“What’s going on? Why’d you bring him back here?” I ask as I stand and pull off my gardening gloves.
Hank comes out the door with a bottle of water in his hand. “Adolph needs to stay with Leo. He need to finish training him.”
“Adolph? Who the fuck named him that?” Gus asks.
Leo defends his choice. “I did. He’s a German dog who speaks German. I named him Adolph.”
I can’t help but smile at the way Leo is loving on the dog. “Okay, Adolph it is. I take it he went to an obedience school that used German training commands.”
“Yeah. He’s got the basics down but needs work on the more difficult ones. He needs to be with me to do that; to establish the master bond.”
“He sleeps in your room.” Gus says with a chuckle.
As if he knows Gus is talking about him, Adolph prances over to where he’s pulling weeds and licks his face.
Gus pushes him away as he laughs. “Stop it, slim face.”
“Hier.” Leo calls out and Adolph quickly moves back to his side. “Guter hund.”
Clapping my hands, I laugh, “Such a good boy.” Adolph is fantastic and the look on Leo’s face is pretty amazing, too.
I brush off my knees. “Enough weeding for the day.”
“Thank God,” Gus groans.
After a drink of water, I address the guys. “Okay, last chore of the day. Would you three please clean the two uncovered pools while I finish up here. You know, remove leaves and any visible stuff and then make sure the bathroom buckets are full.
Hank winks at me. “Yes, Ma’am.”
I huff and throw a lump of dirt at him. “Ma’am? I’m not that old.”
Gus stands up quickly. “Oops. Not my battle. I’m out a here.”
All three of them, with Adolph by Leo’s side, run for the side gate.
“Chickens!” I yell after them. “Come back for dinner at five, please.”
After cleaning up, I open my laptop and review some recipes. I decide to use my wok on the camp stove and prepare spam and rice stir fry since I have all the ingredients except eggs.
Just before five, Hank comes out into the garage. “Yum, smells good,” and proceeds to lean over my shoulder and peek in the pot.
Damn, he smells good, clean like soap. “You shower?”
“Yeah, we all did.”
His chest bumps against my back as he reaches to sneak a piece of spam out of the wok. Just that slight touch sends a charge through me. It’s been a long time since a man made me feel this way.
“Delicious,” he says as he chews his stolen bite.
I slap him with my wooden spoon. “Keep your dirty mitts out of my cooking.”
He laughs as he tries it again. “I’ll have you know I just washed my hands.”
Smack. This time I hit his hand a bit harder. “Stop it, thief.”
“Ouch!” Acting like he’s mortally wounded, he rubs his hand as he retreats to the kitchen door. “Wicked old witch.”
Laughing at his bad acting, I call out, “God, you’re such a baby.”
He chuckles, “Am not.”
“Wimp!”
He gives me another ouch and an award-winning set of sad eyes. “I’ll just go set the table before you find a way to stick me in the oven.”
“Thanks, Mr. Thief.”
Gus and Leo show up with four bottles of beer just as I’m putting the food on the table. Gus says, “Found these in the back of the fridge I cleaned out. They’re warm, but hey, it’s still beer.”
Hank reaches for one. “Damn straight.”
Both Leo and Gus have clean hair, shaved faces and they’re wearing golf shirts under their kuttes.
My smirk turns into a chuckle.
Gus rubs a noogie on the top of my head. “What’s so funny?”
“Golf shirts?”
Leo pats the little pony embroidered on his blue shirt. “Hell, they’re clean and we wanted to look good for dinner.”
“Our clothes were disgusting and smelled awful. We found these in the Henderson’s master closet.” Gus says as he straightens the collar on his red one.
“There’s just something wrong with golf shirts under an MC kutte.” I snicker as I walk over and sit down.
As we’re eating, I realize we don’t know Gus or Leo’s full names or much about them. “Guys? I think we need to get to know each other a bit better.”
All three of them groan like talking is gonna hurt them.
“Come on guys, please.”
