A/N: Hey, guys. Thanks again for all the great reviews.
I really appreciate it, but just a hint: when you review, you only have
to push that button once when you're finished. Yeah? Okay, then. Lol. Just
thought I should say something. But I still love reviews!
Love, Lucy
"Tom, would you like to eat dinner at our house tonight?" Eric took his coat down from the rack and slipped it on, tugging it over his shoulders, while watching Thomas's expression turn from shock to absolute happiness.
"Sure," Thomas accepted eagerly. His smile was back. That little, sly smile that Eric didn't trust. "What time should I come around?"
Eric smiled briefly. "Five is fine."
"All right," Thomas's tone was energetic. "See you then, pal."
Thomas snatched his jacket off the rack and rushed out the door.
Eric watched his friend leave, wondering why he was so excited. It could be that he lives alone, and is thankful for a meal with other living souls, or it could be something else.
Eric, mentally, shook his head,
shrugging off the thought. Now he was worried what Annie would think. One
thing was for sure: he was sleeping on the couch tonight.
The garage door shut below Lucy and Kevin's apartment.
Lucy was seated at the table, studying for a an important test that was coming up soon, when Kevin walked into the room.
"Hey, Kev," Lucy greeted her husband without looking up from her textbook.
Kevin sighed. "Hey, Luce."
Kevin sat on the queen sized bed and began to remove his boots.
"Long day?" Lucy asked, setting down her highlighter to look at her husband.
"You could say that," Kevin had successfully removed one boot and was now untying the other one. "How's the studying coming?"
Lucy glanced back at her pile of loose binder paper with notes scribbled down, two open textbooks, highlighters, and pens. She turned back to Kevin before replying, "Okay."
Kevin smiled and managed a small chuckle. "Not so good?"
"I'm just not feeling very....focused," Lucy explained, getting up from the chair and going to sit by Kevin on the bed.
"Why not?" Kevin asked as Lucy sat down.
"Eh," Lucy grunted. "It's probably just something stupid, but Mom doesn't like one of Dad's friends for some reason, and I just haven't gotten it out of my head yet. It's no big deal."
Kevin nodded, paused, then asked, "So, when's dinner?"
Lucy smiled and nudged Kevin,
playfully, with her elbow. She could always count on Kevin to be hungry
when she was explaining her thoughts to him.
"You what?!" Annie yelled.
"I just invited him for dinner," Eric explained.
"You know I don't trust that man and you invited him to eat in our house anyway?!" Annie scoffed and turned on her heels to leave the kitchen.
"Well, what do you want me to do, now? Uninvite him?" Eric had followed Annie, much to her dislike.
Annie had one foot on the bottom step of the stairway in the foyer, when Eric spoke. She turned around, stepped off of the step, faced her husband and glared at him. "Yes," she replied angrily.
This was very unlike her. "Well, I can't do that--"
Annie rolled her eyes and continued
up the stairs, ignoring whatever else Eric had to say.
My dearest Lucy,
I
find you incredibly amazing. I want to spend every second of my time with
you. But you don't know me....That makes me very sad.
I
want you, Lucy Kinkirk.
I
want you to be my wife.
I
love you.
But
there's a problem: your husbamd.
I
don't like problems.
I
want you to leave your husband. Go far away. And don't you come back. Ever.
If you even say a word to Kevin or any other living soul about this or
what you are doing....well, Kevin is as good as dead. Catch my drift?
And
remember....I'm always watching you, Lucy Kinkirk.
He folded the note and
laughed to himself. Lucy Kinkirk would be his, soon. But not soon enough.
He grabbed the blank, white
envelope that was nearby, and slipped the letter into it, then licked it
shut.
Lucy Kinkirk was soon to be his wife.
He was addressing the envelope, now. Each symbol was printed with great care.
Kevin Kinkirk was as good as
dead. He wasn't a fan of Kinkirk anyway. And things that he didn't like,
he got rid of. For good.
It was around four fifty when Thomas Hunter arrived at the Camden household. He could hear muffled voices and faint sounds of movement.
