10.
J ANIS
Just like I did every morning, I took a quick inventory of my aches and pains before I ever even opened my eyes. They weren’t nearly as intense as they had been last night, but they weren’t gone either. However, the good news was that this flare hadn’t spread past my left arm and shoulders so far, and even though my hips were stiff, I thought that might be from sleeping in the hammock last night instead of moving to the bed once I was relaxed.
I opened my eyes as I lifted my arm to check my watch and found that I was awake right on schedule. It was ten minutes until four, which meant that I had just enough time to brush my teeth and do some stretches to work the kinks out before I pre-heated the ovens for the first batch of bread.
I carefully twisted my body so that I could put my feet on the ground, and by the time I stood up, I happily realized that my hips weren’t part of the flare after all. They were just stiff from sleeping. Now, if I could just make it through the morning bake, I could go home and shower before I took the rest of the day to relax and recharge before I had to come back tonight and do the prep for tomorrow.
After I made my way into the tiny bathroom connected to my office, I brushed my teeth and splashed water on my face before I ran a brush through my hair. I pulled it back to braid it, which was difficult with the pain in my left hand but possible because I’d taken care of myself before when I was feeling much worse.
When I walked out of the office, I was surprised to see that all the lights were on in the kitchen. I stopped to reassess when I heard voices. Not just any voices, but the same voices I’d heard last night, along with my father’s. I peeked around the corner and found the men sipping coffee and knew from their wet hair and clean clothes that Jonas, Lawson, and Corey had gone home and then come back at some point.
Dad was the first one to see that I was awake, so he picked up my favorite thermal cup and walked across the kitchen toward me, leaving the guys to their coffee at the front.
“Mornin’, sweetheart,” Dad said as he handed me the mug. He knew my habit of laying in bed and determining which aches and pains I’d be dealing with on any given day, so as he leaned closer to kiss my temple, he asked, “How did inventory go?”
“My left hand is tolerable, my arm is achy, both shoulders are on fire, but I feel pretty good.”
“Fever?”
“I haven’t taken my temperature, but I don’t feel like I have one right now. Once I eat breakfast, I’ll take something to make sure it stays that way.” I took another sip of my coffee before I asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I got a text from one of the guys last night that said they were doing what they could to get your prep work for today finished, but wanted to know what your system was for the morning so they could let you sleep in.”
I blinked to stop the tears I could feel creeping in and concentrated on my mug of coffee before I whispered, “That’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that the Dean boys were trying to take care of you because they’ve been doing it forever, but Corey Forrester shocked me.”
“I know, right?”
“You already know what I’m about to ask, don’t you?”
“I didn’t call you because I thought I could finish everything by myself, but I probably would have raised the white flag after doing the stretch and folds on the first batch of dough.”
“What time do your employees start trickling in?”
“They come in at seven.”
“That means you have three hours to boss us around, so I suggest you get started.”
“I feel okay, Dad.”
“And you’ll keep feeling okay if you let us do the heavy lifting while you sit on your stool and drink your coffee.”
“They’ve got jobs, Dad. I can’t just expect them to drop everything and start working here.”
“Thing is, you don’t expect it. They’re doing it voluntarily.”
“I’ve got zero pain in my right hand, so I’ll frost the cupcakes.” When it looked like my dad was about to argue, I said, “But I’ll direct you guys on how to make it first.”
“That’s better. And it’s probably a good thing you’re not willing to let any of us do that, because I can’t imagine what things would look like if we tried.” I was almost past my dad when he asked, “Are you going to make any calls today?”
I turned and smiled at him before I said, “I sent Jewel a text yesterday, and I have an appointment to go in for labs this afternoon. She’s going to keep my dosage the same for now, and we’ll reassess after the results come back.”
“Want some company?”
“You and Mom have been at every appointment since my diagnosis. Even though I’m all grown up, I still need you there to hold my hand while they draw my blood; so unless y’all have other plans, I’d appreciate it if you could be there.”
