“We gotta talk,” he told me.
“We can talk in the truck,” I replied as I tossed the sponge into the sink. “I’m on shift in twenty.”
Incidentally, there was another reason I had cash and didn’t freak that my gas gauge was heading to empty. Nearly every night, Ham drove me to work.
“I know you’re on in twenty, babe. I wrote the schedule. Remember? We gotta talk now.”
At his tone, my eyes went from my hands, which I was drying with a towel, to him.
His tone wasn’t angry but it was unyielding and, therefore, surprising.
I looked to him even as I folded the towel and said, “Okay.”
“You did my laundry,” he stated.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“You did it last week and the week before, too.”
“So?”
“You cleaned my bathroom yesterday,” he shared something I knew since I was the one washing his whiskers down the sink.
I felt my eyebrows draw together. “And?”
“Darlin’, we’re roommates.”
I was no less confused at this short explanation. “I know.”
It was then he moved into me. Not only moved into me, he lifted one of his big, calloused hands, curled it around the side of my neck, and pulled me to him so I had to tip my head way back and he had to dip his chin deep so we could hold each other’s eyes.
Ham had to be six-four, maybe even six-five. I was five-six. Even in heels, he towered over me.
I’d always loved that.
I especially loved it in times precisely like that one, where we were close, he was in boots, I was in socks, and his big bearness seemed to engulf my frame, surrounding me, protecting me, dominating me.
I held my breath.
Ham spoke and he did it jagged and sweet.
“I get you’re grateful, baby. I get it because you told me. You don’t have to show me.”
I was too overwhelmed by his nearness, the roughness of his hand on the sensitive skin of my neck, to understand what on earth he was talking about.
So I asked, “What?”
“I can do my own laundry. I can clean my bathroom. I come to the kitchen meanin’ to turn on the dishwasher, I find it’s been turned on and the dishes put away. I get up in the mornin’ ready to make coffee, you not only got the coffee made, babe, you’ve pulled down a mug and put sugar in it for me. Again, Zara, you’re my roommate not my maid.”
“I’m just tryin’ to keep things tidy,” I told him. “You like things tidy.”
“You’re attemptin’ payback,” he contradicted. “You live here. You pay rent. It’s your place, too. You aren’t an indentured servant. This is your pad. Just live and stop knockin’ yourself out to show gratitude to me. I don’t need that. I’m good knowin’ you’re safe and gettin’ on your feet.”
All right, it must be said, I was knocking myself out to keep things ordered and do bits here and there to make it easier on Ham because he was being so cool with me.
I just didn’t think he’d notice.
I should have known better.
“How about, until I’m in a place to go halfsies, I do a little bit extra,” I tried.
“How about you don’t worry about halfsies and just keep your shit sorted. I’ll worry about mine and the common space we take care of as it gets taken care of. Not you runnin’ yourself ragged to take care of it before I got a shot to take care of it in an effort at payback I don’t want. Deal?”
My eyes fell to his throat as my chest warmed but my throat tingled. “That’s not very fair.”
“Babe.”
That was all he said but it made me look back up into his eyes.
When I caught his gaze, his face got closer and I was back to holding my breath.
“Said it before, more than once, you matter. You beddin’ down in a bedroom I don’t use is no skin off my nose. Stop worryin’ about shit you don’t need to worry about and just breathe easy for a while.”
For me, it was him.
It had always been him.
And this was one of the myriad reasons why.
To be certain I didn’t let on to that fact, I said, “Okay, you’re all fired up to unload the dishwasher, have at it. I’ll go back to my slob ways. Just don’t bitch when I do.”
He grinned and unfortunately moved back.
But he didn’t move his hand from my neck. He gave it a squeeze before his calloused thumb glided out and stroked across my throat.
Then he let me go and moved away, ordering, “Get your boots. You’re gonna be late and the boss doesn’t like that shit.”
I smiled at the folded towel in my hand before I tucked it into the handle of the oven and started out of the kitchen to get my boots.
I stopped dead when I heard Ham call, “We’re enjoyin’ this weather but it’ll get cold later so dress for the bike.”
It was nearing on September, unpredictable in the Colorado Mountains. It could mean we’d be up to our knees in snow tomorrow and stay that way until April. It could mean we could go out in swimsuits tomorrow and get sunburned.
But every man who had a bike who lived in unpredictable weather took it out as often as he could before that unpredictable weather hit.
We’d been in the truck since I started at The Dog.
I hadn’t been on the back of Ham’s bike in years.
I loved being on the back of Ham’s bike, wrapped around Ham.
This was one of those times that stung.
I sucked it up, ignored the sting, and went to get my boots.
* * *
It was a Thursday night and The Dog was crowded but it wasn’t packed.
This was good, seeing as Bonnie, one of the other waitresses, had called off sick. This meant I’d be busy, get a slew of tips, and the night would go fast. I’d be exhausted when it was over but it would be worth it.
I turned the corner from the back where the pool tables were and my eyes automatically went to Ham behind the bar.
His eyes were already on me but he jerked his chin in front of him, silent indication I knew meant a customer had come in I hadn’t seen.
