Dreaming in Dairyland (9 page)

"Of course I do.  I don't sleep with just anyone you know..." she teased, getting up and walking around the table to him.  "I'm not like you." 

"Hey!  Three girls is not a lot, you know!" 

She sank into his lap, kissing him.  "I guess not. Seems like a lot to me, though!"

He sighed.  "And you wonder why I never tell you anything..."

Chapter Six

Cissie woke from a sound sleep, hearing Bob mumble.  She turned to him.  "Bob?  What's wrong?"  The sounds he made sounded anguished.  She wanted to help him, but had no idea how.

"No!  Don't go in there!"  He sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping off his body.  He reached out as if to grab someone to stop them.  "No!  Stop!"

Cissie sat beside him, her hand touching his arm, shocked by how cold he felt.  "Are you all right?" 

Bob nodded.  "Yeah, just a bad dream.  Happens sometimes."  He threw his legs over the side of the bed.  "I'm going to shower."

"Do you want company?" she asked softly, worried about him.

"No, I'm fine.  Go back to sleep."  He wandered away toward the bathroom, and Cissie got up to strip the sheets from the bed.  His side of the bed was soaked. 

Cissie waited for him in the dark, wondering how often he had dreams like this.  She had a feeling he was used to them, though why she thought that, she wasn't sure.  Maybe it was the way he automatically showered. 

When he came back from his shower, he slipped into bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark.  Cissie moved closer to him, her head on his shoulder.  "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"About what?" he asked.  There was no way he'd talk about his dreams with Cissie.  She would leave him, just like Tanya had.

"Your dream." 

"I don't remember what it was about."  He turned his back to her, closing his eyes tightly.  He couldn't talk about what had happened with Chaynade.  He couldn't.

Cissie stared at his back in the dark for a moment, wondering what she'd done wrong.  Why wouldn't he talk about his dream?  She rolled to her side facing away from him.  She closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come.  It was her first day back at work, and she knew it would be a busy one.

*****

Cissie got a call from Lachele as she was getting ready for work.  "Hi, snickerdoodle."  Lachele sounded as sweet as ever, but for the first time, Cissie was just annoyed by the other woman's voice.

"Don't you snickerdoodle me, Lachele!  I can't believe you set me up with someone who requested me!  Why would you do that?  Is that even ethical?"  Cissie knew her voice was harsh, but she didn't care.  She had a right to be angry, and she wasn't going to hide it from the woman she felt had betrayed her.

"I did more tests on him than anyone else.  There's not a thing about that man I don't know.  I even made him go see a doctor so I could be sure he was in working baby-making order for you."  Lachele's voice was calm and reasonable.  She'd obviously been expecting the attack.  Cissie wondered who'd tipped her off.

"I don't want babies anytime soon!"  Cissie wasn't sure she ever wanted babies at this point, but if she did, not for a few years at least.

"But when you do want them, you know he's not shooting blanks!  I did more for you than I have for any other woman I've matched.  You can't say I haven't."  Lachele sounded sad. "I really thought he might be the right man for you, sweetie.  And after all the tests said he was, I couldn't not set you up with him."

"You could have introduced us like normal people so we could be on even ground!  He knew everything about me going into our marriage, and I knew nothing about him!" 

"He's a good man, Cissie.  Are you still angry with him?"

Cissie sighed.  "He is a good man, and no, I'm not still angry with him.  Just with you."  And she could feel that anger rapidly dissipating.  She needed to take a class in how to stay mad at someone.  Cindy could stay mad for months without it bothering her a bit.  Maybe Cindy could teach the class!

"Don't be mad.  I really did what I thought was the best thing for you.  He loves you."

Cissie wrinkled her nose at that.  "I don't know about love.  He doesn't know me well enough to love me." 

Lachele laughed.  "Normally, I'd agree with that, but Bob is something special.  He really does love you.  The sooner you believe that the easier things will go for the two of you!"

"Do you know why he has nightmares?" Cissie asked, changing the subject.  If Lachele had made such a careful study of Bob, then surely she could answer that simple question for her.

