Hell, Yeah (24 page)

Gwen wore a baby blue sweater the same color as her eyes. She had her father’s hair and face shape and her mother’s eyes. She sat down on the sofa, poured a cup of coffee, and propped her feet up. “I’m exhausted. I thought I was going to have to beg off but at the last minute the little boy’s fever broke so we didn’t have to hospitalize him.”

“Well, wait until you hear about my day,” Emma said. “It was a nightmare. You know nowadays that every kid in school has at least four parents and enough grandparents to populate a small third world country. And if the kid doesn’t like the teacher they all come to bitch and moan.”

“Hey, girl, you should work at the courthouse and you’d see what happens when they all get mad because their sweet little darlin’s get put in jail for smoking pot on school grounds. Your little kindergarten devils turn into our delinquents,” Grace said.

The best place in the whole world to hide out is in the middle of a big family. All Cathy had to do was listen to the conversations between them as they talked about their varied experiences and finally got around to asking Travis about what was going on in his world. They set up a howl when he told them he might be going to Alaska.

“How do you feel about that?” Grace looked at Cathy.

“I haven’t decided,” she said.

“Supper is on the table,” Myrna yelled from the kitchen.

Everyone headed for the dining room and to their permanent chairs around the table. Travis pulled out a chair for Cathy and bent to brush a light kiss across her neck. The jolt made her pulse take off like a NASCAR race car jacked up on high test fuel.

When he sat down she reached under the tablecloth and squeezed his thigh. Two could play the flirting game. “Sweet tea, please,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” He poured for both of them as well as Myrna.

“We’ve been pretty rude. It’s just that we don’t all get together nearly often enough and this is such a surprise. So tell us, Cathy, what do you do other than look like a model? God, I’d kill a senator for your height,” Rose said.

“I own a bar called the Honky Tonk.”

“That one in Mingus that’s getting all the hype on Facebook and Twitter?”

“That’s the one, but I didn’t know it was getting any free advertisement,” she said.

“It is. They’re saying it’s the in place for old music and two-stepping. I’d love to go there,” Emma said.

“You’re a teacher!” Travis said.

“So? I like to dance and I like a good cold beer every so often just like you do.”

“I bartend for her on Friday and Saturday nights,” Travis said.

Emma spewed tea across the white tablecloth. With just a little more force she would have hit him right between his pretty blue eyes, but it stopped just short of that and stained the white tablecloth.

“Thank God for bleach,” Myrna said.

“Are you shittin’ me?” Emma asked Cathy.

She shook her head.

“It’s the gospel truth,” Travis said.

“Is it?” Rose asked.

Cathy nodded.

“It’s payment so she’ll work for Amos and I don’t have to spend time in the office,” he said.

“That explains it,” Gwen said. “This boy hates to be cooped up.”

Homer clicked his tea glass with his spoon and looked around the table. Cathy expected him to give a toast of some kind and got ready to raise her glass. Was it someone’s birthday? Had they been saving an important family announcement until Travis was home?

“Okay, listen up. First of all, welcome to our home, Cathy O’Dell. We are glad to have you. And second, we have always enjoyed the time around the supper table. It’s when we talked about our day. Tonight you’ve promised to tell us what brings you and Travis to Fort Smith. So we are all ears and the microphone is yours.”

She could have slapped the grin off Travis’s face. “You tell them.”

“Oh, no, it’s your story. Don’t leave out a bit of it. Gwen is a doctor. She won’t mind hearing about rats while she eats. And Grace and Rose used to try to make me sick at the supper table, so if there’s something really gory you left out when you told me, be sure to include it this time,” he said.

“Okay, then, here goes. Is this a once-upon-a-time story or a mystery?”

“It’s a true crime story,” Travis said.

She smiled and started at the beginning when she and Brad had the big fight and she decided to move to Mingus to get away from him. Then she went on to tell about the time when he came into the Tonk and Billy Bob claimed to be married to her. That brought on some discussion about Chigger and Jim Bob with Travis putting in a character description or two about Jezzy Belle and Tinker. Then she told about the kidnapping, up to and including driving to Fort Smith and being nervous about meeting Travis’s family. But she didn’t tell them about the bedroom scenes or the Jacuzzi.

“I’d like to get a hold of that sorry sucker,” Rose said. “I bet I could figure out a way to make charges stick to him.”

“Probably not,” Grace said. “Cathy was right. With those two kidnappers on the lam and her not being able to really pick them out of a lineup it would be her word against his. She did the right thing. Only she should have taken it to the next level and at least crippled him.”

