“You American born can’t hold your damn liquor,” Sam mumbled before crashing on the loveseat. A second later, the empty bottle tumbled from her finger and a delicate snore erupted from her perfect lips. Geez Louise, she even snored prettily.
“I haven’t talked directly to him in years. Not since he found out about Sam.” She pointed to the forest pictures on the wall. “I bought those from him right before.” She snapped her finger in the air and tried to sit up. Didn’t work so well. She tumbled back on the carpet and another delicate belch flared. “I think he has a show coming up. Wanna go?”
I thought about it for all of a nanosecond, “Well, heck yeah. But don’t tell him I’m here. I want to surprise him.”
“Does your Pa know where you are?” She rolled and looked at me. She blinked a few times – or maybe it was me – and hiccupped.
“Hush, now,” I garbled, closing my eyes. “Don’t ruin our fun.”
“Ah, shit honey. Not the answer I wanted,” Ally mumbled. “I love you.”
“Ditto,” I burped.
She chuckled. “You haven’t changed.”
…if only that were true.
Chapter Two
A HAMMER reverberated inside myskull. “Ugh.”
“Good morning!” Sam’s British voice bounced from my throbbing eyes to my tingling toes. “Time to rise and shine, sleepy heads!”
A groan echoed mine from not far away. Thank goodness I wasn’t alone in Hell.
“For the love of all that’s holy. Shut your woman up, Ally,” I grumbled.
I heard a chuckle and moved my head in that direction. Not a great move. I whined another moan before opening my eyes. Ally’s bloodshot gaze met mine from the across the rooms floor as she mumbled, “She’s a morning person.”
“Lord, save us,” I gave a fervent prayer. Ally laughed then belched. She turned an unattractive shade of green as Sam walked in setting two steaming plates on the coffee table above our heads. Smelled like home cooked goodies. Also, smelled like she was trying to make us puke. I hated morning people.
“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon, people. Time to get up, up, up,” she chirped, walking back out of the room. Okay, so I hated afternoon people. Anyone who was overly cheerful, really. Each time her foot landed it shook the ground and I figured I had best get up before I blew chunks all over her carpet, southern style.
Ally stayed prone on the floor while I crawled away. “Bathroom?”
“Down the hall, second door on your left,” Sam spoke from their kitchen in a sing-song voice. I wished I’d had time to grab my pistol before leaving Boverington. It would have come in handy right about now.
I must have been scowling because Ally mumbled, “Don’t even think about it.”
“You’re no darn fun.” I grinned at her before turning the corner and crawled/dragged my sorry behind to the bathroom and promptly prayed to the porcelain God. Next time I would stick to the tequila. Much better for my system.
Once I finished up there, I felt much better. With a freshly washed face and brushed teeth, fortuitously there was a brand new tooth brush available, I made my way into the living room in an upright position. Ah, progress. The food didn’t smell a whole lot better, but I ate it anyway since Sam had gone to the trouble of making it for us. Ally picked at hers, moving slowly and booting up her laptop.
Sam plunked down next to me –yeah!– and dug into her own torture –food– while I tried to keep mine down. Yippie skippy.
“Love, what are you looking up?” Sam asked while taking a small bite of her over easy eggs. My tummy rolled and I looked away. Was the woman doing it on purpose? I snuck a glance at her out of the corner of my eye and noticed a twitch to her lovely lips. Oh, yeah. Sneaky one.
“I’m on Brent’s website. I heard around town that he has a show coming up, but I couldn’t remember the date.” Ally took a slow breath in and out. Her pretty face turning from green to white. Better.
“Brent Terrance?” Sam asked, hopefulness shining in her eyes. “You’re old friend from Louisiana? I would love to see his work. Every time I’ve asked to go to one of his events you’ve said no. Why now?” A hesitation. She glanced at me and shook her head. “Never mind.”
“You’ve never been to his shows?” I asked her in surprise.
“No,” her answer was curt and she resumed eating. Ally caught my eye and shook her head slightly. Oops. Forgot. Allyhad said she hadn’t spoken to Brent since he found out about Sam. I bet Sam didn’t know the entire reason why she hadn’t met him.
“Well, I haven’t seen him in five years,” I offered, hoping to make her feel better. Why? Not a darn clue. She was my replacement, after all, but she had a side to her that was tough. No one gets tough without having to get there the hard way. “We can all go and see and meet him. Sound good?”
She looked away from the bread and butter she was getting ready to bite into. She studied me silently. Moments ticked by and I felt increasingly nervous. I didn’t really know her. I rarely ever talked to anyone candidly that I hadn’t known for some time or about a subject that I felt strong about. Finally when I started fiddling with my shirt she asked, “You aren’t here to try to take away Ally from me, are you?”