“Nothing on earth could keep us away. Besides, if we don’t come, who will take you for a piece of pie if you’re a good girl and don’t swing on the nurse the second you see the needle?”
◆◆◆
COREY
“Did you get any sleep?” I asked.
Lawson yawned loudly before he answered, “No. I had to go do a question-and-answer thing for the high school government class. Did you?”
“Not much. That’s why I’m glad they partnered us for this shift. I forgot that Zoey and Garvey were coming over to look at my chicken setup, so I got about an hour before they woke me up.”
“Chickens, huh?”
“I guess. Zoey doesn’t just want chickens. Now she wants a fucking cow too.”
Lawson burst out laughing and asked, “What the hell for?”
“So she can teach it to tap dance and take it on the road. What do you think she wants it for?”
“I saw a meme that said ‘When we were kids, everyone said that marijuana was the gateway drug. Now that we’re older, it’s chickens and sourdough.’”
“I don’t do sourdough, but I’ve got the fucking chickens.”
“Why?”
“One showed up in my yard, and none of my neighbors claimed it, so I kept her. She started getting sick, so I took her to the vet, which cost a fortune, only for the guy to tell me that she was plucking out her feathers because she was lonely and I needed to get another chicken.”
Through his laughter, Lawson asked, “That doesn’t explain how you got so many.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure how she’d get along with one friend, so I got her four, and if I tell you why I got the goddamn rooster, you won’t believe me.”
“Oh, please do.”
“Well, the girls started fighting for dominance. Next thing I knew, one of them decided she was the boss and tried to start running shit. All they ever did was bicker and fight. I was cleaning up feathers left and right and not even getting any eggs. I went back to the feed store and asked the old man behind the counter what the hell was happening. He said they needed a man in their life and ended up selling me a fucking rooster.”
“Bullshit!”
“I’m serious! By the time I got home, I was convinced he had scammed me, so I looked it up. Turns out he was right. The mean one stressed the rest of them out so much that they quit laying, but when I brought in Dick, he settled that shit with a quickness. Now I’m getting eggs again.”
Lawson was still cackling and had to wipe the tears off his face. He finally said, “Please tell me your chickens have names.”
“No.”
“Come on. I know they do.”
“I’m not discussing it,” I said firmly.
When I slowed at the next alley to peer down it, Lawson asked, “What are you looking for?”
“I haven’t seen my buddy Carl in a few days.”
“I saw him yesterday in the field behind the car lot on the edge of town.” I turned at the next street and started that direction, and Lawson and I were quiet while we listened to the chatter on the radio. After a few minutes, he asked, “Why are you looking for him?”
“Just a welfare check, and I have a favor to ask him.”
“Okay.” There was another few minutes of silence and then Lawson asked, “Are you going to ask me how she’s doing?”
“I figured you’d tell me it’s none of my business.”
“Is it?”
I blew out a breath and admitted, “I have no idea why I want it to be.”
Lawson smiled before he said, “Because you finally saw her human side, whether she wanted you to or not.”
“And I finally figured out why it is she fucking hates me, which is bullshit, by the way.”
“That is fucked up,” Lawson admitted. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I told you that I'm going to prove to her that being nice to someone isn’t all that hard.”
“This is Janis we’re talking about.”
“It’s not gonna kill her, and even if it’s tough, that woman is no stranger to pain, so she can work her way through it.”
“I didn’t realize she felt so alone,” Lawson admitted. “It makes me feel bad, but I guess I get where she’s coming from. So many things have changed in our group of friends lately that it’s kind of hard not to be envious.”
“Are you?”
“Not so much, but I know I’m not ready to settle down yet. My last relationship taught me a lot.”
“Is she still giving you problems?”
“Yeah. She knows just enough to be able to skirt the law while still making my life a living hell.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
I understood that Lawson meant he couldn’t discuss the plans he had to get rid of his stalker ex-girlfriend because we were wearing our body cams and there was a dashcam that was recording every second of our conversation.
