Next Time

by Alexander, Robin

  “I am not in a body cast! All right, I’ve had enough of this.” Ryann threw the covers back on the bed and shook the railing until her eyes glazed over. “Too much gravity,” she whispered and flopped back down.

  “She’s gonna be like a drunk giraffe on stilts,” Shelly said and shook her head. “Payton, you probably will need our help.”

  “Why is my butt on fire?” Ryann groaned.

  “Because you’ve got a gash in one of your ass cheeks,” Shelly said as Payton tucked her back in.

  “Okay, Ms. Seely, we’re ready to send you home,” a nurse said as she walked in with a pair of crutches. “Let’s go over your care and crutch instructions, and you’ll be on your way.”

  “Yay,” Ryann said listlessly. “Someone help me back into my body, please. It’s the one with the extra butthole and the jacked-up leg.”

  *******

  Payton tucked Ryann’s crutches in her trunk as Armageddon unfolded at the emergency room exit. She smiled and shrugged at the security guard, who stood back watching the Seelys argue with a nervous look on his face. The ER tech who had pushed Ryann’s wheelchair had already fled.

  “I’m going to say it one last time, I’m going home with Payton. I’ll be more comfortable in my bed,” Ryann ground out.

  “If you’re going home with Payton, you won’t be in your own bed,” Carol argued.

  “Same thing! I’ve marked it, it’s mine.” Ryann tried to climb out of the chair and was blocked by Paula and Joan.

  “Momma, let her do what she wants,” Shelly warned. “Besides, my guest rooms are upstairs.”

  Carol was not ready to relent. “She can sleep on the couch.”

  “I’m not sleeping in the ferret nest,” Ryann said firmly.

  “Ferret?” Joan asked. “Those things that stink?”

  Carol threw a hand on her hip. “Do you mean to tell me that you have a skunk in the house with that baby?”

  “It’s a weasel…thing, and he doesn’t go anywhere near Anya since she tried to choke it to death.”

  “Get me into your car while they’re feeding on Shelly,” Ryann whispered to Payton.

  Payton moved the chair close to the car and helped Ryann to stand on one foot and pivot. She lowered her slowly onto the seat, gently lifted her legs, placed them inside, and had Ryann belted in before anyone noticed. “Love y’all, see you tomorrow,” Ryann said and slammed the door.

  “Now wait a minute,” Carol said as she moved in on Payton. “I want her brought to Shelly’s house, so we can take care of her.”

  “That’s my job, and it will be until Ryann is better. This way, you can all visit and enjoy your trip. I work from home, it’s the most logical plan. Good night,” Payton said as she walked around the driver’s side and got in.

  “Your voice was so firm,” Ryann said in a dreamy tone. “I’m so turned on—why does my ass hurt?”

  Payton smiled as Ryann’s eyes closed and her head lolled back in the seat.

  Chapter 25

  Payton stood at her window the next morning with a cup of coffee staring at the disaster area that was her front yard. It was deeply rutted, the flowerbed destroyed, and all the lights that had been along the edge of the walk to her front door were crushed. The most valuable thing in her life had received the most damage and was snoring like a bear in her bed. Payton opened her front door when she noticed Grace carefully making her way across the scarred lawn carrying a dish.

  “Good morning, honey,” Grace said with a look of sadness. “Don’t be upset, I’m sure that woman has insurance, and they’ll pay to fix the damage.”

  “I’m not upset, just thankful that Ryann’s injuries weren’t more serious. Come in, I have coffee made.”

  “I made you a breakfast casserole. It’s kind of bland, just ham, egg, and cheese. I realized I didn’t have any beets once I started mixing it up.” Grace carried the dish into the kitchen and set it on the counter. She looked around with a perplexed expression. “What’s that noise?”

  “Ryann snoring. I think the pain stuff they gave her made her really relaxed.”

  Grace lowered her voice. “How is she?”

  “Broken leg, bruises everywhere, and some terrible cuts.” Payton poured Grace a cup of coffee.

  “She did yell that she had a light in her…ass.” Grace’s brow rose. “She yelled a lot of things, but under the circumstances, I can hardly blame her.”

