A Toast to Starry Nights (36 page)

“This proves you aren't evil. A witch,
perhaps, complete with her familiar to help craft spells. You don't have a cast
iron cauldron by chance, do you?”

“No, but I could get one fairly easily.”

I reached for the doorknob to head
towards my Jeep, purse in hand. “I'll get cracking on the guest list. Will
email it to you.”

“You do that.”

I opened the door and bid her goodbye.
Jet's voice slunk over my shoulder to reverberate through my head and fill the
parking lot with her reminder.

“Don't forget to flash Dmitri your
tits!”

Chapter Eighteen-

Dusk arrived home same time I did. The
invitations Jet gave me hid in my purse. I wondered how Dmitri would react when
I pulled them out. Deep in my heart, I knew he'd like the starry night invitation.
It was so us.

The huge Ford step-side truck parked
behind Dmitri's Silverado indicated Wiley was here. Oh ho ho, this should be
interesting. A bounce formed in my step as I made my way to the front door.

After opening the front door, the murmur
of male discussion met my ears. I shut the door behind me-- not too gently, and
left my purse on the small table next to the portal. Finally unloaded, I sought
out the location of manly-men.

Not watching the television or hanging
around the kitchen's island. I ventured further into the house in order to see
where they be. As I entered the kitchen, I could see the garage door hung open
and the light on. It was from there the manly-man voices emanated.

Dmitri and Wiley broke into laughter at
a joke, I presume. Then Wiley's voice came through the door as I walked past
the stove and neared the garage.

“How am I going to get through it?”

Dmitri answered, “The same way you get
through everything. One day at a time.”

“Won't work as fast as I need it to be.”

“That's life, man. It has its own pace.”

Enough of their tea party. I called out,
“Honey, I'm home!” from the kitchen then poked my head around the doorjamb to
see both men sitting on bar stools next to the workbench. Dmitri's treasure
trove of glistening chrome tools, all of which were hung upon the walls behind
the bench. Each man held a pint of beer in their hands.

“I didn't mean to interrupt you two.”

Dmitri smiled at me while Wiley took a
swig of his beverage. Hopefully that's just drink number one for him.

“Want an ale, Kay?” Dmitri asked.

“Why yes, yes I do.” I could use a cold
one after dealing with the knockout combo of Neilsinhaur and Jet. “Just came
from Jet's. She's going to handle the bulk of wedding planning. She actually
commandeered it with lists and everything.” I smiled at Dmitri. “You telling
her about proposing lit a fire under her ass, the likes I have never seen.“

“She texted me a couple minutes ago,
ordering me to remind you about flashing your chest to me.”

I laughed. “I know for a fact she didn't
phrase it as 'chest'. I'm willing to bet she said 'tits'. She's got a
fascination with tits today.”

Wiley and Dmitri both laughed.

“Yeah, it was tits.” Wiley informed me.
“I told him if that's the case, I better make myself scarce. Dmitri doesn't share
his titties.”

“That what you guys were laughing about
when I came home?”

“Most likely.”

Oh, so there's more interesting topics
that were covered out of my ear shot? Wonder if the subject of Jet's readily
acceptance of Wiley's apparently stellar apology happened to come up...? Oh,
how curiosity went serial killer on the figurative feline population. I sipped
the cold beer Dmitri placed in my hand. After a refreshing drink, I put it on
the workbench and fetched myself a bar stool from across the garage.

“Getting ready for SWAT season?” Dmitri
asked Wiley.

“Hell yes. I love my job.”

“SWAT season?” Thought SWAT was a city
only thing for emergencies involving guns and whatnot.

“Raiding pot grows in the mountains.
Rappelling from helicopters in riot gear and stuff. Mexican cartels running
amok this year, so we go in and piss on their parade. Make it not worth their
while to pollute our national parks growing their product. Ecosystems and
waterways ruined. Then there's the fact that they shoot people who come close
to the grow sites. Last year, it was two thirteen year old boys after their
first buck during archery season-- innocent kids killed just by walking in the
forest. Used to be you had to worry about the bears or mountain lions. Not
anymore. These days, wildlife are safer than the people.”

