Chapter 4: Aftermath
Chapter 4:
Sheridan and Luis were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t notice that someone was coming into Sheridan’s bedroom.
“Sheridan, are you awake, I….. Luis!” Pilar gasped when she saw Luis and Sheridan in bed together kissing.
“Sheridan and Luis quickly pulled out of their kiss and sat up. “Mama,” Luis said breathlessly. Sheridan’s cheeks were bright red and she was hiding her face a little behind Luis’ shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I should have knocked Sheridan,” Pilar said a bit flustered.
“It’s ok Mama,” Luis said, “what’s going on?”
“I just brought breakfast. I’ll wait in the kitchen,” Pilar said and she quickly left the room.
Sheridan flopped backwards onto a pillow and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe that just happened. Could it possibly have been more embarrassing?”
“Actually yes, we could have been naked,” Luis laughed.
Sheridan uncovered her face and smacked Luis in the arm. “You are not helping.”
“I’m sorry,” Luis said leaning over her, “it’s just that you are so cute when you are embarrassed.” He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “Besides I’m the one who should be embarrassed. It was my mother after all, and what kind of bodyguard am I? I’m supposed to be protecting you and my mother just walked right into the house and I didn’t even notice.”
“Well I was distracting you,” Sheridan said seductively pulling Luis into another kiss.
“Yeah, you’re really good at that, now get up,” he said pulling her up off the bed, “it’s time for breakfast.”
“I think I’m going to go wash my face first. I must look horrible,” Sheridan said.
“You look gorgeous, just like you always do,” Luis said, “you would look beautiful even if you were covered in mud.” “Well, mud is good for your skin,” Sheridan teased. Luis just smiled, shaking his head as he walked towards the kitchen.
“Good morning Mama,” Luis said as he walked into the kitchen and kissed Pilar on the cheek.
“When you said you were going to be staying at Sheridan’s I didn’t think that was what you meant,” Pilar said.
“We weren’t doing anything Mama, it was just a kiss. And I’m just staying here to protect her.”
“Then why were you in bed with her?” Pilar asked.
“She had a nightmare last night and I just fell asleep with her, that’s all,” Luis said, “but please don’t give Sheridan the third degree. She’s embarrassed enough as it is.”
Just then Sheridan walked into the kitchen. “Good morning Pilar, something smells good in here.”
“I had the cook make your favorite, pancakes with fresh strawberry syrup,” Pilar said, “I brought some for you too Luis.” Sheridan and Luis sat down at the table with Pilar and ate their breakfast.
“Are you sure you’re ok Sheridan?” Pilar asked, “that man didn’t hurt you did he?”
“No I’m fine,” Sheridan said looking down at her plate and pushing the rest of the pancakes around the plate in the red syrup. Luis patted her leg reassuringly under the table.
“I’m glad you found Sheridan, Luis,” Pilar said, “but isn’t it dangerous to parachute at night?”
“How did you find out about that Mama?”
“The whole thing was on the front page of the paper this morning,” Pilar answered.
“Oh, no,” Sheridan said,” I bet Julian and Father have been on the phone all morning.”
“Well Mr. Crane’s private line did ring early this morning and then he slammed the door to his study and hasn’t come out yet,” Pilar said.
“Just great,” Sheridan sighed. Then the phone rang. “Pilar would you mind answering that and if it’s my father or brother tell them I’m not home.” Pilar went to answer the phone.
“If it is your father I’m sure he’s just worried about you,” Luis said, “you were almost killed last night.”
“Believe me, the only thing my father is worried about is what people will think when they read the paper.”
“I’m sorry,” Luis said. He squeezed her hand and gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Luis, the phone is for you,” Pilar said, “it’s Sam Bennett.”
“Thanks Mama I’ll take it in the other room.”
“I’m glad to see that you and my son are, um, getting along better,” Pilar said.
Sheridan blushed, “yeah, so am I.”
Ethan walked into the kitchen, “well, I’m happy to see my favorite aunt is in one piece,” he said giving her a kiss on the cheek and sitting down at the table. “What’s going on Sheridan? Why is Luis here and why are you so smiley when someone just tried to kill you last night? You look like Pilar just caught you with your hand in the cookie jar.”
Sheridan burst out laughing and Pilar covered her mouth trying to suppress her giggles.
“What’s so funny?” Ethan asked.
“I think I’ll go back up to the main house now. Tell Luis I’ll see him later,” Pilar said and she left through the back door.
“So what is so funny, and why is Luis here?” Ethan asked again.