Travis sat back with a big smile on his face. A couple more visits and she’d have them all eating out of her hand, but then why shouldn’t they? She was pretty, smart, intelligent, and she could tell a damn fine story.

“Okay, don’t jump and run. Grace, you come and help me with dessert. If your brother would have gave me more notice there’d be peach cobbler so if the cake is stale, blame him,” Myrna said.

Dessert was a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a square of chocolate cake drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkled with chopped pecans. Cathy moaned with the first bite.

“Sheet cake?” she asked.

“That’s right. Myrna makes them once a week,” Grace said. “How’d you know?”

“I make them for special occasions.”

“Don’t tell Travis. He’ll glue himself to your side and follow you around like a little puppy dog. He loves chocolate sheet cake,” Myrna said.

“What else does he love?” Cathy asked.

Odessa waved a hand. “Don’t get Myrna started. She thinks the reason the sun comes up in the morning is to shine on his blond curls. She’s spoiled him her whole life. If I’d have known my way around the kitchen when I married Homer we wouldn’t have hired Myrna and Travis wouldn’t be nearly so spoiled.”

“Oh, don’t be giving Myrna the medal for spoiling the fair-haired boy child. You and Daddy had him rotten before us girls were ever born,” Grace said.

That set off the fireworks with everyone talking at once. Cathy ate her cake slowly, enjoying the big family atmosphere as much as she did the cake. It would be so easy to fall in love with him and the family, to fit in with all the good-natured bantering and fun.

But Travis had his heart set on an Alaska adventure, and even if she could hold him down, he’d come to hate her for it when his wandering soul wanted to sprout wings and fly again.

Riding after dark is boring and monotonous. Cathy couldn’t see the scenery of the countryside, even if it was nothing but miles and miles of dormant scrub oak trees and rolling hills. Dash lights did little to light up the cab of the truck and Travis had been unusually quiet for the past three hours. She’d been left alone with nothing but her own thoughts and they were on a continuous loop, going nowhere, solving nothing. She could see a glow in the sky giving testimony that they were coming up on Durant, Oklahoma.

The Toby Keith CD Travis had in the player ended. He took it out and handed it to her. “Pick out something else. We’re fixing to go through Durant. Are you tired or do you still want to drive until the wee hours of the morning?”

Cathy yawned. “I’m exhausted. Everything is surreal. It seems like a month since last Saturday night. I’ve been on a three-day adrenaline high and it hit bottom a ways back. I could sleep for a week.”

“Me too,” he said. “There’s a sign for a Hampton Inn. It’s right off the highway.”

“I could… no I couldn’t. The Hampton is fine.”

“What were you about to say? You want to stay in a different motel? There are several to choose from.”

“I almost said that I could sleep in a broom closet but after that fishing shack, I’m not saying it. Have I thanked you for everything today?”

“Maybe a dozen times.”

He stopped the pickup under the awning at the hotel. Cars zipped up and down the main thoroughfare to the south of the hotel. A steady stream of traffic slowed down for the red light before turning west into the Wal-Mart parking lot. Brakes, horns, sirens, a couple of early-bird crickets, and a lonesome old tree frog combined to sound like bad rock music. Cathy gladly got out of the truck and stretched, moving her neck from side to side and loving the noise of a busy college town not yet ready to turn in for the night. It sure beat squeaking rats and rusty bedsprings.

She pointed at the brass luggage carts in the foyer. “Guess we didn’t bring enough to need one of those, did we?”

“Thank goodness. I’m too tired to deal with that much baggage,” Travis said.

The young lady behind the desk looked up from a book she’d been reading. Her eyes glittered as if the hero pictured on front of the fat romance book had suddenly miraculously materialized in front of her.

“What can I do for you?” she sing-songed.

“We need a room,” he said.

The glitter faded when Cathy leaned out from behind him.

“King-sized, please,” Cathy said.

“Yes, ma’am. Love your coat,” she recovered quickly.

“Thank you.”

“We have a Jacuzzi suite still open.”

“We’ll take anything.” Travis dug his credit card out of his wallet and laid it on the counter.

“Just a plain room is fine. We’re too tired for Jacuzzi tonight. Is that coffee fresh?” Cathy nodded toward the counter behind them.

“It is and the cookies and apples are for our customers. Breakfast is from six to ten in the morning in the dining room behind the coffee pots there. The pool is closed for the winter but the exercise room is open.”

“We won’t need that tonight,” Cathy said.

The girl handed Travis a paper to sign. “Checkout is eleven. Just leave your key at the desk. Room 315. Elevators are straight ahead to your left.”

Travis gave the key to Cathy. “Go on up. I’ll park the truck and bring in the bags.”

