August Heat Page 4

  “Like I said,” Lorri continued. “Joanie and I ain’t moving anywhere. We’ve got a mortgage! It’s Jalen who can’t be bothered to hang around anymore.”

  “What we need to do is get you a real girlfriend. Like what we have, Krys.” Ooh, Jalen was loving this, wasn’t she? Got a real kick out of being the one with a steady girlfriend before Krys, who used to always have someone to date before she woke up one day and decided to take a break. Jalen had never been as lucky in love, thanks to her awkward demeanor and, quite frankly, lack of natural charisma. She was the pinnacle of country butch who had done her best at school but decided that the tradeswoman life was for her. I make it sound like I’m so much better than her. I survived community college, but that’s it. Krys had the upper dating hand, though. She was supposed to, thanks to growing up in the city and enjoying more experience with the ladies. Jalen was practically a virgin by the time she moved to Paradise Valley. Or so Krys would go to her grave believing, regardless of what her friend said.

  “Seriously, when was the last time you had a girlfriend?” Lorri asked. “Been a while since I heard you talking about someone, let alone saw you strutting around town with a new girl on your arm.”

  Krys slowly turned her beer bottle around, tracing the logo with her eyes. That soothing motion almost made her forget what Lorri had said. “Told you I was taking a break from dating.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Admit you can’t get a girl for once in your life,” Lorri said.

  “I’m telling the truth. I could get a date if I wanted. I just wanted to take a bit of a break.”

  “Uh huh,” both of her friends said at the same time.

  “I’m serious,” Krys grunted. “You guys suck.”

  Lorri swerved on her stool, eyes rolling with the force of her turn. “It’s okay to admit that you’re going through a dry spell. Happens to everyone, including those in relationships.” She gestured to herself. “Look at Jalen. Couldn’t get laid to save her life since she stopped dating you, and now she’s got the hottest actress in LA in her bed!”

  Jalen was almost all grins before she mulled over the first part of Lorri’s statement. Meanwhile, Krys was on the brink of uproarious laughter. “I got laid in between! What are you talking about? Don’t go spreadin’ rumors about me. There was that girl from Junction City who came here for Pride last year. And that lady when I went back to Newport for Christmas. Hey, I’m doing way better than some people around here. You’re making it sound like I was one of Krys’s charity cases.”

  “Charity case?” Krys offered her friend a platonic side-hug. We made awful girlfriends. Thank God it’s not weird around here to be friends with your ex. “No, if you were a charity case, it would’ve only happened one time. What I’m doing now is a mere blip in my year. I bet I could go out with anyone I want. You know, if they’re available.”

  “Is there anyone around that applies to these days?” Lorri quipped.

  “Well…” Krys had been meaning to bring this up, but hadn’t the chance. Not with Lorri’s big news and Jalen always reminding people that she had Fleur Rose for a girlfriend. “It really pales in comparison to what you guys were talking about, but there may be someone I’ve been thinking about lately…”

  She let her words hang in the air. If there was one thing she had learned about her friends, it was that they needed a hook to get into conversations. No wonder one of them dated a dramatic actress and the other saw drinking her beer as the highlight of her day.

  “You gonna tell us or not?” Lorri picked her phone out of her pocket, but it wasn’t to make a call or get lost in Facebook. She was the fidgety type that needed something to turn over in her hands or smooth with the pad of her thumb, especially when she was excited. Daft dunderhead doesn’t know she’s doing it. Jalen was two seconds away from ordering peanuts, not that she’d want to eat them. (Most of them she’d foist upon her friends!) She only wanted to crack shells while she laughed and giggled. It was especially bad when they came to watch a game or show on TV. So much wasted money!

  Both Lorri and Jalen were giving Krys a look that said she better start spilling before they changed the subject. Right. Now or never.

  “Do you either of you know that veterinarian?”

  Lorri sat back. “You mean Dr. Global at the animal clinic?” Her wrinkled nose almost made Krys laugh. “That old geezer? That’s who you’re crushing on?”

