by Galli, Lynn
“What? No.” I jerked forward in my seat. Dammit, how could so much change in one week? “Why?”
“Nat doesn’t deserve…” She shook her head. The strands of her hair didn’t move as they usually would. Either she hadn’t washed her hair this morning or she’d worn a hat at work. “I’m not sure this is a good fit for me.”
“Did something happen with one of the clients? I know she has you going out on electrical jobs, but I thought you liked that.” She did. I knew that. She preferred being an electrician to working regular construction. She hadn’t done either back in Denver. So why would she be thinking of moving back where she wouldn’t get to do the work she loved?
“I did, do, it’s just…” Another pull on her cigarette. The stench permeated every molecule on the porch and made my eyes blink away a slight sting. “Nothing. A feeling.”
I considered this. It couldn’t be one of the guys. They were all joking around that day I helped out with landscaping, but perhaps she felt left out. “Maybe it’s just a bad week. I don’t like making decisions when things seem bad at first. It could right itself.”
She nodded and finally seemed to give me her full attention. Her lips tugged up in the start of a smile. “I meant to call you back. I just—” Her gaze shot over my shoulder and an obscenity flew out of her mouth.
I craned my head around at her sudden alarm. I recognized the familiar markings of two police cars as they pulled into her drive. Again? No wonder she was so stressed.
“Time to go, Mol. I need to deal with this.” That steely façade slipped back into place.
“I want to stay. Help if I can.” Knots formed in my stomach. I disliked this front Falyn put on but hated that she felt she had to put it on.
“I wish you wouldn’t.” Sadness poured from her eyes and posture.
“Falyn Shaw, we have a warrant to search the premises. Stay where you are.” One of the officers came up onto the porch and addressed me. “Ma’am, do you live here as well?”
“No, just a friend.”
“I.D.?” He asked as his partner joined him on the porch. A man in a suit came up behind them. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“Why?” I asked as Falyn said, “She came to visit one of my housemates.”
“Sit tight.” The officer turned back to the man in the suit.
“What’s going on,” I whispered to Falyn. “Do they think you have whatever was taken?”
Her breath hitched. “They’re going to look.”
Were they crazy? Just because she was in the house where something was stolen didn’t make her a thief.
“Can she leave?” Falyn asked. “She doesn’t live here and has nothing to do with this.”
The police officer stared hard at her before checking with the man in the suit. Then he looked back at me. “You can go.”
I watched Falyn. She looked resigned but not worried. She also looked like she wanted me out of here to spare her more embarrassment. Such a different attitude from the woman I’d been getting to know. A much tougher, much harder version of herself. When threatened, I could become a little like that. The least I could do was cut her some slack.
“Call me later?”
“Sure,” she sounded dismissive for the cops’ sake.
I weaved through the four officers on the porch to get down to my truck. Once inside, I called Vivian. If this had something to do with Natalie’s company, she should know.
“The police are searching Falyn’s place,” I said as soon as she answered.
“What? Right now?” This was the appropriate amount of distress. Vivian didn’t go for steely fronts.
“She just told me to leave. She’s acting like it’s no big deal.” Or Falyn the Android was acting like it was no big deal, I should say.
“I better tell Nat.”
“Do you know what’s going on? Are they searching Nat’s place, too?”
“She wasn’t at the jobsite. Just Falyn, Miguel, and Cole.”
“Are they searching Miguel’s place?” I was grabbing for anything that would make sense of the police getting a warrant to search someone’s house without other evidence. It seemed like they could make the same case for a party guest or housecleaner.
“I don’t know.” A loud breath whistled across the line. “Listen, I know you guys…well, anyway, it’s not my place to say anything.”
What was that? Vivian didn’t hold things back. That wasn’t like her at all. “What’s not your place?”
“Nothing,” she was quick to assure. “Just give Falyn some time to deal with this.”
