When Tanner limped back into the living room, he found the couch had been made up like a bed. Raiding the hall closet, Lance found a new toothbrush and a bath towel for him, making him feel like he was a kid again visiting his grandparents.
“Sorry for making you sleep on the couch. I wish I could have offered you the guest bedroom, but it’s still stuffed with furniture,” Lance said apologetically.
“Dude, I’m the one commandeering your couch,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“It’s not a problem. I want you to accept my offer to stay here at any time, because I genuinely meant it,” Lance said while glancing at his watch, thinking it was way past his normal bedtime. “I’ll see you in the morning.” After giving Tanner a quick shoulder bump, he headed for the stairs.
Tanner watched him climb the steps, shocked to realize he’d unconsciously reached for the spot where Lance’s shoulder had nudged him. He felt tingly, like Lance’s touch had beenelectric. It was an unusual sensation. But it was also too real—too important—for him to ignore.
Tanner assumed he’d go through the usual nightly ritual of trying to sleep only to end up staring at the ceiling, awaiting sunrise, just like at home. He told himself that if hanging out on Lance’s couch had the same results, then he’d just sneak out and go home so he didn’t impose any longer on Lance. Still, just for the hell of it, he shut his eyes and focused exclusively on the sounds of Lance getting ready for bed, floorboards creaking, and water running. While certainly not a part of his regular nightly ritual, he somehow found the normalcy of the sounds to be quite soothing. Within a few minutes, he fell into a deep sleep. Amazingly enough, he didn’t have any dreams that night. He slept straight through until around 7:00. Feeling far more rested than he had for at least a year, he quietly stripped the couch and got dressed.
He went to the kitchen and searched for pen and paper to leave a note for Lance.
Thanks for letting me borrow your magic couch.
Slept like a baby.
Later,
Tanner
Chapter 7
Tanner’s phone rang while he was busy folding laundry. He’d left Lance’s house about two hours before. Thinking it might be Lance calling to—well, maybe shoot the shit, Tanner didn’t even bother checking the caller ID before hitting accept.
“Canterbury Morgue. You stick ‘em, we fill ‘em. Tanner speaking,” he said with a quick laugh.
“Ewwwwww,” a little girl’s voice replied as Tanner finally glanced at the caller ID. Shit! Not Lance, his sister.
“Dude, don’t say things like that! She’s only six!” Cameron scolded as she picked up the phone after her daughter dropped it in disgust.
“Sorry, I thought you were—” he stopped, took a breath, and sighed. “Never mind. What’s up?”
“You sound really chipper for once. Does that mean you went out and got laid last night?” she asked, whispering so her daughters wouldn’t hear.
“None of your business,” he answered in a singsong voice.
“Oh, come on! There’s no way you’re this chipper this early in the morning for no reason at all.”
“When did you become such a gossip goblin?” he asked mockingly. “But the simple truth is that I just got a good night’s sleep,” he confessed with a pleased smile. He really had slept like a baby, just as he’d written in the note to Lance. He hadn’t felt so at peace in years. It had become second nature to be perpetually sleep deprived and constantly on edge. The break from that felt great, however short-lived it might be.
“So, you’re feeling rejuvenated?” Cameron asked. If Tanner hadn’t been so distracted by sorting staticky socks and bath towels, he would have gone on high alert at her chirpy tone. As a result, his early warning system failed to activate.
“Actually, I feel fucking amazing!”
“That’s great!” Cameron declared, right before she lowered the boom. “So, I need you to babysit the kids today. We bought a bunch of all access, all day passes to the zoo and the waterpark. They’ll be run right off their feet from doing both, so they’ll fall right to sleep on the way home. Could you pick them up around 10:00?”
“Wait! What?” Tanner shouted in abject terror. He had nothing against watching his adorable nieces for the day. But there was a huge difference between watching them in their own home, with all doors locked and escape routes fully secured, and watching them in a ginormous amusement park where he wasfartoo likely to lose them. How in the hell could he be expected to keep up with those two in a goddamned zoo and waterpark complex? It was a fucking impossible task for anybody, let alone for someone with only one good leg. Good God! What the hell was she thinking?
“Listen, I know it’s a lot to ask, but I forgot the guys were coming to install new flooring in the living room today and having the girls in the house would be a nightmare. Besides, Mark bought me a day at the spa, and I really need a day off to just—” she sighed, and Tanner sympathized with her, knowing those two kids ran her ragged all day, every day. He did owe it to her to help out, since she rarely asked him for favors.
“Okay, okay, I get it. But I’m not sure I can herd your kids with an arm in a sling and a fucked-up leg. If even one of those little monsters gets away from me, I’m never gonna catch her. You know that, right?”
That gave Cameron pause.
“Hmmm . . . How about taking a friend with you? You got some of those around town, right? You used to always talk about sleeping at so-and-so’s place whenever I offered you the sparebedroom. Call one of them up? I’ll pay for dinner and cover your bar tab!”
She was obviously desperate.
