“Are we almost back?” she asked.
“Not far now,” he said. And off he went.
A few minutes passed before he said anything. “I had a girl a few years ago. Couple of years ago, I guess. It didn’t work out.”
Sierra didn’t say anything.
“I guess she had a short attention span. She—”
“I don’t need to know,” Sierra said.
“Someone else came along, got her attention and that was the end of that. Since then I’ve just been going out for fun. Just friends, you know. There hasn’t been anyone serious is all I’m saying.”
“Okay, fine, you don’t have to explain.”
“I know! I’m not explaining. I’m telling you because you told me and that’s what people do!”
“Stop it. You’re going to get all out of breath.”
“I’m fine.” He went quiet again. “We might have that in common, you know.”
“What?”
“Not being able to pick ’em.”
“Then it’s probably good we’re not picking any right now,” she said.
“I never saw it coming,” he said.
“Really... I don’t need to know this...”
“She cheated. With a guy I knew. A guy I work with.”
Sierra groaned.
“So it was pretty ugly,” he said. “But that was a couple of years ago. And I don’t even think about it anymore.”
“I can see that,” she said. “Look, I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Yeah. Shit happens.”
Thank God the back of the store came into sight. Sully was standing outside the back door, out by the garden. Beau ran to him so she let Molly’s leash drop. “Okay, Molly,” she said, and her best girl charged for Sully.
When Connie reached Sully, Sierra could see he looked concerned. Worried. “What we got, Connie?”
“A badly sprained ankle, at least. It’s going to need an X-ray.” He let her slide down to balance on one foot, leaning on him. “You wanna try to get a little cleaned up, Sierra? I’ll tote you over to your cabin and if you can clean up and change out of your wet clothes without putting weight on your ankle, you can. Or I can help you. I’ve seen a lot of naked girls.” He grinned.
She made a face. “I’ll manage,” she said. “I hate for you to go to any more trouble.”
“Really, if you walk on it, you could have bigger problems. You shouldn’t walk on it.”
“I can take her for an X-ray, Connie,” Sully said.
“They see me in that urgent care all the time,” Connie said. He grinned. “I’m influential there. You just worry about the store and call Cal. You might be late for dinner. She’ll probably be on crutches. And you’ll have to see about Molly. I think Molly and Beau—they might need a little extra food and water.”
Sully picked up Molly’s leash and looked down at the two wagging, smiling dogs. “They look ecstatic to me.”
“Oh, Sully, I’m sorry—they’re filthy. And I bet they stink. Maybe if you call Cal he’ll help out,” Sierra said.
“I ain’t crippled,” Sully said. “I been washing dogs since before you were born. Come on you two.”
Connie presented his back. “Up you go. Let’s get this done.” And he carried her off to her cabin. “I’ll call the urgent care in town and let them know we’re coming. Luckily, they have an X-ray. Can you get along on your own? Hopping and using furniture to hold yourself off that foot?”
“I got it,” she said. “Thanks.”
* * *
Connie felt like an idiot. He had no idea why he’d made so many lame comments to Sierra. He had a lot of girls? Since when? His last serious girl cheated with a guy he worked with? Why not just direct her to the Facebook crap that had been posted at the time? He’d seen a lot of girls naked? Very classy, Connie.
Sierra cleaned up and Connie took her to the urgent care in Timberlake. He had called ahead so the technician took an X-ray and the urgent care doctor said it looked like a bad sprain. He said he’d send the films over to the orthopedic surgeon to see if he found anything more than that. The prescription was a wrap, ice, elevation, stay off it for a couple of weeks. At least.
“I’m a waitress!” Sierra said.
“Not for two to three weeks. You don’t want to ignore this, screw it up and limp for the rest of your life. I’ll write you an excuse so your boss doesn’t fire you. And a prescription for pain meds,” the doctor said.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I don’t need pain meds.”
“You might,” he said. “I’ll give you the prescription and if you need it, you’ll have it.”
And that was it. Connie stopped by the firehouse to change into some dry, clean clothes he had in his locker and had her back at the Crossing by 7:00 p.m. Cal and Maggie were there. Maggie was setting one of the tables on the front porch; it appeared they’d brought dinner because Sierra had an injury. Cal came out to Connie’s truck and plucked Sierra out of the passenger seat and carried her up to the porch.
