A WAY OUT

chapter six

There was a knock at the door, and

Kimmy smiled. "That should be Ray,

don't you think?" She said as she

brought out the turkey from the oven.

John shook his head and said. "That's

not possible. Ray is never early for

dinner, and I'm sure he won't start now.

He always arrived when everything is

ready, and you've slaved me all you

want." He said grinning.

Kimmy rolled her eyes with a scoff. She

removed the gloves in her hand and

said. "I'll go get the door. Help me get

the cups down from the top cabinet"

She said and threw the gloves on the

kitchen counter.

John grumbled as he watched his wife

leave to open the door. She was always

too shaky whenever their son was in

town. She would clean out his room,

even though he had his own house,

hoping he would spend some time at

home here. She would do his laundry

from time to time whenever he was

around and all the fussing she did over

him was not something liked.

He always look forward to when their

son would be around in town, but his

wife fussing over him and neglecting

him; her husband, was what he didn't

like

He had never stayed in town for more

than a week anyway before he had to

go back to work, so it had bearable. But

now, he was on leave for about three to

four weeks leave, and that was a long

term of what he had to go through. He

shook his head and smiled. Maybe he

should just marry a girl from town and

then, his wife would stop fussing over

him and concentrate on her husband.

He was an agent with the Federal

Bureau of Investigation and he was

damn proud of him.

Kimmy wal ked into the kitchen with

Scarlet and the smile on his face widen.

"Good evening, John. You have a nice

shirt on." Scarlet said, in greeting with a

cheerful smile on her face.

"Good evening, Scar. You're early" He

said, looking pointedly at his wife,

teasing her believing that their son had

actually arrived.

Kimmy rolled her eyes and drop the box

she was holding. "Scarlet brought this

over" She said and proceeded to check

what she had on the stove.

"Thank you, Scarlet." He said.

They began to set the table that was

situated at the back of the house.

Scarlet helped carry the food out

through the kitchen back door out to the

back where the family normally had

their barbecue party.

As she carried the plate out, she heard

the doorbell rang and she concluded

that that must be their son. The son

they had been talking about to her for

the whole of the dinner they had invited

her to before.

She knew what being proud about a

child was, and the joy that came with it.

The look in their eyes was exactly the

look in her mother's eyes when she

graduated from college, it was the

same look in her eyes when she first

opened her company, so she

understood their pride for him.

They didnt really tell her what he did for

work, but they told her that he was into

the law enforcement business,

whatever that means.

She shrugged with a sigh and dropped

the plate on the table. She stood there,

waiting for the 0'Brien to join her here.

There was nothing anymore to bring to

the table, as all the food was already

here

Her back was turned towards the

kitchen door so she didn't see the

person with Kimmy and John, but she

heard him talk and she froze.

"I'm sure you're just jealous of me, Dad,"

Ray said as he stepped down from the

kitchen door. "Mom's attention on me

must be driving you crazy"' As he

walked towards the table, he saw a

woman with her back turned, standing

at the table.

The cop in her knew that she had frozen

to the spot by her physic. Her

shoulders were frozen, unmoving. He

saw that her hand, held the table tightly,

which means that she was not only

frozen but nervous.

The first thing he wanted to ask was if

she was okay, but he stopped in his

track when he saw her hair and the side

of her face. It was the woman from

earlier, and she must have heard his

voice.

He relaxed his shoulders and relaxed

the concerned look on his face with a

grin.

His parents sat down, and his father

called out the woman's name. "Scarlet.

Are you all right?" He asked.

She nodded and took her seat.

So her name was Scarlet! It fit her just

right with the color of her hair. As he

took his seat at the opposite end of the

table, he looked at Scarlet and smiled. "

Hi, Scarlet!" He said, tasting her name

against his lips, and it sounded nice.

We meet again." He said.

Scarlet looked down her fingers without

saying anything. She wasn't going to

grace his words with a reply.

"You know each other?" Kimmy asked

her son.

Ray nodded. "I met her this afternoon in

front of the police station when I'm was

coming from Lyle's office." He said,

chuckling.

"She's who I wanted you to meet. I see

you've met each other" His mother said.

"I see!" He said, smiling. He

remembered he had turned to look at

her this afternoon after she had carried

the boxes he had collected from her

and he had seen the way she was

shaped properly. She was a petite

woman with badass curves in the right

places.

She incited a feeling in him but he had

shrugged it off. Now, when he saw her

again, he felt that same feeling he had

felt. There was something about this

woman, that called at him, something

begging for him to protect her. She

looked strong, but he could see in her

eyes a distant look that call the instinct

of his prote ctiveness out to shine.

His mother stood up and dished out the

food.

Scarlet and John started to talk. "How's

the dog you wanted to get? Owen said

you choose a lone dog" Ray heard his

father say.

Scarlet laughed and the sound made

his blood rush to his groin. He watched

as she laughed, and then she shook her

head. Her tongue came out to wet her

lips, then she said. "l choose a good

dog, that all that matters. Dr. Owen kept

pushing other dogs to me, and even

tried to convince me of the one I chose

but that's not possible." She said.

