Frosting On The Cake 2: Second Helpings Part 2

He joined her in another sip. "That's a huge relief."

"I've never seen deals like this in the past ten years, and your research and development campus is going to be at rock-bottom cost for the next ten for you."

"You made it happen. How come you don't work for me?"

CJ laughed. "I like what I do."

His fifty-something face creased into a smile. "Hard to argue with that. Oh, plus there's this."

He handed her an envelope. Eyebrows arched, she opened it and extracted a check.

She gasped, and pressed a hand to her heart. "Tony-that's wonderful. Thank you! You have no idea how far this money will go and how many women and kids are going to be helped."

"Actually, I do. My own sister married a creep and I only found out last month she has been in a shelter repeatedly over the last five years. She was too embarra.s.sed to tell anyone."

CJ tucked the check for twenty-five thousand dollars back in the envelope. Emily, the director of the women's shelter she frequently wrote fundraising appeals for, would be overjoyed. The brutal economy had both dried up donations and increased the need for beds as frustrated people-mostly men-took out their anger on their families. "It's sad, but I think most people don't know that they know someone who is getting beat up at home."

"I remembered that before we even started talking about this deal you had been a signer on a fundraising letter I got. I round filed it-I give lots to the alma mater and Jerry's Kids. Still, I can't beat the c.r.a.p out of her husband, but I can do this."

"And get her a good divorce lawyer." Not that anyone in the entire Gates family couldn't afford the best.

He sighed. "She's not ready for that. I just don't get it."

Because you've never thought love actually had that kind of price, CJ wanted to say. She knew more about that than she would ever tell anyone. Karita knew some of it, that was enough. All her debts to anyone were paid, and she was done with the past. There was just the future.

Her phone vibrated again. It couldn't be her office, either; they knew what she was doing. Burnett was no doubt hunched over his desk, waiting for a text before he celebrated. As her a.s.sociate, he was getting a large chunk of the action too. Well, whoever it was would have to wait.

They both pa.s.sed on dessert, but when the waiter suggested a fresh fruit and cheese plate it sounded so healthy, they decided to split it. Right, CJ thought, cheese is healthy after a full lunch. She couldn't resist the richly veined blue or the soft double cream brie.

When she finally left the dark confines of the restaurant the bright spring sun felt wonderful. The sky was the kind of blue that made her realize that most other blue skies she'd ever seen really weren't. She had a multi-million dollar contract tucked in her satchel and a commission guarantee that paid out for ten years. It was a beautiful day. The client's thanks were still ringing in her ears when she finally checked her phone display.

The last message was from Nann, the director of the animal shelter where Karita volunteered. It said, "Everything's fine."

s.h.i.t. That was never good.

She scrolled back through the messages as she got into her Trailblazer. All from Nann. Reading backward, the half-dozen missives said that everything was fine, could she get in touch soon, don't worry, you should probably come on up, the paramedics say she's okay, and the very first message said "I think she's okay, but they're checking her out now." There was no question in CJ's mind as to who was being checked out. It had to be Karita. It would of course be Karita.

There were no other messages. What was it this time? Had she fallen off a roof trying to rescue a kitten? Been bitten by a llama trying to avoid their notorious spit? Sprained an ankle chasing a stray? This had better not be an April Fool's joke!

She tried not to panic as she backed out of the parking s.p.a.ce. That there were no messages from Karita was unusual. Most of the time, when Karita had a misadventure, the first message read, "So sorry, I'm okay. Update when you get home. It's complicated."

Once safely on the street-she was not risking attention from the Denver traffic cops ever again-she called Karita. No answer. Then she tried Nann. No answer.

Even distracted, it was always easy to head home. All she had to do was point the nose of the car toward the mountains. The hard part was surviving the traffic. It didn't help that it was a Friday afternoon and a late season blizzard had brought good skiing as close as Loveland. Highway 74, the quickest route to their home near Kittredge, was clogged with four-wheel drives trying to go 90 in a 55 when 30 miles per hour was the best anyone would do. Skis and s...o...b..ards strapped on top made it difficult to see beyond them. Adding to the stop-and-go was a concert at Red Rocks and the races at Bandimere Speedway.

