by Devon Monk
Lu walked a steady pace. I fell into place beside her.
“Hey, love,” I said.
She tipped her hand up at her side, and I pressed my palm into hers.
“Love you too,” she said.
Chapter Sixteen
Lorde couldn’t stop wagging her tail. Her ears were velvety peaks, her mouth open, black tongue lolling and happy. Lu knelt in front of her, her forehead against the side of Lorde’s head, scratching behind her ears softly.
“You’ll need to change the dressing twice a day for the first few days,” Dr. Carter said. “You should be able to take off the wrap in a week, or when she starts using her leg without limping. She’s going to heal nicely as long as she doesn’t overdo it in the first few days. No running, no climbing stairs. Can you lift her into your vehicle?”
Lu nodded, still draped over Lorde, fingers buried in her fur.
The truck was still at Sunshine’s garage. I’d tried to steer Lu there first this morning, but she’d been determined to get Lorde before anything else. Including food.
But she wasn’t going to make Lorde limp around town to pick up the truck or food. She’d called for a Lyft driver, who was waiting outside.
“Just give her pain medication and antibiotics according to the schedule here,” Dr. Carter made a note on the prescription pad, “and check in with a vet a month from now, or if you see anything odd with the wound.”
“We got it,” I said. “Old hands at dealing with wounds. She’s going to be fine, Lu.”
Lu nodded again, and with a breath, finally let go of Lorde and stood. Lorde tipped her head my way and wagged her tail harder until I reached down and took over the scratching behind her ears.
“Thank you,” Lu said, accepting the piece of paper and the little bag with the bottles of medicine. “I really appreciate you taking such good care of her.”
“She was a brave girl. I’m happy she’s on the mend. But no more bullets, Lorde, okay?”
Lorde just sat there enjoying my fingers stroking behind her ears.
“Leon,” I pushed to Lu. “He stayed with her last night. Did a good job.”
“Tell Leon thank you for staying the night with her too.”
The doctor smiled, obviously surprised that Lu would have remembered the man who took the night shift for Lorde.
“I’ll tell him. He said she slept straight through.”
“Good. Thank you again,” Lu said.
“We’re happy to have been here,” Dr. Carter said. “I certainly hope things settle down. No more excitement in the future, okay?”
Lu gave her a small smile and a wave, because saying she would never be on the wrong side of a gun when a magical item was involved would be a promise she couldn’t keep.
Lorde stood and limped to Lu’s side, her injured foot touching the ground for half a second before she put her weight on the next foot.
Lu opened the door for her. I passed through the wall to meet them on the other side.
“Good girl, Lorde,” I said.
The Lyft driver, Tom, was a kid with a Black Hawks hat on backward and a collection of chin zits. He looked like he’d just escaped middle school, but he produced ID that said he was twenty-one. He pushed off the hood of the Dodge Durango I figured he had borrowed from his parents, just as Lu crouched down.
“Want me to help you with her?”
“I got her,” Lu said, straightening with a hundred pounds of dog in her arms. “Get the door?”
“Yeah, sure. Hold on.” He snapped to it, opening the back door, then jogging around to the other side and opening that door so he could reach half way through to help get Lorde settled.
Lorde eased out of Lu’s arms and found a comfortable place on the seat facing the side window so she could rest her head on the edge of the door.
“You want to sit up front?”
“No, I’ll ride back here with her.”
“Yeah, good. Okay.” He buckled the seatbelt, checked his mirrors, and put the car in drive. “Where to?”1
“Fisher’s Automotive.”
“Is Calvin working on something for you?”
“My truck.”
“Good choice. He’s like the truck whisperer. I’ve got a 1960 Dodge D100 short bed he’s helping me restore. He’s got a knack for bringing old things back to life.”
“Sounds like he knows him pretty well,” I said from the front seat. I spread out, enjoying the leg room.
“How well do you know him?” Lu asked, picking up on my comment.
