“P-put me down.” Her words were weak, and he ignored them. “Where are you taking me?”
“I think we just covered that.” He gave her a quick look as he walked back out through the door he had just entered.
Her eyes were the color of fresh cut grass, so bright they’d always given him a jolt, and he remembered that her jet-black hair had always been plaited in a long, fat braid down her back. No ribbons or clips, just a plan black band had secured it at the bottom. She’d had no soft edges in school, just a belligerent girl with a serious attitude and that air of sadness that had clung to her. Of course, everything changed when she had a microphone in her hand. The girl had sung like an angel.
It had always amazed Jake that she chose to join the school band, yet avoided communicating with other students whenever possible. He’d watched her once, being dragged in by Newman because he had the hots for some girl doing backup vocals and playing the tambourine. Jake had been shocked when Branna had stepped up to the microphone. Seeing Annabelle playing keyboards told him who was responsible for her appearance, but nothing had prepared him for her voice; all the hair on the back of his neck had risen when she sang her first note.
“No, I won’t go to the doctor.” She was trying to get out of his arms now, but he was bigger, so he just tightened his hold. “I don’t like them.”
“Don’t be foolish, Branna.”
She squinted up at him as they walked out into the sunshine. “How did you know about my fall?”
“Penny told me.”
“She had no right. Now put me down.” She squirmed against him.
“You’re starting to annoy me now, so quit it.”
“I don’t know the doctor here, and I don’t want some quack touching me.”
“I’ll be sure to tell my mother that.” Jake pulled open the passenger door.
“Your mom’s still the doctor here?”
“Sure is,” Jake said, as he put her on the seat and did up her seat belt. Closing the door, he sprinted around the truck to get into the driver’s seat, because he couldn’t rule out the fact that she might try to get out. Starting the car, he backed out just as she got the door open.
“What are you going to do, jump?”
She slammed it shut, then moaned.
“I bet that hurt your wrist?”
“Go to hell.”
“What’s your problem with doctors, O’Donnell?”
“I don’t like medical people.”
Jake shot her a look as he backed out of the driveway. She was huddled against the door, shivering and pale. Sighing, he pulled the blanket out from beneath the seat and laid it over her.
“My mother’s a good doctor, Rosebud, and I can personally guarantee she has no rusty needles or thumb screws in her rooms… and she’s got a great bedside manner.”
“I don’t remember her place. Does it have that bad smell?”
Pulling out of her street, he headed back into town before answering that strange question.
“No, it smells clean and has nice beige walls and magazines dated before 2010.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“But you need to,” he added.
Jake reached Howling and lifted his hand to acknowledge Ben Tiller, who stood at the curb waiting to cross. He watched the man’s eyes flick from Jake to the top of Branna’s head and back. Frowning, Jake drove on. By tomorrow, there would be questions, and he was fairly sure by the end of it he’d be sick of fielding them… such was life in a small town. He’d have to lay low for a few days until something else fired up their thirst for gossip.
“I’m an adult. You can’t make me go if I don’t want to.”
“Well, now, Rosebud, that sure as hell sounded like an adult talking.” Swinging into the driveway next to The Howler, he drove for a few minutes down the long, winding concrete strip, then turned into the parking lot in front of Yelp Medical Facility. Climbing out, Jake went around the hood to open the passenger door. It was locked. Pulling the keys he had just pocketed back out with a loud sigh, he unlocked it and opened the door. “Real mature, O’Donnell.”
