by West, Dahlia
“No one who knows you would agree with him,” she replied. “It was an impossible choice, Chris. One he had no right to ask you to make. No one can hold it against you. He’s angry. And afraid. You’re just the easiest person to blame.”
Chris sighed and took hold of her hand. He brushed his thumb along the bandage on her finger. “I’m sorry,” he declared.
“I’m not hurt,” she told him.
It was only a tiny wound. And a tiny lie, to match.
*******************
The next afternoon, Chris and the boys trekked to Maria’s for lunch. They did that more often these days. Hayley was serving, with the usual smile, which brightened when the boys came through the front door. They took a table close to the entrance.
Milo sauntered in and took the booth next to the guys. Hayley brought him a draft. He saw her hand and took hold of her wrist. “What’d you do, girl?”
Chris half-scowled. He was still pissed at yesterday’s events. He’d never meant to throw anything in Hayley’s face. He’d been careful not to show too much interest in women at the bar, not to bring them home. It felt wrong somehow, even though he and Hayley had nothing going on between them.
Hayley smiled at Milo. If she was harboring any hurt feelings from Deanna’s tantrum, it didn’t show on her face. “Well. I woke up yesterday morning and as usual I thought to myself, ‘How can I be more like Milo?’ ”
Mile rolled his eyes. “Shit,” he muttered.
Hawk chuckled.
“You’re a legend, Milo,” Hayley continued. “How could I not want to be like you? So at first I thought I should shave my head.” Milo grunted. “But I don’t think that’s a good look for me. And I don’t drink nearly enough beer to get that sexy paunch you’ve got going on there.”
She reached out and patted his belly which make him jerk and then laugh. “Well, the ladies do love it,” he insisted and Hayley nodded.
“I’ve heard the laments of widows and spinsters throughout the Black Hills. ‘Love ‘em and leave ‘em’ is definitely your motto,” she confirmed. “So the answer seemed obvious,” she said, holding up her finger. “But I’ve got to be honest, Milo, at the first sight of blood, I just gave up. I really don’t see how you had the stones to do it. That is really, truly badass territory, cutting off your own finger like that. I can never be like you if that’s what it takes.”
Milo grinned. “Only one Milo Perkins,” he declared.
“The legend continues,” Hayley agreed.
Milo laughed. “Alright, alright. Go fetch my lunch.” Hayley turned and headed to the pass to put in Milo’s usual. Milo picked up his glass and took a sip. “That one’s got a mouth,” he told the guys.
“Full of sass,” Tex agreed.
“Sass. That’s about right,” said Milo, nodding. “I like her.”
“She’s one of the good ones,” Chris confirmed, watching Hayley gather empties at the bar.
Chapter 18
A week later, Chris opened his front door to the delicious smell of whatever Hayley was making in kitchen.
“You’re late,” she chastised, calling to him over her shoulder as she arranged plates and bowls in the island.
He smirked and strode around the breakfast bar. “Yeah, sorry. I was out getting pussy.”
Hayley faltered in her task, but pressed her lips together and continued to look at the plates in front of her. “Well, wash up for dinner. Before it gets cold,” she told him in a softer tone.
“Sure.” He took hold of her upper arm and turned her around. “Here. Hold this for me.” He pressed a large white cotton ball against her chest and moved toward the sink.
A pair of bewildered eyes, one green and one blue, blinked up at her. Hayley dropped the serving spoon onto the island. “Well, hello there,” she said, closing her arms tighter around the tiny kitten. It climbed up her chest and rubbed its face against hers, a low rumbling started.
“She’s deaf,” Chris declared, drying his hands on the towel. “Owners didn’t want her. She can’t ever go outside, too vulnerable, and they don’t want to clean a litter box.” He took a beer out of the fridge and popped the cap. “I better not see claw marks on the furniture,” he said sternly. “First time will be the last time.”
“Awww, look how adorable you are!” Hayley crooned as the nuzzled the tiny thing. “You’re so pretty! Look how pretty you are.”
“Slick, I just said she’s deaf,” Chris chastised.
She glared at him then looked back at the purring creature. “Well, we don’t care, do we?” she asked the kitten. “Oh, no, we don’t. We’re not gonna let a little thing like that get in the way of anything, are we?” She gasped. “Look! Look what I have!” She dipped her finger into a bowl of sour cream and held it out. The kitten grabbed her hand and attacked the treat. The rumbling intensified. “We’re going to need a collar, and some bowls, and a little bed, some toys, and-”
“There’s a litter box, a bag of litter, and a half empty bag of cat food in the truck,” Chris informed her. “The rest of that stuff is on you.”
Chris and Hayley ate fajitas at the table while the kitten attacked his boots in the corner. Then she attacked the cord to the table lamp, and climbed up his couch to perch on the back. He grimaced as he watched. Hayley grabbed the tiny hellbeast and set her on her lap to finish dinner.
