There was no bathroom at the reservoir, and it wasn’t going to be like the one time she had an overwhelming need to pee and Beth convinced her to go pee behind a tree by the side of the path. “Dogs piss wherever they want. It’s pee, not toxic waste,” Beth had said and promised to be the lookout. Some lookout she was. While Lottie was squatting, a truck came down the path out of nowhere. Beth walked over. “I’ll block you,” she giggled but bumped her in the shoulder with her hip, knocking her over. Pee pulsed out of her as she screamed at Beth and desperately tried to pull her panties and shorts up before the truck reached them.
“Public indecency! Public indecency!” Beth pointed at her, shouting, as she ran away. Lottie chased her with every intension of punching her in the tit when she reached her. Beth was too fast and gave Lottie plenty of time to cool off before walking back toward her.
Sitting up, Lottie gulped. Worse than being shoved over while peeing at the reservoir would be trying to sneak out a fart and sharting. Then having Beth announce it in front of Grant and his nana. She shook her head. Nah, Beth wouldn’t do that to her. She wanted her to hook up with Grant. Letting him know she had shit shorts wouldn’t do much for Beth’s scheme. Nerves pinched her stomach as she sprinted to the bathroom.
To her relief, it was just a little case of bubble guts and her butt was dookie-free. She brushed her teeth, pulled her hair into a messy bun—the kind that looked effortless but actually required a lot—and carefully put on some—looked like it wasn’t even there—makeup. Checking herself over in the mirror, she thought she did quite a good job of looking like she rolled out of bed, naturally beautiful and ready to exercise.
Lottie scampered into the kitchen, grabbed a banana and a glass of water. Her body screamed for coffee, but she knew that if she drank it, the chances of either needing to take a shit or having to pee at the reservoir would pretty much become a certainty.
As she ate her banana, she walked around the house, trying to envision it through the eyes of a guest. Were things out of place? Was dust settled anywhere she hadn’t noticed? What if it smelled? People never could smell their own homes, could they? Beth’s house always smelled like oranges. She’d been in homes that smelled like garbage. What did her house smell like? Since Grant might be coming over today—if she adopted Pickles—she was mortified at even the thought of him walking in and thinking it was a garbage house rather than an orange house or something like that. She walked over to the trash and flipped open the lid, practically sticking her head inside. It didn’t smell good, but it didn’t smell bad enough to foul up her entire house.
She pulled the compost container out from under the sink and plopped the banana peel inside. Glancing at the clock, she decided to empty the bin and give it a rinse, just in case. After doing that, she ran into the bathroom and grabbed her homemade air freshener—made of high-proof Military Special vodka and lemon essential oil—and sprayed it all over the house. Better that her house smell like lemon than garbage or something worse. She even sprayed a little on her clothes—just in case she was one of those people who stunk and didn’t know it. Her mind flashed back to the last episode of Hoarders she watched where a lady had upwards of forty cats living in her house yet insisted that no one knew how she lived. “Right, lady, your house is filled with garbage and mountainous piles of cat poop, but you think no one has any suspicions that you might be a dirty-ass crazy cat lady,” Lottie muttered as she ate a bag of chips on the couch, a little drunk from more than one lonely Saturday evening beer.
After taking one more glance in the full-length mirror on her bathroom door, she headed out of the house for the reservoir, making sure to grab the cooler she had packed with extra waters just in case Grant hadn’t brought any and his nana got thirsty. While the mornings weren’t overwhelmingly hot yet, she suffered the one time she forgot to bring a water and had to share Beth’s, who kept telling her not to backwash with every sip.
Beth was, as usual, waiting in her Jeep with the music cranked when Lottie arrived. After parking and getting out of her car, Beth climbed out of her Jeep and serenaded Lottie to the rest of the song playing while using her water bottle as a microphone and trying to swat Lottie on her ass.
“Knock it off, ya dick, or they’re gonna pull out as soon as they see what a freak you are and drive away.”
“Pull out. That’s what you have to remind Grant to do later. Don’t wanna get knocked up on your first date.”
“God, how old are you? Sometimes you act like a fourteen-year-old boy who just discovered his wiener.”
