by T. S. Joyce
She’d cried. God, she’d been so pretty out there in the rain, her cheeks all rosy, looking him right in the face, asking if he was the dog. She’d guessed. Smart, pretty Mae.
Cole pulled off the cover of his Jeep Wrangler. Holt took good care of it while he was his guard dog. Took it out once a week to make sure the gas was all stirred up, kept it covered in the old barn behind the guest house. The keys were on the dashboard where they always were. How many times had he done this? Turned human and gotten back into the swing of life for a few days before Changing back to Fargo? He had traditions. Errands to run and people to see. And first up was Dad and Drew.
He turned on the Jeep and gave a two-fingered wave to Holt, who was back to sanding down the crib he was making in the front yard. “There’s money in the console,” Holt called.
“Don’t need your money, asshole,” Cole yelled as he blasted out of Lachlan territory. In the rearview mirror, he could see Holt lift a middle finger. He smiled to himself. There was another tradition. He and Holt said the same thing every time he left after a Change.
At the main road, Cole slowed and popped open the console. There was his cell phone, charged to 100%, probably Holt’s doing. He pocketed the $200 in there. It was payment, as Holt called it, for being his bodyguard…guard dog…whatever. Really, it was probably guilt-money, though. Whatever it was, it helped. The jeep was paid off, but gas, food, and beer for the next three days would cost money, and he always gave Dad and Drew a little to help cover bills.
It was nice to be in his normal Change routine after the chaos of his emotions earlier. Seeing Mae cry had damn near forced him to Change back. He wasn’t used to feeling that much in this body anymore.
She’d told him that in two hours she would be alone, listening to the reading of the will. Just imagining her, sitting there sad, socked him in the stomach again. Dinner had been good, grilled catfish, baked potatoes, and collard greens, and he’d eaten enough to feed a small army. That was what he always did after a Change. He didn’t eat enough as a dog, mostly because the food tasted like dry shit. He would put on fifteen pounds in the next few days, and it would carry him through to the next Change. Repeat forever. God, his life was predictable now.
He scarfed a handful of peanuts from the giant bag of them in his lap. Alone. Sheeeeyit, he was already thinking of doing something bad.
Dad and Drew still lived in the same house he’d grown up in. A pair of Jennings bachelors and probably neither of them would ever settle down. Dad said it was in their DNA, but mostly they both just had such atrocious manners that it would take one gremlin of a woman to put up with either of their shit.
He pulled into the neighborhood of old tract homes and parked in front of 1010 Hydrangea Drive. Pretty name for the crap-shack street he’d grown up on. Probably the town named all these dumpy streets after flowers to make them seem cuter. He parked his black Jeep on the cracked driveway, squishing one big-ass weed under his tire, then got out and made his way to the door. His family never locked up, so he shoved it right open to find Drew making out on the couch with one of the waitresses from Tacky’s.
They didn’t seem to hear his entrance, so he said, “Hey Darlene, I think you can do a little better than that dipshit.”
Drew sat up straight, shoving Darlene back to arm’s length. “Dude! You’re alive. It’s been a fucking month!”
“Better you say?” Darlene teased, smacking on her gum. Why was she chewing gum while she was making out with Drew? God, they were weird. They’d been fooling around for years. “You in the market for a lady?” she asked.
“He said better, not worse,” Drew deadpanned as Cole limped to the back bedroom.
God, his leg always ached so bad in this body. Holt had damn-near bitten it completely off. He tossed a hundred dollars in twenties on the table as he passed. “For the electric bill. Don’t spend it on beer this time, dickweed.”
“Dad died while you were gone.”
Cole’s heart dropped to the floor and he froze in horror. “What?”
Drew smiled wickedly. “Just kidding. He’s out lookin’ for a cure for you again, though. Somewhere in Louisiana this time.”
“A cure for what,” Darlene asked.
“For the seven STDs he’s got,” Drew said. “Still want to downgrade with him?”