She tried Karita, she tried Nann-d.a.m.n, she was close to the Hogback and the reception was breaking up. The signal at the animal shelter was never much good, but her own location was compounding the matter.

Traffic picked up a little once she got past Red Rocks. The bar count on her phone bounced up and down like a heart monitor, then went to zero and stayed there. No more texts, nothing. Neither of them were answering.

Finally, just pa.s.sing Idledale, she got a strong signal and Nann's phone rang instead of going directly to voicemail.

"What's up?"

"Don't worry, CJ. She's going to be fine. They put a liter of-" The connection crackled furiously. CJ wasn't sure, but she could have sworn that Nann said the word "bear" before the call dropped.

Don't worry? Don't worry!? She resisted the urge to lean on her horn, not that it would do any good on a two-lane highway. She'd be there in three minutes.

She lived a lifetime in three minutes. She could imagine the darkest things, fed by her own memories of childhood. She knew what blood smelled like, had seen beatings that were probably nowhere near the damage a mauling by a bear would do. Karita could be so foolish, so blissfully unaware of danger, and unable to believe that bad things happened. CJ had seen her stand in front of a maniac with a baseball bat, saying "No," like that would work. She had nearly gotten her skull bashed in.

The turnoff to the animal shelter was still a minute ahead when her eye was caught by flashing lights deep in the pines and firs along a dirt road. There was a flash of yellow that might have been Nann's car, so she quickly swerved and turned. Her Trailblazer had no problem with the deep ruts and steep climb from the low bridge that spanned Bear Creek. Her hands were trembling on the steering wheel.

It was Nann's car all right. There was also a fire engine and an ambulance, red and blue lights still circling and flashing.

She was coasting to a stop when she saw Karita's car.

What was left of Karita's car.

The pa.s.senger door to the old Subaru had been ripped out of its moorings, and it hung by one bolt on the lower hinge. Stuffing from the seats was shredded and the pa.s.senger seat was halfway out of the gaping door. Scratches along the damaged frame were deep and long and the roof and hood looked as if something large had danced on them.

There was no sign of Karita.

CJ couldn't breathe. Nann said she was okay. She had to trust it, even as she whispered, "G.o.d, please no."

Getting out of her car wasn't easy. She felt so strange-part of her ran screaming across the clearing, frantic to find Karita. But the rest of her could hardly move.

"CJ!"

She turned her head too quickly and thought that if she fainted there was at least an ambulance handy.

Nann was waving at her. "This cell phone is worthless, I swear."

Like that mattered. "Where is she?"

"In the ambulance. She's got the attendants laughing of course."

"Laughing." Sure enough, the sound of a man's throaty guffaw reached her ears. "Laughing. Nann, for heaven's sake, what happened to the car? What happened to her?"

"She'll have to tell you what happened. It's-"

"I know-I know! It's complicated. It's always complicated!"

Nann gave her the indulgent look she saved for overwrought people and animals. "Given the circ.u.mstances, she did pretty well."

Shaking with reaction and anxiety, CJ crossed the pine needle-covered clearing, stepping over fallen branches and avoiding crusted ruts left in the dirt by run-off. It was a marvel that the Subaru had made it this far from the road. Between age and its light frame, it didn't have much oomph or traction.

She rounded the fire engine and saw two firefighters leaning against the open back doors of the ambulance. Both looked like they were having a coffee break around the station house cooler. The ambulance driver was having a smoke not far away.

The woman looked up at her with an almost annoyed expression, as if she was enjoying herself and had a feeling that CJ was a party p.o.o.per. "I think your girlfriend is here."

"CJ?"

Karita's voice, at last. Flooded with relief, she blinked back tears.

"Honey, what on earth did you do?"

"She's had a nasty scare, that's for sure," the male firefighter said. He was older and had that paternal air that Karita aroused in the men who didn't immediately want to date her.

