“OMG, I heard about your blog,” Silla said. “I can’t believe it. No one can. I mean, you just don’t seem the type. But it’s true. I know it is because we all saw the proof printed out for us to read.”
Eden started to say there’d be no requirement for her to actually read it, but that would delay Silla telling her whatever it was she wanted. Maybe just to try to rub some salt in the wound.
“Your mom’s probably ready to murder you or something,” Silla went on. “Roy, too. But I’m guessing Nico’s having fun with this.” With those heels making annoying woodpecker taps on the sidewalk, Silla sidled up even closer to Eden. “Say, do Nico and you ever playact with things you suggest? Because if so, I can see why he’s taken a liking to you.”
Since Silla finally paused and seemed to expect some sort of response from Eden, she grunted. That guttural sound was enough to spur things right along.
“Say, I read the one about the woman being on the guy’s lap while they’re on the couch,” Silla went on, “and I was wondering if you’d tried that personally. I mean, it looks as if a girl could get hurt doing that.”
Yes, Eden had actually tried a modified version of that with Nico, and it had been extremely satisfying.
“You’re smiling,” Silla pointed out. “So I’m guessing if I ever got adventurous in that kind of way, then that might be one to try.”
Eden grunted again, but she didn’t drop the smile. Or at least she didn’t until she saw Jax hurrying up the sidewalk toward her. Definitely no smile now, and she rethought this whole stupid plan of walking to work and taking the bull by the horns. She no longer wanted to latch on to any proverbial livestock projectile parts.
“Silla, you’ll have to excuse me,” Eden said as politely as she could manage.
“Oh.” The woman looked at her, then at Jax, again as if she expected Eden to provide some kind of explanation.
“A friend of a friend,” Eden told her so that Silla wouldn’t speculate. “He has a very contagious strain of strep throat and a rare form of jumping body lice, and he wants to talk to me about it to get a recommendation for a doctor. I wouldn’t get close to him if I were you. I’ll sure be keeping my distance.”
Silla repeated her “oh,” but this time there was a horrified look in her eyes. She gave a girlie wave and rat-a-tat-tatted her way to the other side of the street. Far on the other side, and she nearly broke into a run to put some distance between them.
“Uh, you know I don’t have lice or strep, right?” Jax asked her.
“Yes, I know. You’re here to talk about either the blog or Piper, but there’s nothing I can tell you.”
“What blog?” Jax, again.
Since he was probably the only breathing, fully functioning person in town who didn’t know, Eden waved that off. “So, you’re here to talk about Piper,” she concluded, and started walking again. Of course, Jax followed, taking up the position next to her that Silla had just vacated.
“I love Piper,” he said. “I love her so much that it makes me feel like an idiot. But it makes me feel good, too. And sometimes bad. It mixes me up. You know?”
Yes, she did know, and that’s when Eden realized the falling for Nico had stopped. She was already there. She was in love with him.
Well, shoot. That should add some more complications to the bull-by-the-horns failure of a day.
“Anyway, now that Piper’s pregnant for real,” Jax went on, “I think she should marry me. That’s why I’m here. Can you help me convince her that we should get married?”
Eden stopped, sighed and, because she truly did understand just how crazy love could make you, she patted his arm. “I can’t do that. This has to be Piper’s decision, and she’s probably already getting plenty of input from Rayelle.”
The roll of his eyes let her know just what he thought of input like that. “Piper says we’re too young, that we can just stay together, and if we’re still in love after I finish college, then we can think about marriage.”
That sounded like a genius plan to Eden. Of course, Eden was hoping that Piper, too, would go to college or a technical school. She’d need at least some kind of training to be able to support her baby.
Eden started walking again. “For now, I think you should just listen to Piper. Don’t hover and insist, either. Give her breathing room.” Especially since she doubted Rayelle was doing that. And that was a reminder for Eden to shift the subject a little. “How is Piper doing anyway? Have you spoken to her since she went back to San Antonio?”
