16. Cale
16
CALE
S leepy Rock is a postcard, the sort of place where the Hallmark Channel of Lifetime Whatever movies are filmed.
Not that I’m knocking the setting. Far from it.
Center Street, the main drag, is a narrow thoroughfare lined with charming pastel-colored buildings, none of them higher than two stories. At one end is a really old building that looks like a courthouse. In front of the courthouse, a banner stretched between two pine trees promises that there will be square dancing on Friday evening.
Sadie insisted on driving her pickup truck so I’m wedged against the window of the cab beside Jasper, who talks a lot.
“And Doc says she’d help me search for schools with good veterinary programs and she’ll even write me a letter of recommendation, which is awesome, and all I need to do is keep my grades up and I can’t believe I’ll be graduating in a year. Oh, sorry,” he says when he bounces around too much and accidentally stabs me with a bony elbow.
“No problem.” I shift an inch closer to the window to give him more room to carry on.
Sadie bypasses Center Street and turns into a residential neighborhood where the houses are small and the yards not especially neat.
She pulls up to the curb and turns to Jasper. “No more walking to the ranch at night, okay? You can always call me for a ride.”
He nods. “Can I still come back tomorrow? I’m on spring break for the rest of the week.”
“Of course. As long as you clear it with your mom first.”
He frowns and looks at the little brick house we’re sitting in front of. “She won’t even notice.”
I open the passenger door and step out to let Jasper exit. To my surprise, he extends a hand to me. “Thanks, Mr. Wingate. Glad to see you’re feeling better.”
I look at Sadie, still in the driver’s seat. She shrugs. Apparently no one told the kid my real name. I don’t see much reason to correct him now.
“And I’m glad to be feeling better,” I say and meet his handshake.
He grins, shoves an unruly mop of dark hair out of his eyes and jogs across the barren front yard to the front door. I watch until he’s safely inside.
Sadie waits for me to climb back into the truck and shut the door. She shifts gears and pulls away. “Does he remind you of Luca?”
I glance back at the brick house. “I hadn’t thought of that before but yeah, maybe a little.”
“He’s a great kid.”
“Seems like it. And Luca was always a great kid.”
“I’m curious, what did Luca have to say about this whole marriage thing?”
I don’t like to think about how I’ve lied to my brother. Or how he’d completely disapprove if he knew the reason. “He said if I’m happy then he’s happy.”
“Huh. Wish my brother had such a positive attitude. He told me I was reckless and stupid. And you don’t want to know what he said about you.”
There are few things that matter less than Baylor Wingate’s opinion of me. But for some reason I’m ready to throw punches when I hear that he’s insulted Sadie. “You don’t deserve that shit. Send him my way if he gives you more trouble.”
She throws me a look. “I think not. But this protective quality of yours is cute so I’ll overlook how it might be tinged with homicidal intent. Now fasten your seatbelt. You’re rather accident prone these days.”
“Watch the road,” I grumble, but I do click my seatbelt closed. “And I’m fresh out of homicidal intent today so Bitchy Baylor is safe.”
Sadie drives in silence until she stops at a red light and notices my left hand, resting on my knee. “You wear your ring every day, don’t you?”
“And you never wear yours, do you?”
“Ha, shows what you know.” She peeks down her shirt and reaches inside. I won’t lie; I’m tempted to lean over for a closer look.
Sadie fishes a chain out and shows off the ring dangling from the end of it. “I do wear it every day. Just like you insisted.”
“All right,” I say, with my eyes still glued to the shape of her tits beneath a bulky hoodie.
Why does she need to have such a great body?
It’s a question that’s been troubling me since our Vegas wedding. If I wanted to shock her, I’d let her know just close she came to getting her cheerful little brains fucked out that night. I would have wrecked her and she would have loved every minute. So would I.
It's something I still think about. More than I should.
Sadie drops the ring back inside her shirt, patting it into place between her luscious breasts. How funny to feel jealous of a ring.
But it’s not a good idea to dwell for too long on the excellent tits belonging to the wife I’m not allowed to touch. Shifting my gaze to the right, I force myself to consider the view of Sleepy Rock.
Meanwhile, Sadie chatters away while I conduct a silent battle with a boner. “And so we’ll just stop there before we go pick up the order at Burt’s Feed. Unless there’s somewhere else you want to go as well.”
