by Abbie McAnn
She had no clue what to say to Sam. She knew how he felt about having people on the property and she hated the thought of making him hide.
She stared at him, trying to figure out how to break the news.
“Your sister talks very loudly,” Sam said like it was just some mild observation. “You don’t have to look so worried about telling me, I heard everything she said. Do you really not want her to visit you? I know how much you miss her.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve seen her, but even when I lived in Nevada I didn’t get to see her often. She moved up to Reno while I was still in high school and after I graduated I stayed in Vegas. I was actually more worried about you. What are you going to do while they’re here? I don’t want you to have to hide again.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m used to Michael’s visits. I’ll just stay in the lake while they're here. It really doesn’t bother me.”
“I’m not going to make you stay in the lake,” Kate said adamantly. She sat there trying to think about what else to do. Would it really be so bad if she just introduced Sam to them?
She opened her mouth, about to propose the idea when Sam cut her off.
“You already know that it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to see me. Do you really think that that would end well?”
Kate pouted. She was annoyed that he knew what she was going to say and even more irritated that he was right.
“Maybe it would go just fine. It is what John wanted, after all.”
Even she didn’t believe her own words. She thought about her slightly vain sister who couldn’t even stand the thought of seeing fish. And Michael was such a no-nonsense workaholic. She couldn’t imagine him reacting well either.
“Fine, maybe you're right. But I hate that you are. There is no reason that other people shouldn’t accept you! You’re not a monster. You’re just some guy who happens to have tentacles and who is also a little too obsessed with plants.”
Sam snorted, making her giggle. His eyes lit up and squinted at the corners. It was the only way she could tell that he was smiling since he wouldn’t show her his mouth.
“I still don’t like the idea of you having to hide in the lake. Maybe you could just stay in your room? I’ll make sure that neither of them goes in it, and even if they do, your camouflage is so good that they would never see you. In fact, you could probably be in the same room as them and they wouldn’t even notice you.”
“We probably shouldn’t push it that much,” Sam said, and she could still see a hint of his smile. “My room could work, but I’ll still have to go outside a couple times to eat. There’s always the chance that they could see me then.”
“I highly doubt it. Jessica is a big day drinker. By the time you need to eat, she’ll already be faded. And the chores will keep Michael away from the house. I think that’s our best option.”
“Fine, if you insist,” Sam relented. “You know I can’t say no to you,” he added quietly. So quietly, that Kate could have sworn that she imagined it.
Chapter 14
“What time do you think they will get here?” Sam asked. She looked up from the pile of shit she was about to shovel to see two flakes of hay floating outside of the stall door.
She grabbed the shovel and nudged Scooter over to the far stall wall. She then stood beside the gelding to keep him there.
They had their morning routine down to a science. There was barely enough room in a stall for Sam, her, and the quarter horse to fit. It was only exacerbated by the fact that neither she nor Scooter could see his tentacles.
The stall door opened, and Sam came in just far enough to throw the hay into the rack.
“She just texted me saying that they were on the road. I think it’ll be about another hour and a half,” Kate replied.
Sam grunted in response.
It took them another thirty minutes to finish in the barn.
When they finished feeding and mucking the stalls, Sam headed to the greenhouse while she drove the gator out to the manure pile. She headed back to the house after that.
Because they spent most of their time doing chores outside, neither one of them spent much time cleaning the house. But it also never got very messy, for the same reason.
She had about an hour left to get it ready for their guests. She ran upstairs, trying to decide what room to put them in. The first floor was out of the question because she wanted them as far away from Sam’s room as possible.
She settled on the master bedroom at the end of the hall, next to John’s room. It was the farthest possible room from Sam’s. It was also the room with the least lumberjacky decor, which she knew that Jessica would appreciate.
She quickly dusted the room and made sure that the sheets were clean. Then she quickly cleaned the adjoining bathroom.
After she was sure that it was presentable, she ran back downstairs to tackle the dishes in the sink. Then she went back into the living room, trying to see if anything else was out of place. Her eyes landed on the floor by the backdoor which was covered in muddy footprints. It was filthy by her sister’s standards. But Jessica hadn’t exactly given her much time to prepare for the visit.
She thought about mopping it up, but the sound of a car on the gravel drive nixed that idea. Well, great. She didn’t have time to mop it now.
She would just have to hope that neither of them noticed it.
She turned to head towards the front door, knowing that she couldn’t put off seeing them forever. It was only one day, and then it would go back to being just her and Sam.
Oh no, Sam!
She did a quick one-eighty towards the back door.
She threw it open and called out his name, hoping that he could hear her and Michael and Jessica couldn’t.
“Right here,” Sam said as he appeared on the steps of the porch. Well, he didn’t appear so much as his eyes did.
She let out a sigh of relief before stepping back into the house.
She expected Sam to go right to his room, so she was a little surprised when he stopped in front of her.
“I hope you have a good day with your sister.”
She was going to respond, but whatever words she had planned flew right out of her head when she felt something brush against her cheek. His soft lips grazed her skin and she could feel his warm breath as he lingered there for a moment.
