The Wild One Read online

  That was it. That was all that Dee Dee had to say to God. She climbed back on her horse and trotted back to the house. She would spend her time with her family and then wait out the end of the world.

  Chapter Five

  Drake received the call from the Los Angeles police department at around ten p.m. Dee Dee had gone upstairs to put Natua to bed about an hour ago, but hadn’t returned. So, he went to find his wife. She had been acting strangely ever since she'd listened to that man predicting that the world would end tomorrow. Since Dee Dee had grown up in a Bible-believing Christian home, Drake had assumed that she understood the rapture, and wouldn’t be fooled by someone claiming that he had pinpointed the day of the Lord’s return. Because the Bible clearly says that no man would know when God would return. The rapture isn’t something that believers can put on their schedule, like it’s coming on Friday so make sure to repent for all your sins by Thursday.

  God designed this thing to be a mystery to believers. Drake had no clue when the rapture was going to occur, nor could he fathom how so many people would simply disappear from the face of the earth at the same time. It wasn’t his job to figure all of that out. All he was required to do was to have faith in God and to be ready for the journey.

  It saddened him that his wife wasn’t ready. But at least he could bring her some good news about another matter being resolved.

  He knocked on her bedroom door. “Dee Dee, are you in there?”

  “It’s unlocked,” she called back.

  Drake opened the door and walked into her bedroom. His room was across the hall. The last time they'd stayed with her father, they’d shared the same bed, but Dee Dee had been trying to deceive her father back then. Joel now knew that they were separated, so no need to keep up the charade.

  “I have good news,” he said, as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

  Dee Dee was sitting crossed-legged with her laptop in front of her. She closed it, and turned to her husband. “What’s up?”

  “The police caught the guy who's been stalking you.”

  Her eyes lit up as if it were Christmas morning. “You’re kidding. They got him that fast.”

  “Apparently, he just walked up to the door as if he lived there. When the police officer stopped him, the crazed man told him that he was your husband and that he was there to get Natua. He also told the man about how unfaithful you are.” A smirk creased his lips—Drake couldn’t help it—he laughed out loud.

  Dee Dee picked up a pillow from her bed and threw it at him. “It’s not funny. This is crazy. How can this man think he’s married to me?”

  “I don’t know,” Drake said with a bit of merriment in his eyes. “Do you have another husband out there that you didn’t tell me about?”

  “Ha ha. I have no need for a fifth husband, thank you very much.”

  “I know you don’t, because number four is all you need,” Drake said as he looked into Dee Dee’s eyes, daring her to disagree with him.

  Dee Dee broke eye contact as she looked down at the polish on her toenails. “I just don’t get this, Drake. Why would this guy stalk me? And why in the world would he think he’s married to me?”

  “It is strange. But some people attach themselves to celebrities and lose all rational thought. I heard about a case with David Letterman where this woman thought she was married to him. She even accused him of sending her messages through the television screen. When it became clear to her that she really wasn’t David Letterman’s wife, the woman committed suicide.”

  “That’s terrible,” Dee Dee said, and then she thought of something. “So, do you think I met this guy somewhere, or he saw me in a movie and then began fantasizing that he was married to me?”

  “I can’t say I blame him. I’ve fantasized about you for years now.”

  Again, she looked away.

  “The detective wants us to fly back tomorrow, so you can get a look at this guy. They’d like to know if you’ve seen him somewhere.”

  Dee Dee’s eyes widened with fear. “I can’t leave here tomorrow.”

  “The police really want to get the ball rolling on this guy. They don’t want him back on the street.”

  “I’m not leaving my father.” Dee Dee got out of bed and paced the floor. “The world might end tomorrow, and you want me to go home, when I might never see my father again. I can’t do it.”

  Drake stood up and went to his wife. He put his hands on her shoulders and asked, “What can I do to convince you that the world isn’t going to end tomorrow at 6 p.m.?”