  Payton pulled out a chair at the table for Grace and set the coffee in front of her. “What did you see?”

  “Well, I was out by the camellia like I said, watering things and waiting on Trevor to do his business when I saw Ryann drive up. I’d never met her, but I waved, and she didn’t see me. She was about to go inside when that other woman pulled into your driveway. She got out of her car and yelled some ugly things. I could tell they were arguing just by the way they stood, so I stayed put and watched in case there was trouble. Then Ryann went into the house, and that woman got into her car. I thought she was leaving, but all the sudden, her engine roared, and she took off across your lawn. She slammed into the birdbath right away, then she started making circles. Ryann ran out onto the front walk and yelled at her.” Grace shook her head. “It happened so fast, the back of the car slid around and hit her like a bowling pin.”

  Grace released a sigh and picked up her cup. “I ran inside and called for help, and when I came back out, the woman that caused all the trouble was trying to help Ryann, but Ryann was swatting the hell out of her with a broken branch off your azalea. At one point, she tried to shove it up her nose. Anyway, the fire department rescue people arrived first, and they started taking care of Ryann. I really expected that other woman to get in her car and leave, but she didn’t. She just stood there staring at Ryann. I think she might’ve been in shock over what she’d done. They arrested her, you know, even though Ryann told them it was an accident.”

  “Good,” Payton said as she absorbed everything she’d heard. She was a tad pissed that Ryann had stuck up for Leigh after she’d run her over. From what Grace had said, and Ryann too, it didn’t seem like Leigh intended to run her down, but Ryann wouldn’t have been injured if Leigh hadn’t acted so recklessly.

  “The crazy driver is her ex, I assume.”

  Payton nodded with a sigh.

  “People do nutty things when their hearts are broken. My friend at the nursing home I told you about was seeing a fella in there. All they did was hold hands and watch TV, but another woman who he’d been sitting with got jealous. She clobbered Gladys with one of those signs they put on the floor when it’s wet. Gladys had to have stitches.” Grace shrugged. “I guess that just goes to show that love makes you stupid no matter how old you are.”

  “Oh, boy,” Payton said with a sigh as she stared through her kitchen window. “Ryann’s mother and sisters have arrived.”

  “I should leave.”

  Payton shook her head as she got up and patted Grace on the shoulder. “No, I’d like you to stay, please. I might need the backup.”

  Grace sat up a little straighter. “Well, I haven’t beaten any…ass in a long time, but I’ll do what I can.”

  Shelly held up a bag as she approached the front door. “I realized last night that I had her prescriptions and her care instructions. I hope she hasn’t been in pain and cranky.”

  “She’s still sleeping.” Payton opened the door wide and allowed everyone in. She pointed to Grace as she walked in from the kitchen. “This is my neighbor, Grace Harrison.”

  Before Payton could make the introductions, Shelly walked over to Grace and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Shelly Corbello, this is my mom, Carol, and my sisters Joan and Paula.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you all,” Grace said with a beaming smile.

  “I have a fresh pot of coffee, and Grace has brought over a breakfast casserole,” Payton said as she gestured everyone toward the kitchen.

  “I could definitely use another cup,” Joan sai
d with a sigh. “I was in Brody’s room last night, and I swear that weasel was building something in its cage.”

  “Whose ass am I gonna have to whip?” Grace whispered loudly as she and Payton followed behind.

  Payton’s face flushed when Carol turned and looked at them. “Grace, you’re so funny,” she said with a laugh and moved quickly past everyone to the coffeepot.

  Shelly walked around looking at everything. “Payton, your house is adorable. I bet your yard was too before Leigh tore it up.”

  “We need to talk about that woman,” Paula said hotly. “The first thing Ryann should do when she wakes up is press charges against her.”

  “It was an accident,” Ryann said as she hobbled into the kitchen on her crutches.

  Payton moved toward her. “Babe, I would’ve helped you out of bed.”

  “Thanks,” Ryann said with a warm smile. “I got up without any problems, and I went to the bathroom successfully.”