“Stop where?”
“At Gus’s clinic. I just told you that I want her to look at your wound to make sure you’re healing properly.”
Ah, Gus. The disapproving best friend who dresses like every day is a costume party and specializes in throwing withering glares of judgement in my direction.
“I’m healing just fine,” I say. “And she’s a vet.”
But Sadie is already turning into the parking lot of a stand alone brick building with a green roof. A sign on the front says Sleepy Rock Veterinary Clinic.
“Come on, Cale,” she singsongs when I don’t leap out of the truck and run to the front door. “This won’t take long and it won’t hurt a bit.”
“I get the feeling that’s what gets said to Spot before his appointment with a big needle.”
She pats my arm. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a cocker spaniel.”
She lets out an ‘ugh’ noise and jumps out. My eyes follow her as she marches around the front of the truck, reaches the passenger door and flings it open.
“I’ll drag you if I have to,” she says with a sweet smile.
There’s no chance that girl could drag me an inch. But I exit the truck anyway. The truth is, I owe Sadie a thing or two. If it makes her happy to see me get examined by a vet then I can play along.
Inside the building, the waiting room contains long purple benches. The walls are decorated with large black and white canvas pictures of dogs and cats. The largest of them is a close up shot of Apollo and Zeus.
Sadie approaches the reception desk and murmurs to the young woman wearing turquoise scrubs. The woman cranes her neck to peer at me through thick glasses and then gives Sadie a nod. Sadie says something else and the two of them erupt with giggles. A black poodle, tethered to a rhinestone leash held a bald old man sitting on a bench, cocks its head and wags its nub of a tail.
“I’ll let her know,” the woman says.
Sadie turns to me. “Just take a seat for now. Gus will find a few minutes to see you. And I’ll be back.”
“You’ll be back? Where are you going?”
She stops at the door. “I have a quick errand to run. Don’t panic. That is, unless you really need me to stay here and hold your hand.”
If we weren’t being watched by multiple strangers and a poodle, I might be inspired to fire back with a filthy comment. Instead, I plunk down on one of the purple benches.
“Behave yourself,” Sadie warns. “I have friends here. I’d like to keep them.”
Then she breezes through the door, leaving me to wait for my appointment with the vet. The poodle unrolls its pink tongue and watches me. The old man holding the dog’s leash wheezes some laughter as he scrolls through his phone.
“Daisy,” calls the receptionist. “It’s your turn.”
The old man rises with an audible creak of joints and his dog wiggles with excitement. “Let’s go, Daisy girl,” he says in a gravelly voice.
Daisy trots happily alongside her owner as they disappear through a door. The receptionist returns to her desk and becomes absorbed with her phone. A mounted screen on the wall shows two animated dogs eating a bowl of spaghetti.
With nothing else to do, I pull my own phone from my back pocket and check on the latest news. Back in New York, the Dukes are on a ten game winning streak and one article leads with a photo of Baylor Wingate shaking the hand of the team captain. His forced smile looks painted on. This thought has barely finished registering when I’m startled by the next headline.
Bill Barone, Brother of Billionaire Entrepreneur Albie Barone, Dies in Brooklyn Carjacking.
Naturally, the word ‘entrepreneur’ is fudging the truth a bit. The Barones own multiple shipping companies but I’ve heard their real bread and butter comes from illegal imports. In any case, they are Cosa Nostra originals going back a hundred years, which is one reason why Richie was intent on marrying me off to a Barone daughter.
Although I’ve got a healing hole in my side to prove that random shit happens, it’s unlikely that Bill Barone was snuffed out by a random carjacker. The Barones don’t even go out for coffee without deep backup. Albie Barone has already survived two hit attempts.
It’s something to chew on.
Something else to chew on is the fact that Richie has not mentioned this information to me. Though I’m technically recuperating and on a ‘second honeymoon’, it seems like someone would have found the time to share the news. Being out of the loop makes me uneasy.
The door that Daisy the poodle last walked through swings open and out comes Sadie’s best friend. Gus spots me, scowls, and scans the room. She’s dressed in her spiderweb lab coat. Giant earrings in the shape of witch’s hats dangle from her ears.
“Sadie will be right back,” I say.
