The Bucket List, page 14
"Look, my husband died fifteen years ago right in front of me. I have beat myself up over and over thinking I could've somehow changed that outcome. My daughter could've had her father, and I could've had my husband. It wasn't a perfect marriage, but it was ours. And I think over the years I've just continued to mentally beat myself up about it. There. Now you don't have to psychoanalyze me while I'm trying to eat my sandwich.”
"I'm really sorry about what happened to your husband."
“Thanks.”
Trish comes back to the table right at that moment to give us our drinks. I slurp down my sweet tea hoping we can change the subject.
"So how many more activities do you have to do on the bucket list?"
"Just a couple. I have to enter a gardening contest, which I'm currently working on with my new friend, Lila. We're trying to put together a little garden at the beach house, but it's slow going. Neither one of us are green thumbs."
"I love to garden."
"You do?"
He laughs. "Don't look so surprised. Guys can garden, too. What? Do you live in the dark ages?"
"You just don't strike me as the gardening type."
"Well, you don't exactly know me very well either. You met me briefly in a bar, gave me a long passionate kiss, and now we're riding around town together."
My face turns all shades of red. "I was really hoping you would not bring up the kiss thing."
"How can I not bring up the kiss thing? It's the most exciting thing that's happened to me in a while."
I chuckle. "You're a cop. I highly doubt kissing me was the most exciting thing that has happened to you lately.”
"You'd be surprised," he says, softly. This time, Trish interrupts us with food, and I'm a little aggravated. I wanted to hear more about his thoughts on the kiss, but I don't dare bring it up.
We both immediately start eating because he has a very limited dinner break. I don't say another word about the kiss because I'm afraid what road that will take us down, but it is kind of nice to hear him say he enjoyed it. It doesn't really matter, because nothing is going to happen between us, but it's still nice to know I'm at least somewhat attractive to a man.
"I'm going to run to the restroom. I'll be quick." I noticed him looking at his phone over and over to check the time. Thankfully, we haven't gotten any pressing calls on the radio while we've been eating.
I go into the restroom for a few minutes, touch up my face, use the bathroom, wash my hands, and then walk to the door. And that's when I hear it. A lot of loud screaming and shouting. Being an anxious sort, I'm definitely not going to walk toward it. I peak through the little window at the top of the door leading to the hallway of bathrooms. I duck down as much as I can, leaning my head back so that all that can be seen is the tip of my nose and my eyeballs.
I'm shocked when I see a man wearing a ski mask and all black standing in the middle of the restaurant. Everybody has been moved to one side, and he's pointing a gun. My heart pounds in my chest, and I feel like I'm going to throw up the BLT that I just ate. What do I do? I'm careful not to get Levi's attention because I'm afraid he will look over at me and make the robber realize I’m behind him.
I stick my hands in my pockets only to realize I don't have my phone. It's sitting on the table. Now would be a really great time to call 911, even though I'm actually with a police officer. Levi has his hands up as well. Apparently he was taken off guard, and the robber has required him to put his gun on the floor.
He is screaming all sorts of threats, and it becomes immediately obvious that he's mentally unstable. This isn't just a guy who's coming here to get some money. He could really hurt someone. He seems to have a death wish. The more he screams, the more my heart races. I'm getting scared I'll have a heart attack.
It's in that moment that I realize I'm the only chance these people have. This guy doesn't know I'm behind him, and I'm the only one who can possibly get help. I tiptoe to the other end of the little hallway to see if there's a way to the outside but there's nothing. Just two bathrooms and a storage closet. I turn the handle to the storage closet to see if maybe it leads somewhere else, but it's just full of cleaning supplies and random stuff.
Somewhere, deep inside, I feel courage welling up. I don't know where it comes from because I don't think I've ever felt it before. I imagine it would feel something like this if my daughter were trapped under a car and I had to lift it. I would get that surge of adrenaline and be able to lift a car, according to the stories I've read on the Internet. And we all know everything you read on the Internet must be true.
I look around inside of the storage closet to see if there's anything there that could help me. It's mainly just extra napkins, plates, cleaning supplies. There's a broom, but it's about as flimsy as one you would buy at a dollar store. I don't think these people are big on cleaning which makes me second-guess my ingestion of that BLT.
I'm determined to find something in there that can help us, and that's when I see the only thing that makes any sense. For some inexplicable reason, there's a very old timey, heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. This thing weighs about as much as my first car, but thankfully it makes no noise when I'm pushing it. I was afraid it would be squeaky and draw attention to my location. But no noise at all.
I also notice some cleaning sprays. I grab the most potent one of those I can find and make my way back into the hallway. I peer through the window once again, and the man is still screaming and waving his gun around. He still doesn't seem to notice that I'm right behind him.
My hands are shaking, my heart is pounding, and a part of me says to just hide in the closet until this is all over. But as I look around through the little window, I see mothers with children. I see workers just trying to get a bite to eat after a long day. I see a young couple sitting together, holding hands. And I see Levi. Levi who protects the community every single day. I can't just leave him sitting there with no protection.
