“He’s here!”
“Who?”
Linda fell back on the bed, swooning at the ceiling. “Randy! Your vet!”
“What?!” Dawn jumped onto the bed next to her. “What do you mean he’s here? Where here?!”
“Here,” Linda said. “In the living room. And my God, is he ever...”
Dawn couldn’t believe this. “How did he find out where I lived?”
“I don’t know. But did you know he’s six-foot-four?”
Dawn looked at her. “What? Did you ask him?”
“Yes. Now hurry and get dressed.”
Dawn stared blankly, her gaze descending to the floor as if she were in a trance, and Linda stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Get dressed!”
Dawn nodded and nudged her toward the door. “Go talk to him. I’ll be right out.”
“Got it.” Linda turned her head and pointed her hands like an Egyptian goddess to make her exit. “I will entertain him,” she announced, her silliness transforming itself into dignified behavior before her return to the living room. “She’ll be right out, Randy. You caught her a little off guard. Please, sit down.”
Off guard? Randy stood still. First the apartment, more like a penthouse, now this. Off guard...? What the hell did off guard mean? Jesus, if she’s in there with a man, I’m going to look like a fool. Not to mention how he’d feel.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Randy glanced around the apartment again, thinking she probably meant Perrier or something similar.
“A cold beer maybe?” Linda suggested.
Randy nodded. “That’d be nice.” When Linda left, he shook his head over what he’d just said. ‘That’d be nice?’ He sounded like a country bumpkin.
Linda returned with a bottle of beer and a glass, handed them to him, and motioned down the hall. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Dawn.”
Randy nodded, smiling as he watched her walk away.
Inside Dawn’s room, Linda’s calm-and-cool went ballistic again. “Aren’t you ready yet!?”
“Almost,” Dawn said, a rubber band dangling from her teeth as she finished braiding her hair; not an easy task, it being so long and thick.
Linda motioned for her to hurry up.
Finally. “There.” Dawn held her arms out and twirled around. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful, like always,” Linda said. “Now come on.”
Randy meanwhile, was finding comfort in the absence of any signs of a man living here, at least in the living room. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what caught off guard meant. When Dawn entered the room, he was standing by the terrace doors, looking out.
“Hi, Randy.”
He turned, and clumsily dropped his keys, realizing only then that he’d still had them in his hand. “Hi,” he said, as he bent down and picked them up.
“You’ve met Linda?”
“Sorta...” He smiled, and instinctively should’ve turned his attention to Linda at this point. But he couldn’t take his eyes off Dawn. He’d never seen her in anything other than jeans and a bulky sweater. She was wearing a white button-down blouse made of some kind of silky material and light-colored slacks that, while loose fitting, hugged her hips. Perfectly.
Dawn introduced them. “Randy, this is Linda. My cousin and roommate.”
Randy’s eyes sparkled.
“Linda, this is Randy Iredell. Dr. Iredell actually.”
When Linda extended her hand, Randy grasped it gently. “Do you have the same last name?” he asked, for lack of anything better to say.
“Yes, we do...” Linda said, and frowned at Dawn as if to scold her for her lack of proper etiquette; the two of them laughing then. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” She mumbled something about having to get ready for a date.
The room fell quiet when she left, too quiet, as Dawn and Randy just looked at one another, and it was Dawn who turned away first. She sat down on the couch and tucked her legs underneath her. “I was surprised when Linda told me you were here. How did you find out where I lived?”
Randy sat down next to her. “Your address was on the board in the tack room,” he said, thinking if she wanted to talk about surprises, how about this penthouse. “So I decided to take a chance and see if you were home.”
Dawn searched his eyes when he started to say something else but apparently changed his mind. “And...?”
Randy glanced away. “And well, here I am.”
Dawn smiled sadly. She knew it would be this way with him. He was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
He stood up and walked over to the terrace windows again. “Why didn’t you tell me you lived here?”
Dawn looked at him. “Here? What do you mean? In this area? This apartment? What?”
Randy stared down at the cars parked along the street, Mercedes, Cadillacs, Saabs, and all the rest, the Jaguar looking right at home. He sighed. His reason for coming over here tonight was to ask if she was involved with someone.
“Randy...?”
He shook his head and looked at her. “Never mind.”
“Never mind?” Dawn smiled, hesitating. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at a loss for words before.”
Randy ran his eyes over her, so pretty and so poised sitting there. So sophisticated. Jesus, she belonged here. He shrugged. “Well, that’s because I’ve been trying to get your attention for so long, now that I have it, I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say.”
Dawn chuckled. “Right.”
“I’m serious.” He walked back and sat down, crossed his arms and gazed at her. “See. I’ve got nothing to say.”
Dawn laughed, the tension between them easing. “Have you had dinner yet?”
“No, I thought maybe we could go out for something.”
Dawn shook her head. “I’m too tired. I was just going to order up Chinese. There’s a restaurant in the basement. Do you like Chinese food?”
“Yes.”
Dawn reached across him for the phone, her arm brushing his thigh. “Should I just order the special? Everything they have is delicious.”