“What do you want to know?” Leo asks as soon as he swallows.
“I’ll go first. My full name is Shelley Browning. I just turned thirty and I taught fifth grade before the shit hit the fan. I’ve never been married, although I came close once, and I don’t have any kids. I was born in Brooklyn and lived there until I was twelve when we moved to Los Angeles for my father’s job.”
I point at Leo. “Your turn.”
He looks down at his plate while he talks. “Leo Perkins. Twenty-nine. Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Spent two years in prison. Never married. No kids.”
Gus speaks next. “Gus Rossi. I’m thirty-three. From Salt Lake City, Utah. I spent four years in the army. Came home and joined my brothers in the MC. Never married. No kids… he wiggles his eyebrows and pokes Leo in the ribs, “that I know of.”
Leo and Hank elbow each other and chuckle at Gus’s answer. I smirk.
“As you know, I’m Hank. Last name is Meadows. Grew up in Michigan, spent eight years in the Marines and I came out here to go to college. Never married and no kids.”
“God, you guys act like I’m pulling your teeth out.” I tell them as I look at Gus. “Rossi is an Italian name. Do you come from a big family?”
“Four brothers and one sister but I haven’t seen them in years.” He shrugs his shoulders as he takes a swig of beer.
Leo volunteers, “I had two sisters, both a lot older than me. I was an oops baby.”
“You’re still an oops baby.” Gus jokes and slaps Leo’s head.
The mood lightens until Hank starts in. “Shelley, you were almost engaged once. What happened?”
My stomach cramps at his question. Joe is a subject I don’t want to talk about. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say, I was a poor judge of character.”
I quickly change the subject. “About tonight. We’ll leave at seven-thirty.”
“We need to wear our guns.” Hank adds. “Actually, we should get used to wearing them all the time and carrying our rifles, too.
“I agree. Plus, extra ammo.” I say as they nod their heads like bobble head dolls. “We’ll park in the alley behind the store and use the back entrance. Since I know my way around inside, I’ll go through the front and open the back for the rest of you.”
“You’re not going alone,” Hank growls. “I’ll go with you.”
“You do know I’ve been going there by myself for a while now.” I quip back with a bit of an attitude.
“Yeah, but you have us now, no need to take risks.” Leo says and nods at Hank. “Take Hank with you.”
“Fine.” I huff. But they’re right, it would be better to have someone with me.
“Tonight, we’ll concentrate on getting water, juice, coffee etc.”
Leo interrupts, “And beer.”
“And whiskey.” Gus adds with a chuckle.
“And vodka.” Hank says as he raises his eyebrows.
I lean across the table and punch both Leo and Gus in the arm. “Guys, okay, liquor, too. Then we’ll get canned goods.”
“Sugar, creamer, please. I like my coffee sweet and white.” Hank says.
Leo raises his hand this time. “Shelley, what if we get another storage unit and create our own mini food warehouse?”
“Great idea. But we’ll need two. We never put all our supplies in one place.”
Chapter Eleven
Hank
It’s well past midnight and I’m sitting on the couch reading by flashlight; a prepper’
s manual about bug-out bags. It makes sense having a prepacked bag ready to go if you need to escape fast. I whisper as I stand, “Better put duffel bags on the shopping list.”
Shelley’s moving around in her room. I guess she can’t sleep either. Knocking lightly on her half open bedroom door, I ask, “Shell, I’m gonna heat some water and have a cup of tea. Want some?”
She comes to the door, flashlight in hand, dressed in kitty cat pajama bottoms, a tank top and smelling like flowery body lotion. Her hair is a ruffled mess from laying down. “Tea? What kind?”
Damn, she’s sexy as hell. I take a deep breath and swallow before I speak again. “Chamomile, it’s supposed to help with sleep.”
“Sure, sounds good.” She sits on the couch and picks up the book I’m reading.
“Be right back.” I grab two mugs and the package of tea and go in the garage to start the water.
When I come back, Shelly is sitting sideways with her head resting on the back of the couch.