Connie had wanted to do that. Instead, he followed, carrying her crutches.
“Looks like you’re all set,” Connie said. “Cal, she got a prescription for pain meds but she didn’t want to fill it.”
“I’m fine,” Sierra said. But by the look on her face, she was barely fine.
“I’d get the pills, just to have them.”
“I just need ice and elevation.”
“I’ll see you later, then.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Maggie said. “I set a place for you. You’re having dinner with us.”
“Aw, I’m kind of...” He sniffed in the general direction of his armpit. “I changed but I didn’t want to waste time on a shower.”
“We’re all hardworking people here,” Sully said as he came out of the store with a steaming casserole dish for the table. “Besides, my nose has been dead about ten years now. My eyes and ears are struggling to catch up with my nose.”
“Sit down, Connie,” Maggie said. She was adjusting Sierra’s foot up on a chair. “You should get a whiff of me after about six hours inside a skull. It’s amazing. Right now,” she said, sniffing her sleeve, “I smell like wet dog. And we owe you at least dinner. Maybe dinner and a movie.”
“Okay, it’s your funeral,” Connie said.
“That was unnecessary,” Sierra said, smiling at him. “Come on, sit down. After all, you saved my life. We’re bonded now.”
“He saves lives for a living,” Cal said. “Don’t give him too much attention.”
“You weren’t likely to die, Sierra,” Connie said. “Just get very wet and make your ankle more swollen.” He pulled up a chair, as far away from the group as possible, taking care to sit between Cal and Sully. He wanted to sit by Sierra, but opted instead to sit across from her. He could look right at her.
Cal disappeared and returned with salad and French bread. Sully disappeared and returned with serving spoons and tongs. Everyone sat. Then no one moved.
“What have we got here,” Connie asked, suddenly starving.
“Low-sodium vegetarian lasagna and gluten-free French bread,” Maggie announced proudly.
“Thrilling,” Sully mumbled. “I hope I get to pick a last meal before I croak. Convicted killers get to...”
“It’s delicious,” Maggie said. “Stop bitching.”
“Rejoice,” Cal said. “Maggie doesn’t cook.”
“I cook,” she said. “But you cook better and I’m okay with that.”
And thus the dinner progressed with stories, jokes, banter, debate. Connie liked the way Cal and Maggie poked at each other, the way Sully poked at everyone and not the least of which was poking at himself. The lasagna was good despite the fact that there wasn’t any meat. Connie liked it and it got him talking about his diet. He was a little obsessive about his food and his exercise. He’d always been, since he was fifteen anyway. He avoided processed foods, he told them.
Well, there was that period of time a couple of years ago when he’d been pretty dysfunctional, didn’t work out much, ate whatever was handy, got a little flabby and out of shape. People joked about the divorce diet but in Connie’s case he’d actually gained fat, had a little floppy belly, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t concentrate.
He didn’t mention that part. He just said he was a little obsessive, having been small when he was a kid.
It was only about eight when he noticed Sierra was getting droopy. He met her eyes across the table. “I bet you’re worn-out,” he said softly.
“I think so.”
He pushed back his chair and stood. “Sierra’s saying good-night and then so am I. Dinner was great, Maggie, but I need a shower. First I’m going to take my rescue back to her cabin, then I’ll take off. Oh—someone will have to take her into town tomorrow if the orthopedist wants to see her—she can’t drive with that bad ankle. If you need my help, just call.”
“I got it,” Cal said. “I can take her to her cabin if—”
“I’m good,” Connie said. “By now she’s almost an appendage.”
“I’ll bring ice,” Cal said.
Connie scooped Sierra off her chair, swung her past the crutches leaning against the wall, clicked his teeth to Molly, told her come on, and took Sierra down the steps and across the yard.
She leaned her head against his chest and he felt warm there. Warm and cozy and pleasant. “You’re going to sleep good tonight,” he said, resisting the urge to drop a kiss on her head.
“You’re going to sleep even better,” she said. Then she yawned.
“Listen, about before, all that stuff about my ex, I don’t know why I brought that up. It didn’t mean that much, you know? It’s so over I can hardly remember her face. She’s still working in Timberlake and I run into her sometimes but if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t even recognize her.”