“Okay.” She was right. I’d be freaking if the cops were searching my place. I could give my friend the space she needed to work through this odd turn of events. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Molly?” Vivian paused and cleared her throat. “I know you want to fix this, but really, just give her a little time.”
Why did it feel like Vivian knew more about the woman who’d become my good friend and whom I’d had a sexual relationship with? Nothing about that felt right or good.
18
Palming the c-notes, I finished shaking the hand of the father before his two girls wrapped their arms around me in a sandwich hug. They’d been fun and adventurous but a lot of work. They’d also been with me all weekend. A long exhausting weekend that I was glad to have over. I’d earned the next two days off, and the two hundred dollars the father had tipped me.
I dragged the shop vac over to the van and began cleaning it out. Wayne and one of the new guys put this off until their next shift, which often meant that if someone needed the van first thing, they were stuck with cleaning someone else’s mess. Drove me nuts.
“High energy those two, huh, Mol?” Ron asked as he came out the back of the store after closing for the night. “You wiped?”
“They were cute, but that father is in for a wild ride once they reach their teenage years.”
“Don’t I know it. My Beth was hell on wheels once she hit fifteen. I wasn’t sure either of us would survive.”
I smiled. His daughter was Ron’s pride and joy even during her teenage years. Now in college, I missed having her underfoot at the shop on weekends. She’d liked me even when she was being a teenage hellion. “Any news from Greece?”
“She’s still enjoying it. I’m the best dad in the world.”
I had to laugh. It had been his wife’s idea to let Beth spend the summer in Europe. He didn’t want her to go. “You are, Ron.”
He beamed and took the vacuum from me after I shut it off. I put the clean floor mats back in place and dumped the collected trash into the bin on the way back into the store. I checked the schedule on the board, noting that I was leading a hike on Thursday, white water rafting on Friday, mountain biking on Saturday, kayaking on Sunday, and hiking on Monday. All good activities, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. I still had three to four months left of these summer activities, and I was already getting a little tired of them. Or maybe it was something else I was tired of. Two days off would help.
I flipped through the contacts on my phone. I could use a drink with a friend. My thumb hovered over the listing for Falyn. No, she was going through some stuff right now and clearly didn’t want me around. Vivian and Dwight were on their annual international shopping trip to pick up new design ideas and elements. Kelsey liked to chill out at home on weeknights. James was taking a conversational Spanish class. Nobody looked good as I scrolled through every name. Monday nights were hard to motivate people into anything. That was one detriment to my job. I worked weekends when most of my friends had them off.
Tessa. Hmm. I could try her. If she wasn’t taking clients around for showings she might be free.
I pressed the call button and waited for it to ring through. “Hey, Tess, you free tonight?”
“Yeah, let’s do something fun.”
I felt a smile come over my face and breathed in a sigh of relief. At least someone was free tonight. We made p
lans to meet as I zipped up my backpack.
Outside, the street was fairly quiet now that the ski areas were closed for the season. Summer tourists customarily arrived Thursday or Friday afternoon and stayed four days. Shops closed earlier, restaurants took one or two days off a week, and fewer people window shopped. It was easier to scent the air, pine and bark and lushness. A crowded town dampened the luster of the mountain freshness.
Crossing over to South Mill, I made my way into Tessa’s favorite bar. I preferred the one closer to my place with over twenty beers on tap, but this place had passable mojitos. After ordering our drinks, I debated placing a food order, too. Tessa always had the same thing here, but I didn’t want to be too assertive. She had enough of that with Kathleen.
“Molly-Bear!” Tessa exclaimed as she wove through the tables to get to me.
“Hi, Tess.” I stood to hug and kiss her hello. The gentle brush of lips didn’t cause my heart to flutter. It most definitely didn’t set me aflame like someone else’s kiss had.
“I’m so glad you suggested this. I had a tough weekend with three open houses yesterday and signed up two new buyers.”