Darlene scrunched up her little pixie nose and popped a bubble with her gum. “Depends on which ones he’s got.” She got a feisty glint in her blue eyes. “The little curable ones don’t bother me much.” His idiot brother and Darlene both cackled laughter.
“Har, har, har,” Cole muttered, making his way back to the bathroom.
He showered with the water running as hot as he could handle, scrubbed every inch of himself until his skin was raw. Another tradition. The bathroom mirror was completely steamed over by the time he was done, and with a towel wrapped around his waist, he wiped his hand over the foggy surface.
The man who looked back at him was nearly unrecognizable. That’s how Mae had seen him after all this time? Hair so shaggy it was hanging in front of his face and a beard so thick he looked like a mountain man with no access to a razor. He hadn’t trimmed in the last few Changes. There wasn’t much point to it. No one looked at him anymore.
Alone.
He frowned at himself in the mirror.
“Hey, man,” Drew said from the open doorway. “You okay?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, you know I don’t actually give a shit, but I’m your brother and you’re acting weird, so I figured I would ask.”
Suspicious of Drew’s manners, he asked, “What’s going on? Why are you being nice?”
Drew had the same blond hair as he did, the same brown eyes, but that’s where their similarities stopped. He was short and stocky, charming as fuck with an easy smile, while Cole was tall and packed on muscle easy, was quiet and a loner.
His brother gave a sympathetic smile. “Well, usually, you come in here and don’t talk at all, and this time around you look super-fuckin’-skinny. I’ve been hearing whisperings around town that Seamus and Cal still want to kill you for what happened at the car lot a few weeks back.” He cleared his throat and got quiet for a breath. His voice was much softer when he said, “I also heard Mae is back in town.”
Cole locked his arms on the sink and looked back at his hollow, sunken eyes with a sigh. “Yeah, I saw her.”
“No shit?” his brother asked softly.
“Not a single fleck of it.”
Drew angled his head toward the living room. “Hey, Darlene?” he called out.
“What?” she yelled. “I’m making grilled cheeses.”
“Tell my idiot brother what you’re studying to be when you grow up.”
“I am grown up, you buffoon.”
Drew frowned and yelled, “You know what I mean!”
“I’m gonna be a cosmetologist,” she called. Sounded like she was talking with her mouth full. She and Drew were perfect for each other. “I’m almost done with school.”
“I don’t know what that is,” Cole said, making his way past Drew and into the living room to stare at the back of Darlene’s bleach blond hair.
“It means,” she said from behind a half-eaten sandwich, “I can fix your shitty looking hair.” She smiled brightly and purposefully showed her food.
“Oh…well…thank—”
“For twenty bucks,” she interrupted.
Cole gave her an empty smile. “Of course.”
Chapter Five
“Can I leave now?” Mae asked Uncle Jeb.
“Oh my God, child, why do you remind me of a two-year-old in church right now?”
“And for my little goblin queef, Tony,” Aunt Adelaide read from Tabby’s will, “I bestow upon you all the ropes that tie my boats up.”
“Wait…is that all?” Goblin Queef Tony asked, looking around with disbelief and fire in his eyes. “I just get some dumb old ropes?” His voice wrenched up a volume level. “What about the boats?”
“I just want to go,” Mae said, rolling her eyes. “I already know what I’m getting. Tabby told me a dozen times she was going to give me her special man-getting pearl earrings. She said they were lucky or some shit. She said, and I quote, that they were her ‘lucky penis attracters.’ Followed by ‘girl, you need to get more dick.’”
Uncle Jeb snorted. “You just cussed, by the way, and your accent is starting to come back.”
“I’m tired, I’m sad, and everyone here only cares about the spoils of her passing. I don’t want any material stuff. I just miss her.”
“Great, well, your great-granny had this all planned out, and she made a list of everyone who must attend the reading of the will. You are number four, so be patient. She’s watching you from hell.”
“She did not go to hell!” Mae whisper screamed.
“Shhhhh!” Goblin Queef Tony shushed her. “The boats?” he asked Aunt Adelaide.