  “You shouldn’t have done any of those things by yourself. That is precisely why I wanted you to stay at Shelly’s where there would be plenty of helping hands,” Carol said.

  “Mom, I’m fine. Right now, I’d like to sit down and have a cup of coffee.” Ryann crutched her way to the kitchen table and started to lower herself slowly when she was swarmed by her mother and sisters. Orders started to fly from each of them. “Get a couch pillow for her to sit on…Somebody get her under the arms…Get the crutches out of the way…She needs a wheelchair…She needs one of those doughnut things you sit on when you have a broken butt bone…She needs a bath, we’ll do that after she has her coffee.”

  “Hells bells! Let me go. Y’all are throwing me off balance,” Ryann bellowed.

  Grace smiled at Payton. “She sounded like that last night, but there was a lot more profanity.”

  Despite Ryann’s fussing, Carol and the sisters had Ryann propped on pillows with her leg in another chair atop another pillow. Ryann looked at Payton and rolled her eyes, as her sisters flitted around the kitchen to get her coffee and pills. Carol fussed with her hair.

  “I don’t want any pain pills,” Ryann said when Shelly opened the bottle. “Something over-the-counter will be just fine after I eat.”

  “You’ve got an extra hole in your ass, take advantage of the good stuff,” Shelly said as she read one of the medication bottles.

  Joan stood beside her reading the care instructions. “It says here that you need to avoid getting your stitches wet for at least forty-eight hours, so we can’t bathe you in the tub. It’s going to have to be a sponge bath.”

  Ryann glared at Shelly. “Give me the good stuff.”

  *******

  The prescribed pain medication was different from what was given to Ryann the night before. Instead of making her cranky, it mellowed her out completely. Her eyes were glazed over, and she giggled randomly, but she refused to go back to bed. After she’d eaten, she was moved to the living room sofa where she lay on one hip. Payton sat on the floor beside her and was relieved that the group had seemed to relax, and conversation had turned pleasant if not boring.

  Joan glanced at the guitar in the corner of the room and asked, “Payton, do you play?”

  Before Payton could reply, Ryann slurred, “She’s a composer, that’s what she does for a living.”

  “Children’s songs for educational programming,” Payton added quickly.

  Ryann grinned goofily. “Sing them the one about washing your gherkin before you wash your hands.”

  Payton’s face colored when Shelly snorted. “That’s…not one of my better compositions.”

  “Give me the green because I wanna hump a rabbit,” Ryann sang and giggled.

  “These songs are for children, did you say?” Carol asked.

  “Not those.” Payton rubbed the back of her neck and glanced at Ryann. “Shh, please.”

  Payton was spared more humiliation when someone knocked. Grace held out a hand as she stood. “I’ll get it, dear.” She opened the front door and immediately slammed it. “Oh, my, the crazy woman is back.”

  Everyone jumped to her feet but Ryann, who floundered on the couch like an overturned turtle. Payton went to the door, but it opened before she could reach it, and Jana poked her head inside. She seemed stunned to see the room filled with people and Shelly holding the neck of Payton’s guitar like a bat.

  “Payton, we—Leigh wants to talk to you, she’s not here to cause trouble.” Jana pushed the door open wider to reveal Leigh and Melanie standing on the front porch.

  The blood drained from Leigh’s face when she noticed Carol, Joan, and Paula. She held her hands up slowly and said, “I came to apologize.”

  “I’m gonna fucking kill you,” Shelly ground out as she charged.

  “Not with my guitar!” Payton cried as she lunged for her. Joan made an interception just as Shelly jumped on the ottoman and caught her around the waist. Jana grabbed the guitar.

  The room exploded with insults and threats as Ryann’s sisters and mother surrounded Leigh, each verbally assailing her. Shelly had picked up a vase and was waving it menacingly. Ryann watched the melee stupefied.

  “Just a damn minute!” Payton yelled over all of them and snatched the vase from Shelly. “Acting like a pack of hyenas isn’t going to solve anything.” She pointed at Leigh. “Say what you came here to tell us.”

  Leigh swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I lost my mind last night, and I know what I did. I could’ve killed Ryann and—”

  “You almost did!” Shelly hollered.