That actually sounded like a good weekend for her. She needed buyers. They were more work for her, but buyers almost always closed a deal. Sellers could fire her after three months if she didn’t close the deal.
“Kathleen called while I was showing a couple around my West End place.”
My eyebrows rose. Kathleen had been giving her the cold shoulder since they broke up. “So you finished with the showing and called her back?”
“Huh?” Her eyes flicked away. “Oh, no, I took the call.”
I pushed back in my chair. “You what?” During a client showing, she took a call from her bitch ex-girlfriend who’d been ignoring her for months? Clients didn’t like when they weren’t the sole focus of their realtor. Tessa knew that. Tessa lived by that.
“She called me. Finally!” Excitement made her light blue eyes glitter.
“What did your clients think?”
“Huh? Oh, well, they weren’t my clients, just a couple going through an open house. They weren’t buyers anyway.”
“Did they have a realtor? Did you try to interest them in other properties?” These were all things she’d normally do, had done many times. Tessa was good at her job. So was her business partner, Rachel. I knew Rachel wouldn’t be happy to hear that Tessa blew off potential new clients to take a phone call from her ex.
“What?” Her gaze flicked away in thought. “Oh, you know, I didn’t think to ask. They weren’t acting like buyers. You know everyone wants inside one of the Victorians in the West End. They were probably just neighbors who wanted to snoop.”
“But you don’t know that for sure.” I wasn’t sure why I was so upset about this. It seemed like I cared about Tessa’s career more than she did right now.
“I have their names on my list. I’ll contact them tomorrow. But she called!”
She was so exuberant I wanted to be happy, but I wasn’t. “Great.” I mustered my best fake smile.
“Isn’t it? She wants to get together and talk.”
“Tess,” I began then stopped. What? Don’t let that bitch manipulate you anymore? Don’t hang your hopes on something that isn’t going to get better? Get over that user? “Be careful.”
“Of what? She sounded happy, like her old self.”
I shook my head. Falyn had been right. I was working toward a losing goal. Even if Tessa was interested, I’d be nothing more than a rebound. She obviously needed someone like Kathleen whether it was Kathleen or not. I didn’t fit that role.
“You’re right. Hope it turns into something.”
“Me, too,” she said dreamily then went on to tell me every word Kathleen said and what she hoped would happen when they met for drinks.
Not once in all the time she talked did she ask how I was doing or why I’d called for a night out or how my weekend tours had gone. She was normally a lot more considerate, but she obviously functioned better as a couple.
Scratch one more potential off my list. It seemed like I’d gone through every possibility in town and the next town over. Maybe my old tour company in Seattle was hiring. I much preferred small mountain resort towns to city life, but college had been fun there and the tour outfit was good enough. There were a lot more single lesbians. Single lesbians who weren’t looking for a rebound. And single lesbians who weren’t my buddies that caused confusing emotions whenever I was around them.
19
A doorbell interrupted my closet organization. I’d been reduced to closet organization for my evening’s activities because I couldn’t interest anyone in going out on a Tuesday night. It needed organizing, and I’d make some donation center very happy tomorrow when I dropped off all my gently used but mostly forgotten clothes. A benefit to wearing cargo shorts and company shirts half the year was that a few pairs of jeans completed my wardrobe the rest of the year. Some of these clothes followed me here from college. It would be good to be rid of them.
The doorbell sounded again. I growled, wanting to shout through the connecting wall to my neighbor’s unit. She was always home by now and always entertaining at this hour. If I heard her doorbell, surely she could. Then I realized it was my doorbell.
I dumped a pile of old sweats into the nearly full donation bag and went to the door. Falyn waited on the landing looking tired and a little sad. I sucked in a breath, feeling a flush come over my skin.
“Hi. Are you busy?”
“No. Come in.” I stepped back to let her brush by. The smell of smoke wafted off her. Guess she’d upped her once a week habit to every day. I shouldn’t be disappointed. It wasn’t my body, but the odor wasn’t great.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her tone and expression showing every bit of her sorrow. “I’ve been a little wrapped up and a lousy friend. Please accept my apology.”
