Shelter for Koren

by Susan Stoker

  Koren smiled. “Next time, I’ll lace ’em with ex-lax.”

  Taco looked surprised again for a second—and she was about to tell him that she’d never do that, to him or anyone else—but then he smiled so broadly, Koren felt tingles shoot through her. “Deal,” he whispered. Then in a normal voice, he said, “Come on.”

  He led her over to the kitchen. “You met Chief. This is his woman, Sophie.”

  “Hi,” Koren said.

  “Hi,” Sophie returned. “And Taco, you can quit calling m-me ‘his woman.’ You know we got engaged two weeks ago when we visited his m-mom.”

  “What I want to know is when are all you guys actually getting married? We’ve got a roomful of engaged people, and I want a party, damn it,” the blonde at the sink griped.

  “Don’t look at me,” the woman on the armchair with the dog said sleepily. “Dean and I already did the deed before my surgery.”

  Everyone else started talking at once, explaining why they hadn’t actually tied the knot yet.

  Taco leaned into Koren. “That’s Adeline. She used to have epileptic seizures at least once a day. Coco, her service dog, would warn her before she’d have one. That’s how she and Crash met.”

  He motioned to the others in the room as he pointed them out. “That’s Cade standing over there. His fiancée is Beth, she’s our resident computer expert…and she’s a recovering agoraphobic. She doesn’t hang out here much, or anywhere really, but she’s as much a part of this motley crew as anyone. Over there is Blythe and Squirrel, and you know Quinn and Driftwood. And Penelope and Moose are standing over by the table, arguing.”

  “They don’t seem to like each other much,” Koren observed.

  “Actually, they love each other, but they’re having a bit of an issue coming to terms with it.”

  She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

  He merely shrugged. “We’re a bit crazy, and a lot loud, but I wouldn’t trade this group of men and women for the world.”

  Just as he said the last word, loud alarm bells rang out.

  Koren jumped what felt like ten feet, but Taco soothed her. “Easy, Kor. It’s just the tones. I’ve got to go. Can you stay until I get back?”

  She turned and looked up at him. She’d planned on just dropping off the cookies and being on her way. But how could she say no when he’d asked with such hope in his voice? She nodded.

  Then he blew her mind by leaning down and kissing her cheek in a barely there caress. “Make sure Blythe doesn’t eat all the cookies. She’s got a wicked chocolate craving right now. You know…pregnancy hormones.”

  Then he was rushing out of the room behind the other men and Penelope.

  Koren listened as the trucks started up out in the bay and then it was just her and the other women.

  Sophie turned to her. “S-So…how do you know Taco?”

  Hearing something oddly close to suspicion in the other woman’s voice didn’t exactly make Koren feel like the welcome mat had been rolled out, but she answered honestly. “I was almost decapitated, and he and Mick were the firefighters who showed up to extricate me from my car, which had been wedged under an eighteen-wheeler’s trailer.”

  “That was you?” Adeline asked in disbelief. “I saw that on the news. Holy crap, I can’t believe you’re not in the hospital. Are you sure you’re okay? Shit, please come sit down.” She struggled to get out of the huge chair and out from under her dog, but Coco wasn’t helping. She sat on top of her owner, panting happily.

  “I’m fine,” Koren tried to reassure her.

  “Seriously,” Blythe said. “I saw the pictures in the newspaper. The top of your car was sheared right off!”

  “Yeah. I know. I was there,” Koren said dryly.

  “Come sit, Koren,” Quinn ordered, patting the sofa cushion next to her. Then she turned to the others. “I met Koren a while ago in the grocery store. She was super nice when it seemed like everyone else in the store that day were being dicks.”

  Once again, Koren got the feeling that there were things being said beneath Quinn’s words to the others that she didn’t fully understand. She felt awkward and uneasy, but determined to stay until Taco got back. Besides, people generally liked her. She wasn’t the kind of person who said shit just to piss everyone off. And, in her occupation, she had to be good at reading people and figuring out their moods.

