One Wild Night

by Melissa Cutler

“I don’t know how you do this job. I honestly don’t,” Skye said.

  “I think the same about you every time one of the guests trashes their room.”

  Good point.

  The cat that Remedy had corralled was sniffing the door of the carrier when she was startled by flapping and cooing as one of the pigeons landed a few feet behind Remedy. Faster than Skye could blink, the cat took off. Remedy tried to pounce on it like one might try to catch a pig, but the cat was too fast. Thankfully, the pigeon was even faster.

  “Dang it all!” Remedy said, shooing the bird away. “I love those pigeons, but this is ridiculous.” She ran after them, trying to shoo them away. “But they’re not welcome here today. Do you hear that, birds? Shoo!”

  The story, as Remedy had told it to her, was that during one of the first weddings that she’d planned for the resort, a group of homing pigeons that had been hired as makeshift doves took a liking to her and started following her around town. It wasn’t long before she claimed them as her own. It wasn’t unusual these days to find her feeding them on the front lawn of the firehouse, next to which she and Micah lived, and the birds had gotten so bold as to start roosting on her whenever they got the opportunity. It was quirky and crazy and so very Remedy.

  “Skye, look to your left. I think you can get that calico cat.”

  Sure enough, Skye was in striking distance of a pudgy calico cat who was chewing one of the ribbons decorating the stage. She turned ever so slowly, then made a diving tackle. The cat gave a shrieking meow in response. Afraid of getting scratched, Skye released her.

  “Sorry. I love you, but I’m not willing to shed blood for you over a bunch of cats. When is this wedding supposed to start, anyway?”

  “Not for another three hours. Thank God.” She collapsed onto one of the amphitheater bench seats. One of the pigeons wasted no time in landing on her knee. Once upon a time, that would have been a strange sight indeed, but Skye and Remedy had grown accustomed to the pigeons’ presence. This one blinked at Remedy until she smiled. “Hi. You’re a pain in the ass,” she told it. “You and your friends. But I like you anyway.”

  It blinked again, then decided it was time to groom itself.

  “We cordoned off the amphitheater exits so hopefully that means the cats can’t escape, but there’s not much we can do until Litzy gets back with the catnip.” Remedy patted the bench next to her. “So tell me, what’s up? What are you doing on this side of the resort today instead of at the Spring Kickoff Barbecue on the north lawn?”

  Skye shooed a cat away from the pigeon, then set her head on Remedy’s shoulder. “I am going, but I’m stalling. I think Gentry Wells ruined me for other men.”

  Remedy snorted. “He was that good, huh?”

  “Yeah, he was, actually.”

  “Has he called or texted you? Or vice versa?”

  As if Skye hadn’t picked up the phone a million times in the two weeks since their weekend adventure hoping to see his name on the screen and stopping herself from reaching out to him. “Nope. Which is for the best.” And she was going to keep telling herself that.

  “Don’t tell me he didn’t give you his number. Because that would be shitty.”

  “No, he did. But we agreed to go our separate ways. He and I aren’t right for each other, and we both know it. I love it here in Dulcet. My life and my family and friends are here. I’ve already fallen for a guy who lived like a nomad once and I swore to myself I’d never do that again. I want a man who’s here in Dulcet to stay too. That’s not Gentry.” As much as she’d started to wish otherwise. But she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his song “Built to Leave” since he sang it in the Wild Beaver Saloon. Since then, she’d downloaded the song and had played it to herself on repeat whenever she was tempted to text him.

  “I know that’s what you want, sweetie. I’m just so sick of seeing you miserable. And Gentry made you happy. No other guy has been able to accomplish that for you.”

  Skye was sick of her miserable dating life too. Beyond sick. “He only made me happy because we’d both agreed up front that we weren’t right for each other and had no future. I was using him for the thrill of it and the distraction, and he was using me as song inspiration.”

  “Seriously? Because that’s kind of cool. I want to be someone’s song inspiration.”