“Wiener? Who’s fourteen? Is that what you’re going to call it when you ask Grant to put in you?”
Lottie rolled her eyes and shook her head. Words hovered in her throat but refused to participate. Just then, Grant’s blue pickup came rolling up. Lottie swatted at Beth to try to get her to stop singing into her water bottle.
“Try to behave. Remember, he brought his nana.” Lottie walked over to the truck. “Hey, Grant.”
He smiled. “Hey, Lottie.” Grant crossed around the front of the truck to the passenger door and opened it up. An old woman climbed out wearing a visor with sunglasses and a long-sleeve shirt and shorts. Shorter than she’d ever seen on a woman that age. Shorter than hers. “This is my Nana Aileen. Nana, this is Beth and Lottie.”
Nana smiled. “Ladies. So nice to meet you. Thanks for taking care of Grant his first few days at school. I’ve heard so much about you both, I feel like I already know you.” Lottie shook Nana Aileen’s hand, although she wanted to hug her. She reminded her of her own grandma, whom she missed desperately.
“Welp, shall we get going? The calories aren’t going to burn themselves.” Beth smiled.
Nana clapped her hands. “I’m ready. It’s been so long since I’ve gone out for a walk. Joe and I used to walk around our little neighborhood, but we rarely came out to the reservoir. Oh, we came to feed the ducks a few times but never to just walk.”
Beth looked at Lottie and rolled her eyes. Lottie waved her off immediately and mouthed, “Stop,” to her. Beth walked forward closer to Nana Aileen. “So, Aileen, have you lived in Altus your whole life?”
Grant slowed, taking a cue from Beth to fall back to talk to Lottie. “So, are you excited about Pickles?”
“Yes! I hope you like him.”
“I’m sure I will. I haven’t met a dog yet that I didn’t like. After the walk, I’ll drive Nana home, and I can come pick you up if you want. If you adopt him, we can drive out to Lawton to pick up supplies. My truck is dog friendly.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind driving me all the way out to Lawton?”
“I don’t mind. It’ll be fun.”
“Okay, but you have to let me give you gas money.”
“No way. I was thinking about heading to Lawton this weekend anyway. Get out of Altus for a bit. So I was going to be using the gas anyway.”
“Well, can I buy you lunch?”
“Sure. How about Wok and Roll? Have you ever been? They have a drive thru. We can grab it on the way back and eat at your place. I mean, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there, but I assume it’s still good.”
Lottie tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “That’s my favorite place to get Chinese.” Lottie’s stomach knotted. She was suddenly aware of her thighs rubbing each other as she walked. Stupid thing for a chubby girl to do, talk about how much she loves food.
Grant stopped in his tracks. “Fuck,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” Lottie stopped and turned to him.
But before he could answer, she heard Nana slap her hands together. “Well, Tiffany, my dear. What a surprise running into you here.” Nana turned back to Grant. “Grant, isn’t this a wonderful surprise? It’s Tiffany.”
Grant smiled, but Lottie wasn’t sure it was genuine. Lottie glanced at the beautiful, young redhead who was wrapping her arms around Nana Aileen. The redhead walked over and wrapped her arms tightly around Grant after she finished with Nan
a.
“Well, you know I like to run. I run five miles five times a week as long as my schedule allows, and this is my favorite place to do it.” Tiffany straightened her perfectly slicked back ponytail.
“Really?” Beth chimed in. “I’m here all the time, and I’ve never seen you. I’m sure I would have noticed such beautiful red hair.”
“Well, we must miss each other.” Tiffany wound a strand of her hair around her finger.
“Tiffany is a waitress at Meers,” Nana interjected. “Probably does most of her running while you’re in school and then gets to serving up the best burgers in the country while you’re out here. You know, I’ve known Tiffany for years. Joe just adored her. Always said she reminded him of me.”
Lottie thought she heard Grant moan.
“Did you say something?” Lottie asked him.
“No, just thirsty. I should have brought a water.”
“I have some extras in a cooler in my car if you need one.” Lottie smiled.