She went straight to the coffee bar, found green tea bags and hot water as well as decaf and dark roast coffee. She unwrapped a bag, put it in a Styrofoam cup, added two sugars and a teaspoon-sized container of half-and-half, then filled it with hot water and put a lid on the top. Then she filled a cup with coffee, covered it with a lid, and carried them to the elevators.

When she reached the room she balanced two cups in one hand while she opened the door. She went straight to the desk to set them both down before looking around. There was a flower arrangement on the coffee table in front of a loveseat, a plasma screen television, microwave and small refrigerator, big bathroom, and a fast speed Internet connection. None of it appealed to her like a king-sized bed covered with a fluffy white duvet and four big soft pillows plus a neck roll pillow that all looked like heavenly clouds. She sat down on the loveseat, pulled off her fancy new boots, and wiggled her toes. When Travis knocked she opened the door and stood to one side to let him tote the baggage inside. Her shirt was unbuttoned and her jeans unzipped.

“Wow!” he said.

“Don’t be gettin’ your hopes up. I’m so tired you’d have to wake me when it was over,” she said.

He set his duffle bag and three plastic Dollar Store bags on the floor. “Honey, you’d have to wake me to get it started. I’ll just be happy to have a shower and cuddle up in that bed with you. I was wowing because you look so danged sexy.”

“Thank you. I’m headed for the shower.” She hung her shirt and jeans in the closet, tossed her bra on the shelf, and padded to the bathroom in white cotton panties.

The bathroom was as large as the kitchen in her apartment and a small elephant could easily fit in the shower. She waited until the water was hot and adjusted it. She’d barely gotten her hair wet when Travis popped his head inside. “It’s big enough for two. Want some company?”

“It’s big enough for an orgy. Too bad we’re both worn out.” She lathered up her hair with the hotel shampoo. “Duck under the shower and get your hair wet and I’ll wash it for you since my hands are already soapy.”

She poured what was left of the shampoo on top of his hair after he’d gotten it wet and gently massaged his scalp. He bent forward slightly and braced himself by putting his hands on her waist.

“Part of me is willing; the other part is too tired,” he moaned.

“We need sleep more than sex. Now turn around and I’ll wash your back.”

“I think the willing part is winning the race. That feels wonderful. You’ve got three hours to stop and when you are done I will return the favors,” he said.

“If you touch me, my willing part will win the race and we’ll never wake up in the morning. You’ll lose your job.”

“It would be worth it.” He grinned.

“For a week and then you’d be sorry. We’re about to fight. I feel it in my bones so I’m going to rinse this soap out of my hair and brush my teeth while you finish your shower.”

She was dressed in a nightshirt and was applying hotel lotion on her legs and arms when he came out of the bathroom. His hair still had water drops clinging to it and the only thing between her and that sexy body was a loosely wrapped towel.

“Wow!” she said.

He grinned. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome. Did I tell you lately that you are sexy as hell? Oh, I forgot, I made you green tea. Hope it’s still hot enough to taste good.”

He picked up the cup and took a long sip. “Not bad. Did I tell you lately that you are sexy even in a Dollar Store nightshirt with Rudolph on the front?”

She smiled.

Looking at you in nothing but a loin cloth would probably make men all over the world start drinking green tea if they thought it would give them a body like yours.

He sat down at the desk. “When did you make this?”

“They have a coffee and tea bar down in the lobby for customers. I bypassed the apples and cookies,” she said.

“Well, damn. Were they chocolate chip?”

She nodded.

He looked down. “Think I could get away with going after one wearing nothing but a towel?”

“If you can run faster than that sweet little thing behind the counter. I thought she was going to spread cookie crumbs on your body and have you for a midnight snack. And then she saw me and her world collapsed,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”

“No, but she was.” Cathy smiled.

He finished his tea and tossed the cup in the trash before standing up and dropping the towel on the floor. He pulled back the covers and crawled naked into the bed.

“You coming to bed soon?” he asked.

“Right now.” She curled up next to him with her face on his chest.

He sighed, rolled to one side, and wrapped both arms around her. “Good night, Cathy.”

“Mmmm,” she mumbled, already in the first stages of sleep.

* * *

The rats were back only this time they weren’t interested in the food basket. She’d cut her arm on the lid from the sausage can and they could smell the blood. She wiped it on the mattress and got as far away as the chain around her ankle would let her but the wound wouldn’t stop dripping. They followed the blood drops from the bed to the corner. She wrapped her arm in the blanket poncho but it dripped through and one rat licked the floor. Another stood on his hind legs and squeaked at her. A third’s evil eyes locked in on her arm and he began to climb up the poncho.

