Disclaimer: I do not own Trixie or the Bob-Whites. No profit is being made from their use.
Chapter Three
"Do you mind if we stop by my apartment first?" Jim asked Missy. "I want to change out of this suit before I go see Trixie."
"Sure, Jim," Missy agreed, "anything to help the cause. It's the least I can do after all the trouble I've caused."
Jim's mind was on Trixie as he drove. He couldn't help but smile as he thought just how angry she would be. There was no in between with that girl. She could dish back anything he ever said to her and then some. Surprised that he was looking forward to the upcoming fireworks, he realized the arousing passion they shared was often sparked by such a confrontation and wondered where that passion would lead them.
"Crap," Missy grouched as they exited the elevator to walk toward his apartment, "I've broken a heel."
"I thought it was something serious," Jim joked as she limped down the hall.
"It is serious," she frowned. "These are two hundred dollar shoes."
"My mistake," he apologized with an answering glitter in his eyes. "Allow me." Scooping her up, he carried her the remaining steps to the door of his apartment.
"Jim, put me down," she laughed. "You'll hurt yourself."
"Gladly," he panted, "oof."
Sitting her on her feet, he fished the key from his pocket and opened the door.
"Don't you dare try to carry me over the threshold," she warned with a giggle. "That's dangerous territory."
Pushing the door open, he said, "I quite agree. I may never recover from carrying you down the hall."
Call it fate, bad karma, or just the worst damn luck anyone ever possessed, but with his arm around a stumbling Missy he looked straight into the eyes of an angry Trixie Belden.
"Trixie," he smiled, pleased to see her despite how things might look to her. "I was just going to change before I went to see you."
"Really," she said stiffly. Glancing at his arm around Missy, she added, "I see you're doing well, Missy."
It was then that Jim noticed she sat close to Dan, his arm around her shoulder and he was holding her hand. Through narrowed eyes, he asked her, "What are you doing here, Trixie?"
"Waiting for you," she said slowly and distinctly, every word laced with anger.
"I'm glad you didn't have to wait alone," Jim said pointedly with a glare in Dan's direction.
"How about I give you a ride home, Missy?" Dan started to stand awkwardly.
"No, Dan," Trixie insisted, "you take me home. We haven't finished our discussion." She placed a hand on his thigh, knowing that such an intimate gesture would make Jim furious. Turning her attention back to Jim, she added, "I'm thinking of joining the police force. Dan makes it sound so exciting." She gripped his thigh tightly, daring him to contradict her.
The glare Jim gave Dan would have melted an entire glacier in a blizzard. "Don't you think that might be a little dangerous?"
"Jim, this isn't the time for this," Dan said worriedly. He knew when Jim had reached his limit, and unfortunately it was probably right about now.
"When would be a good time?" Jim asked coldly.
"I think it's time for me to go home," Trixie interrupted their confrontation. "If you don't want to take me, I'll get a cab." She grabbed her coat and stormed out the door.
"Aren't you going after her?" Dan looked at Jim in disbelief.
"I think the lady said you were to take her home," he commented bitterly. "You'd better hurry."
As Dan did exactly that, Jim sank with a groan into a nearby chair. After loosening his tie, he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"That went well," Missy remarked drily.
"Shut up, Missy," Jim said tersely.
Missy limped over to the adjacent couch. "What are you going to do now?"
"What do you suggest?" Jim asked.
"You could get plastered," she offered with a smile.
Jim looked at her miserably. If there was ever a time in his life that he wanted to drink himself into a stupor, it was now. As tempting as it was, he knew not even that would get Trixie out of his mind.
Dan felt terrible. Trixie was weeping uncontrollably in the seat next to him and his best friend was ready to kill him. Why didn't I just mind my own business?
"Trixie," Dan said soothingly, "it's going to be alright."
"Didn't you hear them, Dan?" Trixie sobbed, angry tears running down her cheeks. "He carried her down the hall. They had their hands all over each other."
"He could say the same about us," Dan reminded her.
"We were talking about Jim and how much I loved him," Trixie burst out angrily. "Not laughing like it was the best day of our life."
Dan had to admit things looked bad, damn bad. Trixie was still crying. Whatever guys were supposed to do in a situation like this, he didn't have a clue. She needed a girlfriend. Honey, that's it, he thought. She'll know what to do.
As he slowed to turn, Trixie was jarred from her latest crying spell. "What are you doing?"