Gus heaves a gigantic sigh and pushes her purple glasses up her nose. “Emily, I’ll be in Room two for a few minutes. Anna is giving Daisy her shots.”
“Got it,” chirps the receptionist.
Gus motions to me with impatience and I follow her lab coat through the doors and into a small exam room. “You’ll have to remove your shirt,” she says, snapping on a pair of blue latex gloves.
A jar of dog biscuits sits on the counter behind the sink. On the wall is a corkboard filled with handwritten notes and animal photos. I draw the line at sitting on the metal exam table meant for dogs but I remove my shirt without a fuss.
Gus raises an eyebrow at the sight of my bare chest. “At least you have some nice ink.”
“Thanks. And at least you have some nice witch earrings.”
She smirks and bends to examine my bandage with a frown. “Any pain?”
“Now and then.”
She peels back a piece of the tape that was holding the bandage on. “I don’t see any sign of infection but I’m also no expert on human bullet wounds. I’m a veterinarian. I treat animals.”
“You should tell Sadie that. I don’t think she knows.”
Gus snorts and removes her gloves. “I’d say you’re good to take the bandage off tomorrow. If you need more medical advice you should seek treatment from a doctor who specializes in people.”
“Noted.” I pull my shirt back on. “Are we done now?”
“No, we are not.” She props her hands on her hips and raises her chin. “Sadie Wingate is my best friend in the whole world. She’s also one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.” Her eyes flicker to the ring on my left hand. “I know Sadie very well. And I know that for whatever reason, you’re important to her. I have no idea what you’ve talked her into but she better not get hurt.”
“Even without your sermon I would never hurt Sadie.”
That is the honest truth.
It’s also the truth that when I hear Sadie’s best friend say that I’m important to her, a weird feeling hits me. I don’t believe she’s lying. Gus doesn’t strike me as the type who blows sunshine up anyone’s ass for the hell of it.
Gus sighs. She adjusts her orange and black striped headband. “You can go now. I have patients to see.”
“Thanks for the advice, Doc.”
She makes a face. “Usually I would say to help yourself to a dog biscuit from the jar but I wouldn’t want to waste any on you. And you better not mess up the Halloween room. It’s my favorite place to sleep.”
Gus leaves me to find my own way out. Back in the waiting room, Sadie has returned.
She grins and rattles a paper shopping bag. “Surprise. I bought you a present. You said you wanted a souvenir. This one will keep you warm.”
I look inside and see a black zip up hoodie.
“Try it on,” she says as she pulls it out of the bag and shoves it up to my chest. The words Sleepy Rock, Colorado are painted in white script across the back. “The size is extra-large. I hope that works.”
Her enthusiasm is kind of adorable. Besides, I can’t deny that the outside air is a little too cool to go running around in only a t-shirt. I pull the thing on without delay.
“Look at you.” She walks around me in a circle and lets out a wolf whistle. “You could almost pass for a local. What did Gus say?”
“That my bad attitude probably won’t kill me.”
She laughs. I don’t hate being the one to make her laugh.
Bert’s Feed Store is our next stop. The staff greets her like a visiting queen. I’m waved aside by a husky dude in overalls because he’s intent on loading all the feed bags into the bed of the pickup by himself. This isn’t the place to start an argument and far be it from me to keep the guy from the joy of throwing heavy bags around.
“You’re a prince, Doug,” says Sadie to Mr. Overalls. She even gives him a quick hug.
He blushes. He digs his meaty hands into his denim pockets and smiles at the floor.
An unusual sting of jealousy strikes. She is, after all, my wife. No lousy shithead in overalls gets to have thoughts about my wife.
Nuts. Must be all this country air screwing with my head.
Sadie is fiddling with the music when I duck into the passenger seat again.
“This thing is ancient,” I say, watching her twist a metal radio dial. “Why didn’t you buy a new car? There’s enough money in the account for five cars.”
She shakes her head. “The money is for the ranch.”
“The money is yours for whatever you want, Sadie.”
“I like my truck. And anyway he sounds way better in here.”
“Who?”
She grins and turns the volume way up. “My man Elton. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard Rocket Man before.”
“I don’t often listen to music not from this century.”
“For shame. Elton John is an international treasure. Enjoy. And look out the window because I’m taking the scenic route back to the ranch. Maybe that will cheer you up. See those mountains in the distance? We’re less than thirty miles from Consequences Hot Springs. I haven’t been there but someday I’ll find the time. The resort was originally built in the nineteen twenties. Used to be a favorite movie star spot.”
