Mending Defects Page 7

  “Two of my favorite people.” Rick approached us from the produce aisle.

  Cassie grasped my arm. She’d never liked Rick even before he turned out to be a jerk to me. “What are you doing back in town?”

  “Dad’s birthday. You’re coming, right?” As the sheriff, his dad was very popular in town. “You, too, Glory, the party wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  “I’m busy.”

  “Wait. We should talk.” He nodded his head at Cassie like it would get her to leave.

  She looked at me, asking if she should. Since this was the second time in three days he’d tried to talk to me, I relented. If he was that determined, he might show up on my doorstep, which would be far worse than dealing with him in a public place. “See you soon, Cass.”

  “Finally,” he said when Cassie pushed her cart around the corner. “I thought I’d never get you alone.”

  “What do you need, Rick? It’s not like we’re friends.”

  “We can be. Just say the word.” He smirked and stepped closer to me.

  I stepped back to make it clear I wasn’t interested.

  “Hey, listen, I just realized that, you know, I might have screwed up, you know, hurt you way back. We were good together.”

  He’s just now figuring out he was a hurtful jerk? “We were in high school. Let it go. I have.”

  He nodded over and over. “That’s good to hear. I thought you might be holding my stupidity against me.”

  “Nope.” I knew my unconcerned tone was confusing him. He probably didn’t like that I wasn’t torn up over him. I did have a bit of a body image issue because of his actions, but I definitely wasn’t torn up over him.

  “Maybe we could try again? I’m in town for the whole week. We could go out? Have some fun? Just like old times.”

  I laughed, and it surprised him. Rick was a good looking guy. He’d probably never had anyone turn him down before. He’d certainly never been laughed at when he asked someone out.

  “Damn, Glor, take it easy. We could have fun. We always did.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “I’ve changed. We were kids. Give me a chance again.”

  I stepped past him. I could finish my shopping some other day. “Not interested, Rick. Take care. Say hi to your dad for me.”

  I didn’t bother to look back as I left. He still had a huge ego and rejection always hit those with the biggest egos hardest. The fact that I wasn’t emotional about it must only make it smack worse. The spring in my step couldn’t feel good either.

  *

  Club Di practically breathed out energy. Music thumped from the live band. Laughter and camaraderie surrounded us. Women danced and drank and had fun everywhere I looked. I made a trip to Denver every two or three months, sometimes just to come this club. I’d made many friends here and found my only dates here. Tonight it felt a little stifling.

  I’d planned to crash at my friends’ house tonight as I usually did when I visited for the weekend. Now I was thinking of heading home. Having a drink, maybe flirting with a grad student or tourist just didn’t appeal. Perhaps it was too soon after my procedure. I was still feeling a little too grateful to be alive for such frivolous activities. Whatever it was, I felt like ordering a coffee so I’d be fine to drive back home.

  “What’s up with you tonight?” my friend Sheila asked. Her light blue eyes narrowed at me.

  “It’s loud, hot, and crowded.”

  “Ahh, our little girl is growing up,” Sheila’s wife, Christine, crooned. She was in her forties and thought that meant she could meddle in my life.

  “Chris has been bitching about the same things since I met her.” Sheila leaned in closer. “She hates this place but puts up with it because it’s the only place to see our people.”

  Like we were a different species. That was one sacrifice about small towns, demographics weren’t in my favor. Not that I minded. I hadn’t given any thought to settling down. Now that my health was no longer a roadblock, I might have to rethink that. Put some more effort into finding someone to date and progressing naturally from there. The friend with benefits situation I’d had for a couple years might not be the answer for me anymore.

  “Glory! You didn’t say you were coming into town.” Speak of the current devil. Miranda, a finance professor at the college, dropped into the chair next to me. She leaned in for a kiss then reached for hugs from my friends. She’d cut her blond hair short, far shorter than I was used to. The wavy chin length strands looked really cute.

  “Just a quick getaway,” I said as she turned back to face me.