“Calvin? He’s my cousin. Good guy. He had a chance to take over ownership of this big shop in St. Louis, but he turned it down. Said this was the family business. He wanted to stay here in McLean to take care of family. He thinks almost everyone in town is family.”
“Don’t even start with me,” I warned Lu. “Sunshine had his chance with Jo, and he blew it. He might be a nice guy, but maybe he’s not the right nice guy for her.”
Lu petted Lorde and stared out the window. She was thinking awfully hard about something, but I wasn’t sure what.
“I love you,” I said.
How I loved to see that little secret smile.
I hadn’t expected the fight.
“Whoa,” Tom slowed the car in front of the garage. “That’s, uh… I’m sure it’s not what it looks like.”
“Looks like Jo’s about ready to punch your cousin in the schnoz,” I said.
Sunshine stood in front of the open bay doors, his arms crossed over his chest, both thumbs sticking out from under his armpits. His mouth was set in a hard line, his nostrils flared. He looked like a mountain facing a storm.
And what a storm she was. Jo’s hands were loose at her side. But everything else about her was spoiling for a fight, from the angle of her shoulders, to her stance, to the tension in her spine.
“If you want to come back later,” Tom said, “I could take you somewhere to wait for this to blow over. Want breakfast? A cup of coffee?”
“No,” Lu said. “Just drop me off here.” She had that determined look in her eye as she turned away from the scene of a fight that was about to explode and gathered Lorde into her arms. “Get the door for me, Tom.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Sure thing. Hang on.”
He put the car in park and was around to the door in a flash.
“Let it go, Lu,” I said. “It’s just not gonna work out. They’re oil and flame. Explosive. We need to get the truck, pick up some food, and hit the road.”
Lorde grunted softly as Tom helped Lu exit the car. I sighed and climbed out too, planting my hands on my hips and taking in the scene.
“Morning,” Lu said.
“Lu.” Sunshine’s voice was as tight as a fist down a pipe. He glanced over at her and immediately uncrossed his arms. “What happened to Lorde? Holy shit, let me help you with her, hang on.” He jumped into action and had his hands in place to take Lorde away from Lu, but Lu shook her head.
“Is the truck done?”
“Yes, it was ready last night. I left you a message. I wondered— What happened to her?”
“She was shot.”
You would have thought Lu had brought the gun with her and was waving it around.
The three men working in the garage all strode out, wiping hands on rags, a sort of protective swagger shared between them, as if they were brothers more than co-workers.
“When?” Jo was all motion, too, moving along with Lu who was carrying a very alert tail-wagging Lorde toward the main door to the building.
“Yesterday.”
“Out by Dot’s place?” Sunshine asked. “I heard there’d been gunshots, but didn’t know anyone had been hurt. Poor girl. Who would shoot a pretty girl like you?”
“An asshole,” Jo said. She’d made it to the door before any of us and opened it. She stepped inside the little lobby, looking for a place for Lu to set down Lorde.
“I hope you called the cops on whoever did this,” Sunshine said. “But if you did
n’t, just give me a description, and I’ll do a little civil disobedience.”
“Okay,” I said, “maybe he has his good points.”
“Where can I set her down?” Lu asked.
Jo glanced at Sunshine, then they both said, “the office,” at the same time. Calvin headed out into the work bay while Jo ushered Lu down the hall to the office. She open the door and Calvin reappeared with a couple heavy moving blankets and spread them on the floor in the corner.
Lu knelt. Lorde stepped out of her arms and stood there for a moment, her head tipped up, that black tongue out as she panted, tail wagging, happy to be there.
“Ray,” Sunshine asked one of the guys lingering in the doorway. “Get us some water for her?”
“You got it, boss.” He left, and the other two men crowded up the doorframe, but didn’t step into the small space.
“You need anything else?” the taller of the two asked.
“No, we’re good,” Sunshine said.
“You didn’t even ask Lu,” Jo said.
