“Okay, then,” she soothed. “Let’s just say that Julian is in possession of all the pertinent facts.” She swallowed any residual distaste. “Did you fill the crew in on the need-to-know, particulars?” she asked, trying not to grimace. A lot of that stuff was sensitive, and Petula, knowing that more ears were privy to what had happened in her young life, found it a little tough to swallow.
“Uh, yeah,” Statler told her, then without turning around, he added, “If you two need a little more time to…sort things out…”
Again, with the cute hesitancy.
Damn, she adored her brother.
“No, Stat. We’re fine. I’m sure Julian and I can pick this up another time.”
She hoped like hell that was true.
Julian finally spoke up, addressing Statler. “Are you going to drag me out now and have me drawn and quartered? You and your crew?”
His choked inquiry was hilarious.
He’d also hunched forward, probably in an attempt to hide his erection.
Petula, however, was aware that the large bulge was still very much there.
She felt a surge of pride. She’d done that to Julian, and she didn’t think he was someone whose brain was normally or easily overridden by bodily urges.
Statler glowered. “The only reason we’d kill you, is if you make Petula unhappy,” he stated. “And from the look on her face right now, I’d say you’re clear.”
Petula laughed again, then misquoted to ease the tension in the room. “You know what they say, Stat. Happy sister, happy brother.”
Statler’s brows drew together. “That’s not?—”
“I know, Stat. I know,” she snickered. “I just want you two to get along.”
She walked forward and looped her arm through her brother’s, tugging him toward the door and out into the hallway. “Let’s head into the living room and…give Julian a moment.”
He could probably use it.
Petula brightened even further as they walked, remembering what she’d wanted to say when she’d first arrived home from work, before she’d been hit with the unexpected shit-stick of her potential stalker.
“Because I was dropped right into your version of current events when I got home, I haven’t told you mygoodnews, yet.”
“Good news?” Stat asked, stopping before they exited the hall.
“Yeah. I was finally green-lighted at work for the new route I’ve been wanting for the last three years.” Petula couldn’t hold in her joy.
She’d actually been thinking the worst earlier today, before going into her yearly review. She and her new supervisor—who’d only been on the job for a couple months—hadn’t exactly been seeing eye to eye. Their personalities simply didn’t mesh. But because Petula was part of the union, the woman couldn’t discipline her without documented cause, nor could she withhold a raise without one hell of a good reason, so Petula had been fairly confident the interview would only be contentious because of their clashing personalities.
Still, her boss had been defining and redefining the parameters of Petula’s job for the short duration she’d been in charge, and despite recommendations from her last boss that her route change had been approved, the power-hungry bitch had kept Petula delivering in the same district, anyway.
Not that Petula didn’t like her familiar customers. She did. But she’d also been bored. Driving the same streets and seeing all the same faces had left her feeling as if she were in a rut. This delayed change of pace was more than welcome.
And the really good news? She got to keep the northernmost part of her current route, so she’d still be servicing Diver Downeast. It was simply a win/win. She’d finally get to drive, every day, out of town and through the beauty of the northern woods, instead of being trapped inside the small burg she’d serviced for so long.
Statler made a noise that was part grunt, part growl.
“What?” she asked.
“This is going to make protecting you, more difficult,” he huffed. “With your downtown route, there are always a lot of people around who would have their eyes on you, and could be tapped to intervene if there were trouble. Once you’re off into the forested part of the state, help will be much farther away.”
Petula flinched. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I was just so excited that I’d finally gotten my request approved.”
Crap.Why did the good things in her life always seem to come with caveats? She wasn’t normally a person who painted things with a negative brush, even with all the shit that had happened to her in the past, but giving this a positive spin was now going to take some digging.
