Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher

by Seana Kelly

  “Jumpy much?” He motioned to the cupcake in my hand. “That is good. Can I have a bite?”

  I stepped down to the ground, moving away. “No.”

  “I bought them.” He actually sounded offended that I wouldn’t share.

  “And you gave them to me. Ergo, ipso facto, they are mine.” I slowly opened my mouth wide, intending to cram the rest in.

  “Don’t you do it!” He stood, and I bolted.

  Running around the side of the house toward the ocean, I dodged a pine and hurdled a boulder. Clearly, evasive maneuvers were required. He was not getting my cupcake. I barely made it halfway to the cliff, when an arm came around my waist, snatching me out of air. I hung off his arm, shocked, and then I shoved the rest of the cupcake into my mouth, laughing too hard to swallow.

  He spun me around and started licking the cupcake from around my mouth. I stilled, swallowing awkwardly. What? Holding my face between his hands, gaze intent, he leaned forward, licking and nibbling at my mouth. My eyes drifted shut, reveling in the feeling of his lips on mine, soft and warm. When he deepened the kiss, my arms snaked around his neck, and I pushed up on my toes. The heat from his hands sliding up and down my back seared.

  He growled and grabbed my butt, crushing me against him. Parts I didn’t even remember, that I wasn’t sure were still in working order, jumped to attention. Damn, the man could kiss. I’d never been kissed like this before, not once.

  Too soon, I was bumped and knocked off balance. I stared up into Aiden’s dark, lust-filled eyes. What? Bump. I looked down to find Chaucer leaning into me. Pink frosting on his nose.

  “Noooooooooooo!”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Aiden

  I DIDN’T WANT to think about how much money it was going to cost to keep her in cupcakes. I flashed back to the monthly bills for Alice’s designer dress, the caterer, the ballroom. I shut down all thoughts of Katie and cupcakes. Not again.

  Still, watching her eat and moan... Stop. Her divorce wasn’t even final. Her husband was planning to take the house. She probably wouldn’t be living here in a couple of months.

  God, she felt so good, pressed up against me. Those little sounds she made in the back of her throat. That shocked look on her face when I’d licked the frosting off her lips...

  And what the hell was with her asshole husband, not letting her eat? I crushed the steering wheel in my hands.

  It happened. I got it out of my system. It was done.

  Hours later, after only a few reminders to get her the hell out of my head, I was driving back up Old Farm Road with dinner. I pulled up to Pops’s house, my gaze drawn in the direction of her place.

  Pops walked out onto his porch. “’Bout time. I’m weak with hunger.”

  Chuckling, I climbed the front steps, handing him the bag. “I thought we’d try the new vegan place.”

  He stopped in his tracks, staring at me.

  “What? It just opened. And I heard it was good.” I went inside, dropping my coat on the back of the couch. “Are we eating in here? I want to watch the game.”

  Pops was still standing on the porch. “Boy, you better be kidding.”

  I walked into his kitchen, leaving him outside. When I came back a few minutes later with a couple of beers, he was in the living room opening the boxes, finding burgers, fries, buffalo wings. I think I might have ordered nachos, too. I hadn’t had time for lunch and was starving.

  We sat side by side, watching football and eating silently. The silence had never seemed odd before. There was nothing to say, other than the occasional groan over a pathetic play, but after spending time listening to Katie chat away, the silence seemed strangely oppressive.

  “So, how was your day, Pops?”

  It took him a moment to turn to me, confusion clear on his face. “What?”

  “Your day. How was it?” I wiped the barbecue sauce off my mouth.

  “It was a day, same as all the rest.” He turned back to the TV.

  “What did you do?” I didn’t know why I was pushing it. Maybe to prove to myself that I didn’t need Katie to enjoy a conversation.

  He stared at me. “Same thing I do every day. What’s going on with you? Making jokes about food, wanting to chat during a game. Is something wrong?”

  I shrugged. “Nah. Just checking in with you, Pops.” I took a loaded bite of nachos off the plate.