When I do not respond, she wags a finger in my face.
“Stop that,” she says.
“Stop what? I’m following your freaking instructions and listening to Elton John while staring at hills.”
“You’re silently cursing while listening to Elton John. That’s practically a sacrilege.”
In fact, I was not silently cursing. Instead, I was picturing Sadie naked. The thought kind of popped in there and wouldn’t go away. I didn’t mean to have it. Just a reflex.
Now I’m wondering how freaky she gets and what she sounds like when she comes. If she whimpers or gasps or shouts dirty words. How I’d love to crack this wholesome act of hers and find out…
“JERK!” Sadie shouts and slams on the brakes.
That’s just about the strongest language I’ve ever heard her use. Now I’m second guessing whether I accidentally voiced my vulgar thoughts out loud.
A cloud of dust fills the air as we veer to the right and come to a halt on the side of a two lane road. Sadie jumps out of the truck before I can ask any questions. I really don’t know what the fuck just happened but I’m not sitting in here by myself.
Sadie must have sprinted. Twenty yards behind the truck she’s already having an animated conversation with a hulking bearded guy in front of a mud-spattered black pickup. They’re standing a few feet apart but I already don’t like the tension so I jog over, ignoring the tug of vague pain in my side.
“Here,” Sadie says and pushes some cash at the man. “That’s what I have right now, James. Just let me drive home and get the rest. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
Now I can see a crudely lettered PUPPIES FOR SALE cardboard sign propped up beside the truck. Faint, high-pitched whining noises come from a large box on the ground.
This James character throws me a suspicious look and plucks the cash from her fingers. “Not making any promises. But if you get back before anyone else shows up you can have the two little ones. Two hundred apiece.”
Sadie doesn’t like this answer. “I said I’d take all three of them.”
“The mama isn’t for sale. She’s for breeding.”
Sadie looks inside the box. I look with her. Two wriggling puppies are tearing up bits of newspaper while a very exhausted looking small brown dog raises her head. She might be some kind of a chihuahua mix. Her fur is dirty and her nose appears dry. She gazes at us with hopeless brown eyes.
“She’s too young,” Sadie says in a soft voice. “And look how malnourished she is. All of them clearly have fleas and need medical care. Please let me take her. I’ll pay double.”
“The answer is no. And I don’t care how many bleeding heart tears you cry. Now do you want the two runts or not?”
I’ve had enough of this asshole. I step up and meet his glare. “It’s James, right? Let me explain something to you, James. This is really simple. We’re taking all three dogs home with us right now.”
His beady eyes blink. “Never even seen you before. Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the guy who will be back in an hour with three grand in cash if you shut your fucking mouth and give up the dogs. If not, I’ll be paying you a visit. And if it comes to that, I promise I’ll be a whole lot less polite than I’m being right now.”
James blinks again and shifts his weight. I sure wish I had some hardware at my side right now but if my instincts are correct then it won’t be necessary to flash any metal.
“But how do I know you’ll come back?” he whines.
Just as I thought. All bully and bluster with balls of sand.
“I’ll be back.” I bend down and carefully lift the box, making sure to support the bottom.
Sadie is already dashing back to the truck. “I can hold them on my lap if you do the driving.”
“Deal.” I wait for her to sit in the passenger seat and gently hand her the box. The mama dog lets out a small growl but I don’t take it personally. I’m sure she’s not used to being treated very well.
Once I’m behind the wheel, I take a look in the rearview mirror. James is sitting on the truck tailgate, staring stupidly in this direction as he waits for his three grand to show up.
“Did you mean it?” Sadie asks as I pull away. Her eyes are wide. “You’re really going to give him three thousand dollars?”
“I do keep my word, Sadie. Haven’t you learned that yet?”
Rather than answer, Sadie sticks her face into the box and croons some soothing words. Nobody else growls so I guess she’s considered to be more trustworthy than I am.
In a few minutes we’re within sight of the ranch. I’m totally unprepared when Sadie abruptly leans over and plants a kiss on my cheek.
“You’re my hero, Cale Connelly. Whether you want to be or not.”
This girl. She sure knows how to leave me speechless.