  Koren settled onto the couch next to Quinn and waited for the interrogation to begin. That’s what it felt like, at least.

  “You’ll have to excuse our bad manners,” Adeline said without a hint of shame. “The last woman Taco was interested in turned out to be…well…a bitch.”

  “You mean the psycho serial killer?” Koren asked, not beating around the bush. She didn’t play games with men, and she refused to do so with her friends.

  And if she was interested in a relationship with Taco, she wanted these women to be her friends. She also liked what she’d seen and observed of them so far. Liked how they teased each other and genuinely seemed to enjoy being in each other’s company.

  Everyone stared at her in surprise.

  Koren shrugged. “Was I not supposed to bring it up? Taco told me that he hadn’t had a good dating experience, and that I resembled her…at least my hair and eye colors. Rest assured, I am not her. I don’t know who she is or what she did, but the only thing I murder is plants. I swear to God I can’t keep one alive to save my life. My brothers gave me a cactus once, telling me all I had to do was water it once a month and it would live forever. I think it lasted like two months. Max.”

  “Jennifer Hale,” Quinn said. “Her name was Jennifer Hale. She was the leader of The Edge Community Church. She kidnapped me because she thought I was marked by the devil, and she almost succeeded in burning me alive. She did succeed in murdering I’m not sure how many others to rid them of the devil inside them, as well.”

  Her words were flat and unemotional, but Koren saw the way she clenched her hands in her lap.

  “Holy shit! Seriously? Why did she think you had the devil inside you?” Koren asked.

  Quinn blinked in surprise. “Are you kidding?”

  “No.”

  Quinn gestured to the birthmark on her face. “Because of the devil’s mark on my face, of course.”

  Koren sat back, stunned. “Well, that’s just stupid,” she said hotly. “It’s just a bunch of overactive capillaries! It’s not like you did anything to make it happen.”

  There was silence following her pronouncement. Before Sophie declared, “I like her.”

  “Me too,” Adeline said.

  “Me three,” Blythe echoed.

  “Me four,” Quinn said with a smile.

  Koren stared at Quinn. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “John got to me in time.”

  “John?” Koren asked.

  “Driftwood. I call him John,” Quinn explained.

  “Oh. I don’t even know Taco’s real name. Should I be calling him that?”

  “No!” four voices said at once.

  Koren flinched in surprise. “Well…okay then.”

  Blythe explained, “Taco doesn’t like his given name. We don’t know why. But that bitch refused to call him Taco. Said it wasn’t right. We tried to tell her how much he hated his name, but she wouldn’t listen to us.”

  “She only dated him to get to me,” Quinn said sadly. “He feels as if it’s his fault that she kidnapped me because, you know, he brought her around and tried to help her fit in. But in reality, it’s my fault he was put in that situation.”

  “Bullshit,” Koren said without thought. Then winced. “Sorry. But seriously, it sounds like everything that happened was the psycho bitch’s fault. But now I get why he wasn’t exactly thrilled when I asked him out.”

  “You asked him out?” Adeline asked. “This I gotta hear.”

  Koren sighed. “Yeah, I’d just survived something I knew I really shouldn’t have, and he was acting all concerned and stuff, and I just
blurted it out. He let me down easy, but yeah.” Now that Koren knew who Taco’s ex was, she understood his reluctance a bit more. And she was beginning to think he really had only agreed to be nice. She wouldn’t want to date again so soon if it had been her in the situation Taco had been in. If she’d dated a man who had gone after Vicky or Sue, she’d never forgive herself.

  Quinn leaned toward Koren. “But then he said yes, right?”

  Koren nodded. “He came to see me in the hospital and agreed to go out with me. But we haven’t really talked since then. Only a text here and there. I thought maybe if I came by with cookies, we could set something up.” She sighed and looked down at her hands.

  Quinn reached out and covered Koren’s hand with one of her own. Looking up, Koren saw the other woman staring at her with compassion.

  “Don’t give up on him,” she said. “He’s a good guy. Everyone who works here is. He’s just gone through a lot and feels a ton of guilt as a result.”