  It was kind of cool, but that didn’t mean it was in her best interest. “My mom threatened to fire me over the incident because I could have gotten Polished Pros’ contract with the resort revoked.” The memory of the reaming her mom had given her on the Monday after she’d returned from Nashville for breaking so many rules in their company’s agreement with Briscoe Ranch gave her a fresh pang of guilt. She’d illicitly consorted with a hotel guest while on the clock and abetted in the demise of a scheduled wedding.

  There was so much more than Skye’s life at stake. Their company supported dozens of employees and their families. If the hotel dropped them, the repercussions would be staggering. Not only to Skye’s family, but to their employees. “It was foolish of me on so many levels. I’m a grown-ass woman and it’s time for me to act like it. I’m giving men up for the remainder of Lent.”

  “But I thought you were meeting with Granny June’s friend’s grandson today at the picnic.”

  “I agreed to meet Eddie Rivera in order to pay Granny June back for helping me, but that’s all. Nothing’s going to happen.”

  “That’s a nice name. Eddie Rivera. Skye Rivera. I like the sound of that.”

  Remedy was teasing her, but it was a nice name, Skye thought begrudgingly. Who was she to say that he wasn’t exactly the kind of guy she was looking for? What was her problem? Why was she so resistant to this guy—or any guy who was good for her, really? All she knew was that it was time to give up her terrible weakness for bad news, fly-by-night guys who were all wrong for her and her life. She’d already given her heart to a circus performer. She refused to add country rock star to that dubious list.

  “I told Micah I’d try to swing by the barbecue too. He and the rest of the fire department will be there, as part of their community outreach. I’m not sure I can still make it because those darn cats put me behind schedule, but if I do, I want to check out this Eddie guy.”

  Micah was Remedy’s husband and Dulcet’s fire chief. He knew a zillion people in Ravel County. Some of them had to be male and gainfully employed and available. And Catholic. But Skye had never managed to connect romantically with any of them.

  There had been a time, long before Remedy had come to town, that Skye had had a tiny crush on Micah. He was the best kind of good ol’ boy—strong in his small-town values, with a sharp sense of humor, and easy on the eyes. They’d even flirted on occasion. But he didn’t fit that bad boy profile that Skye had always been attracted to. Way too upstanding a citizen for her taste. And he wasn’t Catholic. So she’d let the attraction fade. And thank goodness, because he and Remedy were perfect for each other and very much in love.

  In a clatter, Litzy and Tabby appeared on the amphitheater stage, with Litzy holding up a baggie of herbs like a kitty drug dealer.

  Remedy gave a whoop of delight that startled all the cats to attention and convinced the pigeon on her knee to fly off. “Great job! What are you waiting for? Go drug those cats!”

  Litzy sprinkled a trail of catnip over to the row of pet carriers, then a little inside each one. The calico was the first to take the bait, but once she’d rolled a few times, the rest of the kitties decided they couldn’t possibly be left out of the fun. Working together, Litzy and Tabby managed to get every single cat into their carriers without much fuss. It was the triumph of the day.

  Skye checked the time on her phone and sighed. “Okay, now that the cat-herding fun is over, I’d better suck it up and get over there. Maybe he won’t be so bad.” She waved her fingers at the pigeons roosting on a row of lights above the theater. “Bye, pigeons. Be good to your mama.”

  “For Pete’s sake, I’m not their mot
her. Even if they think so sometimes.”

  “I know. I just said that to bother you, like a true friend.”

  They blew air kisses at each other and parted ways.

  Skye strolled across the resort grounds, in no particular hurry to arrive at the picnic on the northeast lawn near the Winter Wonderland Garden. Not only because of her blind date of sorts with Eddie Rivera, but because her family would be there and the tension between Skye and her mom since she helped sabotage Natalie’s wedding and ran off to Nashville with Gentry. Since their confrontation, they’d barely spoken.

  The barbecue was an annual event at the resort, a cross between community outreach and guest entertainment. While a live band played, resort guests, employees, and Dulcet residents mingled under the trees while kids enjoyed the carnival games and petting zoo. The scent of tangy barbecue sauce and charcoal floated on the air along with the sound of crowd-pleasing golden oldies and pop hits that reminded Skye of a wedding reception playlist.

