Chapter 14
Hog
I carefully crack an eyelid against the morning light filtering in. I slept in.
The next thing I become aware of is that I’m alone in bed. I gingerly lift my head to check the bathroom, but the light is off. Then I hear some noises from downstairs and catch a whiff of coffee.
Coffee.I could do with some to clear the fog in my head. Although, when I do a quick assessment of my body, I discover I’m in pretty decent shape. Sure, my body is sore and the burns feel a bit tight, but nothing like the last few days. The best part is I have no throbbing headache this morning.
It’s Sunday today. Anika’s day off. She needs it after the week she’s had.
Yesterday, despite barely having slept the night before, she was at the salon early. Since there was still no sign of Kim, they had their hands full covering her customers. She was a physical and emotional mess when she rolled in close to five last night. She was able to do little more than have a quick bite of the simple dinner I put together while she was gone, and rolled into bed shortly after with her meds on board.
It’s funny, I thought I knew Anika pretty well, but spending this time with her, I’m discovering new layers of complexity that perhaps weren’t as visible before.
Like her deep sense of responsibility for her friends, her employees, even her business. Her resilience too, which wasn’t something that was obvious from the outside, but watching her roll with the punches this past week has been eye-opening.
Also new to me is, Anika is bold in the way she shows affection. She’s not shy to touch and has no problem sharing how she likes to be touched. She’s all about the physical connection, whether it’s holding my hand or pressing up to me in bed.
I’m not complaining. I loved how responsive and at times assertive she was that first night, but also enjoy the more PG-rated snuggles we’ve shared since then.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I pause for a second to let the brief wave of dizziness pass, before I head to the bathroom. I have an appointment to see the doctor for a follow-up this coming Friday and hope my equilibrium is back by then. I really want to get back to work, too much downtime messes with my head.
Anika is at the stove and turns her head when I enter the kitchen a little later, flashing me a grin. I walk up and slip my arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss in the crook of her neck.
“What are you cooking? That smells amazing.”
Like bacon and curry. The bacon is unmistakable, and the curry must be from the potatoes, cauliflower, and peas she’s stirring around in the pan.
“Breakfast wrap. Aloo gobi, bacon, and scrambled eggs wrapped in a roti.”
“Wow. Ambitious for a Sunday morning.”
“Yeah, I was up early and needed something to do,” she admits.
That’s one more thing I’ve found out about her; for all her confidence and independence, she will show you vulnerability when you’ve won her trust.
“Not a good sleep then?”
She flashes me a tired little smile.
“Not really. I can’t seem to turn my thoughts off.”
I hum sympathetically. She’s understandably worried for her friend and as much as I’d like to, there’s nothing I can say to change that.
“Grab some coffee,” she suggests. “The scrambled eggs won’t take long.”
I turn to the French press coffeepot sitting on the counter and pour myself a cup.
“Top you up?”
“Please.”
The wraps are tasty. Different—curry for breakfast—but I’m definitely a fan. We discuss plans for the day while we eat, and Anika mentions she’d normally be doing work on the house. She’s just not in the mood today.
“What about coming with me to look in on Petunia and her brood? I should probably check in with Franco as well.”
Not to mention that I’m out of clean clothes. The morning I left the hospital, Sumo dropped off a bag with a few things I had in my locker at the firehouse, but I’m going to need more.
Technically, there’s no reason for me to stay at Anika’s, except I want to, and given what is going on in her life right now, I don’t think she should be left alone. Whether or not she agrees with that remains to be seen.
“Yeah, sure,” she responds, playing with the leftover food on her plate.
She didn’t even eat half of her breakfast.
“Okay, good. I’m running out of clothes.”
That gets no particular reaction, which I’m taking as a good sign.
When we get into the truck half an hour later, I’m the one getting behind the wheel. I was told not to drive for forty-eight hours, and even then, only if I can turn my head comfortably. Turning isn’t an issue, only bending down is, so I’m back in the driver’s seat.
“What about your new truck? Now that you’re able to drive again, were you hoping to pick it up at some point?”
“The dealership is not open today, unfortunately. It’s actually one of the things I was going to talk to Franco about. I think he’s coming into town tomorrow for a delivery and it wouldn’t take much for him to swing by and pick me up. He can drop me off in Farmington, I can get the Suburban, and drive back to your place.”
I back out of her driveway and hit the road. It’s not until we’re turning onto a back road I’m using to avoid going through town, she speaks again.
“Are you staying at my place for you or for me?”
I look over and catch her watching me, a blush darkening her cheeks.
“Would you rather I didn’t?” I return.
She gives a sharp shake of her head. “No. Yes! That’s not what I’m saying. I just don’t want you to feel you have to stay because of me.”
When I notice her nervously plucking at the seam of her blouse, I reach over to cover her hand with mine.
“I don’t. I want to stay because of you.”
She doesn’t seem to have a response to that, but when I have to brake for a stop sign a minute later and glance over, she’s trying hard not to smile.
Anika
I’m feeling a little guilty I actually enjoyed the day.
