Hunter

[9Catsz]

This scene takes place after Hunter asks McCall if her teddy bear has a name. That scene ends with Dr. Bolin standing outside looking up and watching H&M as they’re standing in the window of her apartment still talking but we don’t get to hear what they’re saying.

_______________________________________________________________________


There was a pause in the conversation and Dee Dee tapped the bear on its nose and said, “Dooley.” She looked at Hunter and he gave her a questioning look. “His name is Tom Dooley.” She said turning to him and holding the bear he’d asked the name of earlier out toward him. “Say Hi to Hunter, Dooley.” She made Dooley ‘talk’ by using a cute, high tone of voice, “Hi Hunter. How are you?” Hunter reached over and shook hands with Dooley the bear and he laughed and smiled at her. She laughed and gave him a radiant smile back.

That smile. It melted his heart. He realized what it was about her that had most likely won Steve McCall’s heart. Not only was she beautiful and smart but apparently she was sweet and playful too. This was a side of her he’d never imagined she had. “Tom Dooley, huh?” He questioned.

“Yeah.” She said still smiling and playing with the bear on her lap.

He stood up and walked over by the window. “You know I was joking when I asked if the bear had a name. I didn’t think it really had one.” He continued to grin at her. The sight of her sitting there on her bed playing with the teddy bear made him see her in a whole new light. It showed her vulnerability. She wasn’t as hard nosed as she led everyone to believe. “Tom Dooley.” He shook his head.

She walked over to him and made Dooley ‘talk’ once more using the same cute, high tone of voice, “That’s my name, big guy. Don’t wear it out.” She smiled again, obviously enjoying their little game.

He tickled Dooley’s tummy and she laughed. “How in the world did this bear come to have that name?”

Her smile slowly faded as her demeanor turned to that of sadness, just like the sadness she had when he’d asked her about the picture of her husband on her nightstand. “My dad won him for me at a carnival. He had just taught me the song Tom Dooley a few days before so that’s what I named him.” She planted a kiss on Dooley’s black nose. “It’s the only memory I have of my dad. He died of a heart attack a week later.”

Hunter felt like a heel for ruining the moment of fun they were having. Seeing the sadness written all over her face was bad enough but when she looked at him and he could see the sadness in her eyes too, that tore at his heart. He wanted to hug her. He knew she’d take it the wrong way. Especially since every guy in the precinct except him and probably the captain had already made a pass at her. So he said. “I’m so sorry. You must have been very young, huh?”

She sat back down on the bed still holding Dooley. “It was my fifth birthday. He’d told me all week that week that he had a surprise for me on my birthday. He joked and kidded with me the entire week building up my anticipation. By the time my birthday rolled around I could hardly stand it and then I had to wait until he got off work. When he got home he said we were gonna go for a ride. When we stopped in front of that carnival, I couldn’t believe it. The lights were so pretty and everything was so big. I’d never seen anything like it in real life before, only on T.V.” She was smiling now, thinking back to that time. “We had so much fun. My mom hated carnivals and she stayed home so it was just me and my dad. We ate cotton candy and funnel cakes until we were both sick. We rode every ride they’d let me get on.” She held Dooley up. “Then he won this bear at one of those booths where you have to knock the bottles off the table with a ball. The guys who were in front of us couldn’t do it but my dad knocked those bottles off with only one try. I was so proud of him.” She smiled at that memory and hugged Dooley. “My mom later remarried and my step-dad treated me like I was his daughter and I eventually called him dad too, he raised me. But I’ll never forget my real one.” She walked over and put Dooley at the foot of the bed. There was an awkward silence and she busied herself arranging and rearranging all the animals.

Wow, he thought. This was not the Dee Dee McCall he’d expected. Gone was the tough guy front that she put on at work. The urge to hug her was overwhelming him now. He knew if he did that he’d destroy the little trust she was showing him and he’d never get to see this side of her again. He broke the silence. “I’m gonna change the subject here. I’m afraid you’re gonna have to get dressed.”