Randy smiled, consuming her with his eyes as she leaned back and dialed. “My treat,” she said purposely, just to be sure. “I’ll put it on my tab. You’ve been feeding me all week.”
Randy’s face flushed instantly. “No, that’s okay. I’ll pay if you don’t mind.”
“Suit yourself,” Dawn said. “The special okay?”
Randy looked at her, then glanced away. “Yeah, fine.”
Dawn placed the order and hung up, told him it came to fifteen dollars, and held out her hand.
Randy was brooding again, totally preoccupied as he reached for his wallet and gave her the money. “Who’d you call the other day?” he asked.
“When?” Dawn folded the money and put it in her pocket.
“When we were at the pizza place.”
“I called home. Why?”
“What about at the racetrack, when we were going to go for dinner?”
“Linda again, why? What’s with the...?”
Randy smiled faintly. “I figured it was someone you lived with, only I was afraid it was a man.”
Dawn frowned at the implication. Did he actually think she’d have agreed to go out with him in the first place, if she was already involved with someone? “Randy? What kind of...?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, interrupting. “But you never offer anything. How was I supposed to know otherwise? Not one stinking soul at the track knows anything about you, not even Tom.”
Dawn just looked at him for a second. “That’s because there’s nothing to know.” She reached for his hand. “Come on, let’s go get the food.”
There was another passenger in the elevator on the way down and two on the way back up, so they virtually went and returned without talking to one another. “Do you want a plate?” Dawn asked, heading into the kitchen for drinks.
Randy glanced at the containers. “Not unless you do.”
“Yes, thanks.”
Dawn came back with beers and silverware, sat down next to him, and opened all the containers. The special for the day was sweet and sour pork. “It’s the best. You’re going to love it.”
Randy smiled and just watched her for a moment, at home in a penthouse eating out of take-out food containers. “How long have you lived here?”
“A couple of years.”
Randy paused. She was back into that customary vague mode of hers again. “Just like the car, huh?”
Dawn stared a moment. “Actually, I got the car first.”
Randy nodded, intentionally keeping quiet to see if she’d add anything, to see if she’d elaborate. But she didn’t, which came as no surprise. And as usual, he had to do most of the talking, but that was okay. He was getting used to it.
Linda emerged from her bedroom in a rush, right about the time they finished eating. “I gotta run. How do I look? Are you sure? It was nice meeting you, Randy.” And in a flash she was gone. The two of them were alone.
Dawn stacked the food containers and took them into the kitchen to throw away. “Do you like Webster?”
Randy frowned, wondering if she was referring to some kind of art.
“On TV. You know, the little Papadopoulos kid.” She turned on the television when she came back in, and sat down. Randy put his arm around her and she nestled up close to him.
Webster was having a bed-wetting problem.
During the first commercial, Randy moved slightly to get more comfortable. Dawn put her feet up then, stretched out, and grabbed a throw pillow to rest her head on his lap.
Randy took this opportunity to stroke her hair gently. It was so pretty. And to touch her face with the back of his hand. She had such soft skin. Creamy smooth, he thought. And such high cheekbones and slender neck. His breathing began to quicken as he ran his hand down over her shoulder to her waist, and traced her thigh with his fingertips. Slowly, tenderly, again and then again. And it was then, that he heard her snoring softly. She’d fallen asleep.
He leaned his head back and sighed in exasperation. He couldn’t believe it. Sleeping. But then again, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t tired himself. Shortly after Webster hid his sheets in the closet, Randy was asleep as well.
Linda woke them when she came home a little after twelve. “How long have you two been sleeping?”
Dawn yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t know.” She looked at Randy and yawned again. “Do you want some coffee?”
He nodded, smiling, and while Dawn was in the kitchen, made a trip to the bathroom.
“First door down the hall,” Linda told him.
When he returned, Dawn was nowhere to be seen. He figured she’d be right back, and sat down on the couch opposite Linda in a chair. “So how was your evening?” he asked.
“Nice,” she said. “How about you?”
Randy shrugged. The way she was staring at him made him wonder. Was this a common occurrence, coming home to find Dawn asleep with a man? What an irritating thought. He glanced at her again. She was still staring.
“What’s your sign?” she asked.
“What?”
“Your sign.”
Randy had to think. He didn’t always make a whole lot of sense when first waking up. “Gemini. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
Wondering what, he thought. Was she coming on to him? Could be, the way she was looking at him. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time a friend of someone he was seeing, did this. In fact, she reminded him of that one girl...no, he looked at her again. She reminded him of Mary Lou. His mind wandered. He and Mary Lou were fifteen and it was the first time for both of them. Oh God, what a euphoric mess. He’d never forget it. “My mom’s gonna kill me,” Mary Lou had said afterward. “Look at my dress. That stuff’s all over it.”
“Randy...?”
He turned and looked at Dawn.
“Cream and sugar?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Please.”
“So,” Linda said, when Dawn left again. “What are Gemini characteristics?”
Randy hesitated, what did he know. “That we’re uh, born in May or June.”