All I have to do is turn my head.
She was about to do it, was only a moment away from doing just so, but the slamming of a car door broke the moment.
When Sam pulled away, he took a piece of her heart with him.
“I better go,” Sam said. His deep voice had a husky edge to it that she had never heard before.
She wanted to beg him to never leave.
∞∞∞
It didn’t take Michael and Jessica very long to make themselves at home. It was technically their home, after all.
After helping Michael carry their bags upstairs, they both requested a tour of the house. Michael had never seemed to like her very much and that sentiment had not changed over their long absence. He took time inspecting every room, making sure that they were all in order. Or maybe he was worried that she had stolen something, like a moose head.
As they neared Sam’s room, she frantically wracked her brain, trying to come up with an excuse.
“I never go in that room, Michael. It’s the room John made for his son. It has all his things in there. It feels wrong, you know? Like I’m disturbing something. I swear, sometimes it’s like I can feel his presence surrounding the room,” Kate said.
Michael rolled his eyes at her and continued to walk towards Sam’s room.
She was about to say more when Jessica grabbed Michael’s arm.
“Didn’t you hear her? There is no way that I’m going to let any of us go into that room. You don’t mess with spirits, Bug! And I am not going to stay here if it’s haunted,” Jessica said.
Michael immediately relented. Now Kate was t
he one rolling her eyes.
It was crazy when I said it, but completely normal when Jessica did?
When the home inspection was complete, Michael wanted to take it outside.
“No, no, no. This is sister time! I haven’t seen my baby sis in forever. I’m not going to let you waste that time by making her give you a boring tour of the property. You already know where everything is. Take one of those quads you love so much and enjoy your manly day with your manly chores. Now go!” Jessica said as she shooed him away with a wink and a little smack on the butt.
“Do you have any wine in this place? Or champagne? We could do mimosas!”
Kate led Jessica into the kitchen. She glanced at the clock and saw that it wasn’t even ten in the morning.
“All of the alcohol is in that cabinet,” Kate said as she pointed.
Jessica opened it and started to shuffle bottles around.
“There isn’t like a wine cellar or wine fridge anywhere?” Jessica asked with a pout.
“I think that John was more of a bourbon man.”
Jessica pushed around a few more bottles.
“Aha! Well at least you have vodka,” she said as she set the bottle on the counter. “This isn’t even opened! Have you drank at all since moving here? How have you survived?”
Kate rolled her eyes again.
She had tried to drink with Sam one time. They were watching some movie where everyone got drunk and Sam commented that he had never tried alcohol before. So, of course, she had to make him try it.
It had been fun at first. It only took three shots of whiskey to get Sam plastered, which was crazy for how big he was. She thought at first that it must be because he had no tolerance. But when he spent the rest of the night puking it back up, she realized that it was more likely alcohol intolerance.
She hadn’t wanted him to feel bad, so neither of them drank anything since.
“Where is the tomato juice?” Jessica asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Kate showed her the pantry, with its vast array of canned food. The sight of it filled her with pride. She and Sam had spent a lot of time canning food for the winter. Sam was a pro at it and it all tasted delicious.
Jessica got to work making a pitcher of Bloody Mary as she filled Kate in about everything new in her life. She didn’t work, so she spent most of her time socializing with friends and then gossiping about the friends she socialized with.
They moved to the living room as Jessica informed her about Amelia’s horrible lip injections.
As much as she loved her sister, she found this kind of talk horribly bland. She sipped on her drink as Jessica talked and before she knew it, it was gone. Thankfully, Jessica had brought the big pitcher of it with them.
At some point around her fourth or fifth drink, Kate found herself totally engrossed in Jessica’s stories.
“No! She didn’t,” Kate gasped.
“I know, right! Like what kind of person would do that kind of thing,” Jessica replied as she took another sip of her drink.
She had lost track of what drink they were on, but who cared?
Kate burped and they both erupted into giggles.
“So what did you do? Did you call her out?” Kate asked.
Jessica launched into a whole other story, and Kate didn’t even mind. Everything felt amazing right now, even Jessica’s stories were fascinating.
She finished off her glass again. Jessica refilled it, only spilling a little.
At some point, they both realized that they were starving. Jessica was just as hopeless in the kitchen as Kate was, so they threw together their favorite meal growing up: buttered noodles with parmesan.
Jessica whipped up another pitcher of Bloody Mary while the pasta boiled.
“Oh my god,” Jessica squealed. “I have the best idea ever!”
“And what is this amazing idea?” Michael asked as he came back into the kitchen.
“Bug!” Jessica cried and she ran over to him and threw her arms around him. “I missed you so much! Where have you been all day?”
Michael kissed her forehead and smiled down at his wife.
Kate felt a sharp pang in her heart as she stared at them. They were perfect for each other and obviously in love.