After sitting upon the stool, I sat
quiet as Wiley switched topics and started talking about the animal diversity
on his ranch.

“I set up some trail cameras. One of
them is infrared, for the critters that come out at night. One bear so far on
the east side. Plus the cougar tribe.” At my smile, Wiley elaborated, “A mama
cat and four cubs. They like taking down the wild turkey clan. I released some
ringed-neck pheasants. I'm still undecided on whether to get a couple guinea
fowl. They aren't indigenous, but they feed on ticks and other blood suckers.”

Good to know. I'd pass that information
along to Willow so she could tame the unwanted buggies from her jungle. “Excuse
me a moment.” From the bar stool, I stood and retrieved my purse. When I walked
back into the kitchen, I set my bag on the island and pulled out the
invitations. With heavy linen paper and ribbon clutched in my hand, I made my
way back to the man cave.

“Here are my tits, per Jet's definition
of the word.”

“Honey, I'm sorry you got downgraded.”
Dmitri made a frowny face and tried not to laugh as he gazed upon my offering.

Wiley snapped his fingers and muttered,
“Gee, there goes my one opportunity. Thank you, Jet, for getting my hopes up.”

Ooooh, the opening. “Well, you can
always go and tell her what your definition of tits should be, maybe she'll get
your hopes up again.”

With the exception of his brow twitching
a little around the temples, Wiley sat stone still for a moment before removing
his glasses to polish them with his tee shirt's hem. “You know, Kaylis, I
remarked to Dmitri not long ago that I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with
that hellion you have for a friend. That woman is like a whirligig during
hurricane season.”

“Runs circles around you, eh?”

“What's her story?” Wiley put his
glasses on and asked.

I did not expect to have this
conversation with Wiley. Evidently his bonding and understanding with Jet
lacked a conversation about background.

“What do you want to know about her?
Specifically.” I don't volunteer information about my friends to guys I'm not
quite sure about. Wiley works as law enforcement. If she had a record, he could
look it up. Guess she came back clear.

“Why is she the way she is?”

“Because she's
Jet
.” Duh.

A look passed over Wiley's face and his
demeanor changed a little. From being fairly relaxed to more authoritative. Oh,
guess I woke up the Interrogator. Until I am sure what his intentions are
towards my friend, I'm not going to be filling him in on the nitty gritty.

“Does she have a past?”

“Yes, doesn't everybody? We don't just
pop into the present from some unknown waiting place and pop back out when the
moment is over.” Although that would be handy to do in awkward situations. I
looked over to Dmitri. He held the starry night invite in his hand and winked
at me before putting it on the workbench. The smile on his face indicated he
enjoyed this conversation between his best friend and I.

“You said specific. Fine. Why is she
single?”

“Because no man has yet made her head spin,
loins quiver and helped her to forget nasty exes.” That's Jet and dating in a
nutshell.

“What sort of men does she like?” Wiley
crossed his arms and peered at me.

Wow, cutting to the chase? She made an
impact with him. “Intelligent ones.”

“That's a given. What kind of men were
her exes?”

“Why do you want to know?”

That took him aback.
Look down,
Wiley... notice you aren't in uniform? I get to question you back.
Smirk.

“I think she's interesting.”

“That's all?”

Wiley had the grace to flush. “I think
she's interesting on a couple levels.”

Naked levels, I bet.

“Jet doesn't date often. She has two
exes that I know about. One was a guy who swept her off her feet. When she
wanted something more, found out he was married with a kid. She never spoke to
him again. Like three years after him, she got involved with a guy to the point
they were living together. That lasted almost a year. They broke up amicably,
but he let her use his laptop in the meanwhile. Jet found out he collected
child pornography. Shit hit fan. Cops didn't do anything. So she reported him
to the FBI.”