Linda laughed and watching him, noticed how he looked into the kitchen then at Dawn. The intensity in his eyes. And suddenly, a wave of sadness washed over her. For Dawn, and what she’d been through. And for Randy, if he weren’t a patient man.
“Do you need some help?” he called to Dawn.
“No, I got it.” She came in with a tray, put it down and handed him his cup first and then Linda, before curling up next to him with one for herself.
In a short period of time he’d come to realize her cousin Linda talked a lot, nonstop to be exact, and about anything and everything. When he’d finished his coffee, and while she and Dawn went for another and something to snack on, he stood up and walked over to the terrace doors where he found himself staring out into the night, frustrated as hell.
He sighed, then something caught his eye, or rather the lack of something caught his eye, and he turned. “Oh Christ! Dawn, the Jaguar’s gone.”
She came back in just then. “No, it’s not. The valet parked it. They park it every night before ten.”
“Oh.” Randy let out a sigh of relief, and walked back and sat down next to her. “They park the cars for everyone in the building?”
Linda returned with a bag of stale cookies she’d found stashed in the back of the cupboard where she’d hidden them in a weak moment. “No, just for the residents that pay for the service. It really comes in handy, especially with the parking ban.”
Randy took a sip of coffee. “What parking ban?”
Dawn and Linda turned to one another.
“Oh shit!”
Chapter Eleven
The police dispatcher was polite, but firm. Randy would have to come down to the station in the morning to pay his fine. Then, and only then, would he get his truck back. He tried to argue that his position as a veterinarian and the possibility of a medical emergency should merit some consideration. But evidently not. Slamming the phone down in frustration, he threw his hands up and walked across the room.
Dawn was reluctant to approach him. “Randy, I’m sorry. I just never gave it a thought. This has never happened before.”
Randy shook his head. He should have found some comfort in that remark. Instead, he took it to mean that her regular callers were from the neighborhood and familiar with the towing policy.
“Take my car home,” she suggested, “and come back and get me in the morning.”
Randy glanced at his watch. It was after one and his apartment was a good forty-five minutes away. “A lot of sense that makes. I’ll end up with about two hours sleep.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Randy looked at her a second, realizing she thought he was blaming her, and smiled apologetically. “No, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.” Of course it wasn’t. It was just him and how he was about being independent, standing on his own two feet, not relying on anyone. It was how he’d been raised. And here he was, at someone else’s disposal.
Dawn slipped her hand in his. “Why don’t you just stay here,” she said, with a tactful glance at the couch to clarify what here meant. “This way you can get some sleep.”
“Oh, come on.” Linda laughed. “You guys don’t need to sleep, you’ve been sleeping for hours. Let’s play Trivial Pursuit.”
Trivial Pursuit? Oh great, Randy told himself, just what I had in mind. Dawn seemed willing though, eager actually, so how could he say no.
“I’m a bit nocturnal,” Linda said, getting the game and spreading it out. “I’m up all hours of the night.”
What a pair, Randy thought. Couldn’t she see he wanted to be alone with Dawn? Particularly now, with Dawn seemingly wide awake.
Linda didn’t feel she was intruding in the least. It never even crossed her mind, and for several reasons. One, she and Dawn had made
a pact when they became roommates that there’d be no overnight male guests to surprise one another in the morning. Background checks and all. Two, they were both on their periods.
“Did you ever play this game before?” she asked Randy.
He shook his head.
“It’s great. Dawn and I are hooked.” She tossed him the die. “You go first. You’ll learn as you go.”
At twenty minutes to four, Randy answered the final question of the second game, and won again.
“Well, that’s it for me,” Linda said, as if they’d been keeping her up. “I’m going to bed.”
Dawn glanced at Randy as she put the game away and smiled. “I’m going to go take a shower and get ready to leave. Do you want me to make another pot of coffee?”
Randy widened his eyes in exaggeration. “No, I won’t be able to sleep for a week as it is,” he said. Or so he thought. She wasn’t gone two minutes when he dozed off.
Dawn nudged him. “Randy, it’s time to go.”
He blinked hard and looked around, then stood up groggily and went into the bathroom to splash some water on his face.
Dawn was a morning person. “Not that I’ve always been,” she told him, when they were on their way. “My first few weeks at the track I was a zombie.”
Randy felt like one now.
Dawn put on her turn signal as she neared her favorite donut shop. “You want some coffee?”
Randy shrugged in the midst of a yawn, as if he didn’t care one way or the other.
“I’m a creature of habit,” Dawn said, pulling in and parking. “I’ve got to have my cup of coffee and blueberry muffin to go.”
Inside, under the bright lights, Randy started to come back to life. He drove from there, allowing Dawn the extreme pleasure of eating her breakfast unimpeded by driving. She thanked him over and over, and each time he just shook his head and laughed.
When he backed the Jaguar into its regular parking space, Charlie rose from his bench at the guard shack, barely able to conceal his expression of disapproval. He said good morning to Dawn and handed several messages to Randy.
Randy glanced through them and gave Dawn her keys.
“What about your truck?” she asked.
Winning Odds Trilogy Page 13