The piglets were still adorable, and when Hog went inside, packing a few things, Franco showed me around his vegetable fields and small greenhouse. He handed me a box and told me to pick what I wanted. I was modest at first, but he encouraged me to take more.
I ended up walking away with a box full of fresh spinach, arugula, asparagus, beets, baby greens, sugar snap peas, and onions. It was a blast.
Of course the fun ends now, driving to my parents for the obligatory dinner. I’m actually nervous and bouncing my leg. As Hog pulls up in front of the house, he drops his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze.
“Relax. It’ll be fine. Bringing your mother some of those vegetables is a nice touch I’m sure she’ll appreciate.”
He leans over and kisses the side of my head.
“Come on, the sooner we get in there, the sooner we can leave. I’m feeling a lot more energetic tonight.”
Despite the nerves in my stomach, I burst out laughing.
“You’re about as subtle as a two-by-four between the eyes,” I tell him.
I’m about to get out of the truck when my phone rings.
“It’s Bill.”
Those nerves in my stomach are now for another reason altogether. I’m afraid to answer.
Hog motions at my phone. “Answer it, Sweetheart. Could also be good news. Either way, better to know than to wonder.”
He’s right, I won’t have a moment’s rest until I know. I answer and put the call on speaker.
“Did you find her?” is my first question.
“Not her. Her car though. Question; do you know if Kim was an outdoorsy kind of person?”
“Outdoorsy?” I echo, trying to mentally apply that descriptive to Kim and failing.
“Water activities in particular,” Evans clarifies. “She never mentioned the paddle rentals at Lake Nighthorse?”
“No. Is that where you found her car?”
“The parking lot.”
“I have no idea what she would want there.”
I look at Hog, whose steady hand, still on my knee, and calm eyes ground me as I ask a question I’m not sure I want the answer to.
“Was there any sign of her? Her purse or phone or something?” I mentally add evidence of violence to that list, but I’m afraid to voice it.
“We’re still looking into that. The tow truck is loading up the car as we speak so we can have a closer look at it in the lab.”
Not exactly the answer I was hoping for, which would’ve been a resounding no, but I guess it’s all he’s willing to share.
“Anyway,” Evans cuts short. “I’d best get going, but is the salon open tomorrow? I’d like to pop in and see what, if anything, your other employees might know.”
I guess he can use my office for some privacy.
“Yes, of course. We open at noon.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Hog suggests gently, when the line goes dead.
I bark out a humorless laugh. “At this point I’d say that’s pretty much impossible.”
I notice Hog suddenly straighten up as his attention seems to be drawn by something behind me.
“Your mother is getting impatient,” he mumbles, and I groan.
It doesn’t surprise me to find her standing in the doorway, gesturing for us to come inside.
“Shit,” I grumble, grabbing for the door handle. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Is everything all right?” Mom asks when we walk up. “You look tired. Are you sleeping?”
“Hi, Mom.”
I lean in for a hug before slipping past her.
“Hog, we haven’t seen you in forever. I even mentioned it to Chuck recently.”
I get a glimpse of Hog bending down to kiss her cheek—Mom is five foot nothing—in the hallway mirror.
“Good to see you, Nira. What can I say? Life’s busy. I sure missed your cooking though.”
Hog’s been on a first name basis with my parents for years, but I never really paid attention. He’s good with my mother though, charming in an aw-shucks way. Clearly that resonates with Mom, who seems tickled at his compliment.
“There’s my girl,” Dad booms from the living room, standing beside the couch with his arms spread.
I walk straight into them and close my eyes, letting Dad take the weight for a moment. My sister-in-law, Trin, is next in line for a hug. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
“Where’s Tucker?” I ask her.
“New girlfriend.”
Trin rolls her eyes and I snicker. My nephew is a good kid, but an absolute Lothario. When it comes to girls, he has the attention span of a gnat.
“Not a keeper?” I tease.
“Puleeze. He brought her over for the first time on Friday and she live-streamed meeting us for her TikTok followers. So self-absorbed I wanted to smack her two minutes after meeting her. I guarantee you Tuck’ll be fed up with her before the week is out.”
I lift up both my hands with fingers crossed. Then I tentatively glance beyond her into the kitchen.
“And Bodhi?”
“Right here.”
My brother’s voice comes from the other side where, it appears, he was just using the bathroom. Despite our brief interaction at the hospital, I’m not sure what to expect tonight.
I’m aware of Hog stepping up behind me, his hand loosely coming to rest on my hip. Bodhi looks from me to him and back.
“You were sitting out by the curb for a while,” he points out.
“Evans called,” Hog answers.
It opens the door for the first wave of inquiries, mostly centered around Kim and her disappearance. I was right, my parents already heard about the damage to my car from my brother, but even he hadn’t heard she’d gone missing.
The topic keeps them occupied and away from the more challenging subject of Hog and me, at least until we sit down at the dinner table and Mom pins me with a look.
“So…” She drags out the word and throws in a dramatic pause to make sure I pay attention.