  “I’m fine. Now, pipe down. I want to listen to the game.”

  “Good talk.” We watched the rest of the football game in silence.

  By the end of the game, Pops was starting to nod off. “Time for bed.”

  He grumbled, shifting on the couch, pulling his feet up. “Change the station to the Packers game. I’ll watch the end of that.”

  I draped a blanket over him, changed the station and said good-night. I think he spent most nights out here, letting the lights and chatter of the TV drive away memories, allowing him to sleep.

  Cleaning up our garbage, I put the living room back in order. I’d ordered an extra burger we hadn’t touched. I took it with me, intending to eat it for lunch tomorrow. When I saw lights through the trees at Nellie’s place, I got in my car and detoured. All the lights in the house appeared to be on. What the hell was she doing?

  Pulling up next to her beat-to-shit car, I scanned the house and yard, trying to discover what was with all the lights. Chaucer’s head popped up in the car window. Not again. Damn it, she needed a bed and to not be afraid of her own house.

  I walked around the car and looked in the window. She lay cocooned in blankets, curled up on the seat. I didn’t want to scare her again, but I did want to make sure she ate more than a cupcake. Chaucer’s wagging tail brushed back and forth over her face. Sleepily, she batted it away, missed and was hit in the face again. I choked back a laugh as she drowsily did battle with a wagging tail.

  I left them to it, instead jogging up the stairs and into her brightly lit house. Putting the leftovers into her refrigerator, I tried to ignore the twist in my gut at seeing it empty. Not my problem. Good deed done for the day, I went home.

  The following morning, I drove by the jewelry store, the ring box in my pocket, taunting me like the ball-less wonder I was. Fuck it. I parked and got out. My ’nads shriveled up as the bell chimed above my head.

  “Morning, Chief!” Jen came around the counter, her pregnant belly leading the way. “What can we do for you this morning?”

  “Hey, Jen.” I looked around for her mother. “Is Carol in?”

  Jen rubbed her distended stomach. “Oh, sure. Hey, Ma!” Jen snickered. “She hates it when I do that.”

  Carol bustled out of a door in the back of the store. “Jennifer, what have I—oh, Chief, how lovely to see you.” She came around the counter. Unlike Jen, who took after her father, Carol was a tiny woman, which for some reason made the whole situation worse. I felt like I needed to crouch in order to have a quiet talk.

  “What can we do for you today?” Her eyes were bright with the anticipation of a sale.

  There was no point in being coy. “I’d like to return this ring.” I pulled out the damn box that had taken up permanent residence in my pocket for the last year.

  “Oh.” She patted my arm. “My dear boy, I still can’t believe she did that to you.” Glancing to her daughter, she said, “We couldn’t get over it, could we, Jen?” Pity dripped from her words and shone in her eyes. She patted my arm again. “You’re a catch, dear. You really are!”

  And that was why the ring had sat in my pocket for a year. “Thanks, ma’am.”

  She took the box from my hands and opened it. “So beautiful. Custom setting.” She walked back around the counter, talking to herself. “I remember, one carat canary diamond, WS2, quarter-carat trillions, platinum setting.” She held up the loupe hanging arou
nd her neck to examine the ring. “Perfect.”

  The bell over the door rang, and we all turned to watch Nancy sail in. “Oh. Hello, Chief.” She paused, turning away to study a display near the door, thank God.

  Carol tapped my hand and tilted her head toward the very back of the store.

  “Let me write you a check,” she whispered, going back through the door she’d emerged from a few minutes earlier.

  I leaned on the counter, my back to the store, wishing I were anywhere but here. A hand ran along my back. I flinched, stepping away. Nancy, of course. “Don’t.”

  “Aiden.” Her voice took on a wheedling tone. “I really am sorry. I guess I was just feeling a little jealous. Let me make you dinner tonight, some dessert—” she winked “—as a proper apology,” she whispered.

