August Heat (A Year in Paradise Book 8)

by Hildred Billings

  Anything.

  Krys had service in the garage, but for some reason, she couldn’t get through to Siobhan. Not without being sent straight to voicemail. Damnit. Is she out on a call in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Then again, Siobhan lived on the type of property where a person only had to walk three feet to the left to be in yet another dead zone.

  “Hey, Chev.” This felt like the wrong time to start calling her that, but Krys only had precious seconds to lose. “One of the kittens isn’t looking too great. Can I bring her over? Or maybe you should stop by my place to look her over. I’m not sure if moving her is a good idea.”

  Siobhan didn’t answer for another fifteen minutes. She must have been indisposed.

  Shoot. I don’t have time to wait for her. Krys looked up the number for Dr. Global’s office. At least the receptionist answered within two rings.

  Chapter 14

  SIOBHAN

  Her phone was off. It had been off for two days, since anyone with a medical emergency had a landline to call. A landline her aunt Gabriella could answer and subsequently summon her niece from the darkened dregs of her room.

  Not since the days of breaking up with Emily had Siobhan been so sequestered to her bedroom, the curtains drawn and the TV playing the same videos over and over. A woman could only watch an old copy of Independence Day so many times, yet the white lines on the screen or the scratchy dialogue didn’t deter her from constantly rewinding and replaying it again. Wasn’t like Siobhan fully absorbed it every time Will Smith came back on the old analog TV screen. This is the same TV I had when I moved here with Emily. We bought it from a thrift store when we first got together and had our own tiny apartment. I was in vet school. She was working two part-time jobs so I didn’t have to. That time seemed so long ago now. Another life. A time when a forever together seemed possible. Why would Emily go through all that trouble for Siobhan if she never intended to stay? If she intended to stray…

  Since kissing Krys the other night, Siobhan had been in this constant cycle of self-beratement and disbelief. She chastised herself for falling for the playgirl’s flirtations. Why, if she insisted on ever dating again, did she have to go for the most dangerous woman in town? Krys may have been interested in her now, but it was only a matter of time before Emily Part 2 happened.

  Right?

  Siobhan couldn’t help it. If there was one thing that hurt the most, it was knowing that she had once tasted unconditional love. Maybe that person wasn’t the right one for her, but it had felt real. Emily had given her such happiness that, even after it was yanked away, Siobhan remained tethered to its chains. I thought I had moved on… She really had. A few years should have been more than enough time to get over that heartbreaker. Wasn’t that the importance of distance? Maturity? Aging? Aunt Gabriella had been on Siobhan’s case for over two years about “getting back on the horse,” which was always a strange analogy for a vet who spent some of her days with her arm up a certain animal’s rectum. Anyone who dates me has to be okay with where my hands go… Emily had often joked about that. Sometimes in front of other people!

  That seemed so long ago now. It also felt like yesterday.

  No… yesterday… or was it the day before… I acted like a fool in my own car. There had been that part of her desperate to go inside with Krys and make wild love all night long. The wildest. Like I’m an animal who can’t control herself. Maybe that was the only way Siobhan could stand to do it again. Don’t think about anything. Jump right in and pray that she didn’t regret it. Rip off the Band-Aid that was celibacy since saying goodbye to the only woman she had ever loved.

  I make it sound like Emily really was something special…

  Jeff Goldblum made another joke toward his ex-wife. Siobhan slumped across her bed, waiting for the inevitable, sassy comeback. Soon it would switch to a bunch of people on top of the Empire State Building getting blown to smithereens. Then Vivica A. Fox would rescue her dog in the middle of an LA tunnel. Randy Quaid would come out of retirement to save a few lives. Once Jeff and Will were in space, though, Siobhan knew it was time to rewind the tape. She didn’t want to be around for the happy ending. She was there for the exploding White House and snappy jokes.

  And for Mary McDonnell, one of Siobhan’s biggest celebrity crushes. She pretended certain scenes did not happen in the movie.