“I am not kidding, Hayley,” he announced from his chair as she picked up the kitten in one hand and her empty plate in the other. “No destroyed furniture. I’m not-” He was cut off by Hayley leaning down and pressing her mouth to his. It was a closed mouth, chaste kiss, but it went on for several seconds.
“Thank you,” she told him quietly when she pulled away. “Don’t be fooled by the big, scary man,” she whispered to the kitten. “He’s really very nice. But don’t scratch the furniture anyway.”
********************
The boys had settled in for dinner on Poker Night. Hawk had a drumstick in his hand when he dropped it suddenly. “God damn, what the hell?!” he shouted, leaning back and looking down.
“Peppermint!” Hayley shrieked and dived under the table.
“Um,” Tex said, catching Hayley’s precariously tilting empty chair.
“Ow!” Hawk yelled, trying to twist out of his chair.
“Pepper, no!” Hayley scolded from underneath the table. “No, no!”
Hawk gripped the edge of the table and ground his teeth together. “Obviously, I am now paying for some earlier thoughts I had along these lines.” Chris reached out and clipped Hawk on the side of the head. “Earlier!” Hawk pointed out. “Way earlier!”
Hayley climbed out of from under the table, holding the wayward kitten to her chest. “Pepper,” she said firmly. “We don’t attack the boys. No, no, no. We like the boys.” Hayley picked up a sealed package of tuna off the counter. “Come on, let’s get your dinner.” She headed off into the laundry room.
“What the hell is that?” Doc asked, eyeing the fluffball’s retreat in Hayley’s arms.
Everyone looked at Chris who merely shrugged and picked up another roll to butter it. “Cat.”
“You don’t like cats,” said Doc.
“I don’t hate cats. I just never been around one really,” Chris clarified. “That one’s fine.”
“That one’s mean,” Hawk pouted.
“No, she’s not. She’s just…got sass.
“Like her mama,” Tex added, cheerfully.
“It’s a demon,” Hawk insisted.
“You were holding chicken,” Chris pointed out. “She’s very aggressive about food.”
“I thought you told her no pets,” Doc reminded him.
“I changed my mind,” Chris insisted.
“Meaning she brought home a cat and you didn’t have the heart to tell her to get rid of it,” Doc replied.
Chris ignored him and intently buttered his dinner roll. “Not exactly,” he muttered. Everyone continued to stare at him.
“You got Slick a
cat,” Tex surmised.
Everyone at the table laughed while Chris frowned. “There was an ad for kittens in paper on Sunday. I just went to check it out, that’s all. It’s not like I was really looking.”
“Oh man,” Hawk said. “Stick a fork in him. He’s done.”
“When’s the wedding? I’m so in charge of the bachelor party,” Doc declared.
“Jesus,” Chris grumbled.
“That’s not somebody’s barn cat, all fluffy and long-haired like that. That looks like one of those expensive cats,” Tex added.
Chris looked around the table at the shit-eating grins and finally put down his butter knife. “Look. The cat was free, okay? It was the only one left because it’s deaf. They were gonna destroy that cat. Seemed like a waste of a perfectly good cat, if you ask me. I had to take it. Slick loves the thing. Talks to it all the time, even though it can’t hear. But I think…I think maybe it knows she’s talking to it, or whatever, ‘cause it purrs like an engine whenever she does. Cat needed a home, Slick needed-”
“An anchor baby,” Tex drawled, grinning. Chris glared at his friend. “Can’t take a cat on a bus. I see what you did there.”
Chris sighed. “I just thought she might like the kitten. I’m not that devious. I didn’t consider that.”
“Added bonus,” said Tex.
“True,” said Chris, taking a bite of his roll.
“Out of curiosity,” Tex said, “how much were the other cats?”
Chris rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Few bills.”
Tex gaped at him. “Like two hundred dollars?” Chris picked up his chicken. “Like three hundred?” Tex persisted. Chris took a bite of chicken. “Like four hundred?!”
“Dollars?” said Doc. “For a cat? There’s a ton of free cats out there. Good God.”
“Yeah, well I realize that now, okay?” Chris snapped. “I get it now that she’d much rather have that free, slightly defective one that was gonna get put down, than an expensive, perfect one!”
“Peppermint is not defective!” Hayley shrieked from the hallway and Chris winced.
He turned in his chair to face her. “I didn’t mean it like that. No, she’s not defective. Christ, the thing’s like an attack dog but stealthier. It’s like living with a poofy, white ninja.”
Hayley’s bottom lip quivered. “They were going to put her down? You said they just didn’t want to keep her inside and have to clean the litter box and so they were looking for someone to take her.”
Chris glared at Tex. “See what you did?”
Tex held up his hands. “Hey, when my lieutenant decides to rescue deaf ninja kittens, I’m gonna have questions. It’s just my way.”
Chris got up and crossed the living area to Hayley and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay. She’s got a home now,” he told Slick.
