August Heat

by Billings, Hildred

  Krys. Freakin’. Madison.

  “Aren’t they the cutest little floofer-snoofers?” Gabriella was already smitten with every kitten. She went as far as to guess their sexes before her niece had the chance to look. “Two boys and two girls! Perfect!” she had exclaimed. She had also become instantly attached to one of the fluffiest kittens, a young female with a white belly and gray coat. Granted, all the kittens were white and gray with similar markings, but this one? The little girl? She was the fluffiest of the whole litter. Big, blue eyes were already the subject of many pictures. “Can we keep them, Chevy? Can we?”

  One would never guess that Gabriella was twenty years older than her niece from the way she begged to keep a few kittens. “I don’t know how Clawdette would feel about that.” Their big, black cat was very much a loner. The whole reason they brought her home from another clinic was because the doctor confessed she had been there for a year, but her anxieties meant she needed a house with no kids or other animals. Sounds like my place. Unless these fluffer-nutters came into the main house once they were given a clean bill of health.

  “Clawdette is a big girl now,” Gabriella said with a sniff. “Come on. These babies need a mama. I can be their mama.”

  Gabriella’s big heart made her a great addition to the softer side of the business. As long as she wasn’t around for the harder, sadder parts of the job, she was fine. Yet it also meant moments like these happened. A lot. If it were up to her, we’d have five dogs, sixteen cats, five birds, and a garage full of gerbils and hamsters.

  “Let’s see how it goes with them first, huh?” They were still young enough that anything could happen. Considering the stress they had been through already in their short lives… ugh. Siobhan didn’t want to think about it. But if she had to do it, she would. That was part of her job. One of the things she signed up for when she insisted on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for vet school.

  Gabriella was content to coo over the babies as she fluffed them up a bed made of clean blankets and towels doused in Feel-A-Way. Siobhan knew better, though. Her aunt plotted something in that calculating mind of hers. “So, what did you think of that lady who brought them in? She looked pretty. Uh, single, that is. Pretty single.”

  Siobhan pretended she hadn’t heard anything. A convenient excuse to go check on the drinking water filter arose. It wasn’t enough. Once Gabriella latched onto something, she kept at it.

  “Did you hear me, Chevy?”

  “Yeah. I heard you.”

  Gabriella wrinkled her nose. “No need to be sound like that. You must know something about her that I don’t, though.”

  “Who? Madison?” Siobhan snorted. “I know you don’t know much about it, but she’s one of the biggest playgirls in town. Has a different girlfriend every month, if you can believe it.” In a town that small, anyway. Who knew there were enough women to date? “She pounces on newbies as soon as they roll into town.”

  “Sounds like you’ve already dated her!”

  “No, but I know somebody who has.”

  “Who?”

  Siobhan looked up and met her aunt’s eyes. Gabriella tilted her head until it finally sank in. “No,” she said with an exasperated gasp. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Not…”

  “Yup.” Siobhan picked up the last of the kittens and placed it with the brothers and sisters looking up at them with big, baby eyes. The cage soon shut in their faces. Gabriella stuck a finger through the bars for one of the kittens to sniff and lick.

  “This Madison lady wasn’t the one who…”

  “I don’t think so.” Siobhan snapped her work bag closed. “Does it matter, though? It’s for the best that I don’t have anything to do with her.”

  “So you admit she’s cute?”

  “Says the woman who doesn’t appreciate women like that.”

  “I don’t have to be gay to know when one of the butchest women to roll up to our house is good looking.” Gabriella withdrew her hand from the cage. The kitten looked after her as if it were a tragedy. “She’s basically your type, isn’t she?”

  That’s not how it works. Siobhan shut off the lights – except for the one by the kittens – and led her aunt out of the office. “I don’t have a type,” she insisted. “Unless you count someone with integrity as a type.”

  Gabriella looked after her with that look. The same one she always had when they faced Siobhan’s past. “You can’t stay hung up on that forever, hon. At some point, you’re gonna have to move on. It’s been three years.”

  “Not long enough, if you ask me.”

