to tell me everything would be okay.” She reached across the table and took one of his hands. “It’s what you do. It’s why you’re my rock.”
In a matter of seconds, Patrick went from wanting vengeance to wanting to cry. He still found it hard to look at his wife. If he did he was certain his eyes would leak.
“It is what I do,” he said. “But I do it out of necessity and sincerity.” He took her hand into both of his, finally looking at her. Tears did come, but sorrow was only a fraction of their makeup. Intense resolve was the remainder. “I’ve said the same things to you a million times over the years. But I know you don’t mind. I know you want to hear them. You want to hear me tell you that you’re beautiful in your new dress even after I’ve told you twice already. You want to hear me tell a funny and romantic story about us at a dinner party that you’ve heard a thousand times before. You want me to stop running the lawnmower and look over at you, hard at work in the garden—stained jeans; dirty hands; sweaty face—and hear me tell you that I love you, and that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, even though I’d said it just ten minutes before.
“You want to hear these things again and again because they make you feel safe and cherished. And that’s something you only realize when those words aren’t spoken for a while.
“So my repetition may appear to be a necessity, but it’s always genuine, always sincere. And I’ll never get tired of telling you. And I’ll never let you feel what it’s like to miss those words.
“So I’ll say it again; and my sincerity with this one is stronger than anything my soul can possibly manage. I love you with all my heart, baby. And I’d die a million deaths to protect you and our children. You call me your rock—well you guys are mine.”
Amy started to cry. She stood up and walked to her husband’s chair, sat on his lap and hugged him tight. “I love you so much, honey.” She kissed him hard, her nose and tears wet against his face. “When the sheriff gets here, we take him to that cabin and have him arrest those guys. We then wait for Norm and the kids, pack, and be on the road and back in our own beds before we know it. Far, far away from here.”
He kissed her. “God damn right, baby.”
* * *
“Two nights in a row,” the sheriff said as he strolled up the Lambert’s driveway. “At least you caught me a little earlier this time.”
The sheriff made no attempt whatsoever in hiding his cynicism, but Patrick was past caring; he wanted no time wasted. “We’ll take you to the cabin,” he said immediately.
“Whoa, slow down, son. Let’s clear some things up first,” the sheriff said, hoisting his belt, belly bouncing. “You said on the phone that you walked passed a cabin here that was housing the man who harassed your wife in the supermarket? The same man who allegedly looked in your bedroom window as well? That right?”
Patrick nodded quickly. “Yes.”
Amy flashed a look of contempt when the sheriff over-emphasized allegedly.
“And this other man?” the sheriff asked. “The other man you claim was at the cabin?”
“He’s the one who’s been following us. He has our daughter’s doll,” Patrick said.
“Come again?”
“It’s…it’s hard to explain. But the guy is bad news, and he’s with the man from the supermarket. That’s not a coincidence,” Patrick said.
The sheriff stayed quiet.
“I told you on the phone he pulled a gun on us,” Patrick said. “That counts for something doesn’t it? I mean that has to carry some impact with you.”
The sheriff cleared his throat—a wet, gravelly sound. “It could. When and why did he pull it on you?”
Patrick went to answer but stopped, something suddenly occurring to him. He had attempted to charge the man’s porch—to set foot on his property. Patrick was not too sure about the laws around here when it came to home security and guns, but perhaps the man had been legally justified to pull the gun the moment Patrick’s foot touched that first step of the front porch. But this begged another question: whose front porch was it? It couldn’t be theirs. It couldn’t be. All this time? To have them be so close?
Patrick did something he