Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Aiden
I didn't want to think about how much money it was going to cost to keep her in cupcakes. I flashed back to the monthly bills for Alice’s designer dress, the caterer, the ballroom. I shut down all thoughts of Katie and cupcakes. Not again.
Still, watching her eat and moan... Stop. Her divorce wasn’t even final. Her husband was planning to take the house. She probably wouldn’t be living here in a couple of months.
God, she felt so good, pressed up against me. Those little sounds she made in the back of her throat. That shocked look on her face when I’d licked the frosting off her lips...
And what the hell was with her asshole husband not letting her eat? I crushed the steering wheel in my hands.
It happened. I got it out of my system. It was done.
Hours later, after only a few reminders to get her the hell out of my head, I was driving back up Old Farm Road with dinner. I pulled up to Pops’s house, my gaze drawn in the direction of her place.
Pops walked out onto his porch. “’Bout time. I’m weak with hunger.”
Chuckling, I climbed the front steps, handing him the bag. “I thought we’d try the new vegan place.”
He stopped in his tracks, staring at me.
“What? It just opened. And I heard it was good.” I went inside, dropping my coat on the back of the couch. “Are we eating in here? I want to watch the game.”
Pops was still standing on the porch. “Boy, you better be kidding.”
I walked into his kitchen, leaving him outside. When I came back a few minutes later with a couple of beers, he was in the living room opening the boxes, finding burgers, fries, buffalo wings. I think I might have ordered nachos, too. I hadn’t had time for lunch and was starving.
We sat side by side, watching football and eating silently. The silence had never seemed odd before. There was nothing to say, other than the occasional groan over a pathetic play, but after spending time listening to Katie chat away, the silence seemed strangely oppressive.
“So how was your day, Pops?”
It took him a moment to turn to me, confusion clear on his face. “What?”
“Your day. How was it?” I wiped the barbecue sauce off my mouth.
“It was a day, same as all the rest.” He turned back to the TV.
“What did you do?” I didn’t know why I was pushing it. Maybe to prove to myself that I didn’t need Katie to enjoy a conversation.
He stared at me. “Same thing I do every day. What’s going on with you? Making jokes about food, wanting to chat during a game. Is something wrong?”
I shrugged. “Nah. Just checking in.” I took a loaded bite of nachos off the plate.
“I’m fine. Now pipe down. I want to listen to the game.”
“Good talk.” We watched the rest of the football game in silence.
By the end of the game, Pops was starting to nod off. “Time for bed.”
He grumbled, shifting on the couch, pulling his feet up. “Change the station to the Packers game. I’ll watch the end of that.”
I draped a blanket over him, changed the station, and said goodnight. I think he spent most nights out here, letting the lights and chatter of the TV drive away memories, allowing him to sleep.
Cleaning up our garbage, I put the living room back in order.
I’d brought an extra burger we hadn’t touched.
I took it with me, intending to eat it for lunch tomorrow.
When I saw lights through the trees at Nellie’s place, I got in my car and detoured.
All the lights in the house appeared to be on. What the hell was she doing?
Pulling up next to her beat-to-shit car, I scanned the house and yard, trying to discover what was with all the lights. Chaucer’s head popped up in the car window. Not again. Damn it; she needed a bed and to not be afraid of her own house.
I walked around the car and looked in the window.
She lay cocooned in blankets, curled up on the seat.
I didn’t want to scare her again, but I did want to make sure she ate more than a cupcake.
Chaucer’s wagging tail brushed back and forth over her face.
Sleepily, she batted it away, missed, and was hit in the face again.
I choked back a laugh as she drowsily did battle with a wagging tail.
I left them to it, instead jogging up the stairs and into her brightly lit house. Putting the leftovers into her refrigerator, I tried to ignore the twist in my gut at seeing it empty. Not my problem. Good deed done for the day, I went home.
The following morning, I drove by the jewelry store, the ring box in my pocket, taunting me like the ball-less wonder I was. Fuck it. I parked and got out. My ’nads shriveled up as the bell chimed above my head.
“Morning, Chief!” Jen came around the counter, her pregnant belly leading the way. “What can we do for you this morning?”
“Hey, Jen.” I looked around for her mother. “Is Carol in?”
Jen rubbed her distended stomach. “Oh, sure. Hey, Ma!” Jen snickered. “She hates it when I do that.”
Carol bustled out of a door in the back of the store.
“Jennifer, what have I—oh, Chief, how lovely to see you.” She came around the counter.
Unlike Jen, who took after her father, Carol was a tiny woman, which for some reason made the whole situation worse.