  “No, no,” Jalen interrupted before Krys had the chance to explain. “She probably means that new secretary he has. Had to go in there myself the other day and saw a young lady I’d never seen before. Really pretty. But she did have a ring on her hand.” Jalen lightly socked Krys in the shoulder. “You chasing married women?”

  “Oh, my God, you guys.” Krys pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let me finish.”

  They mimicked zipping their mouths closed.

  “Not Dr. Global or anything to do with his clinic. The other vet around town. The big animal doc who does farm stuff.” Dare Krys drop a name? Act like she personally knew Siobhan as well as it would sound like? “Dr. O’Connor. The lady with red hair.”

  The lady with red hair. Had a ring to it, huh?

  Jalen shrugged. It took Lorri a few more seconds to contemplate Krys’s description and figure out who she meant. “Oooh. I think I know her. Comes into the hardware store sometimes. She got the freckles?”

  “Oh, yeah. She got the freckles.”

  Lorri let out a low whistle. “I knew she was a doctor, ‘cause it’s on her card, but I thought she was some special people doctor. Not animals.”

  “Yeah, she’s got like this barn clinic off the county road. Way outta the way. Had to go up there the other day when I found those kittens in the field.”

  “You said you took them to the vet…” Finally, Jalen got it. “Oh, you didn’t mean Dr. Global.”

  Lorri was nothing but tittering joviality. “That woman’s real mysterious. Barely ever think about her, other than wondering who she might be. She comes into the store about once a month to buy household stuff. Ain’t much of a talker. Few times I’ve tried to figure out where she lives around here, she blew me off and said out of town. Real helpful. So, anyway…” She turned to Krys again. “You took her some pussy, and the rest is history?”

  “Har, har.” That would be the only P-word joke Krys would entertain from these knuckleheads tonight. Seems so wrong to think that way about her. They were never above raunchy jokes, especially in the gay bar of all places, but good Lord… that sounded like something that would get Krys’s ass kicked if she said it in front of Siobhan. I’m inclined to stay in her good graces. She barely knew her, but Krys knew that much. “That was my first time meeting her. Think I spoke to someone else on the phone.” Who? Didn’t matter. Someone with a deeper voice. Possibly Siobhan’s… partner. Lord, wouldn’t that be a hoot? “She’s stunning, though. Never seen someone like her around town before. Know anything about her? Like… if she’s single?”

  Jalen laughed so loudly that she momentarily drowned out the billiard games clacking behind them. “You may be a ladies’ woman, Krys, but you’re one with morals. Gotta make sure they’re single before you put the moves on them.”

  “Well, yeah. You know I’m not into cheaters. What’s the fun in that?” Krys unfortunately knew of women who got off on the forbidden aspect more than they got off on being with another person. Didn’t make much sense to her. The whole point of flirting, dating, and getting into bed was the unknown. Would it be great or mediocre? Would you go your separate ways, or would you get married? Which one of you made the better pancakes in the morning? Krys may not have the best track record with long-term dating, but that didn’t mean she hated the thought. But she definitely wanted a free and open relationship that was out to the world from the moment it happened. Kinda hard to do that if some asshole was cheating. “I figure I’ve got one more excuse to go see her about these kittens. So, if I’m gonna ask her out, I need to make sure I’ve got my ducks in a row.
Make sure she’s not married. Ahem.”

  “You’re not gonna ask if she’s gay?” Lorri said.

  “First of all, this is Paradise Valley. My odds are pretty good that if my gaydar is going off, she’s into women. Second…” Krys puffed herself up, as if she were boasting about her award-winning personality, “I can handle getting shut down because she ain’t playing for the home team. It’s way more embarrassing for her to tell you she’s already got someone, and you probably should have figured that out by now.”

  Lorri shrugged. “I see her sometimes, but don’t know anything about that.”

  “I’ve never heard of this lady,” Jalen said, “but good luck. Sounds like you might need it for once.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Jalen and Lorri exchanged a look above Krys’s head. “You’ve been out of the game for a while, right?” Jalen prompted.

  “Might be a bit rusty since you last laid it on a woman.”

