by Vonnie Davis
“Okay, but if you ask me, it looks creepy. I could powder the look of death out of it, but I don’t think you’ve got that much powder.”
“We could always have her go up the ladder and hold it as if she’s pulled it from a burning building.”
Flash gave her one of his father’s “are you shittin’ me?” looks that made Graci-Ella want to laugh so hard, she was afraid she’d insult him. “Let’s get one of her up on the ladder with a hose. That’ll be the main picture. Then, down in the corner, we can have a small image of the dead plant.”
He nodded. “Now, that I can see. Maybe have her hand pointing to it or something.”
Graci-Ella snapped a few photos of Black Thumb wearing fireman’s pants with suspenders over her orange tank top and a fire hat. She dragged a hose over her shoulder as she climbed the ladder.
Graci-Ella showed Flash how to work the camera hanging around his neck. He took six pictures of the dead plant. He even laid down and propped his elbows on the concrete to snap a few. You’d have thought he’d been given every toy in the store. He was one happy kid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Boyd tried his best to calm down while he changed into what Graci-Ella had asked. Seeing her touch other men so freely brought back memories of Chantel’s taunting and, later, cheating on him behind his back. He wouldn’t go through it again with another woman. Not even the one he loved to distraction.
Still, maybe he was overreacting. Graci-Ella had provided Matt with a fantastic day. God, he’d been so comical and, yet, so sure of himself. She had a way of bringing that out in him, unlike his mother. When Matt yelled “quiet on the set,” Boyd thought he’d piss himself laughing.
He stepped into the vehicle area in time to see his son on his stomach, camera in hand, inching around Black Thumb’s dead plant to snap a photo from every angle. As he did so, Graci-Ella took pictures of him—the novel shutterbug. She moved next to him and pressed her hand on his back. “Excellent job, Flash. Next person up is Tiny.”
His son jumped up, his chest puffed out and roared, “On deck is Tiny.” Where had he learned that expression? Then Matt and Graci-Ella did a fist bump. Well, that answered that question.
Flash marched toward him and pointed to the front of the newest fire truck. “Tiny, we’d like you standing in front of the truck’s grill.” He got into position just as Flash requested.
Graci-Ella sauntered over. “I’ll do the higher part, Flash, and then I’ll turn the rest over to you.” She took each of Boyd’s arms and stretched them across the top of the chrome grill, stroking and murmuring sexy words to him. She ran her fingers through his hair the way she did when they made love. Then warm fingers trailed over his pecs and abs. He was two heartbeats from being hard as a rock.
“Why are you breathing so fast, my man?”
“You just wait until I get my hands on you. I’m tying your arms spread eagle to the bed just like you’ve got me spread out here.”
“I’ve always thought handcuffs would be such a turn-on.” Then she had the audacity to wink at him. Oh, I will so make her pay. She sat a fire hat on the hood behind his elbow. On the other side she laid a fire jacket in a haphazard fashion. Then she stepped back.
“Firecracker, have him spread his legs apart about the length of Fella and flip up one of the cuffs of his jeans so he looks a little sloppy. Then do your measurements.”
By damn the kid was good at following her instructions. Once he’d given her some numbers, she told him to unbutton the top two buttons of Tiny’s jeans. He unbuttoned the top one, turned to her with a quizzical look on his face and yelled, “Will his peepee show with two buttons open?” The guys in the squad turned in a collective group, their hands over their mouths and their damn shoulders shaking in laughter. She smiled and shook her head. The click and whirl of her camera sounded around Tiny.
“Flash, have him put one toe on top of the other. Tell him something to make him smile, he looks so serious.”
“Guess what, dad!”
Darn if his son didn’t know how to work him. He smiled.
Graci-Ella removed the coat and hat from the hood of the fire truck. She told him to place his hands at his waist. She positioned his broad shoulders
Boyd heaved a sigh. “I feel like such a piece of meat.”