Under his breath, Uncle Jeb said, “You and I both know she slept with way too many men to get through the gates of heaven.”
Her eight boyfriends were all sitting together on the other side of the room and putting on quite the show of dabbing their eyes with Kleenex and old-fashioned handkerchiefs.
Tony and two of her cousins were now reaming Aunt Adelaide about the boats because she couldn’t find them mentioned in the will.
Mae shook her head and pursed her lips sadly. Everyone was missing the point.
Tabby was gone.
“What’s he doing here?” Cousin Fred asked from the back of the room.
Mae turned to find Cole standing in the doorway and, holy hell, had that man made some changes in the last couple of hours. She almost didn’t recognize him. Again.
His hair was cut short on the sides but left longer on top. It was messy, but in that runway model type of way. His beard was trimmed short, and she could see his jawline better. He was still lean, but his eyes didn’t look so troubled, so sunken. He wore a white V-neck T-shirt that clung to his strong shoulders and tapered at his waist, and a pair of jeans with nary a hole at the knee. Thick-soled work boots completed his look.
“Holy fucksickles,” Uncle Jeb murmured. “He showered.”
She would’ve laughed at that if her ovaries weren’t playing Fourth of July fireworks at the moment. Okay, Cole was still hot. Like burn-your-finger-if-you-touched-him hot.
“Helloooooo, Cole Jennings,” Aunt Adelaide crooned from up at the podium, right in front of the horrific chicken casket someone had dragged into the living room. Tabby was holding two beers now.
The old Cole would’ve ducked his face and slunk in here trying not to make a scene and doing his best to stay invisible. He wasn’t submissive, per say, more like lowkey. He didn’t enjoy attention on him, didn’t like to make waves. But this Cole? He was the wave.
“I’m gonna go sit over there with the crying boyfriends,” Uncle Jeb muttered as he stood up. He patted her shoulder awkwardly and said, “Good luck.” He left her there, staring at Cole Jennings, who was limping this way with his chin up and his light brown eyes reflecting oddly under the lights.
Heeeere boy.
“Adelaide,” he greeted her aunt with a respectful nod. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Carry on.”
Adelaide pushed her glasses up her nose and fanned herself with the will as she stared at Cole.
Goblin Queef Tony said, “Adelaide! The boats!” And that was enough to draw her from her hormone-soaked study of Cole Jennings.
“Sorry, I’m late,” he murmured to Mae.
“You don’t have to apologize,” she whispered in a barely audible voice. She had a feeling he could hear anything, no matter how quiet it was. “For anything,” she added.
He held her gaze, question in his eyes, but there was chaos up front about the boats, people yelling, and probably about to fight, but Mae couldn’t take her eyes off the corner of Cole’s lips. His crooked smile was easy to see now that he’d trimmed up his beard. He smelled like cologne. Geez, he looked so damn good. Even thin, he was a stunner. Cutest boy this town had ever produced, and he was sitting by her.
Stop it. Don’t get wrapped up in this town again.
She inhaled deeply and settled in to listen to the bickering.
“This is all bullshit, you know?” he said softly. “The fighting.”
“It’s making me mad.”
He leaned closer to her, his shoulder touching hers. “You know who it ain’t making mad?”
“Who?” she asked.
He ghosted her a grin and said, “Tabby. You know she’s watching this, laughing her ass off. This is exactly what she would’ve wanted. Everyone stressing out and fighting and throwing drama. And then she’ll have some grand finale that’ll piss everyone off, so every single person here will talk about it all over town.”
Mae bit back a smile because he was right. Tabby was probably eating this drama up.
“Is that a chicken casket?” he asked.
Mae snorted and swallowed a laugh, then buried her mouth against her arm to hide her smile. She wanted to cry and crack up at the same time. Maybe she was losing her mind, but this was way easier with him here. She didn’t have her parents here, and that made this a little harder. They were in Alaska now, living their best life in a cabin near Anchorage and didn’t have the money or time off work to travel back for this Celebration of Life.