“And why is that?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“My car wouldn’t start at the bar and I knew you’d picked up a tail, so I had to commandeer a truck. I think we should return it before the owner calls the precinct looking for it. If Cain hears about this, we’re both in trouble.”

“Wait a second here. Why is it when you do something wrong it becomes we and I get in trouble too?”

“Because we’re partners now, remember? It’s gonna be we until we’re no longer partners. Ya got that, partner?” He smiled at her and she simply rolled her eyes.

She threw up her hands in exasperation. “You know Hunter, it was bad enough when I only had to worry about the things I did to get into trouble. Now I not only have to worry about me jerking Cain’s chain but I also have to worry about you jerking his chain too.”

“Hey that’s a two way street, ya know? It goes both ways here. He grinned at her.

“Oh alright. Shoo. . . . out. I gotta get dressed.” She motioned for him to leave her bedroom.

“We’re partners now.” He got a wicked gleam in his eye and he continued. “I’ve seen all my previous partners change clothes in the locker room. Why can’t I stay and watch my new one change too?”

“I’ve got a 9 mm in that drawer right there, partner,” she said pointing to her nightstand, “If you don’t leave I’m gonna be forced to use it.”

He laughed at her. “Okay, Calamity Jane, you’ve convinced me that I’d better wait downstairs.”

She slammed the door after he left. But she was smiling. He was so funny.

He drove the truck back to the bar and she followed him. She watched as he talked to the truck’s owner, not bothering to get out of her car. They guy looked hot and drunk and she let Hunter take the heat. She wanted a little time to herself to think about what happened tonight. Hunter was a strange one, that’s for sure. She was having trouble figuring him out. He didn’t act like any of her other partners. He didn’t act like any of the other officers she’d known. He wasn’t what she expected at all. She was starting to actually like him and that surprised her. They had barely been partners for a week and already he had gotten farther with her than any other partner had. She would never in a million years let any of her previous partners step foot in her home, let alone her bedroom, while she was fully dressed and definitely not while dressed only in a robe. And she certainly wouldn’t have let her guard down and told them the personal things she’d told Hunter tonight. She hoped she didn’t make a mistake by telling him about Dooley. He could easily humiliate her at work with that one but it was too late now. She sat there wondering why she told him the things she told him tonight. Then it hit her. Trust. She was already starting to trust him. Once she cut through all the jokes she found him very easy to talk to. She liked that. She liked the jokes too. She hadn’t had anyone to talk to since Steve died five years ago. She had seen the look on his face when she told him about her father and it was a sympathetic look, like he knew how she felt and he empathized with her. There was more to Rick Hunter she ever believed was possible. That was something she fully intended to explore.

Hunter finished up with the truck owner and got in the car with McCall.

“How’d it go?” She asked as she drove off.

“I don’t know. The guy’s pretty mad but I think I got him talked out of filing a complaint.”

“You THINK you got him talked out of filing a complaint? Great. That’s all I need, Cain yelling in my face again, another reprimand.” She was annoyed now.

Hunter laughed. “Don’t worry about it. If that happens, I’ll be standing right beside you.”

She shot him a look. At least he didn’t say he’d be standing behind her. “Well I’m glad you think it’s funny because I don’t.”

“Hey c’mon lighten up. You gotta learn to laugh at these idiots that make Captain. They never last very long and every eight months or so we get to break in a new one. I mean where do they get these guys?” He was grinning at her.

She glanced at him and couldn’t help but laugh too. “You’re right. Cain’ll just be replaced by another know-it-all has been who reads our personnel files and decides he’s gonna straighten us out.”

“So Cain used the old personnel file on you too, huh?”

“Oh yeah. He was waving it in my face one afternoon because I missed roll call while I was working the King Hayes case.”

“McCall you missed roll call the entire time you worked that case. Even I can see why he was mad.”

She shot him an angry look. “There was a very good reason for that.”

He looked at her expecting the answer that didn’t come. “And that reason is?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head back and forth. He can’t be this dense, she thought.

“I saw that. What did I do? I just asked why you didn’t show up at roll call. I’m not a mind reader ya know?”

“FYI I don’t like to go to the precinct when I’m dressed as a hooker.”