I sit next to her, my leg touching her knees. Just that simple touch, has my body doing flip flops. “Should be ready in a few minutes.”
She points at the book. “Reading about bug-out bags, I see. I’ve got one, all ready to go.”
“I think everyone needs one. I put duffel bags on our shopping list for tomorrow.”
“Good idea.”
She sighs. “I’m excited about tomorrow. The camping store. There’s so many things I want to get.”
“Yeah, me too. I hope it hasn’t been looted already.”
“Me, too. You know, everything happened fast, people didn’t have time to loot, at least not in our neighborhood.”
“Thank God we’re not in the inner city. I bet everything was destroyed there.” The kettle whistles in the other room. “Tea Time.”
When I get back with the tea, Shelley has her face in her hands. She whispers, “I’m tired of being scared.”
I hold her mug out in front of her. “Would it help to know I’m scared, too.”
She chuckles, “Marines don’t get scared.”
“That’s what you think. I can remember many times in Afghanistan when I almost shit my pants.”
Her face flushes. “Oh God, I’m sure. Makes my being scared about living alone look like a cake walk.” She blows on her tea before taking a sip. “I’ve lived by myself for years, but now, every little night sound gets to me.”
I place my mug down on the coffee table and put my arm out behind her. “May I?”
Nodding, she whispers, “Yeah.”
I pull her in under my arm. “Shell, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her hair tickles my neck as she snuggles in closer. “You can’t really promise that. What if something happens to you?”
I pull her even closer. “Then know I died trying to keep that promise and you’ll have Gus and Leo.”
We both sit and sip tea, neither of us talking.
Her hand goes to my knee. “Hank, I do feel safer with you in the house, but,” she hesitates and then looks me straight in the face, “I’d feel even safer with you in my bed.”
My cock jumps. “Really?”
Smacking my knee, she clarifies her statement, “I’m not saying I want to have sex, I just want you in there with me.”
“So, you want to cuddle.”
“Yeah,” she hesitates and whispers, “for now.”
“You do know I’m a man and I’m not in complete control of my you-know-what.” I point at my crotch. “I always wake up with a woodie.”
“Not a problem. I’ve seen one before.” She laughs and squeezes my knee.
“Okay then, let’s go to bed.”
Shelley shines her flashlight at the right side of the bed. “Hope that side’s okay, I’ve always slept on the left.” She disappears into her bathroom.
Stripping down to my skivvies I slip into bed. It smells like her, soft and flowery. It’s been a damn long time since I’ve been in a woman’s bed and never with someone like Shelley.
After a few minutes, Shell gets in her side making sure to leave a large open space between us.
“Shell, get over here.” I growl and pull her to me and arrange us into the classic spoon position with my arms wrapped around her. “There, that’s better.”
Whispering, she squeezes my hand. “Thank you, Hank.”
“You’re welcome, Marshmallow girl.” I place a soft kiss on the back of her head. “Let’s get some sleep.”
My watch alarm goes off at six a.m. I jerk awake and hit the off button fast, I don’t want to wake Sleeping Beauty. A long drawn out sigh has me turning over to check if she’s awake. She’s still asleep, laying on her back with her left arm under the pillow and the blankets pushed down to her waist. Only human, and a red-blooded man, I take a moment to admire the beauty before me. Her skin is a soft white and she has freckles running every which way; a line of them run up the right side of her neck. I want to kiss every one of them. Her breasts peek at me through the thin material of her tank top. It takes all my willpower to keep from touching those pretty little things. My body responds as any man’s would, I’m rock hard. And frustrated.
Her eyes flutter open and she gives me a smile that doesn’t help my condition one bit. “Good Morning.”
I smile back as I adjust the blankets to hide my condition. “Yeah, it sure is.” I push a piece of hair away off her face. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, I did.” She pulls my face down to hers and places a chaste kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, Hank. Thank you for staying with me.”
“You’re welcome, beautiful.” Then I growl like a lion. “Coffee. I need coffee.”