"Trixie," Dan said gently, "I can't keep driving you around all night. Do you want to talk to Honey? She's real good at stuff like this."
"You can take me home," she assured him. "I'll be okay."
"Please, Trixie," Dan pleaded. "I know Honey. She can handle this. I won't be able to sleep a wink if you don't talk to her."
"Di's at home, I'm sure," Trixie said. "If I need to talk, I can talk to her."
"I'd just feel better if you talked to Honey," he insisted. "Please." Sensing she was weakening, he added, "I'll call her right now and I'll tell her to call Di, okay?"
Nodding, Trixie leaned back in the seat of Dan's car. She really didn't want to talk to anyone. Ever.
Jim half-listened as Missy chatted on. He knew she was trying to get his mind off Trixie and he appreciated the effort, ineffective as it was. He had long since quit listening to her rambling.
"Jim," she called loudly, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Missy," he sighed, "it's just been a long day, a long and costly day."
She went to stand behind him and began rubbing his shoulders and neck. "Maybe this will help."
Jim didn't have the heart to tell her the pain was in his very soul and nothing she could do would make it better. As she continued her efforts, her movements became a little bolder. She bent closer. "Jim," she whispered seductively, "I could make you forget all about Trixie."
Startled, Jim turned his head in the direction of her voice.
"I'll show you." Missy pressed her lips against his and ran her hands through his thick red hair.
Stunned by his anger, Jim pushed her firmly away and slowly stood up. "I think I better call you a cab, Missy. I know you don't want to do more damage."
"You think she trusts you after this," Missy turned angrily on him, spurred on by his rejection. "She doesn't love you like I love you."
"Missy, if Trixie never speaks to me again in her whole life, I promise you that I would never turn to you." Jim said the words with a fierceness that made Missy jump back. "I'll call you a cab while you limp back down to the foyer."
"Jim, I'm sorry." Missy was stopped from saying anything further by the look in his eyes. Grabbing her broken heel, she walked quickly out the door.
Dan arrived just in time to see Missy riding away in a cab. He had seen that look on her face before. She looked mad enough to chew nails. Sighing, he walked inside. This night was sure to get better. It just had to.
When Dan walked in the apartment, Jim was sitting in his favorite chair nursing a beer. For someone that rarely drank without a meal, he seemed to be holding it well.
"What happened to Missy?" Dan asked, ignoring the beer. "I saw her downstairs. She didn't look too pleasant."
"She's not," Jim remarked, "but she did give me one good piece of advice." He held up the beer before taking another drink.
"I took Trixie to stay with Honey," Dan told him.
"How is she?" Jim immediately focused his concern on her.
"Crying like a baby," Dan said honestly. "You've hurt her badly."
"Crying?" He flinched uncomfortably. Why did I allow myself to get so angry? I should have begged her for forgiveness. In fact, Jim had wanted to comfort Trixie earlier, even in his jealous rage. Dan's words magnified the guilt he had been feeling. Now that he had recovered from his misplaced anger, he felt the loss of her presence settling over him like grief. Turning to Dan, he asked, "Did you know Missy was acting the entire time?"
"Yeah, when did you figure it out?" Dan's dry reply was more of a challenge than a question.
"Tonight," Jim admitted ruefully, "right before I asked her to leave."
"What happened?" Dan asked cautiously, his brows lifting.
"Not that," Jim assured him, "but it could have. She was more than willing."
"Oh," Dan said, quietly digesting that bit of information.
"I need to ask you something," Jim continued.
Dan waited. He knew what Jim was going to say and it was going to give him great pleasure to tell him the truth.
"Trixie," Jim said, "why was she here?"
"Don't you trust your friends, Jim?" Dan asked coolly. "Or is it just Trixie?"
Jim had the grace to flush under Dan's scrutiny. "Okay, I behaved like a jerk. I know you two would never do anything behind my back, but she did look upset when I came in. I need to know why."
"Because she loves your sorry ass," Dan grinned and swiped one of the unopened beers from the table. "Although, I don't know why she would. You're so loveable right now, smelling like a brewery and all."
"She loves me," Jim repeated hopefully. Then he remembered that he had hurt her. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"Jim, do you love her?" Dan asked seriously.
"Yes, I love her." It was the first time Jim had said the words out loud. It was freeing and exhilarating and he wanted to say them again and again. To Trixie.
"Then you need to tell her so," Dan advised. "Not right now." He pushed Jim back down into his seat. "She's with Honey. Honey knows how you feel. She'll be able to calm Trixie down."