I say a quick, quiet prayer to God to protect me. I also whisper out loud to my daughter, as if she can hear me somewhere. I want to come out of this alive, and I'm not even sure I'm making the right call here. But somebody has to do something, and I don't even hear any police sirens heading this way. It's entirely possible somebody has called them, and they are on their way, quietly pulling into the parking lot. But I can't take that chance because this guy seems completely unhinged.
I push the vacuum cleaner up to the door. As soon as I open it, I have to run as fast as I've ever run in my life. My plan is to run straight at him, hit him behind his knees, knock him down and spray him in the face with this cleaner. Hopefully, I don't blind him for the rest of his life, but honestly I can't be worried about his health at the moment.
I don't know what's going to happen to the gun in this process. I pray it doesn't go off and hurt somebody. I also pray that he doesn't have a good grip on it, so he drops it and Levi can retrieve it. I'm trying to will all the right things to happen.
I hear him yell something about how he's going to start hurting people. He doesn't even seem to be asking for money. He's just ranting and raving about something that I can't understand. If I'm going to do this, I have to do it now.
I knew I shouldn't have gone on a police ride along!
I wait until he is turned facing completely away from my location, and I run out quicker than I've ever run in my life. Just as I had planned, the vacuum cleaner hits right in the back of the knees, with all its force and metal. It knocks him off his footing, and he falls backwards, almost on top of me. Thankfully, Levi saw me coming, and he has run forward and snatched the gun right out of the man's hand at the same time I spray him in the face. Within seconds, Levi is down on the ground, pinning the man down with his hands behind his back.
CHAPTER 13
It all happened so quickly that I can hardly believe it happened at all. This is not something I would have ever done in my life, or at least I didn't think so. Maybe we all do things in the heat of the moment when they are presented to us.
Moments later, back up arrives, and people are taken out of the restaurant. The robber is put into a car, and diner management decides to close down for the rest of the evening because the staff is so shaken up.
Levi walks over to me as all the hubbub finally dies down. He is staring at me in such an intense way; I feel uncomfortable under his gaze.
"Are you okay?" he asks me.
"I'm fine. I just need this adrenaline rush to wear off," I say, shaking my hands.
Without any other words, he pulls me into a tight embrace. I'm stunned at the show of affection. Slowly he lets go and then steps back a bit, clearing his throat.
"You're crazy. You know that, right? That was an insane thing to do."
"I couldn't just let him hurt people. I was the only one who could do anything."
"Still, you shouldn't have done that. You should've just hidden in that storage room and protected yourself. Do you know what could've happened?"
"But it didn't happen. I'm fine."
He seems beside himself, pacing back-and-forth in front of me. We're standing out in the parking lot now, next to the car. I don't know why we aren’t just getting in the car.
"I told you I would protect you."
"You had no gun, and that guy was threatening to hurt people. I was in a position to help, and that's what I did."
"I would've never forgiven myself if something had happened to you," he says, almost so softly that I barely hear him.
"Listen, you protect the public every single day of your life. I only had to be brave for a moment."
I'm leaning against the car now, and he walks forward, leaving very little room between us, one of his hands resting on the car right beside my hip. "I can't do this anymore. I have to take you home."
"But I didn't finish my ride along," I say, complaining about something that I really don't want to do anymore, anyway. I think I've had enough of being a police officer for one night.
"My superior said I can take the rest of the night off. I think we both need to calm down."
The crazy thing is, I feel completely calm except for the extra adrenaline that needs to work its way out of my body. I feel strong and confident for the first time that I can remember in my whole life. I feel like I just did something. I did something Monica would've done. Or maybe Monica wouldn't have even done it.
I did something while I was scared. I did something while I was anxious. I saved lives potentially. I might've blinded a man in the process, but there's always collateral damage when you're a superhero.
I almost start laughing at my own joke. I decide against it.
"Okay, you can just take me back to the station, and I'll drive myself home."
"I don't think so."
"What? My car is at the station."
"I want to see you home."
"Levi, that's unnecessary. I'm perfectly fine."
"I need to take your statement, anyway."
"I think you're making up a bogus excuse. That other officer said I could come down to the station tomorrow and give my statement.
"I outrank him."
I roll my eyes. "Well, I guess my car will be safe at the police station until tomorrow. Fine. You can drive me home."
He opens the door, and I climb inside, unsure of what's going on here. His entire demeanor has changed, and it's making me a little nervous. I'm not scared of him or anything, but I just don't know what to make of it.
He gets into the other side, and we drive in silence for quite a while until he realizes he has no idea where I live. I tell him the address, and he immediately knows where it is. After all, cops are generally pretty good with street names.
About fifteen minutes later, he pulls into the driveway and under the house. Monica's house is up on those stilts to protect it from hurricanes and flooding.
"Thanks for the ride," I say as I start to step out of the car. He just sits there, staring straight ahead like he wants to say something.
"I lost my wife."