He glared at her. She glared back.
“Here we go,” I said, settling in near the old file cabinet. “A match made in heaven. Don’t they look like they can’t wait to write love sonnets?”
Lu threw a look my way.
I chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’m just saying that truck is never gonna be called Silver.”
“Coffee would be nice,” Lu said.
“Decent name, but doesn’t really do it for me,” I said.
Jo and Sunshine broke off the staring contest and turned to her. It didn’t take a genius to see that Lu was exhausted and pale. Jo caught on first.
“How do you like it?” Jo asked. “They have one of those nice, single-serve machines in the break room.”
“You think it’s nice?” Sunshine asked. He quickly shut his mouth, as if surprised he’d even spoken.
“It’s, well, it’s the kind that doesn’t use those little pots that can’t be recycled.”
“I think those pots are the dumbest things,” he said. “Why not use a pot that can be used for fresh grounds every time? We don’t need to add more waste to the dumps.”
Jo nodded. “What do you do with the grounds?”
“Give them to folks who like to put them on their gardens. Take some home for the flower beds.”
“That’s— Oh.” Jo’s face flashed pink, and her gaze skittered away, landing somewhere on the wall behind me.
“He’s not that charming,” I said.
“I like mine black?” Sunshine said.
That snapped her back into gear. “Who said I’m bringing you coffee?”
“No one. But I can hope?” The smile he gave her was bright as sunshine. Sunshine that pushed the clouds away and spun across the blue sky like the first fresh breath of spring promising long, warm summer nights.
Jo bit the side of her lip and narrowed her eyes, considering.
“Or not,” he said, that smile still not wavering. “But Lu likes it with sugar, no cream.”
Jo raised an eyebrow at Lu.
“And hot,” Lu said. “Biggest cup you have.”
“I’ll be right back.” With a quick look at Lorde, who had decided she’d done enough standing and was lying down now, Jo left the office.
“What are you doing?” Lu rounded on Sunshine, her finger jabbing the air between them.
“Uh… Getting you some coffee?” He glanced out the door Jo had just exited. “Why? Do you want something else?”
“I want to know why you and Jo are fighting.”
He scowled, all the sunshine disappearing behind the shadow of frown lines.
“She has some kind of idea of me in her head, and I’m tired of trying to prove that idea isn’t right.”
“So you’re yelling at her?”
“Who said I was yelling at her?”
“I did. I could hear you on the way over here.”
“She can do that,” I said. “Her hearing is amazingly sharp.”
“So?” he asked.
“So that is not the way to tell someone you like them.”
“Who says I like her?” His volume rose, loud enough that Ray, who had just returned with the water looked a little startled. Then a sly smile crossed his bearded face.
“Sure, boss,” Ray said. “You like her. We can all see it.”
“You… I don’t.” Sunshine rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Just put the water down before I fire you.”
“Then who’s gonna rebuild your carburetors?” Ray asked as he put the water beside Lorde and gently patted her head. “Good girl. Don’t listen to Calvin. He’s so in love he’s snarling at everything that moves.”
“You’re fired,” Sunshine said, with no heat.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna get back to work, unless you want to deal with Mrs. Dutton today?”
Sunshine glared at him while Ray paused there at the door, hand on the latch.
“Tell Mrs. Dutton I said hello,” Sunshine said.
“That’s what I thought. Morning,” he said to Lu. “Oh, and boss?” Ray said, turning the latch.
“What?”
“I think Jo’s pretty great. You would be smart to tell her you haven’t stopped talking about her since the moment she stepped into the shop.”
“I don’t pay you for your advice,” Sunshine said.
“You should. Because I’m right. Aren’t I? The very idea that Jo is leaving without you having a chance to explain things to her and see her again is killing you.”
“Go away. We’re no longer related.”
“Just say, I’m gonna miss the hell outta that Jo when she’s gone.”
