“Whoever she is for you, she’s out there.”
“Fuck me,” Haines muttered.
“Mine moved in next door, man,” Cal pointed out.
Haines turned fully to Cal and his mouth was twitching when he mumbled, “Joe Callahan, romantic.”
Cal shrugged. Haines wanted to see it that way, fuck if Cal cared.
He pushed away from the truck, dropping his arms and turned to the door. He caught sight of Colt as he did it and Colt wasn’t fast enough to hide his smile.
Crazy fuck.
Cal looked back at Haines as he pulled himself up into the cab.
Haines gave him a nod. Cal nodded back, slammed the door, buckled up, hit the ignition and pulled out of the Station.
His phone rang as he drove down Grant. He yanked it out of his back pocket, looked at the screen, flipped it open and put it to his ear.
“Yo, buddy.”
“Joe.”
Hearing her say his name, he grinned at the windshield.
“That’s who you called, baby.”
“Where are you?”
“In the truck.”
“Okay, but where?”
“On my way to your garden center to buy a dog bed.”
He listened to silence.
This lasted awhile.
Then he called, “Vi?”
“Yeah?”
“Honey, you called me, you actually gonna speak?”
“I, um… need you not to come home, I mean,” she said the last two words quickly then kept talking fast, “to the house for awhile.”
“Why?”
“I’m having an impromptu girl’s afternoon in.”
He’d left her on her belly in bed after making her sit on his face until she came then fucking her until she came again. She didn’t even twitch when he bent in, kissed her neck and whispered in her ear that he’d be back in awhile.
He hadn’t been gone an hour. Now she was having a girl’s afternoon in.
This meant she was going to tell her friends everything which didn’t make him happy because he didn’t like anyone in his business. Then she was going to get shit advice. Then, maybe, she was going to do something stupid.
“Who’s comin’?” he asked.
“Cheryl…” she answered.
Not good, that bitch was hard as nails.
“Feb…” she went on.
That was okay, Feb was cool.
“Dee…” she continued.
Wildcard. Dee Owens called ‘em as she saw ‘em and Cal had no clue how she’d see him.
“Jessie…”
Fuck, Jessie Rourke was a nut.
“Mimi…”
Christ, he’d fucked two of Mimi VanderWal’s close friends.
“And Jackie.”
Cal relaxed.
Jackie Owens was Feb’s Mom, salt of the earth. Even with the rest of the hens in that coup, Jackie’d be the voice of reason and not many people were stupid enough not to listen to Jackie’s reason, including Cheryl Sheckle and Jessie Rourke.
“Then, um… after, I’m goin’ to Mike’s,” Vi said in his ear.
Cal didn’t speak.
“Then, um… we need to talk,” she finished.
“I’ll go into the office after I get the dog bed. If I gotta stay gone, you need me to pick anything up?”
She didn’t answer his question, she asked, “The office?”
“Yeah.”
“What office?”
“My office.”
“You have an office?”
Had he been closed that tight? Christ, he had.
“Yeah, baby, I have an office in town. Got a girl named Lindy, schedules my meetings, my walkthroughs, sends invoices, does the books, arranges travel, orders the equipment if I do the install myself, shit like that.”
“In town? You mean, the ‘burg?”
“Yeah.”
“Lindy?”
“Yeah?”
“She live in town?”
“Avon.”
“Oh.”
“Take you to meet her,” Cal offered.
“That’s okay,” Vi replied quickly.
Cal sighed then let it go and repeated, “You need me to pick anything up?”
She hesitated then repeated, “Pick anything up?”
“Coffee, milk, beer, pick anything up.”
“Groceries?” she breathed, like the concept of groceries was foreign to her.
“Yeah, Vi, unless Armageddon hit while I was fuckin’ you this morning and we missed it, I’m thinkin’ grocery stores still exist and they’re all still stocked.”
He heard her soft giggle before she swallowed it.
His woman, Cal realized, was a nut.
“Vi?” he prompted.
“I don’t drink beer.”
“I do so we need it.”
