by June Kramin
“And he has a kid? Asshole. You still have that .22?”
“Yeah.”
“So, shoot the bastard.”
“There’s a helpful thought.”
“Have you told your friend?” she asked.
“Not yet. I’m afraid she’ll get pissed off at me.”
“I don’t see why. You’re trying to help her. I’d want to know.”
“What about the wife?”
“If it were me, I’d find a way to tell her.”
“Do you think she’d clobber the messenger?”
“Hard to say. I’d want to know, though. Find a way to do it. You have a girl you can take with you and maybe soften the blow?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Do tell.”
“I think I’ve met ‘the one,’ oh dear sister of mine.” “Puh-lease, Dusty. You’re barely twenty-one.”
“I mean it.” Dusty remembered about the hugging incident. He knew that was going to happen soon. “Hey, you’re coming down in a couple of weeks, right?”
“Did I tell you that? I made the plans a couple days ago.”
“I…uh…thought so. Maybe I dreamt it. Anyway, I’ll have you meet her then.”
“Sounds good. Good luck with your friend.”
“Thanks. I need it.”
After Dusty hung up with Alyson, he called Freeman. He knew he was going to give him the car, there was no point in making the kid wait for it. This would also be the perfect time to talk to him about Stacey. If he could get the ball rolling, maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with any of her episodes of showing up and wanting him to take her back. He couldn’t remember exactly how long she was out of the picture before he met Katie. This could have been the last he had to see of her, anyway. Dusty almost felt bad for sending her to Freeman, but his friend could have a few months of great sex before she turned on him. Even if he threw in that she was a little crazy, after he said “great sex” Freeman was bound to go deaf to anything else.
After the quick exchange of the car and title was done, Dusty got ready for his date. The night panned out pretty much as it had the last time the four of them went out. Dean ordered in French and made Dusty play the piano. This time though, they covered more school topics since neither of them knew anything about each other. Courtney also talked about her internship offer in Seattle. She hadn’t brought that up last time. Dusty didn’t remember hearing about that until months after Katie moved in. He thought her decision to go there had something to do with losing Katie as a roommate. He was glad now for this insight. It was one less guilt he could carry around.
Courtney didn’t have the excuse of class the next morning so she stalled considerably less before inviting Dean into her room. Less meaning she pulled him after her from the car, not giving Katie a chance to protest going with him to his place.
“Well,” Katie said with a sigh. “That’s just dandy. I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming. I guess we get to kill some time.”
“We’ll go back to my cottage. I don’t have a roommate and I promise to behave.”
“You have any good movies?”
“Good guy movies. If you don’t want stuff blowing up, I’ll swing into the video store.”
“I’m not picky.”
Having a few selections in mind he said, “I’ll stop anyway.”
They wandered through the video store and Dusty was elated when Katie picked up Somewhere in Time then put it back. He really wasn’t in the mood to watch it again. She picked up Timeline though, which threw him for a loop. He decided to play it safe. “If you’re a Paul Walker fan, I do have the Fast and the Furious movies.”
She smiled and said, “Maybe after this and after I have my way with you.”
“Pardon?”
“Did I say that out loud?” She grinned and pulled him to her by his shirt. She gave him a quick kiss. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I’m afraid you bring out the devil in me, Andrews.”
Unfortunately for Dusty, he was preoccupied with the DVD player while Katie poured her coffee and added the creamer. He wouldn’t get the chance to make her toes tingle tonight. Damn fate. Once again she slept on his chest after throwing up, while he watched a movie alone.
Katie was a little more reserved the next morning, but he was able to coax her again after a brief shower. Dusty thought he could get used to winning Katie over throughout eternity. Each trip was a challenge and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He felt indestructible; knew he could win Katie over again and again no matter what that old coot, Frank, threw at him. He’d love to continue this game, but he missed the kids. He wanted to get back to his normal life.
After he and Katie ate breakfast, he decided to jump right into talking about Courtney. He wasn’t going to waste any time like his last trek. There was no way he wanted to live through seeing his wife’s heart break like that again.
“I know yesterday was the first time I saw you, but I know I’ve seen Courtney around before.”
“Really? Where?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but she was with a guy I know. He’s bad news.”
“Who?”
“Ronald Perkins. He works at a sports bar. I know for a fact he’s married and has a kid. Courtney isn’t the only chick he’s doing on the side either. Sorry to be so crude.”
“Are you serious?”
“I wouldn’t make this up, Katie. I really like Courtney and I think Dean really does, too. I don’t want to see her involved with someone like him.”
“Honestly, I don’t think she’ll be too heartbroken over it. I think it was just a sex thing. I’m surprised you saw them together. I don’t know that they’ve been on a formal date. They pretty much just…y’know. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to paint a bad picture of her. She doesn’t make a lot of time to date, but still says she needs…y’know.”
Dusty wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah. I know.” After a long kiss he tried to get back into the conversation. “Well… maybe Dean can help her out there and she can stop seeing him.”
