“Since when do you know what The Little Mermaid is, sweet pea?” Everett asked, looking amused.
“Vivienne told me all about mermaids, Daddy! They're real pretty, they live under the sea, and they're like girls and like fish! I wanna be a mermaid!”
He looked at me, and a deep affection glowed with warmth in his eyes.
“Looks like you're a good influence on this one,” he said to me.
“I try,” I replied with a smile. “But you only need to go look in a mirror to see where the best influence in her life is coming from.”
He smiled at me.
“I try, too,” he said. “Come on, I got some chips and soda, let's settle down and enjoy the movie.”
TWO HOURS LATER
“How much of the movie do you think she saw?” I asked.
“Maybe half. Then it was lights out. Come on, let's put her to bed. She's still running a bit of a temperature, and the doctor said she's going to need a lot of rest.”
He picked up the sleeping form of Jane and gently carried her to her room. I trailed behind them and watched as he lovingly slipped her under the covers, pulled them up over her, and then gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“Good night sweet pea,” he whispered. After that, he tiptoed out of the room and took my hand.
“I don't know about you,” he said as he pushed the door gently shut. “But I don't quite feel ready for bed just yet. It's only 7:30.”
I kissed him and smiled.
“Well, I'm feeling a little peckish. Why don't we order a pizza or something, and maybe watch an adult movie?”
“Oh, kinky huh?” he joked. “I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff!”
I jabbed him playfully in the ribs.
“I'm not!” I exclaimed. “Come on, you know what I meant!”
“I know, I know,” he said with a laugh. “You know I'm just teasing. Alright well, I'll order a pizza, and you go look through the latest releases to see if there's anything worth watching. Oh, um, any preference regarding what kind of pizza you'd like? I don't eat pizza that often, and when I do I'm not real fussy about the toppings.”
“Hmm, well I always do enjoy a good Hawaiian.”
“Pineapple on pizza, huh?” he said with a grin. “Good choice. I'll go place the order, you see if there's anything worth watching.”
I went back to the living room, but before I sat down on the sofa, I pulled the drapes back a little and peered out of the window, looking across the street at my house. I shuddered, and a cold jolt of fear rippled through me as I thought of what had happened earlier with Simon. That was the closest he had come to physically getting to me in a very long time, and the thought of what he could have done to me had the cops not showed up terrified me.
It also depressed the hell out of me. I had gone through so much trouble to be free of him—uprooting my life, cutting my ties with
the past, moving hundreds of miles away, going through all the bureaucratic hassles of legally changing my name and getting a whole set of new official documents. And after all of that, he still found me. What had I done to deserve this? And would I ever, ever be truly free, or would I have to spend the rest of my life running and hiding, looking over my shoulder all the time and sleeping with one eye open?
This last thought was really crushing, and I almost broke down and started weeping right there and then, but I summoned up all the strength and willpower inside of me to do my best to hold everything together. I had to be strong now, not just for me but for Everett. He had an immense amount of pressure on him right now, and he didn't need me to add to all of that.
“Hey,” said Everett, interrupting my thoughts. “The pizza has been ordered. Did you find anything to watch yet?”
“No, to be honest, I haven't even looked at what's available.”
“Ah. Something on your mind?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since you're standing by the window there looking out, I imagine I know what it is.”