  “Be here at 6:01 tomorrow evening.”

  She said those words with such longing that Drake found a reason to hope again. Was his wife ready to give him another chance? He looked into her eyes and saw something there that had been missing for months. “Don’t tell me you’d miss me if I wasn’t here?”

  She stepped out of his reach and turned her back to him.

  He grabbed her and turned her around to face him. “Tell me, Dee, would you miss me or not?”

  Tears filled her eyes as she admitted, “I don’t want to be alone.”

  “But do you want to be with me?”

  “I don’t know how to answer that, Drake.”

  He lifted her chin as he lowered his head and kissed her with all the hunger he’d felt ever since she'd imposed this miserable separation on him.

  When their lips parted, Drake released her and said, “It’s a simple answer, Dee, either you want me or you don’t.” With that he walked out of her room and left her alone with her thoughts.

  Drake went back downstairs to sit with his father-in-law and get as far away from his wife as possible. It was time for him to face facts. Dee didn’t want him, and he needed to move on.

  “What’s got you so sour faced?” Joel asked, when Drake joined him in the family room.

  Drake shook his head as he sat down across from Joel. “Nothing, sir, I was just thinking.”

  “Well, I hope you weren’t thinking about giving up on that hard-headed daughter of mine. You two belong together.”

  Joel had always been in his corner. The man had introduced him to his Dee, with high hopes that they’d hit it off. He wished that he could give Joel a reason to hope that everything would turn out okay. But all signs said otherwise, no sense denying it. “She wants a divorce, Joel,” and with a long suffering sigh, he added, “and I think I’m ready to give it to her.”

  Joel leaned forward and put his hand on Drake’s thigh. “I know she’s not easy to deal with. But I’ve been praying for you and Dee Dee. And in my heart, I see the two of you growing old together.”

  “Unless our friendly rapture predictor is right, as Dee Dee seems to think he is. In that case, I guess we only have until tomorrow,” Drake said with a smirk.

  “That’s what I mean, Drake. Although you and I know that it is foolish to try and predict the day and time of the Lord’s return, this may be just the thing that God will use to bring Dee Dee closer to Him. I saw the look in her eyes this evening. She’s scared. And I haven’t known that girl to be afraid of anything.” Joel leaned back in his seat and with a thoughtful look, he added, “I take that back. I think she’s afraid of you, Drake.”

  “Me!” Drake couldn’t believe this one. “All I’ve ever done is love her. What does she have to fear from me?”

  “Since Dee Dee was a young child, I've tried to teach her about the perfect love that Christ brings. She ran from that love. But then she ran directly into you, and I believe your kind of love reminds her of the unconditional love of Christ. But she doesn’t know how to accept it.”

  ***

  Dee Dee lay in the dark with eyes wide open. She couldn’t sleep with thoughts of losing everything in just a matter of hours dancing around her head. She didn’t want to be without her father or Natua. She didn’t want to live in a world without Elaine or any of her brothers. Although she seriously believed that if the rapture came tomorrow, Shawn and Eric would be left behind with her. Sadly, a
fter all of the Bible studies and Sunday services Joel had made his children sit through, only two out of five of his children were guaranteed a seat on the rapture train. But the problem with that, was that Joel would be with Elaine and Isaiah, and not with her.

  She flung the covers off and jumped out of bed. Stepping into her house shoes, she left her room and went to check on Natua. The child was sleeping soundly, as if all was right with the world. The child was at peace and enjoying life. And well she should, Dee Dee thought, as she remembered the poverty-stricken environment from which she’d taken her. Natua had lost both of her parents to sickness and disease. She’d been living with her elderly grandmother in a home that was more like a hut than a house. The grandmother had expected Elaine to adopt Natua, but she didn’t put up a fuss when Dee Dee showed up instead. She had just wanted a better life for Natua, and whoever was willing to provide that life for her grandchild was all right with her.