“Again, I don’t want to paint a bad picture here, but she’s not really looking to settle down. I hope Dean isn’t getting his hopes up. I’d feel horrible if he gets hurt.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s a good guy, but our workload is pretty rough, too. I’ve never seen him get ga-ga over someone. I’m sure he’ll be happy to take it slow.”
“So we agree then?”
“Absolutely. Dean will be shopping for wedding invitations in a week.” They shared a laugh. “Seriously, though. Do you think you should tell her about the guy’s wife?”
Katie took some time to ponder her response. Dusty didn’t expect that. “I’m really not sure how to handle this.”
“Huh?”
“My, my, you’re articulate for a lawyer.”
“Law school student. Not lawyer.”
“Still. Don’t get me wrong, I’m furious at this guy. I want him nowhere near her again, but I don’t know what she’d do if she found out about it.”
“You don’t think she’d get pissed and dump him?”
“She’s a tough one to read. She’ll get mad all right, but what she’ll do scares me.”
“How so?”
“She could take a bat to the guy’s vehicle, not to mention his head, or it could totally go the other way. She could decide the wife is probably cheating, too, or treating the guy like crap and think he deserves the sex.”
This really threw him for a loop. “Seriously?”
“She’s going to be a doctor, Dusty. Healing the world is what she wants to do. I really don’t know how into the guy she is. Maybe he’s given her this sob story of ‘my bridezilla’ and she’s into it for the sympathy. If that’s the case, she’ll get pissed off that I found out.”
“Holy crap.”
“What?”
“You should be a trial lawyer, not a vet.”
She laughed. “My favorite animals are those that are monogamous.”
“I’ve heard orcas are.”
“No doubt you got that from a movie.”
“I guess I did.”
“Well, that was false. Lots of other animals are, though. Beavers, bald eagles, even some voles.”
“You’re learning this in Veterinary Love School?”
“No, goofball. I’ve been fascinated with animals my whole life. I’ve always wanted to know everything that I could. That was one thing I found endearing. Animals that stay, for the most part, with one mate. Don’t take my reaction the wrong way. Of course this makes me angry, Dusty. I feel sorry for the woman and by no means want Court anywhere near him, but if I’ve learned anything in my years with her, I have to let her do what she wants. I can’t have her upset at me.”
“But you guys seem so close. How could she get mad at you for looking out for her?”
Katie shrugged. “I’m a mother hen with her and she hates it. She’s defied me before just to prove she could do what I said she shouldn’t. She ended up with a broken arm once, pulling a stunt I begged her not to do.” She caressed his chest. “I love that you care so much, but I have to let her ride this out. That being said, if you tell Dean and the two of you decide to go beat the shit out of this man and tell his wife, I promise to play stupid.”
Dusty silently sighed in relief. He was worried he was seeing a side of Katie he never had before. She was Courtney’s mother hen the whole time he knew her. He was more than shocked at her responses, but was glad she made a comeback at the end.
“We’ll give them a few days. Maybe she won’t be interested in him anymore and be into Dean and this whole conversation will have been for nothing.”
That would be great, but Dusty knew he didn’t have a few days. Especially not if Frank had anything to say about it.
Katie and Dusty spent a lazy Saturday together again. It never got old for Dusty to lounge around with Katie. Lately so much of their days were spent chasing the kids around—this was nice. He felt guilty for enjoying her all to himself. He’d almost forgotten what spontaneous couch sex was like. Just thinking about the kids not being around made him miss them again. He saw Ali in Katie’s eyes and longed for his children. Again he hoped this would be over soon.
As much as he wanted to spend the rest of night like this, he thought he should go do something about Ronald. He finally thought of a way to justify to Katie that he had to do something. He sat her up and handed her a shirt to cover herself.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’ve been thinking about our talk and I don’t think I can live with doing nothing.”
“I understand how you feel about Dean and not wanting to hurt him, Dusty, but I don’t think I can get involved with this. I’m sorry if that makes me sound horrible.”
“It doesn’t. I understand your reasons, but I think I need to go talk to his wife.”
“Why do you have to get involved?”
“It hits me at a personal level, I guess. Before I was born, my dad had an affair. I found out when I was eight that I have a sister as a result of it.”
“I’m sorry. Was that really hard on you?”
“Actually, she was already my best friend so it only made us closer. I want you to meet her in a few weeks.”
“You already want to subject your family to me?”
“More like the other way around, and yes. I’ll give you a couple of weeks, though, before I’ll have you meet my parents. They don’t live too far away. Anyway, Mom never let on that she knew, but it came out years later that she knew all along.”
“But she stayed with your dad anyway?”
“She said she loved him and had to work through it for herself. And before you ask, Mom came from money so staying with him for stability wasn’t even an issue. I was surprised how I felt when I found out that she knew. I’d wanted to tell her for years, but didn’t know how to do it. I was so afraid to hurt her as well as afraid she would leave Dad.”
“So you wouldn’t do it for your own family, but you’ll mess up a total stranger’s life?”