  The Ravel County Sheriff’s Department and the Dulcet Fire Department had both shown up en masse in uniform, their squad cars and fire trucks on display for curious guests and photo ops. She spotted Remedy’s husband, Micah, among them, shaking hands and kissing babies and taking the time to greet anyone who wanted to bend his ear for a moment.

  Skye’s family had already arrived. Gloria was chowing down on a plate of food while standing and staring into a giant, barn-shaped jump house, where Skye assumed Teresa and Chris were. Skye’s parents were headed away from the buffet line, with her mom holding both plates of food.

  Every step her dad took was gingerly taken, but he was walking far more upright than usual. Only his grimace spoke to the pain that choice caused him. And he had no cane in sight, as was his typical choice when he was out in public, particularly at the resort, where he’d worked more than thirty years until his health forced him to quit. He still had a lot of friends there, and even though they all knew about his back and health issues, he was a proud enough man to not let them see him using any kind of crutch—much to her mom’s consternation.

  Skye assumed her cheeriest smile and joined them. “Hey, Mom, Dad.”

  Her mom pushed one of the two plates of food into Skye’s hands. “Tell your father he’s being ridiculous.”

  “Hush, woman. I’m fine. Stop clucking over me. We’re only walking to the table.”

  “What if you fall?” her mom said. There was no mistaking the love and worry in her nagging.

  Her dad was a master at letting it all roll off of him like water off a duck, but today, instead of ignoring her pleas, he stopped and cradled her cheek in his hand. “Yessica, listen to me. Stop worrying. Let’s have a nice afternoon together.”

  “But you’re in pain. I know you are. I hate that.” Skye could hear the resignation in her voice plain enough.

  Her dad shook his head. “Not when I look at you, I’m not.” He placed a kiss on her lips. “Let’s go find an open table to sit together.”

  Her mom’s shoulders dropped. “All right. Let’s get you sitting down before the food gets cold.” Typical Mom. Anytime a conversation veered too close to emotionally real, she retreated to the safety of pragmatic, if superficial, worries.

  Skye walked her parents to an open table, then went to join Mama Lita in line for the food. She looped arms with her grandma and kissed her cheek.

  “My darling! You finally made it. And thank goodness. I needed a distraction from this horrible music.”

  “You should go up there and show them how it’s done,” Skye said.

  “If only I’d brought my keyboard.” She said it with complete earnestness, and Skye knew she wasn’t joking. If she’d had her instrument, she would have been up on the stage showing the youngsters how it was done.

  Back in her day, Mama Lita had played organ and keyboard in a rock band in Mexico City, where she’d grown up, as part of the La Onda movement, which had always sounded to Skye like Mexico’s version of America’s hippie culture, all about rock ’n’ roll and free love and political protest.

  “Heads up,” Mama Lita said. “June Briscoe smells love in the air today.” She said it with an eye roll. Granny June and Mama Lita had developed a grudging respect for each other over the years but had never really meshed. Though they were both single, older ladies full of moxie, their world views were completely opposite.

  Skye swallowed her groan. “I know. She helped me out with something and in exchange I agreed to help her friend’s grandson feel more at home today.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Want me to go have it out with her? Because I’ve been waiting for that day.”

  One of these days, Skye had no doubt that Mama Lita and Granny June would brawl, badass grandma style, but today was not that day. “I’m on shaky ground with my mom as it is. Better cool your jets for now.”

  Mama Lita dropped a drumstick on Skye’s plate with a flourish of tongs. “Chicken.”

  Skye wasn’t sure if she was talking about her or the food.

  She was saved from asking by Granny June, who arrived at their side on her riding scooter, and was dressed in a cheery blue-and-yellow track suit, complete with yellow visor. “Yoo-hoo! Skye, you’re late!”

  Skye leaned over and gave Granny June a kiss on the cheek. “I know. Sorry. I was helping Remedy herd cats.”

  “Ha! Sorry I missed it. But listen, you and I have a deal.”

  “I remember.”

  “Good. Come with me. The man I wanted to introduce you to is standing over there, in front of the tray of ribs.”

  She speared her cane farther down the buffet near the corn to a pale man covered from head to toe in sun-protective gear, including a wide-brimmed floppy hat with flaps that extended over his neck and long sleeves despite that midday temperatures were pushing the high-seventies. Eddie Rivera, if Skye had to guess.