He nodded, gave a grunt that didn’t sound as disgusting as hers had. It was more of frustration. “I talked to her last night. She said Nico’s assistant, Hog, had come over to visit with Rayelle.”
Eden forced herself to keep moving, but that put a stutter in her step. “Hog? I didn’t even know that he knew Rayelle.”
“Guess so. Rayelle and Hog were talking in the living room while Piper was on the phone with me. She didn’t know what they were saying, but she figured Nico had sent him to try to talk some sense into Rayelle.”
No. Nico wouldn’t have done that. He would have put on his big boy boxers and gone himself. Still, she would ask Nico about that visit later.
Just ahead, Eden saw Cleo waiting outside of Roy’s, and she knew she needed to end this visit with Jax. She didn’t want him to let anything slip about Piper being pregnant. That was news that should only come from Piper.
“I have to go,” Eden told him. “Just remember what I told you about how to handle things with Piper.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He sounded neither enthusiastic nor hopeful that what she’d said would work. And it might not. But if he went with it, it would give Piper a little thinking time.
Eden left him standing there and went to Cleo, who immediately took hold of her hand and pulled her into the office building. Roy wasn’t in reception, but since his office door was closed, he was likely in there with a client. Cleo didn’t let Eden go in the direction of her desk but instead took her to the ladies’ room.
The moment they were inside, Cleo reached in her pocket and pulled out a shot glass filled with some kind of brown liquid. It had plastic wrap on it, which Cleo removed.
“It’s whiskey,” Cleo said. “Drink it because you’re going to need it.”
Without even arguing, Eden tossed back the shot and grimaced at the awful taste. “It’s all true about the blog,” Eden told her. “I’ve been writing it for years, and yes, I’ve done some of the things I suggested.”
Cleo stared at her a moment. “Which ones? Because I was going to use the pretend I’m a truck one so that Judd can tinker with me. He’s got great tinkering abilities.” Cleo winked at her.
Eden appreciated the woman’s attempts to cheer her up, but it was going to take more than sex talk and whiskey to do that. “How bad is it?” Eden asked. “Because I figure it’s awful for you to come over here like this?”
“It’s bad,” Cleo confirmed a moment later. “Judd is going to arrest Mimi for littering and placing unauthorized posts on utility poles and private vehicles, but the damage has been done.”
Yes, it had been. “How’d you know Mimi was the one to do it?”
“Plenty of people saw her leaving those papers all over town. The bank even has her on the security camera leaving one there.”
Mimi was probably too riled to worry if there would be any repercussions for her. But there would be. Once the gossips had picked enough meat off Eden, they’d go after Mimi. Eden didn’t know exactly what direction that gossip would take with the woman, but she’d likely get some dirt on her. That was going to have to be enough payback. A tit-for-tat feud wasn’t going to help anyone.
“Tell Judd not to arrest Mimi on my account,” Eden said to Cleo. “It’ll just piss her off even more.”
Cleo shrugged. “I’ll try, but Judd’s pretty pissed. He’s the one
who gets stuck scraping off that sticky tape.”
Good point. So maybe an arrest and Mimi’s community service could be tape-scraping. It seemed like a small price to pay, though, for stomping on Eden’s life like this. It was a reminder that suddenly gave her a heavy feeling in her chest. She wouldn’t cry, but she wasn’t going to be a ray of sunshine today, either.
The ladies’ room door opened, and Shelby came in. “There you are,” Shelby said. She took a small shot glass from her purse. One that she’d balanced in a paper cup. Like Cleo, she’d covered it with plastic wrap, which she removed before she handed it to Eden.
“Figured you could use this,” Shelby said. “It’s from Callen’s prime stash of scotch. Drink it.”
Eden did, not because she wanted it but because it might help with the chest tightness and the lump in her throat. She had good friends. Friends who cared enough to bring her booze and check on her. Of course, the jury was still out on whether or not the booze was a good thing. Eden’s head was starting to feel a little light.