  She wriggled her eyebrows, one of the signs that she’d like to hook up tonight. I could see the anticipation in her hazel eyes. She was always fun, but I didn’t feel like it and hadn’t for more than six months. Seems like a long time now that I thought about it. If I were smart, I’d take advantage of the opportunity, but something was holding me back.

  I shook my head and squeezed her arm. She looked disappointed, but I wasn’t her only recreational outlet. She was in an open long distance relationship that satisfied her whenever it was logistically possible.

  “At least dance with me.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me up. My friends laughed, knowing I had just been complaining about the place and now found myself being dragged farther into it.

  Miranda pulled me into her on the dance floor. It didn’t matter if the music was upbeat; she liked to dance close, especially for the first dance of the night. Her body felt good against mine. She was about three inches taller and fit nicely. Tonight she was wearing perfume. That was new. New haircut, new perfume, wonder what else was new about her.

  “I’ve missed you,” she whispered close to my ear. “You don’t come to the city enough.”

  “It’s been a busy year so far.”

  “Maybe I should come see you?” She leaned back to check my expression. She’d come to Aspen for a few weekends but always ended up leaving early. We both liked to ski, but filling forty-eight hours was a lot of work with a casual friend.

  “The slopes open in October.” I didn’t want to say no. Maybe I’d make a better effort next time we spent the night together. Learn something more about her.

  Her thin lips curled, probably glad that I hadn’t shut down the idea. No reason to stir things up tonight. “Sure you don’t want to come back to my place tonight? It’s been a while.”

  “I’m a little tired. I was just telling Chris and Sheila that I was ready to go home. They were about to razz me when you came up.”

  “So I saved you? You should reward me.” Her eyebrows fluttered again, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You’re relentless, Miranda.”

  “It’s charming, right?” She chuckled at her joke, making me laugh with her. She was fun, light and fun.

  That had always been enough for me. I was hoping it hadn’t lost its appeal permanently. I might be dooming myself to a life of celibacy otherwise.

  Chapter 12

  Ready to relax for the evening, I stepped out onto my porch. My parents invited me to dinner later, but for now, I planned to breathe in the fresh air and that was all. A scampering of paws on the gravel of my garden path made me look up.

  “Kitty!” I exclaimed, waiting for the doggie bullet to hit me.

  “He sure likes you,” a stranger called out from the street. I tried not to appear disappointed that it wasn’t Lena standing there. “Really likes you.”

  Kitty had taken up his usual spot on the bench that I used as a footrest, leaning part of his body onto my legs. He was such a sweet dog.

  “We have a bit of a thing. I’m not ashamed to admit.”

  “I can tell.” The woman smiled brightly when I waved her onto my property. Fender was at her side, like he was usually at Lena’s side, but as soon as she started forward, he galloped up to my porch for a rub, too.

  “Should I be looking for your dognapping van?”

  She laughed as she followed Fender onto the porch. �
��Lena said you were funny.”

  Really? Lena hadn’t ever said that to me. In fact, most of the time it was like prying spikes from a railroad tie to get her to lighten up around me. “Are you visiting?”

  “I had to see where my big sis was hiding herself.”

  Sisters. This would be fun. “I’m Glory. Have a seat, sister of Lena.”

  “Erika,” she supplied, taking Lena’s usual seat. She wasn’t as tall as her sister, but beauty was a shared trait in that family. “Lena said it was okay to walk the dogs off leash here.”

  “Sure can. Pet control isn’t high on our priority list.”

  “Small town life, huh?”

  Was she curious or taking a jab? “Not for you?”

  “I don’t think I could live without a mall nearby.”

  She was serious this time, but it didn’t stop me from laughing. “Where do you live?”

  “Maryland. This is my first trip to Colorado.”

  “Are you liking it?”

  “So far, so good. It’s great to see my sister.” The eyes shaped like her sister’s flicked over in the direction of Lena’s house. “She’s settling in. I was secretly hoping that I’d come out here and be asked to help her pack up to move back to Baltimore. I don’t see that happening now. Not with two dogs and good friends.”