  “Somebody save that little girl,” Siobhan muttered about the president’s daughter. What was it about ‘90s movies that envisioned presidents having small children in the White House? I watched the shit out of that First Kid movie with Sinbad back then. Did Siobhan have a distinct interest in movies featuring the White House? Why did she enjoy watching it blow up?

  Somebody knocked on the bedroom door. Siobhan winced when Aunt Gabriella allowed the hallway light to spill into the dark abode called sanctuary.

  “Oh, my goodness. You’re still doing this?” Gabriella sighed, hand hanging on to the doorknob in case Siobhan got any ideas about closing it again. “When are you going to finish whatever the hell this is? Don’t you have appointments to get to? Cows to save?”

  “I haven’t gotten any calls,” Siobhan muttered. “I’ve honored my appointments. There ain’t no cows dying out there?”

  “You sure about that? Because I just got off the phone with somebody.”

  All right, that would get Siobhan off her bed, but not to indulge conversation about her personal life. If a cow needed saving, she supposed she could get off her ass and back to work. At least it took her mind off other things. Like how much her heart hurt every time she saw another couple reunited in that stupid movie.

  “What happened?” Siobhan asked. “Who is it? Is it an emergency?”

  Gabriella was not quick to answer. What? Seriously. What’s going on? If something or somebody’s in trouble, I better be told sooner rather than later. Is time of the essence?

  “Krys called me a few minutes ago.” Gabriella cocked her hand on her hip. “Said you weren’t answering your phone.”

  “Come on, now!” Siobhan sat back down on the edge of her bed. “That doesn’t count! I thought this was a real animal emergency.”

  “It could have been, since the reason she was calling you is because one of those kittens got sick and she was worried half to death about it!”

  “What? What’s wrong with it?”

  “Hell if I know. She said she got it in to see Dr. Global since you weren’t answering.”

  “For the best, then.” Siobhan sighed. “If she’s in town, it’s much faster for her to take it to Dr. Global. Might not be much I could do to help it.”

  “That’s not the point, Chevy.” Gabriella sighed. “I thought you were sweet with her! Weren’t you two going out?”

  “We had a couple of dates. That doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere.”

  “For God’s sake, Chevy, it’s like you don’t know how dating works. I’d never guess you were in a relationship before.”

  Siobhan slammed a pillow over her head. “Get off my ass about it!”

  She should have known Gabriella would march over and rip the pillow off her niece’s face. “I know one thing for sure, hon, and that’s you shouldn’t string a nice young lady along like she’s your puppet. If you’re not going to call Krys back about the cat, the least you could do is call her and tell her you’re done talking to her. That way she won’t keep calling the landline like some lost little puppy that only wants your attention.”

  Lost little puppy? That didn’t sound like Krys at all. That sounded like Siobhan, who wandered through her own personal life like a dog let off its leash. She had enjoyed the freedom at first, of course, but once she realized she was disconnected from her home, her family, she looked around in fear and wonderment. Where was she supposed to go? How would she get home? Was there a chance at starting over again, assuming she survived these trying times?

  Or would she be caught by the dog catcher and sent away for good?

  “Bah.” Gabriella washed her hand
s of it. “I can’t deal with you right now. I have to go into town and get us some food. Somebody’s been eating through our stash of chips. Like they’re her meal or something.”

  “Don’t get the really expensive ones, okay?” Siobhan meekly called after her. “No sense wasting money on the name brand when the store brand does a good enough job.”

  A grunt told her that her aunt was leaving the room.

  Siobhan didn’t bother rewinding the tape of her favorite movie. She got up and headed across the hall to use the bathroom. While in there, she decided that it was high time to take a shower and get some of the blubbery sweat off her body. By the time she stepped out, fresh and clean from her shower of woe, she realized that somebody was downstairs.

  It did not sound like Gabriella’s footsteps.

  Indeed, her car was not in the driveway when Siobhan glanced out the bathroom window. She saw another car instead.

