Chapter 36
It was the screaming that woke Mylie. At least, she thought it was screaming. She sat up in bed and rubbed at her eyes, temporarily
forgetting where she was. It wasn’t until she realized the solid lump sleeping next to her was Ben that she remembered.
“Ben,” Mylie whispered, gently shaking him. “Ben, wake up.”
“Phlumpumph,” Ben murmured, rolling over.
“Ben!” Mylie tried again. “Wake up!”
“What is it?” Ben asked, opening one eye.
“Do you hear that?” she asked. “It sounds like someone is outside screaming.”
Ben sat up and got out of bed, pulling on a pair of pants in the process. “Holy shit,” he said, looking out the window. “You’ve
got to come see this.”
Mylie felt dread coil in her stomach. “What’s going on?”
“Just come look.”
Mylie got up and joined Ben at the window. There, on his lawn, were at least six people, all chasing a furry blur and yelling
at each other. Mylie could pick out Cassie, Granny, and Morris. Stanley was barking furiously. Farther down, closer to the
road, it looked like Courtney and... “Oh my God,” she said. “Are those the people who want to buy your house?”
“I’ve got to get down there,” Ben said. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Mylie stood there for a few seconds, contemplating what to do. She hadn’t meant to sleep this late. Not only was she going to be late to work but everyone was going to see her coming out of Ben’s house. Slowly, she scrounged around for her clothes and tried to collect her thoughts. She shoved her legs through her shorts and found her bra under Ben’s bed. Everything had been discarded in the heat of the moment. Mylie wished she’d thought to go home last night, because now everyone would see her.
Instead, she’d fallen asleep next to Ben, curled in the crook of his arm, listening to his steady breathing. She’d woken once
in the night and had kissed his chest until he, too, was awake. What they’d done—twice—was nearly enough to make Mylie forget
any potential embarrassment. The way he’d looked at her, touched her, gave her goose bumps to think about.
Outside, it was chaos.
Morris was crouched in the bushes off to the side of the house, while Granny and Cassie stood on each side of the bush, shouting
instructions that Mylie couldn’t quite hear. At the front of the house, Courtney stood, lips pursed and arms across her chest,
staring at Ben as if she might murder him. Stanley, unleashed and free, was running back and forth between Morris and Granny.
“What’s going on?” Mylie asked, hurrying down the front steps.
Courtney looked Mylie up and down, understanding sparking in her eyes. In fact, there seemed to be understanding in everyone’s
eyes, and Mylie wasn’t sure if she wanted to grin like a cat with a canary or disappear into the bushes.
“Well,” Courtney said. “Apparently, Fat Tony stole Morris’s cell phone.”
“What?” Mylie asked, looking to Ben for clarification. He only shrugged at her.
“How did that happen?” Mylie called over to where Morris stood his ground against the raccoon.
“Well,” Morris huffed. “I came over this mornin’ to check the trap. And sure enough, he was in there. When I leaned over to open it up so old Tony could come on out, my dang phone fell out of my shirt pocket.”
“And Fat Tony stole it!” Cassie finished. She gave Mylie and Ben a look that told them she was enjoying herself way more than
she should have been.
The woman in the couple peered around Courtney and said, “Does this neighborhood often have rabid raccoons on the loose?”
“Fat Tony isn’t rabid,” Mylie said. “He’s just... well, he’s just mischievous.”
“Why doesn’t someone just shoot him if he’s such a nuisance?” the man in the couple asked.
Mylie looked over at Courtney, silently telling her that she better handle her clients before Mylie did it for her. Nobody
was going to be shooting Fat Tony. That raccoon was an institution in Clay Creek, and she didn’t take kindly to anyone suggesting
it—especially random people who didn’t even live there, even if he was, in fact, a nuisance and the bane of Stanley’s existence.
“You can’t shoot Fat Tony!” Cassie said. “He’s practically a pet.”
“You can’t have raccoons as a pet,” the man said matter-of-factly. “They’re wild animals.”
“Nobody is shooting Fat Tony,” Mylie said, catching Stanley by the collar. She glared at the man who at least had the good
sense to look guilty.
“So, is this really an issue?” the woman asked. “ Pet raccoons on the loose?”
Before Courtney could say anything, Fat Tony shot out from the bushes, running as fast as his little raccoon hands could carry
him. Sure enough, between his teeth was Morris’s cell phone.
“Get him!” Morris yelled, chasing after Fat Tony. “Don’t let him escape!”
Mylie held tight to Stanley as he writhed and barked. “Not today, Stan,” she said to him. “You’d only make this situation
worse.”
Granny and Cassie took off at a run, and Mylie couldn’t help but laugh at Fat Tony zagging left when Morris, Granny, and Cassie
zigged left. She watched for a few more seconds before she pulled her phone from her back pocket and called Morris’s number.
Everyone watched as the raccoon paused, the phone vibrating and ringing in his mouth. Fat Tony dropped it onto the gravel
and then shot like lightning toward the lake.
“I’ve got it!” Morris hollered, gleeful. “I’ve got it!”
“Thank the Lord and stars above,” Granny muttered. “Morris, you need something to wipe off that raccoon slobber?”
“Jesus Christ,” Courtney muttered, sliding her eyes over to the couple, whose eyes were as wide as saucers as Morris gripped
his phone and wiped it on his shirt.
“It still works!” he said, holding the phone up triumphantly.
Beside Courtney, Ben was doing his best to control his laughter, but one look at Mylie, and it was all over. The dam broke,
and they were laughing so hard that they didn’t even notice Courtney herding the couple away in a huff.
“I... can’t... breathe,” Mylie said, tears rolling down her face.
“It looks like you’ve scared off your buyers,” Granny said, holding her side. “I feel like I just ran a marathon.”
“You practically did,” Mylie replied. “But I am sorry about those people. I think they were really interested.”
“They’ll be back,” Ben replied. “I didn’t even know they were stopping by. I bet Courtney didn’t even bother to call.”
Granny arched an eyebrow and glanced from Ben to Mylie and then said, “Well, if she did, I doubt either of you would have noticed.”
“Granny!” Mylie hissed.
“I’m just sayin’.”
Mylie ignored her grandmother. She and Ben walked back toward his front porch.
“If you’d told me even a month ago that I’d be spending my time avoiding a raccoon wearing a collar, I would have said you
were insane,” Ben said.
“That’s Clay Creek for ya,” Mylie said with a grin.
Ben’s glasses were slightly askew in the most adorable way, and she reached up to fix them. He caught her hand and pulled
her close to him, drawing her mouth up to his. She let him kiss her, and her knees weakened. She didn’t even care who might
be watching.
Finally, they broke apart, breathless.
“I could get used to this,” Ben said.
“I better get ready for work,” Mylie said. The truth was, she could get used to it, too. She wanted to get used to it.
“How about I bring lunch over to the warehouse?” Ben asked.
Mylie paused. “Sure,” she said, trying to hide her surprise. “That sounds great. I usually take lunch about noon, but since
I’m late, better make it closer to one.”
“I’ll see you then,” Ben said.
“Watch yourself, boy,” Granny called from across the street. “That girl right there is half my heart.”
Mylie didn’t wait for Ben’s response as she hurried into the house to shower, praying that whatever happened, whatever they
got used to, nobody’s heart would end up broken.