“Do you have some in your fridge?”
“Buddy, my fridge is at the dump.”
“But wasn’t it a perfectly good fridge?”
“Yeah, but my Dad bought it at Sears thirty years ago so I don’t think Katy and Keirry are gonna dig on it bein’ in the kitchen they design.”
“Oh,” she said in a soft, sweet way he felt in his dick just like when she said his name.
He ignored it and asked, “So we need beer?”
“Um… yeah.”
Christ, that was a long conversation to get down to needing beer.
“Okay, stick with me here, buddy, and concentrate. Do we need anything else?”
“I don’t know, what do you eat?”
“Anything.”
“We don’t have Power Bars or Gatorade or anything like that.”
“Vi, I’m not in training for the Super Bowl.”
“Right,” she whispered.
Cal started laughing.
“What’s funny?” Vi asked over his laughter.
“You are, baby.”
“How’s that?”
“Gatorade?”
“Well, I saw you working out,” she defended herself.
“So I’ll buy water. You got eggs?”
“Yes.”
“Bacon?”
“Yes.”
“Oatmeal?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m set.”
“Okay.”
He pulled into the garden center parking lot and found a spot.
“I’m at the garden center.”
She sounded distracted. “And Cheryl’s just pulled into the drive.”
Great, Cheryl got there first.
“Vi,” he called.
“Yeah?”
Before Cheryl unleashed her claws, Cal decided now was the time to tell her.
“You know that hole?” he asked.
“What?” she asked back.
He didn’t repeat himself, he said, “You were right. You and the girls plugged it.”
He had her attention, he knew it because she was whispering when she repeated, “What?”
“I’m not empty anymore.”
Silence then, “Joe –”
“Full to bursting, buddy.”
A breathy, “Joe.”
That made his dick twitch.
“Gotta go, baby.”
“Joe –”
“Later.”
He flipped his phone closed, jumped down from the truck and went into the garden center to buy a dog bed.
* * * * *
“And that’s um… it,” I finished my long story and looked around my living room.
I was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Feb was sitting by me, leaned back on her hands, her legs stretched out in front of her, baby Jack crawling all over her like she was a human jungle gym. Dee, Mimi and Jessie were on my couch. Jackie was in one armchair, Mooch, exhausted from eating dog beds and running around the yard with me in it for an hour, was flat out asleep on her lap. Cheryl was in the other armchair.
“Let me get this right, hon,” Jessie said softly. “You’re brother was killed, what? Three da
ys ago?”
“Six,” I answered. “They found him five days ago.”
She nodded. “And since then Joe Callahan and Mike Haines have been goin’ essentially head-to-head, no pun intended, to get at you?”
“Um… kind of but not exactly,” I told her.
“Babe, Cal’s forcin’ a meeting with all your loved ones by hornin’ in on the funeral, not to mention you’re meetin’ his family in Chicago, and it’s the family. And Mike’s goin’ for the gusto, makin’ certain, if you pick him, that you don’t forget about the family house, the six thousand dollar bed and the family pet, doin’ it by givin’ you the business in that bed with dog in attendance. They’re definitely head-to-head,” Cheryl informed me.
“Holy crap,” Jessie whispered.
“Gotta say, livin’ in this ‘burg my whole life and knowin’ Cal the length of it, there’s a lotta gals, a number of them in a one mile radius of this house, who’d give their eyeteeth to eat pizza at Vinnie’s Pizzeria and get a go at havin’ their photo on the family wall,” Mimi remarked.
“Gotta say, livin’ in this ‘burg my whole life and knowin’ Mike the length of it, there’s a lotta gals, some of them next freaking door, who would give their eyeteeth to have a shot at showin’ Mike Haines that all women are not selfish, greedy, materialistic bitches like Audrey,” Jessie noted.
“Same could be said for that girl next door wantin’ Cal,” Mimi told her.
“I think it can be taken as read that Tina Blackstone would just about jump anyone and it’d be difficult for that woman to prove anything against bein’ selfish, greedy and materialistic,” Jackie pointed out. “She’s hardly a good example for debate.”