  A familiar car that did not belong to either her or Aunt Gabriella.

  “What the hell?” Siobhan fluffed out her hair and made sure her thin bathrobe was tightly tied before stepping out of the room. The footsteps continued to pound on the floor beneath hers. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, everything she feared had come to light.

  Krys stood outside the front door. She hadn’t helped herself inside, although odds were strong that Aunt Gabriella hadn’t bothered to lock the door when she left. Simply put? Krys’s footsteps were so heavy in those boots of hers that they practically smashed through the fragile porch wood.

  She didn’t say anything. Nor did she pound on the screen door. She merely paced back and forth, as if trying to think of what she would say when she finally called Siobhan down from her tower.

  Siobhan would catch her unawares. That was the only upper hand she had as she swung open the door and asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Krys hadn’t been prepared for Siobhan’s presence. She was less prepared for nothing more than a bathrobe.

  To be fair, that hadn’t been part of Siobhan’s plan, but she was committed now, wasn’t she?

  Your final test is to see if you can keep your eyes on mine, Madison. For someone like Krys, that could be the hardest challenge of her life.

  Chapter 15

  KRYS

  There were half a dozen things Krys anticipated when Siobhan finally showed her face. A bathrobe thin enough to show off some of the goods was not one of those things.

  Holy hell… Was this a joke? Krys came down here to make a case for living creatures, which may or may not have included herself. Not to instantly forget everything I was about to say because I suddenly have a hot woman in front of me. Siobhan was always hot, yes, but never before had Krys seen her wearing so sexy. This was a woman who wore jeans and sweaters. Maybe a light jacket, if she were feeling frisky. Her lab coat did plenty for propriety. What would Krys learn next, though? That the woman she had fancied since first seeing her didn’t sleep in footie pajamas or baggy T-shirts? Did she sleep in cute, silky negligees, too? Or, gasp, in the nude?

  Get a hold of yourself! That wasn’t a flirtatious look on Siobhan’s face. If Krys wanted to accomplish anything, she better keep her eyes off those nipples and on Siobhan’s ticked countenance.

  “Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

  Ah, yes. Utterly accusatory. That was the way to go.

  Siobhan barricaded the door with her body, arm slinking up the frame and ankles crossing. Those bare toes dug into the vinyl flooring beneath her feet, but Siobhan didn’t seem to care if it was clean or dirty. She only had eyes for Krys. Angry, dagger-like eyes that were not in the mood for her crap.

  “I didn’t realize I owed you any time on the phone.” Siobhan said.

  “You got a problem with me?” Krys knew how to be intimidating… to the point that she was keenly aware of her body language when she took a small step forward and loomed above the woman before her. She didn’t want to intimidate Siobhan. This wasn’t a shake down or promises of retribution if she didn’t get her way. Yet that didn’t mean Krys would back down before the woman who thought she could play obnoxious games.

  “I have problems with people who don’t know how to stay away for five freakin’ minutes. Ever heard of personal space?”

  “There’s asking for personal space, and there’s refusing to answer calls so soon after a first kiss. You know what kind of message that sends someone? Hm?”

  Siobhan tilted her head. “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

  “Obsessed? Please. Don’t flatter yourself. You make me sound like I can’t control myself. I’d beg to differ.” Krys scoffed. “I like to think we’re going out. Maybe you’re not my girlfriend, Chev, but I’m at least owed the courtesy of an explanation.”

  Siobhan almost said something. Instead, she lowered her arms and looked away. Her countenance softened. Barely. “I haven’t been feeling well.” She looked back at Krys. “Sorry I haven’t been answering my phone outside of veterinary emergencies.”

  “I had one earlier, actually. Remember Meg? She got sick, and when I tried calling you, I kept going to your voicemail.”

  “My aunt said you called. I’m sorry I couldn’t help, but you did the right thing taking her to Dr. Global instead of me. There’s only so much I can do for small animals way out here. If you have a cat and you live in town, you should definitely take it to the clinic.”

