CHAPTER 31
Nellie
Several days passed with nothing but longing looks and a growing hunger between me and the guys. I’d stopped walking slightly funny on the second day and then I’d started to feel like they were taking me too seriously about not touching me. I was healed and I wanted more. The more time that passed, the more I was able to talk myself into a lot of things, though.
I’d run the gamut from thinking they didn’t want me anymore to worrying I hadn’t actually been very good at sex and they were trying to let me down gently. I felt like I'd been transported back to high school, before Waylan, when all I had to fret over was whether or not the boy I liked, liked me back. I was a grown woman. I had better things to worry over. Yet…there I was.
Waylan had her first day of school in Devil’s Den. She was starting later than the rest of the kids and I’d been anxious over the idea of her coming home, saying she hated it. Except, she didn’t. She came home and told me she never wanted to leave, that she liked her teacher, and the next day was show-and-tell and she wanted to take her new BB gun. I’d shut that shit down quickly.
With Way in school and Steve only needing me to work part time, I had too much time on my hands. I’d never had so much free time. Ever. I wasn’t sure what to do. I tried reading some of the books Ms. Vivian had lying around but I quickly realized reading erotic stories wasn’t going to make me any more relaxed. Things got desperate enough I tried to give Papa Jack a bath.
I’d started the project that morning, as soon as Waylan left. I don’t think I finished it. By lunchtime, I still hadn’t managed to get a drop of water on the giant cat. I was soaking wet. The bathroom was drenched. Papa Jack, however? Dry as a bone. He sat on my bed, foot raised in the air as he slowly cleaned it, looking as smug as I’d ever seen an animal look.
I pushed wet strands of hair out of my eyes and glared at him. “You’re terrible. I’m going to reintroduce pickles into the house so Way can fuck with you.”
He yawned and then jumped off the bed and slowly strolled out of the room. I’d never felt so offended by an animal before. Personally offended.
I followed him. “I’ve fed and housed you for fourteen years, you big shit. The least you could do is look a little guilty for bullying me.”
“Sweetheart? Is everything okay up there?” Ms. Vivian stood at the bottom of the stairs, twisting her hands together. “The sounds…They were disturbing.”
I groaned and sat on the top step. “Papa Jack was being Papa Jack. I tried to give him a bath.”
She let out a loud bark of laughter and then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, dear.”
I found myself laughing along. “He’s an absolute asshole.”
She looked down at where he was circling her legs, rubbing against her. “Oh, I don’t know. I think sometimes males, of all species, just give the ones who love them a hard time. Hence why I’m a lesbian.”
I’d never heard her come out and say the words, despite knowing she’d been with the same woman in a relationship for longer than I’d been alive. I smiled at her and shook my head. “I doubt that’s the only reason. Men really are terrible.”
She wagged her finger at me. “Don’t you pretend you aren’t smitten over the boys upstairs. I may not have been in your life for a decade, but I know you, young lady. Those men aren’t terrible and I know you don’t think so. Word around town is that you really don’t think they’re terrible. You’ve got all the single ladies who were hoping to make some of that fresh blood theirs, up in arms.”
I knew I was blushing. “They’re fine. The single ladies should just relax. I’m sure the guys will be over me soon, if they aren’t already.”
“Dummy.”
I scoffed. “What? Did you just call me a dummy?”
“Yep. Meant it, too. Those boys aren’t done with you. They walk around here with their heads on a swivel, just trying to get one glance of you. In the morning and at night. They’re just as smitten with you as you are with them. I’d say it was cute if there weren't so much penis.”
Laughing, I didn’t let myself believe what she was saying. “You’re wonderful, Ms. Vivian.”
“Yeah, yeah. Why don’t you get cleaned up and go see Woodrow at the station? I heard through the rumor mill that Henry and Seth had to go into Dallas for something to do with the Mays stuff.” She eyed my wet clothes. “And clean up the mess I’m sure you left before you go.”
I bit my lip. “I should stay here. I have things to do. Waylan will be home in a few hours…”
“Like I said, dummy.”
I stood up and sighed. “Fine. I’ll go see Woodrow at the station.”
“And don’t try to bathe Papa Jack again. He’s a cat, for fucks sake. They clean themselves.”
I was still grinning at hearing her swear when I finished cleaning up the mess I’d definitely left behind. I didn’t consider the drenching I’d received from Papa Jack to be a proper cleaning so I took a quick shower. I got dressed in a long-sleeved dress Virginia had found at a vintage thrift store. It hugged my curves but flared out at my thighs. The green color made my eyes pop and when I paired it with my knee-high boots, I felt like a vixen from the seventies.
I finished getting ready and met Ms. Vivian at the bottom of the stairs when she walked out with a bag of cookies in her hands. I felt self-conscious about how hard I’d tried to look good when she looked me over. “I just thought… This is an old… Dammit.”
She handed me the cookies and pinched my cheek. “You’re going to leave him drooling. Go on and get your man.”
“Not my man.”
“Don’t be a dummy, dummy.” Ms. Vivian winked at me and then left me standing there as she went back to the kitchen.
I sighed. I wasn’t a dummy. Woodrow wasn’t my man.
No matter what I secretly wanted.