The Stable Boy (6 page)

“The more you talk about him, the more I like him. We see the same things in you.”

“What may that be?”

“You’re beauty, kindness, and mad dancing skills,” he said, laughing. I threw the pot holder at him.

“What am I going to do with you, Josh?”

“I can think of a few things.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” I said, hiding my face in a dish towel. It was as if he could read my mind. He laughed. He walked over and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

“What can I help you with?” he asked as he hugged me.

“You can take the pitcher of tea outside with some glasses,” I said hugging him back. I did not want to let go.

“Okay,” he said, slightly pulling away. He leaned in to kiss me. Backing me up against the counter, he kissed me hard. I let out a slight moan. This made him smile a little. He kissed me deeper and harder. He went to pull away. I pulled him back in. I returned his kiss, this time making him moan. He picked me up and sat me on the counter, continuing to kiss me. He kissed my neck, working his way down to my chest. I stopped him.

“We can’t do this right now,” I said. The panic was starting to kick in.

“Was it something I did?”

“No
, it is definitely not you. It’s me.”

“I’m sorry. I will try to restrain myself.”

“It’s okay. I just keep thinking I am some how cheating on my husband.”

“But,” he said.

“I know, I know he is dead. Alison said the same thing the other night. I want to, believe me I want to, but I think we need to slow it down some.”

“I can go as slow as you like,” he said with a crooked smile.

“I need to concentrate on getting dinner made,” I said, my voicing shaking. I knew I should have taken that cold shower.

“I don’t care about eating dinner, right now,” he said. “I am more interested in devouring you.”

I never took my arms from around his neck and he never left between my legs. He leaned up and kissed me again. He moved his hands from my hips up my sides. He began to unbutton my blouse. Kissing my neck, he unbuttoned the first two buttons. He kissed his way down to my chest while unbuttoning the remaining seven buttons. He helped me slip out of my shirt. His tongue darted in and out of my cleavage. My chest heaved with every breath I took. We both heard the truck speed into the driveway. He stopped and looked out the window.

“It’s Bob,” he said. I grabbed my shirt and put it back on, quickly buttoning it.

“Claire! Claire!” Bob yelled as he came running up the porch steps. I met him at the door.

“Bob, what’s wrong,” I said looking at his panic stricken face.

“It’s Alley,” he said winded. “She was just taken by ambulance to County General.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I went in the house for dinner and she was having what the EMTs called a seizure. Will you come with me?” he said through tears.

“Let’s go,” I said. “Josh, can you?”

“I’ll put everything back in the refrigerator and meet you there.”

“Thank you,” I said rushing out the door. I climbed in the driver’s side of Bob’s truck. “She has never had seizures before; at least, not in all the time I have known her. Have you ever known her to have any?”

“No, never,” Bob said. “I am so scared. I didn’t mean to pull you away from making dinner.”

“You guys are my best friends. You dropped everything when John has his accident. If you didn’t come to get me
, I would have been pissed.”

“Thank you, Claire. Alison said you had a good conversation
the other night. She could see the old you coming back.”

“I am taking it one day at a time, Bob. Your wife is helping with that. According to her, I need to start living again.”

“She has been saying that for a while. She has always been worried about you.”

“I apologized to her for pulling away. I never meant to do it, but I didn’t know how to live without John.”

“I can understand. I think I would be the same way with Alison. We have been together for so long that without her I would feel the emptiness,” he said beginning to sob.

“It is going to be okay, Bob,” I said attempting to reassure him. “She is going to be fine.”

We pulled into the hospital parking lot. Bob jumped out of the truck and ran into the building. I followed him.

“I need to know about my wife. Where is she?”

“What is your wife’s name, sir?”

“Alison, Alison Everett.”

“Okay, let me see where she is at.” After a few clicks on her keyboard, she said “They have her in testing on the sixth floor. There is a waiting room on that floor, if you want to go up there.”

“Thank you,”
he said rushing to the elevator. He paced back and forth until the doors opened. In the elevator, he kept shaking his leg, causing the elevator to shake. He watched the numbers count up. As soon as the doors opened he ran out. Finding the first reception desk, he asked “Where do I need to go to find out about my wife, Alison Everett.”

The nurse typed in Alison’s name. Looking up she said, “Mr. Everett, if you go around the corner to the waiting room we will have a doctor come and speak to you as soon as he is done reading her tests.”

“Okay,” he said. We went to the waiting room to wait. Bob fell into the chair. I sat next to him. He leaned forward and rubbed his face with his hands. Clasping his hands in front of him, he began shaking his leg again. I reached over and grabbed his hand. He took mine willingly. It seemed to calm him down as he sat back. We sat in silence for the next twenty minutes, until Josh walked in.

“Any news, yet?” he asked, shaking Bob’s hand.

“No, not yet,” answered Bob. “This waiting is killing me.”

“I can understand.”

“I am sure you can, buddy. How are things working out with the two of you?”

“Um, pretty good in my opinion,” Josh said with a smile as he looked at me. Bob looked at me.

“Yeah, he is a good worker. He planted the wheat today and that unruly colt seems to really like him.”

“Good, I am glad it is working out. I thought he would be the perfect help for you. He likes to work on the farm, much like his grandfather. Do you know who his grandfather is?”