Lachele was quiet for a moment.  "Yes, I do, but it's not my place to talk about it.  Did you ask him?"

"He said he couldn't remember the dreams."

"Keep asking him, cupcake.  He'll tell you. It's hard for him to talk about still." 

Cissie sighed.  "I feel like the whole world is in on all these big secrets about my husband except me."  She hated being in the dark about anything.  It made her feel helpless.

"He'll tell you when he's ready.  It's nothing you need to worry about.  I promise you that."

"Fine."  Cissie glanced at the clock on the wall.  "I need to go.  I'll miss having lunch with Cindy if I don't hurry."

"You don't want that!  Give her a nice big boobie bump for me."

"I will!"  Cissie pressed end and realized she'd forgiven Lachele already.  She'd never really been one to hold a grudge.

******

Cissie's dad was waiting for her when she got to work.  "Hey, Dad.  How'd everything go?"  She was more worried about how her new cook had done chasing after Ashley than anything else.  She wouldn't ask though.  If it had been a problem, her dad would surely say something.

"We had a good week.  All except for Wednesday night karaoke.  They expected me to sing the first song, and it was a bit of a disaster."

Cissie was well aware of her dad's tin ear.  "What did you sing?"  Her dad was a bad singer, but he wasn't nearly as bad as some of their karaoke regulars.

"'Sweet Caroline.'  It's a classic!"

Cissie shook her head.  "But everyone sings it for karaoke.  It should be banned from karaoke everywhere."  She realized then she should have picked out a song for him.  That would have made his week easier.  Of course, with her dad's voice, she'd have chosen something like 'C is for Cookie.'

Her dad shrugged.  "Well, I've never done karaoke before.  How was I supposed to know that?"  He studied his daughter.  "Your cop treating you right?" 

"He's a good man, Dad."  Cissie wasn't about to mention the trouble they'd had when she found out about Bob deceiving her.  Her dad would come unglued about that, and she didn't need him mad at her husband.

"I'm glad."  He didn't look quite convinced.  "We're heading south next week.  Your mom is ready to see some of the warmer places in the nation."

"All right."  Cissie knew her parents were on a never-ending quest to avoid extreme weather, either hot or cold.  "Do you want to keep doing some of the late night stuff this week?  So I can have a little more time with my husband?"  She knew her dad missed running the bowling alley as much as she needed more time with Bob.  Whatever that nightmare had been, she needed to be able to help him with it.

He thought about it for a minute before nodding.  "If you'll work late on Wednesday, I'll be in by five the other nights this week."

Cissie threw her arms around her father.  "Thanks, Dad." 

He held her close.  "Just so you're happy.  That's all I want."

"I'm going to make lunch for Cindy and me.  Do you want to eat with us?"  Cindy was like a second daughter to her father, so it wouldn't be unusual for him to join them.

"Absolutely not.  I know how you girls talk, and I do not want that much insight into your new marriage.  I know you'll be a virgin until you're eighty seven, and that's all that matters to me."

Cissie grinned as he walked away, toward the door of the bowling alley. She'd let him keep lying to himself for as long as he wanted to.  They both knew better, but if it made him feel better to pretend, she wasn't about to disillusion him.

At the door, he turned to wave.  "I'll be here at five."

"Thanks, Dad!"  She couldn't have asked for a better father. 

Cissie rushed into the kitchen to get lunch started.

When Cindy arrived twenty minutes later, she seemed almost afraid to approach Cissie.  "Everything all right?"

Cissie nodded.  "You know I can't hold a grudge.  Good thing for everyone involved."

Cindy sighed.  "It is.  Did you make your peace with Lachele?"

"Of course.  She was trying to do the best thing for me blah blah blah.  Sometimes I wish people would let me decide what the best thing for me is."  She shrugged.  "Good news though.  Dad is going to work every night this week except Wednesday, and really I can leave early on Wednesday as long as I sing the first song for karaoke." 