It was so easy to imagine her and Sam like that. Her inebriated mind played that scene. It was Sam coming in from a hard day's work, not Michael. She was inside the house eagerly waiting for him. When he walked into the kitchen, she ran to him and threw her arms around him. He pulled her in for a tight embrace, arms and tentacles pulling her close. And since no one was around, nothing was stopping them from making love, right there on the kitchen island.
“Are you going to just let that boil over?”
“Huh?” Kate said, still wrapped up in her daydream.
“The pasta! It’s boiling over,” Michael repeated.
“Oh!” She exclaimed, before turning around to deal with it. It hadn’t spilled yet, but it was a second away from being a big mess. She pulled the pot off the burner, letting the bubbles die down.
“So what is this best idea ever?” Michael asked his wife.
“Umm, shit now I can’t remember!” Jessica said as she looked around the room. “Oh yeah! We can totally use the Bloody Mary as a pasta sauce!”
Kate agreed that it was a great idea, and so they drank their Bloody Mary’s as they ate their Bloody Mary pasta.
Kate didn’t even notice when Michael left during lunch. At some point, they had migrated back to the living room couch. Jessica was in the middle of her Paris story when Kate realized that it was just the two of them. She couldn’t be happier.
At some point that Jessica deemed appropriate, they switched to stronger mixed drinks.
“How much is in this?” Kate gagged, tasting more alcohol than orange juice.
“Does it matter?” Jessica asked with a giggle.
Kate giggled too. She felt so good right now that she didn’t even care.
“Ohmygod,” Jessica slurred. “I have the best idea ever!”
“I thought the Bloody Mary pasta was your best idea ever,” Kate said.
“Well, this is too! Give me your phone.”
Jessica didn’t wait, she just grabbed it out of Kate’s lap.
“Hey! What are you doing? Give it back.”
“Just a sec. I’m downloading something.”
She showed Kate the screen.
“Tinder, seriously?” Kate asked in disbelief.
“Of course! We are going to get you laid!”
“Nuh-uh. I’m perfectly fine, thank you. Now please give me my phone back.”
“Really? Then when was the last time you had sex? Have you been with anyone since Eric?”
Kate was silent. She had to admit that Jessica was right. This was the longest she had gone without sex and she hadn’t even realized it. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Every time she was around Sam, she was hyper-aware of how badly she wanted him. And she was around him constantly, so sex was practically always on her mind. He obviously wasn’t interested, because it had been six months and he still hadn’t stopped camouflaging himself. Maybe this was what she needed to move on. A one-night stand might do her some good.
“Fine. But I get to set up my own profile.”
“Deal,” Jessica said with a squeal.
How had Kate forgotten how much fun this was? It was hilarious swiping through profiles with her sister. Jessica had immediately implemented drinking rules as they looked through the photos.
“This one’s holding a fish. Drink bitch!” Jessica ordered and they both did.
“Holy shit,” Kate said as she looked through the guys other photos. “He’s holding a fish in every single photo. Eww, why is he kissing the fish? How many times do I have to drink for that?”
“I think we have a Tinder Bingo! That definitely calls for a shot.”
Kate thought that was a great idea. Jessica returned with a new bottle of vodka and some shot glasses. They cheered the
man and Kate dutifully took her shot. She chased it with her mixed drink.
Jessica grabbed her phone while she was distracted and swiped right on the guy. It was an instant match.
“Hey! Why did you do that?”
“I thought he was kind of cute. All that camo matches your new lifestyle. Besides, I think you need a guy who knows how to handle a fish,” Jessica said with a wink followed by some very suggestive hand gestures.
“Ew! Stop, stop! My poor eyes,” Kate cried, covering her face with her hands.
Jessica laughed as she joined her on the couch again.
Jessica took charge of finding Kate ‘the perfect lay’. It seemed to Kate that Jessica wasn't too focused on being perfect, because she liked almost every guy. By the time that they had looked at all of the profiles within two hundred miles of her, Kate’s inbox was full of messages.
“Oh, what about Chad! He wants to know if you’re DTF.”
Kate swayed on the sofa. She tried to look at the picture Jessica was showing her, but she couldn’t get her eyes to focus on the phone.
“No way,” Kate slurred. “I would never sleep with a guy named Chad. I would never be able to wash all of the ‘bro’ off me.”
“Hmm, that is a good point. His profile says he was in a frat at ASU. I think we have another bro-bingo!” Jessica cried.
“Drink Bitch!” they yelled at the same time as Jessica poured two more shots.
“Actually, I think you ladies have probably had enough,” Michael said as he walked into the room.
Kate stared at three Michaels standing in front of her. Why were there three of him? When did they come inside the house? And why wouldn’t they stop moving?
“You looked like you’re about to hurl, Kate,” Michael said.
The next thing she knew, she was stumbling down the hallway past Sam’s room to the bathroom.
She made it there just in time to throw up in the toilet. She was in there for a long time, getting sick again every few minutes. The room wouldn’t stop spinning around her and she couldn’t remember a time when she had ever felt this bad. She rested her cheek against the cool toilet seat and closed her eyes to fight the dizziness.