  The corners of Krys’s mouth twitched. “Laid it on a woman? You talking about my charms, or my body?”

  “Either’s correct, now ain’t it?”

  Oh, they were really enjoying this. To the point Krys regretted bringing it up. “You guys suck,” she said again.

  But at least she had alleviated something that had weighed her down since she left Siobhan’s property a couple days ago. She really exists, huh? Although Krys had searched for Siobhan online, the best she came up with was a website that briefly explained her services. No bells. No frills. Definitely no whistles begging the local farmers and ranchers to call her. She probably worked word-of-mouth, and if she were one of the only house-call vets in the area, landowners had no choice, anyway. Siobhan lived off her business cards, not her website. How many farmers in the area had high-speed internet? Most were so technically illiterate that the fireman joked that at least they knew the fire didn’t start because of too many people using their computers at once.

  Jalen may have been absolutely worthless for information, but Lorri had known something. She recognized the name, if not the freckles. Maybe it was a sign. Krys needed to regroup and think about the best way to ask out the pretty vet.

  And maybe ask around a little bit more. Surely, there was someone in Paradise Valley who regularly saw Siobhan when she came into town. Surely. Someone.

  Anyone?

  Chapter 6

  SIOBHAN

  “Don’t forget the dishwashing detergent,” Gabriella squawked as she followed her niece down the driveway. Keys jangled from Siobhan’s hand. The lights on the truck came on as she unlocked the doors with a push of the button. The door, however, was a bit stuck, because of course it was. Heaven forbid Siobhan make a clean getaway on a day she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

  She may be a bit tetchy because she had to put down someone’s beloved herding dog earlier that morning. The poor guy was old, frail, and no longer eating. He had herded his last sheep, and although the family knew it, even the hardest of farmers found it difficult to say goodbye to a beloved pet. Siobhan had the emotional distance to rationalize she was doing what was best for the dog, but when kids started crying and dad slammed his baseball cap on the ground… hard day.

  “Yes! Detergent!” Siobhan closed the door behind her. “And the whole laundry list to go with the laundry.”

  “Sundries, hon.” Gabriella said. “We call them sundries.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Before putting her keys in the ignition, Siobhan dug through a stack of CDs in the hopes of finding something decent to listen to on her drive into town. Kenny Chesney? That had to be Gabriella’s. Michael Jackson? Also Gabriella’s. Was there anything in this pile that belonged to…

  Ah. Yes. Smashing Pumpkins. Excellent.

  Siobhan popped open the case. The Moulin Rouge! soundtrack disc fell out.

  At least that was also Siobhan’s. From when she went through that embarrassing phase in her youth. Nicole Kidman was my personal goals. Too bad I really don’t look anything like her. Red hair only went so far in the similarities department.

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Siobhan turned the keys. The truck roared to life. Gabriella took a step back, but did not hustle into the house like Siobhan hoped. “Don’t wait up for me.”

  “You make it sound like you’re going on a date!” Gabriella called after her as the truck backed up. “I didn’t wake up and see snow, so it must not be a cold day in hell!”

  “Bye!”

  Turned out it wasn’t a Moulin Rouge! CD after all. That’s what it said on the front, but Siobhan didn’t realize until halfway down the driveway that it was a generic P!nk CD with Moulin Rouge! written on the front. Aunt Gabriella strikes again. This wasn’t Siobhan’s CD at all. The only time she willingly listened to P!nk was on the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack.

  To the sounds of “Get the Party Started,” Siobhan lowered her sunglasses and bumped over the gravel road leading to the county asphalt. She rolled down her window and hung her elbow out like there was no danger involved. Like I live life on the edge or something. Siobhan’s idea of a thrill was flying over speed bumps. There was one on the backroad into town, but during that time of year, kids were likely to play in the road. Never mind. She had already made one kid cry that day. Like hell she was sending any to the hospital.