I stop in my tracks and look at him. "What?" For some reason, I just assumed he'd never been married.
"My wife was killed by a drunk driver seven years ago. I showed up on the scene of an accident, and I didn't know…" His voice breaks a little, and that just about breaks me. I don't know what to say.
"I'm so sorry. I cannot imagine how hard it must've been to see something like that."
He stares straight ahead like he's looking into the past. "And when I saw you come running out of that door and engage with that maniac, all I could think was that I was going to watch another woman I cared about get hurt or worse."
The woman he cares about? My brain feels like it's literally spinning around inside my head. Am I hallucinating? Am I having some sort of post-traumatic stress response?
"I don't understand. You care about me?"
"I've cared about you since the moment I met you at that bar. I even went back one time looking to see if you were there."
I laugh. "I did the same thing once."
He looks at me. "You did? I didn't think you liked me at all."
I shrug my shoulders. "I didn't think I did either until I couldn't stop thinking about you after that. You were kind of a jerk for part of that."
"Sorry. I don't do well with funerals."
"Do you want to come in and have a cup of coffee?"
"I'd like that."
We both step out of the car and walk up the front steps, and I feel more nervous now than I did when I was running at the lunatic with the giant vacuum cleaner and the can of cleaning spray. At least I was in control then. Right now, I do not feel in control of my emotions at all.
We drink coffee for a couple of hours, sitting out on the back deck talking about life and listening to the ocean waves. Nothing romantic happens, which is both reassuring and a bummer at the same time. I think I want something to happen, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for something to happen.
He's a perfect gentleman, which is a little surprising. I don't know why, but it is. We decide to watch a movie, and we opt for some old Tom Cruise thing from the eighties. I don't even remember the name of it because I wasn't paying much attention. I couldn't concentrate because I kept smelling his cologne waft across the room to the other end of the sofa.
Before I know it, I’m opening my eyes to the sun shining through the window blinds. I grab my phone from the end table and see that it's seven-thirty in the morning. I turn to look, and Levi is sound asleep, his head leaned back against the back of the sofa, one foot propped up on the coffee table in front of him. He looks so peaceful.
Last night was a revelation to me about the kind of person he is. He talked about his upbringing, his marriage, his police training. He told me about some of his favorite calls, and some of the worst things he'd seen. I still think he was holding back a little, probably not wanting to upset me.
I talked about Annie, about Jesse, and of course, about Monica. We talked about grief, and starting over again.
He had dated a few years after his wife passed away, but he said nothing ever felt right. Nothing ever felt like true love. So he was married to his career, and that had worked well for him.
"Good morning," I hear him say, his voice gruff and gravelly.
"Good morning. I guess we fell asleep before the movie was over."
He chuckles, sitting up straight and running his fingers through his hair. I should probably do the same since I usually look like a bridge troll in the morning.
"I should probably get going. I have some things to do before my shift tonight."
I nod my head. "I can just get an Uber over to the station to get my car."
Everything feels awkward all of a sudden. I don't know exactly what to make of it. Maybe he was just overwhelmed with emotion last night, and a lot of it spewed out. It doesn't mean that he's interested in me in that way.
"I don't mind taking you."
"It's fine. I really wanna get a shower before I go because I have some errands to run after that."
"Okay, if you're sure."
He walks behind the sofa to go toward the door, but his attention is caught by the window leading out to the backyard area.
"Looking at the view one more time?"
He looks at me for a long moment like he wants to say something, but he doesn't. "I was actually looking at your garden. Is that the one for the contest?"
"Yeah. It's a bit of a mess right now."
He chuckles. "It's a lot of a mess, actually. Those two things should not be planted next to each other. This one's going to overpower that one," he says, pointing at things I can't see.
"It's fine. I don't need to win the contest. I just need to enter it."
"A technicality. Anything worth doing is worth doing well," he says, opening the door to the back deck and walking outside.
"I guess we're going outside," I mumble to myself as I follow him.
He stands on the deck overlooking the garden and shakes his head. "I don't know what you were thinking when you planted this. You're going to have a bunch of pink over here, yellow right there, and purple is just going to be over here by itself. Those two things are going to be way too tall, and these things over here don't grow more than a few inches…" He's continuing to ramble on, but all I'm noticing is that little bit of stubble around his jawline that grew overnight. It’s very attractive.
"Well, you're welcome to replant it if you'd like," I say, jokingly.
"Seriously? Because I will."
I stare at him for a moment. "So you want to come over to my house, dig up my plants, and replace them?"
"Not exactly. I want to come over to Monica's house, dig up your plants, and replant them."
"Hilarious. It'll be my house soon."
"I'm off tomorrow. I'll go by the plant store, and I'll come by here around mid morning. Sound good?"
"Fine with me. If you want to waste a day doing something like that."
He turns around and smiles at me. "I don't think spending the day with you is a waste of time at all. I'll see you tomorrow, Jilly.” Before I can say another word, he walks around the side of the house and disappears, and I feel like I'm going to dissolve into a puddle right next to the rose bushes.
