“Alright then, sweetheart. Let me take a look.”
Pixie-boy goes over to a bar area where Hugo is assembling bottles. Hugo hasn’t yet put another shirt on, the overhead light from a chandelier throws his rippling arm and chest muscles into relief.
Greek God much?
Asa applies disinfectant to my hands, I welcome the sting. The pain keeps me from focusing on the other two men, who are drinking beers and just staring at me.
“Can one of you get an ice pack for her ankle?” Asa asks them.
Neither move.
A new voice speaks up from the hallway.
“Everything OK?”
I shift and see an older man walk into the room.
He’s heavyset, with a bushy silver beard, huge nose and a deep frown. Like a sad and disappointed Santa.
“Can you go get a couple of ice packs, Waldo?” Asa asks him.
Waldo's head rotates toward me. “OK there, miss?” he asks.
“Sort of,” I mumble.
“She’s staying in the cabin across the field,” Asa tells him. “Had a bit of a tumble.
“Sheila and Patsy’s cabin? That place should be shut up,” Waldo says.
Oh shit.
“Apparently she is their niece,” Devil-boy says. “Don’t get twisted.”
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
The bearded-man is eyeing me. “Niece?” he asks, peering at me. “Hmmm. I thought Sheila’s niece was…”
“God-daughter,” I blurt out. “I’m her God-daughter, not niece. It’s just a habit to call her my aunt.”
Just let it go, please?
“Huh,” he grunts, then turns heel and leaves the room again.
“That’s Waldo. He runs the place here,” Asa says, even though I hadn’t asked the question. “Not much of a talker.”
Thankfully.
Moving on to my knee cleaning, Asa says, “Sorry sweetheart, this is gonna sting.”
He is surprisingly gentle for such a massive person. I can imagine him being calm and reassuring in the middle of the biggest disaster.
A glass appears in front of my face, held by a tattooed hand that is not at all calm or reassuring.
“Vodka?”
“Thanks.” I take the icy glass and sip, only a little. I can’t afford to relax.
“I knew you’d be a Grey Goose girl,” he smiles a dangerous smile. That smile could lead anyone into trouble. It makes me forget my panic for a moment.