“Oh but everyone has so much fun when you dress that way.” He kidded her.

She sighed long and loud.

His tone softened. “Hey can I give you a piece of advice here?”

“You giving advice?” She chuckled.

“Yes advice.”

This is gonna be good she thought. “Be my guest.” She waved her hand for him to continue.

“When those guys start cat calling and saying things to you, you can do one of two things.” He held up one finger. “The first thing you can do is ignore them completely.”

She used a condescending tone and said. “Right, ignore them. That’s your advice?”

“Listen to what I have to say before you start throwing off on it, okay?”

She simply nodded her head.

He held up two fingers. “Or the second thing you can do is laugh with them.”

“So I either ignore them or laugh with them. That’s your advice?” She tried to sound condescending but he was starting to make sense.

“Don’t blow me off on this, McCall. I’m a guy I know what those guys are doing.”

“And that is?”

“They want to get a reaction out of you. They want you to get mad. Every time you put on a show by yelling at them, you’re just playing right into their hands. They’re loving every minute of it. If you turn around and do something they don’t expect it’ll throw them off guard, embarrassing them. Therefore they’ll stop doing it because they don’t want to be embarrassed in front of the other guys. I think you should laugh with them. They’ll never be able to figure you out if you do that.”

She thought for a second. That didn’t sound like such a bad idea after all. “There is one thing I don’t understand here, Hunter. You’ve never joined in with them. Why is that?”

He smiled at her. She’d kill him if she knew that he did it alright. He was more discreet, keeping it to himself, only thinking it in his head. “Because I’m a nice guy. I respect women.” He was grinning from ear to ear now.

She shot him a suspicious look and he saw it. “Hey I AM a nice guy.” He said trying his best to look very innocent.

“A nice guy, right.” She shook her head again.

They drove in silence for a few minutes and Dee Dee said. “You’re spending the night at my house tonight. I don’t feel like driving you all the way home just to have to turn around and pick you up in a few hours.”

He pretended to be shocked. He put his hand over his heart and said. “Why Sergeant McCall I’m flattered but I hardly even know you.”

“You’re sleeping on the couch!” She said trying her best to sound annoyed but she couldn’t help herself. She had to laugh.

They get back to her house.

“Do you mind if I shower? Hunter asked her. I smell like that bar.”

“Sure. Let me get you a fresh towel.” He followed her back up to her bedroom. She handed him a towel and he disappeared into the bathroom.

While he was showering, Dee Dee busied herself gathering up a sheet, blanket and a pillow and fixed the couch up for him. He finished his shower and was coming down the stairs as she was walking past them to the kitchen. “I feel like a new man.” He said. “There’s nothing like Caress bath soap and lavender shampoo to make a man smell like a man.” He joked.

She laughed at that remark and glanced up at him as she passed the stairs. The sight she saw forced her to do a double take. He was only wearing jeans. She could hardly tear her eyes away from his muscular upper body and his flat belly. She continued into the kitchen hoping he didn’t notice her double take. He followed her and joked. “Are we gonna have a snack before bed?”

She smiled at that. “I’m having a glass of milk and a couple cookies. You can have some if you want but I’m taking mine to bed.” She waited a few seconds and added. “I made up the couch for you.”

“Thanks.” He could tell there was something up with her. She was acting strangely. She kept glancing at him but would not look at him for more then a few seconds and she was avoiding eye contact completely.

She hurriedly got the milk out, poured a glass and got a plate and two cookies. She had to get out of there. She was feeling a little flushed and her thoughts were racing. She kept glancing at him hoping that he didn’t notice that she was having trouble keeping her eyes off him. She wanted to stare at him.

“Night.” She said as she went for the stairs.

“Sleep tight.” He said as he watched her leave.