“Yeah, why don’t we get walking back around and I’ll get one of those from you? Well, it was nice to see you again, Tiffany.” Grant waved and walked on. Lottie followed him.
“Tiffany, sweetie, why don’t you join us?” Nana asked.
“Well, I’d love to. I just finished my run, so it’ll be nice to walk and cool down.” Tiffany turned and quickened her step to catch up with Lottie and Grant.
Beth called out to her. “Wow, did you run five miles? You’re not even sweaty. I’m always a sweaty mess when I run.”
Lottie tried not to smile, but her mouth kept tugging at the corners. She really did love Beth’s courage to call people out on their bullshit. It was obvious that girl hadn’t run one lap, let alone five miles.
“Oh, not today. I’ve already done all my running for the week. I just came out today to get a walk in and enjoy this beautiful day.” Tiffany smiled daggers at Beth.
“Tiffany, why don’t you come by after the walk and join me and Grant for supper on the patio? I can make some delicious pot roast sandwiches from last night’s leftovers, if you’d like. I know you enjoyed the roast.” Nana smiled at Grant and then at Tiffany.
“I sure did, and I’d love to.”
“Wonderful!” Nana clapped her hands.
“Nana, I told you that I was going with Lottie to the shelter after the walk today. I’m afraid it will just be the two of you.” Grant smiled at Lottie.
“Oh, I’m sure her sweet friend Beth here can go with her to get a dog. It’s not often we have company over.” Nana grabbed Tiffany’s hands in hers and patted them.
“We just did yesterday,” Grant mumbled.
Nana fanned her hand in front of her face. “Well, I’m really starting to overheat. I think I’m ready to go. I’m sorry to cut our walk short. It’s just been a while since I’ve been out like this.”
“I have some waters in my car,” Lottie said.
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you. I think I just need to go home and sit in the nice cool air conditioning for a while.” Nana walked quickly around the rest of the way back to the car. A little too quickly for an old woman that just had to get home and rest.
Lottie pulled open her car door and pulled out two waters, handing them both to Grant. He handed one to Nana.
“Oh, thank you.” Nana handed hers to Tiffany. “Here you go, Tiffany, sweetie.”
Grant opened his and took a sip. “Why don’t you go on home with Tiffany, Nana? I’d like to stay and walk a little more.”
Lottie smiled, but it quickly faded.
“Oh, I brought my Vespa.” Tiffany shrugged.
“I’m definitely not riding on a Vespa. Come on, Grant, you drive your ol’ nana home. You don’t mind, do you, girls?” Nana smiled at Lottie.
“I don’t mind.” Lottie pressed the sweetest smile she could across her face to hide her disappointment.
Grant turned to her. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Lottie waved as he walked Nana around and opened the truck for her, helping her inside.
Tiffany hopped into the bed of his truck. “Give me a ride over to my Vespa?”
“Sure,” he said as he climbed in his truck. He rolled down the window and pursed his lips at Lottie. “Call me if you adopt him?”
Lottie nodded and smiled, hoping he’d pull away quickly. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep the fake smile pressed across her lips.
The blue truck pulled away. Lottie watched them circle the reservoir to the other side where Tiffany was parked.
Beth wrapped her arm around Lottie’s shoulders. “Well, Nana’s a fuckin’ bitch.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lottie
Lottie kicked a pebble around the path, afraid to look up or the tears balancing on the rims of her eyes would tumble down her cheeks. Beth would know just how much she liked Grant then, and she didn’t want her level of disappointment to show to anyone.
A dull ache filled her chest. She didn’t want to breathe. She only wanted to head home and wrap herself in her burrito of solitude. Beth kept her arm around Lottie as she stood batting the pebble around with the toe of her shoe. A tear dripped from her eye, plummeting straight down and dampening the path near the pebble.
“What do you say we walk a few more laps?” Beth ushered Lottie forward. “We hardly got a good walk in before that fire crotch showed up.”
“I just wanna go home.” Lottie peeled away from Beth’s arm and headed toward her car.