“Cal,” Feb spoke up, putting in her vote.
“Mike,” Cheryl shot back.
“Cal’s hot, but, seriously, he’s a dawg,” Mimi put in, looked at me and voted, “Mike.”
“My guess is, Dawg Days are gone so my vote, Cal,” Dee added.
“Put their names in a hat,” Jessie suggested, “you can’t go wrong.”
“Jessie!” Feb hissed.
“What?” Jessie asked, looking around. “Am I wrong?”
“Joe Callahan,” Jackie stated in a voice heavy with maternal authority and life experience and all eyes swung to her.
“Seriously, Jackie?” Cheryl asked.
“Seriously, Cher,” Jackie replied, her voice no longer heavy but gentle, she looked at me and asked, “You wanna know why?”
I nodded.
“’Cause, when you talk about Mike, you look like a woman who’s talkin’ about a guy she likes. You talk about Cal, you look like a woman who’s talkin’ about the man she needs to breathe.”
At her words, I stopped breathing.
“Jackie,” Dee whispered.
“You do,” Jackie told me. “Feb lost the man who helped her breathe, didn’t take a full breath for twenty years until she got him back.”
My eyes moved to Feb and she smiled at me then she pulled Jack off her legs and into her arms, making a nonverbal point that spoke such volumes, it was a wonder I wasn’t swept away in its waves.
I looked back at Jackie and told her, “He’s turned on me twice.”
“Even tough men get scared,” Jackie replied.
I felt my eyes get wide at the thought of Joe scared of anything and asked, “Scared of me?”
“Honey, the last woman he loved killed his child.” I sucked in breath and she asked, “Wouldn’t that scare you?”
“Yeah,” I answered, “but he slept with someone else when he was with me.”
“Told you he did,” Jackie put in.
“Even if it was a lie, why would he lie, knowing how much that’d hurt?” I pressed.
“To make you hurt. Didn’t have the strength in him to let you go, forced your hand so you’d do it,” Jackie explained. “Man’s strong so I reckon that’s sayin’ somethin’ about what he feels about you.”
“That’s crazy,” Cheryl muttered.
“You ever do anything totally irrational for self protection?” Jackie shot her question in Cheryl’s direction and she wasn’t done. “Or for Ethan’s?”
Cheryl bit her lips which was her nonverbal answer.
Jackie’s eyes came back to me. “He’s a big guy, a scary one, fierce, tough and because all that while he’s been puttin’ you through the ringer, you had no idea you’ve been doin’ the same damn thing to him.”
“But –” I began but Jackie shook her head.
“You lost your man, your brother and honey, my heart’s with you, that’s awful. He lost his Mom, Dad and son; the last two because of the woman he chose, one he brought into his father’s house, one he let bring his child into this world. That’s a burden he’s carried awhile and my guess is that burden is heavy. You two come with so much baggage, it’s a wonder you don’t get crushed. And that’s the thing, neither of you did. And you found each other. It’s time to unload that burden and find some joy,” Jackie advised.
“What if I can’t help him find his joy, what if I fail?” I whispered.
“Girl, you keep givin’ up. The only way sure to fail is to give up,” Jackie whispered back.
“He wants a baby with me,” I told Jackie and I heard some indrawn breaths at this piece of news (the only one) I had not shared.
“Give him one,” Jackie returned as if it was simple as that (and, I had to admit, thinking about it made my belly flutter again).
But even so, I suggested, “Maybe he just wants me to have a baby.”
“Oh crap, now she’s makin’ shit up,” Jessie muttered.
“Babe, your shit’s already confusin’ enough, you don’t need to make stuff up to make it more confusin’,” Cheryl advised.
“This is true,” Mimi said, “if Cal wanted a kid, he’d have about six dozen of them all over town.”
“Unh-hunh,” Jessie agreed on a nod.
“I’m not sure that’s helpin’,” Feb noted, watching me closely and she was right.
“Am I gonna be running into Joe’s lovers everywhere I go?” I asked.