“Sam Bennett assigned Luis to be my bodyguard so he moved in here last night and when Pilar came to bring breakfast she walked in my room and Luis and I were in my bed kissing.”
Ethan’s jaw dropped, “you were….. what happened? Last time we talked you were still mad at Luis. Did you find out he wasn’t really using you? Did he explain what you heard at the wharf?”
All the color drained from Sheridan’s face as the memory of what she heard that night on the wharf flooded back into her mind.
“Are you ok?” Ethan asked.
“How could I have been so stupid,” Sheridan said quietly,” I needed him so much that I just blocked it from my mind. He seemed like he cared about me, but it was all an act. He just wanted to use me again and I let him.”
“What are you talking about Sheridan,” Ethan said.
Luis walked back into the kitchen. “Sam needs me to come into the station far a little bit,” Luis said, walking over behind Sheridan, “he is sending over another officer to stay with you while I’m gone.” Luis put his hands on Sheridan’s shoulders but she shrugged them off and got up and walked across the kitchen.
“That’s fine,” she said coldly, “I’ll see you later.”
Luis just looked at her for a second, surprised by her cold attitude. “Ok, I guess I better go get dressed.” Luis left the kitchen and Sheridan sat back down at the table with Ethan.
“He must think that I am a complete idiot, that he could just pretend to care about me and I would just fall for his act all over again,” Sheridan said,
“Are you sure he’s just using you?” Ethan asked.
“Of course I’m sure Ethan, I saw him and I heard the things he said on the phone. He doesn’t care about me, he never did.”
“If he doesn’t care about you then why does he keep risking his life to save you.”
“He said he would do the same thing for anyone,” Sheridan sighed.
“Sheridan, he spent his own money, money he was saving to send his brother and sister to college, to fly thousands of miles to save your life on a hunch. Than even after you had him arrested he still worries about you and he jumped out of a helicopter at night, in the middle of the woods to save you once again. He could have been killed trying to save you Sheridan. Those aren’t things you would do for just anyone, those are things you would do to protect the person that you love.”
“I don’t need you singing his praises Ethan, I know exactly what Luis has done for me,” Sheridan said, on the verge of tears, “that’s why it’s so confusing. He keeps saying things and doing things that make me think he cares about me, but it’s all just a cover. I heard the way he really feels about me that night on the wharf.”
“Maybe it isn’t true Sheridan. Maybe you should talk to him about it. Maybe there is some kind of explanation for what you heard,” Ethan said.
“There is no way in hell I’m talking to Luis about this. I don’t want to hear any more of his lies.” Sheridan stomped out of the kitchen. When she walked into the living room she saw Luis sitting on the couch and a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Sheridan, what’s wrong?” Luis asked concerned. He got up off the couch and tried to wipe the tear from her face but she backed away from him.
“Just leave me alone,” Sheridan yelled.
“Did I do something wrong?” Luis asked, confused by her attitude, “why are you mad at me all of the sudden?”
“All of the sudden! I was mad at you before remember. Did you think that I just forgot all about what kind of man you really are! Do you think that I am stupid.”
“Of course I don’t think you’re stupid, but after this morning I thought…”
“You thought wrong Luis. This morning was a mistake, one that I don’t plan on making ever again.” Sheridan stormed off into her bedroom and slammed the door.
Ethan walked into the living room. “What the hell is wrong with her?” Luis asked Ethan. Ethan opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything there was a knock on the door, Officer Jenkins came in and Luis left for the police station.
“Hey Luis, what’s the matter?” Sam asked as Luis walked into the police station.
“It’s Sheridan,” Luis sighed, “she is so confusing. I just don’t understand why she keeps flipping out on me for no reason.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened Luis.”
“Well we were getting along pretty well last night and then in the middle of the night Sheridan was having a nightmare so I went to try to wake her up and she grabbed me and fell back asleep and I fell asleep there with her. When she woke up we talked and I kissed her.”
“You kissed her,” Sam said in shock.
“Yeah, but then my mother walked in. Sheridan was embarrassed, but everything was fine. She even kissed me again. She was smiling and happy until I got off the phone with you and then she was mad at me and didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”
“I’m sorry Luis,” Sam said, ‘maybe she’s just still upset about what happened with Antoine yesterday.”
“I don’t know,” Luis said, “but I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Why did you call me down here?”
“Actually it’s about Sheridan,” Sam said, “about what happened at the Crane cabin last night. We found something I think you should hear.”
To Be Continued…