It’s a tactic that—combined with the look—would often have my brother and I confessing our crimes without the need for her to pry them out of us. But we were kids then, that strategy has outlived its effectiveness, and I’ve become quite proficient at the stare-down part myself.
“What your mother seems to hesitate addressing,” my dad interjects, getting impatient with the face-off, “are the developments that appear to have taken place in your life.”
“I’m not hesitating at all,” Mom snaps. “I simply wanted to give Anika a chance to come clean first.”
Hog—who thankfully is sitting beside me—clamps a firm hand on my knee under the table. He probably guessed my mother just waved a red flag right in my damn face. Instead of flying off the handle, which I likely would’ve done if not for his calm force, I take a breath before I respond.
“Coming clean would imply some kind of transgression on my part, and I can’t for the life of me imagine what that would be. Unless, of course, you are talking about the fact I—as a thirty-nine-year-old grown woman— did and do not feel the need to share every aspect of my life with my family the moment it happens.”
“I’m sure that’s not what your mother meant,” Dad tries to moderate.
We both know it’s exactly what she meant and, even though it all comes from a good place, it’s rather invasive.
“Since when is it a crime to have an interest in my daughter’s life?” Mom asks, going on the defensive.
“It isn’t,” I return. “Except, this is my life we’re talking about, and therefore it’s my choice what parts of it I wish to share, and when I wish to share them.”
“Seems fair enough,” Dad, the peacemaker, suggests.
On the other side of the table I see Trin elbowing my brother, shooting him a see-I-told-you look. Bodhi suddenly develops a keen interest in his plate and avoids eye contact altogether.
Mom, on the other hand, is looking right at me, a bit of a flush on her face, and her mouth tight, but her expression is almost puzzled.
“That said,” I continue, grabbing Hog’s hand under the table and entwining our fingers. “Yes, Hog and I have very recently started seeing each other. It’s very new. With everything going on, we’ve barely had a chance to wrap our own heads around what is happening.”
I hope Hog doesn’t mind I’m including him, but I figure it might get my family to back off him with an inquisition after. His fingers give mine a gentle squeeze, either in encouragement or approval, which both work for me.
It’s Trin who reacts first, and I could kiss her.
“Completely understandable, right, Bodhi?” She nudges my brother again and I have to wonder if they perhaps have had some words on the subject.
He responds with a grunt, but when I catch him peering at me from the corner of his eye, one side of his mouth twitches.
“It makes sense,” Dad agrees as well.
Then Mom drops a bomb.
“Well, I’m not surprised in the least. I always suspected there was something simmering between the two of you.”
If Hog hadn’t been holding on to my hand, I might’ve fallen off my chair.
“What?” she challenges my stunned look. “It was just a matter of time.”
“Yes, it was,” Hog rumbles next to me, giving my mother a nod.
He squeezes my hand again, but now a little firmer. This time it’s definitely an encouragement. I know what he’s expecting me to tackle next, but I’m having some serious second thoughts.
So far, this sit-down with my family hasn’t been half as bad as I’d expected. Mom hasn’t even brought up grandchildren, at least not yet. However, I know once I go ahead and broach the next subject, that could change on a dime.
I dart a glance at Hog, who nods reassuringly, and then I turn to my family, who all seem to sense something else is coming. Every eye is fixed on me.
“I had one last thing I wanted to share.” I take a deep breath and rip off the Band-Aid. “I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.”
“What? You? How?” All questions come from Bodhi.
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry,” Trin says at the same time.
Dad looks shocked and Mom is pressing a hand to her chest.
“I started having some aches and pains a few years back. Nothing major at first, but at some point annoying enough to visit Dr. Randall.”
“What? I just went to see him last week, he didn’t say a thing,” Mom announces.
I can’t control the laugh bubbling up, which isn’t really helping my situation. Trin smiles and throws me a wink.
“Mom, when’s the last time Doc Randall discussed either Anika’s health—or mine for that matter—with you since we were children? Never. Exactly. It’s not his place to share stuff like that with you.”
I bulge my eyes at him. As grateful as I am for him taking a stand for me, the irony does not escape me, and that’s me being kind. My brother is being a huge-ass hypocrite since it was not his place sharing my stuff with Mom and Dad either, but he did.
He catches my expression and shrugs.
“Can we get back to this diagnosis? You saw Dr. Randall,” Dad prompts.
“He sent me for some tests, which led to several visits with specialists, but I won’t bore you with the details. Then I finally ended up with a rheumatologist, who made the diagnosis. She had me try a few medications until we found what worked. In addition, I’ve been making some adjustments in my life—diet, exercise, rest, balance—to make sure the effects of both the RA and the fibro have a minimal impact on my day-to-day existence.”
To my surprise my family lets me get through that litany without further interruption. Relieved to have it off my chest, I lean into Hog, who immediately wraps an arm around me and tucks me firmly to his side.
“Exactly how long have you known about this?” Bodhi inquires sharply.
Hog’s arm tightens on my shoulder. He knows as well as I do, this is the part that will upset my family most.
“I was diagnosed about a year ago.”
Mom surges to her feet and braces her hands on the table.
“Did you say a year?”