She screamed at the varmints and kicked out at the brave ones who were coming in for the kill. Duroc’s high squeaky voice cackled over by the door. Oscar said she was getting what she deserved.

“I will kill you both,” she yelled.

Then Duroc threw a rope around her and pinned her to the floor. Rats ran in every direction but she’d rather fight the rats than the man.

“Wake up, Cathy. It’s me, Travis!”

Duroc yelled lies in her ear while he held her down. Travis wasn’t in the shack. He was in Mingus. She raised a knee but a hand clamped down on it.

“No, no!” she screamed.

“Cathy, wake up!” Travis said.

She opened her eyes and tried to see the whole room at one time. Where was Duroc hiding? She’d kill him if he wasn’t out of reach of the damned chain. Where did the soft pillows and comforter come from?

“Breathe,” Travis demanded.

She spoke between short sobbing gasps. “It was so real. They were there trying to bite me and he was holding me down.”

He hugged her close. “It was a bad dream, a horrible nightmare. You’ll probably have them for a while. I’m here, honey. Nothing is going to hurt you ever again.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Travis kept his eyes open long after she relaxed. Henrys kept promises that they made and they didn’t give their word lightly. Would he be around to keep her safe forever?

“Travis?” she whispered.

“I’m right here.”

“Thank you,” she murmured.

The next time she awoke she was alone in the bed and the room was too quiet. “Travis?” She raised her voice slightly so he’d hear her if he was shaving.

Nothing.

She bounded out of bed and pulled the curtains back. Bright sunlight blinded her for a few seconds until her eyes adjusted. She checked the clock to find that it was eight o’clock already. They should already be on the road to Mingus. Travis was going to be late and Amos had already been patient about him missing work. Her mind ran in circles as she hurriedly dressed in her new jeans and a T-shirt. She was putting on socks when the door opened.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Where have you been? We should have been driving an hour ago. Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Whoa, darlin’. It’s all right. I called Amos. He’s all right with me being a little late if we don’t get home right on the hour. Here’s coffee. I didn’t have breakfast yet but it looks pretty good. When you are ready we’ll eat and go. What woke you up anyway? I was going to let you sleep as long as you wanted since you had a restless night.”

She took the coffee. “I’m starved. What’s on the breakfast menu?”

“Fruit, waffles, omelets, bacon, cereal, yogurt.” He got his things from the bathroom and put them into the duffle bag. “So does that sound good?” he asked.

“It sounds just fine,” she quipped.

“Drink more coffee.”

“I thought I was being sweet,” she said.

“By the time you get to the bottom of that second cup, there’s the possibility that you might be.”

“You have a split personality. You were all sweet last night and now you are picking a fight.”

“Me? We’re talking about me?” he asked.

“Well, we sure aren’t talkin’ about me. My personality is the same every day. I make no bones about it. I’m not nice until I’ve had three cups of coffee in the mornings.”

“How did that Brad fellow or anyone else work with you? You did go to work at nine, didn’t you?”

“Eight. And no one bothered me until after lunch. You’d be amazed how much work an old bear can do in the mornings when she’s left totally alone. It was the secret to my success. While everyone else was gossiping over the water cooler about me, I was getting two days work done behind a closed door.”

“You’ve been faking it. You aren’t mean in the morning. It’s a façade to get people to leave you alone.”

She shrugged. “If anyone ever finds that out I’m blaming you. I’ve got a reputation to uphold. Let’s have breakfast and give them the room key so we can go home.”

He picked up the bags. “You ready to get rid of me?”

She stopped so quickly that he ran into her. She spun around and put her hands around his neck, pulling his face to hers for the first passionate kiss of the day. His hands were filled with bags so he couldn’t hug her or even control the kiss by touching her face.

The bed was there and the key wasn’t turned in yet. His energy level was up to par. He dropped one bag and wrapped his arm around her waist.

She pulled back. “That answer your question?”

“I believe it does. You sure you want food? We don’t have to check out until eleven,” he said hoarsely.

“Yes, I do. Amos has been patient enough with us. If we get home by noon or even a little after I will have only missed two days at the office. I’m already so far behind it’ll take all week to catch up. So pick up the Dollar Store Samsonite and let’s go have breakfast.” She marched out of the room and toward the elevators.

On the ride down to the first floor he dropped the bags and cornered her for more steamy kisses. When the doors opened she opened her eyes to see an older couple staring right at them.

“Going up?” Cathy asked.

“Oh, yes, darlin’ and I hope it’s the elevator that causes that,” the woman said.

“It sure is. When you touch the button it fires up your passion.”

The woman laughed and pushed the button.