Lu crossed her arms over her chest and waited. Ray waited, the door almost free of the frame.
“You are the worst brother-in-law ever.”
“Spit it out, brother.”
“I’m gonna miss her like hell,” Sunshine said, every inch of him miserable. “Even though we just met, and I’ve made a fool out of myself. I just… I wish it had all been different.”
Ray jerked open the door.
Jo stood there, two cups of coffee in her hands. She stared at Sunshine. He stared at her.
I groaned. “No. No way. One confession doesn’t fix the fact that you two were about to go WWE outside just ten minutes ago.”
“Hey, so, I got coffee.” Jo walked over to Lu and handed her a huge mug in the shape of a stack of tires with “Starter Fluid” written across it.
“Thanks.” Lu sounded smug. Way too smug.
“Oh, this isn’t over yet,” I said. “Just because she overheard a forced admission doesn’t mean she’s going to stay.”
Jo handed Calvin his coffee next. He took it from her, and for a moment, they were both holding the mug.
“So are you two going to talk this out?” Lu asked. She pulled out the chair in front of the desk and lowered herself carefully into it. Hosting Stella had been hard on her, even though Lu had a much stronger constitution than a human. “Because I have the biggest cup of coffee in this room and more time to waste than the both of you put together.”
“Your truck’s done,” Sunshine offered to throw her off the trail.
“That won’t work,” I said.
“Lorde and I could both use a few minutes of downtime before we hit the road. And since I’m the reason you two started off on the wrong foot— Don’t give me that look. You were distracted the day you first opened the door and found her here. Saying things that you probably wouldn’t have said. I was there. So,” Lu pointed at Jo, then at the chair on the other side of the desk, “how about you both say what needs to be said.”
I saw the exact second they both realized they could not outwait Lula Gauge.
Sunshine stepped away from the desk and leaned his hip against the window sill.
Jo dragged the chair out and away so she could see both Sunshine and Lu at the same time.
“You should know I am not in your corner, Sunshine,” I said. “But if you’r
e gonna have any kind of a shot with a person like Jo, you’re going to have to talk honest.”
“If I’d met you anywhere in the world,” Sunshine said, “I’d say to myself: that’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. I’d find some way to try to catch your attention. I’d hope against all God-given sense that you’d see me. That you’d talk to me. Even once.”
Jo blinked. She clasped her hands in her lap and nodded once.
Sunshine tipped his head to the ceiling, took a breath, then talked honest.
“I think you’re out of my reach. You’ve lived in big cities. You’ve made your own path in the world, and you don’t take shit from anyone. There’s no reason you’d want to date me. I’m working in the town where I was born, in the business my father and grandfather ran. My employees are family, or friends who might as well be.
“And I don’t ever plan on leaving McLean. My family’s here. My roots are here. Besides all that, I like it. I like knowing every face in town—for good or bad. I like the pace, the quiet. I just…like my life. But now that I’ve met you, I’ll always know it won’t be complete.”
“Calvin…” Jo said.
“Hold on. Just give me one more second, and I’ll have said it all, okay?”
She nodded.
Lu drank coffee and threw me an intolerably smug look.
“One pretty speech isn’t going to fix anything,” I said.
“I know this was just a pit stop. Just one more job. But I want you to know, I’m going to remember you forever, Jo. Even if I never see you again.”
“Bingo,” Lu whispered so quietly, only I heard her.
“Not bingo,” I said. “Jo has her own mind to make up. Don’t you, Jo? Are you going to let this guy guilt you into something you might regret for the rest of your life?”
Lu scowled at me, and I gave her a wink. “All’s fair in love and truck names.”
“Let me get this straight,” Jo said. “You think I’ve got it all together, working a road job for a crappy computer repair company, and you think you’re falling behind being a business owner who is obviously a cornerstone of your town?”
“No, you’re not seeing what I was…”
“Hush,” Lu said. “Let her have her say. She listened to you.”