She leaned in, her lips at his ear. “Well, how does this man like his woman’s naughty parts? Shaved bald? Shaved with a little beard? Or au ‘natural? Think on that while I take a few more pictures.”
He knew her well enough to guess what her sexual questions were aimed to do—give him a smoldering expression she was looking for. No doubt he was giving it to her because he was thinking of doing the shaving of her pussy himself. She’d be so sensitive, he could get her to come with just a few well-placed licks. The thought even made him smile…and thank God the pictures were only from the waist up. His buttons were straining and ready to pop.
The alarm went off and the dispatcher announced the location and type of fire. Graci-Ella and Flash gathered their stuff and stood on the sidewalk in front of the station to watch them in action, yet be out of the way.
“Which fire truck will my daddy be on?” Matt’s eyes were wide as he watched the organized confusion.
“I think he usually rides on Quinn’s truck. That’s the one we had him leaning against to take his pictures.”
Matt nodded. “Okay. I’ll watch for him.”
“I think they’re usually the first truck out. It’s a race thing with Quinn.”
Matt pointed. “Look! Quinn’s changed his clothes already! Here comes Dad and Wolf. There’s Lil’ Wolf. And…and that Black Thumb lady.”
Quinn fired up the truck’s engines and Matt covered his ears. “Did you know they made so much noise?”
When the truck roared out, all the firefighters waved and yelled, “Flash!” He waved back as he leaned against her leg. She hoped she hadn’t overextended the kid. With his being in and out of the hospital, his stamina levels couldn’t be that great. Maybe she’d take him home and con him into a nap.
Two minutes down the road, she glanced in her rear view mirror. His chin was on his chest. He was exhausted. She lugged him into the elevator to her condo and laid him on the sofa. He sighed and snuggled under the afghan she placed over him before she ran outside for his overnight cargo and her camera equipment.
Her skin was sticky and sweat trickled down her back. While he was sound asleep, she took a quick shower, braided her wet hair and put on pajamas. It was barely after six. She opened a bottle of water and turned on her computer. She was eager to see Matt’s and her pictures. Using her photo shop program, she downloaded the cards from both cameras. She studied every picture and made a notation of the frame’s number that snagged her eye as being particularly outstanding.
Choosing the front picture of the calendar, the one that would sell it, came easy. The one of Boyd, his eyes hooded with desire after she’s asked him how he’d like her private parts shaved. The muscles and massive fire truck would draw in the guys. Boyd’s “I want you now” expression would pull in the women. She tried various sample lettering for the year and Fire and Marine Rescue Station Thirty-two’s Hero Calendar. She certainly didn’t want to cover up any of the man, her man. Damn, he looked good.
Next, she put Black Thumb for the month of September. With her high up on the ladder, it left a blank space in the corner for Matt’s picture of Emily’s dead plant. Graci-Ella went through the ones he’d taken, chose the best, resized it and placed a black frame around it. Overlapping a corner of the plant picture, she placed one she’d taken of Flash on his stomach, snapping a picture of the plant, highlighted with the same black frame. On a diagonal between the ladder shot and the two small pictures, she used a special font and wrote, “Black Thumb”—Plant Killer Extraordinaire. What a great combo. She was pleased.
She was also getting bleary-eyed and the bed was calling her for a nap. She closed down her programs and went to bed. After all, with Bo
yd here with her last night, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Not that she’d minded.
Not soon after she’d shifted and scrunched around to find her comfort spot in bed, there was a slight dip in the mattress. The orange, tan and yellow of the afghan came into her peripheral vision and a skinny form snuggled against her back, but not before tugging her blankets down enough he could kiss her forehead. “I want you for my mommy,” he whispered. “I’m safe with you.” Then he rolled up in his crocheted blanket and went back to sleep.
He would be safe with her, too. For she’d fight all his demons if he’d let her. It’s what her parents had done for her and Eli. It was what every child deserved. She had to talk to Boyd about having Matt seen by a child psychologist she’d used in court already. Dr. Zapotocky would know how to speak to Matt and find his secrets that worried him so. Her breathing fell into a pattern with his and, before long, her eyes drifted shut.