  There were a myriad of things Siobhan could have done that day. She could have followed up on a few appointments. Done some paperwork. Hell, there was yardwork that needed to be done. Except when she stepped into the shed that day and realized they were out of some gardening materials, Gabriella started a list of everything else they needed from town. Normally, she was the one who ran the errands, but a migraine had knocked her on her ass until the exact moment Siobhan was ready to leave. That’s how it works around here. Siobhan stopped questioning it when she realized that avoiding people was a family trait.

  Out on a date… hmph. Yeah, right.

  The first stop on Siobhan’s tour of Paradise Valley was the biggest hardware store on Main Street. Real Value liked to think it was all that and a bag of nails, but Siobhan often balked at the prices. If gas also weren’t so high, she’d save money by driving to the nearest Wal-Mart and taking advantage of their prices. But Real Value was what she got in Paradise Valley, so that’s where she went.

  “U + Ur Hand” faded into oblivion when Siobhan shut off the engine. I’ll be in and out in ten minutes. Assuming she found what she needed within ten minutes. Sometimes, the staff at Real Value didn’t do their best to stay on top of inventory. How many times had Siobhan suffered through the nuts and bolts, agonizing over sizes and materials? Only to have the woman who works there tell me she stopped carrying what I needed long ago.

  Great. Siobhan was already worked up before she walked through the door.

  Social murmurs greeted her as the bell jingled and the door clasped shut behind her. The familiar smell of paint, wood chips, and fertilizer greeted her. The concrete floor was shiny enough to reflect her face back up at her, but Siobhan didn’t make a point of looking at her feet when around other people. No, her anti-social maneuver was to keep her sunglasses on her head and pretend she didn’t notice anyone else.

  The saleswoman was “busy” behind the register, yakking away with a customer who didn’t look to be buying anything. Just another price one paid when they moved to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone knew everyone, and it wasn’t unusual for people to converge in a shop for a long chat that held up lines. Siobhan could only imagine what the line at the post office would be like when she eventually made her way there.

  “…Then the guy gets up, shakes us off him, and asks what the hell happened to his car.” That’s what Siobhan heard as she stopped to check out the fertilizer on sale up front. “You know, the car a few yards away, on fire? The guy was all wet from the spray coming down on us. We had Jaws of Life’d him out only five minutes ago, and all he cared about was the damn car! It wasn’t new, man! That thing was junkier than that car
in your neighbor’s yard.”

  “You mean the one literally covered in rust and becoming one with the earth beneath it?”

  “The very same. It’s a miracle that thing didn’t spontaneously catch fire sooner than yesterday. We told the guy we were taking him to the county hospital, and he looked at us like we had told him we needed him to come down to the station to sign some forms. Just totally ruined the vibe of his day, you know?”

  Small towns. Siobhan shook her head, too distracted to read the weights and ingredients of the fertilizer bags. I can’t remember what Aunt Gabriella wanted. And she’ll lose it if I bring back the wrong fertilizer for her damn flowers. The vegetable garden, which Siobhan benefitted greatly from, but she wouldn’t go that far.

  “You sure I don’t know this guy?” the cashier asked.

  “He’s not from around here. Think he’s from Seaside. Was heading back that way from Portland, anyway.”

  “It was the Portland that did it to him. Every time I gotta drive Joanie there, I lose another year off my life. It’s a damn miracle our car hasn’t blown up yet!”

  “Hey, that’s my hometown you’re talking about.”

  “I thought this was your hometown now?”

  “Don’t get snooty with me. You know what I meant.”

  Were these two friends, or frenemies?

  The one taking up the cashier’s time stepped back. Finally, the woman who worked there rounded the corner of the counter and approached Siobhan. “Can I help you find anything? All of our fertilizers are on sale this…”

  Siobhan barely registered the tall woman in green and black flannel. She was too busy lowering her sunglasses down her nose and seeing the fine person still standing at the counter.

  Damn. Those are some serious abs… The woman wore a black windbreaker, but she stood at an angle that showed off the crop top beneath it. A crop top. In Paradise Valley. Go figure. No, no… that was a sports bra, huh? A big, bulking sports bra that held down the girls while not leaving much to the imagination. The windbreaker was merely a way to keep prying eyes like Siobhan’s away. Not that it was doing much good now.