  That was Gabriella’s cue to drop it. By the time they reached the house, stomachs growling and heads full of fatigue, Gabriella went off to heat up some instant dinner and Siobhan collapsed on the couch in front of the TV.

  Don’t bring her up. Yet did her aunt spare a moment to think about what she should or shouldn’t say in front of Siobhan? Some thoughts should be kept to one’s self. Like thoughts about a certain someone who moved here to Paradise Valley with Siobhan.

  Emily. Go on. Say her name. Emily House. The love of Siobhan’s life.

  The breaker of hearts, in the worst ways.

  How long had it taken for Emily to cheat on her once they were in “paradise?” Four months? Six months? Only if I’m being generous. From the moment they strolled into town four years ago, Siobhan knew it had been a mistake. Apparently, the only thing keeping Emily from cheating on her for the three years they had been together was a lack of opportunity. When nobody else queer enough to sleep with was around, Emily was great! Romantic, attentive, and willing to plan a future with her doting partner. She got me through school. She got me through some of the worst parts of my life. Like her father dying, and her grandmother suffering that terrible stroke that left her living in a home.

  Then they moved to Paradise Valley. It was supposed to be their forever home, the place that shaped their future marriage and the kids they were gonna have together. You know, as soon as we settled into our careers. Because that totally happens when you’re a vet. Emily had been quick to agree to buying this house and garage in the countryside for Siobhan to convert into her business. Only a few months later did Siobhan realize their isolation from civilization made for the perfect cover – one in which Emily ran off with half the women around town, sometimes simply drinking up a storm or gambling a little too much money at poker…

  And, other times, sleeping with them.

  With Siobhan voluntarily staying out of the town’s eyes, most of the women Emily fooled around with probably hadn’t known she was taken. That’s what cheaters did, after all. They lied about the missus at home. They came up with excuses. “Oh, well, we’re separated. We have an open relationship. She’s asexual and allows me to sleep around. Isn’t that nice of her?” None of those things were true. Not even the nice part, because as soon as Siobhan found out about Emily’s cheating ways, someone’s bags were packed and tossed into the county road.

  I had never been so humiliated in my life. Siobhan definitely didn’t show her face around town now. Why the hell would she, when she might bump into one of Emily’s conquests?

  That’s why she didn’t want Krys hanging around any longer than she had to earlier. Not only did some of her mannerisms and personality remind Siobhan of Emily, but she was about 99% certain that Emily had cheated on Siobhan with Krys.

  Why wouldn’t she? Everyone – and if Siobhan knew, that meant everyone knew – could attest that Krys was a big playgirl. Of the serially monogamous kind, but that was hardly better than someone who played the whole field. She was one of the first people Siobhan heard about when she moved to Paradise Valley and attended a new people meet and greet at city hall. “Ooh, watch out for Krys there. From the fire department, you know? Everything they say about them is absolutely true. Lots of muscles, lots of sass, and lots of fun in the sack!”

  That warning was intended to keep Krys from flirting with them. Well, she apparently flirted with someone. It si
mply wasn’t Siobhan.

  Did Krys know? Did she have any idea? Was that why she kept acting like an awkward turtle around Siobhan? She must have known who I am. Acting like she’s never seen me before. She had to know.

  Yet what if she didn’t?

  What if Siobhan had to admit she was into the woman who came rolling up to her door with a box full of kittens.

  Freakin’ Gabriella was right when she said Krys was totally Siobhan’s type. She had the self-assuredness and candor that Emily used to have. Was waaaay more masculine-of-center than Emily, but the ex wasn’t exactly femme, either. I don’t know what she was. All I knew was that I loved her. Seeing Krys reminded Siobhan of something she hadn’t thought about in a long while.

  How much I wish I had someone.

  It was pointless, though. Siobhan was too busy and too isolated from town to have a proper dating life. She barely got cell phone reception out here, let alone decent internet that didn’t come from an expensive satellite. Online dating was out of the question. So was popping into the gay bar on weekends. That’s what Emily was apparently doing for half the time she and Siobhan were still together in Paradise Valley. That’s probably where she met Krys. Everyone (that same everyone from before) knew she hung out there with her best friends. Everyone also knew that she used to date one of those friends.