  Why wouldn’t she just leave me alone? “No.”

  She leaned into me. “I remember a time when—”

  Carol came out of the back room, a check extended. On seeing Nancy, she quickly dropped her hand and smiled. “Jen, could you show Nancy those darling earrings that just came in?”

  Nancy looked back and forth between us. “What are you two up to?”

  Carol glanced at me, before focusing on Nancy. “Could you give us a few minutes, dear? We’re in the middle of something.”

  Nancy didn’t move. I wanted out of here. Now. I held out my hand for the check. Carol passed it to me. I folded it without even looking, stuffing it into my back pocket. I nodded my thanks to Carol and left, Jen trying unsuccessfully not to watch me.

  I needed to punch something. Hard. When I got back to the cruiser, my radio squawked. “Chief?”

  I picked up the handset. “Cavanaugh.”

  “Hey, Chief. We just received another call. Cupcake versus food truck.”

  Perfect. Maybe I could punch Chuck. “Yeah, I got it.”

  I pulled up next to the food truck a few minutes later. Trudy, the cupcake lady, pushed opened her door and pointed at the truck. “He won’t even respond to me. I can hear him banging around in there, but he won’t answer me or move that damn truck!”

  I held up a hand. “Got it.” For once, the side panel wasn’t opened. I pounded on the the truck. “Chuck! Open up.”

  I heard what sounded like a squeak and a chuff. “You know you can’t be here.” Nothing. I pounded on the side of the truck again. Bark. What the hell? “Will you open this damn panel?” Nothing.

  “Fine. Have it your way, Chuck. I’m writing the ticket right now.” I pulled my citation book off my belt.

  “Wait!” The voice was muffled but much higher than it should have been. The panel rose an inch. A plastic knife was pushed out.

  “Is that supposed to be a threat?”

  The knife tipped onto its side, and the panel door fell back down. “Damn it!” There was a grunt. Little fingers peeked out a moment before a metal bar took their place. The panel stayed open an inch and a half. “Please, don’t write a ticket! I’ll get fired.”

  I knew that voice. “Katie?”

  “Um, who?” Another chuff and then a shush.

  “Katie, do you have a dog in a food truck? Do you have any idea how many health codes that violates?”

  Silence. “None?”

  My head pounded painfully with the humiliation of the jewelry store. The check in my back pocket felt like it weighed ten pounds. Rubbing my forehead, I said, “What are you doing in there?”

  “No hablas inglés.”

  “Damn it, Katie. I don’t have the time or patience for this today.”

  Pause. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  I stared at the dirty, white side panel of the truck.

  “I’m a good listener, Chief.” Chuff. “See? Chaucer agrees. Um, you know, if he were here, which he totally isn’t.” She mumbled, “Shush. We’re being stealthy. Remember?”

  The tightness in my shoulders loosened. “I just returned the ring I bought for the fiancée who dumped me.”

  She made a sympathetic sound. “Ooh, that bites hard. Was everyone giving you their I’m-pretending-that-I’m-not-looking-at-you-but-we-all-know-that-I-am-and-that-I-totally-pity-you faces?”

  I laughed and could finally take a breath. “Yeah. That was it exactly.”

  “Been there. At least you didn’t have someone gleefully cut up your credit card while a line of people stared at you because you couldn’t pay for your groceries” She paused, her voice was barely a whisper. “And then try to figure out how to pay for food for your boy—who is not in this truck, are you, baby?—with the cash in your wallet, knowing that’s all you have to your name. Then having to call your mom to ask for a loan, at the age of thirty because you’re such a loser.”

  My chest hurt. I leaned my head against the side of the truck and whispered, “Fuck ’em.”

  “Yeah, fuck ’em.”

  After a few moments of silence, I straightened up. “So, what are you doing in there, Katie?”