She got in bed ignoring her milk and cookies completely. She couldn’t get the picture of a shirtless Hunter out of her head. He had a nice body and she liked what she saw. She was very confused by Hunter’s actions tonight. He’d been very worried that she’d been hurt by the guy who followed her home tonight. More worried than he would have been if it were a male partner, she was sure of that. The word protective leaped into her mind. Was he acting protective towards her? He was also very sympathetic, kind and caring when she’d told him about what happened to her husband. Later on he was kind and caring when she’d told him the story about her father. He was nice to look at, funny, protective, sympathetic, kind and caring. Everything in a man she’d always wanted. She wondered why he wasn’t married. She decided that he had to have some major flaw she just hadn’t picked up on yet. She didn’t know it at this time, but she would look and look never finding this fatal flaw she was so sure he had. She fell asleep with visions of Hunter’s bare upper body dancing through her head.

Hunter laid down on the couch. He couldn’t keep from smiling as he thought about what he’d learned about McCall tonight. He thought it was cute that she took bubble baths, kept stuffed animals on her bed and had milk and cookies before going to sleep. She appeared so sweet, so vulnerable, completely opposite of the way she acted at work. He was getting to see the real McCall, the person he’d never, ever imagined existed, the little lady underneath The Brass Cupcake persona. He wondered why some guy hadn’t married her. She was his idea of the perfect woman; pretty, smart, funny, vulnerable, delicate and available. He figured there had to be a reason why she wasn’t hitched. Maybe she was still in love with her dead husband. Whatever the reason, he fully intended to find it out. He fell asleep not knowing that this wouldn’t be the last time he slept on Dee Dee McCall’s couch.



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Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate. . . .

[Catherine's Aunt]

Hunter walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down. The fall had obviously killed Dr. Bolin. “Works for me,” he shrugged and ran back in the building, down the stairs, and down the hall back to Dr. Kettering’s office.

Dr. Kettering was still on the phone, calling for an ambulance. McCall was still sitting on the floor, using her hand to try and stop the bleeding where Dr. Bolin had cut her shoulder. Hunter knelt down next to her. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, gently peeled back her blouse a little, and pressed the handkerchief over the wound. He sat down on the floor next to her, put one arm around her shoulders to help keep her upright, and continued to apply firm but gentle pressure to the wound with his other hand.

“Did you get him?” asked McCall.

“Yeah,” responded Hunter.

“What happened? Did you shoot him?” she questioned.

“No, we fought, he tried to throw me off the roof, but when he ran at me, I ducked and he fell off instead, all the way down to the street. Now will you just shut up and relax?”

“So he’s just lying down there dead in the middle of the road? Shouldn’t you get down there and…” her voice trailed off as Hunter shook his head.

“Will you just stop?” he said. “There’s a black and white down there, they’ll take care of it. Just relax. Are you always this much trouble?”

“Yes,” she said and then grimaced in pain.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked with a worried look as he eased up a little on the pressure.

“No, it’s not you, it’s just starting to throb. It didn’t hurt that much at first, but now I’m really feeling it.”

“Just hang on,” Hunter told her, feeling completely helpless. “The ambulance is on the way. We’re gonna get you to the hospital and you’re gonna be alright. Just hang on.”

She nodded and closed her eyes just as they began to hear the sound of a siren in the distance. “No, don’t go to sleep,” Hunter insisted. “C’mon, McCall, stay with me.”

“I’m okay,” she told him, opening her eyes again. “I don’t think it’s really that bad, it’s just bleeding a lot. God I hate getting stitches.”

“Yeah, well, think of it this way, you’ll get a little vacation from work for a few days at least.”

“Yeah, and you’ll get a couple of days vacation from me,” she responded.

“That’s not what I meant,” he stammered.

She laughed, then grimaced again. “Ouch, laughing is not a good idea. I know that’s not what you meant, I was just kidding,” she said with a wink.

They heard the ambulance siren stop right outside Dr. Kettering’s building. “You still okay?” asked Hunter.

“Aside from the huge gash in my shoulder, yeah, I’m fine,” said McCall, rolling her eyes.

The EMT’s rushed in and took over. Hunter stood and stepped back to let them in, but he didn’t move very far. McCall moaned slightly as they examined her wound, and Hunter grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Hang on,” he said softly and she squeezed back.