  It felt a little weird getting dating advice from someone she didn’t know all that well, but these women knew Taco a hell of a lot better than she did.

  “I just… This is going to sound bad…but I’m not interested in dating someone who’s just looking for a good time. You know? I’m thirty-three, and both of my best friends are married already. I want to find someone I can laugh with. Hang out with. I don’t care if we don’t have the same interests in movies or books. I just don’t want to waste my time with someone who isn’t looking for something long term.”

  “He’s looking for something long term,” Quinn reassured her.

  “How do you know?” Koren asked.

  “Look around you. Look at us. This is what he’s surrounded by every day. His best friends, who are like brothers to him, are all engaged or married. And he told Sawyer he was envious. I think that’s why he latched on to Jen as fast as he did, and why he tried so hard to get us to like her. Because he desperately wants what his friends have.”

  Koren bit her lip, then decided to just tell the women what she was thinking. “But…I’m really boring. I have no idea what Taco or anyone else could possibly see in me.”

  The other women burst into laugher.

  Hurt, Koren pressed her lips together.

  “S-Sorry, Koren, we’re not laughing at you,” Sophie said. “It’s just that after everything that’s happened, I think Taco would welcome a little boring.”

  That made sense. “Yeah, the ex-psycho girlfriend thing,” Koren said.

  “No. Not just that.” Adeline took a deep breath. “Beth, Sledge’s girlfriend, was kidnapped by a serial killer out in California and barely survived his torture. She’s agoraphobic now, and was also a bit of a pyromaniac for a while.”

  “And Adeline was having seizures every day and could’ve died from them. Then her boss tried to rape her when they were at a business conference,” Blythe explained.

  “And Blythe was homeless,” Sophie explained. “Then when s-she was trying to find her friend, Hope—who you’ll probably m-meet at s-some point—a gang downtown almost killed her and S-Squirrel.”

  “And Sophie ran into a burning building that a doctor she worked with had set on fire. She almost died,” Blythe explained.

  Koren could only stare at one woman then the next as they explained their histories.

  “So yeah, I think Taco would probably welcome some boring in the woman he’s dating,” Quinn finished.

  “Holy crap,” Koren breathed. “That stuff really happened to all of you?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “I don’t know whether I should cross myself or rub myself all over you for luck,” Koren said.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Wait until you meet our law enforcement friends’ women,” Adeline said. “Our stories sound kind of tame compared to theirs.”

  “I’m not sure what to say,” Koren murmured.

  “Do you have any scary exes?” Blythe asked.

  Koren shook her head.

  “Any terrible bosses?” Adeline asked.

  “No, nothing.”

  “Your parents aren’t devil worshipers? No hidden disabilities that could cause issues down the line?” Quinn asked.

  “No. I’m perfectly average. I have two brothers—who I love, by the way. They’re married and have perfectly normal, boring wives. Not boring, like I-don’t-like-them boring. Just…normal. My parents are awesome, if not a little meddlesome, but I wouldn’t have them any other way. Both sets of grandparents are still living, one set in Florida and the other in Alaska—don’t ask; they like the cold weather. Now I’m definitely afraid I’m not interesting enough…should I make up a stalker or something?” Koren asked, only half-kidding.

  “Good Lord, no!” Adeline said. “Be glad. I, for one, am thrilled that you’ve got no scary bad guys lurking in your past or present. I think it’ll be nice for one of the guys to not have to deal with drama every time he turns around.”

  “Right?” Quinn said. “I swear, most of the time when I was first dating John, I felt like every single day he was fending off assholes who thought they had the right to say whatever they wanted to my face. I felt bad that he had to deal with that kind of thing. Be happy that you won’t have any of that, Koren.”

  “I can’t stand drama,” Koren told them. “I’m also overly blunt. I’m the girlfriend who will tell you straight up if something you’re wearing isn’t right for you. Or if you have lettuce in your teeth, or if I hear about your man cheating on you. And yes, I’ve totally done that last one before. My friend Sue’s ex was a douchebag, and I told her without hesitation. I wasn’t going to sit back and let her be the only one who didn’t know what he was up to.”