“Yep,” Jessie answered and Mimi giggled.
“Great,” I muttered.
“Happened to me with Colt,” Feb told me. “Not everywhere I go but a few of his conquests come into the bar. I even spent time around him and Melanie when they were married.” She leaned into me. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
“I’m guessin’ she’s learned that,” Cheryl mumbled.
“We all have,” Jackie stated.
“I’m scared,” I blurted.
“Of course you are,” Feb said, folded her legs and leaned into me. “Remember you told me when you were worried about gettin’ Keira that dog,” she nodded to Mooch in her Mom’s lap, “how you had a dog and lost her and didn’t want to put Keira through that?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“You’re doin’ it again, babe,” Feb told me, “protectin’ yourself against hurt. You lost Tim and Cal hasn’t made this easy on you, now you’re gun-shy. But, honey, he’s out buyin’ a dog bed. Ask yourself, he’s doin’ that, why are you so scared?”
“It hurt when he turned,” I whispered.
“He’ll hurt you again, men fuck up all the time. Tim golden the whole way through?” Feb asked.
“No,” I answered honestly.
“You fight?”
“Of course.”
“He piss you off?”
“Yeah.”
“He hurt you by doin’ stupid shit?”
“Not often but, yeah.”
“Cal’s a man, Violet. He’s gonna fuck up. You are too. Honey, you know how that is, you lived with it with Tim. You also know, what you had with Tim, it’s worth it and you gotta take the risk.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You don’t, what’re you teachin’ your daughters?” Cheryl, in an about face, joined our conversation. “To be scared, to wrap themselves in cotton, or to face life and fight for somethin’ good?�
��
“I thought you didn’t like Joe,” I said to her.
She threw up her hand. “I forgot about the dog bed.”
Jessie snorted but Dee and Mimi laughed straight out.
I reached out, put my hands to baby Jack and asked my question to Feb with my eyes. She answered by turning Jack to me, I took him and cuddled him close. He grabbed onto my blouse and hair and his face went to my neck, his wet, soft baby lips hitting me there, his tongue working at the chain of a necklace I was wearing.
“Like his Dad,” Feb mumbled, watching Jack, “he loves necklaces.”
“Colt loves necklaces?” Mimi asked.
“This I gotta hear,” Jessie leaned forward.
“Shit,” Feb whispered.
“Are we done with Vi’s thing?” Dee asked.
“I don’t know, Vi, are we?” Jackie looked at me.
I bent my head and kissed Jack’s shoulder.
We were done.
I knew. I knew even before they asked me. Joe was right. I knew when I crawled into my bed with him after the girls. Hell, I knew the first time he kissed me.
And now I knew because he was buying a dog bed for the dog he bought for my daughter.
And coming home with beer.
Then I whispered against little Jack, “Yeah.”
“Good, so, what’s this about Colt and your necklaces?” Jessie demanded to know and I looked at her.
But Mimi spoke to me. “Feb doesn’t kiss and tell, it sucks.”
“I know. I told her about Jimbo and –” Jessie started.
“Don’t repeat it!” Feb cried suddenly, hand up.
“What? It isn’t weird,” Jessie defended.
“Yes, Jessie, it is,” Feb returned.
“It’s just suckin’ my toes. Does Cal suck your toes?” Jessie asked me.
I tried not to let my lip curl as I answered, “Um… no.”
“Feels good,” Jessie mumbled.
“Gross,” Mimi was mumbling too.
“Do you have any beer?” Cheryl asked, standing up.
“No, Joe’s picking some up on his way home.”
Cheryl stared at me a second then she grinned and I realized what I said and how it sounded.
It sounded like it was.
Shit.
I rolled my eyes at her then said, “I have wine.”
“Time for wine,” Cheryl decreed, moving toward the kitchen.
“It isn’t even four in the afternoon,” Mimi told her.
“What? There’re rules?” Cheryl asked.
“Yeah,” Mimi answered.
“Fuck rules, I’m gettin’ wine,” Cheryl retorted. “Anyone want one?”
At Peace Page 41