“So, those notes I saw by your computer were for your blog?” Shelby asked.
Eden nodded. Yes, definitely light-headed.
“And you held out on us all this time?” Shelby grinned and nudged Eden with her elbow. “I know having news like this will make your life shitty but know up front that I plan on tapping you for advice.”
“Tap Nico. He helps me with it.” The moment the words left her mouth, Eden regretted them. She should have taken her own advice about staying quiet. That was something that should have come from Nico.
“Pay up,” Cleo said, extending her hand to Shelby, and on a groan, Shelby fished a twenty out of her purse.
“You two bet on this?” Eden asked.
“Yep,” Cleo readily admitted with no shame whatsoever. “I just couldn’t see you not using a knowledgeable source like Nico.” She leaned in. “Please tell me all that practice has made him really good at making you scream out his name.”
Heck, since she’d already spilled too much, Eden just kept spilling. “Oh yes. He deserves a championship title for what he can do.”
This, of course, caused Shelby and Cleo to squeal with obligatory delight. Eden would have done the same for them.
“Try the hand job with Judd while he’s on the phone,” Shelby added to Cleo. “Works great. And I don’t think Callen minds that he lost that client when he belted out those curse words.”
Shelby winked at Eden, but then her expression got very serious. “Are you okay?” Shelby asked. Cleo moved in closer, watching and waiting for the answer.
Eden was certain she could come up with a marginally convincing lie so they wouldn’t worry, but she didn’t get a chance to do that.
Damien walked in.
Eden huffed. “What if we’d been peeing in here?” she asked. Not her best effort to confront him, but at least he heard her displeasure. Saw it as well in not only her glare but also Shelby’s and Cleo’s.
“I’m sorry,” Damien said. “I swear I didn’t know Mimi was going to do that, or I would have stopped her.”
Eden doubted the being able to stop her part, but Damien did look genuinely sorry and rattled. Good. She might not be a mean girl, but she wasn’t exactly a good one, either. She didn’t mind seeing him suffer.
“What can I do to make this better for you?” Damien asked.
Again, there seemed to be genuine sincerity in his expression and voice, and it was only because of that Eden would cut him a break by not saying something mean or snarky.
“If you truly want to make things better for me, you’ll leave. No more visits unless it’s to pick up Miss Kitty. No more phone calls. And especially no more asking me to take you back.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “Just please stay out of my life and get on with yours.”
Clearly, that was not the answer Damien wanted to hear, but she knew in every fiber of her being that he would soon get past the hurt she saw in his eyes. The way he played around, his future ex was out there, and he’d find her.
With his head down, Damien turned to leave, but he couldn’t because Roy opened the door. Unlike the others, he didn’t come in. However, he stood in the doorway, volleying glances at each of them. Roy, no doubt, could figure out what was going on.
“For you,” Roy said, handing her one of the small cone-shaped paper cups that were by the bottled water dispenser. But there wasn’t water in the cup. “Brandy,” he said. “I figured you’d need it.”
Eden sighed and thanked him, but this time she didn’t chug it. She took a small sip. Good thing, too, because it had a serious kick and burn.
“How bad is it?” Eden asked her boss.
“Could be worse.”
In that moment she wanted to kiss him for his eternal semioptimism.
“You should go on home,” he continued. “Take a couple of days off if you like. With pay, of course. I can manage things on my own for a while.”
“I can work,” she assured him.
Roy shook his head. “I don’t have any other appointments this morning. Nico had one, but he’s already come and gone. He said he was heading to your place to talk to you, but I guess he didn’t know you were here in the bathroom.”
No, but that meant he’d be back, and Eden wanted to clear out her “audience” before he returned.
That didn’t happen.
Eden heard the clomp of footsteps, and a moment later her mom and dad stepped up behind Roy. As Roy had done, they peered into the tiny room as if trying to figure out what the heck was going on. That wouldn’t take them long, especially if Damien started talking, so Eden decided on an attempt to defuse the situation with humor.