  Dee Dee was thirty-seven, and had never planned on having any children. She had always worried that carrying a child would distort her figure in ways that she wouldn’t be able to repair. She’d lost her second husband because of her selfish decision. Drake had wanted children also. But just as she had told husband number one, two and three, “Ain’t no baby coming out of this body.”

  She walked closer to Natua’s bed and put her hand on the child’s cheek. If she had only known that having a child would bring so much joy into her life, she would have forgone the extra pounds and given birth already. She just hoped that the self-proclaimed Bible scholar, Harold Camping, was wrong, because she’d really like to give Natua a sister or brother to play with.

  “Sweet dreams, baby girl. Sweet dreams for the rest of your life,” she said, as she patted the little girl on the head and walked out of the room.

  In the hallway, instead of walking to her bedroom, Dee Dee found herself staring at the door across the hall. Her husband was in that room. The man who she had vowed to love until death do them part. At that moment, Dee Dee decided that if this was Drake’s last night on earth, she wanted to spend it with him.

  She knocked on his door. When she didn’t get an answer, she knocked again and whispered, “Drake, it’s me.”

  The bed creaked as he got up and opened the door a crack. He wiped sleep from his eyes as he tried to focus. “Hey, Dee, is something wrong?”

  “No,” she said as she pushed his door open and walked pass him.

  “Then what do you want?”

  She sat down on his bed and looked at him seductively as she said, “I want to make a baby. Are you interested?”

  Chapter Six

  “Wake up, sleepy head.”

  Dee Dee yawned and then turned over to face her husband. She smiled as she looked up at him. She had spent the night with him, and now she wished for many, many more nights like the one she’d just had. She wanted to stay in Drake’s arms forever.

  He held up his cell phone. “Your agent is on the phone.”

  Sitting up, she took the phone out of Drake’s hand. “Nick, what’s wrong? Why are you calling me on Drake’s phone?”

  “You haven’t been answering your cell phone. I’ve left you three messages since yesterday.”

  Rubbing her eyes so she could focus, Dee Dee said, “I must have forgotten to turn my ringer back on after we got off the plane. What’s up?”

  “What’s up, she asks,” Nick said to himself, and then to Dee Dee, “You blew off the meeting with Michael Mavs, that’s what’s up?”

  Dee Dee put her hands over her mouth as realization hit her. When she took her hands away from her mouth she said, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Nick. I forgot all about them.”

  “I know you, Dee Dee. You were ticked off about having to audition for this part, and this was probably your little way of telling them to shove it. But your little stunt hurts me as well. Michael Mavs will probably never even consider another actor from my client list.”

  “Look Nick, I didn’t do this on purpose. I’m being stalked, and I was on my way to that meeting when the maniac threatened to take Natua.”

  “Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me about this? I could have gotten you some extra press coverage before your meeting with Michael Mavs.”

  “I don’t want any press coverage on this. The police caught the guy last night, so we’re safe for now. But I don’t want anyone knowing about this.”

  “Are you flying home today? I can have the paparazzi meet you at the airport. We’ll have photos of you and Natua in The Star by early next week.”

  “No!” she shouted. “I have to protect Natua. I don’t want another maniac getting any ideas about abducting my baby.”

  “All right, all right, calm down. Just get back here today, so I can try to smooth things over with Michael Mavs. Maybe even get you another meeting set up for this evening.”

  This evening most of my family could disappear. She looked over at Drake, the longing she saw in his eyes confirmed for her that she needed to stay right where she was…with her family. “I’m not coming home today, Nick. I’ll call you when I get back in town.” She hit the end button and handed Drake back his phone.

  “Nick wants you to do something today?” Drake asked, curious about her conversation.

  Dee Dee put her arms around Drake’s neck as she said, “He might. But I want to do some things with my family today. Starting with my husband, right now.” Her eyebrows lifted with an invitation.

  Drake didn’t need much convincing. He lowered his head and kissed her, pulling her into his arms and making sweet love to her.