  “Zip it,” Payton said and turned her attention back to Leigh. “Continue.”

  “My insurance will pay all of Ryann’s bills, and what they won’t cover, I will personally pay for. I have a crew coming to your house Monday to fix your yard.” Leigh was shaking from head to toe as she folded her arms and noticed Ryann on the couch and focused her attention on her. “I know sorry doesn’t cut it, but if I had to give my right arm to do yesterday over, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m so sorry for hurting you and not just yesterday. I won’t bother you again, I swear.” She inhaled sharply and looked at Carol and Ryann’s sisters. “I don’t blame any of you for hating me, I deserve it, and all I can say is that I’m very sorry.”

  “You need to get yourself an attorney, and you need to leave right now,” Paula said firmly.

  Leigh nodded, turned, and walked out. Jana lingered long enough to say, “I’ll call you later.”

  Payton nodded and closed the door. The room erupted again in loud conversation. Payton walked over to where Ryann sat looking bewildered. “Are you okay?”

  Ryann took Payton’s hand and stared up at her with watery eyes. “Not really. I’d like to be alone with you.”

  “Listen up,” Payton shouted. “The party is over for now. Ryann needs to rest.”

  Carol wagged a finger as she walked over to them. “We need to talk about this right now. Ryann, you need to—”

  “Enough! She’s had enough for now. Please go, you can all come back over later.”

  Shelly surprisingly was the one who came to her senses the quickest. “Payton’s right. Ryann needs to rest, and we need to get out of here so she can.” She took Carol by the arm. “Momma, let’s go.”

  “Is this what you want?” Carol asked Ryann.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Carol left in a huff, followed by Paula and Joan. Shelly walked to the door and turned. “I lost my mind, too, for a few minutes, I apologize. Payton, take good care of my sister.”

  “You already know I will.” Payton smiled at Grace, who headed for the door, as well. “I’m sorry things got so out of hand.”

  “This was better than my shows,” Grace said with a silly laugh and closed the door behind her.

  “My family is like an exposed nerve,” Ryann said when Payton gazed at her. “I can be too sometimes. Does that change your opinion of me?”

  Payton shook her head. “Not in the least.”

  “I really like you a lot, a w
hole big lot. I know all of this is crazy, but don’t…” Ryann licked her lips. “Please try to…not let this change anything between us. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Maybe you’re not ready to hear this, but I started falling for you the minute we met, and nothing is going to stop my descent. Not your crazy family or your nutty ex.”

  A tear slipped down Ryann’s cheek. “I’m so glad because I’m going down that road, too. Will you still fall if you have to rub antibiotic ointment on my butt?”

  “Definitely.” Payton punctuated her promise with a kiss.

  “Will you give me a sponge bath?”

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  Ryann’s eyes slipped closed. “You turned me on so much when you started yelling at everyone.”

  Payton smiled as Ryann sank back into the cushions and started to snore.

  Chapter 26

  “Aw,” Olivia said and pressed her hands to her chest. “That’s the most bizarre, yet romantic story I’ve been told yet.”

  “I think your recorder ran out of juice a long time ago,” Ryann said and pointed to it.

  “I won’t forget anything y’all have told me. So what happened with Leigh?” Olivia turned another page in her notebook.

  “The night of the accident, she was arrested for DUI. I think that and what she did to me was a real eye-opener for her.” Ryann smiled at Payton. “We made a deal that if I saw Leigh so much as drive past the house or the school that I’d file for a restraining order, but Leigh kept her word and left us alone.”

  “I struggled with that for a while. I was the one that applied the antibiotic ointment to cuts all over her body.” Payton winced. “She was so bruised and beat up, and there were times I really wanted to find Leigh and kick the crap out of her. My anger was something we had to work through for a while.”

  Olivia made a notation on her pad. “What about Ryann’s family? How did that work out?”

  Payton and Ryann laughed. “It’s a work in progress,” Payton said. “I’m really close with Shelly. Joan and Paula have grown friendlier over the years, and I think Carol has accepted that I’m not anything like Leigh. Whether she wants to admit it or not, she knows I love Ryann with all my heart.”