Finally, she could see inside the ambulance.

Propped up on a stretcher, Karita smiled at her.

It might have made the world go right, it might have eased the trembling in CJ's stomach, but the sight of the amazing blue eyes nearly swollen shut and the long silver-gold hair matted with something oily knocked the breath out of her again. It was a few moments before her gaze traveled down to the large padding on Karita's left calf, which was elevated. The dressing was clean, but there was blood on the stretcher. A lot of blood, and it abruptly swam in her vision.

"Sit down," someone said in her ear, firmly prodding her.

She sat.

"Honey, I'm so sorry," she heard Karita say. "I don't know what I was thinking."

That bad things don't happen, CJ tried to say but her mouth wouldn't move.

"A bear cub ran across the highway, right in front of me. I nearly ran it over."

There was a long pause, and CJ finally felt clearheaded enough to focus on Karita's face. "And then what happened?"

"I followed it up here. I didn't actually get hurt until I tried to climb down out of the tree."

Okay, she was in the tree. "Why were you in the tree?"

"It was the closest thing after I got out of the car."

Okay, she had gotten out of the car to climb the tree. "Why did you get out of the car?"

"Well, I didn't think staying in the car made a lot of sense with a bear getting in there with me." Karita had that tone of something being patently obvious to her, and anyone who wasn't following along was a bit slow. "Do you think it can be fixed?"

"I can't even begin to think about that right now."

"I love that car-I'd heard bears could open car doors like sardine cans, but that was really something to see up close."

Just another interesting life-threatening event in the life of Karita Hanssen. "Honey, I don't care about the car. I really care about how you ended up in a car with a bear."

"I was never in the car with the bear. By the time the bear was in, I was in the tree."

CJ gritted her teeth. "Why was the bear trying to get in your car?"

"It wasn't so much in as through."

"Through your car. Why?"

"See, that's the part that's totally bizarre."

CJ laughed against her will. "Right. Up till now it's just an everyday thing, you in the tree, your leg cut up and face like a balloon."

"Is it that bad?" Karita touched her fingers to her cheek. "It feels like it's going to pop."

The paramedic, who had been busy writing on a clipboard, chimed in with, "I have to admit, this is a first for me."

"Me too," Karita said.

"Me too," CJ snapped. "So-the bear?"

"The mama bear just wanted her cub."

"Oh my G.o.d, Karita, tell me you didn't put the cub in your car."

"Of course not!" What little of Karita's eyes that were visible blazed with indignation. "I'm not stupid."

My poor love, CJ thought. It all looked so painful and she wanted to hold her close except the paramedic was in the way and she couldn't make her arms obey her anyway and she still didn't know what had happened. "So why was the mama bear attacking your car?"

"I didn't mean to stop between them. The cub was running back toward me and I thought it was lost, so I stopped, but it wasn't running toward me, it was running toward its mom and I didn't see the mother until she hit the car with her shoulder-wow, I thought I'd go right over too. So the cub must have been just the other side of me."

"And the mama bear thought her baby was in the car."

"Or under it."

"So you got out of the car."

"You bet I did! That door just peeled right off, so I went out through the window, actually, and got on the roof."

CJ touched the bandage on her calf. "Did you get clawed?"

"Oh no. I got up in the tree, just fine. I had to go way up, though, because bears are smart. Mama stood up on the car and tried to follow me up the tree."

"So that's how the roof got dented."

"Yeah. Do you really think it's totaled?"

"Honey, I'm more concerned about you, right now. I'm glad you aren't totaled, you know?"

The firefighters chuckled. Great, they were getting the whole free family show.

CJ became aware that Nann had joined them. "I have to get back-glad you're okay, Karita. Don't come in tomorrow. I'll send you home if you do. Pam is going to drop in after work to help me out."

"It's only a little blood," Karita protested to Nann's departing back.

"Karita," CJ said explosively, "it looks like a lot of blood to me!"

"Not really. Well, not all at once. It wouldn't have happened except I couldn't see where I was going."