She woke up to a stuffed raccoon in her face. “I’m hungry and so is my human.”
“We could order in pizza.”
“The way my human likes it or the way his dad likes it?” Glass eyes and a black nose nearly touched hers.
“How does your human like it? They don’t make it with candy on top.”
The giggling started. “Extra cheese and mushrooms.”
“Hey, that’s how I like it. You got a deal. I’ll order while you take your shower and put on your pajamas. Then we’ll eat and watch a movie. Did you bring some?”
The kid flashed her a fiendish gleam. “What do you think is in the suitcase with wheels?”
It was nearing three in the morning when a text dinged on her phone that the firemen had just gotten back from the fire that consumed two buildings. Boyd was going to crash for as long as he could. Would Matt be okay with her?
She replied Matt could stay as long as needed. He was fine and sleeping soundly, just as his dad should be.
Hours later, once they were up, she began mixing pancake batter. “Hey, do you want to call my dad and tell him what a big helper you were to me yesterday?”
She picked up her landline phone and dialed her parents. “Dad, do you have the time to talk? I have a young man here who wants to tell you about his big day yesterday.” She handed the phone to Matt who regaled her dad for twenty minutes with stories of the photo shoot. “I wish you coulda seen the dead plant this woman brought. She actually thought it would look cute in the picture. Ellis, it was dead six ways from Sunday as my neighbor, Pete, would say. Guess what they call this woman at the station? The Black Thumb. They shoulda called her the Kiss of Death!”
Her father’s boisterous laughter came through the phone line.
“Graci-Fella is making me blueberry pancakes. Dad was out at a fire until early this morning. I saw pictures of it on the news. It was a bad one. What are you going to do today? Play golf? Yeah, a lot of old people do that down here. They say it’s for exercise, but they ride around in cool looking little cars. Where’s the exercise in that?”
Her dad busted with laughter again.
“Me? I’d like to go see Graci-Fella’s office. I never saw where a lawyer worked before. She just set a plateful in front of me. I gotta go. Don’t hit your balls too hard. Bye.”
Once they were full of pancakes and dressed, she drove him to Baker, Brannock, and Hughes law firm. She flashed her badge to security personnel and told him she was bringing in a potential future lawyer for a looksee of her office. The security guy hung a badge on a black cord around Matt’s neck and handed him a pen and tablet.
“Wow, I get a badge and everything.” The kid was aptly impressed and kept staring at his badge. When they got to the elevators, he couldn’t believe they had six. “Which one do you use?”
“The one that’s open or about to open. Pick one and press the button.”
“Man, these are better than the ones at the hospital.” The fourth side was all glass opening to the lobby full of plants below.
“I couldn’t agree more.” They got off and she showed him to her little office. Her plants looked a little dry, so she pulled out her plastic watering can and filled it in the ladies washroom while Matt stared at her basketball pictures. She watered the hanging plants and he took over the job of watering the potted plants. He put the empty can back where she’d gotten it.”
“You know there’s a great ice cream place up the street. Do you feel up to walking to it? They make great chocolate and gummi bear sundaes.”
His little face lit up. “Okay, let’s go.” He took her hand and they headed for the elevators.
Being with him was something she could easily get used to. “You know you might have to give back the badge for security reasons.”
“So the bad guys don’t get in?”
“Yeah.” Then she thought of some of her clients and shook her head at the irony.
Not long after they got home, Boyd came to pick up Matt. His looked haggard. His eyes were sunken and wrinkles lined his face. He hugged Graci-Ella hard and whispered in her ear. “I pulled out two dead children last night. One was a baby and the other wasn’t much older than Matt. It’ll be a while before I get over it. I just want to go home and hug my son.”
“Of course.” She began gathering Matt’s things while Boyd held his little boy, talking to him about yesterday and how proud he was of him. Why did she suddenly feel excluded? She was being childish. They had only talked about becoming a unit, hadn’t really worked at making it permanent. So, in times of stress, things would naturally revert to old patterns. The man, who adored being a father, was traumatized and rightfully so.