Jim nodded silently. He knew Dan was right. As much as he hated to admit it, Dan was right about a lot lately. He had just been too hardheaded to listen. He would start tonight.
"I'm quitting the CAP," Trixie told Honey in between sniffles.
"Oh, Trixie, no," Honey replied, shaken by her friends declaration.
When Dan called there was no one more surprised by what he had to say than Honey. The arrival of Trixie, red-eyed and sniffling, shocked her even more. Her parents had witnessed Trixie's entrance into the spacious apartment but had stayed discreetly out of sight. Placing a consoling arm around her, Honey had led her upstairs to her bedroom. Now, she was, for once, at a loss for comforting words.
"I can't face him and Missy," Trixie insisted. "It would be too humiliating and painful."
"What happened, Trixie?" Honey asked quietly, her calm voice soothing.
"It could have been a million different things," she shrugged, "but it all leaves me with the same conclusion. Jim will always put Missy first and I can't deal with that."
"Trixie, Jim loves you," Honey argued.
"If that's his version of love, I'm better off without it." Trixie crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Trixie, is this because he didn't come with us on the field trip?" Honey inquired. "I'm sure he had a good explanation."
"He always has a good explanation. Dan had a good explanation." She looked down at her hands before continuing. "Your father and Mr. Frayne have good explanations." She raised her eyes to meet Honey's. "And it all amounts to the same thing."
"What do you mean?" Honey asked, alarmed.
"Missy needs them, and I don't," Trixie choked out the words.
"Trixie," Honey struggled for words to refute her claim but couldn't find them.
"Let's face it," Trixie said, tears threatening to fall once more, "if Missy needs Jim all she has to do is ask. I just wanted to feel like I was special. Is that so much for me to ask?"
Sobbing, Trixie flung herself onto Honey's pillows and began to cry.
Angrily, Honey stormed from the room to confront her father. "How could you?" she yelled at him as she pushed open the door to his study.
"What is it, Honey?" Matt Wheeler looked up from his chair in confusion.
"Missy," she said quietly, "how could you do that to Trixie?"
"Honey, we've been over this," he explained. "She has no one else."
"Her pathetic act has all of you eating away with guilt and she's using that guilt to manipulate, connive, and ruin Jim and Trixie's relationship." Honey looked at her father with outrage and disappointment.
"Perhaps if their relationship were stronger…," he suggested.
"Daddy, don't you remember how much she hurt Trixie before? Or that horrible day?" Honey reminded him angrily. "Doesn't Trixie deserve better than this? No wonder she feels betrayed by everyone."
"Do you want me to talk to Trixie?" he asked.
"And say what, Daddy? 'I'm sorry, Trixie, that we hired Missy, but she needs us. You understand right?'"
"I always thought Missy just needed a little guidance," he sighed.
"And what does Trixie need? Did you even think about that?"
"No, I didn't," Matt looked concerned and more than a little guilty. "I thought with Jim by her side she'd be just fine. Was I wrong about that?"
"Have you listened to me at all?" Honey sighed in exasperation. Quietly, she said, "Trixie's not coming back to the CAP."
"What?" Mathew Wheeler sat back, stunned. "I never meant for that to happen. I swear it, Honey."
"Well, it has," Honey said angrily as she plopped down on the nearby sofa. "So what are we going to do about it?"
Even in the mess he had made, Matt couldn't help but smile at his daughter with pride. She had said we, not you, but we. Her determination to help Trixie was admirable, but it was his actions that were at fault, not hers.
"I could talk to Trixie," he offered tentatively, unaccustomed to this unsettling feeling of uncertainty. "I mean, really talk to her, not just apologize."
"Oh, Daddy," Honey sighed sadly, tears in her eyes, "she thinks you prefer Missy to her. I don't know if she'd listen."
Mr. Wheeler shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. "That's not true, sweetheart, but I have known Missy a lot longer. I can't help but be concerned about her future." He lifted his hand to silence her when Honey gasped. "I know she acted abominably. You don't have to remind me of that. Still, we just can't abandon her. Maybe with time and some guidance things will get better for her. I just don't know how to help her without offending Trixie, and you're right, Trixie deserves better." He looked at Honey helplessly. "I've really made a mess of things, haven't I?"
She and her dad exchanged a resigned look. What are we going to do? Honey echoed her previous question inwardly. With Trixie gone, perhaps Missy would get her heart's desire.