  My heart warmed at Erika’s words. Lena must have been telling her about our evening porch visits. She tried to be nonchalant about them, showing up sporadically rather than consistently. It didn’t fool me. She liked them as much as I did, even on the nights when she left abruptly because I’d irked her in some unknown way. She got irked easily, which should be troubling except that she’d show up sooner or later as if she’d pressed the reset button. It became a little game some nights, wondering if asking a personal question would get my fingers bit off or a vision of her sexy form stalking off my porch.

  “There’s always room for another Coleridge sister.” I tried to tempt Erika.

  “Wouldn’t that risk your status as a small town?”

  “Funny lady.” Seems like sarcasm runs in the Coleridge family along with the alluring beauty thing.

  She regarded me while accepting the glass of ice tea I poured for her. “I don’t have to worry about her, do I?”

  I leaned forward, not sure where the concern was coming from. “Why would you?”

  She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “Is there even a singles’ scene here?”

  She was worried about her sister’s love life? “Are you married?”

  “Ten years. Is there?” She was a persistent thing.

  “You can find single men here. You might have to find them on the slopes, but they’re here.”

  A laugh burst from her lips. Then she looked guilty for it. “Right.”

  Right, what? Right, she didn’t believe there were single men here? “What’s so funny?”

  “Why am I not surprised to see my dogs and sister here?” Lena called out from the street. Practiced ease had her slipping the latch on my gate and floating through. “Did they even attempt a real walk before heading straight over here?”

  “I opened the door and this one just flat out ran.” Erika’s finger pointed at what would have been a guilty looking Kitty if dogs could express guilt.

  “He does that.” Lena stepped onto the porch and set herself into the open spot on the bench next to her dog and my feet. “Hey, Glory. My sister being a pain?”

  Erika snorted. “I adore traveling thousands of miles just so you can give me hell.”

  I chuckled at their sisterly bickering. “She’s good.”

  “See?” Erika jutted her chin at her sister. “Glory was telling me about all the available single men in town.”

  I coughed, surprised by Erika’s taunting tone. “I’m still not sure what she finds so funny about that.”

  Lena glared at her sister for a moment then looked at me. “She thinks it’s funny because she sees more people on her Sunday trips to the mall than she has in this town.” She paused seeming to reflect for a moment. “And she knows that men aren’t my style.”

  Men aren’t her…Oooh, boy. Either she’s a lesbian or celibate. From her sister’s earlier laugh, I’d put my money on lesbian. Things just got a little more interesting.

  “I thought you guys were friends.” Erika shot a confused look at her.

  “Doesn’t mean we’re painting each other’s nails and sharing every personal thing, Eri.” Lena turned back to me, tentativeness entering her expression. “She has a big mouth. You get used to it after a while.”

  “Big mouth? I’m not the one who blabbed to Jimmy Lankowitz about my secret crush in high school.”

  Lena shook her head and sighed. “You were the only one who thought your crush was a secret. Everyone knew, including Jimmy. I just told him to get off his ass if he was going to ask you to prom.”

  I laughed again. They had the kind of relationship I wished I could have had with a sister or brother. My parents never came through for me, though. As an adult, I could see why they would have been afraid to have another child, but my younger self had been upset at not having siblings.

  “Prom,” Erika said, shivering at an unshared memory.

  “We should go,” Lena told her. “I put in a roast when I got home.”

  “Yum,” Erika murmured. “It’s so nice not to have to cook for three hungry mouths. I love coming to visit you, sis.”

  Lena laughed, one single sound. “Lazy bum.” She looked at me, all hesitation gone, replaced now by challenge. “Would you like to join us?”

  Very much. “Wish I could, but I’ve got dinner at my parents.”

  “We’re hiking Buckskin Pass on Saturday. You in?” she asked.