“I’m tired of the toilet paper being put on the wrong way,” Eden volunteered, setting the rest of the brandy into the sink. Because of the cone bottom, it tipped right over, and she watched with woozy eyes as it swirled down the drain. “This is a little demonstration so that folks get it right. TP placement frustration is a real thing, people.”
Okay, she failed at that attempt at humor. Only Cleo and Shelby snickered, but they were on Team Eden and would have supported anything she’d said.
“This is serious,” her mother scolded.
“And it’s kinda good,” her father piped in, making Eden smile. He was on Team Eden, too. “The feed store’s been swamped with business. Folks were buying like a storm was coming, but Louise and I knew they were in there just to try to wheedle some news about you. Didn’t tell them a thing,” he added with a proud lift of his chin.
Her mother’s chin definitely wasn’t lifted. “I said what you did was some kind of therapy. Sex therapy.” She whispered the word sex. “But really, it’s none of their beeswax, especially since I figure you’re giving it up.”
Eden was so going to have to disappoint her. Not only did that blog pay her bills, but it allowed her to put money in savings. Eden intended to ride that horse as long as she could. However, she didn’t get a chance to say anything else to her mom because she heard Nico call out for her.
“Eden?”
“Back here,” she answered. She tried to go to him, but she couldn’t work her way through the logjam of people in the tiny bathroom.
Nico managed it, though. He snaked through them, tossing a scowl at Damien before he pulled Eden to him and kissed her. Maybe Nico was just doing that to take a jab at Damien, but it still felt darn good. Of course, Nico probably couldn’t give a bad kiss even with an audience.
“You need a drink or something?” Nico asked.
That was the one thing Eden was certain she didn’t need. The combination of the booze and the kiss had made her past woozy and on to dizzy.
“I can’t see how liquor at this hour would help,” her mom answered for her. “I don’t think the kiss helps, either.”
“Oh, Mom, you’re so wrong about that,”
Eden countered. “That’s because I’m in love with Nico.”
Suddenly, you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Well, except for the slight gurgle in the toilet. The handle needed jiggling—that was the fleeting thought she had before another thought came.
Holy shit.
She’d said that aloud. To her mother. To Nico. Holy shit times a thousand. Times a million.
Quick, she mentally told herself. Say something to recover. Another lame joke. But her mind drew a blank. It was hard to think with all that silence, and here were those prying eyes she’d been dreading. Eden wasn’t exactly sure though that Nico was doing any prying. That’s because she didn’t want to look at him.
Soon, there were four other eyes added to the mix. Eden wasn’t sure how she managed to see them what with so many people around, but she spotted Rayelle and Piper peering around her parents and Roy.
“Uh, is this a bad time?” Rayelle asked.
No way had the woman meant that as a joke, but Cleo and Shelby burst out laughing. Heck, Eden joined them because a giggle couldn’t possibly make this worse than it already was.
Rayelle looked flustered, but her question, and perhaps the maniacal laughter, accomplished something. It got people moving.
“I’ll call you later,” her mother said.
“Hey, great about you loving Nico,” her father contributed, causing Eden to groan. She hadn’t figured anyone had misheard her, but hope sprang eternal after two and a quarter shots and blurting out something you hadn’t intended to blurt.
“Gotta do something in my office,” Roy muttered as he walked away, nudging her parents out with him. Later, she would thank her father and hug both him and her mother. If she hadn’t dug a hole and buried herself, that is.
Cleo and Shelby both gave her cheek kisses, squeezed her hand and left, too. Damien didn’t budge though until Eden gave him a look that she was certain would have frozen a desert camel’s balls.
“You don’t deserve her,” Damien mumbled, aiming that at Nico. But then he shook his head. “Neither did I.” And with that revelation that Eden wasn’t going to argue with, Damien finally left.
Sweet Summer Sunset Page 25