  Mama Lita stepped between them, brandishing the tongs. “She doesn’t need a man.”

  Granny June slid off the scooter seat and stood, extending her cane to touch the tongs as though the two grannies were preparing for a clash of swords. “It’s not about need. It’s about what Skye wants.”

  “Exactly,” Skye said. “Thank you.”

  Mama Lita snorted. “Then what are you doing wasting time with these pendejos? And don’t blame that spell my daughter-in-law put on you.”

  “Mama Lita! But the spell’s working.” Sort of. “I want to settle down with a good man.”

  Mama Lita threw her hands up and muttered in Spanish, too rapid and quiet for Skye to translate.

  Granny June lowered her weapon and patted Skye’s hand. “Eddie Rivera is a good man. You’ll see. I didn’t pick a dud for you this time like that Vincent Biaggi. Eddie’s a doctor and he just got a job at the Tri-City Hospital. He moved here to be closer to Meryl. And this past Sunday he started attending Our Lady of Guadalupe with her.”

  That was Skye’s family’s church. He was a man of faith and a doctor—and here in Dulcet to stay. He checked all the boxes of the kind of man she was looking for. She gave him a second look along with Mama Lita and Granny June. At the moment, Eddie was rummaging through the pile of barbecued corn with a pair of tongs. He’d pick one up and inspect it, then move on to another one with a frown, as though searching in vain for that perfectly grilled ear of corn.

  “Men are such idiots,” Mama Lita said on a groan.

  Granny June shrugged. “Maybe he just loves corn.”

  Mama Lita spun to face Skye again. “I won’t accept this. You don’t need a man. If you want a family, start one. No man needed.”

  It was a wonder that Skye’s dad had come to exist at all, given Mama Lita’s views on men and marriage. By her own account, she’d gotten pregnant in her late thirties by a man whom she never named and who never stepped forward to claim his child, much to her relief. By all accounts, she’d been a decent mother to Skye’s dad, but she never quite seemed to get over the forfeit of her freedom that motherhood inflicted. As soon as Skye�
��s dad turned eighteen and joined the army, she’d gone back to being a hell raiser like she’d been in her twenties—vehemently single, playing in rock bands, and traveling the world, with an insatiable hunger for life.

  “Remind me to teach you about the birds and the bees sometime, Edalia,” Granny June said dryly.

  “I know it’ll drive you crazy for me to say this, Mama Lita, but I agree with Granny June. I know you were a great single mom, but that’s not my path. That’s not my faith. This is about more than having kids. It’s about living the life I want, taking over Polished Pros from my mom when she’s ready, just like she did from Grandmother. It’s about caring for Gloria’s kids and Dad and you. And mostly it’s about giving up all the things that are bad for me—including the wrong kind of man.”

  Mama Lita waved the tongs under Skye’s nose. “Just because you and that lion tamer didn’t work out doesn’t mean you were wrong to go after what you wanted. I mean, sure, you shouldn’t have married him, but women are supposed to run with the wolves. That is our true nature.”

  No. It’s not, Skye longed to say. Running with the wolves had never brought her anything but pain.

  Granny June yanked the tongs right out of Mama Lita’s hand and tossed them onto a pile of chicken. “Being married to the right man won’t stop a strong woman. It’ll lift her up. I believe in the power of love, and it’s time for Skye to believe too. Go talk to Eddie. He’s a fine young man. He’d love and respect you.”

  “Don’t listen to her, mija. You come sit with me,” Mama Lita said. “We’ll talk about trips we want to take to faraway lands, and I’ll tell you about running wild and free in Mexico City back in my day.”

  Skye felt the tug of yearning to follow Mama Lita back to the picnic table and daydream about adventure, but she and Granny June had a deal. “Sorry, Mama Lita. I’m going to go meet this guy. I promised Granny June I would. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve decided to give up men for the rest of Lent.”

  “Fine. It’s your life,” Mama Lita said with a dismissive wave.

  “Good girl,” Granny June said, rubbing her hands together. “This is the start of something great. I can feel it.”