"Oh, that's nice!  So you'll at least get to see Bob a bit."

"He's going to try to have his schedule adjusted for next week, so we'll be getting off work at the same time."  She briefly thought about mentioning Bob's bad dream, but she realized there was a line about what she could talk to her best friend about, and that was crossing it.

"Is that good or bad?  Do you still feel like he's all weird and stalkery?" Cindy studied her friend.

Cissie shook her head.  "You know, I never really felt that way.  It just felt like a betrayal of sorts.  I've talked to Lachele, and I just can't stay mad at that purple-haired freak.  Bob and I are good.  Trey still has his tallywacker, I assume?"

"So far.  Should he still have it?"

Cissie shrugged.  "Yeah, I'll get over it.  It was just annoying that things were hidden from me that I had a right to know.  I'll live."  She hoped she'd caused a big enough stink that no one would try to play that kind of mind game with her again. 

"I know you will.  I'm just trying to figure out if we're still mad at our husbands or if Trey is allowed to come back to bed tonight."

"You're the best friend a girl could ever have, you know that?"  Cissie squeezed Cindy's hand before applying herself to her lunch.  "Did you really kick him out of bed?" 

Cindy sighed.  "I thought about it, but then I couldn't figure out why I should punish myself."

Cissie grinned.  "I appreciate you even considering making that kind of sacrifice for me." 

"I promise you, if a giant chocolate kiss ran into the bowling alley right now, I'd let you sniff the wrapper when I was done eating it.  That's the kind of friend I am."

"I appreciate that about you, Cindy.  What would I do without you?"

"Honestly, you'd probably get a lot more chocolate..."

Cissie nodded.  "So true."

*****

Cissie thought about texting Bob that she'd be home early, but she decided to surprise him instead.  When she got to the house, his SUV was out front, so she called out to him as she walked in the front door.  "Honey, I'm home!"  She did her best to sound like a sitcom husband.

Bob stuck his head out of the kitchen where he was still in his uniform.  "What are you doing here so early?  Not that I'm complaining!"  He rushed from the kitchen to kiss her, a grin on his face.

"I do like a man in uniform."  Cissie took a step back and skimmed her eyes down him from head to toe.  "All I can think about is taking that uniform
off
you, Deputy Bob."  She loved the way his shoulders looked in his uniform.  "You should really wear that even on your days off.  I like it so much."

He looked down at her.  "So it doesn't really matter what I look like or who I am, as long as I'm wearing a uniform?"

Cissie's hands rubbed his shoulders.  "No, I think I like the uniform a bit extra because of the man inside it!"  She winked up at him.

"Do you now?"  He leaned down and kissed her again, his hands gripping her through the jeans that molded her bottom.  "I like you in your jeans.  What are you doing home so early?  Did you miss me so much you couldn't stay away?"

She grinned, nipping his neck softly.  "My dad is going to come in at five every day except Wednesday so I can come home early.  Just this week, but it gives us a bit more time together."  Time for him to tell her about his bad dreams, she hoped.

Bob grinned.  "I'll take it!"

"You don't really have a choice.  Until Mom and Dad are on the road again, you're stuck with me."  Well, he was stuck with her forever, but she wasn't about to tell him that just then.  He already had bad dreams!

"Like glue?  Or more like being handcuffed together?"

Cissie tilted her head to the side thinking about it.  "Probably more like glue.  Really strong glue, the kind that only really works on human skin."  She sighed.  "I'm hungry."

Bob blinked at her abrupt change of subject for a moment.  "I was just about to make myself a couple of sandwiches for dinner.  How does that sound?"

"Grilled cheese?"  Cissie wasn't a huge fan of cold sandwiches, but she loved a good grilled cheese.  "Oh, a grilled cheese with ham on it!"  She could already taste it.

He grinned at her.  "Are you going to cook?"  She had yet to cook for him.  He was joking just to see her reaction.

She sighed.  "Yeah, I can cook."  She walked to the kitchen sink and washed her hands.  "Do you want ham on yours?"