  “Bleh.” I reacted without thinking. Any trail with the word “pass” in it was out for me. That one was about nine miles and didn’t even start until about half a mile up. The only trails I could handle were marked short and easy. This one was flat out long and difficult.

  The sisters laughed at my reaction, but Lena wasn’t about to let me off that easily. “Afraid I’ll hike circles around you again?”

  “Afraid someone will pilfer all of the baked snacks from my pack when I’m not looking,” I teased back. She didn’t need to know how accurate her statement was. It was too wonderful having someone think I could do anything everyone else could do.

  Erica laughed and pointed an accusing finger at her sister. Lena smiled, tilting her head in appraisal of me. Satisfied, she nodded and stood, grabbing her sister’s arm to get her moving.

  “Have fun at your padres tonight.”

  “Nice meeting you, Glory.”

  “You, too, Erika. Stop by before you leave us.”

  “Will do.” She waved and followed after her sister and the dogs.

  I watched the sway of Lena’s hips as they retreated up the garden path. Would her being gay make the attraction worse or better? Worse, definitely. She was still my neighbor and my friend, somewhat reluctantly at times, but a friend, nonetheless.

  My hot, gay, neighbor, friend.

  Chapter 13

  The beer sat on the table unopened. I stared longingly at it. Perhaps Lena wasn’t coming by tonight. It was getting a little ridiculous how much I enjoyed these evening visits. Especially since we didn’t always agree on everything and she wasn’t exactly easy to get to know. But I liked seeing her almost every day. Liked the comfort I felt at having her on the porch with me.

  I looked over at her house. Not much was visible now that all the leaves had come in. I couldn’t spot her car, but she might have pulled it into the garage. Mei’s car was in my driveway, which could be the reason Lena hadn’t come over. I was wondering what I’d say if she ever guessed why Mei’s car was in my driveway some nights. I didn’t feel right about lying to her, but it wasn’t my right to tell her about Mei and Spencer.

  Grabbing the full bottle, I rose from my seat, ready to head inside. Surely I could find something on television
to fight the disappointment.

  “I found out something today.”

  My heart actually leapt at the sound of the voice I’d been waiting for. She’d made it just in time. I watched her walk toward me. She seemed a little off, her gait hesitant, her expression a mixture of annoyance and guilt. When she reached the porch, I retook my seat, placing her beer back on the side table. She glanced at it then back at me before sighing and dropping into the chair next to me.

  “What were you saying?”

  She sighed again. “I found out that I’m an asshole today.”

  Frowning then smiling, I asked, “You found out that someone thinks you’re an asshole, or you found out you’re actually an asshole?”

  She smacked my arm lightly. “You’re a riot.”

  “You can’t give me an opening like that.” I spread my hands out. “How did the asshole discussion come about?”

  She turned to face me. “I was having lunch with Jennifer today.”

  This should be interesting. Jennifer was second only to Terry on the school board for gossip. Some meetings we barely started on time because it was impossible to shut those two up.

  “She told me about your heart condition.”

  My head snapped away, staring out at the street. I let a breathy huff escape. “Oh.”

  “If I’d known I wouldn’t have given you a hard time about not being in shape. You should have said something, told me to shut up or something.” She let out a frustrated growl when I didn’t respond. “Listen, I’m trying to apologize to you.”

  I couldn’t explain why anger took hold of me. I wasn’t angry that Jennifer told her. I wasn’t angry that anyone else in town knew. I just liked so much that Lena didn’t. “No, you’re not.”

  Her shoulders shot off the chair. “Yes, I am.”

  I took a deep breath and released it. My anger dissipated into frustration, two emotions I rarely felt. “No, you’re trying to get me to give you a break because you didn’t realize I was defective and needed to pity me instead of being an asshole. Well, too bad, you are an asshole. Telling someone she isn’t in shape isn’t kind. It doesn’t matter if she’s a defect or not.” I paused, letting that sink in. “Lucky for you, I like assholes.”