“At least I knew Dad never did it again. This guy keeps doing it. What if he bangs the wrong girl someday and brings a nice STD home to his wife, or AIDS even? You want the guilt of that child growing up an orphan on your conscience?”
“Boy, you sure are focusing on the big picture here.”
“I can’t help it. Guys that treat women like this bother me. What if something happened to your best friend? Could you live with that?”
Her hand rested on his cheek as she started intently into his eyes. “You really are serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Very. But I understand if you don’t want to come along.”
“Come along? Where? What are you planning, Dusty?”
“I know for a fact that the dude is working right now.”
“How do you know that?”
“I hang out at the bar where he works.”
“And you’re going to go talk to him?”
“No. I want to go talk to his wife. I want you to come with me.”
“You have the dandiest ideas for a second date, pal.”
“I’ll take you out for a burger afterward. All this sex has me craving rare meat.”
She laughed then gave him a gentle kiss. “If you insist, I’ll go with you. Maybe a woman being there will help soften the blow.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“I know. I’m sorry, but I really feel I need to do this.”
“I suppose I’ll admire you for this someday.”
“You’ll reward me, too. I’m sure of it.” He gave her a quick kiss before he stood. “Shower before we go?”
“You mean sex.”
“Only if you insist.”
She stood and joined him. “Let’s get this out of the way first. I’ll stay here again tonight, if you don’t mind another sleepover.”
He pulled her close and growled playfully. “Are you kidding? I’d ask you to move in if I thought you would.” She leaned back and stared hard into his eyes. “Does that scare you?”
“A little. We’ve known each other less than twenty four hours.”
“A guy just knows these things. No worries. I’ll wait until you come around.” He kissed her cheek then turned to walk away. Katie squealed. “What?”
“You have the cutest birthmark!”
“Ha! Caught you looking at my ass.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dusty drove to Ronald’s house, Katie sitting as close to him as she could. Remembering how much he loved driving around with her, he made a mental note to do it again soon when he got back to their normal timeframe. He gave the back of her hand a kiss.
“Let me guess,” Katie said. “You asked around until you found out where he lives. You really are on a mission.”
“Getting his address wasn’t tough. Turns out this winner sells weed.”
“Crap.”
“What?”
“That’s why Court is smoking again. She hadn’t done it for a long time. It’s a shame Dean smokes; they’ll never knock it off.” That part of the night had played out as before. Dusty never ceased to be amazed at the things that were determined to repeat themselves.
“He’s not that bad, though. But you’re right, it would be nice if one of them didn’t and tried to get the other to quit. It surprises me with her studying to be a doctor.”
“Oh, trust me. I’ve heard every medicinal use excuse there is. She actually claims to need it sometimes after a bad day and getting brain fry. I shut up long ago.”
Dusty had no more comments on the subject, having had the same arguments with Dean. He gave her hand a squeeze. “Are you ready?”
“I guess so.”
They climbed the poorly shoveled stairs and let themselves in the door to the all-season porch. Things were a complete mess. Boxes were thrown everywhere, toys were scattered in with broken furniture. Katie scrunched up
her nose. “I smell tomcat.”
“I don’t even need a vet degree for that one.” He took her hand in one of his and knocked with the other.
After a minute, a woman answered the door with a toddler on her hip. “Can I help you?”
“Are you Gina? I mean, Mrs. Perkins?” Dusty asked.
“Depends. Are you a bill collector?”
“No. I’m not. I’m sorry for the intrusion. I needed to speak to you about your husband.”
“He get hurt?” There wasn’t a lot of concern behind her voice.
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry. This is difficult, but I felt I had to speak with you.”
Her eyes went from his to Katie and back again. “He get this whore pregnant or something?”
“Excuse me?” Katie said, releasing Dusty’s hand and placing it on her hip.
“I assure you, Ms. Barrow is not involved with your husband. I take it by your reaction, though, that you are aware of his…extracurricular activities.”
“Is that what this is about? What are you? A boy scout? I know that two-bit loser sleeps around.”
“Um. Sorry if I’m out of line here, but don’t you want to put your daughter somewhere so we can talk?”
“She knows her daddy is worthless.”
Disgusted, Katie started to turn around, but Dusty caught her by the hand. “Well, then, I guess we’d better leave you to your evening.” He wrapped an arm around Katie and they hurried back to the car. Dusty started it up but before he could pull forward, he saw Gina standing by his window. She had a light jacket wrapped around her shoulders. He rolled the window down and waited for her to speak.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. I’m sorry to be butting in where I’m obviously not needed.”
“I found out he was sleeping around long ago. Not a whole lot I can do about it. My parents kicked me out when they found out I was pregnant. I have nowhere else to go.”
“There’s lots of help out there for single mothers.”
“He’d kill me if I left him.”
“Gina…Does he beat you?”
She looked away, giving Dusty his answer. After a minute she spoke again. “Not a lot and not bad. Just mostly when he’s drinkin’.”