Kimmy smiled and said. "Don't mind

Owen. He loves to make decisions for

people when it comes to getting a dog."

She placed a plate in front of Scarlet

and she smiled and said. "Thank you,

Kimmy. This smells great." She said.

"I took a bite from the cookies you

brought. It tasted fabulous. You re a

great baker." Kimmy said.

Scarlet smiled. "My mother taught me

how to bake, and how to cook. I watch

so many online videos, then I went to

school after college to get a diploma in

Bakery and Confectionery, I also went

off to Paris for a year to work in a

friend's bakery. I had to leave when he

got married and his wife thought we're

having an affair" She said. She scoffed

and shook her head. "You need to see

Darren's wife. She is a goddess,

compared to me. Her only reason for

thinking like that was because of the

name he called me. Darren called me

Red. It was a name my mother used to

call me while growing up, and when I

told Darren about the story, he insisted

that was the name he would call me,

instead of Scarlet." She said, concluding

her story.

As Ray's parents commented on the

fact that Darren's wife was jealous and

how she should consider baking

professionally instead of just wasting

away her talent, all Ray could think of

was the pet name Red! He tasted it

against his mouth, muttering it under

his breath, and he hardened.

Fuck!

He loved that name. Her mother knew

the best names that suited her. Her real

me and pet name both suited her

perfectly.

Ray decided to ask her about her

childhood. "So, Red! That's a really nice

name by the way. Where did you grow

up at?" He asked.

Scarlet shrugged, trying to think up

something. She knew she had to say

something soon, and considering this

was a small town, people would soon

be talking about it. She didn't want them

to catch on to her lie. She remembered

that she had told Sheriff Lyle that she

came from Chicago, so she said. "I

grew up in Chicago." She said simply,

not offering any more explanation.

Ray squinted his eyes at that. She had

done a good job at covering up her lie,

but he sawa give in her that made him

know that she was lying, but he kept

quiet. He had known this woman for

what, two hours? Two hours and a half

at most, but he was already noting

down some things about her. Like she

licked her lips when she was nervous or

her eyes twinkled when she saw

something she liked or the way she

pause and shrug when she was thinking

of a lie.

Maybe it was just normal instinct on the

cop on him, either way, he knew these

things.

He decided to take an approach to

confirm what he knew. "You're still new

in town and we know nothing other than

what you've told everyone. How about

you tell me about yourself" He said.

Kimmy raised her brows. "Ray, don't be

rude." He heard his mother say. Without

taking his eyes off Scarlet, he said. "It's

fine, Mum. I'm sure it's not a big deal for

Red. She would answer the question,

except she has anything to hide, that is."

He said.

Scarlet heart leaped to her throat, and

she cursed herself mentally for coming

to dinner at the O'Brien's tonight, but

she raised her chin in defiance to cover

up her fear

Only, Ray saw the look in her eyes

before she could cover it up with

hostility towards him. '"1 really don't

think that is any of your business but I'll

answer your question because I have

nothing to hide.

"As I've said before, I grew up in

Chicago, mostly but we moved around

a lot for a while. My father was a

lieutenant general, so it was a given.

But we stayed in Chicago for the most

part as I said, but that was when he

died. He died in Afghanistan, in the line

of duty" She said.

Ray nodded but he was still not

satisfied. As she said what she did, he

watched her and he knew she had

spoken the truth as well as told a lie,

but he didn't know which was which.

She was good. "I heard you bought the

old Garrison Murray's place. What do

you do?" He asked.

Kimmy tapped her husband from under

the table and muttered under her breath

"Johnny, call your son to order and tell

him to stop bothering the poor girl" She

said, raising her voice at the end.

Scarlet was prepared for that question,

as she knew it would come soon from

him. She had an answer for that,a

truthful one, no doubt. "I'm an interior

designer, or rather, I was an interior

designer. l've worked for so many

important people and that is howI was

able to afford to buy the house. The

house isn't that expensive. It went down

for eighty nine thousand dollars, plus

insurance. I'm also looking to rent a

space on the main street. As you can

tell, Im a rich girl, so I can afford these

things. Your Dad once mentioned that

you're in the law enforcement business,

so I'm sure you can find out about me.

I'm not running away from the law or

anything if that's what you are scared of.

"She said. She picked up the wine glass

and drank a mouthful before dropping

it on the table. Then, she continued.

"I've always had a fascination without

naming things according to color. The

only reason I named her Blue was

because l'm Red already. I named you

too." She said. This was meant to

distract him from the current topic, and

she succeeded.

Ray raised his brows. "What color did

you name me after?" He asked with a

grin.

She contemplated on whether to tell

him or not, then she decided she

shouldn't because she wanted to see

the look in his eyes when he finally

know what it was. She shrugged. "It's

for me to know and for you to find out!"

She said.

With a smile and a shake of his head,

he sighed. He wouldn't lie, he like that

she already had a pet name for him,

and it warmed his heart.

After dinner that night, he dropped Red

off at Linda's and went home with a

huge grin on his face.