“Good for her.” The Law Enforcement
Officer side of Wiley approved of her actions, I could tell by his voice. I
wasn't going to mention she had to be talked into going to the FBI by Dmitri.
Jet was full-on ready to start a manhunt of her own, ending with her ex's head
on a spike. I am fairly certain that if she saw him on the street, he would
shortly be a hood ornament or a grease spot on the bumper. That man demolished
her trust in the males of our species to the point of no return.

“Since those two, she hasn't dated. If
she does date casually, she hasn't told me about it.”

“How long has it been since she's been
in a relationship?”

“Ummm... about five or six years.”

“Really?” He looked lost in thought.

In the lull of conversation, Dmitri
spoke. “I like this one.” He held our invitation high. I knew he'd like the
black and blue invite as much as I did.

“Ding ding, we have a winner!”

Wiley looked at his watch and spoke.
“It's getting late. I best be going.” His pint of ale still more than half
full.

“I'll see you out, man.” Dmitri arose
and walked with his friend out from the garage and into the kitchen. I sat
alone in the man cave and held the beer cradled in my hands before giving it a
good, unladylike chug. I was at a loss whether or not I should inform Jet about
Wiley's interest. If he's like any other fellow, he won't be shy and she'll
send him on his way, like every other guy before him.

I heard the front door shut and then a
moment later, Dmitri came back into garage to sit next to me.

“So, you've picked a date for sure?”

“Yes. This Halloween.”

Surprise lit his face. “
This year
?”

“No good? We can do next year if you
prefer. I just want it over.”

“How do you mean?”

Uh oh. Diplomacy should have been
utilized. I bought some time by taking a drink of my beer. “I want to marry
you. Not for the wedding, but for the marriage. If your parent's weren't coming
from Europe to see with their own eyes you throwing off the shackles of
bachelorhood, I would say let's elope to a courthouse. But that's not an
option. Your parents will be here and there are expectations I need to fulfill
because I lack in other departments.”

From the bewildered look on Dmitri's
face, I think I just shook his world. “You don't want a wedding? What
departments? You're perfect for me.”

I tingled with his remark about
perfection. “Not really. I mean, yes, bond me to you legally, but everything
else is just... meh. Which is why Jet is planning it. That, and she accused me
of being allergic to weddings, but without a professional diagnosis, I can't
say for sure she's right. Exposure and fallout of my mom's marriages haven't
really painted a picture for me to be all excited about, I'll admit it. I have
no motivation for going freaky-deaky bride from hell. Have you seen the pile of
wedding magazines Jet has? And those invites there...” I pointed to the two
near his hand, “that's the tippity top of the iceberg where those are
concerned. She's already found dresses. I mean, one could mistake this as being
her wedding with how gung-ho she is about it. And let's face it, hun. I suck in
the fertility department. Your parents are getting screwed out of grandkids
from us. I won't screw them out of your wedding, too.”

Dmitri raised his chin and looked at me,
puzzled. “You don't want to celebrate us getting married. You aren't excited at
all about the wedding.” Plain and matter of fact. No mention of my non-existent
baby-incubator. What rebuttal could he use for that argument?

“Not exactly. Beyond us, friends and
family, everything else seems unneeded. I'm not doing a poofy white dress. I'm
not doing The Aquarium. I don't want the stress of wedding-related shit. I mean
it's one day out of a lifetime, and all the flowers, silk and lace in the world
won't make it any more memorable. It's a waste of money for a single day. Does
the wedding determine the quality of a marriage? No, it doesn't, and I won't
pretend otherwise. But because I would like to make a good impression on your
parents, I will do what needs to be done to have a successful wedding. It'll be
my attempt at an Oscar for Best Actress. My happiness on that day won't be from
my dress or the cake or how neat the venue. My happiness will be the result of
being with you.”