At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(36)

She looked at me and grinned. “Action man?”

More like Superman but I didn’t tell her that, I just said, “Yeah.”

She leaned into me. “My advice, though you didn’t ask for it, I’m still givin’ it to you, enjoy it for what it was. It was obviously good and a girl needs to get her some. Nothin’ wrong with that.” Her eyes went back to Joe then came to me. “He reopens that door, Vi, walk through it and take what you want. You find another man who’s good to you and wants more, you can walk away. But that was my booty call and he lived next door?” She paused, her head having jerked toward Joe and she grinned again. “I wouldn’t waste that opportunity.”

This idea was so preposterous, I laughed out loud.

She laughed with me and when we were done laughing, she lifted her margarita glass.

“I’m dry, babe, you want another?”

I handed her my glass. “That’d be cool, thanks.”

Her eyes slid across the yard to the grill again and she went on. “I’m thinkin’ I want a brat.” She looked back to me and her look was wicked when she suggested, “Maybe you wanna come with?”

I shook my head.

“You look hot in that tank,” she encouraged.

“Joe’s seen the tank. He was at my house this morning and he was with me when I bought it.”

Her head tilted to the side in confusion. “He was at your house this morning?”

“He’s installing a security system at my house, not by my choice.” I sighed when she looked even more confused and explained, “It’s complicated.”

“I thought you said it was a couple night thing. He took you shopping?”

“Shopping was after he was done with me, before the security system.” When she just stared at me, I finished. “It’s a long story, also complicated.”

She nodded and got up, saying, “I’ll get our margs and my brat then come back and you can tell me.”

“It’s not interesting,” I warned.

She looked down at me on the grass from her slut shoes, high-heeled height and remarked, “Known a lot of men, mostly ass**les and players, so got some experience, so much you could pretty much say I’m an expert. Don’t know a single player who takes a woman shoppin’ and installs a security system in her house after he’s done with her.” She leaned down a bit and smiled, saying, “So, babe, gotta say, this complicated business sounds all kinds of interesting.”

Before I could reply, she walked away, somehow managing to walk through grass in high, spiked heels without looking like a fool and I decided Cheryl was very cool.

“Momalicious!” I heard shouted from beside me and I turned to see Keira running into the yard, her arms wheeling, her hair flying, her face in a full-on smile.

She threw herself at me and I caught her because I had no choice and went down on my back. She slid off my side and got up on a hand to look down at me.

“Get this!” she shouted.

“Hello, my darling Keira,” I cut her off and my eyes went up to see Heather, Keira’s friend (who, incidentally, looked exactly like a Heather, petite, tons of curly-to-frizzy red hair and about seven million freckles all over her body). I came up on both elbows and said, “Hey Heather.”

“Hi Miz Winters,” Heather smiled at me.

“Mom!” Keira called my attention to her. “Guess what?”

“What baby?”

“Heather’s dog had puppies!” she shrieked.

Oh f**k.

Keira had always wanted a dog, always. She’d been at Tim and I since the minute she knew dogs existed and she could speak intelligent English. Tim had wanted a dog too. It was me who held back because I loved dogs and my Dad got me one when I was nine and she’d been run over when I was fifteen and that had been the worst day of my life, losing my dog (until two years later, when I found out I was pregnant and Mom and Dad had thrown me out of their house). I didn’t want that for my daughter (or Tim, for that matter), the inevitable day when your beloved family pet would go away. I wanted to shield Keira whose heart, like mine and her sister’s, was too big for her own good, from that hurt.

Now it seemed ridiculous, she’d lost something far more precious than the family pet.

“They’re all white and so fluffy and cuddly and Heather’s Dad said they’ll give us one for only two hundred dollars!” Keira went on.

I stared at her.

Two hundred dollars?

The money situation had settled, mainly because Bobbie still hadn’t found anyone part-time and she didn’t seem to mind paying me overtime. It was high season for her (outside of Christmas, Bobbie put on a whale of a Christmas at her shop, her displays were extravagant and you could buy anything Christmas there, she was known for it, people came from neighboring states just to shop at Bobbie’s for Christmas crap or simply to wander around). I was getting five to ten hours a week on time and a half which helped loads.

But she could find someone and things would change. I didn’t need an extra mouth to feed, even a canine one and especially a canine one that cost two hundred dollars.

“That’s a lot of money for a dog,” I told Keira.

“They sell them for a lot more than that, he’s gonna give us a deal,” Keira replied.