  Player. That’s all Krys was. When a woman was a damned firefighter who also looked the part, it only served that she be a big ol’ player, too. She could get almost any woman she wanted. Didn’t matter if that woman was single or taken, apparently.

  Of course she can. When you look like that… God, did anyone else in Paradise Valley have muscles like those? Krys wasn’t ripped, but she worked out. A lot. She had abs to eat off and biceps to hang from. If she didn’t insist on wearing such tight T-shirts with a sturdy sports bra beneath – yes, Siobhan had noticed – then Krys may have gotten out of there unscathed. Instead, she was followed by lustful eyes. The only reason Siobhan didn’t completely turn into a puddle of mush was because she was damn good at turning on the stern doctor who treated abused pet animals without letting her feelings get in the way.

  Otherwise, she might have giggled like a girl. A girl desperate enough to flirt with the town floozy.

  Kittens. It had to be kittens.

  “Chevy!” Gabriella stood above the couch, a TV dinner in hand. “Are we gonna eat dinner or not? I’ve got yours in the microwave right now. Go grab some baby carrots from the bag so we can eat. I wanna watch TV Land. You know I love TV Land.”

  “Yeah.” Siobhan shoved herself up. The scent of instant lasagna almost made her gag. “I’ll go get something to eat.” Only then did she realize she was about to put her hand in Clawdette’s face. The big cat always knew how to be in the most inconvenient spot.

  “You all right, Chev?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She wasn’t fine. When she wasn’t fighting images of Emily in the arms of someone like Krys Madison, she was imaging someone else in that same position.

  Someone who looked an awful lot like her, red hair, freckles, and all.

  Chapter 5

  KRYS

  The bar wasn’t the rowdiest place on Wednesday nights, but the owner of Paradise Lost always did her best to bring in the bodies. That night’s treat was a billiard’s tournament that had already begun by the time Krys and her friends showed up for their drinks.

  While it wasn’t unusual to come on hump day, it wasn’t the most common occurrence. Yet Krys’s friend Lorri said she had a big announcement to make. Makes me inclined to show up, I guess.

  “Anyone here wanna shoot some pool?” Krys came up behind her friends at the bar and offered a hand to their shoulders. Jalen jumped halfway out of her seat. Lorri merely turned from her beer and rolled her eyes at Krys’s grand entrance. “Because I practiced all day at the station and am pretty sure I can whip both of your butts.”

  “Pass,” Lorri said. “You may have been bored, but I was lugging boxes from nine to five. I’m not getting up from this seat until it’s time to go home. Or until I have to whizz.”

  Krys looked to Jalen, whose big puppy eyes were closed as soon as she realized her friend was serious. “Hell, no. I suck at pool. Fact, bet that’s what you’re countin’ on!”

  “I ain’t gonna stiff you guys of your hard-earned money.” Krys shoved herself onto the stool between them and flagged the bartender on duty that night. She ordered the same beer as Lorri, because Lorri had excellent tastes in beer. Unlike Jalen, who always went for the fruitier stuff like she wanted to mask the taste of alcohol. “I’m here to drink, and to hear what Lorri wants to so badly tell us.”

  Come on, the woman was about to burst with her news. Lorri was someone who usually kept her personal life to herself, unless some big money was to be made. Somehow, Krys didn’t think that’s what was going on. More likely it was something else. Something big involving her domestic partner, Joan.

  “Out with it,” Krys said, hand wrapping around the beer freshly delivered to her spot.

  Lorri waited for the bartender to be out of the way before lowering her face toward her friends. “Joanie’s pregnant. For real this time.”

  Jalen yelped so loudly that they drew attention to themselves. Krys whipped her arm around Jalen’s shoulders and slapped a hand over that big mouth. Lorri, however, was nothing but smiles as she soaked in the news that she was finally going to be a mom.