  “I one hundred percent don’t think our men would cheat on us,” Blythe said, “but you’re definitely the kind of friend I want. I think we’ve all had enough drama to last us a lifetime.”

  “Agreed,” everyone said.

  “So I guess that means you’re in,” Quinn said with a smile.

  “I’m in?” Koren asked.

  “Yup. We like you. But more importantly, we like you for Taco. Which is not what we thought about Jen. You’ll be good for him. A nice, normal relationship with zero drama.”

  It felt good to be accepted by these women. Not that Koren needed to be. She had Sue and Vicky and her family. She had a job she loved, a condo she was doing her best to pay off. But somehow, being around the women who dated Taco’s friends made her feel good. Like she was a part of something new.

  “So, since that’s settled, what do you do?” Adeline asked Koren.

  Koren relaxed. Now this was something she could talk about. “I’m a travel agent who works from home. I’m associated with one of those online agencies. People email in looking for recommendations or for someone to do all the planning for them. I contact them and figure out what their budget is, and what they want, and I get to work finding flights, hotels, rental cars, activities…basically anything they want.”

  “Really?” Blythe asked, looking excited.

  “Really.”

  “I’m obviously very pregnant, but I wanted to take Sawyer somewhere before this little nugget is born. Just the two of us. One last hurrah before we become parents. But we don’t have a huge budget. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “Do I have any suggestions?” Koren asked rhetorically. “Hell yes, I do. But I have some questions before I can get serious…”

  The next hour was spent getting to know the women and helping Blythe figure out where she was going to take her fiancé. By the time they were finished talking, Koren had some great ideas, but figured she’d talk to Blythe about them when she was alone. She got everyone’s phone numbers, and she promised Blythe in particular that she’d be in touch with her soon about trip options.

  They all heard the sound of the trucks returning to the bays, and Koren followed suit and stood when the others did. The other women greeted their men as they came back into the room.

  Feeling a l
ittle weird about still being there, and not knowing exactly where she and Taco stood in regards to their relationship—or non-relationship, as the case may be—she hung back by the couch.

  She watched as Taco grinned at his friends, then looked around the room. When he saw that she was still there, he smiled broadly and headed for her.

  “Hey,” he said when he got close. “You stayed.”

  “Yeah. Me and the others were talking,” Koren told him.

  “Things go okay?” he asked.

  Understanding where the question was coming from after learning how Jen had acted with the other women, and why, she said, “Yes. Great, actually. They’re all awesome and funny.”

  The relieved expression on his face made Koren want to go and beat the shit out of Jen.

  “Any cookies left?” he asked.

  Koren chuckled. “We were so busy talking, we didn’t even bust into them.”

  “Good. More for me,” he quipped. Then he reached out and grabbed both her hands. His voice lowered, and suddenly it felt as if they were the only two people in the room. “You really are doing okay after the accident? No residual side effects?”

  “I’m still sore,” she admitted. “And the bruises from the seat belt are pretty horrific. But I can’t get too upset, considering it saved my life.”

  When Taco frowned, and she figured he was two seconds away from wanting to see the bruises for himself to make sure she was all right, she quickly said, “I’m good, Taco. Promise. Especially when I think about how not good I could be right about now.”

  “True.” He looked into her eyes for a moment longer, then dropped her hands. “How about a cookie?”

  Koren tried to tamp down the disappointment. She’d hoped he’d been about to ask her out for their first official date. But remembering his history, she simply nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Taco kicked himself after he’d seen Koren out. The other women were taking their leave as well, and she made it clear that she wasn’t exactly comfortable staying when everyone else left…not that he could blame her.

  So he’d walked her out, and they’d had some general conversation about her rental and when she expected to get a check from her insurance company so she could purchase a new car. Then he’d taken a step back and waved at her like a dork as he said goodbye.