  Krys could hardly believe it. Siobhan was so nonchalant about it! Didn’t she understand what had almost happened? The kitten will be fine, Dr. Global said, but only because I found her in time. The poor thing was so dehydrated they’re keeping her at the clinic overnight, and now I have to figure out how to get the kittens inside the house. Because Lucas would love that. He could suck rocks, though. Krys wasn’t about to let any of those kittens die on her watch, especially because of her own stupidity. I knew the garage was too hot, but I thought I could make it habitable in time… She’d have to keep them in her room, huh? Well, at least she could keep it cool. This only compelled her to get those cats moved into the firehouse faster.

  “You think this is only about the cats?” Krys shook her head. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I never dated your ex. I’m sorry that she cheated on you all over town, but that’s not my problem. Nor is it my responsibility, even if I had accidentally dated her. You ask me? You’re scared of being in any relationship, let alone with me.”

  Siobhan fired up some derision so quickly that Krys worried she might have to call the volunteers working at the firehouse that weekend. “What the hell do you know about me? It’s none of your business how I feel about one thing or another. You think I need a relationship to be happy? Maybe I don’t look like I’m living the life, but I was perfectly content before you came blazing through here and dragging up bad memories left and right.”

  “Why be content when you can have some happiness, huh?”

  Siobhan stepped back with a wrinkle of her nose. “Do you think you’re so cool because you get any other woman you want in town? Because that doesn’t impress me. Maybe I don’t want to date somebody who gets off so much on it.”

  “I don’t get off on having an active dating life, thank you very much. In fact, I’ll have you know that I hadn’t been dating anyone almost the whole damn year before I asked you out.”

  “Again, is that supposed to impress me?”

  “You know what?” Krys smacked her hands against her legs. “This isn’t about me. Last I checked, I was asking you what your problem is.”

  “You wanna know my problem? You’re my problem!”

  That was the first time Siobhan raised her voice to Krys, who had been expecting yet another muted response. “Okay, then.” She turned, but not to walk away. Not yet. Perhaps a woman merely needed to process that first. “Am I your problem because you hate everything you think I stand for? Or because I’m making you think about unpleasant things?”

  Siobhan opened her mouth. Nothing came out. Nothi
ng but a huge breath that sounded more tired than the bags beneath her eyes looked.

  “Who said those things don’t go together?”

  Krys gritted her teeth. “Can I come in, at least? Just tell me what’s on your mind. I can’t be expected to get to know you better if you’re always pushing me away.”

  “Maybe you should take the hint! Because you know what? I don’t owe you anything. I shouldn’t have gone on those dates with you. I don’t know what I was thinking kissing you.”

  “Why did you have to be thinking anything? Why can’t you let go and enjoy something for once?”

  “What makes you think I don’t enjoy anything?”

  “I know you enjoyed that kissing the other night.”

  Sometimes, Krys was too simple for her own good. When she said something like that, she often got a chuckle or a sagely nod out of someone. Not from Siobhan, who looked at her with aghast disbelief. Two seconds later? She craned her head around and covered her eyes before a sob broke free.

  Krys had two sturdy shoulders to cry on. A woman only had to choose which one she liked more. The left one? Perfectly suited for feeling the thumping of her heart as it did its best to console everyone within a few inch radius.

  Siobhan probably didn’t want to come anywhere near Krys, let alone touch her. Yet she didn’t put up a fight as Krys passed through the screen door and wrapped her arms around one person in so much pain. Siobhan buried her face against that left shoulder and unleashed two more large sobs that soon wettened the T-shirt clinging to Krys’s torso. She feels so frail in my arms. She hadn’t the other night. Siobhan had felt perfectly strong for someone who had lived thirty years on Earth and had already seen her fair share of crap.

  “You need to cry?” Krys softly said. “You go ahead and cry it out. No need to keep all that shit inside.”