Chez Stinky (25 page)

As she petted the cat, she heard sirens wailing in the distance. There were a whole lot of trees in Alpine Grove and the idea of a fire here in the forest was scary. She silently hoped all was okay out there in the big world, because she was too exhausted to move. Maybe a sexy firefighter could come to rescue her. That would be nice. As the sirens faded away into the distance, Kat fell asleep.

She was jarred from her nap by the sound of the phone ringing. She ran upstairs and grabbed the receiver. Smiling at the sound of Joel’s deep voice on the line, she asked, “How was your weekend?”

“I’ve had better ones.”

“How’s the girlfriend? Do you know if she’s still your girlfriend? Or I guess I should ask, does
she
know?

“I think it’s definitely over now. She threw my computer out a window.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. “I’m guessing she wasn’t happy.”

“No.”

“So what was your response?”

“I wasn’t happy, either. She also threw a coffee cup at me. And…other things. My place is a mess. Can I bring Lady over there while I clean up?”

“Sure. Anytime. Like I said, I owe you. Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll be by with Lady in a few minutes.”

Kat hung up the phone and stared at it for a few moments. That was interesting. What had happened at the shack? She smiled. No matter what had happened, one thing was clear: Joel was a single guy again. Kat did a small victory dance around the kitchen.
Bye-bye Allison.

Later, Joel’s truck rumbled into the driveway. Kat dashed down the stairs, almost beating Linus and Lori in the race to the truck. The dogs had a disadvantage since they had to run from the back of the house, but they still got to the driveway first. Kat stood with her hands clasped behind her back and watched as Joel and Lady emerged from the old green vehicle.

Lady ran over, sat, and held out her paw for Kat. “Hi, Lady. It’s good to see you again. But we need to have a talk about your attitude toward cats.” Lady looked serious for a moment, before giving in to Lori’s invitation to play. The two dogs scampered off, twirling around each other and yipping happily. Joel stood next to the truck with his hands in his pockets.

Kat looked up at him. “Do you want to come in for a minute? You look kind of…um…tired.” That was the polite way of putting it. Joel obviously hadn’t shaved and had dark circles under his eyes. It looked like he’d been up for days and his gaze had a weary, deadened look Kat had never seen before.

“No. I need to get back, clean up the house, and see if I can find the various pieces of my computer in the yard. I might be able to put it back together. Maybe. I’d been discussing some consulting work and now I can’t even check my email. Thanks for taking Lady. I was afraid she’d eat or step on something. It would have been hard to keep an eye on her.”

“No problem.” She reached out and took one of his hands in hers. “Is there anything else I can do?”

The expression on his face softened. “No. Thanks for asking. I’ll be back later.” He turned around, got back into his truck, and left.

Kat turned around and slowly walked back up the stairs into the house. Joel definitely seemed upset and he looked terrible. Maybe her initial elation at the demise of his relationship had been a little mean. Maybe Allison really did look like a Playboy Bunny. Or worse, maybe he really loved her.

Not wanting to go down that mental pathway, Kat returned to her endless menial labor. The bedrooms were getting closer to being habitable and she was thinking of turning one of them into an office. She needed to get a computer if she was going to be a freelance writer. Maybe Joel would have some advice. It sounded like he was in the market for a new computer, too.

Later that afternoon, Joel returned to collect Lady. Kat had taken the dogs for an extra-long walk, so Lady and Lori had released all of their pent-up play energy. The two dogs stood outside with Linus, wagging at Joel as he got out of his truck. Although he had shaved and looked less rumpled, his eyes were still shadowed and he looked completely exhausted.

Kat remained curious as to what had happened. She took his hand and attempted to lead him toward the house. “Lady is all nice and tired now. Why don’t you to come in and sit down for a minute? I could make you some tea. Or give you a beer. I have lots of beer, remember?”

Joel smiled and didn’t resist Kat’s insistent tugging on his hand. “All right. The beer convinced me.”

They sat down at the kitchen table and Kat handed him a beer. “Want a glass?”

“No.” Joel twisted off the cap and took a long drink from the bottle. He smiled wearily at her. “That’s not necessary. Thanks.”

“Glad I could help.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“I got that impression. Did you find all the parts of your computer?”

“I’m not sure. But it may take divine intervention to get it to run again. At least I had backed up my data. And it didn’t get burned.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. “Burned? As in fire?”

Joel sighed and slumped down in his chair, holding his beer in between his hands. “Yes. Fire. I think I mentioned my place is small. When Allison started throwing things, I was mostly trying to get out of the way, which is difficult in a small space. I guess she stopped paying attention to what she was cooking. She burned dinner to the point it caught on fire, then she threw the pan too. It burned a hole in the floor before I could put it out by smothering it with a rug. But she called the fire department anyway.” He rested his forehead on the table. “Which means everyone in Alpine Grove now knows about it. Cindy will never,
ever
let me live this down.”

Kat sat in stunned silence for a moment. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

Joel lifted his head again and looked at her. “The worst part is that I cleaned everything up, but the whole place reeks of smoke and whatever she was making for dinner. It’s awful.”

“I’m familiar with bad-smelling homes. This is Chez Stinky, remember?”

Joel burst out laughing and looked relaxed for the first time since he’d arrived. “Why yes it is, isn’t it?”