I nodded, looked to the mess of high tables with their tall stools that were scattered all over the bar, and stopped dead.
I did have a new customer.
A lone man, wavy dark hair, slightly sloped shoulders, jeans jacket. His legs were spread wide with his feet on the rung of the stool. His thighs were thick, a leftover from playing football in high school.
Greg. My ex-husband.
Greg never came to The Dog. He wasn’t a Gnaw Bone native. He worked at an environmental engineering firm based in Chantelle, moved from Kansas to take the job. He was quiet, liked to play board games, watch movies, concoct meals in the kitchen out of ingredients that it was always a shock tasted good together, and would have a beer with me on occasion at home but he wasn’t a nightlife kind of person.
There was only one reason he’d be at The Dog.
He knew I was there.
I hadn’t seen him in months. This wasn’t a surprise, seeing as he moved to Chantelle after we split up to be closer to work and was a homebody.
We’d promised, though, to keep in touch. See each other. Go out and get a bite to eat. When I’d asked for the divorce, I’d told him I didn’t want to lose him from my life. I just didn’t want to be married to him anymore.
Greg, being Greg, went for that.
He’d do anything for me.
Even let me go.
Something the men in my life always seemed able to do.
Then again, I also seemed perfectly capable of asking them to.
But I hadn’t kept my promise. I had reason. My life was swirling down the toilet. We’d talked a couple of times and Greg knew this so he didn’t pressure me. Then again, he wouldn’t pressure me anyway. That wasn’t his style.
On leaden feet, I moved to his table and rounded him, carefully arranging my face so he saw I was welcoming, not wary. He caugh
t sight of my movement and his clear, bluish-gray eyes came to me.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Heard you were working here,” he replied.
I leaned into the table and tucked my tray under my arm. “Yeah. Better money.”
He nodded. He’d offered to help me out financially, repeatedly. I’d declined. Repeatedly.
“It’s good to see you,” I told him.
“Yeah, you too,” he told me.
I forced my lips into a grin. “Breakin’ the seal on The Dog,” I noted on a careful tease.
“Like I said, heard you were working here and haven’t seen you in a while. Thought I’d take a chance.”
“Glad you did,” I lied. It was a lie not because I didn’t want to see him, just that I didn’t like being surprised by his showing up at my work.
It was then Greg forced a smile.
“Can I get you a beer or somethin’?” I asked. “I… well, our other girl is out sick so it’s only me on tonight. I probably can’t hang at your table but I’ll get you a beer and do my best.”
“That’d be good, Zara.”
I nodded and asked, “Newcastle?”
“Yeah.”
I forced a smile, turned away, and moved toward the bar.
Ham moved toward me, his eyes sharp on my face.
“Newcastle,” I said the minute I hit the bar.
“Who’s that guy?” Ham asked a nanosecond after the final syllable left my mouth.
And again, Ham never missed anything.
I held his gaze. “My ex-husband.”
Ham’s jaw got tight and his eyes went to Greg
“Ham,” I called and his eyes came to me. “It’s cool. We’re cool. It wasn’t ugly.”
“Way I see it, babe, your house cleaned out, him leavin’ you stuck with a mortgage you couldn’t afford, that’s plain not true,” Ham returned.
I leaned into him. “I’ll explain later but, honestly, Ham. It’s cool. Seriously.”
“Right, you want me to believe that then you best stop lookin’ like takin’ a Newcastle to him is like walkin’ to the electric chair.”
Luckily, Greg didn’t have superhuman perceptive and deductive powers like Ham did so I was relatively certain I’d pulled the wool over his eyes.
I’d never been able to do that with Ham.
“I hurt him,” I said quietly.
“Shit happens. People deal. They don’t show where you work and make you look like you look right now, cookie.”
I couldn’t do this now so I asked, “Please, can you just get me his beer?”
Ham studied my face before he got me Greg’s Newcastle.
I took it to Greg and slid it in front of him. “There you go.”
“Should I open a tab or pay for this now?” Greg asked and that was so Greg. He didn’t know how to pay for a beer in a bar.
I tipped my head to the side and forced another smile. “You plannin’ on gettin’ hammered?”
Greg’s eyes moved over my hair before they came to mine and he answered, “No.”
“Then feel free to pay as they come, honey, but that one’s on me.”
He shook his head and straightened his back. “No, Zara. I’ll—”
I put my hand on his bicep. “Let me buy you a beer.”
I watched him pull in a breath and then he nodded.
“I’m gonna do a walk-through. Soon as I have everyone sorted, I’ll come back. Okay?”
“Sure, Zara.”
“Okay,” I said softly, then did as I said I would.
This took a while because I had a lot of customers. This was also not easy, knowing Greg was there and feeling Ham’s acute attention on me and my ex-husband the entire time.
When I was free for a few minutes, I took Greg a fresh Newcastle and put it in front of him, whisking away the empty.
“This one, I’m paying for,” Greg announced.
Again, I forced a smile. “I’ll allow that.”
“You got two seconds?” he asked.
