I literally smacked the side of my face, trying to get the image of Beau out of my head.Why he is affecting me like this?
I mean, I was mad at him, clearly there was no way I could like him.
The evidence was obvious as I was camped out in the park tonight, by myself. I had bribed Charlotte to sleep at my apartment—that was much cozier and warmer than out here—to watch Poppy. I would never do that if I wasn’t furious with him.
It was like the wind read my thoughts and decided to tease me, opening up with a hard gust of wind, sending chills all through my body. I hugged my jacket tighter.
“Brr,” I hummed to myself. It had cooled off quite a bit now, and something wet hit my cheek.
“It has to be almost morning.” I checked my watch, feeling my heart fall. I had only been here fifteen minutes. I felt another drop of water, smacking my arm this time. “I don’t know if I want to stay the whole night.” I looked out into the black night—okay, I’ll admit a little creepy dark night—hoping to see something to distract me.
“Nope.” I popped the p, as I continued to talk to myself, hoping the noise of chatter would calm the quibbles starting to bubble in my gut. “Nobody’s here.”
Now the regular patter of rain was tapping down on me, wetness started to penetrate my clothes. I scooted on my bottom, angling my body away from the wind as much as I could to try to avoid the rain, but as many times as I shifted, it made no difference. The wind whirled in all directions, throwing the rain in huge waves slamming against me. I haughtily pulled my blanket out of my packet, draping it over me for protection, but moments later, it was soaked all the way through.
My eyes landed on my backpack. It was an old one I had used in high school, and it wasn’t getting wet at all. The raindrops were rolling right off it. I ran my fingers along the side, brushed off a few drops that had beaded up.My backpack was made from PVC and waterproof!Normally I would be appalled to have such a possession but tonight it was my lifesaver. I quickly zipped it back up, and stacked it on top of my head, shielding me from the rain. It helped but it didn’t stop the shivers dotting along my spine, as I was already soaked.
This was absurd!
I had become one of those ridiculous people who would do anything for money. I wasn’t compromising my values or anything terrible like that. If anything, I was sticking to them, as I was out here, shivering away, doing this to defend my values as well as earn some extra money to pad my savings account. Money that would make it easier for me to continue to care for Poppy until I got her center up and running. Money that would make my life easier in the short term.Had I taken this whole thing too far?It didn’t seem fair because I hadn’t planned on it storming this badly. It wasn’t worth getting sick over. If I got sick, then I clearly couldn’t work or take care of Poppy which would set me way back on my goal. It wasn’t worth a stupid bet, and I tapped my jacket pocket, out of habit, trying to find my phone to call for a ride, but I remembered I had purposely left my phone at home.
My scared-blank-stare froze my face.
No phone was not good.
Home was too far to walk, especially in this rain. Tears budded as I tried to think of any local businesses near the park where I could run to take shelter, but everything was so far away. There wasn’t anything nearby as the park was on the outskirts of town. Without a phone, there wasn’t anyone I could call.
Lightning flashed overhead, splitting the sky into two halves. It was so brilliant of a light; it left me frozen until the whip crack sound of the thunder so deafening it shook the whole ground, made my butt tingle. I pulled my legs into me, curling up into a ball, and cried, “I want to go home!”
ten
Beau
Iunpackedmytakeoutonto a TV tray in my living room, the same thing I did every night—add in a beer or Coke and rerun of somethin’ stupid. I kicked back in my favorite recliner, and I was happy as a pig in sunshine. I peeled back the wrapper on my spicy pulled-pork sandwich, removed a nice meaty chunk, and tossed it to Bandit, who snatched it right up.
Bandit was my beagle—mixed with somethin’ ugly—that I picked up outta the ditch a few years back. If I had my druthers, I’d never get a dog, let alone a mangy mutt like him, but now that I had him, we were two peas in a pod. He only did one annoying thing— he licked my feet while I ate.
There undoubtedly was something wrong with him. If I didn’t find it against my religion, I would have given him a big ol’ kick in the head, but I was never the type of man who could hurt an animal. Instead, I took him to the vet to see if he had some weird disease, but the doc said he was normal. Then I thought it had to be the soap I used, so I switched to a new kind. That didn’t stop him. To date, I have tried many different types of soap, only to conclude it doesn’t matter.
I finished my dinner, relishing every delectable and juicy, barbecue-slathered bite until I was so full, I had forgotten all about that stupid bird lunch. Tonight, the wind was blowin’ up a storm. I cranked the gas on my fireplace, my lips bending upward at how slick that worked. Oddly, it made me think of Cloverbud being defensive in her use of gas earlier. A rush of laughter fell from my mouth as I thought about her having that good ol’ dying duck fit over the mere suggestion she couldn’t live without oil. Like I really cared if she used oil or not? I was only tryin’ to get a rise out of her.
And it worked.
I scratched the top of Bandit’s head and muttered, “I don’t know what I’d do with a hippie anyway.”
My hand froze mid-scratch.
Did I just saythat?
Why would I sayTHAT?
Pfft. I must be worn slap out. I clicked the remote on the TV to turn it off and let my eyes shut, willing myself to fall asleep in my chair—the same place I slept every night because it was cozier than sleeping in a king bed by myself.
Sometime after midnight, I awoke to thunder cracking that sounded like it was right in my living room. It was so loud, I sat up straight and was fixin’ to run for my rifle. A flash of lightning split the sky right outside my window. My ears perked up as I listened to the rain clap on my roof. It was a real frog sampler.
I was ’bout to roll over to sleep, but Bandit crawled up next to me, his whole body shaking in fright. I wrapped my arms around him, tucking him in, but it didn’t stop the shuddering. I’m not sure why, but it made my mind turn back to Cloverbud stuck out in the rainstorm without even so much as a tent to cover her head. Part of me wanted to snicker, but my good side slapped that part, and saidgo get her.
As much as she got my goose, I could never let a lady get struck by lightning.