  “That’s amazing, Lor.” Krys released the mumbling mouth in her grasp. Jalen mimicked a giant gasp for air as she sat back up and released a kink from her neck. “For real. It’s really happening this time?” Poor Joan had suffered two miscarriages in the past year and a half, but both of those happened in the first trimester. “I had a feeling she was pregnant again. Figured you were waiting to tell us until it was farther along.”

  “You figured it out?” Jalen laughed. “I had no clue!”

  You ain’t the most observant lady in town, Jay. “Why else would a woman wear those big frumpy clothes in the middle of a mountain summer? Come on. She was hidin’ it.”

  Lorri was still laughing. “Yeah, we got confirmation we’re past the scary part. I mean, anything can happen, but trying a new donor seems to have worked so far. Poor Joanie’s still heading toward bed rest, though. Doc doesn’t want to take any chances.”

  Krys slammed one hand on the counter and pulled her friend into a bear hug with the other. “That’s amazing. Congrats, you stupid idiot.”

  Lorri shrugged out of the hold with an uncharacteristic grin flashing on her face. “Good thing that baby ain’t gettin’ my genes, then. Since I’m a stupid idiot, and all.”

  “Exactly. Joan’s got a good head on her shoulders, so maybe there’s hope for your new family.” Krys matched Lorri’s grin. “Can’t believe you’re having a baby. Things are gonna be different in a few months, huh?” That’s what she thought the first time Lorri announced she and Joan were having a baby. The second time, everyone remained hopeful, but didn’t allow themselves to get too excited. Now, though… maybe the third time was the charm. Maybe this time next year Lorri would have a baby and these mid-week rendezvouses at the bar would be fewer and farther in between. Assuming Lorri pulled her weight in the parenting. Then again, Joan might not let her! “Between you and Jalen over here flying down to LA to hang out with celebrities, who knows what I’m gonna be doing when you two are so busy.”

  She hadn’t meant to sound down on herself. Krys was fine with being alone. She still preferred having companionship, though. That’s why she had a roommate, although she could’ve had her own smaller place. It was also why she used to date around a lot. That wasn’t about getting married or anything, though. Krys wasn’t opposed to a serious relationship, but the past few years had been more about figuring out who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. Since moving to Paradise Valley from Portland a few years ago, she had determined that small town life was more agreeable to her. Slower pace. Less cri
me. A sense of community built around the same people one saw every day. With the exception of pretty vets who never come into town. Go figure. A woman thought she knew everyone…

  “You know we’re not moving anywhere, right?” Lorri chuckled. “Hell, if we’ve got a baby tethering us to the house, that means you guys can come over more often. Bring some casserole and we’ll let you clean our abandoned bathroom.”

  Jalen snorted. “I ain’t taking care of your babies, Lor. I don’t think Krys is, either.”

  “Who said anything about taking care of the baby Joan’s not gonna let go of, anyway? I said bring casseroles and clean the toilet. Ain’t that much better?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jalen said. “A real hoot. Think I’ll be busy.”

  Lorri shook her hand, as if to smudge the words coming out of Jalen’s mouth. Krys merely drank her beer and tried to imagine a Paradise Valley without either of her best friends to hang out with like they always used to. Before, dealing with Lorri’s family-making hadn’t been too big of a deal. But that was when Jalen was single, too. At least I had her to keep business as usual, even if Lorri fell off the face of the earth for a while. Jalen had to go and get that big celebrity girlfriend, though. Fleur was a nice enough lady – for a Californian – but if she and Jalen wanted to hang out, it meant Jay left more often. Krys feared that if things progressed with Fleur, Jalen would move away. She may not have any lingering romantic feelings for the woman she dated a while back, but Jalen was still her best friend.

  What if Krys was alone at the end of the year?

  Things change so quickly in this town. She wondered if small towns were always like this, or if it had to do with the quickly advancing times. People always had somewhere to go and something to do, even if they lived in a quiet little mountain town. Maybe this time next year Krys would be living in Boise, Idaho with a dog and two kids. Hell if I know at this point! People came, and people went. Krys simply hadn’t thought it might happen so close to home in the span of a few months.