But Cole had spent a lot of time with Tabby when they were together. He even used to mow her lawn for her without her asking. He’d once said he loved Tabby because Mae loved her. So, yeah. He had every right to be here. And, yeah, he was making this a little easier on Mae. He’d probably cared for Tabby as much as most of the people in this room. She didn’t remember any of them mowing her lawn or spending Saturday nights playing the casino slots across the border when her great-granny got the gambling itch. He’d never once acted like spending time with Tabby was an imposition. It was one of the things she’d loved about him.
Oh, yep, Tony and a few of the other cousins were about ready to rumble now. Some of the other family surged forward while the rest were chanting, “Fight, fight, fight.”
She looked over to see Cole rubbing his stomach.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Starving. It’s always like that right after…”
Mae searched his eyes, but she could see it. She could see the shut-down. “Who knows about the dog side of you?”
Cole shook his head slowly, wouldn’t meet her eyes anymore. He cracked his knuckles and asked, “Do you want a beer?”
It hurt. Him not trusting her hurt. “Let’s both go,” she said softly. Mae flicked her fingers at the huge argument at the front of the living room. “They won’t notice if we’re getting food.”
One of the boyfriends was now sobbing loudly, and Uncle Jeb was miming hanging himself. Aaaah, family.
He stood and waited for her to walk past him, then touched her back lightly with his fingertips as she led them to the kitchen attached to the living room. Just that small bit of affection sent a hoard of butterflies migrating from her tummy to her chest.
He pulled a couple of beers from the fridge on the left, seemingly uncaring about the family members who had noticed them leaving and were now staring at them. Mae pulled from the fridge Aunt Adelaide’s homemade macaroni and cheese and a few of the ham and poppy seed sandwiches Uncle Jeb was famous for in these parts. They were better warm, so she heated everything up on paper plates.
By the time the microwave dinged, the chaos in the living room had died down.
“How can you eat at a time like this?” Goblin Queef Tony yelled at Mae.
“How can you fight at a time like this?” Cole asked in a cool voice, popping the tops of the beers with his bare hands. Uuuuh, those weren’t twist off caps. He was definitely stronger now.
“I think you broke my nose with your damn purse, Connie!” Tony accused rubbing his beak tenderly.
“Can we get back to reading the will so we can get this ov
er with?” Mae asked, pulling a plate from the microwave and handing it to Cole.
“Oh, there she is, ready to find out what she gets,” Tony said.
“No, Tony, I already know what I get. A pair of earrings. I’m here because Tabby put my name on the list to be here. Doesn’t mean I want to spend all day listening to you squabble over her things.”
“Uuuuuuh,” Adelaide said, flipping from one page of the will to the next. “Wrong, little miss City Slicker. You don’t get earrings.”
“What?” she asked, abandoning her plate of food in the microwave. “No, she said I get her lucky man-getting earrings.”
“Ha!” Cole said in a single bellowing laugh. He covered it up with a cough, but from the looks on everyone’s faces, no one was buying it.
“Uuuuh,” Adelaide said again. She looked up, her eyes round behind her glasses. “She left you the house. And the boats. And the empty lot next to this property. And also her chickens. And the penis-getting…earrings. She actually wrote that in here. I’m not just trying to say penis.”
“What?” Goblin Queef Tony bellowed.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Cousin Fred groused. “She don’t even live here anymore.”
“What is she gonna do with swamp boats?” Connie asked. “Those are worth money. Real money. Money she don’t need. Look at her in her fancy clothes and her fancy shoes!”
“It ain’t fair!” one of the boyfriends called.
“It ain’t right!” her second cousin Gary cried.
Tony yelled, “We been here all along, waiting on this will-reading…”
On and on it went, the room buzzing with anger until it was just a roar in her ears.
Cole leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest as he surveyed the room with narrowed eyes. “And there it is.”
“There’s what?” Mae asked on a stunned breath.
“There’s Tabby’s grand finale.”
Chapter Six
Cole found her holding a chicken.