“I bet burnt dinner smells better than dead varmint.”

“Tough call. Depends on what was for dinner.”

“There’s always the Enchanted Moose. I stayed there to avoid the smell here. As you know, Bud is not a speed-demon when it comes to repairs. The patch you put on the wall is still there, too. But my shower works!”

“That’s good to hear. At least I did something right.”

“Are you hungry? Do you want some food? It sounds like you haven’t eaten much lately. I promise I won’t throw it at you.”

Joel grinned. “I do like that about you.”

“Yes, we’re all about fine dining here at Chez Stinky. We have standards. No food is allowed to go airborne.”

“That tends to make dinner more relaxing.”

Kat stood up to go ponder what they might eat. She opened the refrigerator and looked over her shoulder. Joel did look a lot more relaxed. He had slumped down in the chair and closed his eyes. “Well, you look like you’re taking it easy, anyway.”

He opened his eyes. “Sorry. I’m not very good company right now.”

Kat walked over to the table and looked down at him. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Joel put his hand over hers and looked up into her eyes. “I’m just tired. It’s nice to not be fighting or shouting anymore. The peace and quiet feels good.”

“The dogs snoring on the floor enhances the peaceful ambiance here at Chez Stinky. Except that Linus snores particularly loudly. I guess it’s a guy thing.”

Joel reached up and pulled Kat down into his lap. “The other thing that was bad this weekend was that I missed you.” He wrapped his arms around her, giving her a hug and nuzzled his face in her hair. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Kat pulled back her head and looked into his eyes. “I have the same problem. Although, to be honest, I spent most of the weekend hauling heavy boxes around, so I wouldn’t think about what might be going on at your place.”

“Did it work?”

“Not really. I did hear the sirens, though.”

Joel smiled. “You and everyone else. That wasn’t a high point.”

“I fell asleep and dreamed of sexy firefighters.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. As she leaned in to kiss him she continued, “One of them looked a little like you.”

A few minutes later, Linus marched over and poked Kat in the back with his nose. She unwrapped herself from Joel and looked down at the dog. “Yes? Do you have a problem?”

Linus wagged and perked up his ears looking expectantly at her.

Kat took a deep breath and her racing heart slowed back down to a more reasonable rate. “Oops. I think it’s dinner time. Sorry Linus. I got distracted.” She looked at Joel. “I was going to feed us, too.”

He smiled at her. “I wasn’t thinking about food.”

“Me neither. I’ll be right back.”

Kat untangled herself from Joel and the chair, made a half-hearted effort to straighten her clothes, and went downstairs to feed the dogs and the cats.

By the time she got back upstairs, Joel was fast asleep with his head in his arms, his cheek resting on the table. She tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you want to stay here?”

He raised his head, blinked, and looked around. “That’s embarrassing. I don’t generally fall asleep like that.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Yeah sure, that’s what guys always say.”

“I guess I’m tired.”

“I mean it. You can stay here if you want. I don’t know what’s going on with Allison or how you feel about that. You can stay in one of the bedrooms downstairs; they are mostly clean now, thanks to many hours of effort on my part. We can talk about…stuff…in the morning. I still want to know what you think about fixing this place. Except there’s a problem with that, too.”

Joel looked unreasonably distressed at the idea of yet another problem and Kat quickly volunteered, “Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. In the meantime, I’ll go get some sheets.”

Kat went to the linen closet in the bathroom, grabbed some sheets, and handed them to him. “Sweet dreams.”

Joel looked at Kat for a moment, then put the sheets on the table and took her into his arms. He gave her one last bone-melting kiss, grinned, and said, “Same to you.” Kat slowly sank into a chair and watched silently as he picked up the sheets from the table and went down the stairs. Her sexy firefighter dreams were nothing compared to the real thing.

The next morning, Kat got up and fed the dogs and cats. She was getting ready to go back upstairs to take a shower when Joel emerged from the bedroom looking tousled and bleary-eyed. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt. As he stretched, Kat let out a tiny gasp. His shoulders were mighty fine buried under layers of flannel, but it didn’t compare to seeing them
au naturale
. She tried to remain casual, as if she had shirtless men wandering around her house all the time. “So did you sleep well?”

Joel stretched out his arms toward Kat and grabbed her in big bear hug. “I feel so much better! It’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.”

Kat pressed her ear against his bare chest, listening to the beating of his heart and enjoying the sensation of being in his arms again. “That’s good” she mumbled, getting increasingly distracted by the feel of his skin on her cheek. She closed her eyes and stroked his back, which was warm, smooth, and incredibly inviting.

He released her and looked down into her eyes. “I’m hungry.”

“You missed out on dinner last night. How do you feel about breakfast?”

“Food would be good, too.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. “Yes. Food. I’m going to go take a shower. Feel free to forage in the meantime. There are still a lot of Twinkies.”

“I’ll see if I can do better than that.”

Kat went upstairs and turned on the shower. She adjusted the temperature somewhat colder than usual and leaped in, emitting a small shriek as the chilly water hit her flushed skin. Having a half-naked man in the house was problematic. The feel of his skin was intoxicating. She wasn’t sure she could make it through the whole day without jumping him.

After her shower, Kat’s sanity had been restored to some degree. She still needed to talk to Joel about the state of the house, and it would be better if her brain had checked back into the station for that conversation.