“What about Pickles? You’ve been talking about adopting this dog all week. I’ll go with you and we’ll have a fun day. Grant turned out to be a bit of a pansy anyway listening to his little bitch granny and ditching you. If he doesn’t have the balls to stand up to that old hag, he certainly doesn’t deserve to have them sucked on by you.”
“Can you not be gross right now?” Lottie opened her car door and sat inside.
Beth sprinted around the front of the car and climbed inside the passenger door. “Let’s go get Pickles, okay? Then you’ll have someone to snuggle with when you get home. Okay?”
“You don’t have to come with me. I can go on my own.”
“Only you won’t. Come on, I know you, and I know that droopy lip means you’re going to go home, crawl into your bed, and end up eating fast food all weekend. You’re finally getting out of your slump. Don’t let this ruin it for you now.” Beth buckled up and slapped the dashboard. “Now let’s go adopt woman’s best friend. You’ve always wanted a dog, and today is going to be the day you get one.”
Lottie forced a smile and buckled up. Beth was right. She had always wanted a dog, and she’d always let men stop her from getting one. This wasn’t going to be another one of those times. She looked in the mirror and scowled at her messy bun and the fly-away hairs that were escaping at the sides. She pulled out the hair band and let her hair fall around her shoulders. Tiffany had perfect hair and perfect skin. Lottie suddenly felt like a toad. Sighing, she threw the car in gear and headed for the shelter.
Another thing Beth was right about, if Grant really wanted to be with her, he would have been. She churned the thought in her mind over and over. She wasn’t going to end up with another David. A man who wants her for his “good enough until I find someone better” girl. If Grant preferred to go spend time with that twenty-something redheaded twit, he could go and do it before they ever got too serious. It was clear that was what his nana had in mind.
“Nana was a fuckin’ bitch,” Lottie muttered.
“Yeah, she was.” Beth laughed. “I guess women don’t become any less cunty as they age. You don’t need that in your life. I’m lucky my mother-in-law lives across the country. If I had to live anywhere near her, I’m not sure I’d want to be married to Michael. I see that bitch twice a year, and it’s all I can do to not to slap her across her wrinkled old face.”
“David’s mom was always nice to me, but I could tell she thought he could’ve done better. Did I ever tell you that at our wedding, my a
unt overheard her saying to her sister, ‘I guess we’re too overdressed for this wedding?’ Ugh, if I ever think about getting married again, I’m going to make sure I find an orphan.” Lottie pulled into the shelter parking lot and turned off the engine.
“If I ever have kids, I’m not going to be a bitch of a monster-in-law. I’m going to be sweet as pie, even if my daughter-in-law is a cunt.” Beth laughed.
Lottie shook her head and tossed her keys into her purse.
“All righty, let’s go see this dog.” Beth checked her hair in the mirror before following Lottie inside.
The same older woman was at the front desk. “Back again, eh? Is today the day?”
“I think so.” Lottie smiled. “I brought my friend to meet Pickles before I completely decide. Can we hang out with him in the outdoor yard?”
“Sure can. Why don’t you two head on out there and I’ll get Pickles and bring him on out? I think he’s been waiting to see you. I have the feeling he knows what’s happening today.”
Lottie and Beth walked out into the yard.
Beth crinkled up her nose. “I guess they don’t pick up the shit too often out here.”
“Well, it’s worse inside. You’re lucky I asked to come out here.”
The door opened, and Pickles ran out into the yard. His white and black fur was a blur as he flashed like lighting across the yard and straight to Lottie. “There he is. There’s my boy.” Lottie scratched his body as he twisted and turned and rubbed against her legs, almost knocking her over.
“Oh my gosh. That’s a cute fuckin’ dog. What kind is it?” Beth asked as she moved closer to get a few scratches in.
“Well, he’s a rescue, so I can’t say for certain, but he looks like a Tibetan terrier to me.” The lady lit up a cigarette and started puffing away.
“I thought shelters only had pit bulls and mutts.” Beth waved a plume of freshly exhaled smoke away from her face.
“Oh, the majority of what we get are bully breeds of some sort, but occasionally, we get a bunch of purebreds when a hoarder or puppy mill gets shut down. That’s where Pickles came from. He’s the last of the bunch.”
Easy Love Page 10