Damn. Greg didn’t get out and about much so I had a feeling he was there for a reason and not just to see me. And I really didn’t have it in me with all that had been going on to deal with this if his need for two seconds was going to hit deep. He’d been really cool with me all along but I always worried one day, something would trip, he’d realize I did him wrong, and he’d stop being cool.
I worried these two seconds would show he was done with being cool.
I could give him that. He deserved it.
But not with no warning, at work, and with Ham watching.
“Yes,” I answered.
He looked to the beer, the wall, then twisted on his barstool so as better to face me.
“It’s public record but I didn’t find out that way. Guy at work’s wife works for a judge and she talks. She mentioned you. He knew about you and me, so he mentioned you so I know you changed your name back to Cinders.”
Of all the things I thought he might say, and truth be told, I had no idea what he was there to say, I just guessed he was there to say something, that wasn’t it.
“Yeah, I petitioned the judge a while ago. Why?”
“You took their name back.”
I pressed my lips together.
He knew about my parents. Then again, everyone in town did but Greg knew more than most because I told him.
He hated them. He didn’t hate anyone. He was a kind soul and didn’t have a judgmental bone in his body. But he hated my parents and he’d never even met them.
“You said you’d never take their name back,” he went on.
“Greg—”
“You asked for us to be over, Zara, and I didn’t like that but I left and the only thing I could think of to make me feel better, not having you, was that I gave you that. I took away their name and gave you mine. I thought you’d keep it.”
“Honey, we aren’t married anymore. It’s not mine to have.”
“That’s the only good thing I gave you.”
Oh God, now this was stinging.
“That’s not the only good thing you gave me, Greg,” I told him gently.
“It’s the only thing you let me leave with you. Made me clear everything of mine away. I thought you’d keep something.”
“I asked you to take your stuff because it’s your stuff. That’s fair. I wasn’t making you clear everything of yours away,” I corrected.
“Well, it felt like that,” he returned.
Man, oh man, that wasn’t what I intended. I was trying to do right.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I replied carefully.
“You’ve got nothing of me. You even gave back the rings.”
“You bought those, too,” I reminded him. “That’s also fair, honey.”
Again, his back went straight but this time with a snap.
“You know, stuff like this, Zara, it isn’t about fair. That has nothing to do with it. It’s about a lot of other stuff but not about being fair. I didn’t want to leave you but you wanted that so I let you go. Then you made me leave you like I left you and I hated that but you wanted it so I did it. But what I wanted was some indication that maybe a day or an hour or a second of what we had meant something to you. Enough you’d want to keep it. And I could live with all that, thinking that the best thing I gave you, the most important thing I had to give outside my love, was my name. I thought at least you’d keep that. But you got rid of that, too.”
“Greg—”
He stood, pulled out his wallet, and threw a twenty down on the table.
“Don’t make change. I know that tip is above fair but at least let me give you that,” he said before he turned and walked away.
Yep. He was done being cool.
I stared at his back long after the door closed behind him.
Long enough for Ham to get to me, come close, for me to feel his warmth behind me, his bigness surrounding me, but nothing was going to take away this sting.
“You’re on br
eak,” Ham growled above my head.
“I gotta do a sweep of the tables.”
“You go back to the office, sit down, pull your shit together, or I carry you back there and lock you in until your shit is together.”
I turned and looked up at him.
He was wearing his scary look.
“My shit is together,” I lied.
“Bullshit. Motherfucker gutted you. I watched,” Ham returned. “Go. Now. Break.”
I held his eyes.
Then I went back to the office, took a break, and got my shit together.
Or, more truthfully, I got myself to a place where I could pretend that it was.
* * *
I was right.
When the night was done and Ham took us home on his bike, I was so exhausted from work and dealing with Greg, I couldn’t even enjoy the ride.
But I’d made a shitload of tips.
I was in my bedroom, sitting on the side of my bed yanking off my boots, so ready to go to sleep it wasn’t funny.
Because sleep would erase the sting of Greg, at least for a while.
My bedroom door opened, and I turned to watch Ham, in socks, his usual faded jeans, his navy shirt unbuttoned all the way down, a bottle of vodka in one hand, two shot glasses in the other.
“What the hell?” I asked.
“Get comfortable, cookie, story time,” Ham answered, and without delay, he got comfortable.
That was to say, he sat on my bed, stretched his legs out, poured two shots of vodka, put the bottle on my nightstand, lounged back against my headboard, and held a glass out to me.
“Ham, I’m exhausted. I need sleep.”
“You need sleep, stretch out, throw this back, and give it to me fast.”
“Give what to you fast?”
“The explanation you said you’d give me later. Just sayin’, darlin’, it’s later.”
I had the feeling Ham was in the mood to be stubborn and unyielding because he was lounged on my bed like he used to lounge when we were together-together and we’d relax in front of the TV. That was to say, stretched out, shirt open, boots off. And when we’d relax in front of the TV, Ham did it like he intended to do it forever. Which was the way he looked now.
So I decided to give in so I could get it over with and get some shut-eye.
I avoided looking at his broad, muscled chest and defined abs as I crawled into bed and took the shot glass from him.
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