I was speechless. He had talked to Luke. When? How was he? I knew these were questions that I could not ask, but I needed to know that he was okay. I also didn’t like the way that he said Luke’s name. I didn’t feel like he was worthy to breathe it.
“Please don’t talk about him in front of me,” I said, looking at him, pleading with my eyes. I couldn’t handle it. Knowing he had heard Luke’s beautiful voice and was torturing him with thoughts of me, made me want to rip my own heart out of my chest. My choice of words seemed to surprise Charlie.
“You love him? Even after what he did?” he asked, dubiously. He just didn’t get it.
“Yes,” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. “I love him very much.”
“He didn’t choose you, Dallas.” His eyes penetrated me, trying to understand how I could love him.
“I told him to choose Maddie.”
“Why?”
“She has a child,” I replied, noncommittally. That wasn’t a complete lie.
“You are lying to me,” he said, matter of fact.
“About her having a child?” I asked, now confused at the turn this conversation had taken.
“About why you told him to choose her. Don’t play games with me, Dallas. Why did you tell Luke to choose her?”
I played with my oatmeal, swirling my spoon around the bowl. I kept my head down whispering my answer, “She is my sister.”
“Your sister? Look at me, Dallas.” My head shot up at his commanding voice and I saw him staring at me, his head slightly turned to one side. “I don’t quite understand. You are telling me that this woman, Maddie, the daughter of Frankie the Cutter is your sister?” His question didn’t really sound like a question at all. It sounded more like an unbelieving statement.
“Step daughter, and yes. She is my sister,” I confirmed.
“Will you please tell me the story? I can find it out with a single phone call, but I would like to hear it from you.” I stared at him, wondering whether my sharing this story would benefit me or not. He seemed genuinely interested to hear it, but I didn’t feel right talking about my family with him.
“Maybe one day, but with all due respect, I’m really not up for reliving it right now.” He nodded his head in understanding.
“You are talking about your kidnapping experience with Frankie.” My eyes widened at his words. How did he know about that? I took a sip of water and straightened my posture before answering him.
“Yes. As crazy as it may sound, this particular situation-me being here with you, is only one of the many life altering events I have experienced in the past few months of my life.” My voice was stronger than I expected and in no way reflected the way I felt on the inside.
“We have time. When you trust me, and are ready to share your story, I will be here to listen. Let’s just enjoy breakfast for now.” He smiled reassuringly and my automatic response was a smile in return and a nod of my head. Crisis averted, for now.
Chapter16
Dallas
After breakfast, I went back to my room and curled up in the bed. Charlie had informed me that we would be spending another night due to the weather. The forecast showed thunderstorms for the rest of the day and on into the night. We were under a tornado warning and the power had recently gone out. Luckily, it was just bright enough outside that we didn’t need any flashlights or candles. I found some magazines on the night stand beside my bed and lost myself in them. Keeping up with the latest celebrity drama was a way to escape my own reality. It made me sick though, how people could care that much about one person getting a DUI when there were women, like me, out there that were being held against their will. At least I wasn’t getting gang raped or beaten. I was beginning understand that the only way to keep me sane was to think of the positive things, like having food and water and not being tied up. This abduction was going much better than my first one. I thought I was going to die in that barn, but divine intervention and a group of bikers saved me. Could it happen again?
Lunch went the same way that breakfast did, except this time I couldn’t hide my smile when I saw that Charlie had someone prepare Luke’s “specialty-” ham sandwiches and potato chips.
“Something funny?” Charlie asked, intrigued by my smile.
“No, this looks great. Thank you,” I said, still smiling.
“You are thinking of him again, aren’t you?” My smile faded, but I nodded my head.
“He once told me he was going to fix me his specialty. I was anticipating something great, instead he surprised me with this,” I said, motioning to the plate before me. Why had I told him that? “He told you this was something I liked?” I asked, again not knowing why I was still talking. Charlie took a moment to just stare at me, impassively, before he answered.