  “Working. It’s my first day.” Her voice was teary. “And I don’t know what to do. He told me to figure it out. I’m supposed to clean up in here and then cook and sell hot dogs for the lunch crowd. But there are no lights in here and I’m not strong enough to open that panel. There isn’t enough light coming through the windshield to see anything back here. I couldn’t leave Chaucer at home—something in there scares him. I can’t lock him up with a scary monster for five hours, so I had to bring him with me, but now you’re going to give me a ticket, and then he’s going to—”

  I pushed up the side panel and secured the rod to keep it open.

  “Oh!” She looked back and forth. “That helps a ton. Thanks!” She turned around, looking at everything.

  “Would you like a hand?”

  Her smile could melt glaciers. “Yes, please.”

  I walked around to the back door. Locked. I knocked.

  “Just a minute, please,” she sing-songed. I heard scraping. “Hmm, no idea how to open this door. I don’t think it opens.”

  “Safety violation.”

  “Damn it, are you going to help me or get me fired?” Shuffling and grunting. “Yo, Aiden. Over here.”

  I walked back around the side of the truck to find Katie kneeling on the counter, leaning out the window. “I’ll give you a hand and pull you in.”

  I stared at her for a beat as she reached out a hand. “Really?” I asked.

  She reassessed the situation. “Good point. You could probably just climb up.”

  “Or I could go through the driver’s door like I assume you did.”

  She brightened and clapped. “Yes, do that.” She looked at her watch. “Hurry up. Lots to do!”

  Rolling my eyes, I rounded the front of the truck and then crawled over the seat into the kitchen in back. The area was too small for the three of us. Chaucer nudged my hand so his head was directly under it, helping me to more easily pet him. I scratched his head. “Smart dog.”

  Katie beamed.

  “He can’t stay here.” I watched her face fall. “Seriously, you cannot have an animal in a food truck.”

  Sliding off the counter, she began, “But I can’t take him back—”

  I held up my hand. “Let me think.” Shit. “Is he as well behaved with other people as he is with you?”

  Wariness had taken the place of disappointment. “Yeeees,” she drew out.

  “How about if he comes to the station with me, while you work here?”

  She looked between the two of us, her brow clearing. “Really? You’d take him with you today?”

  Crouching down, I took the dog’s head in my hands. He stepped forward, pressing the top of his head into my chest. “Do you promise to be a good boy and mind me?”

  “Yes!” Katie was grinning from ear to ear, bouncing on her
toes.

  “I was asking the dog.” Chaucer continued leaning into me, so I gave him a full-body rub. “No peeing in the office, or barking at people.”

  “Never!”

  “Still not talking to you.” I scratched him behind his ears, and he leaned in more heavily. “Fine.” Katie squealed, but I raised a finger. “Only today. You need to leave him at home tomorrow.”

  “But—”

  “I’m calling Harv to go check out your house while you’re here and Chaucer’s with me.” I stood.

  Her brow furrowed. “Who’s Harv and why would he need to check out my house?”

  “Exterminator and because it’s infested.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “You can’t keep sleeping in your car.” Her face colored. “You need to sleep in a bed in your own damn house. You need to not be terrified to go into your own damn house. Enough, okay? I’ve recently come into some money.” I patted the pocket holding the ten-pound check. “I’ll pay for the extermination, and you’ll pay me back eventually. Okay?”

  Her eyes shone watery as she nodded slowly. “Are you sure?” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “It might be a long eventually.” She gestured around at the interior of the truck. “I’m only part-time. In a food truck.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said and pulled my phone out of my pocket to call Harv. Katie sat on the floor, Chaucer all but sitting in her lap, as she whispered to him. I explained the situation to Harv, that I needed him to call me with his estimate first, but then actually do the work today. I didn’t want her to spend one more night sleeping in her car.

  Was I being an idiot again? Trusting an unreliable woman. I almost hung up on Harv and walked away, but I knew I’d never be able to live with myself. I’d help. I might get paid back. I might not. What I was not doing was getting involved with her. It was one kiss, one amazingly erotic... No. One kiss and it was done. Romantic relationships were out. Still, that kiss...