The EMT’s bandaged the wound, started an IV and rolled McCall down the hall, into the elevator, and out of the building, with Hunter trailing right behind, clinging all the while to her hand.
_________________

[Catherine's Aunt]

The phone rang, startling McCall out of a peaceful sleep. She reached for it and said groggily, “Hello?”

“Geez, McCall, you still sleeping?” asked Hunter.

“Well, it is Sunday,” grumbled McCall. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to know what time I should pick you up,” said Hunter.

“Pick me up? For what?” asked McCall, confused.

“Dinner.”

“Dinner? What dinner? You’re taking me out to dinner?” She didn’t remember him asking her out to dinner.

“No, not out, at my Uncle John and Aunt Sophie’s. Remember? The limo chased us, you pulled your gun on him, he asked me to bring my lady friend. Remember?”

“Hunter, he wasn’t serious,” argued McCall.

“Oh, yes he was,” insisted Hunter. “My mother’s called me three times this week to make sure I’m bringing my new lady partner. You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?”

“Hunter,” whined McCall, “It’s Sunday. I’m tired and my shoulder hurts. I wanna rest.”

“So, dinner’s not until tonight, take one of your pain pills and rest until, say 6:00, then I’ll pick you up and you’ll have a nice dinner. Wha’da ‘ya say?”

“No,” insisted McCall.

Hunter ignored her answer. “So, I’ll see you at 6:00.”

“No, you won’t,” answered McCall, but he had already hung up. She tried to call him back, but he didn’t answer. She sighed, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

At 5:00, McCall showered, complaining to herself the entire time. “I can’t believe he’s dragging me to some family dinner,” she said out loud. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to wear to this thing.” She picked through her closet looking for an appropriate outfit. “What do wear to dinner with a police officer and the mob?” she wondered, again out loud.

At exactly 6:00, her doorbell rang. She opened the door and Hunter stood there dressed in khakis, a white button down shirt, and a blue blazer, and holding a bouquet of daisies, which he handed to her.

“What is this?” she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

“They’re called flowers, McCall. You know, you plant a seed in the dirt, water them, then they grow and you cut them and give them to people.”

“Why are you giving them to me?” she asked, still eyeing him.

“Well, I thought you might like them. You don’t wanna go tonight but you’re obviously dressed and ready to go anyway,” he said looking her up and down, taking in her white pants and pink sweater, “So I thought I’d bring you some flowers to thank you for going with me. But,” he added, “I can take them to my Aunt Sophie if you don’t want them.” He reached for the flowers.

McCall swatted his hand out of the way. “Let me find a vase and I’ll be ready to go,” she said, turning and missing his grin. Minutes later they were on their way to Bel Air.


“Wow,” said McCall as they pulled up in front of a huge tudor-style house. “This is your Uncle John’s house?”

“Yeah. Nice, huh.”

“Nice is putting it mildly, this is beautiful.” She reached for her purse in the floor of her car and by the time she located it, Hunter was opening the door for her and helping her out. “You certainly are being quite a gentleman tonight,” she teased. “Flowers, opening the door for me. What’s next? You gonna carry me across the threshold too?”

“Maybe later,” Hunter winked at her and knocked on the door.

She laughed and shook her head at him as the door was opened by a maid in uniform. “Sergeant Hunter,” the woman nodded at him and smiled.

“Nice to see you again, Esperanza,” greeted Hunter. “This is my partner, Sergeant Dee Dee McCall.”

Esperanza nodded at McCall and said to Hunter. “The family is in the den, they’re expecting you both.”

Hunter thanked Esperanza and led Dee Dee from the marble foyer down the hall into a wood-paneled den. At least fifteen people stood around the room, drinking cocktails and talking. When Hunter and Dee Dee walked in, though, all the talking stopped for a fraction of a second, then everyone was talking at once. Hunter was pulled in one direction by his Aunt Sophie and Dee Dee in the other direction by none other than Hunter’s mother, who introduced herself as Annabella, but insisted that Dee Dee call her Anna.

Anna led Dee Dee over to a leather couch and pulled her down next to her. She proceeded to interrogate Dee Dee about everything she could think of. Where was Dee Dee from? Were her parents still alive? How did her mother feel about her being a police officer? Did she have siblings? When Anna got to, “Have you ever been married?” Hunter rescued her, bringing her a glass of wine.