She went into the bathroom and picked Matt’s clothes from yesterday. She put his toothbrush and toothpaste into a baggie and his comb and Elmo shampoo into another baggie. She rolled up his sleeping bag and gathered his two pillows. Within a few minutes, she had all of Matt’s belongings at her front door.
Boyd thanked her for everything. He and Matt scooped up his stuff before they left. No hugs or kisses goodbye. The two were clearly a private unit that from time to time allowed a stranger into their lives. Now they had closed ranks. Maybe her time was over already, no matter what Boyd had said to her so many times before. Who knew? The only thing she was sure of was her confusion—and her hurt, no matter how she tried to rationalize it all out.
Why, in God’s name should she feel so empty?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Graci-Ella was choosing her clothes and jewelry for the next day when her cell rang. It was Boyd. “Hey handsome. How are you feeling now?”
“I have two questions for you.” Was he ill? He barely sounded like himself; his voice shook. “Where is Fella? And do you work at Baker, Brannock and Hughes because my son brought home some of their pens and a pad of paper?”
Why was he interrogating her in this tone of voice? “No, I don’t have Fella. The last time I saw the raccoon, Matt had it in my office. But, now that I think about it, he didn’t have it at the ice cream parlor we went to afterward. At my office, he was helping me water my plants so he must have lain the stuffed animal aside and forgot about it. He thought it was a big deal to be where I work.”
She sat on the sofa and wrapped the afghan around her shoulders. There was a definite chill from his end of the conversation.
“So you do work at that damn law firm, the one that’s trying to take my son away from me?” His anger was almost a palpable force reaching through the cell waves to crush her heart.
“Yes, I do. But we are no longer representing your ex-wife.”
“What the hell do you mean by that? I trusted you!” He bellowed so loud, she held the phone away from her ear. “You were spending time with me to get anything derogatory to use in court.”
“That is not true and you know it.”
“Do I?”
She exhaled a deep sigh and hoped she could make him understand. “The attorney who handled your divorce and then the subsequent custody case was Elizabeth Stone. Elizabeth was given a promotion and
larger profile cases. She had to divvy up her caseload between the three newest lawyers, of which I’m one. I ended up with Chantel’s custody case. I never looked at it, I put a court date sticker on it like I did the others Elizabeth turned over to me and put all of them in my caseload pile, in order of date to court.”
“Am I supposed to believe that shit? You know I wondered from time to time why you snagged onto me out of all the single men in the squad.” He expelled a harsh bark of laughter. “I guess now I know why.”
She jumped from her seat on the sofa and shook with anger. “You’ve got some paranoia issues, Boyd Calloway.”
“Why wouldn’t I when the woman I trusted had planned all along to take my son from me. And how? Legally? No. By buttering up to me. Getting me to fall in love with you so I’d let my guard down. Tell me, did you have cameras in your bedroom filming us? Now I’ve posed for that damned calendar, turned on like some horny teenager. The one thing…,” his fist hit a surface. “The one thing who means everything to me and you worked your charms to make sure I’d lose him!”
“Listen to what you’re saying. It makes no sense. Cameras in my bedroom? Really, Boyd? And just how could I use the video? Illegally in court? So I could be disbarred?”
“I don’t want to see you ever again. Stay away from us. Do you understand?”
“Daddy, does she have my Fella?” Matt was crying. And while the father had her livid, the son was tearing at her heartstrings.
“Tell him, I’m going for it now. That in fifteen minutes, he should start looking out the window for me. As for all the things I want to say to you, my father taught me never to argue with an idiot.” She hung up on him, grabbed her keys and purse and ran out the door.
The man had flipped his gourd, lost his twizzle stick, gone off his meds. “Whatever,” she growled as she started her car. “Thank God she saw the true man before she got in too deep. Before she fell head over heels in love. Or before she began wedding plans. Or, worse, got pregnant.