“Is she okay?” Henrietta asked.
“Yes. She’s alright.” I sank down onto my heels, cuddling her close, crooning quietly to soothe her.
“Betty is a retched, awful…” Norma paused. “Oh…”
“My,” Margaret said with awe in her tone.
“Where can I get one of him?” Henrietta asked our group.
“Just one?” Norma asked with a smile. “I’ll take two.”
Frowning, I followed their stares to the door of the rec center then gasped. Pyre was striding toward me, his long legs eating up the distance between us. There was a scowl on his face and his eyes were pinned directly on me.
“What happened?” he asked as he approached.
I blinked up at him as he fisted my bicep and helped me to my feet. Holding Penny close to my chest I swallowed hard as those intense blue eyes bored into me. “N-nothing. It was just a misunderstanding.”
He looked me over, as though I might be injured, then focused on Penny. “You bring your pet opossum to the old people’s home?”
“Oh they don’t like it to be called-”
“Listen here son,” Harry said, sidling up to us. “This is the assisted living home. We’re not old.”
I bit the insides of my lips to keep from smiling because Harry was eight-five years old.
Pyre crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Harry. “Sorry about that, Gramps.”
“Gramps,” Harry huffed, clearly offended.
Ignoring Harry’s indignation, Pyre focused on me once more. “Why were you on the ground like that?” he asked, eyes narrowing. “It looked like you were hurt.”
“I wasn’t. I was…” I broke off, not wanting to explain what had just happened. For some reason Pyre already looked the way he had the night at the bar. Like he was about to start tossing bodies. I didn’t need him fighting old men with bad hips. That could give people the wrong idea. “What are you doing here?”
That seemed to jerk him out of protection mode. “Saw your car here,” he told me. “Figured I’d stop in and see what you were doing.”
“Playing bridge,” Margaret piped in.
“Why don’t you join us?” Norma offered, motioning toward an empty chair.
A smile spread over Pyre’s face. “Sure, why not?”
“Oh but…” Everyone looked at me. “I’m sure you have other things to do,” I stuttered, feeling lame.
“Nope.” He sat down. “Ladies.”
Henrietta giggled. She was seventy-eight years old and was giggling like a school girl. I understood, honestly. Pyre had that same effect on me. On most women, I was sure of it.
Sinking down into the chair next to him, I held Penny close as he scooped up all the cards. “Don’t know how to play bridge,” he admitted. “I’m partial to Blackjack.”
“My kind of man,” Norma said with a grin.
“Any man with a functioning penis is your kind of man, you tramp,” Margaret said in a good natured way. The women cackled and Pyre grinned at them.
“Maybe you should go,” I told him in a low tone. “They’ll get in trouble playing that in here.”
“By who?” he asked. He glanced over as one of the staff members started our way. The dark look Pyre gave him had the man changing his mind and swerving before he reached us. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle any fall out.” He started dealing. He set a card in front of me and focused on Penny. “She’s cute.”
My heart had been thumping in my chest. His praise of my pride and joy made it stop and sort of melt. “Thank you.”