“Let me show you around the house,” he told her, taking her by the hand and leading her out of the room. He turned back for a second and made a face at his mother, who raised her eyebrows back at him.

“Sorry about that,” Hunter apologized. “She doesn’t know about what happened to Steve.”

“It’s okay,” Dee Dee shrugged it off. “I know she didn’t know. Thanks for getting me out of there, though, I was a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, I could tell,” chuckled Hunter. “They are a little overwhelming.” Hunter led her out onto a terrace overlooking the mountains. They stood in silence and sipped their drinks, enjoying the view. “They like you, though,” he added after a few minutes.

“How can you tell?” she asked. “I was only in there for about five minutes and I only talked to your mother.”

“Oh, I can tell,” he told her. “If they hadn’t liked you, they wouldn’t have started talking again so fast and my mother and Aunt Sophie would have run off to the kitchen. They did the old ‘divide and conquer’ trick, they split us up and pumped us both for information. They like you a lot.”

“Then how come they let us leave?” she wondered out loud.

“So they can talk about you behind my back,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“They’re in there talking about me right now?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, probably picking out bridesmaid dresses and flowers and stuff,” he joked.

She punched him in the ribs playfully. “Do they act like this with all the women you bring to Sunday dinner?”

Hunter cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never brought a woman to Sunday dinner before.”

“So why’d you bring me?” she asked.

“You were there. Uncle John asked me to, or he told me to,” said Hunter.

“Oh,” said Dee Dee, who was not really sure why Hunter’s answer left her feeling a little disappointed.

Hunter opened his mouth and started to say something else, but just then Anna stuck her head out the door and said, “Dinner’s ready!” and they went inside to the dining room.


Dee Dee was seated between Hunter’s cousin Jilly who made bail earlier in the week and, not surprisingly, Anna. Hunter was seated at the other end of the table next to his Aunt Sophie and cousin Angela. Throughout the meal, they were each questioned constantly, so much that neither of them was even able to eat much. Dee Dee told Anna about Steve, about Hunter asking her to be his partner, about her parents. Hunter kept glancing worriedly in Dee Dee’s direction, wondering what in the world his mother was asking her now.

After dessert, the family once again retired to the den for after dinner drinks and coffee and several of the men smoked cigars. Dee Dee once again found herself seated next to Anna and far away from Hunter, so she took the opportunity to ask a few questions of her own. She and Anna whispered and laughed together, all the while glancing across the room at Hunter.

After about twenty minutes of obviously being talked about, Hunter was tired of it. He crossed the room, kissed his mother on her cheek and said, “Mom, we have to work tomorrow, we really need to go.” It took twenty more minutes to say their goodbyes, and they weren’t allowed to leave until Dee Dee promised to come back in a couple of weeks.


In the car, Dee Dee leaned her head back and closed her eyes as Hunter pulled out of the gated driveway. “Sorry my mother was so rough on you,” Hunter apologized.

Dee Dee smiled and opened her eyes, glancing over at her new partner. “She wasn’t rough on me,” she insisted. “She was just curious, she wants to know about the person who’s supposed to be protecting her son.”

“What did you tell her?” asked Hunter.

“I told her about Steve, about my mom and dad, about my other partners. That’s about it.”

“I wish I’d told her not to ask about Steve,” Hunter grumbled. “I’m sorry she put you through that.”

“It was okay,” insisted Dee Dee. “It was actually nice to talk to someone who’s been there, someone else whose husband was murdered. I don’t think I ever have before.”

“Yeah, but Steve was a police officer, he died in the line of duty. My father was a criminal and he was murdered because of that,” said Hunter.

Dee Dee shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. Your mother didn’t love him any less because of what he did, neither did you. I didn’t love Steve any more because of what he did. We all lost someone we loved, it doesn’t matter what they did or what they were doing at the time, we still miss them, still wish things could be different, that we could have one more minute with them. Nothing else matters,” she concluded.