I felt like I needed to crouch in order to have a quiet talk.
“What can we do for you today?” Her eyes were bright with the anticipation of a sale.
There was no point in being coy. “I’d like to return this ring.” I pulled out the damn box that had taken up permanent residence in my pocket for the last year.
“Oh.” She patted my arm. “My dear boy, I still can’t believe she did that to you.” Glancing at her daughter, she said, “We couldn’t get over it, could we, Jen?” Pity dripped from her words and shone in her eyes. She patted my arm again. “You’re a catch, dear. You really are!”
And that was why the ring had sat in my pocket for a year. “Thanks, ma’am.”
She took the box from my hands and opened it.
“So beautiful. Custom setting.” She walked back around the counter, talking to herself.
“I remember, one carat canary diamond, VVS1, quarter-carat trillions, platinum setting.” She held up the loupe hanging around her neck to examine the ring. “Perfect.”
The bell over the door rang and we all turned to watch Nancy sail in. “Oh. Hello, Chief.” She paused, turning away to study a display near the door, thank God.
Carol tapped my hand and tilted her head toward the very back of the store.
“Let me write you a check,” she whispered, going back through the door she’d emerged from a few minutes earlier.
I leaned on the counter, my back to the store, wishing I were anywhere but here. A hand ran along my back. I flinched, stepping away. Nancy, of course. “Don’t.”
“Aiden.” Her voice took on a wheedling tone. “I really am sorry. I guess I was just feeling a little jealous. Let me make you dinner tonight, some dessert”—she winked—“as a proper apology,” she whispered.
Why wouldn’t she just leave me alone? “No.”
She leaned into me. “I remember a time when?—”
Carol came out of the back room, a check extended. On seeing Nancy, she quickly dropped her hand and smiled. “Jen, could you show Nancy those darling earrings that just came in?”
Nancy looked back and forth between us. “What are you two up to?”
Carol glanced at me before focusing on Nancy. “Could you give us a few minutes, dear? We’re in the middle of something.”
Nancy didn’t move. I wanted out of here. Now. I held out my hand for the check. Carol passed it to me. I folded it without even looking, stuffing it into my back pocket. I nodded my thanks to Carol and left, Jen trying unsuccessfully not to watch me.
I needed to punch something. Hard. When I got back to the cruiser, my radio squawked. “Chief?”
I picked up the handset. “Cavanaugh.”
“Hey, Chief. We just received another call. Cupcake versus food truck.”
Perfect. Maybe I could punch Chuck. “Yeah, I got it.”
I pulled up next to the food truck a few minutes later. Trudy, the cupcake lady, pushed opened her door and pointed at the truck. “He won’t even respond to me. I can hear him banging around in there, but he won’t answer me or move that damn truck!”
I held up a hand. “Got it.” For once, the side panel wasn’t opened. I pounded on it. “Chuck! Open up.”
I heard what sounded like a squeak and a chuff.
“You know you can’t be here.” Nothing. I pounded on the side of the truck again. Bark . What the hell? “Will you open this damn panel?” Nothing.
“Fine. Have it your way, Chuck. I’m writing the ticket right now.” I pulled my citation book off my belt.
“Wait!” The voice was muffled but much higher than it should have been. The panel rose an inch. A plastic knife was pushed out.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?”
The knife tipped onto its side and the panel door fell back down. “Damn it!” There was a grunt. Little fingers peeked out a moment before a metal bar took their place. The panel stayed open an inch and a half. “Please don’t write a ticket! I’ll get fired.”
I knew that voice. “Katie?”
“Um, who?” Another chuff and then a shush.
“Katie, do you have a dog in a food truck? Do you have any idea how many health codes that violates?”
Silence. “None?”
My head pounded painfully with the humiliation of the jewelry store. The check in my back pocket felt like it weighed ten pounds. Rubbing my forehead, I said, “What are you doing in there?”
“No hablo inglés.”
“Damn it, Katie. I don’t have the time or patience for this today.”
Pause. “Why? What’s wrong?”
I stared at the dirty white side panel of the truck.
“I’m a good listener, Chief.” Chuff . “See? Chaucer agrees. Um, you know, if he were here, which he totally isn’t.” She mumbled, “Shush. We’re being stealthy. Remember?”
The tightness in my shoulders loosened. “I just returned the ring I bought for the fiancée who dumped me.”
She made a sympathetic sound. “Ooh, that bites hard. Was everyone giving you their I’m-pretending-that-I’m-not-looking-at-you-but-we-all-know-that-I-am-and-that-I-totally-pity-you faces?”