Before he rang the doorbell, he made sure that his hair was still slicked back, that no naughty, little hairs had stuck up, and straightened his nice, brown jacket.
A young girl answered the door. Her hair was chocolate brown, eyes bright and happy. She looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old, so Thomas guessed that this had to be Ruthie.
"Hi," Ruthie greeted him cheerfully. "You're Thomas, right?"
"Yes, that's correct. And you must be Ruthie," Thomas extended his right hand out to Ruthie.
She smiled and shook the hand that he had offered her.
"Please, come in," Ruthie stepped aside so that Thomas could enter.
Eric was coming down the small hallway between the kitchen and the foyer.
"Thomas, welcome," Eric was smiling.
Thomas's face brightened as Eric greeted him. "Thanks for inviting me, Rev," Thomas often called Eric Rev. "There's nothing like Annie's cookin',"
Ruthie's eyebrows came together. "But you've never eaten here before."
Thomas looked down at her. He was smiling, but his eyes were nervous. "Oh, well, I've heard about your mother's cooking, and that's what people say about it, so I thought I would--"
Eric cut him off, seeing that Thomas was struggling. Ruthie could often make people feel intimidated without meaning to, or evening know that she was doing it. "Why don't we just go eat?"
Thomas, grateful for Eric's interruption, nodded and chuckled nervously.
Ruthie followed the men into
the dining room. There was something weird about Thomas. She just didn't
know what it was yet.
Dinner was awkward and everybody
felt it. Annie would glare at Eric every time Thomas wasn't looking.
Eric, sensing Annie's dagger
eyes, would poke at his plate, never looking up except to talk to his friend,
every so often.
Thomas would stare at Lucy with
eyes filled with interest.
Kevin was not very happy about
that, so he would watch Thomas, anger in his eyes.
Ruthie and Lucy, who were seated
across from each other, would look at each other and hold a silent conversation.
They were feeling very uncomfortable, Lucy more that Ruthie because she
had Thomas staring at her. Both were very glad when it was over.
"It was nice seeing you again, Thomas," Annie was saying. She, Eric, and Thomas were standing in the foyer, saying their good byes. "See you at church on Sunday," Annie left the two men, and headed upstairs.
When Thomas was sure that Annie was out of earshot, he commented, "I don't think your wife likes me very much."
Eric pretended to act surprised. "Why do you say that? Annie loves you."
Thomas nodded, catching Eric's lie. "I thought you minister people weren't supposed to tell a lie."
Eric dropped his head for a short second. "I'm sorry. She'll come around."
Thomas was grabbing his coat. "Sure she will. Good night."
"Good night, Tom," Eric opened the door for Thomas and then closed it behind him.
At that moment, Annie came back down the stairs, carrying a blanket and a pillow. She shoved it into Eric's arms and said, "Your bed."
Before Eric even had a chance to reply, Annie had left.
Eric sighed and leaned against
the front door. It was going to be a long night.
As Kevin and Lucy were lying in bed that night, Kevin rolled over to face Lucy and said, "I don't like Dad's friend."
Lucy turned to look at Kevin, a confused expression on her face. "Why not? He seems like a nice guy."
Kevin wasn't buying it. "I didn't
like the way he was staring at you. Only I can look at you that
way."
Lucy sighed and rolled over.
"Let it go, Kevin," she said softly.
"There's something about him that I don't trust," Kevin went on.
Lucy looked at Kevin once more. "Do you think that I'm going to run off with him or something?" Kevin was silent. Lucy gave a small laugh. "I love you, Kevin. Only you. Now, good night."
Kevin kissed Lucy on the forehead. "I love you, too. 'Night."
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter.
Oh, and I have something that I want to get off of my chest. It's a response
to a review that I got today....No, I'm not a lesbo, I don't hate Mary,
and I don't think Lucy is as whiny as she used to be.
Go back and read the review if you'd like. I haven't
deleted it. It was quite funny. Thanks for the entertainment.
Anyway, please REVIEW.
Au Revoir,
Carrie