She was just full of surprises tonight. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I don’t know how I’d be if the police were hassling me for no reason.”
Her hazel eyes skated away from mine, searching the apartment before coming back with a determined look. “It doesn’t excuse me blowing you off. I’m sorry for that.”
It seemed like she was leaving something out. Not that it mattered, I was just glad to have her here tonight. So glad that I hugged her.
She went rigid for a second then relaxed into my arms. My face brushed against her hair. The smoky smell blasted me as if she’d blown it right into my eyes, but I didn’t care. She felt so good. Her long arms clasped around me, hands gripping my sides. Her heart beat against mine, heavy thumps that felt as good as her hug. We held each other for a long time, letting it release our tension.
“The Rockies are on,” I said when she started to pull back. “We can make your fabulous burritos and watch.”
She started to smile but concern clouded her expression. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
My hand came up, fingers touching eyelids that were somehow wet. Odd, I wasn’t sad. I was just the opposite now that she was here.
“Oh, jeez, you’re allergic to cigarette smoke, aren’t you?” She gripped my shoulders and stared at me with sorrow. “Why didn’t you just say so when you found out I smoked?”
I blinked my watery eyes to clear them. Allergic to smoke? Was that a thing? I knew it bothered me and I could smell it from yards away, but allergic? “I don’t think I am.”
“But you can smell it on me, can’t you?” She stepped back. “I’m sorry, Molly.
“It’s okay.” I closed the distance between us. “I never noticed it was a problem. I just thought I didn’t like the smell.”
“It affects you pretty badly.” Her hands came up to cup my face, thumbs brushing away the moisture from under my eyes. “Well, that’s the best motivation I could have for quitting.”
My eyes popped wide. She’d quit so it wouldn’t bother me? Amazing, and one of the main reasons I liked her so muc
h. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I will. I don’t like it anyway. It’s just a habit I picked up in…a bad habit. It doesn’t help with stress as much as it used to.” She brushed some stray strands of her hair off her cheek. They fell into place at the wave near her ear. No hat hair today, nothing but bouncy, shiny blond tresses. “I’ll head home to shower and change. Do you want to come over and watch the game there?”
She might change her mind if she got back to her place. If I went over there again, she might decide to push me away like she had the last time. I couldn’t risk that happening. “Use the shower here. I’ve got clothes you can borrow.”
She squinted and tilted her head. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll get the stuff for dinner started. You know where the spare towels are.” I felt my face get hot and looked away. Yeah, she knew where the spare towels were. The last time she was here she’d used one, put it in the laundry, and woken me to say goodbye after we’d made love most of the night. “I’ll set out some clothes for you.”
She studied me for a minute. Perhaps she was also remembering the last time she’d used my shower, or maybe she was thinking the same thing I was. If she went home, we’d lose this fragile reconnection. “Okay.”
The shower flipped on as I was pulling tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce out of the fridge. I almost started humming, thinking about how happy it made me that my friend felt comfortable here. That she’d shower because she knew the smoke bothered me. That she wanted to stay.
I ventured into the interrupted chaos of my closet to find a Rockies jersey and my best pair of shorts and set them outside the bathroom door. I turned and hurried back to the kitchen, fighting the desire to open the bathroom door and place the clothes inside. My glass shower door wouldn’t hide anything. I’d be glued in place staring at her wet, lean, sexy, showering body.
Friends. Buddies. Chums. Pals. No looking or thinking about naked, sexy, wet, friend bodies. Or how her hipbones created these enticing little dips that drew my eyes to the soft, trimmed curls on her mound. Or where her collarbones stood out, pointing to that lickable hollow at the base of her throat. And the upward tilt of her squeezable breasts. I should have stayed awake to study her longer. Touch her longer.