Hunter nodded, then asked, “She asked about your dad? What did you tell her? You’ve never told me about him.”

Dee Dee laughed. “Changing the subject, huh?” Hunter shrugged and she continued. “Well, you’ve never asked about him. He was shoe salesman, worked in several different department stores in San Diego. He got cancer when I was twelve, died when I was thirteen. It’s just been my mom and me ever since.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hunter. He surprised her by reaching across the seat and squeezing her hand for a second.

“It’s been a long time,” said Dee Dee.

“Tell me about him,” requested Hunter.

“Why?” asked Dee Dee.

“I don’t know. Something to talk about, I guess. Plus, you evidently heard all about my life tonight, so I’m entitled to hear a little about yours, I think.”

Dee Dee smiled and shook her head, but she started talking anyway. “He was tall, like you,” she began. “At least I think he was, maybe I was just shorter then.” Hunter chuckled and she continued, “He worked a lot, but when he had a day off, man did we have fun. He’d take me to ball games, to the zoo, or we’d just hang out at home. Mom would go shopping with her friends or to a bridge game, and we’d just hang out. He used to make up these crazy stories about people that came in and bought shoes, and he’d save them up and tell them to me on days when it was just the two of us. Sometimes, he’d even point the people out to me if we saw them out in public. He always made me laugh. Then, he got sick. We didn’t know what it was for a long time because he wouldn’t go to the doctor. Finally, he ended up in the hospital because he couldn’t breathe. It was in his lungs and, back then, there was nothing they could do. So, he came home. Everyday, I would come home from school and he’d have a new story to tell me about someone who had been to visit and I’d sit on the side of his bed and listen. My mother told me later he made it all up just for me, that he didn’t have any visitors, he didn’t want any. He just wanted to spend the time he had left with my mother and me. He got weaker and stopped telling me stories, so I started reading to him instead. One Saturday, my mother left for an hour to go to the grocery store. It was my birthday and she wanted to make me a cake, but she was out of eggs, so she asked me to sit with my dad. I planned on reading to him, but he was asleep, so I just sat and held his hand. Then, all of a sudden, he opened his eyes, smiled at me, and then he was gone. That was it, just like that.”

“On your birthday? And you were only thirteen? And you were the only one there when he died?” questioned Hunter, shaking his head.

“Yep,” answered Dee Dee, for the first time noticing that they were now parked on the street outside her apartment.

“I’m so sorry,” said Hunter, reaching for her hand again and squeezing it. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Dee Dee shrugged. “It’s OK. It was a long time ago. I miss him, but I never have a birthday when I don’t think of him. It’s like something only the two of us share. I just sat there holding his hand until my mother came home. She felt so bad I was there alone with him, but even then, I wasn’t upset about that, I was glad I was there with him in his last few minutes.” Dee Dee glanced across at Hunter. “He was really a lot like you,” she told him. “You would have liked him.”

“I’m sure I would have,” said Hunter, squeezing her hand again, then getting out of the car and coming around to open her door for her. She let him help her out of the car and walk her to the door.

At the door, she turned and looked up at him. “Thanks for dinner,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.”

“No, you didn’t,” chuckled Hunter. “You were pretty much interrogated the entire time.”

“Well, yeah, I was,” agreed Dee Dee, “But I did enjoy it. The food was delicious and your mother is great.”

“Yeah, she sure is,” nodded Hunter.

“She’s very proud of you, you know,” added Dee Dee. When Hunter smiled and nodded, she added, “So was your dad.”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“Because she told me he was,” answered Dee Dee. “She said he was so proud of you for doing what was right. She said he knew it wasn’t easy for you to go against your family and become a cop and that he was proud he’d raised a son who wouldn’t take the easy way out.”

“Well, geez, what else did she tell you?” asked Hunter leaning against the door frame.

Dee Dee, smiled, opened the door, and stepped inside. “Good night, Hunter,” she said in a sing-song voice before shutting the door.

Hunter stood where he was until he heard the lock turn, then he shook his head, laughed, and walked away wondering exactly what other secrets his mother had shared with his new partner.
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