“Were there other deaf ones?” she asked miserably.
“Honey, if there were, we’d have a whole herd of them tearing up the furniture right now.”
“You swear?”
He nodded. “I’d be outnumbered and hiding in the bathroom, in fear for my life.”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Honey, that kitten of yours could take down a pitbull.”
“She likes you.”
“Pretty certain that’s the only reason I’m still alive. If she could go outside, I’d sic her on Mr. Tibbs.”
“What is it with you and him?”
“It’s his job, woman! He gets paid! He should do it right!”
A little after midnight, the poker game had ended and the boys had gone home. Hayley had exhausted herself cleaning, in direct defiance of Chris’ orders not to do any such thing. The kitten, too, had finally worn herself out after investigating all the Rangers individually, including attempting to gnaw on their boots. Her white, fluffy form curled into the upholstered chair in the living room. Hayley, in a nearly mirror image of the tiny feline, had settled into the couch with her own legs tucked up underneath her. Chris had taken the spot next to her, socked feet propped up on the coffee table, and surfed through channels.
He turned his head slightly to find Hayley asleep, her head tucked into his shoulder. He considered waking her, but she seemed so peaceful that he decided against it. He knew she had her lights on at all kinds of ungodly hours. To say she had some issues with insomnia was putting it mildly. He figured picking her up and taking her to the spare bedroom would only wake her.
He turned off the tv and managed to reach the lamp on the end table next to him, extinguishing the light with a free hand. As slowly as he could manage without waking her, he turned, simultaneously pulling Hayley onto his lap. He leaned back, stretched out on the couch with her light frame on top of him. It didn’t take long for him to join her after he let his eyes close.
Chapter 19
Hayley came to waking and was surprised by a number of things. One, light was streaming in through the slits in the blinds of the front window, as opposed to the usual darkness that greeted her when she came to. So she’d actually slept through the entire night. The next piece of information was slightly more shocking. She was lying on top of Chris, who was still asleep. His arms were around her and her head had been resting on his chest. She saw no way to extricate herself from his hold without waking him, she obviously had to.
Why hadn’t he woken her last night? Why hadn’t he just gone to bed if he hadn’t wanted to disturb her?
Gingerly she tried to slide off him, but he made a low noise and his eyes opened.
“It’s still early,” he complained.
Hayley stilled. “How do you know?” she asked suddenly.
“Internal clock, courtesy of Uncle Sam.”
Hayley scoffed. “I have to get up.”
*******************************
Chris frowned. He’d actually slept pretty well with his little tenant stretched out on top of him. He knew she had, too, because it was past dawn. It was pretty early, though, and he’d much rather she lay back down so they could squeeze in another half hour. At least. Hell, he was the damn boss. They could take another few hours. And he knew without a doubt that if she wanted to just that, then they’d lay all day on that couch. But he knew he wasn’t likely to convince her.
He stretched his arms above his head, working the kinks out as she got up.
“If we’re both up this early,” he declared, “how about breakfast?”
Hayley picked up the kitten, who started purring immediately. To his satisfaction, he could tell by the look on Hayley’s face that she was going to agree.
“I’ll hurry up and hit the head,” he announced before she could change her mind.
The warm water hit him and roused him further from sleep. In truth he didn’t really care about breakfast. If Hayley wasn’t amenable to continuing snuggling, he still wanted her in the house just the same. He ambled into the kitchen to find the kitten eating from a small bowl on the floor and Hayley at the stove making pancakes. He smiled to himself as he opened the fridge to pull out a carton of orange juice.
On Sunday, Chris had finished mowing the lawns and was showering again. Hayley was in his (bigger) kitchen, roasting a chicken in his oven. Pepper attacked as soon as she saw him rounding the corner, drying his hair with a towel. He winced as she climbed her way up his jeans. He set the little hellcat in the crook of his arm and flopped onto the couch. Chicken settled into the oven, Hayley joined them in the living room. She took the remote control off the table. He scowled as she fired up the DVR. Ten minutes later he’d reached his limit. Chris snatched the remote control away from her.
************************
“Give me that back!” Hayley shrieked, reaching for it.
“This is terrible,” Chris declared, flipping through channels. “They can’t even sing!”
“Because it’s auditions week! It gets better!” she insisted.
“Couldn’t get worse,” he mused.
She grabbed at his arm and he raised the remo
te over his head, out of her reach. She got up on her knees next to him and tried to grab it. When she nearly toppled over his lap, she put a hand on his shoulder to brace herself. She looked down at him at the same moment he was looking up at her. God, the man smelled good, she thought. It wasn’t right that a man should smell that good. It wasn’t even him, his scent. It was whatever soap he’d used in the shower, but still…damn. His hair was still just a bit damp and the way it fell in a thousand different directions made him look more wild, more carefree than he normally did. And men shouldn’t have eyes that color. Not green, not gray, some shade in between.