  After they showered and changed, Drake went downstairs to see about breakfast. Dee Dee woke Natua up, washed and dressed her.

  “What are we doing today?” Natua asked, as she and Dee Dee walked hand in hand down the stairs.

  “Anything you want.”

  “I wanna ride the horses.”

  “All right then. Let’s eat breakfast and then we’ll go see about the horses.”

  Skipping to the kitchen, Natua sing sang, “Yeah, we’re going to ride the horses.”

  The table was set with pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, grits and biscuits. Drake and Joel were seated.

  “How’d you get all this food done so quickly?” Dee Dee asked Drake, as she and Natua sat down.

  “Marie was already cooking breakfast when I came down here, so I’ll just have to cook for you once we get home.” He winked.

  Dee Dee blushed as a grin spread across her face. But then her mind's eye replayed that CNN story about judgment day, which was scheduled for today at six in the evening. The smile disappeared from her face as she silently prayed, Please Lord, let him be here to make me breakfast tomorrow and many, many days after that.

  “What just happened?” Drake asked, as he watched the smile disappear from his wife’s face.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking,” Dee Dee answered, then turned to her father and asked, “Are you going to say grace, so we can eat this good food?”

  The four of them held hands as Joel prayed, “Lord, we thank You for this new day. A day we’ve never seen. I ask that You open our eyes to the beauty around us and help us to see You as the love of our lives. Bless this food we are about to receive, and may it be nourishment for our bodies, Amen, in Jesus name we pray.”

  “Now let’s eat,” Drake said, as plates began passing around the table.

  As they were eating, Dee Dee told her father, “Natua wants to go horseback riding this morning. So, I’m going to ride with her and then come back and hang out with you. Is that all right?”

  Joel almost choked on the piece of bacon he was eating. As he recovered from his shock he said, “I would love to spend some time with you. What do you want to do?”

  She started to joke with her father about the shock she saw on his face at the notion that she wanted to spend time with him, but then she realized that she was at fault for her father believing that she didn’t want to spend time with him. Because he was right. Un
til this weekend, she hadn’t wanted to be bothered. She’d allowed his decision about what he wanted to do with his money to come between them. Sad that it had taken some judgment-day prediction for her to realize just how much she wanted to be a part of her father’s life. She smiled at him as she said, “I want to do whatever makes you happy.” Putting her hand over his, she added, “I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult to deal with these last few months.”

  Joel lifted her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on it. “You’re always a delight to me, sweetheart.”

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  “So,” Drake broke in. “Am I invited to this horseback riding adventure?”

  “Mommy, please let Daddy come with us,” Natua said.

  Drake's and Dee Dee’s heads swirled around as Natua called Dee Dee "Mommy." Dee Dee’s eyes were moist as she responded, “Of course, Daddy can come with us.” And you can have anything else you want as long as you call me Mommy again.

  The day was all about family, and Dee Dee found that she actually enjoyed doing what others wanted to do, rather than making sure that her needs were met every second of every day. Spending time with her family made her realize just how much she had missed out on while she had been more concerned with her career than her family. They went horseback riding. Then the three of them took Natua to the movies. They grabbed some lunch and then came back to the house, and while Natua slept, the grown-ups played board games.

  At about four forty-five, Dee Dee yawned. “I think I’m ready for a nap myself. Are you coming, Drake?” she asked, as she stood up.

  He had been shuffling the deck of cards in preparation for another game of Sequence. He put the cards down and stood up. “I guess I’m ready for a nap too.”

  “Okay, well, you two go on. I’m going to go over to the toy store to pick up a few things that Natua told me she wanted,” Joel said, as he attempted to stand up.

  Dee Dee stopped him. “No Daddy, don’t go anywhere. I just want to spend a little time with Drake, but I’ll be back down here in about an hour. Please don’t leave, because I need to see you before six o’clock.”