“I sure do. We discussed it.”

“Good, so you know he comes from good people.”

“Yes, I do,” I said as the doctor entered the room.

“Mr. Everett?” said the doctor.

“Yes, that is me,” Bob said standing up to shake the doctor’s hand.

“I am Doctor Lewis. I have gone over your wife’s test and it seems that what caused the seizure was a little bit of head trauma. She hit her head on something so hard she lapsed into a seizure. We will need to keep her here overnight for observation, but she will be fine. She can probably go home in the morning.”

“That is great to hear. Can we see her?”

“Of course, follow me.”

We followed the doctor down the hallway. Turning left to the hallway where all the rooms are, we walked to room 608, passed the nurses station. I noticed that they were all staring at Josh wondering who he was. The doctor knocked on the door and entered.

“You have some visitors,” he said to Alison.

“Hi guys,” she said.

“Hey, baby,” said Bob sitting in the chair next to her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I am okay. I have a bit of a headache, but I am okay.”

“Doctor Lewis said you hit your head.”

“Yes, I remember hitting it on the corner of the open cabinet door. You always said that was going to happen if I didn’t learn to close them,” she said. “Take it from me, my lesson has been learned.”

Bob lowered his head and quietly laughed to himself. I smile and looking at Josh I could see that he knew just what we were talking about. He rolled his eyes. He looked at us and said, “I would follow her around the kitchen and shut the cabinet doors.”

“We all have done it,” said Bob.

“Yes, we have,” I said.

“I promise from here on out I will be closing the doors. That hurt so bad,” said Alison with a grin.

“We will see if that actually takes place,” said Bob.

“You be quiet. I need to speak privately to my best friend if you don’t mind.”

“Oh Lord, Josh, it is going to be girl talk. Let’s go in the hallway.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” he said as they walked out into the hallway.

“Honey, you know I love you, right?” said Alison.

“Of course, I do.”

“Okay, I am going to tell you this, but you need to be facing the wall
not the windows into the hallway when I do.”

“Okay,” I said as I came to the other side of the bed. “What’s up?”

“You need to fix your shirt.”

“Shit,” I said. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

“Do you honestly think my husband even noticed? I am sure Josh did, but hadn’t had the opportunity to say something. So, why is your shirt all messed up?”

“I was, um, getting out of the shower when Bob sped into the driveway. I had to get dressed in hurry.”

“Liar! I know it was dinner time. Damn it! I ruined it.”

“You far from ruined it.”

“Uh-oh, did you panic?”

“Yeah, a little bit.”

“Oh, no!”

“It’s okay. He is willing to slow it down some.”

“A man who is willing to wait, I knew I liked him. You should see these nurses checking him out.”

“I know I saw it as we walked in.”

“I don’t think so. They need to keep their grubby paws off of him,” she said, laughing.

I laughed. “I don’t think they will be a problem.”

“Me either, judging by the way he is staring at you through the window. I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything, you know that.”

“Take my husband to the cafeteria and get me a sandwich with some juice and send in that hunky Josh to sit with me.”

“Oh Lord, am I going to regret this?”

“Maybe, but you won’t know until you come back,” she said.

“Okay,” I said. “I will do it, but with reservations.”

We both laughed. I kissed her on the cheek and walked into the hallway.

“Bob, she would like us to go to the cafeteria and get her a sandwich with some juice. Josh, she wants to speak to you alone.”

“Good luck,” said Bob.

“Am I going to need it?”

“Most likely,” Bob and I said in unison. I placed my arm in Bob’s as we walked toward the elevators. Josh went to Alison’s bedside.

“Hey Josh,” Alison said reaching for his hand.

“Hi Alison,” he said taking her hand in his.

“Oh be still my heart he said my first name without a stutter.”

“Yes, I did,” he said laughing. “Claire said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes. I wanted to ask you something important.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“How do you feel about, Claire?”

“I like her.”

“I can tell that by the way you look at her, but what I want to know is do you plan on running away once you have done the deed.”

“I was not brought up that way. I never sleep with a person and take off. That is the definition of a coward in my book. I am not one of those.”

“Good to know,” she said. “
She is a very special person. She is still dealing with the loss of her husband.”

“I know, she speaks of him a lot. I guess I do certain things that remind her of him. I don’t want to hurt her or bring up painful memories by being there. I offered to leave, but she said she wanted me to stay. She would work through her issues. I want to help her.”

“You are a good person, Josh. I will help her work through those issues she has. You just get ready for the fun Claire,” she said with a smile.

“I will,” he said with a smile. “From what I hear, you are just as fun.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard tequila makes your clothes come off.”

“I can’t believe she told you that,” she said, laughing. “I am so going to get her for that.”

“I was going to walk up to you on Saturday and say it.”

“How did this come up in conversation?”

“The song was on the radio while she was getting things prepared for dinner. She was singing and dancing along to the song. I asked her if it made her clothes come off. She said no, but it made yours.”

“That is too funny,” she said. “I can’t wait until Saturday. We are all going to have so much fun.”

“Are you going to be up for it?”

“Yes, I am going to need Claire to pick me up tomorrow though. Bob will just want me to go home. I need to finish shopping and get things done.”

“I am sure she will if you ask her to.”

“I know she will, but it is convincing my husband to let her.”