“There he is!” I said as I spotted Carl walking down a side street. I slowed and then did a U-turn, and when I turned down the street toward him, Carl waved his hand in greeting. Once we pulled up alongside him, I stopped the patrol car and grabbed the extra bottle of water I’d brought from home before I got out. “You disappeared again.”
“If I didn't know better, I might think you were tailing me,” Carl joked as he took the bottle. “What’s up, officer?”
“I have a favor to ask of you,” I explained as Lawson got out of the car.
Carl took a long drink, emptying almost half of the bottle, and I made a mental note to give him the other one I’d brought for myself before we left. Finally, his thirst sated, he asked, “What can I do?”
“Do you know about that bakery across town that serves food out the back door after it closes?”
“Yeah. Everyone knows about that place. Best quiche I’ve ever tasted, and that woman’s got a gift for buttery croissants.”
“She really does,” Lawson agreed.
“From my viewpoint, I’m thinking it’s not the safest thing for a woman to open the door to strangers while she’s there all by herself.”
“Told her that a few times myself,” Carl admitted. “The girl doesn’t listen.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Lawson grumbled.
“I was wondering if I could hire you to keep watch around there, just as long as her light’s on and she’s passing things out, at least.”
“She’s a friend of yours?”
“I’ve known her almost my entire life, and she’s one of his best friends.”
“But you’re asking,” Carl pointed out.
“I suppose she is,” I admitted. “Sort of a frenemies situation.”
“She’s a pretty woman.”
“She is.”
“It’s not likely that someone’s going to bite the hand that feeds them, but some are more desperate than others and others aren’t exactly in their right minds.” When I nodded in agreement, Carl looked thoughtful for a minute before he said, “I’ll do it for you, and if I’m not able to make it, I’ll make sure that someone I trust will be watching out for her.”
“I’d appreciate that. And if you have any problems, find a way to call me. You still have my number?”
“I do.”
Lawson reached into the front pocket of his shirt and pulled out a business card and a pen. Once he’d written his number on the card, he handed it to Carl and said, “If, for some reason, you can’t get in touch with Forrester, please call me.”
“I can do that.”
“Have you eaten today?” I asked him. When he shrugged, I pulled out my wallet and sifted through the gift cards there until I found the ones I’d bought this afternoon, just for this occasion. I passed them over to him and said, “Enjoy your dinner. There’s a card there so you can get some dessert too.”
Carl looked down at the cards in his hand and smiled before he said, “I’ll pick up the dessert on my way over to the bakery and ask that sweet woman for dinner once I get there.”
“Thanks, Carl. You want a ride?” I asked.
Carl scoffed before he said, “You’re not getting me in the back of that car that easily, friend or not.”
“Understandable,” I said with a laugh. “Need anything else?”
“I’m good.”
“Anything going on I should know about?”
Carl pursed his lips as he stared down at the cards in his hands and seemed to come to some sort of decision before he looked back up at me and said, “Simmy’s got a new girl on the boulevard. You can’t tell me that she’s more than fifteen if she’s a day.”
“Runaway?”
“I’d say so. No tattoos, fresh tracks, but no scars. Still got hope in her eyes.”
“We’ll look into it and see if we can get to her before she loses that,” I assured him. “Anything else?”
Carl reached up and scratched his ear with a dirty finger before he said, “Might want to watch your back. I heard a couple of gangbangers talking about you and that other cop who stopped the robbery. Guess you stepped on some toes by arresting some of their friends.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
“Thanks for the food and the job.”
“I’ll give you another gift card for dessert next week,” I assured him. I thought about my schedule and then said, “Meet me over by her bakery on Tuesday evening.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thanks, Carl. Take care of yourself.”
“I’m not the one with a target on my back, son. You take care of yourself .”
“Will do.”
Lawson said goodbye to Carl as I walked around the car, and he waited until I’d put the car and gear before he said, “So, she’s not any of your business, huh?”
“Fuck off, Dean.”