She laughs and jumps out of bed. “I’ll go make us some.”
I watch her cute butt as she walks out the bedroom door. “This is gonna kill me.”
Chapter Twelve
Shelley
Carrying two mugs of coffee, his white and sweet, just the way he likes it, I head back to my bedroom. “Time to get up.”
The bed is empty and sloppily made, the still wrinkled blankets pulled haphazardly over the pillows.
“Damn.”
“Hank, coffee’s ready.” I yell as I walk back into the living room.
“Be right there.” He sticks his head out of the guest room door.
Placing his coffee on the side table, I plop down in the chair by the window.
A minute later, he joins me; fully dressed, with wet hair and smelling like toothpaste. “Sorry, needed to get ready.” He picks up his cup and takes a sip and winks at me. “You made it just the way I like it.”
I feel my face heating up. “You’re welcome.” Peeking around the blanket in the window, I say, “I wonder if the guys are up?”
Hank shrugs his shoulders. “I bet they are. They’re probably as anxious as we are to get going.”
“Yeah, probably.” I can’t help but smile at Hank. He did me such a favor last night. I slept soundly for the first time in ages. “Thank you again for staying with me. I feel like a whole new woman today. Rested and not cranky.”
“Not Cranky! Hallelujah!” He laughs and sticks his tongue out at me. “I’ll sleep with you whenever you need me to.”
My lower half tingles as I remember how good it felt to be in his arms. “Thank you, kind Sir.” I point at my bedroom. “I’m gonna get ready to go.”
Ten minutes later, Hank and I are reviewing our supply list when there’s scratching at the front door.
“Bet, that’s Adolph.”
Hank looks through the peep hole. “He brought Gus and Leo with him.”
I can’t help but giggle. “You think?”
We take two vehicles; Hank and me in the Town and Country, Leo, Gus and Adolph in Levi’s Caddie. The plan is, after we break in the store, Leo and Gus will make a quick trip to their clubhouse and pick up their stuff while Hank and I go through the store. I’ve asked them to go through the clubhouse and bring any thing they think we can use, especially guns a
nd ammunition. I’d rather have it with us than have it fall into the hands of the bad guys.
“Hank, I’ve been thinking.”
Sniffing loudly, he gives me the old sad line, “I knew I smelled something.”
I groan, “Lame, Big boy, lame.” I continue after pinching his arm. “We need a full-sized power station that recharges with solar panels. I know we have the small one for my computer, but if we find a strong enough one, we can run a bar-size refrigerator and a few lights.
“Why not a gas one? They would be easier to find.”
“Way too noisy, plus, we’d have to have a never-ending supply of gasoline.”
“That’s true. Will they have the solar ones at the store we’re going to?”
“I sure hope so. I also want to pick up a manual clothes washer. It’s a barrel with a handle you manually spin. It uses centrifugal force to pull the dirt out of the clothes.”
“Put both things on the list.” He smirks and taps his finger on my clipboard.
“Already on there, smarty pants.”
The parking lot is empty, but the camping storefront has been broken into. There’s glass everywhere and the door hangs wide open.
“Shit, someone beat us to it.” I say as I turn the van off.
“Yeah, but I bet there’s still stuff we need inside.”
“I hope so.” I climb out of the van and take a few steps in the direction of the door.
“Shelley, wait! We need to secure the building first.” Hank reminds me as he grabs the backpack full of tools.
Leo opens the passenger door of Levi’s car and gets out. “Guys! I want to send Adolph in first to clear the building.”
“Does he know how to do that?” Gus asks as he walks around the car to joins us.
“Only one way to find out.” Leo opens the back door of the car and pats his leg. “Hier.”
Adolph jumps out and moves to his side with a big doggie smile on his face.
“Guter hund.” Leo pats his head then gives him another command. “Fuss.” He leads Adolph to the store’s open door and points inside. “Voran!”
Starting Over (Starting Over 1 Page 7