needed taken care of, not like Simone who had her family and also made sure he knew that she could take care of herself anytime.

  “Let me walk you the rest of the way home,” he said and he smiled when she agreed.

  The air was brisk as Allie and Brandon walked toward her house. A strong gust of wind rattled the dead leaves on the end of the oak trees, as the last few hung on. They were always the last to fall. The crunchy leaves blew across the sidewalk and Allie pulled her sweater closer. She wished she’d remembered a heavier coat when she left home. That seemed like such a long time ago considering all that had taken place.

  Brandon noticed and pulled off his sweatshirt and offered it to her. It was warm from his body and smelled clean.

  The moon was casting a soft glow on the sidewalks, lighting their way. She’d put her shoes back on. Even though it slowed them down it was better than the cold that was eating at her toes. Going slower also meant more time to be with Brandon.

  She felt oddly comfortable with him now. So far he hadn’t said anything about her come-on or her melt down. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He had a strong jaw. Allie always liked that in a man. A squared off jaw revealed a determined man. Strong and capable. A man who could take care of a woman and her needs, both emotional and physical.

  Unlike Dylan, who wanted to only meet his own needs, even if murdering an infant is what it took. When Allie thought of Dylan nowadays, it took everything she had to not physically get sick. Samuel was her life. She couldn’t imagine a life without him. Most days, she pushed back the guilt she felt. But time doesn’t heal all wounds, contrary to what well-intentioned people attempt to convince you.

  Sometimes the memories of that day, the truth of what she almost did to Samuel overwhelms her. It chokes her. She hated Dylan for having suggested it. Not only suggesting it, but for looking up the number in the phone book and handing it to her scribbled on the back of a receipt.

  Brandon turned his head towards her. Not wanting him to know she’d been staring at him while her thoughts wandered, she looked up in the sky above his head, averting her eyes upward.

  “Beautiful moon tonight,” she said pointing overhead.

  He looked up.

  “Wow. You’re right it is beautiful. But it’s making me a little hungry. It looks like a big old pizza in the sky.” Without warning, he broke into song. “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.”

  As a big finish, he stretched his arms out with a wide flourish, hitting Allie right in the nose with the back of his right hand.

  Her hands went to her face covering her nose as she doubled over in pain. The blood began to seep through her fingertips and splatter on the concrete sidewalk in dark drops.

  “Oh my gosh, are you all right? I’m so sorry. Let me see, are you all right?”

  Allie stood upright and removed her hands from her face revealing a bloodied nose and a busted lip.

  “I think I have a tissue,” she said. She squatted on the sidewalk underneath a lamppost and began rummaging through her purse. She dug through lipstick tubes, a receipt from a clothing department store where she recently bought a pair of black stiletto heels that she had yet to wear, and no reason to. There was a toy truck of Samuel’s, and an unopened package of graham crackers that was nothing but crumbs.

  Pens, notepads, crayons, and a broken watch were no help for a bloody nose. She searched for a tissue with no luck using her right hand. She kept her left hand pressed to her face to catch the blood droplets falling.

  In frustration she picked up her purse and turned it upside down dumping all the contents out on the sidewalk. Not finding a tissue, she had to do what she had to do. There, lying on the sidewalk in the pile of purse debris was one of Samuel’s dirty socks. She had no choice. She put it to her nose and looked up to see Brandon’s reaction. He was nowhere to be seen.

  She turned around scanning the night for any trace of him. Just another runaway hero, she thought. Then she saw his silhouette sitting on a bench half a block up. She tilted her head back squeezing her nose just like Nurse Dunham from Wingfield Elementary had taught her. When she was certain the bleeding had stopped, she stooped back down and scooped up her belongings back into her purse and began to walk toward Brandon.

  “Well, how do you like that?” she asked reaching the bench. Brandon was sitting with his elbows propped on his knees, holding his head in his hands.

  “Here I am, a damsel in distress, a bloody nose and a busted lip, caused by you I might add, and what do you do? You high tail it out of here!”

  She double-checked to ensure the bleeding had stopped and then tossed the bloody sock in the wastebasket sitting beside the bench.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said. “It’s just that…well it’s a bit embarrassing.”

  “More embarrassing than everything that’s happened to me?” Allie interrupting pointing to her shirt with several blood spots on it. What could be worse than being slapped by his girlfriend, running and crying like a scared child, and stopping a bloody nose with a dirty sock?

  “It’s just, I can’t handle the sight of blood. I get sick to my stomach.” He answered.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me? Had you been a true gentleman, you’d have offered me your handkerchief, but instead you’ve been over here barfin
g in the bushes?”

  He raised his head and looked at her. “Yep, puking in the park.”

  She laughed, “Yakking on the yard?”

  Brandon paused thinking, then continued, “Vomiting in the vicinity.”

  Laughter ensued. He stood and put his arm through Allie’s walking toward home.

  “Spewing in the snow.”

  “Retching in winter.”

  “Hey, that doesn’t work.”

  “Why not, it starts with the same sound. Almost.”

  “You know, this is the second time you’ve seriously hurt me, said Allie. “You do remember the tumble we took at Given’s Grocery? I had a sprained ankle for two days; I could barely walk. I think you need to make it up to me.”

  “Do you have any suggestions?”

  “Well, for starters,” she said with a slight grin. “I’d like you to finish your song.”

  Brandon laughed. “Okay, but make sure you stand back this time.”

  He began to sing loud and deep, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s Amore. When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s Amore. Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling and you’ll sing Vita Bella.”

  Allie felt her heart smile. She hadn’t enjoyed someone else’s company in a long time, and it felt good to have fun.

  Brandon finished the song and looked at Allie. They stopped walking and stood staring at one another.

  “You know what sounds really good?” Allie asked.

  “Pizza,” they both said at once. Brandon looped his arm in hers once again and they walked toward the pizza parlor.

  Chapter Eight

  Allie and Brandon sat across from each other at Leo’s Pizza Parlor. It felt good to be in a warm place and out of the cold. Allie’s first stop was to the restroom to clean her face and hands. She looked terrible. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold, one worse than the other from the slap Simone delivered. Her tears had caused the eye make-up that she had so carefully applied to run, leaving black streaks running down her cheeks.